One Crazy Chick

What A Summer...

2008-07-17T12:14:00.002-07:00

Well it looks like I actually have a few minutes to sit here and post. I've really missed that, and reading all your blogs as well. I hope I'm back on track now and can get back into a somewhat normal routine.

It's been a nice summer but it's really almost over. Not the hot weather of course, but the kids go back to school August 4th. That seems very early but they usually go back at the beginning of August. When I was in school decades ago we went back just before Labor Day. My daughter really likes school and her teachers so she's anxious to get back. In fact, one of her teachers is a reader of mine so I'd like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to Jim. Hi Jim, Monica can't wait to get back to school!

In other news, our summer was pretty much consumed with skating. We've been getting up earlier most weekdays for skating than we do during the school year. My daughter doesn't mind the early mornings because she loves skating so much. She has all of her single jumps mastered and is working on her axel. She's doing in on the harness but needs to start practicing it off the harness. She's a bit leary of that because last time she did that she fell so hard her butt hurt for days. She has come such a long way this summer since we spent so much time at the rink. I'm constantly amazed.

My stepson goes back to Missouri next week and it was so much fun having him here. He has the best sense of humor and I'll really miss that around here. He's starting high school and I can't believe it! How did he get to be that old?! He even has a girlfriend. Yikes!

My husband's sister and her family are here visiting from Iowa. They don't seem to mind coming here in the summer with all this heat. My husband and brother-in-law are playing golf as we speak and it's about 110 degrees outside. I don't know how they do it without having a heat stroke. No thanks!

And just to keep things from getting dull around here we have a mystery animal crapping in our backyard on a pretty regular basis. We have a 6 ft (and higher) wall around the whole backyard and a dog can't scale that. Let me just say that we don't think it's a regular cat either. Too much crap (sorry guys). My husband thinks it's a bobcat. Since there are so many around I guess it's likely. Maybe a coyote. Who knows. Just something else to keep us on our toes!

I'd Better Make This Quick

2008-07-08T16:12:00.003-07:00

I'm just taking this brief moment to let you guys know I'm still alive and kicking. I have about two seconds to myself this summer with the kids home and they are both computer hogs. It's really okay though because it keeps them occupied and they like to do stuff on it together. And they actually share their time on it without arguing over it. Wow!

Since I get about five minutes at a time on this thing and during that time the kids are hovering wondering when I'll be off, I can't think of an interesting blog post let alone take the time to write one. I promise I'll be back soon and fill you all in on all the interesting and not- so -interesting things that have been occupying my time. Until then....

Wildfire

2008-06-26T19:30:00.004-07:00

We have a wildfire in Phoenix right now and it broke out yesterday, apparently due to a lightning strike in the area. It is on the other side of the mountain that sits at the edge of my neighborhood and has now burned over 2,000 acres. There is ash raining down in our yard and all I can say is thank God a tile roof!

It isn't as close to us as it looks but the black smoke and ash are getting closer. I'm sure our house isn't in any danger but let me just say this...it has cut its distance from us in half over night. My husband said if the mountain starts to glow we're out of here but I don't think it will come to that. It's really very small as far as these fires go and the only reason it spread like it did is because the firefighters couldn't get to it since it's out in the middle of nowhere on the Indian Reservation. I saw the airtanker fly past a few times today but apparently they stopped that due to lack of efficiency. Now that it's reaching civilization it should be out in no time. Hopefully by tomorrow.

It sure keeps life interesting here in the desert! We are also beginning monsoon season. Although our neighborhood doesn't get much rain compared to the rest of the Valley we sure do get all the dust storms. Usually at least once each year the dust cloud is so enormous it looks like it's just swallowing us up. It really is a neat thing to see in person. We haven't had rain in months so I hope our monsoon season is a little wetter than normal because then the fires won't get too bad this summer. And maybe all the plants in our yard won't die? We have a sprinkling system but it's been over 110 degrees for a couple weeks now and has gotten up to 115 a few times. The thermometer on my car actually read 125 the other day! Crikey!

I Stand Corrected

2008-06-24T14:12:00.002-07:00

Well it looks like I couldn't have been more wrong. About my sleep study, I mean.

