I had mentioned in an earlier post that pre-lupus rash returned on my face, neck and upper chest area around early May. Since then, the rash hasn't actually gone away completely. I started taking Prednisone for a while and it did lessen considerably during that time but promptly returned after I tapered the steroids.
Finally, I thought it would be best to speak to my rhumatologist about this. I called him on Tuesday this week and asked if he could check my bloodwork from June 27th for any abnormalities. His office called back and said that there wasn't anything glaring but the doctor wanted to see me anyway. So, I went over to the office yesterday and we went through my bloodwork, line by line. Turns out that my double stranded DNA numbers were elevated by 100 points compared to December 2010. All other counts (hemoglobin, white blood cell, iron) were all better than December's numbers. Judging from the rash and my reduced energy levels, my doctor recommended that I increase my Plaquenil dose from 5 days a week to 7 days a week. He suggested I try that until August 18th and, if that doesn't help or if my condition worsens, then to start 10mg of Prednisone.
That suited me just fine but it wasn't easy. I've spoken about being authoritative before but I've never had to act upon it the way I had to yesterday. I had to keep going back to the fact that the rash has been there since May and has not gone down. I had to describe my lack of energy in the mornings and absolute "need" to go down for a nap in the afternoons. I had to ask him to go through the blood test results line by line. In other words, I had to take charge of my own condition. I'm not saying anything against my doctor. I totally understand that he's erring on the side of caution when it comes to dispensing steroids which are very harsh drugs with serious side effects. Still, I had to practically force him to do something. We've sat back and waited in the past and it has led to serious flares. This time, I cannot take that chance. Not with an infant who's totally dependent on me.
Personally, I don't think the increased Plaquenil dose will make a difference. Still, we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
The Definition of Contentment
Being a planner by nature, I'm always planning for the next thing. Most times this results in me not actually enjoying what I have in front of me, in the present. I can't say there has been one single time when everything has gone according to plan. Still I continue to plan.
After much evaluation, I think the reason I plan so much is because I have this inherent drive to succeed. Try as I do, I cannot sit back and just let life happen. I feel having some plan is better than just winging it. I'm sure the true "live in the moment" sort of people will disagree with me because planning for the future takes away from living in the day. And for those who believe in destiny and fate, well, we all know that everything comes from God and gets taken away by Him. So then it doesn't really matter how much you plan, you do (or do not) get only that which is in your destiny.
Having acknowledged that, I am trying to learn to live in the day, whether or not things go according to my plan. My first opportunity came yesterday.
Back in February, I registered (and paid upfront) Camran for swimming lessons to keep him busy over the summer break. Half hour swimming lessons everyday for 8 weeks, for a total of 80 lessons. I planned it in such a way that he would start at Level 1 and pass each level and so by the end of the summer would have completed Level 4 (a proficient enough swimmer). I didn't take the time to actually read the curriculum... I just assumed that by going everyday, he would definitely pass each level. Also, the fact that he's been taking preschool lessons since he was 3.
Then destiny, fate or God took over, reminding me, once again, that my plans were worth nothing.
Camran didn't pass Level 1.
This threw a solid wrench in my plans for him being a super swimmer by the end of the summer. Camran, of course, was undeterred that he had to repeat the level. For him, passing the course was less important than the opportunity to actually swim everyday. That, my friends, is the essence of life. The difference between a pure 6 year-old mind and that of a control freak Aries adult.
I had to take a step back. Sure, he wouldn't be swimming laps by September, but he was having a blast each day. Instead of looking at 6 weeks into the future, I needed to look at what was happening today. Instead of dwelling on the things that he didn't achieve, I needed to see the things that he did achieve.
My contentment comes from watching Camran jump around in the pool, dunk his head under, splash around with his new friends. I always thought that if you were content, you would stop striving for better. Now I see that contentment is not about remaining stagnant... rather it's about appreciating all experiences - good and bad. It's about being positive and looking at the glass half full. It's about looking at mistakes as opportunities for improvement. Contentment doesn't mean being happy all the time. Contentment does mean being satisfied. Being able to live under any circumstances.
