GOOD DOG NEWS

Yesterday Happi was in a lot of pain. I took her to the vet and he gave her some pain meds. He also ran some tests. You can read about it Click here.

This morning Happi jumped up out of bed. We are hoping the vet is correct and she was just having severe back pain. She must have been serious pain to be crying and shaking like she was. The vet called with the test results and everything looks good. CBC, urine, thyroid all normal. The vet says overall she looks healthy. Keep up the pain meds and anti-inflamatories for two weeks and call back on Tuesday.

Keeping Happi still for two weeks should be fun. Carrying her up and down the stairs is SO much fun. At least she lost four pounds and is a bit lighter.

Tonight I made those delicious fudgecicles! I can't wait to eat one tomorrow. Yum!

Until tomorrow...

CRAZY DAY

Poor Happi. She is not feeling well. We dont know what is wrong with her.  This afternoon Happi came in the room shaking, panting and crying. After a few minutes i called the vet and rushed her in.  They took her in right away.  After some pain meds and some tests the doc came out to talk to me.  They are not sure what is going on but are thinking happi has hurt her back severely.  We brought her home and gave her more pain medication. She is sleeping and will stay on bed rest for a while. We will get the test results tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

TAKING A COURSE

I felt like my life was already not busy enough so I decided to sign up for a course. It is a four 1/2 day course.

Let me start at the beginning. I am a neighborhood first responder. I took that course a number of years ago. It is a six 1/2 day course or as I took it a two and 1/2 day course. It taught what to do in an earthquake, a fire, a nuclear disaster, etc. How to clear a building, how to triage injured people and how to put out a small fire. We have a disaster bag and a go bag. We have emergency supplies in case of an emergency. We aren't like doomsday preppers. We just have a container ready in case of an emergency and the electricity and gas is shut off for days.

We have had an emergency. My apartment burned so badly I couldn't live in it. It is crazy to come home and find the firemen nailing your door shut and your apartment burned. Years later and in another apartment we had a flood. The flood was in the apartment on the third floor. Yes, on the third floor! The balcony flooded into the apartment. We had three inches of water in the whole apartment. We woke up the the electricity arching from the water.

So we have had some emergencies and after the first one, we realized it was important to be prepared.

Now I am signed up for a new course. I am going to be a first responder to rescue animals in an emergency. I would be certified to go to a disaster zone and assist in the rescue of animals. I could do the rescue of the animals or the administration portion. I am excited about it. There is a lot to do. I have to first get re-certified for my neighborhood first responder course. My certification has expired. Then I take the four 1/2 day course for the animal rescue. Then I have to take three online certification courses. Once I am done with all that, I will be certified. Whew!

I figure if I can handle my little devil, most any dog will be a breeze! I used to be so afraid of dogs, it is kinda funny I am doing this course. When I was very young I was caught in a dog fight between a German Shepard and two huskys. I didn't get injured but was very scared. This made me very afraid of large dogs that I didn't know.

I have always had smaller dogs; poodle, cocker spaniel, shiba inu, shiba inu/basenji mix and chihuahua/basenji mix. All under 30 pounds. But I am better about going up to larger dogs now. We have an American Staffordshire Terrier next door who I adore. He is deaf and so sweet. I will go up to him but I won't let me dogs go up to him. We have some labs in the area who I pet and who know me. Some of the dogs see me and come running when I am without my dogs.

I am pretty excited for this course and hopefully I will be able to give it the time it deserves. I hope it is interesting. The re-certification for the neighborhood course starts next week. Wish me luck!

Until tomorrow...

IT WAS AN HONOR JUST TO BE NOMINATED

I was nominated for the WEGO Health Activist Unsung Hero Award. It was a tough field. Tough competition.

Thank you for nominating me! Thank you for voting for me!

But alas I did not win. But it was an honor just to be nominated!

Thank you very much! It will take time but I will get over it and move on. Sob.

Until tomorrow...

