This is Going to Be Interesting!

I’m on my laptop yay!  I haven’t had a laptop in almost ten years, so please bear with the typos until I get handle on the keyboard being so small again!

So it’s been BEAUTIFULLY hot out.  The plants have been loving it!  Not so much me, but over night the temperature went down to zero again!  We’re all supposed to put out our plants on May 24 weekend, but I’m a little worried about doing that.  Especially with my veggies.  We’ll have to wait and see how the weather is!  Another gardening problem… I love starting plants from seed… and I intended to finally use my little green house to put my start up plants in, until they’re ready for a big pot, or to put in the ground, freeing up more window sill space.  Unfortunately, it is STILL getting knocked over by the wind!  There’s no bottom to it for me to put something heavy either, so it makes me a little leery about using it at all.

Today is Monday, and I should be going swimming, but it’s not going to happen this week, or next.  I took today to do my Spring cleaning room, which was the living room, and I’m so tired out from it I think I’ll need a nap before I start dinner!  Next Sunday will be the scope prep day and Monday the scope, so I highly doubt I’ll be able to go swimming lol.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day.  Mom picked me up around noon, and we went to a flower shop and she made a cute bouquet of flowers for my Grams.  I got her  book by J. R. Martinez that she wanted.  He is a young war veteran who’s vehicle blew up from a land mine they hit and burnt 95% of his body.  He went on to be a spokesperson for wounded veterans, acted on a soap, and won Dancing With the Stars.  We went up to get Nick for a bit so he could see his dad, and Amanda gave her their gifts from them.  I didn’t stay for dinner bc mom was taking Grandma out to eat

On Friday, Carrie, Grams and I, went with Amanda and Nick to see him do his swimming lessons.  OMG  it’s crazy watching him in the deep end, but he looks so happy!  He’s adorable to watch.

This week, I have the dentist on Wednesday to get that filling re put in, and other than possibly seeing my counselor, and having Lilian my PSW come, I don’t think there is anything else.  I will write next week after my scope to let you all know the results.

Take Care.

Ash,

PS  I haven’t had to use pain medicine in 4 days!  Wahoo!

Baby Baby Baby!

Mom and I had a great time at my oldest niece, Jess’ 2nd baby shower.. that we went to anyway lol.  We got lost on the way out there mind you, trying to find the house… we were looking for the wrong house number!  It was great to see her again before the baby is born   I just love my nieces and nephews to bunches, and I don’t get to see my brother’s kids often enough!

So now lets rewind back to Saturday!  Mom, Grams, Amanda and I spent the day together   We went to Giant Tiger where I changed into my new $7 tank top in the car flashing a bunch of people almost, then we went to The Brick where Grams got a new couch… I think the one I have, but in chocolate brown… why she bought it none of us know, but oh well lol.  Then we went to the garden center at Home Depot… I think it was there.

We went to East Side Marios for dinner.  *DROOL FEST*  I got a chicken fettuccine with garlic bread and a Cesar salad.  There were so many yummy looking things with spaghetti sauce, but the Gallbladder said no… mind you it wound up saying no to the fettuccine too, but my meal was deliciouso none the less!

We headed out to Walmart, and Amanda, mom and I all got plants.  Mom got a pretty yellow rose bush, and a cool dark, deep red Lily bush.  Amanda got three mini palms for her apartment deck for some privacy, and I got a purple sand cherry bush

So back to the day of the shower… I won another gift playing Bingo and one a flowery scented room defuser which is now on my book shelf.  I also one the game where everyone has a laundry pin, and you steal any person’s pin that says, “baby.”  But I gave that away since I already had a prize.  I also got to see Stacey my wonderful sistah in law.. well no more in law, but still my sis!!!

On the way home mom and I stopped at a chip truck for lunch, and she took me to my pharmacist at Independent Grocers, and I got my scope prep and these Tylenol 1′s.  They have a bit of codeine but not like the T3′s do, so you can get them over the counter.  Sadly this morning at 3 am I had to try them, and they really don’t work well, but it’s better than nothing!  And there, they also had a little garden center where I got a white Hydrangea

I got home and dug the Hostas out that had been here since before I was moved in, and threw them in the back yard, so that is where the purple sand cherry goes.  And Nicole, who I always talk about on here is giving me a pretty pink flowering shrub, that will go under the stairs (the non growing tulip garden) with the Hydrangea to fill the area up!

