Promote the General Welfare.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

"Promote the general welfare".  It was so important to the Founders that they put it right there in the preamble of our great constitution. Tomorrow the Senate is going to decide whether or not basic health care fits the Founders' original vision and meaning of "promote the general welfare".  With our GDP being eaten away by our skyrocketing health costs (about 17% and rising), and more and more Americans losing everything they have because of their untenable health bills, I have no doubt that our founding fathers would absolutely view providing health care to our citizens as a vital and needed component of promoting the general welfare.

Hell, knowing our Founders, I also don't doubt that they would have lined up the traitorous CEOs of every insurance company and bank that got us into this nightmare in the first place and fired a musket ball right between the whites of their eyes.  To, you know, actually promote the general welfare of the people and all.

Flawed though the bill may be, we can wait no longer to do the right thing for our country and our citizenry.  If our Senators possess even 1% of our Founders' backbone and courage they will pass this health care bill.

~Jenn

The mind positively swirls with all of the possibilities...

I could....

• Return to my first love, acting.
• Return to my second love, directing.
• GET HEALTHY, finally, dammit!
• Write.  This blog, poems, scripts, etc.
• Read the many books I have backlogged.
• Go back to school
• Start my own organic candle and soap making company
• Become a political activist
• Take time to explore all of the spiritual paths I have been curious about, like Buddhism et al.
• Learn all of the many, MANY other things that I am interested in, like sewing, crocheting, etc. 

Being laid off is a scary prospect financially, but it is also very, VERY exciting to see what I can make of it.

Hell, I have already been approached about teaching acting to kids.  Too awesome, that is. 

I'll keep you posted.  :)

~Jenn

Crazy.

Crazy, crazy, crazy last few days.  I feel like my head is swirling.  Work was insanely busy and I've gotten a lot of extra hours in (and, boy, does mama need the cash).  Also crazy because Chris and I have basically been going back to the drawing board  to figure out how we're going to pull off my being laid off.  We were actually up until 7 am the other night talking and planning; for which I suffered GREATLY, believe you me.  Then, we got in the car this morning to discover that our car was broken into last night.  Luckily we had forgotten to lock the car, so they didn't break out a window like they did to another car on the other side of the building. 

Crazy, seriously.  :/

If you're still here, I thank you kindly for your patience with my absence, and I hope tomorrow will bring a more mellow and happy Jenn for your reading pleasure.

~Jenn

This Blog Will Continue Its Regularly Scheduled Programming Tommorrow.

Thank you for your patience.

Wow. Looking for your own replacement is weird. :/

So, I'm being laid off.  It was, stupidly, my idea.  The acting school that I work for is practically going under, so I finally made our Artistic Director understand that he can't afford me, should lay me off and that he should hire some kid out of college on the cheap.  I don't know WHAT I was thinking.  Unemployment lines, here I come.

We put out the ad last Thursday, and when I got in today there were about 40+ responses.  As I started combing through them, I surprised myself with the physical and emotional responses I was having.  More than a few of the resumes I received were from people who were far less than qualified, and it pissed me off.  Honestly, do these idiots think I'm going to hand my kids and staff over to just ANYONE?  Grrrr.

On the flip side, there were a few resumes that really made me happy.  They jumped out of the pile, took my hand, and said that they were the ones to meet.  I am actually looking forward to the interviews today and tomorrow.  It is always a beautiful challenge to find just the right person and put them in just the right role, but it is even more of a scary thrill when I'm trying to replace myself.

Please wish me luck, in more ways than one.  :)

~Jenn

Help so close, yet so far away...

A website (http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/) regarding the treatment (or lack thereof) of hypothyroidism was recommended to me by a friend (thanks Sandy!).  It explains thyroid issues better than anything that I have ever read before;  including why the treatment of T3 levels is so necessary, yet is so neglected by most doctors.  I had heard about this before but, because my knowledge of it was so limited, every doctor I have had since this mess started has been instantly dismissive of even discussing, diagnosing or treating my T3 levels and I always bow under the weight of their "superior" knowledge. 

