What is Gout Anyway?

gout - an acute, recurrent disease characterized by painful inflammation of the joints, chiefly those in the feet and hands, and esp. in the great toe, and by an excess of uric acid in the blood.

I had to take Eddie to the doctor this morning as he was in much pain and his right foot was so swollen he could not wear his shoe. He hobbled into the doctors office and had to get a shot and was given a round of Prednisone. He is not a happy camper. This is similar to Eddie's current outlook:

It's only Jan. 27th, but I don't think Spring is very far away

I base springtime on when the daffodils start blooming and guess what, Eddie's King Alfred's are blooming.

Running in an effort to catch up...

I have felt a little behind all day long. Lagging too far behind is not how I like to spend my time. When will I get it together?

I didn't post yesterday...

cause I was so busy doing this...

They say it's my birthday...

I am 52, howdydoo. Another day older...I don't feel old. Eddie seems to like me the way I am, so I'm not too worried about it.

My co-workers gave me presents and took me out to lunch. A friend's great niece was born this morning on my birthday, but they are not going to name her after me, shucks. Eddie lavished me with presents and a wonderful birthday card. He also is making me grilled steak and peas, my favorite. I am taking off tomorrow to make all the food for the baby tea, so all in all it's been a great birthday for me.

January 22nd is a pretty good day.

What a difference a day makes

Last night I felt as if a MAC truck had run over me, but I feel better today. Don't know if it was a "spell" or what, just felt "plain tuckered out." I am ready to feel better and I do to most extent and purposes.

I am excited and apprehensive about the upcoming baby "Tea." I am joyful about having my first grandson. I am happy that we will celebrate with Shannon on Shawn's upcoming arrival, but I am worried we won't have enough food, etc. That is always a worry for me, but we always have double enough. I guess what I am wanting is Shannon to have such a good turn out of people that we will run out of food. Yeah, that's what I am worried about. Hope she gets a gazillion presents that are just what she needs.

I am going to go wrap some more presents and attend to last minute details. See ya later.

Today this is how I feel

Baby Safari Zebra Favor Boxes and Baby Album

I marked the plain white boxes to make 'em zebra striped. I wrapped the gifts for Shawn in jungle animal wrapping paper. I scrapped the plain photo pages with jungle motif.






I am making chicken salad with pecans and grapes, potato salad, and cheese balls. My SIL is making sausage balls. My cousin is making punch and mints. My nieces are getting a veggie/fruit tray. Shannon's MIL is making deviled eggs. I think it is going to be a "roaring" good time. The next photos will be after the tea on Saturday.

Another trip to the doctor

Took Eddie back to the doctor. They are changing up his medications again to see if he can get some pain relief. The doctor recommended weight loss and if that doesn't help, then they will try surgery. We will get another opinion in the meantime. He also has to see the rheumatologist to see if he has RA.

This is how I spent most of my holiday off from work.

Safari Baby Tea Decor

I said I wasn't going to post pre pics of the baby tea decor (the tea is set for the 24th), but I can't help it, I think the diaper cake (that my friend Velta helped me make) and the floral arrangement I made are gorgeous, if I do say so myself.

An Award For Me!

An Award for Me!

My blogging friend, Amanda K., over at My Remodeled Life is a fantastic person and a great blogger/photographer. She gave me this award:



Here are the rules for the Honest Scrap award -

The honorees are to:

A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if that means digging deep!

B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

Simple. Or not.

#1 I absolutely adore getting awards. I am so shallow and vain.

#2 You asked for honesty, so here goes, my newest hairdo is a wig! No, I didn't just tell all of you that!

#3 Somedays I check my blog every 30 minutes or so to see if someone has read my blog and commented. I am so shallow and vain.

#4 In honor of Amanda K. and her roadkill moose story. My ex used to call me "Moose," like the guy in the Archie comic books and I actually liked the nickname.

#5 I make good money at my job, but I would love to own my own decorating business and make big money at it. There's the rub, it takes money to make money and I don't have any.

#6 I don't have any money.

#7 My house is always a wreck because I don't like to clean house, so if you are coming for a visit, give me a two hour heads-up if you don't want to sit around in knee-deep dust and washed, but not-folded clothes.

#8 I would love to work for a publishing company as an editor. I could read books all day long. Sigh!!!

#9 I lay beside Eddie at night and watch him sleep/listen to him snore and love him even more because of it. I could eat him up like ice cream. Yeah, too honest I presume.

#10 I wear my bras for two or three days before washing them so they don't wear out as fast.

Here are my picks for awardees:
http://enroutetolife.blogspot.com/
http://angie-beem.blogspot.com/
http://asimplecountrylife.blogspot.com/
http://artonalimb.blogspot.com/
http://gingerjar-gingerjar.blogspot.com/
http://blarneyspot.blogspot.com/
http://boodasbusiness.blogspot.com/

I Believe,,,

I Believe..
A Birth Certificate shows that we were born.
A Death Certificate shows that we died.
Pictures show that we lived!

