I never thought I would take any kind of break from scrapbooking, and I'm sure it's only a short one, but I have had the "need" to do something for someone else. I've thought and thought about this, scanned the Internet, and finally came up with something. If you've never heard of a prayer shawl or a comfort shawl, this site called The Prayer Shawl Ministry can enlighten you on what they are and their uses. Basically, they are handmade shawls given to someone undergoing any type of change in their life, such as an illness or grieving, where a bit of comfort is needed.
My plan is to make as many as possible to donate to our local hospital's cancer center. I am hoping to also make one for the auction at our upcoming Scrapping From the Heart fundraiser. I'm working on different patterns, including some with more of an open weave for the warmer months. I personally know that doctor's offices and clinics can be quite chilly even in the summer if you have to wait for long periods of time.
I am also selling the shawls in my etsy store with part of the proceeds going back into Project Comfort in order to be able to donate more shawls. Also, if you would like to donate yarn or make a monetary donation, it would be greatly appreciated and certainly be for a good cause. You may contact me at jks4690 "at" aol "dot" com.
I'm currently working on my first shawl, so pictures will follow soon!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
My Neglected Blog
Well, what can I say? From two months of one sickness or another, visits to the dentist, and lack of scrapping mojo, I have completely neglected my little blog here.
Let's see. What's going on? Looking forward to a root canal this Thursday. Care to join me?
Pat has gone to visit her sister and neice for the week since she's on spring break.
Jake is now registered for 5K! That's a hard one to believe.
I have a new transcription job. I'm working as a subcontractor for a company. I love the work they're giving me so far. It's easy and when I'm finished with the dictation files, then I'm finished. No work constantly waiting to be done and making me feel like I should be working all the time. I wish I were an employee instead of a subcontractor because I really don't want any problems at tax time, but I'm really hoping I can be disciplined and put the money needed back for taxes. My "people" at H&R Block are going to help me with this once I get a couple of months under my belt. Sandy at the H&R Block that I go to is so great!
My dad had his right knee replacement. Now both knees are done. I hope he does as well from this one as he did the first. He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation before the surgery and had some issues with the irregular heartbeat while he was in the hospital, but I'm hopeful that this will require nothing more than the blood thinner he'll take. Jake and I have spent the last two Sundays at Papa's and Nana's and enjoyed some really wonderful Sunday dinners. Of course, this does not help me at all with Weight Watchers.
And speaking of WW, I have lost a total of 17 pounds sincen December. I'm so happy about this and really hope I can keep it up. These past two weeks have been kind of rough, but I'm hoping to get back on track, and my mom is joining this Wednesday so having a buddy to go with is great!
I guess that's really it for now. Considering I've spent more time in bed or on the couch these past couple of months, there's not really a whole lot to write about! LOL!
Let's see. What's going on? Looking forward to a root canal this Thursday. Care to join me?
Pat has gone to visit her sister and neice for the week since she's on spring break.
Jake is now registered for 5K! That's a hard one to believe.
I have a new transcription job. I'm working as a subcontractor for a company. I love the work they're giving me so far. It's easy and when I'm finished with the dictation files, then I'm finished. No work constantly waiting to be done and making me feel like I should be working all the time. I wish I were an employee instead of a subcontractor because I really don't want any problems at tax time, but I'm really hoping I can be disciplined and put the money needed back for taxes. My "people" at H&R Block are going to help me with this once I get a couple of months under my belt. Sandy at the H&R Block that I go to is so great!
My dad had his right knee replacement. Now both knees are done. I hope he does as well from this one as he did the first. He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation before the surgery and had some issues with the irregular heartbeat while he was in the hospital, but I'm hopeful that this will require nothing more than the blood thinner he'll take. Jake and I have spent the last two Sundays at Papa's and Nana's and enjoyed some really wonderful Sunday dinners. Of course, this does not help me at all with Weight Watchers.
And speaking of WW, I have lost a total of 17 pounds sincen December. I'm so happy about this and really hope I can keep it up. These past two weeks have been kind of rough, but I'm hoping to get back on track, and my mom is joining this Wednesday so having a buddy to go with is great!
I guess that's really it for now. Considering I've spent more time in bed or on the couch these past couple of months, there's not really a whole lot to write about! LOL!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Shhh....Don't tell anyone, but...
I feel normal today! No chills, no fever, no aches, no head/eye pain! I've even had a VERY productive morning. I'm just afraid to talk about it too much...
Friday, February 6, 2009
Please tell me it's over?
