The one where I whine a little...

You've been forewarned. I'm feeling slightly whiny so no doubt that's how this post will come off. If you don't feel like listening to it, you are cordially invited to skip this one. And I won't be mad. Pinky swear.

We had a lovely weekend. Really, the wedding went off well. The reception was a lot of fun and ended far too quickly. The whole thing was great. I did not get drunk as I had planned. I did drink quite a bit of some really excellent wine but it was spread throughout the day and at the reception I kept running into people who wanted to talk and when I talk, I get so animated that I forget to keep drinking. So I was on the sober side when we left for home. Lu went ahead and drove since obviously she hadn't been drinking. We got home around midnight thirty and crawled into bed.

Enter Sunday morning. My legs refuse to work properly. I've mentioned before that I have Fibromyalgia and my leg muscles are a lot of where the problem is focused. All the walking, standing and some stairs Saturday pretty much insured they'd be screaming at me Sunday. So it really was no surprise. I rested a lot of Sunday. Watched some movies that no one else would've watched with me. One was a 1945 black & white horror film I'd never seen before. It had an awesome plot. I didn't mind my down time.

Unfortunately, my body wasn't satisfied with just one day. I've been having this problem lately. When I sit at my computer my feet swell up and then it hurts to walk on them. It’s been a couple of months and I probably should have called the doctor sooner, but I was busy. (Yes, that is my excuse. That and I get sick of doctors.) And now it’s to the point where after a while they go numb. If I sit elsewhere and keep them elevated they do better. So I've been trying to work in breaks. Although breaks make me crazy- they feel so unproductive.

And now there are these bright red dots all over my calves and shins and a few above my knee. No, it’s not a rash. They are flush with my skin and don't itch or hurt. They're just there. They look like larger versions of the petechia that Lu gets when her platelets are low. So I called the doctor. And he wants to look for zebras instead of horses. (That’s what I call it when they do elaborate tests and it turns out to be something simple). So tomorrow they'll take an ultrasound of my heart to make sure its functioning properly. I'm no doctor, but I'm betting it’s something simpler like autoimmune vasculitis and all I need is a course of steroids. But we'll see. Meantime I'm laying low and grumbling because I'm not feeling productive. Of course, there's no one here to grumble to because it’s the busy time of year.

Fibromyalgia is like that. I go for weeks feeling fine and respecting my limitations and then it flares and I have to sit a few rounds out. I'm not much for sitting on the sidelines.

On the work front though, I still managed to finish the edits on the first manuscript for Angelic Knight Press. I posted a book review at See Spot Read yesterday. And an author/publisher interview at The Author Spot. I have a new manuscript to edit for a client not involved with Angelic Knight, and one client due to send me one mid-July. I have a new book to read for review next week. And a book to beta read for a friend. Plus my own two works-in-progress to work on. So legs be damned...I'm busy!

Thanks for listening those of you who stayed. I feel better for the venting. And if you know of anyone who's had a similar problem, do tell. I'll take my suggestions to the doctor next week.

♥Spot

The one where I try to get back on track...no really, I mean it this time.

I'm really not being very good about this whole posting on a regular basis thing, am I? I could give you the fifty million excuses I could think of, but lets just chalk it up to health issues and motivational fail. Mmmk?

First, thank you to all of you who follow my facebook and sent wishes and prayers while Mike was in the hospital last weekend. That support is so appreciated. It was appreciated the first day when he was so sick and they couldn't figure out what was wrong and then the next day when he was so grumpy, I wanted to thump him with something. You know how you can tell your kids are getting over an illness, because they start getting grumpy? Well apparently he never got the memo that kids do that, not grown men. I think over the last year, I've kind of proved I'm a patient person. So everyone should probably stop testing my patience.

Second, I got to hear the grand baby's heartbeat again. Lu is doing great and everything is going well with her pregnancy. Her platelets dropped about 20,000 but they are still well above normal. She gained a pound back. And her belly has really popped out finally. There's no mistaking she's pregnant. And it's adorable. Although, she really doesn't like people touching her belly. I told her she better suck it up and get used to it. Pregnant bellies are like magnets. You just have to touch them. Things did not work out with the guy she was seeing. But his behavior afterward certainly showed that she made the right decision. Obsessive much? Yes he was. The baby's father finally got in contact with her again. It's only been a few texts but that's a step in the right direction. Maybe they can at least salvage a friendship since they are sharing a baby.

I have about a zillion conversations to share with you. So here goes:

The last day Mike was in St. Louis he'd called to talk to me and towards the end of the convo he began to sound distracted and I heard him say:

Mike: I don't know what I did with my phone.

Me: (completely confused) What?

Mike: I can't find my phone. I hope I left it in my room.

