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Another friend - holiday headaches

morticia — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:12:42 GMT

Hi Rydia! (a new friend, yea!) Well, almost five months out from the fibroid treatment (no cutting, just lots of ultrasound) and my waistline has gotten smaller and I've dropped a few pounds without trying. I'm not skinny yet, but I don't feel like I'm a few months pregnant anymore, so it must have worked. I've also stopped my birth control after 20+ years (yep, it's that time, I'm a little early) and am trying to cope with all the fun things like hot flashes on my own as the hormone treatments will all make the fibroids grow back. I should have stopped the bc pills years ago, but the fear of migraines scared me. I've also began taking thyroid medicine (despite all of my borderline TSH tests) and my energy level is much higher, though I still have the other exciting side effects of fibromyalgia and MS to deal with, but I've actually gotten up the energy to go skating around my neighborhood a few times (then the rain and cold returned). For anything you ever wanted to know about thyroid problems check out http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ But the extra energy is coming in handy with the holidays almost here. The thought of Christmas just exhausts me, I always want to just jump from Halloween to mid-January. Too many family birthdays (including mine), too much money, too much guilt, too much traffic :-) But I do like eggnog and good fruitcake ( http://www.collinstreet.com/ ) so I press on ;-)

Four Friends and a Cold

morticia — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:05:10 GMT

Hello to Jessi and thank you for your kind words, I'm slowly but surely getting past the fibroid problem, and somewhere along the way I've lost about 5 pounds without doing anything to earn it. It makes me very happy to step on the scale and see the numbers starting with 14 instead of 15. I'm very short so five pounds means an entire belt loop hole to me, (yea!). Been fighting the sinus infection from hell for over a week now, I'm allergic to antihistamines so my cures are pretty limited (and I've got no health insurance so I have to be creative). It might be an actual cold, I had jury duty last week and was around a bunch of people (I got to serve for the first time ever, I usually don't get picked because I have a law enforcement friendly background - big excitement, we made a guy pay for his speeding ticket). Mild fever, coughing, sore throat, congestion, swollen glands and both ears aching. I've been gargling with peroxide and salt water, using my neti pot twice a day, putting peroxide and then Similisan earache oil in my ears (which have been stuffy, crackling and hurting - I'm trying to avoid the 'make the world stop spinning' phase that usually comes with my bi-annual sinus infections). I'm so tired of coughing, I have a small stash of Tessalon perles, Keflex and Albuterol, so hopefully I'll be back to my normal sneezy, itchy year-round allergy self soon. And I have an entire drawer full of homeopathic remedies that seem to help some without making me break out in hives. I broke down and went to Walmart tonight in search of something for the sore throat pain, and bought some Chloraseptic spray. It worked for awhile, but bleecchhhh!!!! (And it made my fricking tongue go numb, I think I may have had an allergic reaction to it also) I must have looked crazy, sitting on the floor in the cough & cold aisle at midnight looking over all of the throat lozenges one by one (don't like menthol, don't like cherry, don't like sugar-free, at least the Chloraseptic is orange flavored...). I know the zinc drops will cure you quicker, but they leave the nastiest metallic taste in my mouth and it seems to last all day. Actually the least offensive and most effective home remedy I've tried is just gargling with straight peroxide mixed with some water. Seriously, peroxide will kill anything (just don't swallow it). Apple cider vinegar is also supposed to be a good home remedy, but double yuck. The tastiest home cold remedy I know of comes from my parents - honey, water, lemon and a little bourbon ;-) I picked up some lemon juice at Walmart tonight also, in case it's needed... My husband has been sick this week also, but of course Mr. 'perfect genes' was only sick for about three days and now expects me to be bouncing back already also. But he could take all of the OTC remedies that make me break out in hives (I really miss being able to take Nyquil, especially the old version that was like 50 proof). But between us, I'd rather be sick than have to deal with him feeling bad, because he makes both of us miserable. So I'm very glad this week is almost over...

I have three friends :-)

morticia — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 08:20:09 GMT

I've been going through a lot of health issues this summer and it was so nice to receive two new friend invitations this week. I had a pretty major treatment for uterine fibroids last month and have been feeling sort of sorry for myself because it's taking me longer than I'd expected to feel better, but I know I'm slowly but surely getting there. I have my one month checkup this afternoon and I'm hoping the doctor can see the improvements that I'm feeling also. My mobility (and my center of gravity and my dancing) had become pretty badly impaired with the growth of several pretty large fibroids over the last year, but hopefully they'll continue getting smaller and I will feel better with each day and I can get back to a more normal life. And not have to worry about things like having to plan my bathroom breaks when I'm running errands :-( So thank you to Surya & Angela for cheering me up and for the friend invites. And for reminding me of all the things I want to do, write, etc. I have photos to take, DVDs to review, and hopefully soon, 'real' dance classes to start :-)

Hip Scarf Junkie.com

morticia — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:15:59 GMT

Because I'm such a control freak when it comes to my websites, I'm working on mirroring (and expanding) my Tribe page to my own internet server. I've set up the domain (all that's really on it right now is this pretty image), I've got the blog mostly laid out, and I'm configuring a photo album script so I can add things like my vintage postcards, etc. without having to go through quite as much work as my other websites require. I came up with the name because I can't stop buying hip scarves, I'm seriously addicted. I have a total of 15 scarves and belts so far and I still haven't even taken a real dance class yet. They're just so darned beautiful! My husband thinks I've completely lost my mind, but I told him I think they're fun, pretty, and they make me happy. I'm not a frilly girlie girl, but I've always had a thing for beads (I used to sew rhinestones & bugle beads on my clothes back in the 80s), so I guess I have the magpie gene.

