Be positive, be positive!

OK, so I have had a rough time over the last couple weeks especially, but I am CHOOSING to be positive, and not dwell on the negative, or allow the negative thoughts to darken my doorway.

The facts (according to the doctor), are that I’m having (according to the last sleep study done in 2007) 22-28 breathing episodes within one hour. Those episodes could be anywhere from a little cough, me snoring (or as my friends will call it—sawing logs, lol), up to me temporarily stopping breathing while I’m sleeping. I don’t have a long enough break in between episodes to enter true REM sleep mode, and therefore never officially enter “dreamland”. I have been having a lot of issues with sleep, and according to the 3 hour long doctor visit, the lack of slep could be, and probably is the root cause of a ton of health problems that I have been having.

So…. if the sleep issue is the root of a lot of my health problems, I am CHOOSING to stay positive that the sleep study I am having to do this coming Friday will help to put an end to the sleep problems and get me healthier, by getting my CPAP adjusted and getting fitted for the correct mask. The CPAP has been ineffective up until now, because the respiratory therapist who originally set everything up didn’t do it appropriately.

There is more involved in this whole ordeal, but I’m really condensing it—mostly because I don’t want to bore you with details.

I guess the purpose of this post (I know, I haven’t posted in awhile—I need to work on that!) is to ask you all- those of you that believe in prayer—to agree with me that the sleep study will go well, and that the problems that I encounter on a typical night at home will reproduce there during the study as well, and “murphy’s law” won’t happen—so we can get the problems addressed and treated, and I can start sleeping better.

I may be choosing to think positive, but I am human! I am really nervous about this test. It isn’t a walk in the park, and I know—I’ve done it a few times now. There’s all kinds of electrodes and wires hooked up to you, and they expect you to sleep like that!! I’ll have to try to remember to take a picture of myself with all the wires on me, so that you get an idea. (and probably a good laugh! )I know I took one back in 2007--- I wonder if I still have it? Hmmmm….

Anyway, thanks for the thought and prayers. They are certainly appreciated!!!

Test

I am attempting to blog from my phone. Wondering if it works....

Ahhhh….. Vacation!

Get your coffee ready… this is a long post!

I must say, I am really enjoying my vacation here in Missouri. I’ve been here since Thursday, and I still have till Tuesday before I have to go back home!

This trip has been so good for me. I needed to step away from the everyday life for a little bit and take a breather. I feel more relaxed, and I think come Tuesday, I will be ready to face my everyday life again.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m visiting my dear friend Hummie. Prior to this trip, she and I had never met in person. But we have known each other for about three years, and I have been working for her for about a year and a half. I think that this time together has really strengthened our friendship.

So let’s see….. what have we done since I’ve been here….

Thursday- I arrived at the St Louis airport. She picked me up, and then we drove the 2 hours to her house. Then we hung out on the patio and chatted away!

Friday- She had to work during the day, but ended up having to come home early due to an injury that she incurred on her foot. Later, we went to her church  to rehearse with the music director there. (they asked me to sing at their church). Then we wet up with her hubby, and they took me to this restaurant called BG’s… and it was the most AMAZING food! In fact, the potato skins there were the best EVER!! We had a lot of fun there.

Saturday- We started out our day with a live Digiscrap Map show. I never realized how much work actually went into one of these shows!! It was fun, though! Afterwards, we went to a winery…. my first time ever at a winery, in fact. They had an authentic brick oven.. and we had pizza…. it was sooooooo yummy! After dinner, we went out to the deck to listen to the music (it was vinyl record night), take in the scenery, and just talk. It was nice and relaxing. Then we walked (as Hummie hobbled- poor thing!) to the deck and took some pictures (I need to get those photos from her camera by the way!) and chatted some more.

Sunday- I sang at BOTH of the AM services at their church. Wanna see? Both of the versions of the song are on this video… but backwards. The second service is first. Haha…

Singing at Hummie’s church

After service, we went to the outdoor waterpark. Now THAT was a lot of fun! We both had waterproof cameras with us, so we used them and took photos and videos. Hummie and I put together a little montage of some of the highlights. The first few minutes during the photos, there is no sound, but when the videos start, be sure not to have your speakers up too loud, or you’ll get blasted lol!