Today I was feeling terrible from not being able to go back to bed after getting up at 3am (about to crash any minute now and it’s only 8pm! lol) but I pushed myself to go to my mom’s and I went swimming with her this evening before dinner while she had her aqua therapy class.

Sadly enough for my weak dumb body… I pulled a muscle in my shoulder, arm and back playing bowling on my Wii LOL.  So I didn’t think I’d be able to swim, but thankfully I was, and it helped ease the tightness from it   I went in the therapy pool for ten minutes where mom’s class was too to sit with the jets and relax.

Tomorrow mom has to come by and get her new computer that she bought off the girl upstairs, and I will get the laptop   Excited more to watch movies and hopefully be able to do Skype   And there were other things too, but my brain hasn’t remembered any of that yet!

Mom got my a yummy sugar cookie scented candle and it is burning right now.  I love it

I also got my Gram’s birthday present in today.  My mom’s Mother’s Day gift still hasn’t shipped out yet, so I’m worried I won’t get it in time!!!  Here’s crossing my fingers!

I also have to go put part of the down payment on my washer and dryer this week, see my counselor, have my psw Lilian over, and have her boss over to do some yearly review thing.  Plus a filling fell out of a tooth in the back, so I’m hoping after Lilian leaves Thursday, I can get into the  dentist!

Hope you’re all doing well!

Ash,

PS Starting a page of plants.  Stealing this idea from Nicole, but not going to go anywhere near in depth as she did as to how they’re taken care of, zones, etc.  I don’t think I even really know what all the damn names are let alone anything else about them! Hehe.

The Gardening Itch

I am through with growing Parsley.  I know there’s all these great things about adding it to your food, etc. but I just don’t use it!  It’s more of a pain to me than anything else, so I checked the whole lot of it into the trash today lol.  I moved my six little tomato plants that lived through the growing out of the original 12, into a smaller little container, and started planting Geraniums in the window sill.  It said on the pack they needed to be started early, so I figure starting them first out of the others is a good idea.

I went with Amanda and Carrie to the Dollar Store and got lots of goodies.  I got a card and bag and some extra stuff to put in my nieces Baby Shower gift, I got Zeus a new little toy, which other than him flailing himself at it then going to bed… I’d say it’s not going to be a winner, I got some garden pots, and a cute little Easter wreath I just through on the one door knob for now.

Afterwards, we went to the mall and I got my foam roller for doing The Melt Method with.  I’m excited to try it

Then while mom was at the dentist, Grams and I got cat food and went grocery shopping at No Frills, which was an absolute mad house!  The line ups weren’t bad, but the rest was awful.

I went to my doctors yesterday to fill out the gas form for disability, and she had the results from the GI from my ultrasound.  Nicole already knows bc I emailed her last night about it from mom’s, but I have Gallstones!  It seems kind of funny and makes me want to giggle bc it seems like something I should never have had to worry about with all the other crap I already have going on.  So I talked to my sis last night on the phone and made her talk to me while I watched a YouTube video of the surgery so I could see what it was like, and even though it was absolutely disgusting, and no organ should look like a Gallbladder does… I feel actually a lot better about getting an operation done if that ends up being the case.  The only thing that makes me nervous about it, is just the unknown bc I’ve never had a surgery, but I’m not worried about the pain, etc.  It’ll be a pain having to limit what I can do for a bit, but that’s not anything I can’t figure out.  I go see the new GI in Belleville next week sometime so hopefully he’ll have an idea and go on from there to find out what’s going to be done about it.

This weekend is going to be fun   I can’t wait to see my nieces and nephews.  I love them to bunches!

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter too!

Ash,

Almost Easter!

helping …hmmm

It is so gorgeous out today!  My tulips are now on the sill waiting to see them sprout!  I should have put them in the cold earlier obviously, but oh well, better late than never!

I am hoping to get the pelt ready this weekend, by lining the back and bottom of it with garbage bags stapled in place, and then have the dirt put in, so as each group of flowers grow, I can just move them on over to their place in the pelt.

