So long

It seems like forever since I've written.

There have been days I've wanted to write, but either my health or my emotions seemed to keep me from it.

Still not exactly sure where I'm at in either of those two departments, other than the last two days I've been feeling really well. I try not to sit on pins and needles wondering when I'm going to either be in pain again, or not sleeping, but both of those haven't been problems for two days now. I'm praying it continues.

So, instead of dwelling on those issues, I want to spend some time sharing the blessings God has sent our way. There are so many and I hope they perk up your day just like they did mine.

Karis has needed new dress shoes. I've looked. And looked. They were either too expensive or too ugly.

I sent my sister to look. We bought a pair and they ended up being duds. Cute, but duds.

Back to square one.

Frankly I was tired of looking and didn't have the energy to go to all the stores.

My sisters brought the girls home one night and dropped off a couple of bags of what I thought were their clothes that I had left up there.

It took me a couple of days to grab the bags to unload them.

The first bag did contain their clothes.

The second, and adorable swimsuit for Karis next summer. A cute skirt. A new shirt.

And these.....




They fit perfectly. She adores them. I love them. And they were free from my friend Kate. I seriously almost cried at this unexpected little gift. The exact thing we had been needing.
Between Kate and Jess and presents the only thing I've had to buy the girls this fall were some jeans and a few pairs of tights. It is like God gave me my own personal shoppers. Both of these ladies have wonderful taste and girls that are built like mine.

Dustin and I are headed out to Chicago soon. For his 30th we are going to that Bulls game and staying in a hotel downtown. Well... a relative of ours has been bringing us a meal every Tuesday. Super yummy meals.

You ask what this has to do with a Bulls game and Chicago? Let me tell you. The last time she stopped by she informed me that they wanted to buy our tickets to the game. I know they wouldn't want me to be writing about this, but I have to. It's these unexpected little gifts, and prayers, and outpouring of love that keeps me going. Dustin and I are often overwhelmed by how much people care and how they show it.

And the prayers... My cousin, who is going through the cancer battle, as well, told me her daughter prays for me every night.

A friend who I haven't kept in touch with, but unexpectedly ran into a couple of months ago called out of the blue to see how she could help. In the course of our conversation she told me her kids, who I have never met, pray for me every night.

I appreciate all the prayers, but there is just something about the little ones praying for me that melts my heart.
Remember my "wicked witch of the west" day? Well, on that particular day my sister, Faith, showed up at my door with this little treat. This isn't the best picture of it, but I had been wanting a braided rug for my living room. There is nothing that says cozy to me more than a braided rug and this one is perfect.

Speaking of cozy, we have also needed a winter coat for Karis. Once again, my searching proved fruitless. They were either not warm enough or ugly, or expensive. Thankfully we have had a warm fall and I was able to procrastinate. Just when the weather decided to make winter wear absolutely necessary, Kate found this in their coat closet. For once my procrastination paid off.
It's warm, it's not ugly ;-), and it fits perfectly.

God is so good, and thanks to all of you that are a part of the blessings He sends our way!

The new world of prescription medication.

At least new for me. My first real experience picking up a prescription was back in February when I was prepping for my colonoscopy. You can read about that under Instruments of Torture if you care to. Personally I think it best forgotten.

In the last five months I've picked up five bottles that look like this. Drugs are awfully cheap these days. I think the most I've paid for them is $1.00.

(lest you become too impressed with my counter, I must inform you that the only clean corner is the one you see. :-)

Financially they have been easy on us, physically, not so much.

The first was a sleeping pill.

It worked, I slept.

However, the second night I woke up with a racing heart that would not stop for at least twenty minutes. ( Good thing I re read that sentence. :-) I forgot the "not" in it. If this sleeping pill caused my heart to stop for 20 minutes I wouldn't have to worry about prescription medicine right now. :-)

After thinking I was going to die, I decided not to try that one again and called the doctor for another.

Ambian, my next try into prescription sleeping pills kept me awaker than a bad conscience or a pesky mosquito.

Ambian CR, the real thing, only put me to sleep for a few hours - which at that time was a blessing, but not what I was hoping for.

Vicoden, well, who wants a rash for a week that makes you itch like a monkey?:-)

And then Tramadol. I love Tramadol. It is an opiate, which works for some people and not for others. It worked for me. It took all the aches and pains away while taking the edge off everything else.

I suppose I should be thankful that it is what I am allergic to, but I must say I've had some bitter moments of mourning. I haven't talked to my doctor yet, but apparently I am allergic to everything that can be called in.

I did have one bout with some major pain and I was tempted to take one anyway. Can you believe it? A pill that was making me wheeze, breathe like I was at the top of Mount Everest, and cough up blood. No wonder people get addicted to things that are harmful. However, if drugs and alcohol produced these symptoms I'm guessing there would be a lot fewer addicts.

So... now I'm almost fine. I breath like normal, have a wheeze only a little bit, and the blood is gone.

I have a lot more to write about, but Karis wants to get on the computer to type and play pbskids:-)

I think pbs has a conspiracy going. Sadly, some of the first words out of my kids mouths is pbskids.org.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving if I don't talk to you sooner!

