March 13, 2011: Vision

Hola, All! Thursday morning as I walked to the rec center I could see something out of the corner of my left eye, something that looked like part of an outline of something, but it was clear. I knew it had something to do with my eye, which is weird since I've always had really good vision. As I continued to walk, I noticed that everytime I looked to the left, the thing also moved to the left so that I never could look at it head-on. Not really giving it much more thought, I went about my day. On Friday morning, as I was taking a shower, I suddenly saw a streak of light to the left of me. Now that's weird, I thought. But then, I noticed that every time I looked sharply to the left, I saw streaks of light. I thought back to when I last had my eyes checked, knowing it wasn't that long ago........September, 2010. At that eye exam, I told the dr that I had been seeing these black floaty spots for a couple of months. They come and go, and I never know when they will show up again. He told me that if anything changes, to call him because something had happened to him, and it turned out to be a detached retina. The strange thing about having a detached retina is that you don't even know it has happened. So many people think that when something a little different happens with their vision, it isn't important and that it will go away with time. This is true sometimes, and sometimes it isn't. So, when these weird things started happening, I made an appt with my eye dr, Dr Gambino, for that day (Friday). He ran some tests, but didn't find anything. Then, he personally called to make an appt for me with a dr. who specializes in retinas, for that afternoon. On top of that, he told me that he wasn't going to charge me for my visit; he is the kindest man! As I was driving to the next dr's office, one thing that I thought of was something that I read that morning: God wants only happiness for me. I repeated that saying over and over and over, along with asking God and the angels to put me in the best drs care. At Dr. Coors office, drops were put in my eyes to dialate them so she could examine them more closely. She said what was happening is fairly common but to call immediately if I start to see the 'outline' and/or streak of light directly in front of me. According to the pamplet that she gave me, these odd occurances are because of changes in the jelly-like substance (vitreous) which fill the back cavity of the eye; these are things that can happen as one ages. I drove home relieved that it was nothing serious, and also thankful for divine help. And, I was thankful that Ed and I were still able to go dancing that night, because it allowed me to release some of the stress that I was feeling.
Any chance you get, dance!
Dawnie

March 11, 2011: Be the Peace

Hola, All! The song with the words 'be the peace you want to see' runs through my mind fairly often. Wednesday I had an 'opportunity' to put these words into practice. I usually walk to the rec center to work out around 6:50am, but this time I didn't leave until 7:10am. I also took a little bit of a different route, in that I went out the front door instead of the back. This makes my walk to the rec center a little longer. As soon as I walked out of the door, I asked the angels to protect me and surround me with their love. As I was walking west on Elizabeth Dr, I saw a blond woman, maybe in her late 20's walk out of a house wearing a short nightgown, a long white bathrobe, and nothing on her feet. I found it strange that she was barefoot because it was in the 40's, and I was bundled like a wooly bear. As I walked by her, she asked for my help, so I stopped to see what she wanted. She was holding a cell phone that didn't appear to be turned on. She said that her boyfriend was abusing her and she wanted to call 911. Just then the boyfriend, a nice-looking man in his early 30's, dressed for the day, walked out and just started droppping the f-bomb. She and I were on the sidewalk and he basically stayed near the house. He must have heard what she said about him because he loudly said that he never touched her, which I could see was true. I put my hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes; she was clearly drunk or on drugs, which he also told me. I tried to let him know with my eyes that I didn't believe that he had hurt her, but I think he was really scared that she would call the cops and he would be arrested for something that he didn't do. All the time that he is talking, if that is what one calls it when one's vocabulary is limited to the f-bomb, I was calming talking to the woman in a low voice. She finally admitted that he had not hurt her, and then he left. I encouraged her to go back inside and I continued on my way. All this probably didn't take 3 minutes, but as calm as I was around them, I was shaking as I walked away. I was so thankful that the angels, God, the Holy Spirit, some being, was guiding me because I was so calm in the midst of this drama, and I didn't become a part of the drama. Even now as I write this, I am getting a little shaky reliving it. But, it showed me that I could be the peace that I want to see in this world.
Be the peace that you want to see,
Dawnie

