Tap, tap, tap...anybody there?

I wouldn't be surprised if nobody answers, since I've been so bad at blogging. In my defense, I have wanted to blog but super slow or non-existent internet prevented it. In the meantime, the ideas rolling around in my brain all spilled out and I can't find them any more. But honest, I had some! Ideas, I mean. The brains are debatable.

When you hear the word 'menopause', what's the first thing that pops into your head? Hot flashes, right? Well, let me tell you, hot flashes are nothing, NOTHING, compared to the insomnia and brain fades.

The brain fades have made me even more grateful for the iPhone our son and his wife gave me a couple years ago. Now that I can use it (Remember, it took a year to get everything straightened out to where I could use it here in Argentina. Oh, you don't remember? Are you going through menopause too?)...

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, now that I can use it, I have found my life returning to a bit of its former organized glory. As long as I remember to put an event into the calendar, or create a list on the Notes app, save photos from Facebook to the Photos app, forward links to my email... You get the idea. The ability to act on something right away has helped immeasurably in keeping me on task, and on track. No more missed appointments, no more forgotten items at the store, I'm always ready to show friends the latest photos of Simon, I can pull up the link to that article in a flash... Life is good.

But I do have to be disciplined about doing stuff RIGHT AWAY. Because once it's gone, it's good and gone.

Hopefully the internet speed in our town will improve once the bulk of tourists depart the end of February. Meanwhile don't expect to see me on here very often. Today we are in another town, and although their internet is kinda slow too, we're here for the day so I have more time to play on my computer.

So whatcha been up to? Believe it or not, I've been reading many of your blogs on my iPhone but trying to comment MAKES ME CRAZY. I'll spend five to ten minutes slowly typing in a few sentences, my pudgy fingers making umpteen mistakes on those tiny screen letters, and then IT WON'T POST my comment. Aaargh! So I don't even bother trying any more.

I've been posting more on Facebook, which actually accepts my comments. Plus it's a good venue to quickly share another cute photo of Simon or a great post or article I've read. But I miss blogging! Make no mistake, my wordy self has gone through withdrawal symptoms from all the not writing.

I wonder if the stress of not being able to write is what precipitated another episode of Meniere's? Yes, that blasted condition is back. Not as bad as last time (in 2011) when I couldn't hear at all out of my right ear for over a month. This time the hearing comes and goes. A really bad case of vertigo hit about a month ago, but anti-vertigo meds had been helping tremendously until a few days ago.

I think I know what happened this past week, though, and hope to prevent it in the future. I worked really hard in the garage one day, getting the first coat of lime wash on the newly plastered wall, and ended up with a horrible migraine. The next day I spent the morning putting a second coat on half the wall before vertigo struck with a vengeance. Once the dizzy stopped, I read up more on the disease and found that migraines can be both a symptom and a trigger. Which makes me think the horrible migraine and pushing on through it was a trigger.

In fact, I'm wondering if this whole episode wasn't brought on by chronic migraines that I've been suffering since late December. Not sure what's causing them -- although they did commence with the really high temps of summer -- but I've pretty much had a headache every day since then, with some days being a lot worse than others.

Or could the migraines have been a symptom that the Meniere's was back even before the really bad vertigo a month ago? Because prior to that I had days here and there when my ear was somewhat plugged up, but never completely, so I just shrugged it off.

Who knows? 

Anyway, I'm understanding that this condition is likely to come and go for the rest of my life and I just have to learn to deal with it.

Enough with the depressing health stuff. Here's a funny for you. On one of his many repeat trips to the pharmacy to get more migraine medicine, Ivan snapped a photo of this guy:

Yep, that's a pretty close approximation of what it feels like when you have a migraine, nails pounding in from every side. Not sure about the pin in his nose though.

On a much, MUCH happier note -- and not that I'm counting or anything but -- in only 50 days we meet Simon in person!!!!

Meanwhile I'm thoroughly enjoying all the photos Kyle and Tina post on Facebook, and the glimpses we get when we manage to Skype. When I'm likely as not to snap quick screen photos like this one:

But you know it's not the same, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on that sweet little face!

There's another sweet face I'm looking forward to meeting too:

We're going to be grandparents a second time! Yessireebob, we are super excited that son Jon and wife Natalie are expecting a baby in August. Sadly we'll have already returned to Argentina by then, but you know I'm trying to figure out how soon I can go back to meet Baby Hoyt :) A really fun note: Jon and Nat discovered they were pregnant the same day Simon was born! How cool is that? And I love that Si and his little cousin will be close enough in age to be good buddies. Ivan and I have both been blessed with some wonderful cousins who are very dear friends, I know Jon and Tina have also enjoyed great friendships with their cousins, and we hope the same holds true for Si and Baby Hoyt.

I am lovin' this grandparent gig!