[My] Life in Wisconsin

Me, Lately


Me, Lately magnify
I am sure that most that live north of "THE LINE" have seen this sign during/after a snowfall.

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In addition to the above, the sign was also flashing this warning.

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Good Morning ALL;

The roads were mighty bad yesterday morning... Plowed (maybe), unsalted, and so one needs to take their time. But this makes no difference to many people. (Unfortunately then, I have to be on the road with these dipsh!ts too).

As always there are any number of vehicles in the ditches on highway 41 - 141. But traffic was moving along, until I was about 2 and a half miles from my exit. Then all came to a stop.

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As far as I could see were stopped/slowed cars...
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Thinking fast enough to get off at this exit, (and having been going slow/fast enough to make the required lane change), I did manage to get to my appointment on time.

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As I was on the ramp, I chanced to see the 'remains' of an earlier accident.

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See ~middle, right, median...
I want to know who goes so fast in a snowstorm as to overturn their car?
Yup, read: "dipsh!t"

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Having been in such a funk lately and finally calling the clinic to see my doctor, I have come to the conclusion that I am glad I am not a doctor.
As many of you know, I am hypothyroid, I have many migraines, and with the PTSD comes this godawful anxiety disorder. I also have a touch of arthritis. In addition I have developed a few hayfever type allergies over the past 10 or so years.
Blah. Blah. Blah.

And no, this is not a complain blog. Just a 'keep you informed' one.

I have been taking thyroid supplementation since shortly after Casey was born. I began with Synthroid, tried others, (even tried nothing for a few years); and most recently have been taking Armour Thyroid.
As it's name implies, Synthroid is synthetic.
Armour is a dessicated thyroid hormone replacement that is extracted from pig thyroid. (Kinda ucky to think about, but is the ONLY 'natural' thyroid replacement on the market). It does not leave me feeling as 'speedy' as the synthetic ones either.

For all of these things above I take meds daily, or as needed.
**Armour Thyroid 90mg

**Paroxetine (aka Paxil) for anxiety/panic 40 mg Side effects are weight gain, and brain fog...

**Migraines meds as needed, to include, (but not limited to), Maxalt, Fiorinal w/ Codeine.
(I prefer the fiornal because the maxalt makes me feel SO hyper).

**Vicoden for my back as needed when the arthritis flares up. (And this winter has NOT been nice to that either).
On a personal note, I refuse to take any of the arthritis medications like Vioxx and Celebrex for this.
The simple pain pills were good enough for my mom and many others; and too many people have died taking those newfangled pills.
"Better to know the devil" as they say...

