Maine can be fun in the winter?

Well, I said in my last post that I was looking for things to do, and was taking suggestions from anyone who wanted to offer one. I am still taking suggestions.

This past weekend I went to visit a friend of mine in Southern Maine. She lives a little more than a two hour drive away from me, so within the range I laid out for what I am currently comfortable doing, and had invited me to come up to visit. She also doesn't get many visitors, so it is usually just her and her two young {single digit ages} children.

It was fun. We hung out, talked, watched a movie, etc. Her son wanted to learn how to play chess so we did that as well. He did quite well for someone who had just learned how to play, and who was still figuring out how some of the pieces move. {Like how a pawn moves one space forward at a time but captures diagonally.}

On Sunday we went sledding, the first time I have gone sledding in a loooooong. I had forgotten just how much fun it can be. I had also forgotten how much you can get bounced around. The muscles in my neck are still a little sore but it was well worth it. {Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, and my phone was charging, so there are no pictures. I'll be better prepared next time.}

This coming weekend I will be heading to a friend's house on Cape Cod for "Movie Night." It sounds like it will be a small one, only a half dozen or so people, but still looking forward to it.

February is still open...

Follow-up and Request for Suggestions

Following up on my last post:

It's been a little over a week since the medication cut was made and the pain is pretty much gone. The aches are still there but no longer constant and continue to ease.

Bloodsugar is still much higher than it should be, but it has not gone up since the drastic cut in the level of my meds.

Sleep is still an issue. Well, not sleep so much as getting out of bed in the morning after I finally do get to sleep. {Usually around 2:00AM, later on the weekends.}

...

Now I just need to start doing things again. Of course being able to sleep so I can get up in the morning would help with that.

I have plans for this weekend and we'll see how they go. Then I guess I need to figure out other things to do for the next few weeks, months, ...

On that note:

I'm near Boston, although probably closer to Providence RI than Boston, and am open to suggestions for seasonally appropriate things to do.

In fact... let me codify that a bit.

I was talking to a friend of mine last night and they were talking about taking a series of day trips just to get out and see/do things. I think this sounds like a really good, and fun, thing. We may do some together, but I'm sure there will be plenty of individual things as well.

I'm not sure that I'm up for long drives again yet, but within a couple of hours of here is do-able.

So what I am looking for, if anyone is interested, is suggestions for things to do, things to see, places to go, that are within a 2 hour drive of the Boston-Providence area. Day trips preferred.

Any reasonable suggestions will be taken, and I will post at least one picture.

Reasonable suggestions that are not seasonal/weather appropriate will be held until an appropriate time. Things further away will also wait until I am up to making those longer trips again.

There are a couple of trips I'd like to take, to see people I haven't seen in too long, which are about 6 hours away, and at least one other that is more like 14 hours away. Those trips will have to wait a bit longer.

So... Any suggestions?

Becoming Myself

"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."

George Orwell

As has been mentioned on here in the past, I am a diabetic.

A few months ago my medication was changed due to the old medication losing its effectiveness. This is known to happen in as few as 5-8 years for some people. I got just about 12 years. A pretty good run by all accounts.

As with any new medication, you start with a lower dose and then adjust it upwards until you find the right level. We, me and my doctor, started adjusting the dose up, having to adjust it very slowly due to possible adverse effects if done too fast. {Think diabetic collapse, necessitating an ambulance ride if I could even make it to the phone.}

To cut a long story short, the meds didn't work as expected.

It was helping, and was improving things to a certain point, but after that point the improvement in bloodsugar stopped. So we kept increasing the dose since we were well below to allowed maximum, and did not see any further improvement.

What I did see, but it took me a while to figure this out, was that it was causing other issues. Headaches, insomnia, nausea, lethargy, just to name a few. {I have some insomnia to begin with, this took me from 6-7 hours a night down to 4-5.} Generally speaking I became a rather large lump who was in constant discomfort, if not all out pain.

I also wasn't always thinking straight. On the worst days it was all I could do to make it through work.

So it took a while, but eventually I caught on to what was happening.

So we cut the dosage back, to about a third of what it had reached, and my bloodsugar is still at the same high-ish level, but the aches and pains have eased and I am starting to get my energy back. The insomnia still sucks, but I have hopes for that as well.

So my doctor is still looking for alternatives and I am trying to get back to feeling like myself. Which is happening. Slowly, but it is happening.

Happy New Year.

I don't know if anyone is still reading this, but it doesn't really matter. I have always felt that I was writing it for me, and not necessarily for anyone else. {Self-doubt still there but, like most everything else, improving.}