Simply Norma

So — this is me typing with an injured right hand which is a little hard to do with a soft cast on.  I tried pulling weeds yesterday and made it worse but I had to do something. Sigh …

Between a bulging disc in my lower back and an injured hand/wrist it’s getting a little hard to function and my moods are more “down” than up. This is temporary I know but it’s quite a setback since I had so much outdoor work planned.

Thankfully (yes, thankfully) the weather has been quite cool so nurseries have held back on putting out a lot of plants.

And — I also have a few new recipes to post. Yes, I’m still cooking although it’s a little hard getting around the kitchen but I haven’t given up.

So — if you’re a praying person, add me to your prayer list for quick healing. And if you’re a “you’re in my thoughts” kind’ve person, keep me in your thoughts.

While visiting a friend in Seattle, I commented on how beautiful her Christmas cactus was. She laughed and waved it off as if growing one was no problem.

“Every now and then, parts of it will fall out and I will just push it right back in the pot and it starts growing again,” she said.

Wow! I was impressed.  Before I left I asked her if I could have a couple of pieces.  She took a few pieces off her plant, got a plastic baggie, added water and the plant pieces then tied it with a rubber band on the bottom.

Carefully tucking the plastic in a small pocket of my carry-on suitcase, I lifted the carry-on onto the TSA security belt and thankfully it made it through with no problem.

When I arrived home, I immediately found a flower pot, added fertilized dirt and stuck the Christmas Cactus pieces inside.

And … here it is. I chose a large flower pot because I am quite hopeful that it’s going to grow. (Quite a Pollyanna attitude, no?)

I was not disappointed.  See the small pieces of growth?

I have very few plants growing in my house — the guanabana plant I grew from seed that I got in Puerto Rico, a bamboo miniature plant and now this one.

I can hardly wait for the blooms to begin in November.

My husband and I recently decided to tour the Cathedral of St Paul as our neighbor had told us how beautiful it was.

We entered through a side door — fewer steps to climb.

I took a picture of one of the stained glass windows from the outside …

This is that same glass window on the inside.

The ceiling is very very high — cathedral ceilings for sure.

I believe the seating capacity in this church is approximately 3000.

Below is a picture of the altar that’s in the front of the church.

Here are a few more pictures I took while walking around.  Photography is allowed although there are people who come here to pray so flash photography is discouraged.

I love stained glass windows … especially when the sun is shining through them — as it leaves me with a sense of awe.

Here’s another beautiful stained glass window. I’m sure each one has a story to tell — hmmm … I’ll have to check into that.

The picture below shows “confessionals” where a priest resides during certain hours and you enter and confess your sins.  Although I was raised a Catholic, I never understood the need to confess my sins to a priest — only to God.

Here are a few more pictures I took while walking around.

There were a few side altars. My guess is that you light a candle and pray to the saint that’s depicted.

Another side altar …

Here’s a picture of the organ that’s behind the main altar. When we first entered the church the choir was practicing and the music sounded incredible.

Although raised a Catholic, I never have understood why we have to pay to light a candle to pray to a saint — or for that matter why people pray to saints.

Here’s a picture of the side hallway.

As a teenage girl, I met and became friends with a priest who had an “open” mind. There were many things I did not understand about the traditions of the Catholic Church and my priest friend would never hinder me from asking him questions.

Although I did not remain a Catholic, he and I remain good friends.

It feels like time is going by so quickly and life is getting in the way of, well, life.

It’s already May. I wish I could say that it feels like spring in Minnesota but a day here and a day there isn’t consistent enough for me to actually call it spring. I’m happy there are no bugs though — at least not yet.

I haven’t recovered from the high blood pressure that I believe was caused by being over medicated on the thyroid medication levothyroxine (manufacturer Mylan). I am on levoxyl which is made by Pfizer which was my “go to” thyroid medication for over 10 years until it got put on backorder last year. My blood pressure has not normalized — yet. It’s “okay” every now and again — 140/94 — but it was at 118/79 before all this happened. Sigh …

In addition, since June 2013 I’ve been dealing with pain on the left side of my hip and leg. The recent MRI I had of my back confirmed that I had a bulging disc. My chiropractor told me my options were:

• try a steroid called prednisone for a week (may only take away the pain temporarily)
• get a cortisone shot – approximate cost is $900 and up (this may or may not work although I had a friend who received one and she has been fine for the past 5 years)
• continue with traction and laser treatment at his office (had 12 sessions already and not much relief)

Although the chiropractor has given me some exercises to try they don’t seem to work very well. I decided to tweak one exercise he gave me to see if something different would work. He instructed me to lie on my back, bring my leg up (knee bent) to my chest and alternate with each leg. What I decided to try (and it’s working) is to bring up both legs (knees bent) up to my chest while lying on my back.  I’ve done that a couple times a day and it seems to “open up” my back and I’ve hardly felt the pain.

