Mood:
Independence Day is actually celebrated on the 3rd in my town. Kind of odd, but nice. There's a fireworks display tonight downtown on the waterfront. It's usually huge and really crowded. Downtown is normally crowded this time of year anyways. We get quite a lot of tourists, mainly because it's a Norwegian-themed town. There are other Scandinavian countries represented, but the main one is Norway. I think it was founded by Norwegian immigrants. It can be beautiful this time of year, too. Anyways, sometimes I can see them from home. I might walk out a bit towards the high school in an area that overlooks a field and the stadium. Went to that area when we viewed the moon recently. Might be able to see more. It's a bit too loud for me to be downtown watching it.
Also, practically the only way to see it is to walk down there. (Good luck finding any parking near it for this...) It seems a bit far for me. Especially tough coming back home going up that very steep hill, and at night. Seems safer to be closer to home that way, too.
This is my wallpaper for July. It features Chii from Chii's Sweet Home. It's a really cute series. It's about the adventures of a kitten named Chii, who lives with a family of 3. One of those family members is a toddler, which makes it interesting, as well. Each episode was around 3 minutes, if I remember correctly. Short, sweet, and a little dose of aww. I think there were a lot of episodes, too. Not sure if it's still going...It got to be a bit much over time, so I stopped watching it. I still recommend that people see at least a little bit of it. If you have cats, you might be able to really relate to it, as well.
My beagle calendar has one laying down on a pier with a body of water in the background. Has their head cocked to the side, as if to be questioning something. This one also reminds me of Buster. They talk about beagles in the media in the info blurb this time. Snoopy, from Peanuts, is the unofficial most famous beagle in the world. I kind of believe he is. Should be official.
My Jewish calendar features a plaque, made by the Bezalel Workshop, out of brass, Jerusalem, Israel; 1910-14. Looks like a plate rather than a 'plaque'. Interesting design. The 2nd pic features a Torah shield, made by J.M. van Kempen, out of silver, Voorschoten, Netherlands; 1918. Pretty plain looking, but interesting to see such an old one. (Although, they've featured much older ones.) The last pic features Torah finials, made by Hedde Buys, out of silver, Netherlands; 1866. Interesting they don't know where exactly in Netherlands it comes from. Finials go over the top of the scroll on the staves that keep it together. They're ornaments that can take many different shapes. Some of the old ones were shaped as stylized pieces of fruit. Like as apples or pomegranates. They tend to have bells, too. This one seems intricate and delicate. The pieces of silver look so thin. Cool looking pattern. I like to see the really old stuff, too.
The month-long holidays are: National Baked Beans Month, National Grilling Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, National Blueberries Month, National Honey Month, National Horseradish Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun.
Seattle Pride was interesting. It was a hot day, and there were a lot of people. When we first got to the area we were told to meet up at, our group wasn't there. Eventually we caught up with a couple of the people who were in it, and they said they were starting quite a ways up a hill from where we were. We then bumped into a couple more people who were going to be in our group, too. We decided to go somewhere to eat before meeting up with the group. I had gotten something from the ferry, and hadn't eaten it yet. But, I went along with everyone to a cafe that was connected to a fancy looking hotel. After we talked a bit, and the people we met up with ate, Dad and I decided to watch the parade.
We decided we'd just wait for our group to make its way to where we were. Had the chicken Caesar wrap that I got from the ferry then, since there was a place to sit. It was pretty good.
The parade was being broadcasted live, so we actually could watch it on our iPhones. Kind of funny to be there, and watch the beginning that way.
I took a ton of pics when the parade started to finally move. Very interesting floats, people, and groups. A bit more commercialized than I'd like, and probably some people that were watching felt similar. They kept giving out things, and a lot of the groups seemed to have nothing to do with Pride or the theme. They didn't even have Pride related swag. Not even rainbow colored stuff. There weren't very many like this, but the ones that were kind of felt out of place.
I was surprised by how much nudity there was. I'm ok with it, just seemed, at the very least, uncomfortable for some. The nude bicyclists looked especially painful to see.
They had interesting body paint, at least.
When our group made it to where we were, we joined them. They did kind of a joint thing with a local community college. A couple of the people from the group were also apart of the college's group, so it worked out well that way. I think in total there were 7 members that were there. 5 of us holding up the banner and behind/next to it, and 2 with the college. Kind of a small turnout, but not bad. I started off holding one of the corners of the banner. The group tended to want it too far to one side, and I couldn't stand that. So, I asked Dad to do it. I just waved, smiled, and danced a bit. Hugs and high fives are a bit much for me with that many people. Some of the members were doing those. Plus, I'm a little anxious in those situations that I'll have a higher chance of getting sick from it.
