Friday, September 05, 2014

Crohnie Update

Did you know, that this summer I started taking drugs? Injecting myself with drugs in fact. This drug is a Crohns drug, and is supposed to help decrease inflammation and make me feel better. I waitied a long time to take this drug. It has many very serious side effects, which scare the bejebers out of me. And for many people, it does not work at all. But this year, I got really sick again, and decided that I was out of options, and had to give it a try. It was scarry, and a huge process of red tape to get insurance to cover it. This is an ongoing process actually, I am still not covered. But the drug company has a compassionate care program that gives me the drug for free until I can get coverage. Which is awesome because it costs about $1800 a month.

Anyway, it is helping. I have gained weight and am not longer 89 pounds soaking wet. I can no longer see my skeleton through my skin. I have boobs again. I am able to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. Summer has never tasted so good. I have to replace my veggie scrubbing brush for the first time in years, because I have actually been using it this summer! I enjoy kale. I eat it in salads, stir fry, soup, tacos, on pizza. I ate a ceasar salad and did not have to lay moaning in bed for 2 days over it. I actually have to pay attention to how much junk I eat, because I think I gain weight like a normal person now!

It's not all sunshine and rainbows though. I was also taking a "booster" drug to help the main drug be more effective, but my liver does not agree with it, so I had to stop taking that one. I am hoping my liver will recover. It's a wait and see thing. And hoping also that the main drug will still work without its booster. And I still have Crohnie issues, mostly bathroom related that are too gross to discuss in polite company. But it is slowly improving, and I hope will resolve so that I can avoid another major surgery, which is where I was headed.

So that is my Crohnie update. I am a much nicer person, less irratable, nicer to my kids and able to do more fun things when I am not in pain all of the time. I missed me. It is so much easier to be excited about life when I am not hurting.

(I just realized when searching for a picture of myself, that I dont really have any!  It seems I am always the one holding the camera. And I am not really a "selfie" person. This pic is random, from our trip to Camrose. I have no idea who the old lady is.)

Friday, August 22, 2014

Two Two

It is a couple of weeks late, but I have a TWO year old to announce! 


I LOVE two years old. I think it is my very favourite age. And lucky for me, I get to experience it all over again. Learning to speak and communicate is so much fun! Being able to climb the playground equipment and go down slides, running down the sidewalk, helping with cooking and housework, making little jokes, running up to the window to watch the garbage truck go by, crying because the birds fly away, refusing to ever were shoes, getting soaking wet every chance she gets, I just love it all.

(I am not quite sure why Mina was wearing goggles. It is just how she parties, I guess.)

This little Two Two of ours is a sweet, happy, silly and strong willed girl. She has a lot to say. She speaks like a little southern belle, saying "ma" instead of  "my", and it makes me smile every time. She also adds "-ie" behind many of her words. She might say "holdie ma handie" if she wants me to hold her hand. Sometimes she speaks each syllable as if it were its own sentence. I really must make a recording of it, because it just melts me. She adores her big sisters and wants to have and do everything that they do, which is as it should be. She calls a knife a "cut" and a fork a "poke".  She takes her new baby doll everywhere she goes these days, and loves her blankies. (I made her 2 in case one got lost. But she knows there are two of them, and always wants them both.)I love seeing her right after she wakes up, trying to hold every single stuffie and blanket she owns, walking around the house with an armful of soft cozy things she loves to hug. She will make a bee line to any puppy she sees or hears so that she can love and adore it. She is afraid of the vaccuum, and terrified/fascinated about the blowdrier, which she likes to visit in the bathroom to make sure it is still there, and turned off, quiet and coldie.  Sometimes she requests it to be on the dinner table, and side eyes it suspiciously while we eat. I think it is a case of keeping her friends close, and enemies closer.

Leia, we love you and are so happy you jumped into our family!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Simple.

