Family

I was back in Kansas City, Missouri the first weekend in October (I know, this took me awhile to get out) - went there for a Wheeler family reunion. I haven't been there for six years...the last time was for my cousin Kristin's wedding. Since then she has had two kids! So I got to meet my second cousins, Maddie and Will, who are adorable!! (More pics to come) I also got to see my aunts (see pic to the left) from left to right, Judy, Marilyn, and Bev standing behind my Dad. He's the baby of the family and hasn't been back in several years himself.

It was wonderful to be able to catch up with everyone! My Aunt Marilyn doesn't look any different than she did six years ago when I saw her....great genes there! Bev and Judy look very similar as well. Judy still has her sarcastic sense of humor - it runs in the family.
For example, check out the welcome mat in her house:
















One of the highlights of my trip was going to a Farmstead with Kristin and her kids to pick out pumpkins! We had a great time playing various games, going on a hayride, and climbing hay bales.




The last full day I was there, we all went to a portrait studio to take pictures. My cousins and I had a picture taken together which we weren't all that crazy about so we took another one at Judy's house. We look like sisters! Well, Mehgan (left) and Kristin (right) are sisters....I'm just the cousin.Hopefully my next trip to see my family in Missouri will not be another six years!! I love you!!

Dating SNL Style

I feel like my dating life has become a Saturday Night Live skit. I went out with a guy from Match.com almost six weeks ago and the first date wasn't all that great. He's originally from Serbia and although we were able to carry on a conversation, it was somewhat awkward. His English is fine but he had a tendency to mumble a lot, so half the conversation was me asking him to repeat himself. The other quirk I noticed was that he would giggle after asking me a question....a nervous kind of giggle. It was somewhat annoying but I figured he was just nervous because it was a first date.

We went out again because I figured the second date might go better - maybe he wouldn't be as nervous. Maybe he wouldn't do the annoying giggle....maybe I would find myself attracted to him (I wasn't noticing that on the first date). He wanted to see a movie, so that's what we did for our second date. Not a good choice as far as I was concerned but whatever. He was 15 minutes late for the date (even though he picked which theater to go to) and the first thing he did was ask how my day was and then that nervous giggle came out! Yuck! We didn't talk during the movie and I was feeling uncomfortable.....I found myself angling away from him in the theater seat and holding my hands together and away from him so he wouldn't attempt to hold my hand.

After the movie he walked me to my truck (it was late, so we had no plans to do anything else). He asked me about going out again...followed by the nervous giggle. (Eeeww) I told him I didn't think there was any chemistry between us and he turned and walked away! I thought that was kind of funny but didn't think anything more of it. I didn't want to be too vague and give him the idea that I was interested.....I definitely was not.

Soooo......this past weekend (about six weeks after this movie date) he emailed me on the dating site! He wanted to know how I was doing and if I'd like to get together again. HUH?? Maybe he forgot who I was? Selective memory?? So, being the straightforward person I am, I emailed him back and reminded him that the last time we had gone out I told him there was no chemistry between us so why would we go out again....?? His response was: "I think you are attractive, I feel there is a connection. Can I call you?"

Seriously?? I thought I was pretty blunt in saying there was no chemistry. Apparently he thinks that he can sway me because HE felt there was a connection! HA! I appreciate persistence but that was just too much! My response: "I am not interested in getting together again and I do not feel a connection with you. Do not contact me."

Do you think maybe that will work?! Sheesh! Can I get a ruling on this? Crazy? Stalker? Language barrier??

Soy and Gluten and Dairy, oh my!!

As promised in my previous post, I wanted to give you the specifics of the cleansing diet I did and how it affected me. I started seeing an acupuncturist about two months ago to try to get some relief from my chronic back pain that I have had since I was in high school (car accident). I've tried chiropractors, massage, and even acupuncture before but nothing produced long term results. This particular doctor I am seeing now is not only an acupuncturist but also a certified nutritionist, doctor of oriental medicine, and a medical evaluator. Anyway, he doesn't just do treatments with needles...he puts his patients on an overall health program to improve their health. He doesn't look at problems you currently have and decide to just treat those...he looks at everything and tries to prevent a minor issue or nuisance from becoming a major health concern. For instance, if someone has blood pressure that is in the "normal" range but on the high side, he would work to get it lowered so that the blood pressure wouldn't even get into the high range.

