Surrounded by the white stuff

Being smack dab in the middle of the eastern seaboard...we're knee deep in snow right now. We lost power over the weekend, and I now know two things:

1) My joints do NOT do well when the interior temperature of my home hovers around the 40 degree mark. I wasn't in terrible pain...but I woke up both mornings before 6am and took my prescribed 5mg of prednisone because of the ache. That magic little pill never went down so well! Thankfully for us, my sister lives near by and because her power was restored before ours was...we headed to her house for good food, shelter, and company. It wasn't quite as easy as it may sound...my brother-in-law had to dig himself out in order to get his 4-wheel drive up and out of his driveway, through the unplowed streets, and over to our house to pick up Deirdre, Darwin, and me. We were absolute icicles by the time he arrived...and while we had a chance to thaw on the trip back, the road conditions made for a bumpy, slippery ride. Johnny stayed behind to finish shoveling our mile-long (well, not quite) driveway before coming over to join us. We had quite the sleepover, and I'm so grateful to my sister and her family for welcoming us with open arms. I can tell you this - a hot shower never felt so good!

(Re: the shoveling of our driveway: the process would have gone a whole lot faster had I pitched in to help...but given the twinge in my joints, Johnny absolutely refused to let me touch the shovel. In fact, he warned that if I even made a move for that orange handle, he was going to do my next blog post for me - exposing me for the hypocrite that I would have been. Ah, a supportive husband. Is there anything better?

2) Worrying will get you nowhere, except in a flare. Okay - so I'm not in a flare...not even close. But over the weekend when it was so stinkin' cold in the house, I was terribly worried about Deirdre, particularly at night. She had a ton of layers on, was surrounded by blankets, and looked awfully cozy as she slept soundly every time I checked on her. But, oh, what a tizzy I had myself in! I'm sure the stress and sleeplessness contributed to the achy joints I mentioned above. Good news is that since that first night at my sister's...all pain has disappeared, along with those nasty worry wart tendencies.

Having been in, what I would call a crisis situation, I now understand what it means to take full responsibility for your child and her well being. I'm sure this is only the beginning...there will be plenty of opportunities in Deirdre's future for me to worry (probably ten times as much), but I suppose those will just be chances for me to temper my panic and keep a level head, all in the name of keeping lupus under control. And if and when there IS cause for concern, if I've kept myself under control, I'll be ready to help, not stuck in bed nursing my aching joints. I can at least go into the next 18 years with a positive attitude, right?

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