Halloween is coming!

 I haven't really gotten all of my decorations put up yet, for various reasons, but today is my brother's 70th birthday.

His birthday has always been pumpkin carving day, so that's happening, and I will get more decorations done today, as well.

AND, we took tomorrow off, so the finishing touches can be done then!

There is also a Dia De Los Muertos festival at Scissortail Park this afternoon that we plan to go to.

We've finally had our last hot day, right as we are looking at images of the ice storm from 2 years ago that was absolutely devastating, and that shut our power, internet, and cell service off for fifteen days.

I still have PTSD from that horrible time.

Before we go to the festival, today will also see a virtual gathering of my Priestess community for ritual, and tomorrow, the re-recording of a pod cast I was invited to do.

Busy days!

When I saw my doctor last week, the lab work looked perfect, along with the urine test..... so there was no indication in the labs of my body having any issues at all with the Verzenio.  

However, getting up to pee anywhere from five to ten times EVERY NIGHT was clearly A BIG ISSUE!

SO, Doc decided to withdraw the medication for ten days to two weeks, to see what would happen.

The very first night with no Verzenio at all (I had already taken the morning dose when I saw the doctor), I only got up twice. 

Twice a night is my norm.  

Since then, I have only gotten up once or twice a night.  That's pretty clear evidence that the Verzenio was, for whatever reason, causing that weird side effect.

There was no indication in any of the literature about this side effect, and they said they had spoken to the drug rep, and there was nothing he'd heard of.  My nurse was also going to contact the medical board of the drug company with the question. I have not heard if she's done that yet. 

Anyway, I got so little sleep for the eight weeks of being on the full dose, that it was really starting to effect my overall health.

We did not discuss what we would do going forward.  Perhaps a lowered dosage.

I would anticipate that when I start back on the medication after this break, I will have the joy of going through the awful diarrhea phase again. This will be just in time for our Thanksgiving trip.  Yay.

In the meantime, I am REALLY enjoying being able to sleep again.

There is so much to do today, including having a new house sitter come get her key, that I really need to not be sitting here.  Have a great week, and a happy Halloween.

Next weekend is Crane spotting!

Sparkling

 We had our studio dance recital last night.

This was my first time back on stage since before the pandemic.   I had hoped to dance last spring, but the pain I was having forced me to drop out of classes.

This semester, though, the class for the elderly (snort) was brought back, so I re-joined the studio for this semester.  I knew that this choreography would be easier on my body in general, because the class is designed for 50 and older.

While I started out still having pain, taking class off when I needed to.... eventually, the change in my meds relieved the pain at last, so I committed 100% to performing at the recital show. 

I was able to borrow a costume, amazingly, that had a bra top that was virtually flat.  I am going to look on Amazon and see if I can order one for myself.

I also coordinated with another older dancer (she's the eldest dancer on stage... we have another one or two who come to classes for the exercise, but are no longer interested in performing).  We did a duet of a Witch themed dance that is popular on the internet this time of year.

We learned and perfected the choreography in just TWO WEEKS!  It was so much fun!  It is fast-paced and very aerobic for us older dancers, but we did it!!

I hope the photographer got some decent shots.  Mine usually end up looking TERRIBLE...because they snap when I am licking my lips, or inhaling, or SOMETHING that distorts my expression... It's been VERY rare for anyone to get a decent performance pic.

Anyway, it was another major emotional triumph for me to step out into the lights one more time.  Cancer can SUCK IT!!

Anyway, I did not sleep last night, until some time after 4 am, and am glad that I already arranged to work from home tomorrow.

(Flu shots are available at my office on Tuesday, so that will be my office day this week.)

SO, today, I am trying a new whole grain baking mix, and there are muffins in the oven.  

I will get my costuming stuff unpacked, and my office put back to rights.  At the moment, there are sequins and floof all over the room, HAHA!

Wishing my dedicated readers a week full of blessings and light. 

Rain at last

 After a few days of hot weather, a front came through last night, and it rained for about 30 minutes.

We need days of rain at this point, but we are grateful to have gotten some.

One week from today, I will step on stage for the first time since March of 2020.  The dance routines I will be performing are quite different from one another.

One is gentle and flowing, and the other is fun and a bit goofy.

Unfortunately, I woke up today with vertigo, and am supposed to rehearse with my class this afternoon.... hoping I can overcome the vertigo quickly!

On that note, I am going to go lie back down.

Have a good week!

The great cool down

 The hot weather has finally ended!

We even got a few rain drops the other day... but we're still in extreme drought, and the lake level is lower than it's been in years.  

I've enjoyed taking some of my hot weather clothing out of the closet, putting it in the dresser in the laundry room, and replacing it with the cooler weather clothing that's been in storage back there since April.

I like to go through everything twice a year and take donations to charities.  Then, I like to go thrift store shopping to look for new-to-me wardrobe items.

This has not happened since "the before times" in the days before covid.... I am kind of getting the urge to do it now.

There's nothing much else to report this week. 

Heilung

 We went to Dallas yesterday for a long-awaited theatrical experience, seeing Heilung.

Heilung is a musical collective that presents what they refer to as "amplified history."  They make music out of ancient stories, chants, poems, and spells.

Their instrumentation is mostly drums, various percussion, ancient stringed instruments, and voices.

We ordered the tickets to long ago, neither of us can remember when.

Our hotel had to be kind of far away from the venue, because anything close by was $300 per night, so we ended up taking Uber rides to and from the show, which added up to more money than expected.

However, after the long wait, and all of our planning for this event (we dressed up, etc), it was well worth it.

Now, however, it is Sunday night, and I am exhausted... so I will leave it at that for this week.