Our Week - The One with MRI Results, Grandparent’s Day, and the School Tailgate and Football Game

Wow, y’all, last week was busy.  Now that I have that week behind me, I feel like I can finally take a deep breath!

Monday, September 11

Monday was errands day – I dropped the kids at school and then hit the ground running.  I had to pick up a check at the kids’ school, I had to pick up Maui’s medicine from the vet, and then I had my doctor’s appointment to get my results from my brain and neck MRI.

The doctor told me that everything on the MRI looked good.  She said there was no evidence of a tumor or an aneurysm or a stroke, so they were able to rule out all of the scary stuff.  She did say that I have a cyst on my brain, but that it’s absolutely nothing to worry about.  She said it’s likely that it’s been there since I was born.  I’m not sure how they know that, but if she says not to worry, then I guess I won’t.

In addition to my brain, they also did a separate MRI on my neck, and my neck looked good as well besides some minor arthritis and some loss of curvature of my spine.  She said that both of these things are normal as you age, and she said that neither would be the cause of my vertigo.

Now that we have those results, they were able to rule out a few more things – scary things – which is obviously good, but on the other hand, we’re still in the dark as to what is causing this wretched vertigo/dizziness.  The next step is to see a cardiologist to check my arteries, and then after that a neurologist. 

At this point, my gut is telling me that it’s anxiety causing all of it.  I carry all of my stress and anxiety in my neck, and I’d had a terrible day of neck pain (from anxiety) the entire day before the vertigo started in the middle of the night.  Then the ongoing vertigo and dizziness are causing even more anxiety since I can barely function some days, and now I feel like I’m stuck in this vicious cycle that’s impossible to get out of.  Sigh.

My primary care doctor strongly recommended that I get back on the Clonazapam, as it’s a drug used to treat vertigo.  It’s primary usage is actually to treat anxiety as well, so she thought it would benefit me greatly since it tackles both issues.

Benzo drugs have always scared me to death, so I’ve never had any interest in using them, but I decided to give it a go since she, along with my physical therapist and my mental health therapist, thought it would be the best thing.  I started taking the smallest dosage possible early last week, and I’m only taking one dose before bed per day because it makes me soooo sleepy.  So far, it appears to be helping with both the dizziness and the anxiety, but there are weeks where the dizziness and anxiety aren’t as bad, so only time will tell if it’s actually the meds this time…

After my appointment wrapped up there, I headed to UPS to drop some Amazon returns, and then I headed to Target to kill 45 minutes before my physical therapy appointment.  Since I had so much time, I grabbed a coffee from Starbucks – not a PSL because our Target Starbucks never has the pumpkin syrup (EYE ROLL) – and then I browsed for a bit.  I’m usually in and out when I shop and I rarely take the time to browse, so it was nice to have that extra time to walk up and down all of the fall and Halloween aisles. 

There was soooo much cute stuff as you can probably imagine, so I was proud of myself for having some self-control and not walking out with all the things.  Haha.  The only things I bought were some glow-in-the-dark ghost necklaces for the kids to wear on Halloween (they were only $1), and a new ghost mug because it was only $5 and I couldn’t resist it.  Peep it in the middle of the shelf… how cute!

After I was done at Target, I headed to physical therapy, and I updated her with my MRI results.  She read over the printouts, and she told me that she agrees with my PCP about starting the Clonzapam again.  She did some excellent neck stretching for me while I was there, and then she sent me on my way.  We’re taking things nice and slow since the more rigorous stuff has been messing me up. 

I headed home after that, ate lunch with B, and then spent the next couple of hours doing laundry and working before it was time to pick up the kids from school.

We went straight home after school and Brian and Jacob left for Jacob’s golf match while Olivia and I stayed home.  She worked on homework while I unloaded the dishwasher and got all of the Target stuff put away, and then I did some laundry, too. 

