BACK IN THE PINK!

If you have been following me on Twitter, you know that I have been having some issues. My rheumatoid arthritis is worse and I have been on antibiotics for over 10 days. I had the most awful flu or something. Doc said it was an infection. It made me miserable. I couldn't breathe, barely get around and was becoming a woman with cabin fever. Then I thought, @ZnaTrainer had been calling a tweeting me. She knows how sick I have been and she also knows that she has to keep pushing me to exercise. Needless to say, I hit bottom. I was just miserable and decided to try the O2 Breakthrough again. It is so amazing. It is a shame that I think I have to quit when I feel better. I don't think I will be able to quit again. It really makes a difference in how I feel, my flexibility, and the pain. The pain goes away! All I have to do is do the "Power of Perfect Ten" and the endorphins begin to flow. I actually went through 2 workouts this morning, one right after the other. Zna told me a new one this morning that you stand up and I can do it periodically during the day when I have a couple of minutes by myself. I am committing myself to do this and do it well. Zna is one of the kindest people that I know. Zna, You are a life-saver!

I have stayed with Xango and starting today, I am drinking a half a bottle a day. I figure I have enough to last a month and I will see how it works for this. Along with the O2 Breakthrough, I should be one of the healthiest people around. LOL! I will publish my results. I am making a smoothie in the morning and one in the afternoon. It is supposed to increase my energy. All things being equal, I should be better next week. 

As for things in my life, they are going well. I learned a friend, Margaret (Peg) Clarke passed away. She was a dear lady. Her husband, Ed, was in my Lions Club. Peg worked every bit as hard as Ed even though she was not a member of the club. She is also a member of the GFWC Newport News Women's Club. She has been living in Richmond for the past few years with her children.

We are going to celebrate my birthday on Friday by going to the Blue Iquana in Fairfax VA on Friday.

I love that restaurant. My wonderful husband, Ray and I will be in Fairfax at the Hyatt Fair Lakes (http://fairlakes.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp). It is a lovely hotel. We stay there about once a year when we have our NAP Conferences. I won't be able to eat in the meetings, because of all the people. I will stay in the room and snack prepared things from home. It is difficult for me to eat out anyway. I will go to the classes, because I can sit in the back away from everyone. My immune system is so low. I just know the O2 Breakthrough is going to make everything better.

Today is dinner at church and I will be picking up Dot and Kitty at the Chesapeake at 4:15. I hope they go today. It sure is raining hard but we are going to brave the weather. We are all so glad to see the rain, it seems like months since it rained. I sure hope it saves my bushes in the yard.

Ray and I have really gotten into Dancing With the Stars. I cannot believe how interested he is this year. Since that is the way we met, I have always thought it was strange that he did not watch it. We both love dancing and that was actually how we got together. He could dance very well because he had Ballroom Dance lessons. I asked him to teach me and the next thing I knew, he asked me out to the Rockola Cafe. The rest is history.

I am coming up on this birthday on October 1st and that always makes me take stock. I can say that over this past year and a half I have met some awesome people on Twitter, Facebook, and other networks. I have also learned so much about my church family and just how dear they are. Despite my illnesses, they have shown me how to be the hands and feet of Christ and I love them all so much. My family has been very supportive. Although I don't think they realize the severity of the rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. I wasn't aware of it. I though arthritis was arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease that can really knock you down in a relatively short time. 

 We are getting a new Samsung Fascinate. It was supposed to come yesterday, but I guess it will be here today. I am trying to be patient. LOL. 

·       God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close..Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing...

God is Good All the Time.

What a Week Pink

Clay, Erika, Savannah & Summer

I have two new great-nieces, Savannah and Summer. My lovely niece Erika and husband Clay Scaramaca. They are pictured to the right. Erika is my sister Jan's youngest daughter. They live in Florida not too far from Jan. That is a good thing. Erika has 2 little girls already and I know from experience, twins are a handful. All of Jan's grandchildren are girls. LOL! I think that Heather in Texas has 3 little girls. It is hard to keep up with them all. I can barely keep up with ours. Now I want to go to Florida to visit. I just don't know how our family got so scattered. LOL! Don't you just love babies?                                                                                             I have been sick with the flu since last Thursday. Started out with sneezing, then nausea, then the big "D", fever, dizzy, tired. What else could happen, today it seems to have traveled to my chest. I guess I really need to go to the doctor. I have blood tests this afternoon and I am going to see the doctor after that. Dear Catherine is here today helping me out with the house. I just love her sweet smile and all the help she has been to me all this past year.                                                                  I have been tweeting a lot lately. I have over 32,000 followers. They are so positive. I try to select people with smiles. That way, when I pull up the TweetDeck, everyone is smiling at me. It is so much easier to be positive to smiles. I unfollow lots of people each month who do not follow me back. I think of Twitter as a 2-way street. I follow you, you follow me. Those "celebrities" who do not follow me aren't followed by me over a few days, because they get unfollowed at the end on the month, just like everybody else. Kathy Ireland is the sweetest celebrity, she follows me too, so she never gets deleted. She is so real in everything she does. Her life would be a much better watch than some of the reality shows on TV. She is busy and traveling around the world for charities. Her business is doing well and people really love her. 