I'm going to enjoy the journey because the summer of 2011 will never happen again. That is about the only thing that I can be truly sure of.
At the end of the day, I didn't have to worry about Camran repeating Level 1 because his instructor passed him. He will be starting Level 2 on Monday. But the quasi-failing grade was a real eye-opener for me.
After much evaluation, I think the reason I plan so much is because I have this inherent drive to succeed. Try as I do, I cannot sit back and just let life happen. I feel having some plan is better than just winging it. I'm sure the true "live in the moment" sort of people will disagree with me because planning for the future takes away from living in the day. And for those who believe in destiny and fate, well, we all know that everything comes from God and gets taken away by Him. So then it doesn't really matter how much you plan, you do (or do not) get only that which is in your destiny.
Having acknowledged that, I am trying to learn to live in the day, whether or not things go according to my plan. My first opportunity came yesterday.
Back in February, I registered (and paid upfront) Camran for swimming lessons to keep him busy over the summer break. Half hour swimming lessons everyday for 8 weeks, for a total of 80 lessons. I planned it in such a way that he would start at Level 1 and pass each level and so by the end of the summer would have completed Level 4 (a proficient enough swimmer). I didn't take the time to actually read the curriculum... I just assumed that by going everyday, he would definitely pass each level. Also, the fact that he's been taking preschool lessons since he was 3.
Then destiny, fate or God took over, reminding me, once again, that my plans were worth nothing.
Camran didn't pass Level 1.
This threw a solid wrench in my plans for him being a super swimmer by the end of the summer. Camran, of course, was undeterred that he had to repeat the level. For him, passing the course was less important than the opportunity to actually swim everyday. That, my friends, is the essence of life. The difference between a pure 6 year-old mind and that of a control freak Aries adult.
I had to take a step back. Sure, he wouldn't be swimming laps by September, but he was having a blast each day. Instead of looking at 6 weeks into the future, I needed to look at what was happening today. Instead of dwelling on the things that he didn't achieve, I needed to see the things that he did achieve.
My contentment comes from watching Camran jump around in the pool, dunk his head under, splash around with his new friends. I always thought that if you were content, you would stop striving for better. Now I see that contentment is not about remaining stagnant... rather it's about appreciating all experiences - good and bad. It's about being positive and looking at the glass half full. It's about looking at mistakes as opportunities for improvement. Contentment doesn't mean being happy all the time. Contentment does mean being satisfied. Being able to live under any circumstances.
I'm going to enjoy the journey because the summer of 2011 will never happen again. That is about the only thing that I can be truly sure of.
At the end of the day, I didn't have to worry about Camran repeating Level 1 because his instructor passed him. He will be starting Level 2 on Monday. But the quasi-failing grade was a real eye-opener for me.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Why does timeshare have a bad rap?
This year marks our 10-year anniversary as owners of timeshare at Carriage Hills Resort. And what a positive decade!
It was early 2001 when I got a call from a telemarketer saying that we were selected to receive a free night's stay at Horseshoe Resort close to Barrie, Ontario. At the time, Aamir and I weren't making tons of money and our "vacations" were week-long stays at local motels. Going to a "fancy" resort in cottage country sounded very appealing, even if it was only for one night. The only caveat was that we had to attend a 2-hour information seminar in order to receive the coupon. What the heck, I thought. 2 hours for two full days and a night at a resort seemed like it was worth a shot.
Aamir and I went up north to Horseshoe Resort one Sunday morning (much too early) to attend the seminar at their presentation centre. Five hours, and some serious sales pressure later, we signed on the dotted line and the salesperson popped open a bottle of champagne. We had just purchased a 2-bedroom condo at Carriage Hills Resort, a Gold Crown RCI affiliate resort. We could use the unit for one week a year, at any time, depending on availability. If we didn't want to return to Carriage Hills, we could deposit our unit to RCI and exchange to go anywhere in the world. The catch: an $18,000 mortgage and annual maintenance fees for the resort (which, at the time, were $500 per annum)! Were we happy with the purchase? Absolutely! Could we afford it? Absolutely not!