Monday night for dinner, we had one of my favorite go-to weeknight meals – sheet pan sausage and veggies – and I love it because it’s quick, easy, and healthy.  The best part?  Olivia did every single bit of the chopping, so I was free to move about the kitchen doing other things.  She chopped the sausage, potatoes, broccoli, zucchini, and onion, but she did need a little bit of help with the onion.  We bought some plastic kitchen knives for kids and they’re wonderful because you can chop just about anything, but you don’t have to worry about the kids cutting themselves.

Once dinner was in the oven, Olivia played some educational games on her computer while I did a Bible study, and then when Brian and Jacob got back home from golf, we all sat down to eat dinner together. 

Jacob hadn’t done quite as well at this match as he did in his first match, but he still shot a 46, and he had two bogeys and seven double bogeys.  The main difference was that he missed a few short putts, so Brian is going to work with him on his putting soon. 

After dinner, I headed out to walk/jog, and after being really dizzy all day, my walk/jog was actually not too bad.  I did a 29:11-minute workout in memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11/2001, and I was definitely in my feels for the whole run.  Every single year, without fail, I’m always very teary on 9/11 and I don’t think there will ever be a year where I’m not.  What a day that was 22 years ago.

After my jog, I got home just as the kids were finishing up getting ready for bed, so we watched some of America’s Got Talent before getting the kids in bed, and then I got showered and ready for bed before watching some more of Only Murders in the Building with Brian.

Tuesday, September 12

Tuesday was Grandparent’s Day for the upper school, and I co-chaired the event with my friend, Becky, so it was a crazy busy day.  I dropped the kids at school right at 7:30 and then I hit the ground running.  First up, I had to pick up 65 dozen donuts from one of the local donut shops here in town.  With a trunk full of warm glazed donuts, I hopped on over to Dunkin Donuts to pick up several boxes of coffee for the event as they were the only place locally who had the big boxes.

When I arrived back at the school, I unloaded all of the stuff in our event hall just as the other ladies were finishing up putting out tablecloths and napkins and drink dispensers.  We finished up just in time to head outside to the front of the church to greet all of the grandparents as they came in.

For our Grandparent’s Day for the middle school and high school, we do a Mass with all of the kids and their grandparents, and then everyone walks back to the event hall to enjoy coffee and donuts.  Well, our school has gotten so big that we didn’t have enough room in our church sanctuary (even though it holds 800 people) to hold everyone, so all of the overflow had to watch Mass from the event hall, which meant that Becky and Shannon and I had to be suuuuper quiet while we were putting out the donuts and pouring the coffee. 

They were able to broadcast Mass live in the event hall with a projector, and about 100-150 kids were in there watching it while we were setting out donuts, pouring coffee, etc.  That made for a tough way to prep, but there wasn’t much else we could do.  I guess a rapidly growing school is a good problem to have, though.  ;o)

After Mass was over, all of the students and their grandparents filed in, and all of the kids who didn’t have grandparents visiting that day headed back to their classrooms where we had donuts waiting for them.

I always sweat it out when we do these donuts for Grandparent’s Day because it’s SO hard to estimate how many we’ll need, but I was super pleased that we ended up having 3.5 dozen leftover out of the 65 dozen we’d picked up.  *Pats self (and Becky) on the back for some excellent estimating.*  Haha.  We also did well on the coffee estimating, too, so the whole event turned out to be a success.

Jacob is in 7th grade this year, so all five of his grandparents were in attendance, and it’s always fun to be able to see my parents and in-laws at school events.  I got to chat with all of them a bit after things settled down, and then it was time to clean up.  Fun fact, my Daddy painted that painting that they're standing in front of.  :o)

Cleanup was a breeze since there were three of us, and we were out of there before noon.  Becky and I had to pack up the wagon full of stuff that belonged to our volunteer coordinator and drop it back at her office at the school, and then we were free to go.

I spent the rest of the day eating a quick lunch at home and working on blog stuff and life stuff (laundry, making appointments, etc.), and then I had to be back in the car line to grab the kids after school.

We headed home so the kids could work on homework, and then we headed back out to get Olivia to dance.  After we dropped Olivia, Jacob and I swung by the public library to grab some books for his science project, and after chatting with my bestie who is the librarian there, we headed back home. 

