Eeewwwww!

Something really stank in my bathroom yesterday.  Not the USUAL smell that a bathroom might have at times, tho.

We have a lot of ladybugs taking refuge in our bathroom right now and I thought it might be them.  They give off a nasty odor if you get close.  But we've had them before and they didn't smell THIS bad.

During the night when I would get up to use the bathroom I was having to cover my nose the whole time.

The smell was getting WORSE!

When I got up this morning the whole bedroom was smelling horrible.  Man, I thought I'd throw up.

Then I got thinking of another time we smelled something rank and thought maybe I should peek under the jetted tub.

Yep.

“Jim, I found what smells…would you come get rid of this!”

At peace

Despite it being Gotcha Day, things still go wrong.  The biggest thing today was our washer malfunctioning.  I had a load of wash going and the alarm started sounding.  I thought it might be off balance, but it wasn’t.  The computer on it (Fisher & Paykel) was going nuts and it wouldn’t drain the water, wouldn’t spin…I unplugged it and that still didn’t fix it.

I had to go to Walmart for groceries, so I just left it unplugged and took a break from the stress.

Then in the mail I got more paperwork regarding the lawsuit I’m the Defendant in.  You know, the car accident?  I could do without that reminder.  I got that notarized, then went back to working on the washer.  Did a test run and was trying to print in the meanwhile and the printer jammed!  About the same time the alarm sounded on the washer.

Jeepers creepers!  I called for a serviceman to come work on the washer and they come on Wednesdays, so don’t know when they can come.  I dished the underwear out of the washer, rinsed it in the kitchen, then put it in the dryer.

Feeling burdened by this new bill we are expecting and the knowledge that Christmas is just around the corner and we have NO money for gifts, I was feeling pretty stressed.

Then I sat down at the computer this evening and put on my Playlist.  Oh, the reminders of what is important!  I love these songs and they lift me up so much.  Tonight there were a couple in particular that really spoke to me.

• “I’ve Just Seen Jesus” always gives me chills.  Thinking of what it must be like to experience that!  All of your cares just disappear and you forget everything else.  That’s what it should be like anyway.
•   “Homesick”…well, I love those words, too.
• And so many of the Selah songs.

I keep my Playlist on my CF blog, but don’t on here because I’m not a fan of music starting when I go to people’s blogs.  It’s distracting when I’m trying to concentrate and read, sometimes I don’t care for the music…I’ve just chosen not to go that route.

But tonight I’m posting my Playlist on here.  It’s set up so it’s optional for you to listen, but I hope you have the time to listen.  Just sit there for a few minutes and close your eyes and listen to the words and the melody.  Forget those things that will “pass away” and be at peace in remembering what’s important.

Happy Gotcha Day, Ryan!

Today is the big day!

We waited on an adoption waiting list for about 5 years and finally got the call.  Not only did they have a baby for us, but he was already born!  He was 7 weeks old.

Run to the store!  Get the nursery ready!

Pick out a name!  I know some people have names picked out way ahead, but with us we’d have a favored name and then after a while we’d think of another one.  So we had 2 days to pick out a name.

Ryan!  Here is proud Daddy the day we brought him home.                  

 

(Sorry, it’s our scrapbook page!  No digitals back then.)

What a WONDERFUL  day that was!

Happy Gotcha Day, Ryan!

Delicious food!

I've said it here before, but this is my favorite lunch these days.

 

Italian bread slices - this time with garlic crust - thin slices of mozerella and cheddar cheese inside, buttered and grilled. The flavors together and just WONDERFUL! Great comfort food, great lunch on a rainy or cool day!

Then top it off with a slice of homemade Apple Crumb Pie. I made this one on Saturday - it's gone already. :-(

 

Dear God

Dear God,

Are you trying to teach me something? Are you trying to get my attention?

Vanderbilt has refused to pay for my expenses brought on by my infiltrated Port. They said there isn't enough proof that it was caused by their nurse. All of this pain, all of the extra costs...why don't things ever go smoothly?

My parents think that I should sue the hospital.

Is this what you want me to do? It's so hard to know what is the right thing to do at times.

I'm sorry that I complain so much and that I ask for so much. I know that I should spend equal time being thankful for all that You have done for me, for all that I have.

Help me to see things more through Your eyes.

And show me what you want me to do about Vanderbilt. (Besides tell people not to go there!)

I love you,
Me

Update on Toby

Toby (my parents dog) is doing somewhat better. They found lots of bacteria in his bowel and took blood samples, then sent him home with 3 different medications. They still have no idea what caused this.