MORE MOVIE NIGHT

Last night at movie night only one person showed up but it was a great night. After the movie we talked about RA. My friend K didn't know I had RA and it isn't that I hide it, I just had not had a chance to talk about it. So we talked.

I told her what it was like to have RA. I told her about the medicines I take and the medicines I have taken. We talked about the other autoimmune diseases I have and how I cope with them. She was very inquisitive and asked a lot of questions. Usually I don't like to talk about RA too much because I think I am boring folks. I mean who wants to talk about someone's disease? How boring! But she was really into asking questions and talking about it. I even tried to change the subject and she changed it back. She actually knew about Sjogren's so I didn't have to explain that to her too much.

It was good to know that someone else I know knows about my condition.

Until tomorrow...

MOVIE & ZOKU

Tonight was movie night! There was a low attendance this time for various reasons. Just me and K but we had fun. We watched Moonrise Kingdom. What a cute movie! It had the most interesting music. I know that is an odd thing to say but that is what kept standing out to me. The story was adorable but once it got going it was predictable. Boy meets girl, boy goes after girl, boy gets girl. Basically Romeo and Juliette without the dying. I would recommend this movie.

I made some Zoku Popsicles for movie night. They are layered cherry/apple/cranberry and mango lemonade. These look good but I am not sure they taste as good as they look.

Until tomorrow...

ACTION ALERT - CBS THIS MORNING

I happened to turn on CBS This Morning today and there was a doctor speaking about arthritis. As usual there was no distinction between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. I left a comment explaining how hurtful it is hearing that wearing high heels causes arthritis. While it is true that long use of high heels can exasterbate osteoarthritis, high heels do not cause rheumatoid arthritis. No where in the piece does the doctor make a distinction between the two types of arthritis. She just keeps saying arthritis like it is one giant disease.

I posted a comment on their site asking them to be more careful in the future. Letting them know they are hurting hundreds of thousands of people with misinformation. I let hem know how it will hurt me by how I will now have to correct and defend myself against what was reported.

Please watch the piece and comment if you want. I could not get the "comments" to work on an iPad so a computer would work better.

Until tomorrow...

RECOVERING NOT SO WELL

This time I thought I was recovering from the trip with very few problems. I was wrong. Today I went to a clients and proceeded to have a massive migraine brought on by sinuses. I think my sinuses are no longer dried up and now they are, I don't know, hurting. Therefore I got a migraine. I was staring at my computer and suddenly I got nauseous and realized I better leave before I get ill at my clients. I had already taken my migraine medicine but it wasn't working fast enough. Now if I could mainline the Imitrex...

I got outside without getting ill and the fresh air did me good. Then I had to drive home. I got home and crawled into bed. I slept for three hours. I guess I was tired. Tonight I used some nasal spray so I will see how that goes.

Until tomorrow...

BACK TO THE ROUTINE

Okay, I am back from vacation and I am up late trying to catch up on work. Too busy to write much so I thought a photo post would be fun. Some photos from my vacation to Colorado. Enjoy the snow photos if you are somewhere where there is none. If you are already enjoying your share of the snow this year, well, sorry to send you more snowy photos.






Isn't this a funny photo of this kids suit?




This sign made me laugh. Living with 14 people was like living in Chaos!


These signs were at a Mexican restaurant we went to. They made me laugh. Not only were the restroom signs written on cardboard with magic marker, the middle sign was spelled incorrectly!

Until tomorrow...

BACK FROM VACATION

We are back from vacation! We were in Colorado skiing. Well, I was not skiing but my family was. It was so beautiful. And so cold! I went inner tubing and got a message while my family skied. I also had a strange reaction to the soap they gave us. It has almost completely cleared up.

I have not had a moment to get photos organized so I will post them tomorrow.

We got home early enough to pick up the pups today instead of tomorrow. They were so happy to come home. They both ran to their beds and fell sound asleep. I am about to follow. It has been a long day.

Until tomorrow...

