FEAR

Prednisone is my friend 'cause it's helping with the darn hives, but it's also my enemy on lots of levels...I stay wired so sleep is almost impossible and I stay hungry which means there are more hours in the day for me to get in trouble. The three other meds I'm taking can cause drowsiness, but the Prednisone counters it I guess. Yep, the hives are sticking with me, but I'm better.

I've found myself feeling fearful that this will be chronic hives...Please Lord don't let that happen...and I hate that feeling of being fearful.

I hope you'll take the time to watch this Christian comedian talking about fear. She's funny, but the end is the true message. Enjoy!




If for some reason you can't watch the video from my blog, click here.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!



"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

BETTER, MUCH BETTER

Thanks for the well wishes and prayers. I feel like a new person today. I slept better last night and had just a few patches of bumps this morning. The meds and the cool baking soda baths must FINALLY be "doing their thing".

George and I have always gotten a kick out of Miss Daisy and her positions on the couch. She's a real contortionist. One leg here, one leg there, upside down with her head at an awkward angle.

I now have a new appreciation. Believe me, the hives had me twitching and moaning and groaning and moving. I told her to move over and give me some space on the leather sofa. You don't want to see a photo of me though. Lord what a sight! And my hair was standing every which way too.

It's been terrible. My skin is hyper-sensitive anyway. If a mosquito bites me today, I promise you, it will still be itching 4 days from now. I thought I would lose my mind Tuesday night. It was BAD. The worse was my hands. Both hands were VERY swollen and tight. I was covered in hives e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e, but my hands itched and burned so bad that I could only think about them. Weird. The whole thing was weird actually. The rash would be on my arms and waist and then suddenly be on my feet or behind my ears. I never knew where they would show up next. Crazy.

Today has been so much better though with very little itching, so I'm hoping I'm over the worse. The doctor told me to take the meds for two weeks after the hives go away since they could come back.

That's a stinkin' scary thought!


"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

DITTO FROM YESTERDAY'S POST

Still miserable with hives. The doctor started me on prednisone this afternoon. On top of the 3 other meds I'm taking. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr



"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

HIVES

Urticaria (hives): a transient condition of the skin, usually caused by an allergic reaction, characterized by pale or reddened irregular, elevated patches and severe itching.a transient condition

Got 'em

Hate 'em


Miserable!

Not sure what is going on. I had a slight case last week, mainly around my eyes, but they went away after my dermatologist gave me medication. But then this morning they came back and by afternoon I was COVERED. I drove myself back to the dermatologist (without an appointment...I didn't care...somebody was gonna see me or else!) and she has put me on Clarinex in the morning, Xyzal in the afternoon and Benadryl at night.

Just took Benadryl and can.not.wait for it to work!


"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

I'M COOL

It's hot. So I must be crazy. Playing tennis in this heat? Yep, I did and I'll be doing it again on Wednesday and Friday. I'm certifiably nuts! I even rode my bike there and back.

Visiting around Blogland, I've noticed it doesn't seem to matter where you live, it's just hot.

Very very HOT!

Sometimes I think our AC must not be working, but it's working. Thank you Lord!

Can you even imagine NOT having AC?

Being hot sometimes makes me grumpy, but I remember seeing this quote somewhere.

It's so true...WE control our attitude.
"Be a thermostat, not a thermometer. Thermometers only measure the temperatures around them. Thermostats change them."

It might be blazing HOT outside, but I choose to be COOL. I will not let the temp get to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BREE!


You have given us years of joy! Oh, how the time has flown by.

We love you very very much!

"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

THE PRESENT OF THE PRESENT

"Dear God, You have given me the gift of today, help me not to waste it."



"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

FIVE STAR DINNER

No fancy dinner for us tonight. But it was 5 stars as far as I was concerned.

Yummy BLTs! M'm! M'm! Good!

Crispy bacon, wonderful tomatoes and lettuce with a sprinkle of pepper on toasted Publix white mountain bread. With Hellmans REAL mayo...no other will do for me. We love sweet midget pickles and some chips on the side.

Oh.My! Color Me Happy!

Note the paper plates. We ate our sandwiches on them too. No dish washing for me tonight.

It's Saturday night and we're staying home. Yes Lord!

Sometimes it's the simple things that can make us smile. :-)


"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO DISTRACT ME

Remember my post last Sunday when I said I was thinking about a massive cleaning/straightening/organizing attack on my house?

That plan is still on my mind. Really, it is. Scouts honor.

I just haven't implemented it yet.

There's too many distractions. The BAD ME wants to play. The GOOD ME wants to stick with the plan.

Guess who has been winning?





I'm soooooo bad!



"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

THE "UNLUCKY" PENNY?

Do you believe in this old saying?

Find a penny
pick it up
all day long
you'll have good luck

I've always been told that it's lucky... if it's heads up.

As I came out of the drug store a few days ago, I saw a penny right by my car in the parking lot.

Heads down though.

Hmmmmm....what to do?

I thought "what the heck, a penny is a penny" so I picked it up, but then I thought "wonder if it's bad luck to pick it up if it's heads down?".

