Wednesday, June 8, 2005

My Town, My Day...

"If you do a good job for others, you heal yourself at the same time, because a does of joy is a spiritual cure."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer                  

                                                         

Happy humpday readers!  How is everyone doing?  I'm hanging in there.  I have been really fatigued, as I obviously mentioned in previous entries.  My doctor's office called two days ago and said that my bloodwork was a bit off.  My blood sugar was borderline for the third time in the last few months (am I becoming pre-diabetic?) and my potassium is very low.  It is supposed to be in the 3.5 - 5.0 range.  Mine was 3.2.  and I take 2 supplements daily with a rather large dose of magnesium citrate to help absorb this potassium.  I also try to eat potassium-rich foods.  Why is my body always so low in potassium?  It has been this way for many years.  It causes extreme fatigue and muscles aches.  Ugh.  So, she added another potassium dose and will re-test in two months.  I guess this explains atleast some of my fatigue.  I was actually hospitalized for low-potassium (hypoaklemia) once.  I was hooked up intravenously for four days.  Weird.

So, on to less cumbersome, tiring news...let's see...I love my mornings!  Two and three years ago I used to get up around 10am.  Granted I was pretty sick back then.  Now I get up around 7am, 8am at the latest.  I love the cool air in the morning.  I love the birds.  I love the stillness.  I love how it is quiet and very slow.  I love the sun coming in at an angle with shadows playing with the trees.  I love going outside and drinking my coffee!  I couldn't sit outside and do this at my old apartment.  There was nowhere to go outside and sit.  I love my new apartment!  It feels like home!  I love my new, little town!  It is a small town nestled in the mountains next to a larger town by Penn State University.  I live in an old governor's mansion that has been made into four apartments.  My neighbors are great!  We have all become friends.  We talk frequently with one another and if one has not been seen for a couple of days then they are checked up on to make sure they are okay.  Now, that is nice!  I never had that before.  I am used to neighbors knocking on doors to complain.  My apartment is very, very large.  The floors are wooden and there is no carpeting so the kitties can slide all over the floor and play.  They are always prancing around and sliding and playing and walking all hours of the night.

                                      

The town I live in is the type of town where you can go to the convenience store in the middle of the night in your pajamas (yes, Chelsea and I both have!).  You know the names of the shopowners and people say hello and smile when they walk by one another.  The drugstore is owned by a family where the father and son are both pharmacists and the grandmother and grandchildren run the store.  When I go in to fill my prescriptions I get all the town news.  It is really nice.  When I go to the jewelry store, Kitty, the jeweler, who makes wonderful jewelry, always gives me a few dollars off a purchase and tells me all about her family.  Often on my walks about town I will stop at the hardware/thrift store.  Riff and Raff the kitty cats live in the store and I like to stop by and brush Raff.  Raff is a sweetie that likes to drool on you when you brush him!  I also stop by and say hello to Melissa (Mel) who owns the pizza shop (and lives in my apartment/house) and I always say hello to her.  When I purchase something she only charges me what it costs her to purchase the food.  I guess I could go on and on....

Oh, I started volunteering yesterday!  It was really nice.  This is why I put the quote up at the top of my entry!!  We have a place in town called The Faith Centre.  It has a food bank, thrift store, coffee corner, and a lot of other programs such as teaching people to read, Christian counseling, Bible studies, and many others in the works!  So, I am working one day a week in the Coffee Corner!  It is slow-paced for me which is very good on my fibro.  I sit and talk to people and lend an ear and hand out free coffee and donuts and other sweets.  We are a refuge when someone needs someone to talk to.  I think I just might have found my niche!  It was really nice yesterday.  I talked to a gentleman who actually is a rambling man.  He travels from Texas to Pennsylvania twice a year and lives in a tent.  He is very articulate.  He is a minimalist.  We talked for about an hour and he was very fascinating.  I met a few others as well.  I am a people-person so I think this will work out.  I tried volunteering in the thrift store part of the centre, but it was too demanding on my muscles...too much lifting and bending.

I must run now...got lots to do...have a good day!  Hey, did you click for the hungry today? xox

19 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your health problems Val but I know it will get sorted out in the end.  Still praying for you.  Yes, I love the early mornings as well.  The air so fresh, the birds singing, the sun not too hot.  A beautiful time.  God bless you my dear friend xxxxx

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  2. So glad you like your town Val.  I didn't realize it was that homey and that everyone looked out for each other that much.  Gee, one town away from you and things are so different!
    Glad you love your volunteering.  That sounds so interesting. -Krissy
    http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink

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  3. That's wonderful that you found the volunteering at the Center :)  I've heard that moderate exercise is really good for fibro.  As for potassium, I've always been told to eat bananas.  Good for keeping off foot cramps and cracked lips too :)
    :) Have a great day~
    xoxo~Bernie

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  4. Sound wonderful! I was born and spent the first few years of my life in PA...(isn't that where you are from?)  

