An April Fool's Day Clinic Visit....

04/01/2010
GoodLuck Buddy Walk-In Clinic
66613 Public Option Loop West, Omigosh, WY

PATIENT NAME: WEASELSPAT, SCOOBER T.

FINAL DIAGNOSIS: Worms.

CHIEF COMPLAINT: "I really, really don't like the chief."
The patient is a 44-year-old male with a history of spackle and longstanding muleskinner blues who presented to the Drama Department on 04/01 boasting of whacked shivers and alluvial bonk once a day, every day and all day long since Tuesday. The patient is a poor geographer.

ALLERGIES: Air and water.

MEDICATIONS: Asafetida 3 g suspension around neck as needed, Brillo 1 pad wet to underarm twice a day, Remotil 2 whiffs something awful, Wazoo Powder up nose half the time, Dramatix 600 mg daily with regrets and Whuptidoo p.r.n. for blinking shizzles.

PAST MEDICAL HISTORY: Uncomplimentary.

PAST SURGICAL HISTORY: Left rib smackdown with toggle x3, DermaBlonde closure of right nostril for no good reason, childhood appendix transplant. The patient had a Harley-Poot procedure and reversal last year.

SOCIAL HISTORY: A cursing home resident. Denies having any kind of fun, ever.

FAMILY HISTORY: Positive for a mother and father.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: Vinyl size table. GENERAL: Curled up in the corner, honking loudly. HEEHEE: Zither versus whackster astrolabes noted within the woozle mucosa. Entirely ridiculous otherwise. Oriented to the date of April 01. HEART: Rattly rate in rhumba, no runs, no hits, no errors. HINEY: Deferred. LUNGS: Two. ABDOMEN: Old bees, Mom tends her. No gargling or Reba hound. EXTREMITIES: Extreme. NEUROLOGIC: Like urologic, but with NE.

IMPRESSION: Good, first.
The patient improved promptly upon slapping and was further disciplined with a Schlitz-Borney strap. The patient tolerated the indignity well. Wonka Cream 90 g topical to elbows daily until square. The patient left against all odds.

SGTex
****

photo courtesy of cartoonstock.com

"When the power of love....

....overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."
Jimi Hendrix

Perhaps we could give peace a chance right here at home. (Okay, Lennon just kinda slipped right in there, lol)

I've been reading and listening to what people are saying about the Health Care Bill and all that has happened since Sunday. Honestly, I'm appalled. Not at what passed or what didn't pass into law, but what has come to pass in the hearts and minds (what's left of them, that is) of America's sons and daughters. People seem to be ignoring reality and are being hateful on both sides (but especially the conservative extremists, who seem to ignore facts and blindly spew hate rhetoric).

Maybe I'm saying that as an excuse to post this beautiful window being created by Jack M, a friend of SGTex. When I saw it, I was blown away by how lovely it is, a work in progress. It spoke to me at the time about what it actually takes to accomplish peace. It doesn't just happen without considerable effort, and every step taken toward reaching peace is beautiful and meaningful and necessary.

But peace, when it is attained, remains fragile. It must be handled with care so as not to be broken. If that should happen, we pick up the pieces and begin the work again, in order to achieve a new, even better peace...

It's something I'm working on understanding better. Jack has a picture of the original window he created. I'm not sure, but I think it had an accident (something about a dog, lol)... Maybe we'll get to see the finished project one of these days, and by that time peace will have been given a chance.

I certainly hope so. Thanks, Jack. We're impressed.

Shawn & SGTex
****

I know, it's me again....

...and I have no idea why I'm back so soon. We had a splendid weekend--the very best ever, in fact. Spring is happening here at our little cottage, what with the front door painting all finished and some planting done. The gardening is underway, so we're pretty excited about that.

I'm finding it somewhat interesting to read and hear what America has to say about the Health Care Bill...Wow, there's a lot of vehemence and melodrama by the conservatives who resent reform being thrust upon them, with head-shaking and eye-rolling by the more liberal folks who wonder why something wasn't done lo, those many years ago by the Republicans when they had the chance. Well, I guess it's a matter of hindsight being 20/20 and "we woulda if we coulda." Now we will just wait and see how things pan out. I've always been fascinated by politics, yet find it dismaying to see how easy it is for discussions to break down into arguments and hurling insults. Personally, I wonder if there might not be just a little bit of racism that's burbling under the surface. Kind of a "who do they think they are" mentality, which I find revolting, don't you? I thought so.

Today SGTex went to his Interfaith Council luncheon and meeting where his friend Mr. H.T. made an interesting presentation of several prayers and shared about matters of Islam. What he's told me about it has been absolutely fascinating. We're lucky to have people like Mr. H.T. here in our town.

Well, I guess it's time to call it a day, so here's to a wonderful rest-of-the-week!!

Shawn
****

A Texas Friday night....

...thunder and lightning in the distance and every once in awhile the sky lights up and the air crackles. It's rockin' and rollin' out there, making it romantic in here...

