road trip time

Well, the time has finally come. We're leaving for New Mexico tomorrow, and wouldn't you know it, poor mom caught a cold yesterday. She woke up with a sore throat yesterday morning and today she has a full blown cold. We were supposed to see Alex's parents tonight (maybe) but canceled cause she really wasn't feeling all that well. I asked her if she was ready to go home, not feeling so well and all, and she said absolutely. She's been sleeping in front of the TV most of the evening and was so tired she was going to bed. Now she's sitting out in the dining room, probably playing computer games. 

We'll pack up tomorrow and be on the road by noon, I'm predicting. Josh and Alex are going to come over and say good bye one more time tomorrow, and hopefully mom will feel at least a little better. Ozzy is, of course, going with us, but I haven't told him because he would be so excited that he'd never get to sleep. This is going to be a little different for me, because I have to drive the whole thing in the day. No night driving this time - that's so unnatural. But, at least I have the pretty half of the trip. The other guys have the ... well, ugly parts to face, and Ozzy is a great travel partner. It'll just take me a while to get over so much time in the sun. I guess I probably should take a hat this time. It really does help, even in the car. I'll probably end up coming home on Sunday, but I have the room for Monday, just in case, so no more posts until next week, so don't go away - I'll be back.

ta da - the results are in

I got my test results back from the CT scan, although the computers were down this morning. The nurse had to do it the old fashioned way and go track it down I guess. Anyway, the doctor said she had good news and bad news. The good news is the other lump on my liver is another hemangioma, benign. She said, "You were born with 'em and you'll die with 'em." The bad news is I have kidney stones in both kidneys. No duh. I told her I already knew that. Been there, done that. I had no illusions that my kidney stone problem was over. She was a little surprised at that, but topamax tends to cause kidney stones, so I expect it. She said they'll only cause trouble if they move, so no problem.

I don't know if I mentioned that Bob backed out of his offer of a ride home for mom this Thursday.  She's been carefully hoarding her syringes to last her until then, so she's been kinda distracted and worried about what to do. The plane fares are really high, and she doesn't like flying anyway and last minute doesn't help, plus all the new charges they've been tacking on. So this morning on the way home from the doctor I had a brainstorm and called my brother and asked him if he could meet us in Albuquerque and take mom home. Well, he couldn't because he and Marti are going up to the cabin this weekend for a long needed rest (rough week for them), but he called Heather and she called me, then talked to Bill who, without hesitation, said yes, so they are going to meet us in New Mexico on Saturday night. We are going to spend the night there so they don't have to just throw mom in the car and turn around and head back. I'm being a little selfish here, but I really love Heather and Bill - they are two of my favorite people and I would really like to spend a few hours with them, so we talked them into spending Saturday night and not leaving until sometime Sunday. Ozzy and I are going to take over their room on Sunday and spend another night there because, believe it or not, the ambien is working and I'm sleeping during the night, and I don't think it would be smart for me to just take off in the afternoon and drive for seven hours when I can hang out and get some sleep and leave in the morning when I'm fresh and more ready to go.

Josh and Alex suggested we go out to dinner tonight, and suggested the Cattleman's Cafe, which is in the Stockyards portion of Oklahoma City. The area even has it's own name, Stockyard Station or Stockyard City or something like that. It's a very charming little town and I wish we were there before they rolled up the sidewalks. The restaurant was awesome, but the party behind us was the loudest I've been around since Chili's at the height of the ASU school year. But the food made up for it. EXCELLENT steaks. No leftovers to take home - no no no.

Since mom is leaving, Josh and Alex and her parents may be over tomorrow night. This means we have to clean a little. The house doesn't need a whole lot, but a vacuuming would help, and upholstery cleaner on the foot stool where Ozzy eats his bones. Nothing like a little bone goo to brighten up the place. Oh, and by the way, Ozzy is going with us to New Mexico. We're staying at La Quinta cause they take dogs, and I think I'm going to look up dog friendly restaurants. 

Very tired. More later.

jeez, it's been a week?

