Happy Anniversary

What a great week-end. My love and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I can't believe how fast these past 5 years have flown by! I've loved every minute. I'm crazy in love with this funny, sweet, smart, gentle man.

We spent Thanksgiving Day at my mother-in-love's house with other family members. It was a nice day filled with tons of food!!

On Friday, he surprised me by telling me we were going to start our celebration. It was great! We went out to a local steak house, then to see the new James Bond movie at the new I-Max theatre. THEN, he surprised me by taking us to stay at the same place we spent our Honeymoon Night. It was so wonderful!!

(I took pictures, but they're on my phone and I can't figure out how to get them into my computer. I thought I emailed them to myself and then uploaded them into Picasa, but I guess not! Maybe someday I'll find them!)

We stayed at the Woodrow House Bed and Breakfast ---- in the caboose!! Yes, it's a real train caboose and it's awesome! The owners are very nice and the breakfast was delicious.

On Saturday (our actual anniversary), we just spent the day together - doing nothing much, but doing it together!

Then, we went to supper at the Olive Garden. It's our tradition -- it's where he proposed and we've gone there to celebrate the anniversary of the proposal and our wedding. We also always sit in the same booth! We had to wait 1 1/2 hours this time, but it was OK. We'll wait as long as it takes for "Our Booth". The manager knows us now. She usually buys us a dessert, but this time gave us a gift card for our next visit. So sweet!! She and her husband got engaged there, too. He passed away, so this is her way of celebrating him and us.

My hubby and I had said, "No gifts" this time. Of course, he did all of those other wonderful things for me! Well, I couldn't not get at least a little something.......

The 5th anniversary gift is supposed to be wood, so I bought him a 2x4 and then wrote all over it! Can I say he was a little speechless and then proclaimed it the most unusual gift he had ever received?!? He loved it! Have I told you lately how lucky I am and how much I love this man?!!?

I'm ready to talk

I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't written in a while. It's not because I haven't had anything to say. In fact, it's really the opposite. I've had quite a bit to say - I just haven't been ready to talk.

I've been debating for a while..... What should I say? How much should I share? When should I do it? Well, I finally decided that now is the perfect time and I'm "a sharing friend", so I'm sure I'll share more than most people want to know. So, after all of that build up, what is it??

I have recently discovered that I have fibromyalgia.

There I put it out there for all the world to see. (Ha ha -- at least the 10 people who actually read this blog!)

It all started a few months ago. (Actually, when I think back, I believe I've had symptoms for a long time.) The nerves in different parts of my body starting doing really weird things and my migraines were getting much, much worse and more frequent. I mentioned these things to my doctor during my annual physical and his immediate response was, "Hmmm. This is troublesome and I'm ordering an MRI of your brain." Talk about freaking out! This has been my doctor for over 20 years and he's never said anything like that to me! He's always Thankfully, the MRIs (I had 2) were fine. No abnormalities at all. (And yes - I really do have a brain in this head! That was a relief!) He ran a ton of other tests and took what seems like gallons of blood, but still no real answers.

I really am happy that I don't have lupus, or MS, rheumatoid arthritis or any number of other autoimmune diseases. (At least not that is showing itself right now.) I do NOT want any of those things. Yet, it is very frustrating that I am having these troubles and "nothing" keeps showing up.

So, how does fibromyalgia affect me? I HURT all over! In some areas, I have "skin sensitivity". One example is the outside of my pinkie finger. I wouldn't say it necessarily "hurts", but it is very sensitive all down the side. It might last for a few minutes, or it might last all day. For about 2 weeks, my left leg HURT to the touch. Even the sheets and my clothes caused real pain. I almost always have a deep aching, pain, inside my left leg and a variety of other places on my body (especially in my right arm and hand. In fact, I've had to stop a number of times while typing this update.) I also have muscle weakness in those same areas. There are times I feel like my left leg can't support my weight.

There are also times of extreme fatigue. I'm not just talking about being really tired. I'm talking about being so fully and completely exhausted that holding my arm up is simply too much effort.

I've also been dealing with a deep depression as part of this. Again, it's not just being "sad". It's about crying for no reason -- not wanting to get out of bed -- and not wanting to do any of my favorite things. I love to garden, scrapbook, and shop. These past few months, the thought of doing any of those things has been incredibly overwhelming.