I am taking an immunosuppressant. I think I did come down with a slight cold afterwards.
I was a little tired by the end of the parade, but I wanted to look at the booths a bit. Had to drink one of the cans of soda before I did so, because I was thirsty. Thought it would help with electrolytes as well. Tasted like pixie sticks.
We only went to one booth. It was a flag one. I saw they had two different sizes for the flag that most likely represents me now. They didn't have an online shop, and texted me their phone number and address. If I really want that sort of flag, I might look online instead, but it was nice of them anyways. After that, we went on the monorail, and to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was really good.
I recently came out on facebook as asexual, or also referred to as ace. That was the one I wasn't sure if I'd say on here from last time. I had a really positive response.
Lots of 'love' and 'like' reactions. Quite a lot of nice comments. I did notice that some people probably just ignored it, which is fine. Interesting at the same time, though. Makes me wonder what they thought. If they were negative about it, then it's good they didn't 'react' or 'comment'. But, I think many people don't know what that means. If that's the case, that's fine, too. I might post ace-related things on facebook in the future. Already following a few pages related to it on fb now.
Asexuals simply do not experience sexual attraction to anyone. This realization can take a while, considering the person themselves wouldn't know what they're 'lacking' at first. I liked the analogy, I read recently, about not having a sense of smell. Someone who could smell kept spraying perfume in the one who couldn't smell's face. Thinking it would 'change' them. Obviously, it didn't, but got really annoying for the one without that sense of smell. The one who could smell said that one day you'll be able to smell this beautiful smell. Another one equated sex to a donut. The asexual wouldn't think about it or ask for it, until it's put in front of them. They may or may not take it. It doesn't look that great. They may like it if they try it, but it'll just be like every other dessert. Doesn't change the fact that they won't crave/desire it. They could live without the donut for the rest of their lives. There are some sex-repulsed aces, and there are sex-positive. I might be sex-positive for everyone else, but slightly repulsed when it comes to myself. Somewhat of a mix with myself, I guess. It's also a bit difficult when society seems to be hypersexualized for someone who's ace. (It's in movies, books, other media, you're strongly encouraged to do it at some point, etc.) Kind of alienating.
Many aces go by their romantic orientation when it comes to dating. Everyone, not just aces, has some form of this, too. Many might be mismatched and not know it. I'm still unsure exactly what my romantic orientation is. I think I'm hetero-romantic (also written as one word, or het-rom). I have a strong attraction towards men, but I tend to not think too much about dating or care that often. I did really like the romantic side when I had a boyfriend in the past, but I don't feel the need to seek it when I'm not in a relationship. So, I might be a bit demi-hetero-romantic. Demi meaning being only into the romantic stuff if you have a very strong bond with that person first. There's a 'sexual' version for aces that won't be sexual until an extremely close bond is formed, called demisexual. So, I don't know. It's interesting, though. Get to know more about myself this way, too. I definitely don't think I'm aromantic. This is when you don't experience romantic attraction to anyone. I think if I was, it'd be even harder for me. There are other types of attraction, which is very interesting. I wouldn't go into that much for labeling myself, but maybe it's helpful for some.
Apparently a lot of people can relate to me on AVEN's forums. (AVEN: the Asexual Visibility and Education Network.) That makes me feel a bit better.
I was in denial for years, but I'm starting to accept it. Feeling a bit happier because of it. I also started reading a book introducing asexuality. (It's actually free and online! Yay!
) I can relate to a lot of it so far. This will be discussed during a book club called Rainbow Reads at the end of the month at a local library. It's basically a book club centered on LGBT books. I'm thinking of going. There might be other aces there. Although, it'd be interesting if I'm the only one. I might become the token ace...That's scary.
I'll be marching with the local Pride group in a 4th of July parade. Last year they had a ton of different flags people could choose to wave as they marched. Maybe they'll have the ace flag. That'd be awesome!
I don't remember if they did last year. I know there was a bi flag. They tend to get marginalized in the greater LGBT community as well. Even though the 'B' is for Bisexual. Although, our 'A' is even more so. The ace flag is black- for asexual, grey- for grey or demi, white- for sexual, and purple- for community. An interesting mix. I like that it includes everyone, and brings them together as a 'community'. If they do have it, I might take a pic of it and post it to facebook.
I might go to the local Pride Fest on the 16th, too. It will be at a park. There will be music, drag, food vendors, and booths. I've gone to it once before. It's nice. I wonder if there will be an ace info booth or something. (Now that I'm more aware of it.) I know there's a Seattle group, but it'd be interesting if someone was there for it. Also, would be cool to meet other aces. If they're not there, it can still be fun and interesting to go to. I really like the idea of Pride as a whole, anyways. I came close to crying when I was watching the parade in Seattle. I don't really know why, but it was amazing to see so many people just being able to feel free to be themselves.
