ARG!

If you are sick and know you are sick - sick enough that really you shouldn't be at work and you keep telling everyone around you that you shouldn't be at work and that you've noticed that you are getting worse and not better - don't think for a second that coughing without covering your mouth is ok.

Now I'm writing this because I didn't say anything to you when you coughed in my GD'en face and I sat there so flamin' shocked that you did what you did and you didn't acknowledge your rude behavior, you just carried on like nothing even happened and maybe your brain didn't connect the fact that you were sharing a terrible cold but my brain noticed it - and I'm pissed about it. I'm not in kindergarten or daycare - coughing on others is NOT ok and it is not acceptable. And now I'm getting sick - I can feel it- and on top of that all of the stress I've experienced in the past four weeks has given me some kind of gastro problem - that may very well be an ulcer.

So there is a heap of complaining - bang a gong for 2009 is the year of the whiner in my house.

head

My head isn't hurting - I was actually afraid to say it because maybe that could attract it back.. but right now I don't have a head ache. It's taken me most of the day to figure out what wasn't the same...

I do have a whole new problem - this terrible ache in my chest/stomach area and largely uncontrollable burps - how sad is that - now I've read that this could be related to stress but I'm more inclined to think that my stomach and whole digestive system are beginning to wonder what the hell is going on... no solid food in weeks - or largely not solid - yesterday - in desperation I bought a muffin and then dunked it in hot chocolate to make it edible. I know - how sad is that...

Anyway - not having a headache or head symptoms made me want to post - so that's what I'm doing... now I'm going to go and buy some computers.

additions

So I've added two new widgets (gadgets) to my blog. On your right you'll see a hand reflexology widget and a foot reflexology widget. They are awesome. Last night I massaged both my hands and feet and it definitely made me calm down and relax.

I had my chiropractor appointment in PG today (thanks Amy). So that meant that Andy and I got a half day in PG with out kids... it is crazy - we spend half the time wondering what to do with ourselves and the other half of the time looking at kids stuff wondering if the kids would like it... silly.

The appointment was different. I haven't been to a chiropractor in YEARS! He told me that my left leg was 3/4 of an inch shorter which explains why my pants look funny. I had a lot of xray - apparently so the dr. could check he was doing the right stuff. He applied some (little) pressure to my neck and that was it. I actually had weird back pain this afternoon which caused my anxiety to turn on for a while, but after eating some food and calming down I was ok. Tonight I'm still struggling with some pain around my ear/jaw, but some of my other pain isn't there. I also feel like I'm getting closer and closer to what is plaguing me. Most of it appears to be stress related which I've really struggled to get my head around. I don't feel stressed out, but my body just wasn't sending the right messages to my brain to slow down - now I'm slowing down and hoping I can reverse the damage.

Ok - and since we had time to look around a little bit for us.. ok for me.. I got two new pairs of jeans and a skirt... all in a size 12 - which is about as fantastic as anything could be. I actually put on the first pair of jeans and had to take them off to make sure that the tag wasn't lying... cause I just didn't think they were going to fit - and they aren't even tight... So frickin' hip hip hooray for that.

something fun

Here's a little Friday night laugh - my sister sent me this at the end of my day - and a laugh was very welcomed :)

A little bit of rubber fun

This may not be suitable for all viewers - it is pretty tame for us grown ups but it isn't for kiddies... unless you feel like having the "talk" with them... might want to turn the sound down too...

enlightenment

So I'm sitting here trying to eat a muffin when it happens - i start getting the twinge weirdness that has been plaguing my temple for weeks - the thing that is causing me great stress and making me feel like there really is something wrong with me... I take a bite, it happens again, I take another bite and now feel it happening as I bite - and now I think I'm coming to conclusions - maybe this muscle is just so strained from all the change and pain and all the rest of it that is it twitching just like my eye does or my other parts does when I get stressed out or over use it...

I also now know that I clench in my sleep. At 6:14 I woke up from a nightmare (dreaming again - I'm dreaming nearly every night right now - so I'll take it even if it was a nightmare) and was definitely clenching my teeth.

What was the dream? (Mel - stop reading here... )
Well I was flying out of Vancouver and we took off into the fog. The fog was dense and we didn't get very high, then I could see Hwy 1 (right near Port Coquitlam) below me - everything was very clear and then we started to try and pull up and then it was like a radio came on talking about a crashed plane on highway one. Then I look out on the road way again and I see a plane (white with some blue on it) with its wings missing and then a pile of sheets - I could see someone under one the sheets and then I was up. It didn't really scare me - it more startled me because I tried to go back to sleep to see what was going to happen next.. I'm one of those choose your own adventure types and get interested easily... I have a lot of plane crash dreams and I usually stay asleep through something like that because I've had so many - in fact I usually have the same dreams - with slight modifications

So there you go... back to the grind

the battle

Mouthguard - check...

Sanity... sometimes lost...

Headache - something that won't go away... very very sad

Sleeping - YES - AMEN!

Thanks to Amy I've booked my appointment for the chiropractor visit and I'm also getting some blood work to see if there is more to this than just a jaw issue.