He hasn't been eating since then, which I think may be due to the meds but my mom thinks is the dog food.

He has a little more energy but still isn't himself because he usually has lots of energy. Poor little guy! I hope he's 100% soon!

Dear Lord

Wednesdays for Wyatt

Please check out Letting Go and Letting God to learn about Wyatt and what his mother wants to do...

From her blog:

It’s official... Today is our very first post for Wednesdays for Wyatt! Thank you for coming over and participating.



It’s quite simple to participate. All you have to do is copy and paste this post on your blog, and come back here to link up with MckLinky! Once you do that, your all set to win this first ever Wednesday’s for Wyatt giveaway. Let make this a huge success, shall we?



Really quickly... (I haven't had a chance to correct my button yet. My editing program is on my OTHER computer, Wednesday's should be Wendsdays with out the ', because as I understand it, it makes it possessive. OOPS!)


Now, back to the good stuff!


For those of you who are not familiar with my family and what we are trying to achieve, here’s a brief run down...


Our son Wyatt was diagnosed with a fatal condition at our 18 week ultrasound, but chose to carry him to term. We waited to meet our son with love, all the time praying we would get to see him alive.



On June 1, 2009, Wyatt made his way into the world by c-section. To our amazement he had a faint heartbeat and was breathing! He died two minutes later, but I’ve clung to the two minutes my son and I breathed the same air since his passing.



Upon calling to get a copy of Wyatt’s birth certificate, I found out he was listed as a stillborn. You would assume it was a mistake (like I did), but there was no mistake. According to the definition of live birth in Tennessee my son was not “alive enough” to be deemed a live born baby. His two minutes of life has gone unrecognized by my state, and I intend to change this piece of legislation so I can solidify the validity of my son’s short life.



Wednesdays for Wyatt was created to help spread awareness for a law that needs to be changed, as well as to generate more traffic to my petition. So if you’re reading this, thanks for taking the time to help our family!



We are currently up to 1,253 signatures. Hurray! We’ve made it over my initial goal of 1,000 signatures, and now I’m dreaming big! You think you can help me get 5,000 signatures by Thanksgiving? I bet you could, and I hope this Wednesdays for Wyatt helps out tremendously. Post this to your blogs, facebook, myspace... wherever you can think of. I can’t wait to see how many more signatures we receive from this. I have a great feeling!

Waiting on pins and needles

When my sister was little she got tongue-twisted and said she was "waiting on nins and peedles."

Well, I'm waiting on PINS and NEEDLES.

My parents' dog is very sick and they've taken him to the pet ER.

This is their little dog, laying near our Golden.

We took care of Toby (their dog) for the past week while they were away. They got back and picked him up last night and he was fine. Today he just layed around and wouldn't eat.

Then this evening he started having a little diarrhea and bleeding rectally, so they took him in to the doggie ER.

I feel so responsible. I watched him so carefully while he was here because he'll try to eat anything he finds, but you can't watch him every second. I thought we kept him pretty safe and were really careful, but now I'm worried that we missed something.

I feel badly that he's sick and I'll feel REALLY horrible if he dies.

Poor Tobi.

Another mattress, another payment

This morning when Jim got up he wanted to know why I was sleeping in the recliner. I had moved there during the wee hours of the morning because it was hurting to much on our mattress that I couldn't sleep.

He said "That's it! We're going mattress shopping!". I reminded him we couldn't afford one, but he said we couldn't afford not to since I rarely sleep in bed anymore!

Of course I then protested that I needed to clean the house, but he said to let it go. If you knew my husband, he is a stickler for a clean house. Sometimes when I'm extra tired from low lung function, etc. I want to use the dry mop on the floor, but that is NOT good enough - it HAS to be vacuumed with our Rainbow.

So my house is dirty.

And we put an order in for a new mattress.

And we have another monthly payment to make, but it's interest free at least.

What kind of mattress did we decide on? Well, we checked several out but decided on the Sleep Number bed. (I mentioned the idea of putting a cheap air mattress on top of our present mattress, but he reminded me that every time we turn on the one we have you can hear the noise and he didn't like that.) It's our Christmas present for ourselves. He also bought me a pillow I was coveting. I read in bed all of the time and this is a special Reading Pillow that is a large square and the bottom is like a bean bag and the top is a regular pillow.

Oh, a funny story before I go. The other day I was trying to find the label on our mattress to see what kind it was and my son came in to talk. (He follows me everywhere talking, but I'm trying to be thankful that my teen talks to me!) He asked me what I was doing and I said I was trying to find the label and read it and would he help me because lifting the mattress was too heavy for me. So he said he would.