Maybe they were happy tears?
Finished watching Ansatsu Kyoushitsu or Assassination Classroom's second (and last, apparently) season. It was a really emotional end. Actually teared up a bit. I think if people had seen the second to last episode, and didn't feel anything, than something's wrong. The last episode was about what happens to them after the class graduated junior high. Was interesting to see their 'future selves'. I really had hoped it hadn't ended the way it did, but I think they were hinting at it not ending well. I won't spoil the ending too much more than that. It was a good series, though. I might watch the live-action movies in the future, too. Although, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around seeing a live-action version. There seemed to be things they could only do in the anime/manga. I also saw a promo pic, and they seemed to have cut Nagisa's hair and changed the color. They changed the hair color of many of the others, as well. Nagisa's hair was a semi-important part. The reason why it was long, and why he would tie it up, kind of affected his personality and background story. Oh well, maybe it'll still be interesting.
Mood:
The holiday starts tonight, and ends tomorrow night. 'Tu' stands for 2 Hebrew letters that add up to 15. (Gematria is a numerology based on Hebrew letters. Certain meanings can be derived from it.) It falls on the 15th of the month of Shevat. (That's where the 'Tu' comes from.) 5776 is the year we're in on the Jewish calendar. It's also known as the New Year of the Trees. People celebrate it by eating fruits and nuts, planting trees, and having special seders. Seder lit. means 'order', but is also a special ritual meal. You go through symbolic foods/drinks in order. Many people are familiar with the Passover seder. For this one, you go through the seasons, try at least a certain amount of fruits/nuts from certain categories, drink at least 4 cups of wine (or juice, if you're like me), etc. Basically showing appreciation of nature.This seder has its roots in Kabbalah and it's having a pretty recent revival. Many people refer to this holiday as the Jewish Arbor Day.
Started tapering down the prednisone last Thursday. I was feeling more and more antsy or jittery, and very sleepy. Sometimes at the same time. Which is a weird feeling. That's gotten a bit better since I went down a pill. My nausea is a lot better, and most of the time it doesn't pop up. I think it's mostly when I eat too fast, now. I still occasionally have joint pain. Not as bad as before, though. I still feel a strange pain in my chest. The same one since I started taking it. I don't think it's a really big thing, and maybe that will go down as I taper more off of it, too. It might have to do with my stomach. I don't know.
They did say it can cause stomach pain, but I'm not used to this kind. I have felt a weird muscle pain. I'm not sure how to describe it.I thought one of the times it felt really bad, my upper right thigh was cramping up horribly. No amount of movement changed it. Lasted for a while. It didn't really have a 'piercing' sort of pain, like I would have with cramps. It felt deeper and like it was searing. I've been getting similar pain more often in my upper right arm. Not as intense. I usually notice it before going to bed. I've read that it might affect people's muscles. So, I guess I'll just have to see what happens over time. Also, as I went down a pill, I noticed that I'm getting more headaches. Took me a while to fall asleep last night, because it just wouldn't ease up.
My gastroenterologist wanted me to schedule an actual physical appointment with her for in a couple of weeks. I say physical, because all the appointments since the end of July have been over the phone. It's a trek to get over to that clinic. So, I thought I might try to make one for the beginning of next month, and called them. They said the closest available appointment would be in mid-March. She's apparently very popular.It's quite a ways out, so they said they'd confer with her nurses to see if there could be a closer date. A couple hours later I got a voicemail from them. They said they made an appointment time for me on January 25th. At least a couple of things wrong with this.
First, they made my appointment for me, and told me I had to confirm it. I wasn't sure if they threw out the other appointment I had made. They could have just suggested the date, or said call us back we might have a better time. Also, this would make it earlier than even my gastro wanted it to be. So, I called back. The person on the other end was very apologetic, and switched the appointment date to the same March one again. Not sure how my gastro's going to take it. She might be used to that sort of thing anyways. Especially with how popular she seems.
I have a few things that I might want to bring up while I'm there. It might just be easier in person with some of it. I noticed for a while after I lost so much weight, that my abdomen/belly is going down at a slower rate than everything else. This scared me at first, knowing about Mom's abdominal tumor. I know it wasn't the same, but still scared me.
