Went to the arthritis doctor for a follow up this afternoon.  After waiting for an hour, I saw the doctor.  I really like her, but the waiting is so frustrating.  Just drives me nuts waiting all the time for the doctors when we go.  I feel like I need to schedule a whole day just for a doctor appointment.  Anyways, I can get the cortisone shot after my next blood test in December.  It should help my shoulder move better.  It is somewhat better so I am happy about that.  I can at least move it higher than I could last month.  Mom sees her on Monday.  I have to finish some paperwork for her, then she is ready to go.  I feel like this month has been more doctor visits than anything else.  I can't wait until December when I don't have any appointments.  Mom has her last test Saturday and then we will get the results when we go see the doctor next week.

I bought our dinner for Thanksgiving last night.  I decided that I will cook it myself after all instead of ordering from Boston Market.  I compared the cost, and cooking it won.  It is about $50 cheaper and with Mom's help, I can do it.  The hardest thing will be cleaning the microwave.  It soooooo needs to be cleaned.  I am planning to do that this weekend.  I bought a nice turkey breast, mashed potatoes (Bob Evans pre-made) corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and cornbread stuffing.  The day before thanksgiving I will go to Boston Market and order the cornbread loaf that I love, that will be the only item I will order.  I have to find the thanksgiving table cloth, I may just buy a paper one with matching napkins.

Tonight we have a subdivision meeting at one of our neighbors house.  I am on the board and have enjoyed the meetings so far.  We missed last months because I forgot to write it in the planner.  Silly me.  Mom goes with me.  Then again, Mom goes everywhere with me.  She gets too frightened to stay by herself at all.  In the morning it is sometimes hard for her when she is down stairs and I am in bed.  So far, she doesn't get to upset, usually she finds me upstairs to ask if I am ready to get up.  This morning I got up a little later than usual so when she came in to ask I was like, "what?"  Then I looked at the clocked and was like, oops, guess I am getting up.  She is used to me getting up around 11ish.  She knows I am not a morning person, although some days she is in my room asking me if I am getting up every 10 to 20 minutes and that does get annoying, but I can't do anything about it because she doesn't remember that she already asked.  I am working on patience with that.

Pain isn't too bad considering I was at the arthritis doctor and she had to test my tender points.  Yup, they were sore when she touched them.  The arthritis hasn't gone away either, darn.  I keep hoping they will go away and never come back.  I know, wishful thinking.  I think all of us would like fibro to go away along with all the other problems we have with it.  That would be a dream.

Anyways, I hope this finds you doing well and having a decent day.

It has been a few days since I wrote.  I didn't mean to neglect the blog but it was slightly crazy in the house.  Sunday was a nice day with my cousin Tillie coming over.  We cleaned out the dining room and that took all day.  Hard to believe, but we have some space now.  Thank God for that.  We had a nice visit as she helped me.  She came over in the early part of the day and stayed until about 8ish, then went home.  She will be back next week for Thanksgiving dinner.  I am excited about that.  We are ordering from Boston Market so all I will need to do is heat up the dinner.  Much easier for me than cooking as standing is an issue and it tastes good too.

Yesterday, Mom had her colonoscopy, and she did well.  She came through with flying colors.  Her colon is in good shape which is good news.  She has her scope on Saturday, then another visit with the doctor to see what the results are.  Her swallowing acted up again yesterday, but is okay today.  The nurse told me to expect her to be dehydrated because of the procedure so I was expecting swallowing to be an issue.  She is fine right now and as usual, dozing in the chair as I watch Murder She Wrote.  I love that show, even though I have seen almost every episode at least 2 times each and we have 10 of the 11 seasons on DVD.  Season 11 should be coming out before Christmas.  I am planning for Mom to get me that for Christmas.  

