It's Early ........ BUT.....

Please don't anyone shoot me!!  I know... KNOW... there's almost 2 months till Christmas and I know ...KNOW.... that Remembrance Day is still coming and I know.. KNOW.... that my American friends still have their Thanksgiving to celebrate...... 

BUT

I am virtually finished my Christmas shopping !!  Sir Steve and I had so much fun at the Craft fairs on the weekend.  We went to the Trunk Sale on Saturday -- in the pouring rain..... it is held at an Orchard..... and we landed up parking in the back 40..... there was mud up to my ankles everywhere!! Thankfully they had volunteers in golf carts ferrying folks back and forth.  I picked up a couple of one of kind gifts that had me doing the happy elf dance all around the greenhouses.  Then on Sunday there was the Heritage Craft Sale at the local Civic Center and we went to that too....... like last year it was mostly a disappointment -- BUT we did pick up a couple of cute gifts - one for the teacher and one for the bus driver.

On Sunday morning before we headed out -- Sir Steve took me back to bed and we had some adult snuggle time ...... I LOVE sex in the morning and it just doesn't happen enough -- so it was pretty damn special !!

Today I headed out to pick up some groceries and landed up at the drugstore (believe it or not - they carry some food essentials and always at a much lower price than the grocery stores) While I was there I wandered down their Christmas aisle.  My Christmases are always themed and this year is "nature".  I have been looking for (and thinking it was a mission impossible) to find wrapping paper that looks like birch bark.  I glanced at the wrapping paper and there ... lo and behold... was some wrapping paper that has birch bark trees running the length of it.  OMG!!  There I was doing the happy elf dance again. 

Why - I can hear you asking - do you do your shopping SO early??!!!  It started more than 40 years ago when I was pregnant with my first daughter.  The suggestion was made by my doctor that I do my shopping early .......... I was surprised how many neat things I found at ridiculously low prices because no one shops in October/November!!  The other thing I have learned is that the stores only stock their shelves once for the holidays... the best stuff is out in November and if you wait and go back in December it is gone......... like my birch bark wrapping paper .... I got the last 3 rolls and you can bet it won't reappear.

Life is good when Christmas starts to come together early!

Sunday Sentiments

Bright Spot

Well we are on our 5th day of rain and gloom and just YUCK weather!  I am thinking we are making up for the gorgeous - no rain - summer we had.

BUT

There is a bright spot in all this gloom.  Last year Sir Steve took me to a local orchard that holds an annual "Trunk Sale".  Basically it's a showcase for all the local artisans to display and sell their Christmas 'stuff'.  We had the lil one last year -- so we didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked....... today we are solo and I am SO looking forward to poking around and finding the unique lil Christmas 'thing' I just have to have to make Christmas perfect....... 

AND then

There is a Christmas shop that has opened for the season in the local mall and we're going there too !! 

and yes I know it's wayyyyyy too early for Christmas........ but I love Christmas -- there's something about it - the lights the sounds the joy that lifts my spirits....... 

Life is good when there is early Christmas shopping !!

Heads Up........

I was doing my morning blog reading this morning and Hermione's blog announced that the yearly LOL day is fast approaching -- from Friday November the 16th to Saturday November the 17th.

What is LOL?? I can hear you asking....... no I won't be writing a humorous post (or trying to) to make you all laugh out loud..... no no no.  

LOL stands for Love Our Lurkers.

There are many folks who stop by the blogs and read but shyly slip away without stopping to say "HI".  On the 16th and 17th we are encouraging you shy ones to stop for a sec and just leave a quick message...... We want to acknowledge the faithful readers who slip in and out.

OH and you don't need an alias/google account or whatever... you can simply leave a comment as "anonymous"  -- easy peasy (big grin)

So mark your calendars and get ready to celebrate our LOL day !!  I'm looking forward to hearing from you all !!

Withdrawal Journal

Sixteen plus years ago I was going through menopause.... I absolutely refused to take hormone replacement therapy.  I only wanted to treat the symptoms individually -- as I needed it.

The only symptom I couldn't handle without meds was lack of sleep.  I was averaging 4 hours a night of broken sleep.... which does not make for a happy lady.  I also seemed to be suffering from more anxiety/panic attacks....... One pill could fix those problems.  I was desperate .... and the doctor was prescribing it so how bad could it be?

Turns out very bad.

As my new doctor explained - back 16 years ago the medical profession thought these pills were a miracle drug.  BUT after 16 years the medical profession had discovered these miracle pills caused serious problems in older people..... like forgetfulness and falls and could possibly contribute to dementia and/or Alzheimer's.

Time for me to come off them. 

So a month ago I started a slow decrease of the dosage under my doctor's watchful eye.  About two weeks ago I went on line to research withdrawal symptoms.  My doctor had warned me that after 16 years of daily doses of this medication the withdrawal process could be hard but I didn't ask what withdrawal could look like.  Yeah well ....... I was either dying or I was suffering from withdrawal..... best to check.

I was having heart palpitations and my heart rate was elevated and I had a low grade headache...OH and lets not forget the muscle pain in my arms back - all over actually .... that was after a week on just 1/8th reduction of my prescription.  

This week my dosage has been lowered by 1/4.... the heart palpitations are gone -- but the heart rate is still mildly elevated...... now I am nauseated and the low grade headache is with me constantly.  Yesterday I realized the anxiety was back full force.  I had to go out to run some messages but could barely face going out the door -- the house feels nice and safe ya know?  I gave myself a talking to...... 'get your ass out the door ... you can do this.... you'll feel better for going out'.

And I did - feel better.  BUT when I got to the drugstore and ran into problems with my prescription I panicked ..... coming home my hands were shaking.. I was close to tears... I didn't have a clue what to do.  It was a living nightmare.

Fortunately -- there is a part of my brain - the sane part - that started talking to me -- started being logical - sorting out the problem before I even got home.  Of course everything was sorted out -- wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined (though I have discovered another symptom of the withdrawal - memory lapses) 

On the positive side I am more determined than ever to get myself off these drugs!!  I am not questioning the decision to come off them -- I am not questioning whether I can do this or not....... I will beat this addiction!
 
I am going to post occasionally about this withdrawal process because it helps..... to say it out loud (so to speak) and keep a journal of my recovery process.