Taking Inventory

I read recently that making lists was a sign of OCD.  I do not think I would be diagnosed as such but I do like to make the occasional list.  It is part of what keeps me on track. And, often, as a result of a journal I read, it prompts me to take inventory for any number of reasons.  Here are some of the lists I have made in 2008 with just one entry per list. 

What lists have you made recently?

1.  I make lists for the grocery store.  Current pressing need - something salty 

2.  Things I need to return to the store before it is too late.  That blouse that makes me look preggers

3.  Places I've been.  England was the fartherest away. (Or is that 'furtherest'?)

4.  Places where I want to go.  New Zealand

5.  Number of times I have been to the doctor this year.  Not as many as I thought.

6.  Things to do at work to raise morale.  Baby picture contest.

7.  People I have hired in my career.  Over two hundred.

8.   People I have had to let go.  Cindy comes to mind.

9.   Which states I have slept in - not just driven through.  35

10. The words and actions my granddaughter has mastered at age 9 months, 10 months and 11 months.  I sense a pattern here.   This will be another journal entry.

11.  Friends I have lost contact with that I would like to find again.  Mindy is at the top of this list.

12.  Concerts I have attended.  23 - Neil Diamond was the best

13.  Famous peopleI have met.  Dolly Parton is the most famous on the list.

14.  Bills I need to pay. This list is getting shorter!  Yeah me!

15.  Software applications I use.  8

16.  Software applications I know.  over 20

17.  Total number of jobs I have had.  Going all the way back to my teens - 16

18.  My top 10 favorite tv shows ever.  Mary Tyler Moore

19.  My top 10 favorite movies ever.  Out of Africa

20. Kinds of music I like.  I identified eight genres. and none of them require the use of the word "yo".

 

Tags: OCD, lists

Patrick's Sunday Seven Episode 146

We all have our tools. I’m not talking about those greasy devices that mechanics have on toolbelts. There are basic items that we’d almost feel lost without. Some are high-tech, like our cell phone, and others are low-tech, like a ball-point pen. But there are items that we almost can’t do without (or have at least convinced ourselves that we can’t do without) as we do our normal thing.

I was inspired to post this topic by my friend Rick, who posted a picture of some tools on his desk. Have a look at the picture here, and you might find a few items there that would make your list.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
Name seven everyday “tools” that you use on a daily basis.

Either answer the question in a comment or answer it in your journal and include the link in a comment. You may include this link in the URL space when leaving your comment, or in the comment itself. As long as it’s there in one spot or the other.

My Answers:
1. Cell phone
2. Keys
3. Garage opener
4. Remote control
5. Radio alarm clock
6. Glasses
7. Curling iron

Tags: Sunday Seven, tools

Patrick's Saturday Six, Episode 216

It’s time to think positive…about being negative. Are you cynical? Are you practically Oscar the Grouch? Or are you that happy type that most of the rest of us would like to shove down a storm drain be much more like?

Being negative is this week’s topic!

Here are this week’s “Saturday Six” questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal…but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit!  Enjoy!

1. Is the glass half-empty or half-full?  half full

2. Are you more of your own worst critic, or do you tend to be everyone else’s worst critic instead? a little of both

3. How do you feel about technological advances: are you generally optimistic that a new system will make life better or worse? I love new technology and yes, I think it will make life better. I wish I could afford it!

4. Take the quiz: Are you too negative? Nope, I am positive.

5. A friend asks your opinion about something, and you know that being honest might hurt his or her feelings. How honest are you likely to be? I will diplomatically try to be honest but stop if I think it might be too hurtful. You can usually tell if someone wants the real truth.

6. You see a panhandler on the street: which tends to be closer to your immediate impression: that he’s a good person who’s down on his luck or a bad person who doesn’t want to work? I'm more likely to think it is a person who does not choose to work.

 

Finally

I went to the doctor today and learned that the x-rays show my ankle is making progress.  Everything is where it should be and I can start therapy. There is still a considerable amount of swelling but with screws holding the outside ankle bone in place and smaller anchors holding the tendons where they belong the joint has stiffened up and formed some scar tissue as well.  The therapy should/will relieve that.

The doctor said I am now able to start weaning myself from the toe-to-knee brace to a lace-up support that will allow me to wear an athletic shoe. I immediately switched out to the lightweight version and found the foot and ankle strong enough to be able to drive with the right foot. Yeah, rah!!!

I don't want to overdo it but I am very excited that I should soon be able to wear normal shoes. The fashion statements I have been making leave much to be desired,

Playing Patrick's Sunday Seven

I am so excited to find Patrick's Place once again. Click here to get the full effect.

The 2007-2008 television season has come to a close, and here is a list of the Top 20 shows of the season. You’ll note that in some cases, some shows may be listed more than once: one day’s regularly-scheduled episode may do better than another day’s, and rather than average them together, Nielsen lists the show twice.

You don’t necessarily need that list for this week’s question, because it’s entirely up to you which shows you list, but I thought I’d supply it at least as an idea starter.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
Name your favorite shows of the 2007-2008 TV season.

Here is mine:

1.  The Office

2.  Two and A Half Men

3.  The Big Bang Theory

4.  Boston Legal

5.  The Paper (MTV)

6.  60 Minutes

Tags: TV, Patrick, Lists

Patience is required

I waited for four months and just when I thought I was going to be released from knee therapy, I learned that I had to have more surgery.  My knee was finally healing but the broken ankle still did not look right.  I soon learned that it was far from healed.

I had been told originally that there was really nothing to be done. The two broken bones would heal while I wore my little ankle boot. Oh, contraire.  Major bones had to be rebroken. Tendons had to moved and the joints had become something of a trash heap of bone debris.  I sure wish someone had paid enough attention when they were working on the knee to take care of the ankle. Oh, that's right.  I then learned I was being treated by a "knee specialist" but now I needed an "ankle specialist." Silly me, I thought an orthopedic surgeon could handle them both.  Guess they both have bills to pay and tanks to fill. So I was shuffled off to another partner in this maze of specialists and medical bills.

Now here I am, almost seven months later, limping along with a swollen foot, strapped into a walking boot in the hot Texas summer.  I did not get released today to begin therapy or even start wearing even tennis shoes. No, I am still hobbled and I have learned that, in spite of my best efforts, I am unable to float in the deep end of my pity pool.

Someone hand me a margarita.

Countdown

Tomorrow should be a red letter day for me.  After two surgeries and six months of braces, walkers, casts, crutches, wheelchair and riding the short bus, I hope to be able to leave them all behind and walk and drive normally.  I am sooooo excited.  I know I am going to have to go through some therapy but that will be nothing compared to what I have already been through.  

You just do not appreciate things when you have them; only when they are taken away.  When this whole experience is over, I hope I will appreciate driving while I sit facing the front.  I won't mind where I park. I will shop both sides of the store in the same visit. I will step off the curb without holding on to someone or something. I will shop for fun. I'll probably spend more money. I will swim. I'll have more energy. I will buy new shoes. I will not think about the number of steps involved when going out with friends. I won't look like a wobbling weeble - most of the time.

Yep, it's going to be a new day!  Yeah!!