On a positive note -- I have been taking Cymbalta for the past 3 weeks and it does seem to be helping a bit. The intensity of the pain has lessened, the depression is lifting, and my energy level is increasing. I'm very happy about that! I'm not 100%, but I'm on my way. It's clear to me that the Cymbalta is working because I've been without it for the past 2 days and tonight is rough!!! The doctor had given me samples, but once we knew this was the medication that was working, it was time to get a prescription. There was a mix-up with the pharmacy and we couldn't get it until today. Yuck! Another yuck - we're not sure that my insurance will pay for it! My doctor is willing to do what we need to, so I'm confident this will work out. It will all be OK.

There is no test to diagnose fibro. It's basically a "diagnosis of exclusion." I went back to the dr this week and while he didn't officially say the words, "You have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.", fibro was the only thing we talked about. He acknowledged that he's ruled out everything else.

I keep thinking about my sweet husband. He has been amazing through all of this. He supports me and loves me unconditionally. He didn't "sign up for this" -- my words, not his! He always says he's "in this" and has been so great. I just feel bad when I can't do what we normally do. I know I'll "get back". I just wish I was already there.

Anyway - if you stayed with me until the end, I hope you now understand why I've been MIA for a while. Now that my secret is out, I promise to write more often. Thanks for understanding!

Black paint is finished!!

(Can you believe it -- 2 posts in one day! Yeah for me!)

We finally got the black paint on my new scrapbook cabinets! I love it!! I'm going to wait for at least a week before I start distressing them. I want to make sure the paint is fully cured. We are definitely not professionals, but I think they turned out pretty great!

Back Yard - Almost Done

Yay! Our back yard landscaping is almost done. (Again, for the fall, only. I have many more plans, but they'll wait until next spring.)

We dug a new flowerbed today and I finally got my fall blooming plants in place. This bed is along the inside wall of our master closet.

Obviously, we ran out of the stone. These are the extras we've had from the other beds. Looks like a trip to Lowe's! I put in some irises from Dave's mom's yard, fall aster, hens & chicks, autumn sedum, and a vitex tree.

This bed is along the back fence, beside the gate. It's anchored by a juniper on one end and a guara on the other. I know they are hard to see, so I'll just tell you what's there. (Left to right....) lantana, fall aster, purple mum, autumn sedum, guara. Love my iron fence and my weather vane. We know the weather vane needs to be higher to actually work, but I don't want anything to happen to it.

There are lots of holes for spring and summer plants! Yippee!! I'll spend the winter going through my gardening books and magazines, picking out just the perfect plants.

Have I told you how much I love my flowerbeds? 

Front yard landscaping - DONE!

Hooray! The front yard landscaping is done --- at least for this year!! (Ha Ha!! I'm never really done! I'm sure when next Spring rolls around, I'll be itching to do something else!!)

We spent time last weekend shopping and planting and I'm so happy with the results. The trees are both small, but they'll fill in nicely in a few short years.

The large tree in the middle of the yard is a Chinese Pistache. It's a Texas Super Star and is supposed to be well suited for our weather. The leaves are just starting to turn a deep burgundy. The small one at the corner of the house is a Dwarf Alberta Spruce.

I think all these touches make our new house look less like a "new build" and more like a "home".

 (OK - So I should have moved the bright yellow water hose before I started taking pictures!!)

I also planted some new fall perennials. I put yellow and burgundy mums, oxalis, and kale in all three beds.

Unfortunately, the weather was dark and overcast, so the colors look very muted. In person, all of the flowers are blooming and the colors are rich and vibrant. I just love spending time in my gardens! I find such peace and joy with the dirt and the flowers!

Now, I just need to finish the backyard. (And the scrapbook room, and the garage, and my master closet, and......)

1st coat of black

Whoo Hoo!! The first coat of black paint is on!!

AWOL

Yup - I've been AWOL from this blog for a few weeks. Work really ramped up and I needed to spend my extra time with those projects. We have just finished our 2nd week back at school and it seems as if we're really "in the groove" now. Hopefully, this means I'll be able to do some more home projects.

Speaking of which...... Look what we've been up to!!

We are creating my SCRAPBOOK ROOM!!!! WHOO HOO!!!

This started as an empty wall, 9' long and 10' high. We've now installed all of the cabinets, counter tops, and peg board!! There's still quite a bit more to go, but it's definitely looking like a real scrapbook room, now!!! YIPPEE!!

Stay tuned. Hopefully, I'll get to reveal it in a few more weeks.