January 8, 2003

•      Well, the evening I turned up sick, I started to feel better. My fever reduced & the muscle aches diminished, especially after taking ibuprofen 400mg. I ate half of that can of soup, but as a perfectionist Virgo, I had to enhance the soup. It tasted ok, but lacked any veggies, so I added fresh broccoli stems, garlic powder, oregano & parsley. When I finished the can the next day, I also added a fresh carrot. I don't know how food manufacturers can make the claim that their product is 'just like home-made.' It is far from that, unless you've never eaten real home-made stuff.

  
  

       I also drank several citrus Hansen's sodas & my current tea blend (green, orange-peko, triple ginseng, Earl Grey & awa & mamaki leaves). As they say, fluids & rest, & plenty of both. The latter, I had a hard time with, though, due to no longer taking that sleep-aid anti-depressant, as well as all the trips to the bathroom to pee.

  
  

       I also warmed up enough that I didn't need to remain swaddled, & even turned my fan on when a hot-flash kicked in. *Sigh* I wish those would go away. I could be ingesting lots of phytoestrogens, but that would just delay the end of the hot-flashes. I do make sure I get more soy products, just so that the incidents aren't so bad that I'm soaked (like I was at the airport, when on my way to see my surgeon for my follow-up at Tripler).

  
  

       The next morning, I felt ok enough that I could have driven my son to school... if he'd gotten up when I hollered at him. He forgot to turn on his alarm & I wasn't about to with mine, as sick as I had felt. He definitely has 'Monday-itis.' I'm no better, however, with my depression.

  
  

       I did go outside & spontaneously pruned my night-blooming jasmine (which was LOADED in blossoms!). I used to have a full hedge of jasmine, but the smell from hundreds of thousands of heady blossoms was making me sick to my stomach. I fought the hedge for 3 years, whacking it back & snapping off blossom-laden branches, trying to keep it in check. I finally gave up & had 2 brothers remove them all, meaning to sell (or give) the established plants to whoever would want them. They took one. The rest sat in my old driveway, some dying while others began to take root again. Most are gone now, with my stomping on them or yanking them up & turning them roots-up.

  
  

       The one I worked on Monday is a separate plant, at the end of my new driveway under a giant Ohia Lehua. I have butchered it down to 2 feet in height in the past. What I dealt with on Monday was as much as 10 feet tall. I stood on the hood of my car to get to those rear branches. The bad thing about the location of this bush is that it is south of my livingroom window. Recently, the Trade-Winds were replaced with breezes from the south, south-east. Uck! A few blossoms are ok... that bush was full of trumpeting star-like blooms!

  
  

       I also got ambitious enough to later pull weeds near my rock wall & steps in the front of the yard. I worked at avoiding the lilikoi (passion fruit) vine that spontaneously established itself right next to the steps. But it was choking EVERYTHING near it (except those plants that enjoyed the extra shade in the sunniest spot of my yard). I gave up on the vine & started yanking it out of the plants that I want there. Those include a gorgeous podocarpus,(which I topped a couple years ago), my awa (kava-kava) plants, Hawaiian hibiscus (ilima), joy weed, fringe flower, lime, malabar chestnuts, patchouli, Surinam cherry, poha berry, cigar flower & a variegated ti (tri-color white, green & red).

  
  

       As I worked, pulling & untangling that vine from everything else, I thought to myself that I probably shouldn't be doing so much. I figured that it would cause a relapse of the flu of sorts. I must have spent 3 hours on the yard, looking at the size & numbers of piles of discarded plant materials. There is enough to fill at least 4 good-sized wheelbarrows. I still need to do something with the refuse (I could really use a mulcher!). The problem is that, as an environmentalist, I cannot throw stuff like this into landfills, knowing that it quickly fills them up & the plant matter is better put to use as food (& soon soil) for those plants I wish to promote & propagate.

  
  

       As I mentioned, I overworked myself. In the evening, I began to feel punk again. My fever came back, along with chills. My head suddenly stopped-up, making it difficult to breathe. I flipped from one side to the other & onto my back, chasing the plugged sinus from one to the other. Only rarely were both clear, & only for about 10 minutes. I was also tired enough to fall asleep early, but couldn't due to the stuffiness & my critters. My oldest (neutered) tom kept insisting on plopping on my chest, with his face in mine.

  
  

       I hate ANYTHING in my face! I feel as though I am suffocating if I cover my face with the bedding. I do not tolerate a dog's wet kiss (I've stuck out my hand as they would jump up at my face, which would cause them to bash their muzzles). I have NO idea why this bothers me so much either. I can't wear dust masks either, like I was required to when I was on paper-mulching duty at my first permanent duty station. I'd wear it for about 5-10 minutes, then have to leave the enclosure so that I could remove the mask & breathe fresh air. I also cannot sleep in a house that is totally closed up, even in the dead of winter! I need my fresh air!

