I hate bugs

Yesterday morning when I got up and stepped out of the bedroom, I saw this on the floor:

The good news is, it was mostly dead, but the bad news is, somehow it got inside. This was the first time I'd seen one of these and I much rather would've seen it outside. This morning I found another one, and this time it was IN the bedroom right next to the bed. I think it was mostly dead, too, since it didn't move when B sprayed it with alcohol, but still....eeewww!! It was on my side of the bed right when I put my feet when I get up. As you might imagine, I'm going to be looking at the floor very carefully when I get out of bed from now on. I've been wearing shoes in the house all day today because I do NOT want to step on one of these things in my sock feet if there are more around.

Like I said, this is the first time I've seen one of these, though I have seen lots of these in the house before:

These are a type of spider and aren't dangerous, but I'm pretty sure the former creatures are scorpions. B and I were thinking they might be these things called vinegaroons, which we'd heard are less dangerous, but they look quite different:

That's definitely not what we had here in the house today. Blech. I saw some kind of big, hairy, brown spider outside last week. I'm not sure what kind it was, but I'd say it was about three inches across. Not quite as big as a tarantula, but close. It might've been some kind of tarantula for all I know. I was over on the side of our house cleaning up our ex-neighbors crap that he left out in his driveway that got blown all over our yard the last time it rained, but after seeing that spider, I decided to just leave the stuff alone. Maybe it will blow out of our yard the next time it rains.

I got my hair trimmed this past Sunday because I wanted to have it done for our camping trip coming up, but she really chopped it this time and it's shorter than I wanted. I think it looks kind of awful, not cute like the first time she cut it, especially my bangs because she cut them way too short. I think they look best when they're just touching my eyebrows, but they're waaay above my eyebrows and it looks dorky. Hopefully it'll grow fast. I'm hoping by the time we go camping in a couple weeks, it'll look like it did the first time she cut it. Or at least the bangs. I'll probably be wearing hats all the time anyway.

Whoo comments!

Since I got a couple questions in my comments, I'll see if I can answer those. (Thanks for the comments!)

First Mel - the humidity out here is almost nonexistant. For example, the humidity right now is 22% and that's kind of high because there are thunderstorms in the area. I've seen it as low as 2%. It makes a huge difference in how the temperature feels, too. Like last night, it was 101 around 8:00 p.m. and B and I sat on the front porch for a little while. To me, it felt like about 85 degrees rather than 101, but I know back in NC it would've definitely felt like 101 with the humidity there.

Second Heather - so far I'm loving living here. I love the warm temperatures, the low humidity and the almost-always sunny skies. I love our house and we're still doing some decorating here and there.

One thing I don't love are all the ugly tumbleweeds that have sprung up in our yard, but on the bright side, they seem to attract rabbits and birds and I love watching them. I really don't miss living in NC at all, except a few people there. In general, I like the low humidity, although I think my body is still adjusting to it because I wake up every day with a dry, sore throat. Part of the problem is the medications I take make my throat dry. We have a humidifier that I use in the bedroom almost every night, but unfortunately it's not totally getting the job done.

Another thing I don't love is the wind here, which can be pretty strong at times. The good news is, it was mostly windy in the spring and it's gotten way less now that it's summer. I'll have to wait and see what the other seasons will be like in terms of the wind. I've really been enjoying riding my bike around the neighborhood because there's rarely any traffic and it's not very hilly terrain, but it's not much fun when it's really windy. Believe it or not, it makes a big difference in terms of how much energy you have to use when the wind is blowing against you.

One thing I do miss from NC was my doctor there, as you know, and thanks for both of your comments on that situation. And Heather, you know if you want to see all the great hummingbirds here, all you have to do is move here. ;)

Oh, another thing I like about living here is that there are lots of organized activies in our community, though I have to admit I haven't really looked into any of them yet. We had our own 4th of July fireworks here at the golf course last week, so B and I drove up there to watch them. It was great because it was nice and warm, not very crowded, and best of all, there were no bugs, unlike being outside at night back east. There's a pool here, too, and I do intend to go swimming at some point, but I don't have a swimsuit that fits me right now. :( That's something I'm working on. I've lost about five pounds, so maybe by next summer I'll have lost enough to feel like going to the pool.

Another thing I love about living here is being so close to cool places like the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. It's amazing that we can drive to either of those places in just a couple hours, plus there are a lot of other cool places nearby that we plan to check out. I'm hoping also that maybe one day Ayumi will do a concert in the US, and I know she's been to Vegas several times, so just maybe she might do a concert in Vegas. There have been rumors, but nothing definite. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Thanks for your comments, Heather, about my doctor visit. I ended up having to see the chiropractor a second time last week, and when I did, I mentioned Dr. Boo and how much I did not enjoy visiting his office. The chiropractor said he'd recently gotten a letter from a new pain management place that opened up here in Kingman and suggested I might want to try this place instead, so I called them today. First I asked if they're able to treat fibromyalgia and second, I asked if they'd have a problem prescribing the two medications I take. The nurse I spoke with was very helpful, but she told me that they usually do a "medication vacation" with new patients and basically start from scratch to see what kind of treatment(s) may work.

I don't want to sound like a drug addict, but in my opinion, I don't need a medication vacation. I've tried probably a couple dozen medications during the past four years and I've now finally got two that work for me, so I'm not in any hurry to stop taking them. In fact, I'm looking to try even more medication, specifically to treat my fatigue, which I mentioned to the nurse on the phone. She's going to speak with the doctor and call me back tomorrow or the day after to tell me what he says, but I've kind of already made up my mind that this isn't what I want.

