After the terrible "vomit so hard I piss myself" migraine I had...

After the terrible "vomit so hard I piss myself" migraine I had some weeks ago I decided that I wasn't ok.  I'm 100% sure that it had everything to do with my upcoming certification exam, but that doesn't change the fact that I become completely incapacitated when my stress level gets too high and that is just a big downward spiral in the making.  Thankfully I had a telehealth appointment with my doctor coming up and she helped me get right.

My doctor told me I was taking a very small dose of my antianxiety and gave me the freedom to gradually up my dose until I felt that my anxiety (and therefore my tension - which is a big migraine trigger for me) was controlled.  That has been a life-saver.  I'm still not at the max dose of the antianxiety which is great because that leaves me some wiggle room in case I need to up my dose again.  Weirdly, I would say that things are pretty chill here because I really only have the deadlines that I put on myself, but as some of you may have noticed I am terribly HARD on myself sometimes so I guess it makes sense.

Another thing I did was cut out having my morning tea.  For about a year I have LIVED for having a little bit of Chai in some milk every morning.  I know that caffeine is a migraine trigger for me (and can also contribute to anxiety) but I would mix it so that it was mostly milk with a slight Chai flavor and never had any issues.  It was a wonderful way to start my day, but I quit it cold turkey.  You would think with the minimal amount of caffeine I was getting that it wouldn't be a big deal but I did have headaches for a few days.  That indicated to me that I was getting enough caffeine for it to affect me on some level and reinforced my decision to stop consuming it.  Thankfully I am over that and feeling pretty good.

I think the worst thing I have going on health-wise right now is that I sit too much (not always, but lately I'm studying so I'm plopped on the couch with my lappy) and that I have trouble falling asleep at night.  I need to work on some better sleep habits.  My psoriasis is flaring a little bit; since it's an autoimmune thing I can't help but wonder if my recent vaccine has something to do with that.  In any case it's not bad and I'm not upset.  I'd much rather have it on my skin than in my bones!

Anyway.  I've been level enough to put some real effort into studying for my certification and I feel pretty good about it so far.  I'm enjoying the study material a lot and if getting this certification means I get to do the kind of work that I am studying for then I am meant for this.  The platform, the organization of it all, being able to streamline and customize things... I know I'm nerding out but damn I'm excited.  I am so ready to start my career and see where it takes me.  😁😁😁

Well, with that I am off to study and get on with it.  I hope you all are doing well.  ❤

How is it that...

How is it that as soon as Shaun's head hits the pillow / Sindar's head hits my butt they are both snoring? I used to be the one to fall asleep fast. At least they're cute. 😍😂

This is a whole mess, but it's the best I've got.

This is a whole mess, but it's the best I've got. I guess I'm keeping the long pot with the weirdest pieces. 😂😂😂

Crazy Aloe Update:

My big pots came in so... I'm back at it. The left piece is literally growing into a triangle. How do I pot this crazy thing?! So many pieces of this plant are similar or doing something else just as weird. 😂

It's been a minute...

It's been a minute since I posted an update about how life is going so that's what this is.

Shaun and I have made some good progress in regards to emptying / organizing this house.  Family picked up two heirloom bedroom suites of furniture over the weekend so that means we've almost got bedrooms for the kids cleaned out out here.  For the last 6 months we've been slowly but surely cleaning out rooms of the house, as well as the basement, garage, and workshop, not to mention working on the house in Anniston.  Kind of squished into all of that is me studying for my CSA which is coming up this month.

We recently rented a 20 yard dumpster because, well, we needed to.  After Shaun did stuff like replacing the toilets and a sink or two and doing some other repairs and then us cleaning the basement where it had flooded way back and then also us hauling some larger junk to here from the house in Anniston and on and on and on... we legit filled that dumpster up.  It was picked up this morning, thank goodness.  Now all that is left is a garage full of stuff that I think (hope) the family will claim and / or yard sale at their church.  I will be so happy to finally have all of this extra stuff dispensed with - including the house in Anniston.

Speaking of - the house in Anniston doesn't need a lot of work, thank goodness.  It is pretty close to being put on the market which I am VERY excited about.  I really don't like being so far away from the kids (I know they are 21 but they are still kidults).  I also would REALLY prefer them to be here for this stupid tornado weather because there is a basement out here.  Yes, they are good and they come when bad weather is imminent, but I always hated being run out of my house as a kid and I hate doing it to them, too.  It is not a good feeling to be on either end of that situation.

Anyway, we've been busy pretty consistently but I think we got a lot done the last few days especially.  (Or maybe it just feels that way because of the mostly empty bedrooms and the full dumpster being gone.)  For whatever reason, though, I woke up this morning with a tension headache and I ended up mostly sleeping today because of it.  If I hadn't it would have turned into a migraine and that is the last thing I wanted.  I've been feeling good lately (physically / mentally / emotionally) so I don't know what brought it on.  I'm ok-ish at the moment but concerned about being able to sleep tonight.

With that I'm off to rest my body and work my mind.  One of my hands hurts and I'm not sure if I strained it while moving something or if my PSA is flaring up.  In any case I'm about it give it a few days off.  I need to order some nice deep pots for the rest of that aloe and maybe by the time they arrive I'll be up for potting the big crazy pieces.  But for now I need to study.  I hope you all are doing well.  ❤❤❤

So these are the most, uh...

So these are the most, uh... interesting-looking plants I've ever potted. 😂😂😂 The plants are bent and twisty AND their roots are, too. It took me close to 3 hours to manage 7 pots of this aloe. The largest and most unwieldy pieces are still in the pink tote. I think I'm going to need some deeper pots. I've got the potted ones sitting outside and I'm hoping they'll start reaching upwards towards the sun soon. If not, well... they'll have personality. 😜

Late Father-in-Laws aloe uprooted and in a plastic tub.

Late Father-in-Laws aloe uprooted and in a plastic tub. I don't know how that thing was alive. So much of that was growing off of 3 large plants. That's wild.

Same cat for scale (Adrian). She's my lovey helper. She likes to lay in my lap when I work on plants. And by "lay" I mean roll around. 😂 We call her Rollie Pollie. She's about the only cat who behaves when I'm working on plants. Except that she just almost peed in my box of dirt, but that was an honest mistake and I forgive her. 😂😂😂 Look at her sweet li'l face.