Is it time to shop for a tin can and sunglasses?

*225*

   I am late. I am bad and I havent posted. I should get in big trouble but I have been out doing stuff! If you look at my IG, you know. Let me start with some positives and update you on stuff.

  Lu is doing. She is still on her steroids. She takes them every other day for the next 10 days. Her heart is good. Today she was coughing a little but it is humid. We are all downstairs with the AC going so it feels good. She will always have issues with her faulty knees on back legs but she is much better then she was.

  The garden is going strong both at the community garden and the pots here at the house. I am leaving the buds alone on the tomatoes and peppers now because it is time. It is warm enough and they have all grown quite a bit. The strawberries gave us about 8 quarts this year. We were very happy with that. The blackberries are flowering now so we should start picking in July. I am afraid that the new people that run the community garden will over run the blackberry patch and ruin it. I will just go there early in the mornings and pick my quart like I have been doing for 6 years. If they tell me I am not allowed, I think this will be my last year at the garden. They have made it so that if you volunteer, you get perks. I am too sick to volunteer, but that doesn't matter I guess. I sprayed the crap out of some poison ivy this morning. There is not a huge amount but you cant leave that shit alone or it will spread like crazy.

I recorded this video down below on my iPhone. We were given permission. Enjoy!

   My friends and I went to a all male cabaret at the casino called Thunder Down Under. The tickets were bought in January so we were so waiting for this. I was worried about my head. I was worried that it would ruin the night. But it didnt. It was SUPER loud but I was able to endure. My prize was I got to touch a stripper`s butt. The girls were uber jelly. They just do not have the competitive streak that I do. I had a fun night and would totally do it again.

  I am still going strong with the keto/low carb. I did eat some carbs the night with the strippers. We went to the buffet and it wasn't a good one. So it will be a 2 week climb back up to ketosis. That is okay. I am never gonna beat myself up over what I eat from now on and I did have lots of fun.

  Today has been super humid so I have stayed on 1st floor. I have been loading Microsoft 10 on the lappy my friend gave me. I hope that fixes the problems. I have been cleaning up and doing stuff that I have been avoiding like cleaning honey from the lining of my Kate Spade bag. It is outside drying as I type.

  My gut still sucks. I had to stop in the middle of this to take a Zofran cause I am nauseated. It isnt really helping. The office is closed so I am basically assed out in that regard. I sent a sample out yesterday and they called bright and early to tell me I still have CDI. I have to go into the office next week. We will have to be more aggressive with this I reckon.

   I had a appt with my Ophthalmologist this Monday. He was checking my eyes for Papilledemia because of the IIH and I have been having issues with my vision. I basically cannot drive at night unless it is local. I get blurry out of the blue. And I was just freaked out that the IIH had gotten to my eyes even though my symptoms have been great. There is no paps. My eye pressure and veins look amazing. I do need to up my readers a smidge (150 for reading, 100 for the laptop) but I do not need glasses for distance at this time. This is where I was stumped.

Then what the hell is wrong??

He said my lenses in front of my Irises are yellow. My issues are because of cataracts. Fucking Cataracts!!! If you have been reading here for any length of time, you may remember that I talked about the optometrist telling me 3 years ago that I had teeny tiny itty bitty cataracts but they are not to worry about. Well, time to worry. My diabetes accelerated the growth of those fuckers. This is why I have trouble seeing in dim lights. This is why bright lights make my vision really bad. It seems the lens helps distribute light that enters your eye. A cataract is like having a dirty windshield. Hard for the light to come in so stuff is blurry or smoky.
He kept says *47 yrs old*.. Like he was amazed. Yeah bitch, I know. I am a special kind of fucked up. I just read that when you have the cataracts removed, it could accelerate glaucoma and retinopathy. Oh Joy! I always worried about losing a foot but just take my eye balls.
 Yeah, I am keeping those last tidbits to myself and for anybody that reads this. 

Aint that some fucked up shit? Do you believe me now? I got somebody throwing bad juju my way cause I wasnt a good enough friend. I am not depressed over this but I really want some potato chips. But I will not. I have to stick with the course. If THAT diagnosis wasnt enough to keep me from eating a starch, then I deserve all that I get.
He did say that I can wear yellow tinted glasses like the ones on tv, and I will be able to see at  night again. I have to wear sunglasses while I am out all the time too. Keep my sugar low and wear sunglasses and I might be able to slow it down.

Low Carb For Life!!

  I had to tweak my macros because I listened to stupid people that were telling me to eat more protein and less fat cause they know it all. If I eat too much protein, it converts to sugar and raises my blood sugar levels. I am going to stick with 20-25 grams of carbs, 65 grams of protein, and 120 grams of Fat..but that is just a top  number. I have never been able to eat that much fat in a day and I am trying to lose weight. Pay day is tomorrow. Kid #2 and I are gonna get sneakers for walking. Good and strong ones. On humid days like today, we will walk in the morning or at the Mall.

Spoonie soup

Sucks is: When you have a bunch of ailments but you don't really know which one is making you feel like shit today.

   I need to call the gastro dr but I want to see if this too shall pass. So far, no bueno. I did take a 1/4 tab of the diamox and I don't feel dizzy anymore. The leaves are birthing and my allergies are in full force. Oh well. It is life.

  Every time I make a pot or crockpot of soup, I freeze some. I have a large sleeve of those plastic chinese soup containers with lids that a chef friend gave me. Usually a big crockpot of soup, stew, or chili will yield me dinner plus two-three of those containers. I write what it is on a post it, and tape it to the lid. In the deep freezer they go. Then when I feel like shit, I can heat up some soup. I take the lid off, defrost microwave for two rounds of 4 minutes each. Then it is easy to slide out of container into a little soup pot with a lid. It is the perfect Spoonie lunch or dinner.

