A wacky Wednesday post: in a funk, even though everything's fine

Everything's fine. I'm sleeping GREAT. I finally own a bookshelf for my tot books. Tex's windshield is gonna be repaired this morning from the comfort of my driveway. Reg is home. Got home last night and is home during the day, because he has no practice today. I like having him around. He eats a truckload of food, but he's helpful. He might even go to the grocery store for me. 

See, everything is fine . . . But, I've been feeling a tad blue the last few days. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I have a few theories:  

1.  Mini was home for a week, and now she's back at school. This is the trend, as in - I know this is how the college schedule works. And, she'll be home again over Thanksgiving. Plus we are doing a full blown, bring-Gumby-or-die-trying tailgate Nov. 9th, so we'll see her then too. 

Things just feel heavy. Slow. Irritating. Maybe it's that the warm weather is fading (which, Is it fading? Because today and yesterday is was in the 80s. I'm here for it, truly). I was looking forward to the weekend in NJ, and it was fun, but it's not like it was a wedding or something with so much momentum/build up, that I'm wandering around dazed and confused, unsure of what to do with myself now.

Hanging outside end of
October in 80 degree
weather with tots who
 love a zipline ain't all bad. 

Everything seems off. Babysitting, ugh. When will they wipe their own noses? What if the one mom didn't pack humus for her 18 month old to smear everywhere? Cooking - please, Lord - let meals just appear in my fridge, premade and ready to eat. The goal of decluttering the house feels ultra impossible and endless, as in - where to begin? 

This is unlike me. I'm usually a peppy, let's-go type. I power thru the things on my list, and am ready to tackle more. I ignore housework in order to carve out time to write, and it doesn't bother me - because I feel like Hooray, I enjoyed writing that story. I'm looking forward to a weekend at home  - maybe we can tackle some projects, but there will be days until the launch of the weekend. 

Two of my people, happy to go
down the slide together. So sweet. 

2.  Am I sort of not missing Mini, but irritated with her? She was home all week and failed to do her laundry. What? She left obtaining her study abroad visa go until the last minute. Annoying. I had to hold new purchases hostage, threatening to return them if she didn't make serious headway on the disgusting mountain in the corner of her closet. How does she function? Is my realization that she's this disorganized bringing me down? 

3. Could it be the medication? I've been on it before - at 25 mg, and this is only 10 mg. Maybe I'm just taking time to adjust to it. I'm really tired in the afternoons, even after sleeping over 8 hours at night. Hey, I love the sleep, but I wasn't banking on feeling useless during nap time. That wasn't the case last time. 

4.  I attended writers' group on Monday. It wasn't my turn to read, but I left thinking Am I just wasting my time? What am I even doing? Will my book idea ever appeal to a publisher? Not likely. Who am I kidding? 

5.  Also, it is hard to have a break from the younger girls and then re-enter. They aren't doing anything wrong. They're doing fine. No issues lately, but it's exhausting and I liked having that break. Sometimes the exhaustion of the process comes in waves. I'm counting this as one of the waves. Reentry is no fun. 

6.  Maybe I'm just hungry. I ignored low FODMAP most of the weekend - I didn't get crazy or anything, but I did eat two, as in not 1 but 2, GF brownies one night (OK, so a little crazy). And, nothing happened to me. I survived. I'm assuming the meds are helping to deaden whatever is amiss in my gut, so Thank you, meds? I don't have any direction with this low FODMAP thing. Is it safe to quit the crazy restrictive diet and just eat GF and call it a day? Or at the very least call it happiness for my taste buds? 

Anything dragging you down lately? What do you do when you're in a funk?

The next time a post will pop up here will be NaBloPoMo. I'm excited, and I'm aiming to keep those posts on the shorter side. 500 600 words or less, most  (?) of the time. Fingers crossed. I hope you'll visit. I think the first one will be a look back at Halloweens past. (aka cute costumes). 

A transformed group, including a speed racer; fun at the shore, & have 7 layer, will travel

The Shenanigan B & B mission trip guests arrived around dinner on the return trip Friday vs closer to 9:30 pm the week prior, so we had more time with them. There was another Creighton group that was rerouted to their same mission trip location, because their original NC destination was impacted by the hurricane. NC group stayed up crazy late and seemed more intent on having fun/goofing off than actually working. 'Our' group weren't fans, but they made the best of it. 

At one point, NC couldn't find the fire pit, so they started a fire in the yard after borrowing bricks from a landscaped area. This adventure burned a hole in the grass. It put a damper on that night, as that group's leaders cancelled the reflection time for BOTH groups, and lectured both groups at length. I think there was a power trip thing happening. 

One of 'our' girls got pulled over while driving. She apparently was driving behind a cop, pulled around him and passed him, while going 80 mph in a 55 mph zone. Oops. She's 4'9" and drives with her seat up close and the steering wheel lowered, and the rest of the group found her speeding-oops combined with her size to be sort of a commentary on small but mighty -or in this case small but speedy. The cop had to adjust the speed on her ticket, or she would've been arrested because driving that fast was a felony.  (this info isn't verified, but it's something I should know given I lost my license for too many speeding tickets a few years back). Speed racer took the teasing all in stride. 

