Weather + I'm Juiced + I'm Conflicted

special wed edition . . . mental health Monday

G.O.M.E.R. *

Last night at around 9:20p I posted that it had been snowing off & on since 8:00a. We were in a winter storm advisory calling for 6-9" of snow by the time the storm ended around noon today. Lois' school sent faculty, staff, & students home at 12:30p. I left the OGT offices also about that time. When I got home I pushed snow off of Lois' half of the driveway **, then waited for her to get home.
      We started watching a new series on Netflix. [More on that later, if I remember.] Went to bed around 9:00. Lois had been checking on school cancellations off & on most of the evening. By the time we went to bed, freezing rain was coming down. No announcements by the time we turned off the light, but our neighbor was using his snow blower, which made it a little hard to get to sleep.
      Woke up to the sound of the snowblower again, sometime a little before 5:00a this morning. Lois' phone went off just a little after 5:00a, announcing "no school." Duh. Had trouble falling back to sleep but eventually dozed off a little. Finally gave up & got up around 6:40a. 

* Grumpy Old Men & Their Elucidating Rants
** Because that's just the kind of husband I am

Reasons to Be Upbeat, If not at Least a Little Joyful

Political Whimsy

• On MON 1/23, DT signed an executive order, restoring the "Mexico City policy," which prohibits non-government agencies, such as International PP, from receiving government funds to pay for abortions, w/o reducing government aid. [No comment necessary.]
• From Omaha World Herald (1/18):  "Obamas donate swingset to D.C. shelter. From now on, children at a family shelter in southeast Washington, D.C., may get a kick out of the fact that they are swinging & sliding where two of the country's most children once played. On MON, as part of their move from the White House, President Obama & first lady M.O. personally donated to the shelter the play set they surprised their daughters w/8 years ago, when the girls were 10 & 7."  [KUDOs where KUDOs are due.]
• From Norfolk Daily News (1/20):  "Hugs, handshakes. President Obama & first lady M.O. welcomed President-elect DT & his wife, Melania, to the White House on FRI morning. The Obamas greeted the Trumps at the grand North Politico, the column-lined entrance facing PA Ave. They exchanged pleasantries, & MT brought a gift for M.O. MT initially reached to shake M.O.'s hand, but the first lady instead gave her a hug."  [Presents & hugs are good things.]
• Also from OWH (1/21):  "Trump praises Hillary & BC:  President DT, in brief remarks at his inaugural lunch at the Capitol, said he was honored that HC, his rival in the White House race, came to the event . . . "  [No matter what you think of the Trumps & Clintons, this was a classy thing to do.]
• Also from NDN (1/21):  Political cartoon from Jeff Koterba, cartoonist for the OWH. "Cowboys: Know Your Interstate Signs . . . " Panel 3 depicted a cowboy riding along the Interstate w/his cell phone in his holster. the sign read, "Don't Text and Cattle Drive." [Well, I thought it was hilarious. I also know what it's like to be stalled on the highway by a cattle drive . . . & it's a cool thing.]

Bracing for & Racing for Retirement

• Finally this past week I was able to access mycps.org & check-out my options for Concordia Retirement benefits, beginning in March. It looks like Lois won't have to pursue evening & weekend hours at Casey's. Also, I was informed the the LHSANN BOD has acted to grant me a peaceful release from my Call to LHNE, effective 3/1/17. Both of these actions are helping me achieve some closure, finally.
• From OWH (12/8/16):  "Older Americans are happiest in Hawaii, Arizona, New Hampshire. Despite the creaky knees & reading glasses that come w/old age, Americans tend to get happier as they grow older, a new analysis finds . . . But much can spend on where one lives. The states w/the highest levels of well-being among older people are HI, AZ, NH, ND, & CO; the lowest levels are in WVA, KY, OK, OH, & IN . . . "  [Hawaii? Too expensive? New Hampshire? Too progressive. Cold winters. ND? Winters too cold. Colorado? Two word. Mary Juana.]

Jinxed . . . and Juiced

I've been have recurring cluster headaches since before Christmas brakes. Fortunately, I've yet to have a full-blown, crippling headache. I've been to my neurologist once & had one of my preventative meds increased. There was an initial improvement, but then they returned. I called his office last FRI & was told that he had left orders for a change in meds, so I left a voice mail for his nurse. She didn't get back to me until MON morning. She told me that my doctor had phoned in a prescription. I told her that I hadn't had a headache for 3 days. She told me that I could either forget the prescription or pick it up in case I had a recurrence.
      So guess what? I got a headache on MON afternoon, so yesterday I picked up the new prescription for Prednisone, which is a steroid. I'm on a 5-6 course of treatment, & I took my first pill this morning. It's a progressive course of meds w/diminishing dosages thru the 1st week of FEB. A downside of steroids is that they increase blood sugar levels, so I have to increase my protein & decrease my carbs. Will I have the will power to do this? Please pray for me.

Down . . . But Not Out

From OWH (1/9):  "Some drugs won't help many who take them. Clinical trials, set up by drug manufacturers, exaggerate results, analysis concludes . . . "  [I have been on "Placebo" for many years. I wonder . . . ]
From NDN (1/14):  "Your children may be worse off than you. Millennials are falling behind their boomer parents. With a median household income of $40,581, millennials earn 20% less than boomers did at the same stage of life, despite being better educated, according to a new analysis of Federal Reserve data by the advocacy group Young Invincibles . . . "  [An advocacy group undoubtedly made up of, you guessed it, Millenniials. Also, some of my children may have more letters after their last name, but my "letters" derive from the school of "hard knocks." O snap!]

Protestors & Abortion

I have been under a cloud since I started following Facebook & conservative punditry re:  the world-wide women's marches, beginning last week & still continuing. Why?

• It seems like so much of the message of the women's marches, along with messages of support by those who wish they could be joined in, involve support for abortion.
• Yet we continue to be saturated by fake news about the mission of Planned Parenthood. 
• I strongly, strongly encourage those who actively support or even mildly sympathize with PP to do some homework. They do NOT merely provide health care for women, which sounds so innocent. They actively promote & provide the killing of unborn babies.
• Carefully read Psalm 139:13-16:  "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully & wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."
• The Almighty God is the Creator of human life. Unborn babies are not "an accident." The argument that unborn babies are a blob of fetal tissue is a blasphemous argument that flies in the face of the psalmist's hymn of worship to our Father in heaven for His creative acts.

But I also stand convicted after reading these verses from Romans Chapter 12. [My comments follow.]

• "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." (v. 9) [Abortion is evil. Calling it for what it is the right thing to do.]
• "Bless those who persecute you; bless & do not curse." (v. 14) [Making snarky comments in response to those who advocate for abortion rights & PP--that is equivalent to cursing others. I am genuinely sorry for that & must try to do better."
• "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." (v. 16) [Living in disharmony is a contradiction of my Christian values. Those who have other values than me are NOT people of low position. My volunteer work on behalf of OGT is service on behalf of people whom the world judges to be in low position. God does NOT judge these people to be "of low position."]
• "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody." (v.17) [It is God's role to repay evil for evil, not mine.]
• "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." (v. 19)
• "On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (vv. 20a, 21) [When I start letting the negative overwhelm the positive, I am letting evil overcome good. This leads to reflect on whether I've been spending too much time on political content on the Internet & in newspapers lately . . . again.]