Journal - Just Some Updates

Well, I’m up late again, three nights in a row now. My eczema was flaring up pretty bad for the last two or three weeks, so on Wednesday I went to the doctor for some help, and he prescribed some Prednisone for me. Prednisone, if you don’t know, is a steroid, and is practically a miracle drug. It’s what they have always given me just about all my life whenever my asthma or skin gets out of control. I say it’s a miracle drug because it clears up everything: skin, lungs, sinuses, everything. Unfortunately it has one very serious drawback: it also reduces your body’s ability to fight infections, so you can only take it for short periods of time.
I got a little off topic there. I brought up the Prednisone because that’s why I’ve been having trouble sleeping. It’s kind of funny because, like I said, they’ve been giving me Prednisone off and on for most of my life and I never had any side effects, up until about seven years ago. In 2004, I ended up in the hospital with my asthma. They were giving me Prednisone as usual, but for the whole week I was in the hospital, and another week at home after that, I could only cat-nap during the night and day. Also, I was hungry just about all the time. As a result, I would sit up late at night cleaning all the leftovers out of the refridgerator. I can’t remember how I finally found out what was causing it, but finally determined it was thePrednisone. I think I looked it up on the internet or something. So anyway, I’ve been on Prednisone a few times since then and I always get those two side effects. This time I don’t seem to be getting the increased appetite, but I’m definitely not sleeping right. I don’t mind it too much really, even though I don’t sleep at night, I still don’t feel tired during the day. Also, I have more time to keep up with the things I need to do here on the computer.
Anyway, after three days, I’m happy to report that my skin is clearing up nicely, and I still have two more days to go. Then everything should be back to normal. In the meantime, I can get caught up on some updates.
The last batch of peach jam I made didn’t turn out too good. I didn’t cook it long enough this time. That was disappointing after the batch before turned out so good. I think I’ll try opening the jars and cooking it a little more and then re-canning it with new lids. Don’t know if that will work, but there’s nothing to lose since the jam isn’t much good as it is.
Last Thursday I saw Dr. Feilmeier at the Kearney Eye Clinic. It was just a follow-up. I have to see him at least every three months until I get my surgery. I was only there for a few minutes, and he told me I was at the top of the list and something would probably happen in the next couple of weeks or so. That’s fine, but it’s very similar to what they told me at the end of June so I won’t start holding my breath just yet.
Last Sunday (I think) evening, Lion Lady came out to the house for a bi. She’s still trying to get her club to help us with some of the medical expenses. She got copies of the bills already incurred, and some other information to present to her group at their meeting which was on Tuesday.
In Audiobook Heaven news, I finished the awesome Battlefield Earth book that Galaxy Press sent me. Man, that book is great and they did a fabulous job producing it. I can’t wait to share it with everyone, but they say it probably won’t be released until next fall. A whole year! I’m still planning to take a break in November and December and have started ramping down the incoming books a little. I’m still enjoying the audiobooks a great deal, but what I kind of miss is going back and listening to some of my favorites again. I don’t do that much anymore because there are so many new books to listen to, but I’ll have some time to do that at the end of the year.
And I think that’s about all the updates I have right now. In a little over a week, Aunt LeeDel, Uncle Butch, and Uncle Marvin will be coming for a visit, so we’re looking forward to that. Until then, stay happy and healthy!

Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Journal - Vacation Blues

Yep, I have the vacation blues. No, I’m not blue because I’m on vacation, or because my vacation is ending, rather I am blue because I’m not on vacation. Is that making any sense? Alas, I shall have to explain further.
I’ve been crunching pretty hard on the audiobook reviews for the last several months, and I was starting to feel a little burned out. At the beginning of August, I had decided that I would finish out the month, and then take September off. You know, just listen to some audiobooks I have already reviewed so I could relax with them and not have to always be thinking about what I’m going to write. I was really looking forward to it too. Then last week I got an offer I just couldn’t refuse.
For several months I’ve been receiving audiobooks from Galaxy Audio. They’re the ones that are doing a whole bunch of L Ron Hubbard’s stories from the pulp fiction era of the 1930’s and 40’s. Last week, Galaxy President John Goodwin emailed me to say that next year they will be publishing Hubbard’s Battlefield: Earth, which is probably his best known work, and one that I have been hoping for since I was first approached by Galaxy. Anyway, John said that he wants to send out some advance copies to get some critical feedback. He’s not asking for a review yet, but some opinions on whether or not the audiobook is good as it stands, or if anything needs to be changed for the final production. That’s right, I could have a say in the finished work! But here’s the best part: John is only sending out two advance copies, and one of them would be mine if I wanted it. I wasted no time in telling John “Heck Yeah I Want It!”
Well, the audiobook is 44 CD’s long, which is absolutely huge. In fact, I think that will be the longest audiobook I have ever had my hands on. I estimate that it will take 12 solid days to get through it, and possibly more. So there goes my vacation plans. I’m not complaining though, because this is a huge opportunity for me that I would be an idiot to pass up on. John mailed it out late last week, so I’m expecting it any day now.
So here’s what I decided: instead of taking September off, I will continue hitting the books until the end of October. Then I will take an even longer vacation through November and December. That will actually work out pretty well because November is when I start practicing Christmas music on my sax and I’ll have less time for books anyway. But don’t worry, because I’ve been working so hard, I actually have plenty of reviews saved up to carry me through the two months. Ifyou follow Audiobook Heaven at all, you’ll never even notice that I’m on vacation. It’s actually a much better plan than the one I came up with myself. Pretty amazing how things work out sometimes, isn’t it?
So, two more months of hard work, then I’m off until next year. I’m still looking forward to the break. There are lots of audiobooks I’ve already reviewed that I would like to go back and listen to again, especially the Harry Potter series. I’ve listened to those books about a dozen times but I just can’t get enough.
Okay, break time is over, gotta get back to those books!

Matthew 21:21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ESV

Mark 9:23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” ESv