I have ventured into the land of commerce...

As per my last post, I have a new toy and I've been drawing foxes with it.. I got enough done, zipped them up, put a readme file with them and am going to sell them to the 2d world.. here are the promo pictures for them..

Merry Christmas to Me!!

Christmas is coming and it's that time of year when Ron and I get something for ourselves for our Christmas present. We don't buy for each other, we just buy something for ourselves that we want and call it a present.. lol.. works for us.

So we were in Future Shop and I spied a Wacom Bamboo Fun Digital Drawing Tablet and I knew that was my present. They had two sizes, a 4x6 and an 8x5 and I decided to go with the larger one. That particular one was $200 + after taxes and I'm in love.. lol.. here's a picture I drew with the tablet, my first of many I'm sure... it's from a tutorial I purchased a couple of months ago doing this with a computer mouse is hard if not impossible but was mundo easy with the drawing tablet. I know that I have a lonnnngg way to got to really perfect this but I'm quite proud of my first attempt.

Got the Animal Dilated Eye Look Goin' on...

I was in for my annual visit with the ophthalmologist today so I can't look directly at the screen right now.. lol.. He reminded me that it's been 17 + years since I was diagnosed with diabetes and so far (knock on wood) my eyes have not changed since the first photos that were taken way back then.. so that's good. I always take the day off for this particular treatment because I'm not able to drive afterward and working on the computer is out of the question also I tend to get a migraine from the strain of trying to get my dilated eyes to focus. So I'm off today and will be doing some sewing which is easier on the eyes.

I didn't put at tree up this year. It seems a waste because we always go to Amherst for Xmas eve and day and we are living in the country so we don't tend to get company way out here especially this time of year when the roads start to slicken up with snow and ice. Also with my sore hip it seemed like too much of an effort this year.

Ron found an unpleasant visitor snuggled up to him in bed the other night.. a RAT!!!! He flung it off the bed but the time he got the light turned on and got armed with a stick it was gone.. but the next day he caught one in the kitchen but again he wasn't able to find something to kill it with before it took off into the livingroom. He went into town and got all kinds of traps, an ugly looking one that we have to be sure that the cat and dog don't have access to and a sticky trap. Behind our kitchen stove was a hole chewed in the wall where the rat got out so he put the traps there to catch the rat and it turned out the sticky one was the one that did the trick. He "disposed" of it without me being there to see and I'm sure glad he's here because I'm afraid the rat or rats would have free rein of the place. He said that rats are really vicious when they're cornered... *shudder*. He had caught three mice before this rat and we used humane traps to catch and release them but the rat went DOWN.. We also got some of those sonic devices to hopefully prevent more mice or rats from coming into the house.. ahhh the joys of living in the country.

Well, I'm gonna start whining so if you don't wanna see it I would suggest you close this message (and it ain't a pretty sight so I don't blame you)..

As many of you know I have a problem with my hip, right leg and back because of sciatica. Well, I have been going to see a chiropractor because physiotherapy wasn't working and for a while it was working great.. now.. not so much..

Lately I'm in a lot of pain again, I find it hard to concentrate and I'm getting really bad headaches and my neck is constantly aching. Yesterday when I went back to the chiropractor he said that my right leg is starting to lose it's strength again and he checked out me neck and it turns out my neck is also out of alignment. I feel on the verge of tears most days and the depression is starting to set in again because I can't see an end in sight.

I see the specialist in two weeks time and if he tells me there is nothing they can do for me I'll have a big time pity party and you are all invited. I know there are other people in here that are suffering with chronic pain and some worse than me and I don't know how you cope day to day.. I know mine isn't life threatening like some in here who have coped amazingly well with what life has thrown at them.. But we are, after all, pretty self absorbed creatures and most times can't see beyond our little world of self indulgence, so I am wallowing for a while.

Most days I feel like a failure because I have been missing a lot of work again because of the pain. I can't take anti-inflammatories because I am allergic to them and so mostly I've been trying to cope without the aid of drug treatments. So if I'm quiet at times you will know what it's about..

If I didn't have my poser/3d creating to do and shut real life out I don't know what I'd do.. mostly I just want to crawl in a hole and hybernate most days...

So the whining is over for today.. thank you for listening/reading and you may go back to your regularly scheduled programming.. Kathryn

another day ... another pound...

They say you're not supposed to lose weight too fast but since this is only for two weeks, and I imagine some of it will come back once I start eating dairy, wheat and meats again, I'm not too worried.. I'm down to 178.6 this morning so that's three and a half pounds off in as many days.. I'm almost ashamed to admit that once I put my mind to losing weight my body just naturally loses without too much effort..

I got some corn flakes for my breakfast and so far so good.. I'm going to cook up a bunch of brown rice and vegetables today and portion them out and make up some lunches or dinners with them.. and along with the chili from the other day I should be able to make meals without having to worry about trying to come up with ideas for a week or so any way. I also have a big salad all prepared but I find I really don't care for salad in the colder months.. I like warm food that will stick to the old ribs... that's from when we were kids and would have to walk to school in the winter.. had to have a belly full of warm food to keep you going.. lol

My big goal is to get as much weight as possible off my body so that it will hopefully relieve my hip and possibly avoid having surgery... also if I get walking (shut up David.. I knew you were right all the time.. just didn't want to admit it!).. then the muscles will build up and make the hip more stable.. We can all dream..

Plus my doctor will be happy because my diabetes is improving already (and you gotta keep your doctors happy right... doesn't matter if I'm happy... phhhhtttt)... yeah... as if...

I've started a cleansing...

I've decided to do a 2 week cleansing. I'm not going the pop a pill route but decided to do it by eliminating certain foods from my diet. In doing so I should rid my body of certain foods that are known to cause the body to overwork to process them.

For these two weeks there will be no meats, no sugar, no wheat and no dairy. I know, what does that leave?.. Well, not a lot, but I can hack it for the next two weeks and then I'm back on the weight watchers again. I had gained back almost half of what I took off (at least it wasn't all back on : / ).. but I was feeling just worn out and tired all the time. So I was back up to 182 from the 170 or so that I was at before the dreaded "hip incident!!". But considering it's been almost a year with no exercise and eating to find comfort when I was suffereing it wasn't too bad.

