Back home...

...and hating it already - when can I go back?? *LOL*

Ah, home sweet home (and back to my own bed - amazing how much one misses their own bed while away). Still sorting stuff out, trying to get caught up on e-mail, trying to get back into a work routine...and having a heck of a time getting back into my own time zone! I realise that going East is worse than going West as far as jet-lag, but wow! I slept until 2:00 p.m. (?!) my time on my first night back - and I had gone to bed at about 10 p.m. my time in an effort to get back on track asap. Sheesh! :)

Not many pics as I'm updating this while on lunch at work, but I do have some cell phone shots. My folks have my camera as it was smaller, but they'll be back later so I don't have everything with me just yet.

Let's see, some funny things that happened...

1) Flew out with a Catholic priest on the plane. That was either a really good sign or a really bad one - thankfully a really good one - this time... *lol*

2) I think I surprised my cousins that I was able to handle a rifle during target shooting rather well for a first-time city gal. I had a terrific teacher (thanks Bill!!), and had a really good laugh at myself when I couldn't cock the .410 shotgun (I think that was the one). I laughed more than the guys did! But they were teasing my cousin's husband when I appeared to out-shoot him on my first try with his 300 (I called the big guns the "boom sticks", as you could feel the shot more than hear it) - but it was already painstakingly set up by him, as well as him taking a couple of shots first himself, so I put it down to strictly "beginner's luck". I honestly don't think I could have hit the broad side of a barn door if he hadn't set everything up so well himself...even if I did hit the outermost edge of one of the bullseyes with another rifle (the 7mm, if I remember rightly - the second "boom stick" we were using that day)- freehand... *ahem* *LOL* Honestly, I was more paranoid about either breaking my collarbone or dislocating my shoulder more than anything else, so most of my time was ensuring the butt was snugged against my shoulder joint / collar bone area properly. Super fun, and a sport I'm actually considering. Like I need a reason to spend more money... *rolls eyes at self* One cousin (who shall forever remain Shawn) said I "got all redneck" out there! *LOL*

3) Continued to bug the heck out of my Uncle in Adam's Lake (you won't find a town by that name, it's too small for mapping purposes) by calling him by his nickname (a really cutesy one for such a "manly man" if his breed). Either that, or I kept telling him when he was upset or grumpy about something that he was "...so cute when you act all Neanderthal". Thankfully he still laughs at that one...

4) Got to share a bed with my Mother for a week, something I haven't done before. She snores. And when I kick the covers off through the night she steals them. Guess what I'm probably not doing again unless I have to? :) Sorry Mum, couldn't resist telling that one... And Dad was so cute falling asleep at the drop of a hat watching TV out there. We liked to call it his "Introspective time" as he looked deep in thought propping his chin up and looking so serious...while lightly snoring... ;)

5) Flew back with the VP of our department - small world or what? They were coming back to Toronto after a conference in B.C. - just sheer shit luck that we were on the same flight. Which was a good thing, I like to think - at least if the plane crashed more effort would be put into looking for them, so better chance that I'd be found, too! *LOL* Just kidding, but I do think like that occasionally for humour's sake...

6) While not terribly funny, I'm glad I came home when I did as everyone out there is sick with a darned good cold. Fighting it a little myself, but not near as bad as everyone else sounds out there. Mwa ha, ha, ha - I've spread my disease and fled the town!! Seriously, it wasn't me, though...who cares who it was, I hope everyone gets better soon!

All in all, a great trip, and fantastic getting caught up with various cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Both Uncles have sucessfully beaten Cancer, so it was even better seeing them. And it was wonderful as always to get caught up with Hugh (I think he's a cousin of some sort, but I tend to get a little confused there). Re-connecting with my cousins is always terrific - they're a great bunch, and a lot of fun. We even got connected over the subject of Zombies (Shawn...of the Dead?)! Funny enough, we all like joking about being prepared for the Zombie apocolypse, and it was fun talking about the Walking Dead and Z Nation TV programs - Z Nation has the funniest deaths / re-animations IMO, especially the toddler that became a zombie (yep, it's been noted that my sense of humour frequently crosses over into "sick puppy" territory), and I even learned how to (implosibly) kill a zombie using a hand-held mixer or beater watching that show. See? Hilarious!!

