Woop Woop! I love Britney's new vid!

I'm pretty sure the guy in the video with her is the guy that plays in a lot of the Chapelle Show skits. My favorite being Pop Copy. This is so good. Love Brit's boots! I have a pair kind of like that. Too bad I wont be in town or near Nashville for her concert. I will be at the beach. I don't know if it would be the same though because I've seen it from the front row before! If you don't know the story of how Allison and I got moved to the front row at Britney two years ago then it's a story to hear for sure. I will have to post it sometime! Zach and Wes (Allison's hubby) groan whenever we tell it to people or recount the event with one another... but it was just so darn cool. Anyhoo... enjoy my Britney Jean!

Flare

The past 4 or 5 months have gotten me thinking about the frequency in which I have flares.  Especially now coming out of one that's been a few days long.  They are starting to be every other week.  Maybe 2 weeks in between. Flares, for me, include excessive and unexplainable fatigue, pain and aching all over, and tummy troubles.  If it gets really bad I start getting shingles.  My kidneys act up as well.  Steroids pull me out of it most of the time, but I also hate the way steroids make me feel! Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to start treating for it again.  I've only been treating it symptomatically (only the symptoms) with certain medications, but it's not enough.  I'm tired of the ups and downs! I wasn't treating my Lupus because we have been trying to get pregnant for over 4 years, since 2007.  It's just wearing me down emotionally as well as physically.  I will respectfully ask that my fertility issues aren't discussed at all.  It's a very touchy subject.  I'm sure that your friends did get pregnant after they adopted.. or when they "quit trying", but we have tried it all and I'm not up to hearing any more of those stories.  I love all my friends and family who try to comfort me though ! I know it's hard to know what to say.  BUT....
 We are preparing to dive into the adoption process, though and I'm really excited about it. We have always wanted to adopt very badly and hopefully we can make this dream a reality!  I think I just need to decide when and what treatment I would like to pursue.  I know my options and am very curious about Benlysta, the new Lupus drug.  It's the first one created for just Lupus in 55 years! Can you believe that?  It's IV and you do it once per month.  Maybe insurance would pay for it, but I'm not sure.  Like I said, I will have to look into it.  Well I'm very tired so I think I'm going to rest.  Hope your week is going lovely!

Cute or not?

First Kiss! Cute Kids Kissing Video Goes Viral!

This is cute to me, but I think Zach would've gotten a little ticked off if his little girl
did this! I might have to tell him to get over it because kids will be kids! Any opinions?
The little boy is thrilled! LOL Aren't they always when a girl makes the first move?!

Zach = broken

So my husband has been walking around with a broken foot.  He's got a huge tolerance for pain because he was exposed to a lot of it as a child (not from his adoptive parents -- just so you know--).  So he has been working 50 plus hours on his feet.  I didn't know what was wrong with his foot.  I mean I knew he hurt it, but he never acted like he was in extreme pain and it was looking better and he kept saying it felt better.  Well, the reason it felt better was because it was numb! Poor baby.  He's currently in a pain med coma on the loveseat.  I will have to spoil him since he's always taking care of me!

Layla

18th nap today!

Sunday morning coming down

I will give a Chuck E. Cheese token to someone who knows what my title is referencing. :)

Have you ever tried these?

They are so flippin good AND they make you feel good too.  The ginger in the one on the left helps with bouts of nausea, the peppermint helps tummy issues, and they both have very soothing aromas.  Also, if you're looking to lower blood sugar this is a fab way to do it.  It's helped me.  The one with the cinnamon in it goes towards the 2tsp per day that helps lower your blood sugar. 

THEY ARE JUST YUMMY!!

This past week I have been VERY paranoid about a fly that has been getting into the house.  I know, I know.. it's not the same fly, but there is one every day that comes barreling through the door as I'm letting the dogs back in from outside.  Why am I paranoid? Allison (the bestie you see to your right) will know why. . and now you will too! eeeek!

Well....in high school we had to read this poem by Emily Dickinson

Dying

I heard a fly buzz when I died;
      The stillness round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
      Between the heaves of storm.
The eyes beside had wrung them dry,
      And breaths were gathering sure
For that last onset, when the king
      Be witnessed in his power.
I willed my keepsakes, signed away
      What portion of me I
Could make assignable,-and then
      There interposed a fly,
With blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz,
      Between the light and me;
And then the windows failed, and then
      I could not see to see.

