Month: January 2015

The Little Things

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My four day weekend is going quite well so far. After work yesterday I stopped at El Famous Burrito to snag some $1 steak tacos for dinner since Joe was having dinner with E. I watched some more episodes of The Carrie Diaries on Netflix (so sad I’m almost done with this series!) and then cleaned all the rat cages.

This morning I got my butt out of bed at 7 am, worked out on the elliptical for 25 minutes, and after a shower and quick breakfast, headed over to Great Clips for a haircut. I lucked out because I was the first one there and I got the one girl who cuts my hair the way I like it (she normally doesn’t work on Fridays, I learned) and had her chop 4 inches off. My head definitely feels lighter now! She also flattered me by saying I look like Jennifer Aniston. She’s actually told me this before. I don’t see it, but I guess that’s good since Joe doesn’t find her particularly attractive. I was feeling good about my new look so I posted a selfie on Facebook (which I never do because I don’t think I photograph well) and was once again flattered by all the nice comments and likes I received. When I texted Joe my selfie, he wrote “Awww you’re so damn pretty” which really made my day. He’s always complimenting me. :)

I made a pit-stop at Aldi on the way home to look around and came home with fixings to make myself a yummy strawberry chicken salad for lunch today. I also grabbed some thin sliced pork chops so I can make them during the week.

After taking my second shower of the day (to get rid of all the loose hair from my cut), I started some laundry and took care of some financial stuff online. Now I’m searching for a rheumatologist so I can figure out what autoimmune disease I have. My guess is Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease. In any case, I’m not too worried since it’s not life-threatening.

I’m feeling happy and productive today. It’s the little things in life that make me smile, which is a good thing since most days nothing really major happens anyway.

Neurologist & General Health Update

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As you can tell by the blog-post bombing, I actually have some time today to sit down and write about what’s been going on around these parts.

This morning I had a follow-up appointment with my neurologist to go over my test results. I initially saw him regarding how easily my hands and feet get so cold, which I wrote about here. I also had some blood work done, and went back to his office so he could shock me and stick a long-ass needle into my muscles (which he didn’t warn me about, which in hindsight is a good thing or I really would have dreaded that visit even though the needle didn’t hurt much) to test my nerves’ response.

Well, the doctor said my nerves are perfectly fine and most of my blood work is too. From a purely neurological standpoint, I’m healthy. There was one troublesome area, however – my anti-nuclear antibody test came back abnormal which indicates the possibility of some auto-immune disease. This really doesn’t come as much of shock to me because I’m convinced I do have some type of autoimmune disease since I’m always having strange symptoms come and go. Plus I’ve had tests in the past that have indicated this although nothing is ever diagnosed. So my next step is to see a rheumatologist for further testing.

I brought along my sleep-study results for the neurologist to review and explained about the episodes I have where about 20-30 minutes after drifting off I will wake up suddenly feeling like I can’t breathe and/or like there’s a presence in the room. He said this can happen to people with an autoimmune disease such as lupus, although it happens to healthy individuals as well. So I asked him his opinion on the safety of Xanax since I read that it can cause dementia. He said that my dose (.25 mg) is too low, plus that usually occurs in people 60+.

Then I asked him what he though of Lexapro, which my psychiatrist prescribed for my anxiety and depression (although surprisingly the depression went away on it’s own as soon as I made the appointment, which is so typical). He said it’s really good and would help with my sleep issues and is actually good for your brain. So maybe I will take it after all. I had started taking it before Christmas but just a half dose of 5 mg made me so nauseated I decided to postpone taking it until after the holidays and have been hemming and hawing ever since. I really don’t like the idea of taking medication, but maybe I should give the Lexapro a chance. He did say the nausea goes away after a couple of days, so if I start it on a Friday, hopefully my body will adjust before I have to go back to work on a Tuesday.

Finally, I mentioned to him that sometimes lately when I’m trying to watch TV I notice that following the action on screen tends to hurt my eyes and at the same time the back of my neck seems stiff, but he didn’t think it was migraine-related (even though my eye doctor did). In fact, he thought it was just eye strain. He also didn’t think much of this one incidence I described from two weeks ago where I was sitting at my desk at work and out of nowhere I felt like I was spinning. He said this can happen to anyone. I was worried that perhaps my ENT misdiagnosed me and something neurological is wrong with me but the doctor doesn’t think so and even looked at my MRI results again.

I do like my neurologist because he seems very thorough and thoughtful, so I have to trust he wouldn’t be telling me I’m fine neurologically if I wasn’t. It just annoys me that the balance/dizziness my ENT has been working with me on is not improving. This means I need to schedule physical therapy which I didn’t want to do. I told Joe this was going to be the year of no doctors, since I’m fed up with it all, but obviously that’s not going to happen.

Amazon Prime, Teenage Shows, and Rat Stuff

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Saturday we decided to sign up for Amazon Prime since it was on sale for $72. I like their Prime Music, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to find a decent book through their Kindle Lending Library since you’re entitled to one free title per month with the membership.

We’ll be evaluating their Prime streaming service as well, even though it’s not compatible with our Chromecast which rather sucks. We just want to see if it’s better than Hulu or not since we’ve already decided to keep Netflix since it’s so awesome. Seriously, I watch something on it every single day. My current obsession is The Carrie Diaries which is the prequel to Sex & The City. I’m not exactly sure what it says about me as a person that I like shows aimed at teenagers, though (like Awkward which I just love).