I am also hoping to get some red wood chips.. about six big bags, and the dirt for the veggies.  My mom got me a nice deep pot to put the tomatoes in.  They are nearly ready to want out now, so they need to slow down!!!  The peppers are growing at a perfect rate for May 24 weekend.

Not doing anything wrong.. stop watching me

This weekend is Easter… which seems weird, bc the weekend starts in March.  We are going out to my dad and Lois’ on the Saturday to see my other nephew and two nieces, then on Sunday, we will be going over to my mom’s for dinner there.

This Monday, I am going over to my sister’s place for the night, to have a girls hangout with her and Carrie her neighbor.  Then on Wed., I will be going to see my family doctor.  I am getting her to fill out some forms for disability, that will reimburse me for the gas my mom or Grams uses to get me to appointments.  Will be nice to help out more with that.

but I’m the baby!

Mom and I went swimming last night.  I went into the main pool which literally was empty for a while.  All the kids were in the therapeutic pool.  My mom came over to where I was, bc it was too crazy busy in there, and no where for her to sit and relax.  Once some of the people left, and came over to the regular pool, I went back over with her to use the jets.  Very nice and relaxing!

Today I am working on finishing up the baby blanket, and doing my Spring Cleaning, in the hallway.  Isn’t a lot to do there, but wash the walls, base boards, and take all the family/friend pictures off and cleaning them all down too.  I am doing one room a week.  Next week, it will be the sewing room.  Not a big room, but a lot of crap in there to clean, and move around.

Puffy wrists. I need two of these.

Just finished reading The Melt Method.  She was on Dr. Oz, using movements (not exercises) on a roller and soft hand sized ball to stimulate and regulate the Autonomic Nervous System.. which interested me, since that is where my health problems primarily lie.  So I am going to try doing some of these exercises since it is also supposed to help with chronic pain, and sleeping, etc.  I will still do my dancing, swimming, yoga or whatever else I enjoy work out wise, but I’m going to incorporate hers, three times a week.  You can find her book titled, The Melt Method.  It’s so interesting!

Okay, since I killed my back cleaning, I am going to rest for a while.

Take Care

Ash,

PS Did you guys/ gals turn your lights out last night?  I read by candle light from 8:30-9:30pm.

February Madness

I seriously feel about as bad as I do when going through a Crohn’s relapse.  That’s fine and all, I just need time to rest and relax so that I don’t end up in the hospital.  It seems like all this stuff is being piled on me right now.  Some things normal, like getting paid, so I need to go grocery shopping (which kills me on a good day) and having to do my laundry (which is just not going to happen right now) my PSW coming, which is a HUGE help with cleaning up my apartment which is turning into a pig sty.  It’s hard to deal with any kind of company though when you feel this terrible, bc I have to be up and moving to let her in, and let her know what I need her to do.

I also, good news of course, have JP from housing coming tomorrow morning to work on moving my shelving in the bathroom around to fit in the washer dryer set I choose.  My landlord made a quick little open concept closet for extra clothes in there, and a small shelf to hold my towels, linen, etc.  So it won’t be hard for JP to basically remove the closet part, and move the shelving down to the end of the wall, so the washer and dryer can sit right next to the plug and piping system.  He even offered to run me over to an appliance place to look at washers and dryers, but with my PSW Lilian coming, I can’t, and to be honest I just don’t have it in me right now!

Plus, I heard from an old student of Susan my Social Service Worker, Amy, who was great, and is willing to help me finish one of the classes I was doing at Loyalist.  It’s like a Prior Learning Assessment course, which I had all done almost two years ago, except for building the portfolio, before I got too sick to deal with it.  So she’s coming by next week to work on it with me, and see what she did in hers when she took the class.  Will be totally awesome to see her and catch up bc she’s such a great person, I just feel like it’s going to kill me to do it right now.

As well, when the student that’s with Susan right now, Alissa comes back from reading week, her and I are supposed to go out on a bus trip around town.  I was thinking the Bayview Mall near my place to get Zeus a water fountain I saw at The Bargain Shop for around $14 would be something to do.  I was going to have her go get cat food with me at the vets, but she’s allergic to cats.  Zeus doesn’t climb around her, so it doesn’t affect her, but the vets would probably be too much to test it.  Plus Zeus will need some canned food before she’s back.

