#161 - A Special Request

My Neice, Christine, is going on her third year of volunteering to raise funds for lupus education and support via the Lupus Foundation of America.

Here is her statement:

Three years ago, I learned about Walk on the Wild Side for Lupus. I feel privileged to be able to help others by participating in this event, and I am grateful for all of the people who have sponsored me in the past. If you're reading this now, then I hope to be able to add you to the list of individuals who have offered their support.

Chances are you're familiar with lupus in some way; maybe you yourself are afflicted. I walk for those who cannot, for those people whose energy has been robbed by this disease, but above all, I walk with the hope that a cure can be found. Your donation will help fund research, education, and support for those affected by lupus. Thank you so very much!

HERE IS THE DONATION LINK:

Lupus Alliance of America - Upstate New York Affiliate

... and here is her picture:

Isn't she a cutie?

(I just love to be the doting auntie.)

Anyway... if every subscriber to Life Beyond Lupus donated $5.00, well... that would go well beyond her goal... and we would all be able to jump up and down and say "Hoozah!" we did a good job!!

Just a thought...

HOOZAH! everybody!

#160 - TIME DOESN'T WAIT

When you are the parent of an 8 year old house elf… this is bound to happen to you sooner or later.

As of last night, I became the Momma of three goldfish; prizes that Little Bear proudly brought home from the County Fair.

The heat has been so bad this summer; I was unable to go on our annual outing to the Fair.

I was pretty disappointed yesterday, thinking of the fun that I was missing.

But, if I HAD been at the Fair, we probably would not be enjoying our new scaly additions. I would have put the nix on it, thinking too much about having to tend to another pet.

Instead the surprise was popped on me by having three plastic baggies of fish thrust into my hands when the guys came home.

“Here, Mommy! I’ve named the big one Gulpy!!”

(Yes, I am not the only one in the Cozy Cottage that talks with exclamation points.)

“What am I supposed to put them in?” I asked no one in particular.

We hunted around the house for something worthy of bearing three gasping goldfish.

The best I could come up with was a huge ceramic mixing bowl.

There was a lot of fretting about being able to fit three goldfish in one bowl.
I grabbed a second smaller bowl…

Maybe if I put one in there and two in the other… that would be alright?

Then the water preparation started, with getting the water the right temperature so as not to shock the poor fishes.

Shock?

As if being yanked out of a garbage can full of overcrowded goldfish, thrust into baggies, being hauled around in muggy summer heat by a little kid for hours at the fair, riding in a car, and then being dumped into a mixing bowl is not enough?

So I placed two in one bowl, the third in another. Watched them poke around for a bit, and then realized how filthy the water for the fish in the smaller bowl had been.

Uck!

The fish was swimming in its own poo!

I realized I was totally clueless on how to relocate the now named Gulpie out of the little bowl to keep him from gulping the poop.

In desperation, I used the soup ladle.

(Mental note: Get a NEW soup ladle.)

Finally, we got the fish settled. We spent an hour of staring at them while they surveyed their very plain world on the inside of a mixing bowl.

I wondered how fish think.

Little Bear and I made up pretend conversations between the fish. This turned into a giggle fest.

While laughing outwardly, inside I was desperately praying, “Please. Please don’t let these fish kick the bucket. Oh, and while You’re at it, God, could you keep them from jumping out of that bowl? I don’t want to step on something squishy in the morning.”

As if God doesn’t have more important things to do.

“Can we feed them? Can we feed them?” the merry house elf inquired.

“Not, yet,” I told Little Bear, “I think we need to give them some time to adjust.”

(I was thinking I am the one who needs time to adjust.)

We decided to go learn something about goldfish on the internet.

Wow!

Who knew that there are volumes of material on goldfish?

We surfed through the feeding and the tank maintenance information.

Then my little guy saw spawning listed as a topic.

“Can we breed them?” he asked.

Okay, obviously now we were going to have a teachable moment about the birds, the bees and the mating habits of goldfish.

Did you know they don’t…

Um…

Conjugate?

They don’t need to touch each other to procreate.

The male gets pimples on his gills when he is ready. The female gets round.

The male chases her around, and there is some body slapping. The female releases her eggs onto the leaves of water plants, and then the male goes swimming about leaving milt to fertilize the eggs.

After that, the goldfish parents go back to business as usual.

If the parent fish see their new born babies, they eat them.

Little Bear was fascinated. I was feeling a tad repulsed.

We went back to look at the threesome. I was seeing them in a whole new light.

We have a tendency to credit our pets with human qualities, but as I watched these glistening fishy aliens I realized that these fish certainly are not human.

I thought about Greek mythology, in particular, the character known as Cronus.