Have a seat . . . Relax . . . And read this slowly.......

I Believe...
That just because two people argue, that doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, that doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe...
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe....
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe...
That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe...
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...
That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe.....
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe...
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe...
That my best friend and I can do anything, or nothing, and have the best time.

I Believe...
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had, and what you've learned from them.....and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe...
That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe...
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I Believe...
Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give, if a friend cries out to you........you will find the strength to help.

I Believe...
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything. Thank you God for all the wonderful people who help us throughout the journey of life.

I went in to work today...

If you don't already know, I work three days a week at home Monday through Wednesday and then drive in on Thursdays and Fridays. This week I was sick Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and did not work even here at home. I felt so bad I just couldn't think to work. So today I drove in, still sniffling and sneezing, coughing and such. Everybody probably wishes I hadn't showed up, but I tried to stay in my office as much as possible. It is cold out, but not as cold as they said it would get. We will see if we get down to 14 tonight as some of the forecasters predicted. I am not to hep about the meterologists on either of our local stations we watch. They just can't seem to get it right.

Hope everyone is doing okay, better than me.

This is one of the photos you get when you google images for Jan. 14th

I find the flower interesting. Isn't this a rose? The painting shows texture and depth. I wish I could paint. Maybe I will take up painting as a hobby. Do you think it would be relaxing and therapeutic or nerve-racking trying to get it just right?

Well, it was inevitable, I got the New Year's Crud!

I'm slogged down, clogged up, and blogged sideways.

I don't even remember what day it is. My head feels like it's stuffed with cotton. Oh, wait a minute, I remember now, I put some cotton balls in my ears cause they were hurting, No Wonder!

I am sneezing and sniffling. Don't really know if it is a cold or a sinus infection, but I am running a low grade fever with chills and sick to my stomach from drainage.

I hate this stuff. I got a flu shot, but that doesn't seem to help. I usually come down with this the same time every year. Several people at work have been sickly and I can only assume I got it from one of them.

I have on my jammies with a box of tissues under my arm. I am slathered with Vicks, sucking on a Hall's (sugar-free) cough lozenge, cotton sticking out of my ears and toting a small garbage pail with me in case I barf. Is that a colorful enough description for you to get the idea of what kind of agony I am in?

Eddie's doctor called this morning and my voice is so deep from laryngitis that he thought I was Eddie. Excuse me, but I am not male, even though my voice currently is as deep as a man's.

I am hoping this goes away pretty darn quick.

And that's just what you can see...

So what's just beneath the surface?

This is an awesome photo. Hoep you enjoy it.

What caption would you put under this pic?

Blah Sunday!

I finished "The Road." Good book. If I start describing it, I might give some of the plot away, so I will just say I recommend it.

I googled books today cause I still have about $70 dollars of Christmas BAMM gift cards left to spend. Wow that is a great gift that keeps on giving.

I went to the store and took a nap. It is chilly and cloudy down here and that makes for a dreary, sleepy Sunday.

We watched Hancock last night and I just have to say it was really not what I was expecting it to be. What did you think about it?

What are you doing this January Sunday?

Whoever heard?

Whoever heard of Death by Gordita? I thought it was supposed to be Death by Chocolate! I ate way tooooo much homemade gordita and I think my heart is racing out of my chest. My stomach is hurting and I think I am dying and not in a good way. Ohhhh! Please make it stop hurting. I got on the computer just to see if I could get my mind of my troubles. I have been hit with the Tijuana Brass, I just hope I don't have the Texas two-step in the morning on the porcelain throne. I hope I can go to sleep, but that will have to wait until I quit hurting. Remind me not to ever do this again.

At home...

I am home and in my jammies, it doesn't get better than that. I had chili for supper and have been reading my current book. It really is a good read or by my standards it is. Eddie is taking a shower and we thought about starting a movie, but since I am working OT tomorrow and I usually get up early for that, we decided we wouldn't. So I am reading and Eddie will probably watch the Western Channel (Maverick) reruns.

I drove Eddie's truck to work today to get the Christmas decorations out of my office and back in the storage house. The truck is a stick shift. Fun to drive, but also hard work.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Thursday

I am busy and I am reading so I am not blogging much today. Will be back tomorrow with a vengeance, but since I am trying to stick with this Project365 thing, I just had to blog something.

I started a new book...

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Pulitzer Prize Winner). The book cover notes, "Now a major motion picture."

The searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, The Road is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

"His tale of survival and the miracle of goodness only adds to McCarthy's stature as a living master. It's gripping, frightening and ultimately beautiful. It might very well be the best book of the year, period." ~~San Francisco Chronicle

"Vivid, eloquent...The Road is the most readable of [McCarthy's] works, and consistently brilliant in its imagining of the posthumous condition of nature and civilization." ~~The New York Times Book Review

"One of McCarthy's best novels, probably his most moving and perhaps his most personal." ~~Los Angeles Times Book Review

"He IS in a snit!"

