The last update was about five months ago.  Here are some rundowns and recapitulations and their references, for those who follow and might be wondering what ever became of…..

Big news about Amoebas in your brain! This involves the neti pot (here) , which I had just become a major fan of; now just something else to obsess about.  A number of articles in the news have stated that a few people (I believe in the state of Louisiana) ended up with amoebas eating their brains….supposedly from using tap water in their neti pots (and also from swimming in a lake).   Now if that doesn’t skeeve you out, what does? This certainly puts a whole new slant on things, doesn’t it?  I have to wonder; what is going on with the water down south?  Following this bad news, I have decided to use distilled water in the neti pot.  The problem is that room temperature is a bit cool here and it’s not very comfortable – kind of like getting hit in the face with a cold salt water wave up your nose. To warm up the water from the room temp gallon bottle, I would have to go downstairs into the kitchen.  Too much hassle and prep.  Subsequently, following the amoeba scare, the neti pot has not been used much lately.

After four months, I have finally come to some appreciation for the cataract replacement (here).  I am seeing great out of that one eye and my brain did indeed adjust to having close and distant focus in each eye (mono-vision).  Therefore, I have decided to take the plunge and do the other eye in the next month or so, even though I swore it would be  decades until I ever did this again.  Completing this while still having health insurance is playing a big part in the decision.  Regardless of being Ms. Experience now, I am still anxious about it.  I guess there is a degree of anxiety that is part of my  M.O…..OK, I own that…..

The Pack Rat Project has been compounded by an unforeseen (OK, it was foreseen but formerly ignored) influx of childhood possessions that belong to one of my kids.  So while I am still cleaning things out, my momentum was thwarted and I was redirected.  But in the long run, it’s all part of the same issue I guess. It kind of has to do with squirrels. I will fill you in on this in a later post.

I put a deposit down on a newer, smaller, less luxurious version of the Subaru I have now.  My reasons for doing this make sense – good gas mileage for a long commute and critical timing on the value of a trade-in being paramount – and yet this car does not have quite everything I want (mostly involving comfort.  Give me a good seat with heat and lumbar support, please). In the past I went from a basic, stripped down manual transmission Subaru Brighton wagon to a totally plush automatic Outback.  In the beginning I was not all that  impressed by the superfluous whistles and bells and found it all distasteful.  But years later I have become spoiled, and now that I am getting what the dealership tells me is a bottom-of- the-line model Impreza, I will be giving up some of those little perks.  I get nauseous when buying furniture, washing machines, beds, cars – any big ticket item – especially one involving a loan. Needless to say,  it’s been a week of nausea, which I suppose will continue until the car arrives. Then there will be the inevitable period of buyer’s remorse, followed by acceptance, followed by realization that it’s all OK, followed by contentment and perhaps even pleasure.  This seems to be my process.  By the way, I did write Subaru and tell them what this woman wants.  They told me (as I am sure they tell all their writers) that they will take my suggestions into consideration.  They will probably come out with my dream Subaru this fall, after I have already purchased one.

We had a stand-off with the crazy cat lady across the street, who continued to leave dishes and cans of cat food by our driveway, causing an invasion of feral cats and other interested wildlife into our yard and on our porch.  After she yet again ignored requests to stop feeding them in our yard, I dragged brought the S.O. with me for moral support and to perhaps make An Impression.  She opened the front door and invited us into her foyer, where the stench of animal urine was so incredibly powerful and enveloping that we were gagging. The place was also a hoarder’s paradise, but I won’t even get into that here.  After some back and forth which escalated to where we both ended up raising our voices, she found some other unsuspecting neighbor’s yard to leave the food, and the cats seem to have (mostly) taken up residence elsewhere. We suspect there are still a few holing up in our barn.

With tremendous embarrassment I reveal that after all the hassles I went through, I traded in my second in a series of Droid smart phones for an iPhone 4s.   There are things that I think the Droid does much better, but I like the smaller size, a little more simplicity and a home button that affords tactile contact on the iPhone.  I think they made a really big mistake eliminating the speed dial option. That’s my biggest complaint.  And also that Siri, the robot woman voice that answers your questions and does your bidding, appears to have some comprehension issues.  I went to an “iPhone for dummies” type intro course at the local Verizon store, which was attended mostly by Old People, which I concede I was one of.  But the most amazing part to me is that nine months ago I was totally intimidated by my Free iPad, and now here I am with yet another Apple Product.  Continuing growth IS possible!

We spent the holidays with Daughter #1.  The focus was on Most Precious and Wonderful First Born Grandbaby.  All was fine. I got over the change of venue.  The New Tradition has been launched.

And finally, one of the perks I guess of living with a contractor…..while fretting about my possibly poisonous artificial christmas tree, I asked “You wouldn’t possibly have a lead test kit, would you?”.  Well, buried in that incredible hole of a man cave, he did!  So I lead tested my fake tree that was Made in China and determined there is No Lead.  I was so much in disbelief that I ran the test twice.  The tree is…..unleaded.

You can see that some things were resolved in the second half of the year.

I had coffee the other morning with an old friend, who asked me what my New Year’s Intentions are.  Not Resolutions, but Intentions.  I rather like that.

So…..What do you Intend in the upcoming year?

~*~