Oh, and two Thanksgiving dinners while out there. Oy vey! Double the turkey, double the food comas - and double the "wind", shall we say... When you consider how much gas the average turkey gives a person (well, me in any case), that part of it was not fun - I kept stepping outside with my Mum when she went for her smoke to release the pressure valve a little. Thank goodness I didn't get too close to her or I might have gone up in flames! See, I did funny things out there, too, I don't just tell stories on my Mum and Dad! ;)


TTFN

Anemia and Celiac - or, welcome to the irony that is my life :)

Well, as my last blood test came back with iron levels too low to register (and red cell count drastically lowered as well), my Doc and I decided to try Euro-fer (300 MG) again. Good thing to do, yes?

For the past week or so, I've been feeling crummy by the afternoon - stomach upset, gassy, low grade headache, even irritable. Sounds a little like PMS, and tat's what I thought it was, as a "visitor" came this past Saturday *wink, wink* However this past week it has been getting worse and worse, to the point that the day before I was having stomach cramps, and yesterday it was a battle of will to keep my lunch down. I ended up leaving work early. But before I made the decision to ask if I could leave early I did a little internet research. Turns out that no-one appears to be sure if Euro-fer is Gluten-free. At the least, it is listed as an oral iron suppliment / medication that can be known to irritate any existing inflammitory intestinal problems, of which Celiac is grouped into. This means that my cure is "killing" me! *LOL* Trust me, I have to laugh or I'll go crazy...

Not only do I feel miserable (but as I've stopped taking the iron I know I'll feel much better soon), but I also feel a bit like an idiot for not looking this medication up before asking for it. But not feeling that stupid - after all, when I needed it a few years ago it was shortly after I was diagnosed, and I was still used to all of the symptoms of Celiac so I didn't appear to notice any reaction to the iron at that time. Now that my Celiac is being managed, I noticed the symptoms very much.

I guess I'm posting this to let other Celiacs know that they should be cautious when taking this particular suppliment / medicaton. You may or may not react to it, I just got lucky in that particular lottery and reacted. there are other iron suppliments / medications out there, so it's not like all hope is lost. Just be sure to do some research before you make a choice as to what you figure will work for you, that's all. Once this "gunk" works out of my system I should be feeing better. In my particular case, I think I'll opt for iron infusions this time and go from there. What can I say, in my personal case "Once bitten, twice shy", but that's just me.

Take care, all, and have some fun for once - been boring here lately so stir some stuff up! :)

TTFN

Funny stuff...

Felt like posting some signs and posters I've bumped into around the internet - just some funny stuff that relates to me at this moment and time... :)





Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did! :)

Karma's still hanging tough...

Add to Friday:

- Broke an already short nail off to the point it bled (just a tiny bit).
- Sprained my elbow and ankle getting off of the commuter train going home.

Is it any wonder I had a couple of drinks Friday night? Vodka and Ribena mix nicely - too nicely, actually *lol*


Oh well. Today should have been better, but:

- Would have been at work on time but for the slowly creeping public transit this morning. It was so crowded that we were packed in like sardines...bad traffic plus rainy weather meant that everybody and their brother took TTC in to downtown this morning. Sheesh.

- Someone cleaned off their desk before going on vacation. Cleaned it off late Friday. Which meant there was a lot for me to deal with this Monday morning. Thank you very much.

- Somone else is cleaning off their desk as well to try and keep organised. Why couldn't this come to me bit by bit, instead of a deluge?


Thank goodness I'm still in a good mood. Hell, if I didn't keep laughing about all this sillyness, I'd cry - or get really grumpy. This guy usually makes me laugh out loud (and yep, I have all of the original books, but I'm hoping to own all of the "new" ones, too...someday...)

Image source:

http://www.berkeleybreathed.com/index.html

Oh, greeeeaaat, I can't post a picture in my blog while here at work, meanwhile others can spend most of their day on facebook...where is the justice in that? *lol* I too should be able to fritter my day away on the internet... *lmao*