Three Beautiful Things 02/01/16: Going Off the Meds Worked, Another Man Showed Up!, Cornbread Lesson

1.  I dropped the Deke off at work and rumbled down to LabCorp for my monthly pre-transplant blood draw. I arrived for my 8:45 appointment early, about 8:15, got checked in, and suddenly my heart stopped. I was seized by the realization that I might have another appointment elsewhere really soon.  I fumbled through the cards in my wallet and, sure enough, I had a 9:00 appointment with Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Carolyn Clark. Almost immediately upon realizing this, good fortune smiled on me and I was summoned to a blood draw room, my favorite phlebologist, Angela, drew my blood and I jetted over to West Greenbelt and was early for my 9:00 appointment.  Carolyn Clark and I talked for a few minutes, long enough to establish that we had made the right move weaning me off of the psychiatric medicine I'd been taking for many years -- my last three months without this medication went beautifully without any problems.  Now, unless any problems should surface again, Carolyn Clark and I closed the books on my case.  To be honest, this felt to me like I closed out yet another after effect of my 1999 bout with bacterial meningitis. I know the kidney damage will always be with me, but the headaches, the temporary loss of my tasting sense, the mood swings, nearly chronic fatigue, the bouts of fuzzy brain (to use a technical term) are all gone. Let's hope they stay gone.

2.  It was my day for early arrivals.  I was in the pool for fifteen minutes before Senior Swim began and so I did some pre-class working out. The class went great and I didn't even mind that I lost my status today as the class's only man.  Today, there were two of us men participating.

3.  I fixed a corn and okra and tomato soup. The recipe said it was a Creole soup, but that felt like a reach to me.  I also fixed a pan of cornbread and, sadly, over baked it. We ate it, and it was acceptable. But, I want better.  I am eager to fix cornbread again at a lower temperature in our oven, keep a closer eye on its baking progress, and see if I can do a better job. I'd really like to get good at making cornbread again. Back in my grad school days, when I was single, it was a sweet staple in my diet -- and a perfect complement to the bean soups and casserole dishes I fixed back then.