**Alprazolam -Xanax- for if/when I have to go anywhere, or if/when I have anxiety attacks at home.

~~~Back to my "funk".

**I have been thinking "Why am I so freakin' depressed all the time?"

And have been forcing myself to do things for a long time.
Getting to the woods, playing with the dogs has been something of late, that I 'make' myself do.
And yes, it is partly because of how completely long and depressing this winter has been.
Yet I felt this way even before winter set in...
Even before I broke my stupid foot.

**I have been having a definite problem forcing myself to sleep though. hehehe

**I have also gained a few pounds.
Gratefully, I am tall enough to afford to do this (a bit); but unless I was expecting, I have never had a problem with my weight before.
Note: I have also had a complete hysterectomy, and had my gallbladder removed ~gallbladder disease~ when I was 26.
With BOTH of these surgeries I was told to expect to gain anywhere between 10 and 25 pounds. (It didn't happen).

So off I go to the doctor yesterday. He orders a CBC, a chem panel, and a thyroid panel.
He also put me on Topamax, 25mg pills to be taken twice daily, (to increase to 50 mg twice daily in two weeks).
I have tried this drug before, and saw no change with my headache frequency or intensities.
Hmmm ~I guess I will be trying it again.

After what Casey went through last week, (<--click) I did run a check on any potential drug interactions.
The worst is the paroxetine and the maxalt. (The rest don't really get mixed). No wonder I feel like I drank a couple POTS of expresso when I take the maxalt... So hopefully the topamax will eliminate the need for the maxalt and it won't be a problem.

I got home from my appointment, let the dogs out, and took a LONG nap on the couch... (and no, I didn't even have to try, just kind of tipped over and slept)...

...Back to what I had thought was some kind of depression...

~When I brought this up, the doctor sort of smiled and said he guessed not. Said it is probably my thyroid doing nasty things again.
WHY THE HECK DIDN'T THAT EVEN CROSS MY MIND???
I am not that much of a pessimist for cryin' out loud...
The Paxil (also an antidepressant), makes me a slug; so if there is anything 'off with my thyroid, it will exacerbate that all. ~And I didn't even think of this???

With that first Topamax I took yesterday with my lunch, (and that nice 'nap' that followed), I missed my only "Valentine" call; and of course I also missed the doctor calling to talk about my thyroid test. He said he will call back today. I'd better get off the line. (Besides, I do have to get out and shovel).

So please bear with me.
Give this all time to work, and maybe I shall be a bit "NORMALLER" soon.
hehehe

Love to ALL! I hope you all have a "normal" Friday!!!

XOXO
Anne

Friday February 15, 2008 - 08:14am (CST)

Lessons of "STUCK!"

Lessons of "STUCK!"
Lessons of "STUCK!" magnify
The 'pit' road...

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Good Morning, and 'Happy Hearts Day' to ALL!

What a day yesterday was...
And of course we have another half a foot of new snow coming today.

Between the winter snow (so far), and the awful fact that I seem to have MORE than my fair share of 'cabin fever', it dawned on me that the old saying is true.

"Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures"...

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Me !!!
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And yes, I am on these...
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Once upon a time, Mama studied at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
... and made these gems!
The lacing on the one on the right not quite finished...
But fully functional too.
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They DO work wonders to get me back to the woods.
Unfortunately though, the dogs are on their own...

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And they have a problem, sans snowshoes of their own, remaining on TOP of the snow.

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The Punkster got stuck multiple times...
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Miss Milly not so often...
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But she did manage to get stuck a few times too!
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Not so deep back by the woods...
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They have a great time playing "Hide and Seek" too
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Milly "hiding"
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Punk! Looking for Mama!
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Which is EXACTLY what I had to do once we got back up to the house. (More on that tomorrow).
At one point, Milly decided she wanted my snowshoes, and firmly planted herself on my snowshoes. AND, then refused to move! After begging her to do so, she finally decided to "cheat"... She simply ran to the neighbors and ran up their driveway. Punk and I took our time heading back.

By the time we got home, Milly was nowhere to be found. I decided to go insearch of the wayward dog, and packed up The Punk in the car. And drove up the road.

There is a gravel pit road about 1/2 a mile west. It once was our access to the back forty. Since this road was always used during the winter months, I turned onto it, and drove due south.
And wound up MORE than a bit 'stuck' myself. (That is the road, by the back forty, in the topmost photo).
I still had my snowpants on, so I wouldn't have minded walking...
It took me about 15 minutes of 'rocking' to get out of there. I had to reverse all the way out too. (About 1/5th of a mile).
Nasty that.
Punk didn't like it much either, and had a bit of 'the drool' going by the time I got ut of there.

Now, I have a doctor appointment in an hour. Many schools are closed, and the rest will close after lunch I am sure. The snow is already coming down, and about 3" are down already. I have to leave very soon if I am to get there on time...
YOKES!!! (Wish me luck)!

Special Valentine Love for ALL! Make it perfect by telling those you care about that you love them! And give them a hug from me too!

XOXO
Anne

Free Website Counter  Thursday February 14, 2008 - 07:28am (CST)

Remember the Magic...

Remember the Magic...
Remember the Magic... magnify
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Imagine you are living in 1950...

You have been married for about 8 months, and Saint Valentine's Day rolls around.
You are basically still on your honeymoon; even at the ages of 38 and 33, you are rolling in the love of it all.

You have waited, patiently... Many, many years for this day to be yours.

You are living paycheck to paycheck on a dairy farmers wage, and there is no money left over for the little trinkets that you would love to surprise your Sweetheart with... And as yet, there is little commercialism to this holiday.

As it should be, it is a day of sentiment and love...

You have happily accepted this, and reconciled yourself to loving each other.

...A few extra kisses in the morning, and you come downstairs for the coffee before you head outside.

All is still dark in the house, and saving electricity too, you turn on very few lights.

You go downstairs to stoke up the wood/coal furnace so the house will be warm enough to get changed in.

You have that cup of coffee in the kitchen as it begins to get light out.
Wanting to know just how very cold it is, you walk into the living room to see the thermometer on the tree on the front lawn.

Your windows are old, and so many times Jack Frost visits and draws beautiful masterpieces upon your windows.
Combined with the fact that at times you can feel the breeze on the inside of the house, and it is still chilly, the windows on this morning are particularly decorated.

And on this morning, you have trouble seeing through some of them to see the temperature hanging on the outside...

And then you find one that is almost clear...
...perhaps because of the heat register beneath it.

Looking past the 'painted' window pane, you check the temperature...

Then, as you back away from the window, your brain is finally registering what your eyes have just seen...

In its own glory it is almost unbelievable!
A special gift from God, and sent for you both!

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.JJust what did my parents see that morning?

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(Almost surreal, isn't it)?
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And now you know the story of their 1st St. "Valintine's" Day together.

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~You have all seen my current background image~
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The "heart" that my dad had painted for my mom on their second year together...

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.I have found yet another of his paintings... and I believe that this possibly might have been from that same year...

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How many of us have ever gotten flowers to last us throughout our entire lifetime?!?
Mama did!

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If anyone has a more special, true, and unique story than this of the magic of the deepest Faith and Love, I will LOVE to hear it.

We need to take back to the magic of our lives and our love.

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Remembering clearly that Dad would always say he "liked" Mom a whole lot, but that he didn't 'love' her.

When I was old enough to question him on it, I did just that... and his explanation floored me then, as it does even more~so now...

He quietly explained... that from what he saw of what was to pass for 'love' these days, that he wanted NO PART of that. And so he LIKED her more than enough.

I am thinking this was the wisest man I have ever known...

I am also thinking that they were
~(& still are)~
so very happy together!
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Love to ALL of my family and friends !

~Make this day special by claiming your own magic-

XOXO
Anne

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"VALINTINE's" DAY! ~1950~ As Promised...
Originally posted here,
February 14, 2007
Previous counter = 460
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The finished quilt I'd made from some of Mom and Dads Clothes...
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Happy Hearts Day to All!!! Wednesday February 13, 2008 - 12:46pm (CST