Thyroid Stuff

About 18 months ago I got sick of being depressed and annoyed and angry and depressed and overweight and thought "gee, maybe there is an actual medical reason I'm so off." So I started googling and found this extended list of thyroid symptoms and it fit me, all the way down to being cold all the time, losing hair, and well, just everything. As in, symptoms I've experienced my whole life. So I called, made an appointment at 3 different places to get my bloodwork done and followed through with my OB as they were the shortest lead time. FYI - for some reason the Chicago area has the looooongest lead time to speak to anyone but a doc-in-the-box.

Anyway, my OB, love him, he says "wow, you DO have an issue." What I love is that he actually followed the current "guidelines" for thyroid issues. So I made an appt. with an endocrinologist and 3 months later, got some medication. It helped! For a few months. Then I made a new appt. and waited longer and she bumped it up a tiny bit. So nowadays I'm getting that same ol' lovely "your thyroid is outta whack" feeling and I called to make an appt. at the end of January. Fantastic.

So in the meantime I want to tear my hair out, quit my job, hide out with my children and never face humanity again. Someday when my thyroid is removed or my meds are more regulated, I want to be able to look back and remember just how crazy I felt so often. Maybe it's my sensitive nature, maybe it's my charisma, but I am so itchy to do something different and new and well, not live the days that I am living right now. I am curious how much will change when I change my job.

Today I talked to my co-worker as the office was empty, and we both talked about how we hated working there. Good grief, they could lose their entire architectural department if they aren't careful to maybe perhaps become a better office. I've been miserable every single workday and I'm even having panic attacks on certain days. Ugh. So, finally, this Monday there were a few funny things that happened and brightened my mood. Of course, it involved another co-worker driving one of my least favorite comrades nutsy, but hey, take the humor where you can get it right? Today at the end of the day, after said comrade dealt with Mr. Coworker, I found out he has been re-relegated to another cubicle. By me. That's a good thing because he makes me laugh and the other lady drives me crazy. Gotta take some smiles where we can get them until this "Great Recession" really and truly lifts eh?

A-Maze-ing

I got this idea from

http://ittybittylove.blogspot.com/

We don't have long pretty red blocks, but we do have a mishmash and it was enough to make a maze. I helped guide the kids on when to turn directions on the blocks, but they did well! Logan usually has a lot of patience for building things, but today Sylvie was really into this activity. She loved the addition of the bell at the end of the maze. Logan enjoyed doing the maze walking silly, acting like a chicken, etc. After the maze, it was fun building castles and fortresses for our favorite characters.

Countdown to Christmas

We've had sort of a non-traditional month. We had a double Thanksgiving, one at my mom's house with lots of not-often-seen relatives, and over to the in-laws to a meal they made (which tasted divine, we usually go out with his family). Plus a new addition- Joe's fiance- was so exciting! Of course we've met Emily before, but knowing there will be a wedding in the summer was extra fun. Jorge and I experienced Black Friday in all its sleepless glory when the kids slept over at the in-laws. Toys R Us at Midnight threatened to be a mob scene in the frigid cold, but the security guard and police presence seemed to nip that in the bud. We opted to go home and sleep as it seemed they were letting 10 people at a time inside the store. Woke early and got some great deals. When you're being careful about money there is something thrilling and overwhelming about going "shopping" for good deals and buying a lot!

I waited too long to find an advent calendar and decided that the kids just needed a countdown and chocolate, so I improvised. I think it's kinda fun! And I made sure to get extra candy so these don't disappear before they are supposed to.

We didn't want a big ol' tree this year. We're heading on a trip this January and the trees around here have gone up in price, and we just rearranged the house for new flooring and did not feel like doing it again for a tree. So we welcomed to the family a tiny tree. We love it! The kids love it. Logan thought it would keep growing if we kept adding water, so I hated to crush his hopes of this new live tree we brought home, but I promised we could do some planting in the spring.

We went out with some friends last night downtown, I love seeing the city in the cool crisp winter in all it's holiday glory. Such a great reminder of why we love being a part of "Chicago." We had to walk a ways from the parking garage and haul kids, toys and food, but we all survived and had a great time. It's funny how holidays are so much about family, and I wouldn't have it any other way, but this was a fun holiday celebration the way WE would plan it.

Today we did the Polar Express train and went to pick up Santa, and bring him back with us. It was cute! Sylvie was very uncertain, and then when she realized what was going on, she got all happy and excited:)

Paper Dolls

I love the internet and its plethora of free things to download and cut out.

Gotta Love those Dreams!

Last night was super-intense. I got a chance to see some old friends from Seattle (and some local) but it brought back so many emotions, memories, and thoughts. At the end of the night we were discussing living a more urban lifestyle and so when I finally went to bed, those thoughts were fresh on my mind.

I dreamt we lived in the city and we had just moved. One of the annoyances with our current life is dealing with the drop-offs at various places. So in my dream of course this was resolved! We were all in the car and miraculously I was able to drop everyone off at one corner and they dispersed into their separate directions and we were commenting on how much easier it was! Hilarious.

Then I was driving my SUV and somehow it miraculously parked for free and I found myself walking into a subway tunnel (aka my memories of subway stations in New York) and I rode the train to work (I actually currently work in the suburbs, not the city). So I'm at the next subway station and I am looking at this modern sculpture and there are kids sliding down these metal bars that come to a point (no guard rail) and then drop about 15 feet to the floor below. I was suddenly frantic about someone pushing ME down the sculpture and angry at the parents that didn't seem to notice the major safety hazard. Then I walked upstairs into a grungy stairwell and into my office.

I am usually prone to premonition dreams, I definitely knew the gender of each of my children very early on. And I knew I was pregnant with Sylvie before the tests read "yes." But it would be pretty darn crazy if we did overhaul our lives to fit this dream. Especially if my car could park itself, that would be awesome. I'll keep you posted if this occurs anytime soon:)