Wednesday, November 30, 2016

NaNo Attempt

November Journaling

1.  Bible study this morning, talking about genocide in the Old Testament and how to answer those who are offended by it and stand in judgment of God as if they are more moral. Then I dropped off my rings to be resized and repaired. Also my mom came to visit and brought her famous ribs for dinner.

2.  Visiting my grandson, who is sick today.

3. I have an appointment with one of my specialists today.

4. Filling out paperwork for my fifth pain clinic. I’d like to be hopeful, but past experience says otherwise. Going to watch some old movies, Rear Window and African Queen at a friends’ place.

5. Visiting our grandson today; he’s sick with a viral infection.

6. Church today, flanking a long nap.

7.  Dropping off my car at the collision centre and picking up a rental for six days. Then my mom is coming by to plant tulips and crocuses and baking gingersnaps. I’ll supervise.

8.  Bible study this morning; finished up the book of Numbers. It was more interesting than it sounds. Go out and vote, Americans, many in the world don’t have that privilege.

9.  We were up till two a.m. awaiting the final election results. Trump was leading, which is a shock. Confirmation this morning, he won, she lost, anxiety is high, but the sun still rose this morning, and God is still on His throne.

10. Had a massage this morning, but my back is still sore; has been for about two weeks. Then going to stay over at my daughter’s house.

11. With my grandson today; hard to keep up with a toddler.

12. Women’s ministry breakfast, speaking on Ruth. Another old message, but well received by this new group. It was so exhausting I napped for a few hours.

13. Church today. Our church collected about 112 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child with Samaritan’s Purse.

14.Printing my Summary of Numbers for tomorrow.

15. Busy day with Bible study, lunch, and then dropping my car off to get my winter tires on. It’s at the mall so I’ll try to do some Christmas shopping, but it’s prime nap time. I know I’ll be useless the rest of the evening.

16. Went to visit our grandson with my husband, who took a vacation day.

17. Three medical appointments today, which is two too many. But I got an assessment at a pain clinic. I see the doctor next week. This is my fifth pain clinic. I’m somewhat hopeful as they do nerve blocks for pain, which may or may not work on my Fibromyalgia, but it may work on my other types of pain.

18. My husband took a long weekend, using up extra vacation days. We’re going for dinner at our Pastor’s house to discuss mentoring some younger believers at church.

19. Decorated the house for Christmas and bought an artificial tree since I’m apparently allergic to trees. Nice evening with the family.

20. A good Sunday, except for the weather turned and it’s very cold. I feel more pain when the barometric pressure is low, like when it’s raining, snowing, or cloudy. Took a long nap this afternoon.

21.So nice to have a rare day with no appointments.

22. Bible study and lunch, then a nap and a pain clinic appointment for injections.

23. Abdominal ultrasound today to see if my liver has gotten worse. When you have a pain syndrome, even the pressure of a simple ultrasound is excruciating.

24. An osteopath appointment today.

25. Our grandson is coming for a sleepover. We took him to a pet shop and toy store.

26. Our eldest daughter’s champagne birthday today. That means she’s 26 on the 26th. Our grandson went in the hot tub today, built a fort, and saw Santa.

27. Church today.

28. Naturopath appointment, rest, then made homemade salsa.

29. Bible study, then going to see my grandson.

30. Stayed over at my grandson’s. Disappointed that this young new prolife candidate in the province has already softened his stance on the sex ed curriculum. They may be fiscally conservative, but I find all three parties socially interchangeable. In other news, I managed to get 33,000 words written out of 50,000 word NaNo challenge. It’s the National Novel Writing Month. I find November is a busy month at the best of times.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Thanksgiving 2016



