Scattered Thoughts . . .

I got to do two nice sailboat runs today... (no photos, though, since I forgot to give Sheila one of the cameras)... First, I went out alone to test out the boat and the rigging before I brought Lukey out with me. I wanted to ensure everything was safe. I came about a few times, zig-zagging across the lake and then brought her back in to our beach to pick up Lukey. Lukey and I went out on a longer run... zig-zagging to Boulder Beach State Park before turning downwind for the easy trip back home.  It was some nice sailing and Lukey had a good time. I'm left with legs of jello though. I guess this is a sign of how lousy my health has been... my muscles are weak and easily fatigued. Hopefully I can build up some strength with our summertime activities. Jello legs are no fun.

I've had some fairly stable health for the past week or two. It is always nice when this happens and especially so when it is Christmastime. Today, however, my health hit its limit... This evening, I awoke on the couch... laptop in my lap... still opened, still running, and still showing the model railroading page I was viewing... I was freezing... a bit groggier than usual after a nap...  a nap? "Wait a minute... I didn't lay down for a nap yet!" I looked at the clock... it was showing 4:30pm...  last thing I remembered, it was about 2pm and I was researching some model railroading stuff on the laptop... laptop balancing on my legs... I "awoke" in the same exact position with the computer still sitting on my lap.  What is unusual about this is that because of my spinal issues, I never stay in the same position for more than ten or fifteen minutes because the pain is too uncomfortable. I'm constantly changing positions and rolling over whenever I

I've been too busy and not resting enough lately. Just as significant is the fact that I'm eating things which are known to add to my Systemic Mastocytosis problems. Avoiding these "bad" foods can be tough sometimes. There is little choice when we eat out... there is little choice when we have dinner at someone else's home... and leftovers are always bad for me.  Cooking fresh food for every single meal is difficult... and extremely expensive for those of us living in this neck of the woods. Needless to say, we always resort to eating leftovers because of financial concerns. Another problem I routinely struggle with is staying well rested and avoiding overdoing it! This time of year is tough for this one. Not taxing my body at all is tough to do through the holidays. Finding time for my everyday naps is difficult... even when I do lay down to try to nap. Something always keeps me up or awakens me far too early. This may be my biggest struggle through the hol

The kids were here for dinner again tonight and that is always a welcomed change of pace so that part of our night was really nice.  The problem was that it was a bit hot this afternoon (the low 90s) and I think this negatively impacted my health. Something caused my health to nosedive and I know warm environments are terrible for my health so... I'm blaming the heat. Ironically, earlier this morning was a better morning than I have experienced in quite a few weeks. As a result, I managed to do some much needed laundry... cut my hair... and shower. This may not sound like much, but it was more than I had accomplished in one day in quite some time and enough to completely exhaust me of energy... even taking my breath away. I ate some lunch and then slept for almost three hours. When I awoke, the kids were arriving at the house for dinner. At this point, the temperature in the house was in the low 80s and my health was beginning to slide down the slippery slope it finds far too o

As most of you already know, I am still trying to recover from an overly busy December as well as from our recent trip to Springfield, Massachusetts for the Amherst Railway Society's annual train show.  I am still so exhausted that I am having great difficulty thinking clearly.  Trying to focus on any one thing has proven to be impossible.  There are a lot of things which I would love to be doing but simply can't find the energy to even think straight. In the meantime, I spent a few days writing a review for Trip Advisor about our stay at La Quinta Inn & Suites during our train show weekend.  I was just notified that the manager of the hotel wrote a response to my review.   A partial view of one of four buildings housing the train show... Overall, I feel the manager's response to my review is acceptable and nice. That alone may indicate something positive about this hotel. He didn't give me any lame excuses as we have seen from other hotels. He didn't g