Good News and Some Whining...(you've been warned)

Hi folks..I trust all is well in Blogistan.
Well, the good (good?!) news is Poppy has had another baby hatch. Holly calls it Marie. She says she's going for an Osmond theme. (She's such a freak, obviously you should start with Alan.) But no, it's Jimmy and Marie. I can't figure her out, and I've quite trying. She is, after all, my kid...sigh. I told her not to count on the big teeth and she actually looked a little disappointed. To make her feel better, I promised we would raise them Mormon. That put a smile on her funny little face! Gee, the stuff moms have to do just to make their kids happy.
Anyhoo..this is where the whining comes in. I'm a little upset and kind of shell shocked about something that I'd like to share with all of you. (I thought of saying y'all, but I'm Canadian and it would sound really stupid coming from me!)
Since I've been on Google reader, I have found some new blogs to read. There was one in particular that I found good reading. The writer is an RN in an emergency ward. She often has funny stories about life in the ER, and even some sad ones. She's always interesting. Monday I read her post. It was a short one and it was on the fact that it was Fybromyalgia Awareness Day. My ears perked up when I read the title. I've only been told fairly recently that this was one of my problems and I'm still trying to get used to it. This RN went on to say she was tired of having people with Fybromyalgia show up at the ER with their 'pretend' disease so they can get narcotics and use up medicaide and have an excuse for not working. I was shocked. (first of all, I didn't know I could wait at the ER for 8 hours to get some 'good' drugs!!)
I digress...she then had about 30 responses, and all but 3 including mine, were making fun of fibromyagics. She asked in her post how you would be celebrating FMD. There were 2 funny responses, by the way. One said they were having a pin the tail on the pressure point party, and the other said they were getting each pressure point tattooed so they could show every one.
One RN response was, when I see a chart that says Fybromyalgia Pain, I put it on the bottom. It's not life threatening, is it? True, but if someone has come into ER with that kind of pain, please relieve it asap. It would take 2 minutes. Now, I know that there are some people who would be called 'drug seekers', but they can come in with any ailment, (migraine, back pain) and use that as an excuse. But some of us truly suffer, and have gone a long period of time getting tested for this, that and the next thing before coming to the dx of fybromyalgia. Fibromyalgics just want to know why their lives are a shell of what they were. And finally getting the diagnoses does not make us throw a party, but at least we don't feel like fakers anymore.
One of the comments was from another RN, who said she always felt the same way about people with fybromyalgia, that is until she herself got it. Now she regrets her treatment of those people. She asked her Rhumatologist how it can be proved that she has it? He said, 'How can you prove a headache?'
O.k., no more lectures from me. But this post and the comments really made me feel bad. I started thinking, maybe mentally I've just given up...(or worse) I'm just lazy. But how to explain the pain and the complete exhaustion..I couldn't. I didn't realize that this disease was considered 'pretend' by so many medical professionals. But both comments on the positive side, were also from medical professionals.
Oh well, I think I will stay away from her blog from now on. For a nurse, she has very little empathy.
Take care all
Hugs

Thanks Friends...

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments. I felt kind of stupid admitting some of my problems, and for some reason, I feel very ashamed of it all. But, the comments you've left me have made me feel not quite so bad about myself.
I have my iritis back, and have slept a lot the last couple of days because of the pain meds. I feel absolutely drugged out all the time, it's kind of annoying, but I have no choice because of the terrible pain iritis causes. I had to cancel my surgery last week because of it, and they probably won't be able to operate on my left eye because of it, but they will be able to do my right eye if they want, as long as they cover my left eye. Any light is so painful, and of course, we are having sunny mornings here. I have one eye closed all the time, and my underwear on my head. It's a bit uncomfortable, but what can you do. As I've said before, the band from my underwear makes my forehead itchy..lol.
In other news, there isn't any really. So, I'll close for now and post when I have something the least bit interesting to say.
Love u all
Take care
Tory

What An Interesting Day!