It is a beautiful day here in Southeastern Virginia. 72 degrees this morning but only getting to 80 later. I would love to be out in the yard, but I just feel so bad, so I am blogging and tweeting. I even worked on FarmVille some this morning. I guess I am going to have to just quit Farmville. It has gotten aggravating. I like to make the screen big when I am working on the farm and it seems to go back to small screen every minute or two. It is just frustrating to try to do anything. Now, I have to stop planting and go to the Marketplace to purchase gas for my tractor/seeder/harvester. How aggravating is that. Not really a game any more. Becoming like real life, and that could become very boring.

Time for pills. I have missed my O2Breakthrough Training with @ZnaTrainer since last Thursday. I have had trouble breathing and if you cannot take deep breaths, O2 Training doesn't work. Oxygenation is what Zna calls it and it is a very unique way to do it. It really helps with my RA pain, but right now all it does is make me cough. I have viruses. I hope there is something the doctor can give me to help with this problem I have.

I need to get better so I can go to  church tomorrow. I suppose Carol could take the ladies, but I would hate to miss dinner and Bible teaching, even though I have the teaching on DVD. I was going to put them on UTube, but they changed when Google acquired it. Now you cannot put a video on longer than 10 minutes and my videos are over 30 minutes. I cannot even put them on the blog. Pastor Dale Seley is a wonderful pastor and teacher and I am sure that everyone would enjoy his teaching. Maybe when they get the new church website up, they can put his sermons on or at least as podcasts.

I am praying for you today. God is Good, All the time, Love, Barbara

9/11 PINK

Saturday was a difficult day. As we all remember the events of 9/ll/2001, we also have personal memories of where we were and how we felt when we saw the events unfold on television. As for myself, I was home sick that day, waiting to go to the doctor. Ray was in Arlington VA taking a class to become a Professional Registered Parliamentarian. I had gotten up and took a shower, did my hair, and gotten ready to go to see my doctor when a friend called to tell me about the first plane. It is strange, but I cannot remember who called. I turned on the TV just as the second plane was hitting the second tower. Of course, my first reaction was to call Ray in Arlington. No way to get through. I tried on the house phone and on my cell. Nothing. Circuits were busy. I called work and told them what was going on. There was no TV there and no one that I knew of listened to the radio except the boss had a Sirus radio. They had not heard. Then I felt guilt at telling them such horrific news.

When the plane hit the Pentagon, Ray and his classmates, heard and felt the crash. They ran outside and saw the smoke. They had trouble getting back in and later couldn't leave. The hotel was secured because it was a place where military stayed when in DC on duty. I went to the doctor and waited for Ray to call. It was one of the most terrifying days of my life. My blood pressure was up that day, which is truly unusual for me. I couldn't relax until I heard from him. Watching and listening to all the events that happened that day was so traumatic. For weeks and months afterward, I could remember something from that day and feel the tears falling from my eyes.

The thing that was so difficult for me and for so many Christian Americans to understand was that the terrorists did this for their god, Allah (who we think of as Satan). How could a false god inspire people to murder their fellow man? The One True God would never do such a thing. I know that there are people who would disagree, but God didn't approve of this. All this was caused by men who have let false teaching invade their minds and their countries. How could the sons of Abraham be so different. One son follows the only true God and one son follows Satan (who was a creation of God). I guess there is always opposing forces and one day, when Christ returns we will all see the light. Muslims say they see Christ as a prophet, but that is wrong. How could they read His teachings and believe that?  I am just sorry that there are so many nice people who are Muslims who we will not see in Heaven because of their false beliefs.

A Muslim man on line once told me that he prayed 5 times a day and that Christians only prayed on Sunday. I told him he was wrong. As a Christian, my life is a prayer. I pray constantly for others. I pray for their health and well-being. I pray for the protection of their children from forces that could destroy their lives, i.e., sex, drugs, violence, pornography, etc. I pray for the people I have met on Twitter and FaceBook, just as I pray for people in my church, my clubs, my neighbors, our country, and  most of all, our troops. I love them all. I even love Muslims. I try to pray them into true faith. I forgive the terrorists, they are led by people who are insane or brain-washed. I pray for the Holy Spirit to open their minds and hearts to the One True God.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become a sounding brass or, a tinkling cymbal. and through I  have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not Love, it profiteth me nothing.

Love suffereth long and is kind; Love envieth not; Love vaunteth not itself and is not puffed up; Doth not behave itself unseemly, Seeketh not her own, Is not easily provoked, Thinketh no evil, Rejoiceth not in inequity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Love never faileth; but whether there are prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I become a man, I  put away childish things, For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known, And now abideth faith, hope, Love, these three: but the greatest of these is Love. 1 Corinthians 13

Okay, I am off my soapbox. Just please remember, I do not argue. What you believe is your business, I just put my beliefs out there for you to see. I love you all.
GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

Labor Day Pink

We drove down to NC for the weekend. We went out for a Mexican Dinner at our favorite place in Kinston. It was so good. Afterward, we went to Roses. I haven't been in a Roses store in ages. I bought some little blankets for the kids to use at our house. They had some great prices.

