Can't Sleep... Clown Will Eat Me...

Not quite, but between the lovely ghost, and the psychotic cat, and the two babies that live downstairs, and scream at the top of their lungs 24/7, I haven't been getting the rest I need.

Also, my bed is too hard, and 3 layers of down comforter are not enough softness.

The ghost, in the last few weeks, has broken many things electronic, including 2 laptops, 1 desktop, a DVD player, and a something... Brain fog will not permit me to tell you... The ghost has also stolen my dad's book... which is really not nice.

Then there's the mysteriously opening, and closing of doors, the human voices which could only be coming from within my house (when I know for a fact that I'm alone), as I would not hear them otherwise, etc.

My hips and knees are still adjusting to my awesome shoes, but I haven't had to use my cane, and the pain seems to be the good-muscle-building type, instead of the bad-injured-something type.

I seem to have done something to my neck, but damned if I know what it is, or how to fix it. Hot, cold, and massage don't seem to have done anything, and the muscles are hard as rocks. I also have a vertebra in my spine which is not aligned correctly... So I'll have to call my chiropractor and set up an appointment sometime in the near-ish future.

It seems like that's all for updates, and interesting stuff... Really annoying, as every time I have a blog post idea, I'm not around a computer, and all the little notes I make just go *poof* and are eaten by gremlins.

Guess What I Finally Did?

I climbed a freakin' mountain! I am so proud of me!

I decided on Friday that I was going to climb a mountain on Saturday. I texted my mom to see if she was up for it, and Saturday morning at 9:30 we set out.

That's a picture of my toes and the wonderful view from inside the ice caves at Moose Mountain.

There is a 6km hike from the parking lot to the base of the mountain, then the trek up the mountain, exploring the cave, falling carefully down the shale to get down the mountain, then the 6km trek back to the car. All of this took 11 hours from the time mom picked us up until we were back at home. "We" being my husband and I, my mom and step-dad. They also picked up my Opa's mobility scooter for the 6km each direction, but it ran out of power on the way back, and we mostly used it to transport supplies like snacks, first aid and lots of water.

After returning home, I took some pain meds, and went to bed. I stayed in bed mostly asleep for 17 hours. It was necessary recovery time... I spent all day yesterday relaxing, and had a really long hot shower (after waking up from another 12-13 hours of sleep)... Sitting in the tub, because my legs didn't want me to stand that long... But considering all of the obstacles that have kept me from climbing that mountain for a DECADE, I'm really proud of myself for making it all the way.

Most ridiculous part of the trip? No injuries for me! No dislocations, subluxations, just a tiny little scrape on my thumb knuckle. My step-dad fell partway down the mountain... only 10 or 15 feet. And it was more of a roll, recover, roll, recover. He got a couple of scrapes on his elbows. My mom apparently did almost the same thing. She had to throw the bag she was carrying in order to not fall. Hubby only got the extreme muscle/joint aches, as well as the exhaustion. We also took mom's puppy (he just turned 1 on Thursday last week) and he made it all the way up to the caves without injury, and as soon as we got back to the car he passed out on the back seat... Only to be awoken by the smells of beef jerky.

Today is my 4th anniversary being married to my hubby, and we're still making people sick with all of our lovey-dovey hand holding, and the fact that we don't fight. Ever. Yay us!

It's been a pretty amazing weekend, and a pretty amazing 4 years with my hubby. I think I found my groove.

Hoping all of you are finding your slice of happy on this wonderful September day!

New Shoes, and a Sippy Cup

For my birthday, I went out and got a pair of Vibram Five Fingers shoes.

The part where it says they improve balance, is an understatement. Since I've started wearing these shoes nearly 2 weeks ago, I haven't had to use my cane at all, my feet aren't dislocating all over the place, and my hips are happier than they've been in a long time.

The only unhappy part of me seems to be my knees. These shoes don't have much for soles, so they don't have much for padding, which means they teach you (through negative reinforcement) to step more lightly. It seems that in regular running/walking shoes, I was walking so far to the outside of my foot that I was causing everything to be completely out of whack, and with the padding in the shoes, I was stepping more heavily than I should have been, which may have been causing the extraordinary hip pain.

But these shoes! They're comfortable! It feels like you're barefoot, so that's the biggest plus for me. With the proprioception/balance issues, most of my non-visual balance comes from the pressure in different parts of my feet, and in normal shoes all of that information feedback is dulled to the point where it's practically non-existent. I'm not saying these shoes are for everyone, but for me, they're wonderful. I may never go back to normal shoes until I find it impossible to wiggle my toes into their places.

Now on to the sippy cup part of the post. I was sitting at the computer, watching a movie, and I turned my chair so I could get up and walk over to my meds... When *Crash, Splash, Drip... drip... drip...* there went my full glass of juice. It went all over the desk, the carpet, and the floor rolly thing the chairs are on. Luckily it didn't get into any of the computers, monitors, keyboards, or anywhere else that would have caused damage... So after I spent half an hour cleaning all of the juicy bits, I went to the kitchen, and grabbed a coffee travel mug, and I've been using that ever since. Added benefits: less easy to spill, not as heavy as a glass, and it keeps my juice cold longer! I just feel a bit disappointed in myself that I had to resort to that. I feel like once again, I am growing younger instead of older.

