Coming home

In the morning, I'll be getting on a plane and heading back to cold and frozen Indiana. My wonderful sister-in-law will be getting me from the airport in Indy and my family will be heading down that evening to get me.

It's been a really great, relaxing trip. I have have been horribly spoiled and am feeling so much better. I am looking forward to getting home to my family, but a trip like this again in the future is certainly not out of the question!

This is me with my Wicked at the Sandbar on Anna Maria Island.
This was taken at Siesta Key Beach on Wednesday morning. It was really foggy. About ten minutes after we took this picture the fog started to burn off and it was gorgeous. I'm not dressed like this because of the temperature. I'm trying to avoid further sunburn.
This is my mom and I at Siesta Key Beach this morning.It was only on the 50's this morning--but it was still beautiful--so we just took a quick walk and got a few pictures.

I have a sunburn

My mom and I went to Siesta Key beach this morning and walked for a while.
Then we laid on the beach.

This afternoon we went out to their pool for a while and I have this strange reddening of my skin.

Oh yeah. A sunburn. I remember those.

Off to the beach

My suitcase is mostly packed.

Pinky (my iPod) is charging.

When the occupant of my office wakes up I will print my boarding passes.

My two oldest children have volunteered to keep my appointment at On My Thyme so that I can rest. (This is a really great way to be sure that the family has dinner while I'm gone. Otherwise, I have a feeling they'd be eating a lot of frozen pizza and carry outs.)

We'll be leaving here for the Indy airport early in the morning, but first tonight is the Gala Banquet and Silent Auction for the Bach Collegium. I'm in charge of the silent auction. Usually I am so organized and really do this up--decorations, coordinating colors, etc.--this year they're lucky to have bid sheets and my presence.

But after I get through tonight, it's a week of relaxation. My mom will pamper me. We'll go to the beach. I'm mot up for long walks yet, but we can take some short ones. I'm going to eat a grouper sandwich and some of the best clam chowder on the planet at Captain Curt's.

Prayer

My friend RPW has a wonderful post on prayer.

Go read.

The world may never know

(Did anyone besides me love those old Tootsie Pop commercials?)

Anyway, I had an appointment with the neurologist yesterday. It was satisfying and not so at the same time. It was satisfying because he listened, asked lots of intelligent questions, and didn't try to attribute my symptoms to anxiety.

He agrees with my doctor that my nervous system is oversensitive and is reacting to things--in this case a virus--in an unusual manner. He can't rule out relapsing GB, but he doesn't think that's what it is.

The unsatisfying part for he and I both is that there really isn't anything to do about it, or a definitive answer. I've had a few tests that have ruled out other underlying causes. I'm supposed to see him again if I have other symptoms or if things get worse, but in the meantime, I just need to live with it until it gets better.

I am feeling so much better. The aches and exhaustion and weakness are gone, leading us to believe those were caused by the virus.

Thanks for all of your prayers and nice notes!

Maybe I do, after all

Just back from yet another doctor appointment and more blood tests. My family doctor has managed to get me in to see a neurologist on Monday, but in the meantime, she wanted to see me this afternoon.

After checking me over thoroughly, she thinks that maybe what is happening is that my central nervous system is whacked out and "hyper" and that I am having a weird CNS reaction to one of the viruses that's going around. So she thinks maybe I do have a virus, after all.

I have had weird CNS reactions to things before, but not quite like this and not for a long time.

I definitely like this explanation better than recurring GB, and since rest is the current prescription either way, that's what I'm doing this weekend.

Things I learn from Facebook

I got an email from Facebook yesterday that shows how well my friends know me.

I'm the #1 person they want to go shopping with and I'm among the most talkative, but I'm the least organized.

That about sums it up! They know me.

Why can't I just have the flu?

We thought that I was just having a light case of the bug that my boys have had, but some of my symptoms weren't fitting.

I made a visit to my doctor yesterday and it seems that I am most likely having a recurrence of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome that I had a little over eight years ago. Right now it's not at a point where they will do anything, but if my symptoms get worse I may end up in the hospital.

Right now I'm at home trying to take it relatively easy and trying not to constantly dwell on whether the numbness is spreading, whether I'm getting weak, and whether I can still swallow.
Ugh.

Attempted bread

So, I'm home fighting a little bit of a bug. We were out of bread so I had one of the boys get out my bread machine. I put the ingredients in, as I have done many times before, but, as happened the last time, it didn't rise.

It was different yeast this time, and it was new.

The water was the right temperature.

All of the necessary ingredients were present.

