Blossoms and Birthdays

I thought I'd post a few photos of some flowers that are in bloom around the yard.  I love the neighbour's crab apple when it blooms each year (some of the branches are in my yard).  In the front garden, the moss flox are in bloom.

This time of year I constantly over-do it putting in gardens, despite the fact that I have lots of help.

On the positive, as the temps warm up I get to spend more time outside, as I don't have to move to stay warm.  I can just plop myself out there and enjoy the sun, the birds, the trees and flowers.

So far (we're only an hour or two in), I am less ill than I was on my Birthday last year.  Last year I had a horrible crash that coincided with my Birthday and left me feeling really down.  This year (so far) I'm not feeling as horrible. Small blessings.

Finally, the daughter of someone I know wrote a good article about M.E.  One of the best "popular" media type of articles I've ever seen. It doesn't say, for example, that M.E. is about "being tired".   It gives snapshots of how severe and devastating a disease it can be.  The other thing I liked, was the perspectives that came out of her personal connection to the illness (her mother has it).

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/this-is-the-reality-of-living-with-me-162

My PhD writing has taken a dive this week as I had a really bad attack of "urinary tract infection" that kept me from sleeping.  I put UTI  in quotes, because it's all the symptoms of a UTI without being a UTI.

It coinsided with an appointment to my NP, and she sent in a culture and perscribed an antibiotic because the dip test was borderline.  To be honest, I've had these attacks for years, usually during PMS, but they mostly just last a few hours.

This bout is still happening although it's calmed down.  I'm almost sure I have cystitis, but since I don't want another syndrome like condition added to my chart, I've avoided talking about it to my NP.
 Mostly, I've been able to cope, although if makes a habbit of keeping me from sleep, I might have to see what options are available.  Does anyone who reads this have IC?