Get Grace, Give Grace

See a chance to belittle someone -- and not take it. This is what it means to be gracious. =>>"Overlook an offense and bond a friendship; fasten on to a slight and-good-bye, friend!" http://bible.us/Prov17.9.MSG

TechnoPoop

You know technology has taken a bizarre turn when I use my the bright light on ny heart rate app to see if Jack has pooped in the potty. (He did!)

Casting Stones

Ms. Lea Morris is quick to condemn, but did she write her "open letter" in air conditioned comfort? Did she drive her gasoline-powered automobile that day, or eat food that had been refrigerated by electricity? Are YOU reading this now on anything other than a solar-powered computer? Although we should rightly examine BP's incompetence in the oil leak, she -- and we -- should examine our ownership of this disaster. Anything less is hypocrisy.

Dogs and Toyotas

Note to self: never have two vehicles the same age and never have two dogs the same age. They'll leave you broke and break your heart.

R.I.P. Bailey, 2000 - 2008.  Her sister, Bijou, is starting to look old and gray.

The '04 4Runner and Tacoma both have new timing belts.

Cheese, glorious, melancholy, cheese

No one is more aware of the power of food to evoke a memory than a recovering food addict, like myself.

Food can be associated with love, approval, caring and even a time or a place.

Tonight, I ate a small wedge of Blue Stilton cheese labeled STILTON ENGLAND. I purchased it at Your DeKalb Farmer's Market on Friday, and I don't know if it was actually imported cheese or just an imitation. Either way, it tasted pretty good.

I became acquainted with the real deal when I lived in Central London in the late 1990's. I lived in the section called Holland Park, which had the most marvelous cheese I had ever seen and tasted. I love cheese and have declared to the world if I had to pick just one food to live on, it would definitely be cheese.

I did live on cheese and potatoes during one particularly broke month of my life, but although I was put off by potatoes for a while, my love for cheese never wavered.

The Holland Park cheese shop (I don't remember the actual name) had a kaleidoscope of English cheeses, which they do very, very well. Fresh French goat cheese was also available from across the English Channel, and I could not get enough of it. Memories of that time in London, as well of some of my favorite taste experiences, came flooding back as I ate my Blue Stilton tonight. London does have an abundance of incredible food, though little of the tasty stuff is actually English in origin.

Watch me run away from kidney pie and mushy peas. Run away very quickly.

The typical cheese section in my area grocery stores makes me weep with the awareness of lost possibilities. Velveeta is a sin against culinary creation. Packages of American cheese slices should be relegated directly to the trash bin. Or as the British would say, "rubbish bin."

It is with melancholy that I nibbled on my fine, gourmet cheese tonight. I might have to give it up for my health.

A fellow sufferer of liver disease was telling me how dairy and cheese increase inflammation in the body, just as my latest blood work shows my inflammation levels are off the chart. Auto-immune diseases (as well as a number of others) do their damage through inflammation and that's what causes a lot of the pain. My autoimmune hepatitis is rearing its ugly head again with raised liver enzymes, and my energy level has dropped three inches below the floor. The inflammation in my brain clouds my thinking and makes writing a chore. Finally, the Sjogren's always makes me feel bad, though my dry eyes are doing somewhat better.

So, do I give up my favorite food in the whole world, cheese? It might become necessary. I've heard Sjogren's patients also do better on a gluten-free diet, so is there another whole category of food I must surrender?

A dearly departed relative used to sneak forbidden milkshakes though he was diabetic and and on kidney dialysis (that much sugar and dairy are a no-no.) Though he wasn't doing his health any good, the milkshakes did help him enjoy his last days.

What price, then, is cheese? I've seen people in wheelchairs with oxygen tanks still puffing on forbidden cigarettes. Will I be like that when it comes to cheese? And what about ice cream and yogurt? I guess those will have to go too. I am in mourning.

My dog Bijou helped eat some of the cheese rind earlier and now she's licking my fingers as I type. I think that's a pretty good excuse to end this blog.

And a good excuse to stop dwelling on the importance of cheese.

Greetings

Wow.

I just checked the dashboard on my blog for the first time in months and discovered I have seven followers. Seven! I'm still amazed that anyone would follow this blog at all.

You may have found it when it popped up on Google, (I got the most comments on a post about Countrywide bill pay changing to Bank of America.)

And I know some of you are friends and family. Hugs and ♥ to you.

If you're just stopping by, Welcome!

I have no idea what I might write about next, but I'll try not to stay away so long.

Writing is good exercise for the brain and I'm grateful for what I have left.

The blog's title, An Excellent Source of Candy, still works for me because it makes me think of Forrest Gump's comments, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get!"

And the great thing about a box of chocolates is there's plenty to share, so dig in.

Background Noise

OK, I know I haven't written in a while. If blogging were a New Year's resolution, I would have failed miserably.

But I wanted to write this down before it escaped brain again. Every time I've mentioned "this" to someone I hear, "That explains it perfectly" or a nod of understanding.

Here it is:

When you live with chronic pain, on a good day, it's like background noise.

You can push it into the background and try to focus on something else.

On a bad day, the pain is deafening.

Imagine turning the TV up to full volume, then the remote breaks and you can't turn it back down. Intense pain is like that. It overwhelms everything else and any thoughts trying to compete with the pain, usually lose.

I'm thinking about this today because first the first time in forever, I slept all night without waking up in pain. My medicine usually knocks me out for a few short hours, then I wake up and toss and turn trying to get comfortable. I wait for the time to get up.

Lately, the pain has been concentrated mostly in my back. The "ouch" really is everywhere, but whatever hurts the most screams the loudest. My doctor says it's the arthritis and the back pain will ebb and flow.

Lately, the pain has been flowing like a broken fire hydrant. But not last night.

People at church could see a difference today. My eyes were sparkling, my smile was wider. Yes, having a good day made everything seem more wonderful.

Thank you, Lord for letting a ray of sunshine peek through the clouds.

I'll remember this.