The sit-ups have been helping a bit. Another sign it's not what she had. I noticed about a week ago, that when I turn to the side and look in a mirror, my spine seems to do a weird 's' thing. (Or, something similar.) I never had problems with scoliosis as a kid. We were tested each year, and I was fine every time. But, right where I see the most 'belly' or thicker part, my spine seems to be a lot more concave. I'm actually getting partially defined abs, because of all the sit-ups. So, it was interesting to see. It almost seems like my spine is pushing that stuff out, and making it appear that I have more of a belly than I do. Finding this out at first, I thought it was very interesting, and almost reassuring in a way. But, once I thought about it more, it seems like it sounds a bit serious. I've heard that IBD can mess with your bones in general, possibly stripping away nutrients from it. They can become more brittle this way, too. Some meds for it can actually dissolve bone. So, this got me a bit more worried. I'll bring this up then. It might not be a big deal, but at least she might look into it.
Another thing I want to bring up: do I really have Crohn's or do I have Ulcerative Colitis? Everything seems to point to Crohn's, including the colonoscopy/endoscopy. Except for that one IBD blood test that indicated I had UC. She told me that test can be inaccurate or produce false positives. So, I want to know for sure.I know that there can be Crohn's that just affects the colon, and UC only affects the colon. The only difference with these, really, is that one (Crohn's) affects more layers of it than the other. Also, Crohn's might be in more patches, rather than one section. If someone with UC has their colon taken out, they're a lot more likely to stay in remission for the rest of their lives. With Crohn's, it might travel, and slow the progression of the disease. This is at least what I've learned so far. According to the colonoscopy/endoscopy, my stomach and part of my duodenum were slightly affected as well. (Not nearly as much as my colon.) This would be more of an indicator of Crohn's. A lot of the treatments are the same, at least. I just would like a more definitive feel/answer for it. Might not get one, but I at least want to try and see. I might ask for a barium x-ray (I think) of my small intestines. Sometimes that helps with narrowing it down. They can't get to the small intestines with the colonoscopy/endoscopy. They can pretty much get to everywhere but that. Or, she may bring up that type of thing herself at the appointment. That might be partly why she wanted to see me in person, too.
So, I don't know.
I finished figuring out descriptions for my nightmare anthology of short stories, Sweet Endless Terror. I realized I wanted to have more of the description down before I sent it off to be published. I'm actually getting pretty excited about it. Just the idea that I'm going to publish a 2nd book is pretty cool to me!It might take a while for it to be fully approved by both review phases. The first one doesn't take long, and it converts the book into multiple ebook formats. I think they dub it the 'meat grinder'. After it passes that, it's available through the Smashwords catalog. The second phase is manual and more in depth. After it's approved through that (it usually takes a couple of weeks for new books), it goes into their 'premium' catalog and gets distributed almost everywhere. Like I mentioned before, I'm thinking of having it as a pre-order first before it goes 'live'. They go through the review processes slightly differently, but you still have to be approved by both in the end. So, I'll see how that goes.
For Shabbat, I did the same thing I did last time. I stayed off of electronics, and started/ended it on time. It still felt good.Kind of refreshing in many ways. I read about a third of Sanctuary by Faye Kellerman, Friday night. It's a much thicker book than the last one I read from the series. I just started it that night. It's really good, and I didn't want to stop reading it, but I started to get really sleepy at a certain point.
I like this one more than the last one, too. The killer's identity is a lot more hidden, and you don't know what they're thinking. With the last one, Day of Atonement, they kept going back and forth between the detectives/family's perspective, and the killer's/kidnapped kid's perspective. It was slightly annoying at times.
This one's a lot more straightforward, and it feels like there's more mystery this way. So far a wealthy family of 4 went missing. The mother and father had been found, and were killed and buried in the mountains close to home. The 2 sons are still missing. Something seemed off about the home, too. Another family, don't know if they are related with the current case, decided to stay with Peter and Rina. (Peter's the main detective in the series, and Rina's his wife. She occasionally helps out. Especially when it involves the orthodox Jewish community.) It was a mom and her 5 kids. They were trying to take a vacation away from the dad, since he was acting strangely. The dad was a diamond dealer. Same as the father in the current case. He was killed near his home, and stuffed in a locker. As soon as Peter heard about this the mom and kids disappeared. The car they had rented had stopped on a freeway, and had slashed tires. There was no one inside when Peter investigated. It's interesting that it might be related. I hope they're not dead, too.
It was also a special Shabbat called: Shabbat Shirah or Shabbat of Song. Both the Torah and Haftarah portions have songs in them. The Torah one looks really interesting in the actual scroll. It's stylized a bit more with wide spaces in between each line. This one's the song sung by the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea, and the Egyptians drowning in it. The Haftarah one has the Song of Deborah. Both of these are pretty violent. In the Passover seder, when we're going over the story, it's bittersweet when the Egyptians are defeated. Basically happy that we're free, but disturbed that anyone died. But, in this part of the Torah, there seemed to be no sorrowful response to it. Maybe the rabbis elaborated on it for the seder. Or, maybe that comes up later...
