Getting lucky!

The rest of my St. Patrick's Day was an improvement.

The medication pen that had previously very painful, was actually the most pain-free shot I've had in months! I even did it myself! That is a big deal for me. In 18 months of twice monthly shots, this is only the 3rd I've given myself. I guess it helps to be married to a doctor and always have someone around to give me the shots.

We had our traditional green dinner. This time it was green eggs and ham. And green pancakes, green toast and green milk. Yum.

Brad won the most green contest.

I ditched the green shirt, which hadn't done me any favors keeping me lucky, and instead put on my BYU blue and headed over for the basketball game. Tons of fun

Communication with a doctor

I say: "Wow, my fingers look wonky."

He says: "You have ulnar deviation."

Uh, yeah, what he said. His way sounds better at least. :o)

Handipoints!

I know, you are in shock I'm posting again so soon. I know I've said it before, but if you have kids old enough to use a computer, you should really look at Handipoints! I added some goals for the boys to earn a Wii game, and they have been fighting over who gets to wash, sort, and put away laundry. I'll enjoy it while it lasts until they earn their game. I remember being at a parenting class and the teacher said that our job as a mother is to work ourselves out of our job. Basically meaning, we need to be teaching our kids how to do laundry, clean, work, and cook for themselves before they leave our homes.

Wednesday was a bit rough for me. My host for my Signing with a Smile stopped hosting me, so I spent the day in a near panic that I didn't have a website. It's not good for business when the website doesn't work!

I did get to go Dragon Boating that night. You are thinking that it is super cold to be on a river right now, and you would be right. There is a place that has an INDOOR Dragon Boat facility. Who knew?! The trainer worked us pretty hard and we were all pretty beat by the end. Just in case you were wondering, it is a lot harder than it looks. ;o) My RA flare isn't calming down with the steroids yet, so between sets, I was sticking my hands in the cold water. Oooo, felt soooo good to get them chilled.

I came home and had to make crepes for Jamo's French Festival. Oh la la! I love crepes, but I like Brad's recipe better. By the time I was stirring the batter, my hands were beat down. I kept a bowl of ice water by the stove to chill my hands between flipping the crepes. It took me almost 2 hours just to make 24 crepes. Not cool. I wonder how Brad does it so fast?

And today has just been one nutty day too. The boys didn't have school for teacher meetings. I slept in until 9:30, but I'm pretty sure Sugar was up at 7 am. When she fell asleep on the couch at 11 am, I just thought she was tired from waking up early. My childcare arrangements didn't work out, so I bribed the kids and took them to my class with me. They were so well behaved. I know I have amazing kids and they are usually extremely well-behaved. I feel blessed. The class went great and there were no problems. I had bribed them with McDonald's and Sugar was asleep before we got home. I thought that maybe that first nap wasn't long enough, but I still wasn't suspicious.

After eating half of her lunch, she went back to sleep, and then I knew she was sick. The next time she woke up I took her temperature and sure enough, there was a fever. She spent the rest of the afternoon asleep. Poor sweet baby girl.

Then I got to spend the remainder of my afternoon working out some misunderstandings and miscommunications with one of my class locations. I think we have it worked out now.

It has just been a long an exhausting day and I see myself in bed in the very near future.

Vindication

You know that feeling, when your kid says he is on his death bed, and so sick he can't stand it. You take him to the doctor and he is miraculously healed before the doctor walks into the exam room and you end up feeling like an idiot with a chunk of change wasted on a co-pay? You do?! Glad I'm not the only one! Well, it feels even worse when the one that is so sick is YOU!

I finally made it in to see my Rheumatologist today. Unfortunately, it takes me far too long to go to the doctor, namely because of the reason above. You don't want to waste your money and the doctor's time if you aren't really sick, ya know? So then I end up waiting too long to go and spend weeks in pain.

Like I said, I finally made it in, and my symptoms were still there (phew!). She was sufficiently impressed by the level of swelling in my hands (my knuckles look like dimples they are so swollen on my left hand). And she was even impressed by the way my fingers bend sideways now on my right. So gratifying to have someone impressed by my symptoms. No one wants to feel like a hypochondriac, ya know?

I still need to upload some way cool pictures of Brad shaving off his beard. He won the contest between the other residents. Yay, Brad! And yes, the yearly exam is over. Happy happy joy joy! Hopefully I'll get those pictures up soon.

Jamo's birthday!

Somehow I blinked and Jamo turned 9. Wow. Next year it is double digits. How did it go so fast?

I stayed up way too late making Hopkins cupcakes.

It was worth it though. Every month I go to both of my boys' classes and teach them a Signing Time lesson. So, the kids all knew it was Hopkins and loved it. :o)

Between my 2 scheduled classes, I also managed to make it to help at Roo's lunchroom at school. I'm having some kind of RA issue or something right now. And I spent the lunch time running around opening milk bottles, thermoses, etc. Owie! And tomorrow I have 9 classes. Oh please let my hands work tomorrow!!! I can barely open the jelly jar for my kids in the morning. And before you ask, mommy, yes, I have my appointment scheduled with my Rheumy. :o)

I've never shown a picture of my RA hands, have I? This is my good hand, only some of the knuckles are swollen. On my right hand, my fingers are starting to go wonky and won't straighten out.

We had a wonderful evening. Jamo shocked us all and picked Pizza Hut for dinner over his beloved IHOP. Then the kids decorated the cake and we opened presents. If you didn't know, we have a recently started tradition of letting the kids decorate the cake. They are much better than I am at it anyway! Here it is:

Leftover frosting from the cupcakes and sprinkles. Lots of sprinkles. haha! It is a penguin with a 9 on his tummy. Can't you tell?? And do you know what I *just now* realized? We forgot to actually EAT the cake. Oops. The kids were really excited about the presents, so I don't think they noticed.

After this action packed day of making cakes, wrapping presents, making a mess etc, I got a call to show the house tomorrow. Oy. I guess it is better than today, but since I'm working all day tomorrow, I'll have to clean it all tonight. It's going to be a rough night!