Waterpark fun

Turns out, we both got a lot of sun and got ourselves burnt! lol

Oh.. and then after that, we went to one of my favorite places… Culver’s restaurant. They have the BEST frozen custard!!

Monday- I was really sore that morning from being burned! I spent the day just relaxing and working in the forum. Dinner here at the house- and then the most amazing POPCORN made by Hummie’s hubby. Seriously—I need to learn his secret to that popcorn!!!

Tuesday- This was so fun…. I got to see Hummie teach a digital scrapbooking class! It was really a treat for me to observe (and sometimes help) her teaching others, and laughing and enjoying all their A-HA! moments. It really brought it to “life” for me… we all just know her teaching from her videos…. it was so cool to see her teach LIVE!

It was a tiring day for us, so we took a couple hours and just hung out and relaxed, then later that night, we had our second digiscrap map show, and scrapped a layout together. It made for an interesting evening to say the least lol.

Wednesday- I spent the whole day (10a-5p) out on their patio with my laptop. I had a goal I wanted to achieve, which was to make sure that I have commented on every single layout in the gallery this year. I am happy to say that I have caught up with 2011! I have a little more that I have to do for 2010, but I’ll get to that eventually. Right now, I am happy! 

When Hummie got home from work, we went out to dinner to Buckner’s for dinner. That was yummy, but the greatest part was the view of the riverfront. Sadly, the river is still really high, so the flood walls are closed, and we couldn’t get the full effect, but like I told her, it just gives me another reason to come back!

Hummie drove me around their quaint little downtown area, showing me some of the landmarks, then we headed home, grabbes our swimsuits, and headed for the gym. We got into the hot tub first. AHHHHHH!!! Talk about relaxation!!! Then she led the way to the sauna. I have never been in a sauna. It was quite an experience. We chatted and prayed together (nice place for that!!), then headed to the therapy pool, where there was already a game of water volleyball going on, so we joined them. So fun, but so tiring!! I learned fairly quickly that I’m way out of shape, but I was a trooper, and even had the ladies laughing. They got a kick out of the faces I was making apparently lol!

By the time we got back, I was completely wiped out!! We watched some TV, had some popcorn (I’m telling you, this stuff is amazing!!), and called it a night.

Which brings us to today. I’ve pretty much just hung out here at their house, kind of recouping from yesterday. Muscles I forgot I even had (haha) were screaming at me this morning! Now, Hummie should be home any minute, and I’ll have to come back and tell you what we ended up doing!!

If you read up to this point, you’re quite a trooper!! I’m proud of you! I will have to come back and share some photos with you all later when she and I have a chance to share photos with each other. 

Until next time,

Getting more excited!!

The one month countdown has begun... I even got an email today from Southwest Airlines reminding me that I'm going to St Louis in one month. I cannot begin to describe to you how excited I am that this is finally happening! I have wanted to meet Hummie live and in person for a long time now, and it's really going to happen! We have been planning on some things to do, one of which is to go to this restaurant where they throw rolls at you. Ha! I told her that she just wants to have a reason to get a blackmail picture lol! :p

But more than seeing anything, I am just really looking forward to hanging out with her and her family. They have a really nice patio, and I can see us having fun out there, just relaxing and talking. Oh... and I have to get some quality hot tub time in at her gym, too! Nice and relaxing.... ahhhhh.....

Speaking of relaxing, I have my massage therapy appointment tomorrow. Really looking forward to that, as my neck is all kinds of messed up right now. I am so thankful that I am able to get the massage therapy. My doctor even- without me having to ask- extended my visits so that I could keep going. I have an awesome doctor!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated you about health stuff. I'm still having some issues sleeping, but my doctor says it might have something to do with me not using my CPAP machine like I am supposed to. I had a sleep study done three years ago, and they diagnosed me with sleep apnea. I don't like using the CPAP, but I guess I need to get back in the habit of using it if I want to see if it will help me get a good nights sleep, huh?

I have been also seeing a pain management doctor for my Fibro. I have had joint injections twice now, and there is a possibility for a third set on my other side of my neck, since it seems like I haven't gotten any relief from the other injections. The TENS helps for the "right now" pain, but it's not really a long term solution. But hey-- I'll take what I can get, right?

