Ten On Tuesday

1) OK seriously.....do not look at the old UGLY paneling and the 1980's lamp in the background.  Cause you'll judge me as stuck in the 70's or 80's and no one wants that.  Honest.  We really are going to remodel this room sometime before I am a little old Deanna.  Or.... never managing to have enough time to get it done will turn me into a little old Deanna.  It's a toss up.  Now... what were we talking about? 

2) Oh yes.  Sophie.  Totally in love with my husband.  I mean could it be more obvious?  We have decided her name is Sophie fly paper because we can't seem to unstick her from my husband.  I told her today though, I don't blame her.  I'd sit by him 24/7 too if I could.  Do you think they'd notice me at his office or miss me at mine?  If Darrel is in his chair, Sophie wants to be with Darrel in his chair.  If Darrel is standing in the middle of the room... Sophie wants to be with him.  She is beginning to perfect the art of trying to leap up into his arms.  I gotta learn how to do that one.  Here he was working and she was hoping he wasn't going to make her get down which apparently didn' t happen if you take a look at picture #2. 

Don't let him fool you... he loves it.  He is 1/2 romantic awesome husband and 1/2 Dr Doolittle. 

3) I realized today my new uniform of choice somewhere along the line has become yoga pants, Danskos, comfy t-shirt or old navy shirt and favorite sweater.  I am thinking it is the universal uniform of choice for all Monogirls.  Cause when you feel like taking a nap 2/3 of the time... well then one just wants to be comfy.  And when you can't manage to drag yourself out of bed in the morning?  Well once you finally convince yourself getting up really IS a good idea, then all you want is comfort.  Am I right?  Good thing I stocked up on a fresh inventory of yoga pants and Danksos recently.  I should be good for a month or two at least. 

4) Are you a Richard Paul Evans fan?  I have been since the Christmas Box movie first aired back in 1995.  Loved the movie and when I found it was a book? HAD to read it.  Checked it out from the library... yes in my pre-kindle days.. .and fell totally in love with the book.  I then of course set out to read every Richard Paul Evans book that I could get my hands on.  So of course I am a happy girl when a new book released this week!  A Winter's Dream magically appeared on my Kindle today!  Love how the whole pre order thing works like that.  Looks like this one is a modern day story of Joseph from the Bible. Very cool since I loved Lost December which was like The Prodigal Son story in the Bible.  Also a very good thing I just finished War Brides (which was good!) so now I can dive right in!

5) Date Night took us to the Big City this week.  Yes. Monogirl does get out on occasion.  We had a lovely dinner at Longhorn.  What's not to love about fillet Mignon and grilled shrimp?  SO good.  Having a waiter that pretty much ignored us after the food arrived could have been a downer, but we didn't let it spoil things.  Afterwards we toured the mall in search of something we needed for our birthday gift for our niece.  We had success there, hit a few other stores, Baskin Robbins and then headed home.  Because?  Monogirl was exhausted and was beginning to do things like walk crooked and lean on her husband.  Well Monogirl ever get her stamina and energy back?  Tune in next time to find out. 

6) This past Sunday at church one of our youth sang a song called Restore for special music.  It's by Chris August.  Had not heard it before but totally love it and once I checked out Chris August a bit more via itunes I discovered I was already a Chris August fan and didn't know it.  Have you heard Restore?  LOVE!

7) Have you seen the new Vera Holiday styles coming out Nov 2nd?  Saw them today on their Inside Stitch blog.  How cute is the little black bag and the 2 sparkly ones?  I need me some of those.  Of course that frame bag is pretty awesome too.  How is a girl supposed to choose?

8) While we were out for date night we decided Sophie needed a new cat toy.  She seems to love things with feathers so when we found these little stuffed ball things with feather sticking out the top, we figured that was perfect.  We apparently we did good because her new favorite pastime.... other than sitting by Darrel... is to pull the feathers out of the toy and um... eat them.  Do they make bird flavored cat toys?  Or will just any feather do? 

9) My pink coach purse arrived.  It is quite cute and yes.. I should be sharing a photo.. but its in the bedroom and I'm in my chair and I'd have to pull the memory card back out of the computer and put it back in the camera and you know what?  That is just way too much effort for monogirl today yes.. even when pink coach purses are involved.  We will just call this a little tease for next time.  Works for me. 

10) I think if you are monogirl there should be like a law or something that you are not allowed to have any other illnesses at the same time.  Of course.. that wouldn't help me since I already have a cold.  Monogirl... vitamin D issues... and a bad cold that is trying to wrestle me to the ground?  I am thinking I should get brownie points today just for being vertical. 

And.. since I am tired monogirl with a cold.. I am happy to announce it is time for bed.  I plan to hit the Nyquil bottle and then the bed.. in that order.  Blessings!



