my good deed for today

Once again, I would like to direct your attention here. I won't say anything further about this, because here is quite self-explanatory.

something i miss about germany

In Germany, you can buy terribly swell stickers imprinted with the words "Bitte keine Reklame oder kostenlose Zeitungen." This means "No advertisements or free newspapers, please."

Guess where you get to place these ingenious stickers?

That's right, Gentle Reader: You get to place them ON YOUR MAILBOX.

In Germany, companies can get into trouble if your mailbox bears one of these stickers and ads and papers end up inside said mailbox anyway.

THIS PRACTICALLY ELIMINATES JUNK MAIL.

I MISS THAT.

THANK YOU.

griping about pop culture again

Today I decided that TV fads are the entertainment equivalent of a date-drug-rapist who keeps feeding you more booze after he sees that you liked the first drink.

This is only partly tongue-in-cheek. :op

i'm 17 today!

Well, the day is almost over, but I thought I'd still write a brief note to say that 17 years ago today, I became a Christian! The older I get, the more I feel like celebrating this day and not putting as much emphasis on my physical birthday.

After all, why should any congratulate me on my physical birthday? I had nothing to do with it. My mom did all the work--if anyone gets goodies on this day, she should be the one! And my dad should receive congratulations as well, since without him, I wouldn't have happened, either. ;o) As a matter of fact, both my parents deserve kudos (not just on my physical b-day, but on every day of the year!) for raising me the way they did, for being better parents than I ever gave them credit for as a kid, and for showing me what it's like to have strength and faith in God through adversity. I deserve no accolades on my physical birthday. Let it all go to my parents!

And what do I want for my spiritual birthday? Just be happy with me! No matter how crazy my life gets or how down I feel sometimes, I am always happy on a spiritual level (which has nothing to do with my emotions) because I have a relationship and intimate connection with God. That's something to celebrate every day of my life! And I am overjoyed for others to be happy with me on this day.

For today, I want to celebrate that I've been with God for 17 amazing, adventurous, and challenging years. I wouldn't trade them for anything!

P.S. As a somewhat peculiar anecdote, I'll also regale you with the tale that 17 years ago today, I threw up Mexican food and passed out. The End. ;o)

mouth boogers, revisited

In my first post regarding this disgusting dilemma, I promised an update on the mouth booger / toothpaste situation. I've been telling myself recently that I really needed to write that update (since I know you're all dying to hear whether or not my mouth lining is still sloughing dead cells with such great abandon), but I hadn't gotten around to it yet.

However, two things have served to motivate me: first of all, the gift of German toothpaste from Sophia (THANK YOU!!!) a few weeks ago, and secondly, the email I received from Doreen today, in which she expressed an interest in how my mouthbooger-problem-solving is proceeding. (Übrigens, falls ihr beide dies liest: Ihr werdet beide bald von mir persönliche Korrespondenz erhalten, denn endlich funktioniert unser Emailprogramm wieder richtig! Hurra ! Und danke, danke, danke, daß ihr an mich gedacht habt!) (Auch ein großes Dankeschön an alle anderen, die mir in letzter Zeit geschrieben haben, die aber noch keine Antwort erhalten haben. Ich werde bald zurückschreiben!)

Okay, so here's the actual update: Since my original posted complaint, I have experienced no mouth boogers! One might think that the mouth boogers read my diatribe and made haste to depart....but no, it was not my well-wielded sword (i.e. the mighty pen) that drove them away, but, instead, two--count them: TWO--American toothpastes! *gasp!*

The Rembrandt Mint toothpaste I mentioned? Works brilliantly! And Val recommended Tom's of Maine Orange Mango, which not only works splendidly but also tastes yummy! Imagine my delighted surprise when I realized that my mouth-booger days are over!

At least, they're over for now. As I've mentioned before, sometimes I've used a toothpaste for quite awhile before my mouth suddenly rebels for unknown reasons. Against that day, I am saving the Elmex/Aronal that Sophia so generously donated to the cause. That way, if my mouth does decide to reject both Rembrandt and Tom's of Maine, I can whip out my trusty German toothscrubbing pistols and blast those mouth boogers back to the oblivion whence they came!

