Good Day, Good News

Today was a good day, good as in no incidents, no palpitations, no frightening pounding in my chest. It was however a horror at work. Darn computers, I mean I know that they are antiques but that doesn't give them the right to malfunction they way they were today. The scanners weren't scanning, the keyboards weren't responding to key strokes and the main computer froze. This meant I spent the majority of the day on the phone with IBID tech support. I like the tech person assigned to our store, she's really nice but being on the phone for 45 minutes at a time and doing the calibrations and such to get the scanner working was not fun. And then, Artchick came in to work at five and usually this would be a great treat and a lift of spirits but she had a migraine :( which meant the usual frivolity had to be post poned. And also, the fatigue hit like a hammer between my eyes when she walked in. I'm still kinda tired, but no enough to go to bed. We were also b-u-s-y today, mainly because people are waking up and remembering that Easter only a little more than a week away, Palm Sunday is this Sunday and that Good Friday is this coming Friday. So everyone's coming in and buy things, bulletin covers, plastic cups for communion, wafers, communion bread, cards & the like. I had a woman come in today looking for Palm fronds. They come in every year looking for palm fronds.

Tough Day

Ugh, what a day! This morning was a nightmare, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Afternoon wasn't any better, had two episodes (I think from stress) and could not wait to get home. Hasn't really improved much. Glad the day is now over.

Another Good Day

Another Good Day

Last night was semi-rough, I had another episode and unfortunately it was rather a long and nasty one. I told myself that if I couldn't get my heart rate steady under 100 beats, I'd have to go to the hospital again. Which was probably not the best thought to have rattling around in my head as I was trying to get my heart to calm down. Also, I didn't have my ''emergency potassium'' that helps kick down the tempo. So, from roughly 6:39pm to 8:45pm I had three separate episodes and a pulse that was uncomfortably high. It didn't help matters that I was at work, and freaking out my coworker. When I got home, I suddenly felt better and a quick check of pulse and blood pressure revealed that I was finally on the high-side of normal. So, I kinda half cried on Dad, who was awesome and told me to go take potassium and then get Rea and come downstairs and he'd let me jack into the line downstairs so I could be on line and watch TV with him. He even watched an episode of Remmington Steele with me (hey, he likes em too) and made sure that I kept checking my pulse and see that it was not only stabilizing, but going down to the more normal area. Later that night it woke me up, or some sound did and I realized it was running high again, but when I took the actual pulse rate it was only 90 which for me is high (I'm usually somewhere between 75 & 83) and 90 is well within the resting heart rate of 60-100 that doctors look for. I think I might have awakened from a nightmare or weird dream and that's why I was running high for me.

Anyway, today was much better. It was my day off and Mom let me sleep in to around 9:30am which was lovely especially because of the rough night previous. Then I had cinnamon toast and coffee for breakfast, realized I had my local and federal tax returns to deposit and my paycheck, and so Mom said if I'd get in gear she'd play taxi for me and help me get that deposit done and then we'd go and have fun. So after going to the bank, we headed down to Old Town and poked about in the antique and estate stores. We laughed something terrible at the old ads, you know the ones that ran something along the lines of "Be his pin up girl with soft-woman face powder'' or ''She couldn't bear it any longer, she had to let the ladies know, it wasn't homemade..." and oohed over a really nice bookcase of dark wood that was $449.00 but made out of real wood, not press board and paper like they usually are today. We were going to have tea down at the lower end of town but they were closed :( so we settled for a chocolate dipped strawberry from a side shop and then stopped in my favorite calligraphy store. I talked to the lady behind the counter who has on several occasions helped me out by writing a blurb about my signings in the paper she freelances for, and found out that her son is adopting two children from Africa. Very cool news indeed. Mom said she was going to start eating the pictures and word art if we didn't get out of there soon so I picked the word rocks I wanted, paid and Mom and I headed out in pursuit of lunch.

