roberson museum: home for the holidays christmas tree display

My family doesn't have too many holiday traditions that we practice every year. We follow the same menu each Thanksgiving dinner, we go out to breakfast at IHOP on Christmas morning, we open stockings at the kitchen table that include a packet of lottery tickets chosen by my dad, and we watch "The Santa Clause" after we eat our Christmas dinner. That's about it for the things we partake in annually... except for our visit to the Roberson Mansion and Science Center.

Since I was a wee Gabbi, my mom and I have made a trip to the Roberson Museum every December to visit the Home for the Holidays Christmas Tree display. It's a fun trip that has always made the holidays feel more magical and it's something we both look forward to every year.

green lakes state park.

We have been having beautiful, warm weather here in upstate New York, which is very unusual - it has typically snowed at least once by Halloween. When I was younger, almost all of my costumes had to be modified to include some type of long underwear or thermal layer since the temperatures were hovering around or under freezing. Strangely, this past week it has been in the 70s - although I'm not complaining!

Last Saturday, it was perfect weather to go to one of my favorite state parks: Green Lakes State Park in Fayetteville, New York.

brown's settlement cemetery.

I really enjoy finding interesting cemeteries to walk around in and look at the gravestones. I truly appreciate both the beauty of the stones and the history and meaning behind them, as well. There are quite a few in the area where I live and most of them have old stones because the cities and towns around here were settled a long time ago. I typically go with my mom, who also likes to visit them, and we are always on the lookout for unique stones, monuments, really old plots, or things we haven't seen before. This beautiful cemetery held wonderful surprises for us!

Brown's Settlement Cemetery was established in 1795 and contains approximately 238 stones. It was named after John Brown, whose farm land was set aside to use for the cemetery. Many of the stones' writing has been worn off, but this is a very well maintained cemetery. Although it has quite a few stones, it is a fairly small area of land and is under trees on a quiet back road. Chris and I discovered it while driving around one day, and I went back with my mom a few weeks later to show her and get a closer look at it.

the great new york state fair.

Every year, there are a bunch of festivals and fairs in our area. I love going to them and seeing the different vendors, finding new treasures, and most importantly - the food! Fair food is always so delicious, probably because it's so bad for you! Unfortunately, we didn't get to as many fairs this year as I would have liked because of our vacation and not wanting to leave Trixie alone so soon after getting her.

One of the great fairs near us is the New York State Fair. It's a huge annual fair made up of 375 acres complete with a Restaurant Row, hundreds of vendors, animal barns with loads of farm animals, a separate kids section, a petting zoo, and a midway with rides. It attracts big name entertainment acts, as well. Two weekends ago, Chris & I decided to take a trip up to the fair, since Labor Day was the last day it would be there. I have been suffering from a delightful chest cold for the past few weeks, but on that Sunday, I finally felt well enough to go to the fair.

a weekend on the water.

this past weekend, i was finally feeling good after being cooped up in the house all week with the aftermath of my terrible eye test!  as you all have probably figured out by now, i love being outdoors, so having to spend the week inside with all the windows covered and my sunglasses on to block out any light was torture.  all i wanted to do was frolic in the beautiful sunshine, so that's exactly what i did all weekend long!  :)

is it spring yet?

man, this was quite an up-and-down week!

it started out pretty nice with some nice sunshine-y weather.  i live in upstate new york, where we have basically two seasons: winter and summer.  we joke that our other seasons are almost winter, and still winter, but it's sadly true.  the beginning of this week started out nice, with weather into the 50's.  as i'm sure many of you can relate with, my fibro is directly affected by the weather.  this extra cold winter we have had has been especially hard on my joints this winter, and i have been suffering hard for it, so even a day of warmer weather was definitely welcome!  my mom lives in the country, so i took the dogs for a nice hike around the fields, with a lovely (and healthy!) grilled chicken and vegetables dinner.  hikes seem to be one of the few cardio exercises that i can do without many problems, and because of the sloping terrain, it isn't too hard on my joints.  i do make sure to take an epsom salt bath that night, and i usually have to wear a lidocaine patch to sleep that night, but it makes me feel so much better to get some fresh air, and the dogs really love it!  sometimes, the simple things going right in life make all the difference, right?

i got my brain MRI results this week, and thankfully they were clear.  but the medicine that i started to help prevent my migraines is really kicking my ass.  it takes four weeks to titrate up to the full dose, and this was week three of the titration, where i started taking two pills at night and one pill in the morning. the first week really knocked me out, the second week wasn't so bad, but this week was pretty bad again.  the day after i started taking the two at night, i was very dizzy and nauseous, and i felt like i was on the verge of a migraine the whole day.  those of you that suffer from migraines know the almost paralyzing fear that comes with it -- you are terrified that you are going to get a migraine at the worse possible time and place, especially if you are alone, and unfortunately, that anxiety only contributes to the stress that could cause one.

to top it off, i had to go get my car inspected that day and since it only takes about half an hour, i waited in the shop for it.  BAD IDEA!!  i forgot how the whole place smells like diesel fuel and new tires!  ugh.  i felt like i was going to pass out and by the time i left, my head was throbbing and i was sure i was going to get a migraine.  i took some ibuprofen and got a giant coffee from dunkin donuts and thankfully that was enough to head it off.  it is strange how different things are after you get sick, isn't it?  things that you don't give a second thought to before, like getting your car inspected, cause potentially day-altering problems when you're sick.

so anyway, going along with the bipolar new york weather, two days after it was almost 60 degrees and sunny, it SNOWED.  yes, snow.  of course, not just a dusting of snow or perhaps maybe an inch that would be gone in an hour or so.  nope, it snowed 7" here in about 6 1/2 hours on top of sleet, making for some crazy heavy, wet snow.  oh, lovely new york.

these two pictures were taken five hours apart.

as if that wasn't crazy enough, the next day it was 50 again and the snow was all melted by the late afternoon!  yikes.  my sinuses sure have taken a beating in the past few days.  i take an allergy pill every day and that is usually enough to quell any allergy/sinus problems i have, but when the weather jumps around like this, even they don't do much.  i had a headache the other night that nothing would touch, not ibuprofen, my cold face mask, hot washcloth, nasal spray, nothing.  my joints have been going pretty crazy too, especially my hips and knees, which are always my worst ones.  erf :(  

yesterday i was feeling good enough to be able to go run some errands by myself, which is the best feeling.  most of the time, i can't run errands by myself.  i need someone to go with me so that when i get tired (which is pretty quickly), i have someone to drive me, push the cart in the store, lean on when i'm walking, carry stuff, etc.  but yesterday when i woke up, i actually felt decent for once.  my hips didn't hurt too bad, and my energy level was pretty high, so i decided that i would try to go out and get as much done as i possibly could.  i was able to make it to the bookstore, craft store, victoria's secret, pet store, and ulta before i got tired and had to go home, but let me tell you: it felt great!!  the sun was shining, it was warm out, i was driving with my music on and my windows down, and it was wonderful to be self-sufficient for once and do things on my own.  it gives me hope that someday (hopefully soon) things will change and i will be able to be more self-sufficient and be more independent from my illness.  that is one of my biggest goals.

i also got to rock my new cultgaia headband from my fabfitfun box, which was awesome :)

tonight i start the last phase of my medicine titration, so i am hoping that it doesn't wreck me as bad as it did this past week.  the weather looks like it will be pretty steady for the next week or so, high 40s/low 50s, so let's all hope we are fiiiiinally away from winter and into spring for good!

how was your week?  do your illnesses get worse/better with the weather, too?  what are you most looking forward to about spring?