Always Something PINK

That is right. Just when I thought I was getting a handle on this Rheumatoid Arthritis thing, I find out that it is just one of the things wrong. I went back to my new rheumatologist; I have seen her once before. She is different from my previous doctor who retired. She is much younger and enters the information into her computer as she does the examination. I had to get undressed, except for underwear, and she proceeded to poke and press all my pain spots. When she was done, she finished up her notes and told me "You have Fibromyalgia."  

When I got home, I told Ray he had to trade me in on a newer model (always trying to be funny). When I told him what was wrong, he said he would never trade me in for anything in this world. I knew he would say that. He is one of the kindest men that I know. The Lord knew what he was doing when he put Ray in my path.

I do not know if you have been reading my blog all along, but I wrote an article about Rheumatoid Arthritis. I got lots of feedback on that one.  People told me they never thought of RA as anything other than "arthritis." It is an "invisible" disease. People do not realize that you have it until it reaches a level where you are disfigured or relegated to a wheelchair or bed. 

Fibromyalgia is also a "invisible" disease. Both are auto-immune diseases and limit your contact with large groups. Your life is full of anti-bacterial wipes and gloves. It gets painful to walk sometimes and it even hurts when you try to crochet. Just moving my mouse is painful at times.I It is much easier to type than write with a pen. I love to draw, but I am not sure how much longer I will be able to do that. 

I think I used to think Fibromyalgia was just something that they grouped everything into when they were not sure what it was. I tested for 17 points out of 18. It was a definite diagnosis. My other doctor thinks they used to call it fibrocystosis years ago. 

Brain Scans Show Fibromyalgia Patients Process Pain Differently

This is a great article on Fibromyalgia and there is a lot of interesting information. If you think you or someone you love may have it, please click on paragraph title and read the information. 

" Fibromyalgia Symptoms 

Are you living with fibromyalgia symptoms? They can range from pain and sleep problems to dry eyes and irritable bowel."

It’s also important to know your limits and to let others know that you may not be able to do everything you used to. You should not feel bad when you need to say ‘'no’ to requests, Fibromyalgia is a legitimate chronic illness. You have the right to do what you need to do to take care of yourself.

GOD IS GOOD - ALL THE TIME!

ALL THE TIME - GOD IS GOOD!

Blooming PINK

It is actually not pink, but lavender. A friend gave me a orchid plant a couple of years ago and it is blooming. The first time it bloomed for me, there was one tiny flower, now there are many. I am so excited. Funny, I thought all those things coming out of the pot were the stems, but they turned out to be roots. Not sure what to do with them. I guess I will be reading up on orchids.
I seem to have contracted some ugly bug. I have been feeling terrible all day. I have a little temperature. When Ray asked me if I wanted to go to El Tapatio for the Lions Meeting tonight, I just couldn't. I couldn't even imagine that they would have something that I could eat without upsetting my stomach. He brought home some oranges from our club president and his wife. They bought a large box of oranges from another club and didn't know what to do with them all. I love oranges!

I have been watching so many videos about how to make ZenTangles. Now I am working on some myself. I have actually been drawing them for years. I didn't know there was a name or them other than dootles. I think the Zen part is the feeling that comes over you when you are creating the Tangle. It is not really thought out, you just doodle until you think it looks good. I have made quite a few and will be sharing them on Pinterest. For now, here are some you can look at on my ZenTangle Board on Pinterest. (the one pictured is not one I did, but a good example)

For some reason yesterday, as I was trying to wade through the daily onslaught of emails, and it occurred to me that there must be an easier way. #Google does an excellent job of getting rid of SPAM.  Unfortunately, it does not do anything about the people who you do not know, but think they know you. If you read the article, you will see my point-of-view. How can you possibly sort those hundreds of emails? See Boomer-Mom Blog for my answer to the problem. 

I do think there is something I did forget and that will be for another article - those horrendous forwarded emails.

GOD IS GOOD -  ALL THE TIME!

ALL THE TIME - GOD IS GOOD!

PINK SNOW

Last week in the neighborhood.

It has been snowing here. Not news for most of you. The whole Northeast seems to be covered in snow. Now, I hear today, while we still have dirty piles of snow in the parking lots, it is going to snow again. The temperature is just right for another snow storm. Funny though, this one is coming from the South. For some reason, I think most snow storms seem to come from the South here. Normally, the weather here is quite pleasant - not too cold in the winter and not too hot in the summer. Last summer was extremely hot here and now the winter has been colder than normal. 


I was reading the other day about the Earth and our perception of it. We always think of North as up and South is down. The Arctic is "UP" and the Antarctic is "DOWN." It seems as if there is really no up or down to this earth, it is all in our perception. It could actually be upside down. This is a little confusing and I really was to read more about it. It certainly is something to think about.


The Olympics in Sochi, Russia is going on now. The USA seems to be doing very well. I loved the ice-dancing and snow boarding. I haven't seen too many tweets about it. I may look for the hashtag today. I don't look at the main Twitter feed, it scrolls too fast. If you want to know more, you can check out the Washington Post for the latest details from Sochi.