I had chicken salad at Panera, and Mom got the same, and we both decided to splurge and have chips instead of the apple for our side. After lunch we did some spring shopping for me, and to my delight and surprise I got 6 shirts that I really like and all of them on 50% off. Mom and I also checked out the local party store for signing stuff, and then finally came home. I did my free weight routine whilst watching The Avengers and then had a nice supper with Artchick, Dad, and Mom. After dinner, Artchick and I ran down to Michaels where I picked up more pretty paper. And that was my nice day.

Good Day

I had a really nice day today! And while that's not world shattering news, it means so much to me. I had a nice time in church, enjoyed reading the Scriptures, got some prayer from my Mom and that always helps with this nagging fear. And then Tolkien came over and we went out to the local craft store. I found a whole line of paper products that are just the kind of things I love to work with and create with, and then we hit the local diner and I had a nice hamburger and brilliant fries. We meandered home with lemon-lime bars to soothe our throats and nice hot tea to warm them up again. Then she hung out and we laughed like mad crazy writers, goading each other about characters and settings and such and downed said tea and juice bars. She's a really skilled world-builder and I have learned so much from her! I'm half in love with most of her characters. good thing is, she likes some of mine too. Anyway, now I'm down stairs with Dad, watching Midsummer Murders and connecting to the Internet whilst being downstairs on the couch. I have found in these weeks I've been dealing with this problem, I don't like to be alone that much. And I'm working on another scene with Mynasthoa and Ghost. So it's been a really good day all the way around.

Good News Kinda

Well I went to the heart specialist today, and the good news is that what I have isn't going to kill me. It's definitely not life threatening, he thinks its something called tachycardia which is when the heart beats too fast (duh) and is usually caused by a chemical imbalance. For instance, if your iron level is too low( iron carries the oxygen to your cells) your heart will beat harder to make up for the lack of oxygen in the blood. Cells need oxygen, there isn't enough iron in your blood to give them all what they need, and so to make up for that lack (because the cells are still demanding oxygen) the heart beats harder so the cells get their oxygen. Down side to that is that I need to wear something called ''an event monitor'' for a month so that when I have another episode, I can record it and transmit it to the doctor and he can have a look at what is going on during the rapid heart rate. *blah*

So physically I am likely doing better, spiritually I am definitely in a pit. Please those of you who have prayed for me, thank you so much, it means so much. And those that would like to continue, you have my thanks and my tears at this time. Really means worlds to me that you are carrying me in prayer.

So Lord Batson's Posted the Last Challenge.. . .

Kinda sad in a way, but I don't doubt he'll come up with other ones to keep us on our toes. Mood and suspense by mood is the challenge and I think I'll try to describe the archives that Mynas keeps. That or a canyon, or a desert even. Oooh, I could do something I've wanted to play with for some time. Hmm, well looks like I've got lots of choices on this one.

*grin*

Now, to work!

Am Doing Better

Some potassium supplements have helped, and I'm going to see my doctor on Friday, and then the heart specialist on Tuesday, so things are looking better. Mom and everyone have been praying too and I'm not quite as scared. Not unless I get that lovely pounding in the chest and then I am down right frightened. But they don't last long. And that's the best news really.

Hymn of Encouragement

The Hymn I'm holding onto right now:

I don't know about you guys, but when I am really scared, usually a hymn will come bubbling up from my bones. I really do believe the Holy Spirit does that for me, and I wanted to say thanks already for the prayers, especially to Lady Annette and the others who prayed for me this morning.

Here's the hymn/song:

Jesus I am resting, resting
In the Joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power
Thou hast made me whole.

####Chorus:

Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.

O how great Thy loving kindness.
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O how marvellous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.

####

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings;
Thine is love indeed!

####

Ever lift Thy face upon me,
As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting 'neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory,
Sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting;
Fill me with Thy grace.

####

Right, I'm not going to make this long ..

