RA....

RA can stand for many things, really awful, really achy or in my case Rheumatoid Arthritis. i have had this auto-immune disease since i turned 26 {about 10 years ago now} and i absolutely hate it. it has been really out of control lately. my hands and wrist are so swollen that i can hardly do anything and my left knee has so much pain in it i barely sleep. i also have this really cool {not} knot the size of a ping pong ball in my left tendon above my heal. you really tend to take for granted the use of your hands until you can't use them. imagine if you will having 3 girls with hair to do, a ponytail is death to me. opening any type of "ziploc" product is impossible and opening jars, lids or bottles is just not something i can do. a couple of weeks ago we came across a opener for bottles and such and it now lives on the counter. i use it for everything. mark laughs when i tell him that i don't know how i survived without. it really does tend to take a toll on me because i am a really active person who loves to spend every waking minute outside in the summer. i am constantly working in the yard, pulling weeds, mowing, washing cars, playing with the girls and RA makes it more difficult with every passing day. i am not one to ask for help {which is a downfall i know} so it makes me crazy to have to rely on someone else for assistance. mark and i are planning on building our garden this weekend {pictures of progress to come} and i was telling him yesterday that i am a little scared of my ability to help him build it. we do almost all projects together {he works, i hold boards and the stupid end of the tape measure... you know the end with the 1 one it ha :D}. last night he asked me if he needed to paint his thumbs green... hahaha he is too funny! oh well enough pity for me! here's to a great friday and a wonderful weekend.