One of the Hawaiian girls, a freshman, admitted that she preferred having Tank drive. "He's such a good driver." Apparently everyone slept while he drove. 

a blurry photo I snapped of some houses along
 the Jersey Shore by roomie's house.

The best part of hosting them was noting how they’d connected. There was a different vibe the first night vs. on the return trip. They had a blast playing a board game called Code Names. Mini had just arrived home for the start of her fall break, and she played  too. After dinner, they assembled in the basement to do a reflection/hang out, and the house shook with their thunderous laughter. All in all, a great experience. 

******

Sitting in the warmth
 of the sun was key.

Over the weekend Coach, Mini, and I stayed with Mini’s roommate’s family in NJ, and attended the ND game on Saturday at Metlife Stadium. We tailgated on a windy but beautiful day, and enjoyed adult time with Mini’s friends and their families. 

Pig and Parrot - a bar on the Jersey Shore.

My 7 layer taco dip survived the trip (are we breathing a collective sigh of relief? When my luggage appeared on the belt and had no food oozing out of it, I decided we were in the clear). The friend, who'd asked Mini if my 7 layer dip travelled well, felt bad that her comment prompted me to pack it, but it was a big hit - especially after the game when everyone was done with the bagels and donuts they'd been munching all morning before the noon game. 

the night before our flight

The secret, in case any of you feel daring enough to try a similar stunt:  I prepared the bottom two layers in a Gladware container (that I stuck in two freezer Ziploc bags and taped the edges together with packing tape), and brought the rest of the ingredients in double-bagged, sandwich baggies - all inside a soft-sided cooler inside my checked bag. After smoothing out the bottom layer - because the refried beans and the sour cream/cream cheese layers ‘slid’, I added the toppings Friday night when we returned from visiting a few bars on the shore. Our host, Mini's roomie's dad- who has the same first name as my Coach, owns an Irish pub in Long Branch, NJ and a trolley company. So - he drove us to a bar in his trolley. 

In other news, on Thursday night I caved. I took the lower dose (10 mg) antidepressants, hoping that I'd sleep well all weekend. I wasn't sure if it would take several weeks for my body to react. When used for depression it takes 6 weeks to make a difference. Great news - it kicked in right away. I slept amazing Thursday, Friday (I was awake a touch - but I attribute that to sharing a full size bed with my Gumby sized husband), and Saturday. 

I’d forgotten what it felt like to be well rested. I’m conflicted about where to go from here. For now, I'm gonna keep taking the pills. The nurse said taking them won't mess with the results of my upcoming test (small intestines photo shoot). If the 10 mg works, maybe I'll have less side effects? Hmm. 

A show of hands, who's been to the Jersey Shore? Supposedly a mom and daughter trip is in the works for the summer. I'm in! Anyone do anything fun over the weekend?

busy in the land of little sleep- making time for shopping, movies, and volleyball

Greetings from the land of little sleep. I had an issue Friday night, while all the Creighton kids were sleeping here on their return trip. I slept 3.5 hours. At 2:30 am, game over. I'd borrowed extra air mattresses, and thank goodness. The one girl who slept in the pullout in the study last week, opted to bunk in the basement with  the other girls on the return trip. This gave me free reign to move about on the first floor while sleepless, not in Seattle. 

The next few nights rotated between OK and not OK sleep, but after 5 hours tonight - I'm afraid I'm done. I freakishly felt a ton of acid in my stomach Monday and Tuesday. I take an RX antacid in the mornings, so no idea why this was a thing. I'm not eating ANYTHING that would cause this, eating small meals throughout the day, and eating an early dinner. The doc office suggested I take a Pepcid before bed, but since I didn't feel the acid yesterday, I didn't try it. Why add anything into the mix? 

I feel fine, mostly (I don't always feel pain but my gut doesn't always allow me to relax- hard to explain), but when I've struggled this much in the span of a week - my mind sometimes starts to whirl after I get up to pee. I don't look at the clock . . . at first. Then I start to wonder, "What if I can't go back to sleep?" I convince myself that it might just be 6 am. Then I peek at the clock. 

3:30? Nooooo!!!

Maybe as I write a post that I didn't have time to write this week, I'll get sleepy, or things will sort themselves out. We're traveling on Friday, and I'm wondering if I should've gone back on the antidepressant in order to sleep well during our weekend away. I worry that if I start it now, I won't have enough time for it to build up in my system to help. *pulling what little hair I have out of my poor, tired head.

More on the Creighton visitors next week. I wrote all about them, but realized this post would be the length of two posts. This week has been really hectic. Mini's been home all week on fall break. I love having her here. 

Saturday:  Mini and I drove to Indiana to watch Reg play basketball. Coach had to work in the morning, so I dropped the girls off at his clinic. He was contemplating going to see his folks up north after work, but his dad told him not to come. (he just  had his hip replaced). Then Saturday evening, Mini and I watched Curly play in a fall basketball league with her high school. It's gonna be a long HS season. Yikes. 

Sunday:  Coach, Lad, and Ed were treated to a round of golf by one of Coach's patients at a swanky place. Mini and I took Rae to Old Navy to buy jeans. Having a college sister shop with you and compliment your new jeans seems to make shopping a next level experience. I can shop at a free event that follows a clothing resale thing, but I can't bring the girls in. None of the jeans I scored and none of the older girls' jeans worked for Rae. I could tell she was a bit bend out of shape that we hadn't yet gotten her jeans. I found a tiny window of time and she was super grateful. When I asked Curly if she'd go with me to make the outing more 'cool', she said yeah.

