A lot of things have happened since my last post. This is the first time I've probably been on my computer since at least March 10th. That's when I fell in the shower. My feet slipped, face-planted hard on the floor of the tub, slammed my right armpit hard over the edge of that tub (I think I was trying to break my fall), and bashed and bruised other areas. It took me a while to collect myself while I lay in the tub. Came super close to passing out, and saw 'flashes' of black. Then, I noticed I couldn't move my right arm and it was in extreme pain. I also couldn't get out of the tub. My parent said it sounded like a huge tree had fallen and asked how I was. She was able to get into my bathroom, see how I was, and called 911. The paramedics took a while trying to figure out how to get me out of there. Meanwhile, it was a bit embarrassing, since I was naked. They wrapped straps around me, and then pulled me out with a little help from trying to push myself up. They got me to my feet, put a sling on my right arm, helped me with putting on my pj's (at least draping the top over that arm), and whisked me away by ambulance to the ER.
I had broken my shoulder. More specifically, the head of the humerus bone where it meets up with the rest of the shoulder. It was almost a clean break and pushed in. Ended up with a nasty bump on my forehead, but with the amount of force, I thought it would be worse. 3 days after the fall, my feet started to swell. I thought it was a reaction from the prescription-strength Ibuprofen (it was only my 3rd dose of it), and stopped it. I elevated it often at some point (hard, since my knees still hurt from the fall), and the swelling got worse in my feet and traveled up to my kneecaps. Was like that for 3 weeks.
Had surgery on March 19th. That was to put the bone back in place, and hold it together with a metal plate and screws. Eventually, new bone will grow over the plate and screws, forming the way it should. They wouldn't allow my parent to go back with me for the pre-op stuff, which not only made it difficult emotionally, but she also had the specialized sling they wanted us to get beforehand, so right after the surgery part the nurse can put it on while I'm still asleep with the anesthesia. Eventually, they did allow her to give the sling to them, and met me in the recovery area. They weren't even going to allow her that. The hospital was so empty and quiet. Added to how I felt. Everyone there was pretty worried about my swelling, but the nurses more so. They decided to put some sort of massaging sleeves on both legs before the surgery. When I woke up, I had the worst leg cramps I can remember. The nurses looked nervous about it, but didn't do much. The nurses in the post-op area weren't as great. Especially one of them that didn't seem to know what she was doing. It was agonizing.
Had the post-op appointment with my orthopedist on April 1st. He said everything was healing wonderfully. He gave me a printout of one of the x-rays they took that day, and a cd-rom of all the x-rays they've taken. I thought I wasn't doing enough, or behind, or something. I had only started the phase 1 exercises 3 days after the surgery. Same day I had to take off the dressings. It was easier that way. Couldn't do all 4 of those exercises together until a few days after that. He felt that I was on the right track. I shouldn't rush it, and if I push it too hard, I could damage the area. It'll take about a year to fully recover. Even then, it won't be as strong as it was. Right now, it seems my left arm has gotten stronger, since I've been using it for most things. At least, my right shoulder is getting better. He took off the steri-tape that was over the incision, too. It's around 6" long. A little bigger than I thought it'd be.
Went to Urgent Care the day before. I was seriously fed up with the swelling. Made it hard to move, sleep, and was really uncomfortable. At this point, it felt like my toes would fall off. It was that bad. When I moved, I had burning pain. Felt like a nasty sunburn on the tops of my feet. Anyways, I was there for 4 or 5 hours. They were being very thorough. With the new coronavirus regulations, they couldn't allow my parent to be there with me. That was difficult.
They couldn't do anything for the swelling, since they didn't find a cause. There were no blood clots, kidneys were fine, etc. I was pissed about this. The one thing I came in for they couldn't do anything about.
However, they found a lot of bone lesions on my ribs, left scapula (aka shoulder blade), pelvis, and I think spine. These only occur when there's cancer (pretty much any kind) or some sort of autoimmune disease. Pretty scary. They usually show up in older people. Since I have a family history of breast cancer (my mom had it, as well as grandma and one aunt on that side), they want to rule that out first. I have a mammogram and ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday. If they find something in those, they want me to schedule a breast biopsy on the same day. If not, the next step is getting a bone biopsy. That'll be from the areas affected. Scapula might be best, since it's close to the skin and there are less nerves. It'll be guided by a CT scan, I think. I'm terrified of this one. It's bad enough that my chest triggers a lot of dysphoria, and I'm a little too young to have a mammogram. I know it's essential, but I'm going to have a hard time. I'll have a full bone scan at some point, too. That sounds like an interesting one. I'll probably see an oncologist soon. Had a CT scan the same day as my orthopedist appointment, just to look at my chest and abdomen area. Made for a tiring day.
At Urgent Care, they also found some pleural (lung lining) thickening. That doesn't just happen, either. I've had 2 lung issues in the past: pneumonia and pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in every air sac in my lungs). So, anything relating to them scares me. My D-Dimer was really high. I've learned from my doc that it could mean many things. My alk phos was high (although not as much as the other test). That usually has something to do with the liver. I have a thyroid nodule and gallstones. Those gallstones have probably been there for roughly a year. Went to the ER at the time for throwing up blood, and they found them then. My doc said since my gallbladder's walls aren't thickening, and doesn't seem to be bothering me, they're not going to worry about that now. There were no lymph nodes in places they shouldn't be.
I suspect at least the lesions had something to do with both the fall and broken shoulder. Those lesions make it easier to break bones, and can weaken certain areas making it easier to slip. The weird pain and difficulty getting out of bed the week before my fall could have been from this. From what I've read, it sounds an awful lot like the common symptoms for it. I love how they're taking me seriously now about things. They weren't for the last year or 2.
I feel super lucky that the fall happened when it did. I was approved for health insurance the day before, and got the card that night. The schools were (still will be for a while) closed and my parent, who's a school psychologist, had to work from home. Spring break technically starts tomorrow, I think. She's available to help me get to appointments and things, especially now. A lot of these tests/surgery are being labelled as urgent, otherwise they won't be able to do them until their system goes back to normal. My primary doc and the one I saw at Urgent Care want to push for these tests as fast as possible, so whatever it is doesn't progress.
The possibility of cancer also seems personal to me. My mom passed away from complications of both metastatic breast cancer and liposarcomas or abdominal tumors (2 huge ones, one right after the other). I saw what she went through. I don't want that. Creeps me out if it's some sort of bone autoimmune disease.
I managed to finally go upstairs and sleep in my own bed Friday night. I had been sleeping in the recliner downstairs since March 10th. It was so nice to finally sleep there, and start using my bathroom again. The swelling has been going down a lot since then. Almost gone from my legs. They're sore, though. Might be from it being there for so long. Feet are better, but there's still a lot there. I can at least feel my toes.
I haven't been able to get to much of my usual stuff because of all this. It's really been life changing. Trying to stay positive. Hard sometimes when I can't do much on my own. Might be able to take a shower soon. My orthopedist said it's ok to. I just would like a shower chair first. My parent, not long after the fall, put anti-skid strips on the floor of the tub. With both that and the chair, I should be pretty secure.
Tasha has taken over my bed, and she was very upset when I started sleeping in it again. Interesting that she glomped onto it when I was gone. For the first few nights, she kept nudging me with her big paws and running around while I tried to sleep in the recliner. Rosie's been sticking to me a lot more. I think she's been trying to heal me. She knows somethings going on.
Showing posts with label Tasha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tasha. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Friday, February 28, 2020
3rd of Adar
Yesterday, I enrolled all 4 of my books on Smashwords into their Read an Ebook Week site-wide promo. First time entering them into something like that. It goes from March 1st until the 7th. They encourage enrolling beforehand, so those books get a chance to be featured in a promo email to Smashwords customers, which goes out a few days before. A little more exposure that way. I decided to have them all at 50% off. You can choose 25% off, 50% off, 75% off, or free. I think 50% is plenty. That makes 3 of the books $2, and one of them $2.50. Pretty cheap. They have interesting banners and such that people can download to help promote it on other sites. I may add one on here. I don't know. There seems to be more benefits to this one than many of their regular promo 'tools', so it's good to have the opportunity. I think they have something like 3 or 4 site-wide promos a year. Not much.
The cookbook's Select term on Amazon ended yesterday. I plan to submit it to Smashwords on the 1st. It probably won't be apart of RAEW, but that's ok. I think I'll also have a delay in publishing for this one, and add the option of preordering it up until it's officially published on there. I think it's good to do it this way for each one. People get a taste for it beforehand. Should be interesting to see how this one goes, considering it's quite a bit different than my other books.
I watched some of the recent Democratic Debate, and have an issue with how a couple of questions were directed at Bernie Sanders. I'm not really voting for him this time, but that's a different topic. He was asked about his Judaism, which I guess is fine in itself. I do feel a little uneasy about people questioning how Jewish he is lately... However, the very next question after that was on how he feels about Israel. This is antisemitic. It brings up the 'dual loyalty' trope. Do not bring up someone's Judaism, and then immediately ask about their opinion on Israel. Sure, I get they were trying to see what his policy on Israel will be, but that was not the way to do it. What about asking other candidates about it, too?
Jewish opinions, as a whole, on Israel are extremely diverse and...complicated. (Even without bringing up the conflict there.) For one, many Israelis don't view Diaspora Jews (those that don't live in Israel) in a good light. Some try very hard to convince us to make aliyah (basically immigration to Israel). Sometimes taking advantage of things like growing antisemitism in Europe and America. Another point, they think even worse of Reform or Progressive (what that branch is called in Europe) Jews, even within their own country. Many also feel the 'ideal' Jew is of European descent. Jews come from all over the world. They particularly have a hard time with Ethiopian Jews. That is getting better lately, but it's still an issue. Many Jews also take issue with the government, even within the country. It's problematic to say the least. However, there are a lot of good people living there, too.
I'd personally like more focus on Diaspora Jewry than Israel. (Particularly on American Jews, since that's even more relevant to me.) It's not my country. I'm an American Jew. Proud to be American, like many other American Jews. I'm embarrassed, ashamed, and appalled by the current administration, but that's different.
I did not feel like I 'came home', like so many say, when I visited Israel. Granted I had an awful time getting there, but it never truly felt like home to me. I did make some good facebook friends from that trip, and I certainly don't regret going. There were some good times. It was an amazing opportunity. Especially to see it for myself. Separate fact from fiction in some ways, too. It was nice that most things were kosher, and I didn't have to worry about it as much as back home. It was also cool to see so many shuls (aka synagogues) next to each other.
We took Tasha to her checkup on Tuesday. She seemed pretty healthy for her age. That being around 15 or 16. Her teeth had a little tartar, and she had a mild case of gingivitis. They said the dental treats are helping with the gingivitis and overall dental health, but only a dentist can get rid of the tartar. They suggested she be seen by a dentist. That seemed like it'll be too expensive. Apparently, her heart murmur's a little worse. It's always been a slightly there thing. They suggested she see a cardiologist, and have imaging done to check out her heart. Again, pretty pricey. She lost a lot of weight for a cat her size. Went from 10 pounds to 8 pounds. Turkish Vans are normally on the heavy side. She seems to be a pound under the low end for normal range. She got her annual shots, blood tests, and a urinalysis.
The vet clinic called my parent yesterday. Tasha has hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid. It makes sense with the weight loss, shedding more than normal, tremors (thought this was either from being cold, or fear of Rosie), excessive drinking, etc. She might not even have the arthritis, but muscle weakness/wasting from it. That would also make it difficult to jump up on things. Their heart can be affected, too. There is a med she can take, surgery, or radioactive iodine therapy. As well as a special low iodine cat food. So, it is treatable, at least. The med and food might not be too bad financially, either. I want to hug her more often now. She probably was trying to tell us that something was up for a while. Hope she feels better in the future.
I've been trying to take it easier on myself this week, because of the nasty migraine and headaches I had last week. Didn't really have headaches this week. Maybe a slight one after drinking something too cold today, but really didn't have them the rest of the time. Yay! Hopefully, I can get back to other things next week. I don't want to trigger another migraine or awful headaches, so I'll still try to take it slow. Trying to go to bed earlier and spend a little less time looking at screens, and that might have helped. I might not play PS4 games for a while. Just to protect myself for now. New games can have unknown effects, many games are dark in color, and it's also somewhat dark in that room. So, ends up being weird lighting. I do want to get back to it at some point. Might want to try Red Dead Redemption 2. I do have 2 games I can play on my PC for now.
The cookbook's Select term on Amazon ended yesterday. I plan to submit it to Smashwords on the 1st. It probably won't be apart of RAEW, but that's ok. I think I'll also have a delay in publishing for this one, and add the option of preordering it up until it's officially published on there. I think it's good to do it this way for each one. People get a taste for it beforehand. Should be interesting to see how this one goes, considering it's quite a bit different than my other books.
I watched some of the recent Democratic Debate, and have an issue with how a couple of questions were directed at Bernie Sanders. I'm not really voting for him this time, but that's a different topic. He was asked about his Judaism, which I guess is fine in itself. I do feel a little uneasy about people questioning how Jewish he is lately... However, the very next question after that was on how he feels about Israel. This is antisemitic. It brings up the 'dual loyalty' trope. Do not bring up someone's Judaism, and then immediately ask about their opinion on Israel. Sure, I get they were trying to see what his policy on Israel will be, but that was not the way to do it. What about asking other candidates about it, too?
Jewish opinions, as a whole, on Israel are extremely diverse and...complicated. (Even without bringing up the conflict there.) For one, many Israelis don't view Diaspora Jews (those that don't live in Israel) in a good light. Some try very hard to convince us to make aliyah (basically immigration to Israel). Sometimes taking advantage of things like growing antisemitism in Europe and America. Another point, they think even worse of Reform or Progressive (what that branch is called in Europe) Jews, even within their own country. Many also feel the 'ideal' Jew is of European descent. Jews come from all over the world. They particularly have a hard time with Ethiopian Jews. That is getting better lately, but it's still an issue. Many Jews also take issue with the government, even within the country. It's problematic to say the least. However, there are a lot of good people living there, too.
