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Knick knack paddywhack throw a girl a bone?

That Thing That Shall Not Be Discussed: It has been a rough week for me this week. I anticipated it would be, because the signs pointed that way. I knew it would be a week of tweaking my drug regimen to control symptoms, and it has been. I knew it would be hard to keep up with life's demands as I tried to care for myself, and it has been. I knew I'd get down and tired, and I have been. I started a new medication and it seemed to be doing some good so I was really hoping this week wouldn't happen. But it did. I had to ask too much of my husband and kids, again, as I couldn't really fulfill my full role. I hate that most of all. I hate feeling let down by my regimen of meds. I hate feeling disheartened. I hate feeling like my life is a battle to not be seriously ill. I hate the way the physical problems affect my emotions. But. If I'm honest, on the new drug regimen I am much better than a month ago. Some of the worst symptoms didn't manifest. We are getting closer. We still don't have a complete handle on it, or have it managed well, but we have it managed better and we are closer. I'm going to feel good about that. I can feel this "episode" receding now and I think next week will be better.

On to better topics...

Upcoming Hump Day Hmms

Next two upcoming Hump Days are planned, thanks to Two Square Meals and Lawyer Mama! Thanks you two!

Two Square Meals was inspired by my Twitter Do or Don't post and suggested for next week (2-6): What are the ethics and mores of social media and social networking? (If you don't think you use social media or networking, think again. You are online, you use it or it uses you, or both. Bloggers you read review products, or you do that yourself. There is an interchange and exchange of linking, passing along of awards, "digging" or "skirting" posts, trading back and forth of comments, community building, and so forth. What is this online space for you? How do you use it? What do you expect of it, in all realms? What behavior---business or personal--crosses a line in your opinion? What are the lines? Write honestly about what this space is for you and what you believe the ethics and mores are.)

Curious? Go check in with Laura Mayes...hi Laura! You rock! Hope you don't mind I point a lot of people your way. It's just that you can speak the language of the people on the social media topic.

Lawyer Mama was inspired by my 27 Dresses post and suggested for the following week (2-13): Are people we know fair fodder for writing? People in our real lives? People we know or read online? Other bloggers? Things we read, such as blog posts, emails, news stories, etc? Are other people and the things they do fair fodder for our blogs (or other writing)? How do you handle writing about people? People you know in real life? people you know online? What are your criteria for discussing the people who affect you? Have you ever dealt with someone finding themselves in your writing and reacting (in any way)? Share with us your ethics and mores as a writer, when it comes to characterizing others.

Por favor...



Please? Oh please? Won't you check "show my email address" in your profile? Sometimes you say things that are really interesting and I want to reply offline to you. I do like to reply within comments in general, but now and again, you say something and I just want a brief confab mano a mano.

Also, would you please make sure it's obvious which blog is your main blog, where people ought to come visit you if we just met...in case you have multiple blogs. Please?

While I'm bending your ear, I want to plug again for the visually disabled and dyslexics and ask you to reconsider that word verification thing. I understand the desire to protect your blog and control comments, especially prevent spam. But I want to assure you that the filters are very good and generally control the spam. The other way to control comments that don't make it tough for commenters to comment is to enable comment moderation (where you approve comments before posting them). It does mean comments don't go up in real time, but I don't think that's so very important in this medium, especially if you have security concerns. Consider it?

Dog update

We go to the oncologist today. We are beginning to adjust to this as the reality, now. I'm trying to remain optimistic, especially after a great conversation with my vet, who is feeling hopeful. Do not mistake this: cancer is a fatal disease. This cancer (adenocarcinoma) is particularly fatal. It's aggressive with a nearly 100% rate of recurrence. We can't cure it. We can buy time. I'm also glad to know that it won't be particularly painful or wasting.

Supportive comments ONLY welcome on this topic. My dog, his health and our choices therein are NOT subject to debate or criticism.

Thanks

The marvelous Ewe and fantabulous Slouching Mom are passing along the Mwah, which is an expression of gratitude for commenters.

I am especially grateful to you, all of you. Your support when we got the news about my dog was overwhelming, and the amazing comments, contributions, opinions and discussions you bring are...well, let's just say you make this blog. So many, many thanks. I read all the comments and try (want to) reply to all. (So turn on your email my friends!)

WOW!

I was pretty flattered and delighted to see that CNN had picked up my blog for their health and family section this week. Just in case Dwight is listening: I'm not feeling the love from you this week. Is it that I don't bring you flowers any more?

