Windy out eh?

I looked with horror as my newly blossoming Poppies were whipped by the strong winds this morning.. so I threw on some clothes and went out to put some bamboo stakes in the ground to use as anchor points for my string to hold the plant in place. I didn't realize when I bought the stakes that bamboo is rather fragile.. hmmmm ironic that they should be selling it as a stake material.. so now I have the plant surrounded by green bamboo tied together with white string.. not the most attractive setup but at least I feel that my Poppies have a fighting chance. PEI is a rather windy province so this was to be expected.. I said that I was going to put the stakes in yesterday evening but procrastination is a bitch.

My Garden is Finished.. YEAH!!!

I finished weeding and mulching and arranging the rocks on my garden. Some flowers were unfortunately lost in the process but overall I believe that it improved the overall aura of the garden... since the flowers that I eliminated were the kind that overwhelm a garden and are best left out... more and more flowers are blooming daily and it's a joy to go out and get my hands dirty in the earth.. Here are some pictures of the garden complete..









Why does my house look like something in a psychedelic dream?.. It's melting!!!

When I do something...

I realized that when I do something, I don't actually do it.. I over-do it. Like today, I decided to work in one of my flower beds and get rid of all the weeds and put down some black cedar mulch. I went out around 2 pm thinking that I'd work for a little while and then quit.. well a couple of hours later when I could hardly walk from the pain in my back I, or rather Ron, decided I should stop and give it a rest.. But I only have a little bit of mulch left in the bag I reasoned and was assured that it would be there in the morning if I can drag my carcass back outside to finish. It was a wonderful day today for working outside though, the ground was soft from all the ran we had, making it easier to pull out the nasty weeds and grass that grows better than my flowers and it was cool with a nice breeze and not too much sunlight peeking from behind the clouds so there were no bugs to speak of. Hopefully tomorrow brings similar weather.

Oh Dear Blogger.. I'm so sorry!!

Dear Blogger Diary..

I'm so sorry for deserting you for facebook and especially FarmVille.. the addiction above all addictions.. if it wasn't for my sister, Janet, asking for the link to you I would have never remembered to come back and write on your walls once again... So thank you Janet.. **I think**

I have so much stuff to write about that I'm tired already. But seriously, a lot has happened in the last two or three months. To begin with, I am now part of a clinical study for a new diabetic treatment. It's a six month study and I started the latter part of March. The part of the case study that I'm a part of is an injection called Exenatide and I inject it once a week. Since I started on it some amazing things have happened (and some not so amazing things but I'll tell you about them later.)... What the medication does is it slows down your digestion so that you eat less and fell full longer, I can attest to the feeling full longer, and faster. So over the past couple of months I have drastically changed my eating habits and as a result have dropped from a very unhealthy 190 plus (I conveniently blanked out how many pounds above 190 I was but it was more than 1 and less than9) pounds before Christmas down to 165 pounds as of this morning.

Because of the weight loss I have found a marked improvement in my back (you may recall that I had to retire because of constant back and leg pain).. I was also able to come off of one of my two oral medications, my blood pressure on my last doctor's visit was down to 108/70 and if it goes any lower they are considering reducing my blood pressure medication or even eliminating it altogether. My cholesterol is reduced as well as my blood sugars are normal where my family doctor was considering putting me on insulin.

Now the not so nice effects. The injection sites have been really itchy and red hot up until this last injection which has finally had a very mild irritation which lasted a half a day. There are also lumps under the skin where the injections were given because it is a slow release medication that stays under the skin.

I have had to buy myself some new pants because the size 16 ones I have been wearing were getting so baggy on the crutch that it was embarrassing to wear them and I got three pairs of pants at a used clothing place in size 12 that fit perfectly. I didn't want to buy too many clothes because I hope to keep losing over the summer.. The real test will be once I finish the injections to see if I will gain the weight back again.. I sure hope not!

Has it been that long?

Christmas is coming.. has it been that long since I last posted. You'll be happy to hear that Christmas came and went. Just a minute while I get a feather duster and get rid of some of the cobwebs. *cough cough*... very unsanitary leaving the place like this.. dust and spider webs everywhere....

Shall I go back in time or forward? I think I'll start here and go back, that way if I get bored then at least you'll be current on what's happening to me. Mmmm I have to go back on this particular item. Right before Christmas I signed up for some sessions at the diabetic clinic because my blood sugars were getting out of control and that has been going on for the last year or so.. I believe it is a combination of diet and stress. Later I got a phone call asking if I wanted to partake in a Clinical Study of a new diabetic medication. They put me through a barrage of tests and I should hear this week if I'm accepted. The thing about the medication is that it's also a weight loss medication so I well get double benefit.

Well off to bed. Will keep you *all updated.

*All meaning any possible person that may wander by and take a gander at my ramblings :)

Christmas is coming!!!

Ready or not.. here Christmas comes once again. It's just three weeks away. Where the heck did the summer go? I can't believe that I haven't worked (other than a couple of weeks) for nearly a year!! But now I'm retired and I have all the time in the world. I may put my tree up this weekend.. it might make me feel a little more festive.