Speaking of Christmas, I have almost finished all my presents.  I am just working on the ornaments I need for my students and I need to get 3 gift certificates for the girls, then I am done.  I will be mailing Abby and William their gifts the day after Thanksgiving.  I also will be mailing my Christmas Cards the day after Thanksgiving too.  I am buying the stamps this week though because I expect the post office will be busy.

I am working on Lily's costume this afternoon.  I love sewing and am glad I have had the opportunity to rediscover the love of it.  Lily will be an adorable fairy in her school play.  Mom and I are planning to go and see it.  Mom loves going to see kids in things like that.  I hope to see my student Grace in her musical that she will be in soon.  Rachel and Rebecca are also in plays right now too.  So we have a busy social life coming up.  I am glad about that.

Pain isn't so bad right now.  My shoulder is getting more mobility in it again.  I am soooooo grateful for that.  I have an appointment with my rheumatoligist tomorrow.  I will get the results for all the x-rays I have had taken.  

I hope this finds you having a great day and enjoying the week before Thanksgiving!

It looked like today was going to be a boring day, but we ended up being rather busy.  A nice surprise.  I found some elastic I need for Lily's skirt so I just have to put the casing on and the elastic in the casing.  So that is almost done.  Monday, Julie and I will work on the top and the vest.  She will be one adorable fairy for her play.

After we stopped at the JoAnn's ETC store, we went to walmart to pick up mom's prescriptions.  She has the stuff she has to take before her colonoscopy and then her new medicine.  The new meds are cheap though, so that is good, as long as they work.  She has two tests this week, a colonoscopy and a scope.  I have a doctor's appointment somewhere in there too.  Busy week for us.  In between, I will be working on Lily's costume, so I am happy about the coming week.

We didn't get tickets for Jessie's play after all.  I am a bit disappointed with that.  Well, better luck next time for that.  I have seen her perform before and she is awesome.  She has grown into such a beautiful young woman.

After walmarts I took Mom to Olive Garden for dinner.  She has been getting very tired lately, so I have tried to do things to keep her awake during the day, because she sure wakes up early in the morning!  I wish she would sleep in more, but she has been a morning person her whole life and that doesn't really change when you get older!

Tillie is coming tomorrow, I think.  I will find out before I go to bed.  That was the tentative plan as of Friday, so unless anything changed, she will be here all day.  I am looking forward to that, I enjoy her visits.

Head is slightly bad tonight, not like the other night, but bad enough.  Arm and shoulder are a little better.  I could even reach with the arm higher than I have been able to!  I was happy on that!!!  Knee is alright today too.  Let's keep it up!

I hope your having a good day too.

Part two of today's post:

I have decided against having weight loss surgery, too many possible problems, with blood clots at the top.  I have a blood disorder that causes blood clots, so that would not be good.  Also, there is a long list of possible problems and none of them sound good.  So, we are back to the basics, trying to exercise more, and watch what I eat, by eating more healthy.  I have a lot of weight to lose so I am starting now.

As usual, it was sewing day.  At first, I thought I would have to cancel because Tillie was going to come over, but she can't until the weekend so it worked out well.  The two girls are almost done, Hannah helped me with Lily's costume.  I am almost done with Lily's costume, I have the petals gathered and ready to be attached to the waistband.  I should be finishing it tomorrow afternoon and the final touches by Sunday afternoon at the latest.  I love sewing these projects.  I don't particularly like sewing clothes for me right now, but I like making things for others.  My clothes are just too big to enjoy sewing.  If Mom helps me, she makes the clothes even bigger so that they fall off, I know I am big, but not as much as she seems to think.  

No teaching music today, just sewing.  Not much going on now that sewing is over.  We just finished dinner too.  I hope this finds you doing well and in less pain if you have any!!!!!

Can't believe it is Thursday already!  I meant to post last night, but I got a really really bad headache.  I am sure some of you know what that is like.  Head still hurts, but not quite like yesterday.