But I wanted everyone to know that whilst the Rhu is being blessed beyond measure, this tarb is being slightly squished by circumstances. I had another episode with my heart last night right as I was going to bed, it raced wildly, getting up to over 142 beats per minute and I was beyond scared. So, I woke Mom up and we toddled down to the local Emergency Room. The people there were really lovely, hooked me up to moniters that went ''beep-beep-beep'' and took an EKG of my heart (ha ha I do so have one) and then they left me alone with mom in the side room (or bay as it's called I think) for roughly 4 hours. Just me, Mom, the beeping, and the fear. My pulse did calm down dropping from a resting heart rate of 111 (very bad) to a much more sedate and normal one of 78. They took lots of blood, hooked me up to an IV line but didn't put an IV in me, took a chest x-ray (double proof that I have one) and then the nice attending doctor came and took a look at me and we talked about what had happened and maybe what had triggered it and he was very kind but said that he wanted me to go and see a heart doctor and gave me a referal to the one that used to look after PopPop. The chest x-ray and EKG were pronouced normal around 6:30 and we got out of there sevenish. We'd arrived at 1:30. So then Mom and came home, made sure no one was waiting up panicked for us (they weren't Dad was still sleeping and Artchick went to school having slept through the whole thing ;) )and then went to breakfast at the local diner. I came home and crashed around 7:45 and other than being paranoid and taking the potassium that they gave me, I've been sleeping and now I've awakened and typed out this. So, I suppose the long and the short of things is that I'd love prayer-unfortunately am still kinda scared-and really really wish I could just curl up in Christ's arms and not go anywhere else for a long, long time.

A Snippet!

Written for a contest to prove to myself and to others that I can still do foreshadowing.

I am not married to the thing, but I do love bits enough to post the whole of it here.

Following is copyright 2007 MB

Enjoy!

“Lie down ole bones, lie down”

“Lie down old bones, lie down,

Don’t you know that you are dead?

You are, dead and buried dead and buried,

And so you can not dance, no, you can not dance”

The words piped out, tangling the brightness with mischief, and seemed to scuttle along the before Mynasthoa. He frowned slightly, and left the shade where he’d been playing hide and find with the nooning brightness of Aledal’s suns. The intensity of the light rolled over him like honey filling up all of his senses and threatening to overload them. Mynasthoa took several deep breaths, blinking in the brightness, and the light finally gave up the disorientation slid away.

“Lie down ole bones, lie down”

“Lie down old bones, lie down,”

The rhyme he’d known in his childhood repeated itself in a breathy taunt, though it sounded as if it were coming from behind rather than in front as it had when it started. The singer had to be very near him.

Mynasthoa turned slightly as several people pressed pass him; there were two venders trotting behind their push carts of wares, headed to the scarlet awnings on the other side of the avenue to show their goods to those trapped there by the brilliance of the nooning hour, a man and two small girls that held hands tightly and ran along the near side of the street, perhaps looking for the other half of their family, and a pair of street artists running for cover their caps jingling with coins they’d earned from telling stories to the stranded shoppers.

No Aledalian child would be familiar with the chant, he ran a hand through his hair smearing his fingertips with grit and sweat, before giving his locks a gentle tug as if that would release the answer from where it was hiding in his mind. It wasn’t something that a merchant would sing; it was too provoking and rude to be found in a salesman’s mouth. No Talebearer would start off their roll of stories with something so archaic, stories of heroes and daring escapes and kings and princesses running afoul of luck and then having everything turn out well, were what people wanted to hear.

“Don’t you know that you are dead?

You are, dead and buried dead and buried”

Mynasthoa scowled and turned on his heel moving back under the protective awning but as he did so, his long coat brushed up against his back and then whispered out again as someone insinuated an arm between his ribs and inside coat pocket

“Stars take it” he swore and spun with the motion of the intruder, catching a wrist and yanking the thief hard against himself. Dust scuffled up from the cracked stone road, and he felt the gazes of the clustered citizens snap to him as his prisoner writhed and twisted.