By the way, I took Excedrin earlier, which contains a lot of caffeine, and which bears sole responsibility for what I think is the rather amusing wordiness of this post.

Thank you.

a culture shock tidbit

Below is my comment on something Allison posted in her blog:

Allison wrote: '...in the past couple days there have been a few instances when I have been waiting at a counter to either order food, ask a question, or pay for an item and I have felt totally lost in the non-order of the situation.... I was frustrated by the time someone finally acknowledged me and had the audacity to ask, "Uhh, do you need something?" (no, I just hang out here for kicks.).......A "bitte schön" would have been nice, but instead, nothing.......I just started talking, uncomfortable but not sure what else to do.'

I quoted all of that because those tidbits are *exactly* what I've been experiencing lately but haven't been able to put into words. THANK YOU, Allison!!!!! It's not that I'm demanding service....but it would be nice if the cashiers and whozits paid at least as much attention to me, the customer, as they do to each other!

Gah!

Helloooooo, culture shock, indeed. ;o)

today's migraine, revisited

The Excedrin never did seem to take effect.

However, I remembered that I still had a few essential oils remaining from the time I used them so frequently a few years back. (I stopped using them because the pure quality was so hard to find in Germany, and I couldn't afford to pay $50 in import tax every time I ordered some from the U.S.)

So a few minutes ago, I went to my stash and read the little pamphlet I have on the uses of some essential oils. I found lavender oil and peppermint oil and massaged some of each into my temples.

The relief was almost immediate. Where the pain-tension radiated outward from the center of my forehead, the cool of the peppermint radiates inward from my temples and seems to ease the pressure. As though someone were loosening that too-tight screw I mentioned in my earlier post.

The pain-tension isn't completely gone, but I am experiencing a definite relief. I'll keep using the peppermint throughout the rest of the day; perhaps it will eventually ease the pain-tension into nothingness.

migraine

Well, based on the title above, perhaps you can guess what it is that currently ails me. :o/ It started yesterday evening. I'm not sure what brought it on (I don't get these very frequently, so I'm never sure of exactly what brings them on), but it could've been too much coffee, not enough food, too much cinnamon, or a combination of any or all of those. Or something of which I've not yet become aware.

I thought that nine hours of sleep would take care of this, but it didn't. I woke up with it, and in spite of two Excedrin, I still have it. I'm hoping the Excedrin will still kick in; in the meantime, I am very frustrated and trying to stay as still as possible. My parents brought over three large bookshelves yesterday, and I was looking forward to organizing all our books today. So much for that idea. If the Excedrin does its job, perhaps I'll still be able to pursue that quest. I hope.

Perhaps you're wondering what I'm doing, blopgosting when I have a migraine. Well, I shouldn't be blopgosting, but I wanted to make note of my migrainal impressions while they're current, just for future reference:

--What pain I have is centered in my forehead, radiating out toward my temples.

--My face also hurts a bit, but this is painful pressure related to chronic sinusitis.

--There might be a connection between the sinus pain and the migraine; using nose spray seemed to lessen the pain a little bit yesterday evening.

--I don't actually have a lot of migraine pain. The migraine manifests itself more as a nearly unbearable tension behind my forehead and my eyes, as though everything behind forehead and eyes were slowly solidifying. Or like a screw being over-tightened, millimeter by millimeter.

--When I'm lying flat, I slowly start to feel better. Getting up and moving around causes me to start feeling weak and shaky and elicits an ominous churning in my stomach.

--My eyes are light-sensitive right now. They don't like direct sunlight, and they prefer not being in indirect sunlight, either. However, the indirect light doesn't cause an increase in pain, just a slight increase in that funny tense feeling.

--Speaking of stomach, I was hungry when I got up, but my appetite didn't survive past a few bites of cereal with walnuts and banana (my usual breakfast). I forced myself to eat more, so that I'd have food in my stomach when taking the Excedrin.

--Yesterday evening, I first knew the migraine was coming on when I started seeing these faint, snaky, shimmering lines around the lower edges of my vision. (I have seen these often before, but they're not always connected with pain/weird tension.)

--My sinusitis always flares up when the weather changes (whether it's changing from cold to warm or from warm to cold). I'm wondering if this migraine might also be a reaction to the radical weather changes of the last five days.

