I went to the doctor today. The bottom number on my blood pressure was a little high. I figure that there's enough stress in my life that I should be allowed the occasional high reading. All my previous readings have been normal, so one high reading isn't going to freak me out.
I talked to the doctor about the dizziness. He's going to run some blood tests to make sure that we don't miss anything, but he seems to suspect that it's stress related. I'm hoping that's all it is. I'm scared of having something wrong that means missing more work. I don't like starting a job at the same time that I may end up needing frequent doctor appointments.
I go back in a month for results. If anything major shows up in my blood work he'll call me in before then. I was going to get away with going back in three months, but then he looked at my blood pressure. He wants to check it again in a month just to be sure that it's nothing.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Christmas Fun
This post comes via Mielikki. It looked like fun, so I decided to play along. If you want to play too please join in.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?- Depends on how hard it will be to wrap. I prefer using wrapping paper though, it's more fun to open.
2. Real or Artificial Tree? Artificial. My mom's allergic to real. This time of year sucks for her.
3. When do you put up the tree? Normally it goes up the day after Thanksgiving, but this year it was a little later. Last week we finally bought a miniature tree that's fiber-optic to put on a table in the living room. We just didn't want to go to the hassle of dragging out the big tree.
4. When do you take the tree down? As late as we can get away with. Actually it usually comes down around January 2nd or 3rd.
5. Do you like eggnog? I love the stuff, but not with alcohol in it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? The only ones that I can recall was the year of coloring books and crayons. That was all I would ask for, so that's just about all I got. My mom counted something like 22 coloring books and about 10 different boxes of crayons. Not much variety, but I was thrilled.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Not that I can find, but I know I have one somewhere.
8. Worst Christmas Gift you ever received? I can't think of any truly bad gifts.
9. Mail or E mail Christmas Cards? What Christmas cards?
10. Favorite Christmas Movie?- The only one that I've watched recently is the Polar Express, and only because it's the only movie that my 2 year old nephew will watch right now.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When I have the money.
12. Favorite thing to eat on Christmas? Everything. (I didn't get fat by being a picky eater.)
13. Clear lights or colored? Colored on the tree, clear outside
14. Favorite Christmas Song? All the traditional carols and anything by Trans Siberian Orchestra.
15. Travel at Christmas, or stay home? Right now it's stay home, but when I lived away from my parents I would come home for Christmas.
16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Nope, I have better things to do with my memory.
17. Angel or Star on the tree? It was an angel as I was growing up and I always figured that's what I'd use on my own tree someday. The first year that I had my own tree my best friend gave me a star for the top and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
18. Presents, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day? When I was little it was 1 on Christmas Eve and the rest in the morning, then we moved close to my grandparents. When my grandma was about 9 she watched her identical twin sister burn to death on Christmas Eve. With her we always open gifts on Christmas Eve to help keep her mind off of that memory.
19. Most Annoying thing this time of year? The fact that Jesus is being taken out of the celebration of his birthday. I know that everybody doesn't believe the same way as me, but that doesn't give them the right to tell me that my beliefs are insensitive and need to be hidden so as to not offend others. What about the possibility of offending me? Where are my rights? (Okay, I'll step down off the soapbox now. Otherwise this could take awhile.)
20. What do you leave for Santa? We never did this. I guess Santa's on a diet at my house. I'm sure that Mrs. Claus will thank me.
21. Least favorite holiday song. I can't think of one.
22. Do you decorate your tree with any theme or color? No, I love our hodge-podge collection of ornaments. To me it's way more beautiful than the department-store-perfect trees.
23. Favorite Ornament? The crocheted iceskates
24.Family tradition? We always have clam chowder on Christmas Eve. The night that we decorate the tree we have the first eggnog of the season and cookies. We turn it into a little party, just for our family. Also, my mom has a tree skirt that was made with quilt blocks. Every year she writes where her and dad spend Christmas on one of the blocks. It goes all the way back to the beginning of their marriage. It's a really neat record of their Christmases. I have a tree skirt like it, but I haven't had a tree of my own since getting it. When it finally gets unpacked there's going to be a lot of catching up to do.
25. Ever been to midnight mass or late night Christmas Eve services? The latest Christmas Eve service that I've been to starts at 6:00 p.m., not that late. But when I was little we would go to church on New Year's Eve. We'd have a church service and then everybody would play games and eat until midnight. It was always a lot of fun. And it was the one time all year that I got to wear pajamas to church.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?- Depends on how hard it will be to wrap. I prefer using wrapping paper though, it's more fun to open.