Mini:  Oh, I can go to Old Navy, but not Kohls. That place - um no. It makes my head hurt. 

Ed came back to the house after golf and we celebrated his birthday. We don't see this busy guy much. Everyone was here minus Tank. I was reviewing college application stuff with Reg and sort of forgot that this was a delayed birthday

These are the 2 plum
versions I made last week.
I only have one spring form pan. I decided
 to make one in a regular glass pan.
 Um, I now know what the other pan is
 necessary, BUT - I think the square one
 was fine. At least that's what I was
 told. I had to cook it a little longer. 

celebration. At the last minute, I realized I had no cake. I threw together the plum torte, subbing in blueberries for the plums. People enjoyed it, but I think the plum version was preferred. I'd made the plum torte for the Creighton gang, so Ed sampled a leftover piece of the 'real' deal alongside his sliver of blueberry. 

In other news, I'm making Mini organize the closet/stacks of stuff in the girls room in hopes that once a path is cleared and we find a window of time, Coach can dismantle the doll house bunkbed and set up the trundle bed. Mini is an expert at wiggling out of this sort of duty. *remind me to tell the tale of the backpack I unearthed in that closet after she left for school. Bottom line:  an intervention is in order. 

Monday:  I got to attend my favorite workout class, because Mini was here with my little people. I napped in the sun for a few minutes on a lounge chair while the tots were sleeping. I think this might be the end of those snoozes in the sun. In the evening, I attended my writers group. 

Tuesday:  We dropped the girls off to do homework at my folks' house. Then Mini and I ran to the Verizon store that was around the corner from Curly's away volleyball game. There were 3 people ahead of us in line. I refused to grow old there, so I'll have to switch our phone service later. That was my only window this week. After Curly's game, Coach texted from work that he could collect the girls from my folks' house, so Mini and I ran to Von Maur. 

She'd helped me pack for Friday (I'll explain, be patient) that day and I became aware that much of my fall wardrobe looks tired and worn. We scored some lovely sale items. Of course we did. I'm holding the clothes I bought for Mini hostage. She won't be taking them back to school unless the room/closet gets done. Or unless there's at least an improvement. *I'm weak. 

Wednesday:  Mini and I took my 6 charges to the zoo. It was a beautiful day. Curly had Volley for the Cure at night. This is a volleyball tournament fundraiser for breast cancer between our school and our split-district rival school. We lost, but the one set that we won was so exciting. I baked a ton of food for the bake sale and after the zoo, I made dinner and prepped the 7 layer taco dip that I'm bringing unassembled in my checked bag in a soft sided cooler on Friday. Wish me luck. 

Friday:  Mini, Coach, and I fly to NJ on Friday. We're staying with her roomie's family, tailgating with loads of her friends -many of whom live out there, attending the ND vs Navy game, and flying home on Sunday. I will then drive Mini and 5 friends back to ND as that will be the end of their fall break. 

Last night, Mini and I watched a little of St. Elmo's Fire. I insisted on a regular bedtime, so I refused to stay up to finish watching it. Plus, that movie is the worst. I don't think I ever saw it. It came out when I was in 8th grade or freshman year. I thought it was gonna be a fun flick. Instead? There's no plot. It's just drinking and sex and money. Monday night, Mini, Curly, and I stayed up to watch Win Win with Paul Giamatti. I'd seen it before. Great movie. 

*******

Have you seen St. Elmo's Fire or Win Win? Does your fall wardrobe needs a pick-me-up? Have you substituted a different fruit in a recipe, like a plum torte, and did it go well? Anyone nervous that my 7 layer dip will leak all over my checked bag? 

Welcome to the Shenanigan B & B, and FOMO

What even is this? It's our boy room
AFTER
 I slaved away to make it habitable. Please
 enjoy every angle. Piles of clothes were
 shoved in the closet, and I'm hoping
 Tank determines which are
 his when he's home for turkey day. 

Creighton visitors:  The group of 10 students heading to a mission trip in WV (Hi, Jenny!) arrived last Friday night at 9:30 pm. They feasted on sloppy joe's, sweet potato fries, pumpkin bread, and cookies before I showed them to the bunk rooms. 

The 4 guys slept in Tank's room in 3 beds, plus an air mattress that I borrowed from my friend, Becky. Her full size, practically normal-bed height air mattress makes our version look like a foam roll. Hmm, we need to up our air mattress game. The week prior, as I mapped out the sleeping arrangements, I offered Tank the pullout in the study, because he'd have the room to himself. He declined, saying he wanted to sleep in his own bed. Saturday morning he told me that he barely slept because someone was snoring. Woops. 

three beds and a huge air mattress.
This 15 x 17 bedroom is one of the key
 factors that convinced us to buy this
 house 16 years ago. Who needs a
 spacious bedroom? *waves hand wildly*

About an hour before they arrived, an air mattresses that I borrowed from my folks completely deflated after 15 minutes. *womp, womp* I arranged the couch cushions on the carpet in the basement instead. I'm hoping to borrow another air mattress or two before the Friday return trip. 

