The down side – Blood pressure medication and body resting before starting a new cholesterol medication – no statins please, I’ve tried those three different times and felt like I was dying on them. The blood pressure medication makes me feel totally drained and exhausted at certain times of the day, UGH! Abdominal pain/discomfort most of the time, no…it doesn’t seem to relate to anything and after almost every test possible, it’s diagnosed as IBS…live with it. A root canal through a crown and a new crown on the tooth next to the tooth that underwent the root canal, permanent crown to be cemented soon. Quadzillion tests this last year and Dr. visits.

Aging is hell, don’t let anyone tell you any different and start taking care of your body now. I’ve taken pretty damn good care of mine over the years and I can’t help but wonder what I would be going through if I hadn’t. I didn’t even become a wino until around the age of 50, and even at that there were times I didn’t have any alcohol for three to six months – just because I wasn’t in the mood. Now I’m off of it for life – possibly an occasional glass with friends or in a private reflection mode – because I’ve opted to stay as healthy as I can for as long as I’m still leaving footprints. I deserve it!

I have aches and pains in my back, my legs, my brain, and cramping in my thoughts lots of times. But I’m working past all of that. I have a hike planned early Sunday a.m. with new friends and a great idea for a new screenplay. I’m still kickin’ baby…some days higher than others. And this year I will hit the big 60. Have I really lived that long?

The up side – I like myself and my life.

And even small things just make my day. An example would be one at work that was announced to all of us on swing shift before we started dealing. I no longer have to be the line police. Thank you, GOD! If a player throws out a chunk of chips and it’s obvious that he/she intended to bet that amount, even if a few chips fall short of the line, it is all considered to be part of the bet. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. It’s a gigantic relief not to have to be the damned gestapo.

*****

Life is good here in the desert, although this picture makes one tend to shy away from the thought of bottled water:

*****

Vince Vaughn was in playing poker on Tuesday night. I didn’t deal to him but from the crew at the table, I’m sure it was a higher limit NLH game. He’s one of the Wedding Crashers if you don’t recognize the name. I wish I could have dealt to him out of curiosity; I wonder if he’s as energy packed in real life as he appeared to be in that movie. Some people are, some are completely different when they are on screen…but then we all change roles throughout our daily lives.

*****

Each time this runs through my head, I laugh out loud again. Wan, one of our high limit brushes, is a beauty from another culture and country. As I was standing visiting with her before work, a young lad in a kilt walked by. He looked at us and smiled, she popped out with, “Nice skirt!”

OMG! His voice went to ice as he replied, “It’s a kilt.”

I just stepped in beside him as he went by and explained that she didn’t mean anything by it and really didn’t know what a kilt even way. He was kewl with it.

*****

While I was dealing a $4-8H game occupied by all Asians on the right hand side of the table, the 6s kept making a WH-O-O-O-O-O WH-O-O-O-O-O sound when he was in a hand as the betting started. Everyone was laughing and talking and the 6s kept looking at me and talking to me. I finally told him he sounded like an owl. He didn’t know what that was and wanted to know. I told him it was a bird. That seemed to be OK.

The 7s took off with the ‘WH-O-O-O-O’s’ after that. Maybe you had to be there but it was funny. As I got pushed out of the table, the 6s asked me what kind of bird. I asked if he knew Harry Potter. The answer was yes. I told him that Harry’s bird was an owl. *big smile*

*****

My footprints are over for the night. G’nite world.