Well, I sure had a long day today. I had an appointment with my eye specialist at the hospital. I had missed two other appointments because both times we had a snow storm and couldn't get into the city during rush hour. Anyway, in order to get there today, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Left in plenty of time, and took and alternate route, however, it was even slower than the busy route. I was nearly 15 minutes late and was afraid they wouldn't see me. But thankfully they did, and a good thing too. My eyes are a mess because of my diabetes. I must have had 10 different tests, including being shot up with dye to take pictures of my eyeballs. After all that, the Dr. said things were serious with my eyes, but he could probably save my sight if I have (get this!) 8 laser surgeries! What??? Not only that, he wanted to do the first one today...o.k...sounds like fun. So he sent me away for some lunch and when I came back I went right into surgery. No, of course I didn't have the luxury of being put to sleep. No bullet to bite on even...actually, I exaggerate. I asked him if it would hurt, and he said yes. Fair enough, at least he was honest. All in all, the surgery took about 20 minutes, and wasn't all that painful. I think I'll live through the next 7...whatever. My eye doesn't really hurt too much, but it did give me a headache. C'est la vie! So, now I go for surgery every Thursday for the next 7 weeks. I'll be glad when it's done.
Well, it's over Sens fans. We just couldn't remember how to play hockey. We sucked and now we are gone till next fall. Boo hoo...go Calgary! You have to be flexible as a fan, don't you think?
In other news, Poppy has an egg again. She gets way more action than I do. We'll have to see how this one turns out, if it does.
Holly got her hair cut very short yesterday. It looks very cute. She started out wanting to shave herself bald...eek! I said, 'o.k. Brittany!! But don't blame me if you end up under suicide watch at the hospital!' After she had time to examine her new 'do' she told me that she looks like a 'Doodlebop', whatever that is. I disagreed. She still looks human. Anyway, she went to the trouble of finding the Doodlebops on-line, which is some sort of kids show. Huh, she was right! But she still looks cute.
Well, that's all the news that's fit to print. I'll write again soon.
Take care All
Tory

Oooh...I'm So Mad...

I was going to give my site a new look and somehow I totally lost everything. Holly tried to get it all back, but no luck. I will have to work on it to restore what I've lost...so be patient with me.
I'm soooo stupid!!
Take care
Tory

Some Sad News and Some Glad News!

Well people, I'm devastated to hear that Jeff Healey, a popular Canadian singer, songwriter, and fabulous blues guitar man, died yesterday at only 41, succumbing to cancer. I have loved him for a long time, and he has a blues bar here in Toronto that Hubby and I kept saying we would go to, to hear him play. Unfortunately, Jeff only played on Thursday nights and Hubby works evenings during the week, so we never made it there. The amazing thing about Healey was that he lost both eyes to cancer at a year old, and fought various types of cancer all his life. He picked up a guitar at the age of 3, learned to play sitting it flat on his lap and the rest is history. My condolences to his wife and children. May he rest in peace.....sigh.
Now I have a story for you all called 'Adventures In Toryland'. In the last year or so, I've noticed a growth on my face. It kept getting bigger and uglier. I was pretty sure it was a wart, but it began to look like some sort of sea urchin/fern. So the last time I went to the Dr.'s, I asked him about it and he confirmed it was in fact a wart. He said next time I came in he would burn it off for me, or he said if I didn't want to wait, I could tie a string around it very tight and it would fall off in a couple of days. Well, I forgot about it for awhile, until one day I noticed that it had grown to the size of a basketball and began winking and waving to strangers. I called him 'Shorty'. Finally it was time to get rid of my conjoined twin, so I happened to be in the bathroom, admiring my awesome beauty...stop laughing!...when I noticed the dental floss on the counter. It was the minty, waxed kind...whatever. I actually thought that could be a good thing if poor Shorty was going to rot to death on my face. Minty is definitely good in this case. Anyhoo...I tied it tight around Shorty, yes, he did put up a bit of a struggle but I subdued him...first a body slam..then a kick in the fronds. Pretty hard to do in our little bathroom, but subdue him I did. (Think rodeo, where they chase the little cows and tie up their little feet!) I then wrapped the floss around him and tied it as tight as I could. Yes, I did hear a little whimper from Shorty...but I remained cold hearted about it and moved forward with the plan. I cut the floss as close to Shorty as I could, but you could still see it. So, a haircut was definitely out of the question for awhile. Plus I have this terrible habit of putting my hair behind my ear without thinking about it. When I did this, it showed poor Shorty with his tongue sticking out, strangling to death and the suspicious ends of dental floss sticking out. I was constantly doing this in public until one of my family members noticed and whispered, 'We see Shorty!' I would of course, quickly put my hair back over him. Anyway, I had a Dr.'s Appt. today and he cut Shorty off. Hooray!!! I have a only a little scab where he was and then it'll look fine.
Good-bye Shorty...sob..I'll miss you...NOT!
One other thing before I go, I've decided not to edit my comment section. It's a pain in the neck to anyone wanting to leave me a comment. I will just delete any unwanted comments from whoever it is doing that.
Take care
Tory