Thankful Thursday

Can you find the Sophie in this picture?  I posted this to facebook last night and said it was like Where's Waldo for cats! Ha. 

 

I am so thankful we still have Miss Sophie. She is a bright spot in what has been a stressful, hard year.  She jumped up on the couch last night and started tunneling around under this blanket until she was happy with her tunnels apparently and then settled herself down and all we could see was a little pink nose sticking out.  She makes me smile and forget about whatever stressful thing I was most likely thinking about.  I am good at that... thinking about stressful things... or should we say over thinking them.  It's the over achiever in me I even have to be the best Monogirl I can be.  And yes... that would be a sickness in more ways then one. Perhaps I should have a therapist on speed dial?  Ya think? 

 

I am also so thankful that my Dad had a better day today.  It was an amazing answer to prayer that blessed me so much today.  We are nearing the end of 7 weeks of radiation treatments now.  5 more to go and we are so thankful for that.  I am also so thankful that Dad has persevered and made it thru all of this.  He is strong... my Dad.  I love him a lot. 

 

I am thankful for my Mom!  She has been the nurse, caretaker, taxi driver, patient advocate, Mom, wife and super woman thru all this!  I got to visit with my parents on Sunday and it touched my heart watching Mom take care of Dad and the both of them working together.  They celebrated 48 years of marriage yesterday and their love and care for each other thru all of this has been an inspiration and a blessing. 

 

I am soooooo thankful for my working clothes dryer!  4 loads of laundry completed today in record time when one doesn't have to wrestle a heavy basket full of wet clothes out of the pantry, out the back door, down the porch steps and over to the clothesline.  I am short people and short monogirls have trouble even seeing over said basket...

 

A few other things that are making me feel blessed are....

 

•  my husband just asking me out for date night.  I don't care if we've been married 100 years, that will always make me smile
• time with Darrel's parents and family this past weekend
• time with my parents
• God's patience and scriptures that comfort me and give me guidance
• FFANY Shoes on Sale on QVC... because they had 1/2 price Danskos. 
• enjoying longer hair
• that even though I am still feeling like I have a little bit of a cold, it has not gotten worse
• Pillsbury cinnamon rolls.... enough said
• fresh pink manicures
• a husband who makes dinner
• the Jesus Calling devotional book
• the Unglued study we are doing in Sunday School
• pretty warm weather
• 4G coming closer to home
• 2 months till Christmas
• date night's at home.  So relaxing. 
• cuddling on the couch on date night
• Saturday Pancakes as long as they don't include syrup on the rug....
• beautiful fall leaves
• good memories
• family
• being able to talk to my husband about anything

I hope you've had lots of things to be thankful for this week.  Blessings!

Ten on Tuesday

1) We spent most of this past weekend with family.  On Saturday we got to see Darrel's parents who were visiting from Illinois.  This is of course Darrel.... with his sweet little mother.  She is aging and has several health issues, probably the most difficult to bear being dementia. This makes each moment spent together precious and I love love love this picture to remember the day.  Always love a guy who loves and cares for his Mom.  Here is another picture with Mom and Dad.

Love that one too, especially how his Mom wanted to hold on to both of her boys.  :) 

2) Coach Outlet online emails are a dangerous thing.  They have like 2-3 sales a week and keep sending me emails to make sure I am in the know!  So far... I had resisted.  Until today.  A pink Park Leather Carryall style for less than 1/2 of the original price, including shipping? (and I got a better price than the eBay link!)   Sold.... Although, now I keep second guessing myself.  Maybe I would have liked something else better.  Maybe I should have saved my money.  I have consoled myself with the thought that I could return it, however this will require not falling in love with it when I open the package.  It could happen. 

3) Date night... That seems like weeks ago.  But it wasn't.  If memory serves we had our favorite pizza and pretzels.. and odd combination I know but it works for me.  We cuddled up on the couch together and watched some favorite DVR'd shows rather than movies because we had to be up early on Saturday so we didn't want to make Friday night run too late.  See.  We can be responsible adults when absolutely necessary. 

4)We are currently doing a trial run with an Amazon Prime membership.  We thought we might like their prices/movies better, plus you get better shipping on purchases and 1 free Kindle book per month.   So for my month trial, I had to borrow a book right?  Just because I could.  I am reading War Brides and liking it much more than I expected.  It's long!  480 pages and currently I am 61% done. That's Kindle speak for being on page 295.  When reading some of the reviews on Goodreads before starting the book, but after borrowing it, I got a little worried it was going to be one of those you start , but don't love but then feel some compulsion to finish since you started it?  Or am I the only weird one that does stuff like that?  It's like now I have to finish it to find out what happened... but do not want to read anymore all at the same time.  It is just me isn't it.

