A once a day tablet....um, huh?

I have the blah’s today. Or maybe it’s just a case of the lazies. I just don’t feel like getting off the couch. Yesterday I didn’t feel like getting dressed so I spent the whole day in my pj’s but I did actually get things accomplished. This morning however, well let’s just say it’s not going as well.

So I’ve dragged my pillow and blanket to the couch and have blasted my eyes with all the TV I can stand to watch. That’s going ok. Monk was on. Then Psych. Those are two of my favorite shows. Now my judge shows have begun. I like those too. But I have a complaint…

What is the deal with all the male enhancement ads? Seriously. They are really getting on my nerves. I don’t think there’s any shame in going to your doctor and getting some help with any issues you may have. But why do they feel the need to plaster it all over my TV? Every other commercial break they manage to slip one in (pun most definitely NOT intended).

When the Enzyte commercials first came out with smiling Bob, I let a little giggle slip out at them. Then the Viagra commercials started and, as I’m sure they intended, I found myself singing the song when it was on. I’d be washing dishes, minding my own business, not thinking about male enhancement AT ALL, and *poof* Viva Viaaaagra would come drifting out of my mouth. Ugh.

Now there are male enhancement commercials everywhere you look and I think they are just ridiculous. The Zencore Plus commercials are the worst in my opinion. I think they have really crossed a line.

Before you start judging me and thinking I’m some kind of prude let me tell you what I believe. I believe sex is good. I believe it should be kept privately between consenting adults in their homes and not on my TV. If I want to see it on my TV there are plenty of places that will rent me videos.

I especially don’t believe I should see these commercials on family channels or in between family movies. For example, the other night I was watching Willie Wonka. I adore that movie. I was enjoying my millionth viewing of it, commercial time, WHAT? You guessed it, Zencore Plus. I went from kids and chocolate and silly songs to a man ‘getting it on’ with first one woman in an elevator, then a second woman only minutes later.

What I thought about that was this:

1. How many kids are watching this specific showing of Willie Wonka and now seeing this commercial?
2. How many of those kids now think it’s cool to be with multiple partners?
3. How about multiple partners in the same day/hour/minutes?
4. Why don’t they show them LATE when kids will be in bed?
5. Why show them at all? Don’t people see their doctors for things like that?

What do you think? Do you think it’s ok to show these commercials? Do you think they promote sexual promiscuity? Or do you think they are a legitimate item that needs to be advertised? I’d love to hear all your opinions on this matter. I’d like to know if I‘m the only one that feels this way about these commercials. Maybe I’m just seeing them wrong…

Everything has a purpose

Meet Molly. She's a grey speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane Katrina hit southern Louisiana. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case.

You know how that goes. But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee, and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood that she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore, is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, and her mane finally felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.

And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out,and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse,' she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay,the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good time doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life, Moore said. She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.'

Barca concluded, 'She's not back to normal, but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.'



This is Molly's most recent prosthesis. The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.

Things that make me wonder...

I’m a self-admitted news freak. And specifically an odd news freak. The weirder it is, the more I want to know. Because of that, as many of you already know, I’m constantly scanning the latest headlines. Often I come across things that interest me. Just as often I come across things that I just don’t understand. I try to understand. It just doesn’t happen.

I wonder how people can go into areas of the world that aren’t developed and look into the faces of starving children but not feed them. You know the people taking pictures, writing stories or traveling the world are eating. You know they are eating that day. Why don’t they give their food to those children instead of just pitying them?

I don’t understand how people who have more than they’ll ever need can walk right past someone who could desperately use their help. Even if it’s just a $2.00 hot meal or a $5.00 pair of shoes.

And what about clichés? People all over the world repeat them. But do they mean them? They say laughter is the best medicine, why don’t doctors write jokes for their patients instead of medicines that most people can‘t afford to pay for? How about ‘Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about’? um, aren’t I already crying? Or ‘The writing’s on the wall’… Where is this wall and why are we writing on it?

These are the kind of things that run through my mind all the time. It’s the way my mind works. If you want the perfect example of MY BRAIN it’s this: as I wrote the last two sentences I saw a little furry man running around inside by head, over the bumps and crevices of my actual brain, fiddling with the clockworks that turn and grind and make me think.

Now you’re thinking “this woman is crazy”. I know you are. It’s ok. I am a little crazy. I think the crazy part of me is what keeps me sane. And I enjoy it. It’s fun.

I’d like to leave you with one to think about: If a fool and his money are soon parted but money is the root of all evil, isn’t that a good thing he lost it? I wonder...