That's all for now. I'm gonna close my eyes for awhile.

boundaries

I'm thinking about how unfortunate it is that one person will often promise another person something regarding a third person's behavior. As in, Igor will promise Sam that Detlef will do such-and-such, even though Igor has not previously checked with Detlef about said action. So when ignorant Detlef doesn't do what Igor promised, Sam is disappointed in Detlef and angry with Igor; Igor is on the defensive; and poor Detlef doesn't have a clue what's going on.

Just FYI, I'm not upset about any particular situation; I'm just making some general observations based on some good conversations I had with various people today.

Anyway, the point is:

(A) We each must take responsibility for our own behavior.
(B) We each must allow others to take responsibility for their behavior.
(C) We are disrespecting ourselves and others when we don't follow (A) and (B).

Especially if you have ever been Detlef or Sam, I think you will agree with the validity of these points. You might have a problem with them if you tend more toward being an Igor. ;o)

Not trying to ruffle feathers, just notating some thoughts. ;o)

a linguistic aside

Just a couple of minor points, and then I really am going to bed:

-- Why is it that when I take my desk apart, I dismantle it,
but I do not mantle it by putting it back together again?

-- The phrase "misty-eyed" takes on a whole new meaning when one knows that "Mist" means "dung" in German. ;oD

barbeque-bolstered blatherings

So. Me, I'm up past my bedtime. Yes, shocking as I know it is, I have had a self-imposed bedtime lately. My eventual goal is to be in bed early enough, regularly enough, so as to be able to start my day no later than 7:30 a.m. Some of you, reading this, won't believe that's possible for me to accomplish. But, you naysayers, heed me well: During spring and summer of 2007, I was up nearly every weekday morning at 7:15, and outside running by 7:30. There's no reason I can't work back up to that. I've already been running three times within the last week.

I would've gone this morning, too, but the high Oklahoma wind whistling through my window deterred me. Instead, during the course of my day, I maneuvered furniture around the apartment again and dismantled, moved, and reassembled my 200 lb. desk for the third time.

What started this tangent? Oh yes, my current state of staying-up-late-ness. This evening, Ed and I moseyed across the street to try out this little barbeque joint we've been admiring over the last few weeks. It was yummy (though I'll order Ed's catfish next time instead of the processed turkey meat I so erroneously saw fit to consume), I ate too much, and now I am still digesting. My system is so weird and slow. Other people can eat a big meal and feel fine an hour later; me, I feel full and bloated and gross more than five hours later (i.e. *now*).

Sometimes, if I go to bed on a full stomach after eating too much, I wake up in the middle of the night and have one of my bizarre passing-out spells on the floor of the bathroom. The last one was....when? a few months ago, I think? It was in Dresden, anyway. Ed had to carry me to the bathroom in the middle of the night because I couldn't stand up (there was more involved here than possible loss of consciousness, but believe me, you don't want the gory details) while Randy blazed a trail for us by opening all the doors wide enough for Ed to move through quickly. Thankfully, I didn't pass out at this time

("She doesn't get eaten by the eels at this time...The eel doesn't get her. I'm explaining to you because you look nervous." ;o)

but it was only because Ed was talking to me, and the tile floor I lay on was so cold, giving me something to concentrate on. God watches over me, because I have never had one of these spells when I was alone. I don't know how I would get through one of these without someone with me, helping me stay conscious.

Anyway...I kinda try to avoid having these episodes if at all possible. ;o) At least nowadays, I have a vague inkling of a conceptual hypothesis of what might bring them on: It usually seems to be connected to digestive issues; and sometimes, specifically, to overeating in the evenings. So, a logically thinking person might assume that I would avoid overeating in the evenings. Well, I generally try to avoid overeating at all times. Especially during the evenings.

But sometimes, I am stupid. Sometimes, I forget. Times like tonight.

So here I am at one o'clock in the morning, rambling incoherently into my blog about indigestion and passing out, waiting for my body to let me know it's okay to go to bed. I think it'll need about half an hour more. Don't ask me how I know; it just feels that way.

Have fun storming the castle!

new year's resolution

I will be more connected to Jesus in 2008 than I was in 2007.

Wherever you are, I hope you'll see many blessings during the next year of your life!