It Just Doesn't End........

Hi Friends,

               Well, I guess I spoke to soon about hoping things were taking a turn for the better for Kevin. We have made many more trips to the ER, DR's., and finally  a specialist. We are finally getting answers and soon, hopefully with surgery he will be ok. He was fighting UTI's and yeast infections constantly and was referred to a Urologist, finally. He ran some tests and now we have answer. Kevin has Bladder Stone's at first we were told 3 but now there is 4 and they are all at least 1" in diameter each. He was scheduled for surgery this past Wednesday and the surgeon was going to remove them using a scope, Long story short, he ran into scar tissue and was unable to complete the surgery. Kevin is trying to find another surgeon who is willing to do the surgery the old way,  incision, and take them out that way. Keep him in your prayers if you can that he can get this done soon. He has already lost about 80 lbs..

         I have been doing ok, just trying to hold things together and keep Kevin going so he doesn't give up. He talks about that a lot the longer this goes on and he has anger management & depression problems also. I get a few hours sleep here and there at night and just grab a bite of  junk food on the run during the day. We will make it through all of this one way or another with God's help. Having our faith is what has kept us going through all of this.

           We have a new addition to our family, His name is Star. He is a short hair domestic rescue kitty from the shelter. We adopted 2 but the other one who was also black and named Shadow died a couple of months later. He had FIP. We are very lucky Star didn't get it too. Star got his name because he has a white star on his throat. He is getting to be a very large cat. He will be 1 year old April 28. I would love to get a small puppy , so they could play together. I miss having a dog so much, but I love my Star Kitty!!

         I have been in the mood to downsize. We just have too much stuff, so it's going out of here...donate, sell whatever it takes. I believe everything we have been going through has made me realize just what is more important.  I'm going to be getting rid of a LOT of my craft and sewing supplies, household items and more. I want to focus mostly on embroidery and small prims.

        It has taken me at least 4 hours or more to write this counting all  of the interruptions since I started it. I really want to get back to blogging, so I can have something positive to focus my thoughts on. I miss all of my blogging friends too!!! You guys are the greatest!!

        Thanks to all of you who have stayed with me here and followed what little I have posted.  I'm very serious about  getting my own life back on track and starting to take care of me more for a change.  I know that means a lot of work for me..diet, exercise,  making time for my sewing/crafting, taking care of the  apt. and most of all Bible Study and spending time with God.

          I hope to be back posting, even if it's just to say "HI, I'm still alive", very soon depending on how Kevin's health goes. The biggest lesson all of this has taught me is that I need to take care of myself too.

Blessings,
Brenda

I've been missing again......

I have to admit I've been spending way too much time on Face Book again. I wish I could stay away from there, I waste too much time on it. I've got a million other things I could and should be doing.

We have everything unpacked and in its place now from the move. I sure am glad that is all done. I don't think my back will ever be the same though. I've been having a lot of problems with my back and legs both since the move. I now have a Rollator Walker that I use to walk with on the really bad days.  Kevin  has one he uses to walk with now too.

I am getting anxious for warm weather to get here so I can get outside more. I have some plants I put in pots from the other apt. that I want to get planted in the ground. I have Sedum/Live Forever, Coral Bells, pink & white, and Hens & Chickens. I have a bunch of those. I want to start some herbs in pots to keep in the house so they don't get full of bugs. We have several stray cats in the area too and I don't want to have to worry about them getting into my herbs. I hoping to spend some time siting on the porch doing embroidery too. The bad thing is we get the full sun from late in the morning until it goes down at night. We had the morning sun in the other apt..

I have to make a trip to Walmart for a few things in the morning. I hate going there it is such a huge store and it wears me out when I have to do the whole store at one time. I'm hoping tomorrow I can get one of the electric carts since I'm not getting that much but need to cover the whole store.

It's about bed time for me. I'm trying to get to bed earlier and get up earlier, not easy to do. I'm a night owl!! Kevin is usually in bed around 8PM, then he gets up about 4AM. I wish he would change his schedule a little. I've been trying to get to bed by at least 11PM. I'm doing a little better at it!!

I'm going to be making some changes on here. I want to change the background as soon as I can find one that will work with Blogger. I need to start adding recipes to the kitchen site too . I finally have all of my recipes in one place again.

Talk to you all again soon, take care. and God Bless all of you,
Goodnight my friends,
Brenda

Butterflies and Blooms !!!

 

Good Evening Friends,

I hope you are all well and happy!!!
 
My Live Forever/Sedum plant was covered with butterflies a week or so ago. I just thought I would share a few pictures with you.  The plant was huge this year. I'm planning on separating it when it dies down some in the next couple of weeks. This is the first year it has had butterflies like this on it. The butterflies were landing on me as I was taking the pictures.That was an experience I won't soon forget.

I just gave my blog an updated look. It isn't what I had planned for a background but Blogger wasn't being very nice last night and I was tired.......Well you see what I ended up with today  when I got it straightened out. I would still like to have a different background, but I do like the 3 column layout. I will have to try to figure out why it won't let me use a background from ShabbyBlogs or some where else. It will only let me use one of Bloggers backgrounds for some silly reason. Let me know if you have any suggestions, I'm always open for new ideas. I plan on spending a lot more time here instead of on Face Book.

