From City to Burbs

That's right.  We're going burbs.

Currently I'm drinking tea in a fairly vacant living room in our Minneapolis house.  It is the last weekend of living here, and Jeff and I couldn't be more excited to move on to our next adventure.

At first I thought I would be sentimental.  This 1927 Craftsman Bungalow has a lot of charm with the built in buffet, crown molding, lovely wooden floors and arches.  Located near beautiful city parks, friendly neighbors, and close to downtown . . .why on earth are we moving?

Lets just say we're over the city life.  As wonderful as it has been, I'm so ready to get into my car and drive away from it all.  Ahead of us: space, a house with less maintenance required, beautiful regional parks with my favorite kind of running trails, and close access to lakes that aren't crowded with people.  Attached garage, new roof, furnace, windows, etc.--ALUMINUM SIDING--it's enough to make this girl giddy.

And the irony is that you don't appreciate these features until you've gone to war with your own fixer upper.  Storm windows from the 40s, windows with broken sash chords, windows that don't open, actual window replacements, ice dams, no AC, the endless fight against mold in the basement, weeding, more weeding, pruning, raking, pruning, raking again, painting stucco that should never have been painted in the first place, grinding out roots from your sewer line because of all those damn trees in your yard, efflorescence because of previous water damage when house was vacant, rusted out gutters, replacing gutters, concrete floor scraping/painting/maintenance in the basement, the same for the porch, putting plastic over your 19 drafty windows in the winter, taking it down in the spring, and on it goes.

For this next house we just get to move in and unpack.  After that, we can play outside and spend more time with friends again.  We get our lives back!

Lyme Disease Leftovers

I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in September of 2008.  The disease’s characteristic rash had developed on my leg, and I ignored it for several weeks thinking it was a spider bite that would eventually go away.  During that time, I was also beginning to feel a lot of fatigue.   Old injuries made themselves known again: a swollen ankle from an old sprain during a high school basketball game and jaw pain (picture me flying over a bike's handlebars and the chin is the first point of contact with the ground—I ate yogurt & apple sauce for a week).  The swelling and general discomfort I explained away too, thinking them a response to the stress of my new job.  In no way was I connecting the dots, despite having heard about the disease throughout my childhood in WI (where deer ticks abound!).

Thankfully I have an observant husband, then fiancé, who demanded I go to the doctor and—Lo & Behold—Lyme Disease!  Text book case with three weeks of antibiotics, taken 3x a day. Cured, right?

History repeats itself . . . .

Since 2008, my knees feel like they belong to a 50 y/o woman and there are times when I’m lying in bed and my entire body aches, preventing sleep.  My energy is low, despite yoga and including more “super foods” in my diet.  I’ve changed jobs so there is less stress, and yet, why can’t I shake this?

After receiving a Lyme Disease article emailed from a friend, I decided to revisit the research around Lyme Disease (thank you, work, for access to Up To Date).  To my surprise, I might be another textbook case for Post Lyme Disease Syndrome.  Symptoms include malaise/fatigue, chronic joint pain (usually in the knees (this arthritis wears away cartilage, too—which if you’ve heard/seen me go up and down stairs…)), and fibromyalgia.  Other articles suggest that people who develop the syndrome have immune systems that respond differently to the bacteria than others who have been bitten and are cured after their initial round of antibiotics.  These unlucky folks have what is called “immune dysregulation.”  

I love Wikipedia’s definition for immune dysregulation: Immune dysregulation is an unrestrained or unregulated immune response.  An inappropriately robust, or weak immune response.  

Inappropriately robust, indeed.  I have a mother with an autoimmune disease (MS), so why should I be any different?  Apparently our systems run in different crowds than others.

So is there a silver lining?  Yes—antiinflammatory therapy, and in most cases, the arthritis will spontaneously resolve itself 5 years after the diagnosis.

Fall can't come soon enough. 

Thank you, iTunes.

I just got done wandering around in iTunes.  It started with some of Mason Jennings's new music, but quickly progressed to Colin Hay, Mumford & Sons, Gary Jules and a few others.  18 songs later, I'm a happy typing woman, taking in the lyrics, piano, guitar, harmonica....

• oh how I wish we were like water/float on down to the sea/if you find true love at your door knocking/invite her in and make her some tea

• we are so fragile/like cracking bones make noise/we are just breakable, breakable, breakable girls and boys

It's a chilly night here in Minneapolis, but I have the room to myself and the dog at my feet.  The house is quiet (save the furnace, the occasional dog sigh, and all the new music playing).

• it was not your fault but mine/and it was your heart on the line

• and you say be still my love/open up your heart and let the light shine in/don't you understand i already have a plan/i'm waiting for my real life to begin

My thoughts are not quiet this evening.

•  once a liar/once a cheater/guess your light went underground/i have seen it . . . .come home sweet heart/come home bitter heart/let go and love

There are times when I feel like I've forgotten what it's like to live intentionally (whatever living intentionally means).  I don't know if this is because of these melancholy winters, or if it is a result of my growing up, or owning a house, or something else.  But the "great domestication" of my 30s has me feeling nostalgic for the adventures of my 20s, and I think--am I really that person already?  Harkening back to the proverbial good old days?

• lend me your eyes/i can change what you see/but your soul you must keep totally free