Today is December 17th 2013.

Christmas is coming real soon, I love this season of Jesus!!
I hope that everyone has a happy and safe holiday.

SodaStream
 The past weekend i was doing some christmas shopping when i came across this product. I thought it was neat so i bought an early present for myself.

 I went online after to see what others thought and it seemed that there where mixed views and the bottom line you either love it or hate it. So I tested it out and i personally like it because you can adjust how much syrup to put in it.

 I also found alot of recipes online so you really don't need to buy the syrups if you don't want to.

odd news

Last Monday on November 25th. I was on my way to my appointment for my rheumatoid. The night before it had snowed so l left really early to my appointment. I got into the car and i pulled out of the drive way. l got about 10 blocks away when all of a sudden it felt funny driving so i pulled over, l got out of the car and to my horror i saw my right rear tire got loose on the tire rim and was coming off.

I got back into the car and drove very slow to the tire garage that is right near my backlane. I got the car in and walk back to my house. l was lucky my sister was home so i borrowed her van to make the appointment.

 l phoned the doctor office to tell them i might be late. They said that it was okay. I arrived five minutes later. 

 The appointment went okay, l found out that the doctor wants to send me to see an orthopedic surgeon to look at my knees, since my left knee keeps buckling on me.

Snowfall

 On Saturday November 16th, I got out of the van and lost my balance and l fell to my knees. My niece ran to get my mom and they helped to get me up. My knees where swollen and still are a little. They have fluid in them. I have been using a cane.

 I cancelled my doctor apt but someone cancelled their apt for next Monday so i took it.

.

 Today l awoke with a sore back, and stiffness. I believe the weather has something to do with that. It is cool at around -4 degrees and flurries. 

 The other day my family and i decided to visit a friend who just moved out to a farm not to far from the city. About a 20 to 30 minutes to get to her place. It was nice to get out of the city for a while(i'm more of a country person then the city but my doctors are here in the city and would be alot of travelling back and fourth.)

 She has a nice size property and a few farm animals. We sat in the kitchen and had a good chat.

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I'm dabbling in using watercolour pencil crayons and thi is my first attempt at it.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a277/lkardal/my%20drawings/c79bb586-4af8-462b-b7b2-b0734b52b89f_zps01a6821a.jpg

crazy few weeks!!

 A week before Halloween my sister was helping me to clean the house and she was sweeping the bathroom floor. She got close to the pipe that hooks up to the water tank of the toilet. And the pipe broke, the water came gushing out. 

She screamed out for my help, so l got to her and seen the problem. I went downstairs to the basemen as fast as l could possibly move. I quickly searched far the water main brake valve. Luckily l found it fairly quickly. I went back to help my sister and what a mess. The water was 4 inches deep. I mopped up while my sister dried off( she was soaked from head to toe.)

Called plumber and got it fixed.
 After all the commotion l needed to step back and take a rest. 

Now i look back and have a chuckle because it did look funny, it was just like in the movies.

Today I feel like complaining.
I have a parking permit for my rheumatoid arthritis and pulmonary hypertension. I'm 35 years old and I look healthy but I'm not. I'm annoyed at people who assumes that I'm faking when I pull into a handicap spot. Or I get mad glares. I wish people would stop judging me. What do they want from me?
Should I wear a sign that tells people why I do park there!
I have difficult when walking and in constant pain. I can only walk short distance before I feel faint or dizzy.
I try to avoid shopping when I have flare ups on my joints.
Shame on those people who glares and complain about healthy looking people who park in those handicap spots. Those people should walk a mile in my shoes.

Just wanted to type today :)

Yesterday what a day, first thundering in the morning, so loud it work me up from a deep sleep. Then woke up later to sunshine and high humidity, which caused my back to have spasm. sore today still from the spasm.

So i have been taking it easy today,lying around and surfing the internet when i came across this http://www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org/events-classes/events/imaginary-worlds

What a neat place to visit.

I often think back of when I had my stroke and the long road to recovery and of all the people who helped me through those days. even the good and not so good experiences.
 I remember when a member from the S.A.M(Stroke Association Manitoba) came to visit with me and he told me of his experince and said that one day l'll look back on this and see that it went by quick and will be just a memory. At the time I thought to myself "yeah sure, l wish my experience was done with alrighty." But looking back now he was absolutely right.
This is a link to the S.A.M website http://www.strokerecovery.ca/
This group is amazing and they are also on facebook  over here https://www.facebook.com/groups/132466293487076/
They are a great group and help me. 

