Pluses and Minuses

Disaster has struck Fiorella's cell phone. For some reason known only to itself--Jay, the Verizon guy couldn't begin to figure what was going on--the camera went black with white lattices. Jay told Fio that her pictures were safe in the cloud, but didn't tell her how she could obtain them. Fio has put out an SOS on FB, but so far, no takers.

On the plus side, Fiorella seems to have finally recovered from the Gunk. Yes, she knows she's been saying that for about a week now, but this time, it's for real...she hopes.

Another minus is Fio's baby car, which has been in the shop for a week now. The key got stuck in the ignition, which aparently means that the aforementioned ignition is giving up the ghost. What it will cost to replace the ignition is another minus.

Fio will try to be more jolly tomorrow.

Fiorella Indominatable

With Husband in and out of the hospital, Fiorella has been burning the candle at both ends, taking care of everything at home, then running off to visit Husband with rolling suitcases and plastic bags of requested items. But today she took a vacation. Minnesota son has come down to Texas to help, and he gave Fio the day off. While he visited with his father, Fio took care of the dregs of the tax returns for 2015), cleaned up more of the den and bedroom, and arranged for appointments with all the medicos she had had to cancel for Husband and herself during this time of crisis. Lots more to do, but she's hoping to be able to start writing again at the end of the week. Wish her well.

Food

Fiorella is not a foodie.  In fact, she considers food to be much overrated.  We all have to eat, of course, but Fio does not understand the interest in food other than as tasty nourishment.  Cooking shows bore her--or offend her with all the yelling and shaming.  Besides, she sees no reason to vary from the restricted palate she has maintained since childhood.  Milk is her preferred beverage (she's lactose persistent), and she will not eat salads or other mixtures, tomatoes, peanut butter, or pizzas.  Her hamburgers are "plain."  And before you say anything, yes, Fio is in very good health, thank you.

Double Thanks

Dear Diary,

Instead of taking Sonia Dog to the vet the next morning, Husband took Fio to the emergency room.  Yes, Sonia was much recovered, but Fio couldn't seem to catch her breath.  By the time she reached the hospital, she was breathing just fine, but she spent three hours in a treatment room being checked out for everything from congestive heart failure to blood clots, eventually receiving a clean bill of health.

All Fio can say is that the whole episode was weird, and that she thanks God it wasn't more serious.  She is also thankful that Sonia is up and running.

Amen.  Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a great year!  Austin Son married his sweetie, Minnesota Son's new knees have enabled him to ditch the scooter, Daughter's getting accolades at work, Husband is holding steady health-wise, and Fiorella has a publisher for her romance novel. To top it off, Sonia Dog has responded beautifully to her socialization training.

And Fiorella is grateful.

Twitter, Style, Age and Health

Fiorella has to bite the bullet--it's time to join Twitter and set up a webpage.  But why do people want to know about the authors of the books they're reading?  Fio never did.  In fact, she didn't even like to see their pictures on the back cover.  She thought of the stories as being real somewhere out there in the universe and being faced with a picture of an author brought her down to earth.
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All the child clerks at BatteriesPlus are sporting the currently stylish two-day-beard look, which means the fad is omni-present and soon will pass--or so Fio hopes. 
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The young have an innate disdain for the old, as do the firm for the infirm, all under the assumption that people should be able to control their own  age and health.

Twitter, Style, Age and Health

Fiorella has to bite the bullet--it's time to join Twitter and set up a webpage.  But why do readers want to know about the authors of the books they're reading?  Fio never did.  In fact, she didn't even like to see their pictures on the back cover.  She thought of the stories as being real somewhere out there in the universe and seeing a picture of an author brought her down to earth.
*
All the child clerks at BatteriesPlus were sporting the currently stylish two-day-beard look, which means the fad is omni-present and soon will pass--or so Fio hopes.
*
The young have an innate disdain for the old, as do the firm for the infirm, all under the assumption that people have control over their own  age and health.

Shoe Alert

There's hope.  Fio's INR is 2.0, she is sleeping better, walked up and down the stairs twice yesterday, has started using the cane some, and, for supper, went out to Chili's with Husband.  Now for the bad news: Fio's comfy black shoes with the velcro closures got lost somewhere between the hospital and home.

Please be on the lookout.

Health Food Lament

Red wine is bitter
Yogurt's too sweet
Honey is yucky
And sticks to your teeth.

Limas are gritty
And so are peas
And I wretch at the thought
Of eating goat cheese.

Granola is nasty
Bran flakes too dry
Brown bread is rank
Whether whole wheat  or rye

So com'on, Jake
Gimme a break
A chocolate shake
A pan-fried steak
And top it off
With birthday cake

Chocolate and Chicken

Thus is no April Fool's joke, but chocolate is now a diet food.

Yes, recent studies out of California have shown that "people who eat chocolate regularly tend to be thinner than those who never or very rarely consume chocolate." Apparently some kinds of chocolate improve "factors related to metabolism, including insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, as well as cholesterol levels."

You'll remember that Harry Potter understood the medicinal benefits of chocolate all along. Fiorella has too. It's yummy in her tummy.

Now she wants someone to discover the health benefits of fried chicken.

Flavor of the Week

Every day a new life-style study seems to come out. Eating chocolate extends women's lives by three months. Drinking coffee also adds some extra time. And quaffing red wine staves off dementia, as do fatty fish.

Fiorella's eyes are glazing over. It's like the late 1800s. when everyone and their dog was setting up eating regimens, one of which--Kellog--gave Fio her favorite breakfast cereal, shredded wheat.

But maybe we've got the cart before the horse. Maybe it's that the people who snack on chocolate, drink coffee, and eat fatty fish have more access to health care or were born with hardier genes.

Fio suspects most of these studies are question-answer surveys. She's withholding her endorsement until she sees medical reports explaining why these things work.

Back to Basics

Ever since back surgery several years ago, Fiorella has eschewed unforgiving chairs in favor of soft couches--anything to avoid sitting stright up, which seemed to aggravate what remained of her spine. She even drove her darling little car with the seat virtually reclined.

Until this week. Not only has the new computer wreaked havoc with her life, but a nerve in her right leg went crazy. The only way she can alleviate the pain is to stand up straight with her shoulders back, make sure she walks with her ankle straight (Fio tends to over-pronate), and SIT ON THE EDGE OF CHAIRS with a very erect posture.

It sucks. Fio wants her plushy couch-sitting days back

Third Day

Aches and pains, coughs and sneezes,
Snuffling, blowing, choking wheezes--
Garden variety, bird or swine,
Heed the message of this rhyme.
Fly, flu!
Away with you!
And make it PD quick--
Fio's sick of being sick!

Show Me the Bones!

Fiorella has a great deal of pride in her bones. Yes, fifteen years ago, a technician told Fio that she would never get osteoporosis because her bones were fourteen percent denser than those of women half her age. This led to a number of clever remarks from her family about the thickness of Fiorella's skull, but, as the only family member who had never broken a bone, she tossed all comments off as sheer envy.

So it was a bit of a shock a couple of weeks ago when Fio's doctor handed her a lab order for a bone density test. Fio had grown to treasure her extraordinary bone density as her only superpower, and now it was being challenged. Would her bones hold up? Or was Fiorella destined to spend the remaining years of her life with her head cocked forward further than her belly?

The results are in. Despite Fio's diminishing height, her bone density is not in peril. "Within normal range" was the verdict, but Fio wants to see the exact figures, which she suspects will show her as still having extraordinarily dense bones. I mean, all that milk she drinks must be going somewhere.