  
  

       I cannot understand how some can sleep with their faces covered. My son is like that. He definitely doesn't get that from me! I peek into his room to find him all wrapped up in a sheet or blanket, no part of his body visible (except the occasional foot). He looks like a giant green, white & black-striped cocoon! But then, this is the kid who would play or sing himself to sleep (trying to stay awake), often on the couch & occasionally slipped off the couch, head-first into a laundry basket or onto the floor! He'd also fall asleep in the car nearly every time we drove somewhere (until his teens). Sometimes, he still does.

  
  

       As for how I felt today (Tuesday)... I did take my son to school & tried to go back to sleep when I got back. No such luck. Besides the stuffiness, I have spent the day sneezing HARD (enough to blow someone else's eardrums out ) & have started coughing. This afternoon, these both have become very painful in my upper diaphragm (near the breastbone/sternum). I'm weak again & feel punk all over.

  
  

       When I went into town to pick up the kid after school, I ended up going into 3 stores, looking for something quick-fix for my supper that would be helpful for my cold/flu (& getting a pizza for the kid). I settled this time on a can of Campbell's Chunky Chicken Noodle soup, at $3.19 from the 7-11, since store shelves seem rather barren of most of this type of food. Yeowch! I'm too sick to drive to Hilo for the decent prices, besides the gas it would cost for the trip (1.5 gals @ $1.799/gal). I thought price-gouging is illegal?

  
  

       At the health food store, I picked up a quart each of R.W. Knudsen Family's Mega Green & Lemon Ginger Echinacea drinks. I drank 1/3rd of each, maintaining my increased fluid intake. These both have good nutritional & health-promoting ingredients & lack corn syrup as a sweetener (the fruit juice they contain are sweet enough!). I'm thinking about mixing the two together. The ginger burns my throat & mixing it with the spirolina/greens drink should mellow that out a bit.

  
  

       I wish that this flu hadn't progressed. I thought, when I was feeling so much better & worked in the yard, that maybe someone had said some prayers for me or sent me some White Light which had worked. I guess it's just that flu is flu, & has to run its course. Which, for me, means I'll be sick for at least a week with the head cold part. Apparently, the influenza shot I got last month had the wrong bug in it.

  
  

   

  
  

  
  

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       One another note, I know that recent comments I've made on others's blogs can be considered quite 'strong;' definitely of the 'in-your-face' category. I admit that alot has to do with my current mood, related to being sick (I become intolerant of stupid behavior, or condoning of such). I've read on several blogs (over the year plus that I've been a community member) attitudes making light of children's misdeeds, misbehaviors & disrespect of others. It is only 'funny' if no one gets hurt.

  
  

       Unfortunately, this lends credence to the children's attitude that they've gotten away with it, ma or pa thinks it's funny (so it must be ok) & no one got hurt (to their knowledge or belief, at the time). Kids are very self-centered. As parents (& other influencing adults within children's lives), it is our responsibility to teach our young that they AREN'T the only people in this world & that actions have consequences, even if only that they are grounded for what they did. Maybe then, our world wouldn't be so violent.

  
  

       Case in point... my son was caught (over a year ago) 'accidentally' placing an item into his backpack in a store that hadn't been paid for. The person who caught him was the store owner's wife. The husband was willing to let him off with only banning him from their store for a month (my son went nearly every Friday for Magic gaming). The wife, rightfully so, insisted that the police be contacted.

  
  

       It was the police who called me, saying that they wouldn't press charges. They had just wanted to scare him into reality. My son had planned to stay overnight at his friend's there in Hilo. When I talked to him on the phone, I told him absolutely NOT! I drove the 50 mile round-trip to pick him up (& he knows I don't like to drive at night anymore!). Not only was he banned from that store for a month, but I forbid sleep-overs for him for 3! I made him very aware of what consequences he could have faced, with juvenile court, fine (which I'd have had to pay!) & probation. He did cry while talking to me on the phone, & when I put my foot down about sleep-overs. He got off light.

  
  

       To indulge a child's misbehaviors as 's/he's just a kid... it's only a phase...   boys will be boys' etc., is doing them a disservice & ignoring our parental duties. It's also resulting in a youth which is out of control & even deadly! They need to learn to respect others & they aren't getting that when we brush off potentially deadly behaviors as 'funny.' We also need to stop being so indulgent of our children's desires, saying NO & meaning it when appropriate.

  
  

       Lesson learned for my son. Adults compliment me frequently about how well-mannered & well-behaved he is. They have put trust in my son that they ordinarily wouldn't of someone his age (or gender!). Let's all bring up children which we can actually be PROUD to call our own!

  • 2:18 am
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