My neurologist said that I did in fact fall asleep on several occasions, but I didn't realize I did because I immediately woke up just as I would drift over the edge towards sleep. He said in the short time I slept I woke up over 20 times. No wonder I'm always tired!

Have you guys looked at pictures of a CPAP? There's no way I'd be able to sleep with all that crap on! Are they kidding? I'm supposed to go to the sleep center and have a consultation about CPAP's. I suppose I'll at least do that but I don't see this working for me. I'm not "The Princess And The Pea" or anything but I need to be comfy.

On to other things...it's really hard to get on the computer these days with the kids home for the summer. They are always on it. So I apologize for not making my appointed rounds to all my favorite blogs but I'll do my best to get there real soon.

ZZZzzzzz.....

2008-06-16T14:37:00.003-07:00

I haven't been posting much since my return from vacation because I've just been too tired. It all started last Tuesday. I was scheduled to have a sleep study so I went there thinking they wouldn't have much to study because I'd probably have the best sleep of my life and exhibit no problems. Boy was I wrong.

There won't be much for them to study because I didn't get a wink of sleep all night. Not one second. Why? The facility was so noisy. My room was beside the nurses office where they monitor the patients and I could hear them talking and laughing almost all night. I called the nurse in at one point to tell her to tell the staff to please be quiet. After all, how do they expect people to sleep in a noisy environment. Especially with all the wires and stuff they attach to you. By that time it was really too late because I was all stressed out from the environment. The nurse said to me the next morning that my doctor may need for me to come back and repeat the test. I told her there was no way I was coming back to do that ever again.

I left the sleep study that morning to get home and go to bed. I was so tired! But what do you know...I couldn't fall asleep. I can sleep any day even if I'm not tired. All I have to do is lay down and I fall asleep. Not this day. I went to bed that night and didn't get a second of sleep the entire night. I was afraid I was going to go psycho if I didn't get some Z's soon. I don't really know how I made it through that day but somehow I did.

The next night I lay in bed stressing out over sleep so therefore I had a hard time. I eventually got about 4 hours and I was thankful for that. It's been pretty much okay since but I hope I never go through that again!

I Wish I Was Still In Hawaii

2008-06-05T12:42:00.005-07:00

Well we're back from Hawaii and boy was that a hard vacation to come home from. You know how sometimes you're sad to leave a vacation? Well this was really tough to leave. It was so beautiful there! And the weather was absolutely perfect. Not a drop of rain, and it was about 85 and sunny every day with those nice tradewinds keeping it from being too hot.

We got there Wednesday and just spent the rest of the day exploring Waikiki. We were all a little tired from the plane ride. On Thursday we went to Pearl Harbor. It was such an interesting tour and we took a boat out to the Arizona Memorial. That was very moving since most of the sailors went down with the ship and are still there. We flew over Pearl Harbor on our way into the Honolulu Airport and flew really low over an aircraft carrier headed out to sea. It had all the Sailors lining the rails of the ship and it was just loaded with planes. Very cool.

On our flight in we also flew by all the other major islands. We saw Kilauea and Mauna Kea, the two volcanoes on the Big Island. We also flew by Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kauai.

On Friday we spent a lot of time at the beach. Waikiki is very crowded but so beautiful. And the water was so warm. I think we had as much fun playing in the waves as the kids did. The waves were about 2 to 3 feet high but later on in the trip they were about 5-6 ft. So fun!

On Saturday we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. It was so wavy that day that we didn't see much of anything . Our snorkel gear wasn't that great either and Monica and I got a huge mouthful of saltwater.

We went up to the North Shore on Friday also. On the way up there we stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We then went to Waimea Bay. Just gorgeous! There were huge sea turtles that came right up by the shore. This is the beach where the waves get up to 30 feet and higher in the winter. I'd give anything to see that! We drove back to Honolulu the long way by the rest of the North Shore beaches like the Banzai Pipeline, Sunset Beach, Pupukea and Turtle Bay. There is road that runs right next to the ocean the rest of the way back down to Honolulu and the drive was breathtaking. I wish we had taken more pictures.

