i forgot what i was doing

So today’s friend is you. Yep, YOU. You, right there, sitting in your kitchen naked drinking a cup of coffee, you over there at Starbucks plugged in and blogging,  you at work sitting at your desk in your cube, getting some porn blog love in before the drudgery begins, or you sitting on the couch all comfy with your pooch (or cat).  I’m talking about all of my bloggy friends who live in PA, MD, NY, Cali, Texas, the US, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, Mars (just checking), Germany, Greece, Africa, down the street, etc. 

I am grateful to have so many friends, so I’m dedicating this to you today! Here are some of my friends who have visited my blog and made me cry smile or make me think.

annoyinglydomestic.com, cuz you gotta love a woman who knows she annoying, right? Although she’s really not.

deanabirks.com, cuz she has a brain and she’s not afraid to use it.

hipasiwannabe.com, cuz I’m hip as I wanna be too (which aint too much, unlike this Mom who is HIP)

injaynesworld.blogspot.com, where nothing is sacred.

mamatoo3penguins.blogspot.com, gotta love a woman who posts pics of the CUTEST newborn ever.

anoteaday.wordpress.com, where life is in 3D (plus she has a trophy someplace special!)

maiden-aunt.blogspot.com who is a real live person I went to school with!

mycomfyescape.blogspot.com, cuz she is awesomeness and she was my first friend when I had no friends!

nopointsforstyle.com who laughs at her own jokes just like I do!

pajamasandcoffee.com does anything need to be said about HER??

http://thishumanscondition.wordpress.com/ is taking on TJ and I hope she wins!

http://whendidibecomemymom.com/ lives in Trinidad and Tobago so go see!!

http://www.unknownmami.com/ gotta love a sexy woman with a bag on her head, no?

http://www.accustomedchaos.com/ a sweetie who is ALL MOTHER

http://www.thebipolardiva.com/ is who I would be if I were blond, pretty, and well..white.

http://www.scarymommy.com/ because the reality is, being a mommy is pretty scary (although SHE is lovely).

Friends don’t suck!

Go offer them some bloggy love and tell them Pammy Pam sent ya!

inspired by xtremeparenthood (who’s virgin video is too cute) i thought i would try to do one myself. you’ll note that i’m an idiot.

whats4dinner

pammypam

Emotional intelligence

You may know that I’m job hunting. I’ve actually been job hunting for a year, but my memory loss issues kinda put me on hold.  I’m feeling better, plus I need to help pay for number 1 son’s college so I’m looking for work again.  I’m excited because I had two job interviews this week.  Each job was entirely different from the other. One job was at a pre school/day care center as a teacher.  The other job was a management position for a YMCA.  I am excited because both jobs would be great for me.

The management job would be great for me because I love the YMCA and it would provide me the opportunity to stretch a little and use all of my combined skills.  The teaching job would be great also because I would be able to teach either preschool or kindergarten.  Both jobs are full time and have benefits. 

I’m a big believer in the theories of multiple intelligences, in which IQ, which is the standard, does not fully explain cognitive ability.  What this means to me is, if you don’t have a high IQ, you aren’t considered “SMART”. Which is totally untrue! A gifted dancer may not be book smart but can manipulate her body unlike others, which is certainly a form of intelligence, cuz not everyone can do what a dancer can do.  This theory was developed by Howard Gardner and the types of intelligences can be found here: http://professorlamp.com/ed/TAG/7_Intelligences.html.  I think I am mostly linguistic and intrapersonal.  What are you?

To take this theory a little further, Daniel Goleman developed the theory of emotional intelligence.  Emotional intelligence involves being able to understand why you, and others, do what you do and how to behave accordingly. There is a fun quiz here: http://quiz.ivillage.com/health/tests/eqtest2.htm .  I received a high EQ score, but I’m not convinced that I will ALWAYS behave like that in certain situations. I know I’d like to, but hey, we all have an off day, right? But I don’t think the test cares about that. I think it’s supposed to interpret how you generally would behave.  Take the test!

