DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT

I forgot to fill you all in on my doctor's appointment this past Tuesday. I had to go in to see how I had fared after three weeks on my blood pressure medicine. When I first got there, the nurse got a reading of 145/88. I was really disappointed. The readings I had gotten at Wal-Mart were much lower than that. The nurse tried not to sound discouraged and told me that it was at least a little lower than last time. When I got to see Jen, my reading was 118/74. Much better! (She said it the nurse may not have used the right size cuff--something my brother had mentioned to me.) Since I am not having any side effects, we decided that the 5 mg. Enalapril was right for me. I had taken a list of my OTC "drugs" that I take from time to time, and she told me that they were fine to take (Tums, Pepto, Cough Drops, etc.). Alice's blood pressure medicine makes it very restrictive for her--she's not even supposed to have cough drops--so I was glad that I can still take the stuff that I rely on from time to time. I'm not supposed to take Advil every day (which I don't), and I'm supposed to go easy on the Sudafed (which I do anyway), but other than that, I'm good to go. I did ask her about my high pulse, and she told me that this particular medicine will not reduce my heart rate. She didn't seem to be concerned at all about my pulse, so I'm not going to waste time worrying about it.

Mom and I went to Augusta shopping today. I have most of my Christmas shopping done, but I picked up a couple of stocking stuffers and a gift card at Pac-Sun for my nephew. I also got some refil blades for my paper trimmer. Teaching the class at Pen Bay Christian School had really sucked the life out of my blades, and I can't get the ones I need in Rockland.

I hope to put the Christmas Tree up tonight. Between Eben's schedule and Dwane's jobs, it's difficult to find a night when all of us are going to be home for any length of time. I think we'd better do it tonight with us all home. Eben has BBall practice tomorrow afternoon, and then Dwane drives the taxi. On Saturday, I hope to go hear my brother play with Three Button Deluxe at Windward Gardens and go to their Christmas Fair. Saturday night is the train ride on the Polar Express. (We're still looking for one more ticket--just in case someone should have knowledge of any extras out there.) The Mission Study I am organizing about Moldova is Sunday night, and then I think I might be able to relax a little bit. My boss leaves Wednesday to be out of the state until the first week of January, so I should really get some time to "myself" then. I've really got to clean out the boys' rooms to get ready for Christmas. We'll see how disciplined I can actually be....