We also tried surfing! Okay, let me just say this...we should have taken a lesson. The waves were about 5 feet that day and we rented a 10'6" longboard. I went first and as soon as I hit my feet (which was pretty good for me) I fell right off. The first time I fell I got about a gallon of salt water up my nose and then a wave came crashing down on me. I kept trying but really needed a lesson. None of us actually rode the wave. Oh well...it was still a ton of fun. At least it was for me. I told my husband the next time we go to San Diego I'm trying it until I can do it.

We did so many other things it would take me forever to write about. I'm posting a picture here but for more you can see them on my MySpace page at www.myspace.com/misschrisaz. It's on my main page so you don't need to be a member or anything. Just scroll down a tad on that page and you'll find a slide show I put together with several pictures from the trip. Let me know what you think of the other pictures!

Aloha!

2008-05-21T16:05:00.003-07:00

Aloha readers! A week from now we will be landing in Honolulu, Hawaii and we can't wait to get there! Here is a picture of our hotel right on Waikiki Beach. Looks just like paradise to me.

None of us has ever been to Hawaii before so it will truly be an adventure and we have all sorts of things planned. Number one on my list is surfing. No, I've never done it before and I probably won't even be able to stand up on the board but it'll sure be fun trying. My daughter says she'll give it a try too but my husband has a bit of a shark paranoia so I think he'll sit that one out.

We are renting a car so we can cover the whole island. The North Shore is one of the stops on our itinerary but I only wish it was winter so I could see the gigantic surf at Waimea. There is supposed to be great snorkling at Turtle Bay up there so that should be amazing.

Of course Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor are on our list as well as other places I can't think of right now. People we know that have been to Oahu have had all sorts of suggestions of places to see and the reason I'm writing this a week before we leave, is so that any of my readers who've been there can enlighten me with "must see" locales. How about it? Are there any other places that we absolutely should not miss?

Wild Kingdom

2008-05-16T16:52:00.006-07:00

Our local neighborhood newspaper had an eye-catching headline last week. "Bobcat Attacks On The Rise In Foothills Neighborhoods".

That's what you get when you live at the foot of a mountain and are surrounded by desert on the other three sides. It sure keeps life interesting around here.

I've yet to actually see a Bobcat but they are apparently out even in broad daylight roaming the neighborhoods in search of food. We all have walls around our backyards, that's just the way it is out here, and people have seen them strolling along the top of their six ft. high wall from one yard to the next. People have been finding their small animals half eaten, which is why we keep our little dog inside. I guess that means there's still hope for our neighbor's annoying beagle?

You get used to the rattle snakes and the scorpions, at least I do, because I know I can out-run them. But a Bobcat? Last night I was listening to the coyotes howling as I was falling asleep and couldn't help but wonder if there was perhaps a Bobcat in the mix. Yikes!

Palpitations Anyone?

2008-05-13T10:36:00.002-07:00

I have a new addition to my wardrobe for the next month (except for my week of vacation later this month). I saw the cardiologist this morning and I'm now wearing a Looping Monitor. Since I had some pretty major palpitations a couple weeks ago they wanted me to wear this just to rule out any real problems. I'm sure this will turn out to be nothing at all and besides, now that I have this monitor on I can be sure that I won't get any more palpitations. That's just how it goes, right? It's like when you take your car in to the mechanic because it's making a noise. It never does it when the mechanic's there but as soon as you get the car home it starts doing it again.

I'll Give Him A Whirl

2008-05-08T15:19:00.002-07:00

I bit the bullet and got myself a new neurologist. Needless to say I've been putting this off for some time since my last so-called doctor and I had a falling- out. Actually for those of you who remember it, I fired him. I guess you couldn't really call it a falling-out since I did all the talking while his jaw lay on the floor.

After such a bad experience I wasn't really that anxious to go through the whole doctor search thing, but now is the time. I saw the "new guy", I'll call him for now, last week and he'll do...for now. I'm reserving judgement because how much can you really learn in one visit? I figured now was the time to jump back into the whole neuro thing because of a weird symptom. I wrote once before about an episode of apnea that I wasn't sure actually happened. Was it real or a dream? Now I know it must have been real because it's been happening again and again.