I have been dealing with a virus in my computer. In getting rid of it I had to delete some files only to find out that they were false alarms. I know now that I should have put the files in the vault or tried to repair them instead of deleting them.. now they tell me!!

My house is finally finished..

The house is finally finished on the outside with new windows, siding and even a new storm door on the side. It really looks nice. And it is pretty well done on the inside, but are you ever really done?



Just a picture of some really weird carrots.. !!

Couple of pics of Tinka... Plus some random pics.

Picture taken the last of October.. everything is still so green!!


I took this picture and thought.. what the heck is that white speck in the field...



I discovered it was my cat, Penny, looking for mice... mmmm mice... and she likes to share..



Tinka saying.. "hurry up Mom!!"




I say that I'm taking her for a walk.. but sometimes it's the other way around..

Well it's the end of an era..

It's the end of an era, if you can call it that, what constitutes an era anyway? I'm meeting with the people at my employ to officially retire. I have been without any money coming in for 7 months and my appeal has been denied, yet again. I also took an allergic reaction to the latest medications that the doctor gave me for depression (how depressing it that?)... and the Steven Johnson's has come back.

So I will get a settlement from work of one week's pay for every year that I worked (16 years) ... so at least we can put some money back in my savings and pay off the credit cards that were piling up because of needing them for emergencies.

I feel at peace with the whole thing and maybe I can get some relief now that the pressure is off. So it's an ill wind as they say.

I decided I'm going to try my hand at creating 3D products for Poser. There will be a huge learning curve but I now have the time and the desire to try my hand at something new. I'll probably start with free items just to break into the market and once I improve on what I'm doing then I'll create some for sale items. My 2D artwork is popular and I'm using them a lot in my artwork as well.

When I was so depressed in the last few weeks I got involved in a bunch of applications on facebook.. it's great mind numbing entertainment but once I got to a point where I hit rock bottom and then came back up again I tired of it.. It was just depressing me again with all the virtual money I was making while the physical money wasn't there... : |

I'm really depressed about Christmas coming because I have no money for gifts... my daughter is very understanding but I don't know how the grandkids will deal with it.. Oh well, I guess they will have to deal with reality some time.. it took me long enough before I finally did.

HELLO.. HELLo..HELlo.. Hello.. hellooooo...

Wow.. gotta do some housecleaning and get rid of some of the cobwebs that have accumulated here over the last little while.. last post was a couple of months ago.

Well, my doctor put me off of work indefinitely.... I tried going back to work and was an emotional wreck because of the pain. My doctor also gave me an anti-depressants.. and it seems to be working somewhat.. I just upped the dose today after being on it for a week (doctor's orders).

I also sent in the appeal to the insurance company for the Long Term Disability.. I have a diagnosis from my chiropractor who saw the x-rays of my back and diagnosed it immediately. He also showed me the x-rays and even my untrained eye could see that my bottom vertebrae is tilted to the right, where all the pain originates. He said that my vertebrae is thinner on one side because of my degenerative condition and is pinching on the sciatic nerve. His recommendation is that I either have surgery or that I go on LTD. We'll see if his recommendation has any weight with the insurance company.. I'm not holding my breath.

My family doctor is trying to set me up with a surgeon who specializes in the spine to see if surgery is necessary. I think that being in pain for two years would constitute a need for surgery but we'll see how that goes.

On a lighter note, our new puppy, Tinkabelle or Tinka for short, is just so sweet and cuddly that it makes my day brighter just to be around her.. even if she does occasionally go to the bathroom in the house, even though we let her outside a dozen or so times a day.. *sigh*.. the joys of dog ownership... lol

Tinka's adventure into the big world...

some videos...

Tinka's new style of travel.. and Ron gets to carry a purse... :)

Some Pictures of Tinka

Good day my dear readers...

I am still here although I haven't wanted to bore you all with tales of my woes.. I'm still off of work so there is no money coming in and I'm getting desperate. I put a request in to return to work on a trial basis but apparently my doctor hasn't sent the papers back to my workplace yet.. also they have to find me a job that will accommodate my reduced abilities. I feel like I'm sinking in a sea of despair... now aren't you glad I've avoided sharing that little bit of cheer your way?...

On a brighter note we have gotten a little puppy (I know ... another one?)... well the last pup only lasted two weeks and he went back.. he was very destructive with chewing and messing all over the house. So we waited a while and now we have a hybrid pup.. part Shih Tzu and part Pekingese, and her name is TinkaBelle but we call her Tinka for short. She's tan and white and pretty smart and very adorable.. I'll post a couple of pictures of her so you can see what she looks like. Ron has her almost house broken and at 12 weeks that's pretty good I'd say.

Was to see the specialist once again.

I was to see the specialist once again to get the results of the CT scan.. I've now had a CT scan, a full bone scan and an MRI...

