Marc and I got married this fall!
And the best big news…
Category: Uncategorized
But first…
…some pretty big life changes, and why I seemingly abandoned this blog. Please bear with me, I know this will be lengthy.
In 2012 I got sick. Really sick. So sick I could no longer function. I had difficulty comprehending when people spoke to me, struggled to read. Extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Touch registering in my brain as pain. Whole body aches and pains, like coming down with the flu. Low grade fevers every single day. Numb, tingly areas on my skin, random places. The skin on the soles of my feet hurt so; felt like walking barefoot on sharp gravel.
New meds from my new rheumatologist helped with the pain a bit, but it wasn’t enough. But the fatigue, oh the fatigue, was the real clincher. How could someone so young, who looks fine, be so ill?
So ill that I could no longer stay awake for more than an hour or two, sleeping upwards of 20 hours a day. My mom said even I fell asleep while eating.
So debilitated that I, at 32, had to have my mom help me bathe and dress. For a while she delivered me and collected me from work every day. My coworkers, so very generous, worked with me as best they could, but I felt like a really lousy employee. I couldn’t really comprehend anything I was reading by then, but wasn’t really aware, just thinking I’m not trying hard enough.
So lost in this mucky, murky brain, there were times I didn’t know where I was. Or who I was. Afraid I was going crazy, I didn’t tell anyone that last part till years later.
So weak I remember hardly being able to hold myself upright in the chair in my rheumatologist’s exam room the day he said I should ask work for a medical leave of absence. Even though he didn’t know what else to treat.
To some of you out there, this may be sounding all too familiar…
Mom took me to doctor after doctor, every test under the sun. Nobody had an explanation, much less a treatment for me.
One day, before my medical leave of absence, I was talking to my dear friend Leslie at work. I had a huge stack of old tests and blood work that my family doctor had run over the past twenty years, ready to see yet another specialist later that day. She asked if I minded if she looked. Nope, not at all. I’m not that private, plus I was desperate for an answer, ready to try anything.
Leslie and her entire family have been battling with Lyme, and other tick-borne infections, for nearly two decades. She’s repeatedly asked me if I’d been tested for Lyme. Yeah, yeah, my family doctor testes me frequently. And as we worked through that stack we could see those test results, every year or two, with the same results- a big negative at the top of the report.
Then Leslie began trying to explain the results of the Western Blot to me. You have antibodies to this, this, this, and this, she says. The numbers are low. Too low to be “positive,” at least by the CDC’s “criteria.” But if you had never been exposed, those numbers would be zero.
And suddenly the light bulb went on for me. The way she explained that made sense. Here I had been thinking that because Leslie’s whole family was dealing with Lyme, she saw it everywhere. Nope. Leslie sees Lyme everywhere, because it is everywhere!
Well, this was one rock we hadn’t looked under yet. When mom came to pick me up from work that day, I asked Leslie to explain it to her, I’d never be able to articulate all that back to mom, much less a doctor. Mom listened and we began the hunt for a Lyme-literate doctor. Eventually we found a great one, and with each infection we treated, my health has improved!
Fortunately, I have an amazing team of doctors. My awesome family doctor who’s willing to listen and learn, and who take the time each patient needs at every visit. A (sadly now retired) rogue rheumatologist willing to try new things and fight the insurance company for me. A terrific and well informed Lyme-literate doctor. And finally my hematologist, another rogue, and real and true gem. Without these amazing, dedicated doctors, I truly believe I’m not being overly dramatic in saying that I would not be alive today. They have my eternal gratitude and love.
I know this was a long post, and thanks for sticking with me. It may sound like it was easy, but please believe me when I tell you it was a long, hard road full of friends, family, and doctors who clearly thought I was lazy, or crazy, or worse. Luckily for me, I have some truly amazing people and doctors in my life who fought on my behalf when I couldn’t and supported me through all this. I’ve skimmed over the worst of it, most of that time is a foggy jumble in my memory anyway, now we are out the upswing.
Yes friends, it’s a new year, full of new possibilities, a fresh page, and I’m ready to reclaim my life!
Welcome back!
Well folks, it’s been a long time… too long; but I’m back and ready to take you on a journey. A lot has been happening; plenty of fun projects, including a few that are already finished! Who doesn’t love a good before and after?
P.S. Oliver is happy and healthy! That face may be more white and he sleeps a lot more these days, but his heart is still all puppy!
Knee Braces
The shingles are complete on the front of the second floor, and we’ve decked it out with a little something extra: craftsman style knee braces.
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| Oliver looking out, ready for the great escape |
There has been a good bit of progress around here, but not much worthy of pictures. Some dirt has been moved around, the back yard is sporting a hot pink spray paint outline of where the new retaining walls and pavers will go. New framing for the back storage cubbies. And most importantly, a new structural support beam the entire width of the house to replace the one that was rotten from the weather and apparently some heavy termite snacking. All very important things, but not terribly photogenic.
The guys were hard at work on the framing for the new porch when I left this morning. They poured the concrete for the posts yesterday, and I think I’ll have something to show you tomorrow!
Progress and Pavers
I think I’ll have a good picture of what the whole house will look like soon. The guys are rocking right along with the soffit and they’ve almost finished the new shingles on the front. Tomorrow should be the siding on the front of the first floor. I can’t wait!
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| new shingles almost done on the front! |
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| project supervisor kept safely inside |
After the front is finished, they are going to skip around to the back. Bill is going to get the footers poured for my new back porch. Yes, that’s porch, not deck. The aim is to make it look as if it was always part of the house and not something that was tacked on recently.
Anyway, that’s up next so that our hardscaping can get started. I’m really looking forward to my new retaining wall that will corral the mess on the factory side of the house. For that project we are planning to use Techo-Bloc. This is my current favourite color combination.
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| techo bloc, mini creta, victorien and mista in champlaign grey and onyx black |
Everybody else seems to think I should go with brown, but I see greys. With the silver roof and all the raw concrete that was used in 1930, it is honest and original. I was even leaning toward re-using these super simple concrete pavers we dug up from the cabin. But everyone is afraid they will break. So far they haven’t, I have loads more, and you can still buy them new, so I actually don’t see the problem. But I can’t get anyone else on board, so, new techo bloc it is!
All browns just make me think of the bland brown neighborhoods that have cropped up the last couple of years. Blech! Again, I don’t want something dated 2012.
So for today, I’m leaning toward the mix of medium greys with a touch of brown, and an accent of charcoal grey. The main field colors would be the wall and the floor. For the walls, they do come in the charcoal grey as well, so I’m thinking maybe a 10% mix of dark grey with the 90% medium tones. The edging around the floors and the stairs in charcoal grey will be a snazzy contrast, and help define edges to prevent falls and mis-steps. And of course then we need to make the caps dark to tie it all together.
Please, I welcome comments or suggestions regarding my color choices. I have to stop changing my mind very soon so they can be ordered!
Green Bungalow Craftworks 