June: The Quick Snapshot
- Title of the month: Life’s a Roller Coaster
- Weather notes: Just like last month: hot, humid, and not enough rain. This is from Google’s AI overview, so it might not be totally accurate, but in June of last year, we got over 11 inches of rain, and this year, we’re around 3 inches. The drought continues.
- Mood: I had some dips in June. It’s a hard month because it’s my dad’s birthday and Father’s Day, so I’m always a little tender. But there was a health scare and falling into some old patterns that I’m trying to work through in therapy, so meh. Maybe a 6.5 out of 10? I’m not spiraling, but I’m paying attention to my mood more these days.
The Best Parts of June
- Adding a gorgeous bench to my bedroom. The cats love it, and they have yet to use it as a scratching post. That’s all I can ask for!
- Spending afternoons on the patio, reading my book and hanging out with Eloise (who also loves the patio). Lila is getting braver every time we’re out there and will come onto the patio, but runs away quickly.
- Olive and Eleni’s dance recital! Olive was in so many dances this year, including the big performance with all of the older dancers. It’s cool to see her blossom like this!
- Officially canceling my gym membership and starting to use my apartment gym. I’m excited to utilize it more when I’m cleared for strength training again.
- Having more people join us at trivia! My older nephew came one week, and two friends joined us on a different week. It’s been fun to have some new faces (and much smarter brains) at our table.
- Seeing Beetlejuice: The Musical with Bri, Sean, and Amber! I loved it so much more than I thought I would.
- Beginning the tapering process with my steroids! I’m so glad I haven’t felt my symptoms increase as I lower my steroid dose. Fingers crossed it stays that way!
- Discovering that the trees lining the street where I live are crepe myrtles! (I love crepe myrtles so much that I have contemplated planting one at my mom’s house, even though I am the last person who should think about planting anything.) The trees’ pink blooms make me smile every time I drive past them.
- Two days with Kim! She came to the Tampa area with her husband, and I was so delighted to spend time with her. We went to two cat cafes, two bookstores, and one coffee shop (with vegan treats!). And she came to my apartment and got to meet Eloise! (Lila hid from her the entire time, sigh.)
- Book club weekend. It did my heart good.
The Hard Parts of June
- A health scare – For a few hours on a Friday, I thought I might have a blood clot in my lungs, which would have required an ER visit. Thankfully, the CT scan was clean. I’m having some troublesome heart-related symptoms that prompted me to schedule an appointment with a cardiologist, so now that we know I’m not experiencing a pulmonary embolism (!), it’s time to do some other tests. I have an echocardiogram scheduled for mid-July.
- Fruit fly infestation – The fruit flies have descended. I don’t even know how they got here, but they have decided my home is a perfect nesting ground. I have multiple Zevo filters and bowls of apple cider vinegar all over my apartment, and they persist. Pest control came two weeks ago, and it helped somewhat, but it did not fully take care of the problem. It’s madness.
- Psoriatic arthritis – In June, I started my steroid taper! Yay! The good news is that tapering from 12mg to 8mg did not trigger any symptoms, but the bad news is that doing so did cause my inflammation markers to increase. This likely means that the steroid has been doing the bulk of the work controlling my inflammation, so I’m finally cleared to start a biologic. I’m waiting for my insurance to approve a Humira prescription, which will mean giving myself a second injection twice a month. (I’ll continue to be on methotrexate until everything stabilizes, and then we’ll discuss tapering off MTX. It’s also possible I need to be on both meds to control my symptoms.) It’s… a lot. This whole treatment process has been a lot. I’m very tired.
Favorites of June
- Favorite show: The Traitors Canada (Karine is an iconic host)
- Favorite podcast: I really loved the Midlife Lady Potpourri episode on Girl Next Door. I am a few years younger than the hosts, so it was a glimpse into what is coming for me very soon!
- Favorite meal: A deviled egg sandwich during book club weekend. I haven’t had an egg sandwich in so long, and this one was so good.
- Favorite cat moment: When I came home from book club weekend, both girls were hiding. I said, “Mama’s home! Where are my girls?” and Eloise came running out of the bedroom, meowing at me. Even Lila poked her head out of the cat tower! I think it’s safe to say we are all obsessed with each other.
- Favorite purchase: My new bench!
- Favorite ordinary moment: Sitting around the table during our book club weekend and feeling this sense of peace and contentment as we all shared our favorite memories of the past decade+. It reminded me of that quote from The Office, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them.” And I was like, these are the good old days. Right here! (Hence the title of my post.)
- Favorite decision I made: To see a cardiologist. Even if all of these heart problems are steroid-related, I’m still going to be glad I did my due diligence.
- Favorite thing I learned: How difficult it is for non-locals to say the town name, Dunedin. This mainly came up because Kim and her husband weren’t sure how to pronounce the name, and I was delighted by all of the different ways they tried to pronounce it! (It’s duh-KNEE-din.)
Looking Ahead to July
- One thing I’m looking forward to: Adding a new bookshelf to my collection
- One yearly goal I want to work toward: I am woefully behind in my goal of watching movies/TV shows. My goal: finish season 2 of Suits and watch When Harry Met Sally. I can do this!
- One big hope for the month: That I can get started on Humira without too many issues
- Something I want more of: Sleep
- Something I want less of: Worrying
What was a bright spot for you last month? What was the best show you watched?
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