So what did I do?

I turned it over so it was now heads up and left it for someone else to find.

I sure hope it brings them luck. smile

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I googled "found pennies" today just to see what might come up. Here's a poem I found that really makes me look at pennies differently:

Pennies from Heaven

I found a penny today,
just laying on the ground,
but it's not a just a penny,
This little coin I've found.

Found pennies come from heaven,
That's what my Mama told me,
She said angels toss them down,
Oh, how I loved that story.

She said when an angel misses you,
They toss a penny down,
Sometimes just to cheer you up,
Make a smile out of your frown.

So don't pass by that penny,
When you're feeling blue,
It may be a penny from heaven,
That an angel's tossed to you

Now I'm hoping my angels will throw some down for me. Heads up or heads down, I will pick them up and smile!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All this talk of pennies reminded me of something one of our sons told me a few years ago. He said he hated carrying around pennies. Didn't like 'em. So his solution? He said if someone gives him pennies in his change, he tosses them once he's outside.

He said it makes two people happy.

Him because he got rid of them. And someone else because they find them.



"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

HOT!

Can you believe how H.O.T it is?! Yowser! It's unbelievably hot here.

I rode my bike to tennis, played three sets and then rode some more. It's not too bad on the bike since you're moving, but I was glad when I pulled into the driveway. I had to peel my clothes off...totally drenched.

Nothing like left over pizza for lunch, especially when I add some fresh tomatoes. Yummy! All that exercise made me extra hungry today.
As you can see, I stopped at 13.1 miles today. Enough was enough! I know the heat was getting to me 'cause I used to never want to stop on 13. I'd either time it so I was home before it rolled over to 13 or I'd keep riding until it hit 14. LOL Not today though. I didn't care. I just wanted to be home.

I tried to lay out by the pool this afternoon, but stopped after only an hour. Tooooo darn HOT!

I feel pretty drained tonight. I already have on my jammies and I think we're gonna watch a movie....with my feet propped up.


"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

LIVING DANGEROUSLY

Some people swim with sharks or sky dive or crawl through caves or tons of other scary things.

Me? Not much, except...

I do ride my bike and take photos at the same time, even going 12 miles an hour. Hehehe!

Yep, I'm a brave girl.

It's actually not hard since I have my iPhone right there with me as I listen to music while I ride and my phone has a camera. Yep, that's kinda dangerous too, I know, but I'm very careful. I promise.
I'm on the sidewalk the majority of the time and I'm extra careful when I get to the curvy parts.
See I made it to the tennis courts safe and sound. Riding my bike there really helps warm me up before I start playing. I love that we live close enough to ride to the tennis center.

Look who I saw went I got to a corner on the way home. He watched me closely, but didn't run away. I think he and his friends nibble on some of my plants. They roam from yard to yard without much fear. Beauties, but wish they would stay in the woods.

BTW...George and I are less than 90 miles before we reach 4,000 miles clocked on our bikes. And that's just since we bought our bike pedometers.



"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

WELL....

I have...

the iMac computer (loooooove it!)
and
the iPod
and
the iPhone (can't imagine life without it now)

I'd love an iPad
but hubby says
iBroke

Do you have one yet?


"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

CALL ME CRAZY

But lately I'm contemplating cleaning everything. And I mean everything.

A real massive attack!

I said I'm thinking about it. So far, I haven't actually started. LOL

What has gotten in to me, you ask? Hmmmmm...not sure.

Maybe it's the fact that I climbed on my bathroom vanity to change a light bulb recently and saw all the dust up high where no one sees it, so it doesn't get cleaned, but ewwww!

Maybe it's the fact that I've noticed when I open some drawers (like those in my desk) and they are so full of STUFF that the drawers are hard to close. And I know half that STUFF isn't needed.

Maybe it's the fact that a girlfriend and neighbor recently died after a hard fought battle with cancer and I'm wondering what her husband is doing with all that STUFF that are important (or so we think) to women but men could care less about. And it's got me to thinking if something should happen to me that I'd hate for loved ones to have to go through all my JUNK and wonder "what was she thinking?"

Don't get me wrong - if you came into my home you would think it very clean and organized. But looks can be deceiving. Believe me, there is STUFF and JUNK hidden everywhere.

Sooooo I'm thinking of getting started.

What's holding me back? Oh, important things like blogging, facebooking, books, biking, the beach, yada yada yada..........

But, I WILL do it. And soon. (Note to self: It's in writing now, so get yourself in gear!)

I keep reminding myself of that old Nike ad:

"JUST DO IT".

Wish me luck.


"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

DOCTORS

...can't live with 'em...can't live without 'em!

Love this cartoon! Did your mama always tell you to be sure to wear clean underwear (with no holes) just in case you had to see a doctor or be rushed to the emergency room? LOL

I went to a new doctor today. Love him. HATED spending 2 hours and 15 minutes there....and only 20 minutes was with him. Grrrr! But, in his defense, he's so wonderful that everyone (and their brother) wants to see him and he takes as much time as is needed with every patient. Even when people are waiting and waiting and waiting. Hence, the reason they call it the "waiting room".