Please, Somebody Kill Me...

Do you all see that horrible countdown clock I've added to my page??? I am going to quit smoking on Feb. 3. Yes, Holly forced me to watch Oprah, and it was about quitting smoking. Bastard Kid!! I've already decided that if I don't know what to do with myself when I quit, I have several options:
1) Cry
2) Kick Holly's butt!
3) Smoke one of the animals
4) Sleep for months at a time
Wish me luck, Kids and I will say sorry in advance for anything I may write on this blog after Feb. 3. The opinions of Tory, at that time, are not necessarily those of management!
Take care
Tory

A Blah Kind of Day...

Gee, it's just one of those days when I feel like bitching. I think I'm getting the winter blues. The days always seem so dim and dark outside, especially when it's not snowing. I love the snow and it perks me up, but to just have dark clouds all the time...well it's just not working for me. At least not today.

Poor Ashley..she's going through hell right now. Everyone in the house has chicken pox, including herself and Scarlett. It started with Ariel, who probably caught it in school, then Rob and Baby Boy got it. They are in pretty rough shape right now. Yesterday, Ashley noticed a few dots on Scarlett, but nothing very noticeable. Then, Ariel and Ashley got bad colds. Ashley got an ear-ache and a sore throat. Ariel has a terrible cough. So, Ashley called me this morning and said that Ariel had coughed so much during the night, she woke Ashley up at about 3 a.m. and had vomited in her bed. So, Ashley goes to clean it up and notices that Ariel had broken blood vessels in her eyes and on her face from coughing and vomiting. Tonight, Ashley gave me a call...Ariel was complaining that her eyes hurt. She asked me if she should take her to the hospital to get it checked out. I thought she should, because chicken pox can get into your eyes and make you blind. I told her to call me back when she got home. Ariel called me and told me she has pink eye. In both eyes!! Arrrrgggg! Of all things! Poor Ashley! She was at the hospital for only 3 hours, but when she got home, Scarlett had cried the whole time she was gone and was completely covered in chicken pox. What a terrible day for her! And the next few days will be a challenge trying to make sure Ariel doesn't spread her pink eye around. She will probably have to take Scarlett to the Dr. because I don't know how chicken pox effects young babies. Poor Ashley!

I worry about Ashley and the kids. She could use some extra help right now, and I wish she lived closer. I could take the baby or Ariel or even just go over and help her during the day, doing what-ever. Rob is so sick right now, he's having a hard time being any help. Anyway, I instructed her to keep at Ariel to wash her hands and only use her own towel etc. Maybe it will help to keep it from spreading. I hope so. Poor Baby Boy has his chicken pox so bad and especially around his genitals. Prayers and good thoughts for them.

In other news, have you heard all the hype about Tom Cruise and Scientology. In case you don't know, scientologist's believe that we are originally from aliens and they are waiting for the mother ship to return. It's a very odd 'religion'. They believe that we simply have lost the memory of our origins, but the 'church' can help you to remember. They also believe that there are actual aliens already in the American government who are getting ready to take over and enlighten the rest of us...or something along those lines. O.k...what?? I can't believe they actually manage to take seemingly intelligent and normal people, successful people, and convince them of all this. It seems to me to be a slow brainwashing technique or something. And by the time you find out you're an alien, you are already heavily invested in it.

And you guys thought I was an oddball! Even I wouldn't fall for that!...I..don't...think. Well, if I did, I certainly wouldn't tell anyone!!