I have  gotten 4 tops for me finished up now. It's nice to have something new to wear. I have also altered 4 shirts for Kevin.  I will start making Christmas gifts next week and also start working on some craft projects.  I was finally able to get all of the things I was behind on caught up.  I can do the things I want to do now!! It is such a good feeling to not be so far behind on things that needed to be done. The pain level just gets to be too much sometimes and I fall behind. I'm hoping if I pace myself, not try to do everything at once, get more sleep and start eating right I will be able to keep my sugar and the arthritis under control.  Wish me luck!!!!, I'm going to need a lot of it!!!!

Have any of you started your Christmas shopping yet?  Ours will be a strictly "homemade" Christmas.  I think that is the best kind anyway. Christmas has gotten to commercial and I think the real meaning of Christmas has been lost for way too long!! I think it's time we put "Christ" back in "CHRISTmas"!!

We cleaned out the garage this past week, that was a job and a half!  I have a large pile of things to go on FreeCycle. I threw out a lot of "stuff" too. It looks pretty good in there now   ;<)  !!!!   I just hope it stays that way!!!!

I'm off to the Farmers Market in the morning. It's time to stock up on apple and pumpkin butter for Kevin.  He loves the stuff. I bought a bunch of honey last year toward the end of the season only to find out a couple of months later I was diabetic. I still have a little now and then though, I love that fresh raw honey!!! I sure won't need to buy any this year!!

I'm getting sleepy so I'm going to bring this to an end.  I've had 9 hours sleep in the last 2 days so I'm a little worn out.

See you all tomorrow,
Hugs and blessings my friends,
Brenda

I would love to hear any comments or suggestions you might have for my blog. I'm always open for new ideas!!

good night friends!

2 Months, Too Long Between Posts

Hi Friends,

I can't believe it has been 2 months since I last posted. I've stopped by a few times, but just couldn't seem to think of anything to say. I've been dealing with a lot of back and leg pains lately and it has been taking over my concentration.

I did manage to slowly sort through things around here and had a garage sale last weekend. It was supposed to be 2 days but Saturday was rained out completely. The things that were left went to Goodwill. It's amazing how things accumulate...being a "pack rat" doesn't help either. I have been breaking that habit though. I have stopped going to yard sales and if I see something in a store, I ask myself if I really need it or just think I do. It seems to be working, but it isn't easy sometimes.

I have finally gotten caught up on all the things I have let slide, now I can turn my thoughts to gardening in containers , working on my Recipe blog and family cookbook and sewing & crafts to sell on the new blog I have been working at setting up. I will be selling some vintage items, etc . on it also. I will publish the blog when I have things completely set up. I hope It will be ready around July 1st. Keep checking back for updates!!!!!

I think I'm going to call it a night and go to bed. My back and legs don't seem to be hurting too bad right now, thanks to pain pills. I hate taking them and only do when it gets really bad.

You will be seeing me on a regular basis now. I plan on spending a lot of time between the 3 Blogs, sewing & crafting and my little container garden.


Have a good night my friends,

Hugs and Blessings,
Brenda

Panic/Anxiety Attacks, Snow & Stress......

has been keeping me occupied the last 2 months. I can't believe it has been that long since I last posted. I wish I could say "time flies when you're having fun" but it hasn't been fun at all. My panic & anxiety attacks started again. It has been a long time since I've had any really bad attacks, fortunately these weren't as bad as some that I had that ended in a trip to the ER. I'm still not sure what the trigger was this time or if it was a combination of things. I think being snowed in, fluctuations in my sugar and a few other things thrown into the mix was the cause. I eventually was able to get out of here and to the Dr. and she changed my meds. which has helped some. I'm still anxious about things but I'm forcing myself to deal with it.

I got off track with watching my sugar intake over the holidays and am still having a rough time getting back on the diet! I'm working on that too. I can't leave out all the pain from the arthritis and fibromyalgia that has had me on edge and been almost more than I can stand at times. I have a high tolerance for pain too, I can take a lot but even I have my limits.

OK enough of my complaining about everything that ails me!! LOL

I hope all of you have been okay and survived all of the snow and ice and cold! I've stopped by off and on to check out some of your blogs and have enjoyed reading about everything you have been doing.

We've been moving things around in the apartment , our computers used to be in the living room. We have a spare bedroom that has/had LOL 8'x12'of space. We split the space so we each have a 6'x12' area. Kevin's is all computer "stuff" mine is divided between my computer & printer plus my sewing machine table and cutting/work table,etc., which is doing double duty as my computer desk too. I call it all "organized clutter". I have the use of the whole closet too, it has all of my fabric, trims etc. in it so they are handy. I will post some pictures of the room after I straighten it up a little.....if I can get the camera to work. The camera keeps losing power even with new batteries.

I hope to start spending more time here. I always feel more at peace after I've posted.