So I'm a couple days out from my 10-day fog, and on Wednesday I'm feeling a little odd. By noon, I've got chills and muscle aches coming in waves. What The Hell? I get through work and collapse. I'm so cold I can't get warm. I don't sleep much that night because I'm shivering so that I can't relax. On Thursday comes this horrendous headache. I'm still taking Lyrica for my facial pain, and after the drug reaction from the other weekend, I'm a little wary of taking anything for the headache. Then, let's add some stomach pain to the headache, shall we? I can tell I'm dehydrated, but nothing sits well. I managed a shower Thursday after work and by 11 pm I was feeling a bit better. I slept better than I had the previous night and this morning, I feel okay. I've just managed to eat a bit for lunch, all this while gagging over the ravioli I made for Jake.
So is this it? Please? Not sure I can take anything else right now.
So is this it? Please? Not sure I can take anything else right now.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Ten Days Lost
If you read my previous post, Ashley got it right on my germ warfare idea. No matter what you call it-mucous, postnasal drip, snot-it's some bad stuff! I truly think I'm right on this course of action. We could defeat any terrorist group! : )
So, yes, for about a week and a half I had a horrible cold or sinus infection, but I woke up during that time to horrible face pain. Great, I thought, the damned nerve pain is back and great again that I have this horrible cold already. Let's see, this was on Friday, January 23. I decided to go ahead and take some medication my mom had brought to me, CVS's version of DayQuil. So every four hours, I took it. Friday night, I kept waking up with the feeling I was suffocating. Saturday morning, I was all but in a full fledged panic attack. I had Pat take me to minor care where they proceeded to take me right in since I mentioned I was having shortness of breath. (Keep in mind that my face hurt so badly by this time and was so swollen around my left eye that it was basically closed. Can you say "Arrrghh!") I get three shots in the ass, an antibiotic, and what the nurse said was a steroid for my eye swelling. I felt a little better as far as the breathing and everything, but the eye pain continued to increase and my left eye just was not going to open. Forget bright lights, moving my head to fast, anything like that. Sunday, I was out of it all day. Nothing relieved the pain. About $200 spent so far.
Thanks to my dad (I couldn't drive at all.), on Monday, I went to my regular doctor who after finding out all my symptoms suggested I see an ophthalmologist because he was afraid I had acute angle glaucoma. I explained that the last time I had this pain I had seen an ophthalmologist, and my eyes were fine. Still, he wanted me to do this. Okey dokey. Oh, and that steroid for the eye swelling...an antihistamine. Dang nurse. $62.00
On Tuesday, my poor dad came up again to take me to the ophthalmologist. Nothing wrong with my eyes. Steroid eye drops. Knew that. $217 poorer.
The worst of it was after we left the ophthalmologist. I already had nausea with this pain, so I guess after the eye exam really stirred things up, that was all I could take. We didn't get very far when I had to tell my dad to stop the car. Guess it's just good we didn't stop in a restaurant parking lot or customers would have ran screaming. And let this be known that I would rather have 1000 needles stuck anywhere on my body than to vomit. Oh. My. Goodness.
The rest of Tuesday was spent trying to sleep through the pain with the help of some tramadol, but as much as it had worked for me in the past for another type of pain, it wasn't cutting it with this. Wednesday was no better and finally when I woke up on Thursday with still no relief, I called my doctor again. I begged him to look at my chart and see that I was given Lyrica in the past for this. Lyrica is a drug given to people with fibromyalgia and nerve pain specifically. I asked for a prescription to be called in. Well, another $236 later, that I would gladly spend again, I had my prescription. By late Thursday night, I could feel some relief coming. Friday morning, I could raise my head and even touch my face a little. Yes, even touching my face was like sending an electric current through my head.
By Saturday, the light sensitivity wasn't too bad, the swelling had gone down considerably, but I had blurred vision and it seemed my eyes didn't want to work together. I'm sure with my eye being closed for so long that it has to accomodate again to working like it should. Sunday was a tad better.
Now it is Tuesday and although I am so much better, I still have some facial numbness at my temple and my left eye is struggling with peripheral vision and focus when I move my head. I basically have to close my eye, turn my head to the left or right, and then open my eye. Turning my head with the eye open, I have double vision.
Hopefully, things will be close to normal by the end of the week. I'm getting new eyeglasses on Thursday, which I've needed for quite some time.
Thanks to all my friends for their thoughts and prayers and to Pat, my mom, and dad for their help as well. Let's hope this doesn't come back anytime soon.
On a lighter note, Last Friday Mr. Jake was invited by my friends, Lisa and Mandy, to go see Hotel for Dogs with them and Lisa's neice, Haleigh, who Jake just adores. He was very excited, but nervous to be going alone, without Mommie. After some persuasion, he went, and he is still talking about the movie. It's so funny listening to a 5 year old tell you about a movie he's just seen. I'll be anxious to see it for myself.