I wake up and I can't breathe. It's like I've forgotten how, or at least my brain has. I'm not gasping but I am struggling. It really only lasts for about two seconds, but let me tell you those are a long two seconds! I've done a little research and have come up with a phenomenon called "Central Sleep Apnea", which fits every description of what I'm experiencing. Of course all the articles call it extremely rare (but I always get the rare stuff so that's no surprise to me) or that only very ill people get it. Then the articles go on to say that people with degenerative neurological diseases can get it too. Bingo!

Basically what Central Sleep Apnea is is the brain signal isn't getting through to tell you to breathe. They say you won't suffocate from it but it sure feels like it. The neuro newbie wants me to have a sleep study. I'm okay with that but I know it will come back normal because I have more nights when this doesn't happen than nights when it does. Oh well, I'll do it and see what it comes up with.

We Actually Had A Spring!

2008-05-01T08:56:00.002-07:00

Here in the deserts of Phoenix we never really get much of a Spring or Fall. It seems like the weather goes from super hot to cold and back to hot again all without any mild weather in between. My husband and I usually kid each other about having the windows open whenever possible to get some fresh air because usually this can only happen for about two weeks maximum. Well this year we've actually had a Spring and that's really unusual. For about the last month the weather has been incredibly tolerable and we haven't hit 100 yet, although we've had several days in the 90's which I consider to be acceptable. So many days in the 80's and a nice breeze, it almost makes us forget and think we live in a normal place!
Since I slept with the windows open, the coyotes kept waking me up last night howling, yelping and carrying on. There is a desert wash behind the homes across the street and this wash comes directly down from the mountain and is a frequent pathway used by the coyotes. There must have been a huge pack of them last night because they were so loud! With all their yelping and howling they really sounded as if they were having a good time. In the back of my mind I was secretly hoping they were enjoying a snack of Beagle as the dog across the street bark incessently. I know that sounds mean and I really don't wish the dog any harm but sometimes the thought enters your mind and, what can you do?

Second Place Performance At Fiesta Skate 2008

2008-04-24T10:43:00.001-07:00

I finally managed to get this video posted. Actually my husband gets all the credit. It took him days of trouble-shooting to get to the bottom of the problem but I hope you like the video.

Technology Is Frustrating

2008-04-22T09:00:00.002-07:00

I've been waiting to make this post because I had something special I wanted to post. A video of my daughter at her second figure skating competition. She participated in the largest competition in the state of Arizona and I couldn't have been more proud.

She skated in two groups. First was the "Artistic Light" program. This is where they skate to a fun song and it is more for entertainment but it is judged. She skated a program to "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and it was so cute. She was dressed like a train conductor and she skated it so well. No mistakes! However she came in 5th out of five skaters. She was a little disappointed but took it well because it isn't really about your skating, I guess the judges just didn't care for the program. Who cares what they think, right?

Her second program was her technical one skated to "Pink Panther". It is completely different than the one I posted a couple months ago since she went up two levels since then. She was near perfect! And even better than that...she came in 2nd out of 5! She beat all those girls who had beaten her earlier in the day. Needless to say it did wonders for her confidence. I was so happy for her because she deserved it.

Why am I technologically frustrated? Because we recently bought a new video camera and filmed both performances. The videos came out nice but we can't get it posted. I can't post it to Blogger, MySpace, or YouTube. It used some weird coding or something and we are trying to figure out how to change it so we can post it. We can't even put it on a DVD. It's a Panasonic camera and is brand new. If there are any "techies" out there that know what I'm talking about, feel free to help me out.

Something To Make You Laugh

2008-04-08T10:21:00.005-07:00

Whenever I need a good laugh I go to some of my favorite YouTube videos. Here is one of those favorites in case you need a laugh today. I'm a bit skittish of bugs but this guy takes the cake!

Family Shocker

2008-04-01T10:21:00.002-07:00

Sometimes you hear about things and wonder how people go down the paths they do in life. What makes people chose the wrong path? How can you help guide them back to a place of reason and keep them from a life full of misery? In short, the answer is usually "Why?"