The Deborah one was just very blunt. Some people observe Shabbat Shirah by singing more songs, and playing tambourines.
Read and studied from the Guide for the Perplexed by Maimonides. Maimonides is always interesting, but the type with this book is really small. Might need a magnifying glass next time...
The first part was on the concept that we're made in the image of G-d. It's not that we physically look like him. I tend to refer to G-d as him, because I'm used to it. But, many refer to him as her, as well. Some have other pronouns. Just depends on how people want to refer to him. According to Maimonides, it's our intellect. We have the ability to create, think, study the world, etc. That's how we're alike. I've always liked that idea, too.
Havdalah was a bit easier this time.Might be because I'm getting more used to doing it on my own. I'm noticing that the candle burns up pretty quickly. Not exactly surprising, considering it has multiple wicks. A bit sad, because I got it in Israel.At least it's being used now.
I started the 2nd season of Haikyuu on Friday. Interesting start so far. Also, the 2nd season of Ansatsu Kyoushitsu or Assassination Classroom started recently. It was really good during its first season. Started watching a brand new anime a couple of weeks ago called Divine Gate. It looks promising. A bit much all at once right now, though. (Kind of similar to Kekkai Sensen that way. They hit you with a bunch of things, and then you understand more as you go along.) Fairy Tail started a new arc called Fairy Tail Zero. It's about the beginning of the guild, Fairy Tail. I like the founder, Mavis, a lot. She's very intelligent, unique, positive, had a horrible childhood, believes in fairies, tends to not wear shoes, looks ethereal, tough, and more. She spent a good chunk of her life virtually alone, except for one friend, on in island. So far this arc has been interesting, too. The current Shogun arc in Gintama has been amazing!
Really high quality, awesome fights, nice and short flashbacks, very touching, the humor is still there (although toned down a bit), lots of surprises, and more. It seems to be one of their best arcs so far. I think it'll end during the next episode. Should be interesting to see what happens with it afterwards.
Started a manga called 6 no Trigger, or Trigger of 6 on Monday. (Some translate it to 6 Trigger.) It has a very interesting concept behind it, but has been violent, too. Some of the violent ones can be good. As long as there's a reason behind it. This one's about an assassin, named Tsubame, who shares his body with 3 other people. They switch control of him by switching to different mechanical arms. His appearance changes with each one, too. One of them is a quiet little kid named Penguin, who has amazing sniper skills. Another one's named Washi, and he has a huge gattling gun crafted to his shoulder to mow down his enemies. And, the last one's a woman named Suzume who wields dual pistols. Tsubame prefers rifles and martial arts. Should be interesting to find out how Tsubame got that way. It's a relatively short manga, but should still be interesting.
Started the manga, Asklepios on Friday. It seems interesting, too. An order has been sent out to hunt down the existence of an Asklepios, a Greek demon G-d of medicine, whom the Church believes is practicing unorthodox methods. Buzz is the head of a family of doctors (I think he's the last one), and the Church believes his family are those demons. So, he's gone into hiding, and has helped people silently along the way. Every time he helps people they sing his praises, and he immediately runs away. He thinks the Church is always out to get him, so he wants to keep a very low profile. He's terrified of the officers that are sent by them to the towns he's stayed at. He also refused to do surgery until someone showed up to protect him, and got shot. She wants him to become more visible, and boldly help as many people as he can. Apparently his family has interesting medical abilities. They can monitor people's vital signs just by looking at them. Buzz seems very skittish, but that's to be expected. This one also seems to be short.
Also, went to a town hall meeting about the trees that were being torn done in the greenbelt behind us. It was more like a demonstration/q and a thing. A few charts displayed with people to explain, a huge layout of the roads for the neighborhood and area, many officials around those explaining things, and people asked them questions and voiced their concerns. Interesting to see the house blown up like it was, to have a better view of what's behind us, and to see what they plan to do. The mayor was there and talked a bit to us. She had similar concerns. She couldn't be apart of the project, because she lived within the area. But, she can relay concerns, suggest things, etc. now. They do plan to tear down all of the greenbelt behind us. There's going to be a straight long road behind it. The mayor said she'll suggest that they put a fence up on the side that faces the new road. Beyond that road, in the future, there's going to be a new development. They said it'll take a few years for the project to finish. A lot of people seemed concerned about it. Many thought it was inevitable, but still find something wrong with it. Some are concerned they'll end up being flooded. The wood piles that I thought they were going to burn last week, are being turned into mulch instead. That's a lot better for everyone. I wonder if they'd be giving some of it away to the neighborhood? There were also about 4 different kinds of cookies, and water bottles at the meeting. So, yay! Calm people down with cookies and water.
