Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY 02/26/09...
Outside My Window... On this dark but not too cold night Mr. Skunk has woken up and decided to take a stroll. Thankfully I just let the dog in.
I am thinking... That people are not keeping up with their blogs like I wish they would. This of course would only fulfill my need and not theirs. I know. Nevertheless...
I am thankful for... Modern medicine because pneumonia is really very serious and before the age of antibiotics, quite often deadly. It is sobering to recall that.
From the kitchen... The kitchen smells like so much garlic both my nasal passages have cleared, I cannot smell the skunk from in there, and we are quite safe from vampires. My Jamie cooked tonight and come to find out he has a cold and can not smell anything. So while dinner was great, it was also very aromatic.
I am wearing...my size 14 jeans which I no longer muffin top over, a lime green Aeropostale lacey cami that accents what cleavage I have left, and a denim button down shirt that my momma embroidered bunnies on.
I am creating... white blood cells to battle the disease.
I am going...to head back down to my steamy bedroom. Donnie is going to pick up a vaporizer for upstairs so I can breath better up here too.
I am reading... Fitness over Forty for Dummies.
I am hoping... That Nikki's IEP meeting goes well tomorrow at 7:30am. That I can be a good advocate for her and not cough and gasp my way through the meeting. Then that I will have energy when I get home to write a powerful cover letter to send to Brown's Alcohol and Addiction Research Center.
I am hearing... The dogs pace about determined to find any crumb beneath the kitchen table, and Jamie mutter and moan because he has to READ a book for English.
Around the house... Julie and Jamie are doing homework, dogs are roaming, cats are dozing and the others are off at meetings.
One of my favorite things... I really love the internet because it allows me to indulge in the collection of geeky information. Today I watched a orangutan whistle, read up about FOCA which may or may not be real legislation, keep up with weight watchers, the high school play that will be put on over Easter _Godspell_ even though Julie did not get a role. I also read about Mars ancient life possibilities, new phones from Verizon and all sorts of news.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I will get better for Donnie's birthday and our big dress rehearsal.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Scratchy throat, fever, bronchitis, pneumonia...

Can a person get so sick of being sick that it makes them sick? Inquiring minds want to know. Day 10 of the 'gee I do not feel well' and a follow up doctor's visit uncovers that Tuesday's X-ray did indeed show that Pneumonia had settled into the lower lobe of my left lung.
I tried to convince the doctor that all my layers of fat had protected me from illness and now that I am at my healthiest weight and in greatest physical shape ever I will be subjected to a host of germs. He is relieved to see that my great sense of humor is still intact and he is sure I will feel much better when I see him again on Monday.
Meanwhile I am to take all my medicine, drink plenty of fluids, and rest, rest, rest. So I sit at home and force my self to inactivity. Since my mind is absolutely feeling better of course it is filled with all the things that should get done. Also since I have to remain still this gives me plenty of time to SEE all the things I usually ignore (like the piles of clean laundry, piles of paper work, etc).
I suppose I should look at this as a cup half full opportunity, enjoy the peaceful days at home, take a little time to watch a few old movies, reread a few favorite books.
Donnie has a big birthday Saturday night and we will go out for a nice quiet dinner which he will love. I tease him that he is safe due to my pneumonia from the original plan of going out dancing!
The huge dress rehearsal for the play is on Sunday and I need to be very rested and very healthy for THAT so I shall be on my best patient behavior, take all my med, drink plenty of fluids, and rest, rest, rest.

