I've had some interesting discoveries over the last month. For a long time now I have had wrist problems where twisting and using pressure hurts. Sometimes just typing and using the mouse at work hurts. I can't do the dishes any more because that REALLY makes them sore. On top of that I have been having more hip, knee, and ankle joint pains lately. Additionally, when Matt commented about how my hands are cold all the time I started doing some research on why I seem to be abnormally cold a lot. In the end I discovered I have the majority of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. This includes the sensitivity to the cold, joint issues, brain fog, acne, etc. The brain fog is a huge pain - for example I went to the doctor to talk about my wrists mainly and ended up forgetting to talk about them and only talked about my hormone issues! I feel as if I am some 50+ woman with developing Alzheimer's! I had multiple blood tests done and apparently I am 100% normal. Only one test came back positive which suggested I have psoriatic arthritis in my wrists and I need to see a specialist. I'm glad I don't have any serious hormone issues, but it is frustrating when I have so many abnormal symptoms (for me at least) and yet there is no clear reason why. The next step is to see a naturopath and a rheumatoid specialist.
My other discovery was that selling on Ebay is not always easy. I did two auctions for my old computer and the first time someone "accidentally" purchased it so I had to cancel. The second try the person who won never paid so I had to cancel the sale again. The third try I just did buy it now with immediate payment and that finally worked out. Geez!
October has been an eventful month! Here are the highlights:
General Conference for the church
- The two days we had for conference were entertaining. I enjoyed working on my puzzle for the Saturday Sessions.
- The Sunday Matt and I arranged to take a new member to the stake centre for General Conference. (he is 65 but long years of work and smoking makes him look like 80). After the first session we had to meet with one of the stake presidency to get our temple recommends renewed. When we returned to the seat, the old man was gone! Although he moves slow we couldn't find him! Eventually we gave up and joined some friends for lunch. We ended up making some new friends so I was glad we went. When we got back in the chapel for the second session the guy was back. Apparently he just went on a walk. Ironically this is the second time we have lost someone at that building.
Car Repairs
- I finally got my car to the shop (it had to be done before I could renew my registration). It was about $1000 for all the repairs, but I figured as much. There were a lot of things that were to the point of the car having a BIG problem. I'm glad I went when I did!
Breakfast in the Park
- We had a fun activity for church where we ate breakfast in a nearby park. We made bacon and egg sandwiches and hashbrowns. Matt had to use his painting tools to help clean off the BBQ, but it all worked out in the end. We played a bit of sports afterwards before everyone went home. It was a lot of fun.
Mexican Fiesta
- The Stake planned a Mexican themed youth dance last month and asked our ward youth to coordinate the food. This would have been fine if they had given me more than 1-2 weeks to plan it. I was very stressed getting it all sorted, but due to some AMAZING members we were able to have everything sorted for "build your own nachos."
What we didn't expect was that few of the youth new how to make the nachos since the majority are polynesians. We started creating the bowls with the chips, meat, salsa, cheese, and sour cream and slowly but surely more and more would disappear. In the end we still had about half the amount of food left. The Mexican sister in my ward even made some traditional Mexican cakes as well and few were willing to try something new like that. The brownies were gone quickly of course. Luckily we got rid of all the leftover food by the following Sunday after church.
Hanging out with Friends
- We went to a house-warming BBQ for our friends Mike & Erika Barnett at their new home. It was a lot of fun and there were heaps of people there. The following day we got to hang out with them again at a friend's place to play games. It was loads of fun and I made another new friend! - Another week I went by myself to the Barnett's for a small get together and we all brought some cheese and snacks. As usual it was great and it made me hope for some day where I can have a great place to have people over and hopefully I can be just as good of hosts. Lately I feel like anything I try to host flops.
Halloween
- We did pumpkin carving with the youth which I learned that what I think is simple may not be simple for someone who didn't grow up doing it. The youth did a great job regardless.
- We had a Trunk or Treat activity organised outside the chapel on Halloween. It was awesome to see so many people in costumes and the trunk "boot" decorations were great. We didn't have any great decorating plans so we packed the car with stuffed animals and the pumpkins we had carved. I thought our "trump" card would be that we brought our cat, but he was too scared with everything so we left him in the car.
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| Our Car - It's so Cute it's SCARY |
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| In case you can't tell - it's a spaceship |
November is an insanely busy month. Between church meetings, organising the next church Christmas activity, work, social visits, and other plans we've had for a while, it's no wonder I am struggling to finish this blog!!
Matilda
- Matt has been busy working 12+ hour days, but he made sure to make time for the musical which we had book months in advance. It was AMAZING! The songs were very clever and fun, the actors were spectacular, and the script was full of good humour. Even non-musical fans would enjoy it. There were some differences to the movie of course, whether you have or haven't seen the movie the musical can certainly stand alone. I definitely would recommend it to everyone.
Melbourne Cup
- Every year there is the Melbourne Cup horse race which has often been called "the race that stops the nation." At work we get pizzas for lunch, do an office sweeps and watch the race together. It was my first time ever watching the race so I even bothered to dress up a bit. I ran the sweeps and we all put in $2 to draw a horse name out of the hat. It made it more fun since I suddenly had a horse to cheer for. This year was amazing because the horse that won had odds of 100:1 at the start, meaning that it had minimal chances of winning (click here for results). Additionally, it was the only female jockey in the race! Not quite your Secretariat type of story, but it was a historical moment and I'm glad my work provides an opportunity to watch.
Baby Blankets
- More to come on baby blankets. I have worked with the youth at two mutuals to make baby blankets and have determined that sewing is not their forte. I need to finish them all up at this stage and there are lots of little issues. Let's just say that I hope the owner's can appreciate the evident home made look to the blankets.
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| Well I know Shade likes the Baby Blankets! |