So as far as what I can eat, I got some vanilla soya milk to replace the dairy, some soya faux hamburger and lots and lots of different types of beans to replace the meat, some corn flour bread and some rice pasta to replace the wheat. On top of that I am eating lots of fruit and vegetables plus rice and potatoes so lots and lots of fiber!!!! I thought that I'd be full of gas and bloated because of all the fiber and beans but so far so good. And I've lost 3 pounds so far and it's been only three days. I can live with this for two weeks and I must admit the chili I made yesterday with kidney beans and black beans was to die for... mmmm.. and it sticks to the ribs.
I wouln't want to become a vegetarian or something but I must admit since I've been without those foods my mind is a lot clearer and I do have more energy. Will keep you posted on how I do.

The front porch changed

As you can see by this picture the front porch is all closed in which should save us some heating bills this winter as well because it should break down on air leaks.. *if you click on the picture you can see the enlarged picture.. *

The outside finished.. or almost...

I'm not sure which way this is going to display but here are three pics of the house.. the first one shows the old cedar shingles which should be beautiful but instead, because they were improperly installed look like crap.. and the second picture shows the house with just part of the house done.. and the third shows it in it's final stages (for the outside at least) showing the faux board and batten style.. ain't it purty.. ????

Getting near the end...

Ron put the final panels on the house on the weekend and painted the front so we are one step closer to being finished. The house looks so much better being all one colour now. Hope the high winds and rain didn't strip the paint off of the house last night.. at least we didn't get the hurricane that the weather people were hinting at. Pictures to follow.

I've been so tired lately.. I go to bed early and wake up tired lately.. I hate getting old..

As For Our Renovations

Today we went into Home Hardware and purchased materials to do over our bathroom downstairs.


- new corner shower
- shower head for shower
- new toilet
- vanity
- vanity top
- taps for vanity

We got them on a 12 equal payments, no interest, no down payment plan. And most of the stuff was on sale. You won't be able to recognize that it's the same house once we're done of it, inside and out.

The electrician was here to put a vent in the upstairs bathroom since we have the house a lot tighter we had to have a way to get rid of the extra moisture. When they installed the vent there was a nail that fell from the area of the hole that they cut and we discovered it was a square nail. So I guess the house is around 100 years old after all. We were told by the inspector when we first bought it that he didn't think it was that old because they used square nails back then and he didn't see any when he inspected it.

We were looking at floor coverings for the bathroom and the downstairs bedroom to complete the replacement of the floors. I'll have to start a new blog just to show the whole slew of before and after pictures!!

We're considering putting a special siding around the back door to break up the look and it's going to be quite expensive but it will be from an Island manufacturer and will really add to the look of the house.

Ron's going to install a vent for the attic in the lower area because the roof got bowed because there was no venting in there.. it won't correct the bowing but hopefully will prevent it from getting any worse.

Did I mention that we installed a new vent for the dryer so that it goes out the soffit of the house? So this winter there won't be any snow in the dryer lint trap like there was last year.. phhhttt..

It's hard to keep up with all the stuff that has been done up to this point because Ron keeps doing more and more stuff.

He now has all the outside insulation done, the windows installed that we are doing this year, the tybac is on and all the taping and sealing is done.. We were getting a bit worried because we were behind our expected completion date. It's a good thing that Ron can do most of the work himself because as soon as the weather improved he was able to get right at it.

Last weekend we bought a generator for the pellet stove in case we lose power. It is heavy enough to run a few other things as well.

Just passing by

Just popping in to apologize for not being here much lately.. I've been busy and will fill you in on all my adventures a bit later.. gotta get ready for work right now.. talk amongst yourselves while I'm gone people.

This is the year of the rennovations....

We have spent mega bucks on the house this year getting it the way we want it.. we're taking pictures of the house and all of the things we have installed or fixed up and are going to create a binder showing all that we have done.. in addition to being a great remembrance book it will be a way to document the improvements we have made to the place in case we were to sell it in the future (it better be waaaay in the future because I want to enjoy the place once it's completed)...

and in no particular order... Ron did/we had someone come in and do the following...
- Ron replaced the roof.. that was more than a little dangerous!
- Ron replaced the upstairs bedroom window
- our furnace went and we had to have it replaced
- we got a new water pressure tank for the well to increase the water flow
- we got a hole dug and a sump bucket installed for the new sump pump
- Ron redid over the whole interior of the house.. or at least 90% of it by..
- installed new laminate floors through most of the house
- painted or wallpapered the interiour
- the electrician installed a new breaker box to replace the old fuse box
- we bought a new electric hot water heater to be installed in the near future
- we have a new pellet stove
- Ron replaced the dining room, kitchen, downstairs bathroom and downstairs walk-in closet windows and has one for the den to replace
- Ron's in the process of putting new insulation and siding on the house
- We put blown in insulation in the lower attic
- since we moved in we replaced the washer, dryer and just got a new fridge
- we had the electrician install a new circuit upstairs so that we can run a heater in the winter if necessary
- Ron replaced the sink in the upstairs bathroom
- Ron built a little shed for the ride on lawnmower
- Ron did work on the old garage/workshop, insulated and replaced the roof as well as put in a wooden floor over the old clay floor

I think that's everything we've done so far..

what we want to do in the future is....
- replace the bathroom window and the upstairs other bedroom window
- put in a shower downstairs
- replace the stove
- replace the dishwasher
- redo the driveway
- install a water softener system
- do something about the basement
- fix the window by the back door **done**
- redo the floors in the main bedroom downstairs and do over the new bathroom
- replace the tub and toilet in the upstairs bathroom (that may not get done).

So our "to do" list is a lot shorter than our "done" list..

I'm too tired to try and arrange the wording over each picture.. lets just say that rain didn't dampen the spirits of this wedding.. there were lots of raincoats, umbrellas and DANCING!!! OH.. and kissing.. lol.

This is the view out our Motel window..

A little creepy but Aaron, always the optimist, said that they were probably lovely people buried there..

A Few Pics of the Wedding

First is Aaron and Richie saying their vows...























Then the two Janets lighting a candle for their sons (both mothers are called Janet!)
























This is Aaron and Richie.. they looks so happy... and CUTE!!















And these are the parets with the newlyweds.. my sister and her husband on the left and Richie's parents on the right...


*These photos are from Aaron's brother, Andy*

My Nephew's getting married next Saturday..

My Nephew's getting married next Saturday.. it's to be a momentous occasion for more than the usual reasons.. you see.. his fiance is Richie.. so it will be the first gay marriage in the history of our family..

It's to be my first same-sex wedding (that I'm attending, not participating in, not that I have participated in one either.. should I stop trying to explain myself.. because I'm even confusing me.. )..

