My Resolutions

Last year, I publicly declared my resolutions here, on my blog.  Every month, I checked back in on them.  At the end of the year, I was shocked at how well I had done in actually keeping my resolutions  Even though I had a couple of carryovers from last year, I still kept the majority of my resolutions.  I think coming back and revisiting them monthly did an awful lot to keep me on track!

With graduations fast approaching (2 this year), I am probably not going to do so well with keeping these resolutions through April and May as my focus shifts to getting the house cleaned out enough to have a graduation party!


1) Exercise More.  
While the weather is still cold, the roads are safe.  I've been clocking my miles on my running app on my cell phone. (I walk, I don't run, but the app tracks the distance for me!)  I've managed to cover 9 miles this month.  Not as many as usual, but I've got to build my stamina back up after months of inactivity.

2) Lose 10 pounds.
I am not looking at the scale this month.  I've lost an inch off of my waist.  I'll look at the scale again when I've lost 4 inches off of my waist.  There will be some serious happy dancing on my part when I get my waist down 4 more inches!

3) Remodel the Hall Bathroom.
This is a repeat from last year.  Money is being saved for this project.

4) Finish oldest child's quilt.
 As of now, I have finished quilting 3/6 rows on the quilt.  I still have to do the edging, and I have my doubts about the lattice work inside.  I was looking at it last night, and I just might end up having to go back and quilt in the lattice between the panels.  I'm not thrilled with the way the batting is "poufing" between the quilt squares.  I'm not sure this will be finished by May 21.  My enthusiasm is beginning to wane...and there are so many other things that need to be done!

5) Clean and organize the Family Room in the basement.
It's much cleaner! It still needs a little more work, but I see this room being habitable by Memorial Day Weekend!

6) Cut back on the time I spend on Social Media.
I've fallen down on this one over the past month.  One of my Uncles had a health issue, and I kept up with my cousins through social media.  We all agreed it was great, but now I've got to break myself of that habit again! 

7) Read 75 books this year.
 I'm making some serious progress on this.  I've been blogging about each of the books I've read in this challenge as I go.  I have a page dedicated to the books I'm reading this year.  You can find it on the right hand side of this page, listed as "2015 Book Challenge".  I have reviewed 11 books.  I have 4 more that I need to review.  Like I mentioned yesterday, I've fallen behind!

8) Get out of debt.
Working on it. I believe this should also say "don't add extra debt while sending kids through college."  4 years down with no debt - 4 more to go.  One of our credit cards has been completely retired.  We're working on retiring the second one now.  BONUS - we paid the tuition and housing deposit for youngest child with a check this weekend.  She's going to take a few more classes at the Community College this summer.  We've already checked with the school that she will be going to in the fall, and we know that the credits will transfer, and we were given a list of 100 and 200 level courses that they recommended.

9) Spend more time with my family
Spring break for the college students was this month!  I took three days off to spend at home with my boys.  Unfortunately, they spent 2 of those days with a stomach virus.  NOT the best of spring breaks!

10)  365 Grateful
I will continue to find a way to be thankful for the things I have.  There are a lot of awful things that happen, but I will focus on the positive.  You can lose yourself in negativity.  I've been posting pictures on Flickr, and some on here.  Any way I can find to keep myself positive! 

You can find me on Flickr:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/librarynut/

 11) Replace the car that was totaled.
It needs to be done, even in the midst of paying off loans, a bathroom that needs to be remodeled, and college expenses.  Our Civic has over 225,000 miles on it.  It's a great car, and we keep up to date on the maintenance, but by God, do we need to make certain we have a back up plan!  The van doesn't have nearly as many miles on it, but putting gas in that behemoth is expensive. We had to replace the radiator in the Civic this month.  A $500 investment that will hopefully keep the car running until the fall. 

12) I will maintain my friendships.
 It's an ongoing project, and I am enjoying it immensely! Got back in touch with friends we haven't seen in 25 years this past month.  What a hoot!!

13) Have a few more adventures this year.
 I've had a couple that aren't fit to print... let's just say that I never fail to amaze myself with my own stupidity.  If I can get up enough nerve to totally out myself, I'll write them up.  Maybe.

I did spend a day at the National Library of Medicine down in Bethesda, doing a training session.  Does that count as an adventure?  Getting through security was an adventure!

14) Craft More
 Still working on the oldest child's quilt. I started working on daughter's graduation scrapbook, as well as a recipe book for oldest child's graduation present.

As a result, I've spread craft and paper materials EVERYWHERE in the house!  And Easter is this weekend, and graduation is in just a little under 2 months!  WHY did I put this off for so long?  This should have been done MONTHS ago! 