My parents live just a few minutes away from me. My sister and her two kids live with them since my sister left her emotionally abusive and neglectful husband and moved across the country here to Phoenix. They have been here a few years now and my nephew, who is mildly autistic but highly functioning, is happy in the fifth grade and has several friends. My neice is 14 and has a group of friends that can best be described as bad influences. These are kids you definitely don't want your loved-ones hanging out with. My sister has mental issues of her own and is in all honesty unable to be a parent. As they say, the light's on but nobody's home.

My mom became suspicious last week as to why my niece never took her jacket off. Mind you we live in the desert and it's already hot here. Excuse after excuse was made as to why she wouldn't take off her jacket. Her mother (my sister) was clueless as usual. My mom confronted my niece and forcibly removed her jacket to discover the horrifying sight of self-inflicted cuts all up her entire arms.

Here we ask the question "why?" What would possess a child to disfigure themselves? This is so beyond what I can wrap my mind around. My mom said it was as if someone kicked her in the stomach when she saw all the cuts. My niece has some friends who cut and those who don't do it, know about the ones that do. Some friends.

My parents have to be the parent to their granddaughter so they are already looking for a new school to get her away from these kids. I told them they also need to treat this as they would if she were addicted to drugs or alcohol. She needs help, and fast.

Whew!

2008-03-28T14:19:00.003-07:00

I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief today. My daughter woke up this morning with that spark back in her face along with a nice smile. She said she thought she was feeling better so I offered her some Gatorade and she chugged it all down. I haven't been able to get her to drink hardly anything for a week and even when she'd drink it would take her an hour to down a small glass of anything. Then she happily ate some cereal. This is huge given just how sick she's been for the last week. We seem to be on the road to recovery and I'm just so relieved.

We went to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor this afternoon due to her nosebleed and the doctor had to cauterize up in her nose. He explained to her that it would be uncomfortable but she just giggled through the whole thing. What a trooper! She isn't allowed to bend over or put her head down for a few days so that the vessel won't spring another leak until the scab forms over the area he cauterized. No worries...she's just planning on chilling out for the next couple days anyway and get back to normal by Monday.

Thanks for all the well wishes and suggestions from you guys...it really helped.

On The Ragged Edge

2008-03-27T13:02:00.002-07:00

I'm at my wits end and I don't know what to do. I'm trying not to reach the panic stage but as each day goes by it is getting harder and harder not to go there.

We spent all last night in the E.R. with my daughter. At 9:00 last night she had a terrible bout of nausea she was in a terrible state and shaking all over. She literally had her head in the toilet for about 90 minutes. It just kept getting worse as the time went by and my husband said we should go to the E.R. so at 11:30 we finally left for the hospital.

When we got there they were seeing patients that had been waiting since before 5:00pm! I debated going back home but we stayed, thankfully. The triage nurse too us back before going to the waiting room and my daughter had a resting heart rate of 150! She was alarmed by that and had us taken back right away. Thank God we didn't have to wait for hours and hours.

Long story short, they gave her something for nausea, pain meds for her abdominal pain and an I.V. for dehydration. Then a few hours later (5:00 am) sent us home. We are basically right back where we started.

I'm just so frustrated...and sad for her because she feels like crap.

Back To The Doctor

2008-03-26T09:51:00.003-07:00

We are headed back to the doctor's office this morning. My daughter is not feeling too much improvement, if any. She was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection on Monday and has been on an antibiotic since then. The diagnosis was made my a urine dipstick that showed microscopic white blood cells in her urine.

This morning I awoke to see my daughter's bathroom light was on well before it was time for her to get up. I thought she was probably nauseous (which she still is) but I walked in and was horrified. She had a bloody nose so bad that it was literally pouring out of her nose, running down her hands and into the sink. Then huge blood clots just kept coming out from far back in her nasal passage (sorry to be so graphic). We just kept pulling and pulling and they just kept coming out. It was shocking. I ran downstairs to get my husband (who has no squeamishness about blood) and he sat right down in the hallway dizzy after he saw this. I tried not to look panicked. It lasted for about 30 minutes and the blood was so dark red it was almost black. I am concerned that this may be why she has blood in her urine?