I don't know where the time goes, really. Of course, the Olympics hasn't helped any. I love watching it, but of course this year it's more of a "look at the water drops coming off his arm" as Michael Phelps swims, and " look how pretty her skin is," as they show the runners getting ready for an important race. The whole time we watched the marathon I would be pointing out stuff like the fans turning on top of a building or the leaves on the tree they were passing. Yes, Hi Def has changed my viewing experience.

I think I've already said that my stress test turned out fine. The doctor showed me the actual report and it said that everything looked great except for one spot that they couldn't really see well. She looked at me and said, "that means your boobs were in the way. I really like her. Since then I have had a CT scan for some "stomach pains" (general area) that were sharp and hurt a lot, and once even woke me up at night. We got the other pain covered, I guess, with the gall bladder, although... I can't ever tell my doctor this, but the other night I was uncomfortable and having some similar kind of pains that started the whole stress test thing, and just couldn't get comfortable, so I undid my bra. Ta da!!!! I felt so much better. I so can't tell my doctor that story.

Now with the CT scan, they did actually find something, which surprised me, to tell you the truth. I expected something on the stress test. Anyway, they found several hemangiomas, which are collections of blood vessels attached to my liver. I told mom about it and she went straight to the internet, which I thought was a good idea, so I did the same thing. They are called hepatic hemangiomas. When Josh was born, he had a "strawberry" on his side, and that is the same thing. They know for sure the "big" (16mm) on on my liver is a hemangioma because they can see the blood flow through it - that means it's benign. There's a smaller one, 12mm (about an inch and a quarter) that they can't quite see through so they want to do a more specific CT test. Oh boy. That means I get to drink the contrast juice again. They have jazzed it up again since Josh had his done - it's got more of a citrusy chalk flavor now. The sip that gets ya is the alka seltzer one right before the test.

They made the appointment for this Tuesday, but were telling me that the doctor was booked up until after Labor Day. I asked, nicely, I thought, if I was going to have to wait until after Labor Day to get my test results. He went back into the office and came back with an appointment time the day after the test. Good thing, cause mom is likely leaving the day after that, unless there is anything else going on. I don't want to leave her hanging when everything is fine.

Yes, it looks like mom is going home next Thursday, catching a ride home with Bob and Gloria. That will be good that she's going with the both of them cause they will take good care of her, and with Gloria along, she won't have to worry about carrying a conversation and can just play her games in the back seat or sleep all the way if she wants.

We went and saw the newest Mummy movie with Jet Li. It wasn't as good for two reasons. Although I really enjoyed going with mom to the Warren in an almost private showing, I've gone with Michele to every other Mummy movie and this made me really miss her and miss seeing it with her. And, Rachel Weisz didn't play his wife, Maria Bello did. As much as I like Maria Bello, she didn't hold a candle to Rachel's Evie. The chemistry just wasn't the same.

I'm hoping that maybe tomorrow we can go see The Dark Knight up in the balcony at the Warren. It's one of the things we both really wanted to do while she was here. We did have a touristy day last week, which I have pictures of, and will put up... eventually. Right now I'm trying to go to bed, and am learning how to use my Facebook page. I'm pretty much a dunce with it, but I'm trying. I'm amazed that Josh actually put a picture of himself up there. I will now, I have decided, have to change to using a real picture of me, but I've got it planned in my head. I'll have to have mom help me, I think. You'll know if it works out cause it'll go here, too.

So, pictures are coming, things will settle down, and get back to boring normal where my life if Guitar Hero and my dog and blog. OH, and I got a guy to cut my yard every two weeks. Looks better already. Have pictures of that, too. More later. 