He wants to see me again in 3 months. It seems my cholesterol levels are a bit high. Hmmmm...wonderful why? LOL

I made sure my next appointment will be the first one after their lunch break. No more waiting for me. I hope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mom and Sherry left after breakfast this morning. Sure seems quiet here tonight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is it just me or does it seem like people aren't blog visiting much anymore? Or maybe people just aren't commenting like they used to. ???? I've noticed it on my blog and on others too. Have you? I'm thinking facebook might have something to do with it. I enjoy it too, but still prefer blogging. I think it's much more personal.

Sometimes I think about stopping my blog, but I keep plugging along.

'Cause it makes me happy. That's why I starting blogging in the first place. For me. And that's important, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

GOOD QUESTION

Please say yes 'cause when Mom and Sherry are here, the diet goes "out the window". Good golly Miss Molly!

Speaking of calories.... Tonight my friend Jeanette came over and played Mexican Train and Chicken Foot with us girls. What fun! Sherry and I made a batch of "Southern Slush" last night so it would be ready for tonight. It's a packaged mix that you add to a bottle of wine and a bottle of water. It makes a wine slush...deee-licious! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I started my new bible study this morning...Priscilla Shirer's Jonah: Navigating A Life Interrupted. It's gonna be a good one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It's been so nice having Mom and Sherry here this week. We've had a great time.

It's gonna be hard to say goodbye to them tomorrow :-(



"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

MAMA IS HERE!

Dinner tonight along with a tall glass of peach tea. How southern is that?!

So yummy! Heaven on a plate.

See that butter on the sweet potato and the gravy on the pork roast AND on the cornbread muffin? Yep, I know...I'm a bad bad girl :-)

I'm glad I rode my bike AND played tennis this morning, but I'm quite sure I'm consuming more calories than I'm burning. LOL


"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

OUR NORMAL ROUTINE

Mom and Sherry arrived just hours after Bree left on Monday.

We've been busy doing our normal routine.

Today's game - Chicken Foot Dominoes
Today's wine - Line 39

We've been playing lots of games, laughing, cooking and shopping.

And eating desserts!

Sherry made this oh so yummy peach tart tonight with some peaches she brought to us.

Life is good!

"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

ONE MARTINI, TWO MARTINI....

I'm sure you've heard that diddy "One martini, two martini, three martini, floor!".

Believe me if I had three martinis, I would probably be on the floor. Make that I would DEFINITELY be on the floor. LOL

Tonight it was one martini (white cosmo) for me, one martini (tropical) for Bree and a beer for George.
Gosh our time together went by waaaay too fast! And we hated that Jay couldn't come this weekend, but he had to work on Friday and also had a commitment this weekend.

We missed you Jay.

It's gonna be hard to say goodbye to Bree in the morning, especially since my Mom and Aunt Sherry arrive just a few hours later. Can't wait to see them.


"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

SMILING

My Mom is okay

and

our "baby" girl is home for a long weekend.


Color Me Happy!



"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."

LOW BATTERY, UNBELIEVABLE SCARE AND FUN TIMES

It's close to midnight, but I can't sleep.

Tonight was c-r-a-z-y! And terrifying. And fun. How's that for a mix!

We had fun plans, but in the midst of it, I received a terrible phone call from my baby sister. Hearing the words "something's wrong with our mama" chilled me to the bone. Chilled.me.to.the.bone. I've heard that saying a thousand times, but never really thought how it must feel. Now I know. My two sisters rushed to mother's condo as I hung on to my phone....waiting for news. And wouldn't you know it, the battery on my iPhone was getting low. Luckily, George had his phone with him and I sent them a text to let them know we had both phones in our hands waiting for news. That's a horrible feeling. To be 4 hours away and wanting to be THERE so so badly. Not knowing what to do. She was rushed by ambulance to the hospital with chest pains. It was incredibly scary, especially until she got to the hospital! To make a very long story short, she is okay and was dismissed about an hour ago. Thank you God!

Now...here's the fun part of tonight:


Front to back
Left: Dick, Linda, George, Me; Right: T.G., Kelly, Nancy (Kelly's Mom)

Guess who we had dinner with tonight? Yep, and he and she are awesome! (Click on he and she to see who I mean.) They were in town from Nashville and had dinner along with us and our friends Dick and Linda.

This song he sings about her is one that means a lot to me as a cancer survivor. She and Linda are breast cancer survivors too.

I have this song on a CD, but the only video I could find is this one and it's actually an advertisement for a CD, but it's still absolutely AWESOME. I think you'll agree. What a gorgeous song with T. G. singing with Crystal Gayle! I LOVE the piano in this too.

Enjoy!........ And if there are tears...that's okay. I cry almost every time I hear it. Mine are tears of gratitude for all those who love me and were so supportive after my diagnosis and surgery (and still are).

Pay close attention to what T.G. has to say towards the end (around 3:42)...so true!

What a day!

Now, let's hope I can sleep. So much to be thankful for. Mom is okay and Bree is coming home tomorrow.




"Father, help me to be a blessing to someone today."