A couple prayer requests !

For obvious reasons many have been calling to check on me lately. Thank you all. Your concern is very much appreciated. During these calls I have been promised prayers as well as been asked to pray. A couple of the requests make my affliction seem very minimal in comparison. So if you guys could add another couple prayer requests, I would be appreciative.

One is for my second cousin once removed. Amy has been diagnosed with Breast cancer at only 28 years old. The cancer is in her lymph node but doesn't appear to have spread past the node. I don't know her surgery date or what her follow up will consist of yet but she sure could use prayers

Another request is for a dear friend Laryn ,who is battling infection of her own.

Thirdly my aunt Donna fell on the ice a few weeks back. She has had back surgeries in the past but doesn't seem to have any further back damage with this fall. However she has broken her arm and is facing challenges in its healing .

Thank you for your continued prayers !

Looks like I will be able to watch from home after all !

Before my doctor's appointment this afternoon I prepared to be sent to the hospital. I packed pajamas , toiletries, magazines that I have not yet had time to read, my Blanky, diet coke,a lap top , and other necessities. Mike, Cindy and I all agreed that I was getting no better and would have no choice but to comply with the doctor's next step of hospitalization with IV antibiotic treatment. Yes we had excepted the inevitable and were reluctantly complying. Mike even took off work to drive me himself.
By the grace of God,though The doctor seen a slight improvement and a glimmer of hope. She felt that since the new oral antibiotic was making a teeny improvement, that perhaps if she adds a second cream too, we might just be able to avoid needles and isolation .Of course I was willing to stay home for another week and see, so that is the plan. Well that and seeing another doctor, Monday as an outpatient, who will put some kind of chemical wrap on my leg to give the final push. I am so happy to be able to actually watch the super bowl at home, that even the tiny blisters that are appearing on my arms and hands from the strong antibiotics, nor the constant itching when even my hair touches my skin, which is also caused by my immune system being pushed into overdrive are no problem that I can't handle.
Thank you all for your prayers and please continue as though I have turned a major corner, I am still in the woods. But hey for now I will keep plugging until I am completely recovered.

Super bowl sign

I seen the following on another blog yesterday . I have to admit that I considered "borrowing" it for all of you guys ,but I know of some bloggers who are noted for this kind of thing and how poorly I look upon it.
However, this morning I received an E mail copy of my own (Thanks S) so now I can share without feeling guilty. Nobody so far seems to know the origin( other than forward after forward) so I apologise if this is your work and and I am not giving you credit.

Funny??????

Him..... " It's OK Honey. If you have to go to the Hospital, you can take a lap top and still be connected with the world outside the isolation room. After all They already have ANTI VIRUS loaded !


Me..... Grrrrrrrr

Prayers please

For the past week and a few days I have been battling what is believed to be a staph infection of the leg.I have been on very high doses of antibiotics for eight days now and though the infection seems to not be getting any worse, Yesterday's appointment found the Doctor baffled that there is no noticeable improvement. Now I am no stranger to baffling the medical community in general but I am starting to get worried here. I have been given an other antibiotic to overlap the first but only given two days to produce signs of healing before I get banished to the hospital. Now nobody in their right mind wants to spend three to five( or more) days quarantined to a hospital room while IVs pump oodles of the strongest antibiotics (and their side effects)known to man into them. Not to mention going in on Super Bowl weekend. On the up side, I hear that the new hospital which I would hope to go to has decent size TVs in the rooms but will they allow my husband and children to bring a Super Bowl party in ? Now I am not asking for much. Just maybe some diet coke, cocktail wienies, cheese and crackers,some deserts , and oh yes that bottle of wine that I figured that I would crack open to celebrate a Steeler victory ? What, you don't think that this would be allowed in a quarantined room ? even if everyone wore the sterile gowns, gloves and masks that would be required of my visitors ? I guess that I probably would be met with resistance, so please have a heart, pray for some improvement in this poor Steeler fan's leg by Friday afternoon, I'd be extremely grateful !