I'd personally like more focus on Diaspora Jewry than Israel. (Particularly on American Jews, since that's even more relevant to me.) It's not my country. I'm an American Jew. Proud to be American, like many other American Jews. I'm embarrassed, ashamed, and appalled by the current administration, but that's different.
I did not feel like I 'came home', like so many say, when I visited Israel. Granted I had an awful time getting there, but it never truly felt like home to me. I did make some good facebook friends from that trip, and I certainly don't regret going. There were some good times. It was an amazing opportunity. Especially to see it for myself. Separate fact from fiction in some ways, too. It was nice that most things were kosher, and I didn't have to worry about it as much as back home. It was also cool to see so many shuls (aka synagogues) next to each other.
We took Tasha to her checkup on Tuesday. She seemed pretty healthy for her age. That being around 15 or 16. Her teeth had a little tartar, and she had a mild case of gingivitis. They said the dental treats are helping with the gingivitis and overall dental health, but only a dentist can get rid of the tartar. They suggested she be seen by a dentist. That seemed like it'll be too expensive. Apparently, her heart murmur's a little worse. It's always been a slightly there thing. They suggested she see a cardiologist, and have imaging done to check out her heart. Again, pretty pricey. She lost a lot of weight for a cat her size. Went from 10 pounds to 8 pounds. Turkish Vans are normally on the heavy side. She seems to be a pound under the low end for normal range. She got her annual shots, blood tests, and a urinalysis.
The vet clinic called my parent yesterday. Tasha has hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid. It makes sense with the weight loss, shedding more than normal, tremors (thought this was either from being cold, or fear of Rosie), excessive drinking, etc. She might not even have the arthritis, but muscle weakness/wasting from it. That would also make it difficult to jump up on things. Their heart can be affected, too. There is a med she can take, surgery, or radioactive iodine therapy. As well as a special low iodine cat food. So, it is treatable, at least. The med and food might not be too bad financially, either. I want to hug her more often now. She probably was trying to tell us that something was up for a while. Hope she feels better in the future.
I've been trying to take it easier on myself this week, because of the nasty migraine and headaches I had last week. Didn't really have headaches this week. Maybe a slight one after drinking something too cold today, but really didn't have them the rest of the time. Yay! Hopefully, I can get back to other things next week. I don't want to trigger another migraine or awful headaches, so I'll still try to take it slow. Trying to go to bed earlier and spend a little less time looking at screens, and that might have helped. I might not play PS4 games for a while. Just to protect myself for now. New games can have unknown effects, many games are dark in color, and it's also somewhat dark in that room. So, ends up being weird lighting. I do want to get back to it at some point. Might want to try Red Dead Redemption 2. I do have 2 games I can play on my PC for now.
Friday, December 6, 2019
8th of Kislev
Finished the Clothes and Pets units of Duolingo's Scottish Gaelic course. I'm really breezing through. I think if it really is a short course, I'll go back through everything and try to completely level out each unit. Each one has 5 levels or 'crowns'. With each crown, it's supposed to get harder, but I tend to get tired of that by the 3rd one. Once I get the basics like alphabet and such down, I usually just complete the 1st level of each. Maybe they have speaking exercises at the higher levels. I'll see. I made it to 2nd place today in the Ruby League. I don't normally make it up that far. The top 3 at the end of the week not only get promoted to the next league, they also get a chest filled with gems. I think since this course rewards you with red lingots, I'll get a certain amount of those. Either that or xp? Other courses use blue gems. I'm not sure what the difference is between those 2 gem systems.
I finished coloring in the drawing of Junko in Photoshop, and today I continued with shading. I did her other ear (cat ear, since she's a cat demon), and some of her hair. It's a little annoying, because if you go back over something, it darkens it. If I remember I can erase the 'shading' part without erasing the drawing, I can try to shade it without being very precise and without stopping for certain parts. Adds more to clean up after, but that's ok. I like the 3D effect it gives with shading. Looks more 'real'. After I finish shading, I can finally submit it to Instagram and DeviantArt. Then, it's to drawing the next character. I plan to try and keep doing something related to drawing every day.
Today, I finished editing Obsession from Sweet Endless Terror. That's 10 pages of the ebook, and 28 pages of the print. It's longer than the other 3 have been. Is This Real? and Heartless were pretty well done, I have to say. Only a few mistakes, and the flow of both was great. Trippy, but all of them are. They are based on my nightmares after all. I don't think they were the most out there ones. Obsession was good, too. Maybe not as good, but up there. (Especially the ending.) Probably the most graphic and brutal story so far. The Head's probably my least favorite story. Interesting to go through these again.
Started a new diet for Rosie last night. As soon as she finished her food, I cleaned her placemat, water bowl, and food bowls. Gave her some fresh water. Then, I measured out what's a recommended daily portion for a cat with a 'normal activity' level, and added one to each bowl. This was a portion based on the cat food that we use. I decided the 'normal' one, because she can be very active at times, and it might be a good one to switch to. The low activity one might have been too much of drastic difference. I put a portion each in the 2 bowls, because it seems Tasha has been eating from them, too. They were originally supposed to be for both of them, and then they attacked each other so often, Tasha had to have her own food bowl over the banister. Otherwise she wouldn't have eaten. She's been braver and more 'normal' the last couple of years. Almost to the point now where she should have been when we 1st got Rosie. It wouldn't be fair to only have one daily portion if both are eating from it. I'm watching to see how long it takes her (and Tasha occasionally) to finish it all. So far, so good. If it gets completely eaten by tonight, I might add another portion to them. Hopefully, this will help Rosie. Tasha has been getting thinner, and Rosie seems to be getting bigger lately.
Part of my face seems to be numb or paralyzed. Can't tell exactly. I can't smile or move my mouth like usual. It feels tight, too. I hope it's a temporary thing. I also still have cold symptoms. It's been over 3 weeks since I started feeling it. Longer than my usual for being (temporarily) sick. I'm not coughing as much, but still get nasty attacks. I've coughed so much that it threw my back off causing lots of pain. Since I'm coughing less, it's not causing as much back pain. That's a plus. My nose gets super runny at times, and I'm sneezing a lot still. Although, there are signs I'm getting better overall. It's just taking forever.
My parent and I were the only ones that showed up to the local trans support meeting on Wednesday. Sadness. A positive was that we could leave early to get a late dinner at Shari's. I got their special pretzel roll cheeseburger with tater tots. Last time I tried to get it, they gave me a vegetarian patty. This time they got it right with actual beef. It was really good. Simple comfort food. I also tried a slice of one of their special holiday pies: triple-layer pumpkin cream. It has a layer of cheese pie filling (it's looser and creamier than cheesecake), pumpkin pie filling, and a top layer of cream. It was heavily dusted with nutmeg. The pie itself had a ton of pumpkin pie spice. So much, it was like a slap in the face at first. It was much better than expected.
Youtube:
Fukigen na Mononokean (The Morose Mononokean):
Satsuriku no Tenshi (Angel of Death):
Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work):
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
Zombieland Saga:
D.Gray-man:
One Punch Man:
I finished coloring in the drawing of Junko in Photoshop, and today I continued with shading. I did her other ear (cat ear, since she's a cat demon), and some of her hair. It's a little annoying, because if you go back over something, it darkens it. If I remember I can erase the 'shading' part without erasing the drawing, I can try to shade it without being very precise and without stopping for certain parts. Adds more to clean up after, but that's ok. I like the 3D effect it gives with shading. Looks more 'real'. After I finish shading, I can finally submit it to Instagram and DeviantArt. Then, it's to drawing the next character. I plan to try and keep doing something related to drawing every day.
Today, I finished editing Obsession from Sweet Endless Terror. That's 10 pages of the ebook, and 28 pages of the print. It's longer than the other 3 have been. Is This Real? and Heartless were pretty well done, I have to say. Only a few mistakes, and the flow of both was great. Trippy, but all of them are. They are based on my nightmares after all. I don't think they were the most out there ones. Obsession was good, too. Maybe not as good, but up there. (Especially the ending.) Probably the most graphic and brutal story so far. The Head's probably my least favorite story. Interesting to go through these again.
Started a new diet for Rosie last night. As soon as she finished her food, I cleaned her placemat, water bowl, and food bowls. Gave her some fresh water. Then, I measured out what's a recommended daily portion for a cat with a 'normal activity' level, and added one to each bowl. This was a portion based on the cat food that we use. I decided the 'normal' one, because she can be very active at times, and it might be a good one to switch to. The low activity one might have been too much of drastic difference. I put a portion each in the 2 bowls, because it seems Tasha has been eating from them, too. They were originally supposed to be for both of them, and then they attacked each other so often, Tasha had to have her own food bowl over the banister. Otherwise she wouldn't have eaten. She's been braver and more 'normal' the last couple of years. Almost to the point now where she should have been when we 1st got Rosie. It wouldn't be fair to only have one daily portion if both are eating from it. I'm watching to see how long it takes her (and Tasha occasionally) to finish it all. So far, so good. If it gets completely eaten by tonight, I might add another portion to them. Hopefully, this will help Rosie. Tasha has been getting thinner, and Rosie seems to be getting bigger lately.
Part of my face seems to be numb or paralyzed. Can't tell exactly. I can't smile or move my mouth like usual. It feels tight, too. I hope it's a temporary thing. I also still have cold symptoms. It's been over 3 weeks since I started feeling it. Longer than my usual for being (temporarily) sick. I'm not coughing as much, but still get nasty attacks. I've coughed so much that it threw my back off causing lots of pain. Since I'm coughing less, it's not causing as much back pain. That's a plus. My nose gets super runny at times, and I'm sneezing a lot still. Although, there are signs I'm getting better overall. It's just taking forever.
My parent and I were the only ones that showed up to the local trans support meeting on Wednesday. Sadness. A positive was that we could leave early to get a late dinner at Shari's. I got their special pretzel roll cheeseburger with tater tots. Last time I tried to get it, they gave me a vegetarian patty. This time they got it right with actual beef. It was really good. Simple comfort food. I also tried a slice of one of their special holiday pies: triple-layer pumpkin cream. It has a layer of cheese pie filling (it's looser and creamier than cheesecake), pumpkin pie filling, and a top layer of cream. It was heavily dusted with nutmeg. The pie itself had a ton of pumpkin pie spice. So much, it was like a slap in the face at first. It was much better than expected.
Youtube:
Fukigen na Mononokean (The Morose Mononokean):
Satsuriku no Tenshi (Angel of Death):
Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work):
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
Zombieland Saga:
D.Gray-man:
One Punch Man:
Friday, August 30, 2019
29th of Av
Finished the Comparison unit in Duolingo's Dutch course today, and made it halfway through the Kitchen one. Made it into the Promotion Zone for the Gold League. (I'm 8th right now, and the top 10 get to be in the 'zone'.) If I keep it up during the weekend, I might advance to the next league again. Only messed up a couple of times. I was surprised I got all the speaking lessons correct, since a lot of the new words were long and some I've had trouble with pronouncing for a while. Those are getting easier. The Kitchen unit has been fun and interesting. Some of their words for the kitchen stuff sound more fun than their English equivalents.
Finished a rough sketch of Junko's arms and torso. I think I like how she's coming along so far. Might be better than Shadow. I just have to figure out how exactly I want her legs positioned.
Edited more of Alliance. I'm really breezing through it. I've gone through 15 pages of the ebook, and 21 pages of the print this week. I didn't do it on Monday. That's pretty good for 4 days, I think. I'm still finding a lot of mistakes, but some of it's also been just rewording things better.
I played a little of the Sims 2: Seasons yesterday. That was fun. Created a new character and house. This is in a new version of a neighborhood I'm basing off of Alliance. The one I created yesterday was Shadow, the main character. The only other character in that neighborhood is based off of one of the 'villains' in the story. That one doesn't show up until the 3rd book, I think. The book that's only halfway finished. It feels like I get to mess around with my characters this way. I've also been using a cheat where you can increase their simoleons (their currency) to any amount you want. Making it easier to design their house, get what they want, etc. With Seasons, the sim can create their own garden and enter competitions with their produce. It's fun to see the weather change, too. There are penguins that show up when it snows, and especially if a sim is making a snowman. Sims can die if they get too cold, too hot, get struck by lightning, or stay out in the rain too long. There's more of a variety of clothes and house stuff with the expansion, as well. Adds more dimension to it. It'd be cool to try out the Sims 4 in the future, but this is still fun.
When I washed my hair the 2nd time since it was dyed, there was less color that came out. It still was surprising to watch it flow off me like that. The only time it stained my hands this time was when I was styling it. It wasn't nearly as bad as last time, and my fingernails are starting to look more normal. The staining on my skin has been coming off much faster.
Made a tuna salad sandwich on an onion roll last night. I'm used to Rosie falling over herself to get some. However, Tasha was brave enough to run to me at the same time. She actually begged along with Rosie when I opened the can of tuna. That's rare. Rosie didn't fight her, either. I gave both of them chunks at the same time. Rosie finished hers first and ran over to Tasha. She didn't fight her for it. In fact, it almost seemed like she wanted to make sure she ate it. Tasha didn't shy away. They seem to be getting along even better now. At least, Tasha has become braver and mellower. It would be cool if, at some point, they end up sleeping and playing together. I won't hold my breath, though.
Youtube:
One Piece:
Naruto:
Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler): Book of Murder:
Bungou (Literary) Stray Dogs:
Ghost Hunt (It's been a very long time since I've watched this anime. Also interesting to find a Ghost Hunt amv, since it's a relatively old one):
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Goodbye, Mr. Despair):
Finished a rough sketch of Junko's arms and torso. I think I like how she's coming along so far. Might be better than Shadow. I just have to figure out how exactly I want her legs positioned.
Edited more of Alliance. I'm really breezing through it. I've gone through 15 pages of the ebook, and 21 pages of the print this week. I didn't do it on Monday. That's pretty good for 4 days, I think. I'm still finding a lot of mistakes, but some of it's also been just rewording things better.