Lenten Sacrifices

We sat at the supper table tonight going over what our various Lenten sacrifices would be. We do this every year with varying degrees of success. It can be difficult to get them to understand that doing something EXTRA is just as great as giving something up.
Joe is still a bit confused on the subject and is eager to give up stuff he either does not do anyway or does grudgingly, not exactly the spirit of Lent. Nikki often offers ones that are a personal challenge and she did again this year. Don, Julie, and I both have dieting considerations in our offerings and Jamie added prayer to his.
As hard as it can be to offer a personal Lenten sacrifice the children are full of ideas about what EVERYONE else should do. No one can be meaner or more accurate than your sibling that is for darn sure!
So we start our Lenten promises today full of ambition and positive thinking. We shall see who remains standing come Easter Sunday. They grumbled and complained as they went off to get ashes tonight though. Mass midweek is still a torture for any school age kid. I can bet money though that Mary and Corey went off first thing this morning to get their ashes. Both kids found themselves really identifying with their Catholic roots when they went off to school. Funny how being identified as a minority does that to you, helps instill a certain pride, a certain need for identity as part of a larger group.

Apparently people who NEVER get sick are really getting socked this time

According to the nurse at the doctors office all the people who never get sick are sick now and suffering. I had to sit in the waiting room for more than an hour while I coughed and hacked and annoyed the heck out of the waiting patients.
It got worse when I was sent for an x-ray across the hall. There, 11 chairs are jammed in a tiny coat room and all the folks needing x-rays are squished in bumper to bumper. They REALLY appreciated my hacking and gurgling. One poor guy read with his book plastered to his nose in order to avoid any of my cooties.
Across my patient record the doctor scrawled SOB which interestingly enough stands for short of breath. It is especially interesting because sobbing is what I feel like doing except I have no spare breath with which to do it.
I got to leave the doctors with 2 new prescriptions including one for prednisone ( a side affect of taking this btw is WEIGHT GAIN! I am down 3 pounds this week but missed my first ever weigh in do to this inconvenience of needing to breath.)
I am to return to the doctors in 2 days and am encouraged to rest and drink plenty of fluids. All I can do is rest since anything else requires oxygen and it is in short supply around me. I refuse to think about the 4 missed days of work for me this week since no work means no pay. Since everyone who is anyone -you know we healthy people- who never get sick- well since we are all out sick and lots of us go un-payed the bill collectors will have job security. Now if only one of them would come along and remove this constricting band from my lungs so I could BREATH I would be ever so happy.

My son, my son the Lawyer

Ok perhaps this post title is a bit premature. But today I got to visit my boy Corey at his new job, working for a prestigious law firm in Boston. Technically he is there as part of his college co-op. It is full time however and a paid position- more than minimum wage even- so it totally counts, my son in the law office!
This lofty sounding law firm is named after its three founders. Of course their names escape me at the moment since this is a post about my progeny- let their mothers brag about them! It is on the 22 floor of the VERY tall building next to city hall and just across from Fanuiel Hall.
I had been trying to get in to check out his new job and treat him to lunch but roadblocks have been constantly put in the way, including the recent inconvenience of bronchitis. (The ability to take a full breath is not appreciated until you are leaning against any stationary object gasping for air!)
Having most recently canceled on him last Friday when my fever would not abate I could not bear the thought to disappoint him again. You see in Blauss world there is no greater way to express your appreciation and love than to treat to lunch or dinner. The only honor trumping a free meal is then to shop together for a book at the bookstore.
Well we never did get around to book hunting but we had a lovely lunch at Ned Devines Boston's interpretation of an Irish pub. And lets face it there is no one more Irish than a Bostonian!
My Corey strode over to meet me at Scollay Square. He rambled with his long lanky walk, black Scotch wool coat buttoned up to keep out the wind. I was wheezing like a three pack a day smoker but the only acknowledgment he gave to my illness was when he observed all the fries left over from my lunch, and the fact that I did not order dessert. "Wow you must be sick."
It was fun listening to my boy now a man talk about his job and his thoughts about school and next years housing, what is going on in the catholic community on campus, and how the hockey team was doing. He did politely steer the conversation to Spring training as he knew that while hockey bores me the dreams of the Fenway faithful are forever interesting. He may even make Opening Day and I should be a supportive mom and not be jealous!
It is amazing to me to think this boy is rubbing shoulders in the white collar part of the city, this boy who once played with the chickens, scrambled up and down trees and treeforts, and who lived a blissful country boy life with his Garth Brooks poster sharing push pins with his Star Wars poster.
Now he is learning about law firms and medical malpractice. He negotiates the subway system and has aquired what did they use to call it? Oh yes, a bit of town polish.
Little boys grow up fast. I think of baby Liam Flanagan just born and I remember every second of Corey's infancy. After two miscarriages he was my "Special" boy. As I recall Liam's parents put in a few prayers for my special boy during his teenage years! And now herehe is Mr. Corey, working at a law firm talking seriously about college and anticipating the current Red Sox season. Wonders never cease...

