rambling rosemarie

Today's challenge: function on 2 hours of sleep. I guess I could have qualified things when I prayed not to be sleepy. Something short of insomnia would have been fine. Funny, I used to function fine without sleep before I got old. Wait, maybe I got old so quickly because I didn't get enough sleep? Aging. Bah! Stuff creaks and other things rattle. My body is proof that gravity works. I move like one of those carts with the funky wheel. You know, the one you hope you won't get and when you do you try to pretend that your above noticing or being bothered by it as you force/guide it around the store? Yeah, out of a hundred good solid carts in any given store I normally get the one with the funky wheel. Thunkity thunkity, clatterbang! I guess it stands to reason that I would end up a little off my trolley in more than one way. Speaking of shopping. Years ago in a land far from here I was shopping at a Home Depot. I was in the garden center where two cashiers worked dili...

My rheumatologist is a genuinely funny man. Hes decided to scrap the drug therapies we were trying to go in an entirely different route. He knows I don't like taking drugs so when I asked him, "And what are the potential side effects to this drug vs. the potential benefits?" He was ready. After a long pause and with a pensive look on his face he said; "Side effects? You mean besides the third leg you'll sprout and the way your skin turns green? Nothing that wouldn't seem normal to you. You *are* from California, right? Yeah anything that happens shouldn't alarm you." His theory is that my pain isn't caused as much by my arthritis as it is by nerve damage that decades of untreated pernicious anemia has caused. He wants to try a drug that works by d isrupting my neurons abilities to deliver pain messages. I am becoming so sedentary I am willing to try anything that will get me back into life. Less pain? I am in. Let the disruption begin! Th...

Last night I went to bed with the bedroom window open. It was one of those incredible sleeping moments. I was treated to a cool breeze flavored with lilacs and a touch of mock orange blossoms. The night birds were trying out all of their new songs. I was genuinely spent physically and content emotionally when I lay my head on my pillow. My last thought was about it being gorgeous end to a wonderful day. Then I took an ethereal ride to a bizarre dream that would normally give me nightmares. I dreamed about doing statistical analyses of a variety of events that ranged from normal and stopped at downright embarrassing. The best part? Pearl Jam was playing a live concert for me and my cohorts as we diligently made our computations and pronouncements of validity. Why would this normally give me nightmares? I don't do math or Pearl Jam. A friend of mine tried to get me to listen to a Pearl Jam song once. The lyrics were so r aunchy they could stop the heart of a truck driving long...

My head feels like it's full of the fuzzy stuff that clings to cough drops when they come loose from their wrappings and adhere to the lining of your favorite purse. I have an annoying cough that has me momentarily tempted to check the inner recesses of my purses in the hopes of finding one such fuzzy gem. Alas, it would take far too much effort. I'll sip my tea instead and hope that the tickle at the back of my throat isn't headed to the depths of my lungs in a bronchial something or other that will shake the foundations of my house as I hack. Wouldn't it be nice if you could cough up a lung and clean it out thoroughly before replacing it? I am stressed and I am certain that a portion of my restlessness has been brought about by whatever it is that is making chest feel like someone has filled it with feathers and play-dough . I am trying to peel some oranges and eat them for their vitamin C. It seems like a lot of work and I wish I had a pill to take. I wish I had s...

There were some odd things that crossed my mind as I hid in my closet from the storms on Friday, not the least of which was the irony over trying desperately to get into a closet when most of this warped world is trying to get out. In the days leading up to the storms I had prepared as safe a place for myself as possible having purchased a home without a basement in what locals now tell me is "tornado alley." Where were they when I was looking for a place to buy? I had stocked my safe spot with water and dog food just in case my furry friends needed a snack while we were in there. They also had a dog bed and come comfy rugs to lay on. I sat on a leather ottoman tucked in the corner where my long sleeved v-necked tee shirts tousled my hair. My gray old buddy, Chet the Wonder Dog, couldn't figure out why I was calling him into the closet. He's sort of blind and mostly deaf but he's really smart and knew we'd never spent time in that part of the house together...

One of my favorite lines from the movie Titanic is delivered by a baffled man in steerage. Jack and Fabrizio, overjoyed with their good fortune at winning a poker hand and receiving two tickets for passage on Titanic's maiden voyage for their gamble, come tumbling into their prize berth and introduce themselves to their unsuspecting roommates. Surprised at the arrival of strangers one of the men looks at his friend and says, "Where's Sven?" Sven, having been cold cocked by his companion for betting their tickets and losing their voyage to the land of opportunity is nursing a black eye and what I am certain was bitter disappointment. He must have been in absolute disbelief. Titanic has been making the rounds on HBO and I confess, depending on where they are with the story when I bump into it channel surfing, I am likely to watch. The story line itself isn't interesting to me. In fact it is pretty despicable. Of course if it's early in the movie and I get...

I read Psalm 31 this morning. It's given me a lot to consider. There are people I admire; people whose character and accomplishments are miles above mine. Those are the people I would like to emulate but often can't get out of my own way or step over my own foibles to come anywhere close. I am not good at being good. There are people who completely confound me. I can't work out what makes them tick. I'd like to poke and prod them a bit until I understand why they do what they do. Curiosity not animosity you understand. We all have our heroes and obsessions. I have always considered social history, crazes and trends a particular fascination. Pet rocks and Oobies were among my favorite phenomenons to ponder back in the 60s and early 70s, especially when juxtaposed with world events. It was apparent to me even then that we have some bizarre herd behaviors. Are you like me in that you enjoy the old musicals? When most kids were watching animated cartoons on Saturd...