They all brought towels, but I insisted they use our towels. Who wants to travel with a wet towel? I say, hang onto that towel and keep it fresh for as long as possible. One girl realized she forgot to pack a towel, so I leant her one of ours, because as the terminator says:  I'll  She'll be back 

I anticipated them bolting first thing Saturday morning, but what was I thinking? An early start to college kids is 9 am. I didn't NEED to be home when they headed out. I was itching to drive to ND, tailgate, and return home. I could've left the  breakfast food on the island and raced off in pursuit of another fun tailgating day. It was a prefect crisp, sunny fall day. 

But - Coach was teaching a local class and the two little girls had an end of season sports party from 1-5. Reg could've been home with the girls in the am and then dropped them at the party. While I contemplated this adventure (before the girls got the invitation, I considered taking them along and maybe even buying last minute cheap tickets and staying for the game), I was too busy prepping and hosting the Creighton group to map it out. 

I skipped the ND day, but I thought about it ALL day long. Ed's best friend's folks were in town from California for the game. I would've loved to meet up with them. Another couple, whose daughter is Mini's friend, went for the day. None of Mini's people had an organized tailgate, so this couple just bopped around to various stops with their daughter. They anticipated getting ditched, but texted later to say they were NOT ditched, and they had a great time. 

I stayed home for what was a very basic, uneventful Saturday. It was fine, and I expect to recover from this acute case of FOMO eventually. I decided that we've had so many packed weekends, it was tough to not have a 'plan', or worse yet - to have a plan that seemed possible/attainable, but lack the last minute people shuffling to make it happen. 

My breakfast burrito building station

I'd prepared make ahead breakfast burritos for our guests. I'd completely forgotten about this recipe that I used when we tailgated at Ed's school in '22. At 7:30 am after two nights of great sleep, I decided while I was in the middle of my morning run to add pancakes to the menu.

I got home from my run, put the burritos in the oven, and raced up to the corner store to grab Bisquick and small OJs. I was home with several minutes to spare before the oven timer beeped for the burritos. 

The college crowd was so appreciative. One girl told me:  You've thought of everything. How sweet? It may have been decades ago, but I still remember travelling as a student and fresh towels, warm food, and to-go meal options go a long, long way. 

When they arrived, I asked where everyone was from. Two of the 10 kids were from Hawaii. Fun fact, Creighton University has a huge Hawaiian community. I've never been to Hawaii, and I'd love to go. 

Me to this freshman girl:  Oh, wow. You're from Hawaii. Not sure if you're aware, but we agreed to host as a swap deal. You stay at our house tonight and next Friday, and then we'll reach out to your folks when we land in Hawaii and we'll stay with them. OK?

Hee, hee. I'll be here all week . . .  Literally, because I'm NOT going to Hawaii.

********

Any recent cases of FOMO? Do you own high-end air mattresses? Even attempted to get some shut eye in a hostel or dorm or group settings where someone was snoring?

What's up, Doc? Tank's funny text, and how this street light added a spooky touch to this Halloween display

 

unrelated video:  This is a neighbor's house. The place where Mini babysat for a big crowd for NYE . . . did I tell you that story? Anyway, they have a great Halloween display. Then freakishly, the street light started flashing and you just can't make that stuff up. What are the chances? 

What's up doc:  He was very nice. I really liked him. He listened, and he'd read in my file about prior visits, etc. He wondered Why him? I told him that my current GI says I'll never get rid of SIBO, and that the antidepressant helped me sleep but it didn't manage my symptoms and I want to see if I can resolve the issue. I explained that I wasn't a fan of the med, because of weight gain and constipation. (please Lord, do not add constipation to this ordeal). 

He believes that the keep-me-up-pain in my lower left side is NOT caused by SIBO. I'd recently begun to believe this as well, which in part prompted this 2nd opinion appointment. I think SIBO is secondary to whatever else is going on in there. He cannot believe I've been dealing with the side pain for 7 years. I hadn't added it up, but yep - it's been at least that long.

He said my last '18 colonoscopy didn't reveal anything in that area, so he ruled out doing one. Part of me thinks that, since the pain has gotten worse - I should have another colonoscopy. Besides, it's been a minute. I'm fine waiting to see if this other test shows anything first. I'm also not sure if the colonoscopy instrument reaches over to the area in question. 

Other test:  On Nov. 1st, I'll drink contrast and then they'll follow the contrast thru the small intestines.

Another vote for the antidepressant:  He did a better job of explaining the reason behind the antidepressant, saying it works to manage chemical imbalances and that those can happen in the brain and in the gut. He said that's what is prescribed for unexplained/unmanaged pain. So, he'll probably urge me to go back to that if they find nothing in the small intestine test, and if the pain ramps up, becomes difficult, etc. 

It's frustrating, because I don't know what sets if off. I was in actual pain for a few days (including when I was at the doc office on Monday). It was unpleasant. Then, as of midday yesterday . . .  I felt better, and I've been pain/discomfort free for over 24 hours. I slept great Tuesday night. Then drove to Costco after daycare kids were picked up yesterday, and had to nap in my car before I could bring myself to shop. I'm guessing I'm still recovering from the sleep deficit that happened last week. 