I know there is even more going on, like me helping mom paint her doors and stuff, and then my tests coming up for the possible Gallbladder problems, and whatever else I just can’t think of right now, but I DO NOT feel like I can handle any of it.  The tests yeah of course, bc I need to know what’s going on to feel better, but the rest I just want to scream at the thoughts of doing until after I get whatever is going on fixed.

On a nice note… which is something I’ll have to do too lol, I got a call from the G.I. doctor in Belleville finally!  I go in for a meeting the doctor visit the fifth of April.  So that’s good to know that I will be finally having another specialist moved from Kingston to Belleville.  Then I will only have my Neurologist in Kingston, which is totally fine bc he’s awesome, and I only see him a couple times a year usually.  Right now though, since my G.I.s in Kingston are the ones dealing with the sickness issue, I have to stay with them until I find out the prognosis.

Which reminds me, that I have to make an appointment with my family doctor too to get a disability form filled out, so that when I go to my appointments in Kingston, I can be refunded the gas money to pay to my mom or Grams, or whoever has to take me.  HUGE help!

If I’m not online much in the next month, or not home much, don’t worry, it’s just me trying to rest when I get the chance too.  Feel free to e-mail, etc. and I will try to stay in touch with everyone as much as I can.

Ash,

PS I noticed tonight my tomato plants are slowly starting to pop up! YAY!

I Am Slowly Going Crazy

pretty flowers from my Grams

I’m a pretty positive person.  I try to look at bad days as only temporary and remind myself that the next day will only get better.  This week is definitely putting that statement for a ride!  Every day I wake up to feeling more and more terrible than I did the day before.  My highlight from today… being able to finally have a damn shower!  Mind you my hair didn’t get washed, but my body isn’t smelly! lol.

I am getting a bunch of cleaning stuff when I go grocery shopping at the end of this week so I can do the big overhaul cleaning of the apartment.  It kills me to do it, but I keep noticing more and more stuff on walls that needs to be wiped down… like black fingerprints on the door from when I do crossword books LOL.  I think the only reason I feel antsy to do it though, is bc I don’t feel well enough to actually do it!  That or I’d feel like I’m turning into the female version of my dad who’d follow you around with a broom and paper towel just in case any dirt came off you lol.  Jk jk!

Zeus misbehaving!

My goal, since I will be impatient as shit during April to want to garden, was to save the big cleaning until then.  So it would keep me busy and keep my hands out of the plants, but depending on how I feel, I might start early.

I am also thinking of chopping off a big chunk of my hair.  Canada won’t take my hair for cancer patients bc it’s dyed.  The States accepts dyed hair, but not out of the country hair… so this growing has been for a waste!  When I wash my hair, it takes me a good twenty minutes or more to brush it after.  I have to go through sections in order to keep my brush from being sucked into the rats nest… and since I break brushes on a regular basis, I think it would be nice for a change.

one of the scarves to sell

I keep getting these headaches in my eyes that I used to get when I was on Effexor.  I only ever got it, when I was late or missed a dose.  So the other day I woke up really early, so I didn’t take my new medicine early, and waited… aka forgot.  Today I wake up crazy early again and the same thing!  Went to take my nightly med.s and realized I totally forgot to take the morning one again!

My stomach is acting like I have been drinking coffee on an empty stomach times a hundred.  I can’t wait to get the testing done on the 13th of this month so I can finally get something done about this pain… hopefully!

My landlord came by today and got my tax info. for me.  He’s so nice to do mine for free!  And my counselor Susan came over too for a bit to catch up.  Was a much needed session (now realizing bc I missed my damn med.s No wonder I’m so loopy)

I feel at any moment I’m either going to burst into tears for no reason, or start laughing uncontrollably… I really need to take my med.s tomorrow morning lol.

Ash,

End of February

This week has been good!  I got to see a friend Theone and her beautiful, four month old, Aria.  She’s such a happy, friendly baby.  I made sure Nick got lots of cuddles too and took pictures   Theone is looking amazing, and Aria has her pretty blue eyes.

I made a patchwork like blanket for Zeus, since the old one was getting tattered, and his claws stick to it like crazy.  This one is a lot sturdier and thicker, so he can lay down on it and enjoy it in his bed!