What else? Well life has trogged (yes, that's a new word) on. Michael got a cold and is making a come back from that. Kyle had a whopper of a nose bleed this morning. I use to get them pretty often as a kid so it isn't a big deal, but this morning - man - he bled for a good 15 minutes if not longer... and of course he got blood all over the place. Good times :)

Ok and here is a great video to check out... It is definitely worth watching... this might be the next big trend... no more bride and groom dancing stunts - just kick ass, out of the box speeches :)

laugh

Ok - so I'm not feeling great and if I could pick somewhere to be - it would be on a beach and not in my office... but I just had one of those moments that I had to share.

Someone comes in my office and gives me something and asks for something in exchange - sure... - and then says I'll get you what you need ass-ap... instead of a-sap (ASAP)... I could heardly contain myself - I started giggling as soon as they lift my office... I mean really - ass-ap... gees...

Laughing does help... I need more laughter :)

blah-diddy-blah-blah

So tonight I decided to celebrate my dear friend Paula's birthday with a trip to the ER... again... I seem to be a regular there now... my jaw was so painful tonight that I caved and had a family friend look after the guys while I went in to see if they could do anything to help me... so I got a shot of toradol - which is like a whole bunch of advil - and that took the edge off the pain after about 15 minutes... now I'm still feeling pain but they gave me T-3's for that... so the fun just isn't stopping around here...

I'm going to try and sleep and recover from another crappy day with this pain...

blogging

So my blogging has been a little bit hit and miss lately as I'm struggling with my TMJ. I've pretty much been through the ringer the last few days and couldn't be happier that tomorrow is Wednesday and I get my mouth guards tomorrow. Pretty sad day for me to want to go to the dentist - as I've been afraid of the dentist for years and here I am looking forward to the phone call that everything has arrived.

How bad is it? Well it is worse than anything I've ever had to deal with. When I was pregnant with Kyle I was sick a lot - more of the pregnancy had nausea in it than anything else - but that was really it. I've had colds and flus but nothing compared to this. Jaw pain, inability to chew food, face muscle pain, numbness, neck and shoulder pain and to top it all off with a cherry I've gotten anxiety from all the symptoms. Anxiety has got to be the worst thing in the whole world. I know that my friends will say that I'm a little off but this is nothing - I really feel like I'm going off the deep end. One little pain leads to another thought about pain leading to fears and dwelling on the pain and what it might be and on and on and on and on until I either calm down and work past it or fall asleep. Plus without real food I'm having sugar lows that also kick start the anxiety. The jaw issues are rooted in stress which I'm working on developing a new relationship with - I need to have more control of my stress level and realize when I've taken on too much... which I have and now I'm trying to withdraw or just take things on as I can and get them done at my own pace.

My dentist is confident that the mouth guard is going to clear this up and I'm riding his confidence to the bank because it is the only hope I have right now.

Thanks for posting books to read - I'm definitely going to get them at the library. I meant to go today but I decided sitting on the couch and relaxing was better for this afternoon. I might get there for lunch tomorrow - all depends on the dentist appointments and when I get scheduled in. So there you go - not much uplifting in that little post, but with any luck my next post will be very positive, happy and cheery :)

product review

I've watched the commercial from the town in Alaska where a woman says she's found the best hand lotion for ultra dry skin on the market - and they would know about dry skin because it is so dry.... so I've seen this commercial for a while and was very interested in the product - I'm always interested in using a skin product that will actually keep my hands feeling normal.

I've used up my regular hand lotion (which really wasn't keeping my hands in good condition) and decided to try the Alaskan supported brand.



Here it is Intensive Rescue Clinical Vaseline Lotion. It claims to increase hydration by 5x that it is long lasting moisture for 24 hours and helps to restore extremely dry skin in five days - restoration through hydration. There was a lot of helpful information on their website. (www.vaseline.ca) (The link will take you right to the clinical page.)

So I've started using the lotion and here is my rating so far. I applied a bunch this morning. It took about the same amount of time to apply as my other lotions (Olay, Vaseline, Aveeno, Body Shop - yup I've used 'em all). I found it to be a little greasy - not overly - (like Aveeno - I had the intensive stuff from them and found it to be very greasy.) I was re-applying it in the afternoon and it doesn't really stay on for 24 hours - or at least not on my dry hands... but since they've noted that for really dry hands you need five days before it will restore your hands, I'm going to continue using it for five days and see how much better my hands have gotten. I'll let you know how it goes, because I'm sure that you really care :)

Ok - off to read something good... tell me what is a book that will be uplifting, non-depressing, non-scary...

blizzard?

Well it got a little bit snowy (less than an inch) and a little bit windy, but at my house there was no blizzard. Disappointing really, I could have gotten out x-country skiing for the afternoon if I hadn't been so worried about what the weather was going to do... I guess better safe than sorry - but I really could have used a ski. I guess it will have to wait until next weekend now.

Today was Michael's 3rd birthday. We spent some time this morning making a chocolate cake and then the boys helped decorate with green sprinkles - Michael's choice... we waited until after dinner to open presents and Kyle wanted to give his first.



