So far, so good. One full week of no medication and so far, no problems to report. It's really the next two weeks that will be the determining factor though. The meds are still in there slowly diluting and leaving at this point, so next week they should be gone, and if anything nasty is going to happen it should be apparent by the week after. I'm pretty confident that everything is good, and things will continue to get better.
The past week has been pretty productive and quite expensive. I had to have some repairs to my car, and they turned out to be way more than anticipated. Obviously my car has realized that it is closed to being paid off. I knew I had a wheel bearing in the front going that needed to be replaced... what I didn't know, was that both needed to be replaced along with the struts, brakes, and rotars...so $1400 later my car rides like it's brand new again.... it should, the repairs cost twice as much as my first car. Luckily our mechanic is someone we know and has been working on our vehicles for a number of years. He doesn't cut corners and always shops around for the best deal, so I know that I wasn't overcharged, and I also know that the work was absolutely necessary.... it just really hurt our budget.
We got a lot accomplished on our aquarium project/basement renovation. The rest of the house is an absolute disaster because of it, so I will be very very happy to have this finished and cleaned up. The Aquarium canopies are now completely built, and their various pieces are in various stages of urithaning. This weekend things will be being tranfered to their new homes and I will be looking to start building the new canopy for our existing tank upstairs. I have to redesign what we have with the eel in mind (they are notoriuos escape artists). I will also be looking to paint the upstairs, and redesign and reupholster the couch and chair in the basement. I may actually go hog wild and reupholster our upstairs couch as well, as it has had a couple years of wear and tear since I last did it. As usual it looks like one project is going to transition right into the next one.... there's always something.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Day 01
I spent the majority of yesterday in the waiting room on the Moncton Hospital Oncology department, waiting to see my specialist for my regular appointment. My appointment was for 11:15 and I finally managed to see her at 3, only in the health care industry can you make appointments like that and still stay in business.
The appointment went well, all things are fine blah blah blah, and we finally decided it was time to take the plunge and go off my anti-rejection drugs. So, last night, for the first time in Nine years, since having my bone marrow transplant, I did not take a pill to supress my immune system. Fingers crossed that all goes well and my body has built up a tollerance to the new bone marrow, so I can finally put all the little problems and annoyances of the past nine years in the past.
The next few weeks I will have to pay very close attention to my skin and make sure it doesn't start to thicken up again. At the first sign of any tightness I will be popping my pills again to make sure it doens't get a good grip on me like it did years ago. It only took a few weeks for my skin to thicken up, my body hair to dissapear, my pigment to go all blotchy, my skin to get all wrinkley, and my flexibilty to be greatly inhibited. Then it took years for it to heal to the point where it is now...which is still not 100%, so I will be paying extra special close care to every little thing as far as my skin/body/health is concerned for the next month or two.
All that aside, my gut tells me everything is going to be fine.
After the appointment I popped into Noble Aquriums and picked up a few snails and a lawnmower Blenny for our aquarium, then came home.
The appointment went well, all things are fine blah blah blah, and we finally decided it was time to take the plunge and go off my anti-rejection drugs. So, last night, for the first time in Nine years, since having my bone marrow transplant, I did not take a pill to supress my immune system. Fingers crossed that all goes well and my body has built up a tollerance to the new bone marrow, so I can finally put all the little problems and annoyances of the past nine years in the past.
The next few weeks I will have to pay very close attention to my skin and make sure it doesn't start to thicken up again. At the first sign of any tightness I will be popping my pills again to make sure it doens't get a good grip on me like it did years ago. It only took a few weeks for my skin to thicken up, my body hair to dissapear, my pigment to go all blotchy, my skin to get all wrinkley, and my flexibilty to be greatly inhibited. Then it took years for it to heal to the point where it is now...which is still not 100%, so I will be paying extra special close care to every little thing as far as my skin/body/health is concerned for the next month or two.
All that aside, my gut tells me everything is going to be fine.
After the appointment I popped into Noble Aquriums and picked up a few snails and a lawnmower Blenny for our aquarium, then came home.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Honorable Mention
Life has been fairly hohum, humdrum lately. Routine, routine, routine. I had yesterday off because the guys were shooting some green screen stuff in the office and it takes up so much space that it's just easier to not have the extra bodies around.
I got some stuff accomplished on my canopy build, and did two workout cycles on the treadmill before heading off to teach my classes. My painting classes are coming along very well, and the adult students are now wanting us to extend the class to two hours in the spring. My guitar lessons are working out quite well too, although I wish I could be more disiplined about practicing. I find the week just flashes by and before I know it it's Thrusday and I haven't practiced all week, which is kind of a waste of both my time and Wes's because we have to go over the same stuff again and again. I am learning to finger pick, which is basically a classical guitar style, so it is quite difficult to start off with.
The winners for the photo contest i was pestering everyone to vote in were announced. I did not win, but I did get honorable mention which I guess was 4th place... so that's nothing to sneeze at.