Ok now I see how ( some think ) it is

Last week I called the eye doctor that the family has been seeing for years now to make our yearly eye appointments. I informed the desk lady that i needed five appointments starting no earlier than five O'clock and that any available day would be good with us. The lady came back with "we can see two this day and one this day and the other two on this day." I assumed that she didn't understand so I explained as politely as my Momma taught me that I didn't want to come in three days nor even two but for years we have always come together as a family and quite frankly the ability to get such appointments when everyone can go is the main reason that we even patronize this shop. The lady explained not so politely ( hey maybe her Momma wasn't big on teaching politeness, who am i to condemn ?)that these late appointments were in high demand and that if one family takes them all and then has to cancel, then they have just lost a late night . I understood but was not willing to give in especially since there were five appointments for today. ( one week later) In my way of thinking , if these appointments are in so high of demand,there would not be five available for the following week. Anyway I told the lady that it was all together or nothing and a supervisor came to the phone and agreed to accommodate us as long as we agreed to pay a cancellation fee if we canceled less than twenty four hours in advance. I agreed.
Well, today came with a snow storm last night into today but I couldn't cancel. However at two O'clock ( three hours before our appointments) a call came in. It was the desk lady at the eye doctor. We need you to come in at three, I was told."No can do" I replied. But we had cancellations and it is bad out and we want to get out of here early, I was told. Hmmmmm I stammered," If I had canceled I would have been charged what was it $50 per person ?"I asked. "Well ummmmmmm "the lady mumbled. "Not for an act of God "she finally spit out. In the end my Momma taught me well and I agreed to reschedule but not without informing them that i don't appreciate their policy and that if it is ever thrown at me again, I will find another doctor. The lady thanked me , rescheduled me and hung up. No doubt I was the bad guy when she told her coworkers of the call, but hey.....I do my best to keep appointments but I, just like them, have things come up every now and then. (BTW , I have never canceled an eye appointment with this doctor) Why is it that some people just feel that their crises are so much more urgent than mine ? No I am not a doctor( nor office worker) but isn't a Mother just as important ? I do think so. Maybe this should serve as a lesson to all, when someone inconveniences us maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt. maybe just maybe they deserve it !

Snow day !

This morning as I finished packing Mike's lunch and serving his breakfast, Michael, who was awake to walk the dogs, informed me that there was no school . Yay !!!!!!
Too bad that Mike had to go to work and I have a doctors appointment in a couple hours. Oh well this is Ohio. Snow may close schools but life goes on. Stay warm everyone !

The wedding video

This weekend ,for the first weekend since September, Cindy is off. Yesterday was filled with the family fun of me getting up and making pizza dough, followed with all of the fun that Mike making eight hand tossed pizzas brings.We ate at about three which is early for pizza day. Actually we usually wait for all eight pizzas to be out of the oven to eat but third from the last yesterday was my famous ( well we think so)seafood pizza that is not very good once it gets cold so we dug in while the last two were in the oven. Then after dinner we tackled our families " junk room " OK now most have a junk drawer ( which we also have and it needs cleaned too
:-( But we have without intent ended up with a junk room. This room is an add on to our house which was designated( when we moved in )as a room for kids computer, video games, my desk, and so on. The problem is that this room is not one in plain sight of visitors so we have stashed this and that there for awhile now and it all exploded over the holidays when we got a new TV that would not fit into our entertainment center, which had many many hide away drawers to stash things. Anyway now the back room was unable to even be walked through without hurting ones self. Plus I found a wonderful deal on a new couch and love seat that I bought and need to get delivered soon. We decided that since the old love seat is still in great shape ( the couch has sadly not fared as well)we would take it to this room in exchange for the leather recliner that has fared less well than the couch . In the process of starting this room last evening,Mike , the boys and I were doing OK while Cindy was catching up on some neglected chores when we found the boxes of old video tapes that were stashed when the old entertainment center left for the new with virtually no stashing room. As I sifted through the old tapes I found a few that Mike and I took a break to transfer to DVD(hey you have to watch to make sure that they transfer right) One just happened to be our wedding. It has been over nineteen years since we said "I will" so the tape was fragile.It was funny that at the time the armature skills of the videographer ( the father of Mike's Brother's at the time girlfriend who had a camera which he had used a couple times)seemed pretty good but with technology as it is today, what a difference ! We still watched the out of focus tape as my thoughts wandered.Wow if I knew then what I know now....... Surely I would have still gotten married but Oh the changes that would be made ! Anyway, I would go on and on but the junk room is only half done and so on and so forth so I must move on. But First, A Big THANK YOU Mr. Kay for the wonder memories you gave by taping our wedding. We are forever grateful !

