Might not be Private after all

This evening I went to change my settings on my blog, to take it Private.  In the process I saw the selection where you could make your blog not listed when someone uses a search engine.  I changed that and don’t think Ryan’s birthmother could find my blog now, especially since all she knows is a few first names.  So, right now I’m going to keep my blog public.  Subject to change in the future, of course, but for right now…

Today we decorated for Christmas.  My husband and son brought everything down and Ryan put up the tree.  I decorated the tree while Jim decorated the house.

Well, Jim did the lights for me.

I hate that job and was glad he started doing it without me even asking!

We’ve had our tree for eons and each year Ryan would always crawl in the empty tree box and play.  This year he was remembering that and wanted to see if he still fit.

Yep!  All 5’ 10” of him!  And don’t look at his clothes – some days he still doesn’t care if they match!

Rico got in on the fun with him.

Then Ryan ASKED me to take his picture in front of the tree.

I wish I could get all of the glitter and shine to show on the tree.  It’s decorated in blue and crystal and pearl and silver.  It really shines and glistens, but when I take pictures it just doesn’t show.

Pies and more pies

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  I’ve been putting in overtime getting ready for Thanksgiving.

I had to get some early shopping done, then had food to prepare to contribute to the meal.  We all went to my parents this year.  Originally I had requested to go to Cracker Barrel so it would be more restful, but then my sister and her husband, in IL, said they were coming and her daughter and her husband and new baby were coming from SC.

I made 4 pies, 1 cake, cranberry salad, 3 baked corn casseroles & a 12lb. turkey w/ stuffing.

It was nice being all together, but I wished I hadn’t been so tired so I could have enjoyed it a little more.  It was great getting to see my 1 mo. old great-niece.  She is tiny and only weighs a whopping 7lbs. now.  I knew grandparents and great-grandparents were wanting to hold her, so I didn’t try to.  I think it’s hard on them when they are so little, being passed around.  Ryan held her and loved it.  He loves little ones and they always really like him, too.

Here’s my sister holding her 2nd grandbaby:

We had so many pies.  Ryan was just in heaven, having 5 pieces!  We had extra pumpkin pies that aren’t in the picture, but here was what we enjoyed:

I made Lemon Meringue, Chocolate Chess and Pumpkin.  There was also Apple, Cherry, Toll House and Cheesecake Pie!

See how happy Ryan was?

After the meal we sat around and talked about what we are thankful for.

I didn’t say it, but I’m thankful for all of you!

I think I overdid it because I’m not feeling well today.  I slept way extra, have a sore throat, much more SOB and coughing up more.  Extremely fatigued.  Jim wanted to decorate today, but I said there’s no way I can do that.  He’ll have to do it w/o me or wait til I’m feeling better.  Hopefully this is short term and I’ll revive with some rest.  The symptoms are worrying me, tho.

Don’t forget I’m going private in a few days.  If you haven’t given me your email yet and want to keep following, email me your email address.

Need ideas

We've lived in our house since January 2007 and we still have nothing on this wall in the LR. Any ideas? I'm showing another wall in the room to show you what else is in the room.

 

 

**updated** We don't have the money to do anything at this time, but I wanted to get opinions while my blog is still Public. We desperately need to replace our 2 recliners because...well, one of these days when we sick down we will fall to the floor! And we thought "By the time we can afford to replace the recliners we will have money for the wall decor and can coordinate things better."

But it drives us crazy when we walk in the room because it's so large and empty and makes the room look not lived-in. We've thought of putting an old door leaning up to the wall and hanging a wreath on it, we've thought of putting a conglomeration of pics that all line up like a mosaic - but not family pics and not scattered. I love the tulips that Sharon photographs and would personally love to enlarge them, frame them in black frames and group a set of four. I learned on HGTV that with a wall like this, to place the top of the wall decor slightly above the top of the door so it brings the eye upward. Anyhow, I appreciate any ideas you give me. Actually, Jim does all of our decorating, so my idea's have to PASS HIM. huh! My house, Jim, MY house! lol He's stuck on this place, tho.

Does anyone know if those Wall Words come off the wall okay when you want to take them down? I wouldn't want to have to repaint the whole room because of them.

Explanation

When I posted the video below it wouldn’t let me post anything else, so I wanted to write an explanation.