5) The dryer saga has finally come to a conclusion.  My husband fixed it for under $50!  Three cheers for smart, talented husbands.  Apparently our heating element and fuse were bad.  Did you know Amazon even sells dryer parts?  They are sort of like the Walmart of the Internet I think.  As a friend of mine says about Walmart... If you can't find it at Walmart Amazon, you probably don't need it. 

6) The other 1/2 of our weekend was spent with my parents.  My Dad is currently about 2/3 of the way thru a 7 week round of Chemo and Radiation.  He is really struggling right now.  It was hard to see him struggling and in pain. Cancer pretty much sucks... And no, that is not a nice word but it pretty much covers it.  Show of hands if you agree. 

7) Should I ever manage to scrap again I am loving this Instagram layout and this memory file.  How cool is that?  I love all the layers and different page sizes. LOVE!  I have no idea what is holding me back.  I have a whole memory file kit from HSN sitting on my scrap table.  I guess it would require someone other than the cat actually sitting at (or perhaps ON) the scrap table.

8) Speaking of the cat, Miss Sophie is still having a trial run at being an indoor cat.  She is definitely a fan of this idea.  I have decided that apparently Miss Sophie has chosen Darrel to be her new sister.  She follows him around and yells at him to pick her up.  She sits in his chair or on him if he is in his chair and the other day when he was standing in the middle of the room and ignoring her she took it upon herself to jump up into either his arms or his shoulder or whatever she could happen to grab onto.  Miss Sophie will not be ignored.  All Darrel wants to know is if he could at least be a brother instead of her new sister. 

9) Tonight on Dancing With The Stars one of the couples danced to a song from Cinderella.  It totally made me remember how much I used to love this version of A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes sung by Michael Bolton.  I used to have that on video tape... yes... you know those rectangular things from the olden days before DVD's were invented?  I wore that tape out.  I also learned the song from listening to it soo much and I used to sing it to my nieces Lauryn and Amber as a lullaby.... LOVED doing that.  Such good memories.  Anyone else remember the songs from Simply Mad About the Mouse?

10) You know that tickly sick feeling you get in the back of your throat and ears when you have a cold or flu or something coming on?  Well Monogirl here is fighting that feeling today. She is not too happy about that because um it's hard enough simply being Monogirl.... she really doesn't need any help in feeling yucky.  Monogirl is praying hard that these feeling will be disappeared by morning...

Well wonders never cease... there you have an actual 10 on Tuesday posted on well... Tuesday.  Score one point for Monogirl!  Tune in again on Thursday to see if it could happen twice in one week. Blessings!

Thankful Thursday

So here we have probably the best picture of Miss Sophie that we've ever been able to capture.  If you are Darrel it becomes much easier to take your cats picture when she is conveniently camped out in your lap.  Since she has been spending more time in the house we are learning she is quite the lap cat.  Well.... she is if your name is Darrel.  I don't blame her.  I curl up by him too every chance I get. 

I am very thankful we still have Sophie.  Yes, seeing her without Sydney is still making me cry sometimes, but I am thankful that God made Sophie affectionate and playful and a lap cat.  She has always been a bright spot for me, but this last week since Sydney was killed she has especially been a comfort.  I mean look at that cute little face.  What's not to love?  Plus she is a calico and I love calico kitties.  In Sophie's case I told Darrel it looks like God had a little color and pattern left over from all the other kittens in the litter and decided he'd just splatter those on Miss Sophie's white fur.  Quite adorable and quite perfect.  I still don't know when exactly I became a cat person but where Sophie is concerned... I definitely am.  Oh... and in case you needed further proof of the lap cat thing..... here ya go. 

So today was week 2 with no dryer and it was laundry day. It's amazing how when we have to do without something, we quickly realize how much we take our blessings for granted. Today I had 4 loads of laundry and like I said... no dryer.   I learned it is quite a workout and takes a lot of time to wash and hang and take in 3 loads from the clothesline.  The fourth load is still sitting here because I ran out of daylight and time... as clothesline drying takes a wee bit more time.  I have to say a working clothes dryer is quite a blessing and its reminding me to thank the Lord for all my many blessings today.

Like last week I was also so glad for a day at home so I could use the daylight hours for clothesline time and was also thankful for more beautiful and windy fall weather.  The wind was a big help for the whole clothesline drying plan.  We were also thankful that Mr Repairman Darrel found the 2 parts that weren't working on the dryer and we were able to locate them on Amazon for less than the cost of just a service call if we had called someone in. 

Some of the other blessings I was reminded of today were....