Aaron has always been my favorite nephew *sorry to any of my other nephews that might also be reading my blog but life is hard so suck it up and deal with it* :/ I got to meet his fiance Richie who is just as sweet as Aaron. They seem to be made for each other because their personalities are so much alike.

Just a small observation, I was looking for a card for them the other day and I expected that it would be difficult to find one that didn't say "bride and groom" on it.. but I was pleasantly surprised.. the majority of them had the "happy couple" or words to that effect (happy couple - gay couple.. can you see the difference? I can't see the difference).

The only thing I'm a little worried about is the four to five hour drive and sleeping in a strange bed.. hope my back stays in alignment.

How much does it take to kill a bee?

Apparently a lot.. because we have bees in our wall that just won't go away.. Ron has sprayed enough bug spray to kill a horse but the danged bees just won't die.. he also sprayed expanding caulking in the hole where they were getting in but the old saying about bees being busy is true because they can get past the strongest deterrent known to man.. I have nightmares about the walls buzzing.. but tomorrow he's putting flashing all along the foundation so unless they have a blow torch or (what I'm afraid of) a back doorway into the basement.. we're good.. Plus it's too hot for my honey (pun intended) to be all decked out in beekeeper gear.

Two Weeks Vacation on the Way!!!

I just have to work today and then off for two weeks.. got Aaron and Richie's wedding in there, working on the house, a dentist's appointment and most importantly.. an appointment with my chiropractor... lol.. sorry guys but I'm in pain again so all that other stuff takes second place.. :(

Ron got the dining room window in with just four more windows to go after that.. once the windows are in the rest of the work should go quickly... I have to help next week with the blown in insulation but all I have to do is fill the hopper and Ron will be in the hot, stuffy attic doing the main work.. he's anxious to get that over with.

Our pellet stove will be delivered the last Monday in August.. and since we have 140 bags of wood pellets that should do us most of the winter and we have them piled in our front porch so we won't have far to go to get to them in the cold blustery winter days.. now we just have to get a generator in case the power goes off..

Ron's mother, sister and his son were here on Wednesday for a visit and his son, Raul, helped him with the window which was good because it was too heavy for me to lift.. now if we could just get some dry days to dry out the exposed slats of wood on the house before we apply the insulation and wrap... and it ain't looking good according to the long range weather forecast.. keep your fingers crossed.

My Tarot Card Deck is Complete...

I've finally gotten them done and to the printers and I'm so proud of how they turned out.. I also did some silky cloth bags to put them in and a hanging tag with the picture of my mystery card that is a feature unique to my deck as far as I know.. There is also a Bio card with a little blurp about me (it's that card in the front).. I got 10 decks printed and they are all sold or spoken for.. The name of the deck is latin and means "first time".. and since this is the first time I've created a deck it suits well..

Damn.. I can't get blogger to upload my pics for me.. I keep getting an error message.. I'll upload them tomorrow if I can..

My Other Hip is Better Now...

Guess I just overdid it on the house rennovations but yesterday when I went to work it had worked itself out and it didn't bother me the rest of the day... The hip with the sciatica is bothering me a bit this morning but I'm hopeing it's just that it's so blasted humid this morning.. at least we're getting a bit of rain to water the lawns.. it seemed like all the moisture was going to be hanging in the air for a while there..

I don't know if I mentioned it or not but Ron discovered a bee's nest under the shingles on the inside corner of the house on the back behind the oil tank.. so we just have a small strip of shingles to remove but we don't know how to get rid of those buzzing menaces.. at least they aren't getting into the house like they were last year.. he's going to go out today in full combat gear with bee keeper mesh clothes on over a couple of layers of clothes and pull the last row of shingles off.. they are tough little buggers and everything we threw at them so far has not eliminated them.. I know bees are good but not in your walls.. shudder.. and you might know it that the last two row of shingles have around eight big nails in them with numerous small nails as well.. I don't know WHAT they thought was going happen that they had to have so many nails in them.. obvious they didn't keep the bees away.. lol..

Figures.. the Chiropractor is on vacation for two weeks...

And my other hip locked up on my last night.. I can hardly walk... grrrrr... hopefully some ice and rest will have me moving again for work next week (make that tomorrow!!)... I hate getting old...

I think that I now know what hell feels like...

I think that I now know what hell feels like... it's been unusually hot and humid!!! And last night was the first night that it stayed hot until early this morning.. I hate heat at night.. (well, heat from the outside.. lol).. It has been too hot and humid to do anything around the house so the outside has remained partly stripped and partly shingles.. :(... Can't wait to get to the applying the new insulation and siding part but especially the new windows part.. We decided to go with an electric hot water heater for the domestic hot water and that, along with the pellet stove, should really decrease our dependance on the oil furnace..

I completed my deck of Tarot cards and it is at the printers as we speak, I went in and got a look at a completed deck yesterday and I'm stoked.. even tho' this first set of 10 decks will leave me in the red because of unexpected costs and buying a shitload of material to make drawstring bags for them.. I'm still excited to see my creation to it's final conclusion.. now if only I was a better sales person I could go out and sell them to some stores.. but I'm such a dweeb at that.. anyone have some sales experience that would be willing to go out and sell, sell, sell?.. *sigh*

My hip is still holding out and if the talk of a retirement package doesn't pan out at least I'm still holding out hope that I'll be able to hang on for the next three years until I'm 60...

Well, on the topic of bad choices... I dyed my hair on Monday... I thought it was a blackish color.. turns out it was burgundy black which looks like grape under certain lights.. and after a week I'm still getting dye stains on my towel when I wash my hair... well we live and learn.. with me, sometimes the hard way.. but I'm getting my hair cut today so I'm going for short and sassy so I'm hoping this old bird can pull it off.. if I don't have my glasses on I look really pale but once I put on my metallic red glasses then it brings the color back into my cheeks.. so what I think is.. it's only hair.. it will grow back into my natural color.. and I always can redye it.. lol... I never learn do I?... phhhtttt...

There was a hold up with the renovations

We thought that we would be farther along in the renovations than we are because we both ended up with strep throat and had to go on antibiotics.. groan.. but we're all better now and I'm off this week and can help with removing the shingles on the back and end of the house... we're going to be careful to wear some kind of a mask when removing the shingles and whatever's below it because of the dead flies and all kinds of yucky stuff that's under the old shingles.. ewwww.. I think that may have contributed to us feeling so miserable.. I can't wait to get going on everything but I don't like the look of the weather forecast.. it says rain until Thursday.. figures... I'm off this week.. grrrr.. but the weather here changes from hour to hour so we may be able to get a lot done anyway.