Melissa is the bomb!

Last night Melissa opened up a live blogging event at her blog to enable discussion during the Democratic debate. We had a good group of participants, from many sides of many fences. Robert, Ellie, EE, Melissa, and her husband...my husband and I enjoyed being able to share comments and questions. Thanks!

I think that's all...

But I reserve the right to suddenly remember something later on...

Copyright 2008 Julie Pippert
Also blogging at:
Using My Words
Julie Pippert REVIEWS: Get a real opinion about BOOKS, MUSIC and MORE
Julie Pippert RECOMMENDS: A real opinion about HELPFUL and TIME-SAVING products
Moms Speak Up: Talking about the environment, dangerous imports, health care, food safety, media and marketing, education, politics and many other hot topics of concern.

Comments

le35 said…
Thanks Julie! For those of us new to the whole blogging scene (OK, I've had my blog a year, but I still consider myself new), we need that stort tutorial. Would you please consider doing more?

Also, the discussion last night was great! I loved it. Although I was putting my son to bed at the same time, I loved reading everyone's comments. I hope she does it again sometime. Or maybe, I can pop over there and ask her for a short tutorial as well??? :) Again, I'm very glad that I found your blog.
Anonymous said…
So this is what you write like when you're not feeling well....

When I'm not feeling well, my posts tend to be, "Blah. Sick. Go away."
Gwen said…
Julie, I have to tell you that you are so "on" all the time (and I mean that in the best possible sense, no back-handed compliments or anything), it's hard for me to remember that you're also dealing with chronic health issues. The mom in me wants to give you a big hug and tell you to slow down, take it easy, give yourself a break. Is that too patronizing?
Anonymous said…
Oh Julie, I'm finally going to have to chime in on this Hump Day, huh? I was just happy to sit on the sidelines and not be so thoughtful or serious...

In terms of the multiblogger thing (obviously we both suffer from this), I also put my main blog URL in the "Homepage URL" in the General section of the profile. This puts the link right under the email address as "My Web Page". Nowadays it is not as common to have a static web page and I've seen more and more people do this. I would hate to hide my other blogs because I love them all (my blog children?).

Word verification? I got really tired of the spam, especially since I support no no-follow. There is a handicap sign for the visually disabled which will "speak" the characters. I pushed google/blogger way back when to implement that.

Too bad I missed out on the LiveBlogging, my kids actually have horrendous sleep schedules which totally prevented me from being available.

Hope you feel better soon!!
Anonymous said…
AMEN on the whole "figure out what word we are trying to get you to type in" thing. Sometimes, I just plain give up.

I hope your dog is as comfortable as you can make him.

Oh, and you know where to find me :)

Emily
Mayberry said…
So much to say! How about just "I hear you." And I hope next week is better, health-wise.
Anonymous said…
I am sorry you are feeling a little burned today - I think January must be a hard month for a lot of people, because I have seen a lot of people talk about feeling aggravated and overwhelmed. Hey, I am one of those people. Your dog's illness has got to be hugely wearing on your family. I hope you get some good news.

Congratulations on the CNN thing! That is completely awesome.
I agree about showing your email. I can't tell you how many times I've searched a blog from head to toe to try to find an email addy of some kind. And if you don't want to use your regular one you can always create a gmail or yahoo account just for the purpose of receiving blog stuff.

Very cool about CNN, but help me out here, I'm a little dim sometimes. What do you mean when you say CNN picked up your blog? Is that your story at that link you provided or is there another link I should be looking at?
le35 said…
Jeff, I had this problem for a little bit, too. If you click on the link she gave us, and scroll all the way to the bottom, you can click on the link that says "From the Blogs: controversy, commentary, and debate." Once you click there, the link back to this blog appears. It's really awesome!
we_be_toys said…
Hope you are feeling better - it has to be so hard dealing with illness and juggling two active little girls (never mind the rest of your life's responsibilities).

I am so sorry to hear about your dog's cancer - I had hoped it would be something that could be removed. Poor puppy.
Anonymous said…
what Gwen said. Me too.

the first thing I said this morning was "It's February!" At least the calendar is moving forward, and hopefully we can all turn to a brighter page.