I am still hopelessly addicted to the Knighthood application on facebook as well as scrabulous (I think I have ten games on the go right now). If you're not playing knighthood with me, you should be.... it is so fun. For all intents and purposes it is a Medieval Sims game, with a social factor added in. There is a certain amount of inviting involved, but not as intense as some facebook apps. The way the inviting works is different as well. If you invite someone, and they don't accept they are still in your court for 7 days. So if I've invited you and you didn't accept expect another one in 7 days. IF they do accept however, they stay in your court even if they uninstall the app after installing it and you don't have to reinvite them. So there you go...even if you don't want to play, just install it and uninstall it an presto...no more invites....tee hee.
I got some stuff accomplished on my canopy build, and did two workout cycles on the treadmill before heading off to teach my classes. My painting classes are coming along very well, and the adult students are now wanting us to extend the class to two hours in the spring. My guitar lessons are working out quite well too, although I wish I could be more disiplined about practicing. I find the week just flashes by and before I know it it's Thrusday and I haven't practiced all week, which is kind of a waste of both my time and Wes's because we have to go over the same stuff again and again. I am learning to finger pick, which is basically a classical guitar style, so it is quite difficult to start off with.
The winners for the photo contest i was pestering everyone to vote in were announced. I did not win, but I did get honorable mention which I guess was 4th place... so that's nothing to sneeze at.
I am still hopelessly addicted to the Knighthood application on facebook as well as scrabulous (I think I have ten games on the go right now). If you're not playing knighthood with me, you should be.... it is so fun. For all intents and purposes it is a Medieval Sims game, with a social factor added in. There is a certain amount of inviting involved, but not as intense as some facebook apps. The way the inviting works is different as well. If you invite someone, and they don't accept they are still in your court for 7 days. So if I've invited you and you didn't accept expect another one in 7 days. IF they do accept however, they stay in your court even if they uninstall the app after installing it and you don't have to reinvite them. So there you go...even if you don't want to play, just install it and uninstall it an presto...no more invites....tee hee.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sick and Tired
I had a very long and tiring week last week. I started developing a cold on Wednesday, and have been stuffy and yucky ever since. I took Friday off and stayed in my road most of the day. I had to get dressed and go in to teach my class at 6 so it wasn't a total day off, but it helped.
On Saturday I had a birthday party at the school for 8 (originally but it grew to 10) 9-11 year old girls, from 4 until 6:30. They wanted an hour of animation and then some acting. They spent a little longer than an hour in the animation room, since the girls were having fun, and while they animated I came along with blank strips of paper and got them to write down stuff like their favorite movie, song, cartoon etc. I then used those slips after the animation class to play charades. Charades, after all, is acting. Charades didn't last very long before it just became chaos, but thankfully by then, it was time for cake, and time for me to go.
After the party I hurried home, so we could make it out to the Bond's for Helen's Chinese New Year Party. Helen thought it would be fun to try something new and she was right. She did a lot of work and research and the whole night was really fun. She even dressed up in Chinese attire along with a stunning black wig that she purchased victoriously. We had a big feast of Chinese food and at each of our places there were little picture frames with cards inside and a write up about each of our Chinese astrological signs. We all had lucky envelopes with chocolate coins in them, because apparently the banks out here don't have any yen on hand. Helen also had traditional snacks laid out on little plates in the middle of the table, each with a card to tell what it symbolized. There was candied melon,lychee nut, coconut, and a bunch of other things I can't recall off the top of my head. We all sampled a little something from each plate... including Darrell who is not super adventurous when it comes to trying new foods. Then for desert Helen brought out two traditional Chinese New Year deserts. She went to the Chinese market and asked a lot of questions and really put together a great party.
Sunday I put a big dent in the work for building the canopy to go over the aquariums. Darrell checked the water chemistry from the new setup and it is almost completely cycled...so the sooner I can get those lights up and running, the sooner we can do the big move and reclaim a small portion of our lives.....hehehe
Today I am taking another sick day, and I have no classes tonight. It is noon and I am still in my robe.
On Saturday I had a birthday party at the school for 8 (originally but it grew to 10) 9-11 year old girls, from 4 until 6:30. They wanted an hour of animation and then some acting. They spent a little longer than an hour in the animation room, since the girls were having fun, and while they animated I came along with blank strips of paper and got them to write down stuff like their favorite movie, song, cartoon etc. I then used those slips after the animation class to play charades. Charades, after all, is acting. Charades didn't last very long before it just became chaos, but thankfully by then, it was time for cake, and time for me to go.