I got to playing my clarinet this past week, too. Felt good to get back to it. I'm getting closer to finishing the original character expression meme of Junko, from my first novel. Studied a couple more kanji and their compounds. Translated more of the You Maga article. This time it's about what parents should make for school lunches, if anything.
Mood:
Hope people who celebrate it had a great one!To people from everywhere else, I hope it was still a good day! I marched in a local parade with the LGBT section as an ally. They lumped both the Pride and Trans groups together. Kind of nice. Seemed more inclusive this way.I was one of the designated candy people. My job was to hand out candy to little kids. Specifically Starbursts. One of my faves, too...
(I was able to keep some for myself.) The kids were going nuts over it. I might have been a little too generous with it at the beginning. Probably another reason why some of them came running over. The crowd cheered for the group loudly. It was really cool sounding. By the end, I was extremely sweaty. Didn't help that it was really hot out...
It was nice seeing people I knew in the group, and others I saw along the way. It was pretty fun, and an interesting way to celebrate the 4th.
This is my wallpaper for July. It features the first generation boss and guardians from Hitman Reborn. Kind of a chibified-cat version of them. Giotto aka Primo or the boss is the one with the yellowish hair. G, he's their Storm Guardian, is to the left of him in the front. Ugetsu, the Rain Guardian, is to the right of Giotto. Knuckle, the Sun Guardian, is right behind G. Daemon, the Mist Guardian, is to the right of Knuckle. Lampo, the Lightning Guardian, is next to Daemon and is the last one in the box. Alaude, the Cloud Guardian, is outside of it. Makes sense, because the Cloud Guardians are known to be aloof, hate crowds, and tend to help the family out on their own. Almost like they're outside parties, helping only when it interests them. The text on the box translates as: Please pick up. I needed something cute as a wallpaper with what's been going on with me lately.
My Paris calendar features their summer fair. There's a garden that stretches from the Louvres to Place de la Concorde. There are green metal chairs scattered throughout for people to relax, watch the fountain, or people watch. There are sculptures, fountains, and many different kinds of flowers and trees there. From the end of June to the end of August the garden is host to a summer fair. Which is complete with rides, games, barbecues, a climbing wall, trampolines, merry-go-rounds, and cotton candy. Sounds like it'd be fun to go to.
My Jewish calendar's main pic features 4 spice boxes, made by J.M. van Kempen & Zn. Silver; Voorschoten, Netherlands; 1920. We use spice boxes for Havdalah. Havdalah is a short ceremony marking the end of Shabbat every Saturday night. They look like they're made of silver, and I can't tell if they meant that with the 'Silver' part.It's not the normal way of writing it out. Anyways...they're pretty and 2 have Dutch written on them, and the other 2 have Hebrew on them. The 2nd pic features a Shabbat lamp, made by Hendrik Dauw. Made out of silver; Leeuwarden; 1783. Kind of looks the same as the one from last time. Cool to see one that old, too. The last pic features a circumcision chair, made out of wood and velvet; Utrecht, Netherlands; 1820. To be honest, I didn't think they had a special 'chair' for it. I haven't gone to too many bris ceremonies, though. I think I've only gone to one or two when I was little, and nearly passed out while they were doing it.It can be controversial, as well. (Even within the Jewish community.) There's a blessing written out in gold Hebrew letters on the chair. It doesn't look like they know who made it. It's cool that it looks like it stayed in relatively good shape over the years.
The month-long holidays are: National Baked Bean Month, National Bison Month, National Grilling Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, National Blueberries Month, National Horseradish Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun.
Wow. Last month was really dismal with the amount of posts here...Again, I hope to do more in the future. The heat the last couple of weeks has been oppressive. Hard to go on my desktop in such heat.Or, much of anything. It's been averaging around 90 degrees. Sometimes going into the mid 90s. (There may have been a couple of days where it hit 100, but I wasn't sure if I should trust those sources...) That isn't normal for us. I could see it maybe being more common in someplace like Arizona, not here. Looking at some of the international temps, we were hotter than places like Rome at times.
Another reason I haven't been on much is because my health stuff got worse.
It got so bad that I had to go to Urgent Care. They ran a few tests while I was there. Then, the next day they scheduled an ultrasound for my leg. Good news is I don't have clots.
The other test results have not been so great.
The doctor that saw me at Urgent Care gave me some antibiotics, since he wasn't sure if I had a UTI. Those antibiotics made me incredibly sick. I was throwing up, had a fever, dizzy, etc. Made me more miserable than I already was.