So, yes, for about a week and a half I had a horrible cold or sinus infection, but I woke up during that time to horrible face pain. Great, I thought, the damned nerve pain is back and great again that I have this horrible cold already. Let's see, this was on Friday, January 23. I decided to go ahead and take some medication my mom had brought to me, CVS's version of DayQuil. So every four hours, I took it. Friday night, I kept waking up with the feeling I was suffocating. Saturday morning, I was all but in a full fledged panic attack. I had Pat take me to minor care where they proceeded to take me right in since I mentioned I was having shortness of breath. (Keep in mind that my face hurt so badly by this time and was so swollen around my left eye that it was basically closed. Can you say "Arrrghh!") I get three shots in the ass, an antibiotic, and what the nurse said was a steroid for my eye swelling. I felt a little better as far as the breathing and everything, but the eye pain continued to increase and my left eye just was not going to open. Forget bright lights, moving my head to fast, anything like that. Sunday, I was out of it all day. Nothing relieved the pain. About $200 spent so far.
Thanks to my dad (I couldn't drive at all.), on Monday, I went to my regular doctor who after finding out all my symptoms suggested I see an ophthalmologist because he was afraid I had acute angle glaucoma. I explained that the last time I had this pain I had seen an ophthalmologist, and my eyes were fine. Still, he wanted me to do this. Okey dokey. Oh, and that steroid for the eye swelling...an antihistamine. Dang nurse. $62.00
On Tuesday, my poor dad came up again to take me to the ophthalmologist. Nothing wrong with my eyes. Steroid eye drops. Knew that. $217 poorer.
The worst of it was after we left the ophthalmologist. I already had nausea with this pain, so I guess after the eye exam really stirred things up, that was all I could take. We didn't get very far when I had to tell my dad to stop the car. Guess it's just good we didn't stop in a restaurant parking lot or customers would have ran screaming. And let this be known that I would rather have 1000 needles stuck anywhere on my body than to vomit. Oh. My. Goodness.
The rest of Tuesday was spent trying to sleep through the pain with the help of some tramadol, but as much as it had worked for me in the past for another type of pain, it wasn't cutting it with this. Wednesday was no better and finally when I woke up on Thursday with still no relief, I called my doctor again. I begged him to look at my chart and see that I was given Lyrica in the past for this. Lyrica is a drug given to people with fibromyalgia and nerve pain specifically. I asked for a prescription to be called in. Well, another $236 later, that I would gladly spend again, I had my prescription. By late Thursday night, I could feel some relief coming. Friday morning, I could raise my head and even touch my face a little. Yes, even touching my face was like sending an electric current through my head.
By Saturday, the light sensitivity wasn't too bad, the swelling had gone down considerably, but I had blurred vision and it seemed my eyes didn't want to work together. I'm sure with my eye being closed for so long that it has to accomodate again to working like it should. Sunday was a tad better.
Now it is Tuesday and although I am so much better, I still have some facial numbness at my temple and my left eye is struggling with peripheral vision and focus when I move my head. I basically have to close my eye, turn my head to the left or right, and then open my eye. Turning my head with the eye open, I have double vision.
Hopefully, things will be close to normal by the end of the week. I'm getting new eyeglasses on Thursday, which I've needed for quite some time.
Thanks to all my friends for their thoughts and prayers and to Pat, my mom, and dad for their help as well. Let's hope this doesn't come back anytime soon.
On a lighter note, Last Friday Mr. Jake was invited by my friends, Lisa and Mandy, to go see Hotel for Dogs with them and Lisa's neice, Haleigh, who Jake just adores. He was very excited, but nervous to be going alone, without Mommie. After some persuasion, he went, and he is still talking about the movie. It's so funny listening to a 5 year old tell you about a movie he's just seen. I'll be anxious to see it for myself.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Put away your guns! It's GERM WARFARE!
I have it! I have the solution to winning the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and any war from here on out!
What I have discovered makes most people toss their cookies. NO ONE wants to touch it or have it touch them. It's better than any net because of it's stickiness and viscosity. It sends most GROWN MEN running! Once you have it, it's almost impossible to get rid of. It can close off any opening, i.e. a cave where the Taliban are hiding, and insures there is no escape.
What I haven't figured out is how to harvest this, but I do know that giant balloons filled with the stuff dropped on our enemies is all it will take! It could even be used in minimal amounts to break up disruptive protesters in our own country, fighting teenagers, and wives could purchase small balloons of the stuff to use on unruly children/husbands.
Another thing on harvesting is that it would take place mostly in the winter months, but I THINK we could probably have a stockpile in no time at all.
Do you know what it is--What my solution to guns and war and all that is? It's not Ricin (sp) or any of those other horrible agents. Nah, those are certainly dangerous, but there's something about this agent that...well, if you're a mom, you know JUST what I'm talking about...
Maybe I'll let you guess! : )
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Gutter Girlz Sneak!
The latest Gutter Girlz challenge will be revealed on the 15th! If you haven't jumped in to play with us, this prompt is a great one to start with! Here's a little sneaky from me!
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