What’s Up Lately.
Episode 004.
I can’t believe it’s already Monday morning!
I got out of bed at dark thirty (technically, dark fifteen). Miss Sunshine takes her math and engineering electives at a different school. They are on block scheduling, so every other day I must drive her to her high school where she catches a bus to other high school. That high school starts an hour earlier than the standard high schools.
Did I mention that I am not a morning person? So I’m definitely not an even earlier morning person.
Fall.
I have noticed that the sun is rising later each morning. Now on those days, we leave while it is still dark. Anyone else live where they are beginning to notice that happening?
Saturday was the first official day of fall.
Yay for crisper weather and lovely autumn colors.
Boo for shorter days.
Rain.
Last time we talked about what’s up lately, I was expecting rain.
The rains came.
And came.
And came.
School was canceled last Monday due to possible flash flooding from Hurricane Florence. The hurricane shifted farther westward so we did not get as much rain as we originally anticipated.
It’s been a very wet season in Southwest Virginia. This summer has reminded me of living in Florida, without the perks of a beach.
Travel.
Big Mr. (my oldest) was planning a trip back to Virginia from Florida. He had to wait until the storm fully passed. He began his drive on Wednesday. The GPS routed him away from the roads that were closed, but he did say that you could see water covering and flowing across side roads.
It will be quite some time before the Carolinas fully recover.
Migraines.
If you happened to see my Instagram stories, then you already know that I spent Wednesday and Thursday dealing with migraines.
My migraines are the type that begins with an aura.
Or that is how its officially described.
To me, it’s like a kaleidoscope or that haze that gas fumes create swirling in my peripheral vision. Over the course of 20 minutes, it will make its way across more of my visual field. If possible, I prefer to sit with my eyes closed during the process because otherwise, my eyes will try really hard to focus and will lead to a leftover feeling of eye strain.
I’m lucky in that at the first hint of visual disturbance, I can take ibuprofen and stave off most of the pain that would occur afterward. While I do have a feeling of heaviness or brain fog afterward, I don’t have to go into a dark room and lay down. However, each of those days I had two instances of the visual disturbances, leading to a feeling of low-grade nausea.
I don’t know my triggers. I definitely think anxiety plays a part, but I don’t think it works alone. It’s quite possible that it is affected by something in the air. Yesterday, I felt some pain in my ear (usually a sign for me of allergy issues) and this morning can feel a sinus pressure.
Pinterest and Posts.
Between the migraines and a variety of mentally tasking other things happening in surrounding life, photo editing was not on the table for the week.
Instead, I worked on creating new boards on my Pinterest page. I was pinning travel to one board and it was becoming rather large. I’m slowly breaking it down into regions of the world. It’s still a work in progress, but I’ll be able to find the itineraries and ideas that I’m looking for more readily.
I’m also looking through some of my older posts (mostly travel posts) to see if there are changes that I’d like to make to them that makes more reader-friendly. Part of the growth process in my writing is that I’ve developed an understanding of how I like a post flow as I read it and am trying to implement that into my own work.
Creating photoquotes is a process that I really enjoy. While I often include them at the end of my posts, you may have noticed that on Tuesday I shared one as a standalone post. I’m considering making this a regular thing since this creative endeavour brings me happiness.
Soccer.
Miss Sunshine is still busy with soccer.
She had a home game on Saturday morning.
Her team maintained its undefeated record.
More Rain.
Her away game on Sunday was canceled due to more rain across the region.
We were under flash flood warnings Saturday evening. The creek that runs across our property is dry unless it rains or as the snow melts in the winter.
It was rushing so heavily through that on this upper end, it was overflowing the banks a little.
Full Moon.
Have you seen the moon getting brighter and brighter in the night sky?
Given that today is a full moon, I thought I’d leave you with this quote for the day.
There’s just something about it that I love.
I hope you have a beautiful Monday. I’ll be heading to Pilates shortly.
Tell me what’s up lately in your life. Hopefully lots of amazing things!
Let your light shine!
Amy
Good morning Amy!
Yup, dark when we leave in the morning but for me it’s exciting because it means the heat will be going away soon and I can turn off the A/C which I love for cooling, but hate for cost and the general lack of fresh air feeling.