I had a blood test done in the beginning and it showed that I was deficient in iron, B12, and my T3 was low - 21 (Thyroid hormone that controls metabolism - ideal is 28-38). On top of that my cholesterol numbers weren't the best - Total cholesterol 217, Triglycerides 126, HDL 65, and LDL 127. So he had me do a five day fast where I drank a mixture of green tea, lemon juice, and maple syrup. That's all you have for five days....if you feel lightheaded or dizzy you are allowed to have some vegetables but that's it. After that, I started a cleansing diet. For three weeks I couldn't have soy, dairy, gluten, caffeine, or alcohol (no wine tasting!). During this time he also had me taking supplements to improve my liver function, reduce cholesterol, increase my thyroid function, and increase my red blood cell production.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be and I did feel better. It wasn't a huge change that I felt though since I eat pretty healthy anyway. But I didn't have cravings for sweets like I had been and I have noticed that I do not get cold as easily as I did. So I had my blood work done last week and everything improved! What was very interesting was how much my cholesterol had changed. Total cholesterol went from 217 to 176, Triglycerides went from 126 to 63 (HUGE change!), HDL dropped from 65 to 51 but only because the total cholesterol went down, and LDL went from 127 to 112. My T3 went from 21 to 31, which put me right in the middle of the range for ideal functioning.

I also had a test done for my adrenals and discovered they were overworked (really? me stressed with the economy in a slump and working part time??). So now I am adjusting my eating so that I do not have any high carb meals, especially in the evening....apparently this adds to the stress on the adrenals. I am also taking new supplements to support adrenal function. We will see how this affects me in the coming weeks.



So far I've lost about seven pounds and I am beginning to notice an increase in my energy level. I've also noticed an increase in my libido which is not an unwelcome change by any means! Single woman on the prowl....watch out!!

John Hughes Flashback

As many of you know I have been doing a cleansing diet for the past few weeks (more to come on that). There were a few reasons for the diet but the result has been that I have lost a few pounds (woohoo!) in the last few weeks. My scale had noticed the difference and I had kind of noticed the change in how my clothes fit, but it wasn't a drastic weight loss. So it was nice to hear one of our cardiac patients telling another patient that she thought I looked thinner. After working at it for a few weeks it's nice that other people notice when you do get results, especially when the results don't seem that noticeable to yourself!

Later in the class, this same patient decided to come up and tell me that she thought I looked like I had lost weight and was looking good. I thanked her and told her a little bit about the diet I had been following. This particular patient likes to talk...and give more details than necessary. She also has a tendency to talk with her hands so she can embellish her story. She went back to complimenting me on how I looked (which was very nice of her) but this time pointing out the specific areas where she saw the changes. Apparently my bosom (yes, she used that word) is more noticeable because my torso has gotten thinner. She kept bringing her hands towards my torso as if she wanted to grab me to make her point. I immediately thought of that scene in Sixteen Candles when Molly Ringwald's grandmother exclaims how perky her "boobies" are and then proceeds to feel her up! Luckily I was able to avoid any groping from the patient....but it was a close call! Whew!!

Usually I like my job. Like most people there are days when I dread going into work, hearing patients complain about their various maladies (especially the "black holes" that suck all the life from the room), trying to be empathetic and patient without losing my mind. But then there are days when I love my job.


I work in Cardiac Rehabilitation and we recently started a new group of patients. There's always a little chaos trying to match a face with a name and diagnosis. But this particular group has a woman in it that has recently had a heart transplant. That in itself is not unusual.....neither is the fact that she is fairly young (early 40's). The unusual part is her medical history which I can't share here for privacy reasons. But let's just say she's been through quite a bit with her heart health for someone her age. She went through a couple years where she couldn't do much activity at all because of her health and this is after spending years as an active exerciser and weight lifter.

Anyway, she came in like most heart transplant patients do....with a mask on. They have to take so many anti-rejection drugs that catching a cold is serious business. I handled her first day of exercise and began by explaining the 12 minute walk test we were going to do to get a measure of her current fitness status. When I told her I'd be putting her on a treadmill she reacted like a kid being told they're going to Disneyland! She was SO excited!! She started crying happy tears and hugged me multiple times!! It was so cute and sweet!

Once we got started on the treadmill, she just couldn't get over the fact that she was actually exercising. She walked for about 20 minutes and I wasn't sure if I should put her on a bike or not - I didn't want to tire her too much. But she was gung ho for the next event! Having patients excited to exercise is something we almost NEVER see! It was great to see her excitement about the whole program and she is continuing to progress wonderfully!!

Sometimes I LOVE my job!

Date Much?

I have been using online personal for dating in San Diego on and off for several years now. It is always a different experience meeting people from online! Many times it ends up just being a first date that is pleasant but not memorable, therefore not requiring a second date. I recently ended a five month break from online dating and signed up on yahoo personals. I had a memorable date last week but memorable in a bad way.

I had been talking to this guy, we'll call him Ron, for a couple weeks over email and he came across as charismatic and nice. He is a swim coach that was living in L.A. but was laid off due to budget cuts. He came back to his native San Diego area and was lucky enough to get a job at a local high school in the North County area. We talked on the phone a couple times and agreed to meet up. He lives in North County (which is about a 45 minute drive from me) and had some great cafe that he wanted to show me. I had an appointment for a haircut and told him I'd call him around 3:30 when I thought I'd be done. The haircut took a little longer than I expected and he had called at 3:30 to find out if I was done. I called him back and mentioned that I needed to go home and change clothes before heading up to his area. We agreed that I would call him when I reached an exit on the freeway so that he would have a better idea of when I'd be at the cafe.