I got out one of my books that has a lot of information about baking bread. One of the things it mentioned was that sometimes city water has too much chlorine, which kills the yeast. All kinds of bells started going off in my head. I haven't made a successful loaf of bread since we moved here. I had begun to think that I was just doing something wrong, but this could be an explanation. We have horrible water. Sometimes it even has a perceptible smell of chlorine. Our previous house had well water, as did the house before the one before that, where I did quite a bit of bread making.

So I called the hubby and asked him to stop on the way home. Along with some bread for tomorrow's pb&j's, I had him get some spring water.

We'll see if that makes a difference.

Food, glorious food

I like food. I like to cook it and I like to eat it. Planning meals, shopping, and cooking occupies a fair amount of my time. Food also accounts for a huge chunk of our budget. (Feeding six--or seven-- people is never cheap, but when three of them are teen or pre-teen boys, wow!)

I also like to read about food. I've been reading about nutrition for several years, realizing more and more that the conventional wisdom is often wrong. (Can anyone say butter?) I enjoy reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows to get ideas and inspiration. Books like Real Food have made a big difference in the way we eat. Sometimes it can take me hours to do my grocery shopping because I spend a lot of time reading labels.

My big challenge is to take these things I've learned and the ideas I've gained and fit them into the constraints of my available time and budget. Some things have becomealmost non-negotiable. We buy free-range organic chicken because it tastes better and is healthier. Same with cage-free eggs. We buy most of our meat from local farmers or from nearby sources. We do really well in the summer with fruits and veggies because they almost all come from our garden or we go pick them.

However, there are lots of places we could do better. I would to make my own bread, because we love really good bread, and it's expensive, but time shortages get in the way. So right now we eat mediocre bread most of the time, with good bread thrown in for a treat now and then.

I'm trying to make more soup, because it can be a great way to deliver flavor and nutrition in a cost-effective way, but I need to do better planning so that I don't need to purchase broth or stock. And I could always use more recipes!

I want to try buying raw milk, because each friend who has switched has seen health benefits in her family, and it tastes better,too, but it takes some effort. Up to this point, the changes I've made have mostly been relatively easy. I think I keep waiting for it to be more convenient.

For a while I was feeling guilty for knowing that there were things that I could be doing better and wasn't. I don't feel guilty anymore. I do the best I can without too much difficulty. I try to cook tasty meals that are reasonably nutritious. And if my kids eat the occasional frozen pizza or we share a bag of Doritos Hot Wings and Blue Cheese , overall we're still doing pretty well.

Get fired up

For all of us who are feeling gloomy about the choices we are going to have for president, Michelle Malkin has this advice: Get fired up.

Book thing

Okay, RPW tagged me in the book meme that's going around. She would catch me on the couch where I have no interesting books at hand.

Instructions
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

From Indiana Off the Beaten Path. "That was before Ladyhawk came down with a mysterious illness that even the famed Mayo Clinic couldn't treat. In desperation, they turned to an alternative treatment that involved a special macrobiotic diet. Ladyhawk recovered, and to supply the special foods that she needed, the Youngs opened up a health food store in a converted stable behind their home.

Tagging: Bethany, Meg, Laura, Me

Good times

It's snowing.

I've been scrapbooking since this afternoon.

The Patriots got beat.

Life is good.

They're coming back!!

Less than a year after we saw them last, RUSH is returning to Indy.

I thought that we were going to have to go to Milwaukee to catch them this summer, but they will be at the Verizon Wireless Center again.

I know where I'm going to be June 25!

Meg??

Politics, again

I'm having a really hard time even thinking about voting this fall.

I've voted in every election I've been eligible to vote in, either in person or via absentee ballot. I've volunteered for campaigns. I work each election in a polling place where the vast majority of voters are Democrats and I help insure that each person is able to vote. I've always felt like the process was important.

This year it's all seeming pointless.

We are going to end up with a president who is a liberal. That is almost certain. It doesn't matter if they bear a D or an R. They will continue expand the scope of the federal government. (Now they're investigating the New England Patriots. Don't get me wrong, I despise the Patriots as much as the next Colts fan. But come on!) [HT: Schreiber] They will continue to advance the nanny state. And no matter who wins they will continue to ignore that dusty old constitution.

Today I watched Ann Coulter say that if McCain is the nominee, she will campaign for Hillary.
I won't go that far, but I do think if it is McCain or the Dem, I'd rather see them Dem win. Then at least it will be their fault.

And maybe--just maybe--the Republicans in congress would find their collective missing spines--or principles--if they are faced with a president named Hillary or Barack.

I want more snow!!

I know that this probably sounds strange to many of you, but I wish we'd gotten a bit more snow. It's nice; it's pretty, but I would love a little more. Like this:

Update on Patrick

I wanted to let you all know that Patrick's face is healing beautifully. He goes back to the burn center Monday and I would guess that will be our last visit.