My new home, illustrated version

Three posts in one day, it must be Christmas!  This last post of the day is simply pictures of my new place with captions, if necessary.  Enjoy!  There are so many you may run out of bandwidth...

My bedroom - last week the bedside table was not cluttered (I had cleaned it) and this week it is.  No patience to de-clutter two weeks in a row.  Also doing important things on computer.

This second bedroom will soon be a pretty guest room/craft supplies and linens holder.

View from the hall.

More of the living room...

Ah, new couch.  So comfy and nice.

I just wanted to add this one because Sully had her head on the table. :)

The table my gram bought me - so beautiful.  This is the view going from the living room past the back door and into the kitchen.  There is a lot of light - good for my plants still making a come back from that rough trip from Oregon to Idaho!  The painting in the background is one I "commissioned" my sister to paint for me over ten years ago and it is still so wonderful.

My kitchen and here's a funny story.  Basically no one in my family closes cupboard doors and I thought, "Whew, I'll finally always get all the doors closed."  Well these hinges are old and the owners painted over them and now the damn doors never stay closed.  How about that?  Mom wants me to get permission from my land lady to re-do them over spring break, yeah....

This is sort of "mom's idea corner".  It was her idea to clean the stove/oven as I wrote about in a previous blog, but it was also her idea to add the color with the other blue potted plant.  They match my pretty new dishes, which are white and blue.

And finally, the coat rack opposite the back door.  I hung the rack and then have put everything from gloves to my handbag on it.  And the mask my brother brought me from China, my Bali mask that is supposed to keep the bad spirits away, is guarding the back door.  The mask is one of my favorite pieces in the house.

There you have it!  I love my home and I appreciate so much all the hard work my family has put in to make sure I get to live in a beautiful, homey environment.  I am so grateful!

Four-legged besties

This summer past was amazing for me for so many reasons, and also for my dogs.  They overcame fears, such as Sully's fear of jumping in the water.  They really got to live like farm dogs and it was great for them.

Then they started developing some bad habits that I was having a difficult time altering.  And they starting having a lot of animosity toward each other.  In the middle of these doggie issues we moved to our new home.

There has been such a difference in my dogs.  They like each other again.  They are friends.  They've gone back to doing the things they used to do, like when Libby is lying down Sully will let out this huge sigh, flop herself down in front of Libby, and Libby will groom her.  They play together again.  There are no more fights over food because we've gone back to open feeding.

The best part for me is that I get to be around my dogs all of the time and that's been good medicine.  I love the cuddling, petting, watching the silliness.  I love hearing the "Libby noises" (if you are not privy to what those are, they are these weird noises she makes - nonverbal expressions, sometimes sounding like growls, but if you know her, you know the difference).

People with pets, on average, live longer than those without.  And there have been many documented benefits of "pet therapy".  We are all doing well in our new house.  And I am doing well with all the pet therapy!

PS In this last picture, I had to bribe Libby to take her picture (she HATES the camera) so I am holding dog treats above my head.

PPS I will get around to posting pictures of my new home, I just need to clean a few things up first...

Pawn Star

This weekend I had a Rick from "Pawn Stars" moment.  For any of you who do not watch the show, Rick is the man in the middle of the picture.  He constantly sites facts and trivia about objects that come into his store.  Well, my mom, dad, and brother went with me to a pawn shop to look for a new TV (old one was a casualty of being in the storage unit all those months I guess).


I didn't find a TV but I found something even better...

I found a KitchenAid mixer for sale. It was in a dusty box on a bottom shelf.  I did a double take a went back to examine it.  It was a professional grade and they wanted $250.  I went up to a store employee and said I'd give him $150.  He stammered and tried to tell me it was worth like $500-$600.  Now I knows me my KitchenAid and I told him so.  I took it out of the box and started talking to him about the product, pointing out the various features, showing how old the model was, that they don't make this particular type anymore, you can tell because of the type of lettering on the machine, the gears and the finish, etc.  Soon I had the owner of the store and a few other people.

It was my Rick moment.  At one point they bargained for $200 and I kept on about what I knew of the machine.  In the end, I paid $155.   Yes, I am bragging.  But come on, I was Rick in that moment in that pawn shop!  When will that happen again?

PS I am aware the prep bowls are newer than the machine itself... just thought I better add that to avoid any potential "wait just a minute" type comments. :)

Medical mistakes happen otherwise known as my update on the University of Utah situation

Since my last health care related update, I've been in communication with Nurse S. at the University of Utah Pain Management Clinic.  It's been great to talk to someone about my file and what's going on with me.  But in the last few days the nurse said the doctor reviewing my chart has been confused because there are no notes in my chart about a pain pump, etc.