First Friend!

morticia — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 09:43:15 GMT

Despite the fact that I have been neglecting my Tribe page lately (see one reason why in the next entry), I got my first friend invitation from Marisela, a pro dancer and teacher here in Houston (thank you!). I've been trying to work up my nerve (and health and energy ;-) to take some real dance lessons at Sirrom Studio and she has many nice things to say about them so maybe this will be my push to finally go. I'm very bad about attending anything socially on a regular basis, and my health has been acting up a lot this spring, but I'd really love to take lessons from a non-DVD teacher (though I love my DVDs!).

My First Tribaret Bellydance Costume

morticia — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 11:41:23 GMT

Many more sewing details to come (especially on the belt), but I'm very proud of this outfit, I actually sewed the harem pants and the corset belt myself. This photo was from our Halloween party this year and it gave me an excuse to make some real costume pieces and get dressed up (I was aiming at Tribaret). I was going to sew a choli or make an embellished bra but ran out of time and got lucky and found this top on Ebay for a really good price (from seller juliaridesign). If fits very comfortably and stays put (FYI this is their XXXL size). The tikka on my head and the one pinned to my blouse are also from Ebay (seller rocklain - also at Rocklain Boutique, see shopping link below), everyone commented on them, I wish I had a better photo. The spiderweb undergarment is a dress made by Leg Avenue (from Ebay seller fatalimpact), I cut the bottom of it off and opened up the underarm seam because it was a little tight. And the shoes are just satin ballerina house slippers with the bows removed (not recommended unless you replace them with something else, it leaves a little hole), and two crossed rows of elastic sewn on to keep them on my very flat feet. The harem pants are from SImplicity pattern 5359 made in a lightweight black silk. I used elastic for the waist instead of a zipper, and wish I had cut the top of the waist with another two inches for the casing because it came up shorter than I'd estimated. I was afraid the pants would actually be too full, but the crotch actually came up a bit short using the pattern with no modifications so I ended up using Shira's tip on making an elastic waistband from wide bias tape ( http://www.shira.net/sew-top.htm ), though I could not find bias tape that wide anywhere locally and ended up using 2 inch wide black satin ribbon (ironed, folded, etc.) which worked really nicely. I have not sewn in years and the silk was very hard to work with, I think I may buy a pair of pants from Flying Skirts if I get to the point where I need a pair that will hold up to heavier wear and tear. But overall this was a very comfy outfit and everything stayed where it was supposed to (except the head tikka which moved some because my hair is very fine and I'm not good at attaching things to my hair), nothing came undone. I could even sit comfortably (on the floor even!) in the belt, which I was a little worried about because I'm very short (and short-waisted). I will be posting detailed info on the belt construction after I take a few more photos of it, because the instructions with Tempest's pattern left me a little confused. I'm not very crafty and ended up having to reference her photos and other people's tips on the Tribe boards to figure out how to make it correctly. Also I made the gauntlets out of the same blue & black brocade fabric I used for the belt ( www.renaissancefabrics.com ) with wide elastic at the seam, which was very tight (I've got no bones in my hands so I managed to get them on and off), I think next time I'll use velcro.

Happily married, no thanks...

morticia — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:22:07 GMT

FYI to the guys, I'm happily married, not looking and don't want to buy any type of drugs online. I'm just here to exchange info and thoughts on middle eastern dance. I'm actually reluctant to even mention the BD word to any males, their eyes either glaze over or get really big, sorry to disappoint you guys, but it's not about that ;-)

First Post

morticia — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 11:34:54 GMT

I've been lurking for several months since I joined Tribe, but I got brave tonight and posted my first message to the Bellydance CD/DVD Reviews and Trade tribe because I wanted to let people know that DeepDiscountDVD.com was having their big semi-annual sale and they have some supercheap bellydance DVDs (and it's over in a few days). I've been searching Amazon and Ebay for good prices, and DDD has the cheapest prices (though they don't have nearly the selection that Amazon does). I bought a few instruction and performance DVDs to add to my collection, and also the Doumbek Technique DVD because I love percussion and am thinking about getting an Egyptian drum with my birthday money in January. My husband laughs hysterically at this one, but he'd better watch out, I might do it. I've been driving him crazy playing music and practicing zills, just wait till he gets to hear a real drum in person ;-)