   It was a Chicken Kale soup. Into the crockpot, I dumped 1 small chopped onion, 2 chopped carrots or a handful of chopped baby carrots, 3 cloves of peeled garlic whole, all the breast and thigh meat (chopped) from a rotisserie chicken, container of low sodium chicken broth, 2 low sodium chicken bouillon, 1 can of tomato paste, garlic powder, thyme, black pepper and salt to taste. I pour about 4 cups of water to cover. Then topped it with 3 cups of chopped kale. I cooked it on low for 4 hours. I added a cup of ditalini pasta to cook for 1 hour more.

 You could add more veggies if you like. Sometimes I will put corn or peas or cut up tomatoes. The kale makes to soup nice and murky.


  I made that about a month ago. I felt like crap today (still do) but I had something to eat! When I am feeling  good, I should do a bunch of soups at once and freeze them up.

  The phone comes by Fedex today. I think I will patiently wait outside while I do yard work.

Have a great Wednesday!

Happy St Patty`s Day 2016

*231* <---guessing cause scale needs battery

  What a beautiful day it has been so far. I have been in slug mode for the past couple days for whatever reason. This morning I had to have a abdominal ultrasound and afterward, I just felt like doing stuff. I am being careful to not over do. I will know the results on Monday. He wants to look at my pancreas and the spot on my liver. I am just going to go with the flow.
 

black one done last year

  I have all the plastic pots, big and small out on the patio. They will be scrubbed and on a less windy day, they will all be spray painted in bright colors. I did a couple last year with Rustoleum spray paint and they look really good. I have a couple blues, green, and a fuchsia. I want to pick up a yellow and maybe a purple. They cost $3 a can. You can spruce up your old plastic stuff and it looks really good.
It will be a nice little project. They will all have herbs in them. The bigger ones will have cherry tomatoes. There are a couple more in front that I have to empty and bring out back.  What other colors should I do?

       I did not buy corned beef this year. I cannot eat it and why stink up the house unnecessarily. I have pork chops marinating with garlic, black pepper, and spices. I have some steak strips marinating for this recipe I am trying out today, Low sodium Chinese Pepper Steak. I will do some white rice in the cooker and make a corn bread in the cast iron. I have been very bad with my food choices lately in terms of my brain. I have been all about my fucked up gut and threw my brain off in the corner. She didnt like that. Today she gave me a real taste of last year. Oh boy did I figure it out quick. I have my group that I will be more active in. We have all been lax with our low sodium for our iih. Hopefully this recipe will be a keeper and I will find others. I will be purchasing a new charcoal grill end of this month so i will be able to have lots of healthy grilled things too. Mmmm

So life isnt great but I choose not to mope about it. I am going to keep myself busy. If I could only stay up in my room and clean it. I have clothes to donate. And the room has to be switched around. I want all this done before it gets hot. 
Baby steps though...
I hope you enjoy your day of Irish. Have a green beer for meh!

Menopause makes you hangry

*245*

Must stop eating! Cannot resist holiday sweets! 

 Okay...My internet was down for five days. There was issues with the company for two and I needed a new modem because mine is obsolete. The dude showed up Monday evening and all is right with the world. 
I finally got a call from the neuro and yesterday I was emailed the report. My brain is fine. There are no aneurysms or stenosis or any at all. The neuro said that I show no damage from IIH either so he is back on the * you dont have it* bandwagon. He said the bad news is we dont know what is wrong with you. He is sending me to a neuro ear doctor on Dec 4th. My surgeon is a neuro ear doctor. I am just going to look at this as a 2nd opinion. Maybe a fresh set of eyes will see something the others dont. I have been told by people on boards that my opening pressure with my spinal tap was not borderline. 26 is a high number. It isn't super high but enough to say that I DO have IIH. I am not taking the Diamox. It makes my chest hurt and I feel like I cant breath. I have to control this with diet and use the pills therapeutically.  I get a letter confirming my appt. It said it was from the Yale Stroke clinic. Freaked me out a tad. I think this neuro works in area. I cant dwell on that. That appt is the first Friday of December. 
  The contest voting ends on the 20th. A couple more days and I will find out if I am a finalist. Wish me luck! I really want the grand prize. 
  If it isnt nailed down, I am eating it. It has got to STAHP! I am eating lower sodium but carbs are calling this diabetics  name. I gotta add some fruit and veggies to my life. I refuse to gain the weight I lost cause of a lack of estrogen. I dont make excuses. I pick it up and eat it and I shouldnt. Stop it Heidi! Stop it!

  I have almost all of my Turkey day foods. We are having a turkey! I decided and that is that. I have to pick up my free ham that I will use for Christmas. You spend $400 in groceries during a certain time and you get a freebie as in turkey or ham or chicken or vegetarian lasagna. They used to offer a tofurky but they arent this year. Damn! I was really looking forward to it.  *lol* We will do a marinade on the bird the day before. My mom`s sausage stuffing. Broccoli casserole. And twice baked potatoes. We need a veggie platter too.
This grocery shopping trip will be all about the veggies. Mmm! I lurv Turkey Day!

 ummmm.  Oh. All the junk is gone from the patio and side of house. Blessed be! I hated looking and smelling it. The next project is painting the livingroom. The kid is gonna help. Yes.


So that is all with my saga filled life so far. Looks like fun, huh?