My niece:  I have a niece who's 24. Before she went away to college, she was having horrifying pain . . . during periods, before them? Not sure, but it was female anatomy related. She'd be in so much pain that she'd be puking, doubled over, unable to attend school, etc. I think she landed in the ER. Eventually, and I think almost kind of by accident, they met a doctor who operated and removed a nerve that was in the wrong place. (I know I'm missing lots of info here, but this is the nutshell version).After he dealt with the nerve, she was fine. Totally FINE. 

I'm not in that kind of pain, thank goodness - my issue is really more discomfort, but discomfort that interferes with sleep is exhausting. I can't help but wonder at times, if there is a nerve or scar tissue that interferes temporarily with 'progress' and if that is what causes my issue. I feel like the difficulty is in the large intestine - for reasons I won't delve into here, you're welcome, but maybe not. 

It's maddening, because there's lots of anatomy/parts folded over itself in there and it isn't easy to get a good look, but not knowing seems unacceptable in this, the 24th year of the 21st CENTURY. Ya know? 

In the meantime, I'm trying to work a few bits of foods back into my diet. Like, regular salad dressing. I even had a few bites of green pepper and onion with my dinner last night - and by bites, I mean miniscule tidbits. If the low FODMAP is managing SIBO and SIBO isn't causing my side pain - then maybe I can start eating normal again? 

Oh, and the doc ran labs to see if I might've gotten gluten recently. I feel like I'm so careful, so this would really shock me, but anything is possible. 

Now that I've seen this doc, I assume it will be easier to ask him questions or schedule follow ups with him. I emailed the 'current GI' last week, and I don't believe she ever responded. I guess I can go to Mychart thing, but usually I get an email when a doc has sent a response. 

*******

I had a post ready to go detailing our Creighton guests. I'll share that soon. You'll probably enjoy the fact that Tank texted last night to say he'd been working on a farm, harvesting peppers and planting lettuce. He was the only one who worked in the rain, stating he didn't drive 15 hours to sit inside and do nothing. He admitted that he was happy as all get out to be back doing manual labor. I'm anxious to see him Friday evening, which happens to be Ed's 24th birthday. 

Ever have a doc not respond to an email in mychart? Are you a fan of manual labor? Ever been surprised to have a medical test turn up some sort of information after you'd decided it would probably show nothing? 

 

My daily cancellation quest pays off, and What else do we need from the store?

Florida friends:  I'm thinking of all of you and hoping that you're all safe. I can't imagine how you deal with this destructive weather. Stay safe.  

Fridays off:  Ideally, I write on Fridays, which is funny to me because I've done lots of food prep for tailgates and travel this month and last, but alas, NO Friday writing. 

On my day off last week, I was focused on whipping the house into shape for the 10 Creighton students, or at the very least . . .  at blowing up air mattresses and starting the crockpot of sloppy joe's that I cooked Thursday. I find that I'm getting really bad about procrastinating over the things that NEED to be done, namely - housework, and then racing around in the 11th hour. Am I alone? 

One thing I did Friday was call the new-to-me GI's office to see if there'd been any cancellations. I call so consistently, the people are probably ready to be rid of me. I'd managed to bump from January to November 5th in the 6 weeks since I've been calling. Guess what? . . . 

Can you come in Monday at 1:00? 

Yes, YES, I CAN! 

I answered without thinking, because I would move heaven and earth to get to this appointment. There are, of course, no guarantees that this doc will say anything new and different. But, fingers crossed. 

Then I realized, it's a school holiday and I don't babysit. So, YES. 

Then I remembered that I'm hosting all of the 8th grade girls Monday at 12:30, and by all - that's a total of 8 and 2 can't make it, so in small Catholic school math - that's 6, but still - I'd just invited them and Rae was counting on it. Details, details. Right? I took the appointment anyway.

Between Curly and Coach, I decided we'd be fine. Mondays Coach comes home around 3ish. I hated to tie Curly down, wanting her to be free to make plans with her friends. When Reg came home for the weekend with a miserable cold, he decided to stay home and skip the Monday morning workout with his program, so he can see a doctor. 

I told Reg he was gonna have to cover for me, supervising the 8th grade girls. Coach plans to juggle a patient, so he can get home around 2:15. Reg broke into a high pitched voice and hollered, "Hooray! Are we gonna have a glitter party, girls? Or what? Let's do this!" Rae died laughing. 

All that to say, I'm anxious to chat with this highly recommended doc and get a new SIBO perspective/different angle. Guess who found and updated the google doc I prepared last year on Oct. 10th when I met with my current GI? That's right - I did. How organized am I?

I still remember Mini's tearful phone call when I was driving to last year's appointment. She was updating me on her roomie, Kate's condition with sepsis. The 17 Notre Dame besties have planned a 1 year celebration of life party for Kate - I think next week. What an incredible blessing that Kate survived such a scary and freakish situation.  

Record breaking grocery store visits:  I shopped on Thursday in preparation of the visitors. Saturday morning I ran to the store, having decided to make pancakes for breakfast too. This counted as the 4th visit to the store in 2 days. What even? (I swear it was 5 trips in 2 days, but I can't remember the 5th, so we'll go with 4.) 

