Stay off the Internet and take lots of naps

This was the advice my doctor gave me in early October after I complained about being under a crushing--and worsening--fatigue I'd been under since May. I was relieved my worse fears--something horribly permanent like MS or pernicious anemia--couldn't be confirmed at that point. I all but thanked her when she told me I had mono, a significantly less serious, though permanent--the body heals, but the virus that causes mono stays with you your whole life--condition.

My doctor knew by the concerns I expressed that I'd been feverishly researching anything that could cause fatigue. And I, the hopeless dramatic, had let my imagination get the best of me.

But what did come as a surprise was just how much mono could interrupt life...and particularly work. I sunk last summer into a fatigue that I couldn't snap out of. A writer with a strong work ethic--and a driving type A personality--I've been in the habit my whole life of running myself to the ground 'til I can't go any farther. But I've always recovered. Until May.

I knew after a couple of weeks of being unable to function normally that something was wrong, but I never thought to talk to the doctor about mono.

The condition worsened over the summer. I struggled to cover press conferences and debates because I couldn't take notes on important details and quotes delivered just a second earlier. My concentration was just gone, and no amount of caffeine would bring it back.

This year I've struggled to trim the hedges in a week's time, a task that's always taken me about a day. I've had a difficult time carrying groceries in the house, opening pill bottles, holding the newspaper. For about six weeks this fall I constantly felt like I was walking chin-deep in a lake. And even now I'm afraid to walk further than one-eighth of a mile from my house or my car because I don't know whether I'll be able to walk back. I still often have stabbing pains in my sides from where my internal organs were affected by mono, a condition which, from what friends say who've had mono, probably won't abate for at least several more months.

What's it to you? Probably not much, I know. Except sharing all this helps clear my conscience. I feel like I've abandoned my beautiful pink lap top and my job, political writing, which I dearly love and miss.

The moral to the story is, to all you overworked, caffeine-addicted politicos out there, take care of yourself. You're no good to anyone in the hospital or dead.

As for me, I'm still avoiding Web MD, the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the like as if they were the plague. I'll probably have to take at least a nap-a-day for the next year or so. And I'm trying to avoid sugar this holiday season--except for maybe a sugar plum or two.

today's musings

"The great thing is to always be reading but not to get bored--treat it not like work, more as a vice! Your book bill ought to be your biggest extravagance."
C.S. Lewis

The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Prov. 16:4

I'm reading Hunter S. Thompson's "Hell's Angles, a Strange and Terrible Saga." In it, I found the following quote about reporting attributed to A.J. Liebling--

"A good reporter, if he chooses the right approach, can understand a cat or an Arab. The choice is the problem, and if he chooses wrong he will come away scratched or baffled."

That's quite a task for reporters everywhere, especially when it's nestled in a story by Hunter S. Thompson and written by heavyweight journalist, Liebling.

When I'm really feeling uncertain...

...I'm thankful for this guy:

"Remember that one's gift carries with it an instinct and ability given to you by nature to do the thing effectively and persuasively, or to figure it out as you go along.

Passion and gift are the thing.

New Testament word for "spiritual gift" is "charisma," which is a loan word we got from the Greeks. In our own lexicon, it is a thing that draws, certainly, when exercised toward others without our thinking so much on the gift itself.

The rest is detail.

Yo Dad"

If love were a leaf

If love were in the form of a leaf, it would be a chocolate mint plant.

I can't wait until the little guy is big enough for me to start collecting some of his leaves for teas and other creations. I picked this plant up at the new farmer's market in West Columbia, along with the oregano I picked up to add to my collection.

Other gems that mom and I carted home with us include chives, lemon thyme and orange mint. I'm trying to propagate the plants by cuttings so both of us can enjoy the bounty. After the chocolate mint, my second favorite is the orange mint. It gives off a sweet, fragrant smell.

Chicken and purple shoestring potatoes

I always put off roasting a chicken when I have one on hand. Between the thawing and the basting, it seems like a much bigger undertaking than it is. But it's the easiest thing in the world to make. All you need is a few simple ingredients for the marinade, and into the oven it goes. Don't forget to baste every 20-30 minutes.

In my opinion, rosemary, orange juice and zest, and lemon juice and zest are must haves for any roasted bird. The bird also has more flavor if it's allowed to marinate for several hours.

