That Lightning Game We Went to Where the Players Didn't Show Up

Last night, CJ had three tickets for the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.  His dad did not want to go so I got picked as the replacement.  

I was slightly skeptical because I have been a spectator for three Lightning losses this year - out of the four games I attended!!! That is not a great record.  

We got there early, the pregame festivities were in full swing, the crowd was enthusiastic and rowdy. Everything was going so great -----and then the game started!  

I'm not sure what to say except that it was the worst period of hockey I have ever seen played ----by any team.  TWO shots on goal says it all.  

Second period I spent out in the hall area convinced that I was the curse causing the wretched play.  However, that myth was debunked when the Capitals  got two more goals while the Lightning only managed 8 more shots on their end.  

I returned to my seat for the third period.  And suddenly, the players realized they were playing a hockey game!  They did score 2 goals in the 3rd and made 15 shots.  

It's only game one ----and they lost game one against New Jersey and Boston and still came back and won the series...so all hope is not lost.  But after making the ECF three out of the last four years and with only 1 Stanley Cup appearance (which was a loss to Chicago), it would be extremely disappointing to lose here. 

Fibromyalgia Update

It has been a long, long time since I have talked about my journey living with fibromyalgia. 

It's hard to believe that five years ago at this time I was about to go through the most difficult summer of my life.  My doctor had just taken me off of the Diclofenac because my liver levels had spiked tremendously.  This was a huge disappointment because it was actually helping control the pain more than the Vicodin had.  

Diclofenac is a high dose anti-inflammatory medication and was prescribed in February of that year when a blood test indicated my inflammation level was at 39.  Although I did not yet have a diagnosis, that test was conclusive proof that something was going on inside my body.  A month later, the pain was under control and my doctor was encouraging telling me he had patients who had been on this medication for years with no problem.  Because Diclofenac is filtered through the liver, it requires periodic blood tests to check on the enzyme levels in the liver.  Unfortunately for me, my very first blood test, while revealing a healthy decrease in my inflammation levels (down from 39 to 13), also showed an alarmingly high level of enzymes in my liver.  My doctor made me discontinue immediately and warned me never again to take medication filtered through the liver because of how quickly the enzyme level rose.  

This eliminated a lot of other possible medications that may have helped and so within a week, I was back on the Vicodin.  The Vicodin was not helping much so I moved up to Lortab.  

My summer consisted of regular doses of Lortab while applying jars of Icy Hot - going through 3-4 jars a week.  Through all this, the pain was still so intense.  

Then, in September, two things happened that would change my life.  I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (on the 5th) and started Tramadol (on the 19th).  

Almost five years later I remain completely pain free. One would wonder if I truly have Fibromyalgia since I am so free from pain (many are not so fortunate) but trust me when I say, I KNOW I DO.  First, there are the classic tender points.Even the slightest touch causes pain.  Also, the couple of times I have tried to cut back on the Tramadol, the all too familiar throbbing, pulsating pain has returned.  

So, I remain on 6 pills a day..1 at 7am, 11am, 2:00pm, 6:00 pm, and 2 at 10:00 pm.   I have been at this dose for well over 3 years now without needing an increase and live a normal, pain-free life. 

Very blessed.   

Well Hello

I cannot believe how long it has been since I last posted.  I apologize to my tons of readers who check my blog regularly hoping for a new post (yeah- right)!  

With summer fastly approaching (21 days left of school people) I hope to get on here more regularly.  It would also help if something remotely interesting were happening around here that would be blog worthy.  

Anyway, a couple big things happened this past week that are worth recording here.  

First, I was named "Professor of the Year" at my school.  

This was decided by votes received from parents and my co-workers.  To say I was speechless would be an understatement.  I hope this translates into job security for next year.  

The other bit of news...a new car---finally.  The car I was driving was a 2001 Nissan Maxima that belonged to CJ and, as you might expect, has seen its better days.  The air conditioning was not working which, in Florida, is a HUGE deal.  On top of that, the driver side window would not go down.  So...it was HOT in that car and I would curse every time I got stopped  by a red light because that meant no breeze coming through the passenger window.  A couple months ago, someone knocked the passenger side mirror off so I had been driving around without a mirror and just praying that I would not get pulled over for it.  And finally, it had some kind of mechanical issue that would cause the sunroof to spontaneously open (and I couldn't always get it closed right away either), caused the radio volume to increase spontaneously, and caused the check engine light to be flashing constantly. So a new car was imminent but I was hoping to make it until school was out for summer before having to do it. 

A couple weeks ago on a Saturday, I came out from working at Huntington and the car wouldn't start.  After trying for about 1/2 hour, I finally called CJ who had to leave a movie to pick me up and take me home.  The next day, my parents came with a plan to sleep overnight and my dad was going to take me on that Monday to get a new car. However, when we went out to the car on Sunday, it started up and ran just fine. Since I didn't want to miss a day of school, I decided to wait until school was over and sent my parents home.  

Unfortunately, after a celebratory dinner at BWW on Wednesday night, the car once again would not start.  And, it wouldn't start on Thursday either, so it was time for a "new" car.  I had my sights set on a red 2015 Kia Forte with about 45,000 miles on it but, in the end, I went with a white 2016 Chevrolet Sonic hatchback with 31,000 miles. 