long overdue update

Mom and I went out yesterday to do some running around and it was unusually busy at Walgreens. Schwann's was giving away free ice cream (which I told mom we didn't need even if it was free) and they were apparently being guarded by the police, who had a motorcycle and their souped up Mustang chase car there. We went in and it was a back-to-school promotion, but it didn't start til 11, so Ozzy and I went back to get my prescriptions and talk to the nice lady pharmacist who swears her dog looks so much like Ozzy. She really loves it when Ozzy comes around. We talked and she oohed and awwed over Ozzy for a while and I left a different way than I came in, this time by way of the camera department. I turned the corner and there was this college age girl standing there in a crown. I said, "Look Ozzy, a girl in a crown." She came over to him and made a big fuss and asked if she could have her picture taken with him. Turns out that's why she was there, so people could have their picture taken with her. And, evidently she's a big deal, Miss Sooner, because just after we finally got the free print, the place filled with kids and they were asking where Miss Ashley something or other was. She was really nice and very good with all the kids. She loved Ozzy and he was very good with her holding him. She just gushed over him and talked about how much she wanted a dog but was living on the second floor. Didn't expect this when we left home. 

Mom tried driving the Versa yesterday, in fact driving to Walgreens. I am a horrible side seat driver, but, as I told her, I do owe $12,000 on the car. I know how she taught me to drive and I'm still trying to overcome those habits, but she really did okay. When we came out of Walgreens she didn't want to drive anymore. I asked if it was cause I was so annoying and she graciously said that she found out what she wanted about how it drove.

We've been watching the Olympics a lot, especially during the evening. I have been waiting since I bought the TV to see the Olympics on it, and it's awesome, but I've been having trouble with the sleeping again. Last night I finally decided to change my pattern and NOT sleep on the couch until 1 or 2 in the morning and then be awake in my bed the rest of the night. Instead I went to bed at 10:30 and slept all night. I've also, and this is why I haven't been posting for the last week, decided that I can't post at night before I go to bed because I'd go to bed and 3 hours later, when I was done, it would be 3 or 4 or 5 in the morning. This is better. But it's a bit odd, cause mom is sitting across from me playing her new computer games. She was quiet until she started poker, well actually until I said something to her, then she began a play by play, mumbling under her breath. I had to tell her no to the commentary. It's sad when you have to smackdown your mom - gently, gently. She also thought she had said something wrong cause I mumbled something and left to go to the office. Well, first of all, I'm always mumbling something, so nobody can take that personally. I was just scanning the Ozzy photo. 

This has been a working vacation for me and mom, and very good for our relationship. She has assumed several times that I wanted her to leave because I was sleeping so much or cause I went to my bedroom and slept during the daytime. I have been trying to tell her not to assume about me. She's not good at it - we're too different, and she's been working very hard at just asking things. I have also been working at not being snippy like Josh gets with me - I know how that feels and how unjustified it is - it's just intolerance of the aging process. Mom is further along than me and I'm way further along than Josh. I'm treasuring the time I have with mom, so every time she talks about going home, unless she's tired of being here, I don't want her to go. Ozzy, the little putz, is a grandma's boy and spends an awful lot of time in grandma's lap with a guilty look on his face, looking at me like "see how Grandma loves me and treats me."

The odd thing about yesterday is that, when I went in to the bathroom to see what wild hairdo I had from overnight, it turned out that I had miraculously awakened with perfect hair. Hair I try for and never get - I had anti-bed head. I was afraid to get dressed or brush my hair for fear of losing this once in a lifetime occurrence. But I did have to get dressed so I tentatively ran a brush thru my hair and said good bye to my perfect coif and viola, it kinda stayed. Wow, the stars must be in my hair house. 

See, the thing is, I don't even know how to use gel right. I got some when I got my hair cut short, and have had some in the past, but I hate the feeling of anything but my hair moving, of stiff hair. Kind of a holdover from having long hair. Somehow, when I was at the Tribune, I channeled someone and actually successfully used a curling iron and hairspray I liked and had a "do" that moved with me when I walked. My proudest day was when the secretary of the publisher asked me...ME... how I got my hair to look so good. Still gives me a soft warm feeling.

I tried the gel I had gotten for Jenni's wedding and didn't use, after a shower, using the amount I thought I needed, forgetting the first lesson of Queer Eye, which is "from the back first,", so I took a handful (yes, take it literally) of this gel and put it on the top of my head and rubbed it in. OMG! My hair looked wetter than when I got out of the shower! I turned on the tap at the sink and started running my hands thru my hair trying to get the excess out. I looked like a mobster. I tried brushing it and couldn't get the brush thru. Oh Lord, what have I done? I grabbed the towel and tried to towel off the excess. In the end, I stuck my head back under the shower. The towel remained standing in the corner. You can see why yesterday was such a triumph for me.

