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

Not feeling to good

the last couple of days. I think that flu bug is trying to invade our space.  My aunt and uncle were supposed to come today for a visit, they are both in their 80's, and I called and told them I was sick . They decided to stay home for now. I think they made the right decision. I would hate for them to get sick at their age!

I'm not crazy about the thought of more snow coming in the next few days, but would rather see it than the thunderstorms we will be having in a few months. I don't like storms!

 The unpacking has slowed down the last few days since I haven't been feeling good. I hope I can get back to it soon. I'm getting down to all that is left now is my crafting and sewing supplies. I have  about 12 foot of shelves  set up along one wall of our bedroom that are at least 6' high to put all  or most of my craft and sewing supplies on. I can't wait to get into the boxes to see what I have, some of it has been packed up a long time. I'm putting it all in clear storage boxes on the shelves. I've got a lot of ideas for things I want to make to sell, hopefully on my new selling blog, which is under construction. The economy worries me though right now when it comes to crafts. 

I'm off to bed, maybe I can get warm, I'm freezing right now, chills I guess.

Have a good night my friends, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Hugs and Blessings,

Brenda

Just a quick note tonight........

and then I'm off to bed! Got a lot done today. All of the books are unpacked and on shelves. I have way too many books. I got my side of the office/craft/sewing room done, finally. I'm going to try to get my shelves up that hold my nic-nacs tomorrow. I hope to get some of them on the shelves if I can.

My aunt and uncle are coming to visit Wednesday, so I want to get as much finished as I can. I've already warned them that there will be boxes sitting around still!! LOL

I just wanted to check in and say HI to all of you. I hope you've had a good day today.

Well, I'm off to bed, it's been a long day and tomorrow will be even longer.

Have a good night , I will talk to you tomorrow.
Sweet Dreams my friends,

Hugs and Blessings,
Brenda

New Year, New Beginnings !

I hope all of your dreams and wishes for the New Year come to be!!

I know I'm late in saying this but we were moving over the holidays. I'm so glad the move is over and will be even happier when everything is in its place. The main rooms are pretty well done, the office/sewing/craft room still needs some work. I do have my sewing machines set up now, still have to do  some work on my office area. Kevin and I are sharing the small bedroom for our office etc,, we each have a 6'x 8' half of the room. My  6'x8' space does dual duty for , crafting/sewing and office work. The rest of the apt. just really needs to have pictures, nic nacs, etc placed around.

I have a lot of ideas and plans for the new year, including spending a LOT more time here blogging. I am hoping to get my craft business back up and running. I'm working on a selling blog and would like to do craft shows again. I used to do them all the time when mom was still able to go along. She really enjoyed watching all the people and talking to old friends. I miss my mom so much and my daddy too, He passed away in 1971, 3 weeks before I graduated from high school. Mom was gone 3 years Dec. 8.. Time goes by so fast...

I just wanted to stop by and let you all know I'm still around and will be a lot more in this new year. I 'm planning on making a lot of changes in my life, most importantly  becoming closer to God than I am. I drifted away just a little, never lost my faith or belief in God, just wasn't as involved as I should have been. I'm trying to change all of that now.

It's been a long day and I have an early appt. so I better get some sleep. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Goodnight, dear friends,
Hugs and Blessings,
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!

Short little catch-up before I call it a night.

I hope you all have had a good day! We had a pretty good one here. I just keep thinking that next week this time the surgery will be over and I will be on the road to recovery, hopefully. I've been doing a lot of talking to the Man Upstairs to help me get through all of this. I know He's been listening because He's lifted a big weight off my shoulders.I can't imagine anyone not having God in their lives, but I know many don't and that is sad. They are missing out on the most wonderful experience.

I just finished making out my grocery list for tomorrow. I'll be lucky if I will be able to get 1/4 of what I need but we will make do. I thank God everyday that I was brought up learning how to stretch food and everything else as far as it will go. I don't think there is anything that goes to waste around here, be it food or other things, I can always find a way to re-cycle things into something else. Kevin is really good about eating some of the crazy concoctions I come up with. It fills us up and I make sure it is healthy. I can up the leftovers if there is enough for later meals rather than freeze them. I don't have to worry if the power goes out or anything thing, they will keep.

I just wanted to stop by and say HI and that I'm thinking of all of you. I want to try and get back in the habit of posting here daily, writing seems to help calm me down and put things in perspective. Thanks to you all for being here to listen. I'd love to here any comments or suggestions you may have, I value your input!!!

I hope to get an early start to beat some of the crowds in Walmart, Saturdays can be a real pain.

Take care and have a peaceful night.

Hugs and blessings,
Brenda

Real life....

just keeps interfering with my blogging time!! I hate that! I would rather spend time here with all of you, instead of cleaning, shopping, all that boring, necessary stuff!! lol!!

I have been trying to get the apartment ready for the cold weather and the pantry stocked up on staples. I need to take a few blankets to the laundry (they are too big for my apt. size washer) this week and that should be the end of most of my preparations. I still want to make some "candle heaters" just in case the electric would go out we could have a tiny bit of heat or at least heat a cup of water for tea...

I moved some appliances around on my kitchen counters today so I have more room next to the stove. I have my mixer there now instead of the microwave. I can roll out pie dough or cookies etc. and it also gives me room to sit jars when I take them out of the pressure canner. I like to make up large pots of food and then can most of it for future meals. I don't have to worry about things going bad in the freezer that way.

I've been spending time in the sewing/craft/office room too. I found 3 patterns that I was able to alter so they would fit. I really need something a couple sizes larger but these will work now. I've even gone through my stash of fabric and picked out enough that I can make 22 pieces clothing. I guess when I'm not cooking I'll be sewing during the day. My nights will be on here catching up with all of you. I will also be posting more recipes on the Kitchen blog. I have been been sorting through my stash of recipes and found a bunch more so keep watching over the next few weeks. I want to get as many posted as I can so I can move on to other projects.

I guess it's time for me to end this. Missy , my service cat, came in to help me type. She never seems to hit the right keys though.LOL!!

take care,
Hugs and blessings,

Just stopping by on my way to bed.....

and thought I would say goodnight to you all. It has been a busy day around here today. I did a lot of work on the "kitchen" blog and have finally got all of the categories the way I want them. I have my cookbook here set up the same way and will be adding recipes to the blog and my cookbook at the same time...did some laundry and cleaning too.

I got an email from an old friend that I grew up with today. It was the bright spot in my day...made me feel really good ! ;)It helped me through the afternoon when Kevin was having one of his anger problems. He scares the daylights out of me when he gets like that. I just want to grab my cat and my things and run as far away as I can. The problem is I have no where to go or no friends or family to turn to for help. He has no family either to go to. I know it is caused from the fall he had 3 years ago that broke the femur in his left leg. He can't get out and go like he used to do. It's still hard for him to walk and to get in & out of the van. It would upset me too, but not to the extent it does him. I can't handle the hollering and throwing things that he does. My nerves are on edge all of the time anymore.

Sorry I guess I just needed to vent, thanks for being here for me. I don't know what I would do without you guys, my dear blogging friends. You all mean so much to me. I want to get back to blogging and reading your blogs more often, I think it would do me good. I miss visiting with all of you too!

I'm going to end this for now and will see you all tomorrow....hopefully it will be a better day. I have to go shopping in the morning so I will be gone for a little while.

Good Night,
Hugs and Blessings,
B