    Lori
    http://journals.aol.com/scotthlori/DiscoveringMe

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  5. Enjoyed reading your journal.  The work at the volunteer center helps keep your mind off of living with health problems.  I've been laying on the board after I eat my breakfast, so I haven't been IMing you for a couple of days.  In the evening around 5pm I am getting some things done outside, when my stiffness lessens.  Clicked for food and will continue to do so.  One of these days we will chat again!

    Take care,
    Mark

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  6. Your little town sounds an ideal place to live, so nice and friendly. It must be lovely to have such lovely neighbours too. I love the quote...how right it is!  :-)

    Sandra xxx

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  7. It will take some time but you will be better soon. I just feel it.

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  8. {{{{{{{{{Val}}}}}}}}} I hope you feel better soon.  Your entry today is so wonderful.  Love Lu

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  9. One thing about your posts, Val...you often send me off searching for info so I can better understand the implications of your health concerns. Like your potassium difficiency.  I found an interesting article about it.  (Maybe I should have stuck with my original plans to go into medical research...ah well. LOL)  
    http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/section2/chapter12/12c.jsp

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  10. I agree there is something about the early mornings,it comes clean and fresh ,a brand new day.Your town sounds great and I enjoyed this entry very much.Hope you feel a lot better .

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  11. The towne sounds so cute I moved here hoping to get that feeling and I am starting to get to know my way around pretty soon I will be like you lol have a good day keep up the potissiom I cannot stress enough how important potassiuam is my g-ma takes 9 pills a day and eats the foods but is still low I think it is just in some people I will pray for you God bless kelley

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  12. Really enjoyed reading this entry Val, about your town and the people you see when you're out and about.  It does sound like a friendly place to live.  
    I'm glad you enjoyed volunteering, am sure you will meet interesting people every time.  You will have to tell us about some of them :o)
    Hope you feel a little better soon honey, ((((())))) to you, and pink sparkly potassium filled thoughts on their way ;o)
    Sara   x

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  13. I love early mornings too, listening to the birds wake up and call each other.......Jules xx
    http://journals.aol.co.uk/jules19642001/Itsmylife/

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  14. Volunteering feels so darn good! I haven't done any for a few years due to all the changes in my own life but, I'd like to get back to such. :-)  As for mornings, I've never been much of a morning person and now I find myself working the 5am shift!  I'm becoming a morning person.  Trouble is, I find around 9am I think it's afternoon.

    Monica
    http://journals.aol.com/photographybymon/Mamarazzi/

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  15. So happy for you. The new jo sounds perfect and you are happy in your home. It's great to hear good news. Take care.
    Sylvia x

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  16. it is so peaceful there. enjoy it as much as u can. be well,   roberta

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  17. Hey there. First off... my pics are back (in my journal)! Go figure. My mom was having problems with her potassium in her later years. The docs said potassium is one of those crucial elements the body needs that many people never think about.

    Mornings are wonderful. I usually arise by six-thirty or seven. This is a wonderful time for writing, pondering, and simply taking in all the blessings of the day the Creator has prepared for us. Now that summer is nearly here I LOVE the birdsong.

    That running black cat is really cool, reminds me of Triston dashing all about the house. Take care, have endless energy, and keep in touch.
    Michael

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  18. How wonderful!  We also are enjoying our close knit neighborhood!  There's nothing like it.

    Have they tried probiotics to help with malabsorption problems?  You can also develope what's called leaky gut syndrome and others.  You should check out.

    http://www.bedford.net/jelliser/ims1.html

    I have started taking probiotics about 3 months ago and I am doing much better.  I have been anemic almost my whole life and I have been taking iron supps forever!  My lips aren't blue anymore, my fingernails aren't purple anymore, my hands and feet aren't as cold anymore and my iron level has risen dramatically!  Check into it.  :-)

    ~Miss O

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  19. Oh I enjoyed hearing about your apartment, your mornings, your volunteer work.  It sounds like you are happy.  And I am happy for you.  Thanks for sharing these things about your life.
    Sonya

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