Weather in the 'Ville the last couple of weeks has become worthy of writing about.
I've had the mysterious little cold-like thing going on since the day after Thanksgiving. I can't seem to get rid of the thing. Every time I think I've turned a corner I wake up the next morning with gook up to my ears, literally. (Sorry if that's gross, but hey, it's descriptive!).
For awhile I thought it was something in the house, so I politely petitioned Jeannie to see if we could maybe do something like wash the bedsheets. Or scrub down the bathroom, or maybe fumigate the entire house. Nothing major. I just want to feel better.
Then it hit me Monday morning, as I was coughing up another lung shortly after wakeup.
It's this unbelievably inconsistent East Texas weather.
I'm not one of those guys. You know, the guys who have to begin every conversation with "Man this weather is somethun' else." The guys who couldn't have a conversation without that weather kick-start, you know?
Matter of fact, I have never been accused of needing any kind of kick-start to a conversation. Just ask my wife. Or any one of my three friends on earth.
But the temperature here over the last month has ranged anywhere from upper 20s to upper 70s, sometimes on a 24-hour basis. For example, I woke up Sunday morning to a miserably mild upper 50ish temp on the outside. We had the Christmas choir concert at church and my sinuses were raging. Battled through it but the exertion knocked me out Sunday afternoon, literally. I didn't watch a single NFL game really Sunday afternoon, I just went to bed.
Back to church in upper 50sh weather Sunday night. Got home, set up for the Cowboys-Giants showdown and about late second quarter I posed the question to Jeannie: "Is it just me or is it BLAZING hot in this house???"
She readily agreed, and rather than sweat through the evening we decided to do the unthinkable, which was turn the air conditioner on. In the middle of December! Ten days before Christmas, and we have to spend Lord knows how many kilowatt hours on the A/C!!
I felt better instantly. I went to bed and slept like a baby, finally. But I got up Monday morning with the same symptoms that have been plaguing me for a month. Shortly following my lovely wife's first "Good morning," came this warning -- "It's freezing cold outside."
Yep, an Arctic front had pulled a sneak attack overnight and invaded the land of perennial summer. Gone were the shorts-type weather of the past couple of days. I had to bundle up and pull out my heaviest coat.
My body, at nearly 40 years old, can still take a lot of things. I can still punish it with as much basketball, racquetball and occasional mud-wrestling (not really) as the next guy. But it can't take a daily 50-degree drop in temperature anymore. So my immune system is constantly asking for reinforcement, and I can't keep up.
The temperature hasn't risen out of the 40s since Monday morning here. Three days of actual Christmas-type weather. But I saw a forecast that had us back to the 70s -- yes , THE 70S! -- by the weekend. Then same forecast predicted another cold blast late in the weekend that would have things back to the 30s or so.
Welcome to East Texas. So, man, this weather is somethun' else...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A Breath Of Fresh Air
I am one of the thousands -- maybe millions, who knows -- of Americans who sleeps peacefully most nights because of a wonderful invention known as Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine.
A little over two years ago I was diagnosed as having obstructive sleep apnea. That's a long, official-sounding name for loud snoring. Oh, and during the snoring, I stop breathing periodically during the night. Dozens of times. I took one of those sleep tests and was told in the morning that I had stopped breathing, on average, nearly 40 times per hour.
Basically what happens during sleep apnea is that the airway and nasal passages close. Snoring is actually the body's defense at waking you up. What's really bad is that sometimes the snoring has to become downright violent, and in my case, it's more of a snort. I wake up, and thereby never enjoy a full night's rest because I am constantly waking up and slipping off to doze throughout the night.
Enter the CPAP, which consists of a machine, air hose and mask that fits over my nose. I strap it to my head and turn the machine on, and it blows a soft breeze through the mask and into my nose, keeping my nasal passages open. Then I don't snore, snort, or do anything else to wake up. I sleep peacefully throughout the night and get tired the next day only rarely.
That's the great thing about CPAP. The bad thing is...sometimes you might rip the hose or break the mask, which means you have to get a replacement. That takes time, either ordering or waiting to go to the local CPAP supply store.
Two weeks ago I came home from a basketball road trip in the middle of the night. I don't go on trips without my CPAP, so it was with me. Rather than wake Jeannie up I decided to go without the mask for one night.
No problem, she was so conked and tired herself it didn't matter. I was coming down with a cold, so I decided to clean the mask and hose before hooking it up again and turning it into a germ trap. I soaked the equipment in warm soapy water and then when I was attaching it to the machine the hose ripped.
