Relaxing, camping, exercise, holiday decorations

It was great not having to work (much) over the past four days. I had a few papers to grade as they were submitted and out of five participating grad students, only four turned in final papers. I finished grades this morning early, will email the class in a few hours, and will wait one day to field complaints before I record official grades. In the undergrad courses, .....

one school had the entire week off and the other had four days but I scheduled the work so that they had nothing to do from Wed last week until Wed this week. Only three more weeks and both colleges are done for this year (one for two weeks and the other for three weeks).

Camping was great. The weather was chilly but nice. I didn't do any work and hubby didn't carry the golf clubs. We didn't even shop (much). Actually we shopped just a little bit at the Williamsburg outlet mall around 7 on Friday morning. There were lots of parking places right in front of stores. They had opened at midnight (as they always do on T-day) for their pajama madness 12 hour sale. Surprisingly, there were still people wandering around in pjs at 7. I wondered if they'd been there all night! LOL

All in all, it was a relaxing weekend. Left on Thursday afternoon and came back on Sat afternoon. My cold was much better on Thurs and now is completely gone.

We walked a LOT around the campground Thurs, Fri and Saturday and I'm just not used to that. And Then again at home yesterday. And this morning. I'm feeling it all over, but especially in the left knee and foot and right hip. If we're going to keep this up (and I should!!) then I'm going to need Beau for balance sooner than I anticipated.

So our training this morning consisted of up and down the street, walking and stop/sit. We also worked on sit/stay while I walked off a distance and then gave him the "free" command -- which means come and sit beside me facing forward. He's got the come to me part, we still need to work on the sit beside me and face forward deal! LOL He's still very distractable but getting better every day. It's supposed to rain later today so I'm going to try to get out for at least two more training sessions on the street before the rain hits.

Yesterday #2 son and hubby got up all the leaves in the yard (we have a lawn vac so it only took a couple of hours to do the whole yard). While they were doing that, I took down my spring arrangements and put up holiday stuff, which meant multiple trips up and down the steps to the basement storage area.

Most of my decorations are more "winter" than "Christmas" so I can leave them out through the winter. We have a small table tree and on New Years day I put the tree away and all my glass Christmas collection (Santa, sleigh, reindeer, stockings, snowmen, trees etc) but the rest stays out till around mid-March (longer if it's still winter weather and earlier if it's a warm winter).

Then hubby took off to play golf and I settled in to read a book (man was that nice!!). Mid-afternoon #1 son called and wanted to know if we had some extra outside decorations. I asked if they wanted all the outside holiday decorations that we used to put up when they were kids and he said YEAH!!

Still hurting today but planning to work through it. I had switched off the voltaren and back to the salsalate but after two days the pain got really bad. Could be the weather, increased activity, high doses of D3 (which leaches calcium from the bones and can cause severe pain but it doesn't seem bad enough to be that), or getting off the volaren (a very high-powered anti-inflammatory). Who ever really knows? It'll ease up as the week goes on.

So time to get some work done, get in another outside training session with Beau. Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend. Only a few more shopping weeks till Christmas (doing all mine online this year!!).

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Be careful what you wish for! LOL

I used to wish Buddy were more playful, especially with Beau. But Bud's always been a bit stand-offish. Well not any more. Since Beau got back from bootcamp, he and Buddy have been playing and wrestling nearly all day long for a couple of days. They chase each other around and bump into furniture and people. I used to think Buddy just didn't have any "play" in him cause he's never played with any of our other dogs. I'm happy to see them having fun and getting along so well.

Velcro gets her shots in too -- we call it drive-by assaults. Buddy and Beau will be wrestling and then out of the blue, Velcro runs over and jumps on the pile of dogs. Then just jumps off and goes back to her napping. She's getting old and wants to play but not for long!

We're going on to the campground later this afternoon after buffet turkey dinner with dad. Be back Saturday early afternoon and NOT GETTING ONLINE the whole time we're gone.

Happy turkey day to all.

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Happy Thanksgiving

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Holidays

Well geez it's Thanksgiving and I've got a bad cold. UGH!! We were supposed to ......

go camping after a Thanksgiving buffet with my dad at noon tomorrow. As of right now, I don't have the energy to pack up anything and not sure I'll feel like going anyway.

Time will tell. Right now I feel like crap.

After grading jail ends today, I'll probably not spend a lot of time online this weekend. I've got some book revisions to work on and some other writing to do. And at the rate things are going, a lot of napping in front of foxnews!!