FOUND A LOST BOY TODAY

Today we were on line and I turned around and a small boy about four years old was standing behind me. He didn't look like he belonged and he didn't have any adult with him.  I asked him if he was alone and he didn't answer. I asked him if he needed help finding his parents. He said he could find his own parents. I began asking loudly if anyone lost a child but no answered or looked like they were frantically looking for a kid. Brenda took him to customer service where they made an announcement. Then they took the boy to another location. I am assuming they found his parents.

I am guessing the boy saw people queuing up and he just got in line. I am sure his parents were worried sick.

Until tomorrow...

HOT ROCK MASSAGE

Today I went for a massage. A hot rock massage to be exact. It was quite relaxing.

You know when you know when you are spoiled? It is when you go to get a massage and you look around for the freebies. Like the free lotion, shampoo, etc. The bathing suit spinner that dries your bathing suit for you. The warm puffy towels.

Well, this spa had none of those. I was SO glad I am having those issues with my skin because I brought my own soap and shampoo. Usually I would not, expecting the spa to supply. There were no heated warm towels or lotion. I could not go in the pool because I had no plastic bag to put my bathing suit in after swimming. Or hot tubbing. I don't hot tub in public naked. There was no spinner either. This spa was an economy spa. It was very nice just not what I was used to.

The lady who gave me a massage was nice and her work adequate. I have no complaints. She did try to tell me that a hot rock massage was contra indicated for RA patients. I told her I had not heard that. She said that it could cause a flare. I told her I had not had a flare before.

Have any of you ever heard of hot rock (or hot stone) massages giving RA patients flares? I would be real interested in hearing about it. I have had three hot rock massages with no flares. But maybe I am just testing fate!

She also said that she feels people with chronic diseases have old souls. I thought that was interesting. Do I have an old soul? I don't know. I know I have achy soles! Ha ha.

The crick in my neck felt so much better for about an hour and then that familiar pain started coming back. She told me I was not relaxing. I had a hard time getting relaxed! I have been so tense lately.

Until tomorrow...

COLD AND FLU BACKLASH

Have you ever been around sick people and you are not sick? I have never been a germaphobe. Believe me, I live with a germaphobe. I just don't go out of my way to be around outwardly sick people. If people tell me that are sick and we have plans, I say thank you but no thank you. If they are supposed to come over, I ask them politely to stay home.

I take Enbrel which causes me to have a compromised immune system. This means those germs that other people can fight off, I can't or might not be able or I may not get sick but I may just feel crappy. Who wants to feel crappy?

Sometimes I don't get sick but my hands swell. Or I have a cut that won't heal. My immune system is busy fighting off some other germs and can't heal a cut. Or it goes into overdrive and attacks my hands and they swell up. It can come out in many different ways.

So I am careful about hand washing and don't touch things very much when I am out of the house. I clean my keyboard and phone (not as much as I should) and am generally careful. I don't shake hands during cold and flu season and if someone is actively sneezing or coughing, I don't sit near them or stand near them. I don't want their germs!

But there is still a backlash. A view that I should buck up and "you won't get sick" and "if you do get sick it will only be a cold". A cold for me can put me down for more than a week, maybe two. By down I mean in bed, not able to do or go anywhere. Normal people get a cold and one, two or three days of staying home (not in bed) and they are good to go. The last time I got a cold/flu I ended up with bronchitis, then pneumonia. It took me months to get back on my feet. And before you ask, yes, I took the flu and pneumonia shots but does that mean I will never get them? I don't think so. I think that means if you get it, it will not be so bad.

So, despite everything, I am steering clear of the sick people. Staying by myself. Keeping well.

Oh, the red spots look better today, they have not gotten worse and have not spread. I must be allergic to this new soap or something. I tried my old soap this afternoon.

Interesting article today in the paper about how bunnies are attacking the cars at the Denver airport! See other people have rodent problems too! Oh, are bunnies rodents? Seems the bunnies are climbing into the engines of the cars and chewing on the spark plug cables and other wiring. Damn rodents! I feel their pain. Imagine you come back from Hawaii and your car won't start because some rabbit has chewed the wiring in your car. The best way to stop this is to coat your wiring with fox or coyote urine. Yum! Where do I get me some? Do they have any tricks for getting rid of rats out of hot tub insulation? Now that I would pay for. What kind of urine would I have to buy? Oh, you can get fox urine at hunting stores in case you were needing some. In the meanwhile be careful if you park at the Denver airport.

