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Remembering When

18 Jan

Ok, so I’m not exactly living the life I dreamed about.  I mean, I thought I would be in the healthcare field, but I admit my expectations were more in the arena of making money…not doling it out.  I also had the delusion that family money would follow my life.  You know what family money is, it is the kind of peaceful assurance that is provided to the select few in this world enabling them to go off on wild tangents of exploration, or devote their life to philanthropic causes.  Family money even allows for its recipients to casually attempt a blue collar life, because all the while it hangs in the background assuring the foreground of security.  Alas, my family money connection dropped off the planet, in all actuality, the day I was born.

So I am not living out the exact fantasy of my youth (did I mention I still try to live it out even still?), but I am in full enjoyment of the life I live.  Eventhough…

Cole is scheduled to have an outpatient eye surgery this Friday.  He has been suffering severe pain in his eyes and it is all due to two MAJOR factors:

  1. He cannot blink nor completely close his eyes.
  2. He does not create tears.

And though he employs gadgets to help the closing of the eyes as well as utilizes artificial tears CONSTANTLY, it is not enough to completely protect the eye.  So Friday, with the help of a specialized physician, his lower lids will be lifted to not only make my son look more like the Asian I know him to be (I mark every ethnicity box for scholarship purposes–now they won’t have cause to question!), more of the surface area of the eye will be covered.  It is a temporary measure for we still cling to the hope that he will regain his cranial nerve function that causes him the trouble.

Now off I must go…tea with the queen mother, you know.  My stylist awaits and my butler is here to inform me my car is ready.  AAAAhhhhh, life is but a dream!

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Acupuncture–take II & III

10 Jan

How is it I can sleep with needles inserted into my skin?  This is stuff of gross spy/conspiracy type movies…or so I thought!  I mean you should see me…lying on my side, needles from feet to neck (to hands and fingers), holding jars, and completely relaxed.  In fact, on Saturday I woke up midway through–and fell back to sleep.  “Wowwie Zowwie”, is all I can say.  Then yesterday I had another treatment (it was scheduled for Cole and mine was scheduled for today, but he asked if we could flip flop, so I was back there yesterday).  Guess who also came along to meet our newest favorite doctor?  …little Esther Rose.  Let me assure you, though she is small in size, she is one self assured power house of a focused girl.  Because I took on Cole’s treatment appointment, Esther met with Dr. Li (for the first time) by herself.  Esther is also afflicted with migraine’s and other hormonally induced irritants, and this past year we had met with 3 female pediatricians who left Esther feeling like a inconsequential element in her own health.  Their advice to her was narrow minded and condescending, so she took up my offer to meet with Dr. Li.

I will tell you how I know Esther is completely capable of handling herself, when Dr. Li came in to take out my needles, she exclaimed with much excitement and hand gestures, “Your daughter is amazing.  She is so adorable, so focused.  She knows so well her life and direction.  My son is 17 and he hardly knows anything.  I am so impressed with her, I just love her.”  Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dr. Li…get in line!  Esther has had that effect on people since she was a wee babe in arms.  No Joke!  Esther is also a huge baby when it comes to pain.  She only just this past fall had the courage to get her ears pierced.  She was so afraid of the pain, it took her a very long time to get the courage to go through with the piercing.  Which is why when she said she was actually going to go through with, I didn’t believe her and passed her off to my sister.  If you know my sister, you follow through.  Period.

Well Esther felt so confident with Dr. Li, and so included in the “plan of action” for her health, that she scheduled her own appointment for acupuncture for today.  So this afternoon, Esther will take her brother and they both will have treatments at the same time.  …glad I’m not going to be there!

I will tell you that I have been dealing with a migraine (the same one from last week) trying to take over my life.  Now I can’t tell you that one treatment with Dr. Li has been like “magic”.  But I can tell you that I am experiencing a change.  In the past, with a hard hitting, aggressive headache like this one has been, I would not have had as much relief as I am currently experiencing.  In all actuality I have only dealt with debilitating pain and vision difficulties twice in the past 8 days.  Migraine sufferers will understand the significance of that news…those of you who are blessed to be headache or migraine free will just have to take my word for it.  Good changes are happening, and I cling to the hope that she will help me become a non-sufferer of head pain.