Jacob worked on some notecards for his science project while I prepped dinner, and then he did some YouTube while I got in a stair stepper and arms workout. 

When Brian and Olivia got home, we had dinner (one pan chicken and rice with green beans + leftover blueberry muffins) and then I cleaned up the kitchen while B headed outside to finish mowing the back yard before it got dark.

While he mowed, the kids got showered and ready for bed, and I spent some time in my cozy office under my twinkle lights listening to music and doing a Bible study.  I’m trying to do a day in my Bible Recap on all of the days that I’m not feeling wretched with dizziness, and Tuesday was a pretty good day overall, so I was happy to be able to do my Bible study.

I had started taking that Clonazapam Monday night for my vertigo, and I don’t know if that’s what helped with the dizziness on Tuesday, or if I was just having a random good day like I sometimes do, but as I said before, time will tell!

After B was done mowing, we got the kids in the bed, and then he and I watched some of the MTV music awards for the first time in years… probably decades.  Haha.  There had been so much buzz about NSYNC getting back together on there that I wanted to watch and see what happened.  They were, indeed, all on there together, but all they did was present Taylor Swift with an award… they didn’t perform.  Boooo.  Although, I have a feeling that was a little preview of things to come… #wishfulthinking

Wednesday, September 13

Wednesday was my one day of the week that I had zero commitments or places to be, so I dropped the kids at school, grabbed some supplies from the school office that had arrived for Grandparent’s Day #2 on Thursday, and then I headed home to work for the rest of the day.

I grabbed a fat slice of pumpkin bread that I’d baked the previous week, along with a cup of hot cinnamon tea, and then I sat at my desk for the rest of the day working on blog posts, catching up on emails, reading blogs that I’d neglected for a while, paying bills, getting organized, etc.

The day went by shockingly fast (I guess that’s what happens when you have a ton of stuff to catch up on), and before I knew it, it was time to get in the car line.

After school, we got Olivia to dance, and then Jacob and I settled in at home for the evening.  He worked on homework, and we skimmed over some paperwork that he’d received… he was invited to join the National Junior Honor Society! 

After that, I got started on dinner, and then we ate when Brian and Olivia got home from dance.  I’d made a double batch of vodka sausage pasta and frozen half of it, so all I had to do was warm that up, boil some noodles, and steam some green beans, and we had an easy dinner.

After dinner, it started raining, and I was bummed because I wanted to get outside to walk/jog, but thankfully, the rain was brief, and I was able to get out and run in it.  I ended up jogging, mostly, on Wednesday and I felt pretty good.  There wasn’t much veering off to the right, and there was very little dizziness. 

After my run, we finished AGT from the previous week, got the kids in the bed, I got showered and meditated, and then Brian and I watched some more of Only Murders in the Building before heading to bed early. 

Thursday, September 14

Thursday was Grandparents Day, round two at the kids’ school, this time for the littles.  After I dropped the kids at school, I headed back to the local donut shop to pick up 90 dozen donuts, and then I headed back to the school.  In case you’ve ever wondered what 90 dozen donuts looks like, here it is… it filled the entire third row and trunk of my Telluride!  Haha.

The grandparents started filing in around 8:45 AM, so I stood outside of the church to greet them and help them locate their grandkids, and then while they were at Mass together, Becky, and Shannon, and I delivered donuts to all of the classrooms at the early learning center (our school educates babies all the way through 12th grade!) all the way up through 5th grade.

After that was done, I hung out with our security officer until Mass let out, and then we directed everyone to the classrooms where the grandparents and kids could enjoy their donuts and work on crafts together.  Olivia’s teacher had arranged for the kids to interview their grandparents and ask them all sorts of questions, and I just loved hearing all of their answers when I picked her up from school.

After that, it was more hanging around with our security officer and our athletic director while the grandparents enjoyed their times in the classrooms, and then when they let out, we thanked them for coming, and we helped escort some of the elderly grandparents to the school golf cart so they could be transported back to their vehicles.  Our school has gotten so large that parking has become a huge problem, and some of the grandparents had to park blocks away.  Our AD graciously carted those who needed it back-and-forth from their vehicles on the school golf cart, and it worked out beautifully.