Have a happy one!!!

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Training Beau

Good for him and good for me! Except my joints get sore and all he does is just poop out and nap then he's ready to go again! LOL Yesterday we ......

worked a lot on the walking properly beside me that he learned at boot camp. Not sure how much good it did because it was raining all day and we couldn't go outside. Hopefully today we can walk outside some and work on ignoring distractions!

Beau learned two new "tricks" yesterday -- turn around and jump. Turn around means face the opposite direction and sit. Jump means over all the cardboard boxes I have lined up across the den floor LOL

Today we're going to learn "spin" which is turning around in a circle. He does this anyway when he's really excited so now I've put a word to it (started that this morning when he was spinning at the back door to go out and again coming in and again for his breakfast.

Once he learns that, then when he gets really excited when he meets people and wants to jump all over them, I can use "NO Jump" and get him to "spin" or "tornado" to get rid of all that energy instead of jumping on people. I'm thinking to change the key word from "spin" to "tornado"!!

That will probably enough for today. In between training sessions we'll reinforce the walking, turnaround, sit/stay, and then we'll play "find it" and "hide and seek" for a while. He loves those games.

It's fun working with him on tricks because he learns so fast and he's so eager to please. Boxers are very smart and get bored very easily. Many people teach their boxers lots of tricks just to keep them mentally active so they don't get bored. I have a "touch light" that goes on the floor or the wall and I want to teach him to turn the light on and off. But so far, he just drools all over it and thinks it's a toy. Teaching him to count is on the list too but that may take a bit longer! Dance is also on the list. But we won't do too much too fast. One thing at a time - or maybe two. He's a fast learner!

In case I'm not back on here again until after Thursday, here's wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday weekend. We'll be at the campground by Thursday afternoon so I'll check in from there over the weekend.

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Dr visit

You know, sometimes you can do everything right and still things don't go the way they're supposed to. Not that the news was bad, really, but ......

I would have preferred better. My A1C was exactly what it was four months ago. I was hoping for better. I haven't lost any weight in the past four months but neither have I gained any.

My body seems to have settled in and likes where it is. But I don't like it. The Doc and I talked about things I can do to improve both.

She didn't put on the labwork to check Vit D levels so she's going to get them to do that (they keep the draw for a week so they should still have plenty!). She'll email me with those results.

Oh and the other tests were good. Cholesterol and liver function and so forth, all actually a point or two better than last time. Blood pressure is great. Always is except when I have a headache. Which I did when I went in four months ago and my blood pressure was not good. I told them it was nothing to worry about but they didn't believe me. Since then I've had my bp checked several times, including this morning, and it's always great.

oh and my doc had a new baby the week after my last appt. She showed me some pix and it's hard to believe he's already four months old. Time flies and all that.

So what I have to do now is increase my activity level. Which is difficult with all the joint deterioration in my feet, ankles, knees, and hips. And back, and shoulders.

So I'm going to work on training Beau more. We started today and both of us got some exercise! I'll write more about Beau's training in another post.

For now, it's back to grading jail through Wed. At least I'll get a few days off!

More later!

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update: meds, shoulder, diabetes, boot camp

It's been a long week but everything is going well. My new meds are working wonderfully for my shoulder. It continues to improve and now I just have to be careful not to move it in certain ways. That ......

may never change but it's not too confining. It's like when you're sitting in the front seat of a car and reach back to pick up something on the floor behind the seat. I can't move my arm that direction without a lot of pain. So I just don't do that. Sometimes pushing a heavy door open hurts so I'm careful about that too. Sometimes the shoulder feels like it's trying to pop out of joint and there's an audible pop and a sharp pain. But I've kind of learned to avoid moving in that direction too.

My blood sugar readings are still good as long as I am very careful not to overdo the carbs. My stomach is better too now that I'm off the salsalate. Eventually I'll need something else other than the voltaren that I'm taking because that's not for long-term use. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Had my labwork done Wednesday and have an appt with the endo Monday morning. I can't really predict how the A1C is going to be because I've been using two meters and one reads about 25 points higher than the other. I hate when that happens.

I took Beau to boot camp this morning. I took his food, medicine, sliced up vienna sausages to put the pills in, and cans of green beans cause he eats a lot and the vet said to cut back on the dog food and add a can of unsalted green beans. He loves that! LOL And he's lost 8 of the 15 pounds he put on in the last three months of limited activity. So he's doing great.

