Lots of Rain and Pain

Currently Reading

I haven't been feeling so hot so for several days I've been unable to do much.  I've been trying to read a book but just keep reading the same lines over and over.  I'm in a reading group on paperbackswap.com where we pick a book that has been on our TBR list the longest and get it read.  I chose At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon.  I really have no idea why it has taken me so long to read it.  I was having such a hard time focusing that I tried listening to the audiobook but I keep spacing out.  When that happens I just have to quit trying and get some rest or I just stare into outer space for a while and gather some wool. 

I did manage to sneak out to get my hair done but I nearly slept through it.  My appointment was at 4:15 pm but I was still sleeping when my husband came home at 4 pm.  He woke me up and I quickly jumped up and got dressed.  I splashed water on my face and did the minimum required things and ran out the door... went back to get my glasses and then was off.  I sat there and zoned out while my hair stylist made me look beautiful.  She has special powers and always makes me feel better by the time I leave her presence. 

I am hoping it will stop raining soon.  Well, it isn't raining all the time and we have been having some beautiful sunshiny days but if it rains in the afternoon or evening my Fibromyalgia and/or Psoriatic Arthritis flares up.  Even if it doesn't rain right where I live but is raining in the distance I will flare up.  My muscles in my left shoulder get real tight and painful and I got this area that feels like a tight, knotted up muscle behind my shoulder blade where I can't reach.  I have to take a muscle relaxer which puts me to sleep for most of the day and that helps but then it rains again and it comes right back.  I just keep listening to Boxcar Willie singing You are my Sunshine and hoping for nothing but sunshine.  That's one of my all time favorite songs. 

~DJ

A happy November

In October my sister told me about the Keto diet.  She and her husband had been doing it and they had both lost a lot of weight.  I was feeling really bad right then so I told her I'd look into it but I was very skeptical.  Then I heard my brother was doing it to and had lost 70 lbs!  My sister said it was supposed to help reduce inflammation and thought it might be able to help me.  I'm always so skeptical about these things.  People are mostly out to make money and profit off of people who are suffering.  After I talked to my sister I kept hearing more about it and did some googling.  I finally found a site that outlined what you can and can't eat.  While you can't eat bread, sugar, fruits etc you can have fatty stuff like meat and bacon.  I like veggies so that's not a problem.  Once I realized I could eat food I liked I decided to give it a try.  I started on November 1st.  Now it is the last day of November and I have lost 12 lbs!  I've lost 1.2 % body fat and my lean muscle mass has increased by 16.3%.  I've lost 4.5 inches off my waist. I even lost 1.25 inches from my neck!  I still have a long way to go so I really hope I have the will power.  Thanksgiving and my birthday sure were hard.  

For Thanksgiving I had planned out some yummy stuff for me to eat but it was still hard seeing the pies and corn on the cob etc.  I love corn!  Then my husband went to a poker party and we ended up with one of those assortments of cheese cake in our fridge.  OMG!  I was so so close to just wolfing one of those down.  I even had it in my hand but then I looked at the label and knew how bad it would set me back.  I put it away and put something in front of it to block it.  I've been bribing my kids to eat it.

Earlier in the month, I decided I wanted a new hair do to go with my new me.  My gray was starting to show at the roots and my cut had grown out.  My bangs were past my ear.  I saw a music video and liked the highlights the woman had.  I looked through lots of pictures before I finally decided on what I wanted.  It wasn't really like any of the pictures so I ended up explaining it to my stylist, who is amazing, and she did a perfect job.  I'm allergic to PPD (p-phenylenediamine) so I have to be careful with hair color.  I had her just clean up my ends a little and kept my hair long with no bangs.  It feels really good to have a new hairstyle.  The color looks darker in this picture but there is gold and a warmer brown blended in with my normal color.  The gold doesn't show up in that picture for some reason.  

My birthday was Tuesday the 27th.  My husband bought ordered me a treadmill so I could walk during the winter when it's too cold and slick.  It arrived on the 28th so I've only had it a few days.  It's a nice one that folds up easily and lowers itself when you push this bar with your foot.  That's great because I hate having to rely on other people to do things for me.  Right now it is in my kitchen so we still have to find a better spot for it.  I think I'm going to move it over by out front window so I can look out the window while I walk.  

Anyway, I've had a good month.  I've still had some flare ups when it snows or the atmospheric pressure drops but for the most part I'm feeling better.  I didn't have a single IBS flare up this month which is crazy since they told me it was caused by eating fat.  I was avoiding fats and oils for a long time but still getting really sick about once a week.  I didn't even think about that when I started the Keto diet where you decrease your carbs and increase the FAT!  Sometimes my colon would start spasming on the right side and it was like watching a baby move in a pregnant woman's belly.  That also didn't happen this month.  One person thinks it could be that I'm not eating wheat anymore but I can't really be sure.  Whatever it is, I'm glad I'm doing better.  

DJ

New cooler hairstyle for summer

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

I got my hair done and added more purple this time.  My hairdresser mixes in a little magenta to make it show up more in my dark brown hair. My natural hair is the darkest brown before black. My mom's hair was black.  I also have a gray mixed in and it picks up the purple too. The first time I asked for just a few small highlights in the top area to see how I liked it.  They ended up being more magenta than purple. The next time I went in I asked her to adjust the color and I loved it.  It was a little too dark and just looked like all over color until I washed it a few times. This time I think she got the color just right and she now has my formula written down. She even gave me a jar of color for touch ups. I love the way she cuts my hair. I really couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I took her 3 different pictures the first time telling her what I liked and didn't like about each. She is really a magician and worked magic on my hair.  I always leave there feeling like a million bucks and not like I can't wait to get home to fix the styling. She also doesn't make me feel old even though she is not quite 30.

I haven't washed it yet and my scalp is still stained purple so after washing a few times it will look

like my natural dark brown with purple highlights.  Right now the dark brown looks like a plum color with the purple over it. When I left I did get some looks from people but I didn't care. I felt like a superhero. We went to eat lunch at this new place that used to be a food truck but now has a building. My husband had been there before and said it was good. It was too! It is aptly named for Alaska - Frostbite Foods.  I had prime rib tacos and they were delicious! The lady at the counter loved my hair and asked where I got it done.  At Walgreens another lady we saw complimented me on my hair. I know some people thought I was crazy but I'm good with that. I rarely leave the house anyway so I'm only out to impress myself.

While I was there steeping in purple I thought of the poem titled Warning by Jenny Joseph. It is in a book I have called When I am an old woman I shall wear purple Edited by Sandra Haldeman Martz. I'll just share the first paragraph. Everyone should get this book.

"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple with a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves and satin sandals, and say we've not money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells and run my stick along the public railings and make up for the sobriety of my youth I shall go out in my slippers in the rain and pick the flowers in other people's gardens and learn to spit."  

 Of course, this is not an admission of being old.

-D