• my husband coming home safe from work
• goodnight hugs and kisses
• All of Darrel's support, help, love, and patience during Monogirl's extended visit
• new PJ's
• reading.  I love reading.  I think I might have mentioned that once or twice before....Especially Kindle style! 
• diet Pepsi
• my new hot rollers and hair long enough to roll around them! ha!
• my smartphone
• my parents and my Dad's working so hard to make it thru chemo and radiation
• my job and the great people I get to work with
• good friends
• my church family
• Danskos... especially pink ones... OK and while we are talking about shoes.. Pink Uggs!
• the gorgeous fall colors
• our rings from our vow renewal. That was such a perfect day.
• our Sunday school class
• my favorite sweater
• date night
• quiet days at home
• peace with God
• crossing things off my to do list or should I say lists...
• talking with my husband
• a working car transmission after an easy fix!
• carpet that is no longer sticky from maple syrup
• a better week than last week
• my transmission not falling out in the road somewhere!
• hope and 2nd chances or 49th chances...
• my warm bed that is waiting for me.

I hope your week has been a good one and that you have a great weekend to look forward to.  Thanks for stopping in because that is a blessing too!  Until next time... blessings!

So I missed Ten on Tuesday...

1) Perhaps I should just be fired from blogdom?  I can never seem to keep on schedule anymore.  Although.. that goes right along with life in general this whole year.  Nothing has been normal or caught up... so why should the ol' blog be different right?  So in the spirit of being behind and embracing it... rather than complaining, cause I never complain... Let's celebrate 10 on Wednesday shall we? 

2) Since Miss Sydney died we are considering making Miss Sophie an indoor cat.  Why?  Um because I can not bear the thought of going through losing another one.  First my beloved Gracie disappears.  Then Jack dying and now Sydney?  I am not doing this anymore.  It kills me.  I love Miss Sophie but I am not a fan of claw marks on my furniture, cat hair, and litter boxes... at this point though I may be willing to overlook it.  So we are having some trial days/evenings with Sophie in the house to see how we all do.  Tanner would like to go on record as NOT being a fan of this idea especially since the first 2 things Sophie did was eating his food and laying in his bed.  It's been working out fairly well so far.  We do think Sophie is missing her sister though.  She's been very vocal and wanders around meowing like she is looking for something and can't settle down and she is even more clingy and affectionate than she used to be.  I feel bad for her.  Her and Sydney were together, always since birth!  Makes me sad.

3) You notice where Sophie is laying right?  With Darrel.  I have decided my husband must give off some scent or high pitched sound or something that only animals and women can detect.  Why?  Because all animals love him like he is DR Doolittle or something.  Sophie's favorite new place in the house?  On Darrel's lap!  Constantly.  Does she want to be on my lap?  No.... apparently I don't know the secret handshake or whatever because she heads straight to Darrel.  If Darrel is busy and not in his chair?  Guess where Sophie is? 

In Darrel's chair... waiting for him.  He came in after working on the car the other night and she stood in the chair leaning towards him yelling till he picked her up and since he wasn't paying attention fast enough she was ready to pounce on him.... Too funny.  I'm not jealous.  Honest.

4) So last week we had Sydney's getting killed, and the dryer dying and being sick and overtime (Darrel worked 33 hours of overtime in the past 2 weeks!) and the list goes on... then Saturday to top off the week?  We spilled maple syrup all over the living room carpet.  We were about to enjoy our Saturday pancakes and were going to sit in our chairs and watch a show together while we ate.  I pulled my computer table towards me, the bottle of syrup fell backwards and made about a 4 ft path of syrup on the carpet and my chair.  Very nice... and a perfect fit to my week. 

5) This week's events?  Well we needed to use our carpet shampooer to clean the carpet that was still sticky even after we scrubbed it 3 times with spot cleaner.  Darrel gets all ready to clean turns on the machine.. and of course.  It doesn't work.  We decided that really we were being silly not to expect it not to work because that just totally fits with life here lately.  Turned out it would extract the water, but wouldn't spray on the cleaner so my smart husband used a spray bottle to apply the cleaning solution and then used the machine to extract.  Not ideal... but worked well for our syrup catastrophe. 

 

6) Monday... driving to work and the transmission on my car seemed to keep skipping or missing or whatever it is transmissions do.  It wasn't acting normal.  We have noticed this in the past and Darrel found a small leak so we've been keeping an eye on the fluid.  So Monday he goes to check that since the skipping was the worst its been but it turns out the fluid was OK.... However... while checking the fluid he happens to notice the bracket that holds the transmission in the car?  Um all the bolts were loose, with I think he said one almost all the way out!  Goodness!  He came in and told me about it (and he fixed it) and said he wanted to know what was with me and bolts?  Back before we were married I was driving my car to lunch one day and heard a noise.  I looked behind me in the road and see a big bolt laying there!  Figuring that that was probably not a good thing, I stopped and called Darrel and my Dad.  They came to look at it and discovered the starter was falling out of my car!  Is there like some little gnome that follows me around unscrewing bolts under my car or what? 