Well, today has been a bittersweet day. I had to say goodbye to a couple of kids that I have come to love. They were foster kids of friends of mine, and today they were reunited with their birth mom permanently. I will miss them!

Well, on that note, I suppose I shall get ready for bed. Sorry this post seemed to go on a lot of tangents.... I guess I had a lot to cover lol!

But more than anything.... I can't wait till June 23rd!!!

Super Excited!!

I have been wanting to visit my dear friend Hummie for quite some time now, and now it’s actually going to happen! Yes, you read that right…. I’m going to Cape Girardeau to see Hummie! It’s official, cause I’ve got the flight booked!!!

We both were so excited, that we made videos!

Here’s mine:

Dawn is excited!

And here is Hummie’s:

Hummie is excited, too!

I have to say that I really LOVE Hummie’s video! It made me smile from ear to ear! And I think I’ve watched it now at least a dozen times! lol

This will be my first real vacation in a long time. The first one when I’m traveling alone anyway. I’ve gone with groups, and I will be taking a group trip in August, but this is extra special!  

I downloaded an app on my phone so that I can blog from it, but I haven’t done so yet. I have tons of photos on my phone that I would love to show you! d

For now though, I’m going to go. I just wanted to share the good news, and hope that you will share in my excitement!!

Life as I know it

I guess I should take a moment to update you on the goings-on with me health wise. It’s been a struggle, between physical therapy, massage therapy, PCP (primary care physician), neurology, and now the added pain management appointments.

Long story short, I have Fibromyalgia. And arthritis.

I am glad to finally have an answer for why I have been feeling the way I have been feeling, but at the same time, I just don’t want it. But then again, who wants to have health problems?

So- the plan of action as of right now is that I am going in to the pain care doctor to get facet joint injections- the first set of injections will be on April 8th (next Friday), and they will be injecting steroids into my lower back.  Then, I go back on April 15th and do it all again- but in my neck this time. I am really nervous about it, because he made no bones about the fact that it is going to hurt. They will moderately sedate me- to help me relax, but it’s gonna hurt. Boo.

But with all that being said, I don’t want to be negative about this. I don’t want to focus on all the bad things about this. Though admittedly, with being in pain, it’s hard to think of anything positive about it.

I am looking ahead past the injections- to a life with less pain. Even if only temporary. I am looking forward to not being in what I have come to call a “fibro fog” (ask Hummie, she knows all about it, lol!).

This is life as I know it- but I am looking ahead to healing.

My awesome Nephew! :) (I have bragging rights lol!)

I wanted to share with you some photos that I took today (and a few that was taken of he and I).

A little late, but I’m celebrating three years!

I had intentions of blogging on Feb 28th or March 1st, but of course life has gotten in the way. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing!! I’ll explain in a moment.

First, I have to tell you that on February 29th, 2008, I made the discovery of digital scrapbooking, and made my first layout using Microsoft Picture It. Wow- have I come a long way since then! I even have the privilege of working with and for one of the BEST digi-scrap teachers out there!! That would of course be the amazingly awesome Hummie!! If I was at home and on my home computer, I’d share my very first layout ever with you…. maybe I will another time.

I bought myself a digi-birthday present, lol… a new external hard drive! I previously had a 350gb one, and it wasn’t huge in size, but big enough to make it hard to take with me. Here’s a pic of my old one:

That’s not too terribly huge, right? But I really wanted an ultra portable one, and more importantly, USB powered. And I wanted a larger amount of space, so I got this:

It is 1tb in size, so I think it is safe to say that I won’t be needing any more space for awhile!! I got it on Friday, and I’ve since gotten all my pictures, music, and documents from both my laptop and PC, and I’m slowly working on a project that I’ve put off for three years…. TAGGING and DELETING digi stuff that I know I won’t use!!!! on Saturday, I took some time to go through JUST my alphas. I went from like almost 10 gigs worth of alphas down to just a total of 17 alphas…. soon to be 18 when I get Hummie’s new alpha downloaded

OK, so now that I’ve shared my new toy with you…. I want to introduce you to the newest member of my family… my nephew Evan!

Isn’t he just ADORABLE!?!?!? Not that I’m partial or anything lol!!