Hmmm … could it be this simple?  What do you think? Anyone tried the injections of cortisone for their bulging disc?

As if my own problems weren’t enough, a week and a half ago I flew to Seattle because a 76 year old friend of mine had fallen, was in rehab and is quite despondent. When we talked, she didn’t come right out and say “can you come out?” but instead would say “I wish you were here.”  Over and over again that’s what I would hear her say. So, after my MRI I flew out to be with her for a few days.

I’m glad I made the decision to fly out. Her husband, who is about the same age as she is, had never boiled an egg in his life. That was shocking to me. I later found out that he’s never used a microwave either. One day he came to visit his wife at the rehab center and brought a file box with bills that had to be paid. He has never paid a bill!  My friend had me write out all the checks for her then she signed them.

It’s amazing that someone in this day and age is so dependent, isn’t it? When I came home I told my husband that he needs to pay bills for one month just to make sure he remembers. True to form, he rolled his eyes at me and said “I know how to pay bills.” I know he does … it was just so shocking to actually meet someone who doesn’t.

(Look at how beautiful Seattle was while I was there — perfect spring weather. This is looking at the Olympic Mountains from Richmond Beach.)

For those who are waiting to see the new quilt I’m working on … well, that’s been put on hold for a bit as when the weather gets a tad nice I’m heading outside and pulling the notorious garlic mustard weed. Remember it from last year? There are pockets of “babies” throughout the property that need pulling before the seeds start to grow. I may have to hire someone to help me do this what with my back problem. What a bother!

Fortunately, I have yet to see any buckthorn growing.  Hmmm, I wonder if I pulled every single one out last year. The property looks so bare — well, we have a lot of winter debris such as small and large branches that need to be gathered but other than that it’s like nothing is growing yet.

This morning I called a local nursery as I have $500 that the county is giving me to plant native Minnesota plants that will replace the buckthorn and garlic mustard weeds that I’ve pulled.

All this takes so much time and I feel like I’m being pulled in so many directions.  Do you ever feel that way?

So — one day at a time, sweet Jesus. (I’m humming the tune as I write this.)

Once things settle down a bit I’m sure I’ll be back to “normal.”  Just don’t ask me what that is supposed to look like anymore.  (laughing)

The past week I have been feeling out of sorts and I wasn’t sure why.  My annual physical 3 weeks ago went great and my blood pressure was down to 118/79.  My doctor agreed that I could stop the blood pressure medication I was taking (it was such a low dose anyway — 25 mg). I was so excited.

A couple of days after my doctor visit, I received a call from the doctor letting me know that my thyroid numbers were way off.  Normal ranges are 0 to 5 and I was at a 7. Last year I was down to a 2 and I was optimistic that the thyroid medication could be lessened. But, that was not to be and my doctor gave me a new prescription going from .112 to .125.  Bleh! I wasn’t happy — no, I was not happy at all. She was surprised that I didn’t have any symptoms from my thyroid not working correctly.

It’s been 2 1/2 weeks since I started the higher thyroid dose of levothyroxine by the Mylan manufacturer. And guess what? My blood pressure has skyrocketed going up to 190/110 this past weekend. I felt compelled to go to the emergency room as the American Heart Association states that those numbers throw a person into a hypertensive crisis. It’s always difficult to decide if you should go to the emergency room — especially if you aren’t feeling pain but just “out of sorts.” But, since I’ve been taking my blood pressure for the past 5 days, I know there is a problem.

Still, I decided not to go to the emergency room. I continued to take my blood pressure every 15 minutes and eventually it came “down” to 167 over 95. Not good but not a hypertensive crisis. Yesterday, before I headed out to remove some of my overly populated ferns, I took my blood pressure again.  Arghhhh!   175/95  This was getting serious.

So, off to the doctor I went. I went extra prepared as my regular doctor is on vacation so I would be seeing someone I had never seen before. I had done some research online that stated that levothyroxine can cause high blood pressure and since the only “new” thing in my life was the increase of this medication I was positive it was the culprit.