I played a little of the Sims 2: Seasons yesterday. That was fun. Created a new character and house. This is in a new version of a neighborhood I'm basing off of Alliance. The one I created yesterday was Shadow, the main character. The only other character in that neighborhood is based off of one of the 'villains' in the story. That one doesn't show up until the 3rd book, I think. The book that's only halfway finished. It feels like I get to mess around with my characters this way. I've also been using a cheat where you can increase their simoleons (their currency) to any amount you want. Making it easier to design their house, get what they want, etc. With Seasons, the sim can create their own garden and enter competitions with their produce. It's fun to see the weather change, too. There are penguins that show up when it snows, and especially if a sim is making a snowman. Sims can die if they get too cold, too hot, get struck by lightning, or stay out in the rain too long. There's more of a variety of clothes and house stuff with the expansion, as well. Adds more dimension to it. It'd be cool to try out the Sims 4 in the future, but this is still fun.
When I washed my hair the 2nd time since it was dyed, there was less color that came out. It still was surprising to watch it flow off me like that. The only time it stained my hands this time was when I was styling it. It wasn't nearly as bad as last time, and my fingernails are starting to look more normal. The staining on my skin has been coming off much faster.
Made a tuna salad sandwich on an onion roll last night. I'm used to Rosie falling over herself to get some. However, Tasha was brave enough to run to me at the same time. She actually begged along with Rosie when I opened the can of tuna. That's rare. Rosie didn't fight her, either. I gave both of them chunks at the same time. Rosie finished hers first and ran over to Tasha. She didn't fight her for it. In fact, it almost seemed like she wanted to make sure she ate it. Tasha didn't shy away. They seem to be getting along even better now. At least, Tasha has become braver and mellower. It would be cool if, at some point, they end up sleeping and playing together. I won't hold my breath, though.
Youtube:
One Piece:
Naruto:
Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler): Book of Murder:
Bungou (Literary) Stray Dogs:
Ghost Hunt (It's been a very long time since I've watched this anime. Also interesting to find a Ghost Hunt amv, since it's a relatively old one):
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Goodbye, Mr. Despair):
Monday, August 12, 2019
11th of Av
Managed to mostly stay away from social media during Shabbos. Yay! Really felt like I recharged that way. Been cutting down the time I spend on social media today and yesterday, too. It's been nice.
Did the candles, blessings over the grape juice (I can't have wine) and challah, and online services for both Friday night and Saturday morning. Wahoo! Same as last week. Hopefully, I can make this a habit. They actually had that Saturday morning's service, rather than the week before like last week's had. That was good. I like how they make it feel like you're actually there.
Some of the night and morning services touched on Tisha B'Av. That was a bit difficult to sit through. It started Saturday night and went until Sunday night, and is a mourning holiday. We remember atrocities that happened to us in the past. Things like the Crusades, pogroms, expulsion from Spain/France/England, the Holocaust, and more. One of the main focuses is on the destruction of the 1st and 2nd temple in Jerusalem. It's the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. People fast, study the Book of Lamentations, most Torah study is forbidden, sit on low chairs or the floor (like with shiva or the week of mourning someone), some sleep on the floor, some people refrain from greeting each other, and more. I didn't observe it, and I don't think I ever have. I usually just notice it. The rabbi that did the drash (or sermon) Friday night tied it in with the recent mass shootings. It seemed to fit too well that that stuff happened close to the holiday. It was a powerful and emotional one.
For close to 5 hours on Sunday, I cleaned my bathroom. It really needed to be done. It was difficult with the pain of whatever's going on with me healthwise. I'm glad I was able to get so much done, though. I swept the floor, cleaned the toilet, did all of the shower area, sink, a cup and toothbrush holder, the counter, and dusted off the things on the counter as well as a little step stool. I didn't 'mop' the floor because the way I do it might have been too much for me on top of the other stuff. Unfortunately, Tasha decided to pee near the closed door and that leaked onto the floor. It was right after I swept. I was angry for a moment, but I don't know if she actually knows she's doing it. It was similar to when she peed on my closet door not long ago. She may have an issue with that. I was able to clean that up, too. It looks so nice in there now.
I've been having an even harder time sleeping lately. Both of my arms hurt constantly. They never really let up. They get worse when I'm lying down. It's really hard to describe the pain, but it burns and feels tight, I guess. Anyways, I decided to go to bed at a more decent time last night. I got out of bed at around 6:50am or 7am, because I couldn't stand it. I don't really like getting up earlier than 8am. So, this was weird for me. Most nights I've been in bed for even less time lately. Maybe I could look at it as being able to get more things done or something?
Got back to Duolingo's Dutch course. It had been a while. Still remembered most of it. Finished the Nature unit and started the Traffic one.
Read the most recent chapter of Ao no (Blue) Exorcist. A lot of surprises this time. With one of them, I was glad that it didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I'm still wondering about Shiemi's role, and when will Rin come back to their present time?
Tried drawing more of Junko. No matter how many times I tried, her cat ears weren't coming out right. I'll try again next time. Started thinking more about her hairstyle, too.
Edited more of Alliance. I'm surprised at the mistakes I'm finding, despite going over the beginning not that long ago. I think once I catch up to the part I know is better, I'll move on to the sequel. I don't think that one will have nearly as many mistakes.
Watched Boku no (My) Hero Academia The Movie: Futari no Hero (Two Heroes). It supposedly was also in the manga (I haven't read it), and the anime briefly hinted at it. It seems to have taken place before the last season of the anime. It was nice to see something related to the show again. The next season starts in October. Yay, soon! This one was about All Might and his old friend Dave. They met when he was a Japanese exchange student in California. In a way, it was also about them handing the torch down to their successors, Melissa (Dave's daughter who also wants to help heroes as a scientist in the future) and Deku. The action scenes were great and fast-paced.
Did the candles, blessings over the grape juice (I can't have wine) and challah, and online services for both Friday night and Saturday morning. Wahoo! Same as last week. Hopefully, I can make this a habit. They actually had that Saturday morning's service, rather than the week before like last week's had. That was good. I like how they make it feel like you're actually there.
Some of the night and morning services touched on Tisha B'Av. That was a bit difficult to sit through. It started Saturday night and went until Sunday night, and is a mourning holiday. We remember atrocities that happened to us in the past. Things like the Crusades, pogroms, expulsion from Spain/France/England, the Holocaust, and more. One of the main focuses is on the destruction of the 1st and 2nd temple in Jerusalem. It's the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. People fast, study the Book of Lamentations, most Torah study is forbidden, sit on low chairs or the floor (like with shiva or the week of mourning someone), some sleep on the floor, some people refrain from greeting each other, and more. I didn't observe it, and I don't think I ever have. I usually just notice it. The rabbi that did the drash (or sermon) Friday night tied it in with the recent mass shootings. It seemed to fit too well that that stuff happened close to the holiday. It was a powerful and emotional one.
For close to 5 hours on Sunday, I cleaned my bathroom. It really needed to be done. It was difficult with the pain of whatever's going on with me healthwise. I'm glad I was able to get so much done, though. I swept the floor, cleaned the toilet, did all of the shower area, sink, a cup and toothbrush holder, the counter, and dusted off the things on the counter as well as a little step stool. I didn't 'mop' the floor because the way I do it might have been too much for me on top of the other stuff. Unfortunately, Tasha decided to pee near the closed door and that leaked onto the floor. It was right after I swept. I was angry for a moment, but I don't know if she actually knows she's doing it. It was similar to when she peed on my closet door not long ago. She may have an issue with that. I was able to clean that up, too. It looks so nice in there now.
I've been having an even harder time sleeping lately. Both of my arms hurt constantly. They never really let up. They get worse when I'm lying down. It's really hard to describe the pain, but it burns and feels tight, I guess. Anyways, I decided to go to bed at a more decent time last night. I got out of bed at around 6:50am or 7am, because I couldn't stand it. I don't really like getting up earlier than 8am. So, this was weird for me. Most nights I've been in bed for even less time lately. Maybe I could look at it as being able to get more things done or something?
Got back to Duolingo's Dutch course. It had been a while. Still remembered most of it. Finished the Nature unit and started the Traffic one.
Read the most recent chapter of Ao no (Blue) Exorcist. A lot of surprises this time. With one of them, I was glad that it didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I'm still wondering about Shiemi's role, and when will Rin come back to their present time?
Tried drawing more of Junko. No matter how many times I tried, her cat ears weren't coming out right. I'll try again next time. Started thinking more about her hairstyle, too.
Edited more of Alliance. I'm surprised at the mistakes I'm finding, despite going over the beginning not that long ago. I think once I catch up to the part I know is better, I'll move on to the sequel. I don't think that one will have nearly as many mistakes.
Watched Boku no (My) Hero Academia The Movie: Futari no Hero (Two Heroes). It supposedly was also in the manga (I haven't read it), and the anime briefly hinted at it. It seems to have taken place before the last season of the anime. It was nice to see something related to the show again. The next season starts in October. Yay, soon! This one was about All Might and his old friend Dave. They met when he was a Japanese exchange student in California. In a way, it was also about them handing the torch down to their successors, Melissa (Dave's daughter who also wants to help heroes as a scientist in the future) and Deku. The action scenes were great and fast-paced.
Friday, August 9, 2019
International Cat Day!
This holiday was yesterday. I love cats! I love other animals as well, but cats hold a special place in my heart. Been around them since I was born. Our current cats are a Turkish Van, Natasha (Tasha for short), and a tortoiseshell (aka tortie), Rosie. Tortoiseshell isn't technically a breed. It's based on the color of their coat. They're similar to calicos this way. She's a tabby (short hair), which has stripes along with the different colors. We went through a lot of names for her, but Rosie seems to fit so well. She's glomped onto me almost since we got her. Tries to take care of me, too. She has an issue with matted fur. The vet clinic had to shave most of the mats off recently, and I've been using a grooming glove twice a day since. The mats haven't come back. Her fur is so much softer and shinier now. She seems happy about it and begs to be groomed now. She'll 'groom' me at the same time by licking my free hand. So cute!
Turkish Vans have long fur, but it's in a single layer instead of multiple. Makes it very soft. They often have color on the head and tail and sometimes parts of their legs/feet (she has some in those areas), and white for the rest of the body. Tasha is black and white. They're prone to polydactyly, which is lit. many fingers/toes. Tasha has that. Her paws are huge because of it. Yet, she has a small slender head. A collar doesn't fit her. She'll just wiggle out of it, if you manage to get it on her. She also barks like a dog when startled. Loves water. This might be because the breed comes from near Lake Van in Turkey. Pretty unique cat. Since we got Rosie, they've fought each other. However, they seem to be mellowing out. Tasha has become braver in the last couple of years. Wanting to stick around me, sleeping on my bed during the day, going downstairs and hanging out with us, watching things out the back door, etc. Things she wouldn't do before. She's standing her ground more, too. I think this has made Rosie feel even more jealous, but she's not attacking as often.
Tuesday marked the 10-year anniversary of this blog! Wahoo! Never thought I'd keep it up for as long as I have on here. This will be the 1,049th post. It'll be cool if I keep it up in some form for another 10 years, at least. Hopefully, I can get back to posting more often. The year I posted the most was in 2010. Did better than most years last year. I've also created 3 other blogs on here. The 2nd one was on what I'd say to my mom after she passed away. Similar to writing letters to her, I guess. I had that completely private where no one but me could see it. I deleted that one, because it was painful to see after a while. The 3rd one was supposed to be on various different topics and my point of view on them. That became inactive after a few posts. Maybe I'll get back to it in the future. It was an interesting concept. The final one was on practicing my Japanese. I even switched to the Blogger Japanese base where the comments, headings, etc. are all in the language. They even email you in Japanese if there's an alert of some sort. It was cool. Might go back to it in the future, and/or make another language learning one. As an example, since I'm studying it right now, I could make a Dutch one. I did have a few comments on the Japanese one from actual Japanese people. That was nice. I've read you can create 100 blogs through Blogger. That's way too many to keep up with. I also like the lists feature. I can keep up with things and see what I've finished at a glance. The links list is probably not completely up to date, but that's good to have as reference, too. There's a lot you can customize. I stuck with one background/configuration until just a few years ago. It looks quite different now. I think I was forced to, because they weren't able to support the old version. I like it, even if it's taken me a little while to get used to. It's pretty great to be able to link to my books (with the cover art) with a widget on here, too. Even if I'm a little embarrassed by my 1st book after editing it. I need to go over the beginning yet again. Then I'll go through the sequel, and finally resubmit both of them for publishing. Anyways, this is like my little home online.
I've been using Pandora since college. It's really gotten to know my 'tastes' in music over the years. (Of what's in their database.) I've loved that it picks new music based on things you've liked already. I recently got Pandora Premium. I had been using the free version. They give you the 1st month free, and then start the subscription. There are no ads and I think their recommendations have been much better. I haven't looked at My Thumbprint radio yet. I've just kept listening to my Shuffle one. It shuffles the ones I've thumbed up and suggests new tunes. I'm not sure how different Thumbprint would be. I guess I can see in the future.
Recently started watching Naka no Hito Genome [Jikkyouchuu] (The Ones Within- Genome [Now Streaming]). It's been very interesting so far. A very different twist on a currently popular genre, isekai. Isekai (different world) is when people from our world are transported, reincarnated, or trapped in a parallel universe. Sometimes this works in reverse. It's usually fantasy or horror based, and a lot of them are influenced by or actually in their own video games (mostly rpg's). I think it's a fun one, but there have been a lot of them in the last few anime seasons. Some people are sick of them. This one has a group of gaming 'streamers' or video uploaders from our world transported to a place called 13th Avenue. Each player specializes in a certain type of game, like cultivation games, fighting games, puzzle games, horror games, etc. A man in an alpaca mask, called Paca, gathers them together and explains that they have to clear all the stages and collect tokens. They must reach 100 million viewers at the same time in the 'livestream'. The viewers are watching everything they do. Even when they're not participating in a stage. There are a certain number of people allowed to do each one. If you go against Paca the punishment could be deadly. They can die or be injured in the stages, too. It's really dark at times, which is my kind of thing.
