Spring surely is near

I can tell the weather is getting warmer and spring is drawing nigh. No, it's not from being outside today talking with landscapers working on a designer showhouse. It's not from watching the mockingbird who plans to make a nest in my Bradford pear tree. And it's not from checking the almanac, either.

I can tell it's spring because suddenly there's an increase in the number of men who are contacting me through instant messenger, presumably because of a personals ad I placed long ago. Now and then I meet someone who becomes a friend. Few have developed into anything remotely resembling a romance. Most are like the guy I had dinner with Saturday night -- creepy pig-men. This guy was married to his second wife for 20 years. She is bipolar and recently was prescribed medication to try to control her condition. He split, saying to me: "I didn't want to hang around for five years to see if the medicine works." So there you go.

He also admitted to seeing several women, being loyal to none. One woman got mad at him, he said, so he's dumping her -- she was on the phone with him and he said he had to run because two women popped up on his messenger screen and he wanted to go see what they were doing. Uh, I'm with her.

It's OK. He paid for dinner, so I had dessert too. Then I left and deleted him from my list.

I've learned not to take these things seriously. It's all a game. The problem comes when one party makes the mistake of trying to present an honest representation of him/herself. I'm one of those. I figure if I meet someone, they are going to know pretty quickly that I am NOT a 5'7" natural blonde vegetarian who enjoys working out. Somehow, even men can spot this. (And we thought they were slow.)

In other stuff...

Tomorrow I go back to the doctor for a recheck of the blood pressure problem, which has not yet improved. It's still very, very scary. (Yesterday it was 192/110. This is after about 10 days of carefully taking my medication, exercising daily and all the other stuff.) We'll look at the lab results to see if that tells us anything. My hunch is I'll get to bring home a whole new bottle of pills to add to my daily dosage.

Speaking of which...

Update on my cousin. I talked to my aunt, who reported the cousin's behavior continues to be erratic. She fell asleep in the ice cream at my aunt's birthday party Sunday evening. Not a good thing. Also had slurred speech and was incoherent and confused, just like someone who's stoned on a mix of drugs. My aunt agreed to take her to the psychiatrist's office today but asked her for a complete list of the medications she's taking. There are at least eight drugs she's been prescribed, some which require five doses a day, others with four or three doses a day. There are two prescription sleeping drugs in this mix and several antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs.

Here's a big clue: Cousin has not been following the dosages correctly. She takes ALL of her drugs, ALL of the daily numbers of each, ALL AT ONE TIME. She admitted that she took her "daily drugs" before going to the birthday party.

I hope this mess gets straightened out soon. She's had her license suspended. And she continues to insist she has pneumonia (it's really bronchitis, but she isn't taking her antibiotics so it's not going away. I can't figure out why she's not willing to take a drug that would help her feel better if she's willing to take all the other stuff.)

Please, if you're so inclined, I would covet your prayers for her and the part of my family that's involved with her.

Well, I'll say goodnight now. I had a very short time on the treadmill today, just 15 minutes. I'll do better tomorrow before I go to the doctor. Take care, y'all.