Sick

3 days on the antibiotic and my fever is worse today than it has been so far. I debate in my head whether or not to try and make it until Monday and see the doctor again, or head over to the hospital tonight for an IV. Feel so very bad. I cannot quite catch my breath and have to decide whether it is still bronchitis or has it drifted into pneumonia.
I would feel good and sorry for myself except I am too sick to waste my breath on poor me. It would be much better if I did not get all fainty-like. Boy I have not been this well and truly sick since my ten day hospital stay when a gall bladder removal turned into a collapsed lung... I sure miss my mom.

I have been having a series of eye doctor appointments investigating my rather large optic nerve "hole" or "spot" or "problem." This is to determine whether or not I have Glaucoma, the name given to a progressive problem that eventually leads to blindness. Glaucoma could actually be a number of problems that all result in the same thing, irreversible sight loss. Not a pleasant thought.
Last year my eye doctor felt that I had a very large spot where the optic nerve connects to my eyeball. This may be congenital or the start of a serious problem. I next had a Perimeter test (see below.) This test noticed a blind spot up in the right hand corner of my visual filed. These two problems together can indicate Glaucoma or some freakish but harmless way my eyes were formed. The doctor wanted to run another test which takes a VERY up close and personnel picture of each eye ball (very neat, you can see fine rough spots on the eye ball itself due to age and the part of the eye where the brain's optic nerve connects to the eye ball itself.) But my health insurance would not cover this doctor running the test and I would not go to anyone else. (Did I mention I have eye phobias and cannot even put on my own mascara. I like my eye doctor. Although he is blunt to the point of rudeness, he is very smart and thorough and puts up with my blinking eye watering cringing crap!)
Well I now have a new HMO and they agreed to pay for the photographs. I spent a fascinating office visit looking at the minute details of my eyes and comparing them to healthy eyes and Glaucoma eyes. Scarily, my eyes definitely resemble the afflicted one. So now I am set to get another test, a GDx in March. (Description below.) Meanwhile the doctor is going to carefully measure and note all sorts of things about my eyes to help him decide. How can anyone be an eye doctor or a dentist is beyond me, eeeeeshhhh.
My latest visual field test did not come out so great and there are certainly some worrying signs. On the other hand perhaps none of this is progressive and this is simply the first doctor astute enough to note it.
So another test in March and then visual field tests every 3 months I guess. If it is Glaucoma there is not a cure only daily eye drops and careful observation and eye doctor visits. I really hope the drops aren't expensive! Fro what I have read the drops can slow the progress or hold it at bay. Without intervention however the vision slowly but inexorably tunnels into darkness.
I am not sure what I think and feel about all of this. I immediately joked about getting a seeing eye dog. But the reality is no joking matter. I guess we do the doctor rounds. Of course none of this goes smoothly. My primary care apparently did not send the referral for the test even though I watched them write it out last week. So now I gotta call them and then get another referral blah blah I hate the paperwork appointment stuff.
Perhaps over the next couple of months this will all fade down to just keeping an eye out on it all. Meanwhile I have a new appreciation for all the beautiful and mundane sights I am privileged to see every day...even the boys messy bedroom.