Anyway, Poppy is still sitting on her eggs. Nothing hatched yet. Is she ever mean to Bailey sometimes. We have to keep an eye on her, she is like a woman in labour. Moody, cranky, mean and just miserable. Actually, she's always been that way...to be honest. She really is not a nice little Poppy, but we love her anyway. She has such a cute and innocent face as she plans every one's death...sigh.

I bribed Holly into cleaning the house for me. Hoooray!! I just don't have the energy to do it myself these days, but I can't stand the mess anymore. In February, I go to a rhumatologist to find out if I have fybromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. I am exhausted all day long and in so much pain all over my body. I sleep quite a bit and so I haven't been able to work for the last year. However, I may have found a place for on-line jobs for people with disabilities. That would be good to be bringing in some money to help out the new and improved Hubby. But, he never complains about anything with me and is so good to me, I wonder about him sometimes???!

Hubby just saw this and said for me to stop wondering....o.k...

Well, I feel much better now that I've written all my crap down and whined about it until you guys probably thought you wanted Poppy to actually kill me in my sleep! Thanks for listening, guys!

Take care Kids

Tory

By the way, does anyone know where Tunisia is??

I'm Back!!

So sorry...no, I haven't forgotten you all. I have been very neglectful of all of my friends here at blogger. I don't really have much in the way of excuses..some health issues, holidays, etc...
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday filled with family and friends and laughter. Mine was nice and quiet, but still very good all arounds.
I'll get you up to speed on my exciting and wonderful life...zzzzzz!
Actually, the most exciting thing I must tell you about is the addition to our family. Poppy has a new husband! We are trying to breed her and we went to our 'bird man' and he had a 2 year old male lovebird, a good breeder. We picked him up the week before Christmas. I must admit, I was a little nervous about putting another male in with Poppy, considering her record. But our 'bird man' assured us that he could hold his own with her. Within a very short time, they were cuddling and kissing! Holly and I were shocked. What's up with our little 'war' bird? Was she lonely all this time? Maybe even rehabilitated?! She is totally in love with him. We named him Bailey, the same name as her late husband. Why, you may wonder, would we call him this? Well, the poor late Bailey wasn't alive long enough for us to get this name out of our system and we have absolutely no imagination. Besides, we are continuously told to recycle and we wanted to do our part. Anyway, Bailey is absolutely gorgeous! He's a deep emerald green with a deep red head, face and chest. On his tail, he has a gorgeous peacock blue colour with some red and black streaks. He still doesn't trust us, so I haven't been able to get any pictures of him yet to put on the blog, but I will as soon as I can. Before Bailey, Poppy would make so much noise, well, some days I thought she'd look good on the rotisserie...but since Bailey's arrival, they are very quiet. They whisper into each other's ears. I think they are both planning our deaths at this point. Since we are very anxious to have babies, every time I walked by the cage, I'd tell them to get 'banging'...if you know what I mean. Holly and I were toying with the idea of taking pictures of Tequila in some compromising positions and hanging them in Poppy and Bailey's cage...you know...a little birdie porn to give them an incentive. Tequila refused to participate, saying he wasn't just a piece of meat. Killjoy!
Anyway, Christmas Eve, Holly is walking by the pantry and she says, 'Mom, the birds are banging! I jumped out of my chair and so did hubby. So, there we were, the three of us, watching the poor birds going at it hot and heavy. I thought to myself...nothing says Happy Holidays quite like spying on your birds mating! Since then, we've caught them a few times at it. Hubby says they've turned into nymphos...I say Hubby's just jealous! He agrees!
The result? There's an egg! I'm so excited. But Poppy isn't spending a lot of time sitting on it, so I'm a bit worried. I'll keep you posted... Also, if it hatches, I promise to take lots of pictures of the little tyke as it grows.
New pictures of Scarlett, for all of you that are interested. She is so beautiful! I miss her so much. She has 2 teeth now and is working on her next one.
I've been having a lot of problems with my eyes. Went to my eye specialist and he's sending me to another specialist. I think I have detached retinas, which will mean operations to try to save my sight. But, not to worry folks, that won't stop me from posting on here. I am an expert typist and don't need to see the keyboard. But my eyes always feel strained and I have a blank spot in my right eye and huge 'floaters' in my left eye. The biggest floater started out looking like a dragon...so I was complaining about the dragon in my eye for weeks...then it began to look more like the 'road runner' and I complained about that for awhile...now, it looks like a sperm. I don't believe it's a viable sperm, but it's a sperm, non the less. Now I complain about the sperm in my eye...nobody listens anymore...sigh...
I asked Hubby, if I go blind, does this mean I can have a big dog? He said no, that we would have 'Stevie' fitted for a halter and he can be my seeing eye bunny. That's all well and good, but Stevie is blind! He will probably lead me right into a ditch. Could be fun!
Well, that's all the news that's fit to print, folks. I'll keep you posted on all news.

