Upcoming Busy Agenda

Boy oh boy, do I have a busy day starting tomorrow!  And yes, I do realize that I am up at 2:15 am...can't sleep, back hurts...yada yada.

Tomorrow, after getting the kids to school, hubby and I head straight to NYC for my Remicade infusion.  Then, skipping our regular lunch routine, I will probably nap and then after eating a quick dinner at 6pm begins the Parents vs Scouts Annual Kickball Game!  I have promised ds10 that I WILL play and I will!  I will pay for it...but that is another story - lol.

Then Saturday am hubby will have an MRI on his injured shoulder.  I will sleep in and my dad will go with him.  6pm we leave as a family to go to a minor leaque baseball game which afterward there is a special scout sleep-over for hubby and ds10 only.

Sunday am after said hubby and ds10 come back home we will go out for a family Father's Day Breakfast with grandma and grandpa as well.  Then possibly off to see The Batman.  The boys have decided that this is appropriate movie fare for dad's and they are right, hubby loooooves Batman and can't wait to see it!  lol

Then, my dad wants to go out to dinner too. 

That will end the busy weekend.  Monday is the kids last full day at school - I think I will be sleeping all day!  HA ha ha.

Hope this finds everyone who reads it appreciating life!

Be well!

 

 

To Dawn in PA

Dear Dawn,

I am sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with RA.  It is a tough disease.  However, the drugs that are out and coming out now, are offering a lot more hope than ever!  You really have your hands full with little ones, 6, 2 and 6 mos!  The funny thing is that I first began to truly suffer with symptoms when my daughter was about 4 months old and I had a 2 year old and just turned 5 year old!  So, I relate!

I would question your doc as to why he/she is only starting you with plaquenil.  It takes a long time to get started with giving you relief, and my docs in NYC don't even bother with it anymore.  Unless, of course, you are planning on having more children so you are trying to avoid some of the faster acting more intense drugs.  The ACR (American College of Rheumatology) basically reccommends methotrexate given at the start of treatment now, since it is proven that being more aggressive right from the beginning is the way to go.  But there are limits with that with conceiving etc.

I wish you luck.  I hope you will email me once in a while.  I was shocked and amazed that anyone other than my message board buddies were reading my journal at all!  I am glad that I give you hope. 

Hope is the most important thing you can have, sweetie.  You will have bad days, and good ones.  You can't always predict when and where either will strike - and that sucks.  Your life will change.  However, I must say - it isn't all bad.  I have a new appreciation for everything in my life now.  I take no day for granted.  I have learned how to manage time and simplify my life probably far quicker than I would have otherwise!  lol

Write me anytime...

I have not been writing because my dog became real sick with an ear infection and I had to take her to the pet ER at 3am the other nite.  We are both still recovering, me from the no sleep for 2 nites, and she from the infection.  She is doing much better, thankfully. 

Be well...and if anyone else is out there reading this and has any questions...leave a comment and I will answer you...sometimes it just takes me a bit!

Oh yeah!  2 other things...it is so cool we have the same name!!  And, yes the heat sucks.  It really does a number on me too, especially with the humidity!

 

Busy, busy, busy

Hello!

Things are so crazy around here!  The kids are finishing up school which is nuts!  Concerts, end of year reports, end of sports, recitals, yikes!  Not a moment to catch your breath! 

I am feeling ok, though.  We are having a bit of a heat wave in NJ, which is a pain in the rear, and it has given me some swelling in my hands that I could do without, but otherwise, I am good!

Next week is the last full week for the two in public school...amen!!! 

Just wanted to check in for a quick hello!

 

 

Finally, I am back...

My cruise was heavenly and here I am finally back.  I had a tough time afterward, and I don't even want to go there.

So, things are quite hectic!  Kids have very busy schedules and it is hard to keep up sometimes!  Ha - most of the time.  But I am managing.  My online life has suffered because I have just been too tired.

This week is filled with baseball, end of the year concerts, group meetings, scouts, parties.  Yeah, it is a crazy month - from Mother's Day until school lets out - it is always one thing or another!  Imagine if I didn't homeschool one of my kids!!!  Yikes!

Thank you all for being patient with me...

I am addicted!

I am addicted.  I have found my bliss.

It is this time of night that is my drug!  I just love to hear the silence.  Okay, there is an occasional snore, but mostly just silence.  Children all tucked safely in bed, hubby sleeping wherever he dropped.

This is my favorite time for me!  I just made a pot of coffee and did my nails!  YAY!  We leave tomorrow for vacation and I am feeling good.  Packing is all done.  Just last minute details remain and they are few.

Limo comes at 3am, I will revel in silence until about 2am, when I must begin to rouse the family to get them ready.

Be well, my dear friends, until we meet again, and I hope you find your bliss.  Maybe it too lies in silence!

:-D  Dawn

The World is Inherently Good!

 

I believe that people, and the world, more generally, is inherently good.  In spite of the evil, beset one human on another that we see each and every day in the paper and on the tv news, I believe those things to be in the minority of the human condition.  I believe that the stories of good and kindness are not told, and that is a shame.

I believe many more people held open the door for someone today, helped an elderly person load their car with groceries, gave someone the pennies from their wallet to pay the change needed on their bill, weeded a neighbor's garden that is too busy with her many kids, listened and gave hugs to those with heavy hearts.

I believe that there are more heroes than villains, those brave souls who are out there protecting and serving for the sanctity of life, rather than disregarding it.  Everyday heroes who get up and spread some sunshine within their own small world, in spite of their pain and challenges.  If only those stories were told more in the news, instead of just on the "slow" day as filler.

I believe that there are more people using the power of prayer rather than abusing the power of money.  More are giving of themselves, their time and their wallets to help their fellow man, woman, and child, than those who would steal from the same.

I believe that there are more tolerant, open-minded people who accept those who are different with open armed respect, than there are those who turn their backs in judgement.  There are many more who celebrate the rainbow of our world's colors than those who cling to a singleness of blind intent to be separate.

I believe that there are more smiles than frowns today all over our world.

I have to believe in this good.  It may not be celebrated by our newspapers and newscasts, but it is there.  It is how I can get up and face the day, in spite of my personal challenges, and how I can groom my children to become part of this human race, part of this ever shrinking world. 

It is hope. 

If you read this and think I am naive, then I am glad I live in my world and not yours. 

 

Good Book

I have a wonderful book to recommend for all of us out there suffering with chronic illness.  It is called Blindsided by Richard Cohen.  He is a writer and former tv producer who has been dealing with MS and its awful effects for the last 30 years.  He is also married to Meredith Viera of The View. 

The book was shockingly honest and raw in its truth.  He is completely open about his disease and its effects on his life, his ego, and his relationships.  I identified with it greatly in certain parts and had to put it down due to the tears.  It is a great, easy read and I really think all of us in the shitty boat of the auto-immune cruise-line would benefit from it.

My weekend was good.  My jaw is finally back to normal and I am feeling good as I always do just after my Remicade infusion!  Yay!

The sun shined and the weather was warm.  My ds8 had is first scout sleep-over at an environmental center in their bunk house.  He had a wonderful time although, he is quite exhausted!  I dread waking him for school tomorrow am.  Maybe God will smile on me and a car back-firing at around 7am will do the job instead of me!  LOL  Hubby didn't sleep much either as all the dad's played poker and acted as if they were in college again for the night.  (duh, men @@)

6 more days until our vacation - a Carribean cruise!  Wooohoooo!  It can't come soon enough!  I start the packing tomorrow, I am pretty organized already, it should go easy!

More later... Dawn