After the party I hurried home, so we could make it out to the Bond's for Helen's Chinese New Year Party. Helen thought it would be fun to try something new and she was right. She did a lot of work and research and the whole night was really fun. She even dressed up in Chinese attire along with a stunning black wig that she purchased victoriously. We had a big feast of Chinese food and at each of our places there were little picture frames with cards inside and a write up about each of our Chinese astrological signs. We all had lucky envelopes with chocolate coins in them, because apparently the banks out here don't have any yen on hand. Helen also had traditional snacks laid out on little plates in the middle of the table, each with a card to tell what it symbolized. There was candied melon,lychee nut, coconut, and a bunch of other things I can't recall off the top of my head. We all sampled a little something from each plate... including Darrell who is not super adventurous when it comes to trying new foods. Then for desert Helen brought out two traditional Chinese New Year deserts. She went to the Chinese market and asked a lot of questions and really put together a great party.
Sunday I put a big dent in the work for building the canopy to go over the aquariums. Darrell checked the water chemistry from the new setup and it is almost completely cycled...so the sooner I can get those lights up and running, the sooner we can do the big move and reclaim a small portion of our lives.....hehehe
Today I am taking another sick day, and I have no classes tonight. It is noon and I am still in my robe.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Feb. 4, 2008
There's not a lot going on these days other than the same old, same old.
Last week we worked late a few nights in a row and by the weekend I was pretty burned out and feeling very lazy. Our house is a complete pig stye and I was too lazy to care. I did get some boards glued together as a start to building the canopy for the aquariums. Other than that the weekend was very laid back and quiet.
We bought a treadmill, so I gave up my gym membership, since the treadmill seems to be the only thing I use there lately. It's a nordic track treadmill and works very well. We have it set up in the spare room with the TV and stereo, so you can watch television or listen to music while working out. I can even sing karaoke while I run/walk if I want. I like being able to sing out loud while doing cardio, I think it helps expand my lung capacity and endurance. I found that during Cabaret I had alot more stamina for singing and dancing at the same time and I atribute a big portion of that to singing while working out on my eliptical trainer at home. I sold the eliptical trainer though, since Darrell didn't feel coordinated enough to use it, and now we have the treadmill in it's place.
I've been having a really good time teaching my classes. Everyone is really into what we're doing, so it's a piece of cake. I had one real challenge in my Friday evening Animation class. I have one boy who is autistic and he is also new, so he's not familiar with me. Friday I finally cracked the code on him. I've been sitting next to him the past three weeks, but basically letting him do his own thing and trying not to get into his space very much. Friday I grabbed one of the stuffed pokemon figures down off the shelf and started drawing it in flash, and when one of the other kids noticed and asked how I did it, I offered to show them how. That was the key that unlocked the door for me. I finally found something he was really interested in and by the end of the class he was talking to me and asking questions. Up until then the only question he had asked was where the bathroom was. I look at it a lot like cracking a code because I think everyone has a code that needs to be cracked where learning is concerned because everyone learns in a way that is unique to them. With most people though, they will help you along by telling you what they get and what they don't, and it's easier to see how they learn things best. With autistic kids it's much more challenging, because you really have to let them come to you, and sometimes it takes a while before they feel comfortable in new surrounding, with new people. Anyway... I feel like we got somewhere and that made me feel really good, so it was a great way to end off the work week.
Last week we worked late a few nights in a row and by the weekend I was pretty burned out and feeling very lazy. Our house is a complete pig stye and I was too lazy to care. I did get some boards glued together as a start to building the canopy for the aquariums. Other than that the weekend was very laid back and quiet.
We bought a treadmill, so I gave up my gym membership, since the treadmill seems to be the only thing I use there lately. It's a nordic track treadmill and works very well. We have it set up in the spare room with the TV and stereo, so you can watch television or listen to music while working out. I can even sing karaoke while I run/walk if I want. I like being able to sing out loud while doing cardio, I think it helps expand my lung capacity and endurance. I found that during Cabaret I had alot more stamina for singing and dancing at the same time and I atribute a big portion of that to singing while working out on my eliptical trainer at home. I sold the eliptical trainer though, since Darrell didn't feel coordinated enough to use it, and now we have the treadmill in it's place.
I've been having a really good time teaching my classes. Everyone is really into what we're doing, so it's a piece of cake. I had one real challenge in my Friday evening Animation class. I have one boy who is autistic and he is also new, so he's not familiar with me. Friday I finally cracked the code on him. I've been sitting next to him the past three weeks, but basically letting him do his own thing and trying not to get into his space very much. Friday I grabbed one of the stuffed pokemon figures down off the shelf and started drawing it in flash, and when one of the other kids noticed and asked how I did it, I offered to show them how. That was the key that unlocked the door for me. I finally found something he was really interested in and by the end of the class he was talking to me and asking questions. Up until then the only question he had asked was where the bathroom was. I look at it a lot like cracking a code because I think everyone has a code that needs to be cracked where learning is concerned because everyone learns in a way that is unique to them. With most people though, they will help you along by telling you what they get and what they don't, and it's easier to see how they learn things best. With autistic kids it's much more challenging, because you really have to let them come to you, and sometimes it takes a while before they feel comfortable in new surrounding, with new people. Anyway... I feel like we got somewhere and that made me feel really good, so it was a great way to end off the work week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