So, how are you doing on your resolutions this year?

Random Pictures

It's been an interesting week.  I went to a training at the National Library of Medicine, and I learned how to use their free online database.  I've been trying to write a post about my experiences there, but what I wrote just seems hollow.  I will say this, PubMed, the online database is way cool.  If you are looking for information on anything related to medicine, PubMed is the place to go.  Millions of articles have been indexed.  Some of the articles are free for viewing online.  Others, you might have to check with your local public library to find.  The long and short of my training: if you want to stay on top of your own health, and want to make the best decisions about YOUR HEALTH, this is an awesome place to research.  Many public libraries have consumer health librarians, and they can help you wade through the plethora of information on the web.  There's a lot out there.  I think it's fantastic that everyone can see this research and understand what doctors are talking about with this resource!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/.

Enough of that.  I have posts and more posts that I need to work my way through. I've got books to review.  I have things that need to be said - and not enough time to say them all!  So, while I'm collecting my thoughts, and making notes about what I'm going to write about this week, I thought I'd share a few random pictures from last week with you!

I want to note with the first picture- we had SNOW again on Saturday, and SNOW overnight.  We have more snow in the forecast for this week.  This is very unusual weather for the Mid-Atlantic. Weird spring!

The crocuses are finally up!

The librarians are getting a little bit sassy with their cookbook marketing!

Who separates their cereal into colors before eating it?

The geese are back!  It's a sure sign that spring is coming!

Our church sanctuary, bedecked for Palm Sunday!

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

One of Dr. Seuss' best adult books, I reread this recently.  With both my oldest and youngest children graduating from schools, I felt I needed a reminder of WHY we've spent so much time and effort getting them through school!  (Ha, I know why, but it's always nice to be reminded!)

I do remember having this book read to us by one of our English teachers when I graduated from High School.  Ever since that time, this book has always seemed to me to be a gateway, or rite of passage that must be read and enjoyed at the major milestone events in life.

I had an ulterior motive for reading this book.

When each of my kids has graduated from High School, I have made a special scrapbook for them.

The oldest child is a mathematician.  His scrapbook was a straightforward account of his overachieving years in high school.  Orchestra, Cross Country, Track and Field... I organized the pictures in a straightforward, linear progression.

The middle child is more artistic and creative.  For his scrapbook, I made an "A, B, C" book.  26 pages long, each page was dedicated to a letter of the alphabet, and each letter had a word and pictures that tied into something from his high school years.  That one was a lot of work - struggling to find something for "X" and "Z" was a stretch, but I managed to do it.  I spent a good chunk of the school year pulling together the pictures for that album.

And now, youngest child.  I want to do something different.  (Stupid, stupid, I know.  I could just do an A, B, C book or a straightforward scrapbook and have done with it.)  But no.  I have decided that her scrapbook is going to be based upon the book "Oh the Places You'll Go!"

And so, I re-read the book this past week.  I've decided that I'm going to use Dr. Seuss' words, and pictures that we've taken over the course of her high school career.  I'm also going to see if I can get some of her friends to help by contributing some artwork to the pages.

Graduation is about 10 weeks away.  Will I get this finished in time?  It's going to be fun trying!

(BTW, I'm going to count this as one of my 75 books for the year.  I did actually read it - I had to put it on hold at the library, retrieve the book, and then decide whether or not this idea was a good one!  So, yes, this is one of the 75 books for the year!)

Book Review: Blood Feud: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever

Sharp, Kathleen.  Blood Feud: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever.  Dutton Publishers.  2011.

ISBN: 978-0525952404

A block buster of a book that should be read by every person who will ever take a prescription drug in their lifetime.  In short: all of us.

In what is probably one of the most hushed up, covered up, quieted cases of all, this book exposes the behind the scenes shenanigans that drug companies engage in to up their sales in a high stakes, winner take home billions of dollars and to hell with the consumer attitude that seems to pervade an industry that we would like to think is working in our best interest - but is not.

During the 1990's. the drug Procrit was developed in order to help dialysis patients with anemia keep more of their red blood cells and reduce the need for blood transfusions.  Because AmGen- the developer of Procrit was broke - they made a deal with the devil in the form of Johnson and Johnson to sell the licensing rights to sell Procrit for non-dialysis use to J and J.

The devil took the ball and ran.  Ruthless sales techniques were used to by each company in order to make their drug look better and do better.  Unethical, undocumented patient trials were conducted by sales reps all in the name of promoting their drugs, and pushing physicians to use more drugs than was indicated, and using these drugs in risky, off label use in order to promote their sales figures.

