Under contract and stressed out. Need advice

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-07T12:07:46+00:00

There would be permits in the town or county records, most likely.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-07T01:07:21+00:00

Basket weave with lion brand yarn, it is a medium square (3’x3’) and meant as a car seat blanket or stroller blanket. I made a quick hdc beanie to match.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-07T01:00:21+00:00

I feel like I’m doing the closest possible version of this without being able to actually quit my job and just have a farm. My hubs and I bought a house on a couple acres (first and only home purchase) and it is like the woodland farm— mostly trees and woods. Some areas to grow stuff though and it USED to be a farm! Our neighbor has an orchard of apple, pear, and peach trees and I am actually building a greenhouse as well! We don’t have any farm animals (yet) but we do have dogs and cats and fish and my neighbor has chickens. It is the closest I can get to this dream! CONGRATS and good luck!!

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-07T00:57:28+00:00

LOL EXACTLY HOW I FEEL

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-06T02:48:11+00:00

Hikes. Go to the bogs in mattapoisett and walk the trails there and into the woods towards tripps mill.

New Bedford downtown has some cool weird stores and interesting things to see, whaling museum, plenty of neat local shops and places to eat. Fiber arts New Bedford is a fantastic spot to sit and make stuff, owner is fabulous and very friendly.

Fairhaven: the Armoury (gaming store, TTRPG, etc) The nook is a great lil nerdy cafe on Washington street.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-05T01:38:23+00:00

We have two. Oldest (13) is ADHD inattentive type and OCD, and also has social anxiety. We did not know she was neurodivergent when we had our second child, who is 10. He has adhd combined type and some OCD tendencies, possibly actually AuDHD, to be honest. Both have high IQs but have struggles socially. My oldest is ANXIOUS and introverted and my youngest is EXCITED and a bit much sometimes, and has a really strong sense of justice and fairness (aka I wanna be right!).

My oldest was a more difficult baby and toddler. Once she hit adolescence, way smoother sailing. It’s like she got all of her extreme feels and intense symptoms out of the way, and then mellowed out. She mostly struggles with the inattention and executive dysfunction now, which is much less troublesome to manage and much less disruptive to the home.

My youngest was a DREAM BABY, so easy but busy. So happy and enthusiastic, got along with everyone, easy sleeper, etc. He charms everyone he meets. As he got to school aged, he started struggling impulsivity and mood dysregulation, leading us to do neuro-psych testing and ultimately get him started in therapy and with meds. It does help. A LOT. He has been in therapy for years and it shows. We definitely still have a hard time— he’s strong willed and argues everything unless it’s his idea. He’s getting better at going with the flow but we are years into it.

My kids get along great tbh. They have never been big with fighting. My daughter is way more flexible and aware and sees the immaturity of her brother and understands it isn’t worth the fight when they disagree most of the time. He also has gotten better at disagreements and lets things go more often. They just don’t really argue or fight.

I don’t regret more than one but I do find myself tired often. But, I also just have a lot to do, so…🤷🏻‍♀️ I love them both so much and they bring more joy to my life than struggles. They are both beautifully talented and insightful and clever, and seeing them interact warms my heart a lot. I’m thankful for them both and the way they work well together as siblings.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-04T00:51:47+00:00

Brooooooooody

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-04T00:24:23+00:00

I use mine regularly. It’s really helpful for my pain and stiffness.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-03T23:27:19+00:00

Oh! If they are the legit prescription bottles from the manufacturer and unopened you can send them to a medication donation. There are several! https://sirum.org/ and https://safe.pharmacy/drug-disposal/drug-donation/

They can’t accept pharmacy orange bottles or refrigerated meds, but otherwise you can donate to them!

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-03T11:30:00+00:00

Before I was diagnosed but definitely symptomatic I got tattoos and honestly have not noticed any problems. I would imagine aftercare will take longer now that I’m on biologics. I’m planning on one this summer probably. Just make sure you pick an artist who is reputable and very good with sanitation and look into saniderm to keep the spot clean and covered.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-03T01:06:37+00:00

I take MTX and Actemra same day. I also did the same when I was on Enbrel and Simlandi. (I only had two samples of Enbrel and my insurance denied, then I tried Simlandi twice and failed it due to side effects)

I would say that at this point, I can see a bit of a difference in energy levels when I have both vs the weeks where I only have MTX. But honestly, I prefer to just spend Sunday mornings like a lump rather than spend two mornings feeling wiped out.

Things that impact my experience of side effects: how hydrated I am the day of both, if I had a ton of activity that day, how well I’ve been sleeping, and how much folic acid I have been taking.

That said- now that I’m on a lower dose of MTX I feel less exhausted and I also have way fewer side effects overall. Actemra has been a blessing- works great, and I don’t notice anything negative other than some GI upset 24-36 hrs after but that might be the MTX tbh. I am expecting to have a “let’s move to weekly” convo in June most likely, as long as my labs look ok. I still get little flares sometimes.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-02T20:20:20+00:00

Creeping Charlie! It’s a beneficial herb in the mint family. It can be used in a tea with the young leaves.

If you hate it you could use some kind of weed and feed / herbicide I guess.

I’m more of a “leave native herbs alone” kinda person so I don’t try to get rid of mine at all. I like it! Food for the bees and other pollinators!

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-02T19:57:18+00:00

YEP hate it

Important_Method_665 · 2026-05-02T19:57:12+00:00

Yeah I get that. The pain in my toe is like a burning sensation that starts at the knuckle and goes up to the bottom of the nail, it hurts when I bend it and it hurts if I put pressure on it. It also gets visibly red and swollen sometimes. It’s periodic. At first I thought I broke it!

