Just an Update

Hello everyone,

I've been looking for a job the past several weeks and so far nothing great has caught my eye. In light of the fact that our coast was ravaged and the economy is in a very precarious situation, I am sure finding work amongst all this chaos will be challenging. I am extremely concerned about the state of our nation, as everyone else is too.

I've been glued to the news and watched the debates carefully. Watching Obama made me feel like I was already looking at our future President. He was genuine, poised, and not afraid of anything McCain tried to throw at him...which btw, were mostly a pack of lies and misinformation. It's quite obvious that Karl Rove is in the cogs of that campaign. It's amazing how quickly McCain had a smear ad out towards Obama after the debate. That seems like desperation to me. What do you think?

I strongly believe Obama will be an excellent leader, and I respect him greatly. I doubt Palin will even make it to the Vice Presidential debate. If she does, I will be very surprised. Biden will mop the floor with her if she is allowed to continue as McCain's running mate. A few weeks ago I figured they would eventually push her out. It will be very interesting to see what happens.

In other news I had minor surgery on my leg to remove a growth that has been there for at least 14 years. Every time I have had a doctor look at it, they were nonplussed and said it was just a cyst and not to worry. Gross I know, but still kinda fascinating considering that thing has been growing larger year by year. I finally got up the nerve to have it removed. Silly that I had to get the nerve to make such a move, considering the risks I have taken out in nature are by far more dangerous...bear encounters, snake encounters, rock climbing, caving, out running raging waters, etc...

It is good to finally get it cut out. I watched the whole surgery and thought it was really cool. I like watching surgeries and think medicine is incredible and what our bodies can do. Any time I have had surgery that I can be awake for, I've watched. I might have made a very good surgeon had I followed a different path in life.

Anyway, the cyst was very deep, close to the muscle, and took a while for the doctor to remove. It was actually not as gross looking as I thought it would be. There was no odor or nasty contents. The doc commented that most of the time they are particularly gross and was amazed at how non-gross mine was, especially since it had been in my leg for so many years.

They will biopsy the tissue surrounding it and part of the sac it was contained in just to be on the safe side. I figure if it was cancer I would have died years and years ago, so am not concerned one bit. I'm hardy and tough and have excellent health over all.

Today is my mom's birthday and I spent a very long time on the phone with her. She had a happy day and that makes me glad! She deserves it. I can't disclose how old she is, but she is kicking and well. :)

Caitlin has been quite sick over the past month. First she had a skin staph infection, and on the heels of that, came the Parvo B19 virus which is a common child hood illness. It used to be referred to as Fifth's disease. Basically it is one of those viruses that if you are older it makes you sicker. Caitlin has been having a very rough time and is so miserable. I wish I could take every bit of her pain away. It could take a while for her to recover completely, and she has missed a bunch of school. She strives for excellent grades and has been worried that this is going to cause her grades to fall terribly. It remains to be seen.

Samantha is living with me and trying to find work as well, while she waits for the spring semester at ACC to start. I am pleased that she is going back to school and believe she will do very well. She is very intelligent and I'm proud of her. Our relationship is the best it has ever been. For a while things were rough, but she has matured to a point where she can better understand the way life was like for me when I was struggling as a single mom. Now that Russell and I are no longer together, I wonder what the single life with a young child will be like again.
I feel stronger now though, and feel like things will work out...they always do for me.

Well that is it for now. I hope everyone stays safe and we all get through these times as a Nation. Our country has been terribly divided and right now we need to stick together as a people. I hope it is possible. Maybe Barrack will bring about the change we desperately need and I think there is a good shot for hope. We sure need positive leadership after having been raped the past 8 years by evil crimminals in the White House.