Perimeter

The perimetry test is also called a visual field test. During this test, you will be asked to look straight ahead and then indicate when a moving light passes your peripheral (or side) vision. This helps draw a “map” of your vision.

Optic Nerve Computer Imaging
The GDx machine does not actually image the optic nerve but rather it measures the thickness of the nerve fiber layer on the retinal surface just before the fibers pass over the optic nerve margin to form the optic nerve. The HRT scans the retinal surface and optic nerve with a laser. It then constructs a topographic (3-D) image of the optic nerve including a contour outline of the optic cup. The nerve fiber layer thickness is also measured

Today is Matt's Birthday

Today my other son turns 26. Or perhaps he turns 27 I am not quite sure. You see Matt is my oldest child...my SON IN LAW. Happy birthday Matthew.
It still feels a little odd, the whole concept of having a married daughter who has a husband who is my son-in-law. There are plenty of mother-in-law jokes around and I would hope Matt does not see me as 'one of those meddling mother-in-laws.' But of course even if he did he would be too shy and too polite to say. So you will have to take my word for it that I am a wonderful mother-in-law.
He is certainly a wonderful son-in-law. Naturally he is smart and interesting and articulate. But let's face it he is a great son-in-law because he makes my Mary so happy. And if Mary is happy, then I am happy!
Matt recently started a new job after a 4 month lay off, whooo hoooooo! Congrats Matt. Best of all Matt is a DOG lover! I can hardly wait until I get that phone call. You know the one all parents dream of, when their son-in-law calls to say "Congratulations you are now a grandmother to a new born puppy!" I am counting the days until then.
Happy Birthday Matt.

Lily

"Walk With An Old Dog"

by Gayl Jokiel

Because you will not be forever,
Hope against time though I may,
I paint your picture in my memory,
Eyes blue with age, muzzle gone gray.

Because you walked with me in Springtime,
Puppy-clumsy, running free.
As you grew, we grew together-
You became a part of me.

Because you shared with me my sorrows,
Not understanding- simply there.
Often spurring me to laughter--
My friend, you know how much I care.

Because the years have slowed your fleetness,
Though your spirit still is strong.
I promise I will take more time now,
So that you can go along.

Because you do not fear the future,
Living only in the now,
I draw strength from your example-
Yet time keeps slipping by somehow.

Because the day will soon be coming
When I will no longer see
You rise to greet me-but in memory
You will always walk with me.

From bostonchannel.com

Stranger Helps Woman Pay $325 Car Repair Bill

Owner's Husband Out of Work

POSTED: 6:28 am EST February 16, 2009

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Valentine's Day felt more like Christmas for a Manchester, N.H., woman when a stranger stepped in to pay her car repair bill. Nicole St. Onge was explaining to her mechanic that it would take her a month to save the $325 needed to repair her car Saturday when Paul LeBlanc offered to pay the bill.St. Onge, whose husband is out of work, said she initially refused, then started crying after the stranger insisted. She called LeBlanc her guardian angel. LeBlanc is the president of Southern New Hampshire University. He didn't tell St. Onge his last name, but the New Hampshire Sunday News tracked him down.He said the act of kindness gave him great joy and did more for him than it did for St. Onge.

the science of kissing — philematology — is under-researcherd

"Fisher noted that more than 90 percent of human societies practice kissing, which she believes has three components — the sex drive, romantic love and attachment.

The sex drive pushes individuals to assess a variety of partners, then romantic love causes them to focus on an individual, she said. Attachment then allows them to tolerate this person long enough to raise a child."

lol I love when scientists speak!