You might be familiar with Procrit.  It's one of those illegal drugs that cyclists were using in the 90's to enhance their performance.  Is this one of the drugs that Lance Armstrong was using that earned him that life time cycling ban?  Turns out, it was.  You can find out more about this here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/opinion/lance-armstrong-and-our-doping-nation.html?_r=0
and here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/armstrongs-fraud-paralleled-epo-makers-feud.

In the late 90's, the makers of Procrit began pushing for Procrit to be prescribed in high dosage amounts that were not approved by the FDA for people who were undergoing cancer treatments.  Death was the result of this usage- unnecessary deaths in many cases- but since this risky, off label use was being promoted by sales reps and not in a controlled study, the results were squashed and the off label promotion continued.

Medicare Fraud.  If you've wondered why the price of medicine is so high, it's explained in detail in the pages of this book.  It's frightening how much money was spent by the pharmecuetical companies to help doctors get around the medicare system and get reimbursed at a high profit for drugs that they were receiving well below market value- or for free- from the sales reps.

This story is told from the point of view of Mark Duxbury, the man who finally blew the whistle on Procrit, and told the Federal Government not only what kind of fraud was being perpetrated, but also gave the down and dirty details of how this drug was being pushed in risky ways that was killing patients - all in the name of higher profits.

While Duxbury is not a likeable guy.... he had the guts to get out there and expose the truth.  Was his motivation money?  Was it doing the right thing?  Was it revenge?  We will never really know the true reason behind his motivation for getting out and exposing this level of fraud and deception, but we should all be thankful that he did.

I found this book to be angering and disturbing on so many levels.  Lives of my family and friends have been lost to cancer.  Many family members were give Procrit in their final days.  After reading the description of death by Procrit, I know that I have family members who were lost to this drug and the high-wheeling, "hey I can get more money in my own pocket and maybe this will help" mentality that was pervading medical practices at that time.  Would my loved ones still be alive today if they had not been given Procrit?  I have no idea.  However, I do know that at least one death would have been a hell of a lot cleaner than it was had they not been given that drug.  I watched a person I love die a horrible, terrible death that could not  have been any worse than anything done to people in the middle ages. 

Just so you know that the author of the story is not making this up, here are some links to articles about this story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-rep-in-3b-procrit-case-80-of-my-sales-were-medicare-fraud-carried-400k-in-cash/

http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/supreme-court-rejects-procrit-whistleblower-lawsuit-appeal-11020/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/health/25amgen.html


The class action lawsuit is closed, fyi.

However, I will forever be more wary of what drugs I take, and ask many questions of my doctors, including "Are you receiving compensation from this drug maker?"

A Week in the Life of...

In the past week, we've had a major snowstorm that threw the East Coast for a loop - again.  We had beautiful warm weather, and we have had some pretty awesome windstorms!  Weather wise, the week has been great!

Our boys were home for the week.  It was great to have them home and spend some time with them!

Oldest child went and looked at graduate schools last week.  I believe we now have an answer as to "Where are you going?"  He has one more visiting day to go tomorrow, and then he will sign the commitment paperwork before the month is out.  Big changes coming for him!  His graduation is just a little over 2 months away!

Daughter received word from the last of the colleges she applied to this week.  She was rejected from her reach school, and turned down for the art program at another school.  Thankfully, she was accepted into her first choice school.  We have now paid the tuition deposit, and we're beginning to fret about tuition payments this fall.  We're not paying for Graduate School for the oldest, but we will have two separate tuition payments to cover for the youngest two children.

I really didn't post much last week. WHY didn't I you ask?  (Go ahead, ask)  Stomach virus.  It swept through the family - not once, but twice.  Yeah, I thought we were past those days.  It turns out that we're not actually past them.  Lots of laundry and lots of bleach water made the appearance through the house.

Meanwhile... daughter got stopped by a police officer because a brake light was out on the back of the Civic.  He asked her for her license and registration.  She handed over the license, but was unsure of what the registration looked like.  While she dug around for it, he went back to his car and cited her for not producing the registration upon demand.  She was so very rattled that I drove her up and back to the Community College for a few days.  Nothing like going to work, getting out at 11:30, and then racing the 30 miles home to pick her up and then drive her an additional 30 miles to class.  I made her drive up and back by herself on Thursday, and she was fine.

We did replace the brake light on the car before we made her drive up and back, though.

The van had to go in for maintenance.  A $50 investment that should keep that car in top running form for quite some time.