I wrapped up at the school noon, and I headed straight to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few things for the school tailgate on Friday, and then I headed home to eat a quick lunch and get some work done.

At 3, I picked up the kids from school, and then we headed straight to music lessons – piano for Jacob and voice for Olivia.  Everything went well there, and then we headed home to relax for the evening. 

I’d completed my to-do list by the time we got home, so I was able to do a Bible study while the kids did homework, and then I let them have some computer screen time for 30 minutes while I got the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded and prepped for dinner.

B got home early, and we started to make breakfast for dinner only to realize that our bacon and sausage was expired, so he made a quick trip to Publix to grab those things, and then when he got back, we finished dinner and ate. 

After dinner, we got the kitchen cleaned up and got some stuff prepped for Friday, and then I got changed into my workout clothes to go for an actual run.  Y’all.  For the first time in nine whole weeks (since my vertigo started) I went for an ACTUAL run.  I did have a couple of mild dizzy spells where I had to slow my pace for a minute or two, but all in all, it went really well.  I was so dang excited.

The weather was also amazing because we’d had some storms blow through in the afternoon, so it was nice and cool out.  By cool, I mean 79 degrees with a TON of humidity, but that sure beats 95-100 degrees.  Haha.

After my run, I got showered and ready for bed, and then we all settled in to watch some of the new episode of America’s Got Talent before getting the kids into bed.  B and I watched another episode of Only Murders in the Building after that (I’ve lost interest this season – boooo), and then we went to bed early.  Even the tiniest dose of Clonazepam for this vertigo makes me SO sleepy.  I can barely keep my eyes open, like, 30 minutes after I take it.

Friday, September 15

Friday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed straight to physical therapy for my vertigo.  Since that one bad appointment had me spinning for a week afterward, we’ve been taking it really easy, and it has been much better.  This time, she ended up doing about 30 minutes of occipital release, and it felt ah-mazing.  It feels exactly like what my tight neck and head muscles need every single time.

After that appointment was done, I headed home to work the rest of the morning, and then I scarfed down a quick lunch before heading to my appointment with my therapist.  This year has been a lot, so increasing my visits from monthly to bi-monthly and then to weekly has been very beneficial.  I look forward to my visits with her every week, and thankfully, our insurance covers 100% so I don’t have to pay a penny out of pocket for those.  I’m so very grateful for that.

Once my appointment was over, I had some time before I had to pick up the kids from school, but it wasn’t enough time to justify going home, so I ran to the library to pick up a book for Jacob, and I chatted with my bestie who works there for a bit.  I still had some time to spare after that, and I had no clue where to spend it since I wasn’t near any kind of fun store to browse, so I ended up going to the music store on the corner behind the library to browse piano books for Jacob.  He’s still loving playing the piano, but he really enjoys playing popular music, so I thought I’d check out their selection of sheet music since I had some time to kill.

I headed to grab the kids from school after that, and then we headed home to get changed and ready for the tailgate and football game later that night.  We swung by our favorite Mexican restaurant for a quick dinner on the way to the school, and then we got there to get everything set up.

I’m room parenting for fourth and seventh grade this year, so I had two tailgates to assist with, but thankfully, they combined the sixth, seventh, and eight grade tables into one big middle school tailgate, and two other ladies handled the décor and setup for that one.  I got the fourth-grade table all set up, and then we spent the next couple of hours hanging out with our school fam. 

Both kids were living their best lives Friday night running around with their friends, and I only saw Olivia long enough to snap a couple of pictures with her friends.  I barely saw Jacob the whole night.  Haha. 

We got the tailgate all cleaned up and headed into the football game and we ended up staying there until the end.  I had told the kids we’d probably leave at halftime, but we ended up deciding to stay because the game was close.  We ended up getting another win, so we were all excited about that!

