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So, this is not what I was going to write today – I’ll finish that later and post it tomorrow.

I’m a little sad today. Ok – a lot sad, really.

Our neighbor, Wendy, passed away this morning. She wasn’t very old – barely into her 60’s. She’s been our neighbor for 22 years and was a great friend of my mom.

About 8 or so months ago, Wendy was diagnosed with having ALS, known more commonly as Lou Gherig’s disease. The doctors estimate she’d been having symptoms of the disease for quite some time before the diagnosis but who knows how long, really. She often refused to see a traditional doctor. As a nurse, she generally “diagnosed” herself and was always trying weird things – fastings and diets and what-not. I’m sure some of those took their toll on her.

Anyway, she and her husband have been good friends to our family for many years and I’m sad she’s gone.

Please say a prayer, send a thought, light a candle for her and for her husband, will you? I know Jerry is going to need a lot of support in the coming days and weeks.

Thank you.

Be blessed,

{Weather}

The weather here in the Seattle area has been just absolutely gorgeous lately! I’m really enjoying it. It’s still cold in the morning and at night – about 30-36?- and warms up to the mid 50’s by noon or so. Quite nice! Things that don’t normally bloom until Spring are starting to blossom already and there are a lot of birds as well.

{Shoulder}

I think I must have inadvertently slept on my shoulder last night because it and my arm are incredibly sore this morning. Not just sore, actually, but downright painful. I hope the referral for my MRI comes very soon. Kinda getting tired of waiting. I want to know what can be done about this pain before it gets any worse.

{Weight}

Now that it’s been almost a whole month since my doctor changed my blood pressure medication, I’m absolutely sure it was what causing the weight gain. Since I began taking the new medication, I’ve lost 10 pounds and I haven’t changed anything else – foods, exercise, etc – so I know for sure that’s what it is. This is very good news! I am so glad it was the answer.

Let me tell you – being “in touch” with your body and what’s going on with it is very important. If I hadn’t been, I’d still be taking the other medication and my weight would still be climbing. Many people don’t understand those subtle things about their bodies and aren’t really in tune with what’s going on. You owe it yourself – and your family – to understand your body and your health. Taking care of yourself is paramount.

{Cane}

My cane arrived last Thursday and I went grocery shopping with my mom Friday. Using the cane was so nice. I was able to take the pressure off my leg a lot and that really helped my endurance. My back didn’t start really complaining until we were nearly finished with our shopping. And I didn’t have that odd grinding feeling in my back every time I took step. I think this is going to turn out to be very helpful indeed! Glad I decided to go with it.

{Projects}

I’ve got two major projects going on right now. Both are for my cousin’s hair and nail salon. The first is designing a website for her home salon and make up line. It’s been fun and challenging! The second is a web-based application I’m building with Ruby on Rails for her to keep track of her client information. I’m having a good time learning RoR as I go along and I think the application is going to turn out well.

{Snow Leopard}

I finally took the plunge and upgraded my MacBook Pro to the latest OS X operating system – Snow Leopard. It’s running great and I like the updates. Lots of new features that I didn’t have in the Tiger edition of the OS. Some of the improvements are just little changes but those are good too. My system is now running faster (although it was never really all that slow) and I gained a few GB of space on my hard drive. That’s pretty cool! Before SL, I had 24gb of hdd space and now I’ve got 30gb, so that’s a bonus.

{The Husband}

My husband has been in college since last Spring, taking the AA degree program in welding. He’s almost finished! Yay! He gets to take a certification test next week and then he’ll actually be qualified to work in the industry in Washington State. Then, he has Spring quarter plus a couple more classes over Summer quarter to complete the full degree. Being that he’s never really finished anything in his entire life, this is a huge milestone for him. Now, hopefully, he will find a good job in the industry and stick with it.

{Miscellaneous}

I think I’ll do an “Around the Web” update this week and maybe even a few other things. Haven’t done those in a while and I know everybody always enjoys those. So look out for that, probably Wednesday or Thursday.

And have a great week!

Until next time -

Be blessed,

I’ve been ignoring something for a long time. Something I just didn’t want to have to admit to myself. But in an effort to live my truth – to CREATE my truth – I must let this out and acknowledge it.

Most people, just looking at me, don’t know there’s anything wrong with my arm. It looks normal – on the outside. On the inside, though, it doesn’t work quite right.

See, I have no feeling from mid biceps all the way down to the palm of my hand. It’s been like that for over 23 years now. Well, not quite as bad in the beginning – it’s gotten worse over the years. At first, it was mostly around my elbow and part of my forearm along with part of my wrist and hand.

What caused this?

A bike riding accident.

I fell off my bike going down a steep hill at a pretty high rate of speed and slid 20-something feet across the pavement. Thankfully I protected my head or I probably wouldn’t have had a face left. But . . . since I *did* protect my head as I fell and slid, I managed to totally screw up my arm.