More pictures of the renovations

I have lots of pictures of the renovations in it's various stages..

Here we see Ron slaving away removing the shingles to discover a black, feltlike material below.. so the air leaks were not coming from the area of the shingles..


Another picture of Ron working away (don't you just love to see a man all sweaty?.. lol


This is a view of the front of the house and that's what the whole house will look like once it's done, all nice and green and neat with new windows and everything..


This is what we discovered once we took the black felt stuff off.. white clapboard siding.. so the walls themselves were really tight so the air leak must have been coming from the windows themselves.. there will be a world of difference once we get the new windows installed. I can't wait.


This is our pile of insulating foamboard and other stuff for our renovations.. I'm nervous about having it laying around the yard like that because it's really expensive stuff and I would hate for it to get stolen...!!!!

I'm excited about life again.

I'm so excited. My pain is leaving at a fast rate and I managed to work the whole week last week (I have this week off for holidays, nice to be off and feeling well). Who would have thought that after only two sessions that I would improve to the extent that I have. I may have to go to him on a regular basis from this point forward but if it keeps the pain away then I'm all for it. Yesterday we went to pick up some things in Charlottetown and we were walking around for quite a while and while we were walking I was pain free. Now once I sat back down into the car is when the pain started but it bothered me just for a few moments when I first sat down. I still have a bit of pain in the morning when I first get up but if it's bad I just put some ice on it off and on for 20 minutes or so and then I'm fine. If the pain isn't too bad I just walk around for a while and it works itself out.

It feels so good to have a positive outlook again.

There is hope for the future now...

Just a quick update on how I'm doing.. after only two sessions with the chiropractor I have improved immensely.. I wish that I had gone to him first instead of to physiotherapy.. we live and learn..

He was able to get my xrays of my lower back and he said that I have some bone wear and tear in my lower back where it attaches to the hip bone area especially on the right side probably caused by a degenerative bone condition.. they still don't have the second set of xrays back yet and it's been over two months.. sigh... He explained the xrays to me and showed me on a model of the spine what the problem is and took the time to explain it in a way that I could understand...

Now that he has straightened my spine out I can walk for longer distances without pain and he wants me gradually to increase the movement in that area so that I can build some strength back into the right leg.. I'm not as depressed about the whole thing and I'm hopeful that I don't have to go on long term disability and that I'll be able to work for the next three years until I'm 60 (in fact that will be exactly three years from today which is my birthday!!).

OUR RENOVATIONS

Ron has been working like a demon trying to get the renovations done on our house and now he's got my strep throat so he'll have to slow down a bit. These are some before pictures.

First my ills and then some renovation news.

For a cherry on top of the ills I've been having I discovered on Friday that I have Strep Throat... throat was scratchy on Thursday and I had a headache and was feeling a bit nauseous. By Friday my throat was red raw and I could only talk in a croak so off to the walk-in clinic to get mega doses of antibiotics (making sure there were no sulfa derivatives) and in no time my throat was feeling much better but my nether regions are a rumbling mess because of the side effects of the drugs (may cause diarrhea.. no kidding!!). Oh.. and to make it perfect, Ron just got it as well.

Everything is up in the air as far as finding out about my hip is concerned, the xrays that were taken about two months ago still haven't been read and my appointment with the specialist isn't until December so I'm really at a loss what to do. My sick time is running out so if I go on long term disability I have to wait 119 days for it to kick in and use up my sick time first. If I don't have enough sick time to carry me the 119 days (which I don't) then I will have to go on sick unemployment which is only 55% of my wages in the interm (LTD is 70%).. We're in the process of doing some MAJOR rennovations on our house to make it more energy efficient so I'm feeling a little desperate here on what to do.

People have been giving me all kinds of advice and the main suggestions have been a chiropractor and/or acupuncture. Not knowing what the problem is exactly, I'm cautious about trying something so drastic but I'm running out of options. Now enough about the complaining already.. I have pictures of the start of our renovations to follow.

More complaining.. then some good news!!

First off the complaining.. I've been so down with the constant pain in the ass.. literally .. of the sciatic problems that today when I went to the doctor to get a note for work I ended up in tears. The poor doctor didn't know what to do... my hip xrays still haven't come back and it's been a month. I started physio again and I really don't find too much of a change since I started back but they were talking about trying acupuncture on me next time. One thing: I DO have an appointment with the specialist.. but not until DECEMBER!!! (One side effect is that the time doesn't fly by as quickly now even tho' I'm getting so much older by the day.. lol).. reminds me it's birthday time next month.. the big 57.. how many years till retirement?...

Anyway, back on track again with my thoughts... the doctor gave me three perscriptions today.. one for pure codeine.. one for a stool softener to counteract the binding problem with codeine.. and an anti-biotic for a urinary tract infection.. that one I was leery about taking because of my recent bout of Steven-Johnson's syndrome.. but she assured me that this would not have the same results.. we'll just have to see about that.. hmmmm.. *keeps fingers crossed while we wait on that one*.

I'm off work until I get back to see her next week.. I took one of the codeine tablets and I'm feeling a little woozy so forgive the typos.. and the rambling thoughts.

Now what was the good news again?... Oh yeah, even though I'm not even finished designing my Tarot deck and I don't know how much I'm going to be able to sell them for I've already got about 10 decks sold and most of them are going to Australia and in England a friend of mine is going to approach 4 different shops to take a deck on consignment just to see if they will sell. I have to get my butt in gear (now that hopefully there will be less pain) and got a cd over to the printer with a couple of card designs on and a backing for them to print off some cards for me. Then I can get an idea of what the finished product will look like.. I have to tell them the size and quantity before they can work out a quote. Hopefully they won't be way out of whack with the price because I want to make at least some profit.. And I even have some ideas on more decks.

Well I really should go lie down before I fall down.. will keep you up to date on stuff later if anyone is interested.

STOP THE CLOCKS!!!

If this is what getting older'ish' feels like I'd not only like to stop the clocks but if it's possible could you turn them back 5-10 years? I'm getting so depressed because for the last month I've missed more time from work than I've been there because of my danged hip arthritis and siatica. If I don't get in to see the specialist soon I don't know what I'll do! OK.. now that the whining is over I'll move on.

