Busy mofo's

We have been all over and done more in this weekend then we normally do in a month. It was exhausting but awesome. (PS: This blog entry sponsored by Prednisone-'Roids rule.)

Saturday we had Sadie into the vet for chest x-rays. She's panting loudly when she is excited or going up and down the stairs. Since she's been living with tumors in her belly and sides for several years, I was worried she had some pressing into her lungs. However the x-rays showed a healthy heart and lungs, although there is a small mass near her front leg. The vet thinks due to old age, it's a slight softening of the larynx which is causing her to pant so hard. I am just in awe that this dog is 14.5 years old and still going strong. She is a complete stubborn pain in the ass but she's loyal and sweet. I'm so thankful we still have more time together.

Then after the vet I had time to stuff some chicken taco pizza in my face and then off to the retro shops to look for some pinup clothes and accessories. If you are in the Kansas City area, you need to head to 39th Street to do your shopping. So many eclectic stores, great energy and nice people. I love hanging out in this neighborhood and there is even a great restaurant where you can sit outside with your dog. They will bring you water in a doggy dish too. So I hit up my faves: Rock Candy Boutique and Retro Vixen. I found the perfect dress, a cute shirt, bracelet and some vintage heels. Pics soon on that, I promise.

We capped Saturday evening with the funniest play I've seen in a long time. Based on a Hitchcock flick, The 39 Steps is a murder mystery with a Monty Python twist of humor. A cast of four, three men and one woman, perform the entire two hour piece. There's quick wit and lightening fast costume changes. If you live in the KC area, please go! Tickets are reasonable, parking is free and they have a full bar on site. Of course, I was drinking water but that's a fun amenity for those who can partake.



Sunday we finally bit the bullet and made the trek to Home Depot so we could construct a garden box. We used this blog as our guide and it was very helpful. Unfortunately the weather was nasty humid and hot so we were pretty sweaty (SWASS) by the time we left the store. Hubby got to get a saw so he was very happy.



He's still smiling here, so this was early in the project. Heh.



I like a man who can build stuff.



Patton supervises.



Sadie enjoyed hanging out with us while we worked.

We pooped out after putting it together and carrying it into the back yard. Monday we finished it and got the ground dug up.



Here he is, less smiley and tired.



I said, "no more tired, now gimme FIERCE!" But he just continued looking tired.



The ground is dug up and we were about to flip the box over.



Sadie approved.



Room for another, maybe next year?



Horace, Tobin and Patton were less helpful but enjoyed themselves all the same.



In this picture, you can see the mint plant gone wild, Bunny (Horace's favorite toy) and some peanut shells that Tobin and I were sharing.



And the lavender plant I put in next to the driveway.

My dad will be here tomorrow so the remainder of our energy has been spent on putting up more curtains, cleaning, laundry and general cleaning. It's going to be an early night for us!

Our bodies hurt but we are very content having accomplished so much. And I finished an embroidery piece which you can see here if you are so inclined.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend! Tschus.

Happy Rapture Eve!

I'm tired of hearing about the Rapture but I figure, if you can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em.

So I dusted off the ol crucifix and hung it up yesterday. Actually I hung up a lot of my prints and art so the big JC just happened to fall into that pile of to-do's. I decided to quit waiting for the walls to be painted and just hang up some stuff. The house looks lived in now. It's amazing what a difference I feel just looking around me. Why the hell didn't I do this five months ago? Sheesh.

So anyways, if I rapture tomorrow, at least I got a good day out of my walls. I'm not sure if I believe in the rapture or not. But I'm pretty sure if it is going to happen, it's just happening. There is no crazy white guy who is clued into it beforehand to put up billboards. So I'm really not going to break any plans tomorrow. :) And I don't get why people are freaked out about this rapture business anyways. I'm one of those self-centered Christians: I don't care about your soul. I think it's enough to look after my own!!

So after four days of going back and forth between two doctors, I've finally got a decent plan to help deal with things. I'm unfortunately going to be taking more 'roids for a while which sucks because they make you so damn hungry and bloated. And it's the not the healthy kind of controlled eating. It's the OOOOOH BAGELS M&MS A CUP OF PUMPKIN SEEDS PASTA MMMMMMMMM! I'm thinking of getting some frozen fruit and making some smoothies. Fruit, fiber and water. Filling and good for you. Hopefully that will help cut back on the mass quantities of carbs I seem to be fond of lately. And if my knees decide to continue being bitches, I would like to try some shots to fight the inflammation. We are all agreed that pain meds are the last option.

So this week's lesson: when the doc's don't seem to move fast enough, drop in on their office. Things move a lot quicker when you show up unannounced.

So it's Friday, some of us are disappearing tomorrow, some of us are looting and pillaging for the weekend, so here are some Friday funnies for your Rapture Eve. Tschus!

To the future Bex: A reminder

Well I haven't felt much like blogging these days. There are a few reasons, mostly revolving around an extreme paranoia of being judged as a bad mom or as a whiny idiot.