Small success

Daniel Bean over at Faith and Family Live (http://www.faithandfamilylive.com/blog/small_successes1#When:13:30:00Z) has started Small success, a weekly post where we average people can post three of their day's little accomplishments( from finally getting the sweeper run and up )on our Blog and then post our Website so people can go from Blog to blog and see what little things we bloggers are rejoicing in. I am not sure that I have totally followed the directions but here are my three simple successes for today.

* I Got the mail away perscription company called for total price on refils , wrote out the check , and mailed it in !

*Shreaded the huge stack of junk mail on the counter

* called to make the families yearly eye exam appointment

I may just make it four by going to the lab to get my blood drawn today too. I have been holding the script for a week now but in my defense I have another staph infection in my leg,( unrelated to the reason for the blood work ) that has me limited on the amount of time on the go.

Another day to ponder

OK a doctor I am not but..............

if someone is severely anemic...... is it really a great idea to draw six to eight tubes of blood to try to find out why ????????



Please pray for me !

Football

Normally I am not one to set and watch much TV at all, especially sports. I do like to keep the Steeler games on, which is usually no problem as Mike and the kids are glad to set and watch as I walk through every couple of minutes while doing things like looking for stray dishes that need to be in the dish washer before it starts and such. Yesterday however, something came over me. I realized that Arizona was playing Philadelphia in the first game and of course I knew that Pittsburgh was playing Baltimore in the second. This realization then hit me that if Philadelphia won and of course the Steelers would win ( after all the Ravens used to be the Browns... enough said)then it would be a PA super bowl. Now that would be cool. I turned on the Philadelphia game to Philly losing but then they started to come back. I was hooked and actually sat down and watched. In the end Arizona earned their first Super Bowl ticket which was ultimately OK with me . I did get up and fix some snacks before the Steeler's kick off but as Martina McBride sang the anthem over the rudeness of cheering chanting fans ( OK I will save the lack of respect for our National Anthem / country now a days post for another day )I was back in my seat. I honestly expected a game where Pittsburgh stomped all over the Ravens ( again they used to be the Browns so that is where that came from )but I was surprised. What a game ! In the end of course,the Steelers punched their super bowl ticket but they had to work for it. What a wonderful game ! Now I am hooked. I think I will actually watch the whole super bowl. Possibly even attend a Super Bowl Party.But before I do I need a new Steeler jersey. Possibly a #22 William Gay one... Guess I will head out shopping . Have a great day all !

Winter cold

I have heard nothing but bad about the recent decline in temperature, even from some who are only seeing temps. no lower than the forties. Though for the most part I despise winter coldness as much as anyone,I must admit that I have found a couple things to like about it. First of all the kids got a snow day Friday.I still love snow days ! Also on days with a lot of snow Mike has been taking the all wheel drive Aztek, so I can't run any errands ( hey if there is too much snow for him to drive the Grand AM, surely I shouldn't drive it for anything but an emergency! right ?) But the biggest thing is that soup is a great food to serve for dinner in this weather and I make several kinds that are so easy. The night before last I made black bean and chicken rice. Today I am making chili and chicken noodle. Not only is soup easier than most meals to make but I can make big pots and have left overs. A church fellowship group that Mike and I are part of occasionally makes meals for a local man's family .The man was left quadriplegic following a robbery/ shooting as he was trying to deposit the days receipts from the restaurant that he managed. Soup works wonderfully for this. I just make a huge pot,let it cool , put half into plastic gallon and a half containers ( Like big ice cream buckets, which Dutch cupboard gets food supplies in and then gives away )reheat our half for dinner and freeze theirs until the lady who does delivery is ready for it.Yes soup is great and even though no family members all like the same kind, I can make two kinds with minimal effort.
There you have it.... There is a reason that I like Ohio.... even with it's winters !
Stay warm all !

2009 question Me Me

2009 QUESTIONNAIRE

Welcome to the 2009 edition of getting to know your friends . Change all the
answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!