Hopefully it will just be a burst vessel, but my mother has a history of ITP (Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura) and severe anemia so naturally I'm a bit concerned. I just have a gut feeling that there has been blood draining into her stomach for the past few days. You know when you can tell your child isn't "herself". She has been so lethargic. I'm not trying to diagnose my own child but I'd rather know this stuff than be unprepared.

I'll let you know something when I do.

Mystery Ailment

2008-03-24T09:23:00.003-07:00

My daughter has presented with some mysterious symptoms over the last few days and it's something she hasn't experienced before.
It started sometime around last Thursday when I called my daughter to come and see something on the computer. She came out of the bathroom with a red face and said she felt sick. We went back into the bathroom for a few minutes and then she felt fine. No vomiting, thank God. Friday seemed okay as she didn't mention any sick feelings but it turns out she felt the same way. She was skiing this weekend with her dad and his family and her stepmom said she didn't eat hardly anything and said she felt sick when she ate.
She came home last night and ate dinner (a usual amount) but then felt queasy, she said. She felt good when I got her up this morning but she picked at her food after the first few bites and said she was feeling that way again. I made her finish her breakfast (which may or may not have been the right decision) and she finished getting ready for school. She just didn't look right and said she felt nauseous and her stomach hurt...but mostly nauseous. I called the doctor and we have an appointment for today at 4:00 and I kept her home from school. I was debating sending her to school or not and didn't know what to do so I asked her if she was up to skating this afternoon and she said to cancel her lesson. That made keep her home from school. She always looks forward t her lessons.
I guess what makes this mysterious to me is the fact that right now she is feeling fine. She only feels bad when she eats and for a couple hours after. This is a new one for me...I just don't get it. But hopefully the doctor will. I'll let you know...but in the mean time if anyone out there has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

The Other Spring Break

2008-03-20T09:38:00.002-07:00

As my readers know, my daughter was on Spring Break last week. My step-son has been here this week for his Spring Break and let's just say it could have been better. He got here Sunday morning and promptly went to bed because he said he was tired from the trip. I can see that, because his mom always books his flights either well before the crack of dawn or a close to midnight as she possible can (are you noting the scarcasm?). Turns out he wasn't tired, he was sick. Great. Really great. Sore throat, runny nose and to top it all off, pink eye. What a fun Spring Break! He's almost better now though, just in time to leave well before the crack of dawn Saturday morning.
It's bad enough that his break didn't coincide with my daughter's so at least he could have someone to play with but instead he's here all morning just hanging around watching T.V. At least my husband is working only half-days this week so they can get out of the house and go do something.
My niece and him are the same age so they get along great. She is on her Middle School basketball team and boy do they suck! It's hilarious how bad they are. They routinely get beat like 40-2 or 60-8. They were all psyched because they scored double digits last night! All the girls are afraid of the ball and nobody wants it. Their shots are not even close to the basket. Nothing like air-balls that land a full 3 feet shy of the rim. So sad it's funny. The kids had a blast cheering her and her team on. What a riot!
I'm going to go now and enjoy this wonderful Spring day and bask in the warmth of the 85 degrees predicted for today. Jealous?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T11:08:00.005-07:00

Kiss Me.......I'm Irish!

Spring Break

2008-03-12T12:08:00.002-07:00

I can't believe it's spring already! I love it. It's been in the low to mid 80's this week and it feels so good although we're in for a couple days in the low 60's this weekend. That sucks. Just when you get used to the beautiful days they throw a couple of those at ya. Rainy and cool. Blech!

My daughter is home from school this week for Spring Break so we've been hanging around the house chillin' out but having a good time. She had a friend sleep over here on Sunday night and then she slept at a friends house last night. We're off to grandma and grandpa's this afternoon. They only live about 5 minutes from us so that is really great for my daughter. Her aunt and two cousins live there too. I never had relatives that lived close by so I wasn't too close with my cousins considering I saw them once a year, at most. My daughter and her cousin (he's 11) love to ride their Ripsticks in the cul-de-sac. Have you guys heard of Ripsticks? It's like a skateboard only different. It has just 2 wheels and rides like a snowboard/surfboard. It's really cool! My daughter can ride it better than anyone I've ever seen, even the boys that tool around the neighborhood .They look at her on that thing like "How'd she do that"? Pretty funny.