But I thought I should record some of this in the event I ever get crazy enough to consider being pregnant again, not that I made a conscience decision this time to do it.

About two weeks ago I noticed the joints of my knees really grinding together and causing pain. I attributed it to the walks I enjoy taking when I feel well. Then the weather got cold and the pain started radiating through my fingers. Ankles came next, then the hips. I have a lot of swelling especially in my legs after I am on my feet for a while or I go for walks. So I went back to the Rheumatologist who told me around 50% of women with RA go into remission during pregnancy. Umm, that's great...for THEM. I'm back on steroids now and am feeling insanely hungry again. Not just sort of hungry. But ravenous! Add that to the second trimester cravings and you have a crazy eating machine.

So when my body goes through a painful flare, I find that unconsciously I change my posture to compensate for the pain in my joints. Therefore I'm carrying my body unnaturally, putting strain on my muscles. That in turn causes a fibromyalgia flare and now just putting the tiniest pressure on my muscles causes a very painful response. Fucking hell!

Try explaining this to your doctors who already treat every pain patient like a junkie hypochondriac. Add a pregnancy in that and you have the air of a preggo pain pill addict looking for a fix. It took me all day to explain to the OB nurse yesterday that I already had some mild pain pills and are they safe to take at this stage in the pregnancy until this flare goes away? She thought I was looking for a prescription and told me to call my Rheumatologist. I don't want a prescription, I just want to know if what I have is safe to take. If I was addicted to the damn things, I wouldn't have any left because I would have taken them all by now. I've had them for 5 months!

I think I'll go back to the pain doctor because perhaps he can at least prescribe massages and maybe that's covered by insurance. I don't know, hopefully there is something safe and natural I can do to help this if the flare doesn't resolve itself soon. Plus I'll give this prenatal yoga dvd a try.

I know as a pregnant woman I have much more at stake than just my own health. I'm asking questions, not taking anything unless I have to and only if one of my doctors tells me it's ok. And I understand why pregnant women are told to suck it up when they have aches and pains. But what if you have chronic pain and then get pregnant? How do you "suck it up?" What if you are part of the 50% who do not go into remission?

I hate people, especially those in positions of authority over others who view things in a black and white context. Can you tell I'm frustrated?

In other news, to the future Bex, at least the nausea is pretty much gone. I can eat all kinds of foods now instead of broiled chicken and rice. My belly is starting to pop out and I've put back on the few pounds that I lost.

Six more months to go. Hopefully this flare will go away soon and I'll be pain free for a few months, until I'm too huge to be comfortable. I know I can do this, I just wish I felt that I had more support. No one really understands. I don't blame them for not getting it but I hate to be dismissed.

Anyways, my fingers are killing me so I'll stop here. So future me, when you have this cute, wriggling little being in your arms and think awwww that wasn't so bad, well just remember ADOPTION. Also I'd like to throw in the word VASECTOMY too. And remember the PREGNANCY RAGE you experienced as well as the explosive DIARRHEA and intense DRY HEAVING. It will all be worth it future Bex, but perhaps the aforementioned ADOPTION will be best if you two crazy cats want more kids.

While I wait...

We were hoarding some Best Buy gift certificates and last weekend we finally cashed them in for a new television. While we were there, we got a good deal on Direct TV and so here I sit, waiting on the cable guy. So while I wait, I figured I'd freshed up the 'ol blog.

By the way, I shared my Dish TV rant with the Direct TV salesman, stating that I have been dead set on changing cable providers ever since the big Walking Dead incident of November 2010. Halfway into my bitch-fest about how Dish took away AMC right before the season finale, I realized, once again, I was waxing poetic about zombies while wearing a zombie tshirt.

Will my geekery ever end? *sigh*

Earlier this week I was doing some internet research on stages of pregnancy and what to expect. I read a thread about what not to eat, especially alcohol. This is a hot topic it seems as some doctors have told moms-to-be to go ahead and have a glass of red wine once a week at certain stages of pregnancy. I'm not starting a debate on this, keep in mind. I just found some of the responses....interesting. Of course you get the obligatory comment: "if any mom has a glass of wine while pregnant, someone should call Department of Social Services on her!!!" "And then there were the other comments like: "If a doctor says it's ok, it's ok. No one should be calling Social Services blah blah." This is pretty normal to see the over-reactive women and then the more laid-back women. But there were two comments by two different women that really annoyed me. They were both something like this: "OMG last night I dreamed I was drinking wine and then I woke up totally freaked out because I thought I REALLY HAD DRUNK IT! LOLOMGWTF!!!"

So what happens to me last night? I had a dream about drinking wine. Only I didn't wake up and think "OMG did I drink some wine last night?!??!" Instead I thought "why the hell did I just dream about eating fancy cheese and drinking pinot grigio with Dave Chappelle??????"

Maybe the moral of the story is just to read enough to get the information you are seeking. But only read the comments sections if you want to risk losing a significant amount of brain cells and possibly fuck up your dreams.



Have a good day everyone, I'm off to rummage sale hell this weekend and a wee bit of volunteering with Patton. Tschus!