Saturday, October 20, 2012

my coffeemaker is broken....and I am an addict and other tales

Remember a while ago when I swore off coffee?  Well, I couldn't give it up.  I did cut down considerably.  But over time, I've worked my way back up to drinking a far amount of coffee.  Coffee with almond milk.  Or for a really big treat, sweetened vanilla almond milk (I know, crazy right?!).  This week disaster struck.  My coffeemaker died.  I thought I could tough it through a day or two without coffee.  WRONG!  I had a headache.  I felt like crap.  I had to get a coffee from the new Tim's around the corner to get rid of the headache.  I was an addict craving a fix.  Suffering withdrawal.  I have decided that I do need to get the caffeine monkey off my back, but reporting time at school is not the best time to tackle it.  Stressed out teachers and a snappy, grumpy administrator is a bad mix.  But my addiction to coffee is a testament to my addictive personality and chemistry.  I could imagine if I ever tried a drug like meth.  I'm an Intervention Canada episode waiting to happen.  I am incredibly grateful that my most serious addiction is caffeine.  So many poor souls are addicted to so many other drugs (caffeine is a drug, I admit it).  Coffee and word games.  If I'm going to be an addict, those are fairly harmless, I must say.

In better news, my daughter came home from uni and stated that I've lost weight.  Enough that you can tell.  Which is fantastic, because it means that my thyroid is improving!  I have been a little more careful with what I'm eating (I did eliminate sugar and simple carbs for a week).  Eliminating sugar and simple carbs makes me just feel so much better.  But I digress....  Chelation is not the most fun I've ever had, but I do like that it's working, the mercury and lead are being drawn out of my body and consequently my thyroid antibodies are improving.  3 more rounds of chelation and hopefully I'll be done.  And have a thyroid that is able to properly do its job.  Which means that my body will work better.  Great news.  Autoimmune dysfunctions are a pain (bitch really).  I will continue with the carb elimination deal too.  The other autoimmune dysfunction  I've seen some evidence of is insulin resistance (all related to the damned thyroid), coupled with some estrogen/progesterone imbalances.  Which are all improved by a simple carb-free diet as well.  Don't panic, I still eat a variety of complex carbs from other sources.  I'm NOT doing Atkins or some such other craziness.

If you too think you have some carb/hormone issues, I recommend the book The Carb Sensitivity Program by Dr. Natasha Turner.  Same ND that wrote The Hormone Diet, which I also recommend.  I'll let you know how it works in the long term.  I feel better already, so I'm thinking good things :)

In other news, lots of discussion around here about what life will be like in a few years when the youngest has gone away to school (or other endeavors).  Hubs isn't comfortable with me being completely alone for weeks at a time when he's on afternoons (I think maybe we watch too much Criminal Minds).  The solution?!  A Rotweiler.  Yep, "Mr. I'm not a pet kind of guy" wants to get a big, scary dog to protect me when he and the boys aren't here.  He wants to name it Fluffy, because he's a rabid Harry Potter fan.  I'm both touched and amused.  My Chase the Wonderdog lab/border collie cross just isn't tough enough to scare potential intruders away.  Not to mention that by the time we are looking at, she will be a very old doggy girl.     He's afraid if I get a big lab that I'll turn it into a huge suck and it won't be protective.  I'm not convinced that I won't turn a big scary dog into a suck too.  But apparently rottie says, "I mean business" and lab says, "hey, where's the fun?". The hitch with this plan?  I'm used to an eerie smart dog that understands what I say and desires to please me.  I'm uneasy with trying to train a dog that could be dangerous if not trained properly.  The debate rages on.  I'll keep you updated.  Of course, as middle child pointed out, it would be cheaper to have an alarm system installed.  Always the logical one.

On the agenda for the day?  Basement cleaning (hubs and youngest kiddo), basketball in O'ville and probably some work on my big project so that I can get my final principal's qualifications.  Strangely, I need to have something to hand in, not just all in my head.  Which means, I need to get started on recording some of it and not waiting until the last minute.  Of course, in order to do that I need to analyze student achievement first.  Jealous?  Your life could also be this exciting!

This is really the only rationale I need for doing work on improving math instruction:
How I see math word problems: If you have 4 pencils and I have 7 apples, how many pancakes will fit on the roof? Purple, because aliens don't wear hats.

But somehow, I think my project needs to include more than that.




4 comments:

cargillwitch said...

very glad you are making progress on your hypothyroid condition Nicole- are your t3t4 levels stablizing as well?
I have a great breed for you if you're looking for a puddle of affection disguised as ferocity. a leonberger. We have had two now and we are all totally in love with the breed. Ours is huge ( 130 pounds) and coupled with a nasty bark he looks horrifically imposing. In his off time he babysits day old chicks and aspires to be a lap dog.I can't say enough great things about them being a multipurpose family pet.

Nicole said...

Actually my T4, T3 levels have always been fine. My antibodies were sky high. They are gradually coming down through the combination of a gluten-free diet and chelation therapy.

I'll get Rick to look into leonbergers. I still think it's hilarious that he wants a dog at all!

Tina@thriftingwithcake.blogspot.com said...

Those e cards would have helped me with math back in the day...really!

I have found that raising and training dogs is harder than I realized. I used to always say things to Brad regarding Daisy's behavioral issues (He had her for six years before he met me and she's got some "issues" for sure!) but after training, loving and be frustrated beyond belief with Curtis, I apologized to him one day. I can understand your hesitation with properly training a possibly vicious dog. Curtis is part doxie and he's SO stubborn it's ridiculous! I've researched that it's part of the daschund temperament. Then his lab side is the sweet "I'll do it cause it makes you happy!" side which often fights with the "I don't really want to! Weinerschnitzel..OUT!" part...tiring.

NO COFFEE? I am addicted and would have probably gotten ill in addition to a massive headache. And let's be honest..I'm sure I wouldn't be very fun to be around. I feel like it's my one vice..I don't smoke, drink too much (I guess that's up for debate..but a few glasses of wine a week works for me.)OR shoot up between my toes or anywhere else..so coffee..is my friend!

I'm so glad that your body is getting results from your therapies!! How stressful. It makes me feel like I need to remove the mercury from my body, too..??

Hope you had a fabulous Monday!! :-)

Nicole said...

New coffeemaker purchased yesterday! And sweet, sweet hubs brought me a coffee from Tim Horton's before leaving for work at 5:00 a.m. He's a keeper!

I love dog training, as frustrating as it can be. Having said that, Chase is crazy eerie smart and could be trained to do anything. Lab crossed with border collie? Best dogs in the world! I'm still voting for another one down the road.

And Curtis is so darned adorable, it must be very difficult to be firm with him!