How many lawn mowers does a person need?.. We have not two, or even three but four of the suckers. With the purchase of an electric lawn mower last weekend that meant we have one of each kind, a ride on, a gas push mower, a battery operated one and now an electric plug in one. Being that I'm unable to help with the mowing because of my bum hip that means that it's up to Ron to do that whole thing and I don't think that it's particularly safe to be using all four at one time.. he may cut off a toe or something.

And I'd like to reiterate that having a dark background with white or light print is really hard on the eyes. Since I've been off work I can't do squat around the house so I've been reading some blogs and those type of ones are pulling my eyeballs right out of my sockets people!!

My garden is coming along well and here are a couple of pictures of my new, pretty blooms...there are more kinds of tulips in bloom and little violets and stuff but this is all I'm putting up for now.. also there are quite a few dandelions in my garden because I haven't been able to get out and do some weeding.. my poor babies are getting all infested.. but then again a weed is just a flower that has fallen out of favour isn't it? That's it for now... later people.

Uncharted Territory

Today was a step into uncharted territory.. while shopping today my danged hip was bothering me so much that after shopping for around 15 minutes I had to swallow my pride and use a wheel chair. I'm not saying that people that are confined to a wheel chair should be devoid of pride, just that taking the step to that world was humbling and I didn't want to admit that my arthritis had progressed to that point. I was a little embarassed, a lot frustrated and got a teeny, tiny glimpse of the world from the angle of the disabled and it was eye opening.

While I could stand up and reach for things I realised that if I was truely wheelchair bound a large majority of items on shelves would have been well out of my reach. I'm a short person anyway, being just short of 5'2" so I know the frustration of not being able to reach the items on the very top shelves of a supermarket, but from the position of sitting in a wheelchair a good half of the aisle mocked me with the unattainable. And to ask someone to reach for me on a constant basis would have me ready to leave the shopping experience completely to Ron. And I realise that probably after seeing the specialist I may be pain free once more and able to walk with ease and I am grateful of that reality.

On a good note I was informed that I don't have the terrible Rheumatiod arthritis or another urinary tract infection that I was afraid that I was having.. I have to return to physio therapy and will be seeing the specialist to perhaps have cortizone shots.. we'll see.. anyway, life goes on.

In search of cheaper heat;

We've been looking at pellet stoves to provide our heat in the winter instead of the oil furnace and the wood stove we presently have. Our wood stove povides a good heat but it is getting pretty worn out (we have a brick on top of the inner lining because there's a hole in it. We're going to try and get a low interest loan through the government in order to get the stove and make payments. The stove itself is fairly pricey because we want to go for the higher end because in the long run it will be save us money. Presently it costs us close to $1,000. to fill our tank and we usually burn around $600 of that in a month. If we can get the loan it will cost us anywhere between $90. to $120. a month for the payments plus $5 a day for the pellets (the stove holds a $5.00 bag and that should last a day) so that's approximately $150. a month for the fuel and $120 for the payments if we get the most we can get, making our heating cost $270. Less than half of what we're paying now.

We will still use our present furnace for out domestic hot water and for a backup if we happen to go away for a few days and there's not anyone home to fill the pellet stove.

The end of this month we're getting a guy to come out and do an energy assesment on our home to see what improvements we should do in addition to the stove to make our home energy efficient. We know that there will need to be some additional insulation done in the bottom part of the L of our home. Our home is a storey and a half on one end and a storey on the other half forming an L. We also would like to replace a few more windows and finish replacing the siding.

Tomorrow is back to work. My back is still giving me problems and I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday but I have a feeling that she's going to say that I have to just suffer with it because there's not much they can do for arthritis. I find it so depressing to be in pain all the time and I've been missing so much work that I now wish that I didn't have to go back. I find I get that way when I've been off for a while.

Oh well, guess I'll just have to suck it up.

I now have 17 of the 76 Tarot cards done and they're coming along really well.. This is a sample of what they look like and I'm really excited with how they are turning out. Well, gotta go, see you on the flip side..

Hi ho hi ho.. it's off to work I go..

Back to the grind, as they say. I'm hoping the computer problems are all worked out.. I'm getting too old for that crap and I'm not feeling up to handling the stress... I took last week off and I just sat around for the whole week and did nothing.. I had wanted to take the time to do a bunch of stuff around the house and get out walking.. I walked once with Ron and the dog and the next two days I suffered with the pain in my hip... I think I'm in a low grade depression right now because I can't take advantage of the nice weather and get out and do stuff without paying later with the pain... Ron is so patient with me because I sat around like a lump for the whole week and only did a bit the last two days towards getting anything done..

I'm going to a seminar on diabetes this weekend with my sister. It's a whole day affair on Saturday and I'm wondering if there will be anything new that I don't already know.. I hope so.. it would be great if I could be drug free but the chances of that are pretty slim.. now if I could take off another 25 pounds to go with the 25 I already have off that might make a difference.. anyone have any ideas?

We looked into getting a pellet stove for heat next winter.. the government has some low interest loans and a few grants for that type of stuff but we have to get an energy audit done.. I know there are areas where we need improvement for sure and the wood stove we have now is pretty well done for... so in the next few months we're going to get under way with the "plan" to make our house more energy efficient.. because the price of heating oil is criminal!! That's all for now.. can someone give me a push out the door to my car?

Work and I have fallen out of favor...

Ahhh work.. it used to be my means of identification. I was that girl that worked in an office doing gymnastical mind twirls and leaps of imagination. I took great relish in a job well done (and was slightly territorial about my space and job)... who are we trying to fool.. I had my name on ever piece of equipment from pens to office chairs and god help anyone who laid a hand on what was MINE dammit!!.. not any more.. my mind set has been irrevocably changed.

The time until my retirement has become a large stone tied to my neck as I struggle to swim upstream against a tide of discontent. It's like a child preparing their parents for their eventual leaving of home by becoming rebels and struggling against the status quo with all their might until the parents are ready to kick the little jeesers out long before they are ready to leave. I'm not sure if I'm the child or the parent but either way a break is coming. But alas it is years in the coming (or until I have a breakdown, whichever comes first).. and it's looking more like the latter rather than the former as each day passes..

The beginning of the end of my love affair with my job came when we made the news.. the collective "we" of the Provincial Government.. and not in a good way. You see for the last three days of last week our computer system hasn't been working.. I shouldn't say it hasn't been working at all.. we have a split system (much like my personality) and the one that we use to process about 5% or our daily work is working (much like my mind) but the big sucker that we use to process 95% of what we do a day while passing 300 to 400 customer through our happy doors is down 95% of the day.

