SPRING!!

I don't know about you guys, but I am so incredibly happy that it has been nice outside that I am just plain giddy about life!  So, some updates:


1.  I am done with CostCo until fall.  Too much to do during the summer for a part-time job, so I'm going to work just enough days to stay on the books as active (once every 6 weeks or so), and come back in the fall. Yeah weekends!!!

2. We got an 8x12 wooden shed built this past weekend, so now we can put stuff like the lawn tractor, snowblower, trailer, etc. in there and have our garage back!  Wheee!

3.  We have started landscaping!  We were given a couple fruit trees (cherry and pear) that are planted, with more that we ordered (2 apple, a peach, and a black walnut) coming soon.  We planted a couple evergreens that we bought over the winter and have mulched around a few flowers we bought (including a couple rose bushes, yeah!!).  We are watching and waiting to see what trees survived the winter.  We had a bunch of baby trees that were decimated by a local snowmobiler who doesn't have any concept of land ownership, apparently, so he mowed them down.  *moment of silence for dead willow trees*

4.  We have sod coming *hopefully* next week, so at least part of our yard will not be mud anymore, yippee!  Living on a mud pit has its disadvantages, let me tell you.  The poor puppies are fenced into the front porch to save us all the irritation of multiple baths every day.  Soon guys, soon!

5.  It has been so wet recently that our pond, which suffered the drought last summer by turning into a crater, is now so full that it is up over the outlet!  Lets hope it stays that full, that would be wonderful!

6. And the best news of all, Jason got a great job!!!  He is going to be working on the St. Croix River Bridge up in Stillwater as a senior inspector through a fantastic company that has given him a wonderful entrance into this job that is projected to last 4+ years!!  When the hours get crazy in the summer, he will probably be staying up there and coming home on weekends, but that's okay.  We are both so excited about the opportunity!

I see a future full of parties and bonfires, grilling out and playing in the dirt to (try and )grow stuff.  Loving life!!

Tracey

Research Study, Post #1

Just spend the night at SMH for a research study I am participating in.  Overall, it was okay, but these things always have a few bumps...these bumps happen to currently be on my arms from the 3 IVs and 2 other attempted IVs...and I'm pretty sure one infiltrated towards the end and now I have a huge lump on my arm where the fluids all accumulated in the tissues...these are gonna be pretty bruises!  My arms are both very sore and tired as well, from being held at odd angles and from not having free movement for so long.

I had a few moments of low blood sugar+high blood pressure (let me tell ya, that is an odd feeling, and not in a good way), and, of course, the required IV issues one always has during these things.  I actually slept pretty well, all things considered, so that helped my outlook on life.

I survived.  Next overnight is next week, that one will involve muscle biopsies, which don't hurt at all during the procedure, and hurt like heck after the local wears off.  After that, I have 6 months of either omega-3 supplement or a placebo, and then two overnights with the same tests again.  Yippee!!

NOT allergic to life?!?

Well now I am completely baffled.  6-7 years ago, I had allergy testing done, and came up mildly allergic to grass, ragweed, pollen, dust, and dogs.  Now, when I am having tons of allergy issues, and they get worse with each successive dog I live with, I went in for another round of testing, to see if I had become allergic to anything else, since clearly my dog allergy has skyrocketed.  Today's result:  not allergic to anything.  nada.  zip.  zilch.  *insert sarcastic smile here*  Now, come on people...I know I'm allergic to stuff!  I was fine until we got dog 1, then I went on Claritin.  We got dog 2, I had to go on Claritin and Flonase, and it still didn't quelch all the symptoms.  Now, I'm not allergic at all?  Hmpf.

So, plan B.  I have a call in to my ENT to ask if the nasal septal button I have in my nose might be causing some of the issues (perhaps my body is rebelling against the material the button is made out of, and thus causing all sorts of inflammation and other issues in my nose?), and I have an appt with an allergy doc next week to talk about my results (or lack of them, as the case may be) and try to come up with a plan of action.  A friend informed me that sometimes the scratch test that Mayo performs misses allergies, and that the "gold standard" of allergy testing is a more invasive injection under the skin (think TB skin test).  That test is sometimes used if skin testing is negative or unclear.  So, perhaps that is what we will go to as the next step?

Either way, I feel slightly better now because I can go back on my allergy meds, but am baffled and annoyed at the lack of clear-cut results, and a lack of a plan because of that.  Why can't anything be simple?