I realized on Friday that we should offer bananas, grapes, and apples- the kids could grab and go. I sent Curly to the store. I told her to get some juice boxes, or single serving juices to keep with the to-go theme. She came home with 8 juice boxes for 10 kids. Hmm. 

Getting breakfast ready
for the mission trippers.

When we ate dinner a few hours before the Creighton caravan arrived, the kids realized we were out of milk. How did that happen when Mini, the milk-a-holic isn't even living here? Coach ran to get milk. As he was leaving, Kay announced that the kids' bathroom needed a bar of soap. I buy Dove soap bars at Costco whenever they're on sale. I think I overbought once, and then refrained. . . apparently for too long. The soap storing cabinet was empty  - well there was a gi-normous soap wrapper, so that may've been misleading. 

An hour after Coach returned from the store, he realized that he bought milk, but forgot bars of soap. Reg hopped up, in typical, willing-t0-be-helpful mode and raced up to Walgreens to get bars of soap. 

Get it together, Shenanigans!

Do you procrastinate when it comes to cleaning house for guests? I don't do this for the food prep. Do you delay food prep? Ever visit the grocery 4 or 5 times in 2 days (or really in like 14 hours)?  Anyone else hound a doc office in search of a cancellation? 

OK - fess up, who told Walmart Family Mobile I posted about them? & a slippery SIBO slope

It's only Wednesday, but I had things to say . . . 

Tank emailed me Tuesday afternoon mid-nap time, the time of day when I get stuff done, when I attempt to conquer my list of things to do, when I enjoy some peace and quiet . . . his phone wasn't working. There was no toilet water involved, so no  biohazard. 

I have a sheet of notebook paper hanging in my kitchen cabinet labeled 'cell phone info'. My scribbles include a diagram of whose number is associated with which of our two plans (we don't all fit on one plan, as in let's not over-tax the Walmart Family Mobile system), whose email address is linked to which phone number, and a reference number. Perhaps they assign reference numbers to people who call more than twice in a month. Or they give them out to everyone in order to make you feel like you're jumping the line, getting 'special' treatment. After you've read this, I'll let you guess how special I feel. 

We haven't had many issues in all the years we've used this phone service - not like we love our service and we want to use our phones in other countries, but usually we get by. The only time things are tough is when we need to do something - add a phone, change out a phone, update our credit card. The last several months have taken the cake, well, I cannot use the word cake in the same sentence as Walmart Family Mobile. Use your imagination. 

*for the record - in my last post I think I referred to them as Walmart T-Family Mobile. Forgive me, T-Family . . . it's just Walmart Family Mobile, no 'T'. I didn't mean to drag T-Family Mobile through the mud. As far as I know, the two are unrelated.

An hour and a half into my phone calls that took up an entire NAP TIME, I felt like I might pop a few blood vessels in my eyeballs. I  deduced this:  when I called to upgrade the plans for the three kids who inexplicably had next to no data, the employee didn't set Tank's plan to auto replenish. They just dropped him from service. 

The frustration:  they kept telling me that his phone number had never been associated with our accounts. LIAR, LIAR! BEST GO CHECK THAT YOUR CELL TOWER ISN'T ON FIRE!

I called back multiple times, trying to find someone who could make it work. They couldn't verify his number because I.DID.NOT.HAVE.HIS.PHONE, and I couldn't call him, because his phone wasn't working. I was emailing him, but I had no idea if he was in class. I was quick to point out that in the year 2024, they could probably look at a statement or a file or something and realize that his phone WAS part of our plan. 

I asked for a supervisor. This crafty lot like to pretend that they're all managers and that their supervisor can't come to the phone anyway. Handy. My blood was boiling. I thought I might lose my mind. Eventually Tank, who was in a class, responded with the code they sent via email, but it wouldn't work because that was sent by the lady who I had to hang up on. The final worker sent a new code and Reg got it - I'd emailed him to say, STAY WITH ME ON EMAIL TILL WE GET THIS SORTED OUT , which makes it sound like he was losing consciousness or something. Once Reg stayed tuned to his email, this guy got him added. A Christmas miracle.  

I demanded an apology, a phone call from a supervisor - let's not pretend they don't exist, and a month of free phone service for this mistake that THEY MADE. I'm sure none of that will happen. Thank you Walmart Family Mobile for adding fuel to my fire to get cracking on the search for a new provider. Before I hung up, I had the guy look at Reg and Mini's accounts. They were also upgraded with additional GBs a few months ago and I wanted to be sure they were on auto-replenish. I was imagining Reg in Indiana with a phone that wasn't working and no clue what to do. Both of their phones were on auto replenish or whatever. 

This afternoon marks the most challenging moment I've had with any customer service people anywhere EVER.

************

Long story, but I had to see a hematologist a few weeks ago. My white blood count has been consistently low for too long and my GP was concerned. The good news is it looked fine in the hematologist's recent blood work, but she started me on iron,  Ferrous something or other. My iron is fine, but my stores are too low. 

