Yet Another Update On Me

Heck yes - this is a filter. I felt the need to hide my double chin and the bags under my eyes today. Life has been life-ing lately.

In my last "about me" post, I vented a lot of about the state of the nation. Has my viewpoint changed in any way, shape or form? Absolutely not. Especially now with the stunt being pulled in LA. I still have a pit in my stomach every single day about what is going on. This country feels like a pit. And now we have a multi-million dollar military fasc!st's birthday parade about to happen on Saturday when people's lives are being completely destroyed on a daily basis. Horrifying...

 

That is all I am going to say about this putrid, hateful, evil administration. You all know how I feel. It's all about making the poor poorer and the rich richer. And now Dumpy Pants and Muskrat are nastily and publicly breaking up. Who didn't see that coming? If you didn't, you should have paid more attention.

As for me, my health is a roller coaster. Something in my body improves and then something else goes haywire. 

On a positive note, my (right/surgery) heel is doing great now. That makes me so happy that I can walk like a normal person again. Unfortunately though, my left knee is acting up (I do have arthritis in my knee) and I think I have tweaked it somehow. It is very frustrating.

I mentioned that the limping I did for a year and the heel surgery (with all the inactivity) caused some things to happen to my body that had me thinking I might be looking at another surgery. After visiting a very knowledgeable doctor, I found out that I really don't need surgery and PT should work better for me.

So I am working on that.

Then, I got a blood panel done to recheck my thyroid level. I have been taking Synthroid for years for an under-active thyroid, but my TSH level was still a bit off at my last physical, so I did a three month recheck to see if my increased dosage of medication was working. My doctor decided to add a couple of thyroid antibody blood tests in this time (which he had never done). Well, my antibody numbers are stupid high. That is a sign for Hashimoto's disease (which my doctor mentioned to me). So now, I have to see an endocrinologist for further investigation.

When I say I have seen almost ALL the kinds of doctors these last few years, I truly mean it. My list is ridiculous. So many different kinds of doctors. I'm exhausted - and I can't believe now I have to do this too. My appointment is in July. To be honest, if I do find out I have Hashimoto's - it would be a huge answer to a lot of unanswered questions. I read this statement on social media and this is how I feel all the time...

THIS.

I do feel like I am running on empty all the time. Exhaustion, brain fog, lack of motivation, digestion issues, joint pain, anxiety, depression, inflammation, feeling of heaviness in my limbs - I've been dealing with this for years. And then I threw in a big surgery recovery last year on top off all that. I never feel rejuvenated. I can't remember the last time I felt a true burst of energy.

 

I've been told - check your sleep, check your heart, it's probably perimenopause, take this med, take that vitamin, check this, check that. I've done all that - but nothing seems all that wrong with me and nothing has really worked. I am taking medication for my thyroid, but I don't think it's enough now. And I probably need to increase my dosage more. I'm sure I need to adjust my diet. I just need some more advice - and hopefully a diagnosis. I will see. I'm tired of feeling like crap. I try to put a smile on my face, but some days it is really hard. It's not that I want Hashimoto's, but an answer would be nice.

I also have lots of different heavy stuff weighing on my mind (and more keeps getting piled on), and there are days I just wonder if I will ever not feel the weight - even for a short time. There is always some sort of obstacle to face or climb over. Life is just freaking difficult.

So that is the scoop. Happy my kid is home. Tired of feeling like crap and hoping I will eventually heal. Need a vacation soon. Hate the current administration with the depth of my soul. Wishing I didn't feel so much disappointment and resentment. Hoping to get some solid health answers. 

That is all.

All About May

Welcome to my recap of our May. Our family had a lot of celebrations during the month (with some sickness thrown in). May is always a bit hectic, and this one was no different. June is always a busy month for us too.

We always start off May with Doug's and my wedding anniversary - 28 years for us this year. Since I am still struggling a bit with my health (more on that in my next post), we decided to celebrate earlier in the day by having a nice lunch and spending the day together.

It was raining that day - the first half of May was very wet for the Atlanta area. Doug and I took some pictures on our front porch...

Then we headed to a very nice restaurant that we had never been to before in a town square that we really enjoy. We didn't realize though that there was an arts and craft festival happening in the square that weekend. Good news for us, the rain kept a lot of the people away allowing us to find parking pretty easily. I'm not sure we would have been so lucky otherwise.

Mac's Chophouse was absolutely delicious and the atmosphere was lovely...

They gave us a free dessert for our anniversary. Honestly, everything was so tasty.

Doug and I had umbrellas, so we checked out the fair for a little while...

I did feel sorry for the vendors because it was pretty empty that day. Sunday was going to have much nicer weather, so I am sure they did better that day. I wasn't mad about it because I was able to check out everything I wanted to without much fuss.

We headed home and watched Sovereignty win the Kentucky Derby that evening...

Two days later, it was Cinco de Mayo. We had to have some Mexican food (and margaritas) for lunch...

 

The following weekend was Mother's Day weekend. I met my mom and sister a few days early for a nice lunch and a gift exchange...

Briana came home for the weekend, which was so nice...

Briana needed to go back to school on Mother's Day, so we had our Mother's Day celebration the night before. My favorites took me out to a delicious dinner...

Since my kid left the morning of Mother's Day, I hung out with my cat instead - heh...

My hubby did take me out to dinner at an amazing burger place that evening called Burger 21...

I had a doctor's appointment one morning in May which lasted for a little while. Doug and I were pretty hungry after the appointment, so he took me to a place called El Azteca. So good...

I met a few different friends for lunches throughout the month of May, and Doug and I had a few meals out together as well...