Meanwhile, Olivia and her BFF, Aubrey, had decided that they wanted to spend the night together, so they sweet-talked all of us parents into making that happen.  Aubrey’s parents didn’t have room in their vehicle to take her home straight from the game, so Olivia rode home with us, and then we packed up her stuff and headed back out to drop her off at Aubrey’s house.  While Olivia packed, I got into my PJs and then we drove over.  Nothing like impromptu driving your kid to their friend’s house at 10 PM in your PJs!  Haha.  They don’t live far from us at all, so it was a short drive there and back, but man, was I tired by the time I got home.  It had been a crazy week!

While I was gone, Jacob had gotten into bed, so I kissed him goodnight and then I headed straight to the couch to relax with B.  We started the show Cruel Summer Friday night, I am loving it so far!  B is, too.

Saturday, September 16

Saturday morning, we woke up to a cool, dreary fall-like day.  I made homemade waffles, we turned on ESPN College GameDay, and we were lazy most of the morning.  A little later in the morning, I got in a good cardio workout, and I was finally able to go full throttle for the first time since all of this vertigo started.  It felt so good.

 

Brian left to pick Olivia up from Aubrey’s house at 11:30, and then when they got home, we had lunch.  Olivia was living off of about 5-6 hours of sleep, so I thought for sure she would be grumpy and/or want to crash at some point during the day, but she was her usual lively self! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent being lazy, watching football, and hanging out inside since it rained most of the day.  It was so nice to have a good cozy, lazy day after such a busy week. 

The Georgia game was on at 3:30, and while we watched, I did all of my planning for the week ahead and I got caught up on some list-making that needed to be done.  We have so much coming up that I wanted to get organized, and last week was so busy that I barely had any time to focus on staying organized.

It was a productive afternoon, and working on my lists also prevented me from yelling at the TV too much while Georgia struggled in the first half against South Carolina.  Thankfully, we came out to PLAY in the second half and we ended up coming back easily to win.  Whew.

At halftime, B ran up to the local bar and grill just outside our neighborhood to grab dinner for us, and then we finished watching the game.  After the game was over, I took Maui for a nice long walk since it had stopped raining.  It was nice and cool out, and it was still cloudy, so it made for a very fall-feeling walk. 

One of our neighbors who lives on our street happened to be walking his corgi on the same route, so we ended up walking together and chatting.  Maui and the other dog were a little wary of each other at first, but then they ended up walking in harmony all the way back home.

When we got back home, we watched some more of another football game, and then later we got the kids in the bed.  We ended the night with another episode of Cruel Summer, and then some more college football.  ‘Tis the season!

 

Sunday, September 17

Sunday morning, B headed out to pick up some pumpkin donuts from Krispy Kreme since none of our local donut places have pumpkin.  After breakfast, I watched church online and then I did my yoga stretching workout for the week followed by a Bible study.  By the time all of that was done, it was time to get ready for lunch at my MIL and step-FIL’s house. 

We stayed over there most of the afternoon eating and chatting while the kids played with their cousins, and then on the way home, we swung through the Burger King drive-through to grab paper crowns for the kids HOCO dress-up day on Monday.  The kids got soft-serve cones, too, so that was a nice treat.  ;o)

When we got home, B left to play tennis, and the kids and I got to work on their homecoming spirit week outfits for Monday.  The theme Monday was “Your Majesty Monday” (dress like royalty), so the BK crowns couldn’t have been more perfect… they’re free, ya know!

Olivia wanted hers to be purple and Jacob wanted his to be gold, so I got out the ole spray paint and got to work.  I have pretty much every color on hand since I loooove to use spray paint for various things, so we didn’t even have to buy anything.

 

While their crowns dried, we rounded up the rest of their pieces for their outfits, and then they played video games for a bit while I got some work done in my office.

Brian got home from tennis just in time to head to Sunday dinner at my parents’ house, and we rounded up the supplies the kids needed to decorate their crowns so we could bring them to my parents’ house.

They finished those up over there, and we had a delicious dinner that my Momma had cooked along with some homemade s’mores cookies that were ah-maaaazing.

When we got home, Jacob had to put some finishing touches on his crown, and then it was off to bed for them so B and I could watch another episode of Cruel Summer before calling it a night! 

Whew, what a week!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!