So, that's about it. I'm not sure what we're going to be doing today. It's only 10 am. I'm not used to this. I've been up for 3.5 hours and it feels like nap time. We haven't been to a movie lately but we haven't been so inclined - too hot. It's in the 80s this week, so if there are clouds, who knows what we'll be doing.

sleeeeeeepy.......

I would like to post a nice long post tonight, but I literally can't keep my eyes open, which is a good thing. First of all, there's a really bad Sci Fi movie on, so I don't need my glasses on and can fall to sleep to it. Can't ask for more than that. Secondly, after the killer migraine last night, and all the drugs it took to keep it down make it so my eyes don't pop out of my head and I don't blow chunks all night, meant I was pretty much almost asleep whenever I sat still for more than a minute or two  Mom and I were pretty much in and out of it all day. It was dark and overcast and dumped a huge amount of rain this morning - 7 inches of rain at Shawnee. I don't think we got that mu ch, but t did make pulling the weeds in the backyard.

Sorry this is so short, but I've fallen asleep at least twice while I've been writing this. I'll talk to you soon, most of you, and the rest of you take care.

                                                                                                   

up 24 hours, again..

I don't know what's up with this 24 hours up thing. This is the third day since the stress test that it's happened, and for the third time I've gotten a migraine with it, which is to be expected, I guess. This one, tho, was a doozy. Luckily I took the nausea medication they gave me at the ER for the gallstone attack (this morning after I took the the relpax and the oxy and all the other morning meds), so it kept the throwing up to a minimum.

While I was still awake this morning, Mom and I went to Hobby Lobby (waiting for Hastings to open) and then to Target. We're again stocked up for a while now so we can stick close to home for the Olympics.

However, I'm really tired so this is about all I can post tonight. Talk to you soon.

The Olympics!!

I'm so happy the Olympics are here. It's the one thing I've been really looking forward to since I bought my new TV. Oh, and it isn't disappointing. (I heard on the news that there''s been a rush on hi-def TVs for the Olympics.) The opening ceremony last night, if that was the only thing I got to see, was worth it just for that. That night is going to take a long time, and a lot of money, to top. It was incredible, and incredibly beautiful. Mom and just sat there transfixed, starting with those amazing drummers to the man running in the air the entire circle of the stadium to light the flame, to a torch that wasn't there when the torch relay started - I don't know where it came from. It was just incredible. It was incredibly staged, beautifully choreographed and highly disciplined, and it wasn't pulled off totally high tech. It was powered by 15,000 volunteers working for months, 8 hours a day, sometimes more. The part with the printing blocks (if you saw it), the only time they ever did it flawlessly was last night, after months of practice.

I tried to watch the march of nations, cause I really do like to do that, and to see what they're wearing, and I wanted to see the reaction Iraq was going to get, but I just couldn't stay awake. I woke up pretty much as the last two or three people nations walked by and then all the Chinese athletes, led by Yao Ming, came out and then they kinda pushed this little boy out by him and I thought it was a pushy mother wanting a picture of her kid with him, and it turns out he's got this great story of being an earthquake not only survivor but hero. He was so composed for someone so small, but he sure as heck didn't look nine years old. Here our second graders are seven, which is more what he looked like.

Tonight we watched the swimming finals. Well, mom watched the morning, I joined her in the afternoon, and we watched the finals and medal ceremonies this evening. Last year I bought a hat that the Americans were wearing as they marched out cause I thought it was cool. I dug it out and had it with me last night (after looking for it three or four times). This time I have already ordered two shirts. I'm an Olympic geek.

not so good for ambien so far

My first night on ambien ended with me listening to the news that started at 5am, as usual. I don't remember how long I was into it but I do know they had started to repeat themselves so that usually means at least one hour. I watch Robin Meade cause she's cute and perky in a non annoying and don't want to throw anything at the screen at her kind of way, and then it goes to Richard Lui, who is cool and techno savvy, which I like, but he starts about 4 hours after Robin (she's just so cute and nice - like a big daisy). Good lord, it must be the insomnia - you know me, I usually want to machine gun people like that. Did I happen to mention she had won a beauty contest or two? Yea, nuff said.