Ron ended up calling me before I left my place to find out if I had left....then called again about 20 minutes later when I reached the exit we were going to use as the calling point. Then he wanted me to call him when I got onto the other freeway that would take me to the exit for the cafe. Instead he called me right when I was getting onto the freeway and changed our meeting place. Apparently he decided that the cafe wasn't good enough and wanted to go to a better restaurant. That's fine but a little annoying after all the phone calls. As I pull into the parking lot for the new meeting place, I get yet another phone call from Ron stating that he had something come up and is running a little late.

So I went to the bar and got myself a beer, luckily I only waited about ten minutes before he showed up. He apologized again for being late and explained that his sister accidentally cut him on the arm with a knife (why they were playing with knives, I have no idea). At this point I also learned that he was currently living with his parents and his sister.....he's 36 years old. So we ordered appetizers and drinks, after which he told me he probably wasn't going to eat because he had a late lunch with a friend and he wasn't hungry (nice,huh?). So this was basically my dinner which I didn't eat much of because it's AWKWARD eating in front of someone who is NOT eating!

Aside from that, most of the conversation was good except that he kept jumping in with compliments. Normally that's fine...who doesn't like a compliment? But when he kept repeating the same compliment about five times throughout the night (my haircut looked really good), it gets a big insincere. That and he kept asking me why I was single...."why is such a beautiful, great woman like you single?!" Thanks for the compliment and for rubbing it in my face that I am still single after all this time......I ALWAYS appreciate that!

We ended up going to a different place and had a couple more drinks....at this point Ron is getting tipsy. Tipsy leading to loud and obnoxious....and more complimentary. Maybe he was nervous, maybe my beauty was just SO overwhelming!! HA! I don't think so.....it was annoying. So we walked back to the parking lot where he kissed me (once on the lips which I ended rather quickly). Ron wanted to know if we could talk in my truck. Seriously? I flat out told him there wasn't going to be a make-out session! Nice try buddy. I ended up driving him home because he was too drunk to drive! Yet another point for Ron.....doing great on this date! Upon dropping him off he gave me directions for getting back to the freeway, since I am unfamiliar with the area, and told me to call him if I got lost. Whew! Done with all that!! But then five minutes later, as I am getting on the freeway, he called to make sure I found it. Ok, that's nice and all.....thanks for that. Then about twenty minutes later he called AGAIN! This time I don't know why. I figured it was him and picked up my phone to check the caller ID. When I picked it up I accidentally answered it but still held the phone away from me. I hear him calling my name.....I've definitely had enough at this point, so I hung up the phone and then turned it off.

That was the end of a VERY long night!! I don't know if he had self esteem issues or was desperate to be with someone or what his deal was! He called me the next day and left a message saying he had a great time. Uh-huh....sorry I can't say the same! That was all a bit overwhelming!! Thankfully I have not heard from him again and interestingly enough, he deleted his profile on the personals site. Hmmm.....maybe it's time to deal with personal issues?

I am hoping the next date will go better!

Uncle Bill

My Uncle Bill passed away last week...he had been fighting lung cancer for awhile but it was still unexpected for me. It's still a bit surreal because I haven't seen them in about 5-6 years but that doesn't mean that I won't miss him! I thought I would post the obituary that was in the local paper (Kansas City, MO).

William L. "Bill" Tade, 70, of Lee's Summit, MO, passed away June 5, 2009. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Judy; his daughters Kristin (Mark) Harris with grandchildren Madison and Will and Mehgan (Brad) Rishmany with grandchildren Ella and Jack (born on Grand Dad's birthday!). Also surviving are sisters Louise Cohlmeyer and Margaret Miller and their families. Bill served honorably and with pride in the Army in the 82nd Airborne Division and then went on to teach in the Hickman Mills School District for 30 years. His retirement years were spent visiting every Mid-Continent Library in the area, keeping an immaculate yard and most of all thoroughly enjoying his grandchildren. His sense of humor will be greatly missed. Instead of a funeral, there will be a celebration visitation, a time to gather in Bill's honor and appreciate friends. This will be held Tuesday June 9th from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Newcomer's Longview Funeral Home, 12700 S. Raytown Road, Kansas City, MO. (816-761- 6272) In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in honor of Bill are suggested to Village Hospice, 400 NW Murray Road, Lee's Summit, MO 64081, or to American Lung Association 2400 Troost Ave., STE 4300, Kansas city, MO 64108. Online condolences may be left at www.dwnewcomers.com.