Luckily, after calling the nurse hotline, they told me I could stop taking it. I was fine after a day without it.
I also suddenly had a nasty looking rash on my heel that was spreading, and there was a lot of swelling around the area. They immediately made an appointment for someone to look at it as soon as I called the nurse hotline, again. He looked at the rash and swelling, and was very concerned. He took pics of the rash, and gave me a better antibiotic. One that didn't have the horrible side effects I had with the other one. The rash is gone, and the swelling is nearly gone. The area that was swollen still feels like it was badly bruised, but at least it's healing up.
My new doc was so worried about the test results, she immediately called me over the phone about it. I like how 'involved' with it she's been with it so far. Seems like she's doing everything she can to help me. She recommended that I start a no dairy, limit wheat, and no soy diet. Then, she referred me to a gastroenterologist. The gastroenterology department called me early the next morning to schedule an appointment. I didn't even get the chance to call them yet. They were quick.I tried the diet my doc told me to do, but it made me feel worse after 2 days. So, I stopped it.
The gastroenterologist who saw me was very nice, honest, and listened to everything I had to say. The only problem was, since she had such a thick accent, I occasionally had a hard time hearing her. Not all that often though. She ran a few blood tests, and ordered an endoscopy and colonoscopy for me. Endoscopy is going in from the mouth end and going all the way down to part of the duodenum. It's just after the stomach. The colonoscopy is going in from the butt end and going through all of the colon. That leaves out the small intestines, but that's harder to get to. I think they have to do some sort of imaging, like x-rays in order to get the small intestines. They wanted it done right away, and the closest opening was 2 days later. Which means I had to start their special diet right away. Which later made my stomach feel horrible what with throwing up so often with the antibiotic that didn't agree with me, my regular doc's diet recommendation, going back to my normal diet, and then this. It felt like I was all mixed up, dizzy, and irritated.
They wanted me to start a low-protein diet right away. The next day, I could only have clear liquids. I also saw my new doc for the first time that day. She seemed overwhelmed. Totally understandable. After my appointment, I had to grab the 'gravilyte' from the pharmacy. It's a very strong laxative. Huge amount of it, too.
I was told to drink half of it the night before, and the other half in the morning a few hours before the appointment. My appointment was for pretty early in the morning. I was cool with the first glass of the stuff. Then, I suddenly threw up while I was just starting the 2nd glass.
Afterwards, I tried to continue, thinking maybe after I got rid of some of the nausea I'd be fine. I threw up again. Not knowing what to do, I called the nurse hotline again. The doctor on call there ordered one anti-nausea pill for me, and said after a half hour of taking it I should continue trying to drink the laxative. I felt a bit better, but still had a very hard time downing that stuff. I stayed up until 3am trying to drink it all.
Thought if it was going to take me so long, what would be the point to stop and continue only a few hours later. I got to just over half of it, and couldn't keep my eyes open.
I was worried that they wouldn't be able to do the procedure, because I didn't finish the laxative. Turned out having about a month and a half of diarrhea, going on a clear liquids diet, and having half of the laxative was more than enough. I was so clean my gut was making a lot of noises.They said it does that when there's nothing there to work on. It was funny and a bit painful at the same time. I was put under for it. There's no way I was going to stay awake for it. I started to wake up about halfway through, but they just increased the meds for me, and I went under again pretty quickly. I wasn't very aware of things, just lots of machine noise, some talking, and feeling like I was in a jet.
They said my stomach and duodenum were mildly irritated. My entire colon was very inflamed. They took several biopsies of each area, too. They gave me an anti-inflammatory med for the time being until they know more. I have to take 9 a day for at least a month. They're huge pills. At least they don't smell.The doctor who worked on me, said I could take all the pills at once or space them out. It won't matter. So, I've been having 3 of them 3 times a day like it's suggested on the bottle. Much easier for me to handle. The bottles are huge, too. Kind of like big towers. I've felt quite a bit better with them already. I still am having problems, but it's not as bad as before.
My gastroenterologist called me about a week later. She said from the biopsy results, and the notes by the other doc, it looks like I either have Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease. To narrow it down, I have to do another blood test. She doesn't want me to do it until a couple of days before our next appointment. And, she wants that appointment to be scheduled for the end of this month. So, I have to wait a while. Plus, she'll be able to better see how the test result values have changed over time this way. At least we know it's one of those. She's leaning more towards Crohn's, because I have a family member who has it. Although, he's somewhat of a distant family member. Apparently someone else in our family history had it a while back, but I didn't hear about it before. Plus, having my stomach and duodenum be mildly irritated is another sign. Some of the symptoms would make sense for it, too.