Not a good thing. I told Jeannie and she gave me this "it'll be okay" but what her look said was "good grief, now I gotta sleep with the pigs again." Meaning the snorting.
I tried calling my supplier but couldn't get hooked up. That would take a week or so anyway, so I retreated into my shell -- meaning I just tried to ignore the problem. Besides, it's quite comforting sometimes to sleep without an air mask strapped to your head, making you look like one of those stormtrooper pilots from Star Wars. I was free, unfettered, breathing normally...
Until I went to sleep. Then the racket broke loose. You know snoring and sleep apnea is bad when the sounds wake you up. I got punched, prodded, poked, downright beaten to a pulp by my suffering wife who had to listen to the large chain saw in the bed that ran all night. I was told one morning that Melody came into the bedroom in the middle of the night, from her room down the hallway, and begged Jeannie to make me put my mask on.
It's quite embarrassing, keeping your family awake because you can't breathe. It's also quite burdensome, and a sore spot as the days go on.
Jeannie threatened me. She was going to sleep in Coby's bed if I didn't get the hose replaced. Go ahead, I said, I like sleeping in king-size beds all by myself. Problem was, I wasn't doing much sleeping. The constant snoring and snorting was making me angry because I couldn't do anything but doze off most nights.
Long story short, I finally broke down and visited a local CPAP supply place yesterday. My machine now works fine and I'm back under the mask. Just in the nick of time.
But I can feel another cold coming on, so...who knows what might happen.
A little over two years ago I was diagnosed as having obstructive sleep apnea. That's a long, official-sounding name for loud snoring. Oh, and during the snoring, I stop breathing periodically during the night. Dozens of times. I took one of those sleep tests and was told in the morning that I had stopped breathing, on average, nearly 40 times per hour.
Basically what happens during sleep apnea is that the airway and nasal passages close. Snoring is actually the body's defense at waking you up. What's really bad is that sometimes the snoring has to become downright violent, and in my case, it's more of a snort. I wake up, and thereby never enjoy a full night's rest because I am constantly waking up and slipping off to doze throughout the night.
Enter the CPAP, which consists of a machine, air hose and mask that fits over my nose. I strap it to my head and turn the machine on, and it blows a soft breeze through the mask and into my nose, keeping my nasal passages open. Then I don't snore, snort, or do anything else to wake up. I sleep peacefully throughout the night and get tired the next day only rarely.
That's the great thing about CPAP. The bad thing is...sometimes you might rip the hose or break the mask, which means you have to get a replacement. That takes time, either ordering or waiting to go to the local CPAP supply store.
Two weeks ago I came home from a basketball road trip in the middle of the night. I don't go on trips without my CPAP, so it was with me. Rather than wake Jeannie up I decided to go without the mask for one night.
No problem, she was so conked and tired herself it didn't matter. I was coming down with a cold, so I decided to clean the mask and hose before hooking it up again and turning it into a germ trap. I soaked the equipment in warm soapy water and then when I was attaching it to the machine the hose ripped.
Not a good thing. I told Jeannie and she gave me this "it'll be okay" but what her look said was "good grief, now I gotta sleep with the pigs again." Meaning the snorting.
I tried calling my supplier but couldn't get hooked up. That would take a week or so anyway, so I retreated into my shell -- meaning I just tried to ignore the problem. Besides, it's quite comforting sometimes to sleep without an air mask strapped to your head, making you look like one of those stormtrooper pilots from Star Wars. I was free, unfettered, breathing normally...
Until I went to sleep. Then the racket broke loose. You know snoring and sleep apnea is bad when the sounds wake you up. I got punched, prodded, poked, downright beaten to a pulp by my suffering wife who had to listen to the large chain saw in the bed that ran all night. I was told one morning that Melody came into the bedroom in the middle of the night, from her room down the hallway, and begged Jeannie to make me put my mask on.
It's quite embarrassing, keeping your family awake because you can't breathe. It's also quite burdensome, and a sore spot as the days go on.
Jeannie threatened me. She was going to sleep in Coby's bed if I didn't get the hose replaced. Go ahead, I said, I like sleeping in king-size beds all by myself. Problem was, I wasn't doing much sleeping. The constant snoring and snorting was making me angry because I couldn't do anything but doze off most nights.
Long story short, I finally broke down and visited a local CPAP supply place yesterday. My machine now works fine and I'm back under the mask. Just in the nick of time.
