Still here.

Still sickly.

Going to try work today.

Meanwhile, you could amuse yourself reading my recent book reviews.

How do I know my mental health hasn’t been the best recently–because I’m home right now with a cold.

Here’s the thing, physical health and mental health are closely linked, even if people don’t always recognize that fact. I take good physical care of myself–I exercise, I eat well, I try to make sure I get enough sleep–in other words, my immune system should be in good shape, since those are the things you need to do to remain physically healthy.

But since this last bout of depression, I’ve gotten a cold or the flu about twice a year. Why? Because mental health has a huge affect upon physical health.

Stress, anger, frustration, all of these things affect the immune system negatively, and when subjected to high levels of these stressors for a long period of time, the body often reacts by getting sick.

To be honest, I’m surprised I haven’t gotten sick sooner than this–I’ve been under a lot of stress this summer. I’ve tried to deal with it in a healthy manner, but apparently it got the better of me. So now I’m sitting at home feeling awful, which is my body’s way of saying, “slow the hell down!”

OK body. I heard you. I’ve slept about 18 of the last 24 hours. I realize that my manner of dealing with the stress in my life has not been productive. But I’ve changed my anti-depressant and will make sure I exercise every week day.

So can I go back to being healthy now? Because this laid up with a cold thing really sucks.

Y’all better know what to do by this time.

cat

This is my life, in flowchart form.

Since I was little, when we grilled out my Mom would often make something called “drunk peaches” for dessert.

Combined with a couple recipes I found, I’ve refined the recipe. It’s perfect for late summer grilling.

Drunk Peaches
3 or 4 fresh peaches
1/3 cup brown sugar
fresh grated nutmeg
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp dark rum or bourbon (depending upon your mood)
Vanilla ice cream

Fill a pot with enough water to cover the peaches. Bring the water to a boil.

While the watering is heating, wash the peaches, and then make an “X” in the skin on the bottom of the peach.

Butter a grill safe pan large enough to hold the peaches. You can use a disposable pan if you like. I use an old bread pan.

Place the peaches in the boiling water for one minute.

After one minute remove the peach from the boiling water and drop it into ice water.

Starting at the “X” you made, peel the peaches. The skin should come right off, although you can use a knife if you prefer.

Cut completely around the peach, then twist slightly along the axis–the peach should come apart in two pieces. Remove the pit.

Place the peaches into the greased pan.

Place butter slices atop the peaches. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Grate nutmeg over the brown sugar. Pour bourbon/rum over the peaches.

Cover entire pan with foil. When you remove dinner from the grill, place the pan of peaches on the grill over indirect heat.

Once dinner is over, the peaches should be finished. The peaches should be soft, and sitting in a fair amount of liquid.

Spoon the peaches into bowls.

Add a scoop or two of ice cream.

Pour the remaining liquid over the peaches and ice cream.

Eat!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Math & Jana’s wedding and reception:

Liz

Grandmom and Ben

James

Helena

Sunset on our way back to the hotel.

In case you can’t tell, that’s a bottle of Mountain Dew. It’s a long story.

Jana

Math and Jana

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Congratulations to Math & Jana who are getting married today!

Apparently it IS Kat’s window seat, and Kit isn’t really wanted.

I can’t decide if she looks extremely lazy, or slightly dead.

I started reading Nina Kiriki Hoffman when I came across A Fistful of Sky in a bookstore and picked it up on a whim.

I read it in a single sitting.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman writes what I consider Urban Fantasy, which is very different from Supernatural Fantasy, which is full of vampires and boinking. Her stories remind me a bit of Charles de Lint. Her characters live in our world, except that they can see or manipulate magic. In A Fistful of Sky, Gypsum comes from a family that can manipulate magic, only for Gypsum, the powers she receives are neither simple nor easy, and she must come to terms with those powers, as well as her family and herself. It is a coming of age book, only without the angst–well, without too much angst.

But what makes the story for me is that Gypsum is a real woman. She is plus sized. She likes to eat. She considers “Ultimate Fashion Sense” a horrible curse. She has a difficult family, yet loves them despite the problems. I love Gypsum, and wish she was a real woman, because I bet she’d be a lot of fun to hang out with.

And that sums up most of Nina Kirki Hoffman’s books. Her characters are teenagers or are coming of age–she also has this in common with Charles de Lint, but although these may be categorized as Young Adult books, they are most definitely a good read for actual adults, though you should share them with the youths in your life.

Although she as written multiple books in similar worlds, books that occur in the same world are not necessarily part of a series, but may contain characters that recur in multiple books–in other words, you can pick up any book and dive in, and not have to worry whether the book you are reading has a sequel or a prequel.