We usually have to get our lab, Raini’s, anal glands drained every few months.  Well, right now we just don’t have the money to take her to the vet and Ryan was complaining this morning about Raini “scooting” on his bedroom carpet and leaving a mark.  (Wow, I don’t know WHY that would bother him!  lol )  I said we can’t spend the money on a vet right now, so Ryan said he would do it for $8.  I told him I’d only pay him if he could get them to drain.  “I can do it!” he says, like the man he’s becoming.

He got the gloves and took her out and told me “Hey, Mom, take a picture!”.  I thought a video would be funnier.  And it was.  His reaction when doing it – or TRYING to do it! – is hilarious.  You can see his sense of humor.

Hope it didn’t gross you out and that it gave you a laugh instead.

Trying to make it

to the end of the year without any more IV’s.  It hasn’t been that long since I was on IV’s, but I already feel I need them again.

I’ve been very SOB (short of breath, for you newbies to CF!  I don’t use bad language, even in acronyms.), tiring so easily, sinuses bad, coughing an awful lot.  I wondering how much the weather has to do with it, but still…when I cough it’s hard to get my breath back.  If I take a deep breath, it’s hard to expel back out.

But since we haven’t paid off the last round of IV’s and we’ve been hit so badly financially this year, I don’t want to start IV’s very soon.  And I’d hate to be on them over the holidays because the meds always make me feel horrible and I need all of the energy I can get for the holidays.

I’m trying to rest a lot each day and use my O2 around the house.  Which is why my house looks pretty pathetic today…and my husband is coming home tonight.  I need to get off here and get to work because he doesn’t have an understanding of these things.

Thanks for listening!

Sleep tight…on Select

With everything else going on, I’ve been forgetting to tell you about how it’s going with the new bed.

We got our Select Comfort Sleep Number bed several weeks ago for a 30 day trial and we love it.  Well, I do.  Jim isn’t home enough to make the adjustment, but I think he likes it.

It’s been ages since I slept this well!  I don’t wake up all through the night in pain and discomfort, flopping around like a fish searching for water.

If you are in the market for a new bed, definitely give the Select Comfort a try. If you are going to order one, mention my name – I have a customer number to give you if you email me – and I’ll get $50 for referring you.  Definitely could use that money right now.  (We are paying off 3 crowns at the dentist that were done this past month, to the offkey tune of $2400.  Yuk!   And that’s just adding on to the thousands we already were in debt due to all of the medical bills.  Anyway, I digress.)

Just wanted to let you know since you all were acting as my Advice Board!  lol

Aaaah, sleep!  It’s not underrated!

Considering going private

I have met so many great people through my blog.  When you aren’t out and about much, that’s a big thing.  It’s my connection with the world.

Other than my many doctor appointments, you all are my social life!  Don’t say “That’s sad!” or you’re saying you all aren’t important and you are!

That said, I am thinking about taking my blog Private.  The only reason is this:  I made the mistake of using all of our first names in my blog.  And I have discovered that Ryan’s birth-mother is looking for him/us and I’m afraid she could find us through this blog.  Ryan has been having some problems recently and this is definitely not a good time for his birth-mother to make contact with him.

I haven’t been blogging as much lately because I’ve been trying to figure out what to do, but the wisest thing is to go Private.  I hope I won’t lose a lot of you.

Please let me know if you would like to follow my blog Privately and send me an email with your email address.  I won’t make the change until the end of the month, for those who don’t check blogs very frequently.

Oh, BOB!!!!

I haven’t been very good at writing on my blog lately and I’m very behind on reading blogs.  I follow so many of them that it takes a while to go through them all, especially if I leave comments.  Right now I am about 3 days behind so that’s…possibly impossible for me to catch up on.  But I will try.

The computer hasn’t been free for me to use very much lately and then when I can use it Ryan is wanting to talk to me.  I’m trying to be happy that my teenager wants to talk to me, but sometimes I wish I could be alone at the computer to concentrate.  Then, when I’m on the computer I’m trying to respond to emails, catch up on FB, catch up on the CF boards and encourage people there.  I wasn’t visiting there as often as I should and since Lauren died last week I’ve been trying to do better.  She was wonderful at encouraging people and I want to follow her example.