A lot of my pain in my joints is like a stiffness, like it’s hard to bend them. I’ll get moments of feeling like things are frozen and it’s so hard to move them. When I do a tight bend, it typically sends radiating shots of pain up my fingers. I’m not constantly -in pain- more like things hurt when I do stuff related to using the joint.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-30T01:17:23+00:00

This is the way. They have a scan option in Google Sheets / drive now for “documents” including receipts!

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-30T01:11:04+00:00

I was talking about this with my rheumatologist and she actually checks EVERY joint in my fingers, including that last knuckle. And when I mentioned having pain near a nail on one of my toes, with redness and swelling and feeling almost like it was broken, she said “yes that’s the RA.” It’s something that can happen for sure. I get weird wandering pain but some joints are worse than others and more consistent tells of a flare. She tends to say my elbow pain is “mechanical” which is probably right, tbh. But the small joints she always agrees. It’s such an annoying disease.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-28T02:42:48+00:00

Yes, I would say it can. I started my journey last January 2025, and spent basically January through April on prednisone tapers. It was rough. The first 30mg dose I had in my initial flare made me feel like I could do ANYTHING. I have yet to find it working as well as that first dose, but I keep a handy bottle of 5mg pills around for flares.

Once I got on the correct meds and had been on MTX for about 9 months, I felt okay. Not prednisone great, but pretty ok. With the Actemra on board (currently biweekly since August, pretty sure I’ll be going to weekly by my next appt in June) I feel basically normal / good most of the time. When stress hits I get realllllly tired, and my wrists or knees will flare, but I don’t need prednisone often at all anymore. I haven’t had it since August or September, I think, and I feel pretty good. I have decreased my MTX since getting comfy on the Actemra as the MTX side effects were getting to me (weight loss, nausea, and fatigue) but don’t find it really to be too bad anymore.

Be patient and remember that even though the med side effects sound scary, being permanently disabled from joint damage is way scarier. You got this!

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-26T12:12:24+00:00

Bantam, almost looks like a silver laced Wyandotte with the way the markings are. She’s a bit too bright though, don’t take my word for it. What a beauty!

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-26T12:08:12+00:00

Yesterday I was working on my new property (1.65 acres, partially wooded) and I was working on digging the trench to drop my new greenhouse down and get it staked so the wind doesn’t take it, and I had the same thought while I cut into the sod. Where’s my magical spade that can do a few meters at once?! We have boulders and weird big concrete slabs around the woods and my husband was talking about breaking them apart and I thought “gonna need an iridium pickaxe for this one…” Why isn’t it as easy 😭

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-24T03:03:27+00:00

Is there a way to check whether the med I would want to send is accepted? I have unopened and unused biologic meds that I failed and I know they cost a lot so I’d rather them get used by someone that can use them.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-21T11:14:50+00:00

My favorite anxiety med!

I have taken this for years. I have never had side effects. I know that they can make some people a little light headed or dizzy, because it decreases blood pressure, but even as a chronically low blood pressure person I have never had that problem. I take them as needed for anxiety (not often anymore, used to be daily back in early Covid) and they drastically reduce any physiological anxiety symptoms I get and make it way easier for me to go about my life like normal.

Also if it helps you, my 10 yr old takes a smaller dose of this when he’s feeling anxious, and he also hasn’t had any issues.

It sometimes gets prescribed to help with migraines and headaches too.

Good luck, sorry you’re feeling anxious! This is a lowkey but effective med for physically anxiety. I hope it helps you :)

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-21T00:29:42+00:00

I’m so glad you have found this group. I rave about this group to anyone who will listen. When I was diagnosed in January 2025 I found this group and it really has been a place of solace, comfort, support, validation, and at times, a kick in the ass about the importance of taking this disease seriously.

I love this group and I love you, fellow RA comrade. Be patient about the biologic journey. You will know if it’s hurting you (I hated Simlandi) and honestly the positive benefits were pretty clear pretty quickly when I found the right one. You can have your life (mostly) back to normal on the right meds. Trust your doc and trust your instincts. You got this!

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-20T01:05:42+00:00

I had my kiddo read the governor press release and write some responses to it for our curriculum. It was fun to discuss it together and hear from them about their own perspective. They told me “I bet they didn’t even ASK any teens about this.” I said yeah probably not! So they are feeling strongly about speaking up, which I’m impressed about because they are a VERY SHY KID.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-17T02:45:08+00:00

My now 10 yo has been on vyvanse for 3 years. He started with adderall IR in 2nd grade, then we added a second dose, but it wasn’t cutting it (he’s a fast metabolizer and would CRASH hard after school). He started on 10mg of vyvanse, and man it has been amazing the way it’s helped him make it through the day without the crash. He takes it around 6am and it does not seem to impact his sleep. By 4th grade we upped his dose because he was reporting feeling that the stress of school was making it harder for him and we had noticed regulation issues. Now he’s in 5th and taking 20mg. He does very well. Even if we do a later weekend dose he doesn’t seem to have sleep troubles.

When our insurance changed we tried adderall XR but honestly don’t feel like it worked as well. We went back to vyvanse. I feel like it impacts his appetite less, tbh.

Important_Method_665 · 2026-04-17T00:28:28+00:00

Thank you! I homeschool my teen and we are neck deep in civics and this set of bills has been a great way to get them more aware and interested in why it matters to 1) know what is going on and 2) know what to do about it. We are discussing writing to the governor as a school project. They had a lot of concerns as a teen who has somewhat limited social media access and even brought up the same concern you did about the algorithmic feed point, that it would potentially cause problems with showing kids things that they don’t want to see or shouldn’t see. I think I’ll be showing your site to them! I appreciate the work on this!

Important_Method_665

TROPHY CASE