Yesterday started off as a good day.  Julie was here to work on her daughter's costume.  I am helping her re-size the costume and make it.  She sews, but mainly quilts.  Her quilts are beautiful.  Then my cousin, Hayley came by to pick up the stuff she ordered.  It was wonderful to see her.  She was on her way to go visiting friends for a few days.  I hope she has a great time and really enjoys herself.  

I worked on Lily's costume this afternoon.  She will be here for a fitting after she gets out of school.  I am looking forward to that.

Mom went to the tummy doctor early this afternoon.  She has to have a scope and a colonoscopy done next week to find out what is wrong.  She has hardly been eating and drinking and I am not sure why.  She also has trouble swallowing, although that isn't as bad as it was.  She has lost a lot of weight again too, even with the ensure I give her everyday.  I am upping that to two a day.  She isn't in the stage of dementia/Alzheimer's where she forgets how to swallow, so I don't think it is her memory issue, it has to be something else.  I really like my tummy doctor so that is who she saw.  I know she will get to the bottom of the issue.  

Mom has been falling asleep all day again, she has no energy, or very little of it.  The tummy doctor told me to have the family doctor look at her for the dizziness issue.  When she lays on her back or her right side, she gets dizzy.  Has been for about 2 years now.  We have some medicine for when she has a dizzy spell, but not to fix the issue in the first place, so I will make an appointment for her.  Other than these small things, she is pretty much fine.

Pain is medium today, except for the head.  That definitely rates as high.  It is beautiful looking out right now with the sun shining in the dining room, where I am at.  I love the sun!!!!!!!  Well, so far it has been a good day, and I hope this finds you having a good day too.

Bon Jovi released their new CD today!!!!  So far, I have heard the first 3 songs and they are awesome.  I just love bon jovi.  I have seen them about 7 times in concert.  I hope to see them again someday.  I was hoping this coming march when they will be in town, but with it being March, I don't know what the weather will be like and if it is snowy, then I can't use my scooter and I can't use it in the snow.  There is no way I can walk from the parking lot to the inside of the Palace.  it is just too far.  Kathy is keeping track of their tour to see if they will be coming back again soon.

I have decided to look into the weight loss surgery.  I know I always thought I wouldn't do it, but I can't seem to find another way to lose the weight.  I am so tired and sore that I can exercise anymore without not being able breathe.  I am not sure what will happen, but I am looking into.  I have to lose some weight or soon I will be unable to do much at all, and I can't do a whole lot right now.

Pain is medium today.  My arm is a bit sorer than normal, but the shoulder is okay, just the now normal pain with it.  My knee comes and goes.  I see the rheumatologist next week so I will get the results of the x-rays that were taken of both the knee and the shoulder.  I know what the knee results are but I don't know what the shoulder results are.  I am not expecting much.

I hope this finds you having a good day.  I have one student tonight and then no one until later this week.  I definitely need more students.  6 is not enough.

It's Monday again.  I had my two students as usual, so it was a good day that way.  Mom kept waking me up from about 4 am on.  She kept opening up the front door too.  I don't like that at all and I can't seem to get her to stop.  She remembers to open the door but not to close the door.  She is sleeping in her chair at the dining room table right now.  She does that more and more now.  It is getting closer to her moving to a home.  I figure between 6 months and 1 year and she will need 24 hour care that I won't be able to provide.  Of course, I am praying that it is longer than I think.  That would be great, but I can see her failing and so can everyone else.  I hope that in the next 6 months my cousins will be able to see her while she somewhat knows who they are.  She knows their names, but may not recognize their faces because it has been 5 years since she has seen anyone except Tillie and Hayley in the family.  I hope to see my older brother for New Year's this year.  We are going to Tillie's for Christmas and she is planning to ask my younger brother Andrew to come too.  That would be nice, we haven't seen him in a few years since he moved to Canada.

It has been okay so far this day, my right back hip is a bit sorer than usual, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary.  I hope this finds you doing well, and if you have pain, less that usual!!  happy Fall!!!