Legally we had 10 days to cancel the transaction without any obligation. Everything looked great on paper but the cost was astronomical. How were we going to afford the additional monthly mortgage payment? After seven days of deliberation, we decided to call our sales rep and inform him that we wanted to cancel. Of course, the guy wanted to hear none of it. He met us at a coffee shop close to our house (we didn't have to travel all the way to horseshoe valley that time) and heard us out. He counter-offered to reduce the mortgage to $11,000 and offer us an "every-other-year" option whereby we would get the 2-bedroom unit every even year and could spread it out over a two year period. He was so darn convincing, we accepted his offer. After all, he just saved us $9,000!
So, that year, we split our week into a 3-night stay and a 4-night stay at Carriage Hills Resort and absolutely loved our time there. The place was serene, relaxing, we had our own kitchen, access to a barbecue, indoor/outdoor pool - it was the best vacation we'd had since our bank-breaking honeymoon. Needless to say we returned from both trips completely convinced that we had made a good decision. In 2002, we exchanged our bonus week for a 2 bedroom condo at Pompano Beach in Florida. This place was GORGEOUS!! And we were 100% sold on our decision.
Since then, we have been on numerous vacations courtesy of our timeshare at Carriage Hills Resort and RCI:
We plan on taking many more vacations with our timeshare and, contrary to what others think about this "scam", I still firmly believe that it was one of our more valuable purchases. While the maintenance fees have now gone up to $925 every other year (eep!), it's still a fraction of the cost of hotels for 7 nights. We have a large variety of places to choose from and the only thing determining where we go is cost of flights and our own schedules.
I'll write more about traveling on a budget very soon.
It was early 2001 when I got a call from a telemarketer saying that we were selected to receive a free night's stay at Horseshoe Resort close to Barrie, Ontario. At the time, Aamir and I weren't making tons of money and our "vacations" were week-long stays at local motels. Going to a "fancy" resort in cottage country sounded very appealing, even if it was only for one night. The only caveat was that we had to attend a 2-hour information seminar in order to receive the coupon. What the heck, I thought. 2 hours for two full days and a night at a resort seemed like it was worth a shot.
Aamir and I went up north to Horseshoe Resort one Sunday morning (much too early) to attend the seminar at their presentation centre. Five hours, and some serious sales pressure later, we signed on the dotted line and the salesperson popped open a bottle of champagne. We had just purchased a 2-bedroom condo at Carriage Hills Resort, a Gold Crown RCI affiliate resort. We could use the unit for one week a year, at any time, depending on availability. If we didn't want to return to Carriage Hills, we could deposit our unit to RCI and exchange to go anywhere in the world. The catch: an $18,000 mortgage and annual maintenance fees for the resort (which, at the time, were $500 per annum)! Were we happy with the purchase? Absolutely! Could we afford it? Absolutely not!
Legally we had 10 days to cancel the transaction without any obligation. Everything looked great on paper but the cost was astronomical. How were we going to afford the additional monthly mortgage payment? After seven days of deliberation, we decided to call our sales rep and inform him that we wanted to cancel. Of course, the guy wanted to hear none of it. He met us at a coffee shop close to our house (we didn't have to travel all the way to horseshoe valley that time) and heard us out. He counter-offered to reduce the mortgage to $11,000 and offer us an "every-other-year" option whereby we would get the 2-bedroom unit every even year and could spread it out over a two year period. He was so darn convincing, we accepted his offer. After all, he just saved us $9,000!
So, that year, we split our week into a 3-night stay and a 4-night stay at Carriage Hills Resort and absolutely loved our time there. The place was serene, relaxing, we had our own kitchen, access to a barbecue, indoor/outdoor pool - it was the best vacation we'd had since our bank-breaking honeymoon. Needless to say we returned from both trips completely convinced that we had made a good decision. In 2002, we exchanged our bonus week for a 2 bedroom condo at Pompano Beach in Florida. This place was GORGEOUS!! And we were 100% sold on our decision.