Tory and the Seven Dwarfs....

As you can tell from the title of this particular blog, today's subject is of a sensitive nature...namely, hemorrhoids. I know, I know...you've read so much on the subject lately, it's like they're the new 'Brittany'! But it's an important subject that should be talked about more often. On the list of important subjects, it should be somewhere between...'Are Micheal and Janet Jackson really the same person?' and 'if we combine all the wax, collectively, from all of our ears, could it be used as a fossil fuel?'
A few years ago, I had hemorrhoids. OMG...painful!!! It's not something that one can complain about, out loud, like a cold or a headache. I had to suffer in silence when in public. Of course, at home I moaned constantly about them, sitting on only one of my two cheeks, knees crossed to give 'the seven dwarfs' more room to elbow their way around. It was like sitting on a very lumpy whoopee cushion, sans noise...well, except for the moaning. Not from the '7 dwarfs', but from me.
It's not like I could tap someone on the shoulder, sitting in front of me at church and say, 'Pray for me, when I 'pass wind', I cry!'
Some days were worse than others, but at the end, I just could hardly take the pain from them anymore. Laying on your side, cheeks spread, praying that they may be able to help take the pain away. Then I gave up on my friends and went to the Dr. about it. Then to the surgeon. They say that a hemorrhoid operation is one of the most painful operations you can have, but the post-op pain was nothing compared to the pain pre-op! I'm glad I had it done.
There, now I've brought the subject out into the open, feel free to talk amongst yourselves about it.
You're welcome!!
Take care,
Tory

A Thanksgiving Disappointment....

Well, the bad news is that Ashley called on Monday and said they were having transmission trouble and couldn't come down. Hubby was very disappointed as he has not seen Scarlett yet. Sigh... I miss all my babies, including the adult ones.
On top of that, It has been extremely hot in our apartment because of the warm fall we're having. Far too hot to cook a turkey, so we are having pizza for our Thanksgiving dinner. Sigh...
Just one of those weeks, where you'd like to just stay in bed and eat bon-bons, er..if I had bon-bons...but I don't...sigh...
To top it off, I have a hole in my ankle about the size of a dime that's been there for about 3 months, which is a bummer for a diabetic. Used the cream the Dr. gave me, but nothings helping it. It's getting bigger...sigh...Well, if I end up having to get my leg cut off, I will get a hollow prosthesis so I don't have to carry a purse anymore. I could fill it with everything I would need for an outing (like Vodka!) and I would decorate it with..I don't know...stickers? Maybe fly tape..or how about lovely wallpaper? Ooh, I know, pictures of my grandchildren!!! Let me know if you guys have any suggestions.
OMG, hubby has put on an Elvis movie...sigh. Could the week get any worse?
Hope your week has been better, friends.
Take care
Tory

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!!!

