Google and iPhone Make a Good Team

Recently I was at Vanderbilt for some tests and the nurse asked me if I was taking any blood pressure medication.  I told her yes but couldn't remember the name of it.  Every doctor at Vanderbilt has access to my medication list through their computer system but for some reason my blood pressure meds were not on the list.

And I did not have a list of my current meds in my purse (like my mom has encouraged me to do)!

That got me to thinking.  I use my iPhone for numerous tasks, why couldn't I keep a list of my medications on there!?  Google comes to the rescue!!

I uploaded my medication list from my computer (pdf) to Google Documents from my PC and then pointed my iPhone browser to the Google Doc site.  I added Google Docs to my home screen and now all my docs are available at a touch of a button.  This will come in handy when we are at Friday School and another mom is wondering who is on the schedule for the next month - the list is already there!

My Gmail is routed through my phones email program and so are my Gmail calendars (handy!!).  I've been wanting a simple to do app with a check list for my daily things I have to do.  There are plenty of those apps available but it would be so much handier to be able to sync it on my computer without having to open a dozen apps to do so.

Again, Gmail comes to the rescue.  Gmail has a built in task list and by doing the same thing as I did above (iphone browser and adding tasks to my home screen) I now have a task list that can be added to and checked off by either my phone or computer.  Right now I have 3 different task lists:  General, Vacation and Grocery.  Now I wouldn't put my entire grocery list on my task list (I have another computer program for that!) but it comes in handy for quick trips to the store for a few items.

How do you use Google on your iPhone?

Free Texting On Your iPhone

Texting has been around for awhile but I have not been a big fan until my (not so recent now) last hospital stay.  Vanderbilt had email in the rooms on the television system via wireless keyboards but it was extremely slow and frustrating to use it to send a message.  Thankfully I had my new iPhone, that was only a few weeks old at the time, to keep me connected to my friends and family.

Unfortunately, I do not have an unlimited texting plan and don't plan to buy one.  Currently I have 200 texts a month for $5 - which is not bad for someone who doesn't text a lot but it doesn't hold water for those who have entire conversations through texting!

There are several free iPhone texting apps available in the app store.  I have been recently using the Textfree Unlimited app.  My biggest concern in using an app instead of iPhone's built in texting was whether or not my friends would know the text was from me.  I sent a test text to my husband's phone to check it out and it appeared as from me.  Textfree gives you your own local phone number to send these texts.

Of course since the app is free, there is going to be some adds showing while you are using it (see example screen shot).  I have not found the ads to be annoying at all.  You have the option to purchase a one year free ad version for $5.99 - still an excellent price for free texting.

If you are not using the app, you will still get notifications of incoming texts.  You also have the option to receive email notifications of new texts.

The word is you'll be able to make and receive phone calls with Text Free also.  Right now if someone tries to call your Text Free number you will get a "missed call" notification in Textfree with their caller ID number!

Any questions?

Chore Charts That Work

I have tried many chore charts for my kids.  After my transplant, I let the boys do quite a few chores to help me out.  Since that time I have taken some of their chores for myself, added some, deleted some and considered new ones.  So which one works the best for us?

Wait! There's more...

Four Months

I am fast approaching the four month anniversary of my kidney transplant.  Just two months ago I was wondering if I would ever feel good again but after a few bumps in the road (blood clot in leg, bladder leak thus the catheter for four weeks), I am finally at a good place.

I was thankful to hear from other transplant recipients that it could take as long as a year to feel fully recuperated.  Now I am not so tempted to believe that I am not getting better!  I have so much more energy yet I know I am not at 100% yet - I can't imagine how good that is going to feel!

There are still a few side effects from the medication that are annoying but if you are looking at the much bigger picture, they seem trivial.  One of the biggest annoyances is the joint pain.  I am guessing this is what arthritis feels like?  Soreness and tenderness in my fingers, wrists, inner elbows and inner knees.  Currently my left knee is very painful; but you know what?  A month ago my right knee was the exact same way and after some time, it stopped hurting completely.  I'm hoping the same for my left knee.

My hair is falling out some lately, too.  What's up with that?  That could be medication or that could just be normal for some people.  I have plenty of hair so as long as it quits falling out fairly soon, I should be okay!

It Is Finished!

After my kidney transplant I was anxious to get rid of all the extra dialysis supplies I had around the house.  I didn't care to look at the boxes and boxes of fluid any longer!  Dick took the better half of one afternoon to open the boxes, slash and drain the bags and take the boxes to recycling.

WAH Weekend 2010

Any time spent with the ladies of WAH is a special time.  These layouts were made to document the weekend I spent with some of the girls in early March.  Clicking on the layouts should give you a larger image.

Healthy Choices

I have a strong desire to compartmentalize everything!  If I am trying to lose weight, I want to have a weight-loss blog.  If I am digital scrapping, I want to have a blog to showcase my layouts - that sort of thing.  Another one of my goals is to not start any more blogs!!

So, one of my bigger goals is to lose weight, get healthier and take care of my new kidney.  I won't be posting food journals and the such but will report my progress from time to time with only a label to fulfill my need to compartmentalize!  :)

Monday's Are For New Beginnings!

I just love Monday's!  I know that's not the norm for most people - especially for those who work outside the home.  I love the fact that it is a brand new day and a brand new week, not (yet) filled with my mistakes.

I am not a goal-oriented person like my hubby is.  I hate setting a goal and then bombing it before I hardly get started but I believe goals are necessary to accomplish what is necessary!  I will just have to get over the failure part because, really if I don't set goals because I might fail - then haven't I failed already??

So, my goals for this week:

• get up before 7:30 am.  Since my transplant I have been sleeping later and later and that is even after I weaned myself off of my sleeping pill (and by the way, I am now sleeping through the night). Today I was up at 7:15 am.
• follow my menu plan.  In the afternoons my energy starts seriously lagging.  I'm also experiencing serious knee pain because of my rejection meds.  I don't even want to walk through the kitchen much less prepare dinner!  We end up eating out or ordering in and that is very tough on the ole budget!  My goal here is to do as much preparation before dinner that I can.  My hubby and the boys are always so good to help me when I need it.
• keep up with the laundry.  I always seem to let it get away with me.  One load a day, when caught up, nicely maintains things - so that is my goal:  one load a day from start to finish (because clean laundry in a basket doesn't equal keep up with the laundry to me).

If you are looking for previous posts on this blog, they have been deleted because I wanted a new beginning for my blog, too.  Don't worry though, I exported a copy of all of them to an xml file for safe-keeping.  If you are looking for something in particular, let me know!