Since then, we have been on numerous vacations courtesy of our timeshare at Carriage Hills Resort and RCI:
- 2002 - Pompano Beach, Florida - we visited Orlando (Disney World) and Miami (South Beach)
- 2004 - Weston, Florida - Aamir, my MIL, my SIL and her husband went to Florida for a family wedding and stayed at a resort exchanged through RCI
- 2005 - Carriage Hills - Camran's first vacation at 5 months
- 2007 - Carriage Hills
- 2008 - Carriage Hills
- 2009 - Carriage Hills
- 2010 - Malaysia - my MIL and FIL went to the mountains of Malaysia
- 2010 - New Hampshire - we toured all of New England (New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Boston
- 2011 - Quebec - toured Quebec City and Mt. Tremblant - also Rayan's first vacation at 2 months
We plan on taking many more vacations with our timeshare and, contrary to what others think about this "scam", I still firmly believe that it was one of our more valuable purchases. While the maintenance fees have now gone up to $925 every other year (eep!), it's still a fraction of the cost of hotels for 7 nights. We have a large variety of places to choose from and the only thing determining where we go is cost of flights and our own schedules.
I'll write more about traveling on a budget very soon.
Friday, July 8, 2011
When discipline turns into family time
I am a firm believer in the notion that experiences are better investments than material objects. If I had $1000, I would rather spend it on a vacation than a new TV. Aamir and I differ vastly on this. He would buy the TV (or laptop, or gaming console or some other depreciating asset). This would be the exact reason why I prefer to engage Camran in various after-school activities while he buys him video games and toys, creating a sure recipe for conflict of time, and resulting in too many fights and timeouts for the little guy.
I finally had enough yesterday. Little Camran decided that he preferred to continue playing his PSP (and mouthing off to me to boot) instead of taking 20 minutes to eat lunch. After 20 minutes of timeouts which accomplished nothing, I finally informed him that he had lost his "electronic" privileges (PS3, PSP, TV, movies and computer time) for 6 days. Pretty steep for a kid who spends 3-4 hours a day in front of some screen or another. He grudgingly agreed (after I threatened to double it to 12 days if he didn't) to finally calm down and eat his lunch.
Today was his first full day of non-screen time. He did the following without prompting (where normally the entire day would be a struggle): Woke up happily at 7am, brushed his teeth, made his bed, ate his entire breakfast in record time, made a peek-a-boo craft toy for Rayan, changed for swimming lessons, packed his towel and clothes, had an amazing class, ate his entire lunch, did 4 pages of English, 2 pages of Math, did a 3-D puzzle, ate his entire dinner, got ready for baseball, played a good game, changed into pajamas and slept promptly at 8:30pm. The entire day went by without a single fight!
To be honest, when Camran plays his video games or watches TV, he's entertained and I get some much-valued "me" time. But of course, that's such a parenting cop out. I'll admit, I wasn't too thrilled about having to spend all day with him in his full misery. It's funny how you can learn things about yourself when situations present themselves. Camran learned to spend a whole day without electronics and without being sullen and argumentative - he daren't lest I extend his punishment (but really who cares why).
And I learned that, sometimes, drastic measures can result in positive outcomes!
I finally had enough yesterday. Little Camran decided that he preferred to continue playing his PSP (and mouthing off to me to boot) instead of taking 20 minutes to eat lunch. After 20 minutes of timeouts which accomplished nothing, I finally informed him that he had lost his "electronic" privileges (PS3, PSP, TV, movies and computer time) for 6 days. Pretty steep for a kid who spends 3-4 hours a day in front of some screen or another. He grudgingly agreed (after I threatened to double it to 12 days if he didn't) to finally calm down and eat his lunch.
