THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life ~ May Edition

I want to start off by saying that I am feeling much, much better. Thank freakin' goodness!!! I feel like I have returned to myself in so many ways and am able to feel a zest for life once again. It's a massive relief! I feel like I am now able to reconnect with what inspires me and that I can allow more lightness into my life. I'm BACK, baby! April began with my parents visiting from Regina for Easter. We had a very nice time with them and enjoyed a bunch of fun activities around Edmonton.

Easter was lovely and fairly low-key. We all enjoyed a cozy day at home with the Easter Bunny's visit and delicious foods all day! This year Tim smoked a bone-in lamb leg (we have a smoker now) and it was super good!

We celebrated Amy's birthday with a Girls Night at The Keg, which was her restaurant of choice! <3

Record Store Day happened and if you don't already know, I usually line up for it at 5:45am every year! It's kind of a tradition at this point and I always go to Blackbyrd Myoozik on Whyte Ave. This year I was 28th in line and was able to get all four of the special releases that I was after!

The Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs and played the first round against the Anaheim Ducks. As you probably know, the Oilers lost and were knocked out of the playoffs. Honestly, this was a relief because after the past two years of intense playoff journeys way into June... I'M TIRED! While exciting and fun, it takes a lot of effort and energy and every other night our whole evening becomes monopolized by hockey. I'm totally happy to just NOT! We made the most of it while it lasted though.

Circling back to my latest annoying ailment, like I said, I'm doing MUCH better and I feel like I'm at 99% at this point. It seems pretty clear to me that the issue was that I caught a parasite which wreaked havoc, the treatment was extra rough in itself, and the recovery from all of it was long. All in all, I felt like shit for about eight weeks (two months!!) which is certainly the longest amount of time that I've ever spent feeling unwell. Things got really dark and terrible at some points and when weeks go by without much improvement it's really easy to start to feel like things will never get better. But thankfully they did! I've also been re-tested and the parasite is indeed gone! I still have to see a gastroenterologist because of my positive celiac result but it's entirely plausible that the test was a false-positive due to the gut infection and inflammation and immune activation that we know was present because of the parasite. My doctor has told me that the wait to see a GI will likely be over six months long for a non-urgent, low-concern case like mine. So I'm basically just moving on with my life, living normally, and not going to think about this until I actually have to. Last month I briefly touched on the fact that my period has completely returned. So that's crazy! After going stretches of 264 days and 171 days without mensurating I have now had a regular period again since November. My cycles are an average of 34 days long, which is a bit longer than "normal" but way more regular than it had been. So I guess I'm not in menopause after all??? I guess I'm back in the peri-menopause phase?? I asked if this is happening because of the hormone replacement therapy that I'm taking and my doctor at the Menopause Clinic said that HRT can't "switch a period back on" and that my own body is doing this. At this point I literally have NO IDEA what my body is doing or what is causing what anymore. But I'm feeling like myself again and I'LL TAKE IT!!! <3 Life with Archie: Archie has been living his springtime life and has been doing a lot of the usual stuff! He loved Easter and still fully believes in the Easter Bunny, WHICH I LOVE! I hope that he holds on to his childhood magic for as long as absolutely possible!

Archie dressed up for Easter at school and there was a matching lunch/snack to go with it of course!

They also had 1980s Day at school!

Archie's programs have started up for the spring! This time he's doing: Swim for Life Swimmer 3 ~ This is his third round of taking this lesson but I really do think that he's going to pass easily this time. He's actually a half decent swimmer now, which is amazing.

Archie built a Farm Planter at the latest Kids Workshop at Home Depot and an F1 Academy Race Car at a LEGO free-build event.

Archie is still making the family dinner once a week and I love it! His food is always so good! His latest dishes were Skillet Pizza with Pizza Dough and No-Cook Tomato Sauce, Smashed Sausage Subs, Burger Tacos with Burger Sauce, and Chicken Fried Rice. All so delicious!

Archie was invited to his friend Cohen's birthday party which was Beyblade-themed (this is what they're all into right now) and he had a blast!

Finally, here are some other fun highlights from the month... And yes, mostly everything that we do revolves around food. You know this.

And now IT'S GONNA BE MAY! The sun is shining, the snow is gone, the temps are warm... And it's all GIVING ME LIFE!!! My favourite OddBird Art & Craft Fair is happening this month and I'm gonna go nuts in there as usual. It's Mother's Day!! It's kinda like a bonus birthday where my family has to celebrate me! Ha ha! We're going for brunch at a French restaurant called The Marc and I'm really looking forward to it. For Victoria Day long weekend (May Long) we are heading down to Canmore/Banff/Lake Louise for three nights! Our first stop is Canmore where we're spending the night at Lacey's house and going out for a fancy date night dinner with them - can't wait!! Then we're spending two nights in Banff at the Elk + Avenue Hotel and meeting up with Tim's sister Angela and her family who are spending the week in Banff/Lake Louise. It'll be so great to see them and for Archie to spend time with two of his cousins! We're planning to go on some hikes, eat good food (obviously), I'm going to go to the BASIN Glacial Waters spa, and just enjoy general mountain time. Can't wait! Should be a good month with a lot to look forward to! THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!: May 14th is Heather Petrychyn’s 44th birthday!

Wishing you the most wonderful of days filled with everything that you enjoy! Your friendship means so much to me and I love all of the many memories that we share (and continue to make!). You are such a loyal and true friend and a powerhouse of a woman! We'll always have 3am airport cake! Love you!! <3 May 18th is Nicole Thibault’s 44th birthday!

My sister from another mister and my chosen family! Words cannot express what you mean to me and you have made such a profound impact on my life. Looking forward to finding you randomly on my lawn all summer long! Can't wait to celebrate you in style!! You're in my heart forever and always and I love you very much! <3 May 27th is Krystie Watson’s 40th birthday!

Welcome to your big 40th BIRTHDAY, my lady!!! I hope that you are completely spoiled for this very special birthday!! (Jason is pretty good at that stuff so I can't wait to see what you have in store!) No matter how far apart we are, you hold a special place in my heart. I treasure all of the special times that we've shared and I love you very much. <3 May 28th is Heather Petrychyn's 15th wedding anniversary!

Wishing you a romantic day to celebrate the two of you! <3 May 31st is Susan Murphy's 13th wedding anniversary!

Wishing you a romantic day to celebrate the two of you! <3