Noun 1. snit - a state of agitated irritation; "he is in a snit"
annoyance, botheration, irritation, vexation - the psychological state of being irritated or annoyed

DON'T ASK ME WHY HE IS AGITATED? HE JUST IS!!!!!

Maybe annoyance because of the pain he is in, maybe botheration with having to take medications, maybe irritation that he can't get out and do anything, maybe vexation with the doctors. Maybe all of the above. He is in a state alright, whether it be Alabama or Texas or elsewhere and I don't think psychology has got a thing to do with it.

Maybe it would be nice to be somewhere else right this very minute, that's me whispering out the side of my mouth. Shhhh! Don't make him angry, you wouldn't like him when he's angry! LOL





MY WORD! It is hard work walking on eggshells.

I just feel so sorry to see him in so much pain and agony. He really is suffering right now. It's really not fair! I wonder what I could cook for him for supper tonight which might soothe the savage beast within? for at least a little while!

This is currently what I am reading...

love walked in

by Marisa De Los Santos

It's heady and not what you would think it's about. I love the author's verbiage style and wittiness. I'm not even halfway through, but it's caught me up and I am ready to stay up half the night to finish it, if I must.

From Sunrise to Sunset, there is order to the creation that God hath made

I learned in my Sunday School lesson this week, that we must each look to the skies to see God's creation, look in the Scriptures to read of God's plan for us, and look in our hearts to ask for acceptance of His devine grace.

Thank you God for the blessing of this new day.

There's Just Something Fishy/Kissy About This Photo

The first time I ever kissed a boy, he told me I kissed like a fish. What I want to know, is how he would know that unless he had been kissing a lot of fish? Is it a good thing to kiss like a fish? I think it is if the above photo is any indication! Since I was 13, I have never had anyone else criticize or bad mouth my lip-locks. No one else has bad mouthed my puckering abilities.

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...

As the raindrops plink, plink, plink against my window panes

And the rumble of thunder and lightning waxes and wanes

I perch on the sofa with glasses on my face and a book in hand

Reading, absorbing time like the sifting of hourglass sand

While I drift afloat on another's words, the rain is pouring

And my sweet dear hubby has fallen asleep in his chair snoring

A peaceful feeling overwhelms me as I delve deeper in the prose

I snuggle back in the cushions reading and find myself taking a doze.

Sad Anniversary Day

Six years ago today my dear momma passed away. I had an okay day, but every now and again throughout the day thoughts of her drifted into my mind which made me sigh. I miss her. She was a wonderful person. Everybody loved her. She was larger than life to me. She made my life full. There is a hole left in my life that can't be filled. I have God, I have my husband, I have my daughter, I will soon have my grandson, I have the rest of my wonderful family, but I don't have my mother anymore and I miss her. Do you ever get over it? I don't think I ever will. I miss her everyday, but I miss her today as I remember her love and her smile.

Reflections of 2008

I have had better years, but then again, I have experienced far worse.

In 2008, there were weddings, divorces, and whispers of new additions. There were family members who endured operations, tests and pain. There were deaths and funerals to attend, but thankfully, none were in my immediate family realm.

Financial woe flapped it's filthy wings around my head and lit on my shoulder just when the economy began spiraling downward.

Politically, there is much change acoming and I am just happy that the mudslinging and drudgery of the campaign is finally over. I don't think I could have stood much more of the press and the political advertisements/slander.

The music of 2008 left a lot to be desired in my book, but again so did the movies. However, I personally had a great year with the book publishing companies considering Dean's two newest releases and the "Twilight" (Stephenie Meyer) & "Dead" (Charlaine Harris) series.

Work is work, but I am ever so thankful to have a great job. I am truly blessed.

I am still very much in love with my husband as we celebrated our 5th anniversary in early December.

We had a bountiful spring harvest of fruits and veggies. God has blessed Eddie with a mighty green thumb.

My pets (dogs and chickens) are doing well and thriving, as well as the chipmunks, lizards, and snakes down here in the swamp.

The animosity with our neighbors (although they are not considered neighborly) appears to have tapered off some and I pray for peace and stability here in my neck of the woods.

I miss my parents everyday and wish I still had them here with me, but they are far better off where they are and I would be much better off to wish myself there with them than wish them back here.

The weight-loss surgery worked and I currently have lost 115 pounds, as I now weigh 163. I only have 8 more pounds to go to reach my goal. I no longer have diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or hypothyroidism. My latest blood sugar testing was 3.5. Outstanding!

It was strange for me to see my young niece bring a boyfriend to the holiday gathering this Christmas and at the same time watch my daughter sauntering around the house doing the pregnancy waddle right before my very eyes, expecting my soon to be grandson, Shawn.

I told you I tend to ramble and my thoughts are all a jumble and randomly scattered about.

What will 2009 have in store for me? I can't wait to see.