We’ve been going through some heavy and difficult stuff recently, but I’m not able to say more.  It’s just been…quite difficult and stressful.

I don’t have much time right now, but I thought I’d share a funny story featuring my goofy son.  He always is making me laugh.  His imagination knows no limits.

I had made some tuna salad and left the container on the counter while I was eating at the table.  Ryan walked into the room and over to the counter.

Ryan: “BOB!  Is that YOU?  Oh, BOB!  What has she done to you!”

Me:  What??

Ryan:  “Oh, Bob, I can’t believe you’re gone!  I can’t believe it’s come to this!”

He’s talking to the tuna fish, pretending he was on close terms with the tuna!

Then he get’s a fork out and takes a bite of “Bob”.

Guess he recovered from his grief quickly.

Favorite Lauren story

Lauren had a great sense of humor.  This was one of my favorite stories that she told.  I’ve laughed over it with several families members in the 2 years since she wrote it.

Something's Fishy

This afternoon I stopped at the pet store to pick up some food for my critters. I decided it was time to add some new fish to my aquarium. I purchased three blood fin tetras. The helpful salesclerk put them in the plastic baggie, squirted in some air and tied the top tightly with one of those itty bitty rubber bands that never seem to let go once they're on.
I proceeded to the counter to pay for my new fish. From there I drove to Target to get a b-day present for my sister. I didn't plan on being in there very long, but I didn't want to just leave the fish in the car. That seemed cruel. So I put the whole thing into my purse, which is one of those big tote-bag style numbers. What could it hurt, right?
As I was walking down the aisle of CDs looking for an Aerosmith album, I noticed that my hip felt moist. I was wearing a bulky sweater and a jacket, so I just assumed I was getting sweaty. Coming around the corner was a customer in one of those go-kart things, so I pulled my big purse closer to my body to allow her to pass. That's when I saw it--a small but steady trickle of water coming from the corner of my purse.
My initial thought was to abandon my shopping, run to the car and get home quickly before I had 3 tiny casualties on my hands (or, in my purse, rather.) That wouldn't solve the problem of the leaking bag, and I'd only end up making my car seat wet in the process. My next thought was to get a bucket or travel mug to put them in, but that seemed gross. The cup didn't seem like a bad idea, however.
I hot-footed it to the little concession area in the store and asked the clerk for just an empty cup with a lid. When she gave me a quizzical look I almost said "my water broke" which I'm sure would have made her look at me even more strangely. I held up the ever-shriveling bag that contained the fish and said "Please, I need a big cup! My fish are leaking!" She handed it over and pointed toward the counter where the lids, straws and napkins were kept.
Placing the cup on a table, I quickly but carefully struggled to pull that little rubber band off the baggie. Stupid rubber band! Finally, it came loose and I poured my 3 frightened fishies into the cup. As I fastened the lid securely in place, I noticed a woman watching me with quite an odd expression. She was probably wondering if she had in fact just witnessed a young woman pouring 3 fish into a soda cup. Her mouth was agape, so I decided to give her a good show. I grabbed a straw, unwrapped it, slid it into the cup and pretended to take a sip.
"Beats Starbucks any day," I commented as I walked past her.
She's probably still sitting there, eyes and mouth wider than a codfish.
Lauren

Lauren – When Someone We Love Dies

I've been thinking about Heaven a lot more lately. Maybe because of my slow decline with CF, I don't know, or because of losing people we love. This time on earth is really so short and just a stopping place. Eternity is what really counts and I trust everyone reading this is ready to face eternity.

A Christian should have a relationship with Jesus during their life and a longing to see Him some day. When that day comes, it is a wonderful thing for them. I've heard testimony by a few people who died for just a short bit of time and then were revived. These people were Christians and told of the overwhelming and unspeakable joy and peace they immediately felt. And warmth enveloping them.

When they got to Heaven's gates there were people waiting for them that had gone on before and great rejoicing over the person entering Heaven, and also rejoicing at the reuniting with the loved ones.

And they finally got to look into their Saviour's eyes and feel His love and presence in a new way. I believe that according to how they lived out their Christian life, they will hear God say "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

The streets will be gold and there will be bright light everywhere. There will be singing and peace and joy that we've never experienced before. No illness, no pain, no sadness, no tears. (No enzymes, no O2, no pills!!!)