I've finished all my work for this week. All I have over the weekend is monitoring class discussions. Starting Sunday though, I will be in grading jail for 2-3 days. I have graduate research papers to grade and undergrad resumes/cover letters to grade.

*sigh* Just when you think you've gotten ahead of the game, more sh** piles up.

We go to get Beau on Sunday afternoon around 3 and have a private session so Drew can show us what he's done with Beau and we can practice a bit before we go home!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Med choices -- a rock and a hard place

I've been taking salsalate with my metformin for about four months now. I think this qualifies for being stuck between a rock and hard place. My salsalate helps keep my blood sugar down. Does nothing for pain and inflammation anymore. Also makes me sick to my stomach more days than not. Got a new med last week and .........


Everything started feeling better. The pain diminished and my stomach felt much better. But my blood sugar started slowly creeping up. I am not happy about this.

So I'm going even lower carb (okay so I got a little lazy the past month or so but my BS numbers were great) to see if I can get these numbers way down without the salsalate added to the metformin.

I may have to decide between less pain and higher bs numbers or constant tummy troubles and more pain to get those low BS numbers. What a decision!

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Beau’s going to Boot Camp

With my bad shoulder, I simply cannot handle this 90 pound ADHD adolescent dog on the leash. He’s better than he was but I think trying to train him on the leash is what messed up my shoulder. He also jumps on people cause he wants to play or hug people. Not cool to have a 90 pound dog jump on you for a hug and knock you flat!! So ......


he’s going to boot camp for three days this weekend from Friday morning till Sunday afternoon. I’ve checked out this husband-wife trainer team and they are great. They own pit bulls of their own (pets) and they have several narcotics dogs and therapy dogs. They’ve been to special training schools around the country and use a variety of methods, all tailored to the dog’s personality and needs.

The cost is very reasonable. We met the trainer, Drew, this morning for Beau's evaluation. Drew said Beau already seems to know so much and responded perfectly to Drew on the leash. So Drew is going to work on reinforcing the commands and really work with Beau on not jumping and pulling on the leash.

I hate to send him away but the folks there are definitely dog people and I know he'll do just fine.

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Holiday shopping already???

For the past few years, we’ve gotten people gift cards and frankly, that’s getting old. So this year I’m making my late mother’s famous nut crunch mix to divvy up in holiday baggies for everyone. Then we’re picking up a couple of restaurant gift cards for everyone (they all do love that). .....

I’m also making a Christmas List on Amazon so the family can go there and see what’s on my list (books and movies mostly). I’m going to get hubby to make an Amazon list and also ask the kids to make a list.

I thought that was a pretty cool way to let everyone know what you want for Christmas and so easy to just order something and have it sent. No going out Christmas shopping.

I even put South Beach dark chocolate raspberry protein bars on my list! LOL Now I’m going to look at dog stuff. I seriously need a dog treat pouch to carry on our walks.

Hmmmmm maybe a winter scarf would be good (for me, not the dogs). I don’t need gloves but leg warmers and hand warmers would be awesome.

It's so much fun shopping online -- and more fun than I thought to create a wish list!!

Okay back to shopping now!!

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Holiday meals

Aside from the fact that I can't eat traditional holiday food, I don't have the inclination to cook big meals anymore. And with the long shoulder recovery that will take quite a few months, there's no way I'm doing a lot of cooking cause that does aggravate the joint. So this year ........

for Thanksgiving, we're going to a holiday buffet around mid-day and then hubby and I are taking off for the campground.

For Christmas, we'll have the family over on the Eve, exchanging gifts and I'll do a light dessert.

Then Christmas Day, we'll all go to a buffet around lunch time and then hubby and I are hitting the road for the campground.

If it's way too cold or snowing or nasty weather, then we'll just stay home but still doing the buffet cause I'm NOT cooking!!

Hubby will probably put the turkey (it's already in the freezer) in the roaster oven some very cold day in the near future!! I love turkey and so we can have that for several days for quick meals (just add veggies and salad and the meal's ready).

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I ate half a pizza yesterday and finished it today

I'm talking about a REAL pizza like from pizza hut. It was only a medium! LOL We got take out pizza last night and mine had .....

the works (except we picked off all the sausage and added it to hubby's pizza cause I don't like Italian sausage). But it had everything -- Canadian bacon, pepperoni, three cheeses, peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, and other stuff.