I started taking the pills every other day, as instructed. Well, holy sleep interference. I think this is a case of one doctor not grasping what else I have going on, despite the fact that I told her all about SIBO, etc. I blame these pills for sending me down a slippery slope of little sleep. In the last 5 days, I've had 1 night of amazing sleep nestled between three not-great, and one God-awful. * editing to add:  AND, I got up again at 2:45 am, for good apparently. I'm starving but refusing to eat. Trying to stop the cycle. Being hungry at weird times usually indicates other pending issues. So, this makes day 6 and this night is the worst one yet. Added together, well - it's been ugly. I've been flashing back to last year's horror. Hopefully my decision to ditch the iron pills (I'll email or call this doc and 'splain my Hell-no stance) will help break the cycle. I'm being a little freaky though, over thinking every morsel I put in my mouth. So, that's fun. 

********

It isn't mandatory that I
feed them, but - well,
have we met. I'm thinking
sloppy joe's this
 week and maybe pizza
 casserole next week.

On Friday, we are hosting 10 college kids on their way to WV for a mission trip. Tank's doing this mission trip during his fall break. I have some major room/basement/bathroom overhauls to address. Time to check how many air mattresses we have that hold air. I feel like someone recently wrote about a great bathroom soap scum cleaner or mildew remover . . . I'm in the market for a product that'll make my shower doors shine, and yes - I might need to have my head examined. The same crowd will stop here to sleep the following Friday night on their way back to campus. The group is a random service team, not Tank's close friends who we are familiar with. Should be interesting. 

ring-a-ding-ding, Walmart called: it's time for new phone service, of course it is

Last month was the end of the line as far as my patience and T-Family mobile goes. We get our phones through Walmart. I'd rank it with a half star, if anyone asked. 

In general the functioning of the plan/phone service has been fine. I was going to say the service has been fine, but reworded that lest I lead you to believe that their customer service is at all acceptable. Remember when they claimed they couldn't prorate our  monthly bill in order to upgrade Reg and Mini's phones? Preposterous. 

I'm guessing you recall: Reg's phone stopped working except when he was in WIFI, which messed up life in general but really impacted the lease signing, moving into the apartment portion of our Labor Day. I shudder when I think of that stressful mess.

After he moved into the apt, Reg called T-Family  Mobile's 1-800 number. Coach may have been on the call too. I'd bowed out of all things phone-related after I'd given more of my time and energy to the move in process than I care to admit. 

They told Reg he needed a new SIM card. Get one powered by Verizon, they said. Reg went to the store, and no one knew how to locate a SIM care powered by Verizon. Having recovered from my frustration, I helped him select one online at home, and he picked it up the next day. 

This might shock you. It didn't work. 

Now he was driving to another state on the regular, and I was worried how that would go without access to GPS, phone calls, etc. Without WIFI, the phone was useless. He assured me he knew where he was going. He'd done the drive a number of times. 

On Tuesday after Labor Day, I called Walmart a few minutes before Reg was due home. He'd spent one day in Indiana, but had to come home for a neurology appointment.

Me: I summed things up, adding:  He's been to the store three times in the last week and no one knows what to do. I'm coming to the store in a few minutes with him and his phone. Will there be someone that knows something about phones who can help us? 

This guy was leaving for the day. Of course he was, because I'd just spilled the beans to him. He gave me the name of another guy who should know what to do. The other guy's name was Reg. (so not really 'Reg', but he has the same name as my IRL son. I took that as a sign. Not sure if it was a good sign, but at any rate . . . ). 

The two Regs. I'm not
pictured here, because I
was busy gnawing off my own arm, so
 overcome with hunger that I'd
lost my everlasting mind. 

Walmart Reg knew a thing or two. He was like Why a Verizon SIM? Then he selected a SIM that would work. *Here's the Cliff Notes version, because we were there for almost 2 hours. I like you too much to bore you with the details.*

The other SIM card he sold us ALSO did not work, although it should've. Walmart Reg stayed on with the world's most incompetent customer service people trying to figure it out while we all grew old .  .  . well, I was beyond hungry and I do think the process shaved a few years off my life.

At long last after Walmart Reg said This should work. I don't understand, a few dozen times, I called Uncle. 

Me:  Reg that's it. We're buying you a new phone. 

Walmart Reg showed my Reg to the phone selection. He sort of wanted an iPhone. They were a bit more expensive than the android options.

Me:  You want an iPhone? Grab one. I DO.NOT.CARE. how expensive. Let's do this.

Walmart Reg set up the new phone. I tried to return the SIM card or whatever that we'd determined wouldn't work, but that had to be done at customer service. Or course it did. The only additional line I was gonna wait in was one that would feed me something that would boost my blood sugar, so I told Reg he could return that later. 

There it is - the little speck of a SIM card.
Poor Reg ended up losing all his contacts,
although - I still think if Lad stops by he
 can figure out how to find them/transfer
them over. In typical Reg fashion, he's
 unphased by the loss of numbers.

Walmart Reg apologized for all the issues. It made no sense to him. "Sorry you had to get a new phone and that the only iPhone we had was sort of pricey."

Me:  Well, I would've dropped a thousand bucks on this damn counter if it meant we could get outta here, so I count this as a reasonably priced alternative. Thanks for your help.

A few weeks later, I told Reg when he came home for the weekend to take the 'stuff' back to Walmart to return it. He called me. Um, They won't take it back, because it's been more than 10 days. 

Oh, yeah. That's not happening. I drove to the world's worst store AGAIN a few days later. I'd called customer service to let them know I was coming and to let them know that they were 100% gonna be refunding me my money. The end. I marched in, found the guy I spoke to and he returned it. 