When I was 14, about 6 months after the accident, I had surgery to repair part of the damaged nerves. The surgery rerouted the major nerve that goes from the shoulder to the hand, called the ulner nerve. It’s the one that makes your arm feel funny when you hit your “funny bone.” It’s not actually the bone you’re hitting that causes the funny sensation – it’s the ulner nerve. And let me tell you, when you DON’T have an ulner nerve there and you hit your elbow, it hurts like freakin’ hell. And I’m not kidding.

Anyway, the sliding across the pavement damaged that nerve along with just about every other nerve in my elbow region. In addition to the nerve damage, I also have tendonitis and bursitis in my elbow. I’m sure by now there’s arthritis too and who knows what else.

Over the years, the non-feeling area has widened and like I said above, it now goes from mid-biceps all the way to into the palm of my hand. Sometimes my fingers go numb too.

I cannot grip things with my right hand very well anymore as result. I drop things constantly or think I’ve picked something up but really haven’t. The sensation is all out of whack and it’s often hard to tell without actually looking to see what I’m doing. I can’t pick up a penny or a nickel or any coin from a table. I have to slide it to the edge of the surface and let it fall into my hand.

Now, as a right-handed person, this is not good. Especially as a right-handed WRITER. And although I am ambidextrous and can write left-handed, I do prefer to write right-handed because, well, it looks slightly nicer.

Yes, I can type – obviously. But do you know how beautiful it is to hold your favorite pen in your hand and write? Write on fine paper? Write and scribble and doodle? Pen lovely words to those you hold dear?

I’ve always been a “writer” type person. Even as a child. Most girls had Barbies and dolls and what-not. I had paper, pens, crayons and all that good stuff. I was always writing. (If I wasn’t out riding my bike, that is!)

I always knew this day would come, the day the doctor told my mom 23 years ago would eventually come. The day when I really couldn’t write well. The day my nice, neat, oft-complimented handwriting would turn into chicken scratch. That holding a pen would be so uncomfortable, I wouldn’t even want to write.

Well, that day is here.

It’s been here for a while now and I just didn’t want to admit it. I kept thinking maybe it was just the pen. Or maybe it was just the paper. But no, it really is my arm.

Earlier this morning, I wrote a note for my sons absence from school yesterday and didn’t even recognize my own writing. It looked like . . . I don’t even know what.

So, this is a very discouraging place for me. As someone who has always taken pride in their writing, to no longer have that is quite upsetting. It’s like losing your best friend or your most prized possession.

A part of me is gone.

And I’m really not quite sure what to do about it. I knew it was going to happen at some point, but I really had hoped it wouldn’t be until I was considerably older.

Until next time -

Be blessed,

Breakfast is overrated.

I hate breakfast foods. Really, I do. I’m allergic to eggs, don’t like pancakes or sausage, can’t stand oatmeal or cold cereal, don’t eat bacon. I mean, what’s left after that? Hashbrowns? Who wants to eat hashbrowns every. single. day. Not me.

Waffles are okay – I like them, but as a mom of 4 children, who has time (or energy) to make waffles before school? I sure don’t. I already get up at 6:00am insanely early (for me, anyway, being a nightowl) and I refuse to get up any earlier just to cook. LOL

Okay then, what does one eat for breakfast?

Nothing.

Yes -I know, I know – everyone says it’s imperative to eat *something* for breakfast when you’re loosing weight. And yet, I usually just can’t. Nothing is appetizing at 6:00am.

But 10:00am? My stomach is ready for food at 10. Maybe it’s because it was conditioned to eat at 10 because that was our scheduled “lunch” time all during high school. I can eat lunch at 10 am. Or, I mean, breakfast.

Then again, maybe it has to do with that nightowl thing. I mean, if you get up 9 or 9:30, then 10 is the perfect time for breakfast.

And who says you have to breakfast food for breakfast? Is that a rule somewhere? I thought food was . . . well, food. You eat it, right? Who cares then?

Fruit is good. Ham sandwiches are good. Toast with almond butter is good. And smoothies. I can do smoothies. Or granola with a little warm hemp milk.

If you’re not a breakfast person (or even if you are), what do you try to eat for breakfast? And when? Early or later, like me?

I’m curious to know how you all handle the breakfast thing.

If it were up to me, there would not even be a thing called breakfast. LOL We’d skip right to lunch about noon or so and go on from there.

So, there’s my rant for today! Please . . . share your thoughts with me in the comments.

Until later -

Be blessed,

I don’t often talk about myself – well, not truly personal things – here on this blog. Mostly because I don’t really like to dwell on things that are going on in my life. But I’m going to break that silence today.

See, what you may not know is that I’m “disabled.” I don’t like to label myself as disabled, though, because when I think of someone truly disabled, I think of my dad who not only had an artificial leg, but was missing several fingers on both hands. Yet, he never thought of himself as disabled either.

It used to bug me to no end when people would stare at my dad when we went somewhere. I used to get so livid that people could be so rude! Sometimes I even told them so! LOL (Yes, I was a feisty kid!)

I always think of someone in a wheelchair or someone who uses a walker or mobility scooter as someone who is really disabled. I think I’m doing pretty good most days when I see people using those devices!

