Christmas has come and gone, at last. I survived it, yet another year. I've mentioned to a few friends, how I can't help remembering the old jingle... plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is!
My youngest son came over early, to help with the grits. Our holidays must include garlic, cheese grits. He enjoys cooking, thank goodness and doesn't mind all the stirring involved. That's the hardest part to making the grits. It wears me out! We made a big, double batch so he could introduce his friends to the tradition. They loved it!
New Generation Grit Master
Christmas Eve, the main gathering, went surprisingly well. The little ones were full of energy and got along great. At one point, they figured out how to climb into a large trash can, put on the lid and roll each other around. I couldn't bring myself to watch that activity, but suffice it to say, they were supervised by someone with a stronger heart and better nerves than mine. They had a ball!
Some of the kids, sitting still
Christmas day was rather calm around here. We slept late, waited for youngest Son to get here, watched "A Christmas Story" for the umpteenth time, went out to eat, then headed over to my Daughter's house for a bit.
For someone that doesn't deal with the holidays very well, I must admit... it wasn't bad. That doesn't mean I won't be whining and complaining next year. I always do. The family wouldn't recognize me, any other way. So, until next year, this Christmas is over and done with. Bye, Bye, from Ms. Grinch.
My last post was about the problems I have taking medication. This one is going to be about finally agreeing to fill a prescription, after taking yet another series of samples and finding one that appears to be "The Lesser of Evils!"
Went to the pharmacy late last night, after the major crowds had thinned out. Stood in line to turn in my script, to get it filled. They were short-handed, I agreed to wait, knowing it would save a trip the next day. The girl told me it would be about an hour and a half. I did some shopping for cards and browsed around, to kill time. Went back to check and was informed my insurance refused to pay for the medication until I had tried all the other stuff they do pay for. Mind you, I have tried many other things, but my body didn't tolerate them for more than a brief period of time, not long enough to fill a prescription. The gal told me my doctor would have to provide validation that I was not able to tolerate the meds they do approve, before I could get coverage for the one I was trying to fill. "More crap on a cracker!" Said it would probably take days to get authorization. Asked me if I wanted to just go ahead and pay for it, while I wait for the red tape to get settled. She told me the price... "What... are you serious?" I told her "NO THANKS... I'll just die from a heart attack or stroke, before I pay that." The store is lucky I didn't do it RIGHT THEN. I could just imagine hearing the intercom... "Clean up at the pharmacy counter!"
Please, not again! Thought for sure good old Dr. Dontgivashitzsky was finally on the right track. At least he appeared to listen when I told him about my leg pain after a few days on yet another statin. He's been on my case for several years, insisting I take medication to lower my cholesterol. Every time I try to follow his orders, I have body pain. Finally, he decides that I can't tolerate statins and need to try something else. I agree to give it a try. This time I've been taking something for a whole 6 weeks and thought, just maybe, it might work. Went to bed this morning with a horrible pain in my left butt bone, you know, the one in the butt cheeks that gets uncomfortable when you are sitting on a hard surface. I don't sleep well, but to try to sleep when you are uncomfortable is even harder. Woke up this morning and moved my legs to get up... and a muscle spasm grabs hold of my left calf and sends me into orbit. Crap on a cracker!
My leg has been sore all day. I'm not sure what is worse, having elevated cholesterol that wasn't giving me pain, but could cause a heart attack or stoke...OR, constant body pain from medication that is supposed to help lower my painless elevated cholesterol. Not sure which is better, quick death or very slow agonizing torture.
Tried to make a post last night. Previewed it, it looked fine. Hit publish and went to to check it on the actual blog... wait a minute... there is a whole paragraph missing. Went back to edit and try again... same paragraph is missing. After about 15 tries, with various results, some of which not only didn't have the missing paragraph, but the whole darn body, except for the very last line, I GAVE UP AND DELETED THE ENTIRE THING! Talk about frustrating. Finally called it a night/morning and went to bed around 5 am.
Don't have any guarantees this one will work. If anyone can offer any advice or explanations, I sure could use them. Now, I plan to hit Publish Post and keep my fingers crossed. Ok, here goes nothing! No, I don't need any smart a$$ed comments that all my posts are nothing. Please save those for another time, when I'm in a better mood to fight back.
Years ago, when I still had three teenagers living at home, dating, driving and doing all the things adolescents do, I decided I needed something to occupy my worried mind. I love paint! I started out with oils, but due to the chemical problems I was forced to give it up and go to acrylics. Acrylics are a whole different medium, much harder to blend, nearly impossible to use a palate knife with, but much safer for me. I'm certainly no artist, primitive at best and terrible on a rough textured wall, but loved to immerse myself in it just the same. When I have a paintbrush in my hand, I have nothing else on my mind. Sometimes that can be a life saver, especially with teen drivers on the road and dating. I started out with a fence and it grew from there. Originally, it only had a little bit of ivy. As time went on, that ivy went out of control. The more drama, the more ivy. The grandkids loved it when they were potty training. They would count cows and trees, find the cat, the pig, the dogs...
I haven't had the paint brush out for quite a while, even though there is always something I'm worrying about. My old, tired body just can't take it anymore. I miss it!
My Cousin, bless her heart, sent me three pictures that stirred a memory. As I've said before, I don't have much brain left, or memories. It was right around the time this picture was taken that my life changed dramatically. The year was 1981 and I was pregnant with my fourth child, my daughter. Didn't even know for a fact, that I was pregnant. My Mom, God rest her soul, was in North Carolina and I decided to clean her house before she got home. Big mistake! Not the actual cleaning, but the life altering blunder I made while doing it. In my zest to do a good job, I sprayed the whole bathroom down with a tile cleaner that was supposed to be "all that". It was, and then some. That crap gave me chemical pneumonia and cost me way more than dollars at the doctor. Right after that, I found out I was, indeed, pregnant. My doctor warned me that the exposure could have dire consequences to the child I was carrying and asked me if I wanted to consider terminating my pregnancy. I wept. He did an ultrasound, just to see if anything was obvious. Nothing was. We were able to see the heart beating, arms and legs and nothing else could be determined, until I gave birth. This was 28 years ago, ultrasound was new and this was my only child it had been available for. It was a torturous nine months.
The doctor told me that, due to the early stage of development during my exposure, she could be blind, deaf, hair lipped, have a cleft palate... just to name a few. I was insanely sick, from the moment the chemicals entered my system. At my first doctor visit, I weighed 79 pounds. I finally began to gain weight and topped out at 106, the day she was born. She was beautiful! Everything seemed normal.
From the time she was able to communicate, she told us she could suck air through the top of her mouth. We never could see what she was talking about. When she was 14, a trip to the dentist finally figured it out. As the dentist blew the air in her mouth, to dry it... tiny little pin holes opened up. We were amazed. She could suck air through the roof of her mouth! A trip to the plastic surgeon and an explanation of the extensive work involved to correct it, we decided it was best to leave it alone, unless it caused a problem. It could have been so much worse, but, I've still never been able to forgive myself. I also haven't been the same, since that exposure. It's been years since I've been anywhere near normal. The exposure has caused so many other things. Chemical sensitivities, depression, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and tremors, just to name a few. All this because of a household cleaning product that should have been safe, right? Wrong! Be very aware of what you use in your daily life. It could cause dire consequences! THERE ARE CHEMICALS IN MOST EVERYTHING WE USE. If you don't believe me, just check it out. Make a list of your daily products, makeup, deodorant, shampoo, perfume... Then go to the cosmetic safety database and check them out. Do the same with your cleaning products. You'll be shocked! It should be against the law! Why isn't it?
My frail, pregnant self.
