Reflection on Cleaning the Fridge

Sometimes I can be a 'go-getter'. If I see a process that could so obviously be improved to be more efficient, I'll take it upon myself to improve it. And sometimes when I see things that need to be done, and no one's doing them, I will take charge. 

So I took it upon myself last week to make myself the Self-Appointed Fridge Nazi at work. The last time anyone cared to clean out the fridge was in 2011. And as I recall, they didn't take much out of it. The people at my work leave so much stuff in the fridge. From salad dressings, to salsas, to water bottles, it got so bad that there was no room left for me to place my lunch and some days it was hard to close the fridge door.

I got so fed up with it I decided to do something about it...

So last week I put a sign on the fridge telling people it would be cleaned out today and that ANYTHING left in there would be thrown out. The first day, there was a small surge in people taking things home. After that, it didn't look much better. Today rolled around and there was still tons of stuff in there, so I highlighted the words on the sign to reinforce the fact that 'Hey, it doesn't matter what kind of container you have, or what it is, it's goin' in the bin!' 

I got to work and started pulling out everything in there. I think I threw away 90% of what was in there. I filled up a large 60 gallon trash can about 75% of the way. Some notes:

• I brought home 25 water & soda bottles to recycle—that's ridiculous.
• The award for Oldest Item goes to: an opened bottle of Diet Mountain Dew, expired in February of 2011.
• The 2nd Place award for Grossest Item goes to: a tub of some sort of soup or potatoes from Dierberg's Kitchens that was growing both green and white molds. 
• The award for Grossest Item goes to: what I think were green grapes??? They had decayed so much that all that remained was a bright green liquid (in a bag, thank god) and some sort of yellow-green mush. I took a photo of it, but I'll spare you. I find it 200% more revolting looking at it now than I did when I pulled it out of there.

So where does this reflection come in? Well, I realized that there was enough food in the trashcan when I was done that we could have made a serious dent at a food pantry, had that all been donated when it was new. I'm not the best at not wasting food, but today's escapade made me realize again just how much food we all waste in our very-blessed lives. It's something I need to work on: making sure that the food I buy and consume does not go to waste. 

Josie Woes, Continued

Our poor pup...

First she has that infection a couple weeks ago, then something else going on this week. It's always an adventure with our little dog...

Last night after we got home I noticed her eyelid seemed kind of pink. In looking closer, I saw it was quite swollen, and her other eye was starting to turn the same way. I also felt a bump under her chin which was never there before.

We petted her and watched her for the next 20 minutes, when then her lips and the area around her nose started to swell too. Something was up, and we had no idea what it could be. After a quick careful search online (I say 'careful' because diagnosing your dog online is almost as slipper-sloped as self-diagnosing with WebMD) it sounded a lot like an allergic reaction. To what, we had no idea. She spent some time outside, but other than that she didn't get into anything weird.

Since it kept getting worse, I finally called the after-hours line at our vet and the lady said it definitely sounded like an allergic reaction, and I could give her half a tab of Benedryl. By the time I put her to bed, it was getting better.

This morning she looked back to normal and acted fine too. At lunchtime she was acting fine, but once I came home for the day at 3:30, no more than two minutes after I came in the door, she threw up her entire breakfast plus some. Okay, something was still wrong...

She went to the vet again and this is all just part of an allergic reaction. Similar to the way some people feel when they are stung by a wasp (nausea or headaches) she is having symptoms of an allergic reaction. So bland food and Benedryl it is for a few days. She loves this canned chicken and rice food they give you for upset doggy stomachs. She goes nuts for that stuff; for bland food, it sure must taste pretty darn good.

The New & Improved Jamie Continues

I figured I might as well give you the small update regarding my blood tests I got back last week. In case anyone was wondering...

We met with the diabetes doctor today, and in short: I don't have diabetes right now, but I might in about a year. So it's good news/bad news: good news is obviously I don't have it right now and we don't need to change anything or treat anything yet, bad news is I'm well on my way. At the same time, this is not all that surprising; it is well known that the older a person with CF is, the more at risk they are for having CF-related diabetes.

Then after that I met with my lung doctor (who I'm still loving!) and it was good news all around. My weight is coming back up, my lungs were even slightly better than last time, and they sounded pretty good.