Me: Um. You don't mean the phone that you're talking to me on, right?

Mike: Well hell. That's why it's not in my pocket!

And last night we were watching a movie and the characters were walking in a forest in England and came upon a place where animal skulls were hung from trees:

Mike: That skull is an American big horn. They don't have those in Europe.

Lu: Stop taking the fun out of it!

Sean: The movie was probably filmed in Oregon anyway.

Me: Yeah, they have those in Oregon.

Lu: *giggling* I can't believe they put the wrong skulls up. Geez, did they think no one would notice? How silly of them.

And the other day, while sitting in Mike's doctors examining room:

Me: I can't read any of those papers he has posted on the back of the door. I mean, I can read the large print but that's about it. I need to make an eye appointment because I'm pretty sure I'm going blind.

Mike: *starts reading off the fine print*

Me: Wow. Thanks. Way to make me feel inferior. Good job big guy.

Mike: *trying to make me feel better* Well it's kind of blurry and I have to concentrate to read it.

Me: Um yeah. It's kind of blurry to me too and I have to concentrate to make it look like words!

Which reminds me that I still need to make that eye appointment! I have an appointment with the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor tomorrow for some vertigo I've been having. The downside to vertigo is that everything spinning like that is slightly nauseating. And I did actually fall down once. The upside though is that no one has to take me to Six Flaggs this year. Just bending down makes me feel like I'm on an amusement park ride!

Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day! And that you are all in good health and good spirits.

Peace Out,
♥Spot

The one where Sean doesn't have an eye tumor but I have crunchy knees...

Sorry to leave you hanging for a few days! I know everyone was waiting to see if Sean had an eye tumor. The answer is no. Sean does not have an eye tumor, brain tumor, or anything seriously wrong with him. And I got super busy, which seems to happen a lot lately. More about that on another blog. Now, back to our story...

As Sean and I were waiting Friday in the Nurse Practitioner's office we were bored. Obviously she's a pediatrician, so her exam rooms are full of toys, children's books and tips for new or young parents. Well, Sean wouldn't let me read him a story, so I started reading out loud the "Tips for Teeth" posted on the bulletin board. They seemed to be common sense. Brush your teeth. Floss. Get sealants. But number four was the best~

Me: "Don't put your child to bed with a bottle". Damn. Okay Sean, you're going to have to start leaving the Jack upstairs when you go to bed at night. I don't want you ruining your teeth.

Sean: Wow. You're the best parent ever.

Me: I know right? I should write a damn book!

After lunch, the expedition to Shopko, and the trip to the library, we headed back to the clinic to check in for Sean's eye appointment. We settled in the waiting room with our books. Fortunately, we didn't wait long. As we got up to follow the nurse, my knee gave a loud pop. Like a "make the people in the waiting room turn around and stare at you" pop. No big deal. Does it all the time. Not very painful, but I did notice it was grinding as I walked back to the exam room. The nurse did the usual, took the history, had him read the eye chart, looked at his eyes. Then she decided to put some drops in his eyes. Let me just explain that Sean is not a wuss. The kid has had two corneal scratches, which are supposed to be excruciatingly painful injuries, and he didn't even tell anyone for hours. I've picked gravel out of his skin and scalp from wipe outs. He's had pneumonia with 103 fever before and told me "he's fine". But he does have sensitive eyes. When he was a toddler, I had to make sure he had sunglasses on all the time. He'd get severe headaches after swimming from the light reflecting at the pool. He has very pale blue eyes and the eye doctor said that the pigment was very light and that's what made them so sensitive. I used to have to sit on him to get eye drops in his eyes. Then he got bigger than me and I gave up.

So this nurse is trying to get drops in his eyes and he's squirming. Finally, she gets them in but his eyes keep watering and watering. Then she tries to check pressure with a blue light she's shining directly in his eyes. Not going so well. So then she sticks some pen looking thing that clicks loudly in his eyes. At last, she manages to get what she needs and leaves the room. Sean is not a happy camper. So~

Me: Give me your hand.

Sean: *sticks out his hands* Why?

I place his hand on my knee, which is stretched out in front of me. Then I bend it.

Sean: *freaking the f*ck out* WTH?!! That's disgusting!!! Why would you do that?

(In Sean's defense...it is disgusting. You can feel my bones/cartilage grating when I do that)

Me: Because you aren't thinking about your eye anymore! It's called distraction. You're welcome.

Sean: OMG. I still can't believe you did that. Why didn't you warn me?

Me: Because then you wouldn't have given me your hand. Duh.

Sean: Now my knees feel weird. *he's rubbing them as he speaks*

Me: Hahaha. Mine too.

Sean: I may hate you.

Me: Whatever. You know it was a good distraction. See what a great mom I am??

