I am BACK!!!!

I am back from our vacation in the Poconos! 

It was nice to be away, but the vacation didn't go exactly as any of us hoped. :-(  

Sunday we went shopping and vegged out watching the SuperBowl and eating junk.  I was disgusted by the referee's bad calls, and am very sad about the way the game ended up because of it.   It isn't that I don't like the Steelers, it is just that I hate to see any team losing a game do to bad referees.  

The good news is my mom won $400 in a football pool!  Yay Mom!  lol   

Monday the kids decided that they wanted to go to the recreation center and just hang out and swim.  There are scheduled activities all day long, so we played bingo, family kickball, air hockey, foosball etc.  

Then Fuzzy twisted his ankle!  So, that threw a real wrench into everything.  No snowboarding for him.  We iced it a lot and wrapped it for the week.  

Tuesday was Pumpkin's 9th birthday, and we went to face painting!  She got balloons on one side and a ladybug on the other and then it said 'I'm 9' across her forehead!  Very cute.  We swam and did more family games, and then went out to a nice dinner. 

We also played Bingo that night and Hammer won $30, which he split $10 each with his siblings.  

Wednesday we went to the mountain.  Pumpkin skied and Hammer snowboarded.  Fuzzy, Hubby and I watched.  Hammer only made it through 45 minutes of the hour lesson, but he tried real hard and we were proud of him.  Pumpkin was a whiz as always, it was a group class but no one but her, so we paid for group but got a private lesson.  Her instructor said she is a natural.  She had fun, but was very tired.   

Thursday we swam and played some more and then we heard about the storm.  At least a foot in the Poconos, and forecast said between 6-12 inches at home, maybe more, depending which way it slides.   

We decided to leave Friday am, because Pumpkin needed to be home to go to a Grandparents Tea and Concert at her school and Fuzzy needed to go to the pediatric orthopedist.  

As it turned out, we have 22 inches of snow and it is just starting to stop!  WHOA!  

I was very relieved that we left early.  The week was awful for me.  I pushed myself the entire time and was waffling between tears of laughter and pain.   

The bed was awful, and threw my back and hips into a bad state.  There was 32 steps to get up the hill to our condo.  There was 12 steps up to the bathrooms and bedroom in the condo.  It was not good.  I am still a mess.  I was so happy to be home and to sleep in my own bed Friday night and last night, but I am still a crooked mess.  

Thank God for vicodin.  

What are you going to do?  This is the life of a person with a chronic disease.  Things don't go the way we plan.  

Hubby was great all week, and did everything that needed to be done.  He had coffee ready for me every morning, fed the kids, washed the clothes (I couldn't reach the dryer anyway...lol), the kids, everything.  He is a bit annoyed that we are home early but knows it was best.  Disappointed more than annoyed, I suppose.  

It is hard for me... Hubby needed this vacation badly.  Work has been ugly and stressful for him lately.  He really wanted to ski and never got to do so.  :-(  

Fuzzy's ankle is fine. The ortho said we did a great job, and he can snowboard now.  He and Glenn almost drove back up Saturday am, but decided not to do so, in case the snow started earlier there.  

Any Olympic fans out there?  We watched the opening ceremonies Friday night until midnight!  Pumpkin fell asleep at 11pm, but the boys made it!  lol   

I love the winter games especially, we will probably watch it as a family each night for a while.  Hubby and I love the skating, luge, bobsled, skiing and hockey.  The boys are totally psyched for the snowboarding events!  

Oh well, that is it for me.  I wish the week went different, and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and melancholy about it all.  :-(

C'est la vie.  

I know that it is part and parcel of having to deal with the Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus.  I know that there will be other vacations that will go better, like our cruise last year, which had wonderful beds and I felt fabulous the whole week. 

But, still, I can't help but feel a little blue about it all.  

Hope everyone out there in J-land is happy, healthy and well, and enjoys the snow, if you had some!  

Be well,
Dawn