I also got a new nebulizer compressor (the machine that puts out the air). I have never been so excited for a piece of medical equipment in my life, haha. Oh, the things we get excited about... Anyways, I do so many neb medications that a normal ol' machine can't keep up with it, and we end up replacing it about every 3-8 months. It's quite ridiculous, and not to mention quite bad for me too. If the machine isn't working properly, that means I'm not getting my medicine properly either. So my new doctor helped me get a super-duper compressor that will nebulize my meds at the correct pressure needed. This means quicker treatments (yay!) and more effective treatments (double yay!). We picked that up today after lunch and I used it tonight. Super exciting, let me tell ya.

I was almost in tears tonight just thinking about how wonderful today was. I am truly happy to see that my hard work is showing even the slightest bit of payoff already. That makes it all the easier to stay with it, seeing these small results. God is good!

Tuesday Night Project

At our previous house, I had a small closet's worth of pantry space. It is way better than none, but with the amount of food that I am used to keeping in the house at one time (which is a lot), it was fairly tight. In our current house, the pantry is ENORMOUS. It was as big as our walk-in closet; it was a nice perk. But when we moved in, for the sake of time I'm sure, we just shoved a lot of stuff on the shelves to get it done. And ever since then, it's stuck.

The other day I turned to Jarrod and said "You know, I've been thinking that the pantry needs to be rearranged..."

To my slight surprise, he agreed and said "Yeah, I think it's time we "get organized" and, you know, not go too crazy, but maybe buy some bins and tubs..."

So I went to the store and bought 6 medium basket tubs, 2 small basket tubs, and 1 long tray. I thought eight tubs seemed like a good place to start. If I didn't need all of them, I can take some of them right back to Target.

So tonight was the night, and I started by taking some 'before' pictures, which you can click on for larger versions if you'd like...

The food side. Looking at this picture, it hits me
just how much food we actually have. As you can
see, it's sort of grouped, but not really. Again, shoved away onto a shelf.

The side dedicated to "stuff." Crock pots,
small appliances, recycling, lunch bags,
grocery bags, all thrown onto shelves wherever
they may fit. Oh, and two clocks...?

So I got to work right before dinner, taking things out of the pantry in order to figure out how best to sort them, group them, or what might be best in bins. I tackled the food first, since it was the most 'pieces' by far. The crock pots and whatnots would be tough because they're big bulky items, but I figured the food would be the most challenging.

And this is what I came up with. I used up all of the baskets I bought, plus a few other bins I found in the pantry (that weren't being filled with anything.) I think it's a huge improvement! And I'm really happy with it; feeling a big sense of accomplishment for tonight. And there is so much more room now! But I'm not going to be too anxious to fill it up with even more stuff.

Starting on the left side, we have the cereals, then disposable things;
chips, sauces, oils, and vinegars, breads;
random breakfast items and snacks, coffees, teas, and other drinks, baking stuff;
starches, an entire row and bin dedicated to Easy Mac, canned goods
(now in rows according to what they are,
[veggies, soups, soups for cooking with]), baking ingredients;
crackers and cookies, and multiples from Costco.

Slightly better than before, less junky I'd say.
Cook books have moved over to this side, many items
were removed (like the random clocks), and bags were consolidated a lot.

Woo hoo!

A Bummer, but I'm Thankful

I got back my glucose test results the other day, and they weren't the best. Certainly not the worst, but not the best either.

But first, a little backstory/explanation...

When I got to Columbia and started going over my history with my doctor, they asked the last time I had an oral glucose tolerance test. I'd never heard of it, so the answer was: never. They were surprised to hear that, because it's something that you are supposed to do annually. So we scheduled the test for this week, the results came back saying...

My post-glucose numbers were abnormal. Normal is 140 or less, high is 200. I'm in the middle of the 'normal' number and the 'high/diabetic' number. According to what I've read, this means I am "prone to diabetes" or have "pre-diabetes." I don't know what we will do about it, if treatment is needed or not, or if we'll simply test for it every six months or something, so I'm holding off on thinking too too much about it.

Obviously the news is a bummer, but I'm thankful it's not worse and in the 200s. I have an appointment set up with the endocrinologist to get everything sorted out. I'm glad we know now; it's way better to know what's going on than be totally clueless like I was previously. This didn't happen overnight, so it really doesn't sit well with me that my previous doctors never tested me for this. But hopefully we can get me on the right track, because there is a chance that my weight and lungs could improve a little. Those are both things I have struggled with for the past couple years (read: mostly since I was at Barnes), so I'm hopeful.

