Clutter

I do have a hard time throwing things out. I have numerous tubes of lipstick that have enough for one application if I somehow find tools to extract that, crossword puzzles that are a few clues from being finished, clothes that fit me 40 lbs ago that I hope to fit into again someday, etc. I've been trying to throw out at least one useless object a day.

Yesterday was a good lesson on what happens when hoarding gets out of hand. In the condo complex on the otherside of the road from our subdivision, an elderly woman who uses a walker, stuffed her condo to the gills with objects that she couldn't bear to throw out. Newspapers and magazines were piled all over the place. I am not sure how the fire started but it took them forever to get it under control. She was rescued. I guess her clutter problem is now gone for now. These are attached condos so there was the danger of it spreading to the neighbors', who were not amused by the side effect of this hoarding. Although we live a half mile from this condo, the smoke filled our house. Most of the Ann Arbor City and Township fire trucks seemed to be there. When the ambulances started coming, Naomi wondered if Morgan's water didn't break or something (she lives in the complex too) but then we smelled the smoke.

My parents were hoarders and had a large house so it was fun dealing with that when my father died. Unfortunately, in this house was a squatter who was a hoarder also. Many of the objects we had thrown in the dumpster he managed to retrieve in the 2 months it took to get him evicted and the house had to be emptied of trash again. It still amazes me that somehow he had 'tenant rights' because my father had invited him in (and then wanted him out). Lessons learned: Be careful who you let in your house and don't hoard.

So I probably won't die of this evil disease and should make plans for my life. Up to now, my attitude has been, don't worry about it until you have to. If you think you are going to die, worries about disappearing 401Ks seem to take a backseat.

In the near term, Naomi is graduating tomorrow. Shanna and her family will soon start the long drive out here ( I am always nervous when any of the kids are out driving). I wanted to have a party for her Saturday but Naomi insists on going to this Motor City Jamfest so Friday evening it is. Naomi still hasn't let me meet Dontae as I am so embarassing and can't be trusted not to ask too many questions. I reminded her that the other kids had their high school sweethearts on family vacations with us and both of them had moved in with us at various time. (Josh's high school sweetheart is now his wife Julia). Dontae does want to come Friday though so maybe I will get to meet him. Naomi thinks she is going to marry him but she is very immature and really isn't prepared to deal with many aspects of life. My short term goal is to work on that. I had taken her cell phone away as she couldn't find a way otherwise to limit her texting. I was soon getting messages from her from a friend's cellphone. Whose phone is this? Oh Monica's. Hmmmm, this seems to be the same number that you speak to every night for an hour, you sure it isn't Dontae's? She finally admitted that she had Dontae's cellphone now but she was not with Dontae. Now she can't have sleepovers anymore either. Note to liars everywhere-don't lie when you can be caught so easily.

The cool weather makes it easy to run. I am now running more than I did before the cancerfest started but I was having trouble with my thyroid levels last year. It is amazing how much drugs interact with each other. I had taken the same amount of thyroid replacement for years but last year it turned out not to be enough and my TSH levels shot up (the more TSH, the more HYPO thyroid you are-I have no thyroid-it was ablated with radioactive iodine as it produced too much hormone due to Graves' Disease). Due to my broken arm, after I was deprived of narcotics, I relied on ibuprofen to stop the pain. This lead to heartburn which led to me consuming lots of rolaids (calcium) which ties up the thyroid hormone I take, which led to being hypo. The pain went away, I stopped the ibuprofen and the stomach repaired and I needed less rolaids. I did have the onc check my thyroid levels before taking Adriamycin. Too much thyroid can damage the heart and I didn't want that to happen while possibly damaging my heart with the Red Devil too. The test results were mixed. Low levels of TSH which indicated too much hormone but the hormone levels themselves seemed to be low. I am waiting to be retested by my primary (who I should fire at some point). I am guessing I am OK as I recover so quickly from my runs.

Still no hair excepting the fuzz. Shanna has made an appointment with our haircutter during her visit here this week. I haven't seen our haircutter since July, who probably has wondered what has happened to me. That mystery will be solved for her soon.