I swear, I had more to post about, but this brain fog thing is no joke. I was at supper with my author friend, and his author friends, and my hubby and roommate, and I was in the middle of a sentence, and I lost my thought. It was like, "Hey, speaking of -insert topic- I was wondering..." and that's as far as the thought train took me. It was about 3 or 4 days later that I remembered what I was about to ask.

I Miss Saturdays...

I slept through three Saturdays in a row...

One of them was understandable, as I had been drinking the night before, but it really sucks when your weekend gets cut in half because the body says "Must... Sleep... NOW!"

My left hip has been bothering me a lot lately. More than usual. So I went to the doctor to see if I could have an x-ray to check for deterioration/damage due to the ridiculous number of dislocations/subluxations I've had, and it turns out my hip is fine. No damage. Which is good news for my hip, but it doesn't explain the pain... So the doctor wants me to go see my geneticist, and have him refer me to a rheumatologist, and maybe send me for an MRI. Not fun. I'm tired of all the tests coming back normal. I was hoping for something like "you have a hairline fracture" or "look at the little bits of bone you've chipped off your hip" because something could be DONE to fix me then.

I also saw another neurologist about my twitching issues, and apparently the doctor that referred me to her didn't send any of the appropriate paperwork, and I didn't have it with me, because I thought they would have it there. Apparently the last neurologist wanted to send me for some heart related tests, and never did, so this lady is going to send me for some. Maybe. If she remembers. (Do I sound bitter or frustrated?)

Yesterday was weird. I had practically zero proprioception, and I was dizzy like you wouldn't believe (who am I kidding, the people reading this are the ONLY ones who would believe), and I was wobbling around as though I'd had a lot to drink. I was also twitching way more than is usual lately, so it might be related to my blood pressure... I had trouble locating my pulse. When I did find it, it was very slow, and very weak. I tried eating, and drinking lots of water to help with blood pressure. The only thing that seemed to help was walking home from work. But that just exhausted me, so once I got home, I curled up into a nice little ball and threw in a DVD of Dead Like Me.

Birthday Party 3.0 Was a Success!

On Friday, my friend had his birthday party. We went out to a bar, and drank many alcoholic beverages, and I hijacked his party. Not in a mean way, but in a "YAY we get to celebrate 2 birthdays!" kind of way.

I got pretty drunk, on a relatively small amount of alcohol. My friend had about 3 times as much to drink as I had, and he ever so abruptly fell asleep on my lap. I have a bruise on my arm to prove it.

Saturday morning-ish rolls around, and I wake up after a nice solid 8 hours of sleep, have breakfast, and proceed to go back to bed for another 8 hours of sleep. When I woke up, I had breakfast again, and watched a couple movies before heading back to bed once again.

So I missed my niece's birthday party on Saturday, because I was recovering from a lovely hangover, but I'm sure she'll forgive me.

Last night was another early night, with me going to bed at an incredible 9:30. That's really early for me. And I fell asleep almost immediately after laying down, which doesn't happen to me. Ever.

But I did finally have a birthday party, and I got to see one of my really good friends from high school, and introduce him to my hubby, and I met a bunch of his friends, and it was all really fun. The 2 days of recovery were well worth the fun night out.

Birthdays...

Last year for my birthday, I got a spiffy cane.

This year for my birthday, I got a nice relaxing day in bed.

By that I mean; last year I broke down and gave into my pain, and finally started using a cane, even though I should have been using one for a while by that point.

And this year, I was so allergic to everything, I had to take Benadryl so I could breathe and when that kicked in, I was so dizzy, I had to go back to bed, and forego all attempts of a "Birthday Party."

So sunday rolled around, and I tried Birthday Party 2.0, which consisted of going to the Calgary Stampede, on the last day, so I could watch some fireworks. Hubby and I walked around for about 2 hours, then when the fireworks were about to start, we climbed 2 flights of stairs and found a nice place to stand and watch the fireworks. The thing is, even though walking around slowly for 2 hours didn't bother my hip, standing for about 10 minutes caused a lovely dislocation, and I went smashing into the pavement, landing on my knee. Stood up, and sarted the slow, slow trek back to the car... Wishing the entire way that I had brought my cane, even though I didn't need it until I fell.

Oh, and I totally missed the fireworks, and the only game I'm actually any good at, they don't have there anymore.

But, YAY, I made it one more year... I'm a whole 24 years old now... Why do I feel like those numbers should be reversed, and doubled?

What Does Pain Look Like?

Can you see the searing, pulsing flames as they lick slowly across my chest, burning hotter as they reach my shoulder and linger?

Can you see the color of the glass shards as they slowly wear away at the soft tissue of my hip?

Can you see the sharp knives cutting into my ribs, stealing my breath as I walk?

Can you see the waves of pain crashing down upon me, suffocating in their weight, taking all my energy just to keep from drowning?

I can.

They are all reflected in the single tear falling slowly, silently, down my cheek, as I hide my face from you.