Five on Friday

 

 Happy Friday, folks!  I am so happy that this week has come to a close.  It's been fine, but this weekend makes the work week all worth it.  So, let's get started with 5 on Friday!

1.  Umm...wanna know why I am excited?  We leave for Miami this weekend for our cruise.  It's going to be legen - wait for it - dairy!  (Can you tell I've been watching HIMYM this week on Netflix?)  I can't wait.  I will finally get to see Sun Life Stadium (even if it's closed) and have some fun on South Beach.  Plus, it's supposed to snow here in St. Louis while we are gone.  No, thank you!

2.  My sleeping has been horrendous this week.  If it's not one thing, it's another.  Lack of sleep is definitely a trigger for my migraines, and I've had a headache for the past two days.  I am going to blame it on lack of sleep, and hang on to the fact that those shots are still working.  Sounds legit, right?  Need more coffee...

3.  So, I am really starting to fall in love with our foster dog.  I want to keep him so badly, but we are only allowed to have two pets in Korea as it is, and I especially think that a fourth will be frowned upon.  But, just look at hm?  If you don't immediately fall in love with him, I don't know what to say.  Anyone want to foster him for two years until we get back?

4.  Speaking of dogs, Gomez has been really red and itchy lately.  We have been giving him his allergy shots, and just got to the higher concentrated dosage.  I hope it isn't too much for him.  Poor guy...I worry about him so much.  I've never had allergies, so I can only imagine how uncomfortable he must be.

5.  Anyone ever been to Seattle or Boston and have some amazing tips they'd like to give me?  I have those trips coming up this simmer, and I've never been.  I welcome any and all suggestions.

Happy Friday, everyone!!

I got Botox at 29

Yes, it's true.  I did.  Not for vanity reasons, though.  If you're new around these parts, I have been suffering from tension headaches/migraines for years now.  It used to be just every now and then, but for the past year it has been almost daily.  For the past three months, it has been pretty severe, and even though I try and live my life to the fullest, work is my priority, and then I muster what energy I can to do anything else. 

Usually, Monday - Friday I am at work and then laid up on the couch.  Being under a computer and under florescent lights all day really wreak havoc on my head.  I don't have the energy to work out, nor did I feel like doing so with a pounding headache.  Most, if anything, of what I did was on the weekend, and I was almost always home by 8pm, because I couldn't take being out much past that.

I've tried so many supplements, medications, and therapies, to include chiropractic care and physical therapy.  Some of it worked, and then tapered off, some things didn't work at all, and some worked, but had crazy side effects, such as insomnia, numbness in my body, and night terrors (that was fun).  I was pretty hopeless about everything, to be honest.  Other than work, I could accomplish much throughout the week, and I was tired of it.

My doctor found out that someone at the clinic was certified to give Botox injections for pain management (and we are talking military facilities here, so nothing fancy is usually available), and thought that I would be a perfect candidate for it.  Me, the girl who has the lowest pain threshold ever and a slight phobia of needles?  Me???  But, she said that the trials shows an average decrease in headaches to be about 9 days a month.  An average of a third of the month headache free?  I was willing to try about anything at this point.

So, I scheduled my appointment, and went in.  Apparently, this is only the second clinic in the Air Force to do these, so it was very fortuitous that this doctor was here.  I signed a bunch of waivers, and prepared for the procedure.  It was a total of 31 injections in my face, temples, neck, and shoulders.  They were tiny little needles, but I'm not going to lie...I felt every one of them.  Especially the ones in my face and temples.  Major ouch.  It took about an hour total, but I asked for a few breaks in between the injections.  I was told that I could have little bumpy blotches that could last for up to two hours, and I of course imagined I would look like Taylor from RHOBH.

I did not, thank goodness.  I don't know if it's because I didn't make crazy faces like you would for the cosmetic process, but all I had was a little swelling and little holes of blood from it, which were barely noticeable, and they went away by the morning.

Excuse how pale and terrible my face looks.  It was a crazy process.

