Blood Pressure

I had another appointment yesterday with my doctor and she said that my blood pressure was a little high. It's not in a danger zone yet, but it's borderline and will be watched closely. I'm worried because we really don't have high blood pressure as a family trait (that I know of) and I want to do whatever it takes to get it down, so I told my uncle my concerns and he recommended that I eat banannas and cut down on my sodium. Fortunately, I'm not a big salt person, so eating more home-cooked meals will help to keep that down, but I hate bananas. I'm willing to eat them because getting my blood pressure down is much more important than my dislike of a fruit.

The Singing Angels, the organization I was involved with for six years, called my family's home two weeks ago to get an alumni update, so I finally called them today to tell them what I was up to. Charles Eversole, the current music director, said that he anticipates seeing an auditioner in 8 years if we're back in the Cleveland area (because, after all, every child is a potential Singing Angel). While I laughed when he said that, I know that I'd only do it if my child really wanted to join; their fees have gotten expensive (currently $200/semester for one child) and I remember all the times my poor grandmother had to drive me all over Northern Ohio for various concerts. I may go to Spring Concert (their big spring show) this year because it is dedicated to Mrs. Kurtz who, apparently, still does the calls for small group concerts [something I remember all too well]. I'm definitely going to make plans to go to the big show next year because it will be the organization's 45th anniversary. It's nice to know that I hadn't been forgotten; I was given what I perceived to be a slight when Mr. Boehm [the founder] retired several years ago because my two girlfriends who had quit before graduating were invited to his retirement party while I, who had actually graduated with the group, was not. Considering that they had to use a phone bank at a hospital to do a phone-a-thon of all their alumni, all is forgiven.

Tomorrow's the big day: I'm going to get to see what it's like to be in the Comparative Studies department for the first time, and I'm looking forward to attending. My concern is that my health (mostly intestinal) will hold up so that I can do the whole thing. There's a dinner at someone's house and there is a dance afterwards that I really want to go to because, lets face it, I love to dance. I won't overdo it; I just want to go out and have a good time. But I can't be out too late because I'm coming in to work on Saturday to try to make up some hours so that my paycheck will be a little more robust than it has been for the past two months. That, and I've been so exhausted lately that I can't stay awake past midnight.

Also, I'm having my ultrasound in two weeks. The heartbeat was very strong yesterday so I'm looking forward to what should finally cement this in my mind as a reality.