Rants, Raves, and other things

I've not really done it on this blog, but I really feel like ranting. This whole Anna Nicole situation just makes me shake my head and say "what the heck?" Does anybody even care about this? I have not heard one friend, one colleague, one beautician or ambiguously straight/gay man remark about her death in any way. So why have we been forced to endure countless entertainment shows, "news" shows, and daytime programs about this???? While I was sick I watched a considerable amount of TV and EVERYONE was talking about her, even Dr. Phil. Even Tyra Banks devoted a full hour to strange people that wished to talk about Anna Nicole's impact on their life or they had met her once and felt intimately connected to her and were in deep mourning following her death. Today's paper had an entire section devoted to Anna's cause of death, which all the news people seem strangely shocked to learn was due to drug abuse. Anyone that has seen her in the last 10 years, and especially the last year of her life, would say duh. I don't want to diminish the loss that her family and friends feel, but I think it is time for the news/media people to leave her family alone and let them mourn privately (even if all of her family wants to bring it to our attention). This poor woman no longer has any secrets...that coroner told the public more than was necessary.

Ok, onto Raves. I've been reading books that Kristen has recommended (I needed to put a link to her website on mine...I'll work on that--Kristen, if you are reading, is that ok?). I reserved a copy of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See and picked it up from the library yesterday. I'm already on page 173 and I can not put it down! It's the story of two girls that have an "arranged" friendship much like that of a marriage and is set in China in the 1800s. It talks in great detail about foot-binding (I really had no idea what that entailed and it is so graphic that I wish I still didn't know) and really delves into explaining why men were the preferred sex and why women still prefer sons over daughters. A good book puts a spell on me and I am not free of it until I have completed the story. I will go without food, not answer phone calls, refuse to clean or sleep until I finish a good book. This one is so good that I look forward to finishing it, but will hate when there is nothing left to read.

Other things....each day I feel better. On Sunday I felt I was only 80% of what I was and was still short of breath with walking any distance at all. Yesterday I had my pulmonary function test and got a great report. Before the test, I was instructed to not use my inhaler, have any caffeine (because it improves breathing problems) or have breakfast (a heavy belly will prevent the diaphragm from filling). I was feeling pretty tight and slightly winded when I was there, but halfway though the test the therapist administered an albuterol nebulizer (to open up my airways). I asked her what degree of constriction I had, and she told I actually scored over the predicted measurement for my height, sex, race, and age! She retested me after the nebulizer, but was unable to measure any improvement since I was already over the 100% predicted! Wow, what great news! In the past my allergist had reported that I had reactive airway disease, but this test indicated the opposite. I was so happy to hear that. Last night I returned to the gym, 27 days after my last walk there. I walked a very slow mile around the the indoor track, and my legs shook for the last 2-3 laps. It's nice to feel a bit more improvement each and every day. I just didn't realize that it would take me so long to recover from pneumonia, but I'm quite sure that I will be 100% within the next two weeks!!!!