Friday crapshoot

I tried to donate blood this morning, and all I have to show for it are 2 sore fingers. I'm apparently anemic. The Red Cross requires a hemoglobin level of 12.5, and the highest they could get out of me today was 11.1. Damn. I should have known.

I tried to give blood for the first time in my life 59 days ago. I barely got through the hemoglobin test (exactly 12.5 on the second finger stick!) but then they couldn't get enough blood for it to count as a donation. Then this happened:

Apparently, the nurse had to dig around to find the right spot, and 12 hours later I had an egg sized lump and a bruise that lasted 2 weeks. I know it's gross, but if I had to live with it for 2 weeks, you can look at it for 2 seconds.

The really sucky part of this is that I'm going to have to start taking iron again if I want to donate blood. For years I was too chicken to donate, then I was on arthritis meds for 8 years that prevented me from donating. Now that I have the guts and the inclination, my iron levels suck. And the only thing that sucks more than my iron levels, is iron supplements in any form.

I went to the Vitamin Shoppe and am going to try this ---> at the recommendation of the "vitamin specialist" there. I took one a while ago, and the good thing is there's no iron-y aftertaste. As long as it doesn't mess w/ my digestive system, I'll be good. I'm also taking a B-12 supplement on top of my multivitamin.

I WILL SUCCESSFULLY GIVE BLOOD IF IT KILLS ME! Well, that was dramatic. I'm going to give the iron 2 weeks to kick in, and try blood donation again.

 

The other exciting thing I did today was make a trip to the Twin Cities to have lunch with a former student who is now an actual adult. It freaks me out when that happens.

Laura works at Disney in Florida and I have not seen her in FOREVER. It was so much fun catching up with her! After lunch, I went shopping at Trader Joe's for the first time. Have you been to Trader Joe's? This place is AMAZING!!! A couple of friends post often about how good "Jo Joe's" (chocolate sandwich cookie) and "Cookie Butter" (like peanut butter, but made with COOKIES) and damn, if they weren't absolutely right. I can't decide if I'm sad there's not a Trader Joe's that's closer, or glad it's so far away because my ass is growing with every spoonful of Cookie Butter that I consume.

I also picked up some pamphlets and tourist guides for the Twin Cities area. Joe's son is going away on a school trip the same week I have spring break, so we've been talking about doing some exploring in the Twin Cities.