Until tomorrow...

WEIRD RED SPOTS

Yesterday I had these red spots on my chest. They look like more than usual break outs I get break on my chest. There are these red spots all over my chest but mostly on the right side. I ignored them until tonight when I took off my clothes to put on my PJs and now I have red spots on my stomach. I am now a little concerned.

I think the spots are some reaction to a different soap I am using or the hot tub I went in (not my hot tub). I am racking my brain to think of other things that maybe causing some allergic reaction. The only thing that is not consistent with an allergic reaction is that the spots are not itchy. Usually an allergic reaction is itchy. I would not have even known I had these spots had I not looked down.

What could be causing these red spots? I have no idea. Yes, I had chicken pox as a child.

The plan tomorrow is that I am going to see if the spots have spread further in the morning. If they have, I will go directly to the medical center. I will stop using the soap and use my regular soap, skip the hot tub tomorrow and see if the spots decrease.

Until tomorrow...

WORST MEAL IN A LONG TIME

Tonight I had the worst meal I have had in a long time. The only saving grace was dessert. We went out to dinner at a restaurant that seemed descent. The restaurant said they were known for their fondue but their menu online didn't mention fondue. That should have been a clue.

The people that ordered the fondue were very happy. The fondue and the kids food came first. The rest of us watched them eat. And watched. Finally our food arrived. I order the vegan wrap. Not too hard to screw up. Vegetables in a wrap. Other people at the table ordered the vegetable stir-fry. It looked very much like the contents of my wrap. Neither was very good. Soggy chopped up vegetables and rice? Possibly. With some spices but the only one I could identify was curry which I don't really like. Or doesn't like me.

Just terrible. I only ate one-half of the meal. It also was so glaringly bad compared to the meal I had at lunch. Lunch was a fresh garden burger with fresh guacamole and sautéed mushrooms. Yum!

Dessert was chocolate fondue. We dipped bananas, strawberries and marshmallows in milk and dark chocolate. We were getting impatient because it was taking SO long for the fondue to arrive. My dad set a timer on his phone when the server said yet again it would take 2 minutes. We all laughed when the timer went off and the dessert had not shown up. The fondue was good when it finally arrived.

Tomorrow will be good meal. I will be cooking for myself!

Until tomorrow...

20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

February 13th is our 20 year anniversary. We met 20 years ago tomorrow. Brenda and I met at a bar. She asked me to dance and I said no. I didn't like the song. She came back when another song came on and we danced. We talked all night. The next day was Valentine's Day and I had plans with some friends. I told her I didn't want to see her because that was way too much commitment. The day after Valentine's Day we met up and have been together ever since.

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't always been easy. My apartment burned, our apartment flooded, we moved twice, we lived through a three year renovation, I lost two jobs, Brenda lost one, I started a business, Brenda started working for herself, Brenda's father passed away, our dog died, my bird died, we adopted two rescue dogs and a bird, bought a house, I was diagnosed with RA, I had two knee surgeries, appendicitis, ankle surgery, countless tips to the doctor and ER, Brenda had a hysterectomy, I graduated With a Master's degree, and yet we stayed together.

And they said it wouldn't last...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BRENDA!

Until tomorrow...

GETTING RID OF THE GRAY

I dye my hair. I am not ashamed to say it. I do it myself, at home, in the bathroom. I use temporary "all natural" hair dye.

You see I have this streak of gray. It is a Bonnie Raitt-type gray streak. Right in the front. A nice gray streak. I try to cover it by strategically parting my hair but the best way to cover it is dying it.

I dye it a lovely shade of burgundy or red. People say it looks good. I like it and that is really all that matters.

