It just gets in the way sometimes.  I didn’t blog for a number of days because after the whole blindness episode I had migraines every day for about 4 days.  So, I stayed away from the computer.  Then, since I had been staying away from the computer, I continued to stay away from the computer.  I’ve been adding a new medication to my migraine preventatives and it has been making me extremely drowsy the past few days, so that hasn’t helped with my productivity either.  I’ve also been freeeeeezing cold for the past 2 weeks or so, like wearing 2 cashmere sweaters inside when it’s 70 degrees and throwing a blanket over myself, and combined with the extreme drowsiness, which I wasn’t sure was caused by my new medication, I thought I might be getting a hypo-thyroid problem, which runs in my family (and which those are two symptoms of).  However, I got tested on Wednesday, and my thyroid is fine.

I started Mindfulness Meditation daily last week.  At first I started meditating at night, just before bed, but I fell asleep while meditating, and the instructor of my class said that wasn’t the best thing, so then I disciplined myself to start meditating in the mornings, after I fed myself and the dogs, beginning on Sunday.  It went well Sunday and Monday, but Tuesday morning I had a physical therapy evaluation at the Stanford Pain Clinic with a pain physical therapist, and I forgot to do my meditation when I returned home afterward, and then I managed to forget it later in the day and the day got away from me.  However, the therapist told me that I must make a conscious effort to exercise every day for my fibromyalgia (just like the rheumatologist I saw about 9 months ago said), be it walking half a block or a mile, and do my physical therapy (PT) exercises, so now I have a more complex grid checklist that I fill out every day that encompasses the following: did I exercise and what exercise did I do? did I meditate? did I do my physical therapy exercises? did I have a migraine?  Three of them just have check marks, or for migraines, sometimes I put AM or PM or whatnot.  In the exercise space I am now putting “1 1/2-2 blocks” or something like that.  Sunday and Monday I did meditation and PT, and I had migraines, but I did not exercise (that was before I saw the physical therapist).  Tuesday I did PT and exercised, and I had a migraine in the AM, but I forgot to meditate.  Wednesday, I don’t know what happened Wednesday.  I had an appointment in the morning, which screwed up my meditation routine, and then I went in to my primary care doctor in the afternoon to get my thyroid tested.  I didn’t meditate, but I didn’t have a migraine, which is good.  I did exercise (I tried to go to Yarn Place’s semi-new location in Santa Clara after my doctor’s appointment because they’re not too far from each other, and I walked from the car to the store and back, but the store wasn’t open, well, the sign said open and there was a bell on the door, a cow bell, and another sign that said the door doesn’t close all the way and ring the bell loudly, which I did, twice, but nothing happened, so I left — I wanted to get Annie Modesitt’s Ruffled Roses pattern, and they’re listed as a store that carries it, plus I haven’t been to their new location yet).   Somehow because I was so exhausted by the end of that day, I forgot to do my physical therapy exercises too!  Yesterday was good though, I was back on track with meditation in the morning, exercise (only one block to/from Bobaknit (Yay! I got to see everyone, including Cindy, all the way from India!)), and PT, and I didn’t have a migraine!  (Thanks to Abigail for telling me about the elevator at Red Rock, so R didn’t have to carry me up the stairs!)  Now, I’m sure you’re all getting bored with all this non-knitting talk.

I’m sure glad I’m able to at least get out of the house to go knit at Purlescence a bunch (I try to go there at least a couple of times a week for a few hours, and I have made much stash enhancement that I have not blogged about, but you can see on Ravelry), because they have a comfy rocking chair, and go to other events once in a while, although my back was really aching by the end of the night last night.  I don’t think I’ll get long-term disability, since my doctor would have to write a note saying that I will certainly be disabled for another 6 months, so I will have to go back to work, at least on a partial basis, before January 23rd. Since TNNA is January 15th-17th, I have to go back to work before then in order to teach the class I’m scheduled to teach then.  R doesn’t want me to go to TNNA at all, because he thinks there’s a good chance that it will be too stressing on me and it will disable me and I won’t qualify for any disability and I might lose my job and that would put us in a really bad situation.  I can totally see where he’s coming from, but my mom has agreed to come and help me out, and I don’t think I can get any of my money back at this point, and I think it will be really good for my business to go.  BUT if I lose my day job, then we can’t pay our mortgage and that would be much worse than having to miss TNNA and lose the sunk costs and even lose my business and have to start another business.  SO, a lot to think about and not much time to make decisions.

Here are some photos of Sicily I took with my new-ish camera remote and my new-ish haircut (so I don’t have to bug R to take photos and I don’t have to mess with the timer and moving a mannequin back and forth in under 10 seconds to get the focus to work!).

This first one was me trying to figure out how to get the remote to work, because it totally wasn’t working at first and then all of a sudden it took a photo.  This is what I look like completely confused.  I don’t know that anyone has ever caught this expression of mine on film before…

And here are some photos of Sicily, which you can purchase here, and find on Ravelry here…

...Comment [1]