What you have here is a rocket ship from recycled materials. He spent about an hour this morning taping things and glueing things - it was so nice to see him work at something so hard for his brother... really it was quite touching. The bottle is the rocket ship that launches out of the box. Michael really liked it and got it right away - that the gift was a rocket ship. I wish now that I had done the same - the more birthdays and christmas gift exchanges we go through the more I really wonder about gift giving - it really isn't about the gifts... love is all that matters.

a blizzard?

So apparently this winter hasn't been bad enough - now they are calling for a BLIZZARD tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking it that that doesn't mean we are all supposed to stop by Dairy Queen tomorrow and pick our favorite flavour. I don't recall actually seeing a blizzard warning for Quesnel before... crazy - madness even. What really sucks is that I was hoping to test out my x-country skiis tomorrow - but there's no way I'm bothering to drive in that.

What else? Well my TMJ (jaw stuff) is brutal right now. It has been pretty bad since I went on holidays but is getting worse and worse - to the point that now I'm avoiding solid food - I'm taking as much advil as I'm allowed - and have been forced to wait to even book a dentist appointment until Monday because my dentist took just as much holiday time as I did.. BLAST! I'm just hoping that getting a mouth guard will solve my problem. I think a bunch of my jaw issues are stress related - but I haven't quite figured out how to make changes to that - but I'm definitely seeking help with it because the pain is literally driving me insane...

On that pleasant and pleasing note I'm going to continue going through my collection of magazines and removing the articles I like and then taking the rest off to the hospital for others to read.

photos...

Alright - so zoolander just didn't cut it - I have harold and kumar on in the background while I'm working on some beading... new to me...



And now for a few photos from Christmas...


Michael and Kyle Christmas morning


Michael opening a transformer present


Kyle with his new fishing net


Transformer slippers from Aunti Mel - modeled by Michael - he actually asked me to take photos of each foot and wanted to check them after I took them...


The boys a few days after Christmas

candy sushi for all you non-raw fish lovers

Last night I was cruising the contest area on Canadian Living and I found a link to safeway's (grocery store) website. I don't think I've ever been on their site, but was very pleased with what I found.

Anyway I came across the following:

Safeway Candy Sushi

That's right - it looks like sushi... but it is candy.

So the rice part in the roll is a marshmallow and you wrap them with fruit leather or fruit rollups and the rice part on the other sushi (ebi) is a half of one of those powdered donuts... I'm going to pick up the stuff to make some in the near future and I'll share what we come up with.

And now I've decided to watch a movie... time for Zoolander - and speaking of movies - I've actually watched a few over the holidays - I watched Hancock the other night and it wasn't too bad - I mean it wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't boring... I also watched most of Wall-E and all of Kung Fu Panda (again)... Wall-E was ok - but definitely a kids movie - I really enjoyed Kung Fu Panda - really really... ok off to Zoolander.

Ok - zoolander isn't doing it for me... I need something to do... I'm bored...

hide and seek

"Hey Mom, close your eyes."

Ok - why?

"Let's play hide and seek."

Ok, sounds good.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 , 10...

Open eyes to see Kyle standing there looking at me - having not moved to hide.

"Mom, close your eyes again and this time count to infinity."

... Needless to say, I'm still counting... ok so the conversation actually went like this...

Ok, one..... (pause) infinity...

I did not receive thunderous applause to my counting... only a funny face - saying mmmmmmmoooooommmmm.

Good times... do I really have to go back to work? :)

Welcome to 2009

Hello everyone and happy new year!

Boys had a fun christmas... and we had our usual quiet new year's. We've spent the last two days moving into the room. It isn't finished but I've given in and really need to get it done before I go back to work next week. What isn't finished... well it could pretty much use a paint job - already - because every contractor that went in there left a mark on it - plus the insulation foam made a hell of a mess on the wall and that all needs to be cleaned. We also had to remove the drain pipe and that meant cutting a hole in the wall that needs to be patched, but I guess we will take care of that later - I'm just not planning on putting anything in front of the hole. I'll share some photos once we get the last of the stuff moved in... I'm looking forward to being in there and having the rest of our stuff cleaned up. I don't know how many times I've heard people say - gees you have a lot of stuff or someone in my family suggesting we have a garage sale - I guess people forget that we renovated a room that was just holding garage sale stuff and then we had christmas which left a few more boxes out...

We cleaned up the Christmas tree last night (I know... what the hell kind of New Years is that...) and I've got my village to put away tomorrow. Anyway - there is a short update. We hope everyone had a safe holiday season and that people are starting to recover from the variety of colds and flus that seemed to set back a few of us over the holidays.

Best wishes for an amazing 2009!

Oh yes - one more note - Jen commented on getting a carbon monoxide alarm and I think everyone should definitely get one. I initially put it off and put it off again - but am thankful that we did have one. They are a little expensive ($50+) but all of our lives are worth that much. In addition to the one natural gas leak (by chance detected during our alarm scare a few weeks ago) we had the installers come back again and found another natural gas leak on the newly installed hot water tank... and hopefully that is the last of the renovations for a while.