Today was his first full day of non-screen time. He did the following without prompting (where normally the entire day would be a struggle): Woke up happily at 7am, brushed his teeth, made his bed, ate his entire breakfast in record time, made a peek-a-boo craft toy for Rayan, changed for swimming lessons, packed his towel and clothes, had an amazing class, ate his entire lunch, did 4 pages of English, 2 pages of Math, did a 3-D puzzle, ate his entire dinner, got ready for baseball, played a good game, changed into pajamas and slept promptly at 8:30pm. The entire day went by without a single fight!
To be honest, when Camran plays his video games or watches TV, he's entertained and I get some much-valued "me" time. But of course, that's such a parenting cop out. I'll admit, I wasn't too thrilled about having to spend all day with him in his full misery. It's funny how you can learn things about yourself when situations present themselves. Camran learned to spend a whole day without electronics and without being sullen and argumentative - he daren't lest I extend his punishment (but really who cares why).
And I learned that, sometimes, drastic measures can result in positive outcomes!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Family first
After my last post, I sort of suspected my first blog post would be about family but I never thought I would have so much to report. This past weekend was a long weekend for us. It was Canada Day on Friday, July 1 so Aamir and everyone else were off from work on Friday. The sisters-in-law and their respective families came over that day, we had barbecue, played Carrom (google it!), laughed, and had a great time all over. I baked chocolate chip muffins and they were absolutely divine!! I'm a sucker for chocolate anyway but these muffins were apparently really good because 24 muffins disappeared within hours of making them.
On Saturday, I allowed Camran to take a break from his usual egg breakfast and made some pancakes. We added blueberries and chocolate chips to the batter and made them into flower shapes (from a mould). Once again, these chocolate blueberry pancakes were amazing. I must have had at least half a dozen pancakes on my own! Camran had another 3 or 4.
Inspired by the success of the muffins and the pancakes, I looked up some layer-cake recipes. I found an interesting clown cake recipe on All Recipes and thought it would be a neat idea for Rayan's 1st birthday cake. Of course, I should preface this by saying that I hate cooking and any form of food creation beyond boiling pasta/rice and the most basic stir fries is loathsome. Baking a cake, even from cake mix, is SO not my thing. Still, I have vowed to try and do more family stuff and that, unfortunately, includes cooking for them.
So, this morning, on Rayan's 3-month birthday, we turned a trip to Walmart into family time. The cake took about 5 hours to prepare with all the cooling and frosting. I didn't find gel food colouring so I used the regular liquid stuff. As a result the colours weren't as vibrant as the original recipe. Still, at the end of the day it turned out really well. The most important thing is that Aamir and Camran were both sufficiently impressed by my amateur baking skills and I had a ton of fun making it.
All in all, it was a successful weekend as far as family time went. After the success of these baking experiments, I definitely think there will be more cooking and baking in the books over the summer. It would appear that my family actually likes my creations.
On Saturday, I allowed Camran to take a break from his usual egg breakfast and made some pancakes. We added blueberries and chocolate chips to the batter and made them into flower shapes (from a mould). Once again, these chocolate blueberry pancakes were amazing. I must have had at least half a dozen pancakes on my own! Camran had another 3 or 4.
Inspired by the success of the muffins and the pancakes, I looked up some layer-cake recipes. I found an interesting clown cake recipe on All Recipes and thought it would be a neat idea for Rayan's 1st birthday cake. Of course, I should preface this by saying that I hate cooking and any form of food creation beyond boiling pasta/rice and the most basic stir fries is loathsome. Baking a cake, even from cake mix, is SO not my thing. Still, I have vowed to try and do more family stuff and that, unfortunately, includes cooking for them.
So, this morning, on Rayan's 3-month birthday, we turned a trip to Walmart into family time. The cake took about 5 hours to prepare with all the cooling and frosting. I didn't find gel food colouring so I used the regular liquid stuff. As a result the colours weren't as vibrant as the original recipe. Still, at the end of the day it turned out really well. The most important thing is that Aamir and Camran were both sufficiently impressed by my amateur baking skills and I had a ton of fun making it.
All in all, it was a successful weekend as far as family time went. After the success of these baking experiments, I definitely think there will be more cooking and baking in the books over the summer. It would appear that my family actually likes my creations.
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