It got a bit personal for me in one of the last episodes I saw (I'm not up to date on the series yet). The main character, Akatsuki, has a similar dominant handedness as me. We're both essentially cross-dominant. We tend to prefer a certain hand for certain tasks, and this can switch at times. For instance, I mostly write with my right hand, carry an umbrella in my left, might kick a ball with either foot or catch it with either hand (depends on which is closest), eat with a fork and knife similar to a left-handed person but a little different (I've been told it's weird, but it makes the most sense to me) etc. They say he's ambidextrous, but was forced to do things like write with his right instead of left. They do suspect a lot of cross-dominants are actually ambidextrous, and it wouldn't surprise me if I was. Left-handed people weren't treated very well even when I was in elementary school. Scared me enough I tried to make sure I used my right hand for at least writing. I'm surprised they had a character like that.
He has a stalker that's one of the gamers. She has a wall covered in pics of him, and has been 'studying' him since they met. She knew about the cross-dominant thing. I've had 3 or 4 stalkers in the past. 1 woman and 2 or 3 men. A couple of them had done a similar thing with pics of me. The 1st one I found out at a Jewish youth group camping trip. I think I was 14 or 15? He had made a shrine with pics of me, the shoe I lost that day, and candles all around in his cabin room. I accidentally found it along with a friend. Kept blowing kisses at me the rest of the trip, and followed me all the way home. Another one, a roommate at a dorm in college, had made a huge collage of pics of me sleeping and other times without my knowledge. She also wrote a 5-page letter that she gave me when I moved out. Funnily enough, I had to move because of another stalker. That one was much scarier/violent, but he never made collages of me. That I know of, anyway. The anime did bring back those memories. It was creepy enough with what she did/was doing in it. I like Akatsuki even more so now.
Watched Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler): Book of the Atlantic. It's an anime movie based on the manga's Luxury Liner or Campania arc. Campania was the name of the ship. It was one of the best arcs in the manga. The zombies were introduced, a lot was revealed about Undertaker, and Lizzie has some major character development. A lot of people hated her before that arc. The zombies in it aren't exactly like how most are portrayed. They crave souls, not brains, and you can't be zombified if you're bitten/injured by them. There's a special way to make a zombie that only the fugitive shinigami (lit. death g-d, like the grim reaper) can do. He really was experimenting to try and bring back the dead, not necessarily make zombies. Recently, in the manga, he still hasn't truly perfected the process of making a person come back to life with their soul intact, awareness, memories, same personality, without needing blood transfusions, etc. He's come very close, though. I thought it'd be great to see. It wasn't available for roughly 2 1/2 years. I thought it was pretty well done. A lot of the animation was stunning. Lizzie's fight with the zombies really looked like a ballet, which is like how it was portrayed in the manga. It was oddly beautiful. Sebastian's 1st fight with them was portrayed as a crazy violent demonic dance. They came close. Interesting to see both animated. There's only so much the manga can do. They followed almost everything exactly the way it was in the manga, like the other 'Books'. There's a season on the Circus arc, and another on the Detective arc. I hope they adapt the other story arcs in the future. There have been several since.
Finished Ultraviolet on Netflix. It's a Polish detective show. Ultraviolet or UV is an online amateur detective forum. They often solve cases much faster than the actual detectives, so there's usually tension between them. The main character, Ola, becomes a member after witnessing a crime. A retired cop and a detective friend help her and UV. The last case was more intense than the others. It'd be cool if another season came out. The characters were very likable.
Started watching Deadwind, but decided to drop it. It's a Finnish detective show. There's not much humor (even dark humor), everyone looks so depressed, and the acting isn't great.
Tried out Memories of the Alhambra last night. It's a fantasy Korean drama mostly set in Spain. It sounded really interesting and is highly rated. Dropped it after that first episode, because I couldn't get passed how much of a jerk the male lead was, and weak the female lead was. Seemed sexist. The scenery and game stuff was impressive, though. I brought up what I thought about it in my feed on MyDramaList, and people really seem mixed on it. Some said you should just ignore the female lead. It's supposed to be only about the man. Focus more on the game. Others also hated the sexism and couldn't get passed 1 or 2 episodes. Everyone agreed that there was sexism in it, yet the ones that loved it thought it wasn't a big deal. I wonder if there's a lot of sexism amongst Asian drama fans or they just ignore it? I don't watch that many romance dramas, but it seems like a theme in most of them of that genre around the world. Particularly of non-LGBTQ+ romance shows. I've watched some other types of Korean shows, usually detective ones, that didn't really have that element. In fact, the women were kickass and strong both physically and personality-wise. So, it doesn't seem like just a cultural thing to me. I'll try Possessed next. It's a Korean supernatural detective show.
Wednesday, we went to the dump and recycled a lot of styrofoam. Got rid of the old computers (Mom's, my parent's, and mine), printers, monitors, and keyboards. There was also a cat bed that neither cat really was into, a rope I got from my horse management class, and some of my really old bedding. Felt a little sentimental about the rope, but it was ragged, pricked me every time I touched it, really old, and there really isn't anything I'd use it for. I think it was one of the ropes I used with the horse assigned to me. He was one of the most abused horses and took a while to break. After that he was glued to me. He wouldn't let anyone else touch him, and was super jealous if I took care of another horse. Was super gentle with me, and if he thought he stepped on me he was beside himself and visibly looked hurt. There were a couple of times like that, but he just would graze my shoe. I hope he found a nice home after the stables were torn down. The new electronics made a lot of styrofoam. It was nice we could find a place to recycle it.
While we were out around Tacoma, we decided to go to Half Price Books. I found a cookbook called the Joy of Chinese Cooking for about $6. Thought that was really good. It's from the early 80's, so might not be the best. There's a lot of fried dishes. (Like deep-fried, not referring to stir-fried.) I'm not sure if that's really the way authentic Chinese food is. It does indicate things like what's classic, what's festival/party food, what utensils/methods to use, time, and more. That's handy. They don't always list amount of servings, which makes it a little difficult. There's also info on how the Chinese view food, philosophy of it, etiquette, cookware, history of some ingredients, etc. That stuff's always interesting to read about. We went to another HPB, but I didn't find anything else. Last time I went to HPB I found a cheese encyclopedia for around $2. It wasn't thin and was in good shape. That's been interesting. Haven't looked at it often, but it's a wealth of info just sitting there. It features cheeses from around the world, even from places most people don't think about. It'd be cool to try out more cheeses and look them up beforehand.
Went to Krispy Kreme after all that. Needed something with my 'dinner' pills, since I knew I'd have a late dinner and I need to stick to having my pills at certain times. Have to have food with them. I've only been there once or twice, and it's been a very long time. Got their cake batter donut and chocolate milk. I didn't know they had different fillings besides custard or lemon. This was cake batter flavored frosting. It was surprisingly light and tasty. Hadn't had chocolate milk in an even longer time, so that was an experience, too.
I did manage to mostly stay away from social media last Shabbos. (Friday night until Saturday night. Shabbos is Yiddish for Shabbat, and Shabbat is our day of rest.) It felt nice. Haven't done that in a while, and it felt more like a 'rest' this way. I also got to lighting the candles, saying the blessings, and attended online services for both Friday night and Saturday morning. Did quite a lot more than what I have been doing lately. I used to try to at least do the candles/blessings. Hopefully, I can do the same things as last time this Shabbos. I was kind of disappointed by last Saturday morning online services, because they had technical difficulties and just reuploaded the service from the week before instead. Didn't realize it until about halfway through. Felt a bit off. The night one was nice, though. They seem like a much more diverse congregation than some out there. Probably because they're in NYC. It was still cool to see.
Turkish Vans have long fur, but it's in a single layer instead of multiple. Makes it very soft. They often have color on the head and tail and sometimes parts of their legs/feet (she has some in those areas), and white for the rest of the body. Tasha is black and white. They're prone to polydactyly, which is lit. many fingers/toes. Tasha has that. Her paws are huge because of it. Yet, she has a small slender head. A collar doesn't fit her. She'll just wiggle out of it, if you manage to get it on her. She also barks like a dog when startled. Loves water. This might be because the breed comes from near Lake Van in Turkey. Pretty unique cat. Since we got Rosie, they've fought each other. However, they seem to be mellowing out. Tasha has become braver in the last couple of years. Wanting to stick around me, sleeping on my bed during the day, going downstairs and hanging out with us, watching things out the back door, etc. Things she wouldn't do before. She's standing her ground more, too. I think this has made Rosie feel even more jealous, but she's not attacking as often.
Tuesday marked the 10-year anniversary of this blog! Wahoo! Never thought I'd keep it up for as long as I have on here. This will be the 1,049th post. It'll be cool if I keep it up in some form for another 10 years, at least. Hopefully, I can get back to posting more often. The year I posted the most was in 2010. Did better than most years last year. I've also created 3 other blogs on here. The 2nd one was on what I'd say to my mom after she passed away. Similar to writing letters to her, I guess. I had that completely private where no one but me could see it. I deleted that one, because it was painful to see after a while. The 3rd one was supposed to be on various different topics and my point of view on them. That became inactive after a few posts. Maybe I'll get back to it in the future. It was an interesting concept. The final one was on practicing my Japanese. I even switched to the Blogger Japanese base where the comments, headings, etc. are all in the language. They even email you in Japanese if there's an alert of some sort. It was cool. Might go back to it in the future, and/or make another language learning one. As an example, since I'm studying it right now, I could make a Dutch one. I did have a few comments on the Japanese one from actual Japanese people. That was nice. I've read you can create 100 blogs through Blogger. That's way too many to keep up with. I also like the lists feature. I can keep up with things and see what I've finished at a glance. The links list is probably not completely up to date, but that's good to have as reference, too. There's a lot you can customize. I stuck with one background/configuration until just a few years ago. It looks quite different now. I think I was forced to, because they weren't able to support the old version. I like it, even if it's taken me a little while to get used to. It's pretty great to be able to link to my books (with the cover art) with a widget on here, too. Even if I'm a little embarrassed by my 1st book after editing it. I need to go over the beginning yet again. Then I'll go through the sequel, and finally resubmit both of them for publishing. Anyways, this is like my little home online.
I've been using Pandora since college. It's really gotten to know my 'tastes' in music over the years. (Of what's in their database.) I've loved that it picks new music based on things you've liked already. I recently got Pandora Premium. I had been using the free version. They give you the 1st month free, and then start the subscription. There are no ads and I think their recommendations have been much better. I haven't looked at My Thumbprint radio yet. I've just kept listening to my Shuffle one. It shuffles the ones I've thumbed up and suggests new tunes. I'm not sure how different Thumbprint would be. I guess I can see in the future.
Recently started watching Naka no Hito Genome [Jikkyouchuu] (The Ones Within- Genome [Now Streaming]). It's been very interesting so far. A very different twist on a currently popular genre, isekai. Isekai (different world) is when people from our world are transported, reincarnated, or trapped in a parallel universe. Sometimes this works in reverse. It's usually fantasy or horror based, and a lot of them are influenced by or actually in their own video games (mostly rpg's). I think it's a fun one, but there have been a lot of them in the last few anime seasons. Some people are sick of them. This one has a group of gaming 'streamers' or video uploaders from our world transported to a place called 13th Avenue. Each player specializes in a certain type of game, like cultivation games, fighting games, puzzle games, horror games, etc. A man in an alpaca mask, called Paca, gathers them together and explains that they have to clear all the stages and collect tokens. They must reach 100 million viewers at the same time in the 'livestream'. The viewers are watching everything they do. Even when they're not participating in a stage. There are a certain number of people allowed to do each one. If you go against Paca the punishment could be deadly. They can die or be injured in the stages, too. It's really dark at times, which is my kind of thing.
It got a bit personal for me in one of the last episodes I saw (I'm not up to date on the series yet). The main character, Akatsuki, has a similar dominant handedness as me. We're both essentially cross-dominant. We tend to prefer a certain hand for certain tasks, and this can switch at times. For instance, I mostly write with my right hand, carry an umbrella in my left, might kick a ball with either foot or catch it with either hand (depends on which is closest), eat with a fork and knife similar to a left-handed person but a little different (I've been told it's weird, but it makes the most sense to me) etc. They say he's ambidextrous, but was forced to do things like write with his right instead of left. They do suspect a lot of cross-dominants are actually ambidextrous, and it wouldn't surprise me if I was. Left-handed people weren't treated very well even when I was in elementary school. Scared me enough I tried to make sure I used my right hand for at least writing. I'm surprised they had a character like that.
He has a stalker that's one of the gamers. She has a wall covered in pics of him, and has been 'studying' him since they met. She knew about the cross-dominant thing. I've had 3 or 4 stalkers in the past. 1 woman and 2 or 3 men. A couple of them had done a similar thing with pics of me. The 1st one I found out at a Jewish youth group camping trip. I think I was 14 or 15? He had made a shrine with pics of me, the shoe I lost that day, and candles all around in his cabin room. I accidentally found it along with a friend. Kept blowing kisses at me the rest of the trip, and followed me all the way home. Another one, a roommate at a dorm in college, had made a huge collage of pics of me sleeping and other times without my knowledge. She also wrote a 5-page letter that she gave me when I moved out. Funnily enough, I had to move because of another stalker. That one was much scarier/violent, but he never made collages of me. That I know of, anyway. The anime did bring back those memories. It was creepy enough with what she did/was doing in it. I like Akatsuki even more so now.