Today on July 9 2013.

 On Sunday, I woke up not feeling so good but then about ah hour went by and I felt like myself again. So l went out with my family to have lunch at a restaurant.
 Everything was going fine until we got on the road. I started to feel dizzy and nauseous. M first thought was "oh no, not a stroke."
I had to tell them to stop the car right away and l leaned out to vomit. but after that i felt so much better. I figured it was car sickness. 
It is weird that after suffering and surviving a stroke and not just me but my whole family will atomically think it is a stroke again.

I realize it is July and alot of other people have already planted either some flowers or gardens or both, but i have not had any time to do them. Today l finally planted my herb garden ( with plants already seeded and growing from my Aunts Greenhouse called The Garden Spot.)
And tomorrow l will plant my cherry and roma tomatoes and marigolds.
I have what is referred to as a patio or deck garden. I use to plant a garden in my backyard but l find doing this way alot easier on my joints and back.

Happy Easter Everybody !!

 On March 28, 2013. My family and i headed out to Winkler, Manitoba to a hotel there that we always go to when we go out there.We go there to get out of the commotion of the city and go to a town (technically a city but l consider it a small town,) 

 The first day and the next day, my sister and her daughter and i went and swam alot in their pool and then relaxed in the sauna and hot tub. With me Ra it is difficult for me to go and exercise. I tell my doctors about that but they tell me they understand that i have a hard time and do not expect me to exercise a ton but they encourage me to exercise when i can and when my joints are not too sore.

 When l went swimming the first day my back got sore and so i took a pill and relaxed in our room. I was surprised the next day to find l was not stiff or sore. I went swimming for much longer then the other day. I even surprised my sister and went swimming with her in the evening time too. 

 On Saturday we packed up and checked out. We headed to their Canadian tire store to get windshield wipers for my sisters van, Her wipers are no good so i told her l would go and buy some and change them for her since she did not know how to.

 About an hour and half later we arrived back home to find that the Easter bunny came to my bed and left some more treats for my niece and family ;) My niece had an egg hunt earlier on Friday in the hotel.
All in all we had a great ending to spring break.

 It is finally spring now even though there is still a lot of snow here but soon soon it will all go away for a few months.
lol this is what it looks like outside at the moment 

lately I have been feeling great but last week l had a bit of a scare. I woke up with a bad headache and l thought "oh no, not a stroke."
Luckily it was not. I took some meds for the headache and it went away and it has not come back.

In December of 2012 l received a letter from motor vehicle wanting me to fill out another form about my driver's license. More of a review from my doctor. I filled it out and have not heard from them. So l guess it is fine.

Okay this next entry is a little embarrassing for me to admit this but I wanted to let people know that this is quite normal to have after surviving a stroke.
I usually wear a pad daily and nightly, since having the stroke l tend to leak a little urine. This is one of my ongoing problems. It is sometimes annoying but l can live with it.
I follow a routine at night. Whenever l get up, l will go to the washroom even if l don't feel like l need to. This has helped me alot.
I usually do not have much of a problem during the day.
I almost forgot to say that if you too have this problem, their is an exercise called kegels. Here is a helpful website;
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kegel-exercises/WO00119

Yesterday l was backing out of the drive way in my car, wouldn't you know l got stuck in the backlane due to the city deciding to plow the backlanes. leaving clumps of snow at the end of my drive way.  I have rheumatoid arthritis and pulmonary hypertension and so i pay a guy to shovel but he couldn't do it right away since he is working during the day.

I had no choice but try to get over those clumps. I had to pick up my pills and pick up my niece from school.

Thankfully 4 neighbours  came to my aide and helped get me unstuck. I was then able to go about my errands. 

I really can not wait until the snow melts and the ice will go away too. I use my cane to prevent myself from slipping and falling. 

Happy New Year to everyone !!!!

I'm so happy right now because for the past 10 months l have been saving my money to buy a replacement for my old battered laptop. The screen got cracked by accident and thankfully it still worked but it had red stuff all over the screen. which made typing a blog very difficult. Now it is so much easier.
One of the feature that l like about the laptop, the key board lights up, so now i can see the letters better.

This is now the time of year that l feel that it drags on and on. Where l live it is the middle of winter. There is at least another 4 months more of coldness and snow. 
It is funny thou, when l was smaller l could not get enough of winter but now that l'm older i don't care for it.