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Sunday, July 05, 2009

And the Livin' is Easy

Finished a new plaster piece. I have some others too that I'll show you in time. Love the plaster; a fine, cloudy mess.

Went to Kitten's for the 4th (John's tongue-in-cheek nickname for our daughter Stephanie). Moose is showing us how he keeps cool in the 90 degree heat. He is the funniest dog; kept stepping on my sandaled feet with his big clumsy paws and shaking off the water while in the middle of us. That kept all of us cool.

These didn't hurt either. This is the summer of Blackberry Margaritas. Quite refreshing.

A few journal pages. As I look at these I remember clearly the bumpy emotional ride that has been this summer. Thank heavens I'm in a sunny space; sometimes my thoughts take me to other places.

Learning to ride the currents; isn't that the challenge for some of us? Not to be discouraged when the mind plays its *funny* tricks.

The subject in our family this week has been Hashimoto's Disease. It is a condition that our daughter Shellie (Pumpkin) has just discovered she has; for years she's complained of a tight throat, depression, panic attacks and mania. After therapy, anti-depressants and more therapy she's gone on thyroid meds and all those symptoms have disappeared plus she is losing weight (a good thing for her) and having increased energy. Sometimes it's not just in your head.

Cooper's happy that Shellie is finally being treated for her Hashimoto's Disease. So are we all.

Here is part of John's garlic harvest for this season. It smells wonderful drying on the deck.

My idea of fun. A nap in the cold, air-conditioned house after a hot session at the grill. Happy 5th of July; wish I could share a scoop of lemon verbena home-made ice cream with each of you.

14 comments:

Janine said...

How fun! Just LOVE your plaster piece! Your journal pages are great as always! Your garden is amazing!

anna maria said...

Before my thyroid problem was diagnosed 30 years ago I had terrible panic attacks for several months, with a doctor making comments about my needing to breathe in a paper bag, like Woody Allen, until the blood tests came back.

As soon as i started taking the thyroid hormone I was fine. I'm happy your daughter was diagnosed.

Kelly Kilmer said...

MA and Son in Law look very comfy!!!

I LOVE your pages. I LOVE the plaster piece.

It all just makes me *sigh*.

Donna Heart said...

oh judy i wish i could touch that plaster piece! i look at your journal pages too - i wish i could journal - but i just don't know how or where to start - how long does it take you to do a page? they are works of art themselves!
thanks for such a wealth of inspiration and variety!
X Donna

Patricia said...

oh how I love the plaster piece. It satisfies me in many ways. I also have to add a note re thyroid disease. I suffered the same symptoms as your daughter and have also responded well to therapy. It is truly remarkable how quickly I felt better although fine tuning the dosage has taken a bit of time. I hope I will be able to see your works in plaster at Art in the Pearl this year. Thanks for sharing.

misty said...

Happy 6th of July Judy!
Hope your daughter keeps feeling better, that must have been scary.
loving everything you share here!
hello to your dear John!
xo

LM said...

Hashimoto's is such a lovely sounding name for such an insidious mercurial disease... Speaking as one who knows, it's such a relief to figure out what's wrong! I'm glad to hear she's doing better and that your summer is flowing along. Thanks for your blog - I always enjoy checking in and seeing what magic you've created!

Jennifer White said...

Thatsa lotta garlic! But one can never have enough in my opinion....glorious journal pages as usual Judy... hope you enjoyed your weekend, too.

Shelley said...

I think your journal pages are absolutely wonderful!

What a great garlic harvest. It's a food group in our household...next year I will have to try growing some (any tips?)

Lemon verbena ice cream sounds sooo good and refreshing...any chance you might share the recipe?!

Karen Cole said...

Ah yes, the ups and downs of life. This post was certainly one of the best examples I've seen in awhile. I love that there is a beautiful beginning to the story and a very happy ending.

Unknown said...

I was diagnosed with hashimotos 3 years ago.

My daughter, 19, had the worst psoriasis and eczema all over her body beginning about two years ago, even her eyelids would swell and peel. It was unbelievable we had no explanation for this sudden change in her skin. We went to multiple dermatologists, a neurologists for all her body aches, a sleep therapists for exhaustion and inability to sleep. And had no answers, it was sooo frustrating!

I was glad she was homeschooled because she could have never dealt with the schedule and workload of school, she felt terrible all the time. It was a year and a half before her blood work finally showed that she also had developed hashimotos. She has yet to loose the 20 pounds she put on before the diagnosis, because her levels keep changing, requiring a hirer dose.

Her psoriasis went away after one month of hormone and the eczema is not gone but is now only in small manageable patches. She is no longer falling asleep in the middle of the day and feels so much better physically and mood wise.

Something in our environment must be causing this, there are so many women with this now. And I bet there a lot more that have not been diagnosed.

Seth said...

Perfect plaster piece. Again!

Laura said...

Always a treat popping in here to see what you've been up to Judy - love your journal pages as always but that plaster work is amazing!!!

I was diagnosed w/ hypothyroidism after the birth of my daughter (she's in her early teens now) so I wish your daughter a speedy treatment. Tell her to keep at her doctors if symptoms don't seem to be clearing up as adjusting the dose was the worse part for me, actually I still don't feel 100%. They need stricter standards on the strength/consistency of the meds for this disease.

And I have to agree with Judy Perez, there seems to be SO many women with this - why??

Miriam Cutelis said...

Thank you for such a visual presentation....love your blog...will come more often//