Here's a variation I used tonight on a recipe I use all the time...even at Thanksgiving.

For the marinade:
1 tsp. orange zest
1/8 c. orange juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/8 c. lemon juice
3/4 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. rosemary
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. ground ginger (fresh ginger is best if you have it on hand)
1 tsp. sea salt, ground
1/2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
stir together with 2-3 tbsp. olive oil

Using three bone-in, skin on chicken breasts, separate the skin from the breast just enough to create a small opening. Spoon some of the marinade into the opening and spread the mixture around using your fingers. Cover the chicken with the remaining mixture. Add 1/4 c. white wine to the bottom of the roasting pan. And roast at 500 degrees for 30 minutes, basting after the first 15 minutes.

To check for done-ness, insert a probe thermometer into the deepest part of the breast before cooking starts. The bird should be done when the temperature reaches 165 degrees. If you must cut into the meat to check for done-ness, let it rest for five minutes before cutting it open so the juices have a chance to redistribute.

For the shoestring (or matchstick) potatoes?

(oops, it looks like another side dish slipped in there)

From three purple potatoes:

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, place about 1/2 the batch in the pan at a time. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow the potatoes to cook for 3/5 minutes or until brown on each side.

Enjoy with your favorite dip!

So I guess I'm a bibliophile

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have rediscovered the library. Some of the books in the photo above are mine, and are gifts I've received or strays I picked up at a bookstore.

Being surrounded by rows and rows of books takes me back to my childhood. I grew up in a small house in West Columbia. And my family had a dining area that doubled as my dad's library. My dad was in the habit of leaving books all over tables and chairs, wherever he could find a place to bookmark something he was working on at the time. The habit drove my mom nuts. It still does.

Well it looks like I picked up on that habit...to a slightly less sloppy degree...only slightly.

I have an older friend who has given up driving, but who loves books as much as I do. And since we live in the same county, we take library trips together. Seeing who's going to lug home more books has become a sort of game.

My friend gathers up all the mysteries and Christian fiction she can read in two weeks. My bounty is a little more diverse. Yesterday, I collected all the books by C. S. Lewis, books on health care and recipe books my arms could carry to the library counter. I even found a space for "Essentially Lilly: A guide to colorful entertaining" by Lilly Pulitzer and Jay Mulvaney.

Conspiracies and what to do about 'em

I love Gary North. Rather than complaining about the fiscal quagmire we're in nationally, he offers practical solutions. Below are a few of my favorite excerpts from a recent article he published about conspiracies.

"I enjoy reading books about conspiracies. I especially enjoy reading heavily footnoted, carefully documented books about conspiracies. I enjoy books that do three things. First, they follow the money. Second, they follow the confession of faith. Third, they follow the media. If you show me what leaders believed, how they financed their beliefs, and how they got out their message to the general public, you have shown me what I really need to know about the history of any organization, any society, and any government. I don't care whether you're talking about conspiracies or the good old boys who were aboveboard about everything. You have to show me what they believed, how they financed what they believed, and how they got their message out to the voters...."

Here comes the solution...it's so simple, I wish I had thought of it first. A tapeworm can't survive if you don't feed it.

"...If there were no power and no money from organizing to capture the government, conspiracies would have to raise their own funds. They would have to get their projects implemented by persuasion rather than power. They would just be another special interest group.

Secret or not, they could not get into our wallets unless we allowed them to. It is the essence of the conspiracy to persuade the public that the right and moral thing to do is to allow the state to help some group. As soon as the conspiracy persuades the public of this, the game switches from persuasion to power. It switches from donations to taxation. It switches from liberty to tyranny.

What I'm waiting for is a march on Washington with young people caring signs that say "I'll give up college if you'll give up Medicare." I want to see old people carrying a sign saying "I'll give up Medicare if you'll give up college." That would be a real threat to the conspirators. I cannot imagine anything that would be a greater threat to the conspirators. Take away their control over the education system, and the game is just about over. To get rid of that control over education, Social Security and Medicare recipients will have to accept a quid pro quo. They're going to have to get off the dole.

They are not willing to get off the dole. So, the conspirators will continue to exercise power, the bankers will continue to get bailed out, and the deficit will continue to grow."