Looking at these two intelligence theories tells me that I would probably be a good fit for either job: I have a high emotional intelligence, so I should know how to behave with coworkers, those under me and over me, and the general public.  Emotional intelligence can also help as a teacher for similar reasons. 

I say all this to say…hurry up and bring me a job offer!!!!!

Sunday was a busy day. It is probably the busy days that cause my stomach to get into knots (anxiety) for no particular reason.  Coupled with my forgetting things (which has improved), spells interesting day.  Here’s what happened Sunday July 25^th. Times are approximate.

8am woke up and took Synthroid.

8:30 coffee, breakfast, computer work (blogging and job interview prep), ran dishwasher

1030 am Pumpkin leaves for swimming party

1100 am Number 1 son returns from sleepover, calls in sick (work)

1130 Number 1 son and The Man both shower at the same time (in different rooms)

12 noon ish I shower and get ready for graduation party

1pm – 2pm computer

2pm HUGE thunderstorm. Computer.

2:30pm ish Pumpkin calls and asks to go back to her friend’s house

3pm ish proceed to party with The Man. Take seperate cars.

3:15pm ish HUGE thunderstorm. Sit in car and hope I don’t get struck by lightning!

3:30pm ish rain slows down, we walk down the street to party. Wet tent. Party is inside.

4:30pm ish leave party. The Man goes to the gym.

4:31pm Pumpkin calls and asks to be picked up

5 pm Home. Pick Number 1 son up and take him to party we just left.

5:15pm Road that I just took an hour and a half ago is Closed. Detour.

5:30pm Drop Number 1 Son off at party.

5:45pm Home. Computer work: print resumes, etc

6:50pm The Man arrives from gym. Brings fried chicken!

7pm ish. Take Pumpkin to K2’s house for sleepover

7:15pm Drive to pick up Number 1 son. Forgot about ROAD CLOSURE. DETOUR!!

7:30 ish Arrive to pick up Number 1 son.  He’s not ready.

7:45pm Arrive Home. Eat chicken. Dog begs.

8pm. More computer work.

 Is anyone else’s day this busy or am I just a wimp?

just say it…im a wimp

Yep it’s my vacation version again of Sundays in my City. This time I’m in Salzburg looking at the Alps. This is from Summer 2001. Breathtaking.

You may or not know that I’ve been on generic Synthroid for over a week. I will save my discussion of generics v. name brands for another time. I’ve been keeping track of my symptoms and I have noticed a slight change.  Here are my changes:

• Fewer naps (some days none)
• Fewer mood swings
• Scalp itchiness
• Dry skin
• Worsening insomnia
• Memory inconsistencies

Ok so it looks like some things are better and some are not. All of this just shows me that the medicine is now in my system.  I can say that I am only experiencing about a 25% improvement so I’m not sure how I feel about it. 

Fellow Hypothyroid sufferer Steph at http://www.annoyinglydomestic.com/ sent me a link of sites that I’m trying to get through.  Among the sites was one that contained a list of “Pathetic” symptoms of Hypothyroid. Let’s examine the list, shall we? I want to point out that these symptoms can linger even while ON a thyroid med.

NOTE:  These are only MY symptoms. If you want to examine the complete pathetic list for yourself, you’ll find it at: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic/. 

As you may remember me complaining about: it makes it hard for one to job search when you can’t remember things.

And now this.

I found this article in More magazine called “How to Feed Your Brain” which had some interesting tips that I thought I’d share.  It seems like everyone is an expert on brain health and everyone has ideas on how to increase your memory. In my opinion, most of them don’t work. At least, for me. And that’s really all I care about, right?  So without further delay (always wanted to say that) here how to feed your brain. (BTW if you don’t know about More magazine, it’s a magazine aimed at women over 40. Nice, huh? Yuck)