So we are stuck manually calculating and recording transactions for said 300 to 400 not in a good mood customers. Can you say "stress overload?".. now isn't that a nice happy, sunny frame of mind to be in while contemplating early retirement?

Oh, did I tell you that I have this week off.. great timing for a change. Let someone else deal with all the crap while I vegetate at home (much like I plan to do once I retire). Gotta break myself into it gradually.

My Theory on Weight Loss

I've had a theory on weight loss for years and it has been proven out once again today making it closer to a law of nature..

You see.. I believe when you lose weight it doesn't just disappear... it stays suspended in the air in the vicinity of your body like a fog or ghost, and when you least expect it, it will attach itself to your friends or family.

As I have said, I have lost 25 pounds and have been feeling great about myself.. my clothes are fitting better, I don't flinch from my reflection in mirrors. I foolishly thought that the weight was gone.. never to return.. and since my friends, family and coworkers hadn't had any major weight gains I pushed my theory to the back of my mind and even attempted to dismiss it.

But today I saw a friend of mine at work who I haven't seen since before Christmas and I noticed his new Budda belly. He had always been fairly fit but ummm he looked a little preggy.. He informed me that he gave up smoking and gained... you guessed it... 25 pounds. Need I say more..

My theory came rushing to mind once again. I thought the curse of the floating fat cells was a thing of myths and imagination but I was WRONG.. DEAD WRONG... so be afraid.. be very afraid.. because I plan on losing more weight.. and you could be the next victim of the fat gas.. don't say you haven't been warned!

The Before and After...

We have the before... taken a year or so ago...























and we have the after... taken yesterday...


I hadn't realised how much of a difference 25 pounds made until I took that picture.. I'm quite impressed... (even tho' I do say so myself to quote my late mother).. and you can hardly tell that I'm in constant, crippling pain eh?..

It's Spring!

Time to give the old blog a face lift. If only it was as easy to give this face a lift. I believe it is time for a new icon photo as well. That picture of me is so last year! I was told I look marvelous and hot by a guy I work with (who also told me I looked miserably in pain, how do you process that combination?) so I think that picture should reflect my new hotness, but why is it that hotness doesn't translate on to film or digital technology? You would think that we could successfully take a picture that doesn't show the reality but what I visualise myself looking like in my head. Now that would be progress.

Update on the computer front

I got my new hard drive only to discover that it was a dud and returned it in exchange for another, slightly more expensive one. When the second one arrived it wouldn't work in my computer so I opted to call a "computer guy" to pick up the said computer and see what he could do to fix it, if anything. I had images of a new mother board in my future but was pleasantly surprised (if not slightly embarrased) to find that my memory stick wasn't inserted all the way in (much like my own which has worked loose with age).. so a mere $35.00 would fix it all up sans a red face from me. I had mentioned that my power supply wasn't heavy enough for my new video card so he offered to install a new one for around $50.00 while he had the computer at his shop so I said go for it. So for $95 and change I got my computer up and running (that doesn't include the cost of the new hard drive $135. and the new video card $79.00) but now my computer rocks!!! I have 500 gig of on board memory and 500 gig of external memory and a video card that allows my 3d programs to finally work properly. Life is good.

It's time for a pity party!!

Who's bringing the party hats? I've been in pain over a month now with my sore back which manifests itself in deep, searing, tearing, rotating pain down and around my right leg and into and across my right foot. Some mornings I can't go to work because I'm in tears and some days when I go to work it takes all I have not to go home again because the pain is a wild animal taking a bite out of my resolve.

I can't even enjoy my new found weight loss. I'm down to 170 pounds and if I can't get out and walk again I fear that the weight will creep back on again. But until my doctor gets back a week from tomorrow I fear that I will have to suffer through. I do have some mega pain killers but they are nasty nasty things that I choose not to partake in. Besides the possibility of getting hooked, they make me feel like death is a viable alternative to the shit that they play with my head and body.

I had blood tests taken a couple of weeks ago to rule out rheumatiod arthritis because the xrays showed extensive arthritis in my lower back and especially my right hip which the doctor suspects is pinching on my sciatic nerve. So I don't know if there is anything that can be done or if I'm doomed to suffer with this pain the rest of my life (big bummer on that one).

So now the party's over (or at least moved to a private party at my house), time to throw the confetti, kiss the hostess and head for home. Thank you for attending.

Present or warning?

Our cat, Penny, has left little mouse bodies in prominant places about our home in the last week. It leads me to wonder if they are her feline equivalent of diamonds set in a flashy broach kind of present or a horse head on the pillow kind of warning that she can kill while we are asleep.

How Come?

How come, once I turn the computer off, I can come up with witty, enlightening, relavent posts.. but once the computer is switched back on, the mere act of pressing the "on" button, causes a memory dump.. and I sit there looking at the blank screen with an equally blank brain? Then once again "off".. engaged in meaningless tasks and the mind floods with ideas.. and of course I'm out of reach of a keyboard so the thoughts flow over and out my brain.. never to be found again.. such is life.

Just an update on the pooch dentistry..

We sorrily under estimated the cost of Missy's little dentist visit.. it cost $297.00.. I think it may be bank loan time to keep her in the style to which she has become accustomed. But at least she ain't no $5,500. hooker.

A disquieting revelation..

I just recently discovered that my daughter, some sisters and some nieces and nephews read my blog.. not that there's anything wrong with that.. it's just odd.. and disquieting.. in a slightly perverted sense.. like they were reading my diary.. which I guess they are.. shame on you all!!.. *mental note to watch the family references.. on second thought.. what the hell.. it'll teach them for peeking.. lol.*

Phantom print...

Just a note to all you bloggers out there.. if you want to pick a layout that doesn't cause temperary blindness.. stay away from a black/extremely dark background with white print... it takes me at least a minute and a half to dispell the phantom print from my corneas... just sayin'.

The Waiting Game

My computer hard drive crashed.. never to return.. my son had resurrected it back to a working condition only to have it spin out of control once again.. so off to buy a new hard drive online.. waiting for a week to ten days for the new one to arrive I decided that I may as well order a new graphics card while I was at it (only to discover that my power supply wasn't heavy enough being only 300 watts to the video card's 350 watt requirement).. so I'm contemplating the outlay of more money for a new power supply.. meanwhile the hard drive arrived only to be proven as a dud.. so back it goes and a new one ordered.. only to have to wait all over again for the replacement, not knowing if this one is also a glorified paper weight.. and in the meantime my fingers itch to get back to my passion and obscession.. (no not that one.. my other obscession and passion) poser... and to top it off I'm at home with a severe arthritis flair up, without my distraction.