Even though there's no love lost between me and Dr. Boo, I'm hesitant to burn any bridges with him, because if I start going to this new place and don't like it either, I doubt I could go back to Dr. Boo. Maybe I should just stick with him for the foreseeable future and be content with what I'm getting. After all, if I don't have to actually see him during my next visit, it won't be so bad.

It's been pretty hot here lately, which is to be expected. We've been hearing from the locals that the months of July and August are the monsoon season, and that will bring some rain and more humidity. I can see some changes in the weather already, because we've had a lot of cumulus clouds the past three or four days in a row, and usually there are no clouds around. It hasn't rained here yet, but I've seen rain off in the distance.

We've been trying to keep up with our evening bike rides, but lately it's been too hot even after the sun sets, so we've either taken shorter rides or not gone at all.

We got a cute patio furniture set from Big Lots this weekend. It was only $70 for two chairs, two foot rests and a small table. It's just right for our front porch. We've been sitting out there after dark, usually after our bike ride. B also got a hummingbird feeder from Big Lots and hung it up outside, but the wind was blowing so hard that day, all the nectar spilled out all over the porch, the side of the house and the window. He's still trying to figure out a way to stabilize it. We also got some pretty windchimes and B had an idea to hang them from the ceiling over one of our potshelves, so he hung them up yesterday and they look really cute.

When I last saw the chiropractor, he showed B how to do a psoas stretch with me and suggested we do it every day because that muscle is too tight and is causing me pain. I had a lot of trouble with my psoas when I first met B and he's done a lot of work on it over the years, but apparently it's still giving me trouble. I'm still having pain while sitting, especially while sitting at my desk and working, so I'm hoping this stretching will help.

Our next-door neighbor, the hacker, has apparently moved out. I don't know if I mentioned this, but he told us a while ago that he more than likely was going to be foreclosed on, and that's what happened. B suggested I hook my wireless adapter back up and see if anyone hacks it again, and if not, we'll definitely know it was him. I guess his house belongs to the bank now. I wonder how long it will take to sell? I have a feeling it'll be vacant for a while, and that's fine with me.

Second visit with Dr. Boo

Yesterday was my second visit with Dr. Boo (that's my nickname for the pain management doctor). I wasn't sure what to expect at this visit, so I was feeling nervous about going, but B offered to come with me and drive, so that helped a lot. He had to miss some work in order to come, because my appointment was at 10:10 a.m., but hopefully next time I'll feel more confident about going by myself.

Last time I was there, the doctor wanted me to have all these x-rays done, which ended up costing me an arm and a leg, so I figured he'd discuss the x-rays with me. Wrong! He never said a word about the x-rays. In fact, I don't think I would've even seen the doctor had I not expressed uncertainty about when my next appointment should be.

I had to wait about a half hour to finally be called back to the exam rooms, and then one of the nurses or assistants or whatever just said, "You're here for refills? OK, here you go. See you in a month," and handed me refills for my two prescriptions. I said, "Do I need to come back in a month?" and the guy said, "Uh, uh, you need to talk to the doctor." Then I had to wait out in the hall for another 15 minutes until the doctor was done with whoever he was talking to.

When I first got there and signed in, I was given a piece of paper to sign about receiving injections. I thought it was odd, because I don't get injections, but they said I needed to sign anyway just in case I ever did, so I signed it. While I was waiting in the hallway to see the doctor, he burst out of one of the exam rooms and reamed out another nurse or office assistant or somebody, saying, "Why are you guys having peole sign these injection forms when they're not even getting injections?!" The woman he was yelling at explained that someone else told her they had to be signed by everyone, but the doctor continued to yell at her and told her not to waste paper. As he walked away, he said, "Geez, what is wrong with you? Use your head!" So you can imagine how eager I was to see him after that.

Finally it was my turn and basically he just asked if my prescriptions were still working for me, told me I should continue to see a chiropractor (after I said I'd been to see one recently) and sent me on my way while hardly looking at me. So the good news is, I got refills, but the bad news is, I do have to go back again in a month. When I was checking out, the woman he was yelling at early was at the desk and she said, "You need to come back in a month?" and I said, "Well, I don't know. The doctor didn't say." She rolled her eyes, gave me this oh-my-god-you-are-so-annoying look and said, "Well, usually you come once a month for prescription refills," so I said, "OK then, I guess I do need to come back in a month," and she made me an appointment.

I'm guessing that when I go back again, I won't even see the doctor unless I have a question or concern, and you can bet I won't be asking any questions. I'm just gonna go in there, pick up my refills and leave. I don't need to stick around just to get attitude from these people.

Some good news is that I found a very nice chiropractor here in town and I've been to see him twice now; once on Monday and once two weeks ago. I've been having a real problem with pain in my lower back and butt on the left side when I'm sitting, and I seemed to have some improvement after I saw the chiropractor the first time, but then it came back, so that's why I went again on Monday. He said he wants me to come again later this week, but I'm hoping I'll be feeling better by then and won't have to. I did feel a bit better yesterday and this morning, but I'm not feeling so great right now. I finished my work for A really early today, so now I'm waiting to see if I R has anything they can send me. If they don't, I'm going to lay down and get off my butt for a while. That's what really seems to help.

The chiropractor gave me a handout on fibromyalgia when I was there on Monday. That was nice, but it really didn't tell me anything I don't already know. I've done a lot of reading about it online and B tells me what kind of treatments the doctors he transcribes for are currently using for their fibromyalgia patients. I talked to my dad on Monday morning and told him that I have fibromyalgia, which I'd never talked to him about before. He'd heard of it through commericals on TV and stuff, but didn't know anything about it, so he asked me what it was and how it affected me, etc. I didn't go into a lot of detail because I didn't want to bore him with a lot of whiny details, but I kind of gave him an overview, and I imagine that he'll go online and look it up if he wants to know more. He's really taking advantage of the internet now that he's retired and has the time.