I have been trying different hair styles lately and haven't had time to dye my hair. So tonight is the night. It is so funny I put off the dye job because it takes such a little bit of time. Only about 30 minutes. One sitcom. It is hard sometimes because my arms get tired during the rinsing part. When you dye hair, you have to rinse your hair for a long time to get all the dye out. I find it hard to keep my arms up in the air for that length of time.

The dye is in my hair as we speak and it is almost time to rinse. Got to go put the shower on to get the water warm.

Until tomorrow...

NEEDED SOME RETAIL THERAPY

Did you just ever have one of those days where the only thing that is going to make it better is retail therapy? It doesn't matter what you buy. It could be Arrid Extra Dry or trash bags but you just have to buy something.

I had one of those days today. I needed to shop! First I went to Whole Foods but that didn't satisfy. They didn't have anything I wanted. It was all too, too, good for me. I needed something not good for me. Okay if you know me, you know I don't eat anything that isn't BAD for me. But I wanted something that I don't normally eat. I did get these awesome fruit power bars and some cherry soy yogurt at Whole Foods. See what I mean! That is "wild and crazy" for me. I was disappointed that they didn't have any vegan "chicken" salad. I really like that.

So I went on to Target. Now I don't go to Target that often. First, it is far away and second, I have a problem with their politics. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I needed a fix. I bought my favorite granola bars with M&Ms and nuts on them. They are called Monster Bars. I doubt there is much nutritional value. But they sure are good. Then I bought Annie's Bunny Mix. It has the white cheddar bunnies, regular cheddar bunnies, pretzels and something else. It is a great mixture. I got the organic mix, of course. And they were on sale! So were the Monster Bars. Then I saw these great new bars that were granola, caramel, nuts all covered with chocolate. Does life get any better? It is like a snickers. Okay, you guessed it, I was hungry. Never shop when you are hungry. I ended up with 2 boxes of the Monster bars, 2 boxes of the Annie's and 1 box of the snickers-type bars. Then I went and bought the other items on my list: Arrid and hand wipes.

Then I went to the kids section to see about a little something for the kids. I can't tell you what I got them since my SIL (sister-in-law) reads this blog. I will tell you if they like it soon. After 45 minutes I was satisfied and went home.

So why is it that spending money or shopping makes things better? I always think retail therapy gets my mind off whatever is bothering me. It takes me out of the situation and changes the atmosphere. I focus on something else for a while and suddenly whatever was bothering me doesn't seem so important. I stop dwelling on it. I have to focus on picking out what I want, choosing a flavor or type, and getting on the right line to check out.

Now I have some great snacks! Yay!

Until tomorrow...

REMEMBERING NEIGHBORS

I was just reading my sister-in-laws blog, Age Does Not Bring Wisdom, But It Does Bring Perspective, and she reminded me of some neighbors that lived across the street from me as a kid. I had two ladies who lived across the street in a little range style house. They were elderly or at least they seemed that way to me as a young kid. I am not sure if they were sisters or cousins or friends or what. I am sure I knew at that time but now 35 years later, I have forgotten. One of them died when I was quite young. She seemed frail in my memories. The other lady we called Miss Richards. She was a little, white-haired, plump lady. Their home smelled (as my sister-in-law said) musty and was always quite warm. I feel like they had a cat but maybe I am making that up after watching too many episodes of Hoarders.

Miss Richards used to babysit for us when my mother went out. She would waddle across the road and then when my mother came home my mother would escort her home. She was a strict but nice lady. We didn't like her because she made us obey to the rules. We didn't like any babysitter who followed the rules. I have an aversion to hand lotion or anything on my hands (suntan lotion, hair gel, etc.) Miss Richards always had lotion-y hands. I hated that. I am sure it was because she had something wrong with her hands but it skived me out.

I used to like going over to their house when my mother and I were not getting along. They were nice ladies and they seemed to enjoy having me over. They used to worry that my mother didn't know where I was. Okay, most of the time my mother didn't know where I was. I was happier that way!