I hope having the Prime membership won’t encourage us to buy stuff we don’t need. It has already come in handy, however. I ordered these straw brushes so I can clean the straws I use with my reusable tumblers.

Last week we had also placed an order through Amazon for a couple of things – a bluetooth speaker for Joe’s car so he can safely have work-related conversations while driving, Cards Against Humanity, which I can’t wait to take over to my parents’ house and play, and some items for the rats. I wanted them all to have a space pod and hammock in their cages, so I ordered one of each since I only had two of each currently. I was very excited when the package was delivered by the post office, surprisingly, on a Sunday afternoon.

I ended up rotating the hammocks since the one I ordered is so large and only fits in the big cage. I don’t think Milo and Gizmo like it, though, because I haven’t seen them use it once. Maybe it’s because it’s not nice and colorful like the one on Amazon’s site, but a bland grey and black instead. Doug and Steve, however, love cramming their fat butts into their new space pod. They also have Milo & Gizmo’s old hammock since I gave their hammock to Marshmallow, which he loves. So at least 3 out of the 5 rats are happy! I’m gonna be bummed if Milo and Gizmo end up not using the new hammock, though. Plus I’ll have to head to Petco to get them another one like they used to have because I like to spoil my little ratty babies. :)

Round1

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Saturday we decided to check out Round1, a new bowling and amusement center that was built in our local mall late last year. I invited Brother #2 and his girlfriend to tag along, so once they arrived at 3 pm we all squeezed in Joe’s SUV and headed out.

When we arrived, all the lanes were occupied but the guy put us on the waiting list and said he’d call us when a lane opened. We decided to purchase member cards since they cost $5 but also included 20 game credits and give you $1 per hour discounts on bowling and other activities. We hit the skee-ball machines (or ice ball, as they called them) first because I love me some skee-ball! We also played air hockey, shot some hoops, and my brother and his girlfriend played driving games while Joe and E shot up some aliens.

After awhile I was getting concerned because the 20-25 minute estimated wait window had definitely passed. Finally I went up to ask what was going on and they claimed they had called us a long time ago. The guy who had taken our name was no longer there and the girl helping us explained you have to stick around that area in order to hear them over the loudspeaker which we were never told. Not only that, but they really can’t just install speakers in the arcade section? I call shenanigans, but whatever.

Luckily there were lanes available at that point anyway, so we got set up. Joe opted out due to his back and after the first round E decided to bow out because it was aggravating a shoulder injury he had sustained in the car accident last March. So my brother, who amusingly enough, brought his own bowling ball and shoes, played E’s round as well as his own. He won, of course. I scored just an 86, which I can only remember because that’s the year my brother was born. His girlfriend came in last. But we all enjoyed ourselves!

Round1 Bowling Alley

The prices are reasonable before 5 pm on the weekends, so I’d be up for going again. I definitely want to take E back there so we can play pool and ping pong since we didn’t get a chance.

We mulled over whether to go out for dinner but opted instead to head back home where I made my delicious spaghetti and meatballs. Then we played Jenga & Aggravation. I may have played Jenga once or twice in the past but I can’t remember because it’s not my favorite game. We did, however, get up to 31 levels before Joe made the tower come crashing down!

In all, it was a fun night, even if Brother #2 aggravated me a bit with his pissy-ness when I first extended the invite because it was so last minute. Admittedly, it was – I texted him 10:30 am that day asking if they wanted to meet up between 1-2 pm. But in my defense, I brought up going to this place weekend and my brother said he’d check to see what he was doing this weekend and get back to me, and per his usual fashion, he did not. So there’s that.

Weekend Recap

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Another weekend has flown by! We actually had three days together since Joe took Friday off from work. Originally we were supposed to be in Phoenix since his dad was having open heart surgery on Friday but he asked we hold off on visiting until he was more up to company. Turns out they couldn’t do the surgery after all and it was rescheduled for next week.

Friday morning we spent far too much time in Costco. It was much less crowded than weekends which was nice. I always want to walk out of that place with a new TV and digital camera; luckily I come to my senses eventually. Although I do think we will have to replace our TV sometime soon. The bedroom TV has been acting weird (refusing to turn on and it’s only about three years old) so we swapped it with the one in our loft last week. Unfortunately they are both Polaroids so I wouldn’t be surprised if that one goes bad too. At that point I’d rather replace our main TV and move it upstairs than just buy a new TV for the bedroom. I’m crossing my fingers that by the time that happens the 4K HDTVs will be even better or the 8K HDTV Samsung is currently working on will be available (and affordable).

We used the last of our coupons for a free apple pie (not impressive) and toilet paper (haven’t used yet so the jury is still out) that we had gotten when we got our membership. I added it up and between the free items and the $20 Costco card, the regular $55 membership was actually free. I love a good deal!

Friday night we went to BINGO with a friend who won $40. She won in November when we went too. Damn! All I got was a $5 coupon good towards the next time which I got from playing their version of PLINKO since it was my birthday month.

The rest of the weekend included running errands, cleaning the house, and just hanging out relaxing. I also discovered how delicious pistachios are; I’ve had pistachio flavored cake and ice cream but never the actual nut.

We stopped at Savers on Sunday because clothing was 50% off for members. Joe got 6 shirts and I got a sweater (looked brand new), a sweatshirt, and a cute tank top for summer and our total out the door was $22. My stuff was only $5. He’s the “big spender” there.

New Sweater

Oh, and Target was having a sale on Essie nail polish (buy two get one free) so I got some nice new colors. It’s the little things that make my day.

Essie Nail Polish