Prayer please

I'm having an allergic reaction to something which is messing with my breathing.

My breathing isn't perfect on the best of days, so it has really been a struggle the last few nights.

There are a couple of possibilities.

Either my pain meds or my Psyllium Husk (Fiber).

I'm afraid it is my pain meds, which makes me very sad because they actually work and when I take them I feel like a normal pain free person.

However, if they are making it so it is difficult to catch a full breath I guess I'll have to give them up and try something else.

Pray we discover soon which one it is. I'm off the fiber, but just now discovered that breathing problems are a "rare, but serious side effect" to quote the commercials of almost every drug out there, of Tramadol.

I'm a tad frustrated that I seem to be allergic to every pain med out there, but I know that God has a plan in this, as well. It's so hard to see it when you are in the moment, though.

Love you all, and thanks for being there to pray for me when I need it.

Happy Saturday

Last night I was listening to Karis pray before she went to bed.

It went something like this:

"Dear Lord, Help all those who are sick. Please make Stella's mom (my cousin Dawn who has cancer) get better. Please help all the people in the world who are sick get better... except the villains.... "

I tried not to chuckle as she went on. What a hoot.

Anyway, if you are sick out there, you are being covered by her prayers every night, unless you are a villain, that is. ;-)

Have a wonderful day!

Do you remember your first computer?

I must have been about ten when my dad brought our first family computer home.

It was a big, boxy and off white. The screen was black, and the lettering green. I don't think there were any other options, but I could be mistaken.

The only thing I used it for was an occasional game of.... you know, I don't remember the name. But it involved a joystick, and I thought it was amazing.

I don't think we actually used this computer much. We only had it because a close friend of my dads loved them and either gave us the used one or it was a great deal.

It wasn't until a computer or so later that we had educational games.

How things have changed.

The last few days I have been getting e-mails from Karis.

She came home last night and told me,

"Mom, the first thing I do with I get to Grandma's house is log on to the computer."

I didn't know what "log on" meant until my late teens.

Having to have passwords for everything was a blessed unknown in my life. Ah.... to have those days back.

She has mastered the mouse, and is learning to send e-mails.

"I love sending you e-mails, Mom."

"And I love getting them, Sweetie."

Here is the story I got yesterday.

I have a dog and a cat in the hat but . Let’s play with the cat and the dog then we will have fun by ourselves we will play ball and play in the back yard then we will play with our cat and the dog we will have fun in the sun then we will go into the house then I will have fun in the house when it rains then the sun will come out then we go back out in the sun won’t that be fun

After reading it I thought four things.

1. I'm going to have to teach this child to type.

2. Is there any hope for her generation to write legibly? What does a parent say these days?

"You may have to write an important letter to your boss."

"No, I'll just send him and e-mail."

"You have to learn to address a package."

"Mom, I'll just print out a label."

"What if you want to write love notes to your special someone?"

"I'll just text, twitter, or facebook him, mom."

Writing is going to be a challenge.

3. I'm proud of my little girl. She has come so far in a year. Last January my mom started her on the journey of reading. Now she is sending me e-mails with little stories she is creating.

4. Maybe by next year she will be able to show her mom how to do all the things she wants to do on the computer. :-)

One last thing, I slept great last night, and I'm feeling good today. Thanks for all the prayers!

It's a girl thing.

Last Sunday I randomly decided to paint my nails. I never paint my nails. A fact emphasized when I got in the car and Dustin glanced at my nails and grinned.

"What?" I said defensively.

"Nothing." Still grinning.

Ok, so maybe I have only painted them two, maybe three times in the six years we've been married.

I don't mind the paint job, it's the chipping and the having to take it off afterwards that is so hard.

Why is that?

A cotton ball and remover really aren't any more work than painting them on, less probably.

But they have reached that stage.

The removal one.

I may get to it in three or four days, I'll let you know.

My random act did spark another random act in my house.

All of a sudden I found myself getting out an old towel and finding two very willing pairs of legs on it.

Wiggly legs.
The ones on the left wiggled a lot more than the ones on the right. :-)
The great debate in my mind right now is whether to cut Gabi's bangs or not. She looks adorable (well, all the time) with them pulled back, but I am losing more hair clips... we really should buy stock in the company.... But anywhoo...

Despite the wiggles, we managed to get this...
I LOVE little feet. Each one of those little pink sparkly piggies are randomly kissed by me - when they are clean, of course.

On Dustin's day off chances are you will find the girls here or wherever he is. Mommy loses most of her appeal when daddy is in the room, or house, or anywhere that isn't work. :-)

Pardon Gabi's hair. My girls don't grow hair, any hair, until the age of two. By then, it is next to impossible to get them to leave hair clips, bows, ribbons, or hats on their heads. I try.
We got Dustin's favorite ice cream and stuck a candle in it for his belated, and going to belated even more, birthday. He loved it.
Surprisingly this kind of ice cream doesn't even tempt me, chocolate deprived though I am. That was one of the reasons I bought it. ;-)