I came close tonight to crying while reading through Stop the Thyroid Madness, because it felt like I was hearing for the first time that I am not totally insane about how crappy I feel for a majority of my existence.  I also wanted to cry because it seems like there is help out there, if I could only find the right doctor.  Finally, I wanted to cry because they have a link to a company that provides comprehensive tests that give you the full view of what is happening with your thyroid, but the damn thing costs $382.50.  With my current finances, it may as well cost $382,500.  I would give a kidney to have medical insurance again.  :'(

If you are reading this, and you are wondering if you may have hypothyroidism, this website has the most comprehensive list of possible symptoms that I have ever seen.  You can check it out here: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic   or see below where I have copied and pasted the list in its entirety.  There were many things listed there that I already knew about, but there were also quite a few new additions that I hadn't heard of but I'm totally experiencing, like shortness of breath.

I am determined that getting my thyroid levels under proper control will be a HUGE part of my recovery, and I won't stop until I can find a way to do it.

~Jenn

Here's the list:

■Less stamina than others


■Less energy than others

■Long recovery period after any activity

■Inability to hold children for very long

■Arms feeling like dead weights after activity

■Chronic Low Grade Depression

■Suicidal Thoughts

■Often feeling cold

■Cold hands and feet

■High or rising cholesterol

■Bizarre and Debilitating reaction to exercise

■Hard stools

■Constipation

■No eyebrows or thinning outer eyebrows

■Dry Hair

■Hair Loss

■White hairs growing in

■No hair growth, breaks faster than it grows

■Dry cracking skin

■Nodding off easily

■Requires naps in the afternoon

■Sleep Apnea (which can also be associated with low cortisol)

■Air Hunger (feeling like you can’t get enough air)

■Inability to concentrate or read long periods of time

■Forgetfulness

■Foggy thinking

■Inability to lose weight

■Always gaining weight

■Inability to function in a relationship with anyone

■NO sex drive

■Failure to ovulate and/or constant bleeding (see Rainbow’s story)

■Moody periods

■PMS

■Inability to get pregnant; miscarriages

■Excruciating pain during period

■Nausea

■Swelling/edema/puffiness

■Aching bones/muscles

■Osteoporosis

■Bumps on legs

■Acne on face and in hair

■Breakout on chest and arms

■Hives

■Exhaustion in every dimension–physical, mental, spiritual, emotional

■Inability to work full-time

■Inability to stand on feet for long periods

■Complete lack of motivation

■Slowing to a snail’s pace when walking up slight grade

■Extremely crabby, irritable, intolerant of others

■Handwriting nearly illegible

■Internal itching of ears

■Broken/peeling fingernails

■Dry skin or snake skin

■Major anxiety/worry

■Ringing in ears

■Lactose Intolerance

■Inability to eat in the mornings

■Joint pain

■Carpal tunnel symptoms

■No Appetite

■Fluid retention to the point of Congestive Heart Failure

■Swollen legs that prevented walking

■Blood Pressure problems

■Varicose Veins

■Dizziness from fluid on the inner ear

■Low body temperature

■Raised temperature

■Tightness in throat; sore throat

■Swollen lymph glands

■Allergies (which can also be a result of low cortisol–common with hypothyroid patients)

■Headaches and Migraines

■Sore feet (plantar fascitis); painful soles of feet

■now how do I put this one politely….a cold bum, butt, derriere, fanny, gluteus maximus, haunches, hindquarters, posterior, rear, and/or cheeks. Yup, really exists.

■colitis

■irritable bowel syndrome

■painful bladder

■Extreme hunger, especially at nighttime

■Dysphagia, which is nerve damage and causes the inability to swallow fluid, food or your own saliva and leads to “aspiration pneumonia”.

Some random stuff...

Candle update:  Chris and I went to the Farmer's Market at the Grove today.  One of the mini-stores inside was filled with candles, with a handful of them being organic candles.  It is seriously mind blowing the mark-up on organic candles when they really don't cost that much more to make.  I'm hoping that I can get this underway soon and that it provides the supplement to our income that we need.

SNL - watched a little tonight for the first time in awhile, and my mind is still blown by how bad most of the skits are.  They have a great cast that is being utterly wasted by bad writing.  Booooo.

Stopped by a YMCA recently, and Chris and I are thinking of joining.  Lifting weights is where it's at, but we certainly can't fit a whole weights set into this apartment.

I have been reading a book on nutrition.  Once I'm done I cannot wait to impart some of the very valuable stuff that I'm learning.  In the meantime, if you work toward cutting out two killers, and I do mean THEY WILL KILL YOU, I promise that you will feel the difference almost overnight.  They are High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and any and all artificial sweeteners. 

Off to cuddle with my man of 10 years.  I hope ya'll have as wonderful a night as I am.  :)

~Jenn