I took a big bowl and, one slice at a time, scraped all the good stuff off the crust and into my bowl. Ate half last night and half for lunch today. My blood sugar was under 120 after an hour.

Man that pizza was some kinda good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe we'll go to CiCi's soon -- that's a 5.99 pizza buffet and I could do some damage there without eating anything bad for me!!!


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MRI results about what I expected

Doc's office called just a bit ago. The MRI showed a full tear in the rotator cuff. Not surprised. He wanted me to make an appt with ........

an orthopedist and I said no. I explained that it wouldn't do any good, any more than it did 5 or so years ago when I had a partial tear. All three surgeons said I needed a surgical repair on the rotator cuff immediately and that they'd fix whatever else they found while they were in there. Say what?? I refused surgery then and I won't consider it now.

Over a period of 18 months, the pain stopped completely and hasn't come back until the past couple of months. I expect the same will happen this time too. It'll get better just like it did before. I have to be patient and careful for several months, that's all. It's still better than recovering from surgery for six or more months.

So we left it at that. I'm to go back to see him in a few weeks for a couple of shots or to change meds, whichever is necessary at that time. That's when I'm going to ask for the referral to a pain specialist.

Meanwhile, I'll just baby the shoulder and stop doing shit I shouldn't be doing (like carrying groceries, cooking with heavy glass casserole dishes, doing heavy laundry loads, that sort of thing).

Oh and I had to bring my old worn out recliner back upstairs - -the one with the low arms (so resting my elbow doesn't set my shoulder up too high) and the push-button foot rest (no handle to reach down for to pull the shoulder).

My new recliner is in the bedroom for just watching tv (no computer work!!). The old one looks kinda crappy in the den but it's comfy. I don't know what I'm going to do when the springs in the seat finally give way! LOL

My news meds are working well and I have been able to back off the muscle relaxers and pain pills a bit. It's only been two days so I expect the pain relief to increase a bit over the next week or so. Problem is that this anti-inflammatory shouldn't be used more than a month or so because of stomach issues. But I also have another med to help with that. So hopefully this new med will get me through this transition weather and then I can get off it for the winter.

Everything hurts now -- hands, feet, back, neck. And one hip is especially bad along with the shoulder. But everything is feeling a little better so I know the meds are working. And without so many pain meds, my head is clearing up a little too.

So that's the shoulder news. Not great but not bad either.

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MRI today

Last time I got an MRI on my shoulder, I went to an open-sided machine and they put you in feet first. I could look out the window and hear the music in the speakers in the room without headphones. Uh.... today wasn't quite like that! .............

This was an open-sided machine but it was horribly loud and I needed headphones with loud country music blaring. I still couldn't hear the music.

And they put me in head first. And the room was dark. No windows.

They rolled me in three times and back out before I could stay. It was horrible. If I need another MRI I'm going back to the one on the other side of town.

This one was close -5 min away and I wasn't sure I could drive farther than that (my shoulder is really painful).

Anyway, it's done and I guess I'll hear from my doc later this week to see what's going on. I may have to see a "specialist" but actually I'm not going to see my ortho guy. I'm NOT having surgery for any reason whatsoever (unless it's an absolute emergency).

At this point in time, I'm due a knee replacement, and serious hip and shoulder repairs. I've already had three knee surgeries, two foot surgeries, three hand surgeries, and a few more I can't remember. With ehlers-danlos and now diabetes too, I don't heal well at all. I've heard horror stories from people with ehlers-danlos who have multiple surgeries on joints. It's like once they start mucking around in that soft tissue, it just keeps getting worse and worse and requires more and more surgery. I am NOT going down that road.

I want a pain specialist. I know I'm not getting any better and will, in fact, get a lot worse in the coming years. Nothing can make me any better so I need to manage the pain.

That's what I'm going to suggest when the doc calls later this week.

Meanwhile I called my doc this morning and told him I wanted to switch anti-inflammatories. I told him exactly what I needed and he called in the prescription an hour later. I really like my doc a LOT!!

Actually the intense pain is a bit better tonight after two doses of the new med.

I'm doing intensive graduate research paper grading (15 pages each UGH!!!) and doing some major revisions of my undergrad course designs for Jan. Been BUSY!!

more later : )




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Book News

Got the video trailer for my old books. Here's the link. I think the music is pretty cool. The photo zooming thing I could do without! LOL

Also the manuscript for the new book was sent today.

That's all -- more this weekend.

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