I think it is more than her intelligence, more than her ability to take and present beautiful photographs, more than her ability to tell a story – her story – well. I think a lot of people would like to be Pioneer Woman, or if not exactly her, to be someone living on that modern-day, yet turn-of-the-century ranch, in Oklahoma. A clean innocence of the prairie, the cold of winter and the heat of summer, the power of the land and the mystique of the American West.

A physician for a father, an upscale childhood, a USC degree, a spin in the world of business and tall buildings and a boyfriend with a house by the Pacific. Then later: four healthy children, scions of one of the most prominent ranching families.

It would be a good fantasy to escape into, and every morning, you can click on her website and be there . . . and carry the essense of it through your day.

Yes, yes. Oh, the things we take for granted. I am certain the guys at Valley Forge would have really preferred to be have their feet as comfy as mine are right now – and I wasn’t even outside in the real snow cold. I just walked by a door that had been opened for wood for the fire in the warm house.

Jeez, I feel like a wimp. I am a wimp. I need to remember this the next time I mention soldiers suffering and the go on to  another subject in a couple of minutes.

Hey, here’s a forum on which you can share some of the “heart-warming” stories of the hospital; hey, here’s a forum on which you can discuss lifestyles and stories from the gleanings of conversations with employees; hey, here’s a forum on which you can address some new ideas that are cropping up in medicine – such as the fact that according to US News &World Report, the 18 top US hospitals are investigating complementary and alternative medicines; hey, here’s a forum on which you can chat about a whole lot of topics that could help people feel a community bond to the hospital, a sense of knowing that these people care, that they are human themselves and not just M.D.’s who did okay on the MCAT and passed nursing boards.

Operating on hearts is important, but so is reaching out to the heart of the community, to those people who may spend some of their most intimate moments with you. So make yourself comfortable, think of the people out there – of how a person’s whole world can be flooded with the joy of a healthy new child, the sadness of losing a loved one or the anxiety of the unknown – and share with them. Share with us.

I like to be alone in the car these days. Tonight it was snowing, the ground lightly covered. It looked like a nice place to be. And I wanted to slip into that good place and be good myself . . . and clean and soft. Almost to the point of tears- the tears that things are good and I am vibrant and capable and, for the short drive, better than I really am. I don’t think that makes sense. Perhaps it is that I am distanced from the person who interacts with the people of my life.

This is a distressing article for me – it’s right HERE – my father had prostate cancer and had hormonal therapy. He died of hepatocellular carcinoma, a rare cancer in the United States.

Here are some paragraphs from the article:

As a prostate cancer hormone therapy, estrogen is no longer used as much because of the risk of cardiovascular side effects. Many researchers believe that medical and surgical castration is safer and more effective than use of estrogen.

Estrogen causes increased blood clotting. Patients who opt for estrogen as their prostate cancer hormone therapy run the risk of blood clots in the legs, heart attacks, strokes, and other vascular accidents. Estrogen, however, is sometimes used to augment prostate cancer hormone therapy. The side effects of hormone therapy include cognitive disturbances which can result in poor memory, slower memory, depression, or confusion.

Patients who want to consider hormone therapy as their prostate cancer treatment should alert their doctor about other medical problems, such as: blood vessel disease, blood clotting disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, high levels of calcium in the blood, and liver disease. Before starting hormone therapy, patients should always alert their doctors to whether or not they are taking any other type of medication that may interact with the prostate cancer treatment.

OH, AND THEN THERE IS THIS:

An article linking hormone therapy for prostate cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma is HERE. It is interesting and leads to a few “what ifs”.

I was impressed when I saw in a recent issue of U.S. News & World Report that the top 18 medical facilities in the country have programs that are investigating alternative medicine. Why did this get my attention and interest? Well, because it seems (to me) that sometimes physicians and administrators are fairly certain that it is their way or the highway – and their way is the conventional way, the bandwagon way.

They may be right; but they are not right to intimidate questioners from asking their questions. I am pleased to see that Johns Hopkins and Mayo’s are themselves now exploring and conducting studies on treatments that are outside western medicine’s traditional approach. Just yesterday came news of research into the claim that acupuncture may increase success rates in getting a fertilized embryo to attach to the uterine wall.

I write about this not because I want to go out and drink weird substances or rub things on my body or . . . well, do things that sound nutty. I write because I am a fan of the “it’s so crazy it might just work” openness of thought.  You know, it was a doctor in England who learned of a patient’s crazy tale that a Gypsy potion had helped his heart condition, looked into the situation and discovered digitalis – found in the foxglove plant.

This is a picture of a dog who had CP on him and needed a bath. His face has been deleted to protect his humiliation factor.

This is a picture of, oh, just some dog who has just had a nurse bath.

Sydney got cat urine on him last night. I don’t know much more than that because I don’t know much about cats, my mother’s 8 year foray into cat friendship notwithstanding. My daughter-in-law said, “Oh, my God, was he skunked?” But no, more sniffs indicated the sign of the dreaded cat liquid, which I shall call here “CP”. Actually, those would have been sniffs followed by the exclamation of “ew” and then running away.

I called my mother; she thought it was ha ha funny. Well, we will think about our revenge.

Last night I got caught up in a sudoku that I totally goofed up and then Dante’s Peak came on about midnight and suddenly I had an urge to watch it – apparently, I was suffering “fried brain sudoku stupid misplacement of a number” syndrome. So I watch a little and then decided I really should go to sleep, but I watched some more; then I took the plunge and pushed the remote button that would turn the TV off. It didn’t work, so I watched a little more and then turned the volume all the way down – that button did work. I pulled the blanket over my head and realized I really should go to the bathroom at that point rather than hoping the urge would abate until morning. Finally, I get up and go and when I come back, I turn off the TV which all along was only three steps (at most) from where I had been stretched out.

I stayed up too late and woke up all tired and eye-aching anyway. I guess once you are past the point of no return, you should just keep going. I botched my sleep and I botched my Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie experience. Rats!

No, rice is not being held in captivity; we do not have to liberate it. It is a program that combines one a usual Miss American concern (world hunger) with educational fun. My granddaughter and I have been playing off and on for a few weeks now. Sometimes we play individually; sometimes we play in concert. Anyway, if you click on the bowl above, you can see what I’m talking about.

I don’t know how high the levels go; John Sununu would probably top out, but we have made it to 47 or 48 before consistently goofing.

 I saw an advertisement for The Assassination of Jesse James and notice a scene where he appeared to have a rattlesnake around his wrist. For some reason, I Googled Jesse James and rattlesnake and one of the sites that came up was this newspaper article and clicked on it. Reading it was a little unnerving, but I did go to this website and that did not make me feel better. At the top on each of the special snake pages, you are offered a “free souvenir”; no, thank you.