My Crappy Immune System Boost

I was born with a compromised immune system. It really did not affect me until I was in my mid-thirties. The first time I experienced a flare, I had no idea what was going on. I thought I had a terrible flu bug. For several weeks, I could not function on any level without a tremendous amount of pain...no matter what I did...walking, sitting, standing...and over-the-counter pain killers did not even scratch the surface. I had recently moved to a new place, in a new state, without a support system, and responsible for the well-being of two children. I just powered through...

Years later, I learned that my mom went through something very similar about the same time in her life. And she also had no idea for years as to what was going on with her system!

It was not until years later, when both of us had moved to, and settled in Montana, that she was referred to a Rheumatologist, and consequently was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. It was then that we both began to learn about auto-immune disorders, and around that time I began to suspect that something was going on with my system, as well.

Because of my diagnosis, I have to stay on top of my body's natural tendency to undermine my well-being! I keep up on all my immunizations, and, over the years, I have introduced these things into my daily routine. I started with Super-Lysine in my late thirties, at the suggestion of my doctor. In my late forties, I read an article written by the teacher who "invented" Airborne. Because I worked in the health industry at the time, it made perfect sense to me to add it to my nighttime regimen. There is hardly a day goes by that I miss taking either of these, and I firmly believe that they help me stay healthy! Last autumn, my hygienist told me about vitamin K-2. I had been supplementing with Vitamin D-3 for some time, but, after reading up on K-2, I decided to try adding this combo to my regimen. I started it in October and by December, I noticed a huge surge in my energy levels! People kept asking me how it was that I managed to do so many things around the Christmas holiday...But then I ran out of those pills right before Christmas, AND I DID NOT RESTOCK MY MEDICINE CABINET! Lol...

After the holidays were over, I was really worn out and I chose to "take a couple of weeks off". Granted, we had our Montana Winter to deal with, which, now that we are older and not active in the snow, comes with a lot of inside sedentary activities. I do not know why it took me so long to put two and two together! Sometime last month, I realized that my lethargy could, indeed, be that I was no longer taking vitamin K-2, and that perhaps I should fix that!

I hate to get sick. Also, my feeling responsible for being there for my mom and my husband as they age, and through the various age-related challenges that come their way, causes me to want to be at my very best level, and stay at the top of my A-game.

Life is short. We are given only one body and one lifetime. If we do it well, one is all we need...

Cards From Cards

When I am at estate sales, i find I am always looking through the boxes and baskets that other people tend to pass over. You just never know what little treasures you will come across! At one of the sales I went to last autumn, I found several boxes...I mean shoeboxes...of unsent, collected greeting cards that the Person Whose Sale This Was, had accumulated over several decades. I was so overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of the cards that I just "picked one" of the many to choose from, and bought it for $10. (If you have purchased a greeting card of late, you know what a deal this was!)

I took this big shoebox of cards to mom's house, and we spent a couple of hours going through the cards, dividing them up. There were cards from far-away places-- some as far away as Europe, New York, and Alaska-- Hallmark cards, cards from art galleries all over the world, cards from museums, religious cards, birthday cards, and nature cards. We both ended up with enough cards to last us well into the next decade.

In addition to the cards Mama decided she would not use, I kept the post cards, and a few of the cards that were lovely, but had obviously be sent to this lady and were precious enough to her to keep.

The next day, I got out my cardstock and cut the 8-1/2" x 11" paper in half and then folded it in half again. This gave me perfect cards that I then could make into lovely notecards by gluing the post cards to the front. I trimmed the used, and yet very pretty and unique cards to the proper size and glued them to the folded cardstock as well. At the end of my crafting, I have my own shoe box full of now useful and pretty note cards to send to people I love.

At least at my house, Snail Mail is not yet dead!

My Salamander

When I was a little girl, living in Oregon, my favorite thing to find, while out camping, was a little salamander. They are quite common in that state, especially because of how wet things are there. I would find a mossy spot near a babbling creek and build little fairy houses with pebbles, stick and pretty colored stones I would pull from the water. Every so soften, one of the upturned stones would render a sweet brown salamander with a bright orange belly. How fortunate I thought myself, if I could grab it quickly, and run to show mama and my siblings. We never tried to keep them, as they needed such a specific environment. (Sadly, for mama, the same could not be said of the Garter snakes my brothers were always trying to make into pets!)

One day last spring, while moving rocks around one of my spigots, I spotted a flash of yellow. Moving a couple more rocks revealed this pretty little guy. Because of the very dry climate we have here, I had no idea we had salamanders in Montana! My research told me these are called Long-toed Salamanders, apparently due to their longer middle toes...