I slept really deep, as I do when the plethora of drugs finally hit, and was awakened early, around 3:45 pm, by the doorbell ringing. I had ordered a shirt for the olympics. I did that last time with the hat (that I still can't find but want to - it's very comfortable), so I wanted to get something this time, too (It's just a basic t-shirt), but then I heard Alex's voice and I realized she wasn't delivering a t-shit, and sure enough, Josh came in right after her. They never visit without calling, not that they can't. I don't mind drop in visits and mom was up, but I had to haul myself out of a pretty deep sleep and make myself a little more presentable and stumbled out of my bedroom, mumbling good morning. 

They were out doing some errands and just dropped by, so we just visited and it was really nice. It was overcast today. Get this, everywhere else in the state got traces of rain except a city just outside of the metro called Yukon which got 2.25 inches. That's just crazy. I'm not sure what we all even talked about, some of Josh's work, the benefits of Direct TV, which they're getting, and just stuff. They eventually left to go home and clean their house. 

So, we turned on the TV and waited for America's Got Talent to start, and I, of course, fell back asleep, and mom let me. I woke up after it had been on about a half hour. Luckily, I always record them on the DVR. She had been sitting at her computer playing her games, so when I woke up we turned it on and it was a good one. Like I said before, that show always makes me cry. It's really great to have mom here to watch it with me. It's fun having someone here that enjoys it, too, and it's giving me a great memory of time spent with her. Although the Olympics are starting tomorrow, which we will be watching, I'm looking forward to when AGT starts up again with the live shows in Hollywood. 

I'm dreading having to do this, but once again I'm going to have to write Marilyn and tell her I'm going to have to put off the visit. I am getting smacked with some big bills right now. I took my car in for an oil change yesterday and it turns out it was due for it's 22,500 mile service, so instead of the $40 I figured it would be, it was $320, and the bill for the alarm company, which I agreed to pay yearly, came due this week, and it was $300. Ouch and ouch. And I still desperately need to get to a dentist, which ain't going to be cheap. Two teeth have disintegrated on me now, but so far it's limited to them, but lupus patients don't heal well, and fibro patients don't either. I feel a little better knowing my heart is okay, but I'm just so scared about the cost in money and in recovery time, although I know I'll be much happier afterwards. This is one I really am just afraid to face. I never thought I would allow myself to be seen with two teeth missing, even if they are on the side. That's how scared of it I am.

So Ozzy has been spending lots of time with mom, and making with the sad eyes to me. When Alex was here today, he spent almost all the time in her lap. It's like he's mad at me. He won't even stay in my lap. Well, tonight he didn't come to bed, even when I called, so I went to see what was going on, and he was out having dinner in the dining room with Grandma. Ok, I understand that. I had just poured fresh food and there was someone there to keep him company. When he was done he came in and got his four pupparoni, as usual and he was leaving the room and I gave him a look, one of my "wanna play" looks and he goes bounding down the hall, on all four springs. Haven't seen that in a while. So I spent some time with him not just sitting and throwing the babies for him. That's lame. We played like a Terrier needs to be played with. I chased him and he ran for the babies and we fought over them and he growled at me and I growled at him, and he had the biggest grin on his face. It was a pretty good work out for both of us. Maybe that's what I need to be doing instead of trying to remember to get on the treadmill - playing Terrier with my Ozzman.

So, tomorrow first thing I'm going to go get my hair cut. Hopefully this time she'll give me a good one like the first time. I was so disappointed that she didn't give me a good one for my trip to Arizona. The first one everyone here was just loving and praising, and the second one just was.... off. The weight of the hair fell in the wrong place and she cut the back too short. But, I put it off until the last minute so I didn't have a chance for it to grow out or for her to be able to fix it. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow, cause she really can do a good cut, and the first time the layers fell so beautifully. I would like it to be like that when I come back for Ali's wedding.