• Increase blood flow to the brain: chocolate, which contains flavonols which is supposed to move blood through the brain. But it must be 70% cocoa.  Not sure if this will work, but chocolate makes you feel good so, whatever, right?
• Help brain cells communicate: drink apple juice, get more magnesium into your system. These things will help fight memory lapses and help brain cells communicate with each other, which is ultimately what you want.
• Fight off inflammation: berries and turmeric (not in the same meal please). These guys help fight inflammation which makes your memory go bad (aka cognitive decline).  So…eat lots of berries (fruit is healthy anyway, right) and then eat spicy foods that contain turmeric (like Indian food, yum) and you’ll be SMART again! Or at least, you’ll remember what you ate for dinner.
• Keep brain flexible: fish. Bruce from Finding Nemo had it right: fish are friends. Fatty Fish contains DHA (and omega-3s!) which helps slow down mild cognitive impairment. Sorry Nemo!
• Don’t get dehydrated.  Duh. Drink water. Or foods with water in them: watermelon (!), peaches, cukes, tomatoes, etc. Sounds like a yummy salad to me.
• Fix what broke: walnuts, almonds, and green tea can be like Bob the Builder in your brain, fixing stuff that isn’t as healthy as it should be.

So in conclusion (wanted to say that too) it looks to me like one should eat fruits and veggies, water, nuts, and green tea.  Oh and plenty of Southeast Asian (yum) food.  If you do all these things, you might keep your brain smart.  Or from eroding any more.

good luck!

Just for grins I thought I would research what my top blog posts were. I only looked at posts that garnered 10 or more comments.  And the winners are:

1. Ultimate blog party Post: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/04/i-am-partying-with-the-ultimate-blog-party-2010-ladies/
2. My first friend Friday post: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/03/friend-friday/
3. Thyroid and Mona Lisa: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/07/thryoid-and-mona-lisa/
4. Another friend Friday post: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/06/friend-friday-2/
5. I cried: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/06/i-cried/
6. I comment therefore I am: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/05/i-comment-therefor-i-am/
7. Hot baby names: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/05/the-hottest-baby-names/
8. Who woulda thunk it: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/04/who-woulda-thunk-it/
9. Wednesday: http://www.iyampam.com/2010/04/wednesday-wednesday-cant-trust-that-day/
10. Ok so maybe I don’t have 10. GAK!

Check them out!

oh how i want to do one.

So…I feel weird. Not bad and not sick but just weird.  I’ve been taking my T4 (genric Synthroid) since Wednesday, I believe. I hadn’t really noticed any symptoms. Or rather, I noticed symptoms but I didnt want to verbalize anything. yet.  Even at my age, I have a fast metabolism and I figured I would start seeing signs of a difference this weekend. And I did.  I think. Of course, they could just be coincidence too. But here’s what’s been going on.  Everyone who knows me knows I’m an insomniac. I whine about it all the time. But sometimes I take seroquel (which I hate) to help me sleep. Seroquel doesnt help me sleep ALL through the night, sometimes I still wake up, but at least I get some sleep. And of course, I’m groggy as hell in the am, hence the starbucks addiction.

But anyway.  Since we’ve been back from vacation I’ve been taking Seroquel practically every night. And a weird thing is happening. To be sure, I’m still waking up in the middle of the night, but <gasp> I don’t need a nap during the day. Isn’t that weird? So, not only am I not sleeping well at night, I am not needing a nap (or two) during the day.  That was my first micro-clue that something weird was happening.

Last night was the worst night yet for not sleeping. I roamed the house, laid on the couch, played with my Droid, etc. I dozed from about 4am to 7am. Even with all that lack of sleep, I’m still not sleepy!  Ok but back to thing #2.  I was running some errands today and I noticed I felt weird. I can’t find a word to explain it: kinda thirsty, kinda like i have a rock in my stomach, kinda fluttery. Kinda weird, isn’t it?  My moods have been ok the past two days but physically I feel, strange. So, i’m guessing that is the medicine coursing through me and starting to work?

My new friend Steph at Annoyingly Domestic, http://www.annoyinglydomestic.com/, sent me a list of thyroid sites to check out. I thought I had ready every site, so this is great new information! I’m just beginning to go through them, so I’ll post more on that later.

i’ll keep on keepin on…