Singing together makes everything better

Most of the news I share with you is from somewhere far far away from me. A lot of times it’s from all the way across the world from me. But the story I’d like to tell you about today is from right around the corner from me. Houston.

We’re 52 miles west of Houston. We rarely go into the city though. It’s so big and so many people everywhere. And a few of the places are a little on the scary side if I’m to be completely honest.

When my oldest daughter was just an infant we had quite the medical scare. We ended up driving like maniacs in the middle of the night into Houston to Texas Children’s Hospital. Christina was three months old and very sick. I was 23 and very scared.

The doctors there were extremely nice. They did everything they could to make both of us comfortable. Christina ended up having to have a spinal tap. If you’ve never witnessed that, I can tell you it’s frightening. They use the biggest needle I’ve ever personally seen. They have to get it just right, exactly in between the disks in your spine to remove some of the fluid to test. They thought she had meningitis. Thankfully she didn’t but I’ll never forget how the doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital did everything they could to solve and fix her issues.

And I’ll never forget their kindness. Everyone associated with the hospital was so caring and so gentle. I appreciated that so much. Now the hospital is in the news for their caring, kind ways.

The story was specifically about the Cancer Center at the hospital. It’s the number one pediatric cancer center in Texas and number three in the entire country. That makes me proud.

Now, thanks to donations and Anita Kruse, the Cancer Center offers the chance for terminally ill children to forget about their illnesses for a little while. Anita started a recording studio in the hospital where she and other staff members and volunteers help the children to write and record songs about important things in their lives.

One young lady named Jalen Huckabay wrote about her dog Jasmine or Jaz for short. Shy and unsure of herself, she quickly gained confidence once she realized she was actually writing the song just by talking about her much loved pup.

Anita is a Houston resident who sings and writes music professionally. After speaking a few minutes with Jalen, she hears the song in the young girls loving words and writes it in her notebook as they talk.

Jalen smiles as the first verse is read back to her. “MYD is my yippin’ dog. Got her last Christmas on the 23rd. We call her Jaz. She’s the Yorkie we chose. We dress her up in Build-A-Bear clothes.”

The project is named Purple Songs Can Fly and relies heavily on donations. All donations are tax deductable. I have a feeling a lot of people would donate even if they weren’t tax deductable. I know I will. It’s definetly worth it.

Read more about Jalen Huckabay

Read more about Purple Songs Can Fly

Read more about Texas Children’s Hospital

Read more about Texas Children’s Cancer Center & Hematology Service

Kudos Doc Watson!

As usual this morning I was reading through the headlines on my second best friend, my computer. Most of the time I experience a wide range of emotions while reading the stories. Everything from laugh out loud to oh my goodness that makes me mad.

Less often a story will touch me. This morning however, I read one of those stories. I sat here with tears running down my face and a huge smile at the same time. My first best friend (my husband) came in from his shower and immediately thought something was wrong with me. I assured him it wasn’t and read him the story.

I’ve lived many places in my lifetime but no matter where I’ve lived, I’ve always claimed Texas as home. I love Texas. I love most of the people in it. My guess is if it was a smaller state I probably wouldn’t feel that way. Less people = less chance for good.

The story I read was about a doctor in Yoakum Texas. Yoakum is a small town outside of San Antonio. This man, lovingly known as Doc Watson, has been the town doctor for 50 years. And he still makes house calls.

That doesn’t happen very often these days. Most doctors are more worried about the money they make and not so much about their patients. That’s sad but true. But Doc Watson isn’t one of those doctors. He’s even been known to accept baked goods and home grown vegetables as payment to the dismay of his daughter. He was quoted in the story as saying “These people have paid me with what they could. As far as I’m concerned, they’re paid in full.” How refreshing is that?

He began his career after graduating from the Baylor College of Medicine in 1958. Back then he charged $3.00 for an office visit and $5.00 for a house call. Some of his patients have been lifelong.

One of those patients is 80 year old Lou Olsovsky. As Doc Watson examined Lou he gently asks about his wife who passed away four years previously. When the doctor asked if he was ready to go meet his wife, he was told “I was supposed to go first, but she wouldn’t let me.” Lou still wears his wedding ring. That just broke my heart. It was what made me cry.

It makes me happy that there are still men like that in this world. Sometimes I wonder about our planet and the way it seems to be going downhill. Then I read something like this story and it gives me hope.

I’d like to tip my hat to Doc Watson. I hope he has many more years taking care of his town. According to him he has no plans to quit anytime soon. He said “When I can’t do crossword puzzles anymore, I’ll know it’s time to quit. But as long as I’m reasonably healthy, and have a little sense, I’ll keep doing it.”

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