So, day two of Ambien, which I took almost three hours ago, and I'm still going strong. Unbelievable. I don't know whether it's that my metabolism is that slow, or that my will is that strong. I just can't shut off, and, seemingly, when I do shut off, I do it really well. But I have to be up early tomorrow, which is good cause that will help with the cycle changeover, too. Every little bit, and all. I'll let you know how it goes. If I stay awake too long, I might come back with a crew cut.

wow, out all day

Busy, busy day today. Started with a visit to my rheumie, who says I seem to be less ouchie than last time. Got a prescription for generic Ambien for 90 days in an effort to turn my schedule around. It's just after midnight now, and I woke up just after 10 am this morning (but it wasn't easy).

After that, mom and I, and the Ozzman, went to Walgreens (2 different stores), the Ace Hardware Store and Tuesday Morning. I got a great video on my phone of this talking, life sized Elvis head and shoulders that was really cool. It was only $60, down from $400, so I'm amazed I didn't buy it. I might go in next week and see if it's lower priced. I thought about Jenny immediately. It really was well done. It was like an animatronic at Disneyland, and the voice was really good, and it sang too. It was black leather Elvis. I was just getting ready to take the video when I looked up and the store clerk had messed up his hair. They were getting pretty tired of him. When she heard I wanted to take a video, the other one went and combed it back for me. Nice of her. 

Then, just a bit further in the same strip mall was the hardware store and I found the weed popper that Kathy M had told me about. I don't even know what I paid for it, but I bought it. I'm pretty impressed - Its pretty heavy duty. I got some more weed whacker string and some other hardware-ish stuff, then off to the last Walgreens and then home.

Luckily for us, mom had been slow cooking a pot of beans since this morning, so I picked up some Wonder wheat white bread, which I have been wanting to try (not too bad). Made a wonderful dinner. We celebrated the day by driving to Norman, with the Oz, and getting chocolate shakes at Braum's. He's really been needing some wind in the old face time.

But that's all I've got. I'm done in. Tomorrow is a narcotic couch day - sure, turn my days around by giving me sleeping pills with a side effect of daytime drowziness. Gotta love the pharmaceutical merry go round.

Finally!!

I woke up this morning (mom is still asleep), let the dog out, and called the doctor. Even though I called the same number I did yesterday, for some reason my rheumatologist's office answered and, of course, knew nothing about it and kept calling Dr. Hsieh (pronounced shay), Dr Shit. That was my first clue. Then they said there was no such doctor there and hung up. Hm, nice. 

So, I double checked and called from my phone book and got Dr. Hsieh's office, and explained the situation. When I finally got the nurse, she said that she sent me a letter (uh, yeah, got that - I didn't tell her that she didn't actually put anything on it, too much effort) and that everything was fine.

FINALLY!!!!!

big Target trip

I set my alarm for 10am this morning so we could get to Target for a long needed shopping trip. But, well, I slept through it but did get up about 10:30 and found mom up but not dressed. We talked and agreed that there was no need to go out when there is still a heat advisory out, so I said I would prefer to go around sundown, which is around 8:30 and mom agreed, so I just went back to bed. 

I did call my doctor, and the receptionist said she would check, and if the doctor had any news she would call me. I got a couple of phone calls not too long after that, but neither were from her. 

I slept off and on for the rest of the day. Mom even took a nap, and talked to Sue, maybe to dad. I've given up worrying about what she's doing to fill her days. Like she keeps saying, it's what she'd be doing at home anyway. When she talked today, he told her it was 113 there, so she told him not to expect her anytime soon. Sigh. It's been quite a while since I've lived with anyone this long. Ozzy is getting a little confused and is playing the mom-against-grandma game. He couldn't wake me up (I assume) this morning. I heard a loud bark and then the door alarm dinging. I thought they were playing and she let him out. Turns out he woke her up and then she let him out. Ah, to be Ozzy's favorite - that's the price you pay. 