7) Here we were at October 16th and I'd yet to get one fall decoration put out. This was making me sad because I adore the fall and I'm missing it!!  Super Husband to the rescue! He brought home 4 mums, several pumpkins and all these cute little gourds.  Isn't he awesome?  I also had to stop on the way home from work the other day just to take a picture of this gorgeous tree!  The colors are so pretty right now! 

8) Remember my thoughts on the necessity of some big hot rollers? Yes.. I bought some. I got this set from drugstore.com. Tried them out yesterday and Love! Although I did forget the pleasure of burning ones fingers while trying to smoothly roll up the hair....Do they sell like heat resistant gloves for hot rollers? I'd like a pair in pink please.

 

 

9) Do you watch PM Style on QVC? Dangerous show. Especially when they show bracelets. PINK bracelets with sparkly beads on them. Bracelets that look like this. I hope they are as pretty in person. You know there is only one way to find that out right?
 

10) The dryer situation... still in limbo. My Maytag repairman otherwise known as my husband finally had some time to work on it this evening. Thanks to some advice from the Internet he thinks he has figured out the problem. 2 parts on order...yay... but now we need them here quickly and then we need time to actually install them. This leaves me at laundry day again with no dryer. Let's hope the weather cooperates and the clothesline is up for a workout on week 2!

 

 

And we made it! 10 on Wednesday... well I guess now it's Thursday. Tune in again later today for Thankful Thursday. I am going to get better at blogging again. I promise. Blessings!

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful for this sweet girl, Miss Sydney.  Although.... I can't look at this without crying right now.  Miss Sydney didn't come home when it was time to eat on Monday night.  We were worried.  I went out looking for her like a dozen times before giving up and going to bed.  I found her the next morning.  She was hit by a vehicle on the highway in front of our house.  It was bad.  I couldn't even be sure it was her until I saw her tag... and then her collar. SO upset about that. I was on my way to work, but after that discovery I had to drive straight to my husband.  I just want her back.  Through all my struggles this year, Sophie and Sydney have been a comfort and a bright spot.  They are affectionate.  They are funny and Miss Sydney here a little bit psycho kitty at times.  She cracked me up!  I miss her and my heart hurts.  Things have been hard lately.  Really hard and this felt like that final straw.  Guess I am not handling it so well but I am trying and with that in mind instead of being said, I am choosing to be thankful.  Thankful for the time we had with her.  Thankful for all the smiles she brought me.  Thankful for her entertainment.  Just thankful for her.  I wish she was running across the yard towards me now yelling that it was time to eat.  I wish the way she had to die didn't have to be so awful.  But still I am just thankful for her!

It's been kind of a train wreck of a week.  Was home struggling with not feeling well on Monday.  Tuesday we lost Sydney.  Yesterday the dryer died leaving me with 2 loads of wet clothes.  I'm like what?  Is it pile on Deanna week?  Goodness!  But again today I knew I needed to get a grip on my attitude and find reasons to be thankful rather than reasons to wallow.  I've been pretty good at the wallowing here lately.  So instead of lamenting my dryer today I decided to be thankful that I have a clothesline.  I also had a beautiful fall day and a day at home to get the clothes on the line and get them dried.  It also made me think of my beloved Mamaw who used to stand in this yard and hang clothes in the same spot.  I got to hug miss Sophie.  And what about the fact that I even have clean laundry to wear and use?  I was thankful for all those things.  It solved the dryer problem, for the moment till we can get it fixed and it helped me to remember that there are always good things in the bad we just have to want to look for them sometimes. 

So thankful for the beautiful fall colors appearing in my yard!  Love when the colors are still mixing with the green leaves.  So pretty.  I love the fall.  It could be fall all year and I'd be happy with that... well... only if one can also go to the beach in the fall so maybe we need fall and summer?  Ha!

My Dad has been sick and has had some rough days lately due to the radiation treatment.  But his DR said this week that Dad is doing better than expected.  Praise the Lord for that.  Very thankful he is doing as well as he is.  Without answers to prayer I fear it could be far worse.  Thankful that he is coming thru it as strong as he is. 

Have you ever had Schwan's Holiday Tin ice cream?  It is limited edition, French Vanilla.  The tins come out for Christmas each year.  Now yes, I am aware we haven't had Halloween yet, but when Mr Schwan Man told me he had 1 Holiday Tin left on his truck?  I said SOLD!  Well, actually I said I'll take it please.. but you get the idea.  Good stuff!  I will warn you... getting the lid off the container?  Not the easiest thing in the world.  Dipping is rather strenuous too but not a problem if you have a big strong husband to handle it.  I have about 1.2 million of these tins from the last 25 years.... they are quite good for storing all that holiday baking that will be coming up soon!

 

I am also thankful that......