Hugs and Blessings, my friends
Brenda

A down & crying day :(

Did you ever have one of those days when you just feel really down and feel like crying? I'm having one of those days today. I don't feel good, my back and leg pain has been really bad lately. I've got pain pills to take which I have taken 1 a day for the last 3 days. I can take up to 4 a day but then I'm not able to remember anything! I have a very low tolerance for any kind of meds. & have allergic reactions to most!! I only take 1 pill when it gets unbearable and I know I have things I have to get done. It takes about an hour before it starts working , then I have about 4 hours to get everything done...then the pain starts in again with a vengeance.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry on your shoulders,I just needed someone to talk to and I think of all of you as friends I can turn to. Thank you for being here!

On a lighter note ;)
I think I have finally finished sorting out things I no longer want or need. I sold a bunch of things a couple of months ago. I sold a few more of the better things yesterday, to someone local who bought the vintage items I had a couple of months ago. I still have some things in the garage that I listed to sell locally for anyone who needs things for a yard sale $40.00 takes all including a computer!

I do still have one big sort to do and that is my craft and fabric supplies. I will have a lot of lace and trims etc. and fabric (some new) to sell . I have several projects in mind that I want to focus on and what I don't need or can't use will be for sale.

I took a few pictures of some of my flowers outside the other day. I am going to try to upload them to this netbook in a little while and see if it works. I've haven't tried my camera program on this thing yet. I'm still trying to get used to the tiny keyboard LOL!!!

Recipes!!! I will post some recipes to the cookbook this afternoon.

I'm planning on this being a take it easy day since I have an 8 AM appointment tomorrow and then it's off to the grocery! UGH!!!

Thanks for letting me cry on your shoulders and talk with you. I feel a lot better now!

I'll be back soon,

love, hugs and Blessings to you all my friends,

WOW !! 2 Months

since I've posted!!! It seems like forever since I've visited with all of you. The time seems to have flown by though so much has been going on.

I know I posted that we got a newer van, I just love it and so far it has been doing good. Kevin is able to get into the front seat of this van and has gone out with me several times. We were able to get a new mattress set ( king size) yea!! for the bed. We needed a new bed really bad ours was quite old and falling apart. We were also able to replace several other things that were worn out too. I am so thankful to have found the insurance policies mom had in with some other papers. I almost threw them out because they were dated 1960 and I figured they weren't any good. I am so glad I called to check before tossing them in the trash. God was surely watching out for us as was mom.

I have been having some health problems too during all of this. My arthritis and fibromyalgia have been getting really bad and I've had a rough time trying to get things taken care of. I went to the Doctor Monday and she put me on an anti-inflamatory to try again. I used to take Naproxen but it caused me a lot of stomach problems and I had to stop taking it, It has been several years so I am going to give it a try again. She also prescribed Lyrica for the fibro-myalgia but I haven't heard from my insurance yet if they will cover it. I hope to know by tomorrow.

I have more to tell but will save that for tomorrow. It is getting late and I'm getting tired. My aunt and uncle from Dayton are coming down tomorrow for a visit so it will be later tomorrow before I will be able to visit with you all again.

I plan on being here everyday from now on. It really helps me having all of you to share things with.

take care, God Bless,
Brenda

Arthritis and Fibromyalgia

These are the 2 things that are causing me a great deal of problems in my life...and things are getting worse. I guess, in reality, they have been this bad for a while, I have just been in denial of what has been going on. The truth hit me hard today though.

I have been having a lot more pain and stiffness than usual but have just been blaming the weather, moving the wrong way, or something else for the pain instead of facing the facts. Today I tried to stand at my work table to do the alterations on Kevin's pants and I wasn't able to do it. The pains from just standing there and trying to go through the needed movements were more than I could take. I have a high thresh-hold for pain usually. My days for working on large projects are over. I'm okay if I can sit and do the work, I just can't stand and do it. I kind of had a total meltdown for a little while as reality settled in today.

Kevin has been trying to tell me for sometime now that I was getting worse but I just wouldn't accept the facts. I think I knew deep down he was right but I just couldn't admit it until today. I have fought this battle so long and hard and have refused to believe what was happening to me but I guess I lost this battle. I will not just give up though. I will just have to adjust my way of doing things.

I have pain pills that I can take that do help the pain BUT!! they mess up my mind. I thought I was following in moms footsteps of having Alzheimers until I discovered it was the darn pills. I quit them cold turkey, and after a week or so my mind was clear again. I have a very low tolerance for medication and I'm allergic to a lot of meds. so I will have to deal with this the best way I can.

I know there are many, many of you going through this same thing. I would love to hear from you and hear how you deal with it. Maybe we can support each other through this.

I'm a fighter and I don't give up easy, just ask Kevin LOL he'll tell you how stubborn I am about everything!! LOL I keep a bar stool in my kitchen to sit on when I need a break when cooking or baking. It's not easy to sit on a bar stool and work in the kitchen, especially at the stove!

I think I'm starting to ramble, I'm getting tired.
Talk to you all tomorrow my friends,

Blessings and Hugs,
Brenda