Pardon the mess...

Working on a fancy pants new blog design. I'm having one little technical issue, which is why you see the background you do. Sales pitch: Becca Bonneville is AWESOME and coming to my rescue!! Hit up 2Peas if you need a pretty bloggie, too!

Natural Disasters

This has certainly been an interesting week for a vacation. We had absolutely beautiful weather early in the week... It was only 80 degrees when we visited Ocean City on Monday.

Tuesday, though, we experienced our very first earthquake. Amazingly, as many people that felt it, I haven't heard of anyone seriously hurt. My dogs might argue that they have been mentally exhausted. If I ever doubted what they can detect, I shouldn't. They both woke up around 1ish this morning, pacing, whimpering and generally acting looney. I woke up to find out that there had been a decent aftershock around that time. I didn't feel a thing (maybe a testament to my memory foam matress topper?!) but they definitely noticed something was amiss.

Today, it's been dark, dreary and rainy all day. I think we might get a reprieve for a while tomorrow, but only long enough to brace for Hurricane Irene that is headed our way on Saturday.

Why am I talking about the weather so much? Surely I have better things to say after such a long blogging break. All of this is to capture how utterly excited I am that along with my fever, my barometric pressure-induced headaches seem to also be a thing of the past. This kind of crazy back-and-forth weather *should* have me hiding in bed, holding my head and wishing someone would invent a drug to fix things for me. Instead, I'm enjoying watching the rain, cuddled up in a blanket with a lovely book and a fresh glass of iced coffee. It's nice. Really, really nice.

I think I'm back

I just looked at the date of my last post. Holy cow. It's been more than a year since I've blogged. As I said to an online friend yesterday, I just sort of gave up when I had what seemed like only icky things to talk about. Mind you, the past year hasn't been a bad one overall. I just don't like whining about personal stuff and I felt like it was all I could think about.

Here's the update: I had a fever for about 16 months. I'd also had it several years ago. Both times, I'd been examined up and down and inside out with no real answers. The stress, not to mention the fatigue, joint paint, etc. were exhausting. Well, after what seemed like a sure rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, I went to a rheumatologist to get another opinion and find out what treatment I would need. I was DREADING the idea of more steriods. Well, within literally about 30 seconds, the guy told me that he thought if I stopped taking my Singulair, I'd probably lose the fever.

Lo and behold, about a day later I had no fever. Today is 14 days since that appointment and I am still fever free. I also have a ton more energy and virtually no joint pain. I still feel a little in my hands, but that doctor as well as a few others were so kind as to point out a couple of "age-related" issues I seem to have welcomed into my life.

The timing for the fever's end was perfect since we are all on vacation together this week. So far, we've had a day at the beach, a park day (with a little earthquake action thrown in for good measure) and a day at Storybookland. I've had plenty of energy for everything and feel better than I have in years. Yay me.

The boys probably deserve their own update. Sam is seven and as ready as he'll ever be to start second grade. He's currently quite happy to have learned that one of his best buddies is in his class this year. Max just turned three and will be be going back to the Laurel Tree Academy full-time. We *think* this will make this year a bit more manageable for all of us.

I'll try to be better about updating. I'm kind of regretting not capturing a few more of the daily kid stories than I have lately. The scrapbooks are good, but there's something different about just writing about what's going on.