Watched Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler): Book of the Atlantic. It's an anime movie based on the manga's Luxury Liner or Campania arc. Campania was the name of the ship. It was one of the best arcs in the manga. The zombies were introduced, a lot was revealed about Undertaker, and Lizzie has some major character development. A lot of people hated her before that arc. The zombies in it aren't exactly like how most are portrayed. They crave souls, not brains, and you can't be zombified if you're bitten/injured by them. There's a special way to make a zombie that only the fugitive shinigami (lit. death g-d, like the grim reaper) can do. He really was experimenting to try and bring back the dead, not necessarily make zombies. Recently, in the manga, he still hasn't truly perfected the process of making a person come back to life with their soul intact, awareness, memories, same personality, without needing blood transfusions, etc. He's come very close, though. I thought it'd be great to see. It wasn't available for roughly 2 1/2 years. I thought it was pretty well done. A lot of the animation was stunning. Lizzie's fight with the zombies really looked like a ballet, which is like how it was portrayed in the manga. It was oddly beautiful. Sebastian's 1st fight with them was portrayed as a crazy violent demonic dance. They came close. Interesting to see both animated. There's only so much the manga can do. They followed almost everything exactly the way it was in the manga, like the other 'Books'. There's a season on the Circus arc, and another on the Detective arc. I hope they adapt the other story arcs in the future. There have been several since.
Finished Ultraviolet on Netflix. It's a Polish detective show. Ultraviolet or UV is an online amateur detective forum. They often solve cases much faster than the actual detectives, so there's usually tension between them. The main character, Ola, becomes a member after witnessing a crime. A retired cop and a detective friend help her and UV. The last case was more intense than the others. It'd be cool if another season came out. The characters were very likable.
Started watching Deadwind, but decided to drop it. It's a Finnish detective show. There's not much humor (even dark humor), everyone looks so depressed, and the acting isn't great.
Tried out Memories of the Alhambra last night. It's a fantasy Korean drama mostly set in Spain. It sounded really interesting and is highly rated. Dropped it after that first episode, because I couldn't get passed how much of a jerk the male lead was, and weak the female lead was. Seemed sexist. The scenery and game stuff was impressive, though. I brought up what I thought about it in my feed on MyDramaList, and people really seem mixed on it. Some said you should just ignore the female lead. It's supposed to be only about the man. Focus more on the game. Others also hated the sexism and couldn't get passed 1 or 2 episodes. Everyone agreed that there was sexism in it, yet the ones that loved it thought it wasn't a big deal. I wonder if there's a lot of sexism amongst Asian drama fans or they just ignore it? I don't watch that many romance dramas, but it seems like a theme in most of them of that genre around the world. Particularly of non-LGBTQ+ romance shows. I've watched some other types of Korean shows, usually detective ones, that didn't really have that element. In fact, the women were kickass and strong both physically and personality-wise. So, it doesn't seem like just a cultural thing to me. I'll try Possessed next. It's a Korean supernatural detective show.
Wednesday, we went to the dump and recycled a lot of styrofoam. Got rid of the old computers (Mom's, my parent's, and mine), printers, monitors, and keyboards. There was also a cat bed that neither cat really was into, a rope I got from my horse management class, and some of my really old bedding. Felt a little sentimental about the rope, but it was ragged, pricked me every time I touched it, really old, and there really isn't anything I'd use it for. I think it was one of the ropes I used with the horse assigned to me. He was one of the most abused horses and took a while to break. After that he was glued to me. He wouldn't let anyone else touch him, and was super jealous if I took care of another horse. Was super gentle with me, and if he thought he stepped on me he was beside himself and visibly looked hurt. There were a couple of times like that, but he just would graze my shoe. I hope he found a nice home after the stables were torn down. The new electronics made a lot of styrofoam. It was nice we could find a place to recycle it.
While we were out around Tacoma, we decided to go to Half Price Books. I found a cookbook called the Joy of Chinese Cooking for about $6. Thought that was really good. It's from the early 80's, so might not be the best. There's a lot of fried dishes. (Like deep-fried, not referring to stir-fried.) I'm not sure if that's really the way authentic Chinese food is. It does indicate things like what's classic, what's festival/party food, what utensils/methods to use, time, and more. That's handy. They don't always list amount of servings, which makes it a little difficult. There's also info on how the Chinese view food, philosophy of it, etiquette, cookware, history of some ingredients, etc. That stuff's always interesting to read about. We went to another HPB, but I didn't find anything else. Last time I went to HPB I found a cheese encyclopedia for around $2. It wasn't thin and was in good shape. That's been interesting. Haven't looked at it often, but it's a wealth of info just sitting there. It features cheeses from around the world, even from places most people don't think about. It'd be cool to try out more cheeses and look them up beforehand.
Went to Krispy Kreme after all that. Needed something with my 'dinner' pills, since I knew I'd have a late dinner and I need to stick to having my pills at certain times. Have to have food with them. I've only been there once or twice, and it's been a very long time. Got their cake batter donut and chocolate milk. I didn't know they had different fillings besides custard or lemon. This was cake batter flavored frosting. It was surprisingly light and tasty. Hadn't had chocolate milk in an even longer time, so that was an experience, too.
I did manage to mostly stay away from social media last Shabbos. (Friday night until Saturday night. Shabbos is Yiddish for Shabbat, and Shabbat is our day of rest.) It felt nice. Haven't done that in a while, and it felt more like a 'rest' this way. I also got to lighting the candles, saying the blessings, and attended online services for both Friday night and Saturday morning. Did quite a lot more than what I have been doing lately. I used to try to at least do the candles/blessings. Hopefully, I can do the same things as last time this Shabbos. I was kind of disappointed by last Saturday morning online services, because they had technical difficulties and just reuploaded the service from the week before instead. Didn't realize it until about halfway through. Felt a bit off. The night one was nice, though. They seem like a much more diverse congregation than some out there. Probably because they're in NYC. It was still cool to see.
Friday, August 2, 2019
1st of Av
The month-long holidays for August are: National Panini Month, National Peach Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Not many this month...I love peaches! The skins upset my gut, so I end up getting the pre-cut ones. Peeling them every time can be tiring. Paninis are fun.
For the Jewish calendar, both pics are of decorative plates. The main pic is from the '50s, and the other is from c. 1910. The main one is in blue print on white with both Dutch and Hebrew around it. The middle has a dining room scene with a table, place setting, a candle, window, and curtains. The older plate is bronze looking with an intricate design.
The elements calendar has carbon this month. A very important element. Makes sense that it would be featured at some point.
Rosie seems to have gone back to urging me to eat more often. I've mentioned it before on here. She thinks I'm not eating enough. It started around the time of my first colitis flare. I would (still do sometimes) forget to eat. When she does it, it's not like she's hungry or begging for food. There's plenty of food in her bowl, and she doesn't actually eat it when she wants me to have something. She's like my therapy cat. She's been guarding me often, too. Tasha seems to be becoming more protective of me. That's a little new. In a way, it's like they both think of me as their child that they have to protect and help. Maybe they can sense the health stuff I'm going through and are reacting to that? It's so cute and great to see such creatures caring about me so much. Makes me feel loved. Although, sometimes Rosie takes things to stalker level with guarding/following me around. That gets creepy.
Recently there was the 4th anniversary of me being diagnosed with IBD or colitis. It's changed how I view food a lot and other things I may have taken for granted. The most surprising part of it, so far, has been the massive pain from my scarred colon while in remission. I was told that I wouldn't have any symptoms once in remission. In fact, that's apparently one of the signs that you are. No one told me about what happens if it causes a lot of damage before going into remission. Would have been nice to have known. It can affect so many things. Plus, there's an added risk of having another type of autoimmune disease. I don't need another one, but it looks like I do.
Went to a Kitsap Safe Schools potluck last night. They're a pretty cool organization. They've donated to the Q Center in the past. Q Center is basically an LGBTQ+ youth group. They've also helped with Pride. My parent's a member, and I've been to a couple of meetings. Came out to them as agender at the meeting before the potluck. I didn't want to be referred to as daughter and/or one of the women, since I'm not one. One of the older, somewhat leader of it, members seemed to perk up when I talked about it. They liked that I'm an author, as well. Even wrote down my pen name. Anyways, I had to remind some of them that knew, and explain to the ones that didn't. They took it in stride, which was nice. Felt I had to explain why I don't call my parent mom, since they kept referring to her that way around me. They seemed to understand. There was a lot of food I could have. Most of it was homemade. A couple of pasta salads, potato salad, salad greens, bread, and a few other things for the dinner part. My parent made cherry clafoutis for dessert. It's like cherries in a thick pancake/crepe cake thing. She made it last year. It was way too much for 2 people, so why not make it for a potluck instead? Strawberry rhubarb pie, a thick brownie, pocky, chocolates, and I think a couple of other things for dessert. Good stuff. Ended up talking a lot about Judaism. I was surprised people wanted to talk about it for as long as we did. They told me they were very fascinated by it. I try to educate people if it comes up. Some people really don't know much about it. We also talked about politics towards the end, which was fun in a way.
Youtube:
One Piece:
One Punch Man:
Charlotte:
Black Clover:
Fairy Tail:
Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer):
Juuni Taisen (Zodiac War):
Gunjou no Magmel (Magmel of the Blue Sea):
Friday, July 12, 2019
National Pecan Pie Day!
I love pecan pie! Pecans are one of my fave nuts (walnuts are up there, too). The only downside to pecan pie now is I can't have whole or a lot of pieces of nuts. It's somewhat of a trigger food. They irritate the scarring in my colon. Sad that I'm supposedly in remission and still have to look out for that stuff. Maybe I can have it if it's the ground up filling. It's not the same, though. I'm happy for those that can enjoy it the way it should be.
For Dutch, I did all of the Pr. Per. 2 unit and some of Food 2 in Duolingo. The Food 2 one has been funny and interesting. Quite a few idioms. One of them translated to: You are a pancake! Apparently, this means the person's an idiot. They seem to have a thing for pancakes, too. There was another one that was kind of sad: I eat and sleep with mice. Haven't found anything on that one online, but it certainly sounds like one. Peanut butter is pindakaas. That's lit. peanut cheese. I was a little puzzled and grossed out by that and looked it up. There are a couple of reasons why they refer to it as cheese. They were introduced to a peanut product in Indonesia that looks and is sliced like cheese, before they heard about the modern day version of peanut butter. Another reason is they can't call something butter or boter if it doesn't have dairy. However, doesn't cheese normally have dairy? Someone asked in a forum about calling it pindapasta or peanut paste instead. They apparently use paste to refer to something sweet. Another person asked about the word for spread or smeer, and people agreed that would have been better. There's no reason why it shouldn't have been that way. I guess peanut butter's a mystery thing there.
Tasha decided to pee on my closet door/carpet under it a couple of days ago. She did it while standing, which was weirder. It threw me off. She doesn't usually throw up, pee, or poop in my room. Even to her it seems off limits. Once I yelled at her, she stopped, acted confused, and ran away. That makes me wonder if she's got something going on. She is the eldest at around 13 or 14 years old. Rosie's 3 years younger. She's peeing more often out of the box. I've seen 'evidence' on my bathroom floor often. I keep it closed, but it seeps in underneath the door. Anyways, I cleaned what she did to my closet floor with carpet cleaner. Ever since, she's been avoiding that area. That's a plus.
Even though I'm still in a lot of pain every day (not just in my wrists), I managed to sweep and clean my bathroom floor. It was so bad, I had to get on my hands and knees and scrub it with a sponge (that had Mister Clean) after I swept it. A mop wouldn't have helped. With the excess grime that came off, I used a towel to wipe it away. Now it looks nice and clean. I also got to cleaning the mirror. Pretty proud of myself for getting to all that. Hurt a lot afterwards, but it really needed to be done. The only reason it had been such a long time was because of my health. Hopefully, I can get the rest of the room done soon.
Youtube:
Bungou (Literary) Stray Dogs:
Black Clover:
For Dutch, I did all of the Pr. Per. 2 unit and some of Food 2 in Duolingo. The Food 2 one has been funny and interesting. Quite a few idioms. One of them translated to: You are a pancake! Apparently, this means the person's an idiot. They seem to have a thing for pancakes, too. There was another one that was kind of sad: I eat and sleep with mice. Haven't found anything on that one online, but it certainly sounds like one. Peanut butter is pindakaas. That's lit. peanut cheese. I was a little puzzled and grossed out by that and looked it up. There are a couple of reasons why they refer to it as cheese. They were introduced to a peanut product in Indonesia that looks and is sliced like cheese, before they heard about the modern day version of peanut butter. Another reason is they can't call something butter or boter if it doesn't have dairy. However, doesn't cheese normally have dairy? Someone asked in a forum about calling it pindapasta or peanut paste instead. They apparently use paste to refer to something sweet. Another person asked about the word for spread or smeer, and people agreed that would have been better. There's no reason why it shouldn't have been that way. I guess peanut butter's a mystery thing there.
Tasha decided to pee on my closet door/carpet under it a couple of days ago. She did it while standing, which was weirder. It threw me off. She doesn't usually throw up, pee, or poop in my room. Even to her it seems off limits. Once I yelled at her, she stopped, acted confused, and ran away. That makes me wonder if she's got something going on. She is the eldest at around 13 or 14 years old. Rosie's 3 years younger. She's peeing more often out of the box. I've seen 'evidence' on my bathroom floor often. I keep it closed, but it seeps in underneath the door. Anyways, I cleaned what she did to my closet floor with carpet cleaner. Ever since, she's been avoiding that area. That's a plus.
Even though I'm still in a lot of pain every day (not just in my wrists), I managed to sweep and clean my bathroom floor. It was so bad, I had to get on my hands and knees and scrub it with a sponge (that had Mister Clean) after I swept it. A mop wouldn't have helped. With the excess grime that came off, I used a towel to wipe it away. Now it looks nice and clean. I also got to cleaning the mirror. Pretty proud of myself for getting to all that. Hurt a lot afterwards, but it really needed to be done. The only reason it had been such a long time was because of my health. Hopefully, I can get the rest of the room done soon.
Youtube:
Bungou (Literary) Stray Dogs:
Black Clover:
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
4th Day of Pesach!
Tonight is the start of the 5th day of Pesach or Passover. I managed to cook (although I planned to not do as much as usual), prepare, set, and lead our family seder Friday night. Despite my health deteriorating. Felt accomplished afterwards. Even if it was just for my parent and I.