Our family just got home after a fun filled, while still relaxing holiday. We spent 2 days in Calgary, and got to visit 2 so-close-but-so-far-away sisters, and my dad. We had a fun time visiting and seeing the sights. We stayed in a hotel, which is always the highlight of any trip for my girls. The luggage carts, the lobby, the mini fridge, the ice machine down the hall. The pool, and of course, the elevator. Watching a great lightening storm from high up out of our window was pretty cool.we probably could have just stayed in the hotel the whole time, and the kids still would have had a blast. 

Then, we went to a little mountain town called Canmore. You know you are having a good time when you spend your down time on MLS looking at local housing availability! We stayed in a 2 bedroom condo. And I must say, having the amenities of home when you are on vacation is such a welcome luxury. We had a full kitchen and in suite laundry, also a pool. This was great.

Anyway. The point of this post is that we lived simply. We had a small apartment, one suitcase each with clothes and toiletries, and one backpack of entertainment. Plus pool noodles. Of course. And I was so happy. It was so inspiring to know that I can live, very happily, with much, much less. Less clothes, less food, less yard, less dishes, less toys, less house, less STUFF. 

I have also been inspired by our CSA weekly veggie baskets, and Keith's newfound desire to have a garden. We can grow our own food and buy less stuff! 

I want to have less. I'm not sure how to do this, but I am going to start buy not buying stuff. I think next will be to get rid of stuff. Here is a look at the random stuff that surrounds and suffocates me. 
This is just one room full of random stuff that takes my time and attention. There are many more just like it. 

So there you have it. Less stuff. That's what I'm going for. If I tell you I am headed to walmart, please stop me. 


Saturday, July 05, 2014

Weekly Round up

It has been a good first week of summer vacation here at the Nixons place. 

We have discovered 3 new parks, all without sand, (these are the only kind of parks to go to, in my opinion). Our 2 favourites are Borden Park, and Britnell park. We still have a few on our list to check out, like the Castledowns and Jackie Parker park. 

We went to Camrose for Canada Day, and spent some time with Grandma. She gave Leia a new ball, and since then, Leia has been falling asleep clutching her "Gramma ball". Toddlers are so cute. Camrose was fun, but I think next year we will try out our own city's Canada day. 

And, this has been happening. The most successful potty location seems to be right by her bookshelf. Otherwise, she gets up too quickly and nothing happens. But give this girl a book to read, and she will sit still long enough to pee. I have shifted my obsession for cloth diapers to fabric shopping and sewing.


Mina has learned a new skill! And, she stops every 3 minutes while in Walmart to adjust her shoelaces. Sigh. I am very proud of this girl. I think she is even mustering the courage to attempt her two wheeler. Hopefully I can post about that next week. 

Home made play dough! And I just  added boiling water to the mix, and kneaded it instead of doing it over the stove and making a mess in my pot. It is so much nicer that the store bought kind. 



And you may notice that Abby is missing from this post. She is really growing up! Sometimes she feels too old to come to the park and play with play dough. But, when she does, I know she still likes it. Even if she won't admit to it. 

So there you have it, this has been our week. Keith is on call, so it seems like the week will never end. You can bet that I will be dashing out of the house at some point tonight to escape and find some sanity. 

Sunday, June 29, 2014

It's a Birthday Post!!







Somehow, I blinked. And this sweet, curious, bundle of joy became 11 years old. The years truly are short. And as each one passes by I am so proud, happy and excited for this girl as she grows into herself. And so surprised that this much time has passed, how can that be? Now I have this beautiful 11 year old daughter.

                                                 This girl is all kinds of AWESOME. 
Happy Birthday Abby! And thank you for making me a mother. And for teaching me how to be yours.


Thursday, June 26, 2014

Jenny!

Today I ran into one of my favourite high school teachers. Mr. Mosher  taught me English. Seeing him this morning really made my day. I was thinking about all of my Slave Lake memories that are good, you know, Rex theatre, the beach, the sky, high school shenanigans, driving in cars with boys, jumping into the river before math class, acing my English departmental exam, graduating a semester early, before anyone else in my class, the poplars and the sound they make before it rains. I was getting so excited to maybe bring my girls there this summer and show them. 