Briana's sweet friend Imerie graduated from high school in May, and she had the loveliest graduation party (Bri couldn't come home from school for the party, so she had to miss it - so sad)...

Imerie was not the only one of Briana's friends who graduated in May - her lifelong friends Mary and Chani graduated too. These girls are Chinese adoptees like Briana. I posted this on FB...

"Three of Briana's China adoption friends/"sisters" (Mary, Chani and Imerie) graduated this past week and I was luckily able to watch all their graduation ceremonies online. They will be joining Briana in the college world this August. I am so crazy proud of all of them. To see how far they have come has been a true privilege. They are the some of the most amazing, intelligent, courageous young ladies I know."

Here they are when they were all little (sniff)...

Now they are all college students - time certainly does fly.

And funny thing...Briana, Mary and Imerie all used the same amazing photographer for their senior picture sessions. And they all somehow ended up sitting on the same swing for their pictures (I put together this collage for the moms)...

Unfortunately on May 20th - I started coming down with a horrible head cold. And when I get sick, I am down for the count. I was sick for about 7 days - over Memorial Day weekend. I hadn't had a cold in over two years. I was stressed because I really needed to get better before going to pick up Briana from school on the 28th. 

Briana wanted a particular outfit to wear for a presentation at school (and she didn't have it with her), and since I was sick, Doug drove down to give her clothes and took her out to dinner one evening. I wasn't able to taste anything and I felt like poop, so there was no way I could go. They had a nice evening together (without me!)...

Because I was barely functioning Memorial Day weekend, Doug worked on his Jaws Lego set that he got for Christmas...

Mei was his "assistant"...

I finally started pulling myself together and as you know, Briana came home for summer break. Here are me and Doug ready to get her...

So that was our May. I am so happy to be over that stupid cold, but I still have a little lingering congestion and fatigue - even after all this time. 

Now we are diving into summer. We are happy to have our girl home. It's kind of crazy - D and I are trying to get used to Bri being back home now. Doug and I had gotten into a bit of a rhythm without her being here, and now we are readjusting to her being back. It's not a bad thing - it's just - a thing. 

So I think I will talk a bit about my health again in my next post. I still won't get too specific and now I have something new possibly being thrown my way, so life is still - "life-ing." for me. I have to "just keep swimming" somehow. I don't know what else to do.

Thanks for reading along!

Briana's Freshman Year At SCAD (An Overview)

I was going to do a recap of our May activities before getting to this post, but I decided I wanted to focus on this one first. Here is an overview of Briana's first year at college.

Last summer, I was SO nervous about my somewhat introverted, home-loving, only child heading off to college. But, I really didn't need to worry. She did AMAZING her first year. She ended the year with all A's, came out of her shell, tried new things and really learned to fend for herself. She had some bumps in the road (like dealing with a problematic dorm mate), but she got through it all. I will say that I am glad Briana picked the SCAD campus closer to home. I just think it worked best for our kid and our family. B was able to come home to visit several times during the school year and if she needed something, Doug and/or I were able to drop it off to her. She was able to have her independence yet at the same time, she knew we were close enough to her if she needed us for any reason. To say I am proud of this kid is an understatement. 

I cannot believe everything she experienced her first school year...

 

Briana completed the SCAD Amp program, went on field trips, rode a mechanical bull, sang karaoke, went to the Renaissance Festival (twice), visited Panda Fest, attended SCAD events (like formal game night and a pancake breakfast), went to an illustration expo, joined a rock climbing gym, drove around midtown Atlanta (no easy feat), attended SCAD TV Fest (and saw a number of celebrities), attended movie events, survived an icky chest cold and a nasty fall where she skinned her knee pretty badly, played in the snow and made new friends - all while keeping up with her studies.
 

Doug and I loved that Briana sent us so many pictures throughout the year - including lots of selfies...

Let's take a last look at some of the meals she ate spring quarter...

Here are some of her freshman year art assignments.

 

Her pixilation project...

The Woodstock Middle Bridge (Bri's drawing is on the left)...

 

Her "quilt" project...

Black and white art...

 

 For her illustration class...

A picture of her Uncle Wes (drawn all in pen)...

Cover for a children's book (Lord Of The Rings)...

 

 A style frame for a D&D Character (Cookie Bakerson, a gnome wizard. She is fighting a pudding monster in a candy swamp)...

A few of her other amazing creations...

And for her 3D art class...

A book made into art (she chose The Hobbit)...

"Pie Five" (She created two pies high-fiving. One is a pie chart with different pie flavors and the other is a lattice fruit pie with the pi symbol. She created it all out of clay (and two foil pie trays))...

A lamp (chose to make it Asian-themed)...

She created a design for a mug...

And she crocheted a bag for chalk to take to the rock climbing gym (wearable and functional art project)...

On May 29th, it was time to go home for the summer. She had packed up a bunch of her stuff already, but Doug and I came that morning and helped her finish up.

This is her first day (it was sunny) and her last day of freshman year (it was raining)...

This is the building she called home for freshman year (15th/top floor)...

This is the building she will live in for her sophomore year (she will be on a lower floor on the opposite side of the building)...

The cute courtyard...

What a crazy, stressful (at times), fun-filled, challenging, stimulating first year of college for my amazing girl. She will return in early September to tackle her second year. Briana has chosen her dorm mates for her second year rather than leaving it to chance like her first. I think she will have a great year! In some ways it feels like Bri was gone for a really long time, and in other ways, it feels like time just flew by. 

We will definitely take advantage of the long summer break ahead (Bri is taking an 8 week online math course at the local college to transfer over to SCAD).

Once again, thanks for following our journey. Next post - a May recap.