I am migraine suffer as well. I too have the aura kind. I lose peripheral vision in one eye with that disco light thing happening at first to let me know I am done for.
I also try to keep my eyes closed but I can’t control mine with any meds that I’m willing to take. I also go through numbness in my fingers/hands/arm and face. After all that the pain starts. I’ve been having them since I was 12 and I don’t know why either. I think stress is always part of the problem but outside of that I’ve never found a pattern for another trigger.
Do you take magnesium? At a Dr. recommendation I tried it and I’ve been taking it for about 16 years daily. It helps. I still get them, but it lessons the frequency of them.
The fog after? I call it a migraine hangover and it takes me several days to feel ‘right’ again.
Hugs to you for dealing with 2 in a row. <3
Hope you have a great week. <3
The heat exiting will definitely be a perk! I’ve been to Texas in the summer (plus Florida always) so I know exactly what you mean.
Sorry that you too deal with migraines. Mine tend to be in both eyes although one is usually worse. I have heard about magnesium, but haven’t added it. I was reading about the spray because it supposedly is more readily absorbed. I have issues calf and arch cramps and was planning to add that to my protocol. I did have a Dr. say that studies have proven that B-2 helps with some migraines. I haven’t faithfully taken it though becuase I tend to forget since I go long periods without any issues.
I don’t enjoy the migraine hangover at all!
I hope you have a great week too!! xx
Yes! Girl this waking up to every day dimmer and dimmer is not my favorite thing at all. I forget how dark it is until it happens again. So much harder to rise without the sunlight. I’m so sorry you’re out at o’dark fifteen half the week. I have been there, and will be there again when The Mister needs a break.
Your recent rains sound inconvenient. I hope this means you get some dry sunny spells 🙂
I get the migraines that just make me want to cut my head off and leave it til it heals. lol I do rarely get the aura thing, but I’ve had maybe 5 or 6 my whole life, and the nausea is no different either way. A couple of weeks ago, I had the eye thing and it was five minutes til home, but I panicked about driving. I did okay — wondered if people get them in both eyes? What can you even do when you have them in both?!? Oof, best wishes that’s your last for a long while.
I’m sorely tempted to hit the snooze button, but I want that first cup of coffee before we head out.
The recent rains have been so inconvenient. The weather app tells me that it’s going to rain every day this week. Soccer practice was cancelled again today. I’m hoping that means I get to have lots of lovely fall days since it’s my favorite season.
I can’t imagine those migraines!! My cousin gets ill and has to spend a couple days in bed in a darkened room. Mine do happen in both eys although it usually starts in one and that one will be the one that it’s the worst in. I’ve been lucky enough to never have them while driving. I’d probably have to pull over. It builds over the 20 minutes so there is a warning before major visual issues. I’m back to making sure I don’t drink extra coffee and that I do my daily relaxation/self-care things.
Good. Take care of you 🙂
Always love your updates!! Ok first- I laughed at dark thirty- love that!! I bet you are excited to see your son! I hope he made it okay despite the rain.
I am sooo sorry about the migraines- ugh. Migraines are the worst- so awful and debilitating 🙁 Have you gone to the doctor about them? I would highly recommend you get those checked out if they continue. Not to go into nurse mode- but I did feel the need to say that!
I hope you enjoyed pilates 🙂 Have a great week, Amy!
Thanks Mackenzie! Dark thirty and I wish we didn’t know each other. 😂. I am excited to see my son. Luckily, his travels were smooth. No real rain or rain issues and only one spot of bad traffic.
I sincerely appreciate your concern about the migraines. I worked at a small MRI facility prior to having kids. So when my migraines showed up 6 weeks after child #2, I beelined it to my ophthalmologist to have my eye pressure tested and to a neurologist who ordered a brain scan. All was good, minus the annoyance of their existence. I know that studies have shown that when accompanied by an aura, you are at a higher risk for stroke, so I make sure all my numbers are good each year at my annual exams. 😊
I love Pilates. I have sore abs, but that means they’re working! You have a great week too Mackenzie!
Oh phew- it eases my mind to hear that you’re on top of those as much as you can be!! <3 Thanks for letting me know. And exactly- sore abs are the besttt.