• those stinking little fruit fly gnat things finally seem to be thinning out.  I hope so... afraid to say that out loud, they seem to come out of the woodwork just about the time you think they are gone
• I had a great mani/pedi last friday and LOVED that massage chair
• I have new jeans, pj's, hot rollers and sheets in packages in front of me.  I am sure I will enjoy them should I ever get around to opening the packages...
• I have survived this week to this point without crawling into a hole somewhere and hiding
• my husband is managing OK with all the overtime he has had this week
• that my job has been so understanding of my illness
• that my DR increased my meds again and hopefully I am on the mend now
• I got to wear my pink ugg boots this week
• I can still hug Miss Sophie
• I have so many good friends and a great church family that loves me and supports me and lifts me up when I am so down
• reading is still a peaceful relaxing thing in the midst of stress
• I am apparently doing the Unglued Bible study at just the right time in my life. ha!
• my husband came home safe from the men's retreat
• tomorrow is Friday, date night
• I didn't go back and injure anyone at Mc Donalds when they got my sandwich wrong during a very bad day.... it could have happened.  Trust me.
• its time for bed again because Monogirl is tired. 

I hope your week has been good.  I am determined mine is going to get better and I am going to get a grip and get out of this ditch I am in.... You'll of course want to tune in next time to see that happen right?  :)  Blessings!

You're Fired

I am thinking perhaps I should be fired from blogdom because I just can't seem to keep up anymore.  Although this week I do have a reason or two why I have missed the last 2 days so perhaps you will give me another chance or at least probation? Thank you.  It's been a train wreck of a week.  If my life is a ride... I am definitely wanting off the ride now please and thank you.  I promise to tune in tomorrow with the scoop but just to give you a glimpse of my week?  Our sweet cat Sydney was killed, the internet has been goofed up and down for about 24 hours (which is why no 10 on Tuesday), I've been feeling yucky and was home sick.. of course... and now the dryer just decided to quit working with 2 wet loads of laundry sitting here.  No stress right?  So for now I must drag monogirl's nauseous, weary, overwhelmed behind to bed...I promise to come back tomorrow with a brighter outlook and hopefully no new tales of woe.  Until then... Blessings for all of us.  :)

Monogirl's Monday Musings...

I adore fall and the beautiful colors that come with it.  Took this picture last year at Covered Bridge Festival.  I usually love going to the festival.  This year?  I'm on the fence.  Darrel said he'd take me this Friday.  Who wouldn't jump at that offer right? Apparently Monogirl, that's who.  What is the matter with me these days? Seem to be losing interest in everything I used to love doing.  Going out for Date Night, Scrapping, Covered Bridge, Doodlebug Crop... I've been missing all those things I love this year and yes.. .I know that is a symptom of depression.  Feeling crummy since January, what's there to be depressed about right?  I am at the point where I pretty much expect the fatigue to creep up on me and tackle me to the ground so when I think of walking around Covered Bridge all day well that just sounds exhausting before I even get there.  At the same time though?  Sad to think about not going. I miss new Deanna that could walk 4-5 miles and keep on going.  Where did she go?  I think Monogirl locked her in a closet somewhere? 

The Mono issues.  The low vitamin D, the stress.... I am not handling it all so well here lately.  Have a feeling of either constant turmoil or constant lethargy, and if both hit....  well there is a lovely combination.  But OK... perhaps I need to quit being Deanna Downer here today huh?  Probably just stewing because I am home sick, yes again, and its got me stewing about all of it.  I have been doing some reading about the effects of the low vitamin D (which has been extremely low pretty much all year) and it totally fits.  Especially the mood issues discussed here and pretty much all of the symptoms mentioned here.  Pretty much has me pegged! The hopeful part?  That the 3rd increase on my vitamin D meds will finally make a difference and all of this will get better! Because yes, the blood work revealed that the Vit. D is still well below normal.  My level should be between 30-100.  I am not sure what the initial reading was but the 2nd reading, after taking meds for 3-4 mos. was 13.  Seriously?  So they increased meds.  Another 4 mos go by.  We check and now?  It was 22.  He said mostly people have to take the supplement 1-2 times a month.  Me?  I am now on twice a week!  Let's just hope it does the trick because I'd love to see all of those symptoms go bye bye. 

So while I've been sitting here stewing about all these deep topics I've also figured out a few other very important things such as....

