for what it's worth

I've just finished a very long day on about 4 hours of sleep. I do not function well on 4 hours of sleep. At this point I'm not sure I even know my name... The house is still a wreck and a lot, I mean A LOT, has to be done tomorrow morning before my amazing, wonderful, awesome housekeeper comes. But I am done, well done and probably crispy on the edges. I've been fighting double ear infections since Thanksgiving and this darn cold wind is not helping! I spent last Friday in the ER of the Childress, Texas hospital. Black Friday for sure! The doc there listened patiently as I explained how many antibiotics I am allergic to or just can't tolerate due to the Ulcerative Colitis. He then gave me a steroid shot (hence the little sleep still) a round of antibiotics and some ear drops. Let me just say--I had forgotten how miserable earaches are! I have new sympathy for babies who can't tell you their ears hurt. Now, my biggest issue is taking care of my gut and praying t

Can you believe it? We are staring December right in the face! Geez, where does the time go? This fall has gone by at record speed! I have so much left to do on my 2010 To Do List! Of course, some of it is left over from 2009 and probably some of 2008 if I'm honest. Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. We had a great time in  the hill country of Texas. We walked in the Turkey Trot--just the 1 mile--then made absolute pigs of ourselves during the Thanksgiving meal at my in-laws. I can honestly say a good time was had by all. I am a little disappointed since I didn't run the Turkey Trot 5K like I wanted. I am happy that I felt good enough to get out there and do the 1 mile without breaking a sweat. I will not give up on my aspirations to do a 5K sometime. Maybe a spring or summer one will be a better fit for training with my joints. This fall has been rough. Sunday, November 28th our oldest son turned 16! Crazzzzy! I remember being 16... Anyway, sometime this week he wil

Getting ready to head to Austin for the Thanksgiving holiday requires a team and I seem to be the only one on the team right now. The day we leave the team will become 4 but until then it's just me. This is the only thing about leaving town that I dread. I want to leave the house in decent order because when we come back, everyone will be tired and the laundry will be HUGE and we will  be tired. The other thing is that with this stupid UC, my energy is zapped easily. Traveling really does a number on me too. No matter how much I try to prepare, it's still hard. And FRUSTRATING! But anyway-- I'm  in the middle of laundry and the usual maintenance when I decide to pull out the Christmas decor... yep, bad idea. I have just added 3x the work to do within the next 2 days. Brilliant. Sometimes I forget that my energy is limited. Oh well, I'll just do what I can because I'm sure it will still be here waiting for me when we get back.  Today at church I was reminded that

Today has been a great day as far as feeling good. I skipped my usual cup(s) of coffee today. Unfortunately, I think this has contributed to my having a good day. I love my morning coffee. I could easily drink a whole pot all by myself. I decided to skip coffee today after noticing that on Sunday after drinking 2 cups I had to lay down and take an hour and a half nap! Who does that?? I thought coffee would have the opposite effect! So, weird as that is, I think coffee may contribute to my feeling bad. :( Maybe it's the acid? I don't know, but today I had more energy and my body did not ache like it has been. I shall try this again tomorrow... Also, tomorrow I will start seriously training for that 5k on Thanksgiving day. I'm a little nervous as I really want to complete this thing. I know to most people running 3 miles doesn't seem like much of a challenge but when you struggle with an autoimmune disease, every single day can be a challenge. There are days I have a ha

Man, this has been a heck of a week! Most of it was spent in bed due to major hip pain. Went to doctor on Wednesday and she said the hip pain is Bursitis. Evidently, there is a little sack called "bursa" on the side of your hip next to the bone and when it is enflamed and filled with fluid it hurts like HELL! Just to wear jeans was excruciating! So, she whipped out a steroid injection with a very long needle and proceeded to stick it dead center in the sorest part of my hip to inject that little "bursa" sack. Thankfully she numbed the area first with a spray that freezes the skin, but I was still pretty sore all of Wednesday and Thursday. Today is the first day I have felt decent in a couple of weeks.  I even worked out with Killer today. Now, the kids are busy enjoying their Friday night and I'm ready to do the same. Part of me wants to go paint the town red after being in bed all week but instead I'll be playing catch up with the laundry... I did open a

We are officially 27 days from Erik turning 16! So many emotions. I am always excited for that next new step in my kids' lives and this one is no different. I love seeing my children grow and bloom into who they are apart from us. It's an amazing process and I am so grateful to be a part of it. Preparing for Erik to drive means I must grow a little too. 6 years ago I test drove a little white Mustang convertible and kept her. This was a rebound car for me. Not for the reasons you may think, though. "Mustang Sally" became my theme song, as I soaked up the sun in my little white stallion, wind whipping through my hair. Mustang fever was brought on by a couple of life changing events that happened in 2004 A very close friend was told her breast cancer was back and she needed a miracle in early 2004.  We (her friends and family) watched her deteriorate as the disease consumed her shortly after her 40th birthday. She lost her battle in August of 2004 but is now forev