Also, since it sprung up suddenly and with the symptoms I've had, it most likely has nothing to do with my diet. Nothing's changed with it, and I try to eat relatively healthy. I was even more so before it all started. (It changes a bit when I'm sick and nervous, but the diet itself has not changed.) A lot of people were suggesting diets to me when I posted on facebook, at the time before my doc called me and we knew there was a form of colitis. The people on facebook that suggested those diets had just the colitis issue pop up, and it was brought on by eating certain foods. So, it's understandable that they'd try to help me. But, looking online on info about what I might have (either UC or CD), those diets may have harmed me more.
I'm glad they found something that helps them though.
Since I've been losing weight pretty quickly with what I have, I might have to add more calories to my diet. Not to mention add more nutrients to it, considering a lot of them are just going right through me. I might have to have more salts, in order to balance what I lose and absorb. (Already having at least 1 low-calorie Gatorade bottle a day. 2 if I sweat a lot, or my gut's really bad.) I'm losing proteins and fats, too. So, in this way I might have to calibrate a bit in order to keep being healthy. I don't think I should take away too many things, or limit things more. Like I would have in any of those diets. I always try to have a balanced diet, so this shall be interesting if I want to continue that. I'll ask the gastroenterologist about it, and I might need a nutritionist who specializes with people who have it. I'm kind of glad I'm losing weight with it. It's just going too fast, and not in the best and most balanced way.I'd get really nervous if I dip below the low end of my average body weight.
She said I'll have to be on more meds in order to feel 'normal' again. I most likely will have to for the rest of my life. I already take one that's like that. I just don't want to have to take a lot of meds. I realized recently that I might not need to take my omeprazole, but I should go through that with one of my docs and ease off of it. Stopping it suddenly won't be good. She said some of the meds for either UC or Crohn's have a lot of side effects. She said we can go over them in detail during our appointment. She mentioned one of the meds only had a couple of side effects, and I might try that first. I've read what sort of treatment people have to use when the meds don't work, and it's kind of scary.
I really hope mine's easily controlled with the meds.
She also said that she'll give me more info on what I have during that appointment. Plus, she'll hand me some brochures about it. Seems like it's going to be a lot of info thrown at me all at once. Yay!
Finished watching Magi, and Ansatsu Kyoushitsu or Assassination Classroom. I really liked Ansatsu Kyoushitsu! I don't think I liked it much at the very beginning. But, it certainly gotten better over time. Another season is scheduled for the Fall (I think). Yay! There's more!
Magi was just ok. I had a hard time finishing it. I had put it on hold for a while, because it was getting a bit stale. I'm glad I went back and finished it, though. There's apparently one or two other seasons. I most likely won't watch them. Kind of felt like I was being dragged through the mud. I really liked the concept, though.
The finale for Kekkai Sensen or Bloodline Battlefront is coming up soon. They've postponed it for about 2 weeks now. I want to know what happens!
They left at such a cliffhanger, too. I've really liked this show! I hope it gets another season. It's rivaling Gintama for me. That's saying a lot. Gintama's still my top fave anime, but KS is getting close. KS's funky, hilarious, has awesome fights, emotional, plot seems pretty unique, each character has such personality, etc. I'll miss it if this will truly be the end.
I also finished reading Sacred and Profane by Faye Kellerman. Started the next book in the Decker/Lazarus series we had, which is technically the 4th book not 3rd. This one's called Day of Atonement. The beginning is apparently centered around the High Holy Days. That starts with Rosh Hashanah and goes through to Yom Kippur. (Yom Kippur is aka the Day of Atonement.) The biggest holidays on the Jewish calendar. I love that she has Jewish elements along with the detective/mystery aspect. It's not a 'religious' book, but it tends to center around an orthodox community. Even if the case doesn't involve anyone from the community, Decker fell in love with Lazarus who is Orthodox and the more he knew about Judaism, the more connected he felt. He's technically Jewish since his 'birth' family was Jewish and they were apparently Orthodox too, but he was adopted by a Baptist family. His birth parents wanted him to go with another Jewish family, but the paperwork got mixed up. Anyways, apparently in this one it starts off with Decker and Lazarus' honeymoon. He apparently hasn't officially converted yet, but has become observant and is studying with the head rabbi from Lazarus' community. Apparently, there's going to be an Orthodox guy who joins up and learns about killing from a serial killer. He ends up becoming more secular too. The first book was about a rape that happened at a mikveh or ritual bath house. The second was about 2 girls who were found in the woods burned alive and put out in the open. Lazarus' sons had found them and were scarred by what they saw. They were a pretty complex case, and Decker was under a lot of pressure. It's usually pretty heavy, but the way it's written, keeps you guessing and there are some funny moments. It's rather 'earthy' too.
