Category: Observe & Report

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Hello, Mother Nature

This is but a short post in the midst of chaos that has been both fun and work this past week. I promise a better post in the upcoming days; especially as National Infertility Awareness Week commences on April 24th.

But today … well, today is Earth Day. And with all the recent natural disasters that have been occurring more and more frequently, I believe that Mother Nature is trying to tell something.

Okay, maybe the earthquakes and volcano eruptions are more of a wake-up call to those who aren’t already thinking green … But for those that already are? Well, it’s a reminder that we should constantly be thinking of our planet and what we can do to make it better.

So remember … at least today of all days … Think Green and Act Green.

Happy Earth Day to you, Mother Nature …
And to the rest of us who inhabit this world.

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Perfect Bed Buddies

When moving to Chicago last year, Hubby & I ended up buying a full-size bed mattress and frame from IKEA. The thought was that I was going to use it as my bed until Hubby officially moved from our home in Suburban Detroit in April of last year. Then we’d move our queen-sized bed from Michigan and move the IKEA bed into our guest room.

Now it’s April of this year, and Hubby & I are still using that full-sized bed . That’s because we never did end up moving that bed … yet, anyway. And let me tell you, I’m sorely missing our thick, plush queen-sized mattress.

Not that the IKEA mattress isn’t comfortable. Let’s just say that the bed frame is just a little … lopsided.

To explain this more, if you’ve ever owned an IKEA bed, you’ll know that instead of having a box-spring mattress, they use a slatted bed base. Depending on how soft or firm you want the mattress to feel, you can choose from a variety of different slatted bed bases.

Now, for us … the slatted bed base wasn’t the problem. The problem lies in (no pun intended … kinda) how the slats fit into the particular bed frame we chose. Which was on sale, by the way. (That should have been our clue … ) Let’s just say that the longer you sleep on the bed, the more the slats start to slip downward off the frame of the bed on one side or the other. And well, that just makes for an uneven sleeping surface.

No matter how many times we’ve fixed the bed, over a period of time it starts to become lopsided once more. And now … well let’s just say that both sides of the bed have slipped off the frame; one side on the upper right and the other side on the lower left. Thank G*d for the midbeam; otherwise the mattress would have sunk down completely!

Obviously the cats found some balance in the bed!

Anyway … the other day, Hubby and I were talking about our sleeping experience with this bed … which, despite the nuisance of being lopsided, is actually quite comfortable. As I was getting ready to turn in for the night, I asked him when he’d be coming into bed. His response was, “Soon.”

“Good,” I told him. “Because when you’re there, I feel more balanced.”

And then we looked at each other and grinned; knowing full well that I meant that literally and figuratively.

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Lessons Learned

Lessons I’ve learned from posting daily for the past 64 days:

  1. It’s tougher than you think
  2. Like anything, you have to make time in your busy day to write.
  3. I can find inspiration in just about anything.
  4. There’s no such thing as writer’s block. It’s more “motivation” block.
  5. Because I can think of a ton of things I’d like to write, but sometimes don’t have the mental toughness or patience to fight through it.
  6. And really, it’s more the patience I have an issue with; since time seems to be limited lately.
  7. But if I had all the time in the world, I could probably do it 365 days a year.
  8. And if money wasn’t an issue, I’d do it for a living.
  9. One day, I’d love to write a book; probably fiction.
  10. But for now, I’ll settle with promising to write … not daily, but at least three or four times a week.

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Lessons I’ve learned from my Lenten promise:

  1. It’s tougher than you think.
  2. But not in the way I thought it would be tough.
  3. I found I was generally apt to do good deeds without thinking twice.
  4. And not take any “credit” for it.
  5. Because taking “credit” or having the “spotlight” for doing something nice is not something I’ve ever  felt comfortable with.
  6. So writing about something that would otherwise come natural to me seemed forced.
  7. As if I was “bragging” about myself.
  8. Which brings me back to that Eighth Grade version of me.
  9. But I love the concept about “paying it forward.”
  10. So next year, I think I’ll do the same thing … but just not write about it.

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Last one. Which feels good …

Good Deed of the Day: For lack of better words, I saved my manager’s butt today. In other words, I discovered something that, if went undiscovered would have caused a major upheaval in this new “project” we’d been working on. Not that I expect to receive any “credit” for it (see #7 above), I just feel good knowing that this little boo-boo has now been fixed.

Grateful Thought of the Day: Days off … especially since I’m off for the next couple days. Woo-hoo! This means I can spend some quality time with my niece and nephew while they’re in town! Of course, this also means that there will be tons of work for me when I return … <sigh>

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Wanted: An Old Skool Spring Break

Wow. It’s bee-yooo-teee-ful outside here in Chicago. It’s a nice 68 degrees outside and sunny. But the best part is that tomorrow it’s supposed to reach the low 70’s!

Unfortunately, I’ll be stuck behind my desk at work for most of the day. Boo.

At least I was able to enjoy today; as I worked from home. How enjoyable is it to be able to take a mid-morning break to walk our doggie? And I just love not having to wake up any earlier to get ready for work on these days, when all  I have to do is roll out of bed, stumble to my trusty laptop and sign into the office. Oh how I wish I could do this more than once a month!

Today being the Wednesday before the Easter, I’ve noticed a lot more students out and about enjoying the nice weather. Which makes me believe that these kids are all on some sort of Spring break or semester break of sorts.

Jealous!!

Makes me wish I could be back at school just so I can have those extra days off. And it’s not just because you automatically get those days off … it’s more that when you’re off at that time, your entire “business as usual” routine stops. There’s no other person that you’re responsible for when you’re off. There’s no other person relying on you to make sure things are in order for him/her when you’re gone for the week. And most of all, there’s no pile of work waiting for you when you return from that time off.

