Prayer for a friend in Ministry!

Please pray for my dear friend. She and her hubby just moved on Sunday to a new church. Many of us have experienced this before so we know a little about where they are right now. The thing that makes this move a little more difficult for her hubby is that the church he was on staff at was his home church. He grew up in that church, served during summers while in college and once he got out of college he became full time there. He had been on staff there for 14 years! Can you believe that! WOW.......

They know the move they made was one that God completely orchestrated. There were too many things that happened for it not to be from Him. SO just pray for them as they settle in to this new church. Pray for him as he adjusts to some new personalities among staff and church members. Pray for her as she finds her place there too. Pray for her a friend that can be there in person for her. Pray that they feel the peace of God in their lives right now.

Thank you friends!

The 2 Pound Challenge!!

So as you all know, I have had that little weight loss ticker on the side bar for some time now. Well, I need to go change the information, because I believe I have gained back the little bit of weight I lost, so don't be suprised if you look over there and it has moved back to it's starting point. Between all the prednisone, and stress eating I have done in the past several weeks I am sure it will be back at the start. On a positive note, I don't believe I have ADDED any weight!

Anyway, the hubby posed a challenge to me the other day. He calls it "the 2 pound challenge". (Kind of like the million pound challenge that is going on, but more tailored to the two of us!) We both need to loose weight so this will motivate us both. His deal is that we strive to loose 2 pounds a week and the first person to 10 will get to buy a new outfit!!!! To most men that wouldn't be much of a prize, but you don't know my hubby! HE LOVES TO SHOP!!! More than I do, and just about as much as most women in the US!!!! (and he won't kill me for telling you that, because it IS true!)

We both have at least 30 pounds to loose, so that could be 3 new outfits! However I did tell him that if/when I loose 30 pounds, whether I am the first or not, I will need a whole new wardrobe!!! He didn't say anything, but I bet if I loose 30 pounds he will gladly hand over his credit card!! :)

Anyway, I am off to change the ticker......kind of sad and depressing, but times are changing, and things will get better!

Brawl at the TBall Park!!

Ok, I really do hope to start posting on things a little more spiritual, but I just had to share about my "near brawl" at the ball park last night.

I am NOT a confrontational kind of gal! However, the older I get, the less likely I am to back down. (I know this doesn't coincide with the whole Proverbs 31 thing....but I am human!) Well, before the games last night, there were some pretty nasty storms. But since those storms had passed, you know the game had to go on!!!! SO, when we got to the park, the front lot was full of cars and the back lot was covered in MUD from all the rain, so EVERYONE was double parked. Cars were parked right behind cars and all crammed in to spaces. So, my dear hubby just pulled right behind another car and called it good.

Well, the game went on, and I must say my little ball player did quite well! He didn't have to use the T at all, and he hit some pretty good line drives! All that being said.....the game was coming to an end, there were probably only 3 batters left and it would be over. When out of no where comes this mother from one of the 7, 8 and 9 year old teams yelling to the top of her lungs at all of us saying,

"YOU TBALL PARENTS NEED TO MOVE YOUR VEHICLES. SOME OF US ARE
TRYING TO LEAVE!"

I looked back to notice that it was OUR truck behind hers. Then she put something on the hood of her car and walked back to where the team was meeting with the coach. I looked back at the other women sitting around me and said, "When she comes back I'll go move it."

Some of the other mothers said, "I wouldn't want to walk over there. That woman looks like she could take several of us out at once!" "She should have been more polite about it!"

While I did agree with what many of them were saying, my intentions were to watch for her, then when she headed back that direction I would go move the truck so she could get out, then pull up in that spot. (there was nowhere to move to at this point....the place was packed!) So, we are all sitting, watching, and waiting. Then I see that she is turning that direction so I start to stand....... and that is when she set the alarm off on her car!!!!!!!!!!!

LOUD, honking noise right behind our stands! Can you believe it? When the honking started....... I sat back down and said, "Well, since she did that I am not going over there now!" Then I stood up, walked over to my 6'3" hubby and said, "I need you to go move the truck. If I do, and that woman says something to me.....I just might loose my witness with some of these women!"