Our neighborhood had many older folks. Our family moved in as the second generation of families with kids. So there were many older folks with already grown kids and some that never had kids. Since there were few girls my age, I use to spend a bit of time with the older generation. There were more boys my age but they didn't want me around. I also have two brothers who were not interested (at that time) in having me around. I don't think they mind having me around now!

I had forgotten about these memories until my sister-in-law reminded me. It is fun to remember these things.

Until tomorrow...

CREATININE, HUH?!

I went to the RA doc this week and had a blood test. I got a call from the physicians assistant telling me that my kidney function test was high. I asked her what that meant and she said she was only an assistant. I had to wait until I met with the doc in six weeks. Okay...

I got my test results today and the result that has her concerned is my CREATININE. I know what you are thinking, what is creatinine? Creatinine is a breakdown product of creatine, an important part of muscle. It is a waste product that's produced by your muscle metabolism and to a smaller extent by eating meat. Healthy kidneys filter creatinine and other waste products from your blood. The filtered waste products leave your body in your urine.

These test results show my creatinine is high. The normal range is 0.40 - 0.80. I showed a 0.93.

After doing some Internet research, I am only slightly concerned. There are a lot of things that can make a test result high. Dehydration, my medication. In six weeks I should get tested again and see if I still have high creatinine results. If I do then there is another test that includes urine. How exciting! I get to pee in a cup for 24 hours. Guess I will have to work from home. That isn't exactly an activity I can do when I am at a clients office.

Big weekend ahead. I have to get some sleep.

Until tomorrow...

A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

Tonight we went to the movies. We got some free passes to see Identity Thief. It is a funny (and at times touching) story. It stars Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman. It is a story about a guy (Jason Bateman) who has his identity stolen by a woman (Melissa McCarthy). The guy has a unisex name which is how this can occur. His life is thrown into complete chaos and he has to fix it. There are car chases, pratfalls, and some violence.

I thought it was entertaining and very funny, Melissa was over the top and Jason balanced that out. I would recommend this movie if you like these kinds of movies.

Until tomorrow...

THE HOT TUB SAGA

Okay, five service calls. You would think I would be soaking in a hot tub tonight. Okay, maybe not tonight because it takes 24 hours for the hot tub to heat up but you get the idea.

NO. No soaking with take place any time soon. The four new parts arrived, the service guy installed them and still water was leaking. Where was the water leaking? The guy looked and looked. He was convinced it was the pump. I was not so convinced. If you remember I told him last time that when he installed these four parts, I didn't want him to find something else and have to come back. He seemed a bit nervous. I inspected the situation and I saw that the water was coming from one area and the wood "decking" outside was coming unglued. The guy had his bags packed and in the truck.

He came back and I pointed it out to him. He went back and got his stuff. He got a crow bar! He started to pull of the wooden slates on the outside of the hot tub. When he did, WOW, we found a treasure. A rats home with tunnels. The whole side was torn up and made into a large nest. No live animals, just a home.

He found the leak. The animals chewed on a hose. The service guy fixed it and now we seem to be leak free. We will have to wait a few days to make sure. We are unable to run the tub to allow the epoxy to dry and because the whole side is still open to let the inside dry. It looks like the hot tub has a boo boo!

While the service guy was doing his two hours of service, I spent some time cleaning up the area where the platform and hot tub were. I swept and shoveled dirt that had eroded onto the slate. It looks very nice now. Once we cut back the creeping (read: crappy) ivy the area will look even nicer. I am trying to decide what I want to put in the space. In the summer it gets nice sun.

This week we get to see the hot tub running but can't get in it. Now it is just a tease! Torture! At least before it was turned off and all the water leaked out so it just seemed pitiful. Now it is just sticking it's tongue out at me! The foreplay for this hot tub soak is lasting forever!

Medical Update: I got a call from my RA doc and she said my tests came back funky. What a shock! When don't my tests come back funky? If I ever had a test come back just normal I would probably faint from shock!! My tests showed some problems with kidney function. She said we would talk about it next appointment. Obviously it is not that bad since she is waiting 6 weeks to deal with it. I will see what it is when I get my labs. Then do exactly what they say not to do: hit the internet and research it!