School Days (2 new posts)

Today was the day before February vacation and as every elementary schooler knows, the day of the Valentine's party. As if that was not exciting enough, yesterday we celebrated the 100 days of kindergarten and of course it was Honest Abe's 200th birthday. All of you who find February to be a dreary month just do NOT hang around with the right people. I mean just think how many of you missed Ground Hog's Day?
I was lucky enough to be a part of all these great celebrations not to mention a thorough education about the Father of Our Country. These are busy days for the K-5 set and the amount of energy expended learning all these important things could light up a huge city!
With all this exciting learning occurring.... thank heavens it is February vacation. Wait, I take that back. I do not get to sleep late I am stuck at home with all my little CHERUBS, that certainly does not work out well for me!

Numbers please....

Tuesday at my physical I found out that my cholesterol is......GREAT.
First the good cholesterol HDL is 53. According to the American Heart Association:
"HDL (good) CholesterolAbout one-fourth to one-third of blood cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL cholesterol is known as “good” cholesterol, because high levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack. Low levels of HDL (less than 40 mg/dL) also increase the risk of heart disease. Medical experts think that HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it's passed from the body. Some experts believe that HDL removes excess cholesterol from arterial plaque, slowing its buildup." Notice my 53 is well above the below 40 danger zone. (Optimal is over 60 but 53 is pretty darn good.) My HDL use to be a sad 25 so I have really helped my heart, especially important when you remember that my mom died of heart disease.
Next my triglycerides are 123 which is nicely below the less than 150 doctors recommend.
Again according to the American Heart Association:"Many people have high triglyceride levels due to being overweight/obese, physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, excess alcohol consumption and/or a diet very high in carbohydrates (60 percent of more of calories). High triglycerides are a lifestyle-related risk factor; however, underlying diseases or genetic disorders can be the cause."
The LDLs or bad cholesterol (that is the stuff that blocks your arteries and leads to heart attacks and strokes) are now in the near optimal levels, with my total cholesterol level at 199 which of course is normal...anything below 200 is great.
What does all this mean? Well I am not really a numbers girl and of course I cannot see these wonderful changes. I already know of course from checking while working the night shift, that my blood sugar levels and blood pressure numbers are terrific. But these numbers had only recently become elevated for me so that was not very dramatic proof that my diet/exercise regime was a worthwhile thing. (ok of course in theory it is worthwhile. But think how difficult it is day in and out and think how much I love BIG portions of fried food! and really no matter how fun the activity is, nothing beats laying around with a good book!)
But my cholesterol numbers have not really been great for the last ten years and I really thought at this physical he would put me on statins. Instead my numbers are boringly normal. NORMAL. So at almost 46 I do not have to take daily meds. Horaaay. My mom at this age had already had one heart "episode" and was on a variety of pills. So this is a real sign to me that all this hard work is paying off in a good way.
Just before my physical I discovered I had gained a whole pound in the last week. It is one of those blips that make sticking to the changes a challenge. After all I have followed my plan and done everything "right" Yet for whatever reason my body has decided to put on a pound. It is very hard to keep in mind that the scale is only one measurement and it does not reward you for being good or punish you for being bad. To then see my doctor and have him show me my cholestral numbers really really really gave me the boost I needed. On I go...

A Sight to See

Spring training is almost here. The trucks carrying the Red Sox equipment recently left Fenway and pitchers and catchers are getting ready to go.
Apparently I am not the only one to feel impatient. Saturday morning as I drove by the town ballfields which are under about a foot of snow I noticed a bunch of young guys out there. They have been gathering on weekends since late fall to play football. You can see them out there on cold days, rainy days, you name it they are there in it.
Well on Saturday they were all there but in diamond formation. I slowed down to get a better look and sure enough heard the crack of a bat and saw one guy scamper down first base side. They were playing baseball in the snow! It made my heart sing. Spring cannot be too far away when the boys of summer are out on the fields!

