How I Deal with Life.....

How I Deal with Life.....

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Arthur and Cheese

Arthur (psoriastic arthritis) crept up behind me day before yesterday and bit me.. hard. Guess ole Arthur needs to maintain the status quo and remind me who is still boss in my life. As much as I hate him, his unexpected arrivals from time to time do keep me grounded in what is, and is not, important and necessary.

I missed two days of work due to Arthur's little visit, and I ended up sitting for literally hours in various doctors offices in the UAE to obtain a sick leave note and trying like hell to get an appointment with a rheumy. At one point I was in so much pain that I started crying and I scared the doctor. It was almost worth it to see the growing alarm and panic on his face.

Seems like I might not be able to get my enbrel in this country, and that would open an entire other can of worms for me. I need the enbrel medication in order to function. Two months without it and I wouldn't even be able to get out of the bed in the morning on my own.  Some things in life are beyond our ability to control though, so I will merely do the best I can to get my medication  and if it doesn't work out then I will cross the new bridges as they arise. As I have heard so many times since arriving in the UAE, "No problem, Miss".

I still don't have internet, but am lucky in that my upstairs neighbor was able to get her internet connected today. Now I can steal internet from her if I can talk my way into her apartment. I have given her cheese and crayons in exchange for internet. I don't know if I have much left that is of any value. Maybe she will take more cheese? I'll have to ask her.

Today at school we had a professional development meeting. Very bizarre in that everything was relayed in English and then translated into Arabic. That means it took twice as long as professional developments in the states. But, I have to say the meeting was infinitely more interesting.  The Arabic teachers can be quite a lively and vocal bunch. I didn't know what they were saying three quarters of the time, but damned if they weren't passionate about whatever it is they were discussing. A lot of interruptions, table banging, and "La, la, la" ("No, no, no). It was like sitting inside a roller coaster car just after the big slow dip and then the creak back to the top . The meetings at my school can veer off into turns I didn't even know existed.

Today is Tuesday; my "hump day". Thursday is my Friday, so two more days to go. In two more weeks we have four days off for Eid. A lot of the teachers are going to cool places like India, but I will be sitting my tired self in my apartment curled up with a new book acquisition. And I will be happy.

Just finished reading"Ape House" by Sara Gruen and it was a very entertaining book (she wrote "Water for Elephants"). I love her characterizations. She has a way of pulling the reader into her fictionalized world with humor and empathy. The story line of the book is very plausible and true to life also.  If you need to borrow a good read, I live off Tawan roundabout.. Come borrow the book. I won't even make you give me cheese for the privilege. I'm just kind of nice like that.

I ruined a pot of chicken and dumplings tonight. Note to self: it is not possible to make chicken and dumplings using Pillsbury breadstick dough. 

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