After the procedure, I went home to lay down.  Thank goodness I took the afternoon off from work!  I was sore, big time.  I was nauseous from the stress of it all, and my muscles were sore for days afterwards.  I had a really hard time sleeping that night, but the next two nights it continued to hurt a little less, and Monday night I had no issues.  It is supposed to last about 10-12 weeks, and then I would have to go back and do the whole crazy thing all over again.

Would I?  If I were to give a final answer today, it would be absolutely.  I have not had a headache at all in two days.  TWO DAYS!  I feel like this was a miracle, and the relief I feel is slowly making my body recover from the years of craziness.  I know it's not guaranteed to never cause me a headache, but honestly, even if it is just the nine less days a month, that's nine days of my life I'll get back.  Nine days where I'm not popping Excedrin like candy.  It's amazing.  Sure, my shoulder muscles are still a little sore, and I have "awareness" of my forehead (although it didn't get rid of my massive forehead wrinkle), but I do not have a headache today.  And that is a miracle in and of itself.

Weekend Update

I know, I know.  It's on a Tuesday again...  Yesterday I woke up feeling like I just got hit with a freight truck called food poisoning.  So, I basically did nothing all day.  Not even surf the web.  It was a Netflix kind of day.

Anywho, on to better stuff...the weekend!

Friday was injection day!  I was completely and irrationally nervous, but everything went fine.  I seem to be recovering just fine, and so far my headaches have been alleviated somewhat.  They said it takes about a week to truly get a feel of what relief it might provide.  All I know is it hurt like a mother!  Small needles do not necessarily equal a lack of pain.  Ugh...

Saturday I had a gender reveal for a sweet friend of mine.  I am so happy for her, and she's having twins!  I guessed that she was having two girls, and Joel guessed one of each.

It was two boys!  Holy cow, I couldn't even imagine.  They called it a "guns or glitter" reveal, so I guess guns it is!

Saturday I went to one of those paint and wine parties.  I am not artistically gifted at all, but, I thought I would give it a shot.  It was actually a lot of fun!  I went with a few girls at work, and I really did have a blast.  Plus, it's so much easier when they trace the painting for you.

This and That

Are any of you still adjusting to this hour we lost over the weekend?  I know I am.  As a born and bred Hoosier, we never had DST growing up.  I know, weird, right?  But to us, it was normal.  And I loved not having to worry about it.  My first experience with it was when I lived in Germany, and I was so freaked out that I would never get the time right.  Obviously, I did, but it took a few times for me to feel comfortable.  Now that we are back in the states, we still have to deal with it.  I was just getting used to waking up in the daylight and now, bam, it's pitch black again.  Not. A. Fan.

It was a beautiful, glorious day yesterday.  So good, we had to go out for a little al fresco dining happy hour.  It was great.  It was just what I needed.  I had the top down on my car and flip flops on my feet.  I think it got up to 82 degrees.  Today?  I woke up and it was 34.  Womp, womp.  So rather than be depressing, I'll share a picture from yesterday.

Houlihans happy hour food is legit.  Their drinks?  Not so much.  Went for the old faithful wine, but I was really in the mood for a cocktail.  But, look at Joel!  Outside in short sleeves?!  Yesterday was legit.

I even went for a run.  Yeah, that happened.  It's been forever, and even though it was a beautiful day, I was seriously hurting at the end of the 30 minutes.  Time to get in the swing of things.  Since I stopped seeing the chiro, I am trying to incorporate fitness back into my routine.  It's been hard, quite frankly.  I've been so, for lack of a better term, lazy.  I used the excuse of being told to not exercise a little too seriously, but hopefully I can work on that.  I am also starting weigh-in Wednesdays back up after my upcoming trip, but will try to update here and there on my journey.