She also writes short stories, and her stories have appeared in many of the anthologies I own, including Swan Sister (2003), The Repentant (2003), Children of Magic (2006), and The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (2007). Like her books, characters may or may not appear in multiple tales, and the worlds she creates may or may not appear in multiple tales, but what you can count on is that she can build a world and create complex characters in a short story just as well as she can in longer stories.

She has also, apparently, written Star Trek books, but I have not read any of those.

If you are looking for an author who consistently writes excellent stories, in both the long and short form, then you won’t go wrong reading Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

The Thread that Binds the Bones (1993), The Silent Strength of Stones (1995), A Red Heart of Memories (1999), Past the Size of Dreaming (2001), A Stir of Bones (2003), A Fistful of Sky (2004), Spirits that Walk in Shadow (2006)

OK, everybody join in on this round! Don’t be afraid! Eric only bits if you ask nicely.

Today’s word: watch

Today’s recipe comes from the National Museum and Natural History.

OK. Here’s some real food.

No recipe though. Pretty sure you can figure this one out all on your own.

I Am A: Chaotic Good Elf Wizard (5th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-11
Dexterity-10
Constitution-12
Intelligence-16
Wisdom-14
Charisma-14

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If you are offended by strong language, don’t click.
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There have been a huge number of lies thrown about recently regarding end-of-life care and the health system in the United States. I’d like to take some time to address this issue.

Most people would like to spend their final days and hours in their homes, perhaps lying in bed, surrounded by their family and friends and the sounds of the voices of their loved ones one.

That, however, is not the reality for many people. What often happens instead is the dying individual is in a hospital, hooked up to machines, and the sounds of beeping and whirring medical machines–or even the sounds of arguing over what the patient truly would have wanted to happen at the end of their live.

But who knew what they really wanted? If the subject was never brought up, this burden is placed upon loved ones who must guess what it is their mother or grandfather or sister of lover wanted. Did they want to be allowed to drift off quietly? Or did they wish instead to “not go gentle into that good night,” utilizing all that medical science has available?

If a discussion is not had, then loved ones must make the agonizing decisions regarding what they hope and believe the dying would have wanted.

And it can be worse than that. One sibling may believe a parent would want to be allowed to die peacefully, while another may just as strongly believe that all measures should be taken to keep the parent alive.

These are discussions that can tear a family asunder and create irreconcilable rifts and animosity.

When your doctor wants to discuss end-of-life care with you, it is these issues she wants to discuss. She does not want to force you to end your life against your will, she instead wants you to make your wishes known to her and to your family, so that these decisions can be made in accordance with your will, instead of in a panic of grief.

Take a moment and think. How do you envision the end of your life? What do you want? What do you want to have happen to your body? Would you like your organs to be donated? Would you prefer to be cremated or buried? Do your loved ones have any idea what your wishes would be at the end of your life? Ask them. You may be surprised at their answers–as well as at their own wishes.

When your doctor asks about end-of-life planning, it is to facilitate such discussions. It is to keep your loved ones from having to make such decisions for you, through their grief, with only vague ideas from long ago discussions to guide them.

It is to be compensated for such discussions that end-of-life discussions were entered into the Health Reform Bill. Currently, many insurers do not pay doctors for such discussions. Add to that the fact that many doctors never learned how to discuss such matters with their patients, and you have a situation where doctors do not initiate these discussions with their patients, and where decisions are left unmade until it is too late for the patient to have any input.

Please discuss your wishes with your family and physician, and please, when you hear someone ignorantly spout nonsense about death panels, gently educate them as to what end-of-life care truly is, and how much of a difference it can make in the lives of the dying and their families.

Our deaths are inevitable. How our last days and hours are spent is not.

The West Virginia Center for End-of-Life Care

Last year I moved the black eyed susans; they seem to have taken off after their relocation.

I’ve been planting sunflowers at the back of my herb garden. Hopefully the desperately needed weeding and thinning out I did today will help them.

Almost accidentally we found flowers on the Washington Mall.

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Help! Help! I’m being repressed!

Unfortunately, it was extremely bright, so the details on the beautiful building are not clear.

You can see a little more of this building, but it was still extremely bright.

I was hoping for a panda, but the carousel only had horses.

And one dragon. He was popular, so I didn’t get a picture of him.

See! Proof I went to Washington DC and met Wendy!

Unfortunately, Wendy was eaten by a shark while we were in the Museum of Natural History. Sorry Dr. Phil.

I’m off gallivanting today, and all you get is this lousy game of word association.

So here’s today’s word: gallivanting

It was way too hot to bake this weekend. So again, I got nothing.

Instead, I’m asking for ideas (and recipes) for what I should try to make (assuming the temperature drops). Not that I don’t have lots of cookbooks, but I like seeing what everyone else likes.

Pretend I wrote something witty and articulate. Then you can debate/discuss what I wrote in the comments.

It’s 88 F outside.

I’m going to go take a nap.