Physical ailments

I managed to get my "ice pick headache" during the last few days of our Mexico vacation. This particular headache is different from my normal migraines and I get it much less frequently, thank heaven!  But when I do get it, it is beyond debilitating.  I cannot function at all and spend a good deal of time vacillating between anger/crankiness and crying/screaming.  Getting randomly stabbed in the head all day and night every few seconds is very very draining.

The number one problem with this headache is that no one, NO ONE, seems to know what to do for it. I've gone to headache specialists, Emergency Rooms, Urgent Care, primary doctor...you name it, I have done it.  They try this and that and give me pain meds and whatnot which sometimes do nothing and sometimes "take the edge off" but nothing actually causes the pains to cease. They do eventually peter out on their own but have taken as long as 2 weeks to do so in the past.

This time I went straight to my headache specialist. Frank had a business trip right after we got home from Mexico so he wasn't around and Carter had to work so my parents stepped up to give me a ride. We joked about how it was a Thursday and I'm supposed to be helping mom but instead she had to help me this time. My doctor took me very seriously at least and looked at different types of headaches that this could be and really tried to figure out the best options for treatment. I was given an IV with various concoctions in it which helped. I could tell that the pains were coming further apart and with less intensity, which is a good thing, but they weren't gone so that made me nervous. Nevertheless, I went home to rest.  I got about 4-5 hours of relief before  they returned in earnest. Carter gave me a blessing that evening and I felt much better for quite awhile.

Around 10 PM I started to feel a stomach ache coming on, which wasn't totally surprising given the number and variety of pain medications I had been taking for several days now.  It quickly progressed to a long and horrible night of vomiting every few minutes.  I have no idea what caused it but I was grateful that my head pains were not bad as well, that might have pushed me over some edge that I don't want to go over.

I had to call out sick to work and spent another day on the couch feeling sorry for myself.

It's now Saturday and the head stabbing seems to be returning though its in the beginning stages which means it is less intense and less frequent...it tends to ramp up over time.

Why am I blogging all of this?  I don't know exactly.  I just have to let it out and "talking" about it seems to help somehow.

I don't want to be a person who is defined by my physical ailments.  I want to be normal.  I don't want to have to call out of work or ask someone else to teach my Sunday school lesson. I want to be reliable and I want to be a fun person who is excited to see a nice day outside rather than one who feels like it doesn't matter what the weather is like because I will be laying in a dark room no matter what.

So, yes, I'm still feeling sorry for myself. This too shall pass. I know this.  And right now I super ready for it to do just that.

Celebrating 30 years

Last week Frank and I went to Cancun to celebrate our 30th anniversary.
We stayed in a resort that we've stayed at previously so we knew the area and the restaurants.
We told ourselves we would try new restaurants and go to new places...but we did very little of that.
We went to our favorite local beach where we hung out, ate local food and enjoyed the amazing beach and water. As usual, we were the only non-locals there.
Here's a picture from the internet.  We love this beach. The sand is soft, the water is clear and there are chairs and umbrellas. There are local families enjoying the day and a small local restaurant that serves fresh fish and delicious tortilla chips.

We asked for our favorite dish, Molcajete, from the restaurant at the resort even though it is no longer on the menu. They made it for us and it was super delicious!

We went to the road of Cenotes, which was new for us. We've been to other Cenotes but never this one. We swam around and enjoyed the cave, the water and yes, even the bats! I wasn't supposed to get my hand wet so I paddled around on a float which was still nice.

I can tell you that keeping your hand dry while staying in Cancun ON THE BEACH is not easy.

Our one big "new" thing took place on our last day. We went to an island about 2 hours away called Holbox (Pronounced HoleBosh--long "o" sound on both words). Once we arrived at the island we wandered around a bit enjoying the small town, we ate lunch and then we went to the beach which was GORGEOUS with the clearest water ever. Here are some more pictures from the internet: It looked exactly like this.  The water, the town, the flamingos! It was awesome.

Frank had a business call so after he was done, we signed up for a 3 island tour. Here is a description from the internet: a boat tour to Passion Island, Isla Pajaros and Yalahau Spring. On this guided excursion, view over 35 species of nesting birds on Isla Pajaros (Bird Island), including frigates and pelicans. Hear about the birds' migration patterns and breeding breeding behaviors from your bird-loving local guide. Continue to Passion Island to see the resident flamingos, then swim in the cenote (freshwater sinkhole) at Yalahau. 
We had a good time and even think we might enjoy staying on Holbox someday. I will, however, avoid Mosquito Point for obvious reasons. We tried to get as close as possible to the flamingos because I love them so much. I think I may have to get some flamingo art to put up in my room.

The other thing new that I did was that I took zero pictures.  I put my phone in the safe and left it there the whole week. I just enjoyed the beauty and the nice weather without posting about it or taking photos.  Now, with my terrible memory this might mean that this particular vacation could completely disappear from my mind, which I guess would be sad, but I enjoyed it while I was there. I know Frank took a couple of photos so if I get my hands on them, maybe I'll add them here.  And, obviously, I pilfered a few from the internet.