Ray and I went to Sam's Club on Sunday and bought a big rack of pork ribs. We took them to Rhonda's and Jesse  put them on the grill after Rhonda parboiled them. We had them with red-potato salad, corn on the cob, and yummy rolls. Later we had strawberry shortcake. Jeff and Sharon brought Dillon and Grandmother Hazel followed them. We finally got to see Taylor's Dance Recital on DVD.

It was a restful weekend altogether and the ride home wasn't bad. Not as much traffic as we thought there would be with the holiday weekend. I had an appointment on Wednesday and my blood PT/INR was too  high (4.6), so I had to go back on Friday and it was 2.6. Thank God.

It was a sad week. On Sunday, Sept 3, our neighbor, Chuck Kessler, passed away. Chuck was a dear sweet man. He and his wife, Barbara, used to keep our grass cut back when I was working. They helped us in so many ways. Our dogs thought they were their grandparents because Chuck and Barbara would watch them when we went off for the weekend or even a week. They couldn't stand the thought of Precious at the Vet for a week or Pepe when he came along. Lovely people. We took them with us as "Roadies" for a long time when we DJ'd. Chuck was a DJ at the NASA Dances in Hampton 20 years ago and had retired but loved going with us. They could dance so well. We went to the reception for him even though it was for family. His niece, Paula is married to Ray's son, Kevin so we are related in a way. The funeral was on Thursday at the Lutheran Church on HW 17. There was a nice crowd and the funeral itself was pretty formal. Chuck was cremated, so it was more of a memorial service.

Evelyn Kenney also passed away on September 3. Evelyn was living in healthcare at the Chesapeake. Reverend Dr. Furman Kenney is her husband. He married Ray and I over 15 years ago and is also in our Lions Club. Evelyn was a lovely woman, great mother, and wonderful wife. She was also a minister but followed her husband of over 60 years. Dr. Kenney was instrumental in starting the Chesapeake when it was known as the Baptist Home. He has a lovely apartment there and has written 4 books in the past few years and I hear that he is working on a new murder mystery.

The third person in my life to pass away this week was Connie Rowe. Connie was a hairdresser that worked at Hairrington Place on Warwick Boulevard in Hilton. When I went in to get my haircut in January 2010, I told her I was going to have surgery for breast cancer. Then she told me that she was starting chemo the next week for cervical cancer. She didn't work any more after that day. She was a ray of sunshine in her life. She brought a smile to everyone.

The most comforting thing about these three dear people, they were devout Christians. It is so much easier when someone you know is a Christian goes to be with the Lord. It is more of a celebration than mourning. I love them all, will miss them, but I will see them again. Praise the Lord. 
God is Good, All the time.

HURRICANE PINK

Hurricane Earl is sweeping toward NC Outer Banks as I type this. I am not frightened of it. The thing that concerns me is the amount of storms out there in the Atlantic waiting to come in. I am not sure we are going to make it to NC home this weekend. I really want to go, but I have had so much trouble this week with the RA and my right hand and arm. The pain has been excruciating. I was put on antibiotics again because the Z-PAC didn't work. Now I am on something else. Anyway, you aren't supposed to take the Embrel shots if you are on antibiotics. By Sunday night the pain was so awful, I took the shot and 20mg of prednisone. Here it is Wednesday, and I just got back the use of my hand. Thought I better write in my blog so that if it goes down again tomorrow, you all will know what happened.

Cresenti came by this afternoon on her way back to NC. She was going to pick up her granddaughter and take her for a few days. Good plan with a hurricane coming. She was upset. Her lawyer is trying to get out of representing her. I think her firm got bent out of joint because she converted to contingency plan and won't get any more money until the case is done, if then. She is pretending that she made a mistake so that it would look illegal for her to continue. She told Cresenti that she will contact the Bar association to find out if what she did was alright or not. She would have to turn Cresenti over to another lawyer which means that Cresenti would have to pay someone else. I told her that she ought to let it be known that she can contact the bar association just as easy as the lawyer could. I may be wrong, but it sure sounds fishy to me.

There was an article in the Religious Herald about a member of our church whose son was lured into the Morman Church. Ray sent it out on FaceBook and I tweeted it. Pastor Seley had them printed and out for the congregation to pick up on Sunday. I found it in the Religious Herald from June 15, 2006. Very interesting article. I will expand on my Thoughts of Christ Blog later this month.

Zna called me Tuesday and I shared a workout with her sister and learned a new O2 Secret. It was really good. Made me light-headed though. I was supposed to go on this morning with another class but I had company and tweeted her that I was busy. Now, we may leave early Thursday morning to go to NC because of the hurricane. I really got nauseated Tuesday after the workout because I am on the pain medication. At least, maybe I can go off the medication before I workout again.