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Gratuitous photo of moi and the hubs. Cause I loves him and he's so handsome.

I haven’t written about my health in awhile again. I tend to forget to update, particularly when I’m between specialists and between appointments. Right now? I’m between healthcare providers. Which is hilarious, because they’re both military, but it’s the same schpeel between both.

Hurry up and wait.

I’m still getting dizzy. Frequently, but not as severely as before. There have been a few things that have had an affect on this. Or, at least, I like to think so. I have cut back quite a bit on my dairy intake. We’d been using 2% milk and others – whatever was on sale – but to be honest? It was getting really expensive between that and all the cheeses we’d go through and whatnot. So I decided to cut back. We now buy maybe half as much cheese as we used to, and no more milk. It’s all almond milk.

Now, again, I’m not entirely sure dairy is the culprit, but given what the naturopath said previously? I’m starting to take a closer look at my diet in order to see what might be causing issues. Of course, the big issue there is wheat. But I’m trying really hard to wait on the wheat until I can see whether or not an allergen test is feasible.

Which brings me to being between providers entirely. I went up and registered at the VA Hospital out here. For the next year, I’m on the VA’s health insurance and I’m waiting on my medical records to be sent up from the archives so that I can prepare for my first appointment with my new VA provider. This initial intake will cover all my health issues during and, I believe, after service, and so I’m going to have to look at my medical record to see if there’s anything that came up while I was in the service that could connect to what I’m experiencing now. I could legitimately use this to file a claim and receive disability through the VA. However, I’m mostly doing this to establish a timeline.

It’s at this appointment that I’m going to ask for a gastroenterologist or at least some allergen testing to see if we can, indeed, establish a problem with wheat. I am desperate to explore the diet aspect of this whole mess, if only because it’s the leaster related to everything else we’ve been talking about. Between the Meniere’s and BPPV and all the treatments associated, I’m ready for people to stop screwing with my inner ear and my brain and my cardiovascular system for a bit.

Really, we can look at this as me starting the journey towards an endocrinologist or a gastroenterologist. Because, really, the cardiologist, the neurologist and the ENT and the otolaryngologist haven’t been much help so far. The osteopath was amazing for my back pain, but that wasn’t relative to the dizziness and vertigo, the incredibly low blood pressure, the seizures, the severe dips in blood pressure upon standing… yeah.

So while I’m optimistic, I’m cautious in proceeding with Western medicine. I really felt like we were getting somewhere with the naturopath. But the simple fact remains? I can’t afford it on my own. So, for now, until I publish a book or hit the lottery or magically star in a movie out of nowhere, I’m going to have to stick with what I can afford, which is the continuing care I’m entitled to as a veteran of the US Navy.

Feeding a family of four at or below that amount, though, can be tricky in today’s economy. And, as I said before, when MarvMan’s ship goes underway, we lose that money. The Navy takes it away because he’s eating at the galley on the ship.

I could go on and on about the semantics of this and how we, the family, are still left behind and need to eat, and how we do get his sea pay and (eventually) family separation pay that makes up for this (after he’s been out to sea for 30 days, which screws us on those short less-than-a-month workups), but that’s another post entirely.

Right now? I’ve been planning on how to get the most out of the groceries that I do buy. Multiple meals from one package of meat, so on and so forth. And tonight, I may have accidentally stumbled across something brilliant.

Lately, I’d been seeing packages of split chicken breasts for $0.99 / lb at Kroger. A lot of people tend to shy away from meat with bones in it, so it’s been on sale a lot. I will never understand that. It’s got bones still in it – what’s the big deal? Take the five extra minutes to de-bone it! It’s not that hard! Case in point:

I spent $2.50 for a package of two split chicken breasts. I don’t remember the exact poundage, but it was at least 2 pounds of chicken. I baked them up.

I didn’t do a darn thing to these. Not even salt. Just a little spray in the casserole dish so they didn’t stick, and that was it! Once they were done, I ripped the skin and fatty bits off to feed to the dog, and shredded the meat off the bones. From there?

I made Sesame Chicken:

And I got the recipe over here, from Cailen Ascher, Lifestyle Maven. I made a few changes. One, I added chicken. Two, I changed the veggies because I didn’t have snow peas. Instead, I used 1 bag of frozen broccoli, and 1 bag of a frozen pepper & onion mix. Scored both at the store for $1 each. I used half the broccoli & peppers mix in the Sesame Chicken tonight, and the other half?

I mixed in with more chicken for chicken teriyaki this week. The teriyaki sauce I use can be found here. Random Google searching turned it up and omg, I love it. This will get added to some brown rice to complete the meal.

And the rest of the chicken?

Shredded and in a container to be mixed up with mayonnaise I’m going to make tomorrow for toasted chicken salad sandwiches later in the week. Or maybe chicken & matzo ball soup. Orrrr… chicken pot pie. Who knows? I like keeping this portion as a wild card, hehe.

The bonus here is that the sesame chicken has already made leftovers. I know the teriyaki will make leftovers as well. And so far there’s enough leftovers for both MarvMan’s lunch and A-Girl’s, plus myself and BreMonster.

Pretty awesome, huh? I hope to keep coming across ways to stretch out food and make more of less, because I know we’re going to need it. And, I should note, that all the recipes I’m making this week are kosher – none of these meat dishes have any dairy in them.

So enjoy!

Allow me to explain, because by no means was this a simple, “Me man, you woman, I choose, you sit be happy” situation. When we have the option to choose orders, it is most definitely a “we” effort. MarvMan knows that I offer a valuable side to our discussions – the perspective of the kids and myself and what’s best for us. And between the two of us, we talk and figure out how he can choose orders that would be best for his career and will still provide the best options for myself and the girls. It’s not easy. The military is a life in which we may only either get what’s best for him or what’s best for us.