Interesting to hear you are cleaning up old posts – I just read another post from you where you mentioned Grammarly and now I feel like I have to look it up! 😆I don’t market my blog or have any “success goals”, but I do try to edit myself and at least be careful not to have any spelling mistakes. (As for grammar, who knows?! I’m winging it! 😱Hahah!)
As for migraines, I used to suffer of headaches that would last for days and days, and painkillers didn’t help. But I was never diagnosed, the doctors I saw really didn’t seem to care much. Now, I get an aura in my left eye every now and then but no headache. Just the aura. Like a rainbow colored dna chain! Or prisma. A diamond turning around and around slowly and floating… for 15 minutes or so. I really don’t know which is worse! The headaches were awful… the aura doesn’t hurt but it freaks me out. Hmm.
I just have the free version of Grammarly, but apparently, I sometimes have issues with comma placement. lol.
I’m sorry to hear that you used to suffer from horrible headaches! A rainbow-colored prismatic DNA chain sounds about right! My dad gets them too and I don’t think he gets a headache. He swears it’s caused by allergies.
Allergies, interesting! In my case it’s happened when I’ve been super tired
Since my 40’s I usually wake up at 0’Dark Thirty…really anywhere between 3 and 6 am so I’m noticing it’s darker for a lot longer in the mornings, and it’s getting darker a lot earlier in the evenings already. The Golden is a lot earlier! Prior to my 40’s I. WAS. NOT. A. MORNING. PERSON! Ask anyone in my family! I’d sleep til noon and be cranky if woken before then!
I’ve never suffered from migraines. Thankfully I’ve only had a couple in my whole life, and I rarely have headaches…only if super, super stressed out, or sick, but one of my sisters has suffered with migraines almost her whole life. She had them when we were little girls, and she’s younger than me. They would be so debilitating that she’d be in bed in a dark room crying with her face pressed against her pillow for days. Missing school and so miserable, and sad that no one believed her or could help her.
There wasn’t much help for kids beyond Tylenol or aspirin back then. School and sometimes my parents thought she was faking…how does a 6 yr. old fake that when no one else in the family acts or feels this way? That was always my question when she was in so much pain and there was doubt. Even when I was 8!
This sister besides migraines has inherited my Grandmothers bad heart too. My Grandmother had her first heart attack when she was just 38, then she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she died when she was just 48 and I was 13 weeks old. My Mom was only 19. We grew up together she and I. She doesn’t think so, but I do. 😃
My sister had her first heart attack when she was in her early 40’s. She’s had numerous heart surgeries in the last 10+ years, has a few stints put in and still has a leak, has a pacemaker, and still is very ill, and last month she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She just can’t get a break! My soul, heart, and being ache for her so much. I wish I had words to express that, but I don’t. I just feel.
Last year in my Mom’s 79th year heart disease found her. Now, at 80 she’s doing better, but I am quick to tears when thinking about her and my sister. TMI? Probably. In any case I must stop this train of thinking or I will be crying and sad all night.
I hope by now you’re migraine is over, the rain has stopped, Mr Big has been home, and is or will be returning to school in FL, and his school survived Michael, and Miss Sunshine and your rule her school schedule like the BOSS! early, and at O’ Dark Fifteen and all!
I hope that I slowly become more of a morning person. I’m up with the sunlight, but darkness in the wee hours of the morning makes me wish I were still cuddled under the covers.
I’m so sorry to hear that your sister has had to deal with such health problems! My migraines didn’t start until Mr. D was 6 weeks old. I do have a cousin that has to spend time in a dark room. It must have been so awful to have it happen as a child and not have any real answers. Heart problems run on my mother’s side. My grandma started having heart problems at 50. While I have had testing to rule out any current problems, I do try to make heart-healthy decisions because of the family problems.
I hope that your sister catches a break in her health and finds some relief from being ill. I’m glad to hear that your mother is doing better after her dealings with heart disease. I understand how sad it can be when we think of the problems that those we love have to deal with. I hope that you are having a beautiful day.
I haven’t had any migraines since those two days worth. Hooray!! Big Mr. was in Florida pondering his path. He returned home (to Virginia) after Hurricane Florence. He has some plans for the next step on his path and once those are solidified (likely closer to spring), I’ll be sharing a little about that journey. While I will hate the evenings getting dark so early, I’m guessing that once time changes, mornings won’t be quite so dark. 🙂