Baby, it's cold outside...

.. it's only Mid-October, and already I'm freezing. It's not too bad during the day, but in the morning, and at night... those are the worst. We have our heat on and I'm still cold. My hands are already starting to get dry and crack (I know, sexy, right?) I'm wearing layers and slippers and I still feel chilly. This is just wonderful. Really makes me look forward to the upcoming months ahead. I detest winter. I hate always being cold, and there's nothing I can really do about it. I've been tested for anemia before and been told that I don't have it, although my iron count is on the lower side (I almost never eat red meat, but I do eat a lot of lean meats like chicken and fish, and I love spinach, so you'd think that be enough to cover my bases on the iron homefront). Thank God we have free heat. Regardless, I'm going to be a very unhappy blogger in the upcoming months, in terms of weather. I just hate that feeling of being so cold and not being able to get warm no matter what I do. It's frustrating. But there's nothing I can really do about it except deal with it, ya know? ;-) Plus I take my showers at night, and that helps to get me nice and warm for bed.

So I finished Silent Witness today. And I have to say, that I liked it. Mark Fuhrman is a criminal detective, not a writer, and I hate to sound bitchy, but it shows a bit. The writing is not very good. Case in point: the following paragraph- "Why does someone have to die before a thorough investigation is performed? If this had been done fifteen years ago, we wouldn't have so many questions today. And Terri Schiavo might still be alive. Um... does anyone else see the glaring contradiction here? If Terri Schiavo was still alive, I'm curious not only as to why she'd need an autopsy, but how an autopsy could be performed on her. That would be an incredible medical marvel, to perform an autopsy and determine a cause of death for a person who is still alive, wouldn't you say? There were also some grammatical errors, punctuation struggles, etc. So the writing... not so much.

But the information regarding the case was really interesting. There was testimony from family, doctors, investigators, friends, hospital workers, etc. And they all agree that Michael Schiavo did not truly have his wife's best interests at heart regarding her long-term care- he refused to let her have any type of physical therapy, her family was not allowed to visit her once he became estranged from them, she wasn't even allowed flowers or sunlight in her room. Why on earth would he deny her of these things? There was also speculation that he was mentally/emotionally abusing her during their visits together, because she would display outward physical symptoms of distress whenever he left. There was also speculation that he caused her collapse to begin with, because doctors and medical experts could never determine what precisely led her to collapse and have heart failure to begin with- she was 26 years old and in good health. The book also included affidavits from nurses who worked with Terri and found her to be emotionally responsive and able to swallow on certain occasions, and certainly not in a vegatative state, and they were baffled and appalled at Michael Schiavo's orders not to let her have any physical therapy- he even had a DNR order on her. Anyway, it was a very interesting read. And sad. I felt so awful for this poor woman and her poor family, who all suffered horribly throughout this whole ordeal. And there are so many unanswered questions that, unfortunately, will never be able to be completely answered. I can't imagine how hurtful that must be on a family that has lost so much and is trying to heal. It seems like the legal and medical systems both failed this poor family miserably, and that will forever affect the ability for them to find peace or closure. A very sad story all around.

I finished the book today when I got home from the gym today. And as per the No Book Left Behind Project, when one book closes, another book opens... the new random pick is The Samurai's Garden, by Gail Tsukiyama. It's about a young Chinese man who is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis, right before the Second World War. While he's recovering, he meets four locals, and the story is about the friendship that develops between all of them. I saw this at my favorite book sale last year, and I had picked it up and looked at it, and was actually going to put it back, but this woman nearby came up to me and said that this was an amazing book, and I had to buy it. Very random, but I appreciated that she came up to me and said that- plus, it was only $1, so I figured, what the hell. So I guess it's time to put it to the test and see if this woman was right, or if she was a library employee in disguise just trying to raise more money from the book sale. LOL.

And on that note, it is time to hop in the shower and get ready for tomorrow. Have a great night, everyone!