• Hostess Ding Dongs definitely tasted better when they were wrapped in foil like they were when I was a kid.  This plastic bag deal is just not any fun.  You can't wad it up in a ball after you peel it off and throw it at someone. 
• As long as we are on the food subject... Hunts snack pack is definitely not as good in the plastic cup with the peel off top.  The little can with the pull tab on it... well the pudding tasted way better when it was like that even if you were risking losing a finger for the sake of chocolate pudding.  You know I'm right. 
• I must obtain some new big hot rollers.  Because a) I don't have any!  and b) if I am going to have long "big" hair then I think I need some new large size hot rollers.  I am just sure all the famous models in Europe use them right or is it just us 40 some year olds that remember they used to do it that way?  Perhaps something like this.... would be good. 
• I must get myself one of these Vera backpacks.  I mean how cute is that?  And it would be really great for doing things like Covered Bridge... which is very important when one is pretty sure they aren't going. I make so much sense.  It's a Monogirl thing.  
• I neglected to tell you that Date Night this past week?  It was spent alone.  Date Night alone stinks.  Who decided that when the men go away for a "Men's Retreat" they should leave the women behind?  I was not consulted on this decision.  I am thinking all future retreats must be scheduled around date night. 
• These kids on Breaking Amish are making me sad!  Did you hear about what happened to the one girl's teeth?  Goodness. 
• I am sad that I have apparently missed out on these very cute pink datkota ugg slippers that were a limited edition.  Couldn't even spot a pair on ebay.
• While spending date night alone, I went for a mani/pedi at a new place.  I have decided that this place?  Well it has the most amazing massage chairs like EVER.  Massage chair was totally worth the price of admission.  The scrub stuff they used on my legs?  Well that was pretty great too. 

Now that I have imparted all of my sick day wisdom too you... I am ready for a nap.  A good plan for  a sick day especially if you are Monogirl.  Don't you think?  See you tomorrow for Ten on Tues.  Blessings!

Thankful Thursday

Yes, pretty thankful today for this bowl of yuminess.  It seems like its never officially fall until we have our pretty pumpkin bowl full to the brim with candy corn and peanuts.  I so am not a candy corn fan... on its own.  But pair it up with some salted peanuts?  Yum.  Good stuff.  It's like a bowl full of Payday candy bars. 

I am thinking I should also be thankful that my 5' 2" self managed to climb up the step ladder to retrieve the pretty pumpkin bowl from the cabinet over the fridge.  The shelf it was on was full of no less than like 4 other glass things in front of the pumpkin bowl.  So there you have me and my short arms teetering on a step stool while I juggle all the other glass stuff out of the way while trying to either balance it on the tiny amount of the top of the fridge that is exposed or somehow manage to reach down and set it on the counter.  I am sure it was quite a sight and somehow no breakables met their death on the wood floor below. 

I am thankful that I managed to get in a 30 min walk today.  Monogirl has been struggling to get out there.  Today I had a haircut at 9:30 and a DR appt. at 10:50.  Haircut was done at 10 so I figured I'd go park at the DR's office and then go walk thru town and back before appt. time.  It was a beautiful day and I managed an almost 2 mile walk even though I was completely tired the whole time.  Yay me! 

Yes I am also thankful for the haircut and the DR appt. respectively.  The haircut because it helped with the growing out the hair plans by getting the hair to lay a little more nicely while it is continuing to grow.  Getting a haircut while trying to grow out one's hair.  Is that like an oxymoron? 

As always I love my DR and am so thankful for him.  I have still been feeling so cruddy and tired and was praying while I was walking that I would somehow be able to convey everything that I needed to to the DR and end up making some sense.  I needed him to get it and understand me and I felt like he did. He decided we needed to do complete blood work again.  Yes.  My favorite thing, but yet another thing to be thankful for because crabby lab girl was not there today and fill in lab girl listened to me and got a vein in one shot!  Thank you Lord.  Was not up for being tortured today.  The DR says Mono could still be a factor but I also have an extremely low vitamin D level, I have low thyroid and he says those three things combined and then add in stress?  Not good.  He told me I am too hard on myself and I need to stop it!  I told him my husband would love he said that because he would definitely agree. He said he suspected I was in constant turmoil.  Ding ding ding... good answer.  He got it totally and helped me to feel a lot better.  He said my problem is not that I am not trying hard enough and I need to stop telling myself that too.  I am not helping myself by stressing myself out. Gee that makes sense huh?  So now we wait for blood work results and pray that someday soon Monogirl will finally make her departure. 

Also feeling so thankful for.....

• the pretty pink streak in my hair
• the beautiful weather today
• being a little more productive today
• reading
• candy corn and peanuts... oh wait.. we covered that
• beef and noodles for dinner
• danskos
• my beloved diet Pepsi
• my friend's beautiful wedding
• LaCarreta!
• my Hilton Head t-shirts.  They still make me smile about our lovely 2nd Honeymoon
• date night
• Saturday pancakes
• my job
• singing
• church
• good friends
• my Dad having a good day today
• my sisters good recovery since her surgery
• our home
• a card from a church member today for clergy appreciation month
• my prize from the Sweethaven challenge
• new jersey sheets
• bdubbs pretzels
• resting in my chair
• hot chocolate weather
• the trees that are starting to change. So beautiful

I love thankful Thursday.  It always helps to put things in perspective.  No matter how big problems and stress seem.... when you start thinking of all the things you have to be thankful for?  It can change your whole outlook.  Thanking the Lord for how good He is to us.  Blessings! 