He stuck his head between the mattress and box spring and I heard "Here it is! I found it!"

Me: "What does it say?"

Ryan: "Do. not. remove. this. label..."

Me: *doubled over laughing* Ryan, not THAT label! There should be a large label stuck to the mattress that says "Sealy or Serta or something!".

Ryan: Oh. Why are you laughing?

He was absolutely serious and sincere and it was just a riot when he was reading that fine print to me!

Megan is having a GiveAway!

Megan at Hold It Up to the Light is having a GiveAway. It's something I very much am in need of. (When I was ready for church this past week my son told me I looked like an old lady - clothes, jewelry and all! *tears* REALLY! TEARS!)

So go to Megan's site real quick before the GiveAway is over!

Now I need a KOHL's GC GiveAway or something to help my wardrobe!

200th Post GiveAway!

Not mine!

Jane, at Moonflowers Mojitos and Me. Jane is celebrating her 200th Post with a fantastic GiveAway. A $100 Target Gift Card. Whoa, I can use that!

So, visit her blog and congratulate her. Forget about entering the contest tho...I want to win! No, really, everyone enter and maybe someone I know will be the winner!

Her rules:
1 entry for commenting on her post
1 entry for following her blog
1 entry for following her on twitter
1 entry for tweeting about the giveaway
1 entry for blogging about the giveaway


And ... most importantly ... when you comment, tell Jane how many entries you get. And make sure to mention @jane2581 when you tweet!


Contest ends Friday, October 16 at 5PM CDT.

Great Movie!

Have you heard of "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry"? I hadn't. My son's youth group went to see it Sunday afternoon and he's been raving about it ever since. You can visit their site and see a clip here. This site has a trailer, also.

It's a Christian movie and really good. Try to get your church interested in getting the movie to show at the church or at the local theater and make sure you don't miss the chance to see it.

There's a scene where the 12 yr old boy meets up with some bully's who push him off his bike and throw his Bible in a mud puddle. After my son's youth group saw the movie they went to the house they meet in and discussed it. The Youth Pastor asked what they would do if someone bullied them like that. One girl said "I'd pick the Bible up and hit them with it!" That really cracked me up. And them. The Youth Pastor said "That's what they DESERVE, but what would GOD want you to do?". I like it that they discuss things like that.

And I'm so glad there are some decent movies still coming out.

Getting to keep it

Hey gals! I don't any men are reading...well, maybe one...

I thought it was about time I update on here. Real exiting stuff! *sarcasm*

* I get to keep my port. I have been having such pain in the port site that I saw my Internist last Friday. He sent me to a local vascular surgeon, who I saw this morning. Basically, he said I'm going to have pain at the site where I was infiltrated, for some while yet. He said I would still have pain even if he removed the port, so he suggested leaving it in as long as it is working. I'm glad I don't need to have it removed so soon, but hope the pain from the nurse's screw-up goes away soon. It's hard to sleep on my side at night, because it hurts that area so much and I'm a side-sleeper.

**Which takes me to the mattress issue. I've talked my husband out of getting a mattress for right now. We just need to get some medical bills paid off so we don't have so many of them. The mattress really makes our backs/hips hurt, so every few nights I just sleep in the recliner for better sleep. THANK YOU to those of you who gave me your feedback on the mattresses you like and don't like!

***My niece had her first baby a few days ago! It's my sister's 2nd grandchild/granddaughter and my parents' 2nd great-grandchild. This isn't my great-niece, but check out these WONDERFUL newborn pictures that Angie took at The Arthur Clan. She has more on her FB page - they are fantastic! So sweet! (I repeat, this is not my niece's baby, this is a baby Angie's friend had.)

****Isn't this the cutest begging face?

And it works every time - my husband is such a sucker! lol

*****Last of all, my son is so sweet. He was out riding on his scooter and doing his usual daredevil stunts and saw this flower along the road. I had been taking a nap because I wasn't feeling well and when I woke up I found this surprise!

Hey...mattress

Not "hay mattress!" Hey! As in "hello". I haven't been here in a while and I'm sorry. I was going to post one day and couldn't find my camera with the pictures. Turned out my son had borrowed it and not returned it! Grrr!

I haven't been terribly busy. Well, I have been, but nothing worth posting about!

I have a question and I hope I get lots of feedback. Our mattress is 18-19 years old and just killing our backs, hips and everything else. I can't sleep on my back because it hurts too much and it even hurts to sleep on my side, but then my Port is still very painful (another story) and that makes it hard to sleep on my side. We don't have money for a new mattress, but some places have sales on mattresses right now for Columbus Day and they have interest-free payment plans.