He was born Tuesday, Feb 22nd at 4:44 pm. I am one proud Auntie!! He really is a sweet baby!

Yay for babies!!!!!

What a week!

Hey there blogland! This last week has been a whirlwind for me. I've been crazy busy lately, but hey- it keeps me out of trouble, right? lol How was your Valentine's Day? Mine was ok-- Valentine's Day was my Grandpa's birthday, so I get a little sad during the first part of the day, but as the day goes on, I try to think of all the good memories and it helps me get through the day. I have photos of him up in the attic, but I can't get up there right now, or I'd share a couple with you. Maybe I will yet this week, who knows? I want to remind you all about the importance of backing up your files. Digi stash, photos, music, documents.... they are all important, and if something were to happen to your computers hard drive, I'd hate to hear that you've lost everything! I'm reminding you, because I had to remind myself last week when I thought my EHD crashed! That was soooooo scary! So, soon I will be purchasing a second hard drive. I thought about using an online sernice such as carbonite or mozy, but I have over 100gb in digi stash alone, and my transfer rate would only be 9gb a day at best, so for me, that's not a feasible option, as I don't leave my computer on 24/7. I just feel that it's not safe for your computer to leave it on all the time. How about you? What storage options do you utilize? I'd love to know!

Quick update

Hey everyone!

First, sorry about the last post. I noticed that there were a lot of grammatical errors- that was actually typed from the qwerty keyboard on my phone! LOL.

I need to play cartch up in the forum today, but I just wanted to let you all know what's going on. I went to see a new Physical Therapist and a Neurologist yesterday. They both agreee with a preliminary diagnosis of Fibromyalsia. I am still working on comprehending what this is exactly, but Hummie did a wonderful thing and created a chatter thread (need to be a registered user of Hummie's World to view it) to discuss this disease. Through that, I will share how I'm doing and any news related to that. I will try to keep you informed here as well... but I don't want to be a downer blogger. I want to focus on positive things. I think I'll share more of the struggle part in that chatter thread, because there are others in the forum that also have this disease, and I will learn a lot from them, I think. I want to use this blog and the chatter box at Hummie's World for more positive things that my aches and pains. Ya know what I mean, jellybean?

So on that note, I think I will close for now, and get back to work! I have some catching up to do in the forum!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Trying again

I have not dne a good job with keeping this blog up. I have, in fact, failed in many areas. I am human. Thats all i can say about it.
All i can do now is move forward. I am making the choice to leave what has been done and not done behind and look to today and days ahead.
So, i am not going to sit here and tell you that i am committng to do such and such a number of blog posts every day, every other day, or what have you. I am not going to again set myself up for failure.
Instead, i am going to say that I recognize that I am a bad blogger, and tell you that i will do the best i can in keeping up with this. Now, it may not b in any organized way. Some weeks i might blog every day, while others i may only blog once or twice... but either way, its gotta be better than what i am ding now.
So, dear blog readers, what do you want to see here on this blog. I woner if anyone even reads my blog. Ive probably lost a lot of people when i dropped the ball on the 30 days of gratitude.
So... if for no one else, i am doing this for me. Oh.. and by the way, im typing this from my phone! That accessbility alone should help me to blog more often. I love technology!!

Until next time.... be safe! Its cold and snowy here in Ohio!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

testing

So i guess i failed at the 30 days of thanksgiving back in november. Im really disappointed in myself about that, but onward and upward!
I got a new phone last week, and it would seem that I can make posts from my phone. With having a qwerty keyboard now, im hoping that i will get to be more faithful in keeping up with this. I just yesterday had to renew my domain and hosting, so i need to make use of it.
Not much to say today yet. I mainly just wanted to test thi to make sure this app works. Heres hoping!!!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Gratitude day 9

So, I'm doing better at keeping up with this! I guess it helps when my cell phone chirps a reminder at me ;) Today started out as a bad day. I won't get into specifics. At least not now. I'm trying to focus on the positives here and not dwell on the negatives. Today I'm thankful for my friend Linda. She is the secretary at our church, and every week she picks up lunch for me since I can't drive. Today she was such a help when I did an oopsie and spilled her Coke all over the carpet! She happened to have some carpet stain remover and so I dabbed, dabbed, dabbed at it, and praying I come back in the morning to the stain gone. Otherwise my pastor won't be so pleased with me!! Linda may not see this post, but I did tag her in my status on Facebook, so she'll know how appreciative I am of her!! See ya tomorrow!