I have good news and bad news .. the good news is that it's not bone cancer that is causing my pain which the specialist was afraid of. The bad news is that it's not anything that can be fixed surgically and the specialist doesn't feel comfortable filling out the long term disability because he can't make a definitive diagnosis. So I asked him where that leaves me. He said that the pain will have to be managed somehow (and he couldn't seem to understand why I was upset, just thought that I should be elated that it wasn't cancer!)

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it's not cancer but I'm still frustrated with the pain. He is going to give me a cortisone shot on the 28th to see if that can help. I told him that I already had a cortisone shot and it didn't help, he said that he is going to give me a much stronger shot because if the shot isn't strong enough or isn't in the exact correct place then it may not work (encouraging eh?).

Also, the note that my family doctor gave me for the EI was only for the first of April so that is run out as well, I'm seeing her on the 27th to see if she can give me another note for the remaining 7 weeks I'm entitled to for EI and then hopefully the cortisone shot will work and I can get back to work next month some time.

The specialist as well is suggesting that I be enrolled in a pain management clinic. So after the shot hopefully I can start back to work. Send healing thoughts my way everyone.

Oh and just a side note: We took the pup, Bailey, back to the Humane Society because he was putting us in a lot of stress that we didn't need at this time.

Well the cat, Penny, told Bailey what for last night.. lol.. Bailey was wanting to play with her but Penny would have nothing of it.. Penny went up a few steps and Bailey was barking at her.. then Bailey started up the steps to play with her and Penny hauled back and swatted her on the nose a couple of times (Penny has no front claws so it scared Bailey more than anything.. lol)... Right now Bailey is at the bottom of the stairs and Penny is about three steps up and won't let Bailey come any further.. lol.. I don't think our cat is too happy with us peoples..

My Gawd! that dog chews a lot.. and puts everything in his mouth!.. you can't lay anything anywhere and he's into it.. and taking him for a walk you have to keep moving or he eats pebbles.. at least he doesn't mind you putting your fingers into his mouth to take stuff out... I hope this puppy stage doesn't last too long (I know.. yeah right.. lol)

Well we got through the first night with him.. he made it to the pee pads 50% of the time .. so we'll have a job getting him house-broken but he spent the night upstairs with Ron in his room and was really quiet all night with no whining so that's good.. he's teething so we have to keep an eye out that he doesn't destroy the furniture and offer him a chew toy when he gets to gnawing on something he's not supposed to .. I think that yesterday he was getting over the anesthetic from his surgery from the night before because he threw up a bit after we took him for a walk.. but he was excellent walking on the leash considering it was his first time!!!!

We have renamed him from Trouble to Bailey and he sure is one handsome boy.. and he'll have a lot more energy than our last little doggie... whether that's good or bad remains to be seen.. lol..

New member of the family..

Well it's been a month, almost to the day, that we had to put our Missy down. We had went to the humane society of PEI and were looking at dogs but I think that we were trying to get another Missy. That wasn't fair to the dogs or to us. So when we saw a litter of pups come up for adoption we (make that me) decided that we would go for something completely different instead .. this is Trouble and he's a part smooth collie and part mutt.. he had been well socialized and gets along with cats. He's going to get a lot bigger than our little Missy was but than again Ron will be able to take him on walks and he will actually be able to keep up unlike Missy who would be great going but not coming home, she would normally drag behind. I'm looking forward to having another dog in the house but not looking forward to the house training.. pooo pooo ewwwy.. lol..

We're back and forth on getting a dog. We went to the spca shortly after we lost Missy to look at dogs but I think that it was too soon. I sent an email to a dog breeder friend about her keeping an eye out for us on a dog but she hasn't gotten back to me on that yet. There is an interesting dog on the spca web page right now called Harmony that we may have a look at (she's good with cats which is a plus for us because of Penny the cat, poor thing, has put up a lot with Sophie and then Missy). We'll just have to wait and if the right dog is out there we will know it when we see it.

On Penny, she's such a patient cat, when we were giving them both a treat, Missy was the one who gulped her food before it hit the floor and Penny was daintily eating hers and Missy would take the food right out of Penny's mouth and Penny wouldn't do a thing, not hiss or growl, just let Missy do whatever she wanted. And Missy was so jealous of Penny that if Penny started to go towards me Missy would push at her feet with her muzzle like she was herding sheep and Penny would just walk away from me without putting up a fuss. Now Penny has all of my attention and she's getting so cuddly, sitting on my lap in the evening while I'm watching TV.

That's the main reason why we are taking our time with getting another dog because we want to be sure it will get along with Penny.

Yet more tests coming...

Just got back from the specialist and I'm still no further ahead.. from the MRI they detected, in the lumbar area where there is some pinching of the nerves that come out but not to the extent that surgery is required.. but in my hip area there was an inflammation showing up from the bone scan that he is going to follow up on.. so in for more tests.. this tiime a CT scan of that area.. he's going to put urgent on it because of the long wait I've had up to this point.. so he said I may get a call this week and to contact them as soon as I get my call so that they can schedule a follow up appointment.. oh and the cancer thing was a mistake... whew.. which I figured it was anyway..