Very similar to this:

So, that is all the news for now.  I'll be back soon.  

School Stuff

Oh my...we are but one week away from Spring Break.  Wasn't it just yesterday I was showing off my room and welcoming my new class of students?  

And I just need to mention that I have an amazing team.  There are 4 second grades this year so I have 3 other team members.  A couple months ago, I was asked to be the team lead (which I accepted because it came with a monthly stipend) but even though I have the title, we all work so amazingly well together.  

As for my class...they keep me busy.  The "Ms. Koeck, ______________ (fill in the blank with some useless information or other) is still an everyday (all day) occurrence but they are generally otherwise well behaved and hard-working so I can forgive that little annoyance.  

That - and they keep me laughing ------

A couple weeks ago, we had Spirit Week with special dress up days each day.  One of the days was crazy hair day and I did not participate in this day.  I was trying to find some excuse to appease their disappointed and feeling like a spoilsport when one of my girls says, "that's okay, Ms. Koeck, you have crazy hair anyway."  

Hmmm...I know her motive was to be kind and understanding in encouraging me not to feel bad but 'crazy hair anyway'...really???? 


Last week Friday afternoon, the entire school went to an assembly to watch a Black History play some of the 4th and 5th graders put on.  During the performance, I noticed one of the 3rd grade boys doing everything he could to bother and annoy a few of my girls who were sitting in front of him.  Well...I don't play that way so on Monday, I 'invited' that boy into my room to apologize to the girls for being a nuisance.  One of our vocabulary words for the week was ashamed and one of my girls said, "can I ask you something?  Are you ashamed of yourself?"  Wow! I just about died laughing on the inside.  

And now for the biggest and best news on the teaching front...I  received a "best and brightest teacher" award from the state of Florida.  This award was based on last year's school year and to receive it you needed to have earned a rating of "effective" during a formal evaluation by your superior and your students needed to show an improvement growth  from beginning of the year to end (based on standardized test results).  The best thing about this is that in all my years of teaching, this is the first time I have ever received recognition for my work...it also is extremely delightful and helpful that it comes with an $800 bonus.  


  

Day Off

Yesterday morning as I was getting ready to leave for school, I got a text that there had been an accident across the street from our school that had knocked down the telephone poll and our school had no power.  

Our principal said she would be contacting the power company to get an estimated time of restoration so I waited for another text which said that power was predicted to be back on by 7:45.  

I immediately thought of texting something like, "well that means about 10:00" but then thought that sounded a bit too snarky so decided against it.  

To make a long story short...power was not turned on by 7:45 - or even by 10:00.  In the end, they had to replace the entire telephone pole and power was not restored until about 6:00 in the evening.  

This meant an unexpected day off of school.  I decided to take advantage of this and FINALLY take down the Christmas tree and clean. 

I also did about 6 loads of laundry...when someone would let me fold the clothes.

Sometime around 3:30, I got sidetracked for about an hour.

I'm telling you, she would lay there all day and night if you would let her.  

That Lightning Game We Went To

So, after starting the year with a vengeance and a 27-6 record that mirrored the talent they have on the team, the Lightning have been an underwhelming 17-15 since Christmas.  

Off course they've had a tough schedule with several games on the road, but in my opinion, they are severely underachieving once again in what has become a reoccurring theme with them.  

Saturday we headed to Tampa's Amalie Arena to witness first hand one of those 15 losses (but whatever, I still had a great time). 

The oddest thing about this loss is the Lightning were able to amass 50 shots on goal!   But, this makes little difference when only 3 of those shots found the back of the net for goals.  

In comparison, New Jersey ended up with about 28 shots but, thanks to some pretty sketchy defense, 4 of those ended in goals.  

I brought my "new (to me)" camera to try out the zoom lens and action shot ability and I was pretty pleased with it. 

Coming Home From the Frozen Tundra

I love, love, love spending time with my BFF and her family.  However, it's no secret that I don't love, love, love the weather there - or even like it.  So, while I was sadly disappointed that my time in Wisconsin was coming to an end, I was more than ready to get back to the land where 80* happen on the reg and you don't feel the need to ruuuunn  from car to building and building to car!  

This morning, before heading to the airport, I had my "physical."  As the doc pointed out, it's not really a physical but more of a "med check" appointment because every test and procedure that would normally be done at a yearly physical I will not do there because I pay out of pocket for this visit!  Anyway, everything went very well and I once again told him how amazing I felt and how, as time goes by, I think less often of my previous existence, but some times it still hits me how much difference the Tramadol has made in my life!  

We got to the airport very early and could not even check in yet so we went to grab some lunch at a pizza place until we could finally check the bags and go through security.  The thing about living in Orlando is that whenever you are flying home and back to work and reality, the majority of the people you are flying with are excitedly heading down there for their vacations - so that kind of sucks. BUT...then...in just a week's time, those same people will have to fly back to their frozen lives while we get to stay down here and enjoy!!! So - I guess it all evens out.  

Anyway, our flight left a tad bit late but we still landed on time (7:30) and then everything went pretty smoothly as we retrieved our luggage and took a taxi home.  

The sunset as we were starting to descent.