Simple woman

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY 02/05/09...
Outside My Window... its a dark night but the snow is still visible, all a foot and a half of it!
I am thinking... about my PTO meeting tonight. It is our book club meeting and I wanted it to be relaxedand fun. But I have to bring up some issues and I am working on not being emotional about them.
I am thankful for... The kids and the animals and the Man.
From the kitchen... just ate a dinner that I did not have to cook or clean up after, always a nice if unexpected treat!
I am wearing... my new size 14 dress slacks and a librarian like button down dress shirt with little ruffles on the cuffs.
I am creating... I just made these cute book marks to pass out at my meeting tonight.
I am going... to PTO and then try to fit exercise in, at around ten p.m. I imagine. I have no idea when Donnie and I will see one another. It has been a loooong day..
I am reading... American Savior (fiction) and Sex in Middlesex (court reports from the 1600s!)
I am hoping... that the difficult part of the meeting goes well tonight and I can state what I need to and accept whatever their response is, even if it does not answer my questions. I am not VERY good at this you see.
I am hearing... it is blissfully and unusually quiet at our house, except for Lily who wants me to pat her. And she is panting. I think she is having a problem with her thyroid.
Around the house...Homework is being done, video games are being played and most of the Christmas stuff has been taken down.
One of my favorite things... Donnie who in the ten minutes we had together today made me laugh so hard I hiccuped!
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: date on Saturday to the camping and rv show.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
:>)

I have grown bold- a long post

Today I decided to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and go in the BIG room to work out in the gym. I have been too intimidated up until now because of all the muscle bound guys who inhabit the larger weight lifting room.
But with all the snow and the earliness of the day (it was about 1:30 in the afternoon) I figured it would be less crowded. My hope was to check out these two machines I had observed during my treadmill runs. The machines looked like they focus on a person's mid section (lets see that would be the obliques) by using a twisting motion. Plus the machines were right on the edge of the room so I thought it would feel less intimidating by starting with them.
Well there turned out to be about 20 men and little ole me working out in the BIG room today. I did teach myself how to use the equipment-I think one was called a torso rotation- and I felt they really hit the spot. I even found a machine that isolated the lower back muscles which I still need to strengthen to protect my degenerating discs in that region. The stronger the muscles the healthier the back!
Weigh in this morning was interesting too. I was up .4 and believe me it is all thigh muscle....my legs are STILL killing me from my long run on Sunday. Then this morning I did my stairs- I am up to 40 times. This was before I realized I would have time to go to the gym mind you!
As I was saying Weight Watchers was interesting. One of the new ladies is struggling and she said word for word what I was saying a year ago. She could be my twin. It was great hearing everyone offer supportive but realistic advice on how to get her head in the game!
Our leader asked me to give her some advice about positive thinking and not looking at it like being on program was suffering. I so could relate to what she was saying. I had thought all those things for years too. I still tend to have negative thoughts about it all although I am much better about letting them go and focusing on the positive.
I got to brag for the first time today too something I have never done in a meeting before. Of course it was not really bragging because so many of those women have helped me get to where I am. This is my brag...I now have 5 pairs of pants (all bought on sale of course) that are a size 14. A regular size 14 mind you not a 14W or a 14 generous cut or any other kind of euphemistic 14.
Last night my girlfriend Reenie and I went shopping. Now I hate clothes shopping but Reenie thinks it should be an Olympic sport. She had me trying on sizes, colors, brands, and she kept track of it all. She knew what is in, what is out, what people of different shapes look good in etc. My head was spinning. But we made it out of JC Penny with dress and casual pants that looked good and were on huge discounts.
It feels odd to be in my body lately, it reminds me of those first couple of weeks after giving birth. There is a physical adjustment to be made. I have not heard or read much about it. But it is obviously a phenomena. Bones can now be felt, muscles are appearing, and parts are shrinking. Of course there is that dreaded 'loose skin a hanging' too!
The last time I lost a bunch of weight I remember feeling uncomfortable about this physical aspect and I think it contributed to gaining back the weight. So this time I am more aware of it and giving it thought. Another funny thing: I do not know how to respond to people who say "Oh you must feel so much better now." They say this of course as a compliment but it still catches me off guard. I mean, except for the last year when my back got so bad, I never minded being fat. I never particularly gave it much thought. It did not keep me from hiking or swimming or flirting or doing anything. And quite frankly I love to eat so eating big amounts was also very satisfying. I did not feel bad. Perhaps if I had physically or psychologically felt bad I would have been able to attain a more permanent weight loss sooner.Who knows? How can I even guess?
Because I have had constant back pain for 18 years due to nerve damage (which btw has not in the least abated. I still deal with it EVERY single day) and the added pain of the degenerating discs (which absolutely have improved and I barely feel a twinge due to weighing less and moving more!) I have spent most of these years living in my head not my body. Does that make sense?
This certainly contributed to my weight gain. So part of my new lifestyle is the focus on my body, the weight, the muscles, how it moves etc. It is still taking me a while to figure out how to live IN my body fully and not get down about the back pain.
Boy all of this seemed so simple. Just follow the plan- eat less and move more. But of course the longer you do it the more rich and involved it really becomes!