I'm finally back. So sorry it took me so long. I've been so busy. Holidays were blissfully non eventful. Just hung out at the Love Nest with my hunny. We didn't do much, just spent a lot of time together. laughing, bonding and singing along. O.K. maybe there was no singing, but I think that would have been nice, don't you?
Anyway, I had a birthday back in July, and I am so totally freaked out about it!!! I turned 49 years old. It didn't bother me when I turned 40 or 45, but 49?? One year away from 50!! Which Holly so kindly reminds me of every 10 minutes. Ooooh, kids!! That's O.K., Holly is anorexic, so to get her back I call her fat. Not to worry people, she's much better now.
To make matters worse, my Dr. changed the type of insulin I've been using. This stuff makes me ravenous. If you hear anything stirring in the night, it's me rifling through the fridge finding things to eat at 3 a.m. So, since starting this insulin, I have been gaining weight. And believe me, I wasn't exactly slim to start out with. My underwear have gotten so tight, my hips are numb.
It all came to a head last night when I stepped out of the shower and saw my reflection in the mirror. I have the profile of Alfred Hitchcock....don't laugh, it's true. I have a beard growing suddenly that could compare to any Mennonite. It's not that my hair is falling out and getting thin, it's just that it's being redirected to my chin. So, I've taken to plucking constantly. However, I swear that when I pull one hair out of my chin, three disappear from the top of my head. My stomach has turned into an apron and my knees have grown together!
Diet and exercise is out the question because I hate both. Exercise, for me, is to sit in the tub, pull the plug and fight the current. I see all those crazies who jog. If I'm jogging, it means someone is chasing me with a knife.
Ah well, life goes on.
Talk to you all soon, I promise.
Take Care
Tory

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Apparently my life as a domestic goddess is over. I'm sitting here in the middle of what could only be described as a really bad garage sale. My house is a mess! Even the fruit flies are complaining! How did this happen? Oh, it's been so hot here and our air conditioning doesn't get turned on in the building until today. I have done nothing in the house for days. I'm leaving next Friday or Saturday to go to my daughter's and I have so much to do, so I decided to write on my blog for as long as possible to avoid stuff.
The dust bunnies have turned into tumbleweeds, and the dishes are crying out in the sink. Trust me people, you don't want to have to listen to your dishes crying out. It's a sad sound.
I caught Heffer reading the newspaper in the bottom of his cage the other day. When I went over to see what he was reading, he ran to the other end of his cage. It's then that I noticed he was looking in the classified section under 'furnished cages for rent.'
This is something new for me. My house was always spotless when I was with Fang. Fang was very neat...so neat it really made me wonder of he was gay. My current, new and improved hubby is kind of messy. It's probably his only flaw.
So before I leave for my trip, I must clean the house, get my hair and nails done, figure out what hubby will be eating while I'm gone....but first I'd better have a nap.

Life Can Be So Unfair....

It's that time again. You know, where my poor readers have to listen to me whine! I know you love it!!
O.K. picture this. Me standing in front of my hubby while he's trying to watch T.V., shouting, 'Do you realize if you die, I will never be able to eat pickles, mayonnaise, or horseradish again? As a matter of fact, I will never be able to drink again unless I just drink from the tap!'
What brought this on? I'm glad you asked. I am wondering why, as I get older, I cannot open anything by myself. It's driving me crazy! I'm like a little kid. Holly open this, hubby open that. I'm in McDonald's parking lot eating in the car, like a four year old trying to open the vinegar packet and it suddenly gives and hits the guy in the car beside me! When he looks up I point to hubby and roll my eyes. Meanwhile hubby is sitting there eating, minding his own business. That's what he gets for smugly opening his vinegar packet a full 10 minutes before me.
I'm the woman who's been caught rolling around the carpet with a pop bottle in between my knees, sweating and straining to open it. Finally, I give it up and decide to call for help. I call my daughter long distance and plead, 'If hubby dies, can I come live with you?' I thought I finally solved this problem by getting those little tetris packs of juice. They were made for kids, so I should be able to handle it. But no, I either lost the straws or couldn't get them open. What?!
Oh, and don't get me started on pill bottles. These child-proof caps are also intended to kill off the old and stupid. It's the governments way of weeding out the weak. And what's all this crap about lining up the arrows on the cap? My eyesight is so bad I can hardly see my leg, never mind lining up tiny arrows.
Gee, I hope hubby wakes up soon! I'm getting thirsty! If I get too desperate before he wakes up, he's going to find me wedged into my guinea pigs cage, drinking from his little water bottle...It wouldn't be the first time! Poor Lumpy hates it when I do that! Then the inevitable fight ensues when Lumpy calls me fat. That's nervy from a guy named lumpy!
I guess I'll go now and lick the grass for dew until hubby gets up. The neighbours hate when I do this, but too bad. I'm parched.