March 10, 2011: More on Austin

Hola, All! Today Kim took baby Austin to a pediatric allergist (please see previous blog). Since he has several drugs in his system, he could not be tested for certain allergies the conventional way of pricking the skin on his back. She had to take him to the hospital where they drew blood out of his arm. They will test it for allergies to dairy, nuts, shellfish, soy, wheat and something else. Thankfully, the allergist told Kim that she could feed Austin the breastmilk in the freezer; that's a relief since it's packed in there! And, my freezer has at least 16 bags from when Kim was here in December. He gave her some formula that she can try to give to the baby but warned her that it wasn't very tasty. Knowing Austin, he isn't about to drink something that tastes nasty. We will find out in the next couple of weeks what the little booger can or can't eat. I think this should also help his excema also. Kim's been dealing with that almost since he was born. I guess we didn't think of it before but these problems abound in my family, but just not to the degree that Austin has them. For one thing, Ed can generally eat or drink anything, and not be bothered. But, he can't use anti-persperant. Since I've been buying his deodorant for years, I think he forgot a couple of years ago when he bought 3 sticks of deodorant/anti-persperant. When he used it the next day, he broke out all the way from his armpit to almost his waist! Also, there's been certain detergents that have caused him to break out. On the other hand, I started having problems with dairy when I was in my 30's. Kerri and Kim started having problems in their late teens, and Brandy was born with an allergy to milk. It seems as if all these problems have been multiplied in Austin. But, I'm thankful that soon we are going to find out what he can and can not have.
Be thankful every day of your life for something,
Dawnie

March 9, 2011: Austin

Hola, All! Yesterday Kim called me about 5:30pm to say that she and baby Austin were headed to the emergency room! Kim had taken Austin to John's work to eat lunch with John, a 45 minute drive on a good day. When they got home after 3pm, she decided to feed him formula, which he's never had; she had not pumped yet and didn't have any breastmilk for him. After feeding him about 2 oz, he started making a really weird noise, like he had something in his throat. He was gagging, crying really weird, and throwing up mucus! She stopped feeding him, and made a bottle of breatmilk (her freezer is full of bags of breastmilk) but he wouldn't drink it. She tried to use the aspirator in his throat but she couldn't get anything out. Then she notices that he is covered in hives, and he is as red as a tomato! Panic sets in! Kim calls her neighbor, Olivia (in school to become a pediatric nurse) who tells her that Austin has had an allergic reaction. It's after 4:30pm when she calls her doctor who told her to take the baby to the emergency room. At the ER the triage nurse tells her that Austin is having anaphylaxis; they give him epipen, benadryl and steroids! And, the nurse says that alot of times when a person has an allergic reaction to something, they have another one in 6-8 hours. The dr hooks the baby up to all kinds of machines, checking his breathing, bp, etc. After 10 minutes his skin color started returning to a more normal color, and he was breathing easier. By the time John made it to the ER, Austin was 80% better. Since John rides the train home, and Kim had the car, it took him awhile to get to the hospital. The baby was not released until 9:30pm, when they thankfully took him home. He is fine now but Kim was given a long list of things that she and the baby can't eat. This is going to change her life more than it changes Austin's life, I think. I am proud of Kim for listening to her gut and taking him to the ER, even though a couple of her neighbors thought Austin was out of danger and didn't need to go. Tomorrow they have an appointment with a pediatric allergist; maybe we can get to the bottom of what he can eat/drink and what he can't.
Praying for Kim and Austin,
Dawnie