Speaking of maintenance - I went in to visit my doctor for my "little more than annual" exam.  I had the blood work run, and got the results back.  Last year, my doctor put me on notice that my numbers were running too high.  I was put on the watch list.

This year, everything was FINE.  My glucose had been cut in half.  Cholesterol was out of the watch range. EVERYTHING was so much improved.  The nurse I spoke with on the phone told me "I don't know what you've been doing, but keep doing it.  It's working!" (Losing 20 pounds and getting more exercise probably had something to do with that!)

I even managed to get the emissions on the van checked.  One more thing off of the to do list!

How was your week?

A Visit to the Doctor

I really don't like to go to any doctor or dentist, but I go because I'd rather be as healthy as I can be and catch anything that could potentially be wrong before I get past the point of no return.

Last year, my doctor put me "on notice" that my blood pressure was getting high.

"If it's still this high next year, we're going to have to take action." 

Last year, it was at 145/85.  Yes, that is high.  Undoubtedly.

Do you remember that last year I made that promise to myself to lose 10 pounds?  And then I lost 20?

I really didn't change my eating habits all that much.  I went from getting large hot chocolates to medium hot chocolates.  If I got a soda, I got a can from a vending machine instead of a bottle.  I picked up my level of exercise a little bit.

So, when I went back to the doctor yesterday, I was very curious to see what my numbers looked like.

I'd only lost 15 pounds according to her records- no surprise there, as I haven't been able to get out and walk at all this winter because the roads have been so dangerous.  (Hey, that's still weight loss.)

My cholesterol is down.  My "markers" for diabetes are down.

Most importantly, my blood pressure is down.

135/70.

That's big!  It's not great.  But it's so much better than it was last year!  It used to be lower, but that is a step in the right direction!  There was no talk of medical intervention with my blood pressure, but there was talk of getting out and walking around more now that the weather is nicer.

My father's family had rampant heart disease.  Every member of his family had heart issues, blood pressure issues, and cholesterol issues.  Dad was the only one who didn't have open heart surgery, and that was only because he was no longer a candidate for any kind of surgery when they found the blockages in his arteries.  So, in order to see a drop of any kind in blood pressure numbers is a cause for celebration and revelry!

And more walking.  Lots more walking.  I want to be the first to break the pattern.

Just Another Day in Paradise

It's been one of those days. It's warm, and I have the day off.  I headed out with daughter this morning.  She drove off to school, and I walked down to the bottom of the hill to get the trash cans and bring them back up. 

I tuck the trash cans away, and turn around to go into the house.  As Pooh would say "There are 11 jars of honey in my cupboard, and I can hear them calling my name."  Wouldn't you know.  The door was locked.  MY keys were on the hook, just inside of the door.  My daughter's keys had just left with her, headed to school and then the community college.

Not looking forward to spending the day outdoors, I began trudging around the house to see if I had left any windows unlocked.

Lo and Behold - the window over the kitchen sink was unlocked.  Even better - this window is in the back of the house, so nobody would see my attempt at greatness.

The ladder for the kids' old bunk bed is metal, and it was sitting just inside the door of the shed.  (We keep that door locked with a combination lock, thank you very much!)  I retrieved the ladder, and leaned it up against the house, just under the kitchen window.  The ladder wasn't quite tall enough to get me safely into the kitchen window, but it was tall enough to get me close. I figured I could just power my way through the window by grabbing onto the kitchen counter once I got up that high.

Buoyed by an enthusiasm borne of hunger and a need to use the facilities, I climbed up the ladder, raised the kitchen window and began climbing in the window.

There is one problem with climbing in a window over the kitchen sink.  The faucet.  As you get yourself partially through that window, the faucet is right there in the middle, with no place for it to go.

The cats, highly entertained by this spectacle, forgot their animosity long enough to hop onto the kitchen counter and watch me.

There came that moment of faith- when I hung on the fulcrum of the window - my feet unable to push off the ladder, my arms not yet able to reach the edge of the kitchen counter, and the cats, full of concern, began rubbing up against my face as I hung there, unable to go in or out of the window, with the kitchen faucet digging into me.

Finally, I managed to wiggle in enough to grab the edge of the kitchen counter.  I pulled, and the rest of me followed behind.  I somehow managed to turn myself around and not land on the kitchen floor face first.

As I sat on the edge of the kitchen counter, catching my breath, the cats forgot their concern for me.  With noses twitching, they both climbed up onto the window sill, took a look back at me, as if to say "I don't see WHY you always make such a big deal of things" and then hopped out of the window.

Just another day in paradise.