"Lucy in the sky with diamonds!"

It takes me two hours to get myself ready for church.  Shaving my legs, washing muh hair, blow drying, straightening, then 45 minutes for makeup and another 15 trying to squeeze myself into an outfit and then frosting myself with jewelry.  It's no easy feat getting me ready.  :)  Then, it's getting the kids dressed, teeth brushed, hair brushed and styled, fed, diapers changed, making sure everyone has peed and been fed and watered.  We started our endeavors at 10:30 this morning.  Church starts at 1:00 and we were half an hour late.  :/  I don't know how early we'd have to start to get this family ready.  We've tried getting ready earlier, we have the diaper bag ready to go the night before, kids get bathed the night before, and outfits are all laid out.  I don't get it.  By this time, I'm so incredibly grateful for Tramadol.  For years I wasn't able to go to church.  It hurt like nothing else.  By the time I got myself and the kids ready, I was in so much pain; there was no way I could wrestle the kids at church and sit for three hours straight.  Tramadol has changed my life.  I've been going to church every week for the last few months now.  I've loved being able to go back.  I love church, love the way it makes me feel.  Tramadol has been a blessing in my life, I've been able to do so much more now that I'm on it.  By no means does it completely eradicate the pain, it just makes it tolerable.  It makes me super nauseated, and high, though.  Yep, I go to church high.  My bishop (our version of a preacher or minister) asked how I've been able to come back to church.  "I'm incredibly high, Bishop!"  "Yeah!  Alright!", he says with a laugh.  "Keep it up."  It's a family joke that once the Tramadol kicks in, we sing "Lucy in the sky with diamonds."  My sister dies laughing when I start singing it.  She knows I'm high.  I don't abuse Tramadol, I take the exact prescription I was instructed to take.  I can't control  the side effects of it.  It's take it, or refuse to live.  I kind of sort of have to live.  You wouldn't ask a diabetic to stop taking his medications, would you?  Eh, well there ya go.  The nauseated and high feeling are the side effects I am more than willing to live with, 'cause the other side effect, less pain, is too strong to ignore.  And I dunno, being high and care free is kind of nice when you've been crying from pain and stressing out over your debilitating disease that you'll have for the rest of your life.  What?  It's the truth, I told you I'd be perfectly honest here.  And please, judge me or not, do you honestly think I care what you think?  Honey, I'm "Lucy in the sky with diamonds!"   

Let's face it, my Lucy in the sky would most definitely involve something with Star Trek...