'Roid Rages

Well, I've been totally neglecting this blog. This month has been kind of crazy. My mom got pneumonia so I've been trying to hold down the fort. She's still pretty sick and will go to a lung specialist this week.

As far as my health goes, I have good news and bad news that's actually the same news. Follow that? Last week I was scheduled to have my blood tested as I do every 6 weeks. It's usually to measure my TSH. At the beginning of the year when I was feeling horrible, one of my doctors found that it was low and put me on thyroid medication. Ever since then, my TSH has been "normal." This has been super frustrating because I've felt anything but normal. Not to mention, my endo said that my thyroid antibodies are super high and my thyroid itself is swollen. Those symptoms would point to thyroid disease, except for the fact that my TSH was normal. This has been so frustrating since I don't feel normal. Especially lately, I've had an increase of the symptoms, especially extreme fatigue. This time around, FINALLY, my TSH levels were low, even while on my medication. Of course, that's bad because it shows there is a thyroid problem. To me, it's good because we're getting closer to finding out exactly what's wrong. So, they upped my thyroid meds and hopefully, I'll start feeling better. It can take up to 6 months to feel the effects, so I'll try to be patient. It could take even years to get me on exactly the right amount. At least we're getting somewhere!

This past month I made two sales in my Etsy shop! One of them was one of my friends, but she paid so it still counts, right? LOL. I'm still trying to learn the ins and outs of Etsy. I'm grateful to have this random hobby to keep my busy when I'm not feeling so good. It's something that doesn't require a lot of concentration but does take a lot of time. Very good when you need to occupy yourself to try to forget how miserable you feel! I would like to have a booth at HodgePodge this year (a craft fair in town), but I'm hesitant because of my health. Keeping my fingers crossed I'll feel well enough to participate. I'm also working on a script, hoping that I'll have it ready on time for next year's Nicholl Fellowship Competition.

John is doing well at work as usual. He's started playing basketball at the church on Wednesday nights. It's a fun "boy" activity that he and even my brother Ethan have started to frequent. John also (gulp) got his first set of golf clubs with his birthday money. He got to play with his brother the other week and he said he needs to practice. We all know what that means . . . speaking of absentee husbands, doesn't football season start in a month? Oy, vey. Nice knowing you, John . . .

Charlie is cute as ever. I'm really enjoying him at this age. I hug him and kiss him all the time . . . he's very good about giving kisses on the cheek so I ask for them all day. I'm going to get them while I still can! I'm totally backwards . . . as a baby he drove me nuts and now as a toddler, I can't get enough of him! He always has something funny to say. He is so darn expressive. He loves to act out scenes from his favorite movies like "Wall-E" "Toy Story", "Up" and "Finding Nemo" . . . not to mention his current favorite, Batman. This week, he asked me to be Robin which made me feel pretty good! He's getting very good at using a "big boy" cup. We're creeping into potty training very slowly. John took him to pick out a special seat (Lightning McQueen, of course) and everything. Only thing was, he refused to sit on it for the first two weeks! I had one afternoon this week where I literally locked the two of us in the bathroom and proceeded to demand, bribe and eventually beg him to just SIT on it. Didn't work. Finally, I have gotten him to sit on it twice. Let's hope he warms up to it . . . I'm afraid he won't be able to serve a mission because he won't be potty trained.

Sorry for the lack of pictures . . . hopefully I'll do better this time!