And so, even though my doctor says I now must begin using a cane, I am not going to think of myself as disabled. So there! LOL

Last week when I was in the doctors office for my back and shoulder, she said I really should use a cane. Apparently the arthritis in my low back is really causing some degeneration in the spine that she’s concerned about. Especially since I lose feeling my leg quite easily. And when she couldn’t even get my leg to reflex when she tapped my knee with the little hammer, she decided we needed an MRI.

Hopefully the referral for the MRI for both my back and my shoulder (which she also decided was necessary) will come this week and I get those done. The doctor also thinks it’s time to get started on social security paperwork and I suspect that also will mean paperwork for a disabled parking permit.

The worst part for me is realizing that in the last 6 months, I’ve lost A LOT of motion in my legs and low back. It seems like no matter what I do, everything is getting worse. I feared that one day this would come. In fact, when I first hurt my back in 1997, the doctors told me then that it likely would occur at some point. I just wasn’t planning on it happening until I’d at least reached my 50’s or so.

Anyway, I’m not going to dwell on it – I will do what I always do – what my dad taught me to do by his example and that is to do the best I can and to take it one day at a time.

And when my cane arrives next week, I’ll post a picture of it for you! It shipped yesterday so hopefully it arrives by Wednesday or Thursday. I really hope Wednesday, though, because that’s usually when I go grocery shopping and it would make it so much easier! Even though my mom usually goes shopping with me to help push the cart and carry the bags in, I would like to be able to walk around the store without so much pain.

I also found a really cool walking stick last weekend but decided against buying as it was a little pricey. If it had been about $30, I probably would have gotten it. My mom thought it was a little high for me, though. Oh well!

I think maybe I’ll get a couple of other canes too. Maybe some fancy ones. I figure, if you’ve gotta use one, you may as well go all out, right? Be a little crazy, a little goofy. Have some fun!

Canes are the new shoes. I’ll have one for every occasion!

Be blessed,

You may remember that I’ve been having trouble with weight gain. I was convinced it was due to the prescription I’ve been on since late last spring for high blood pressure. And you may remember that on my last update about this, I finally got the doctor to agree that it was probable.

In fact, the doctor and I determined I’d gained almost 25 pounds since I began taking it! So, he changed the medication on my last visit. I’ve been on the new prescription for about 3 weeks now and I am happy to report . . .

I’ve lost 10 pounds!!! (Note: I have not changed a single thing besides the prescription!)

And it was confirmed at the doctors office this afternoon. I’m so happy about that. I feel better too, of course. Though I am a bit more tired lately. He did say that this particular med could cause some fatigue. I would much rather deal with a little fatigue than a whole lotta weight gain.

I’m also happy to report that my blood pressure was even lower today!! Even on the previous medication, it had still been slightly higher than my normal range. But today it was right in line with what it’s always been. I’m so, so happy about that!

AND . . . I’m also VERY HAPPY TO SAY that my 11 year old DOES NOT HAVE DIABETES!! Yay! He had the testing today and it all came back normal. WooHoo!

The only thing that’s not good news is that xrays on my back confirmed that I have arthritis in my lower spine. So, the doctor ordered an MRI for both my back and my shoulder.

In any case, this is shaping up to be a good month! I am just over the top that my son isn’t diabetic. My dad and sister were both diabetic and I remember all they went through. I didn’t want that for my son. I know diabetes isn’t the end of the world, but remember — he’s the one with autism. So, adding another thing to the mix . . . well, lets just say, it was a very stressful thought.

Hope your week is good one!

Until next time . . .

Be blessed,

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I thought the blood pressure medicine I take was causing me to gain weight. Since we don’t have a scale at home, I had no idea really how much. But I knew that my clothes just didn’t fit right and I felt different.

Well, last week was my doctors appointment to check how the blood pressure is doing on the meds and see if anything needs to be adjusted. I told the doctor about my suspicions (that the meds were causing weight gain) and at first, he thought I was just being overly sensitive. That is, until he actually went back through my records and realized I was right!

Between May when I began taking the prescription and August, I gained 11 pounds. And between August and now, I gained 13! And the meds were the only change I had made. Everything else is the same – food, exercise, etc didn’t change. Just the stupid medications!

So, he changed the medication and hopefully it will be better. I do feel a little different on these but I’ve only been taking them for 3 days so it’ll be a while before I notice any major changes. With any luck, the weight gain will reverse itself!

Let me just take a moment – again – to implore you to keep on top of your health. You owe your health to your family, especially if you have little kids. Health is not something to be taken lightly. Do your best to keep healthy. I generally don’t condone going to the doctor and using medications – I don’t think they are the “cure” – just a stepping stone, maybe, to get well enough to get off them if possible.

Obviously, there are some things that need constant medication like some forms of diabetes and what-not and I’m certainly not saying to never use prescription drugs. Just do your homework, ask questions, be informed and use your best judgment. And of course, I am not a doctor and I don’t play one on the internet, either. I’m just a mom, a writer and a graphic designer who has a few health issues. Take it or leave it but don’t substitute it for real advice.

Hope you had a great weekend! And thanks for all the birthday wishes! You all are awesome.

Be blessed,