Gratitude Day 8

Sorry for another quickie post, but I'm just so doggone TIRED!!! Today I got surprised with a tub of pumpkin ice cream, so today I'm thankful for that!! Yummmm!! In case anyone is interested, it is Edy's brand. I really like the Kroger brand- it has pie crust and marshmallow in it! MMMMMMM!!!

Gratitude day 7

Man, what a weekend!

  I was babysitting for friends over the weekend. It was crazy! But all was forgotten when I got to church and I found out that my Windows 7 disc came in the mail!! So as soon as I got home, I got out my laptop and started the process of upgrading from Vista to 7. I have another license for my PC, but since that one is currently running XP, it is more of a process to get that one upgraded. It involves backing up everything and starting fresh pretty much. So, I’m not looking forward to the process, but I AM looking forward to having a new OS!

So today, I’m thankful for technology lol! Seriously- technology has taken the world by storm! I know I would be just fine without my gadgets, but it makes the humdrum of the daily grind so much FUN!

Gratitude day 6

Man, what a crazy couple of days it has been! I’ve been over at a friends house babysitting their kids and foster kids overnight last night so they could have a getaway.

I also babysit another couple with foster kids, and when I lived in Nebraska, I had another family that I babysat for that had small foster children as well as teenage foster children.

It got me to thinking today. It really does take a special person/couple/family to take in children that are not your own. These are children that were removed from their own homes due to their parents inability to care for them, or in a lot of cases, abuse is a factor in their removal from their home.

So today I am thankful for all you foster families out there. You deserve so much more than a thank you. Thanks to you, children are not in an environment that is unsafe or unhealthy.

Gratitude Day 5

So I’m trying to be better at keeping up with this. I’m babysitting for three kids under the age of three, so I’m going to be headed to bed here soon.

Today I am grateful for my mode of transportation. Being visually impaired, I depend on the public transit system to get around. More specifically, the para transit. This is a service that you must apply to receive, and it takes you everywhere the public bus goes, but instead of a fixed route, this is door to door service. I may have my issues with them, but what it all boils down to is that if I didn’t have this service available, I wouldn’t be getting anywhere!!!

So that’s what I’m grateful for today.

I also want to be able to put some pics on here from my day with my good friend Annette last Sunday, but I’ll have to do that sometime after I get home. To be honest, I’ve been so busy this week that I haven’t even downloaded them from my camera yet!! Yikes!!

Till tomorrow,

Day 3 and Day 4

So I’m late posting again. I PROMISE that this won’t become a habit!!

  For yesterday, I posted on facebook that I was grateful for my bed. If you look through the posts, you’ll know that I recently redecorated my room. This has been a rough week for me so far, and so I was very happy to sleep last night. And I slept in, too!

Today, I am grateful for my digi scrap friends. I have come to know a lot of you on a personal level, and you have become family to me. You know who you are!! Especially to Hummie, who is such a great person and very dear to me.

Speaking of Hummie, I need to get back to work!!!

 

Later!

Day 2.... a little late

So I have already failed in my goal of blogging every day this month. I was helping deal with a sick child, and just couldn't find the time. So for yesterday-- I am thankful for all you momies out there.... especially those of you with multiple children 3 and under, and even more especially when said children are sick. I'm not a mom, but I do babysit, and I spent the last 2 days caring for 2 children under 14 months old who had fevers. I still pray that someday, I'll be a mommy. I'll be back later tonight with todays post :)

Gratitude

What is gratitude? The dictionary defines it as: a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation. There is so much to be thankful for. I'm going to spend this month on focusing on the POSITIVES and not on the negative. So... let's begin! Today, I am thankful for such wonderful friends and family. I have a FANTASTIC support system, and I don't know where I would be without them. Today, I had to go to the hospital for a CT scan of my sinuses, and my wonderful friend Cindy took me to it so I didn't have to use TARPS. You ROCK, Cindy!!! What are you thankful for today?