On another note, I am getting injections on Friday to try and help my headaches/migraines.  I am scared out of my mind.  I have a slight phobia of needles as it is, and my doctor told me that there are 30 injection sites, and it will take 40-60 minutes for the whole process.  I really, really hope that this works.  I feel like I am running out of options at this point, and I am tired of having a serious headache every day of my life.  SO if you could, say a little prayer for me Friday afternoon.  I asked for some Valium ahead of time, and she e-mailed me back asking if breathing exercises would work.  I really hope that she's kidding.

And for no other reason, here's a cute picture of our foster dog.  Isn't he the wrinkliest thing ever?  Jabba the Hut, anyone?

Weekend Update

Happy Tuesday, friends!  Wow, what wonderful weather we've been having the past few days.  Yesterday it was 79 and sunny, and today it is supposed to get up to 81.  Tomorrow?  Yep, you've guessed it...snow.  It is the Midwest, I suppose...

The weekend was pretty good!  Lots of cuddle time.  And lots of shedding.  Exhibit A from Jaeger...

Yes, that is what I brushed out of him in about five minutes.  There were many more similar piles out of him over the weekend.  Poor guy...

Saturday morning I was tempted into a detox wrap as a half off special at this fabulous little place down the road from me.  The owner is such a doll, and I'd never had one, so I decided to give it a try.  It was very relaxing, but other than that, I'm not sure there were many benefits.  It was pretty inexpensive though, so worth a try.  It was such a gloomy day, too.

Saturday night we went out to Pi in downtown STL.  If you hadn't heard, it's our President's favorite pizza place.  There's even one in D.C. now (the only one out of the STL area), and I must say that it's pretty tasty.  Usually...  This time was a bit of a disappointment.  There was barely any sauce on the pizza, and it especially made the leftovers pretty dry.  We normally have great success there, so I won't let this setback deter me from going.

Then we saw the new 300 movie next door at a place called MX movies.  I've written about them before.  I really love the concept of this place, but the execution is terrible!  It's a full restaurant and bar that you order from electronically from your seat.  The food has been pretty sub par, which is why we ate beforehand, but I love their leather seating and bar.  Who doesn't want a fancy drink with their movie?  We ordered two rum and cokes (simple drinks), and they weren't very busy, but it still took a half an hour to get them.  And they were a bit watered down.  I really want to love this place, but I don't think I'll be going again anytime soon unless they step up their game a bit.

The movie was about what you would expect.  I'm not going to lie, I really missed seeing Gerard Butler in this film.  He was amazing looking in the first movie, and his presence was missed.  It was gory, of course, and had some weird nudity scenes, but it was pretty much just like the first one, with a little different storyline.  It was fun to see on the big screen, though.

Sunday was an amazing day for a totally girly reason.  We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to look for a new coffeemaker (our Keurig might be biting the dust soon), and we found an over the door boot rack!  I had nowhere to consolidate my boots and have them easy to access and look nice, but that is all over now.  Behold the wonder of the boot rack.

Getting Real

 
Rainbows and Butterflies: that's what we make our lives seem like on our blogs, right?  Of course, there's the "let's get real" kind of posts, or ones where we do silly vents or reveal our first world problems.  But, behind that, sometimes there are real problems that exist.  I'm going to open up a bit about something I've been struggling with lately.

Joel's a good man, he really is.  But lately...I don't know.  We're...off.  This is not to say that I think our marriage is in trouble or that we are headed off to "D-Ville."  Not. At. All.  But, we have been out of sync lately.  Marriage is hard.  I know that.  We've been pretty blessed that our relationship has been fairly easy so far.  Sure, we're always giving our best effort.  That's a no-brainer.  But, it hasn't been hard at all.

I know one part of it is that we are both wanting different things out of life right now.  Joel is getting promoted this month, due to all of his hard work.  I am so proud of him.  He also just hit his ten year mark in the Air Force.  He is loving his career, and can't wait for our upcoming PCS.  Me?  I am quite miserable professionally.  Yes, I have a great job, and yes, it pays well.  But, I am way over qualified and it brings me absolutely no professional satisfaction.  Basically, my job doesn't make a difference to anyone outside of my immediate co-workers (which I have to say I am blessed with some decent ones).