But I can feel another cold coming on, so...who knows what might happen.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Phasing Out Pappy
My wife has decided it's time to get rid of our security blanket at home. This of course means it's time to break our nearly two-year-old baby girl of the "Pappy" habit.
It's not going to be easy, especially when Jeannie's not around. As Dad, I can tell you there's no better babysitter sometimes than the good old mangled pacifier. I'm about a week behind on the "get rid of Pappy" campaign, but I was forced to adhere to the new rules around the house over the last weekend.
Up until now it's not been unusual for Abby to have Pappy in her possession or in her mouth, I would estimate, probably 23 hours out of a 24-hour day. And that's rounded off. Pappy is her best friend, and she has several friends -- her favorite thing is to have one Pappy in her mouth and several others in both hands, just to know that there's always a friend close by.
We've found Pappys everywhere in the house. Toy box, TV cabinet, fireplace, under the bed, in clothes drawers. Because of a lack of counter space, we keep our toaster oven when not in use in a cabinet near the refrigerator. Abby's thing has always been to open cabinet doors, and once she found the toaster it became the thing to play with the door on the toaster. Yes, we find Pappys in the toaster oven now.
We're phasing out Pappy in an effort to help Abby speak. And for the most part, I'd say it's been a rousing success. She talks non-stop now, and a few words are actually understandable. Her favorite phrases the last week or so post-Pappy have been things like "Sanka Coz," "Oh min" (that's oh man -- she's picked this up somehow and says it all the time, out of the blue, quite hilarious) and her personal favorite, "Oss." Oss, of course, means "Oz," as in The Wizard of Oz, which is now forever on our DVR because yours truly thought it would be great for the kids to have. Abby loves it, and we watch the Dorothy Chronicles at least twice a day, or parts of it, anyway.
Oh yeah, she can say "Care cro" too, courtesy of Oz.
So the chatter has picked up considerably with Pappy out the way. We've come to an agreement with the baby, however. She can have Pappy only at naptime and bedtime, and any other time she gets a hankerin for her friend it's with the understanding that a nap must take place as well. That usually settles the issue for a few moments, anyway.
A week or so into the experiment, Abby's now playing games. It was just me and her yesterday in the living room, and I of course was caught up in the early part of the Cowboys game. That's about all I say about that debacle -- the Cowboys, I mean.
I look up at some point and there's Abby, somehow with a shiny green pappy in her mouth and another multi-colored one in her hand. I said something to the effect of get rid of the Pappy, and she grinned from behind the friend. I reached out to get it and she pulled back, grinning larger. Then we got into this playful little chase around the furniture, which fortunately I won. Both Pappys were removed and placed out of sight, I thought, and therefore out of mind.
No chance. Two minutes later, I look up and she's retrieved them, and we're off to chasing again. This went on for two or three more times before I finally had enough and the Pappys were safetly put out of reach. Game effectively over, she moved on to the next project with not a single word of protest.
Yes, Pappy isn't dead around the house, but the funeral arrangements are in the works. Once Abby realizes she can indeed fall asleep and sleep peacefully without Pappy in the same room, we can all breathe a little easier. Maybe then we'll get rid of the nighttime bottle-before-bed routine, too.
It's not going to be easy, especially when Jeannie's not around. As Dad, I can tell you there's no better babysitter sometimes than the good old mangled pacifier. I'm about a week behind on the "get rid of Pappy" campaign, but I was forced to adhere to the new rules around the house over the last weekend.
Up until now it's not been unusual for Abby to have Pappy in her possession or in her mouth, I would estimate, probably 23 hours out of a 24-hour day. And that's rounded off. Pappy is her best friend, and she has several friends -- her favorite thing is to have one Pappy in her mouth and several others in both hands, just to know that there's always a friend close by.
We've found Pappys everywhere in the house. Toy box, TV cabinet, fireplace, under the bed, in clothes drawers. Because of a lack of counter space, we keep our toaster oven when not in use in a cabinet near the refrigerator. Abby's thing has always been to open cabinet doors, and once she found the toaster it became the thing to play with the door on the toaster. Yes, we find Pappys in the toaster oven now.
We're phasing out Pappy in an effort to help Abby speak. And for the most part, I'd say it's been a rousing success. She talks non-stop now, and a few words are actually understandable. Her favorite phrases the last week or so post-Pappy have been things like "Sanka Coz," "Oh min" (that's oh man -- she's picked this up somehow and says it all the time, out of the blue, quite hilarious) and her personal favorite, "Oss." Oss, of course, means "Oz," as in The Wizard of Oz, which is now forever on our DVR because yours truly thought it would be great for the kids to have. Abby loves it, and we watch the Dorothy Chronicles at least twice a day, or parts of it, anyway.