I roasted a beef marrow bone this time. Safeway had ran out of their soup bones (which is what I got last time), so I went to Central Market to see what they had. Felt a bit panicked that I wouldn't find a bone...They had them in the 'extra' meat section. Same place as the beef tongue, chicken schmaltz, chicken feet, organ meats, etc. It was easy to roast. I'm keeping it in the freezer so I could use it next year, too. Used to do that with an actual roasted lamb shank bone (that's traditionally what it's supposed to be) for years. It became petrified. Looked cool.
'Roasted' the egg for the plate by holding a hard-boiled egg with tongs over a stovetop burner's flames. Took longer than expected, but certainly not as long as putting it in the oven. Plus, I was able to monitor it better. Hard-boiled eggs in the oven can explode. I've only done that a couple of times.
We had the usual appetizers: hard-boiled eggs, matzo, and gefilte fish. I got a lot of hard-boiled eggs from Safeway, which made it so much easier. Made matzo ball soup. Used chicken broth instead of water, and added carrots, celery, and parsley. I should have used reduced sodium broth, because it ended up really salty. I like that, but it was on the verge of too much. There's a lot of sodium in the balls and soup flavoring mix. The matzo balls turned out just right. Fluffy, but with some structure to them.
We had roasted chicken, Pesach roasted garlic couscous, salad with craisins and shredded carrots, and Pesach popovers. I tried using the orange ginger sauce as a dressing, and the ginger was way too strong. I made 24 (2 batches) popovers this year. I know we'd have 2 at our seder, and our friends' seder the next night had 11 people. Just in case, I thought having 2 per person would be enough. I know that many people love them.
We broke into the dark chocolate seder plate, and I had a Pesach peppermint patty for dessert. That plate is just as impressive as last year. There were a few bad reviews of it on Amazon, saying and showing pics of it arriving broken up. Ours was fine. Totally intact. In fact, it was difficult to break. Makes me wonder if they broke it up themselves just to make a negative review. We have a lot more Pesach desserts. There's pound cake, chocolate covered macaroons, chocolate macaroons, large marshmallows, and fruit jelly slices. (I think that's all the others.) I don't think I've had Osem's pound cake flavor previously. I've had their marble and chocolate chip cakes. Every time they've been amazing! Somehow very moist, soft, and the flavor is perfect. Sometimes it tastes better than regular cake. It's like magic.
It was nice seeing everyone at the 2nd night's seder. Found out that one of the hosts' dogs had to be put down. She was having a lot of issues for a while. Both their dogs were/are big. It seemed kind of sad to only see Zoe, who's younger than the other one was. Hopefully, she has many more healthy years.
I brought up my health stuff there. I didn't really want to bring it up, but when asked what I'm up to right now...I was honest about trying to get this health stuff taken care of. I told them about the awful treatment I got during my upper endo/colonoscopy, and how weird that GI was. They were understanding about it. There was one person that seemed not very 'with it' about the sex and gender thing (he wasn't hateful, just confused about it), but seemed well-meaning and did feel awful about what happened to me. Still haven't written/filed a complaint about it. I also briefly touched on the other health stuff I'm going through. It seemed like they wanted me to elaborate, but I didn't want to go into more of that.
There was a lot of good stuff for the meal part. Last year, I remember not eating much of what was there. There were much fewer people, and a few things I either didn't like or would upset my gut. This year there were hard-boiled eggs, seemingly homemade gefilte fish (still had mini bones mixed in and didn't have that 'jarred' taste. I prefer the jarred ones more), matzo ball soup (theirs is never that great, always have to add so much salt), salad greens (we brought this, plus craisins and shredded carrots to mix in), Pesach popovers (obviously we brought these), cauliflower casserole thing, beef brisket, potato kugel (like a casserole), a fruit mix (pineapple, blueberries, grapes), Pesach chocolate chip cookies (the hostess makes these every year, and they're really addicting), fruit slices jelly candy, and Pesach peppermint patties.
I've kept up with eating kosher for Pesach stuff so far. Last year I ended it early, because we went to Leavenworth during the middle of it. Still have some ideas for meals and there are quite a bit of snacks as well as desserts. Most years I don't make it to the end of the holiday. It gets too difficult at a certain point. Plus, it's not the greatest for someone with digestive issues to keep it up for long. If I end it early, at least I kept it up for half the holiday.
I have an appointment to see my primary on Thursday. Yesterday I decided to make a list of my symptoms ordered from head to toe to prepare for it. I also went without Extra Strength Tylenol to see what it was like. Tylenol only takes the edge off. I'm still in a lot of pain while on it. I've been taking it for roughly a month straight, which isn't good. Might cause other issues later on if I continue to take 2 or 3 doses of it every day. I almost couldn't stand it when I was completely off of it. Noticed more things this way, too.
My eyelid rash is worse, and may have spread a little to my nose, top tips of my ears, and my scalp. The scalp one I'm really unsure about, but there are certain areas that if I just touch them, they burn. I feel the same sunburn burn feeling I have with the eyelid rash in those areas. Not very visible with those, but neither was the eyelid area for a while. Felt the pain long before I could actually see it.
My jaw joints feel really swollen. Somehow, I think that's affected my ears which are achy. My dysphagia is worse at times. Still taking Lansoprazole, and I don't notice any difference with that or the other gut stuff. I've been taking it since my follow-up with that GI. That was on the 9th. I've been very lightheaded, and have both chest and shoulder pain. I'm a little scared of that combo.
All my muscles are worse with the pain and weakness. I have a weird circular rough patch of skin near my elbow. Both wrists are worse than before. The left one (which was the first one to be in pain) has a lump that feels like it's filled with something. Both hands hurt; joints and muscles. The knuckles are swollen, too. I'm constantly nauseous. Sometimes it hurts to breathe. There's some spine pain. Every so often, I've had bright red blood come out of my butt. Not just a little. My parent thinks that the ones who performed my colonoscopy might have punctured something. I'm not so sure about that. That just doesn't seem right to me. If it's not, then why is it doing that? It is disturbing either way.
Looking up myositis again, I think a lot of my symptoms line up with dermatomyositis (dm) more than polymyositis (pm). The clear difference between them is one has skin-related signs, like rashes. Makes sense because 'derma' relates to skin. It's an inflammatory ('itis') skin ('dermato') and muscle ('myos') disease. Also, both dm and pm are rare autoimmune diseases. When I looked up dm, the pic that popped up next to the description looked like my eyelid rash. Makes me really lean towards that. I'm not a medical expert, but I'm oddly fascinated with learning about things I don't have answers for yet. Even if it's scary, I can't help but look into it. (Another possibility was lupus, but I highly doubt it.) I can always suggest that it might be this, also. If anything, they can test for it to eliminate that possibility. Oh, both dm and pm can cause arthritis. So, I could have both. Wahoo!
Whatever this is, it's getting worse every day. I thought about going to Urgent Care, but realized they wouldn't know what to do. Thought about going to the hospital, but I don't want to go there unless I'm on the verge of death. My mom passed away in the last local hospital I was in. That's enough of a turn-off. Plus, I've been hospitalized twice over a decade ago. It wasn't fun. (Constantly being called Princess and referred to as hon added to that.) Although, I remember one of those times the food was amazing! It would be scary if my primary suggests I go to the hospital after my appointment. If she does, I feel I wouldn't have much of a choice. The good sides to it would be they can ease my pain, monitor me, run a bunch of tests, and help me with whatever needs to be done right there. It's gotten to the point where it's hard to cope with. So, I don't know. Just need to make it to Thursday to see.
Got a new pillow recently. My really old one was beat up and didn't resemble a pillow anymore. The new one's a copper pillow. I didn't really care about that, but it was on sale, so why not? It's supposed to keep you cool, anti-microbial, and hypoallergenic. All I cared about was a sturdy fully stuffed pillow. It is, and it's pretty comfy. It lifts my head more than the other kind did in the past, but that's ok.
I accidentally stepped on Rosie's tail this past weekend. I immediately felt really bad about it. She got up and hissed at me. As soon as she did, Tasha jumped off the bed and attacked her. First time I saw her do that. Normally it's the other way around. Apparently she felt she needed to protect me after that hiss. It scared Rosie enough she ran downstairs and hissed more along the way. Tasha stopped a few steps down, came back to me, and demanded attention. Also, not the usual. I'll take it, though. Felt bad for Rosie. All of this happened so quickly.
I roasted a beef marrow bone this time. Safeway had ran out of their soup bones (which is what I got last time), so I went to Central Market to see what they had. Felt a bit panicked that I wouldn't find a bone...They had them in the 'extra' meat section. Same place as the beef tongue, chicken schmaltz, chicken feet, organ meats, etc. It was easy to roast. I'm keeping it in the freezer so I could use it next year, too. Used to do that with an actual roasted lamb shank bone (that's traditionally what it's supposed to be) for years. It became petrified. Looked cool.
'Roasted' the egg for the plate by holding a hard-boiled egg with tongs over a stovetop burner's flames. Took longer than expected, but certainly not as long as putting it in the oven. Plus, I was able to monitor it better. Hard-boiled eggs in the oven can explode. I've only done that a couple of times.
We had the usual appetizers: hard-boiled eggs, matzo, and gefilte fish. I got a lot of hard-boiled eggs from Safeway, which made it so much easier. Made matzo ball soup. Used chicken broth instead of water, and added carrots, celery, and parsley. I should have used reduced sodium broth, because it ended up really salty. I like that, but it was on the verge of too much. There's a lot of sodium in the balls and soup flavoring mix. The matzo balls turned out just right. Fluffy, but with some structure to them.
We had roasted chicken, Pesach roasted garlic couscous, salad with craisins and shredded carrots, and Pesach popovers. I tried using the orange ginger sauce as a dressing, and the ginger was way too strong. I made 24 (2 batches) popovers this year. I know we'd have 2 at our seder, and our friends' seder the next night had 11 people. Just in case, I thought having 2 per person would be enough. I know that many people love them.
We broke into the dark chocolate seder plate, and I had a Pesach peppermint patty for dessert. That plate is just as impressive as last year. There were a few bad reviews of it on Amazon, saying and showing pics of it arriving broken up. Ours was fine. Totally intact. In fact, it was difficult to break. Makes me wonder if they broke it up themselves just to make a negative review. We have a lot more Pesach desserts. There's pound cake, chocolate covered macaroons, chocolate macaroons, large marshmallows, and fruit jelly slices. (I think that's all the others.) I don't think I've had Osem's pound cake flavor previously. I've had their marble and chocolate chip cakes. Every time they've been amazing! Somehow very moist, soft, and the flavor is perfect. Sometimes it tastes better than regular cake. It's like magic.
It was nice seeing everyone at the 2nd night's seder. Found out that one of the hosts' dogs had to be put down. She was having a lot of issues for a while. Both their dogs were/are big. It seemed kind of sad to only see Zoe, who's younger than the other one was. Hopefully, she has many more healthy years.
I brought up my health stuff there. I didn't really want to bring it up, but when asked what I'm up to right now...I was honest about trying to get this health stuff taken care of. I told them about the awful treatment I got during my upper endo/colonoscopy, and how weird that GI was. They were understanding about it. There was one person that seemed not very 'with it' about the sex and gender thing (he wasn't hateful, just confused about it), but seemed well-meaning and did feel awful about what happened to me. Still haven't written/filed a complaint about it. I also briefly touched on the other health stuff I'm going through. It seemed like they wanted me to elaborate, but I didn't want to go into more of that.
There was a lot of good stuff for the meal part. Last year, I remember not eating much of what was there. There were much fewer people, and a few things I either didn't like or would upset my gut. This year there were hard-boiled eggs, seemingly homemade gefilte fish (still had mini bones mixed in and didn't have that 'jarred' taste. I prefer the jarred ones more), matzo ball soup (theirs is never that great, always have to add so much salt), salad greens (we brought this, plus craisins and shredded carrots to mix in), Pesach popovers (obviously we brought these), cauliflower casserole thing, beef brisket, potato kugel (like a casserole), a fruit mix (pineapple, blueberries, grapes), Pesach chocolate chip cookies (the hostess makes these every year, and they're really addicting), fruit slices jelly candy, and Pesach peppermint patties.
I've kept up with eating kosher for Pesach stuff so far. Last year I ended it early, because we went to Leavenworth during the middle of it. Still have some ideas for meals and there are quite a bit of snacks as well as desserts. Most years I don't make it to the end of the holiday. It gets too difficult at a certain point. Plus, it's not the greatest for someone with digestive issues to keep it up for long. If I end it early, at least I kept it up for half the holiday.
I have an appointment to see my primary on Thursday. Yesterday I decided to make a list of my symptoms ordered from head to toe to prepare for it. I also went without Extra Strength Tylenol to see what it was like. Tylenol only takes the edge off. I'm still in a lot of pain while on it. I've been taking it for roughly a month straight, which isn't good. Might cause other issues later on if I continue to take 2 or 3 doses of it every day. I almost couldn't stand it when I was completely off of it. Noticed more things this way, too.
My eyelid rash is worse, and may have spread a little to my nose, top tips of my ears, and my scalp. The scalp one I'm really unsure about, but there are certain areas that if I just touch them, they burn. I feel the same sunburn burn feeling I have with the eyelid rash in those areas. Not very visible with those, but neither was the eyelid area for a while. Felt the pain long before I could actually see it.
My jaw joints feel really swollen. Somehow, I think that's affected my ears which are achy. My dysphagia is worse at times. Still taking Lansoprazole, and I don't notice any difference with that or the other gut stuff. I've been taking it since my follow-up with that GI. That was on the 9th. I've been very lightheaded, and have both chest and shoulder pain. I'm a little scared of that combo.
All my muscles are worse with the pain and weakness. I have a weird circular rough patch of skin near my elbow. Both wrists are worse than before. The left one (which was the first one to be in pain) has a lump that feels like it's filled with something. Both hands hurt; joints and muscles. The knuckles are swollen, too. I'm constantly nauseous. Sometimes it hurts to breathe. There's some spine pain. Every so often, I've had bright red blood come out of my butt. Not just a little. My parent thinks that the ones who performed my colonoscopy might have punctured something. I'm not so sure about that. That just doesn't seem right to me. If it's not, then why is it doing that? It is disturbing either way.