Just finishing my MAED, I really wanted to look for jobs in cities I've always wanted to live in.  Nashville, Chicago, or even back in my home of Indianapolis.  But, I can't do that.  Why?  There are no Air Force bases so that we can be stationed there.  Basically, if I get a job there, I don't get to be with Joel.  And, to be honest...I'm bitter about that.  Really bitter.  Not at him, per se, but kind of like...why can he have his dream, but I can't have mine?  And it's hard.  It's hard that he's excited and loves what he does, and I can't have that.  And I can't even apply around here, because it's not fair to whatever school might hire me.

And I don't want to sell our house, which I love.  But we have to, because we probably won't even get stationed here again.  I don't want to sell my car, which I love.  But, I have to.  Joel's is an SUV, and mine's a VW, so his is more practical.  And we are only allowed to take two pets, so I either have to leave one behind (which is like asking me to leave one child behind), or smuggle one in, which is what we are going to attempt.  I want roots.  I want to stay in one spot, and have our routine, and forever friends, and a community.  He's of the mindset that "home is wherever the military sends us."  And I've done my best to make every new place a home.  But, then I fall in love with our new home, and it soon gets ripped away.

And to top this all off, he's not being a good listener.  He's not being empathetic.  I think he doesn't know how to handle me, and to be honest, I don't know how to handle what I am feeling, either.  He doesn't remember conversations that we have, and I am tired of repeating myself.  I'm just...tired.  I find myself talking to him less because, lately, why bother?  I have no energy from my headaches, which is making me worst wife of the year in a lot of ways.

He's a good man, he is.  But we are struggling.  And I am struggling.  And it's hurting our relationship.  Will we persevere?  Of course.  We love each other, and even though I am the biggest supporter of "needing more than love," we have more.  We are hard working people that love each other very much.  We will work through this, because we will both put in the effort to.  But, right now?  It's hard, and I'm hurting.  And I'm not really sure, at the moment, where to go from here.

Weekend Update

Happy Tuesday, folks!  How was your weekend?  Mine was pretty good, actually.  I am still fighting headaches and such, but I am trying to make the best of it.  I'm trying to decide if I should still see my chiropractor.  I am confident in his abilities, but five weeks later and I actually feel worse.  He keeps telling me that I didn't just start getting headaches overnight, so they won't stop right away, but man...it's rough.  We'll see.  I cancelled my appointment yesterday, and I can't decide if I'm going to cancel the rest of this week's appointments or not.  Any advice?

Anyway...on with the weekend!

As I mentioned last week, on Friday I got to meet with Dr. Temple Grandin, published author, Doctor of Animal Sciences, and the most successful adult living with Autism.  She was so insightful and honest (i.e. blunt), and it was fabulous.  We mostly chatted about higher functioning people with Autism, and she said a lot of the things that I believe, but didn't know if it was "ok" to think or say. 

Saturday was awesome!  I went way out of my comfort zone, and invited a friend for a girls' night at a local fitness studio for a "stiletto chair dance" class that taught as a routine start to finish.  Well, I invited a few friends, but apparently only one of them had any kind of an adventurous spirit.  I'm almost to the point where I can say that I only have one good friend, because the rest of them will only hang out with me if it's something they suggest to do, but that's a different rant for a different day.

Anyways...it was fabulous.  There were 20-ish ladies in attendance, and we had some hilarious personalities.  The ladies teaching the class were fun and super talented, and my things burned so much the next day that I could barely walk!  I really hope that they do one of these again, because I am all for it.

Afterwards we went out for cocktails and girl chat, which was sorely needed.  This girl is fabu, and I'm really going to miss her when I move.  She's been a great friend the past year.

Sunday was a whole lotta nothing.  Besides the aforementioned sore legs, I had a pretty crazy headache, and so it was a Netflix on the ouch kind of day.  The dogs sure enjoyed it.  They predicted another snowpocolypse, but we only got maybe two inches.  Fine by me.