The doctor comes in and sits and manages to look at Sean's eyes. He says he has cobblestones.

Me: What?

Doctor: They're bumps under his eyelid. They rub on the eye itself and can be quite painful. That's why both his eye itself and the lid were hurting.

Me: Gross. What's it from?

Doctor: It's an allergic reaction. I'm going to give you allergy eye drops and some steroid drops to help the inflammation. Use them until it feels better and then just keep on with the allergy drops. *he leaves*

Me: *giggling*

Sean: Why are you laughing?

Me: Because it's an architectural issue. Stop trying to build streets in your eyes.

Sean: *laughing* Yeah, when he said "cobblestones" I started thinking of old English streets.

Me: I know right? Weird. Guess you aren't going to be on Mystery Diagnosis after all. But hey, maybe HGTV would be interested. *I ducked the punch he aimed my way*

So then I got to go to the doctor. It wasn't really funny. She said my knee was "extra crunchy". She showed me the arthritis on my xray. Said she could do an MRI but she didn't think I'd torn any soft tissue. She told me I'd probably need a knee replacement in the future.

Me: Um. I'm not really big on surgeries. My last one was kind of a fiasco.

Her: Well, if it comes town to being in a wheelchair or having a knee replacement, I'm pretty sure you'll go with the surgery.

Me: Wow. Way to sugarcoat that for me.

She also told me that she'd happily give me a shot in the knee for the pain. Or a shot in the hip if it continued to hurt. And that I definitely needed to get the carpel tunnel surgery on my left wrist before I did permanent nerve damage. And sentenced me to physical therapy 3 freakin times a week. It was not a fun visit.

So I signed up for therapy, picked up meds and ran Sean home so he could get ready for his camp out. And I answered a few emails and then decided to meet friends for drinks and dinner. Grown up style. It was awesome. Sean's eye is pretty much all healed. The eye drops worked wonders and I don't even have to sit on him to get them in his eyes.

I've heard that several of you used our saying "that stripper is off her pole!". Sweet.

That's all for today kiddies. But you are definitely going to want to tune in tomorrow. Tomorrow...I get to offer you something. Something for putting up with me. Because I adore you all...

♥Spot

I'd like to thank the academy...

Sorry dear readers (commenters and lurkers alike)! I spent most of yesterday with Mo before she headed back to Iowa. She made us play Clue and watch movies. Dang, I miss that girl. But my attempts to lure her back home with food and mommy cuddles have so far not exceeded the lure of her boyfriend and the freedom of living on one's own for the first time. *sigh*

And I don't have much time this morning as Sean and I both have Dr. appts today. Blah. But we will raid the video store and pick us some fast food so it won't be a total loss.

So today's post is um...well hopefully not a "toot your own horn" kind of thing. But then again it might be. But it's really meant to be a humongous ginormous THANK YOU!!!

First...I recieved another tag for an award. This one came fromSparky. And it is also a Kreativ Blogger one, but since the image is different, I'm still going to accept it. And gratefully, I might add. Because it's my blog and I do what I want!!! So thank you Sparky!!!




Second...Mindy gave me this amazing review over at her blog~

"My cyber-friend, the blogger-extraordinaire a.k.a “Spot” with What Passes for Sane on a Crazy Day has tagged me to answer 35 questions with one word because she thinks I’m “Over the Top!” Which, all I can say is, that speaks volumes coming from her. She’s flippin’ hilarious and authors one of the blogs that I find myself looking forward to reading on a daily basis. Read it. You’ll be glad you did."

And third, Danica gave me a huge shout out and routed people to my poem!~

"You need to go here CLICK RIGHT HERE and read this poem.

I think this is really REALLY good, and I wanted to share (with anyone who didn't already follow "Spot") her delightfully creepy poem.

Just do it - OKAY?? "

I was stunned. Speechless even. Ok, only for about three seconds, at which time I began screaming "hey everybody!!! Come here!!!" Which really only consisted of Sean and the cats because they were the only people here. But Sean did come into the room. And then I pointed out how awesome I was. And he said~

Sean: oh man. Now your head's going to be all big today. You're going to be walking around going "I'm Spot!" in this "aren't I fantastic?" voice. And no one is even going to know what you're talking about.

Me: Oh they know.

Sean: You're right. Maybe you should get a costume. And a cape. And the next thing you know there will be a huge heart symbol in the sky instead of the bat symbol. And there will be "I ♥ Spot" t-shirts and everything.

Me: Oh my! You think so?

Sean: No. So are you going to take a shower or what?

Okay, so he's a smartass. But I totally like the t-shirt idea...

thanks again everyone!
♥Spot

PS- I will post the required things for the blog award next post!