I'm as addicted to my phone as the next person but I'm trying to be less so. I'm trying to overcome that habitual grabbing of the phone throughout the day.  I don't use it at all during work either which is helpful.

I noticed so many people wearing their phones around their necks in Cancun. They have them in water proof bags on a string so that they can take selfies in the pool or ocean (and oh man, did we see a lot of that). I like to get pictures of Frank and I together when we do these kinds of things so I'm not anti-selfie or anything but it does feel like it is out of hand.  And so, I'm trying to overcome the pull of the phone in my own little way.

Sorry for the change of subject...Happy Anniversary to us! 30 years.  It's been great, and hard, and fun and awful at times. We've got 4 great boys and now 2 great daughters as well. It's gone so fast! I can't believe it has been 30 years already.

Time with Mom

Mom and Dad have moved into Doneen's house.  It is a good idea long term but the change in environment and situation is confusing for Mom and she has gone downhill since moving.
Dad of course does the majority of caring for and being with mom but Doneen is also picking up a lot of the responsibility...what with Mom living in her house and all.

Everyone is trying to convince Mom that this is "her" house so that she will feel comfortable. But it leaves a bit of a problem when she is done with all the visitors and wants them to go home  and take their dogs with them! The bedroom is set up with her familiar furniture and pictures on the walls so she is most comfortable in that space.

I'm trying to get back to my Thursday visits to give Dad and Doneen a break. It should work well with my new job since I have Thursdays off.

Last week I went and when I arrived Mom was about to start playing the piano. I helped her find the hymn book and encouraged her to play.  She used to play really well and I was surprised to find that she can still play.

She's concentrating here...not unhappy :-)

 There are other skills that she has totally lost but piano seems to still be in her muscle memory somewhere. She sometimes had to drop the second hand and play just the melody but most of the songs were quite recognizable with just a few mistakes. Of course, in true mom style, she berates herself for her mistakes.  I just encouraged her and told her she was doing really well (and reminding her that I can't play at all so anything she does is better than I could do! She liked this reasoning ha!)

She enjoyed playing and did so for almost 30 minutes I think.

After that we watched a movie together. Yes, I always turn to old movies because she remembers them somewhat and it is easier than trying to keep her attention on something else.  She enjoys musicals and Pride and Prejudice. This week we watched "Hello Dolly" and she loved the costumes, music and dancing.

I bought her a "toy" for mother's day.

It is supposed to help with keeping hands busy and just entertain to play with. It is a bunch of colorful wood balls all connected. You can move them around to different shapes. I pulled it out when I was there to see if she would become interested. She asked what it was and I just explained it a little bit. She then told me how it was a good toy for babies but there was no one there to need it now. Doh!  I left it near us hoping she would pick it up but she never did. I ended up mindlessly playing with it a few times though! haha

She's had a rough week with an asthma attack that left her needing oxygen 24/7. It might be temporary but we will have to see. Either way, the tubes in her nose, on her face and dragging behind her when she walked were super confusing to her and she kept trying to take them off.  Repeatedly explaining what they were and why she had to keep them on was tiring but she didn't really fight me about it. Apparently at other times she has been quite adamant at not wanting the oxygen so I got off easy.

Time spent with Mom is not easy but it is worth it. I am able to help her feel loved when everything else is so confusing to her. I am able to give Dad a little bit of a break which he desperately needs. And I am able to give Doneen some time to not worry about Mom either.  I'm sure in the coming days, weeks and months we will all need to step up our assistance to Dad and Doneen.

Family fun...with sharp objects!

So, I drive by this place every day when I go to and come home from work.  I have thought for some time that we need to go there. I like to support local small businesses for one and it also just intrigued me. I kept putting it off and then one of my neighbors went and posted about it on Facebook...they loved it, so I knew that I had to do it!

 So one night last week, I walked in from work and just announced that we were going.  Carter was not interested but I forced him to come (not too difficult really, just a little mom guilt was applied).  Where did we go?

Axe throwing!

I know, sounds weird but it was super fun.

I have decided that it needs to be our next date night with my siblings as well. We haven't set it up yet but soon, I hope.

The guy that owns it was there and he showed us how to throw the various kinds of axes that he has available. We practiced for a bit until we could all get the axe to stick in the target.  Once we were sticking it pretty regularly he introduced us to a  few games.  We competed against each other and just had a great time. I kicked butt on one of the games. Like KILLED the guys. We won't talk about how I did on the other games...mmmkay?

The picture below is where Frank barely got a hit on the "8 ball" which is way up on the target. This hit helped him win the first game. I couldn't throw even remotely high enough to hit that part of the target.

There is a second room where we could throw knives and metal playing cards. Carter was flipping the cards at the target but they weren't really sticking much.  The guy told us that for some reason flipping the cards works better if you use sound effects.  So carter flipped five cards really quickly and made a whipping sound with his mouth each time...all five cards stuck! It was hilarious.

It was tiring but so so fun! We were actively throwing axes for over an hour (and a couple of us were sore the next day I will admit)

He had us sign the wall before we left and he took group picture

(which I do not have on my phone for some reason)

The place we went to is called Phat Axe.

I highly recommend it!