Morbid, huh? *shivers*
So yeah, I'm a little creeped out when I hear a fly buzzing around me.  Allison and I were in Chick fil A the other night and there were about 10 flies circling around.  We both looked at each other and said our last goodbyes.
Lupus is alright today.  Not full on energetic, but I'm not bed ridden either.  So that's awesome.
I hope you're having a good Sunday!

P.s. My title is a Johnny Cash song

Frustrated

I'm too sick to go to the doc.  That's pretty sad.  I had to go to the doctor on Tuesday to get some of my medicines refilled, but my little Holly had a seizure.  She is okay now and they were able to get me rescheduled for today at 1:15.  I'd felt fine all day yesterday (besides this 100 degree heat and humidity!), but today I just couldn't get ready.  I give myself a lot of time to get ready to go somewhere because it takes me twice as long as it used to.  I was so tired by the time I had to put clothes on that I had to lay down on the bed.  I kept trying to get up and put my clothes on, but I was so tired I just couldn't do it.  Of course at this point I was hot and sweaty and I hadn't even blow dried my hair b/c it just makes me even hotter.  I couldn't do it.  Some days it's not a problem and I can get ready with no issues.  What am I supposed to do when I need my medicine? That's just so frustrating to me. I just have to tough it out until I can see my doctors.  I feel like having my insides eaten by this stupid disease is "toughing it out" enough, but I guess not.  Guilt sets in when I begin to think that way because I know so many have it much worse.
  A few minutes after laying down I called the nurse at my doc's office and left her a message and explaining to her that the heat combined with my Lupus prevented me from making it to my appointment.  Hopefully they can work with me on this.  It gets me upset sometimes that even the simplest things are interrupted.

Are vampires still in style?

For the last few years vampires have been "in", but I must say, avoiding the sun is difficult unless you truly are sleeping during the daytime!  I know that with summertime comes the big photosensitivity (abnormal sensitivity to light) issue.  If you don't have Lupus or don't know much about it, 70-90 percent of people with Lupus are photosensitive and can only be in the sun for very short periods of time without a high SPF sunscreen and/or protective clothing.  Last summer I wasn't completely sure about the Lupus diagnosis and it really hadn't sunk in yet so I didn't protect myself like I have this year.  We had an above ground pool then and I would go swimming without worrying too much about photosensitivity (let's shorten this to photosens, ok?).  It was not that bad with at least an SPF 30 as long as I stayed cool in the water on my float.  Throughout the past year though, I have been getting more sensitive to the sun and heat.  I don't know which one affects me the most though.  It's a little like the whole "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" discussion.  I know that the heat is overwhelming here mostly because of the humidity.  Today there is a weather advisory warning the "normal people" to limit outside exposure.  So with Lupies I'm guessing we need to stay away from windows and wear an Spf 50 indoors just in case a ray of light gets into our home! Ha-ha, I'm joking --- kind of!  I don't take any chances.  My arms were just fine today until I opened the door for my doggies to go outside and sure enough I got a burn on my right arm.  I didn't have on sunscreen because I was indoors! Go figure.    There are some things I can do to prevent this.. but it's very time consuming. .  * post has been edited for privacy and legal reasons (my disability claim)*

Some people are more sun sensitive than others and I think that it depends on how advanced your disease is -- but don't quote me on that. It's dissapointing sometimes that I can't be in the sun as much or like I used to. I LIVE for the beach and crave it.  My friends and I used to joke about giving each other "a shot of the beach!"  We'd do a motion like we were giving each other a flu shot or something and say it was a shot of the beach.  Maybe it's because I'm a Pisces, which is the sign of the fish and a water sign, that I'm drawn to the ocean.  I have a Pisces and Cancer tattoo on the inside of my ankle.  (it's small.. i don't notice it until someone asks me about my "dollar sign tattoo")

See, doesn't it look like a $ sign?  It doesn't matter to me what anyone else thinks it is because I know what it means. Although, the people that think it's a dollar sign probably think I'm extremely shallow. lol

I hope everyone is having a great week.  To my fellow vampires, I hope you're feeling good! Be sure to rest and take care of yourself (sunscreen!).

P.S. This stuff rules