I went up to mom’s on Family Day with Amanda and Nick.  We had yummy cold salads and homemade chocolate pie, and butterscotch pie.  I love to bake, but hate making pies.  Too much watching needed in the process lol.

Got all my mini tomatoes, and green and red pepper plants started on the windowsill, and am now working on a rug  hooking kit I got at Michaels a few months or more ago.  I need to go out on a search for buttons that look like eyes to finish my friend Nicole’s fox scarf.

This morning Zeus woke me climbing up on me to snuggle, and I realized my stomach was really bothering me.  Not the crazy pain I’ve been getting though, thankfully!  It’s that feeling you get in your stomach when you drink coffee on an empty stomach.  I call it gut rot lol.  I finally had to get up around 4:30am to take my stomach med.s from the GI and waited a bit for them to work before I made some toast.  It’s much better than it was, but I’m still in a lot of pain.

I’m supposed to be going with mom sometime today to look at Habitat for Humanity type stores, to see what type of deals we can get for her working on her townhouse.  Then we are to go back to her place, and I am going to help paint the doors a fresh white.  Hopefully with this pain, I will be able to, bc I really want to help!

Hope you’re all doing well!

Ash,

Mix Mashy

Zeus watching Anderson

I had a pretty good week.  Last night, Amanda, Carrie and I went to the movies and saw, Mama.  The effects for it were done really well, and the story idea was really cool, but it wasn’t scary, not anything like it makes you think it’s going to be by the trailer.  I’m glad I went though.  Haven’t laughed that hard in so long.  By the end of the movie, everyone in the theater was laughing.

Been going crazy catching up on The Vampire Diaries since finishing Arrested Development.  It’s taking so long though!  Damn hour shows lol.  And I’ve been back into knitting more again.  I needed a little break bc I’ve been doing it non stop for almost two years straight, so now I’m back at it, and working on a fox scarf for my bud Nicole.  Then, I have two other scarves, and a baby blanket to do.  It’s all stuff I really want to do though, and excited to see how they all turn out.  My sis has been on me about making more random pieces to actually try selling, but I have more fun making stuff for people I know lol.  I think I would get very lazy with my knitting, if it didn’t actually have a purpose behind it, like a present, etc.  So that’s what the next two scarves are going to be.  Sellers.. maybe lol.

Got a call from my landlord today about me getting the washer and dryer.  He had his friend who’s an electrician to come check and make sure there was enough room for a 220 Volt plug to be put in, and there isn’t!  Only enough room for a regular 110 Volt.  Which means… back to the shopping around!  I mean, it’s a good thing in the sense that there won’t need to be more installing, etc. in here, but now I have to go out looking again too, when I thought I had found a good one to begin with.  It will all work out eventually!

I talked to some people in a Crohn’s group on facebook about the pain I’ve been having, and everyone who answered my post said they had the same thing from hernias.  Weird!  I’m not banking on that being what it is, since a lot of them got their hernias from surgeries, but I figure if nothing comes up in the tests in March, then I will be asking… yes asking, for another stomach scope to see if they can find anything that way.  EEK!

Got all my grocery shopping done yesterday.  Now, I have to only get my cat food and drop off my medicine coverage card to the pharmacist, and get my garbage tags for the month.

I am now officially sick with my fourth cold this season.  I’m not impressed!  At least this time, I was given a month or two break between the last one!  So far it’s not gotten into my chest, so hopefully it stays that way, and I’ll be better before I know it.  I just don’t know how I caught it, when it started to show up on Wed. morning, and I hadn’t gone anywhere, but to my mom’s, where neither her nor my Grams were sick.  Oh wells, it’ll be all good and gone soon enough!

I went to Shoppers Drug Mart yesterday too, and was given this great moisturizer for the eczema.  One use, and it was already keeping the dry skin at bay.  My face is still very red, mostly bc I got wind burnt yesterday being out lol, but it looks and feels so much better!

Have a great weekend!