Teaching in the elemetary school,

Today I got to be an elementary school Reading Interventionist and I taught such things as vocabulary webs, definitions, synonyms, antonyms, compound words, and comparatives. OK I did have to look up comparatives as I could not for the life of me remember what they were.
I also found out that there are Amazon river dolphins which I will totally have to look up now that I am home. (This does nothing however to reduce my fresh water shark fear* in even contemplating that there is such a thing as a fresh water dolphin.)
This might have been my most favorite out of all my teaching days as I really felt like I taught these kids something. The groups are small, about 5 kids in each grade level and so the work is very intense and can be adjusted to their individual learning styles.
The other nice thing about today was I found out that the 4th graders that I had for 2 consecutive days did excellent on their math test. This was of great comfort to me as the very thought of being responsible for someones deeper understanding of math is chilling. Math in 4th grade is no long division agony like we went through. On the contrary it is much worse! They need to know all about number lines and the X and Y axis. Ick.
I was unable to be the raconteur that I usually am as there was so much important work to do. But that is OK, there are plenty of stories and plenty of time to tell them!
* (this is from Wikipedia. I knew my freshwater sharks fear was justified. Notice they can be as far north as Massachusetts. It is NOT safe to go into the water. I hope Maquan pond in Hanson does not have an outlet to the ocean...)"The bull shark is found all over the world in many different areas and has been known to travel long distances. The bull shark is common in the coastal areas of warm oceans, in rivers and lakes, and occasionally streams if they are deep enough in both salt and fresh water. It is found to a depth of 150 m, but does not usually swim deeper than 30 m.^[6] In the Atlantic it is found from Massachusetts to southern Brazil, and from Morocco to Angola. In the Indian Ocean it is found from South Africa to Kenya, India, and Vietnam to Australia. It is estimated that there are more than 500 bull sharks in the Brisbane River and greater numbers still in the canals of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Recently a large bull shark was caught in the new canals in Redcliffe, 2 hours north of the Gold Coast.^{[citation needed]} In the Pacific Ocean, it can be found from Baja California to Ecuador.

The shark has been reported 4,000 km (2,220 mi) up the Amazon River at Iquitos in Peru,^[7]. It is also found in the fresh water Lake Nicaragua, and in the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers of West Bengal and Assam in eastern India and adjoining Bangladesh. It can live in almost any water including water with a high salt content as in St. Lucia Estuary in South Africa. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, a large number of bull sharks were sighted in Lake Ponchartrain.^[8].Bull sharks have occasionally been seen in the Mississippi River as far north as St. Louis^[9]. Even more rare, due to cooler waters, bull sharks have made their way up the Illinois River and into Lake Michigan such as an encounter off the coast of Chicago, Illinois^[10]. In that incident the shark was verified by U. of Illinois biologists as being a female 6 feet 9 inches and weighing over 300 lbs."