Mwah to you.
Kat said…
On behalf of the dyslexics I would like to thank you and back you up on your plea for the removal word verifications!!!!
Also, if your vet is optomistic, I think you have every reason to be so as well. Prayers for your health, and your dear doggy's health too.
elena said…
I liked your blog!! :)
Robert said…
I updated my profile with my address, and removed word verification. When I set the blog up, I didn't realize I had it on there until I went to comment on my own blog one day while not logged in and saw it. Maybe now I'll get some more comments on my posts.
Liv said…
yes. i hate word verification. seriously. who gets that many spam comments? and for those of you who employ comment moderation, why DO YOU need word verification, too??
Liv said…
(thanks for letting me rant in your beautiful space, JP)
painted maypole said…
amen to the main blog thing. What is up with people having 8 blogs? it's hard enough living life with just one!?! and when their blog isn't even LISTED on their profile page? do the NOT want people to come by? it confuses me.
Hey Julie, hope you have a better week ahead of you. Just stopped by to wish you a happy weekend :)

Heidi
Anonymous said…
One more thing, people on Blogger should move away from using their blogger profile for comments and start using OpenID. For instructions see here (unfortunately, this requires some technical abilities):
http://www.mommybytes.com/2007/12/how-to-use-your-blogger-url-as-openid.html
Space Mom said…
Hope you have a better week!
Girlplustwo said…
dude, every time you roll out your wednesday posts i want to kick myself for not getting my act together. does it count that i am reading? these are great upcoming topics.

and as to the other unnamed, hang in there, go lightly. xo
Christine said…
oh julie, i so hope you are feeling better soon and the doggie is feeling ok, too.

{{hugs}}

Running on empty
Anonymous said…
The sheer energy it takes to consistently write 1000+ word posts has me in awe of you al he time. And to think that you find that energy when you are sick, when your children are struggling in school, or are dumping [name that substance] on the [name that surface], and your heart is breaking as your deal with your fur-friend's illnesss...well, it amazes me over and over again. I feel tons of girlhood "how-does-she-do-it" angst watching you. In time, it will all be better. I believe that for you, and I am working on believing it for me.

Oh, and while I am not blind, I have major vision problems that glasses help with but cannot fully correct (contacts less so). The word verification prompts can take me 3 or 4 attempts to get right. Thank you for acknowledging how massively frustrating they are.
Unknown said…
yes, just what Gwen said - take care of you - congrats on your CNN thing! cool!
I am so so so sorry about your dog. I'm partial to anything canine related so I wish you all the best.
Oh, the dog. I keep coming here hoping you will have gotten some miracle news about him. Remember, I'm here if you ever want to chat. Or vent.
Beck said…
I turned off my word verification just recently after having it on for a few weeks - some porny anono-spam freaked me out. But I know how much I hate word verification at OTHER people's blogs, so I relented.
I'm sorry about your dog - that's really hard.
Kyla said…
I think my word verification is on. I was getting spammed on old posts and it was making me bananas. I used to do moderation, but I am frequently out and can't approve comments and then everyone thinks their comments aren't getting through.

Hope things are looking up, Julie.
I just want to hug you. About all of it. All of it.

We need a girls night out.
Melissa said…
Sorry to hear that you were under the weather. I would never have known since the quality of your posts never wavered.

And the CNN thing is cool!

I don't like have the verification thing on my blog, but I get a huge number of spam when I don't. I have no clue why I got so freakin' lucky there. :(

And thanks for the compliment! I am soooo ready to do that again. I'll probably post a thing on how to do it soon. Your book idea is great. It could be a virtual book club. All of the fun, none of the cleaning up!

And next week?
Robert said…
A virtual book club is a great idea. I know my wife would love it. I would, too, but I doubt I could keep up with the reading.

One book you might like to read - I hear the author talk about it and people call him about it constantly on his radio show - is Rescuing Sprite by Mark Levin. I gather it is very healing to people who love their dogs very much and are struggling with them being in poor health. I have not read it, but again, I've heard so many different people call in, I get the impression it is a great book on the subject.
flutter said…
I just feel like you need one ((you))
Anonymous said…
While I understand your desire to rid the world of captchas (I sometimes have problems with them myself), on my own blog they have prevented me from getting drowned in trackback and comment spam. I do hope that someday maybe the whole OpenID thing will take off, and I can turn off captchas for "known" sites/folks, but in the meantime captchas keep the post-bots from killing me.

~EdT.
Anonymous said…
Speaking of OpenID: I am testing out mine with this comment.
Aliki2006 said…
Hugs to you--and I love the way you circled all those things on blogger for us to do--I love it.

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