March 4, 2011: Speaker Connection to Audience

Hola, All! Tomorrow I am giving a speech at my Anecdotally Speaking Toastmasters meeting on "One way speakers can connect with their audience". I got the inspiration for the speech from when I attended a conference in Chicago last summer. (All the speakers were authors). On Friday night the speaker was really good, because I heard people say how much they liked her. She didn't stand in one spot, but walked among the audience. I don't think she was exactly boring; all I know is that the longer she spoke, the sleepier I got. I did everything to stay awake........shifted in my seat, took deep breaths, moved my legs alot. I even tried rotating my head............until my chin hit my chest and woke me up! I was so glad when her speech was over! This speaker did not connect with me. The next day after lunch I had signed up to hear Speaker B. I had read two of his books. They were the kind that you could hardly put down because they were so interesting! I was real excited to hear what he had to say. When I walked into the back of the room, I looked for a place to sit near the front. Since there weren't any available, I sat near the middle of the room. This turned out to be a blessing for me because the whole time he talked, his voice was monotone. It neither went up or down but stayed the same. Holy Cow, did he not realize that we had just eaten lunch?? All the blood was headed to our stomachs to digest our food, and not much was headed to our heads! I thought to myself, "Oh, no, another boring hour!" But, then, his presentation required him to TURN OUT THE LIGHTS!! Oh my lord, off to dreamland I went. (Actually that was nice since I hadn't slept well the night before and it gave me some time to get refreshed.) The next morning was a different story as the main speaker walked across the stage in her sassy purple party dress, acting like she owned the place. I liked her immediately! She told the audience to get off their booties because we were going to have some fun! This woman knew how to connect with her audience. I immediately recognized that I liked her style, and am using it in my speech tomorrow. My club doesn't know it yet but I'm going to get them off their booties, and we are going to do some jiving to the song "Shake Your Booty!" I know that it's going to be alot of fun!
Since most of you know that I want to be a public speaker and speak in front of thousands,
I want to know what kind of speaker do you connect with? What kind of qualities must the speaker have to hold your interest? What keeps you awake during a speech or presentation? I welcome any suggestions because they will just make me a better speaker.

Have FUN!
Dawnie

March 3, 2011: Ocean/Wave

Hola, All! Here you are, at the beach, sitting on the sand, watching the waves roll in. Let's assume that God, or the Universe, is a hugh body of water, like the ocean. And, you are a wave, part of the ocean yet distinct from the other waves, but made from the same water. What do you think would cause wave A to rise higher, last longer and have more of an impact than wave B? I think the difference is that the bigger wave has decided to take on more of the characteristics of the ocean, to absorb what the ocean has offered to all the waves, to use the power that is deep within the ocean. You see, each wave has the same opportunity to become more like the ocean, but the ocean has given each wave the free will to decide if it even wants to immitate itself. As a wave, would you not want to absorb all the things the ocean offered, to eventually become so much like the ocean that no wave could tell where the ocean ended and you began? I have a picture in my office (dining room) that shows a large wave reaching its highest point, using the power of the ocean to affect every drop of water it comes into contact with. I look at this picture everyday and tell myself that I want to be like that wave, I want to make a big splash by using all the gifts that the Universe offers, such as love, completeness, joy, peace, happiness, and power to affect others' lives. Some of my greatest desires are to make a difference in the world, to help others improve their lives, to accomplish my mission in life. Looking at the picture helps me to stay focused on the steps that bring me closer to becoming who I am meant to be..........a wave that is one with the ocean.
I am Love, You are Love,
Dawnie

March 1, 2011: More Tibetan Bowls

Hola, All! Yesterday while listening to the vibrations of my Tibetan bowl, this message came through:
The healing powers of the Tibetan bowls are spread throughout the land. Concentrate on them as they vibrate, bringing peace and joy to your inner being. Lavish yourself with the sounds, accepting them and then sending them out into the world. Breathe in their love, letting it settle into your bones. Breathe out stress, relaxing your inner being and body. Allow the music to reach the inner corners of your mind, allowing it to be peaceful and open. Receive the healing tones; they bring lasting peace and joy.

Here is some information about Tibetan bowls, according to Diane Mandle, Certified Sound Healer. "During our waking state , the normal frequency of our brain waves is that of Beta. Sound tools entrain the brain to move into the deeper Alpha and Theta brain wave frequencies. These are the frequencies that induce deep meditative and peaceful states, clairity of mind and intuition. Modern medicine can now measure and thus confirm the practice of sound as a means to promote healing. Thus, sound is a type of energy medicine that creates the sacred space in which people can heal from stress disorders, pain, depression, the emotional roller coaster and more. "
Some people listen to meditative cd's before a surgery, to lose weight, to get through a difficult time, to have peace of mind, etc. Other people listen to music to connect with joy in their lives. I listen to Tibetan bowls as a way to connect with my inner being, that part of God that lives inside of me. Sounds can be very theraputic, helping us to attain a deeper sense of peace. I hope you find the peace that you are looking for.
Peace be with you,
Dawnie