October Journaling
1.     A Caribbean breakfast at church today for Missions Week.
2.     Church today. This rainy weekend is killing me, pain-wise.
3.     Our daughter went apple picking today. I missed an appointment. My brain fog in action.
4.     Our women’s Bible study started again. We’re beginning the book of Numbers as part of our study of the Pentateuch. The woman who usually leads it is grieving the recent loss of her husband, so I’ll lead it temporarily. I enjoy it. Teaching is the only thing that makes me feel a little bit more like the old me. Then I took a nap and made dinner for just me and my daughter. My husband is taking a course at Seminary on the Old Testament.
5.     Visiting my other daughter’s family, and bringing them apples.
6.     Our favourite son-in-law is 29 today. Also picked up a farm-fresh turkey from an organic meat store.
7.     I’m having an ultrasound today prior to my surgical consult.
8.     Beginning the prep to host Thanksgiving at our house. Thankfully I have a lot of help. Baked a blueberry pie. That’s about it.
9.     Today I told my husband that I felt almost like I did before I was sick. I still have my pain, but my energy level was about 50% normal. At first I didn’t know what it could have been caused by, but then I remembered that the only difference was that ten days ago my Naturopath stopped a medication I’ve been on for two years. I was originally put on a cortisol reducer because my levels were sky high and I couldn’t sleep. But then it went too far and lowered my cortisol levels (which help with energy) and I was at the point where I couldn’t climb a flight of stairs or do a simple chore like unloading the dishwasher I would have to rest for half an hour to recover. This is just in time for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Praise God!
10. We hosted 24 people for dinner today. Everyone brought something so we had a feast. Our menu was: bacon-wrapped scallops, stuffed mushroom caps, bruschetta, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, smoked salmon on Finncrisp for appetizers. Then our main course was organic turkey, ham, curried goat, jerked chicken wings, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, hashbrown potato dish, rice and beans, warm harvest salad, carrots, peas, and candied yams. Dessert was wild blueberry pie and ice cream, pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie with whipped cream, and two fresh fruit platters. We also had all kinds of drinks. We took a nice family picture outside. I’ll post it. Our grandson was too excited to nap.
11. Two appointments today.
12.Visiting my grandson today.
13.Osteopath appointment today.
14. Family doctor appointment today to get bloodwork and ultrasound report results and see what we can do about my pain since the last medication we attempted didn’t work. Not a satisfying outcome, but yet another referral to another pain clinic. That makes four. While in my appointment, someone hit the corner of my car. We looked at the footage on the cameras and guessed who the culprit was. At that point I thought it was a hit and run, but as I drove home I noticed a note flapping in the wiper. I pulled over and took it before it blew away. It was an apology and name and number so at least my insurance won’t have to pay for it.
15. My husband is on a men’s retreat in Niagara Falls with the men from church. I filed the insurance claim for the dinger, and their insurance will pay, and I’ll get a rental car during the repair. No increase to my rates and the deductible is waived. I spoke at the Women’s meeting this morning, recycling old messages from when I was healthy. It was well-received. Then I took a three hour nap to recover. My daughter’s at a Law conference downtown with some celebrities, like Donovan Bailey. It’s a Black Lawyers’ association of Canada conference, so I’m on my own.
16. Church today. It’s been a week since I saw some improvement in my energy levels. I’ve got to be careful not to crash from overdoing it.
17. Got the appraisal for car repair. Now the two insurance companies will take it from here.
18. Bible study this morning, then a Nutritionist appointment. She’s been helping me with my food allergies. I was hesitant at first, but I can eat potatoes and sugar again, without pain. So excited.
19. Going to stay overnight at my daughter’s house. My grandson hangs off his highchair and says, Monkey.
20.  Attempting some early Christmas shopping with my daughter.
21.Out for Greek food with my husband. There was a glitch with the car repair as the guy was going to pay cash, but then I realized I wouldn’t get a rental car and I’ll need one since it’s a six day repair. Back to negotiations.
22.  I had to buy new running shoes. We went to the mall, but I found the one hour of walking, and all the perfume hard to take. I had to nap when I got home.
23.Church today. My husband watched God’s Not Dead 2, which I’ve already seen, so I napped a whopping 3-1/2 hours. Guess who’ll be up late again, tonight?
24. A quiet day at home. Finally getting the car repair details hashed out.
25. We went to a neighbourhood towhall meeting to discuss the planned expansion of our neighbourhood. We are true NIMBY’s. Right now we live at the end of a cul-de-sac, which they’re planning to get rid of. We were in a sweet spot with no neighbours behind us or on one side, but the proposed plan affects us the most, putting four full-sized homes around us. It was good while it lasted.
26. I’m finding myself anxious over things I read in the news online. I know I shouldn’t worry since God is in control, yet I do.
27. Went to an eye appointment and then to stay over at my daughter’s to help her out. My vision issues have improved somewhat, in that I don’t have the light show behind my right eye every night like at the beginning, but I think that’s more neurological than visual.
28. Slept poorly during the night so it was hard to keep up with my grandson.
29. Went to a friend’s for a dinner party tonight. It was a seafood feast. Even with my earplugs in, it was too loud, and their lighting really hurts my eyes. Although it was nice to see friends, I’m not like I used to be and was so happy to get home to quiet.
30.Church today. Our Pastor was away and an Elder preached this morning and my husband preached in the evening. Our youngest daughter came to church with us.
31. Our grandson dressed as a cow for Hallowe’en. Our youngest went as Donald Trump to a party. She had an orange comb-over wig and orange skin, a red baseball cap that said, “Make America meh again.” And she carried around a brick wall. We don’t celebrate Hallowe’en so we’re just going to hang out at Ikea. But more importantly, today is the 499th  anniversary of the Reformation. Next year is the big one.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Eat More Bacon?