I'm up to my ears in HOA stuff right now and that's kept me from posting for a few days. That and my daughter being on the computer constantly since she's been home. For her it's all about "Webkins"...whatever that is... Skating is going well and the new skates are finally broken in, for the most part. Thank you God! That was sure a rough patch. She has an early morning lesson Friday...this will be our first "crack-of-dawn" practice and hopefully that won't become normal for us. At least not yet. I need my beauty sleep!

I'll try and get around to all your blogs over the next few days. I miss checking in on ya and seeing what everyone's up to! Later!

Blabberings

2008-03-05T09:08:00.002-07:00

It's been a while since my last post but rest assured all's well here. It's just that there isn't really anything to say, at least anything people would find remotely interesting so I'll just blabber on about some mundane things and leave it at that.

My migraine's history, thank God. It took a while but after a few days of forcing myself not to take any medication it finally went away. Here's to having a few weeks free from that excrutiating pain!

Skating is going well. My daughter is in a new pair of boots and blades. Yes already. They are hideously expensive but thanks to a great coach who knows all the tricks of the trade, they didn't cost that much. She is breaking them in now and it's quite painful and frustrating but by next week that should be all over with and she can get on as normal.

We have been having some interesting weather here lately. We had a week in the 80's! I was basking in the warmth and it was so great and I was just starting to get used to the change in weather but now we're back down to 69. I am anxiously waiting for the next warm up because that will probably be permanent. Most people think I'm crazy to want heat here in this oven that we live in but I feel so much better in the heat. I'm that rare person with MS that feels this way. I guess it's lucky for me though considering where I live!

Migraine Madness

2008-02-26T08:37:00.002-07:00

Help! I've had a migraine since last week and there seems to be no stopping it. Actually the migraine lasted the entire week but did give me a break Sunday, only to return yesterday.

I have taken the drug Amerge for my migrains for several years now and it really does work so I don't know why this headache insists on hanging around. (Maybe it's my pre-menopausal state...sorry male readers). Usually I will use maybe one or two Amerge pills each month but last week I used a total of 4 and even 2 in one day. What really bugs me is that you can't necessarily take a migraine pill when you need it because they are like gold. What I mean by that is the insurance companies will only let you get an alloted amount of pills over a certain period of time, then you're S.O.L. (S**t outta luck). So don't use it unless you really need it. This really bothers me because it's obvious that the people at the insurance companies have never had a migraine in their life, otherwise they would have maybe an ounce of compassion. Yeah right. You can't get addicted to these pills...they aren't pain pills and they have no side effects like pain pills do. In otherwords there is no high.

I don't know why this bothers me about the insurance company, I mean it's nothing new. But it really sucks to have the medicine right there in the cupboard but have to weigh whether or not you should take it because you may have a worse headache later. All I can do is stick it out and try to get through it and save my pills for another day, because I know there will be one.

Nothing New

2008-02-19T09:55:00.003-07:00

Here's just an update of the goings-on around here over the past few days. In short, not a whole lot to report.
The in-laws left Friday and are back in Nebraska freezing their butts off. I think it's around zero degrees there so I feel bad complaining about our low 60's, so I won't. We are headed for some rain over the next week and that's always an adjustment. I get so used to the sunshine that a dreary day can really have an affect on me.
As far as skating news goes the only thing to report is that my daughter already needs new skates. Ugh! The ones she has are nice and all but not good for the bigger jumps. Her coach says she's ready to learn her Axel but "not in those skates". We are on the lookout for a pair of boots and will also need new blades.They come separate when it comes to good skates. Hopefully we can find a pair on clearance or something. Even a nice used pair would be great.
I haven't written about my health in a while mostly because there isn't anything to say other than I've been feeling good. No complaints in that department! All I can say is thank God for LDN! I still dont' have a new neurologist because I haven't even looked for one yet. I have so little faith in doctors that I keep procrastinating. I want to find one that is "open minded" but I think that's going to be a hard search. They can't seem to think outside the box and I'd hate to waste my time and co-pay money to go there and find out he's just another boob!