Looking up myositis again, I think a lot of my symptoms line up with dermatomyositis (dm) more than polymyositis (pm). The clear difference between them is one has skin-related signs, like rashes. Makes sense because 'derma' relates to skin. It's an inflammatory ('itis') skin ('dermato') and muscle ('myos') disease. Also, both dm and pm are rare autoimmune diseases. When I looked up dm, the pic that popped up next to the description looked like my eyelid rash. Makes me really lean towards that. I'm not a medical expert, but I'm oddly fascinated with learning about things I don't have answers for yet. Even if it's scary, I can't help but look into it. (Another possibility was lupus, but I highly doubt it.) I can always suggest that it might be this, also. If anything, they can test for it to eliminate that possibility. Oh, both dm and pm can cause arthritis. So, I could have both. Wahoo!
Whatever this is, it's getting worse every day. I thought about going to Urgent Care, but realized they wouldn't know what to do. Thought about going to the hospital, but I don't want to go there unless I'm on the verge of death. My mom passed away in the last local hospital I was in. That's enough of a turn-off. Plus, I've been hospitalized twice over a decade ago. It wasn't fun. (Constantly being called Princess and referred to as hon added to that.) Although, I remember one of those times the food was amazing! It would be scary if my primary suggests I go to the hospital after my appointment. If she does, I feel I wouldn't have much of a choice. The good sides to it would be they can ease my pain, monitor me, run a bunch of tests, and help me with whatever needs to be done right there. It's gotten to the point where it's hard to cope with. So, I don't know. Just need to make it to Thursday to see.
Got a new pillow recently. My really old one was beat up and didn't resemble a pillow anymore. The new one's a copper pillow. I didn't really care about that, but it was on sale, so why not? It's supposed to keep you cool, anti-microbial, and hypoallergenic. All I cared about was a sturdy fully stuffed pillow. It is, and it's pretty comfy. It lifts my head more than the other kind did in the past, but that's ok.
I accidentally stepped on Rosie's tail this past weekend. I immediately felt really bad about it. She got up and hissed at me. As soon as she did, Tasha jumped off the bed and attacked her. First time I saw her do that. Normally it's the other way around. Apparently she felt she needed to protect me after that hiss. It scared Rosie enough she ran downstairs and hissed more along the way. Tasha stopped a few steps down, came back to me, and demanded attention. Also, not the usual. I'll take it, though. Felt bad for Rosie. All of this happened so quickly.
Friday, January 11, 2019
National Hot Tea Day!
This holiday's tomorrow, but I won't be posting that day. I love tea! Might have too much of it during the day...Most of the time, the only things I drink are water and tea. So, I'd rather have the 'flavored water' more often than plain. Hot tea is like a hot bath for your insides. So nice. I think it's helped my gut issues a little, too. Plus, there are so many different flavors and types. It's not as limited as some people think. I usually add Splenda to mine. It doesn't add any calories, yet sweetens it nicely. If it's something like chai, I might add a little milk.
Woke up feeling really weak and sick. Yesterday afternoon, I had really awful intestinal cramping. So bad I felt like I couldn't go on my 2-mile walk. When it's like that it's not just the pain, but I sometimes need to go to the bathroom more often. I didn't want to be stuck out there needing to go, but too far from home to make it in time. It lasted pretty much until I went to sleep. Halfway through the night, I felt like I had a massive deep wound on my side, and like I was bleeding profusely. I obviously didn't have a visible wound, but it made it harder to sleep than usual. I still have that stabbing searing pain. A bit scary. I know I'll likely go out later for groceries, so I'll have that as my 'walk' for the day. There are restrooms at both grocery stores near us, so it's safer for me that way. I don't like these recent symptoms. Reminds me too much of how things were when I was diagnosed. There are some differences, at least.
Managed to get to most things I hadn't gotten to in a very long time. Even longer for doing them on a daily basis. Yay! Makes me feel a bit happier, even if my body's feeling worse...I realized I could be more flexible with the time I spend doing them. They don't have to be set. If I get up late, I can do half or quarter of the time I normally would. I'd still get to them.
I've also been trying to be healthier with things. Kept up with being more strict with my diet. (I can eat as much as I want starting tonight! Wahoo!) I was pretty bad about brushing my teeth regularly. Now that I have this week, they feel a lot healthier. I'll try to floss more next week. I've stuck to setting my alarm to 8 1/2 or 9 hours from when I get in bed. That's felt a lot better, too. I wake up a lot through out the night, but at least I try to shoot for a longer amount of time sleeping this way.
It was a bit difficult at first to keep away from social media, but I managed to pull it off this week. It's been nice. I can focus on a lot more things. I know I can catch up on some of it this weekend. People might get flooded with things I share on fb, but it's my page. (They might get a lot of likes, too.) I've also thought about sharing my faves from dA on fb. A lot of the art I've seen lately on fb hasn't been that great. They haven't felt shareable, at least.
I'll try to be more active on the forums, too. Speaking of which, my response to 2 threads recently on AVEN has gotten more reacts than usual for me. One was asking about what it's like to be a sex-repulsed ace, since their main character in their novel is. I'm a weird mix. Being sex-repulsed, sex-positive, and really curious about it. Only repulsed when it's directed at me or is in very graphic detail. Sex-positive, meaning I'm for sex ed, talking and joking about it (I've been told that I have the 'dirtiest' mind), and having as much or as little sex as people want with consenting adult partners. Curious about the sensation, I guess. (For lack of a better word...) I find sex in media a waste of time often. Like the people who created it lack creativity, and added sex scenes to fill time. I'm ok if it's implied. I don't have to sit through it. I usually look away when they show it. I'm ok with seeing people nude in a non-sexual way in media, too. Got a lot of likes for this one, and some commented that they agreed with me. Often sex-repulsed aces are thought of in a certain way, when we're really all different. We're not innocent and naive little beings, either. (We're infantalized often. More so than other aces.) I hope this helped them with their character.
Another thread was in the gender section. Someone asked us to describe our gender without just saying what the label is. So, not just saying agender for me. I thought my response might have been too long, and didn't expect any response. I had even more likes for it...Maybe because I went into detail with how I feel? Maybe because I went into what I was thinking when I was trying to figure it out? One question kept coming up for me: What does it feel like to be a woman or a man? I can see it in other people, but nothing's there for me. Not even slightly masculine or feminine. I asked other people about it hoping for insight. The answers were either vague or I couldn't relate. That's just a snippet of what I mentioned.
Tasha's still been sleeping on my bed during the day. Sometimes at night, too. She's getting used to me slipping into bed next to her at night, in order to watch things on my phone under the nice warm heated blanket. Her fave spot is close to my pillow, which seems a bit odd. She hasn't been throwing up as often as before. In fact, I don't think she has since she's staked out my bed. She actually purred loud enough for me to hear today. Usually it's very softly and I have to put an ear to her side in order to hear. She seems so much happier. Nice to see. A couple of nights ago, I actually had both cats with me on the bed as I watched things. I love seeing 2 happy cats. It was so cute and heartwarming. Haven't had 2 cats with me at the same time while in bed in a very long time. Of course, Tasha didn't stay for long.
Youtube (I might make Friday a YT day, if I've found vids in between):
Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler):
Naruto Shippuden:
Fairy Tail:
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
One Piece:
D.Gray-man:
Woke up feeling really weak and sick. Yesterday afternoon, I had really awful intestinal cramping. So bad I felt like I couldn't go on my 2-mile walk. When it's like that it's not just the pain, but I sometimes need to go to the bathroom more often. I didn't want to be stuck out there needing to go, but too far from home to make it in time. It lasted pretty much until I went to sleep. Halfway through the night, I felt like I had a massive deep wound on my side, and like I was bleeding profusely. I obviously didn't have a visible wound, but it made it harder to sleep than usual. I still have that stabbing searing pain. A bit scary. I know I'll likely go out later for groceries, so I'll have that as my 'walk' for the day. There are restrooms at both grocery stores near us, so it's safer for me that way. I don't like these recent symptoms. Reminds me too much of how things were when I was diagnosed. There are some differences, at least.
Managed to get to most things I hadn't gotten to in a very long time. Even longer for doing them on a daily basis. Yay! Makes me feel a bit happier, even if my body's feeling worse...I realized I could be more flexible with the time I spend doing them. They don't have to be set. If I get up late, I can do half or quarter of the time I normally would. I'd still get to them.
I've also been trying to be healthier with things. Kept up with being more strict with my diet. (I can eat as much as I want starting tonight! Wahoo!) I was pretty bad about brushing my teeth regularly. Now that I have this week, they feel a lot healthier. I'll try to floss more next week. I've stuck to setting my alarm to 8 1/2 or 9 hours from when I get in bed. That's felt a lot better, too. I wake up a lot through out the night, but at least I try to shoot for a longer amount of time sleeping this way.
It was a bit difficult at first to keep away from social media, but I managed to pull it off this week. It's been nice. I can focus on a lot more things. I know I can catch up on some of it this weekend. People might get flooded with things I share on fb, but it's my page. (They might get a lot of likes, too.) I've also thought about sharing my faves from dA on fb. A lot of the art I've seen lately on fb hasn't been that great. They haven't felt shareable, at least.
I'll try to be more active on the forums, too. Speaking of which, my response to 2 threads recently on AVEN has gotten more reacts than usual for me. One was asking about what it's like to be a sex-repulsed ace, since their main character in their novel is. I'm a weird mix. Being sex-repulsed, sex-positive, and really curious about it. Only repulsed when it's directed at me or is in very graphic detail. Sex-positive, meaning I'm for sex ed, talking and joking about it (I've been told that I have the 'dirtiest' mind), and having as much or as little sex as people want with consenting adult partners. Curious about the sensation, I guess. (For lack of a better word...) I find sex in media a waste of time often. Like the people who created it lack creativity, and added sex scenes to fill time. I'm ok if it's implied. I don't have to sit through it. I usually look away when they show it. I'm ok with seeing people nude in a non-sexual way in media, too. Got a lot of likes for this one, and some commented that they agreed with me. Often sex-repulsed aces are thought of in a certain way, when we're really all different. We're not innocent and naive little beings, either. (We're infantalized often. More so than other aces.) I hope this helped them with their character.
Another thread was in the gender section. Someone asked us to describe our gender without just saying what the label is. So, not just saying agender for me. I thought my response might have been too long, and didn't expect any response. I had even more likes for it...Maybe because I went into detail with how I feel? Maybe because I went into what I was thinking when I was trying to figure it out? One question kept coming up for me: What does it feel like to be a woman or a man? I can see it in other people, but nothing's there for me. Not even slightly masculine or feminine. I asked other people about it hoping for insight. The answers were either vague or I couldn't relate. That's just a snippet of what I mentioned.
Tasha's still been sleeping on my bed during the day. Sometimes at night, too. She's getting used to me slipping into bed next to her at night, in order to watch things on my phone under the nice warm heated blanket. Her fave spot is close to my pillow, which seems a bit odd. She hasn't been throwing up as often as before. In fact, I don't think she has since she's staked out my bed. She actually purred loud enough for me to hear today. Usually it's very softly and I have to put an ear to her side in order to hear. She seems so much happier. Nice to see. A couple of nights ago, I actually had both cats with me on the bed as I watched things. I love seeing 2 happy cats. It was so cute and heartwarming. Haven't had 2 cats with me at the same time while in bed in a very long time. Of course, Tasha didn't stay for long.
Youtube (I might make Friday a YT day, if I've found vids in between):
Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler):
Naruto Shippuden:
Fairy Tail:
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
One Piece:
D.Gray-man:
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
National Pet Day!
Mood:
This holiday was on Monday, but I think we should celebrate them every day. Yay for pets!
They're amazing! We have 2 cats, Rosie and Tasha. Rosie is a tortoiseshell tabby with an attitude, and Tasha (short for Natasha) is a Turkish Van who seems to have some dog-like tendencies. Tasha also has very soft rabbit-like fur, and large paws.
It'd be awesome if someday they ended up buddies. Yesterday was Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. One of my fave sandwiches! I haven't had a good one in a long time.
My gastroenterologist responded to the email about me being frustrated, on Monday. I think I kind of scared her, but I voiced what's been on my mind before and how I felt about certain things after I saw her last Monday.
(I always try to be as polite as possible about stuff like this, though.) I feel, especially with something like this, that I should ask questions, stick up for myself, etc. I'm basically my own advocate. Except, I still don't feel I know much about what I have.
I've been really frustrated about the diagnosis lately. Do I have Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis? Seems like it'd be good to know. They are sometimes treated differently. She has been very hesitant to say either of them. She responded by saying sometimes it's difficult to know for sure which one. She also brought up how looking at my colonoscopy back from the end of July, suggested Crohn's. Since the inflammation was seen throughout the entire colon, and was less severe in the rectum. Apparently, the inflammation is most severe in the rectum with UC. (She also didn't bring up how my stomach and duodenum were slightly affected in the endoscopy part.
Another sign that suggests Crohn's.) She brought up that IBD test from back in August that indicated UC. So, as of right now, she can't be 100% sure. So, why was I diagnosed with UC in my after visit summary that Monday? Why did the results from my sigmoidoscopy come back saying there was no sign of UC? That specific wording.
I could see it'd be more understandable if they said there was no colitis that showed up in the biopsy, but to specifically be talking about UC...If unsure, why not use colitis or other terms that were used to describe it in the past? After reading that she can't tell for sure still, Monday's appointment seems even weirder to me.
She mentioned that hair loss could be a lack of adequate amounts of protein. She said this before when my hair first came out in large chunks.
I had asked her back then if she could recommend a nutritionist who deals with people who have IBD. Preferably someone local. She never got back to me on that. This time she said she'll ask my primary if there are any locally for me. If my primary doesn't know of any, she'll tell me about ones across the water. (At least she didn't ignore it this time.