The storms that almost were...

We've had our hopes raised by the all knowing(?)and revered voices from the weather channel who have promised us days of immense accumulations of either snow or more excitingly anticipated.. freezing rain.. where we have visions of snuggling in front of the wood stove on the day of days.. a STORM DAY.. only to be awaken by our alarm clocks and stumbling to the window to observe the rage of nature only to be greeted by a slight wind and a spinkling of snow... How fair is that?... but come the weekend we can expect gale force winds and snow drifts only to be disappointed because the storm can't be expected to stretch over more than a day.. and the day is always Saturday only to be followed by warmer temperatures and rain by Sunday evening, leaving the roads clear and passable by Monday morning.. Damned weather persons.. how you mock us

What a Waste...

On Sunday what a whopper of a storm... high winds .. snow.. freezing rain.. power outage for a couple of hours.. but to have it on a Sunday..what a waste of a good storm.. when we could have basked in the glow of a storm day.. could have slept in and then could have stood around scratching my butt all day.. *wait a minute.. that's what I do at "work"..*

Poor Missy our little Poodle held out as long as she could, in fact her eyes were floating by the time she insisted that we let her go out.. then she stood bracing herself against the battering wind as her ears twirled like helicopter blades on each side of her head.. then when she "went" I pray that she was facing the wind and not with her back to it.. if you get my drift.. *why does the line "don't shit into the wind, and don't mess around with Jim" seem so appropriate?*

The money pit that is our dog..

Our dog, Missy, has been having some problems with her girl parts.. she's been itchy and the fur around there has been coated with her urine and has become all gunky.. eww.. so we took her to the vet and got her looked at and also to have her nails trimmed.. $75.00 later we found out that she has an infection down there.. also her breath is really bad so we have to take her in to get her teeth cleaned again.. That can be really expensive because she has to be put to sleep to do it.. when she's out we want to have some moles removed from her ear, and legs (Poodles are prone to those type of growths) so I would imagine we won't get away from that particular appointment for less than $200. or so.. but she's our baby and we can't let her get sick with gum infections.

Also we are still trying to get some weight off of her.. so we decided to increase her dry diet food a bit and cut out her evening wet food and drastically cut back the amount of wet food we give her in the AM.. just giving her enough to put her glucosamine tablets in. I was surprised and how quickly she realised that she wasn't getting any table scraps from me any more.. she's a pretty sharp cookie.

Deleted My Other Two Blogs

I decided to give my other two blogs the old heave ho.. gotta get lean and mean..

Money..

They say money can't buy happiness and money is the root of all evil.. but I'd like to try and prove them wrong.. anyone have any money that I can use for this very important experiment?..

Our mortgage is opening up again and we have the option to borrow some money against the value of the house to consolidate some of our bills.. but we are unsure on whether to do that or not.. granted the interest is lower overall but we would be spreading it over a longer period of time and there are costs to getting the money (around $750.00) and we would only be able to get enough to pay off some of our bills, not all of them.. so we are on the fence about the whole thing.. On one hand it would ease some of the money stress but would be be trading it off for a long term debt, say for 10 years.. but then again we aren't making too big a dent in the debt but are slowly paying it down so I don't know.. We have a few weeks to decide because our mortgage opens up the end of March.

The Definition of Love...

With Valentines day come and gone I've been contemplating the meaning of love.. I would say that I'm in a loving relationship.. me and my partner, R., have been together for what will be 7 years in July.. that's longer than a lot of marriages.. so the day of St. Valentine got me thinking.. Why does R. love me?.. and he obviously does because he puts up with my whining which has become more frequent and loud since my various health problems have put me in a snarky, whiny, moaning frame of mind of late.. what's the attraction?.. I had gained over 25 pounds since we met (and so had he come to think of it).. we've, since this time last year, managed to take off the 6 years of blubber we had accumulated due to showing our love through our stomaches.. I guess if my love for him hadn't diminished because of his growing waste line then why should his for me?.. but I have observed that men are more visually stimulated then women.. but I guess my limited knowledge of the opposite sex is just that .. limited.. and the meaning of love is beyond my grasp.. but not the love itself.. so I guess I shouldn't over analyse it or I might miss out on the actual experiencing of it..

Took a storm day...

Was supposed to go back to work today for at least half a day.. but it was storming and they closed the schools and some of the Gov't offices (not ours but since I live in the country I thought.. ain't gonna happen)... I figured that the drive in would tense up my hip and set me back so I took a storm day.. so I've been off of work for two weeks and a day.. and I realised something.. I could retire tomorrow and not look back.. I'm beginning to hate my job again... this happens every few years.. I have a love/hate relationship with my place of employment.. and presently I'm deeply in hate..

Was talking to one of my sisters today and was informed that I have cancer... hmmm... that one slipped past me completely.. apparently another one of my sisters heard from one of my nieces who heard it from her mother (who I was talking to) who I apparently told that I was full of sores all over my body and this final sister at the bottom of the chain figured out that I had cancer... ever play that game when you were kids where you whisper a sentence in someone's ear and have them whisper it in another's ear down the line and then get the last person to repeat what they were told out loud and laugh about how much the story had changed?.. well I ain't laughin'.

Our family loves to gossip.. I have honestly been trying to break myself of that habit but old habits die hard. Sometimes I hear myself telling someone something I overheard and feel that old adrenaline rush of "the secret". Then afterwards shake my head and feel ashamed of myself. Why do I do that? Spilled secrets have a way of returning to you and biting you in the butt.. hey.. maybe that's what's wrong with my hip.. my karma turned around and bit me.

People do this willingly?

The doctor gave me some "good" drugs for my hip... I say good because they are so powerful that they make me deathly sick.. I was so sick that I thought that I would die.. and then I was so sick that I was afraid that I WOULDN'T die... and some people take narcotics on purpose??... but being that I'm afraid to take another one I guess that it forces me to heal myself.. lol..