What kind of mattress do you like?

What have you hated?

When you don't buy one very often, it's always hard to know what brand to look at. There are so many different ways they are made anymore and I want one to last.

My preference is a Sleep Number bed. My parents have one and I've been looking at them. They are more expensive but I love how you can adjust them to your bodies needs over the years. They do have sales right now and we could make interest-free payments for 2 years. But they are a lot of money and I want to compare them to some "regular" mattresses, but don't know which to be comparing!!

So, give me your mattress reviews!!!!

Button, button, who can make a button?

Imagine being married and not being able to hold hands with your husband, or be hugged by him. Imagine not being able to enjoy any intimacy.

Now imagine having to get your husband out of bed each morning. I don't mean prod and nag him to get up, I mean literally lift him out of bed and into a chair. Wash him, dress him.

Take care of your house, your husband...and you have two young children. No income. Exhausting!!!

This is what it's like for my friend, Jennifer Henley. I met her online and she's a truly special and sweet Christian lady.

My heart has really been going out to the Henleys. For some reason I've been especially burdened for Jen.

Over a year ago her husband had an accident in the back yard and has been paralyzed ever since. Before that he had been a stunt pilot, he had been able to fix anything and everything and they enjoyed a love of outdoors and outdoor sports/activities.


Jen is worn down from caring for Alan and the children round the clock. She's worn down from carrying all of the responsibilites. Some things she feels she can't share with Alan because it burdens him more.

It's been terrible for Alan. Physically, emotionally. Can you imagine not being able to hold your children or your wife? Can you imagine being dependent on everyone around you for wiping your nose or brushing your teeth or turning on the TV? He gets very depressed, feeling like he is a burden, missing all of those things he used to be able to do and now can't do.

They have a constant financial burden. Insurance hardly pays for ANYTHING. They finally got BC/BS to approve 3 weeks in a rehab hospital and Alan made tremendous progress and was able to put a shirt on, stand upright in an aparatus,


feed himself...but then when he went home he didn't have those things at home for doing the therapy and they can't afford them, so he's lost all of that progress.

Can you imagine knowing you are capable of doing those things with work, but not being able to because of lack of money???

I would like to help them. The thing that weighs the most on my mind is that if they had the funds, they could buy, one by one, the tools needed for Alan to continue physical therapy and some independence along with it.

Can we help them? They have a Trust Fund established to help with the financial needs and I'd like to place a button for donations on my blog, but I don't know how to do it. I've seen them on some people's blogs, where they can use a credit card or paypal. Can someone tell me how to do this?

Please pray for the Henley's!

Best Buy Gift Cards and Angie's Washer/Dryer

Angie Smith just got an opportunity to try a new Samsung Washer and Dryer and write a review for it. She's a great writer and you just need to read here what she said about her experience.

There is also an opportunity to win a $200 Best Buy Gift Card. To learn more about how to enter this contest and the rules set up, visit Angie's Review and GiveAway blog.

Fudgy Brownies! - UPDATE with new twist

 

(See UPDATE at bottom of page)

These are such fantastic brownies. I tried someone's recipe the other week and didn't like them. They were more like eating cake and we like our brownies fudgy and gooey.

I saw this recipe in my mom's August Southern Living magazine. They are fantastic! They are so gooey that I store them upside down because the top has a slight crust that protects them better than the goo at the bottom.

So Good Brownies

4 1-oz. unsweetened chocolate baking squares
(I use the equivalent of 12 Tbsp. cocoa and 2 Tbsp. shortening)
3/4 c. butter or margarine
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350degrees. Line bottom and sides of 8" pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2-3 inches to extend over sides; lightly grease foil.

2. Microwave chocolate squares and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. (I melt it together in large saucepan on stovetop) Stir in granulated and brown sugars. Add eggs, 1 at a time, stirring just until blended after each addition. Stir in flour, vanilla and salt.

3. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-44 min. or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Lift brownies from pan, using foil sides as handles. Gently removed foil, and cut brownies into 16 squares.

Enjoy and lick those fingers!

**UPDATE** I just saw that on the following page in Southern Living they have "Topping Upgrades" for the above brownie recipe. Like you can improve perfection, but we'll try, huh?

This is the one that I'll try first:
Peanut Butter Streusel Brownies:
Stir together 1/2 c. flour, 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, 1/3 c. chunky peanut butter, 2 Tbsp. melted butter and 1/8 tsp. salt until blended and crumbly. Sprinkle peanut butter mixture over above batter. Increase bake time to 50-54 minutes. YOWZA!!!