Oh yeah, she can say "Care cro" too, courtesy of Oz.
So the chatter has picked up considerably with Pappy out the way. We've come to an agreement with the baby, however. She can have Pappy only at naptime and bedtime, and any other time she gets a hankerin for her friend it's with the understanding that a nap must take place as well. That usually settles the issue for a few moments, anyway.
A week or so into the experiment, Abby's now playing games. It was just me and her yesterday in the living room, and I of course was caught up in the early part of the Cowboys game. That's about all I say about that debacle -- the Cowboys, I mean.
I look up at some point and there's Abby, somehow with a shiny green pappy in her mouth and another multi-colored one in her hand. I said something to the effect of get rid of the Pappy, and she grinned from behind the friend. I reached out to get it and she pulled back, grinning larger. Then we got into this playful little chase around the furniture, which fortunately I won. Both Pappys were removed and placed out of sight, I thought, and therefore out of mind.
No chance. Two minutes later, I look up and she's retrieved them, and we're off to chasing again. This went on for two or three more times before I finally had enough and the Pappys were safetly put out of reach. Game effectively over, she moved on to the next project with not a single word of protest.
Yes, Pappy isn't dead around the house, but the funeral arrangements are in the works. Once Abby realizes she can indeed fall asleep and sleep peacefully without Pappy in the same room, we can all breathe a little easier. Maybe then we'll get rid of the nighttime bottle-before-bed routine, too.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Tag Team
Okay, CDJ, I can play the game.
1. Two Names You Go By: Daddy and Dream. Daddy is obvious, and my wife calls me all kinds of things based on the mood and situation of the moment. Dream is a nickname given to me by a good friend, referring to Dreamweaver. Or my likeness with Hakeem Olajuwon.
2. Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Work slacks, a Tigers coaching shirt, and a blue windjacket because a cold front just blew in overnight.
3. Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment: A warmer cup of coffee and Christmas tunes. A playoff spot for the Cowboys would also be nice.
4. Two people who you look up to: My wife and...a handful of my friends who shall remain nameless.
.5. Two things you did last night: Went to choir practice and suffered through it with a raging cold that I hope I've knocked out overnight...feeling a little better this morning.
.6. Two things you ate yesterday: Chinese food for lunch and three Taco Bell tacos for dinner.
7. Two people you last talked to: My bosses, Mike Midkiff and Lea Hall.
8. Two Things you're doing tomorrow: Work and hopefully take my wife out on a date.
9. Two longest car rides: Birmingham, Ala., and Rogers, Ark.
10. Favorite Holidays : Thanksgiving and Christmas, duh.
11. Favorite Vacations : Destin, Fla. -- twice.
12. Last trip: Last weekend to Alpine, Texas, and Brownwood, Texas, for ETBU basketball. Nearly 2,000 miles round trip on a bus at all hours of the night -- hence the cold.
13. Two favorite beverages: Sweet tea and Diet anything.
1. Two Names You Go By: Daddy and Dream. Daddy is obvious, and my wife calls me all kinds of things based on the mood and situation of the moment. Dream is a nickname given to me by a good friend, referring to Dreamweaver. Or my likeness with Hakeem Olajuwon.
2. Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Work slacks, a Tigers coaching shirt, and a blue windjacket because a cold front just blew in overnight.
3. Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment: A warmer cup of coffee and Christmas tunes. A playoff spot for the Cowboys would also be nice.
4. Two people who you look up to: My wife and...a handful of my friends who shall remain nameless.
.5. Two things you did last night: Went to choir practice and suffered through it with a raging cold that I hope I've knocked out overnight...feeling a little better this morning.
.6. Two things you ate yesterday: Chinese food for lunch and three Taco Bell tacos for dinner.
7. Two people you last talked to: My bosses, Mike Midkiff and Lea Hall.
8. Two Things you're doing tomorrow: Work and hopefully take my wife out on a date.
9. Two longest car rides: Birmingham, Ala., and Rogers, Ark.
10. Favorite Holidays : Thanksgiving and Christmas, duh.
11. Favorite Vacations : Destin, Fla. -- twice.
12. Last trip: Last weekend to Alpine, Texas, and Brownwood, Texas, for ETBU basketball. Nearly 2,000 miles round trip on a bus at all hours of the night -- hence the cold.
13. Two favorite beverages: Sweet tea and Diet anything.
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