The other thing I needed to discuss with the doctor was that they had changed my thyroid medication last summer from Levoxyl which is made by Pfizer and is a brand name to the Mylan generic. Levoxyl is a type of levothyroxine but the active and inactive ingredients are different — not by much, mind you, but enough to make a difference in how a body functions. They also use different dyes from the generics and some people have found that they are allergic to these dyes.

(Side note: Levoxyl had been taken off the market because some people reported a “smell” when they opened the container it came in. It has since come back on the market in March 2014.) Since my thyroid was fine last year while on Levoxyl (and actually getting better under the paleo diet), I can only assume that the reason my thyroid has more than tripled is because I am on a generic thyroid medication — levothyroxine made by Mylan.

In addition, a few years ago when they switched me from Levoxyl to Synthroid (another thyroid medication) I felt like my skin was crawling after one week of taking it and my pharmacist switched me back to Levoxyl immediately. Bottom line — in the next couple of days I’ll be back on Levoxyl. The doctor said it might take 2 weeks for it to take effect.

So — if I seem a little loopy (more than normal — hehe), please be patient as I hope to get back to “normal” sooner rather than later.

I’ve been spending a lot of time teaching myself to machine sew and quilt — did I tell ya? I’m still searching for and making new paleo recipes but I’m doing those twice a week or so instead of trying a new recipe a day. So, hang on! More recipes are on the way.

Sewing is enjoyable to me — I’m surprised that I like it so much. And I’m learning the importance of making sure that when I follow a pattern and cut the fabric precision is very important — an 1/8 of an inch here or there makes a huge difference!

The first quilt I made was a lap quilt. The blocks were already cut (so easy!) and all I had to do was sew the blocks together, add the batting and backing and then sew the three together.

I did what is called “sewing in the ditch.” You simply sew in the same places where you pieced the fabric together. It takes practice to this so that only the thread on the back of the quilt shows. I later found out that I could have used “transparent” or “clear” thread — then it would have shown even less but as it was, my sewing was not as straight as it could have been.

Some other things I’ve learned as a beginner:

• Get the fabric ready to sew by washing it if it’s not synthetic as it gets out the smell and/or chemicals that are on it and will also shrink if it’s susceptible to that (you want to know about shrinkage ahead of time).
• Press your fabric to get the wrinkles out but don’t iron it. What I mean by this is use a steam iron and put the iron on the fabric without moving it around. Just “press.”
• There are a couple of ways to press the seams — open or closed (aka off to the side). Everyone has their own opinion on this so you’ll have to practice on your own to figure out what works best for you.
• Click here for a great site on getting your fabric ready to cut.
• You can “pin” or baste a quilt. I have yet to baste but that what I will use on the next quilt I’m making.
• I’ve been taking classes through a website called Craftsy. Some classes are free and some you pay for but if you sign up for their emails they occasionally have 50% off days and you can take advantage of those classes.  I really enjoy them as you can view the videos at your own pace, ask questions of the instructor (they normally take a day to respond) and make notes. (One note: make sure you read the description and FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) before you sign up to make sure the class is not too advanced for you. I had to back out of one class as it was too advanced for me.)

Here is a picture of the lap quilt that I made when I was putting it together, i.e. the top, batting and back were not stitched together yet.

Once I laid it out, I put all three layers on a table and pinned them together to get it ready for sewing. (This is where you can baste instead of pinning — you don’t want your fabric wiggling around while you’re sewing.)

Here’s what the quilt — in final form — looked like

I made the other side of the quilt beige-ish.

My  next quilt project was going to be a king size quilt as I took a class on how to make a quilt in three pieces and then sew it together but I decided against it because 1) I simply haven’t practiced enough and 2) I couldn’t find a good pattern that I really liked.

Instead, I am making a large “throw.” Want a peek at what that will look like?  I’ve already cut the fabric pieces and am in the process of sewing the top now.

Doesn’t look like much yet, eh?  Well, you just wait! (laughing)  It’s starting to look pretty although I really am learning the importance of making sure the fabric is cut precisely (I just can’t emphasize that enough.)  And no, I don’t use scissors for cutting the fabric — I find it’s essential to use a rotary cutter along with a cutting mat and a long ruler.

I must warn you — sewing and quilting can become a very expensive hobby. I’m fortunate that my neighbor is moving and has given me lots of fabric and batting that he was going to throw or give away to a second hand store.

Well — onward!