When a person is experiencing such joy, peace and perfectness, why then do we wish for them to be back here? For us. We miss them. But while we miss them, we need to be happy for them. How can we be anything but happy for someone who has gone to such a perfect and wonderful place?

We love you, Lauren. You educated us, encouraged us, loved us here in the CF community. You had a strong faith and knew what you believed and why you believed it and you didn't sway from that.

I, personally, am going to miss you so much. Even though I know you wanted many more years with your wonderful Brad and your new niece and family, I know you are at peace and enjoying all that Heaven has to offer and enjoying your eternal rewards.

 

I won’t be the same without you.

April 28, 1980 – November 3, 2009

(Lauren was one of the CFers that I was the most close to.  She was amazing.  It’s so hard to believe that she is gone from us.  Just two years ago she was working and doing so well, with hardly any need for IV’s.  This last year she has really struggled and deteriorated.  She thought she had about another 10 years, but several months ago she realized she wouldn’t if she didn’t get a transplant, so she started that process so she would have more time with her husband.   But she ran out of time before she could get new lungs.

Our loss is Heaven’s gain.)

We found a cheaper solution!!!!

To rinse, we’d just flush!

Actually, the guy called and we’d still be out about $275 in labor on the Fisher and Paykel and the guy said he’d reduce the price on the board we need for the F&P by $50.  If we’re already out that much in labor, we decided to just FIX the washer we have and NOT buy a new one because we really can’t afford to be out the $275 PLUS the cost of a new washer.

So, the problem really is solved.

But the toilet would be so much cheaper!

“Around My House” pictures

 

My sleep last night was “bookended” with the first bookend being an asthma attack and the last bookend being the pain in my port area.  When my port pain woke me, I layed there for a while, hoping I could get back to sleep, but then got thinking about financial problems.  Well, THAT doesn’t relax you to go to sleep!  So I started thinking of you guys and my blog…and here I am!  lol

I’ve been more negligent about posting pictures in my posts lately.  When you don’t leave the house a lot, there isn’t anything new to take pictures of!  My son is past the stage of doing lots of cute things to photograph and I don’t think you want to see lots of pictures of him sitting at the computer or riding his scooter!

I decided to get out of bed at 6AM this morning and photograph some random peeks around my house for you.

Here is my pile of laundry.

Can you see it?

I don’t usually have that white laundry basket sitting in our jetted tub.  I was afraid it would topple over and kill the repairman in the avalanche, so I moved it to the tub.  But I had to move it in sections because it’s too heavy to lift!  (And I don’t usually have a eucalyptus wreath in the tub…the humidity made color run off it down the wall yesterday, so I quickly put it there until it dried out.)

Leaving our bedroom is this:

I love the wreath, purchased when we lived in PA still. (As was most everything we have.)

Jim’s gift to me last Christmas:

And lest you think our house is all neat and tidy:

This pile has been sitting on top of here for WEEKS.  I really need to do something with it!

Hey, thanks for visiting!  And thanks for your input on washers!

(You know, I like Windows Live Writer, but I don’t like how the pictures are smaller and off to the side.  I’ll have to work on a solution.)

Need your opinion

Here we go again.  Maybe I should rename this blog.  Something like “What’s Your Take?” or “Reviews R Us”.

Today the washer repairman came.  2 1/2 hrs late.  I need 2 parts for our ailing Fisher and Paykel washer, to the tune of a little over $400.  My husband said to go ahead, but they had to get the one part so rescheduled for tomorrow AM.

After advice from my sister (Thanks, Kathi!) and some research I did, I cancelled the repair appt. and am shopping for a new washer.  We don’t have much of a budget, in order to justify not eating the cost of the repairs.  Actually, we have no budget for it, but that’s beside the point.

So, again, what brand washer do you favor?  What features are most important to you?  We are leaning toward Maytag or Whirlpool, which are owned by the same company.  And I want a High Energy Top-Loader, for sure.

I’m so stressed.  I feel like I’m inside with the agitator.   I can’t handle any more problems.  I’m at my limit.  The financial stress is about to finish me off.

Calgon, take me away!  And take my piles and piles of dirty laundry, too!