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

Been a long Time....

since I was here last. I can't believe how fast time goes by. The older I get the faster it goes...and the slower I get LOL!!!!

I have been keeping busy though, re-arranged the apartment, doing spring cleaning, finding lots of things to get rid of, either to sell or donate depending what it is. I've decided if I haven't used it in the last 6 months it's going out of here, with the exception of a few things.

I've scanned well over 300-400 pictures from family albums into my computer so I can store them on a disc and give the originals to my cousin to pass on to her kids. I don't have anyone to pass anything onto so I'm getting rid of stuff I don't want or need. I'm not planning on leaving this world for a long time yet, but that's not up to me.

I've got my sewing area set back up again and I'm going to start back into making things to hopefully sell. I'm thinking about setting up at the local Farmers Market this summer. I need to make some new clothes too, I've lost 30#'s since November...only another hundred to lose and I will be happy. I'm stuck on a plateau now so I would be happy to lose 5#!!

I'm thinking about changing my background on here and updating some things. I've definitely got to get back to working on adding recipes to the cookbook, the pictures got in the way of that among other things. So many things to do and not enough hours in the day to do them all.

I need to stay off FaceBook and spend more time here. It is so easy to waste time on FaceBook....the devil's playground!

I'm going to say goodnight while my eye lids are still partially open, I don't get much sleep at night due to having to help Kevin. I have to go to the grocery in the morning and don't want to be sleep walking. I need to be awake enough to stretch my money are far as I can.

Have a good night,

Hugs and blessing,
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

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,

Candles, Cocoa, and Cappuccino.....

a few of the things that have been taking up my time lately.

We gathered up all of the candles we had around here, which was quite a few more than I thought we had (lol). We sorted out the ones that were new and a few others that weren't too burned down. The rest are being broken up into pieces and being melted down to make new candles. I've already filled 10 containers with our "new" candles and still have a lot of wax left to use up. I may have to visit a thrift shop or 2 for more containers. I seem to be running out of them ;) .

I made a double batch of hot cocoa mix and one of cappuccino on Saturday. It's getting to be the time of year I really enjoy hot chocolate, especially hazelnut hot cocoa....so delicious... I like french vanilla and peppermint hot cocoa too. The cappuccino mix was for Kevin he really likes that. The recipes for both are posted on my cookbook blog under Beverages. I always double the cocoa, since we both drink it . The cappuccino makes a large amount and Kevin has that all to himself.

The sewing bug is hitting me big time and I see new clothes is my future...
I have been sorting through my patterns and have found a couple that I can adjust the size to fit me. ..pants, tops, jackets, t-shirts, nightshirts and maybe even a dress or 2 or 3... I made a pattern for t-shirts for Kevin so he will be getting some new clothes too.

I sorted out all of my embroidery supplies and have them all in one place now too, so I will be working on those projects in the evenings.

I have been working hard to finish up all of the loose end projects that had to be done around the apartment, now I feel like I can do the things I want to do without feeling guilty.

It's getting late so I'm going to call it a night.
See you all soon,

Hugs and Blessings my friends,