He asked what was going on, I told him and he walked right over to the truck. He walked over with a look of "Woman, don't say a word......or I'll sick my wife on you!" NO...... not really, but he did go to the truck and she took one look at him and walked the other way! HA!!! The grandma's of our little team thought it was hilarious. They were glad for my safety that I gave Carlton the keys and they loved the look on the woman's face when she saw him coming.

When Carlton walked back over to where we all were, the Grandma's of the group laughed and told him how much they loved the look on the woman's face. Then he told us all she said to him was "Thank you!" They all laughed.

All over some parking!

Here's where things are.....

We, I went back to the Allergist/Immunologist this morning. He tells me, after studying my case history from my family doctor and all the lab results that he doesn't think that I had a "true" angioedema. He told me my glucose levels were high and that he thinks that it is all related to kidneys!

I can't help but feel that I am on some wild goose chase here!

I asked for copies of the test results and have spent the last hour or so looking up information. I am going to ask that the blood tests be repeated in a week. That way all the medications (mainly the steroids) are out of my system. The steroids didn't affect the glucose tests, but they could have affected all the others. My white blood cell count was 18.5 and normal is 3.8 - 10.8. There were other parts to the white blood cell count that were VERY high as well. But even the doctor said that could have been related to the steroids. The other set of tests that were elevated were related to the kidney. They were not extremely high, but high enough to concern him. However after looking online, they could have been high because of the steroids as well.

The only number that concerns me is the glucose. The number was not high enough to diagnose diabetes, but was high enough to definitely diagnose pre-diabetes. And since I am currently 25 - 30 pounds overweight, and I had two children that were over 10 pounds (yes I know....OMG!!) then that does put me at a higher risk for developing diabetes. And not to mention that I have had to go to the bathroom A LOT in the past couple of weeks......I have even been waking up at night to go......

The kidney thing does concern me a little since I did read online today that those who have a horseshoe kidney (like myself) do have a higher risk for renal cell carcinoma and hydronphrosis.....however I do not have ANY symptoms of these things.....except for the elevated levels.....that could be a result of all the steroids.

So, still a matter of prayer.

My posts from this point on will not be related to all my AILMENTS!!!! Until I know more from doctors. But I WILL keep you all posted if something comes up! I am just so tired of dealing with it all, and I need to find BETTER, more uplifting things to post about!!! :)

Love you all!

WOW Quote!

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, satan shudders & says..."Oh no....she's awake!!"

This was one of those things that when you saw it you just had to copy and paste it right into a post. I stole it from Angel's site!

Spoke TOO soon!!!

Ok, many of you had been asking how I was feeling and as of Monday morning I was feeling much better. A little bloated from all the Prednisone, but better. Then came my drive home.....

On the way home I called and talked to my mother for a few minutes. After I got off the phone, I started noticing a tight feeling in the muscle under my chin. Then within seconds there was a numbness in my face. Do you remember going to the dentist and having that mask with the "laughing gas" put on your face? Do you remember the way your nose and mouth started feeling a little numb? Well, that is exactly how my face felt! My gums even felt like they had rubbed some of that cherry flavored numbing gel on them. VERY WEIRD!!!!

SO, I called my hubby (yes I called him first...I was a little freaked out by it all) then called the doctor's office. After explaining to 3 or 4 different people what was going on, they told me to come on in to the office. (little did they know I was parked outside about to come in ANYWAY!)

I got in, explained what was going on to the doctor, and he was completely dumbfounded! He actually told me he had no idea what was going on. He looked in my mouth and could see where the floor muscles were swollen. He ordered a lot of blood tests (of which he said would take a few days to come back), made me give a urine sample (of which came back fine) and gave me ANOTHER steriod shot in the hip! (That's the 3rd one in less than two weeks now mind you!) Then he had his nurse call the Allergist/Immunologist's office and tell them that I needed in there to see them the next day.

Finally, at noon on Tuesday, they called and wanted me there at 1:00. SO I headed on over. ALL they did was take more blood and told me to come back in a week to go over the results! I was not pleased with this doctor nor his nurse practicioner. Maybe because I am so tired and worn out, but they were not very informative. All he really said was that it didn't sound like a true "angioedema" but that it sounded like it could be something "metabolic". He didn't seem to want to expand on that, and I was too tired, physically and emotionally, to ask anymore questions.

I figured I will have to go in to see him next Tuesday and I will have a list of questions for him when I do!

Just continue to pray for me!