Now, scheduling a vacation … even just between Hubby & I is a pain in the neck. After all, last time we went away (to Vegas, baby) … and even though people knew we would be gone, chaos still ensued which ultimately ended up with Hubby having to deal with work-related things. While on vacation.

Blech. When did we become so responsible?

But speaking of vacation … I know that I’m ripe for another one sometime soon. Maybe it’s the fatigue I’ve been dealing with. Or maybe it’s the feeling of being overworked that has me feeling like this. Either way, I think it’s time some quality Mr. & Mrs. ApronStrings time.

Unfortunately … and this goes back to the whole scheduling a vacation thing … that probably won’t be until August; when we’re scheduled to go on an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle with my parents.**

Oh, I take that back. It’ll be in July to Toronto for Hubby’s cousin’s wedding. But even then, it’ll only be for a long weekend.

Anyhoo … I wish that my numbers would come up in the MegaMillions lottery. That way I can go on vacation and travel more often!

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Whew. I did it. I blogged for two straight months … IN A ROW!

And thanks to NaBloPoMo … I get this lucky badge to add to my awards and such. Woo-hoo!

But hold on to you’re seats, kiddo. I still have 5 mores left of posting daily to fulfill that Lenten promise. So without further ado:

Random Act of Kindness Today: Sunday it was my kitty, Rain that needed all the attention. Today (and in most days that I work from home), it was my other kitty, Yami. So … before taking our Kozzy-girl out for that mid-morning walk, I let Yami snuggle on my lap and paw away at my computer for a bit until she got fed up with me trying to take a picture of her on the PhotoBooth application on my laptop. She’s just too adorable to resist … but when ya gotta work … 🙂

Grateful Thought Today: Work-From-Home Days … for all the reasons I listed above. Plus … the fact that I tend to concentrate better on reports and projects without the constant interruptions and meetings. Somedays it can be a challenge (read: still get interrupted by emails and phone calls and IM’s), but it’s worth it just to be able to sleep a tad longer.

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** Thank G*D for my parents love of traveling … if it wasn’t for them, I don’t think Hubby & I would have the gumption to plan something on our own. But really … it would be nice to have a quick getaway with just Hubby & me; to recharge our batteries.

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Effed-Up Signals

I’ve gone and done it. Finally.

That’s right, peeps. Stubborn Emily finally broke down and saw her primary doc today. Not for just the common cold or flu bug; no … I saw her because I’ve been feeling craptastic for the past five months or so. Specifically, I’ve been feeling fatigued.

Now, normally I’d chalk it up to stress and anxiety. After all, my current career path has certainly given me enough gastric reflux. And well, i fully admit that I’m prone to over-analyze and freak myself out over things I can’t control.

But this fatigue is just downright … exhausting; for lack of better words.

I mean, I can’t even wake up from my alarm clock until close to an hour afer it went off!

And even though I want to blame it on the fact that I just can’t stay asleep, I don’t think that’s the case. Because when I do have the ability to stay asleep and/or sleep in, I still wake up with the same fatigue.

This is what makes me think it has something to do with my body. And specifically with my endocrine system; my metabolic system. And given that I have a history of PCOS also which affects my pituitary, I’m thinking that this could be closely related to my body’s ability to produce adequate thyroid hormones. Which could consequently cause hypothyroidism.

Without going too much into pathophysiology, if the thyroid doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) which help to control a person’s metabolism, then the pituitary sends signals to the adrenal glands to produce TSH; a hormone that “stimulates” the thyroid to make more T3 and T4.

How do I associate PCOS with hypothyroidism? Well, it has to do with the pituitary gland. In a woman’s reproductive cycle, the pituitary gland is responsible for producing the Lutenizing Hormone (LH), which sends a signal to the ovaries to mature and release an egg to be fertilized. In PCOS, the pituitary gland gets its signals mixed up and secretes too much LH. Which can, in turn cause the ovaries to secrete more than usual amounts of testosterone in a woman’s body … which then can create a situation of the inability to have regular menstrual cycles. In addition, the higher amounts of LH can also cause a lack of ovulation on the ovaries’ part. In turn, the pituitary gland continues to secrete LH, thinking that the ovaries still haven’t “done their job.”

SO … Because of how the pituitary relates to my PCOS, I’m also wondering if it has a part in the fatigue I’ve been feeling; which is one of the big symptoms of hypothyroidism. Perhaps my pitiuary is also getting its signals crossed with the secretion of TSH for my thyroid as well as with LH for my ovaries.

Which brings me to the reason why I went to my Doc. I told her about my fatigue and my concerns about my PCOS possibly contibuting to it … And, as expected, she ordered the specific lab tests to see if my T3/T4 and TSH are out of whack. She ALSO gave me a prescription for a sleeping pill; as she seems to think may also be contributing to my fatigue. <– Hmmph!

So we’ll see … and if I am right about having hypothyroidism, this may ALSO explain the ridges on my finger nails and the increased loss of hair I’ve recently been experiencing.

If not, then I guess my fatigue has nothing to do with my metabolism. Which would mean that I’m just a lazy-a$$ person who just doesn’t want to do anything more but work and sleep.

I hope I’m right about the hypothyroidism …

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Six more days! Until then, here’s my Daily Lenten exercise:

Good Deed Du jour: I actually “made” someone’s day today. At least that’s what the lab tech told me when I complimented her on a pain-free poke to my arm when she drew my blood. Apparently the previous patients were not happy with her technique. So when I told her that I’d been poked enough times during my active (but failed) baby-making yearsand that she was supberb … Well, I made her day!

Grateful Thought Du jour: Health Insurance. Glad I currently have it; glad that the rest of the country will, too.