) She also asked if I was taking a multivitamin. I am, but I don't think that would help with my protein...
She said if I have additional questions, we can schedule a phone appointment to discuss. Sometimes, not often, it's hard to hear what she says because of her accent. Talking on the phone kind of makes it more difficult than just emailing her.
She asked at the very end how I was doing with Miralax. I hate this stuff.
The first day or two was alright. I wasn't crazy about it, and it made the iced green tea that it was in sweeter. I thought ok, having it slightly sweeter I'm somewhat ok with. It's been tasting more and more similar to that nasty laxative I had to take for the colonoscopy/endoscopy. (I couldn't keep that stuff down too well.) It's certainly not nearly as bad, but I'm getting a slightly familiar taste.
Maybe I haven't been stirring it up all the way lately? Although, I've been stirring it until it runs clear. Anyways, its been turning my stomach a bit lately. Each dose has a lot of powder. Everyone seemed to be raving about this stuff. I don't think it's that great so far. I almost threw up after having it the last couple of mornings. It's not really helping with my constipation, either. I've just been feeling more and more stuffed over time. Eventually something's going to burst...
At least, that's how it feels. I still think it's a partial obstruction, or maybe it's specifically a stricture. They can happen often with Crohn's. I've read that laxatives might actually make it worse. So, I don't know.
I have an appointment with my primary care doc this afternoon. Maybe I can bring this up with her. I feel like something is wrong, but my gastro is shrugging it off. (It seems this way, anyways.) Especially after the test results came back better a few weeks ago. I'll ask her about the nutritionist, too. I might do my next blood draw while I'm there. Maybe it'll indicate something towards why I feel this way.
Also, my stomach's been hurting in general a lot lately. It started hurting more just before starting Miralax. It's gotten to the point where I look at food and wonder if it'll cause me more pain.
I don't think I've had such bad stomach pain for so long. I've been eating a lot less lately. It wasn't like I was eating a lot on a regular basis beforehand. Maybe talking to my primary about it will jump start something for it.
Pesach or Passover is coming up quickly. It starts the night of the 22nd. Our friends are doing theirs on the 2nd night. So, we'll have a family one for the 1st night. Sometimes, the order is flipped. I think the last few years it's been the same, though. I still think just having Dad and I will be good for our seder.
Laid back, less cooking, etc. Although, I do like when there are guests. It's a different sort of atmosphere.
Yesterday, I finally got around to some planning and figuring out what to make for it. I think for a 'special' dessert for our seder I'm going to make a kosher for Pesach angel food cake with some chocolate glaze drizzled over it. Sounds good.
The cake mix has been sitting for a while. It's never been opened, but I should finally get to it. The chocolate glaze will be from a recipe I found online. It's originally made for donuts, but they said it's good for cakes, too. It's not labelled specifically as a kosher for Pesach recipe, but it could be. It's only about 4 ingredients. All of them are ok for Pesach normally. It might also take any off taste from the cake away. Sometimes kosher for Pesach cakes can have a slightly strange aftertaste, and occasionally be a bit grainy. The chocolate might help with that, if that's the case.
I think our friends will ask me to make popovers for theirs. Last time I didn't make enough. Hopefully, they'll tell me how many people are going beforehand. I'm thinking of making 3 batches. 2 for their seder, and 1 for ours. Each batch has about 12 popovers. If they tell me that there will be more people, I'll try to make more. But, that's an awful lot.
They cook and cool quickly, at least. I don't really know why people like them so much. I like them, but some people go crazy over them every time I bring them. Last time they also asked for a salad or vegetable.
Found 2 interesting recipes from my The New Kosher for Passover Cookbook. It's not really new anymore. I think it was put out by an Orthodox Jewish women's group. They're recipes compiled from their members. Some are a bit strange, but others look really good and straightforward. One of the recipes I might make is Gulyas soup. Gulyas is another way of saying goulash. It sounds really tasty.
Has some garlicky sweet and sour stuff going on. The other recipe is a fisherman's stew. It sounds very filling. Its got fish, potatoes, onions, green bell peppers, tomatoes, and a few other things. Not traditionally the way most people think is a fisherman's stew. Most think of a non-kosher way. They don't specify what kind of fish, so I'm assuming it doesn't really matter. We have salmon, so I might use that. Although, if we want a white fish, maybe cod or tilapia would be better.
I'm not going to cook a lot from cookbooks this year, because I feel a lot weaker lately.
I'm hoping I can get to these 2. I might make a matzah pizza, too. That won't be from a recipe. It's also easy to throw a few ingredients on top and heat it up. It might have spaghetti sauce (this one seems ok for Pesach), mozzarella (still have quite a bit), some dried basil, maybe some garlic, maybe a few vegetables, etc. Could have fun with it.
I'll make kosher for Pesach granola for the breakfasts. This stuff is awesome!
I think it would actually be great year-round. But, it wouldn't feel like it's a special holiday food that way. It's very simple to make. One batch makes a lot. Usually more than 8 servings. So, it tends to last for a while after the holiday. I like that it's from scratch, simple, and doesn't have many ingredients. Also, that it's like candy and doesn't disintegrate in milk (unlike most store-bought Pesach cereals).
Also, the seder plate will be slightly different this year. I had to throw out the lamb shank we had in the freezer when it stopped working. We had used that same bone for years. I think it ended up being around 14 years. It was petrified by then and looked cool. So, I'll have to find something to replace it. I think I saw chicken neck bones at a local market. I could roast one of those in the oven. Another option is some people put a roasted beet in place of it. That would be interesting, too. Some feel that it's best not to use a bone, thinking that we should be different and not recreate the ritual sacrifices that we might have done in the past. Also, some are vegetarian or vegan, and its been a good alternative for them. So, I'm still debating which one to use.
The beet might be easier, though.
Should be interesting to see how the holiday food will affect my gut. First Pesach after being diagnosed. It'd be funny if the food actually helps me, and I feel a lot better.
Kind of an experiment that way.
This holiday was on Monday, but I think we should celebrate them every day. Yay for pets!
They're amazing! We have 2 cats, Rosie and Tasha. Rosie is a tortoiseshell tabby with an attitude, and Tasha (short for Natasha) is a Turkish Van who seems to have some dog-like tendencies. Tasha also has very soft rabbit-like fur, and large paws.It'd be awesome if someday they ended up buddies. Yesterday was Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. One of my fave sandwiches! I haven't had a good one in a long time.My gastroenterologist responded to the email about me being frustrated, on Monday. I think I kind of scared her, but I voiced what's been on my mind before and how I felt about certain things after I saw her last Monday.
(I always try to be as polite as possible about stuff like this, though.) I feel, especially with something like this, that I should ask questions, stick up for myself, etc. I'm basically my own advocate. Except, I still don't feel I know much about what I have.I've been really frustrated about the diagnosis lately. Do I have Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis? Seems like it'd be good to know. They are sometimes treated differently. She has been very hesitant to say either of them. She responded by saying sometimes it's difficult to know for sure which one. She also brought up how looking at my colonoscopy back from the end of July, suggested Crohn's. Since the inflammation was seen throughout the entire colon, and was less severe in the rectum. Apparently, the inflammation is most severe in the rectum with UC. (She also didn't bring up how my stomach and duodenum were slightly affected in the endoscopy part.Another sign that suggests Crohn's.) She brought up that IBD test from back in August that indicated UC. So, as of right now, she can't be 100% sure. So, why was I diagnosed with UC in my after visit summary that Monday? Why did the results from my sigmoidoscopy come back saying there was no sign of UC? That specific wording.I could see it'd be more understandable if they said there was no colitis that showed up in the biopsy, but to specifically be talking about UC...If unsure, why not use colitis or other terms that were used to describe it in the past? After reading that she can't tell for sure still, Monday's appointment seems even weirder to me. She mentioned that hair loss could be a lack of adequate amounts of protein. She said this before when my hair first came out in large chunks.
I had asked her back then if she could recommend a nutritionist who deals with people who have IBD. Preferably someone local. She never got back to me on that. This time she said she'll ask my primary if there are any locally for me. If my primary doesn't know of any, she'll tell me about ones across the water. (At least she didn't ignore it this time.) She also asked if I was taking a multivitamin. I am, but I don't think that would help with my protein...She said if I have additional questions, we can schedule a phone appointment to discuss. Sometimes, not often, it's hard to hear what she says because of her accent. Talking on the phone kind of makes it more difficult than just emailing her.She asked at the very end how I was doing with Miralax. I hate this stuff.
The first day or two was alright. I wasn't crazy about it, and it made the iced green tea that it was in sweeter. I thought ok, having it slightly sweeter I'm somewhat ok with. It's been tasting more and more similar to that nasty laxative I had to take for the colonoscopy/endoscopy. (I couldn't keep that stuff down too well.) It's certainly not nearly as bad, but I'm getting a slightly familiar taste.Maybe I haven't been stirring it up all the way lately? Although, I've been stirring it until it runs clear. Anyways, its been turning my stomach a bit lately. Each dose has a lot of powder. Everyone seemed to be raving about this stuff. I don't think it's that great so far. I almost threw up after having it the last couple of mornings. It's not really helping with my constipation, either. I've just been feeling more and more stuffed over time. Eventually something's going to burst...At least, that's how it feels. I still think it's a partial obstruction, or maybe it's specifically a stricture. They can happen often with Crohn's. I've read that laxatives might actually make it worse. So, I don't know. I have an appointment with my primary care doc this afternoon. Maybe I can bring this up with her. I feel like something is wrong, but my gastro is shrugging it off. (It seems this way, anyways.) Especially after the test results came back better a few weeks ago. I'll ask her about the nutritionist, too. I might do my next blood draw while I'm there. Maybe it'll indicate something towards why I feel this way.
Also, my stomach's been hurting in general a lot lately. It started hurting more just before starting Miralax. It's gotten to the point where I look at food and wonder if it'll cause me more pain.
I don't think I've had such bad stomach pain for so long. I've been eating a lot less lately. It wasn't like I was eating a lot on a regular basis beforehand. Maybe talking to my primary about it will jump start something for it. Pesach or Passover is coming up quickly. It starts the night of the 22nd. Our friends are doing theirs on the 2nd night. So, we'll have a family one for the 1st night. Sometimes, the order is flipped. I think the last few years it's been the same, though. I still think just having Dad and I will be good for our seder.
Laid back, less cooking, etc. Although, I do like when there are guests. It's a different sort of atmosphere. Yesterday, I finally got around to some planning and figuring out what to make for it. I think for a 'special' dessert for our seder I'm going to make a kosher for Pesach angel food cake with some chocolate glaze drizzled over it. Sounds good.
The cake mix has been sitting for a while. It's never been opened, but I should finally get to it. The chocolate glaze will be from a recipe I found online. It's originally made for donuts, but they said it's good for cakes, too. It's not labelled specifically as a kosher for Pesach recipe, but it could be. It's only about 4 ingredients. All of them are ok for Pesach normally. It might also take any off taste from the cake away. Sometimes kosher for Pesach cakes can have a slightly strange aftertaste, and occasionally be a bit grainy. The chocolate might help with that, if that's the case. I think our friends will ask me to make popovers for theirs. Last time I didn't make enough. Hopefully, they'll tell me how many people are going beforehand. I'm thinking of making 3 batches. 2 for their seder, and 1 for ours. Each batch has about 12 popovers. If they tell me that there will be more people, I'll try to make more. But, that's an awful lot.
They cook and cool quickly, at least. I don't really know why people like them so much. I like them, but some people go crazy over them every time I bring them. Last time they also asked for a salad or vegetable. Found 2 interesting recipes from my The New Kosher for Passover Cookbook. It's not really new anymore. I think it was put out by an Orthodox Jewish women's group. They're recipes compiled from their members. Some are a bit strange, but others look really good and straightforward. One of the recipes I might make is Gulyas soup. Gulyas is another way of saying goulash. It sounds really tasty.
Has some garlicky sweet and sour stuff going on. The other recipe is a fisherman's stew. It sounds very filling. Its got fish, potatoes, onions, green bell peppers, tomatoes, and a few other things. Not traditionally the way most people think is a fisherman's stew. Most think of a non-kosher way. They don't specify what kind of fish, so I'm assuming it doesn't really matter. We have salmon, so I might use that. Although, if we want a white fish, maybe cod or tilapia would be better. I'm not going to cook a lot from cookbooks this year, because I feel a lot weaker lately.
I'm hoping I can get to these 2. I might make a matzah pizza, too. That won't be from a recipe. It's also easy to throw a few ingredients on top and heat it up. It might have spaghetti sauce (this one seems ok for Pesach), mozzarella (still have quite a bit), some dried basil, maybe some garlic, maybe a few vegetables, etc. Could have fun with it. I'll make kosher for Pesach granola for the breakfasts. This stuff is awesome!
I think it would actually be great year-round. But, it wouldn't feel like it's a special holiday food that way. It's very simple to make. One batch makes a lot. Usually more than 8 servings. So, it tends to last for a while after the holiday. I like that it's from scratch, simple, and doesn't have many ingredients. Also, that it's like candy and doesn't disintegrate in milk (unlike most store-bought Pesach cereals). Also, the seder plate will be slightly different this year. I had to throw out the lamb shank we had in the freezer when it stopped working. We had used that same bone for years. I think it ended up being around 14 years. It was petrified by then and looked cool. So, I'll have to find something to replace it. I think I saw chicken neck bones at a local market. I could roast one of those in the oven. Another option is some people put a roasted beet in place of it. That would be interesting, too. Some feel that it's best not to use a bone, thinking that we should be different and not recreate the ritual sacrifices that we might have done in the past. Also, some are vegetarian or vegan, and its been a good alternative for them. So, I'm still debating which one to use.
The beet might be easier, though. Should be interesting to see how the holiday food will affect my gut. First Pesach after being diagnosed. It'd be funny if the food actually helps me, and I feel a lot better.
Kind of an experiment that way.
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