Mini gets the absolute worst service while at school. She may as well be abroad this semester, because I rarely get to speak to her. Delilah always hears her own echo when she calls me. My phone still likes to insert '?' between most words. I've held off so long to replace my phone, because I was on the fence about buying an iPhone. I really think I'm gonna stick with an Android. Regardless, a new service sounds dreamy. 

All this to say, the time has come. I'm not sure what service we are switching to, and I hope we can keep our phone numbers, but peace out T-Family Mobile. I think I'll tackle this when Mini is home in a few weeks for fall break. The bonus will be that her phone will work while abroad. And my phone will work while I'm visiting her abroad, because I am banking on that happening. 

Anyone have a carrier they think I should consider? Whose customer service (doesn't have to be limited to phones) is the worst? 

some things should be simple, but . . . and a health update

It's not Thursday, but I had this ready, and I missed you. 

Down, damn it, DOWN! I raced off to get my allergy shots on Tuesday last week after my last tot left. Shots was on my Monday list, but time saw my list and laughed in my face. This was probably just as well as I couldn't remember if I took my antihistamine. Allergy shots without the antihistamine? Itchy palms combined with wheezing.

Allergy shots were in the opposite direction of the girls' volleyball game, but I could be a little late for their game.

I hopped in GW, backed onto the driveway, and braced myself to battle the garage door. Recently, it starts its descent, but makes a loud popping noise part way down and then goes back up. After having it serviced two years ago for the same issue, it appeared to be fixed. Problem solved. But, alas- here we are again. The metal track heats up in the sun from 3:00-4:00 when I leave the garage door up for tot pickups. There's a blemish/dent (?) on the track and when it gets hot, NONE SHALL PASS. 

The day before we drove to Glacier Nat'l Park in 2016 I inadvertently drove away with the red door opener release cord that hangs from the unit stuck inside the side door of GW. The entire overhead garage door was yanked off track when I drove out of the garage. Imagine my bewilderment. "Why is the door following me?" Later I discovered the broken pieces of the red release handle were INSIDE the car. "Oh! I get it now."

Detective Ernie at your service. 

Lad, a senior in high school, hammered the track into shape, then yanked the door back on the track, saving us from having to pay an emergency repairman the night before we were heading out of town. Meanwhile, my dad, whom I'd called to assist, and I stood to the side slack-jawed.

On Tuesday, I stood next to the house with GW running on the driveway. Each time the door jerked back up, I punched the little button on the keyless entry pad to send it down. This worked a few days prior, but no such luck. 

Lest you think all we do is tailgate and drive
 to colleges, Coach and I took the little girls
 to the zoo last weekend. Can you see that
 polar bear resting on the rock? Jump, buddy.
 JUMP into that refreshing water.
 Cold water sometimes helps.

After 7 minutes, I was swearing like a sailor. I sprinted inside, ditched my bowl that I'd been eating some scrambled eggs out of (see:  low FODMAP & I'm always hungry) on the counter and filled a huge pot with cold water. 

Pouring water on the track did the trick. On a hot day, I, too, might feel more cooperative if someone tossed cold water on me. I made it to the volleyball game towards the end of the first set, puffy-just-got-my-shots upper arms and all. 

Brief health update:  I've stopped taking the antidepressants . . . initially because I couldn't find my refill. I'd been weening off of them, so misplacing them wasn't the worst. A few days later, I found the pill bottle and I know that if need be, I can start that again. Fingers crossed that won't be the case.  

I googled the side effects of that med, which I must've known, but like all things - info fades. I was shocked to re-learn that it causes constipation. Why on earth would a SIBO patient take something constipating? Inquiring minds (and tortured guts) want to know. 

Anyway, I'm still doing the low FODMAP thing and not loving it. When we visited Tank a few weeks ago, I ate a few bites of dairy and green pepper contraband in my perfectly delicious and tempting 7 layer taco dip. Good news:  I lived to tell about it, but I'm not sure if that's because I'd been drinking sugar free Mike's Hard Lemonade all day and then I crashed? (I can't have sugar, so thank you Mike's) Not a sequence of events I plan to repeat regularly. Bad news:  when flavor exploded in my mouth, I remembered my love affair with flavor and I don't wanna be broken up anymore. 

I have an early Nov appointment with another GI. I'm calling daily for cancellations. This will be my 5th (?) GI, if anyone's counting. I'm on a mission to find a doc who says, I know how to get rid of SIBO. It's not a life sentence. 

My lips got messed up end of summer. Think chapped kisser that morphed into small cracks at the corners of my mouth. The dermatologist gave me a cream siting inflammation and yeast. Like all weird things, I blame SIBO. Anyway, I was referring to myself as the lady with the marionette mouth. As you can imagine, I gots to be me and I can't be having anyone yank my chain to make me say stuff I'd rather not say. So, I'm thrilled to no longer resemble a wooden puppet.

It's the little things, my friends. 

Have you ever taken down a garage door with a car, or knocked it off the track? Bonus points if this happened the day before you were heading out of town for 10 days. What is the most doctors you've ever seen to try to figure out the same dang issue? Bonus points, if it's more than 5.