Today was one of those days when I didn't want to get out of bed, and when I did, tried to keep the room as cold and dark as possible.  I have had migraines since October of 1995, when I had a minor stroke. 

The migraines leave me very susceptible to bright lights and loud sounds.  So I keep myself in as dark a room as possible with as little coherent sound as possible.  Sound from a fan seems okay, as it blocks out sound from intentional sources (traffic, dogs, people, etc.).  It is white noise against a sea of dark.

Bright lights are easily defeated; just turn off every light in the room, and block the windows so no light gets in.  This is harder in a hotel room, but I still managed okay.

Air conditioning kept the room cold, so again, that helped. 

However, as soon as Ron got back to the hotel, he needed to study for his test tomorrow.  That did not work out as easily.  Which is why I am still awake. Though I did manage it, with the help of some foresight. 

I had my husband secret a few of my painkilllers from me.  That way, if I got really sick, there would be something I could take.   Like most people on prescription painkillers, I take them for most any kind of extreme pain.  However, I always give a few to Ron to hold for me if I get unmanageably sick, like I was today. 

Those two painkillers are all that kept me from the ER.  I used to take Stadol, though that is no longer allowed (it makes the heart rate increase dramatically).  Now I take Esgic Plus, which is not very good, just barely enough to help.  He had saved back two for me, in case times got tough.  I am very lucky that he did it.

I have two extreme major problems; the Isosorbide that I take to control the angina makes me have migraines.  The migraines make my blood pressure go way up.  This, with the accompanying depression (a reasonable mental reaction, considering the circumstances) is why I was declared disabled.  If I take the Isosorbide, my head hurts.  If I don't, my chest hurts.  I haven't quite figured out which hurts worse.

Ron has had a very tough time of it.  His recent behavior was an indication of this; a breakdown was definitely in the works before it happened.  Let's face it, a guy working 80 to 90 hours per week just doesn't have left over emotional space for a wife who has had two heart attacks in the space of two months.  No wonder he broke.

We have had an interesting few days up here.  Since our anniversary, things have gotten much better between us; I was actually able to delete an email from a "worrisome" source without reading it.  I did report it, but didn't read it. That is a real forward development for me. 

Don't think I will ever forget what happened; that is impossible.  But at least I can see a way forward.  And isn't that what marriage is about?  Seeing into the future with your partner at your side. 

And that is all I see; Ron by my side. Here's to hoping that is a true vision, not just a pretty dream.

UPDATE: AOL News reports that more 60 dolphins eventually stranded, 19 of which died.

From AOL News, 49 dolphins were stranded and more than 20 were milling around in a nearby channel in Florida.  The stranding of the rough toothed dolphins were on sandbars off of Marathon.

There is a team out there right now trying to rescue them; the rescue team are hampered by the dark and an extreme low tide.

Here's to hoping they are able to save some of the dolphins.

In an absolutely disgusting story, Channel 30 NBC says that four Mount Pleasant, PA men have been arrested for stealing, killing, butchering, and trading a pet pygmy goat for crack cocaine.

A Pygmy Goat in the Indiannapolis Zoo in Winter

(example of pygmy goat only, not killed goat)

On Christmas Eve, Jame Walter Albright dragged the goat from it's pen, tied it to a bush and he and Charles Smith Jr. beat it over the head with a pipe until it died.  Then the goat was taken to Charles Smith's house (that's the father of one of the guys who beat it to death), where it was skinned and quartered.  Then those three and Gilbert Wesley Fisch traded the quartered goat for crack cocaine.

Most of you have probably never had pet goats.  While ours weren't exactly pets (with the exception of my Brownie), goats are very smart, a great deal of fun, though they can exasperating at times.  I can't imagine what the goat's family is feeling right now.  If I knew who they were, I would happily send a small donation to help them get another pet goat (losing Brownie and another favorite, Freckles, made me cry for days). 

By the way, goats BUTT their heads, so a goat's skull is pretty hard to break with a pipe.  Killing the goat with a pipe must have taken some damn hard blows, taken more than a few minutes, and the goat suffering horribly the whole time.

Too bad these guys will probably get more time for the cocaine than they will for their vicious behavior. 

You'll need both for this lobster.

Bubba, left, a 23-pound lobster pulled from the waters off Nantucket, Mass., is in a tank beside your average 1.5 pound lobster at Wholey's fish market in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, March, 1, 2005. The big crustacean received a reprieve from being dinner and will be moving off to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Ha! I don't believe for a second that this was out of the goodness of someone's heart. I bet they simply couldn't find a pan to cook it in! Or perhaps they were trying to stem a rash of cholesterol poisoning before it could occur. But I have my doubts it was for the lobster's sake! (I, personally, think lobster's OK. I prefer shrimp. Or fried calamari.)

And, in other news, Mom told me they ate at Red Lobster last night. Coincidence? Naaah.

I know she mentioned it yesterday, but ... Happy Anniversary, Mom, Dad. Sorry we didn't get you anything, but us kids haven't managed to get together to hold counsel on what we should get. It's in the plans, though, never fear. (Hrm. Well. Then again, given our usual ability to pick gifts ...)

My husband and I were married on March 1, 1980.  Today is our 25th Wedding Anniversary. 

It has been a long and sometimes tough haul.  We have survived many trials to our marriage.  Some are harder to take than others (recent events are a clear example).  But we have still stuck to it, both of us believing that love and marriage should conquer all.

At times, it was the hardest road we could have taken; easier to have divorced than continue.  In many ways, both of our stubborn individualistic selves have made it harder.  In many ways, our stubborn wills have made our marriage the only path we could follow.  Failure personally is forgivable, to fail completely, not an option.

We have the greatest of all bonuses to our marriage; our three wonderful girls.  They know that both of us love them more than we can ever say, more than we can ever demonstrate.  It is easier for me to show, and harder for Ron to show, but we both love them with every beat of our hearts, every second of every day.

We have had our share of hard times, some very, very recently.  But in the end, our marriage shall prevail over short term failures.  Because in the end, our marriage is and was a marriage of individuals, and both recognize that individuals may be flawed, but the sum of two may equal more than two; we are both of us better for having the other, than we would be without the other.

As of midnight March 1, 2005, we have been married 25 years.  Happy Anniversary to us.

Per The Facts, SBCAS may outsource tag sales to PetData, a company that provides licensing services to Houston and Dallas.  PetData charges $3.75 per license, with the remainder going to to the shelter.  The fees range from $2.50 to $20; the story doesn't mention what would happen in the cases of fees that are less than the PetData charges.