We left around sunset and got to Target with a little over an hour to shop. I paid for groceries last time and it was a little over $100, so I was ready for mom to pay, and so was she. I was picking up stuff that I needed, figuring that this was my stuff to pay for, but when it came to the register, she just paid for it all. I definitely came out ahead. 

One of the things I picked up was a little garden shovel to try to dig out some of the weeks. It's collapsable, with a twist lock. I tried it while Ozzy went outside, on one the worst one of the bunch, and it kept slipping in spite of the lock, but it was a big stubborn weed in very dry ground. I did eventually get it out, but I do think I need to get some water on the lawn before I do anything like that. I'll have to do it in halves of the yard or Ozzy won't do his business out there.

We finally got all of our bags home, in the house and unpacked and sat down to watch the finale of American Gladiators and then Raw, By the time we were done with the shows we wanted to watch it was after 2am. I don't think mom is getting up too soon tomorrow. I saw my mail, which I hadn't gone through yet, sitting on the server, so I looked through it real quick, and lo and behold, the last one was a letter from my doctor. I opened it up and it was a form letter. It gives the test and a circle that is checked if the test result is acceptable or requires comments further below. Mine had stress test written in as "other' type of test, Dr. Hsieh as the doctor, and I guess her nurse had signed it, and there wasn't another mark on the stupid paper. Nothing was marked on any of the circles and there were no comments. Looks like I'm calling again tomorrow. But not too early. Dang it.

still no news

I'm getting tired of writing that - "still no news".

 I don't actually remember if I was still up or if I woke up, but somehow I was up around 7 or 7:30 this morning and decided to tackle the weeds in the back yard. I finally took some pictures so you can see at what cost my time in Arizona took on my yard. Well, 

actually, it was kinda long before I left. In fact, I think trying to cut it before I left might have killed my

lawnmower cause it sure as heck doesn't work now. 

Anyway, I was out there this morning, trying to get my yard sale special gas weed eater to start, which it did, but not for more than 30 seconds at a time, and even then it wouldn't cut down some of those trees. So I went and got my old reliable electric one, which I keep charging in the garage, and it was cutting through what it could, and then... it ran out of string, or plastic or whatever you call the whacker stuff. I took that as a pretty sure sign to go back to bed. I looked on the bottom of the weedeater and got the size of the wack-stuff and then went back to bed, until 6:30pm.

Really, this is getting a little ridiculous, this sleeping all day, but the sun doesn't even set until 9pm and it's over 100 degrees right now, which is a heat wave for here, so what would i have been doing anway. I told mom that we really needed to go shopping. This weekend wouldn't have been good because it was tax free weekend where they take the sales tax off of clothes and accessories for everything you can put on your body, for going back to school. Alex and her parents and sisters went shopping today and I guess they did it up good. Anyway, not a good time for mom and I to be among the madding crowd.

But, tomorrow we need food and I need to get a bunch of household things. That will give me a good reason to get out of bed. That and I really need a shower. Whew - I don't even want to stand next to me. Of course, it might get me a line of my own in grocery store. I know it used to work at the book sales. But I can't stand it any more. Even Ozzy isn't sleeping with me now. He's on the floor. I'm too stinky for a dog. That's a claim to shame no one would want.

I also figure that if I'm up and around in the daytime I will remember to call my doctor and try to get the results of the test. I tried the route of just leaving it to them to call me. Yeah, that doesn't work so well. I had an ekg taken at Dr. Levins office and never did get the results, and he sent me to get an upper GI and three months later, when I finally did ask, turns out I had gastritis and should have been on Prevacid. I need to be a little more proactive. Let you know.

another nothing day

We're officially in the middle of a heat wave, and I just don't feel inclined to do anything. I woke up before noon today, and today mom didn't feel like doing anything either. She did, however, ask if I would be able to tell her when I have had enough and let her know when it was time for her to go home. 