And then I remembered the day that my home town burned down. And my parents broken marriage finally shattering into a million pieces. And I thought, I would have to show my girls the house. And when I see it, I will probably turn into Jenny, from Forrest Gump, and throw rocks at it, and fall down sobbing in the dirt. And I don't know what to do with this. 

I am still gad I saw you, Mr. Mosher. You are a fantastic teacher. I might bring the girls up this summer. I really do love the sound of the poplars before the rain, and I want my girls to hear it. 

Friday, June 20, 2014

A Fresh Start!

Well, I'm obviously not a very good blogger. It all started when I got an I Pad. I couldn't figure out how to use it to blog, and when I finally got the blogging app for it, I found it difficult to use. So I did not do it. And coming all the way downstairs and sitting in front of the computer just seemed so archaic and cumbersome....  And then my Crohns started kicking my butt and all of the extra things in life, like blogging, among other things, were crossed off of my to do list. When the Chronies come knocking, I go into surrvival mode, and just do the necessities. and not even that, sometimes. But, I am working on getting back into life, and trying to start doing the things I like to do again, even though the Chronies are still finding new and creative ways to attack me. I am going to try and get my life back. So there, Chrones. We are having an awful tug of war it seems.

Anyway. I think in order to successfully blog, I need to approach things differently. I need to be myself, and not compare my blog to others, and feel less than, less creative, less funny, less beautiful photographs and so on. I think I am going to try to do weekly posts, which will probably involve a lot of bullet lists about random things. There may be some pretty pictures, there may be some witty humour, and there may also be some swearing. Because sometimes I do that. Lets see if I can keep it up.

So here is little insight into how this week has been.

  • Work has been really busy. But I am really good at my job, even though I am a little bored by it. Sometimes I wish I could switch careers but not have to start at the bottom of the payscale. 
  • Summer holidays have been booked!  We are visiting Calgary for a couple of days to spend time with family and then on to Canmore to explore the mountains. I am getting very excited for this! 
  • Leia has discovered Cabbage Patch dolls.Well, one in particular. Her name is Dolly, and Leia looooves her. She dresses, diapers, nurses and takes Dolly for walks. It is really very cute. I remember getting one for Christmas in the 1980's. She came with a horrible name, so I changed it to Karen Lucy, the most beautiful name I could think of. I was also very jelous that Betinas doll had a better hairstyle than mine did. 
  • I had a run in with a stranger at VV today. I was looking around at the kids clothes, and this toddler was there, taking Dolly away from Leia, and being a baby bully. Mom was nowhere to be seen. After 3 or 4 times of me giving Leia back her Dolly, the boy starts shrieking. Mom comes out of the changing rooms, finds us and gave ME heck for making her kid cry!!!!  Really??? Supervise your kid lady. Don't abandom him in this store while you are trying on clothes and then give ME heck because he is a little shit and taking my kids toy away over and over. geez.  
  • I know I said I was not going to plant anything in the garden, but I did afterall. I planted some tomatos and peppers, in hopes of using them for my salsa this fall. But the leaves on the pepper plants are turning kind of yellow. Why??? Any insight? Maybe the soil is too wet or too dry or not draining properly? Too much sun? Not enough? This is why I wasn't going to plant anything. It always goes wrong on me. We will see with the tomatoes though. The last time I planted them, I got pounds and pounds of tomatoes, with rotten black bottoms. What a waste. I will try to hope for the best. 
  • My CSA baskets start this weekend! I am so excited to pick it up! Maybe I will ask the farmer what to do about my pepper plants. 
  • Keith is taking Abby out back woods camping/hiking this weekend. They have spent all week packing and re packing their back packs and sampling dehydrated meals. His mom, bless her heart, is concerned about bears, and "crazy people on quads". I am more worried about mosquitos, sunburn, and Abby's seasonal allergies. Note to self: pick up some Claritin for her. 
And there you have it. Happy Friday!