Wow!  It's Sunday already!  Ugh, how did that happen?  I must have slept through from Friday.  Actually, yesterday was pretty busy with 2 lessons, book club, and going out to dinner.  Book club was fun, short, but fun.  We picked a Christmas book for next time and we are doing "Elephant" Christmas presents.  I had never heard of it, but it sounds really cool.  I am sure I have lots of things that I don't need or want that I can give.  I am going to look at my ornaments collection, I have sooooooo many.  I just love ornaments, only we don't have a big tree right now because there is no room in either the family or the living room.  We just use a small one that is about 3 ft high.  I am not putting up the little houses on the piano this year either, just the tree.  Mom wants pictures on the pianos, so that's what I will do.  She is doing okay today.  Yesterday, she had trouble eating her steak from Outback.  I told them no spice please, and I guess with the way they cook it, some spice is already in the pan, so it had some on it.  She can't handle spices at all.  She liked the potato and the salad though, so that was good.  I get the steak tonight and the rest of her salad.  She hasn't had too much trouble swallowing lately, so I am happy on that.

Bon Jovi is coming to town in March.  Tickets go on sale tomorrow.  I am dying (not literally) to go.  I love Bon Jovi.  They are my favorite band ever.  I am waiting to see if Kathy is going to be able to come to town for it.  I doubt it though since it is in the middle of the week and well, she does have those adorable little ones.  It would be difficult for her to get here for the concert.  She is checking to see what she can do, but like I said, it would be difficult and I know it.  When I called her I didn't even think to look to see what day it was or I would have known it was too hard.  They are playing in Chicago this summer, but that is way too far away a place for me, but only a couple of hours for her so maybe she can see them then.  I will be checking on tickets tomorrow when I get up.  Their new CD is coming out soon too.  I already have their new book, When We Were Beautiful.  

Well, that is enough gushing on BJ.  Pain level is rather low for a change, and my knee is behaving again.  I hope it stays this way.  I am tired of doctors and medicine.  I am sure some of you know exactly what I mean!!!  I hope this finds you doing well and enjoying the nicer weather for a change.  Have a great afternoon.

Sewing day!!!!  I love Fridays!  I truly do!!  They are so fun and exciting.  Little Sarah got to join us with sewing this afternoon.  I bought a little kit for her and she made her first stuffed animal and stuffed flower.  She really did a great job.  I was very pleased with her work.  Hannah help me (she did most of it) cut out bells and basted them for me.  Lydia and Natalie will be done next week with their new tops!  Such exciting news.  Then they had to go and do some math (they are home schooled and didn't do their math in the morning!)  

Rachel had her lesson after sewing this afternoon.  She was so cute when I gave her her Christmas songs.  No choice this year, just handed her two songs and said here they are.  She said, OK.  It works.  She has already sang almost all the other Christmas books I have that are more of the classically arranged, everything but this book so that is how I made the decision for her.  She is so focused on competition, that it doesn't seem to matter to her.  

I am heading for bed.  I thought I would stay awake through law and order, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.  Mom keeps waking me up during the morning so I am not as well rested as I need to be.  Of course, I don't sleep really that well with the pain either, so it isn't helping.  I am hoping it will get better.  

I hope you are having a great day.

We went to the eye doctor for Mom today.  She is getting reading glasses.  She needs cataract surgery sometime in the near future.  Not immediate, but soon.  she picked really cute glasses that look so nice on her.

After that we went and got our hair cut.  Nothing to exciting there.  Mom is sleeping next to me right now.  It is kinda cute.  I wore her out.  Poor Mom.

My knee is better tonight than yesterday and the day before.  I hope it continues on this track, not up for more pain.  My arm and shoulder are the usual.  Not much happening now, just have to go and heat our dinners so Mom and I can eat.  We're watching Oprah right now.  I love the show.  They are doing the karaoke show.  it is very interesting since I am a singer and a teacher.  I love watching people do their music.

I hope this finds you doing well and having a good day.