We were supposed to go to NC last weekend, but we both had a stomach virus or something. I just knew I couldn't endure 3.5 hours in a car. I really love going. Family is so important to me. I love my children very much, but someone once told me that "Grandchildren are the reward for having children." If you are a Nana or Papa, you know this is true. The twins are doing so well in school and I am so proud of them. They are 11 years old now and both of them could drive a car if they needed to. They had little motorbikes when they were three and little 4-Wheelers when they were five. Garrett has a little mud  motorcycle. Garrett drives his daddy's truck around the farm. Gosh, I didn't learn how to drive until I was 21 yrs old. My father-in-law taught me. He had a drinking problem and would take a drink every time I did something wrong. We could go out for a couple of hours and by the time we got home, he was really drunk. I had tried to learn before but the people who tried to teach me were just too judgmental and nervous. At least, Mr. Ed didn't correct me every minute.

The Newport New Host Lions Club is having a Craft Sale March 28 and 29, 2014 at the Langley Speedway in Hampton. If you know someone who makes crafts to sell, let them know please or forward this to them. It is only $30 for a 10'x10' space for 2 days. This is our 2nd year and we hope to make it into a yearly event. If you have the resources and live near Hampton VA, could you print a copy of the flyer and hang it in your office or business? I would appreciate it so much. Our club sold Christmas Trees for 56 years on Warwick Blvd as our biggest fundraiser for the year. That was 24 days every December. I use to take annual leave to help and it was very hard work, unloading and setting up trees, then when they were sold, we had to give them a clean cut. I learned to use a chainsaw. Needless to say, with the rising cost of gas, the trees became too expensive for us to buy because every grocery store in town was selling them for less than we could get them from the wholesaler. They were using the trees as lost-leaders to get customer in their stores. 

Anyway, the Craft Fair is our new fundraiser. Lions are the "Knights of the Blind" as dubbed by Helen Keller. If you would like to know more, go to Lions International for the information. We also have a Lions Monthly Magazine that just went online.

Have a great week and I will try to blog more often. I have had a lot of RA trouble, but hopefully it will be going into remission soon. I upped my prednisone a little and that always help. 

Take care and just remember: 

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! 

ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!

Pink and Blue

This year is starting out good. Breast Cancer gone. Rheumatoid Arthritis not giving me too much pain. When I read other blogs, I realize how blessed I am and I thank God every day for all he has given me. Autoimmune diseases, like RA, Fibromyalgia, MS, MD, Eczema, Psoriasis, etc. are known mostly as the invisible diseases, until they become so severe that you cannot help but notice them. This is why it is so important to be kind to everyone. You don't know what kind of pain they are putting up with. Pain makes us impatient and sometimes, just not nice.

We have had two weeks that had snow in them with extremely cold temperatures for this area; -3 degrees in some places. We are blessed by this bad weather, because there are so many areas of the US that were really bad off. I have been praying for them. I have stayed in the house, except to go to the doctor. 

Yesterday wasn't too cold, and we went to Sam's Club and BJ's Warehouse stores. We went to Costco Friday night. I like these stores, because they are hardly ever crowded. I get a little anxious when I have to go to any other type of store.

My therapist says it is partly PTSD. I do take an anti-anxiety drug every day. It just keeps me focused, otherwise, I would drive people nuts with my ADHD. Lets' see, I had BC, and have RA, PTSD, PAD, and ADHD. WOW, Alphabet soup; I really am a mess. Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who is very kind and patient and has taught me to be the same.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. I don't really care for football, but i will probably watch it and tweet it out. I love Twitter. Some guy in Arizona, who runs a RV newsletter, had the nerve to tell me that I tweet too much. He went so far as to count my tweets over a 24-hour period. He said he was going to unfollow me, SO! What to do? I am kidding. A few friends sent him little nasty notes and told him to leave me alone. 

I didn't even unfollow him, so he will probably see some of my tweets anyway. Let me see, One mean person in over 93K people - Now, if he would take off his clothes or swear at me, I would unfollow AND block him. But, if I want to follow huge amounts of people and tweet a lot, and Twitter doesn't seem to mind, it is just none of his business.  By the way, the number of tweets in that 24-hour period seemed to be awfully low. Must have been an off day for me. 

I hope your team wins the Super Bowl cause it really doesn't matter to me. I am a Cowboy Woman. Kind of difficult around here to be a Cowboy fan, especially when my husband is a Redskins Fan. I do watch when they are playing each other. It makes for a very exciting game, because the Cowboys always seem to play the best Football in the last 2 minutes.

Snacks for the game are Cheetos, Kettle Cooked Potato Chips, Crunchy Ravioli, Sliders, Baked Fries, and dip. I may go pick up some wings. I have decided that dieting is useless. I just need to exercise more. 


Our Church called today "Souper Bowl Sunday" and asked that we bring soup for our food ministry. I think that would be a great idea for all who watch the Super Bowl to take a can or two of soup to their nearest Food Pantry drop off place. After the holidays is a difficult time for the Food Pantries. Of course, you could take other staples. canned tuna, chicken, or ham is always a good option. They always need canned vegetables, dried peas, and rice. Think about it, you don't have to do it today, just some time this week. If you are having a Super Bowl Party today, call everyone and tell them in addition to the good snacks they are bringing, bring some food for the Food Bank.

So, I am going to go fix Sunday Dinner now, and will see you after the Super Bowl. 

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! 

ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!