If you're like me, books are your friends. The sight of a familiar spine sends an entire storyline straight to your brain. You can flip through a few pages and remember everything in a rush. This year I'm challenging myself to keep track of what I read, and to read what's ready and waiting for me on my giant to-be-read pile (now approaching its own bookcase). So far I'm at 42 books, or 12,095 pages. The last two months have been slow, if you can believe it - I can only imagine what the summer will bring.
Growing up, I was blessed with books. My parents started reading to us immediately, and every night before bed, we were read to or snuck a book under the covers and read to ourselves. I learned to read fairly young and never looked back. Summer reading programs and Book-It lead to thousands of books, and an English degree (and more) later I cannot imagine what my life would have been without libraries and that exposure to books early in life.
Yet many do not have that world available. Cities are shutting down libraries due to budget cuts (Philadelphia, I'm looking at you, and you won't be the last); and families need to buy food and secure housing before such luxuries as books can come into play. So I'm supporting the Books Make a Difference campaign, and by spreading the word I'm donating a book.
Happy reading everyone, and enjoy all of the wonderful worlds available.
May 04, 2010
May 03, 2010
Odd reactions to stress
Have you ever been waiting for news about something, and then when you finally hear – hopefully good results – the sense of relief is just exhausting? What usually gets me is that I didn’t realize I was so worried. It’s just boom, the elephant is gone, and I feel like I fizzle out for a bit.
In various points in my life I’ve been tested for skin cancer. Even with pretty much every major risk factor (light hair, eyes, and skin; freckles; a history of bad, i.e., 2nd degree sunburns; and then the whopper – family history), I don’t have a sense of doom. I don’t have a feeling that at some point in my life I’m going to be screwed. It’s just another step I have to take in caring for myself and I’m okay with talking about it, especially in a venue like this, because I think everyone should have that level of self-awareness. You should be comfortable with the health history that you know about, if you’re lucky enough to know the health issues in your family, and then take steps to keep yourself healthy.
So, sunscreen is my best friend, and I use it liberally – even my chapstick and foundation have some level of SPF in them (actually, that’s pretty easy to find now). I take my vitamins, I try to eat right and also exercise regularly, and I just keep an eye on what my body is trying to tell me. Questionable spots get taken out and tested, and I may get to sport stitches for a time. Friday morning I got some stitches taken out and the latest results – clear, again. And then the sense of exhaustion hit – more intense relief than I’ve had for awhile, and I’m not quite sure why it hit me so hard this time.
I’m guessing it’s just the crazy round of things that have been happening lately with my car, the trip to Texas, my tooth (a crazy sequence of redoing a root canal and getting a new crown – I’m at the temp crown stage right now, yippy skippy). For whatever reason, I’m just extra relieved and now very tired. And very happy to have those stitches out! Now I’ve got nifty steri-strips, but I think I’ll be far less likely to bump those on every surface I pass, and they don’t catch on or get tweaked by jeans.
Oh, and fun fact for any other redheads out there – it’s not in your head that your reaction (in pain levels) to some medical/dental procedures is stronger than the rest of the population. We’re genetic mutants :) No, no Wolverines or Jean Greys here (but how cool would that be!), but instead there is a shift in our MC1R receptor. Things affected? When you need to be numbed at the dentist, going under general anesthesia as well as local anesthetics at the doctor’s or a hospital, and everyone’s favorite – pap smears (neither one of these articles mentions that, but the NP who took out my stitches Friday morning did).
At least with all of the crazy stuff going on lately, I really am knitting! With soft, squishy, happy yarn, which will eventually turn into a sweater for me. It's the Emerald pattern (I think) I linked last time. The picture doesn’t give a great sense of the color, unfortunately. It’s a soft, heathery sort of green, with some silver and a bit of brown mixed in. Working with a bulky yarn is great, because it knits up so quickly. This project is taking me a bit longer because I’m tackling an adult sized sweater for the first time, and figuring out how to do the waist and neckline shaping at the same time (even though the pattern lays it out very nicely) is mentally throwing me for a loop right now. Plus, getting to work on it in spurts during lunch is cutting down the productivity. But I'm finally knitting more at home now (got some cleaning and rearranging done) I can’t wait to finish the sweater!
In various points in my life I’ve been tested for skin cancer. Even with pretty much every major risk factor (light hair, eyes, and skin; freckles; a history of bad, i.e., 2nd degree sunburns; and then the whopper – family history), I don’t have a sense of doom. I don’t have a feeling that at some point in my life I’m going to be screwed. It’s just another step I have to take in caring for myself and I’m okay with talking about it, especially in a venue like this, because I think everyone should have that level of self-awareness. You should be comfortable with the health history that you know about, if you’re lucky enough to know the health issues in your family, and then take steps to keep yourself healthy.
So, sunscreen is my best friend, and I use it liberally – even my chapstick and foundation have some level of SPF in them (actually, that’s pretty easy to find now). I take my vitamins, I try to eat right and also exercise regularly, and I just keep an eye on what my body is trying to tell me. Questionable spots get taken out and tested, and I may get to sport stitches for a time. Friday morning I got some stitches taken out and the latest results – clear, again. And then the sense of exhaustion hit – more intense relief than I’ve had for awhile, and I’m not quite sure why it hit me so hard this time.
I’m guessing it’s just the crazy round of things that have been happening lately with my car, the trip to Texas, my tooth (a crazy sequence of redoing a root canal and getting a new crown – I’m at the temp crown stage right now, yippy skippy). For whatever reason, I’m just extra relieved and now very tired. And very happy to have those stitches out! Now I’ve got nifty steri-strips, but I think I’ll be far less likely to bump those on every surface I pass, and they don’t catch on or get tweaked by jeans.
Oh, and fun fact for any other redheads out there – it’s not in your head that your reaction (in pain levels) to some medical/dental procedures is stronger than the rest of the population. We’re genetic mutants :) No, no Wolverines or Jean Greys here (but how cool would that be!), but instead there is a shift in our MC1R receptor. Things affected? When you need to be numbed at the dentist, going under general anesthesia as well as local anesthetics at the doctor’s or a hospital, and everyone’s favorite – pap smears (neither one of these articles mentions that, but the NP who took out my stitches Friday morning did).
At least with all of the crazy stuff going on lately, I really am knitting! With soft, squishy, happy yarn, which will eventually turn into a sweater for me. It's the Emerald pattern (I think) I linked last time. The picture doesn’t give a great sense of the color, unfortunately. It’s a soft, heathery sort of green, with some silver and a bit of brown mixed in. Working with a bulky yarn is great, because it knits up so quickly. This project is taking me a bit longer because I’m tackling an adult sized sweater for the first time, and figuring out how to do the waist and neckline shaping at the same time (even though the pattern lays it out very nicely) is mentally throwing me for a loop right now. Plus, getting to work on it in spurts during lunch is cutting down the productivity. But I'm finally knitting more at home now (got some cleaning and rearranging done) I can’t wait to finish the sweater!
To wrap up, another beautiful view of Spring, which I am absolutely loving!
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