For a birthday celebration we didn’t really plan too much, it turned out to be quite busy. Sunday was a quiet day for all of us except Eddie – he went up early to the Future of Flight for the delivery of the 1st 787 and I didn’t see him until Tuesday afternoon. Our neighbor Luzma next came by in the afternoon to ask if we liked ribs – we said yes and thought no more about it. Candy and Ellen went for a walk and a while later Luzma appeared with ribs, potato salad, baked beans, BBQ sauce and corn muffins. When Ellen and Candy came back, the five of sat down for a delicious and messy meal. We all had a good time and really didn’t want much to eat later.
Monday it was pouring all day – no big surprise in Seattle. We all go on the theory “If you wait for a sunny day to do things, you won’t be doing very much”. Unless it is blowing a gale or torrential rain, we go out and do whatever the weather. Ellen invited us all out for lunch at Anthony’s Home Port in Des Moines. We had a table by the window looking out over the marina – wonder why there wasn’t much activity. We were warm and dry, enjoying a lovely lunch and each others company while the rain came down. A very delightful and unexpected treat. We came home and decided to watch a video in the afternoon – Ellen had given Mom one about living with bears. It was a 3 part – we saw the first two parts Spring and Summer. It was delightful and quite amazing that in the back woods of Minnesota, researchers working to conserve and protect black bears were able to be among them without a problem. Gordon Buchanan was able to film the bears up close once they recognized him. He followed one particular young mother and her cub during filming, as the young came out of the den for the first time until it was time to hibernate for the winter.
We had a light dinner and watched the 2nd part – it was Wednesday afternoon by the time Mom and I watched the 3rd part. Then Ellen and Candy had to pack and get ready to leave in the morning. I had a breakfast and Showcase that morning, I was able to do it between 2 sisters. Ellen needed to be at the airport by 7, the breakfast was at 8:30 at the race track and at 9:30 the Showcase was open. So I had 2 hours to visit as many promotional suppliers I could – 2 hours of walking and standing on concrete really started to get to my knees and feet. I didn’t have time to meet several suppliers I wanted to talk with, but I did pretty well for 2 hours. I left around 11:30, was home by 12 – Candy and Mom had some alone time, so it worked out well. We took her to the airport and dropped her at Departures and then we came home – we were both quite tired after a delightful weekend of birthday. I was about to have a lie down around 1 or so and suddenly Eddie appeared, tired as well but had a great time. The delivery went well even though Monday it poured, but a good time was had by all.
It has taken a few days for me to rest a bit, I was too tired to sleep at times and that doesn’t help. The next three days I was up early, 2 networking meetings and Friday I saw the study doctor. Looks like I may be coming to the end of the line – I am to go off the medical food and supplement for 6 weeks and then see him to let him know if there is any difference. I was having trouble with the new capsule, my intestines didn’t seem to want to accept it gracefully. I started it a year ago and I will say I am doing better than when I started. I will also admit it is hard to remember back that far and how I felt – maybe it is true that pain has no memory. I will continue doing a shake in the morning, I just have to decide what to put in it. I have liquid calcium and liquid Vit D, I also can put in some yogurt, banana, maybe some whey protein powder, ground flax seed or chia seeds. I bought some almond butter to put in a teaspoon or so, maybe a tablespoon. We’ll see how it goes. Instead of milk, I might do coconut milk. I will file a report in 6 weeks with the results.
As I was driving home from Gig Harbor – an hour away – I was listening to the alternative talk station KKNW. They were talking about IDA, something new to me. Who is IDA? IDA is a what, a non-profit for Invisible Disabilities Association. For those with chronic illness and similar conditions, most often we don’t look as if anything is wrong. We look perfectly healthy and people don’t really understand the difficulties we have. I feel I have been beating my head against the wall for 40 years and now I have found a group who has been able to put it all together. Hurray!!!!!!!!! I have put up a profile in the autoimmune Disease group – I was amazed at all the different groups they have. Check it out atwww.invisibledisabilitycommunities.org
Gift of RA 
Leave a Reply