DNA

 

Decades ago, my college biology professor stated to the class, "Just remember that there is something called DNA.  In the future, you will hear more about DNA, exciting and astounding things."  She was right.  This week I learned something really exciting about DNA from Tall Husband.  He had been watching a PBS documentary and told me that there was a company featured on the show that does DNA testing for individuals...at a reasonable cost and without a physician's order!  The company is 23andMe.

I immediately went on line and perused their interesting website, then ordered their DNA kit and a years membership for $207.00 USD, which is cheaper than the DNA testing for our dog Skipper.  Will I find a long-lost family member?  Find out why my joints have dislocated all my life?  Learn that I'm a carrier of some disorder?  Learn my drug responses based on my DNA?  Perhaps I'll even find out why I'm the only real blond in a large family.

Stay tuned, we may be related!

Little Russian Princess so Far Away

Photographs of people you love are double edged...they simultaneously bring a smile and a jab at the heart.  Poignancy is painful.  This is my granddaughter, Cecilia, in her Russian costume.  She is at once physically so far away and digitally near...via her mother's smart phone.


Her mother sends e-mail too: Here is a quote that accompanied the above photo:


David asked me last night what I would have done if I had lived during WWII (they are studying this period in school), and I found a half-dead Nazi on the ground, but had the possibility to save his life? Then we began to talk about the Buddhist notion of karma, etc. Cecilia said she knew what karma meant and would "show" us! So she slapped me on the cheek (she got a scolding!!) and said "See? Karma! I slap you really hard, then my hand hurts! I was pretty stunned...physically and intellectually!

Sleeping Dogs

Skipper, the English Cocker Spaniel/Lab

Scooter, the Malti-poo

What to do on a warm Sunday afternoon?  Take a hint from these experts: find a cool spot and snooze.

Repurpose

Don't you just love the idea of repurposing?  This old French wine bottle caddy is perfect for holding fresh flowers.

Daisy Fresh

 

There's nothing that says Spring like a Daisy does.  I just couldn't resist these orange Gerbera Daisies from our local flower shop.

Rare Disease Day: To Zebras Everywhere

Detail from Red Zebra by Linda Hickerson Hofheinz

Today is World Rare Disease Day.  I take this opportunity to give virtual hugs to the friends and families all over the world who deal each day with the rare genetic, metabolic disorder called Porphyria, and to salute our friends, families, nurses and physicians who support us in this illness.  So here's hugs to all you rare, beautiful Zebras.  I hear your hoofbeats!

Porphyria Information/Support:
What's a Zebra?
How do I deal with Porphyria (Hereditary Coproporphyria)?

Facebook Porphyria Group

Facebook Porphyria Support Group

Open Source Homeomedical Formulas Help Us Help Ourselves

Mapping Porphyria, the "Unchecked for" Disease
Porphyria: Monstropedia
European Porphyria Network
The American Porphyria Foundation

Distant Angels

My angels in Spain: for the Winter holidays, Dad took them to ski in the Sierra Nevadas, Spain.

Alexander, our teenage grandson, left us on short notice...a student position unexpectedly opened up at a school in Madrid.  We miss him but are happy for him, as he really missed his little brother and sister, who are also in Madrid.  You see, his two little siblings were answered prayers.

When Alexander was about seven, he really wanted a little brother.  He was a lonely little Jewish boy at a Catholic school in Paris...and he was a skeptic.  Sister Maria, concerned about his skepticism,  asked him  one day if there were anything that he really longed for.  Without giving it a thought, he answered that he would give anything for a baby brother.  Sister suggested an experiment...they would go to the chapel and pray for a baby brother.  Alexander reluctantly agreed.

Months later, as he was putting away his coat, a file fell off a shelf in the closet.  There on the floor was an ultrasound film of a baby that was very clearly a boy.  "Mama, Mama, Sister Maria was right...prayer works!  We are going to have a baby!

Cecilia took a bit more prayer.  My daughter had been told, based on testing, that she was past her child bearing years.  Then she started having symptoms of ovarian cancer.  She quickly went to her gynecologist to tell him her fears.  After an extensive exam, Misha was ushered into the doctor's office by a solemn looking nurse who helped her into a chair and patted her shoulder tenderly.  "O. K., how long do I have to live?  I have two boys, who will be without a mother, so I have to make plans."

The physician answered, "I have no idea when you will die, but what I do know is that you do not have cancer...instead, you are six months pregnant.  It is a baby girl."

Alexander was not surprised.