Until tomorrow...

HAULED AWAY

This may not be a great day to you but to us it is a wonderful day. Today some haulers came and hauled away the platform. Those of you late to this rodeo, the platform was under the hot tub that was moved a few weeks ago. The hot tub movers refused to move the platform because there were rats (alive or dead we are not sure) underneath the platform. I put some rat bait traps underneath the platform with my neighbors assistance with the hopes it would kill any thing alive.

Last night I contacted a hauling company and told them I had a platform that might or might not have live or dead animals underneath. They weren't fazed. They called in the morning and showed up in the afternoon. In one-half hour they had the platform demolished and in their truck.

I know the question you want to ask. Yes, there was a rat underneath. It was VERY dead. I guess that rat bait really works! The rat(s) had even chewed on the plastic rat bait containers. They had dug out all the sand between the slate slabs and made a little tunnel system. It was pretty ingenious.

The haulers were so good they even swept up and took the dead rat with them. After they left I rinsed off the area and it looks great! We now have a nice area that is in a sunny location that I can now put a table and chairs this summer.

I kept the rat bait traps and we are going to set them the next time we go away. I want to eradicate this problem. I am over uninvited animals in the backyard. Rats, raccoons...

Good News: Tomorrow the hot tub guy fixes the hot tub. Keep your fingers crossed.

Bad News: I am not feeling too great. I feel stiff and sore. Might be from trying to fix the pump on the pond but I am not sure. I am also really tired. Let's hope I am just tired.

Until tomorrow...

TWO DAYS AND COUNTING

Two days until the hot tub gets fixed. Yay! I can already feel that hot water, the steam. My aching neck will just melt with the hot water.

I went to my RA doc today and she told me to stop decreasing my prednisone for now. With all this flu and colds going around, she said it is not a good time to change my meds. So I will stick with 10 mg every day but one when I take 9 mg. I will not start taking Plaquinil for a few weeks when I am sure I am not going to get the current flu/colds that are going around. Staying well is the number one priority. Getting sick could put me down for weeks. Can't afford that right now.

She also said my sore neck may be from working on my computer or something else. So a good massage or hot wet towels will help. De-stress.

Other than that, good visit. Really low blood pressure but that is normal. She couldn't find it at first. Better low than high!

Until tomorrow...

NINERS LOST

The Niners lost and it was so sad. It was a horrible first half. So boring. I was surfing the net I was so bored. Then the half time show with Beyonce came on. She was good. It was weird though. Usually the half time show is more of a show that uses the audience and dancers on the field. This year it was more like a concert. The music was good but it was less entertaining.

The second half started bad. THEN then lights went out in New Orleans! For 33 minutes the lights went out in the stadium. The players were stretching on the field. Standing around.

When they came back to play, it was like the Niners woke up! They scored three times in the third quarter. They were coming back. We got all excited. Down by one point. Nail biting. Screaming. Jumping up and down.

Then a missed opportunity for a touch down. Niners Lose. Sob. Disappointment. Turn the channel so we don't have to see the Ravens celebrate.

The season is over. On to Basketball and then Baseball. Go Giants!

The hot tub will be fixed on Wednesday and we got free passes to see Identity Theft. So much to look forward to. Oh, and I made soup. Not too sure about this soup. I didn't eat it today. I had barbecue tofu and pasta salad to finish up.

Until tomorrow...

SUPERBOWL AND ZOKU POPSICLES!

We are getting ready for the Superbowl. Brenda made her famous pasta salad and is about to make her Buffalo wings. Yes, she has wings. We bought them a month ago so we would be ready. In fact Brenda loves Buffalo wings so much we have a giant Costco bag in the freezer at all times. Friends beg for her Buffalo wings. She makes them in big batches and eats them all week.

While she was making the pasta salad, I went food shopping. I bought ingredients to make soup tomorrow. I also bought stuff to make FUDGSICLES!. I got the recipe from a blog called nuggets n pizza . They were easy to make and taste FANTASTIC! They are so creamy! So fudgy! So delicious! They just melt in your mouth. They taste just like real fudgsicles from when you were a kid. I know I am using a lot of exclamation points but I just ate one and I am on cloud nine. I substituted soy milk for milk so I can eat as many as I want. This is the best part of making my own pops.

