G'day my friends

I do hope that everyone's Friday has been a good one and that with the start of the weekend everyone can relax and enjoy the time with family, friends or doing something that you want to do.
Please remember to take care of YOU and you are the only you we and your family have.

Today has been just a delightful day here.
The sky is clear and blue with the sun shining and a nice wind blowing - so we are getting power to run the house - free. There are some clouds low on the horizon but they are breaking up and will drift away. We have temperatures in the high 70's but very little humidity

After having that first taste of fire for the season yesterday it shows that even though most of the areas around here are still green, and that for now we are safe from problems of that sort, we need to start seriously thinking about the dangers NOW. As it continues to warm up and the grass dries out the chances of a fire happening will only increase. We do have plans to build some shutters for the windows on the danger sides of the house - the north and the west - and they will also help keep the house cooler on the very hot summer days as we want to put some sort of insulation on them as well.

The birds are singing in the trees and around the feeder and with the warmer weather they are starting to use the water for baths as well as drinking. It is so nice to sit and watch them as they flutter in and out and shake the water off and spray goes everywhere. I wish we could video them but we do not have a video camera and even if we did by the time we got it set up they would have gone as any movement and they fly away.

Judy I am glad that you are OK and that it was just exhaustion but sorry to hear that your back was giving you problems again - hopefully it will get better soon
Like you I have heard some really bad things about Lyrica - but I also have heard some positive ones as well. But with your reaction to drugs I would be cautious about taking too. Good idea to take the relaxer and ibuprofen daily rather than wait for the pain - lot easier to prevent than cure....
I would be very wary about the botox injections. Again some people have had some really good results from having them - we had an item on the TV recently about a person who is now able to walk after having botox injections......... best to really check that one out a lot more thoroughly before considering it.
If your foot problems are more muscle related I wonder if taking the relaxer daily might help that a little bit as well? Will be interesting to see if there is any improvement.
Hope that the conductivity test goes well and yes it will give him a starting point for the future as well as seeing how you are right now.

Rhea good to see you are feeling better and hope that will continue to be the case - improving each and every day.
I have lost track of when the next 5K run is but I hope that you are well enough to get back into the training.
That was very good advice for Judy - hope that it works for her and that she will start to feel the benefits of taking them daily soon.
Pain can also send you into deep, deep depression as I have seen in a number of my friends on DS. People often wonder (I think) why I jump in and take pain meds as soon as I start to feel pain and it is for that very reason - I know that if I leave it until the pain is at a high level that I will end up getting depressed. Personally I would rather take a few pain meds than have to try and climb out of that depression. Thankfully it has worked for me so far.
I am sure we will still see Susan around - maybe not as often but I can't imagine her not coming here at least now and then to say hello to us and write a nice newsy post letting us know how things are going for her and the family.
Hope that your DD is feeling better and that the grands have settled back to their routine again.

Susan good advice for Judy - we all need to be informed about the drugs we take as much as we possibly can. I know that both Judy and I tend to have more than our fair share of side effects and need to be doubly careful.
Sometimes I wonder what we do that has upset these family members so much. For life of me - apart from marrying their father - I have no idea what caused the reaction I got from his kids. Still get from his DD too and that will not change now it seems - been too long.
You know I have thought about these sort of things quite a lot in the fourteen years I have been having to deal with my situation and I wonder if it is not really us whom they have a problem with. Maybe it is someone or something else and we just happen to be the easy targets that they can and do attack. We are family and therefore are around and and some of them seem to think that there is a target on us just for them to shoot at.
Like you idea of asking them what their expectations are.
The list - if they make one - would be very interesting I think.
And you are right no person or people should be depended upon to make us happy. That does have to come from within. Anything that is gained from others is, at best, fleeting as they pas through our lives.
Glad that you are feeling better emotionally. These things take time to work through especially when you are hit between the eyes like you were.
I agree with Rhea, I think we will miss your lengthy and newsy posts - the KiT will not be the same while you are not around. But hope that you can drop by now and then - just to keep us updated on how you are going.

Sara glad that you dropped by to KiT. Great to see you.
While I know where you are coming from - and I have been there to some extent - I also know where Susan and Judy are coming from too.
IF it were me I would have a hard time making the decision (and possibly here the cost might not be a factor) . There are side effects with ALL meds, and I am very well aware of the potential problems with the pain killers that I take.
I have seen some really good and dramatic results from people who have been using botox for some conditions - but have seen some bad ones as well.
And you are right - this HAS to be a decision that Judy makes in conjunction with her doctor(s).
No matter how much knowledge we do have about something everyone is different.
But like any big decision it needs to be looked at, researched and discussed and if possible a second opinion obtained.
And yes I have seen some strange things on DS the last couple of days - like all my hugs to a friend not showing up - and then a few minutes later they are all there. Spooky.......... gremlins?

Guess this long KiT makes up for the very, very short one yesterday
Have Super Saturday everyone and find something to smile about every day.

Loving hugs,
Marg