And at the risk of sounding completely not-feminist? I will always default to what’s best for MarvMan’s career. My career is portable to wherever we may go. I am still in school, and I have the ability to put things on hold while we adjust and learn a new area. MarvMan? Does not. If he picks (or is given) craptastic orders, that’s 3-4 years of his career where he’d have to struggle to advance and improve our quality of life.

So when we discussed our options, I had to acknowledge that the East Coast was a long shot. Because we were already a West Coast based family. Moving families in general is expensive; coast to coast? Fuggeddaboudit. But MarvMan still put VA on his list of options, and for that? I’m so grateful. He could’ve just not included it at all, but he did and he was selected for East Coast orders.

And now we can visit family more often. This past weekend, we decided to make a quick trip up to PA and spent some time with family.

Watching the girls get to know their Great Grandmother was so amazing. We are so blessed that they have both their Great Grandmothers and they’ll remember them. It’s such a blessing and I’m so glad MarvMan suggested this quick trip.

I’ve been going to counseling. I have anxiety issues and with MarvMan’s ever changing schedule, things have been kicking into high gear. Panic attacks, freak outs, meltdowns… and the anger issues.

Whenever my anger/rage starts bubbling up to where I start shaking and my heart is racing? I take it to the mat. My yoga mat and, subsequently my dining-room-turned-studio has become my rescue med, sweat catcher and confession place.

And it helps bring me and the girls together.  We do yoga together and it’s a great way for us to get the energy out without running around like mad. But mostly? It’s for me. I spend anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours a day practicing yoga, playing with poses, seeing what I can and cannot do. And it helps. I’m not sure if it’s clearing my mind or if it’s helping me work out that rage, but… it helps. So you stick with what works, right?

And at some point, maybe next week, I’ll write up a post explaining what caused all these anxiety issues. And I’ll write up an update about the health issues. But for right now? I’m overwhelmed, exhausted, and tired.

And did I mention Mr. Washburn has been super helpful? I love my furball. It’s like he knows when I’m upset and if I’m standing up, he’ll nudge a little closer to my leg, just let me know he’s there. Or he’ll stick his head in my lap and look at me. Just like that.

So, there you have it. Dog + yoga = calm.

Every week I’ll post my favorite photo from the past 7 days.

Trying to keep the kids on a decent schedule during all of this is my top priority. They’re already antsy and anxious and pretty crabby because Daddy isn’t home as much when they’re home, if that makes any sense whatsoever. A-Girl is usually at school, and BreMonster is usually having to be quiet so Daddy can sleep.

It’s difficult for them to understand why MarvMan needs to sleep and why we need to be quiet and try to roll with things. But I’ve been doing my best to explain things to them and MarvMan has been doing his best to spend as much time with them as he can.

To better facilitate that, I’ve taken to waking them up just a little bit earlier than usual. Not much earlier, but enough so that no matter what time MarvMan gets home in the mornings, they can have some time with him. Whether that’s to eat breakfast together or just chat before A-Girl’s off to school and MarvMan’s off to bed, I’m trying to encourage as much time together as schedules allow. (More on this later in the week.)

One thing we had been neglecting through all of this, though, was time for MarvMan and I to be together. With so much going on and me trying to ensure the girls have their time with him, I kind of forgot about myself. Until last night.

The girls went upstairs shortly after dinner, and they stayed up there for awhile. (We found out later they’d fallen asleep – and after the weekend we had, I don’t blame them.) It was quiet downstairs and MarvMan and I were talking a bit. And then? We decided to lay down on the couch together and watch TV.

I cannot even begin to express how awesome it was to be able to just lay there and watch TV with him and have that quiet time. Because he’s majoring in Psychology and I’m majoring in PR & Marketing, we tend to get into some intent discussions about different reality shows on Discovery and we both love watching Investigation Discovery. I love crime shows.

I’m sure to most people, it’s nothing major. I’m sure there’s millions of other couples who lay around every night and watch television together and think nothing of it. It’s normal, it’s part of their daily routine. But, man, let me tell ya. After all the insanity of the past few weeks and barely seeing each other? It was amazing to have even just that little bit of time together, just me and my MarvMan.

So, as per usual, the wedding I was a bridesmaid in over the weekend was bittersweet. I cried a lot, and I’m not ashamed to say it. I am pissed with the photographer for taking photos of me sobbing when they played Kenny Chesney’s song There Goes My Life. That song, if you ever wanted to know a thing about me and MarvMan, is pretty much our relationship to a perfect tee. And MarvMan was unable to attend the wedding because he was at work.

And that, my darling dears, is also why I’m behind on posting again. Because I catered the rehearsal dinner, attended the bachelorette party, was a bridesmaid, had synagogue on Sunday (religious school for the kidlets), and needed a day to breathe.

Hence – a bit of a photo dump. I hope you enjoy. It’s just pictures of myself and the girls – I didn’t get anyone’s permission to share photos of them. Enjoy!

The bouquet was originally white. This was me putting it in water with food coloring when we got home.

Before makeup and getting dressed.

There we go. Sun was in my eyes. But I'm not a fan of a lot of makeup, so I suppose it's not much different, is it?

BreMonster and A-Girl. Way too grown up.

Three gorgeous ladies, hehe.

**Edited to fix formatting and to add other photos that got lost due to my improper formatting.

These things are more addicting than pancakes. Especially when you add in the yogurt & banana filling.

Find the recipe over on Joy of Kosher.