Giant balloon feet are NOT fun

((I had written a long post, and lost more than half of it when my DSL went wonky. So, this is really abrupt because I didn't feel like being elegant and careful and rewriting it all.))

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted. I've thought about posting, but that's about as far as it went. See, I suddenly started having the most ferocious peripheral edema ever. And yes, I like using proper names for things, but so you don't have to pull up the Merriam-Webster dictionary site, that basically means that my feet, ankles and legs have been swelling up like crazy.

Even though I've had hypertension issues for years, I never suffered from swelling up like a balloon. But about 2-3 weeks ago, I noticed that I had cankles in the late afternoon, and that my feet were puffy. I was a bit concerned, but it always went away when I came home and put my feet up, so I didn't rush off to the doctor right away. Plus, I was expecting my period and thought that maybe, just maybe, I was extra-bloated from PMS, the heat, and all that jazz.

Well, my period came and went (today is cd 10), and the swelling hung around. And then it got worse: it hadn't gone away when I woke up Wednesday morning. And by the time I got off work, my feet were barely fitting in my shoes. So, off to the doctor I went Thursday!

My blood pressure was completely out of control. So, my meds were readjusted, a diuretic added, and now we wait and see if I respond. My body is weird about blood pressure meds: my doc finds a good combo that works, and it works for about 2 years. Then, POOF! My body stops responding, and my BP shoots through the roof.

On the TTC front: this is a drug-free cycle for me. Since all this swelling and whatnot was happening right at the time I would have been taking clomid, I decided against that. I had enough going on without adding another drug to the mix, especially one like clomid.

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My apologies to everyone participating in NCLM. I have been a dismal failure. I was already a couple of days behind before the giant feet kicked in; then once that happened, it was all over. The last thing I needed to do when I got home was to sit at a desk some more! I was online maybe 20 minutes a day after work, and that was mostly to check my email and pay bills. So, no comment leaving going on for me. Unless I manage to somehow hit, say, a hundred blogs in the next 4 days, I will failed NCLM. :P

Scattergory Saturday!

Calliope has declared today to be game-day, and challenged us with Scattergories. Per Cali:

SCATTERGORIES - Use the first letter of your first name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things - nothing made up. You can not use your own name for the boy/girl names.

(Note from me, the splendiferous Kim: Please note that my questions are numbered differently, as the original list had no #4. I can't have a list with missing numbers; it would be bugging me all day!)

1. What is your name? Kim
2. A 4 letter word: knot
3. A vehicle: Kia
4. A boy’s name: Kane
5. A girl’s name: Katya
6. Drink: Kool Aid (Oh Yeah!)
7. An occupation: king
8. Something you wear: kerchief
9. A celebrity: Kiera Knightly
10. Something found in a bathroom: KY Jelly
11. Reason for being late: kissing in the car.... at least, that was why I was late for curfew as a teen!
12. Something you shout: "Kitties!" (Okay, I don't shout that, but I've known plenty of toddlers that do.)
13. A body part: knee
14. Word to describe yourself: kinky

Crafts R Fun

I have been crazed for crafts for as long as I can remember. I don't know where that love began, but I'm fairly certain it was nourished by two things: the "Little House" series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a fabulous book called "Steven Caney's Kids' America". The first described life in frontier America, while the second actually showed you how to do all those marvelous things that are now considered crafts (rather than everyday life). The older I got, the more I delved into the world of crafts. To name just a few, there was: spinning, weaving, candle & soap making, sewing & embroidery, quilting, basket weaving, beadwork, leather craft, crochet, doll making, and various forms of unusual cookery.

But my one big failure is/was knitting; I never could quite get the hang of knitting. I haven't given up, though; I recently went out and bought some knitting needles and an instructional book ("So you're too stupid to knit, huh?") in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, this time I can get it. I am unbelievably jealous of all the blogs I've seen lately boasting gorgeous knitted masterpieces.

It's a bit odd, but my urge to create things, to play about with crafts, seemed to drain away around the same time that I began TTC. Perhaps my psyche became so focused on one type of creation, that I had no mental energy left to think about another. Lately, though, I find myself thinking more and more about wanting—no, needing—to make something. To sit down with raw materials, and through the labor of my hands and mind, turn it into something else. To feel the justifiable pride of a job well done.

Yeah, it doesn't exactly take a Freud to figure me out.

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In random news, here are two comments overheard while walking in the hallway at work. The comments are unrelated, were heard at different times, and are proof that I am, at heart, still in 5^th grade:

1) "So, just how big is your bush?"

2) "I get just as much pleasure from watching, and then you don't have that pain at the end of the evening."