First and most importantly for me, I'm now in my tenth straight month of no major anxiety attacks. Or minor even, for that matter, really. I give a whole lot of credit to my wife for keeping me on the straight and narrow track, ready to steady me whenever I start to wobble. I have my up days and down days, and those down days have been greatly controlled and fewer and farther between. Outside of my wife, I also give much credit to exercising frequently and getting the blood flowing. It makes a big difference, and I fully endorse anyone who's going through anxiety issues to do just that - get your body moving. Sometimes it's hard to get going, but once you do get going, you're so happy you did. There are never any regrets to exercising. But if you don't... there are plenty. If you're reading this and you're giving it some thought, give a place like Fit 4 Less or Planet Fitness a shot. Both places are extremely affordable. Janice and I go to Planet Fitness and pay $25/month. She's the member, and she gets to bring a friend everytime she goes, and that ends up being me, of course. As a result, we're both improving ourselves. It's not just me that's getting benefits from this. Janice is in fantastic shape, even though she's greatly hindered by her arthritic ailments, fibro, and worst of all - a knee that is screwing with her mobility. But, she gets on that treadmill and motors a good 5 to 7 miles every time we go. She says as long as she gets to hold on to the bar on the machine, she's steady and can go without too much of a problem. She's adamant about staying active, "use it or lose it". For me, I'll do around 3 miles a day, and focus a lot on my weights and stretching. While I do my stretching, Janice continues on the treadmill, since she can't do a lot of it because of her knee injury; which, incidentally, she finally has an appointment for with an ortho doc on May 31st. We're both counting the days for this. I so want her to get taken care of. I've stepped up a bit, I think, to limit her having to do too much which may aggravate her injury.
Yesterday I finally got my appointment at the dentist to get a fitted crown put on a busted tooth; only to find out that it wasn't quite what the dentist wanted, per his standards, so he's sending it back for modifications and I'll try again in a few days when it comes in. I appreciate that he's being a perfectionist about it. Man, I've had so much bad luck with dentist visits over the years. When I was very young, I had dental surgery to remove a double layer of teeth, something my brother Rick suffered with for decades, actually, until he was able to fix it. I've had dry sockets, root canals, busted teeth - WAY too many, fillings fillings and more fillings, extractions gone wrong, and one time an uneven filling that caused an electric shock effect in my mouth that I had to endure for nearly an hour; I'm pretty sure I would've gone insane if I had to wait to get it fixed. The dentist took me in right away because he knew what it was. Not that long ago, I had a mutant molar taken out that complications, let's say. It had to be broken apart in my mouth and taken out in pieces, in an over hour long procedure that wasn't exactly anticipated. Of course, that was followed by dry socket, which was treated with clove oil, which made me sick to my stomach. It's amazing I don't actually fear going to the dentist now.
We were going to get our kitchen refitted with Ikea cabinets and stuff, so we took a trip down to Halifax to look at what they had at the Ikea store there, which we'd never been to. Lord God, that place is it's own city, it's so huge. I would say around three times the size of Moncton's Costco building, and I see why now that Halifax was chosen to get the store, as Moncton is just too small in comparison. We were there for a good three plus hours looking around, and got some ideas for the kitchen. Our carpenter guy that gave us instructions in what to look for told us to make sure we try the meatballs. Man alive, those things are bitchin'! Of course, what do I get when it's available, even at a Swedish furniture store world famous for its meatballs? Fish & chips, of course. Which was great, by the way, and cheap. Pretty much everything in this store is ridiculously affordable and great quality. We now understand what all the fuss is about. We picked up these oatmeal cookie wafer thingies that I now which we filled our trunk with, along with these chocolate bars that beat the snot out of anything Lindt has ever made. And once again, CHEAP. I really should've stocked up on this stuff. Anyway, we left with a few things, including a cabinet vanity for the bathroom, which is being spiffed up currently.
