Blog post Mid-September 2019
I’ve been a bit “unsettled” since we moved here last November. One of the main reasons we moved was because I wanted to get somewhere my health would be better. Not sure to what degree Florida has helped my physical health (I do think my RA is doing quite well here but, apparently, they have dust and ragweed in abundance here, too,) But I am in remission and I have fallen in love with this area. Most months the temps are mild or moderate though the heat can get wicked in the summer, just like any other place I’ve lived, then add in the humidity at 100 % nearly throughout the summer and hurricane seasons, and I can’t say it’s perfection, but dang it is sure one of the best/prettiest places I’ve ever lived. I always wanted to get near the ocean and now we are six or seven miles from the Atlantic and a fantastic local beach that (off-season) is not crowded at all and during the season still beats PCB and Daytona for lack of traffic and crowds. The people here take care of the beach and all of us pick up trash, watch out for sea turtles, and the like. It’s a friendly little town, though overall way more conservative than I am these days. They are doing something right, though.
When we moved here, I’d already been sick for a solid 18 months or so I think. I’d get repeated ear infections and sinus infections and it had reached critical mass and the infections had spread to my lungs. I’d been coughing for all of that time and nobody seemed to know what to do. They gave me antibiotics about every 6 weeks and threw in steroids occasionally and this was constant.
It is now close to a year later and I can FINALLY say I am back to normal, whatever that means. Still take Zyrtec every day and occasionally use nasal sprays or Sudafed, but no cough for the last month or so, not enough to make note of.
Several months ago, the doctor told me, “We can’t keep giving you steroids and antibiotics” and I’m saying “Duh, so what’s next?” and the only thing anybody knew to try was allergy testing. I resisted for months because I’ve done it twice before in my life, but I finally relented in August. I’m on shots now as well as a strict food allergy diet. I thought I was eating healthy already, but if you’re allergic to it, it isn’t healthy, and I just didn’t know what I was allergic to. Any time I’d try cutting out just one thing, (because there were so many things) I’d just keep on itching and coughing and rashing. Extraordinarily frustrating. I’ve certainly learned just how toxic and messed up our world and our food supply is these days.
Also, the med I was taking for RA, though it made me pain-free in every way (like even normal aches and pains and back pain left me) but it was destroying my immune system. In May I began taking transfer factors and I believe they’ve had a profound effect on my recovery. (Will probably take forever… they keep me infection free!)
But in the midst of alllll this taking place, it was very hard to be excited about our new home. I kept thinking in the back of my mind that it wouldn’t work out and we’d have to move again and What if there is no place on earth I could thrive and be healthy again? Hello plastic bubble living!
So now I’m feeling so much better and it’s been so long since I woke up in the morning and actually got out of bed and had energy and vitality to do things, to make my bed and make a list and Do The Things. I hadn’t been doing much art, a bit here and there, but not a whole lot. We have limited space here so it would often involve dragging out a fold out table and tons of supplies and then cleaning them up after, which is fine, but I often just didn’t feel like messing with all of that.
Fast forward to NOW and I am full of energy and want to do more with my art, so hubs says we can sell a queen bed in one of the guest rooms and get a day bed and make that room my art room and I’m like “Yeeeaaasss!” I am so ready to have a dedicated space, an office or studio, to go to each day and WORK!!! I’ve just not felt like doing anything for so long that I now have pent up energy and I’m raring to go. Going to start walking outside at least 3 or 4 days a week again which I have sorely missed. It’s been too hot, but this will soon change as we enter my favorite time of year (here or anywhere), glorious fall. The temps will drop a bit and sweater weather will come and be perfect for outdoor walking. Rainy season/hurricane season will be gone and I will be ACTIVE again.
We just had our kitchen cabinets painted. I don’t like to brag but I am systematically transforming this house into a gorgeous home. It already doesn’t resemble AT ALL what it looked like when we bought it. We always have projects lined up and we are chipping away at them. We changed our pool into a saltwater pool and replaced pumps and filters and such, nearly all the inside of the house is done painting now… I am definitely a decorator/designer, it is something I greatly enjoy.
And now I get to transform a guest room into an art studio!!! Man am I looking forward to that project.
All in all, life is looking up. It’s still moving at the speed of sound and I wish I could hit the rewind. I miss my kids /family. It is the biggest downside to living here, but they are grown and have their own lives and schedules. I see them when we can make it happen. Hubs and I talked and decided we need to make the house work for US for the 335 days a year we don’t have company and then adjust when company comes. I am so stoked to get going. Gotta go Google Wayfair now, and some art pieces are drying waiting for the next layer.
I think I’m actually, finally settling in… for real.
😊