stress reduction technique | A Thankfully Imperfect Woman

Mar 25

Our Microwave Has a Cell Phone

No, we don’t have a new-fangled microwave that actually lets you talk to someone via phone. But our microwave’s cell phone has become quite the joke in our house.

It all started with one very stubborn husband who refused to carry HIS cell phone with him! Well, actually, this phone used to be the house phone. You see we replaced our land line with an extra cell phone, just in case someone (namely Tim or our youngest) were home alone and needed to get in contact with someone, or vice versa.

But then Gabi grew up, as children do…and she started playing high school sports. Late games meant late phone calls for late car rides home. And so, she got her own phone.

This, of course, meant the only person without one in this family of 5 was my dear, loving, stubborn husband.

Now mind you, I do understand that he talks all day to his students and he’s on the phone quite a bit when he’s doing his Athletic Director job. (Some of those phone calls are not the most pleasant. Him being the rule enforcer that he has to be…rules made by the School Board and the State High School Leaque. A few people aren’t happy with these rules and of course he being the messenger, gets to enjoy all the complaints.)

So, again, I do understand why it’s not always a bad thing to be phoneless.

HOWEVER,

There are times I wish I could get ahold of him without having to track him down through someone else or a few someone elses!

But alas, he keeps fighting it.

And so, ‘his’ phone stays on top of the microwave.

Last night it got SO ridiculous that when his phone rang, he asked Gabi to answer the microwave phone!

One more call on his phone last night and we all yelled “The microwave is ringing!”

By this time we were all laughing. OK, I was shaking my head, rolling my eyes and laughing.

Someday my husband will carry HIS phone.

Someday.

It may be years from now, when everyone else has switched over to some new phone replacing invention…

In the meantime, our microwave has a cell phone.

Patty O

Mar 24

3 Comments

A Clear Head and a Good Heart

My daughter Sam is in the Studio Arts program in college and this is one of her recent creations. Isn’t it AMAZING!?!

Little did she know that when she gave it to me it was incredibly significant to what I was going through.

I’d been having some health issues and the doctors had decided that I needed a stress-echocardiogram to look for heart damage and a brain/inner ear MRI to look for a tumor. Needless to say we didn’t want to tell the kids until we had definite answers…positive or negative.

I was scared to death.

I cried as I showed my husband the print and he nodded, knowing just what I was thinking.

He accompanied me to the tests and the doctor visits after, thank God, because I was a mess. I’d always been the caregiver – dealing with doctors on behalf of parents, kids, other loved ones, and friends. But this…this was about me, and I knew I couldn’t do it alone.

Once we received the news that everything was good, we felt like a huge weight was lifted. We didn’t have all the answers we needed, but we sure had some fantastic negative results!

We did receive one answer (to the loud hum, aka tinnitus, and hearing and off-balance issues I was having): Meniere’s Syndrome in my left ear. It’s a health issue diagnosed by elimination…meaning there’s no one test that can diagnose it. It brings with it random episodes of Vertigo, a feeling of being off-balance, and sometimes permanent hearing loss. My hearing loss is permanent, but only moderate/severe to mild (I can’t hear low sounds but I can hear high-pitched sounds). It can be progressive but doesn’t cause full hearing loss, and it doesn’t usually affect the other ear. A hearing aid should help, which I hope to get this week. So if you see me walking around a store and I’m wobbly, remember I’m not drunk, it’s just the Meniere’s!

I’ve learned one thing from all this: if you have tinnitus in just one ear – get to an ENT or Audiologist right away! I’d been having the loud hum off and on for probably a year, but just figured ‘everyone gets tinnitus, don’t they?’. Wrong answer.

My other health issues will have to wait until April when we go to the Mayo Clinic for some specialized testing. In the meantime I’m just hanging out…writing a little, getting myself a new look (see the new profile photo), and reading a lot of books…and once in a while watching those crazy babies who sit and snuggle with me!

Life is good…I don’t have heart disease or a brain tumor!

Patty O

ps…Back to Sam’s art…now we can relax and have her print as a reminder of just how blessed we are. It will soon be framed and in a place of honor on our wall.

pps…Notice I didn’t say an empty head. I have too many friends that would have far too much fun with that. 🙂

Mar 22

4 Comments

Does This Look Familiar?

The best laid plans…

And then God laughs.

He’s in control…

He’s in control.

Repeat after me:

HE’S IN CONTROL!

Mar 20

6 Comments

Soakin’ In The Sun At 25 Degrees

For any of you that don’t live in Northern Minnesota – you’re going to think I’m nuts. And maybe I am! But after the coldest winter in MN history (since something like 1917) and a stretch of overcast, gloomy days – I NEEDED SUN!

I peeked out at my deck this afternoon and saw the tiniest of walkways open by the house, so I pulled open the sliding glass door and looked out. Low and behold, in what is probably the ugliest (but sunniest) outside corner of our house, was a piece of deck completely clear!