September Journaling

1.     Our grandson is 19 months old now. Our daughter’s second pregnancy is going well. Meeting with the Women’s Ministry team to plan our movie night.
2.     Grandson and daughter are here for the long weekend. Son-in-law is in the U.S. helping record a wedding.
3.     Grandson loves the sprinkler and eating fresh mint from our garden.
4.     Grandson came to church with us today.
5.     Barbecue for the holiday today.
6.     Ostepath appointment today.
7.     Family doc appointment today to fill out insurance forms and refill prescriptions. But I felt so exhausted and in pain I almost called in sick to the doctor’s appointment, and would have if I didn’t need to fill in the forms by a certain date.
8.     Recovering from the busy week.
9.     I was told yoga should help with balance issues. We’ll see.
10.Our church picnic at Darlington Provincial Park today. It drizzled but we had a shelter. Rain does a number on my pain.
11. Church today. Back to evening services, which they cancel over the summer. Also, a dear brother from church died this morning. We visited him last week and he was assured of his salvation and at peace. I feel almost jealous that he’s not suffering and in the presence of Jesus.
12. BOTOX injections today. While not pleasant, they do work to control some of my pain for 9/11 weeks. To distract myself I counted the injections. I used to think there were about 20 but there were 70!
13.  Massage this afternoon, then this evening, we showed the movie God’s Not Dead 2 for the Women’s Ministry kickoff. We had 30 women there. Unfortunately we had technical difficulties and had an impromptu intermission. We used it for discussion. I even told a joke. It was a great movie.
14. My grandson’s first sentence at 19 months was, “Eat more bacon?” A sign of things to come.
15. So far the new medication isn’t helping my pain.
16. We’re babysitting so our daughter and her husband can go out for dinner.
17. Attended the funeral of a man from our church. Christian funerals are so much different than others. We don’t sorrow as those who have no hope. Also, the gospel was preached so powerfully. One of the speakers was an MPP he used to be a driver for. Had to come home to rest part way through and then afterwards. It doesn’t help that it’s raining, which increases my pain.
18. Lunch at my mom’s between church services. Delicious ribs. Then a long nap. Welcome to my life.
19. Chiro appointment and grocery shopping then I napped for three hours to recover. So much pain and exhaustion. Sick and tired of being sick and tired.
20. Went to a new health care practitioner for food allergy testing.
21.Visiting my grandson and family.
22. Paperwork.
23.Bought a new wall clock and a painting for the family room. Now the reno is complete, just in time for our daughter to see the transformation.
24. Our daughter is returning from Holland today after five months interning at the ICTY, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. So happy to have her home for three months. Then she has one more semester of law school.
25.Church.
26. My daughter came shopping with me for some fall clothes. Even changing clothes takes so much out of me, I was spent. But I got a few nice things.
27. Spent the day recovering from yesterday and tying up loose ends by calling. Also set up my pills for the next two weeks, 80 a day just to maintain a 50% functioning level on a good day. I am so sick of pills and supplements, but imagine how bad I’d be without them. They also cost a small fortune. I also wanted to return an unused bottle to a company but they don’t refund money, only destroy the med, and I can do that. Too bad. It was over $100.
28.Visiting my grandson and letting my daughter sleep. She’s sick with a cold. Also my youngest got to see them again for the first time since returning from Holland.
29. Naturopath appointment today. Readjusting supplements.
30.  I got a call from a place where I thought I had sent some documents, and found I had only sent a letter saying I was including some documents, and of course, I hadn’t. A concrete example of the brain fog I’m trying to show them I have. Doh! One errand and I needed a two hour nap.