On another note....Rachel's speech evaluation went really good! She did wonderful and they told me that they saw nothing that couldn't be corrected without some good modeling at home! They bragged about how intellegent she is for a little 3 1/2 year old. I told them that I think she hides that intelligence from me sometimes! HeeHee....not really....I knew she was very smart for her age, I was just a little concerned about her language and how it was affecting her behavior. They were all in agreement that her language was well above normal and that she is just a strong-willed stubborn child! :) (all said in love of course!)

So, just pray for her and us as we continue on to learn how to raise this very strong-willed stubborn child of ours......

WFMW

***I just went to Rocks in My Dryer to add my WFMW and noticed that this was a What Doesn't Work For Me edition.....I am sorry, but I hadn't been in a while, and I HAD to share about this silver cleaner!!!***** Forgive me please!


This is my first WFMW in MONTHS!!!!! BUT I had to come tell you all about this silver polish that I just discovered. Some of you have probably had this little silver cleaning secret in your pocket already....but for me I just found it and all I can say is wow... wow... wow...!!!!

A couple years before my grandmother passed away she gave me her silver service set. Twice a year I spend hours in one day trying to get it all nice and shiny. But last night in less than an hour I had it SO clean that I could see my reflection in every piece!!! I was even able to get down in the tight spots with this stuff. I had tried all the "home" remedies for cleaning it in the past, but it still took HOURS!!!! NOT ANY MORE......

I introduce to you all......

I got it at our HEB grocery store. I am sure you can get it just about anywhere that sales Goddard's. You can also get it here at Amazon. They have it priced at the same price I paid in the store. I bought the 6 oz. size and will be able to get one more cleaning out of it I am sure. I have tried their other cleaners, but this one is THE BEST! Just take a look and see.

This was the two bigger pieces before cleaning.....I know.....they look terrible..... The picture below this one is just a closer look at how BAD it was!

But then wet the sponge that is included in the jar, dab on some of the paste, rub, rinse, and this is what you get!!!!

This last picture picked up a lot of reflection from the marble counter tops....so parts of it look a little "brassy" but I assure you, it is far from looking brassy!!!

I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!

For more WFMW go on over to Shannon's at Rocks in My Dryer

A Couple of Must Reads!!

Ok, I don't have much time to post today, but I will take time later to respond to both of these blog posts.

The first one is over at Angel's place...it is the Dangerous Surrender Chapter Two post! You must read it! There is so much I want to share about that post, but it will have to wait a day or two. I just don't have the time to type it all up in one sitting.

Then next one is over at Rachel Anne's.....it is titled The Goodest Mom. Go read it! (Am I sounding a little pushy?? Oh well!!

On another note...I am feeling much better. I still haven't heard from the doctor's office yet about the scheduling with the Allergist/Immunologist, but I am sure I will soon. And for Rachel, tomorrow is her speech/language evaluation with the school district. Please pray for her in the morning.

Thanks to you all!

An Award!!!

I feel so honored! My dear blogging friend Natalie has adorned me with this award! To Natalie I extend a ! She allows God to show compassion through her daily as she continues to come by here and encourage me, a stranger of sorts to her! Thank you for your kindness!

Now I understand it is my duty to pass this award along to someone.....hmmmmm....... this is really hard!!!

First of all I would like to extend this award to DAISY. She and I go "way back" (in blog history that is!) When I first started blogging, she was one of about 10 people on my sidebar! Honestly, I can't even remember how I got to her site......it might have been that I was just hitting the "next blog" button at the top! (of which, I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU DO!) She is a wonderful mother and has two of the most adorable children! She has always been so kind to stop by and check up on all that is going on around here.

Thank you Daisy for being such a kind friend!

Another that I can not leave out is my friend Janna. She is a friend of mine from college! We had some rough times starting out (heehee), but God saw to it that our relationship take a turn, and I am blessed forevermore from her friendship! Janna has had some tough times in her life, but always takes time to come by and see how I am doing. She is my friend and I love her dearly! Janna, thank you for always being there! I am praying for you dear friend!

Check this out!

One of my Bloggy Friends...... Natalie......showed me how to do this!

TAKS TESTING IS OVER!!!!!!

She says she has become a nerd, but I told her that I think it is great! Now maybe I can learn somethings from her! LOL