2. Real or Artificial Tree? Artificial. My mom's allergic to real. This time of year sucks for her.
3. When do you put up the tree? Normally it goes up the day after Thanksgiving, but this year it was a little later. Last week we finally bought a miniature tree that's fiber-optic to put on a table in the living room. We just didn't want to go to the hassle of dragging out the big tree.
4. When do you take the tree down? As late as we can get away with. Actually it usually comes down around January 2nd or 3rd.
5. Do you like eggnog? I love the stuff, but not with alcohol in it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? The only ones that I can recall was the year of coloring books and crayons. That was all I would ask for, so that's just about all I got. My mom counted something like 22 coloring books and about 10 different boxes of crayons. Not much variety, but I was thrilled.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Not that I can find, but I know I have one somewhere.
8. Worst Christmas Gift you ever received? I can't think of any truly bad gifts.
9. Mail or E mail Christmas Cards? What Christmas cards?
10. Favorite Christmas Movie?- The only one that I've watched recently is the Polar Express, and only because it's the only movie that my 2 year old nephew will watch right now.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When I have the money.
12. Favorite thing to eat on Christmas? Everything. (I didn't get fat by being a picky eater.)
13. Clear lights or colored? Colored on the tree, clear outside
14. Favorite Christmas Song? All the traditional carols and anything by Trans Siberian Orchestra.
15. Travel at Christmas, or stay home? Right now it's stay home, but when I lived away from my parents I would come home for Christmas.
16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Nope, I have better things to do with my memory.
17. Angel or Star on the tree? It was an angel as I was growing up and I always figured that's what I'd use on my own tree someday. The first year that I had my own tree my best friend gave me a star for the top and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
18. Presents, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day? When I was little it was 1 on Christmas Eve and the rest in the morning, then we moved close to my grandparents. When my grandma was about 9 she watched her identical twin sister burn to death on Christmas Eve. With her we always open gifts on Christmas Eve to help keep her mind off of that memory.
19. Most Annoying thing this time of year? The fact that Jesus is being taken out of the celebration of his birthday. I know that everybody doesn't believe the same way as me, but that doesn't give them the right to tell me that my beliefs are insensitive and need to be hidden so as to not offend others. What about the possibility of offending me? Where are my rights? (Okay, I'll step down off the soapbox now. Otherwise this could take awhile.)
20. What do you leave for Santa? We never did this. I guess Santa's on a diet at my house. I'm sure that Mrs. Claus will thank me.
21. Least favorite holiday song. I can't think of one.
22. Do you decorate your tree with any theme or color? No, I love our hodge-podge collection of ornaments. To me it's way more beautiful than the department-store-perfect trees.
23. Favorite Ornament? The crocheted iceskates
24.Family tradition? We always have clam chowder on Christmas Eve. The night that we decorate the tree we have the first eggnog of the season and cookies. We turn it into a little party, just for our family. Also, my mom has a tree skirt that was made with quilt blocks. Every year she writes where her and dad spend Christmas on one of the blocks. It goes all the way back to the beginning of their marriage. It's a really neat record of their Christmases. I have a tree skirt like it, but I haven't had a tree of my own since getting it. When it finally gets unpacked there's going to be a lot of catching up to do.
25. Ever been to midnight mass or late night Christmas Eve services? The latest Christmas Eve service that I've been to starts at 6:00 p.m., not that late. But when I was little we would go to church on New Year's Eve. We'd have a church service and then everybody would play games and eat until midnight. It was always a lot of fun. And it was the one time all year that I got to wear pajamas to church.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
A busy day
Donny finally got over being mad at me, although after today I don't know if that will still be true. My day was busy. It got off to a great start. Donny and I did fine this morning. My mom took me out to breakfast. And then I went shopping. I got everything I was looking for at the first store that I went to. Go pick up my mom and she takes me out to lunch.
I knew that things were going to get a bit hectic when I called my friend that's doing the tax stuff with me. I needed to let her know that I would be meeting her at our training session instead of having her pick me up at my house. That's when she reminded me that's when she reminded me that I was supposed to watch her son for about an hour this morning. I had completely forgotten. She was quick to forgive me and reminded me that I was babysitting tonight. Good thing she reminded me.
As I sat waiting for my mom to finish what she was doing so that we could go to lunch I had another dizzy spell. These are getting annoying. It was followed by the trick my eyes play on me where it looks like there's fog rolling in waves up my eyes. It's really weird. And then at lunch I got dizzy again. This time it lasted close to half an hour. That's when mom took the car keys away.
