Random Sunday Things

Apartment update — throwing around “my brother the lawyer” was very helpful in working with management.  They are implementing his advice, at least most of it, and have said they are commited to doing the repairs to my satisfaction.  Which is a big improvement over what they said on Wed.  Friday they chopped out the wet wall and baseboards and patched in new, covering a much bigger area than I expected, and Monday I’ll get paint.

I don’t know what’s happening with the carpet but they ripped out enough carpet pad that I know SOMETHING is happening.  Whether that ends up being both whole rooms or just pieced sections, I don’t know.  I’ll probably have to move the poor kitty to the study again on Monday so she doesn’t get in the middle of the noise and activity and freak out.  For now she’s curled up on her little footstool next to mama, making us both happy.

Friday I had an appointment with the sleep doctor, the first since I moved last summer.  Although I’ve been on CPAP for over 3.5 years, I’ve been having problems in the last year waking up in the night and not waking up as refreshed as I did when I first got the CPAP.  Since I am an expert diagnostician with a medical degree from Google, I was pretty sure that my air pressure needed to be adjusted up higher.  I’ve gained back so much weight since the pressures were set that it was a good bet, and the doctor concurred.

What was annoying was the conversation about my weight problem.  Did I know that it would be helpful for me to lose weight and that lowering my BMI would have an effect on my required air pressure, not to mention improve my health?  Noooooooo, no one has ever mentioned it.  Would I be interested in information about weight loss program in a neighboring town that only costs $1200 for personalized plan?  No, I wouldn’t.

It makes me so mad that they tell me this every time I see a doctor, even when I volunteer up front that I know I have a weight problem and that it’s not helping.  See?  I’m Self Aware and have listened to people tell me in the past that I am a failure and need to work on this and then everything will be fine.

I grumbled loudly about it to the sleep tech who did a mask fitting after I saw the doctor.  She’s doing WW herself and we commiserated about it.  But then she did say that the doctors have to tell us if there is a weight-related factor to any physical problem, because otherwise they are open to liability for NOT having said anything.  So I should expect to keep hearing it.  In a funny way, that did help.  It’s not pointed at me for being stupid and a failure, it’s just doing their job.  I can listen and get upset, listen and get motivated, or listen and ignore the stress levels.

We also talked about WLS and the effect on sleep apnea.  Her experience with patients is that there’s a big improvement quickly, not just from the weight loss, although that’s certainly a major factor.    I may not get to a place where the apnea is completely gone but it could get low enough that the CPAP isn’t really needed.  It would be great to not be tied to the hoses and masks every night.

Given Away to a Good Home

Today I gave away my grandmother’s rocking chair.  I’ve had it for 25 years, bringing it back from North Carolina in the back of my car after I mentioned that it was one thing that I’d like to have after she died.  She had a habit of frequently talking about dying and who was going to get what, so I thought I’d just put in a request.  She insisted on me taking it home that very trip and for years it’s been sitting around, reminding me of her.

But it hasn’t been used.  I don’t fit into it comfortably and lately all it’s come to mean is clutter.  I was afraid to get rid of it because it was my grandma’s and I didn’t want my dad to be upset.  Turns out he didn’t know I had it and didn’t care about it in the slightest.  We both have other physical touchstones to remind us of her, along with our memories.

So today I took a few pics and put it up on Freecycle.  I could have tried to sell it but it didn’t seem like the right thing to do, and I’ve had good experiences with Freecyle in the past.  It’s also insanely speedy.  I posted the offer at 3:16 and the rocker was picked up at 5:35.

I knew it had gone to the right home as I talked with the woman who picked it up, the mother of the person who contacted me.  The mom turns out to be from Houston and we were at UT at the same time (along with 45,000 other students).  Her daughter wanted the chair to rock her new baby who actually has the same name as my grandmother.  So it seemed like symmetry and karma for the chair to go to them.  I think Grandmama would be pleased.

I’ve Been Tagged for a 5×5 Meme

The Mighty Minx tagged me for this and now my brain is nicely distracted from the mushrooms formerly growing in the carpet.  This is a Good Thing.

5 things found in your bag:

1) One red eelskin checkbook cover, with checkbook and a ballpoint pen so I can write down all of those debit card things that I do instead of writing checks.

