It seems like lately things have been so busy in my life!  It feels nice for it to settle down just a bit!  I’m enjoying some down time now- it won’t last.  I was thinking this morning that this week and next is a little break before things get busy again, and I was trying to figure out when it would all settle back down.  I decided after August is when it would cease to be busy, then I realized that maybe it will always be busy and I should just enjoy these short little breaks!  It seems like every time I think things will settle down into “normal” again something new comes along,  I guess that IS normal.  These “breaks” however, are when I need to and try to focus on deep cleaning my house and getting some of the many outstanding projects at home done….I guess life is always a certain amount of busy!  Makes me appreciate those moments each day when we can “be still and know that I am God,” and when I can enjoy something simple like a cup of coffee or an hour or two visiting with a friend.  I guess this is an area where thinking small is a good thing!  

I’m happy to report that so far my hearing seems stable.  There hasn’t been any “popping” lately, although I have noticed when I blow my nose there is a whistling sound in one ear – I hope that is just some fluid or congestion working it’s way through.  

I attended the ASL class I mentioned before on Tuesday and really enjoyed it.  It will be great practice for me and a good opportunity to learn a little bit more.  This class is a Tier 1 Level I class for all ages.  There were about 15 people there, and they ranged in age from around 10 to around 65!  Almost the entire class was conducted with “no voice.”  It was nice to already know some basics and not be quite so overwhelmed with EVERYTHING being new.  It gave me some confidence and gave me the opportunity to focus on the things that were new to me.  Debbie had a deaf co-teacher that night and I spent some time talking with her after class.  Before, I was really shy and nervous to try to talk to a deaf person, but this time I really didn’t even have to get up my nerve at all.  There were a lot of things I would have liked to say but didn’t know how, and there were a lot of things that I had to tell her I didn’t understand that she said, but overall we had a fairly long conversation and did communicate!  She had rubella when she was 2 years old and that’s how she became deaf.  She was put in a public school until she was 12, then a deaf friend’s mom found a deaf school and she learned ASL at that time.   She told me how difficult those public school years were – she was treated like she was dumb because she didn’t do well but it was mainly because she didn’t know what was going on and couldn’t understand what was said in her classes.   My heart went out to her.  Stories like this seem to be quite common among deaf people.  Most of the time the parents are hearing and very few actually learn ASL.  That really blows my mind.  I can’t imagine not learning whatever I needed to to be able to communicate effectively with my child and do whatever I could to help them feel (and be) included in as much family life and social life as possible.  

Things are also going well with the diet and exercise plan.  It is working for Chet and I both and we are finding foods we especially enjoy and workouts that we also enjoy (at least to a certain extent!).  I’m on the lookout for main dish recipes that are low calorie and nutritious so if anyone has one they know is good, please let me know.  One of the things that has an impact on the dosing and effectiveness of warfarin (generic name for Coumadin) is leafy green vegetables and any other veggies that have vitamin K.  Part of my healthier eating plan involves increasing my fruit and veggie consumption and also includes some salads and other vegetables on the “list.”  It did, in fact, make a difference in my INR number (bloodwork) last week.  The clinic told me that it’s ok to have them, as long as I am consistent, so now I have to make sure that I eat around 2 cups of leafy green veggies or their equivalent every day.  I’ll have another blood draw tomorrow to make sure my numbers are where they need to be and there isn’t any other adjustment to my dosage that needs to be made.  I’m looking forward to my follow up doctor’s appointments (mostly next week) to see if I still have any blood clots and if my heart is beating normally again, and to discuss my sleep study and the results of that.  I think I am still have some irregular heart beats.  I’m hoping that if that’s true, it will show up in the echocardiogram.  Maybe I’m wrong about that.  I hope so.  It makes me pay close attention to the doctor’s instructions when I exercise.  I sure don’t want to have additional heart problems.  Hopefully it won’t be long with diet and exercise that my heart will respond in a positive way and will be functioning effectively and normally once again.

In some ways, it feels like I don’t have much to say on my blog -I guess that’s a good thing.  It means that I’m not feeling particularly stressed or dealing with major changes in my hearing.   I feel like I’ve made the adjustment to my new hearing level and am functioning quite well all things considered.  I guess I will just have to wait and see what God has in store for me in this area in the future.