And I Thought

So time to fire up the old blog-a-roo, lots has happened; some good, some bad, all in all I would say things haven’t been so horrible.  Finally.

In August I finally received health insurance.  This has taken such an enormous burden off of me financially, that I have coined this time in my life “Blanketgirl Financial Recovery”.

These damn illnesses were determined to bankrupt me.  Between the payments for the doctors and the outrageous cost of my medications, feeding us was a struggle (good news! because we were so broke, I lost 30 lbs.!) I had thought initially that I hadn’t changed anything to lose the weight, but I had.  Subconsciously I was eating less to leave more for my fam.  I noticed because when things started to look up, I gained two of those pounds back.

I have a new diagnoses to add to the bunch, hyperlipidemia.  Apparently, as my doctor explained it, this type of problem is also genetic.  I had a triglyceride count of 432.  A normal count would be between 120 and 150.  Everything else was normal to low in my panel, so it’s not health related.  Bummer right?  If it were diet I could fix it without meds, alas it is not, so a new prescription is added to the mix.  That makes seven types of medications at different times all throughout the day and night.  That’s not including the bladder installations!  If I add those in, I take nine meds.  Wowza that’s a  lot for a 33 yr old.

My kids and husband are fantastic.  Oldest is running cross country track and is doing very well.  She also is in the art club at her school.  Youngest is in cheer still, and in tumbling.  I love watching them be so successful!

Husband is still working at the same place, he likes it.  We wish he could earn more money, but who doesn’t, right?  We will continue to wish in one hand and doo in the other and see which fills first.  Hah!

I’ve been resting a bunch lately, Interstitial Cystitis flares mixed with fibromyalgia flares mixed with spinal stenosis’ tight grip have left me exhausted.  I take naps everyday, and have had trouble sleeping at night.  The night awakedness (“awakedness” is a made up word by me and I like it) has led to a very successful seven generations of my Sims 3 family.  Thank god for Sims 3.  Without them I would be pacing in circles rocking and crying.  I recommend the game to anyone who has a great imagination and is looking for a distraction.  It does the trick!

I am off to play the piano.  Have been improving my Tori song skill set exponentially.  Feeling a bit cocky about my skills, son.  Hah!  Maybe writing will start again.  I’d love to see me finish my damn book!

Until next time here’s wishing you a fabulous life free of pain and debt.  Wish it for me too, and maybe we can bump that wish-to-doo ratio.

So Simple

I have been struggling with a problem, this problem concerns my dogs eating my cats, ahem, waste.  They would treat the litter box as an all you can eat buffet (while supplies last of course).  The location of the litter box has been the same for about seven years; it was positioned between my washer and dryer in the laundry closet.  Each day we would shout and scold the dogs, each day they would eat shit.  The cycle continued until I snapped while vacuuming up clay and poo particles left from the most recent foraging.  I needed a solution.  I summoned husband and we discussed options.  As far as location, this is the only place that will work. Small homes limit these things.  As far as stopping the dogs, a kiddy fence had been set up to prevent them from entering the litter box area, which more or less prevented us from entering the litter box area, the dogs would always find a way.  As far as my frustration, I was maxed.  Husband retreated with no other suggestions.

Suddenly it came to me.  Genius!  Beautiful in its simplicity!  Perfect!

I turned the litter box around.

Now the the back of the litter box is at the edge of the front of the washer and dryer.  The cats nimbly hop over the box, and enter from the back (front).  Now they can get in and out but the dogs cannot.

Hooray!

Small, yet extremely rewarding victory.

Something’s Just Keeping

Today I pulled out all my old sheet music from when I was taking piano lessons, about ten years worth of music.  I played through old sonatinas I’d forgotten I’d remembered.  I love this new confidence!

The children had been grounded from TV and movies and video games for 30 days.  The last day was the day before yesterday.  My kids were so pumped!  The reasoning was to help them realize that they needed to complete their chores without being prompted.  I had read a study where it was determined that it takes 27 days to break a bad habit or form a good one.  Achieved!  I love it!  The last few days have been great.  They both arrive home from school and do their homework without me asking.  Their chores are done each day too.  Their clothes are folded in their drawers!  Hooray for small victories!  They have another 30 days looming if they go back to their old ways, this time with everything gone plus music.  I really hope they don’t have to go through that.  I wouldn’t like to enforce it.

I’ve been working on the way I view situations.  I’m trying to be kinder to myself.  I spoke to a friend of mine and she had commented that she thinks I’m so lucky to get to sit around all day sleeping and watching movies or whatever.  What a life!  At first I was really mad.  What a bitch! (I thought) She has no idea what it’s like to want to clean or cook and not be able to because of pain, and she already knows how sick I am.  Instead of defending myself, I just agreed. Yes, yes, be jealous of MY awesome life.  Hah!

I’ve decided that my pain is mine.  I can’t make others understand (aside from those loved ones that know who they are), so defending just makes me tired.  They just don’t and can’t get it.  I hope that my friend never gets sick enough to know how great it is to get to sleep and rest all day.  Whatever.

Oldest begins art club at school next Tuesday.  Yay!  She isn’t able to fit in an elective due to academic tutoring, so this is a good compromise.  Youngest has two more sessions of gymnastics before the week break.  She’s doing the splits.  I’m very impressed.

Husband and I are going to see “Shutter Island” tomorrow.  It looks good.  I love horror/suspense.  We have our fourteen year anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks.  This is our early date together.

With A Demon

Today I set myself up for relaxation.  I knew after so much stress yesterday that I would flare, and wallah!  I did.  This morning I prepared myself by doing a treatment, then went to watch Paranormal State with a friend.  We spent some time chatting while we ate yummy chicken sandwiches (breaded and fried chicken breasts with mayo and lettuce…mmmmm).

After that I watched Youngest at her gymnastics class.  Today was an excellent day for her.  She won the game of Simon Says, which she always tries to win and doesn’t, and she did a hand stand for 72 seconds.  It was awesome.

Oldest is feeling a bit yucky, so we have her taking this herbal remedy my Dad sent me.  It seems to be working, so I think she’ll be back to normal by Sunday.

My Middle Sister posted pictures of her new doggie today.  She had some friends who were moving to a place that didn’t allow pets, so she volunteered to adopt the super cute miniature doberman pincer.  She’s a year and a half old and called Kasey.  So sweet!  Side note: Very happy she didn’t buy Kasey at a pet store.  Never buy dogs at pet stores!  Always rescue!  Check out this list American Kennel Club Breed Rescue if you want a fantastic friend – if your city isn’t listed do an internet search for a local rescue of the breed you would like.  Speaking of which, Husband and I were approached by the magazine people again; I guess that they received lots of comments on our story and would like to revisit with us for the ten year anniversary issue.  Super exciting, right?  The best part is that we have only great things to report.  Our little dog is so happy and snugly.  She sits on my lap or on my hip (if we’re on the couch), and sleeps with me in my bed sometimes.  She’s become the cuddly lap dog I wanted.  I love that she is all healed up and happy.  Her abused edginess has been replaced by trusting calm.

I’m rounding out my relaxing day with a relaxing night of crap movies.  First, “Curse of the Demon” followed by “Night of the Demon”.  Cheesy film heaven.  “You cannot defeat the demon unless you are a true believer.  Sir, are you a true believer?”