Tragedies

Certain tragedies grab hold and won't let me rest. The sun shines, the sky is blue, but sadness hovers at the periphery of my mind. And I can't explain why I feel more connected to certain tragedies than others, becauuse all tragedies are loss. I remember the crash of flight 255 in Detroit. I looked at the pictures of the victims in the paper (pre computer days), studying the faces of families, honeymooners, business people. My eldest daughter had attended a seminar in Japan. A few months later the tsunami completely devastated Japanese villages. This past winter, I scrolled through photos of homes destroyed on the east coast by the large amount of snowfall. Over Memorial Day weekend, a foot of rain dropped on Texas, causing massive flooding. I read about a young high school student caught in the flood and drowning on her way home from prom. A husband who went under the flood waters and hasn't been seen since. A house ripped off stilts, carried downstream taking several family members downstream, It broke apart after crashing into a bridge. I can't imagine hurtling downstream in a house in the dark. Three men, three women, three children. So far only one man is accounted for, a dad and husband whose wife and children are missing. Three bodies have been pulled from the river awaiting identification. My thoughts and prayers are with the families in Texas who have suffered the loss of loved ones or their homes.

Tiring week

Thursday afternoon, my dad called to let me know that my mother was in the hospital. She had celulitis and needed IV antibiotics. I visited her at the hospital in the morning to help feed her, worked at the flower shop and then stayed with her at the hospital until she was settled for the night. One evening, hoping to entice my dad to eat, I stopped at a restaurant and bought a turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy dinner and some chicken soup. My mother came home yesterday afternoon along with a prescription for heavy duty antibiotics. Her blood saturation level is low and she has some fluid in her lungs. I visited after work--my sister-in-law was at the house helping. My dad said he didn't get much sleep last night. I came home and took a nap for a couple hours. Have to get up early Monday morning.

Back online with a 10" RCA tablet

Today I bought a RCA tablet with keyboard. It has a 10.1 inch screen and front and rear cameras. It is an android tablet and does not run on Windows 8. It will take a while to learn how to use it, but it is so good to be online again. I decided that I needed a good sized screen, dual cameras and a keyboard. I read consumer reports this morning and unfortunately, there are many unhappy customers. The complaints vary from "the machine won't turn on to the screen shows black and white streaks." It's sad, because I really like the tablet, user friendly and efficient and if my tablet dies, I will be upset. I only paid $150 and it has a 1 year warranty which is what I would expect. I might purchase an extended warranty because I like the tablet so much. I am not used to the right shift key so am constantly paging down. The distraction of the tablet seems to have helped me forget about gum and teeth pain. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow and really don't think there is anything seriously wrong. I have been using toothpaste for sensitive teeth and a gum numbing oral rinse and taking acetiminophen. I think the mouth pain is a reaction to stress or maybe the loss of the Asus tablet. It was expensive and to find the touchscreen unexplicably damaged caused major disruption in my life. On the Integrative Nutrition workshop front, we discussed relationships. My sister said, "I know all about you!" and "Is your mentally ill friend still in your life?" When I told her she was, my sister said, "I'd let her exit your life." It upset me because I have been friends with my mentally ill friend for over 30 years. I answered some questions to determine which Ayurvedic body type I am, and had the same number for summer/pitta and spring/kapha. Our homework this week is to eat a serving of leafy greens every day and to try some new leafy greens, in my case bok choy.