We put a brief playlist on the side bar ----> with some of our most favorite songs from our very beginning. It was literally a matter of him putting the music back into my life, sending me tunes across the miles, and it was like hearing them for the first time, really. WoW. As time goes by, we might add to the list, but for now, enjoy.

What a week! An emotional rollercoaster with a big dose of the good, the bad and the ugly all rolled into one. I'm exhausted from it all, but grateful everything came out all right in the end. Whew.

I've given some thought to things that have stressed me out, pretty much, and what it comes down to is remembering how I need to live, and to what I aspire:

THE FOUR AGREEMENTS ~Don Miguel Ruiz's Code For Life~

(Agreement One) Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

(Agreement Two) Don’t take anything personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

(Agreement Three) Don’t make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

(Agreement Four) Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

A nice recipe for happy. Just add Shawn, and stir.

Shawn
****

Très chic ...

Well, the subject came up a couple of times in the last week. SGTex gifted me with a bottle of the cologne on my birthday (ala Celine Dion), and I absolutely love it! A sexy fragrance and it makes me feel all woozy about him... ;+). (Excellent choice, Honey). And then the word came up on Facebook again, just a bit ago. I had been looking for something in regards to "chic" and this mag cover image popped up, so there it is. Hmm, come to think of it, I could have pulled up something on CHIC, as I'm all for a little R&B, that's for sure....

Yes,I had a lovely birthday celebration, in case anyone is wondering. We started just after midnight and quite carried on for the rest of the weekend. Chocolate (as in cake and Bliss) and spent some real quality time together. Birthdays are a LOT nicer with my Man, TTYTT. A good work week, followed by what he dubbed a "Honeymoon Weekend," so I'd say things have been going well.

Spring has sprung on our street, and we're getting underway with the garden. Well, he is-- tomatoes went in, he's got this neat tiller thing that he uses and I see some seed packages laying on the breakfront in the kitchen, with some peppers which have been sacrificed to seed collection. I'm glad I'm hooked up with a gardener.

Our front door is now freshly painted a *chic* shiny black, thanks to my Man-of-many-talents. It looks great, and will be perfect, as soon as he mounts our plaque which states "This is a Buddhist home."

I really like that. A lot.

Shawn
****

photo: mag cover of Chic Today Volume 023 Flights of Fancy

I'm not quite sure what to call this one....

It's Saturday night and I'm *in between*--thinking back over last week and looking forward to what's coming next. Monday is my birthday, and I'm looking forward to that. Not so much the 'adding another year' aspect, but about having a nice time with my man and our being together here, under the same roof, in the same time zone, etc.... That's worthy of celebration, in my book!

I was really proud of SGTex this week. He received his pretty-much-annual invitation to speak about his Buddhism at a local university class on world religions, and he gave a wonderful presentation. I listened in by cell phone, as I was at home working and doing puppy rodeo. It was a very interesting lecture and time of testimony, followed by some pretty insightful student questions. That was great! One thing that he talked about is the interfaith aspect of our relationship.

I guess we are pretty unique and different, and I think the picture here illustrates that. It's a Pagan Buddhist Japanese shrine, and what does actually not apply to us is this: Neither of us is Japanese, lol. I'll let you arrive at your own conclusions about the rest. ;+).

I really like spending time with SGTex, and it's nice that we don't wait for a special occasion to go out to eat or do something enjoyable together. An old friend mentioned that she hadn't been out with her husband for a loooong time, and that was remarkable, evidenced by another friend's exclamation of "PTL" over it (eyeroll here by me). Hmmm. What's up with a couple who claims to share the same practice of faith and values, yet don't share much, if any, of their free time? Not being on the scene, I can only speculate, and I'm not going to waste much thought on it. But I guess why this came to mind is that this morning, DH and I did have a discussion about the merits of eating in more often rather than going out, and I will confess that I didn't have the greatest attitude about it at the time (I like going out!) Come to think of it, I might have been a little more cheerfully practical, had I bothered to remember that I have it pretty good compared to some wives out there...And if you have any doubts, just ask my husband. He'll tell you how good I have it....LOL.

Don't I know it !!!

You're absolutely right, Darling....

Shawn
****

Good grief....

We lost a dear friend the other day to cancer, but she'll have no part of any persistent crying or sadness, which would be "bad grief." She passed on to her next life, and today, especially, she's been in my thoughts and on my heart. She made the most of living, and as it turns out, she made the best of dying. She knew how she wanted to live, and did a great job at it. When it was time, she knew how she wanted to go, and did so, leaving behind explicit instructions that said what she wanted us to remember and how to cope, which would be "good grief." We're trying our best...I am amazed and inspired. She's gone from us now, but will never be forgotten. (To tell you the truth, I fully expect to bump into her somewhere in time, as she's one of those rare people who has such a vibrant and strong personality that absolutely refuses to be ignored, LOL.)

So now it's time to get on with life and make the most of it....

Shawn
****