Sigh. That's a hard one, and I didn't say yes. I apologized for being on edge and basically said the same thing I said in the blog last night. I've noticed that Ozzy has been acting a little odd around me, too, even though I'm not yelling at him or anything. That makes me inclined to think my blood chemistry is off or that I'm giving off weird vibes. Boy has he been playing up to mom.

Still so stinking sleepy and I don't know why. It's not like I'm totally not sleeping. I got about 6 hours this morning, then took a nap, then fell asleep in front of the TV around midnight. This is nuts. I have an appointment with the rheumatologist next week and have a couple of questions to ask her. I was also thinking that the 24 hours up might have really thrown my system out of whack. Who the heck knows.

upside down again

Still no word on the stress test, but then again, I didn't wake up until after 5pm. Mom was very careful not to make a sound, but I kinda wish she had, cause I didn't necessarily want to sleep that late. I find myself with kind of an attitude, and I don't know if it's cause of waiting for the results or having someone in my house when I'm used to living alone - mom stayed here for a while before, or, which I am more inclined to think it is, is the topamax, my go to excuse for everything, and is probably also responsible for the high cost of gas.

I was thinking about it this evening, wondering why I was so edgy, and I remembered that that was why I was taking such a low dose in the first place. Josh almost immediately called me on being cranky when the doctor back in Tempe tried to raise the dose past 150 mg. Now here I am at 300 mg. I may ask Alex if she's noticed a personality change - I'm too scared to ask Josh, or I should say, I'm to smart, experienced and bruised to ask Josh. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he said something to me first. 

So, nothing new today. A trip to Walgreens where Ozzy flirted with the cute woman at the pharmacy who has a yorkie-poo who looks just like him. He's a chick magnet.

 I gotta try to do something about my back yard. Mom reminded me, at 9:30 pm that I was going to call someone. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it so you see I do not exaggerate. Last night Josh and Alex came running back in after being out for a smoke and grabbed flashlights and a stick cause something living moved and startled them in the backyard. Josh was worried it was a possum ("They're mean!" and proceeds to make scarly face and noises - it was cute. He was serious. I still don't want one. ) I think it's a cat that lives in my mums. I don't know why its a cat, but Sheba must have been hearing something cause she's been antsy to get outside for a week or so. Maybe the peeing was her way of getting thrown out. Hmmm. Something to ponder.

cranky, cranky me

I haven't gotten the results of the stress test yet. I called the doctor's office today and her nurse was out for the day, so I wouldn't hear today, but maybe tomorrow or Monday. I'm still tired because of being up 24 hours, but at least I did sleep some last night. 

Josh and Alex came over for dinner tonight. Josh finally hooked up the surround sound in the office, and managed to give mom cable channels in the guest room and put the cable box back in the office. So now I have my media server in the office that can be played loud enough to be heard in the rest of the house.

To get ready for it, I cleaned up the office and took Sheba's stuff back to my room. I had a couple of ideas of what to do with it that would mean not having to put it back into my bedroom permanently. I talked to J&A about Sheba peeing on the bed and they gave me a few ideas I hadn't thought about that I might have done, things I might have moved that disrupted and upset her, so when Josh was done I put the office back together with her chair back the way she likes it, the door to my closet open, her food in there for her, and Ozzy's old step up for the bed, which is actually a cat post, by the window and opened up the blinds a little. Maybe now she will feel like she has a few more of her old places back.

When we were done with dinner and the wiring, we, of course, played Guitar Hero. This time I played all the songs on hard, and lost every battle. But, I do have to say that at the end, I lost the second to the last song by only 5000 points, and he played 129 notes in a row, and I played 130. That was the highlight of my night, even if I didn't win; I was winning during parts of the song.

No plans for tomorrow, I think, Maybe pick up some prescriptions. I cleaned the house and mom made the dinner, and I set the table. It was nice to eat with all the stuff out. I didn't have a dessert to make (or thought I didn't. I was going to make cookies but we didn't have eggs - they turned up later under all the salad bags. Yeah, that's where I keep my eggs, too). Alex ended up making Rice Krispy treats for us.

Fun evening all around. Since everything is all cleaned up, we don't have too much to do. Yay.