She started reading me some notes and I stopped her.  "I've never had a cervical vertebral CT and I have no cervical vertebral problems.  My problems are all lumbar - L4 and L5."  From that moment came the realization that they had been given someone else's chart.  A Brook A. Smith with an October 1979 date of birth.  My nurse here at my primary care physician is going to get in touch with the doc's office who sent the wrong records and then hopefully we can get on the right track.  I'm glad it's something so simple but I can't help but ask:

Really ?!?!


I mean, really ?!?!


But here's the take away message for everyone.  Medical mistakes happen.  This is why we double-check prescriptions (my brother seems to routinely get the wrong pills or wrong number of pills), are never left alone in a hospital, and always have someone act as your advocate if you are incapacitated and unable to do so.  No one is perfect.  Especially not the medical profession.

I'm happy this is taken care of... but how much longer before I get some care?  Sigh.

"Womaning"

Yesterday, the third Saturday I've lived in my new home, I sat watching this scene.  My mom was washing the front window and my gram was ironing the curtains that she insisted she go out and buy when she saw I didn't have any window treatment for the living room.  And although I have blinds (awful, terrible blinds) over the other windows in my house, I'm not sure she'll be done until every room is properly curtained.  Oh, and by the way, I learned one is never to put up curtains without first washing the windows.

I told my mom thank you for coming to my house three Saturdays in a row to clean, unpack, and help me move in (this place was so filthy when you got down to it and everything from the storage unit was so wrecked from the dust, etc.).  I also told her I knew she was coming over to make sure I worked on it and that it got done - she didn't deny this.  And I thanked my gram because not only had she looked out for me with the curtains, but she insisted upon buying me a beautiful new table (pics to come).

My gram told me this is what women do.  They take care of each other.  It's what it means to be a woman.  This is one of the reasons why I've always looked up to the women in my family.  They are all strong, independent, tough, and reliable.

Yesterday I got all moved in - even all my clothes put away in drawers!  Then today we had a party for my mom's birthday.  The aunts and their daughters (and a son) came.  We ate "diet cake" and drank coffee and told stories and laughed.  Then of course, the cards.  The legendary cards that you hesitate to open because it turns into a birthday roast.  But that's all I'll say because my mom said she'd blog about it and post some pictures:

http://lifeatthecasa.blogspot.com/

One more picture and then a postscript:

My gram ironing my new curtains.

Postscript...

Earlier this week I attended a teleconference orientation for the University of Utah Pain Management Clinic (different place than the neurology clinic; apparently they think I should be here, okay).  It was incredibly useful and also mandatory to see a doc there.  And actually it's not just one doc, but rather a team of specialists that outline a treatment plan for me taking into account my chart and their various specialties, such as anesthesiology (which is what most pain docs are certified in), physical therapy, psychology, pharmacy, etc. - yes, they have their own pharmacist on staff!  

I also got to talk to a nurse before the teleconference and discuss the state of my pump, so they know clearly what's going on with that because it has been beeping an increasing number of times a day (they call it "alarming" when it beeps) and I find it annoying.

I got a lot out of the meeting and took a lot of notes.  I have some articles and a book to find and read.  When I get that information I'll share it here.  But I have learned one important thing already: I am going to have to change my attitude toward dealing with my chronic pain.  I have to start actively doing more to keep myself out of the worst of it, they call them flares, and then not yell at myself internally about being a wimp and a loser and a waste, etc.  As you can see there is a lot to do there.  And if they could figure out some way to get Medicare to pay for it, I would love to see one of their psychologists.

Anyway, that's the update on my pain issues and healthcare. If you've made it this far, go get yourself a beer or some chocolate - pick your poison - because, man, you deserve it!

Thanks to my family!

Today my mom came over and helped (worked her bum off) with the kitchen cleaning/putting away/putting together project.  Then my brother showed up and he started helping with that project after dropped his wife off at a bridal shower. We stopped for a lunch/cleaning supplies break.  Post-lunch mom tackled the vile oven and stove and my brother and I tackled the jungle of boxes that was the extra room.  Then my dad came by and fixed my broken futon couch with this immense piece of metal.  Now I am at their house, doing my laundry and watching their cable.

My own place is now not such a pit.  I don't wince whenever I make my way through boxes.  It's starting to feel like a home.  Thank you my family!

It's so pretty and clean, mom!

(Notice my new place for my new apron!)

A quick I still don't have internet update post

I technically moved into my new place on January 1, 2011.  Am I moved in?  Hardly.  It's just so hard because the place I'm moving into needs cleaned as I go.  And all the stuff I'm moving into the place has come from this filthy disgusting mess of a storage unit.  Then I hit a major pain wall, had to call my doctor so I could take more pain killers, and stayed in bed.  Here's something great I got done, however: