…… hear me brag roar.

I did something new today.
Something I never imagined I’d ever do.
And though it was pretty dang easy, I’m still proud of myself for the accomplishment.

I put this ……

on to this ……

I KNOW!!!!

And then I replaced another one.
Two toilet seats in one afternoon!

I didn’t intend to do that when I got up this morning.
In fact, all I intended to do was drive about 45 minutes to the rheumatologist.
That’s another story that I hope I remember to tell you after I tell you the toilet story.
But I probably won’t.

Any-whooooo, after I finished with the dr. I stopped at a Home Depot on the way home to pick up some bird seed and air filters.
Then, like so many, many times in my days life, I got distracted while passing by the aisles. When I saw the word “bathrooms” I thought, “I really want to change out my toilet seat!”, so I turned down that aisle.
You see, we had the non-slamming toilet seats in the other house, and I’ve missed them.
And, because I loathe previously-used toilet seats, I wanted a fresh one.
So I perused the toilet seats for a while, as I tried to remember if I have elongated or round toilets.
And no, I wasn’t sure.
So I called Son #3 and asked him.
Of course he knew.
Whatever.

Then, not only did I get a non-slamming toilet lid, but I also got a super-cool lid.
Here it is again …… notice anything?

Yep! It DOES have a built-in light on it!! So now I don’t have to turn the light on in the middle of the night, just to make sure there’s not a snake in the toilet.
Yes, I’m serious.
Every. Single. Time.
Since I was small.
No, I don’t know why …… except that I’ve read stories.
And have a friend who had a large rodent come up through her toilet.
So I check.
Compulsively.
Make fun of me all you want, but know this ……
I’ve never been bitten by a snake in my toilet.
Ha!

So yeah, two toilet lids.
And four air filters.
Well, three really.
But also four.

You see, I have high ceilings.
Some are very, very high.
So I had to use my imagination to reach one of the air filters.

This should come as no surprise to those of you who are on Facebook and saw that this is what it took for me to fix my ceiling fan:

So yeah, I used a chair and a soft-sided ottoman. And I still had to put one foot on the ledge in order to reach that dang thing.

You’ll probably be relieved to know that I used this when I put the new filter in:

But the vent in my bedroom ceiling is way too high for me to reach, even with the ladder.
So I used this:

And it worked very, very well.
And was quite easy.
🙂

Then I went outside and stood on the grill so that I could reach one of the bird feeders that’s high in a tree.
No photos of that, though.
Now both bird feeders are full to the brim.
So the birds will have sustenance while I’m in NY.

Let’s see …… what else?
Oh yeah, the doctor.
So after my first visit with him last month, I had several tubes of blood drawn and several x-rays of my hands and feet.
All of which came back very normal.
With no sign of any damage nor any inflammation.
Which, yes, is a good thing.
Except for the fact that I have pain 24/7.
All.
Of.
The.
Time.

Sometimes it’s worse than other times, but it’s always there.
It rarely stops me from doing what I want to do because I just push it aside, knowing that I’ll most likely pay the consequences later.
But I will not be stopped by whatever this is.
This …… that appears to be nothing.

If I don’t have RA, that would explain why I never felt any relief from ANY of the toxic meds the first doctor prescribed.
But it still begs the question …… what’s going on?
No one knows.

So we take a wild guess, and treat the symptoms on a hunch.
I start a new med tonight.
It’s a “cross-over drug” that can treat RA and a couple of other inflammatory problems.
Except for psoriatic arthritis. If I have that, then this medication will bring it out in all it’s ugliness and pain.
But at least we’d know what it is if that happens, which is rare.
I have learned to not count out things that are rare.
Ever.

This med is also a malaria treatment, which is a bonus if I decide to go to Africa in the next couple of months. 🙂
It’s also a lighter kind of med with very few side effects.
It doesn’t cause cancer like methotrexate sometimes will.
Or Remicade.
Both of which I had.
Sweet.

It also takes a while to make a difference, if a difference is to be made.
Of course it does.
So I go back to see this doctor the week before Thanksgiving.
I’m not all that hopeful that this will work, since nothing has worked since all of this started.

The pain is always worse in the evenings, which makes evenings alone SO MUCH FUN!

But, I’m too excited to care about any of this right now.
Because I’m flying to NY tomorrow morning.
I am SO excited that I doubt I’ll get much sleep tonight.
Which really, isn’t so very different from most nights.
But it won’t be frustrating this time, because …… New York!!!!

See you from the Big Apple, Peeps!!!
WHOOP!!!!!!
🙂