Eight minutes to Bliss

Eight minutes is all it takes to get my Starbucks fix. At least today! I thought I would play this little fun game tonight. "How long does it take to get my glorious, precious cuppa joe?"

3:47 Leave my house
3:48 Stop at Red Light 1 - Luckily I timed it just right, near the end of the cycle.
3:50 Stop at Red Light 2 - Not a big deal, we're almost there!
3:52 Turn into Target parking lot
3:53 Don't be picky with parking! Just PARK! And walk swiftly toward my prize! (And because it's cold too!)
3:54 Walk right in, first in line, Cashier ready for me!3:55 Enjoying my First Sip of my Special Sumthin'... YUM!

And get this... My Cashier - I cannot remember her name for the life of me. I'll remember later on, I'm sure! I was in there so often over the past week - two weeks asking for the Almond Flavoring, she remembered me! She said, "You've been asking for this for a while, haven't you?!" I was a little taken aback because I didn't think I was THAT impressionable. Hmmm. Maybe I leave my mark in more ways than I thought. Interesting. I mean, I know I made my mark a while back. I made a friend, Blair, at this Starbucks counter, and since has moved on into management of some sort, so I never see her. She was even filling in at another location one day and we had a sweet little conversation over there. (She remembered me, I remembered her... we talked!) Isn't that the way you want your Barista? (for those of you NOT enjoying this topic - that is the person making my little slice of heaven!) Anyway, it was nice to be remembered.

So, there's my story of getting my fix. Melissa told me that it's been *prepare yourself* over FIVE days since her last drink. We need an intervention here!! I don't know HOW she's still surviving!

Okay, I need to get down to business. I went to the doctor today. Feeling a little woosey lately.. Turns out I'm anemic, have low blood sugar along with low blood pressure. Hmm. I need to pay closer attention and keep up with myself here. I've also got a bit of a pinched nerve (or some similar situation) in my shoulder. So, I'm taking another round of steroids to see if it'll relax enough for me to get rid of the pain. Hope so!

And I have to pay extra close attention to my iron pills, to take them daily. (I slacked for a while, so I've gotten dizzy, black out spells coming and going.) And with my normally low blood pressure, that mounts up to be quite a bit! Then with my low blood sugar, that should (SHOULD) be an easy fix. I just have to continue to eat throughout the day. I've gotten to where I don't eat regularly through the day, so I tend to fade and have a sugar-low a lot. I get shaky, sweaty, dizzy, light-headed, my heart pounds... it's not a pretty thing. You'd think this in itself would be enough of a bother to make me keep up with it!! But I just get busy and don't pay attention. Note to self: EAT, EAT, EAT!! And then eat some more! Plus, to add insult to injury, I am losing hair again. This is because I'm not keeping up on my protein! By the handfuls! I have very large, fuzzy "hamsters" when I get out of the shower again. We should start naming these boogers! Big balls of hair that are just totally tear-inducing! (Not quite, but almost!) So, now I have some beef jerky and turkey jerky that I'll continue to munch on. It just takes all day long to get enough protein in! I was just starting to get my hair to thicken up a bit. Now, I have to start all over again. UGH!!

So, lesson for today... Eat protein, and lots of it. That will take care of the low blood sugar and the protein deficiency! *SIGH*

My prayer for today: "Dear Lord, Please give someone the ability to create a protein chewable that has 60 grams of protein in it. One that I can get past my gag reflex, one that I would enjoy, that tastes decent, one that is inexpensive. One that I'll have NO excuse to not take!! Amen!" That isn't so much to ask, right?

My "Thank you Lord" conversation topic today will be my friend, Amber. There for a while, I was addicted to Amber. Maybe I even stalked her a bit. (sorry about that!). But I am so thankful that I have Amber. When we first talked, I had the extreme pleasure to share with her my most-favorite book of all time. Ruth, the novel by Lois T. Henderson - in case you forgot! This book has come and gone through my years and each time, I learn so much about myself through it. Ruth was an inspiration - you remember the story, right? Through many conversations with Amber, the words I was giving her (that she might've needed at the time) were really shedding a light on me. These words seemed more for me than for her. So, Amber, thank you for lighting my road on this journey! Even if you didn't know it or realize it at the time. You helped me through that path, at the time I needed it most! Funny how things work, huh? I thank God for you. You are a blessing to me. I hope I have helped you (even in just a small way) over the past year!

Now, I HAVE to get busy around here. I have some work to do. Dinner to make. A couple gifts to wrap. And some reading to do!! YAY!