After lunch mom dropped me off at our training thing. It was long and rather boring. I was getting sore because the chair I was in was tilted just right that I was fighting to not get dumped in the floor. I would have gotten a different chair, but the next available chair was spoken for by the guy that was sitting on a box.
After training I went to my friend's house to babysit. I know that Donny's upset that I didn't tell him in advance that I had this to do, but I had completely forgotten. I had expected to be done in about 3 hours. It took a little over 5. But that's okay, we had fun.
Have you ever done a gingerbread house with a 2 year old? Let me tell you something, they're not that interested. The only reason that he stayed by my side was because I had a steady stream of sugar available. he was licking the trees that I was making. (They're covered in frosting.) He finally took a sugar cone, heavily frosted the inside, and ate it. He also helped himself quite heavily to my candy. A little after 10:00 he greeted his mother as she came in by running in circles right in front of her. I hate to think how she'll get me back for this.
Well, I'm dizzy again, so I must need to go to bed. Goodnight.
I knew that things were going to get a bit hectic when I called my friend that's doing the tax stuff with me. I needed to let her know that I would be meeting her at our training session instead of having her pick me up at my house. That's when she reminded me that's when she reminded me that I was supposed to watch her son for about an hour this morning. I had completely forgotten. She was quick to forgive me and reminded me that I was babysitting tonight. Good thing she reminded me.
As I sat waiting for my mom to finish what she was doing so that we could go to lunch I had another dizzy spell. These are getting annoying. It was followed by the trick my eyes play on me where it looks like there's fog rolling in waves up my eyes. It's really weird. And then at lunch I got dizzy again. This time it lasted close to half an hour. That's when mom took the car keys away.
After lunch mom dropped me off at our training thing. It was long and rather boring. I was getting sore because the chair I was in was tilted just right that I was fighting to not get dumped in the floor. I would have gotten a different chair, but the next available chair was spoken for by the guy that was sitting on a box.
After training I went to my friend's house to babysit. I know that Donny's upset that I didn't tell him in advance that I had this to do, but I had completely forgotten. I had expected to be done in about 3 hours. It took a little over 5. But that's okay, we had fun.
Have you ever done a gingerbread house with a 2 year old? Let me tell you something, they're not that interested. The only reason that he stayed by my side was because I had a steady stream of sugar available. he was licking the trees that I was making. (They're covered in frosting.) He finally took a sugar cone, heavily frosted the inside, and ate it. He also helped himself quite heavily to my candy. A little after 10:00 he greeted his mother as she came in by running in circles right in front of her. I hate to think how she'll get me back for this.
Well, I'm dizzy again, so I must need to go to bed. Goodnight.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Lord help us all!
Donny is pissed at me. He is so pissed at me that he tried to ground me. Now you may not know this, but I can be rather stubborn. When he tried to ground me I laughed at him. To prove that he couldn't ground me I then went shopping with my mom. (I still can't find blouses for work.) The worst part about this fight is that it's because I force him to take care of himself.
Yesterday I needed to go to the grocery store. Donny said that he'd go with me. He wanted a soda and he wanted out of the house. This sounded good, so my mom told me to use her money to get him some soda and a thing of Limburger cheese.
We got in the car to go and Donny looks at me and says, "Let the fighting begin. Can I have a couple beers?" My immediate, and rather emphatic, answer was no. I will not let him go down that path again. So he got out of the car and went back in the house. I went in and got dinner ready so that I could go shopping with my mom. I decided to go with our original plan of me fixing dinner and then we'd go to the grocery store before heading into town.
As I was fixing dinner Donny came in and told me that he'd changed his mind and I was no longer allowed to go shopping with my mom. I ignored him and continued what I was doing. He came back a few minutes later and said that he wanted to talk to me. I filed that away in my head and finished what I was doing.
When dinner was ready I found Donny to see what he needed. He told me again that I wasn't to go shopping with my mom. He claims that I have him trapped in our house and won't let him go anywhere or do anything. That's why for the next 2 weeks I'm only allowed to go to work and then come straight home.
That didn't really fly with me. I pointed out that I'm always asking him to go places with me, but he doesn't ever feel like it, so I don't push it. He then said that I have him cut off from everything. I asked what I have him cut off from, besides booze. He said his medicine. I pointed out that I give him his medicine just how it's prescribed. I told him that if he had problems with his medicine then he needed to take it up with his doctor. He quit trying to argue with me then.
So I left, and came home to one very pissed off husband. I went to church this morning, and came home to one very pissed off husband. I'm now wondering how long he'll nurse this grudge. I hope it passes soon, I don't have the patience for this for much longer.