2) My cell phone, which miraculously is charged up.

3) My 2002 WW Before Fat Picture and little weekly booklet.

4) A small brown plastic hairbrush.

5) Scratched up brown wallet stuffed with quarters.

5favorite things in your room (bedroom)

1) My bluebird quilt from eBay.

2) Murphy the stuffed bear.

3) A framed John LaFarge stained glass window poster from an MFA exhibit I adored.

4) My little tooth-shaped CPAP pillow.  If you have a one of those machines, this pillow is a must.

5) My extensive and beloved earring collection.  I am an earring slut.

5 things I have always wanted to do

1) Walk a labyrinth

2) Take a cruise to Alaska

3) Learn how to make stained glass

4) Buy a BMW.  A small one.  It’s not going to happen.

5) Go to St. Petersburg, Russia

5 things I am currently into:

1) Rereading the entire “In Death” series by J.D. Robb, in order from the beginning.  All 27 or however many there are by now volumes.

2) Home design shows on HGTV

3) Photography

4) Researching bariatric surgery.

5) Getting my apartment de-mushroomed.

5 People I want to tag:

Jen

Lori

Frances

Helen

Anna Belle

There’s a Fat Lady

This morning in the grocery store I heard a little voice say, “Daddy, there’s a fat lady.”  I turned around and saw a cute little girl, about 3 or 4 years old, shopping with her father, who was looking mortified.  I said, “Yes, I’m a fat lady” and went back to putting my stuff on the register belt.  I admit that I was cranky but not overly preoccupied with the exchange.

On the way out to the car, the same father and daughter were pulling out of their space as I got closer.  He rolled down the window (okay, he pushed a button and it went down magically) and said that his daughter wanted to apologize to me, which she did.  Made me wonder about the conversation they had after our in-store exchange.

I looked in and told her, “Thanks, sweetie.  People come in all different shapes and sizes.  You are a short size and I am a round size.”  She looked thoughtful and then smiled.  I felt a lot better going back to my car.

Kids notice sizes and shapes and differences.  At that young age, they usually don’t see or speak in a judging way.  She saw a fat lady and told her dad.  Her dad knew the emotional charge that went with those words and I was pleased that he didn’t just let it go.  (We know it was his idea that she apologize to me, not hers.)  I hope my response gave them both a different perspective.

Fat ladies really are a different shape and size.  We’re not better or worse, weird or undisciplined, prettier or uglier.  We’re just rounder.  Looking at myself with the objectivity of a 3 year old lets me say that yes, I’m the fat lady, without the pain that comes with it when I say it about myself.

Mushrooms in Unexpected Places

Mushrooms are growing out of the carpet in the corner of two of my rooms.  Yes, it’s disgusting and I guess it tells you what kind of housekeeper I am that I just discovered them yesterday.  In my defense, the corners are usually blocked by furniture and don’t get vacuumed all that often.  When I pulled it out yesterday, I discovered weirdo half-mushroom cap thingies sort of floating on the oddly dark carpet.  And the walls close to the baseboard showed signs of mildew.

Aha!  my little mind said.  We’ve seen this before, back in Boston when the bathroom pipe broke while I was away and I came back to extensive water damage throughout the apartment.  It was gross.  This was only ewwww, not heart-stopping.

Both of the icky corners share an outside wall backed up to mechanical closet off the patio, which holds the water heater and HVAC stuff.  Being a good little sleuth, I went outside and looked at the foundations and sure enough, they were wet.  Not good.

I called maintenance, who returned the call after about 2 hours and came to look at it.  A pipe in the mechanical closet is leaking, although I haven’t noticed any changes to water pressure or hot water availability.  They’ll be here on Monday to fix it and do repairs, though I’m not totally sure what that means.  I do know the beloved kitty needs to be shut up in the study so she’s not quite as freaked out by strangers or tempted to run outisde while the door is open.  Can’t have that.

I’ll see when I get home exactly what got fixed and will follow up with someone who has better English skills.   This has been going on for a long time, I think, and I’m afraid they’ll have to pull out the carpet and work on the walls, which could mean staying in a hotel – with kitty – while everything happens.  Unfortunately I have experience with it so at least I know what to do ans ask.  My brother’s a construction attorney, too, so I have legal counsel if need be 🙂