And to keep my life ever exciting, as the good Lord likes to do, as a result of Brian (my husband) being laid off we are rolling ever faster in our treatments because our insurance benefits will likely end come February 1st.  Dr. Li is in the “know”, thus the three of us musketeers are on an accelerated treatment plan—which simply means, we are getting as many and as much done now as we possibly can.

I suppose if we begin to resemble Rain-bird sprinklers, while drinking water, we will know it is time to stop.  In the meantime, it is full speed ahead.

P.s. Sorry I’ve got to go without proof reading…catch my errors if you can. 😉

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Hotel Del

31 Dec

Guess where Brian and I are?  …not the Hotel Del Coronado, though my title would cause you to consider it so.  Actually, Brian and I are staying in a condo-resort across the street from the Hotel Del.  We have a view of the hotel from each of our two bedroom windows.  I am looking at the clock which sits on the sidewalk in front of the Del’s entrance.  We rolled into this little “island” community, yesterday afternoon.  I booked a one-bedroom condo online just the night before we arrived.  And last night, Brian and I both were in bed, asleep, by 7:30p.m.  But let me take you back in time for just a bit…

When I think of  myself, in terms of who I am and what type of person I consider myself to be, I evaluate my external presentation; and my summation leans toward, “low maintenance”.  After-all, my finger nails are unpainted and ill kept, as are my toe nails.  I am wearing no jewelry, though I have plenty to chose from, no watch, and not one garment with a designer logo in view.  Thus I think myself to be a basic, low maintenance person.  HOWEVER, when we arrived and checked into our small and acrid surroundings of the one bedroom arrangement, I quickly stepped out and returned to the front desk to alert the man on duty to the fact that room 211 was NOT going to be mine.  Not that night, nor any night in the future.  And then I consider how we even have this opportunity in the first place, meaning the funds to get away for a couple of nights, and I reconsider my earlier self conjecture.  Let me tell you why…

Wednesday, after the mail arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by a note card addressed to me from my Momma Adrienne.  The note card had a cut out bathtub on the front, and inside was a monetary gift with a handwritten directive, “Go Relax!”.  My Momma Adrienne (aka Momma A, M.A.), is one of the five additional mother-keepers I have had in my life to watch over and guide me, above and beyond my blood related mother (my poor sister does double duty as mother-keeper and big sis!).  Now what kind of low maintenance person requires six mothers? Well since I hate to admit it outright, I’ll beat around the bush…it is possible, just maybe, or perhaps even, that my exterior presentation is merely a scandalous rouse to throw the average person off scent to the possibility, of the maybe, of the perhaps, that I just might be, ever so slightly, somehow connected, though not completely, to the likes of a high maintenance person (hey Ryan and Jillian–ever notice that your family name is hidden within a certain janitorial type word?!)–way to throw my readers off huh?  How was that for a bush?!

Ok, ok, so I seem to require a large amount of looking after, and perhaps this is reflective of me being…uggg, I can’t say it!  But even so, I can’t bring myself to stay at the very “maintenance-y” Hotel Del Coronado.  I just couldn’t justify spending an over-priced amount for a small room with no view.  Plus the addition of a daily parking fee and daily resort fee.  So here we sit, across from the Del in our two bedroom condo.  Today we took a “Rivka Guided” tour of the Hotel Del (which means–as many of you already know–going through unmarked doors, ascending “guests only” staircases, perusing wedding banquets, and lurking on all available balconies; no questions as to how we get on them!).  Essentially, we enjoyed the resort without paying the fee and then had a lovely lie down on the powder soft sand directly in front of the Del.

Apparently, I was in need of a rest, for almost immediately after reading my Momma A’s missive, I was on the computer booking a two day get away with Brian.  I really did need a time to relax.  And as I thought of different options for treating myself, my heart’s desire was to relax alongside my closest best friend…my husband.  You know (or you might not), keeping your spouse as your best friend takes a lot of work.  Actually, to be more specific, a lot of investment into each other.  I am glad we have been making those kinds of investments.  Some years he puts in more, and some years I do.  All in all, here we are, side by side, across from the beauty queen of the San Diego bay, happy and enjoying our down time.  In fact, I will close this post here, for I do believe it is time to cuddle and get some shut eye…it is 7:00p.m.

“Thank you Momma A, Leah, Margie, Connie, Teresita, Zia Kafrin, Fern-ie, Candymoto, Aunt Susie”  …uh oh, the list is longer than I thought–quick, I had better get my nails done!! 🙂

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