All-Over-The-Map Post!

Well…farm life continues. Doug found one of our ducks dead in the field next door. We saw another %$#$% chicken hawk the other day. They are beautiful, but they are MEAN! They will not leave our birds alone. This is the first time it has gone after one of the ducks though. It's either that or a coyote...but it looks like the work of the hawks. Anyone know how to get rid of them???

I have to say the ducks aren’t too bright though. Yesterday one of them was standing on their frozen solid kiddie pool “pond” looking down and quacking. Quack, quack, quack. Silly goose. Ar. Ar. Doug and Joanna were making TERRIBLE duck jokes! You know, "I guess it just quacked up." "Do you think we'll get a bill?" AWFUL.

Then I needed a bunny fix after that...so Doug brought a couple of them in. OH my GOSH I don't know how I'm going to let any of them go! They are all so stinkin' cute! I mean, come on... Just LOOK at these faces!

Jacob loves them too...As soon as we get back from Florida we have to take them to the vet, get them separated boy-girl wise, and then figure out what to do. I'm going to keep probably 2 females. If we can't adopt them out, we'll probably give them to a no-kill shelter. No one is eating these babies!

Here's me with my purple hair...you can sort of see it...at least I remembered to smile!

Well, the follow up with my doc today went well...he said I DON'T have asthma! So Hallelujah there! It's probably an allergic reaction that presents as asthma, but I don't have chronic asthma. I didn't think so....I hadn't ever wheezed like that before...SO YAY! The prednisone is making me crazy though. Here is it, 12:16 AM...can't sleep, and ridiculously hungry. Go Lucky Charms.

Anywho...kind of all over the place, but that's me right now! Happy Tuesday!

Cows?!?!?

We are getting cows! Oh my goodness. I am freaking out. One, because I am so excited. Two, because Jacob is so excited. Three, because I am a city-kid transplant who VOWED she would NEVER have FARM animals. Four, because they will be for meat, and I have NO IDEA how to not get attached. (See number 3; animals you own are pets, not food).

Very dear friends of ours have a son and daughter-in-law who are moving to Montana. They have to sell their animals because of the difference in elevation. They are giving us a great deal, and hopefully we will be able to help out some other family and friends with this blessing that is coming to us! Since Doug can butcher anything, he will do the butchering, which will result in more meat, probably better meat, and best of all, FREE. I guess butchering is really expensive, like a fee, PLUS $1.00 per pound for any meat. So MINUS the fee, if you get 400 pounds of meat, you shell out $400.00! Now granted, beef costs way more than $1.00 per pound, but when you can do it free....WHY NOT?

Also, a little good news on the lung front for me...I did the spirometry tests again last night, and my "breathing in" number (why, yes, that IS the technical term!) went from between 15 and 20 up to 40. GREAT news. The number for "normal" people is around 60, I believe. The "breathing out" number is up to 1.7 from 1.5; still low, but at least it's improving. The inhale is effected by the MG, and the exhale is effected by the asthma, so I'm not as weak as I was, but my lungs haven't completely recovered yet. "Normal" for the exhale is like 3.0-3.5. For someone with MG it should be between 2.3 and 2.5. So I'm getting there.

Oh, the joys of chronic illness. Florida is getting closer, and my neuro. said the change of environment could help my lungs. I was like, I'm SO with you!! Oh, a little more good news...He also thinks that I can go right from the high doses of prednisone right back to where I was because it's only 6 days of the higher dose. THANK YOU GOD!!! If I had to wean back down, while on vacation...That would NOT make me happy. The doc DID say to watch my MG symptoms very carefully, and if the MG starts to exacerbate, then I need to go back up to like 30.

SO....if you are a praying person, PLEASE pray that I can go right back to the lower dose with NO problems!!

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. I am so grateful that God has seen fit to bless me with so many caring people in my life...some I've known for forever, and some I've never "met" other than in cyberspace. But you are all important, and I am so appreciative of the relationships I have forged on this computer. Have a wonderful week!!