Doggy Woes

So our dog Josie has been acting strange since about Thursday.

See, Thursday night while I was doing my treatments and Jarrod had gone downstairs for a couple minutes, she hopped up on the sofa... and relieved herself on the middle cushion. Jarrod treated it immediately and luckily it seems that it did the trick. I had to ask him where the spot was two days later.  Thank goodness.

Then she tried to pee on the rug as we were walking into my parents' house the other night. I caught her and pulled her away from there and we went out to the yard. Crisis averted.

Then there was yesterday...

Back story: We started leaving her in the laundry room a couple weeks ago so she would have a little more room to roam and easy access to her water dish. She did really great, and hardly seemed to get up at all actually. There was a nasty storm one night and I was worried she might freak out a little; it was day two of being in the laundry room while we were gone. But I was happy to see no messes, nothing was disturbed when we came home.

Okay, yesterday. Sunday. We went to church, had lunch, grabbed a few groceries, and came home. We let her out of her room and Jarrod said "Does it smell like she peed in here?" It kind of did. I started scanning the floor for puddles, then my eyes continued to circle around the room until I saw where the pee was... on top of the washing machine. I let out a low "Oh my god..."

Plotting her escape from the vet.

She had hopped up on top of the washing machine (which is thankfully, for this case, a front loader) and peed. I think she may have used her food tub as a step up there, but still. She also chewed up her food cup, chewed up a few notes on a notepad, and luckily left my lunch bag alone (there was a pudding cup in there.) I promptly cleaned and disinfected the top of the machine and the whole kitchen/laundry floor and washed her feet. Did I mention we didn't find her on the washer when we opened the door? Which means she must have managed to get back down without breaking a leg or something.

In talking with my good friend Heather, she said that dogs peeing on sofas are some of the first signs of a UTI. And it kind of fit; she had been doing so good until now, no accidents in the house. And suddenly accidents in the house? In super weird places too?

I just got back from the vet and sure enough, she has a bladder infection.

But everyone there was really impressed about the washing machine incident...

More Thoughts on Time

My little morning meditation the other day struck me, as it was an extension of the conversations and lifestyle changes myself and a few others were talking about a month ago, with cutting down our time on Facebook. The quote said this:

"We fritter away time every day on silly Internet games, trashy novels, insipid television shows, and the like. And while we all need time to relax, we must be jealous of the hours we have been given here on earth to do God's work." — from Sisterhood of Saints

During my hospital stays, there are many hours wasted on mindless activities. I've never been attracted to the drama-inducing or mockery reality shows, so most of the television I watch is educational, but still: it's TV. I tried out a few games on Facebook too, just to wile away the hours (since I couldn't confer with the flowers or consult with the rain). But I found them all really boring; I only stuck with one game, and even then I played it sparingly. I haven't played it since I left. It was fine and fun, but I viewed it for what it was: a time waster.

I don't say that as an excuse, but I feel that if we could acknowledge things for what they are then we can work towards actually doing things that improve ourselves or benefit others. "Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery" right?

In the same way, I think admitting when things aren't helping, making you happy, or enriching your life whatsoever is the first step in finding things that do. It's a struggle, obviously, because it is so easy to get sucked into the warp. And we all need some down time, for sure.

But we all know how satisfying it is to reach the end of the day, look back on it, and think "Wow, I got a lot of stuff done today." I know God wants me to have a satisfying day much more than he wants me to have a boring day.

A Great Thursday

Yesterday was an awesome day. I finished my home IV meds! So the usual post-IV rituals of taking a great shower, body scrubs, and enjoying wearing something not a t-shirt followed.

Jarrod and I celebrated last night with dinner at Old Dutch. Even though the place can get a little loud, I am so glad to have this little gem of a restaurant in town. Dinner was then followed by Blizzards for dessert at Dairy Queen.

But the best part about all this is I'm feeling really good. And I'm feeling really thankful; I know I don't thank God often enough for the people in my life and for all of this. The exercising is definitely making a difference. Not like I did not figure it would, but I can tell that it is. The results aren't huge by any means, but there are small ways I can tell that I feel better when I've gotten a walk in for the day.

Today is exciting because, well, it's Friday! And it was a short week.

I got started on an also-exciting personal project the other day, which I will say more about another time. I will mostly be working on it this weekend, while Jarrod is working on the basement. He's started on the plumbing.