Well Dang!

Where did November go???  I knew I hadn't blogged in a bit but didn't realize it was for almost an entire month!  Some of it has been because of my mood.  At times blogging really helps and at other times its just more than I want to deal with.

So what's been going on?  Well- we all survived Thanksgiving.  There was only one threat made to call the police and for the most part things went well.  I was still pissed at me sister for deciding that she couldn't deal with Thanksgiving.  Personally I think it was pretty crappy of her.  Then in addition to not being able to host she decided that no one wanted turkey and a ham was necessary.  Of course my mom wasn't going to tell her to shut her pie hole and catered to her and my traditionalist dad by serving both turkey and ham.  I really do miss when we had an extra oven in the basement.  It made cooking for the holidays a lot easier! There was minimal personal drama at the dinner so that was a lovely change.

On Saturday we all gathered to celebrate my oldest nephews birthday.  Man where have the last 8 years gone????  He's such a caring, smart boy and I'm so proud of him.  It was the birthday of Pokemon.  I was the person writing the list of who gave what so proper thank you notes could be sent.  I should have just written Pokemon, Pokemon and more Pokemon!  Unfortunately on his actual birthday when he was going to lunch and the Children's Museum with a friend he started running a high temp.  Poor kiddo has a double ear infection.  That's usually his brothers territory!

Earlier in the month Princess Bear (PB) had a repeat sleep study.  She hadn't had one in a few years and they were trying to determine whether or not she needed to try a cPap machine again.  These tests never are easy for her since she is very allergic to adhesive and there is a lot used in this test.  They did let me give her some Benadryl before the test so at least she wasn't up itching and scratching all night.  That said the next few days were very rough in that every place they had attached the leads she had a rash and blistering.  It was a few days of Benadryl and a seriously unhappy kid.  Today we met with her pediatrician to discuss the test results and  a few other things.  The good news is that she no longer has apnea so a repeat test and cPap is not needed.  She was so excited to hear that news it was very cute to watch her.  The Dr. then measured her scoliosis.  More good news!!!  Yes it is an increase of 4* but since she is hopefully done growing and its relatively minor she won't need any treatment for it.  Yea!!!!  There was some discussion about another genetic connective tissue diagnosis but I'm still trying to wrap my head around that and get some answers before I share any more.

As for me I'm just trying to recover from the cleaning and cooking of Thanksgiving and get ready for Christmas.  I've got 48 of my Christmas cards done, about half done.  Part of today was spent up in the attic hauling down decorations.  While I hate climbing ladders (and I really, really do!) it sure is nice to see the house and outside decked out!

Oh and for fun stuff I got a new toy!  My old cell phone never, ever worked very well.  Yesterday I got a Galaxy s6.  So far I'm having a grand time playing on it.  So that's the short version of what has been happening around here lately.  I hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving and are having a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas!

Has the holiday crazy already started?

Last weekend Princess Bear (PB) and I hosted a Halloween potluck.  Some of the preparations involved serious deep cleaning like this house hasn't seen in a loooooooooooong time.  While I do love the smell of Murphy's Oil Soap I'm willing to hold off on smelling it for awhile!  It also seemed like I was just feeling seriously blah.  I've been running low grade temps on and off for a couple of weeks.  So by the time the potluck arrived I'm sorry to say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have.  I'll just have to try harder for next year.  On Halloween itself PBs plans went sideways.  Every since my nephews were born we've spent Halloween with them.  My sisters family lives in a really nice subdivision where they know the vast majority of their neighbors.  The game plan is I usually show up with dinner and feed the kids while my sister is finishing up getting ready for the trick or treaters.  Then my sister and bil take the kids trick or treating while I stay at their house and dole out the goodies.  It's one of the few things we have down pat.   Well, on Friday I received a text from my sister saying that she and Luke wouldn't be attending the potluck.  By Saturday I got a call saying my sister was sick and it would probably be a good idea to keep PB away since she's so prone to getting sick.  Her poor little face looked so sad when I told her.  I told her that we could go to White Rose, the church that she attends youth group and bible study.  White Rose has such a neat set up for the kids!  It's all inside but spread out throughout the building so it's not too noisy.  They have tons of games and PB really enjoyed herself.  PB then asked if she could attend her best friends church festival.  You have no idea what it took for me to agree to that.  So we head over to visit with Shay.  Now PB has a Frozen bag with flashing lights in blue and dark pink as her treat bag.  The  main road to get back into town is a very, very (did I mention VERY) dark and sometimes desolate road.  We're in the car listening to music and I see lights in the car.  I look down and I'm not speeding.  I look for the police car and see nothing.  I'm beginning to think that I'm losing my mind until I realize it's PBs freaking bag flashing but the added darkness amped it up a bit. 

On Monday morning I received the first of 2 calls from my Drs office.  I'd had a follow up appointment for my sinus infection and UTI.  The PA decided it had been long enough since my steroid shot that they could run the blood work to look for some answers to why I'm having almost constant joint pain.  I also thought I needed another round of antibiotics because I had a kidney infection.  Well, the first phone call was saying that my sed rate, which is what measures inflammation in the body, was almost double what the high side of normal is considered.  The nurse said that at this point I need to see a rheumatologist.  Yippee!  Another specialist to add to the collection.  A few hours later another nurse calls and asked if I had my results.  I told her I had my sed rate.  She's like no the rest of your blood work and xray results are in.  To add to the fun my vitamin D level has gone down and my kidney stone has tripled in size and is now in a position that it can be moved through my system.  This is my first kidney stone and I did a bit of research online but I had to stop since everyone talked about it being the worse pain ever.  I'm drinking butt loads of water with lemon essential oil in it as well as fresh lemonade with lemon essential oil in it.  My brother in law almost completely dissolved his kidney stone by doing that some I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

Now that Novembers here I'm feeling the "Oh my gosh the holidays are coming and there's so much to do!".  My mom swears that she's keeping Thanksgiving very low key and down to a bare minimum of people.  I'm not going to believe it until I see how many to set the table for.  PB had so much fun at the Halloween potluck she asked if we could do a Christmas one.  That was a bit of a pain with people not letting me know what they were bringing so I proposed a cookie exchange and appetizer party.  That way I'm not going to be cooking a ton of stuff hoping to have all the bases of a meal covered.  I've also got to get my rear in gear and start figuring out Christmas cards.  Maybe if I break things into small tasks the holidays will run a bit more smoothly!