Ash,

Going to Columbia

As many of my friends and family have seen on facebook, my post about going to Columbia for two months.  I’m not actually going.  It’s one of those weird facebook e-mail chains between women to raise awareness about breast cancer.  Which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, if no one is supposed to know what it means… how is that raising any awareness?  E-mail as follows :

Ok pretty ladies, it is that time of year again…support of breast cancer awareness!So we all remember last year’s game of writing your bra colour as your status? Or the way we like to have our handbag handy? Last year, so many people took part that it made national news… and the constant updating of status reminded everyone why we’re doing this and helped raise awareness!Do NOT tell any males what the statuses mean…keep them guessing!! And please copy and paste (in a message) this to all your female friends.The idea is to choose the month you were born and the day you were born.Pass this on to the GIRLS ONLY and let’s see how far it reaches around. The last one about the bra went around all over the world. Your status should say “I am going to Mexico for 21 months.”The day you were born should be how many months you are gone. January – mexico February – london march – miamiapril – Dominican republic may – france june – St petersburg july – austria august – germany september – New york october – Amsterdam November – Las Vegas December – ColumbiaDo it don’t be a spoil sport and show your awareness for Breast Cancer

Get it?  Got it? Good!  Lets move on…

Speaking of cancer, my long locks are driving me nuts, and I can’t wait to get them chopped off at the hair dressers.  My counselor and I were discussing how in the Spring when it’s awareness time, there has to be some place I can go to donate my hair.  She gave me the number of her hair dressers to see if she knows of what’s going on for that.

Yesterday, mom, Grams, Nick and I, went to Kelly & Glen’s (old next door neighbors of ours) who recently moved into a kick ass new house.  We went for their house warming / birthday party for Kelly.  It was great to see them and the kids, minus the middle one who was at a sleep over, and get to see the new place!  Also to get lots of cuddles from Tayla their pooch whom is my love   A lot of great, yummy food, and good conversation!  So glad I went!

Friday, I went with Susan, my counselor, to my family doctors.  I found out I have a mild seasonal case of eczema.  Thankfully nothing like what some people I know go through, just dry skin that doesn’t want to go away easily with regular moisturizer.  I also got some medicines refilled and switched up, and got a referral to the GI here in the city, since mine are over 2 hours away by car!  Such a pain!  Speaking of pain, she gave me Tylenol 3‘s to help with the weird pain I’ve been getting, until I get my tests done and over with, and get the results back.  Kingston called about the tests too, which I won’t be getting until the middle of March.  So this will be a big help since the pain is coming more and more often.

Funny though, I have been given morphine in the hospital and been walking and having conversations fine, but when I take T3′s, I can barely get my legs to work to get a glass of water!  Hits me so much harder!  Better than going to the ER though!

Next week, I don’t think a whole lot is going on.  Amanda, Kerri and I are “supposed” to be going to see the movie Mama in theaters which looks kick ass.  And besides that, not a whole hell of a lot!

Hope you’re all doing well!

Ash,

Arthritis Addative

My Bizkit (Zeus' Brother who's passed away)

My family doctors appointment went great as usual.  She checked my blood pressure again and it was 80/58…  I know I’ve had lower, since the last time I went, it was 53/33, but isn’t that still considered low??  My piece of crap blood pressure monitor says something to the effect of, anything under 90/ something is on the low end, but my family doctor said that’s what hers was all the time LOL.  But she wrote me out a note to send to disability about getting a new blood pressure monitor funded .  I need one that works! hehe.

So my Adrenal Fatigue test, cholesterol, B12, all the things I thought would be the reason for her calling me in, came back fine!  Great.. but my blood work shows inflammation with arthritis.

She asked me where I hurt… I have Fibromyalgia so I had a long list to name out.  She is sending me to get bone scans done to find out exactly where it is, and sent me a referral to a Rhuemetologist (sp?), so that will definitely be handy.  Also doubled my fibro.  nerve medication.

I was a little bummed about it yesterday when I got home, but my sister made a great point.  It’s been around already for a while at least, now the doctors can name it and do something about it, but nothing changes for the bad based on knowing what it is now.  I just hate, and I know anyone with more than one illness can relate, having one more thing to add to the list of things already wrong with our bodies.  Yet I am glad to know, so maybe I can improve things

Next up is Monday, when I go to the Neurologist.  Very interested to see what this guy has to say!

Take Care!

Ash,