I'm now wondering if any of this is related to his medicine. He just started a round of steroids and I've heard that they can make people aggressive. If that's the case then I've got 2 weeks of this to look forward to. May God have mercy on us all.
Yesterday I needed to go to the grocery store. Donny said that he'd go with me. He wanted a soda and he wanted out of the house. This sounded good, so my mom told me to use her money to get him some soda and a thing of Limburger cheese.
We got in the car to go and Donny looks at me and says, "Let the fighting begin. Can I have a couple beers?" My immediate, and rather emphatic, answer was no. I will not let him go down that path again. So he got out of the car and went back in the house. I went in and got dinner ready so that I could go shopping with my mom. I decided to go with our original plan of me fixing dinner and then we'd go to the grocery store before heading into town.
As I was fixing dinner Donny came in and told me that he'd changed his mind and I was no longer allowed to go shopping with my mom. I ignored him and continued what I was doing. He came back a few minutes later and said that he wanted to talk to me. I filed that away in my head and finished what I was doing.
When dinner was ready I found Donny to see what he needed. He told me again that I wasn't to go shopping with my mom. He claims that I have him trapped in our house and won't let him go anywhere or do anything. That's why for the next 2 weeks I'm only allowed to go to work and then come straight home.
That didn't really fly with me. I pointed out that I'm always asking him to go places with me, but he doesn't ever feel like it, so I don't push it. He then said that I have him cut off from everything. I asked what I have him cut off from, besides booze. He said his medicine. I pointed out that I give him his medicine just how it's prescribed. I told him that if he had problems with his medicine then he needed to take it up with his doctor. He quit trying to argue with me then.
So I left, and came home to one very pissed off husband. I went to church this morning, and came home to one very pissed off husband. I'm now wondering how long he'll nurse this grudge. I hope it passes soon, I don't have the patience for this for much longer.
I'm now wondering if any of this is related to his medicine. He just started a round of steroids and I've heard that they can make people aggressive. If that's the case then I've got 2 weeks of this to look forward to. May God have mercy on us all.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Yeah Me!
I got my score from my final back today. I got 100%! This gave me 98% overall for the class. That was the highest grade in our class. My friend that was doing the class with me (who did taxes last year) got a slightly lower score than me, which means that I get the bragging rights. I get a couple days to bask in the joy of this, and then I start my training. At least that's paid time. I'm so happy! :)
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Decisions, decisions...
For a while now Donny and I have talked about moving once we get our finances in order. Things are finally looking up, so the debate has become more involved. We really don't know what to do.
Living in our current home is not an ideal situation. I love my family, but they drive me nuts sometimes. The worst of it is that my grandma and her sister don't deal well with Donny. They have a hard time accepting that his brain is gone and so there's no changing his odd behaviors. And, to be honest, I'm sick of hearing how awful my husband is. He may not be very functional now, but this isn't the real Donny. The real Donny is buried somewhere under all that confusion and it's for him that we keep trying.
The drawback to getting a place of our own is that I'm starting a full time job. Who's going to stay with Donny while I work? I certainly can't leave him home alone all day. He's not safe by himself. Everybody that I know has a life of their own and is unable to drop everything to sit with Donny all day. I just don't see how we'd get around that.
So the debate rages on. At the moment it's all academic anyway. But the day is coming quickly where we'll need to make a decision.
Living in our current home is not an ideal situation. I love my family, but they drive me nuts sometimes. The worst of it is that my grandma and her sister don't deal well with Donny. They have a hard time accepting that his brain is gone and so there's no changing his odd behaviors. And, to be honest, I'm sick of hearing how awful my husband is. He may not be very functional now, but this isn't the real Donny. The real Donny is buried somewhere under all that confusion and it's for him that we keep trying.
The drawback to getting a place of our own is that I'm starting a full time job. Who's going to stay with Donny while I work? I certainly can't leave him home alone all day. He's not safe by himself. Everybody that I know has a life of their own and is unable to drop everything to sit with Donny all day. I just don't see how we'd get around that.
So the debate rages on. At the moment it's all academic anyway. But the day is coming quickly where we'll need to make a decision.
Good News
I just talked to Donny's lawyer. He's been approved for Social Security disability! This opens up so many possibilities for him. After comments to my last, rather depressed, post I started looking into hospice care. It was really discouraging to see them all talk about getting Medicare to pay for their services. Now that he's been declared disabled I have hope that he'll qualify for more services. I really think that this will open up a lot of treatment possibilities. There's hope again!
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