A few days ago

I self injected myself with my second dose of Humira. The first one was in December in the presence of a nurse at my doctor's office. It is entirely different having a nurse eyeball you and injecting yourself on your own with this type of pen needle device. It took me approximately one hour to talk myself into the procedure. Yes, I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to needles. I don't freak out, I just don't like them. I'm hoping that this would be more effortless in the future and I'll be more tolerant of my feat.
I'm still on 2 prednisone/1 folic acid/1 metaplex multivitamin daily and 4 methotrexate on Wednesday, every week with no side effects. I've gained back my weight what I lost before going on my leave which is approximately twenty pounds. My stiffness had gone from my fingers upon waking in the morning and I can move much better since being on Humira. I try to eat breakfast most mornings and being consistent with Oatmeal or Malt-o-Meal and a piece of fruit. Since I've been home, cooking has been a wonderful process for me and especially my son since he is the main benefactor of my cooking. Recently, I bought a juicer from my local goodwill store down the street from me and it has been a much needed item in my household. I juice everything, vegetables and fruits. With the left over pulp, I blend it up with a mixture of ice and yogurt to make a nutritious smoothie. I do know that I have to start on an exercise regimen. Daily chores, laundry and washing the dishes does not count. I have to get my heart rate up and start toning up my flab if I want to live a little longer than the way that I'm going now with my health and pain management under control. Soon, I'll be starting back to work and my rat race begins forgetting my good "old habits" and acquiring and sticking to my great new habits.

Winter season

is upon us. It is cold and dreary outside and I'm still in bed thinking back on the type of week I've experienced. My family and I went to my friend Carmen's for Thanksgiving dinner that got a late start and the turkey finally was done...about midnight. The turkey was so delicious and all of the food cooked was very excellent. Except for the gumbo, which was overcooked, actually burned on the stove, by accident and poor mama Diane was to blame. She was making a nice pot of wasabi mashed potato and may have accidentally turned on the back burner where the large pot of gumbo was resting. The next thing we knew, there was smoke billowing from the gumbo pot and mama rushed for the pot to turn it off and my daughter and I ran to open the windows while the smoke alarm was blaring it's signal. In the meantime, Carmen was in the shower shouting to us, "Mama? Is there something burning? We couldn't hear her because Maurice's Nintendo Wii was on loud. After getting the pot off of the stove, windows were opened, Carmen came out of the shower in her robe and inspected the gumbo pot and immediately noticed that it was her labor of love all evening, her gumbo pot that had been overcooked and burned the fixings that had settled to the bottom. Visibly upset at her mother, this had changed the whole dynamics of the evening. My brother arrived with my son with some provisions from the store including two bottles of liquor, one rum and one brandy which mama took no time in opening and held the coveted glass to her heart as if praying and drank it.
Things finally cooled down and we salvaged what we could from the gumbo pot, sausages, crab and shrimp. It was still good eating and along with all the other fixings, it was a good meal. The turkey was done about midnight and by this time we were all stuffed but managed to eat a little of the very moist turkey meat that Carmen had cut for us. 1:00am rolled around and it was time to go home.
Friday took us to Target to get some shoes for Maurice. Nani didn't go to work since she managed to get up at 2:00pm and tagged along with me. Bridgepoint Center in Foster City was very crowded and because the "parking goddess" was with me, we found an excellent spot right in front of the store. Carmen found a few good pairs of shoes for Maurice at clearance and we headed home but not before gassing up my big truck. In San Mateo off of 92 is a great gas station where the prices are always about 10 cents cheaper than anywhere else.
We stayed for dinner of leftovers from last night minus the gumbo, which I'm sure Carmen stated that she was throwing it out. Leftovers at the Evan's is always good and wholesome food. Mama seemed to be doing fine, she was still in her pj's. After leaving the Evan's, Nani and I went home, made a fire and watched T.V.
Saturday was pretty much chore day. Washing and drying clothes, cleaning up the yard while it's still dry and getting out the yard waste and securing the tarp before it starts to rain. My lemons are still green and waiting for it to turn yellow. Maybe I need to add more citrus food. The afternoon rolled around and I was tired. I took a long nap which they say is now beneficial for you. Tomorrow, I'm getting together with the Evans' to see the last of their play, "Stardust and empty wagons". It should be a packed house and I'm looking forward to it.