I went to physiotherapy yesterday afternoon.. they laid me on a hot pad and put electrodes on my back and zapped me for half an hour.. it wasn't too bad and I could regulate that strenth of the current myself.. the only problem was that the heating pad got too hot on my butt.. and that was even after she put a second folded towel between me and the heating pad... but I found a huge difference once I finished with the session and my bum cooled down... I go back on Friday and perhaps back to work on Monday.. we'll see on that one..

I take back everything I've ever said....

I take back everything I've ever said.... about my brother's sore back. My youngest brother M has a bad back and my sisters and I have been known to poohoo his pain thinking it's all in his head.. well.. now that I have a sore hip it's a different story.. I can relate to his pain.. I've had an excruciatingly painful hip for the last week and have even taken to using a cane to get along.. so M if you're reading this, I take back the snicker, the "oh sure's" and the head shakes... do you forgive me?

Is Planning Necessary?

Do you think planning in life is necessary? It seems the more we plan and structure our lives the more likely we are to have the rug pulled out from under us and tumble our well constructed house of cards down around our ears. But it seems that the people who just take life as it comes and ramble along day to day sail on calm, unruffled waters. Why do you think that is? Are you better off climbing the ladder higher and higher only to have a further fall when everything goes astray? Or are you better off taking small steps and not risk the chance of failure. They say that people who have never had wealth or fame don't miss it because it's out of their realm of experience. So therefore people who have experience wealth, etc, are going to really miss it once it's gone. What do you think?

It's An Ill Wind.....

It's an ill wind that doesn't blow someone some good.. the "benefit" of being sick is that I've lost another 2 pounds so this morning I got on the scales and I weighed 168.4 pounds ( broke the 170 bracket.. yeah).... I'll take it any way I can get it. My mouth is feeling a lot better today and most of the redness is gone and just the tip of my tongue and right behind my front teeth on the bottom is still a bit irritated. I still have to eat soft food and I'm getting tired of bread and eggs and mushy stuff but it looks like I'll be able to put my bottom partials back in by Monday. I still have a weird taste in my mouth which has curbed my appetite quite a bit but I think I'm on the mend.. Thank you God.. I don't ask for much but it looks like you came through this time.. Now if only my hip would improve.. hmmmm I guess it's back to the praying board..

My weight plateau..

I find myself at a plateau.. I can't seem to break the 170 pound mark to move into the next 10 pound bracket.. I fluctuate between 170 and 172 depending on the time of day.. I would advise you never to weigh yourself right after getting out of the bath.. it's amazing how much water your skin soaks up.. From some of my Weight Watchers meetings I realised that all along I was in the wrong mind set like a lot of people that try different weight loss methods and fail... I had focused on the amount of weight I could lose over the course of a week so that I sometimes would not eat until after the weigh-in (and then proceed to go out to a fast food place after the meeting because I was so hungry.)..

Now I think about the long range plan and how to not only get the weight off but to maintain my way of eating so that I don't put it back on again.. that is such a major breakthrough in my thinking (and excuse me if I keep repeating it) that I find that there is no major struggle and I've been eating healthy for so long that it's just second nature.. and if I over eat like a I did at Christmas and gain 3 pounds then I don't throw in the towel and say "what's the use, I can't do this!"... instead I say.. "I enjoyed myself and now it's back on track".. not that I don't enjoy myself eating healthy and I find that the foods I really craved like sweets are not as attractive to me any more.. and I find that I can take a little sliver of cake instead of two or three huge pieces.. but I know myself well enough to know that I can't have a lot of that stuff in the house.. I'm not a complete fool.. lol.

My partner,Ron, had lost about the same amount of weight that I have, he cooks supper every night and we shop together and he's keeping an eye on his weight as well.. between us we have lost over 4o pounds and when we hug now our arms go further around each other. Ron has been off the cigarettes for over a year now and I'm so proud of him. Even our dog had lost some weight.. but she's such a hog about food that she eats the bread crumbs that we throw out for the birds.. ppphhttt... little piggy poodle.. haha.

A Lesson in Not Reading Medical Journals

I'll set this up for you.. on Thursday I went to the doctor with a urinary tract infection (again) and was perscribed a sulfa drug to treat it.. that night I started to notice my mouth was a bit tender and the next day I noticed little spots starting and thought, great I'm getting thrush again.. over the weekend the sores got worse and all under my tongue was beet red.. hmmm I thought that's not good.. also I had a couple of red rash like spots on my body and I was feeling nauseous and headachy.. and my eyes were burning slightly.. also right hip is aching like crazy..

I phoned my doctor's office yesterday and she's not in on Tuesdays but the receptionist gave me an appointment for today.. (which is a coincidence because the receptionist is for the other doctor in the office and she said she usually doesn't answer my doctor's phone).. anyway I went into the doctor's office and when I described my symptoms she excused herself from the office to go check her medical journal (my first clue that something was amiss) and she told me that she didn't think I had thrush but that I had a rare condition called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome... having not heard of this condition before I didn't know if I should panic or what but when she told me she wanted to see me again on Monday I knew that it wasn't all sunshine and roses.. she also told me if the rash spots spread or get like blisters or if I get a fever to get to the hospital right away.. hmmm that doesn't sound too good.. she also told me that if I do have Stevens-Johnson Syndrome it was a rare reaction to the sulfa drugs and to tell my pharmacist to put a note on my file not to perscribe that to me ever again.. also if that's what I have I would be the first patient she has ever seen with it..

She also scheduled me to go in and have my hip xrayed.. but as luck would have it the power went out just as I was changing into the lovely gown and after sitting for half an hour and being told the power outage was Island wide (they were running on auxillary power and didn't run all their xray machines and nonessential equipment until they got full power) well I decided to take my paper work and go home to come back maybe tomorrow to get the xray done..

So I toddle on home feeling like shite and our power is out so I couldn't get onto the net to check out this condition to see what it might be.. it would have been better if the power had not come on because when I did read up on it it scared the bejesus out of me ... this condition can be fatal or can cause blindness .. both which are states of being that I would rather not consider.. especially the death part.. but hopefully if that is what it is then it was caught in time and I can carry on with life as normal.. whatever normal means at any particular time .. lol..

Come to think of it the last time I took this particular medication I had the mouth sores too and passed it off as thrush mouth and even went to the walk in clinic and that's what the doctor there contributed it to.. but that time I didn't have the rash or other symptoms... and I survived that time so maybe I haven't developed a full fledged allergic reaction .. I'll keep you posted on how the appointment goes on Monday.. keep your fingers crossed that now that I've stopped taking the drug that the symptoms will clear up in a few days..