A fist pump, a ‘YES’ and a quick run to my garage for a lawn chair and I was about ready. OK, so this chair isn’t in the best shape ever with a broom handle holding the bottom together and paint on the arm. Let’s just say it’s well-worn. Besides, I love that my sister-in-law Jane made it years ago for my husband. It would aptly serve it’s purpose for today.

I quick grabbed my book and out I went.

Sitting and soaking up the sun.

The temperature outside was 25 degrees…above zero. Nothing like the many days below zero (like down to -50) we’ve had this winter!

Was I in my swimsuit? No. I opted for my yoga pants, fleece jacket and scarf.

Did I care? No.

Thank God for sunshine…warm sunshine. The kind that makes you feel alive again. That makes you realize just what a compliment the writer of the song “You Are My Sunshine” was giving as he sang it to his loved one! Yes, I am a romantic, in my mind I picture him writing as his little child peacefully drifts off to sleep.

I’m leaving my little chair there. I have high hopes for this weather. I may be a bit delusional right now considering there’s a Winter Weather Advisory out for tomorrow saying we will get more snow, but I’m leaving my little chair there.

I’ll be back little chair.

And you and I will lap up some more sunshine together.

Ahhhhhh.

You are my sunshine…my only sunshine…you make me happy…when skies are gray…you’ll never know dear…how much I love you…please don’t take my sunshine away… (she sings softly to herself as she smiles, eyes closed, face turned up into the sun).

Oh! Just in case you’re wondering, we have lots of snow left. This is what I was looking at when I didn’t have my face pointing up:

It’s the little things in life that help us survive the big things (like 6 foot snowdrifts in March with more snow on the way)…

Patty O

ps…I say it’s the ugliest outside corner of our house because, as you can see, it has the fireplace vent and the dryer vent, complete with fuzzy lint blown out – and NO I didn’t clean it up before I sat down or before I took the picture!

Mar 17

2 Comments

I’m Married to a Geek

And I’ve been married to this geek for 14 years. You’d think I would be used to this fact by now, however he always finds a way to surprise me.

I knew when we got married that he was/is this math genius, aka advanced math teacher at the local high school.

I knew that he could rattle off random facts making it hard to beat him at games like Trivial Pursuit. 80’s Music Games – forget it – he’s the King. Thank you, thank you very much…ok, he doesn’t really say that, but I couldn’t resist.

Other Geek Indicators:

– When Gabi was little he would walk her up to bed to tuck her in, and instead of singing nursery rhymes, he’d have her doing addition and subtraction problems. When I’d look at them, shaking my head, Gabi would say “What? I like it!” She’s just like HIM!

– The sad sigh that escapes his mouth when someone comments about how much they hate math. He just shakes his head and says “That’s sad.”

– The smile on his face when one of his past students comes back to school to talk to him and tells him how college math was so much easier because of what they learned in his class. From there, the conversation turns into a foreign language. There’s no ‘Oh hi, how is college going?’ They talk Pythagorean Theorems and Stokes Theorem (and yes, I had to ask Tim how to spell these terms).

– The fun he has singing the Quadratic Formula with his daughters.

– And the final straw…

Picture this…

Sunday afternoon. Tim up by the new garage door opener’s main box. Me standing by the exterior keypad.

As Tim was pushing the button on the main box, I was waiting to input the Pin. All of a sudden I realized that we hadn’t decided on what the Pin should be (I was tired, give me a break, ok?). I yelled up to him saying “What numbers should we use?” In response, he shouts out these random numbers and of course I, the ever-dutiful wife, immediately punch them in.

At this point I look back at him and asked “Why these numbers?”

He looks at me as if I’m stupid (ok, not really) and says “Because it’s … # to the third power… # to the second power and… # to the 1st power”.

To which my response was “WHAT? Why would you set it at THAT?” (My voice may have been a bit shrill at this point.)

His calm response “Because it’s easy to remember.”

{Head thunk}

“That’s not EASY to remember for me! Why couldn’t we set it with a mix of our birthdates?” (OK, by now I’m completely exasperated.)

“What if we mix up the birthdates?” He earnestly asks me.

{Mental head thunk, head thunk, head thunk…against the wall.}

“We could have just tried again the other way and had it correct!!!”

“Pfth – no, this is much easier”, he states and then smiles.

AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH! I felt like Charlie Brown lying flat on his back while Lucy held the football up in the air.

Needless to say, I have it written down and tucked in a few different places for when I need it. Whether I actually remember where I put it may be the next blog.

{sigh}

I dearly love this man, have I told you how much I love this man? I REALLY love this man.

{sigh}

Patty O

ps…for your added enjoyment, our children have tagged Tim as Sheldon and me as Penny. I even came out as Penny when I took the “Which Big Bang Theory Character are You?” test.

Sigh…at least I have a good personality. 😉