Cronus is well known in mythology for eating his children.

Here’s the story.

The ancient Greeks believed that the creation of earth began with Gaea. Being that there was no mate, Gaea created her own child, Uranus.

Mother and son produced many children, twelve who were known as the Titans.

Things got chaotic.

Cronus took control by castrating his father (who died from the injury) and then in order to remain the new ruler, he ate all of his children (the first Olympians).

Well, this really ticked off Cronus’ wife, Rhea, so she rescued the last child.

She secretly fed Cronus a rock. He ate up thinking that the rock was the last child.

This child, Zeus, survived due to Rhea’s ruse.

For some reason I can not recall… Cronus took off and stayed in Italy and Zeus became the big time deity on Mount Olympia.

Cronus got a name change to Saturn and was celebrated on Saturnalia.

You can’t kill Cronus.

He represents Father Time.

Time gives us a sense of order over chaos.

And time eats up our children.

I thought of this while gazing at those child eating pets.

And then I gazed at my son, who is growing so tall. Every day he gets bigger, and wiser.

Time is eating up his childhood.

Time is eating up me.

Time is eating up all of us.

I love the goldfish now.

This morning they were placed into a 15 gallon fish tank hastily purchased to make them comfortable.

They have found a home here at the Cozy Cottage.

I like watching them. As I watch I am reminded that time moves on.

Time stops for no one.

You can not stop time, and you can not destroy time.

Pay attention, because if you don’t…

Time will eat up your children and you like a hungry goldfish.

© 2007, Loretta Kelly, M.S.W.

#159 - Lupus & Adoption Update

Special thanks to MySpace friend, Gail, for locating this blog:

Our Ethiopian Adoption Story: PEI Camping Adoption Gathering

If anyone has more information about lupus and adoption...

please send your information in!

We have several readers who want to learn more.

THANKS!

#158 - Post Your Ad on lifebeyondlupus.com

I am now able to provide classified advertising at :

http://lifebeyondlupus.com/



Click the link below to see what is available or to add your own entry:

http://pub23.bravenet.com/classified/show.php?usernum=1932431618&cpv=2




Spammers need not apply.

#157 - Lupus & Pregnancy

Can't read this? Go to www.lupus.org for information on our next Live Chat.

Next Lupus Live Chatwww.lupus.org

Wednesday, August 83:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time

Pregnancy and Lupus

Since lupus primarily affects young women of childbearing age, pregnancy often becomes a crucial question. While it is certainly possible for women with lupus to have children, pregnancy may not be easy. It is important to note that although many lupus pregnancies will be completely normal, all lupus pregnancies should be considered "high risk."

Pregnancy and Lupus will be the topic of the next Lupus Live Chat scheduled for Wednesday, August 8 on the Lupus Foundation of America website. The live chat begins at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight time. Submit a question, then login on August 8 and view the Live Chat. Have a conflict? A transcript will be posted following the chat.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman [See the attached file]

About Our Guest Speaker:
Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, M.D., D.Ph., is Professor of Medicine at the Fineberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. Her interests lie primarily in the clinical treatment of and research in understanding the natural history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Specific interests of Dr. Ramsey-Goldman include the effects of lupus on pregnancy, the correlation between bone disease and immunosuppression, the epidemiology of lupus, genetics and lupus, lupus vascular disease, and a range of clinical trials related to the treatment of lupus and its debilitating symptoms.

Dr. Ramsey-Goldman’s goal is to improve the quality of life for lupus patients through her epidemiological, pregnancy, and drug studies.

Submit a question in advance

Log on to LFA Live Chat (bookmark this page for future reference)
Live Chat Begins:
Wednesday, August 8
3:00 p.m. Eastern2:00 p.m. Central1:00 p.m. MountainNoon Pacific

Learn more about pregnancy and lupus from the LFA website

Future Chats:

Wednesday, September 12 -- Clinical Trials
Ken Getz, Board Chair for the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation

Wednesday, October 10 -- Relationships & Lupus
Dr. Robert Phillips

Wednesday, November 14 -- Aging and Lupus
Dr. Ronenn Roubenoff, Sr. Director, Immunology Medical Research, Biogen Idec, Inc.

Wednesday, December 12 -- Teens and Lupus
Dr. Peter Chira, Stanford University School of Medicine

Transcripts of previous chats

Other Links of Interest:

Lupus Now Research Update

Read what is in the current issue of Lupus Now magazine

Become a Lupus e-Advocate

Sign up for our eNewsletter





Lupus Foundation of America, Inc.
2000 L Street, N.W., Suite 710
Washington, DC 20036
202-349-1155
info@lupus.org