Category Archives: Online Fun

Oct 22 2012
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Guilty Pleasures, Online Fun, Pamper/Beautify, Solitary Fun

Day 28: Shopping

I started this Guilty Pleasure Monday off right, with an hour of online shopping in bed.

I’m in desperate need of winter work pants. This summer I bought a few pairs of those trendy colored pants (that I totally love and will wear again when the weather is warm and bright and screams,”put on your coral pants!”) but now I don’t have anything for fall/winter that isn’t at least two years old. Pants are the trickiest item to shop for, for me at least, so while I enjoyed perusing the pages of Loft and Gap from the comfort of my warm bed, I decided I needed to actually go out to accomplish this task with any kind of success. Luckily I already had an appointment in the Loop, right down the block from a Loft store.

Recently, actual shopping trips have been tricky for me as I can never be certain how long I will last on my feet. And I am a shopper who likes to do several laps around a store before making any final purchasing decisions. If I have to rush because my feet hurt or my husband is bored, I usually make ill-advised or no purchases. Today was pretty good though. I sat a lot in the dressing room and really took my pants mission seriously.

Before today, I had no idea Loft had four different fits. The pants all have women’s names, Zoe, Julie, Kate, and Marisa. After trying on each fit in multiple styles-I was literally walking around with one of every kind of pant in the store-I decided Marisa modern is my gal. I also learned that I am too short for ankle pants and too tall for petite pants. I ended up buying modern Marisa in black boot cut and a charcoal grey skinny, both of which will be great with any number of different shirts for work. I really wanted to get like 5 sweaters as well but I practiced restraint. Except just now I got an email from them offering 50% off if I buy 5 items online tonight. I mean it is Guilty Pleasure Monday…

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Oct 17 2012
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Around the House/DIY, Friends and Family, Fun for Couples, Online Fun

Day 23: Holidays are coming?

On the list if things that bring me joy, you will find the Holidays very near the top. I love that time of year from Thanksgiving to the New Year. All the baking (eating), decorating, football, first snows, presents and general sense of cheer and love. In October, I start to get the itch but usually suppress it. Let’s be clear, I do not condone putting out Christmas decor before Thanksgiving. Maybe that is why I went for the glass pumpkin and pumpkin candles at Foursided the other day.

Looking through all the photos from the shoot this morning, I got an idea. Design a holiday card! (Ok maybe I had this idea when I originally requested the time slot for pictures. And maybe I withheld that information from my husband to ensure he would be on board. Because maybe I was having major regrets about our decision not to send cards last year. Not that he’s a grinch or anything. He just doesn’t totally understand why I love the Holidays so much). So for the holiday cards we will definitely be sending this year, why not make it personal? I love getting family photo cards, especially from my friends with kids. What better for my husband and I than a family photo with our dog?

And I do enjoy a good photo project (really iPhoto makes it so easy) so I picked a layout, incorporated the perfect picture and chose some words of cheer for the message. All I have to do now is order the appropriate amount. A little bit of holiday joy this morning to tide me over until the real celebrating begins.

Oct 01 2012
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Guilty Pleasures, Online Fun, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Solitary Fun

Day 7: Mondays

Working in the theatre, I normally have Mondays off. I often have lofty plans for all the things I can accomplish on a Monday. Errands, cleaning, appointments, catching up with friends, organizing emails, planning meals, and writing blogs. Mondays are also the day I take Methotrexate, a pill that works well in combination with an injectable like Enbrel (what I used to take) or Humira (what I taken now).

I started this pill, or really set of pills (I take five 2.5mg pills), four weeks ago in the hope that, with the Humira, I can get my arthritis under control. It takes about six weeks to kick in and does come with some side effects. Many people experience “flu-like symptoms,” dizziness, or stomach problems. When I take it, I become exhausted. My hopes of running errands, cleaning, making appointments, etc go right out the window. I have literally been asleep most of today.

So, to take some of the pressure off of Mondays, and for the purposes of this blog, I have invented Guilty Pleasure Monday. Monday will now become a true day off where I can cuddle with my dog on the couch and read or watch whatever I want as long as I accomplish one thing from the constantly growing list of to-dos.

Today, I set up boarding for my dog for the weekend (headed to Iowa for a long-time friend’s wedding) and, for my guilty pleasure, read as much of Perez Hilton as I could.

This photo was not taken today, but I imagine this is what Mondays will look like from here on out.

Sep 25 2012
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Online Fun, Rheumatoid Arthritis

Day 1: Opening Up

Creating this blog is the first fun thing! I really enjoyed designing and laying out the site as well as figuring out exactly what this project is all about.

Now, I have to think about how and if I will share it with friends and family. I would like to have readers but whether I would prefer they be strangers or loved ones, I cannot say. Putting this out there is not something I would normally do. I am not good at reaching out when I’m in need. Not, at least, when it comes to my arthritis.

In the past, when I have had flare ups, I would just hide in my apartment for a day or two until it passed. But both the longevity of my current problems and the fact that I do not live alone prevent me from doing this.

The issues I have now started a year ago. Previously, I was not taking anything for my arthritis but knew that it was time to start again. I wasn’t having major issues but also was not 100%. I started on Enbrel, an injectable that worked well for me in that past. But I kept getting infections and had to be tested for meningitis (ER visit number one). The only way to test for this, for those that don’t know, is to get a spinal tap. Thankfully, I did not have meningitis but I did end up with a spinal headache due to the pressure change on my brain when they drained the spinal fluid. The only relief I could find for this headache was to lay down. I spent 10 days in bed and when I was finally able to get up and around, I was having chest pain, dizziness, and shortness of breath. Doctors suspected I had a blood clot due to all the bed rest (ER visit number 2). I did not have a blood clot, perhaps just deconditioned from the bed rest?

From the imaging done for the clot, doctors saw that my lymph nodes were swollen. I was in a Walgreens when I got the call from my doctor saying that I needed to have a lymph node removed to test for lymphoma. One thing I am good at is keeping my cool long enough to get to a private space. I called my husband (then fiancé) from my car in tears, scared about the threat of cancer. Two short weeks later, I was having the procedure. Again, thank goodness, the tests were negative.

However all this testing and all the time resting left my arthritis totally enflamed. And for the past seven months, we have been trying to get it back under control with a combination of medications and cortisone injections. It’s been a period of trial and error during which I went back to work, got married in Mexico, was in a wedding in New Orleans and had my own big reception in Chicago. I was not hiding from people then.

And even though, my doctors did a good job of pumping me up for these events, they could not totally mask my discomfort. I got a lot of questions and concerned looks. When I reflect on it now, I realize that it did not go much farther than that because I shut down those conversations with a look and a one-word reply.

The one person I really can’t hide from though is my husband. He sees me at my very worst, when I need help just to get out of bed. On those days, he becomes my caretaker, getting me food, helping me dress and providing entertainment. Even if he has to go to work, he makes sure I’m all set up with everything I need before he leaves. I could go on and on. Seriously, the man’s amazing.

It is with his support that I start this adventure today. And I think it is the push I need to really open up about this part of my life that has been so private for so long.

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