I also bought some frozen fruit that I can throw in the blender and make peach or berry pops during the off season. The frozen fruit is a bit pricey but I waited until it was on sale and then bought it. It is so easy to make these pops. I pour the liquid in and set a timer and walk away. When the timer goes off, I take them out and put the next set in. If I had more sticks I would make more pops! If I had the Zoku storage I could stop using Saran Wrap to store them. That is a hint to my family since my birthday is coming up.

I have one more thing to say: GO NINERS! Hopefully tomorrow I will be writing about a Niner win.

Until tomorrow...

FEELING HIT BY A BUS

I was fine when I woke up this morning. I was fine when I went to my clients. Then it all started to go downhill. It started with a headache. Then I got horribly tired. Then I could not keep my eyes open.

I ate lunch and sat down in front of the TV and fell asleep. A few minutes later, I woke up and I was achy. I went to the living room and tried to rest on the couch. That didn't work so I went down and got into bed. A few minutes later I was sound asleep. I woke up 1.5 hours later all achy and sore. I keep watching those maps of the flu marching across the US. It has landed on the West Coast. I want to keep it at bay. I got the flu shot but I keep hearing folks say that they are getting the flu anyway. I don't want to get sick so I am taking it easy.

Early to bed tonight!

Until tomorrow...

GETTING READY FOR THE SUPERBOWL

Superbowl hype. I am almost over it. You would think this was a presidential election or something! All that I hear about is Superbowl, Superbowl commercials, The players got the New Orleans... Enough already. The Oscars are the week following and I hear practically nothing about them.

Now there is all the controversy. A stupid player had to open his ignorant mouth. He doesn't like the gays and doesn't want them on his team. Oh, "his" team. I wonder where this 49er lives. Does he not know he is playing in San Francisco (at least until the team moves in 2014)? That's like vacationing on Fire Island and being upset you can't find any single girls.

The ignorance is just so amazing. Not that people are ignorant, that doesn't shock me. Just that they can be so blatant about it on national TV/radio. When people are that blatantly ignorant after a few cocktails at a barbecue, I always just assume those are their true feelings. But when they blurt these things out completely sober in a giant crowd, that is just plain stupid. I understand some guys feel they don't want to undress in front of other guys or even gay guys. There are ways to say that without sounding like such a jerk. I think it is still a bit ignorant. Thinking that all gay guys want to check you out. Please get over yourself! When I am in a locker room, I just want to get in and get out. I don't make eye contact with anyone.

This stupid comment was made by Culliver on the same week San Francisco open it's first gay sports bar and that sports bar was featured in Sports Illustrated. That is very exciting. The fact that these stupid comments have people talking about gay athletes and homophobia, is fantastic. I also think the way the 49ers coach Harbaugh handled it was awful but the owner was terrific. The owner took full responsibility. He said Culliver is my employee and obviously we have not done a good enough job educating him.

Then this afternoon, two other 49ers players denied being a part of the It Get's Better campaign video. They claimed they were not part of any video. Then once they were showed the video, they said it was an anti-bullying campaign video. The reporter told them it was for the "It gets better" campaign for bullying of LGTQ youth. The two football players said they didn't know it was for LGTQ anything. The It Gets Better campaign has taken down the video with the San Francisco players. This mess just keeps getting worse. Who is doing the PR for the 49ers? S/he should be fired.

Anyway, back to the Superbowl. Ravens/49ers, who do you choose? I am backing the 49ers. I think they will win if they an get their focus back. This ignorant gay comment thing has thrown them off track. I say young players should not be allowed to speak.

At least for now: GO NINERS!

Hot Tub Update: the parts have come in and the appointment has been scheduled for next Wednesday.

Medical Update: I thought I broke my tooth so I went to the dentist today but it wasn't. More about it tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...