“Ah, there will be no biting, for I will bite you back and you’ll go home with half a hand” he warned as the pick pocket lowed their head and he felt teeth set against his knuckles. There was a hoarse word and he laughed. “Manners now, manners. And I caught you out, so by law you owe me seven times what you took” There was a hard inhale from the small frame and then Mynasthoa’s leather courier roll dropped onto the ground. So that’s what they’d been after. Odd.

“Now that’s a start, much better one than trying to rob this old man” Mynasthoa smiled grimly “Tell you what, I’ll take what is mine and you keep what is yours and we’ll be friends. What do you say to that?”

“I’d say that you never were one for knowing what was yours and what wasn’t” the thief murmured. Mynasthoa’s eyes widened and the tension in his arms slacked on the other frame, just enough. The thief broke his hold and spun away from him, dipping down between his feet a moment to snatch the dropped papers and then she straightened, black hair fierce in the brightness and eyes that were too blue to be purple and too purple to blue looked straight into his own. She slipped the paper down inside her jerkin and straightened her arm. A cylinder twanged into her hand and she squeezed it, out shot two lengths of pole and she stepped to the side, twirling the staff through her long fingers. “I wonder though, dear Rulebook, if in our time apart perhaps finally you’ve learned how to dance.” He backed away, giving ground and fumbled for his own calibone as her collapsible one struck at his boot tips.

This one's going to be entered in a contest. :)

Torment Over!

I have spent roughly an hour and half today writing and just having the most delightful time with words! Most of you know that these past two weeks have been something of a lesson in patience and delayed gratificationfor me on the writing front seeing as Elena Violet was born and took up a great deal of last week, and then ArtChick's move upstairs into her better room (which for some odd reason I just spelled 'rook') and the general re-arranging of Mom and Dad's office and my office took up what little spare time I had left. The move went really well on Monday, the movers really had some mad-skills and everything (furniture) is settled where it should be. However, it will be several months I think before I have all my books on the shelves where I want them. I still have I think roughly seven boxes to unpack, but I'm not complaining, for the two and a half bookshelves I gave up, I received in return three lovely real wood bookcases that are deeper than the ones I gave up, and taller too. I hope to have everything unpacked and on shelves by the end of this week and then using Halfelven's ''fifteen minutes'' technique I will attempt to order them the way I want. Anyway, I'll post more later, I just had to e-mail the author (George Bryan Polivka) we are having the signing for something and so decided to post this too. But now, I have to go and eat, then I have a doctor's appointment, have to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy, and hopefully I'll be home around 7:30 for fun and games.

There be Dragons. . .

On the floor, in my mind, on plywood. Oh, they are just everywhere. This is actually my *first* commissioned piece. The size of the shield (or canvas) is 2'x4' and it took me three coats of paint to get that black field *black*. Now I know they make primer for dark paints, I didn't when I was working on this though. *'d'oh* And plywood is thirsty stuff! Took I think two coats of primer on each side just to get the wood covered and the grain filled in (I didn't want a grain texture for the shield I wanted it to be smooth). Yes, the back is painted as well, this really cool effect I got with three different shades of silver is covering it from top to tip and it looks like beaten metal. Anyway, after I had the black field *gasp* I had to transfer the drawing of the dragon rampant from my gridded poster board to the surface of the shield. For that I used transfer paper (in this case yellow graphite paper sold only at art stores) and then painted the red over the black, sponging and layering and fussing till it looked just right. After that, it was time for the gold accents, the white bits, more shading, more cleaning up, and then packaging and taking to my client. I've wanted to post this somewhere for two months now (did I forget to mention this was a Christmas present commission?! No pressure there) and so, *ah* I finally have. Sorry the pic's blurry if you click on it, it's really the best one I have.