1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:00

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? It has been so long I don't remember. However I am a priority member of the Red box :-)

4. What is your favorite TV show? Scrubs

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Diet Pepsi Max & Last nights left overs

7. What food do you dislike? peppers onions or anything over spiced

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? One that Mike burnt me of all of my favorite 80's hits

9. What kind of car do you drive? Aztek

10. Favorite sandwich? Not a big sandwich person but a grilled hamburger sounds great.

11. What characteristic do you despise? Trying to act like something someone's not ( smarter, richer, etc)

12. Favorite item of clothing? A sweatshirt that Cindy got me for Christmas with all of the kids names on it

13. If you could (....???....) I probably would

14. Are you an organized person ? I wish

15. Where would you retire? I don't know. I have always lived in Ohio but a winter house somewhere might be nice too

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My most memorable would be my twenty first when I couldn't have anything to drink because I was pregnant

17. What are you going to do when you finish this? I have an appointment

18. Furthest place you are sending this? Hmmmm who is on vacation with their lap top :-)

19. Person you expect to send it back first? Just never know

20. When is your birthday? 02/17/1969

21. Morning person or a night person? Would like to be a night person but my schedule makes me a morning person

22. What is your shoe size? 11

23. Pets- two cocker spaniels ( no puppies right now but probably one more litter next year)

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Nope

25. What did you want to be when you were little? a Mom ( or Fred Flintstone)

26. How are you today? I'm getting there

27. What is your favorite flower? carnation

28. What are you listening to right now? The Christmas music that I really need to remove from my Blog

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Saturday

29. What was the last thing you ate? Black bean soup that we had for dinner last night

31. Do you wish on stars? Yep

32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Fusha

33. How is the weather right now? Very very cold

34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Michael's counselor ( who is Cindy's male friend's Dad)

35. Favorite soft drink? Diet Coke or Pepsi Max

36. Favorite restaurant? Bennigan's

37. Hair color? Dark Brown highlighted with gray! ( yea I planned it that way )

38. What was your favorite toy as a child? Fisher Price little people

39. Summer or Winter? Summer summer summer

41. Chocolate or Vanilla? Milk Chocolate

42. Coffee or tea? Diet Coke

43. Do you want your friends to email you back? sure do

44. When was the last time you cried? It has been awhile

45. What is under your bed ? under bed drawers with Mike's and my summer clothes


46. What did you do last night? Shared a bottle of wine with Mike while singing old ABBA songs as he looked through folders of CD's and DVD for a Cad program that someone at work needed

47. What are you afraid of ? Mike or one of the kids getting hurt or worse


48. Salty or sweet? Sweet

49. How many keys on your key ring? 11

50. How many years at your current job? Eighteen of being a Mom, almost twenty of being a wife, only fifteen of not working outside the home, a couple not working a job from home

51. Favorite day of the week? Sunday

52. Do you make friends easily? Not really

53. How many people will you send this to? a few

54. How many will respond? a couple

55. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Yes

I have joined the Snuggie crowd

For some strange reason the recent weather has sparked many conversations about a "as seen on TV" product called Snuggie(https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next?tag=ED|SM|GO|TM|) This product is essentially a blanket with sleeves that just sort of flops in the back but is made to be under a blanket and still use your hands. The snuggie has been compared to the famous Star Wars robe type outfits, choir robes , and even compared to the Alb worn by Priests while celebrating mass. Yea, when I first heard of them I thought the same thing, Why ? But then after hearing more and more from those who received this popular Christmas gift, and my kids telling me that we could face child abuse charges if Children's services hears that we don't own any yet, I gave it some thought. Of course the thirty six dollar for two price tag seemed a tad steep, not to mention that you had to order them and then wait until they arrive( probably by spring )Anyway, I had all but decided against joining the snuggie revival until I heard it said that Wal Greens had them for only fifteen dollars. Well, I thought, It would be nice to have my hands free as I tried to avoid shivering on the couch as the boys have the front door open while watching for their school buses.So I did what every Mom of teenagers would do and asked Cindy to call the many Wal Greens stores in the area and see if any had them in stock. No luck! After several calls and minutes on hold waiting for a manager ( Wal Greens has a policy that when someone asks for something via telephone, a manager should be summoned to check not only shelves but the stock room) to check, nobody had them. Hmmmmm, I thought I was told that Bed Bath and Beyond also carried them at the same price. Cindy called and they had many in assorted colors I was told. Well, I headed straight to BB&B. ( three minutes from the house) Unfortunately they did not have assorted colors but they did have assorted one size fits all Snuggies in Blue. I decided to try one before buying every family member one. ( shhhhhhhh don't tell Children's services) and guess what ? They are a kind of nifty thing ! Will I buy four more ? Probably not. The older two want them but Robby seems like he couldn't care less if his blanket has sleeves or not. As for Mike, he is still shaking his head that I purchased even one. Of course we are talking about the man who has been known to wear shorts to work in the middle of winter . Maybe I can find some BB&B coupons online and bring the $14 price tag down a bit, then we won't have to take turns using our hands while covered up.