We were going to get our kitchen refitted with Ikea cabinets and stuff, so we took a trip down to Halifax to look at what they had at the Ikea store there, which we'd never been to. Lord God, that place is it's own city, it's so huge. I would say around three times the size of Moncton's Costco building, and I see why now that Halifax was chosen to get the store, as Moncton is just too small in comparison. We were there for a good three plus hours looking around, and got some ideas for the kitchen. Our carpenter guy that gave us instructions in what to look for told us to make sure we try the meatballs. Man alive, those things are bitchin'! Of course, what do I get when it's available, even at a Swedish furniture store world famous for its meatballs? Fish & chips, of course. Which was great, by the way, and cheap. Pretty much everything in this store is ridiculously affordable and great quality. We now understand what all the fuss is about. We picked up these oatmeal cookie wafer thingies that I now which we filled our trunk with, along with these chocolate bars that beat the snot out of anything Lindt has ever made. And once again, CHEAP. I really should've stocked up on this stuff. Anyway, we left with a few things, including a cabinet vanity for the bathroom, which is being spiffed up currently.
Speaking of spiffed up, our kitchen is underway with a marathon makeover. It's taking a lot longer than we bargained for because we've had to order countertops from a maker in town, taking at least two weeks to come in. Everything's held up at the moment while we wait for that crucial piece of the puzzle, because we can't wash dishes or anything until that happens, which is when.... ahem.... we let that sink in. We bought a brand new one with hardware, new flooring, new cabinets and hardware, and we're going to have to paint when it's all done. The great thing about it all is that it's all paid for, no loans or credit to get it all done. Plus... we're having a new backyard chain link fence put in and gutters installed on the house in the coming weeks. Pretty much the entire house will look radically different when all the work is done, at least from the inside. It's long overdue. The month of May has been one where we must exercise our patience, though, while it's being done. No kitchen sink has made life more difficult than we expected, but the payoff is coming.
I got the MLB network for the year once it came on special so I could watch my Red Sox games. It's been up and down so far for my boys, with the batting being stellar, but they're stinking out the joint with the lousy pitching. But that's being addressed, allegedly, and we'll see how that pans out as the weeks advance. I think the AL East is the toughest division in the game right now, so it's going to be a battle.
I haven't been playing my drums for an extended period now with all the work going on in the house, but hopefully that will pick up when things cool off a bit, maybe in June. Something I've been wanting to do is break out my video camera and record drums to songs, maybe even requests, to post on YouTube or something so guitar players can turn up their speakers and jam along. I have to get my chops back first, though. Playing for a week or two should fix that. I'm a little concerned at how my Dupuytren's Contracture might affect that, though. It usually affects a couple of fingers on each hand, but I've got it showing up in my thumbs too. I likely got it from lifting and stacking heavy pallets at the store through the ten years of my last job. The doctor referred me to a specialist a few months ago, but I haven't heard a word yet. Also, my right knee is acting up again, the one I had surgery on. When I got an MRI for it last year, I was told there was a small tear in the ligament, but it's not bad enough to do anything about it. So I guess I have to wait until it just snaps altogether? It's made me decide to stop running, for the most part anyway. I'm still in pretty reasonable shape for a 57 year old dude. Our workouts at the gym typically go anywhere from five to seven days a week, up to three hours at a time. It's like I said, once you get in a groove, it's not a chore to go anymore. You actually miss going if you don't make it.
Our little guy Marvelous Marbles Hagler is going to be 18 next month. He'd been vomiting bile for a little bit this year, and not eating his food as much, so we wondered if changing his food would be an option. We were getting him dry food all his life, so we decided to make the dramatic shift to wet food. Now he hardly ever gets sick, put on some healthy weight, his coat is nice and soft and shiny, and he just seems more himself. The stuff we feed him now, after I did some research, is Blue Buffalo. He just ran out of his supply of 'fine cigars' (meatstick treats), so we'll be making a day trip to Maine this weekend to get away for a few hours, and get him his snacks. Anytime we leave for any length of time, I feel guilty leaving him, though. He's very attached to us - maybe me in particular.
Alexandra and Cole are doing fine, though they have their struggles, just like Janice and me did when we were that age. The difference being, when Janice and me were struggling living in a dark basement apartment for years in the 90's, with me trying to get a job and just not succeeding, we had little to no support. We make sure that the same won't happen with them. Most folks are struggling to find their way in their 20's, but it's a time of learning.
Not much else to report for now. I could've just stuck this on facebook when it happened at the time, but I'd rather give people an opt-out choice for that. That is, you can click the link to come here or just not. Plus I get to record my goings-on to look back on. And I'm not real crazy about critiquing things like I used to be.
So, fire up those colortinis and watch those pictures as they fly through the air. Good day, good night, and good luck.
So, fire up those colortinis and watch those pictures as they fly through the air. Good day, good night, and good luck.