More of the same

Well we still have snow on the ground and may even get another inch or two this week, however it isn't the snow that bothers me but the fact that Friday's temperature is only forcasted at 10 degrees. So far this winter I haven't even worn a coat as the temp has mostly been above freezing and a hoodie is plenty warm for someone as insulated as I.I am told that traditionally this week and next are the coldest weeks of the year so that is comforting .But still, I have had about enough of winter already. I Thank God that we got the new furnace in before this hit and pray for those who are not as lucky.
Gee I wonder why flights from North to south are so expensive when flights from south to north are being given away. Definitly something to ponder !

Snowy Saturday

After the kids enthusiastically helped me take the Christmas tree down, took all of the ornament filled bins and such to the basement and even swept up all the fallen tinsel on the floor last night. We watched a movie as a family. It turned out to be a late night so I was still asleep an hour before we had to get up for karate , when the phone rang. I was informed that karate was canceled due to weather. I knew that the friendly boy at Good will told of a coming snow storm when I dropped off a load of donations at about seven thirty, but hadn't even realized that it had snowed. Upon looking out the window, I realized that it sure did. About six inches or so as a matter of fact. Mike and Michael went for the snow blower as I prepared an early lunch before Cindy went to work. I did have plans to run errands today but it looks like nature has changed my plans. I think I may even take a nap today. Yep winter isn't too bad at all !

What I am pondering today

Isn't it odd how buying new things, like a upgrading from a 26" regular TV, round screen and all, to a 46" wide screen HD model, as well as a new TV stand with matching side curio cabinets can make you feel happy and excited ? But how actually taking out the old center, moving the old TV ( which seems much bigger , not to mention heavier than ever) to another room , can kill that excitement and make you wish that you had never stepped foot into that Best Buy in the first place ?

Vacation's almost over, what's next ?

Wow where does time go ? It seems like just yesterday that I was looking forward to the coming two week Christmas break, now it is ending. Though Cindy did have to work many of the days that Mike and the boys were on Vacation, she was able to get off for Christmas, New Years eve and New years day.
Things did get hectic at times as we made last minute decisions, like not to go out for New Years eve but to find the virtually impossible to find Wii game system, and if that was not a big enough feat, A wit fit was NOT a negotiable accessory, that had to be found.The kids ( OK ,all of us including me) have been having a great (exhausting ) time playing with this.
In addition,we also decided to upgrade our main TV to digital. This required the disposal of our old entertainment center as well as quite a bit of junk that had been stashed on /in it since we moved here over five years ago.( hey that is where my once new {yep I am that old} Bruce Springsteen record went.... If I get rid of this stack of records and cassette tapes, I can also get rid of the cool stereo system that we bought new in 1990)
Then there was the installation and set up of the new TV stand and of course, matching cabinets to stash future things :-)
Pretty much we have had a major unorganized mess around here since New Years eve. But what a good reason for a mess ! I also am proud to proclaim that I am making progress at sifting through the rubble and even disposing of much if it(three bags and counting going to charity. Five or six to the Garbage collectors)
So I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,another cleaning day or two and I can kick back, right ? Well if I was a normal person without masochistic tendencies, yes but I am Diane...... That means the plate has a tiny clear spot so better heap on some more until it is overflowing again. So what is my next heaping? Could it be looking for the carpet that I vowed to put in the living room five years ago but since the huge entertainment center was already up and moving it would require just too much work? How about actually making a choice of a new couch and love seat which I have been looking for since September? How about the painting that Mike suggested that we do before either of the before mentioned? Hmmm all good possibilities, but In less than two months I will turn the dreaded 40. Mike and I have talked about celebrating with a trip, possibly a cruise(we have never been on a cruise nor even , with the exception of LA for a karate tournament, been anywhere further than Florida( I have only flown twice in my almost 40 years)) So what to do ? Should I get the house in order first ? Of course I should but just a few minutes of looking at travel sites won't hurt, right ??????????