Ten On Tuesday... Yes We Are Pretending

1) Yes, apparently now even my hair is turning pink.  I probably even bleed pink..... ha! But I must admit I had a little something to do with the pink streak.  A salon in town... not to be confused with the big city... did pink hair extensions last year for Breast Cancer awareness month.  Well as soon as I saw a friend with one I had to get me one of those!  Which I did and I loved it.  So this year?  October 1st?  I had it on my calendar to go get me one of those again.  I am way ahead of schedule this year since it was Oct. 12th before I got it done last year.  I am thinking this is a good thing because why would one want to wait to have pink hair?  That just does not compute in my head.

2) OK and did we notice, looking at last year's picture that the hair is a good deal longer? This growing out the hair business is obviously working better than I thought.  Perhaps it is worth the hassle? Unless of course we like last year's look better?  Nah....

3) As you can see, either blogger is in a better mood this evening or monogirl is.  Either way, we are getting along much better.  My background is back where it belongs... even though I did have to go load a new one, and my pictures loaded correctly.  Therefore this evening I am thinking it will not be necessary to threaten to throw blogger and the pretty pink computer out a nearby window.  Monogirl is not to be messed with when she is tired... you may now consider yourself warned. 

4) Finished reading The Discovery last night.  It was a Kindle Freebie and quite good.  Good enough that I am now interested in checking out some of Dan Walsh's other books.  I gave it four stars on good read!  I am excited to now move on to reading my prize book, A Sweethhaven Christmas!  Happy about that.  Although if this is the 3rd book in the trilogy, meaning no more Sweethaven sagas... I am not so sure I am happy about that.  Very much liking the Sweethaven clan!

5) Speaking of Goodreads... I must confess I have this compulsion that the minute I am done with a book I must, must, log on to goodreads and mark the book as read!  I then must mark the next book I am "currently reading" and then check out my progress on the 2012 Reading Challenge.  I think its like my own version of the summer reading program the library had when we lived in IL.  I loved doing that!  Reading goals and meeting a challenge?  Sign me up! It must be like that pleasure I get from crossing things off of my to do lists.  Although my self imposed reading challenge is not quite as much fun as the Library version because they let me earn fabulous prizes like library tote bags and latte mugs.... Maybe I just need to offer myself a reward if I meet my goal... hmmm perhaps something in pink? 

6) On Saturday we got to attend a friend's wedding.  We had such a nice time.  Their colors were red and black, same as our original wedding.  Loved that.  They also did several unique things like this!  As the couple was leaving the church they released 2 white doves!  Very cool.  I had not seen that done before and it was neat to see the doves fly away. 

7) Another unique thing Chris and Josh had was a unity tree.  I loved this idea.  Instead of doing a unity candle.. which lets face it, has been done... they had a unity tree.  They added dirt and water to plant the tree together and then Pastor Mark explained how the tree would then be transplanted at their new home. Love that idea and love how lasting it will be! 

8) Did we do date night report?  Can I even remember the date night report?  Oh!  We decided to stay in, yes, again... because a) monogirl was tired and b) we knew we'd be out Saturday for the wedding and sometimes 2 nights in a row is way too much for monogirl.  Darrel brought us home bdubbs, and yes.. dessert from the Amish place again.  YUM.  We watched some DVR'd programs we had waiting for us and also introduced ourselves to instant streaming on Amazon thru our Blu Ray player.  That was cool and it worked way better then netflix.  We are now thinking of switching!  Do multiple date nights at home sound boring?  I guess they could be, but we love it and I so look forward to it.  It's quite and relaxed at home.  We get our favorite carry out for dinner.  Cuddling up and watching our favorite shows and movies.  OK.. and there might be popcorn or ice cream involved.  Not boring to me.  What's not to love?  

9) So this evening we had praise team rehearsal because I am worship leader this week.  This means I stand in the center behind the pulpit.  I kept trying to figure out why I was having this urge to move my music so I could see it better.  It was like not tilted right or something but when you are by the pulpit, you can't adjust it like you would a music stand.  It suddenly dawns on me what the problem was..... I wasn't wearing heels.  Here I am in my comfy shorts and flip flops when I am used to standing there in 4-5" heels... Who knew you need your heels for rehearsal just so you can see your music.  Apparently next time I need to bring a step stool.... or just wear the heels with the sweats.  I am thinking that would be a good look.

10) Sorry to again be missing Weight Loss Wednesday.  I am in a ditch again here lately with feeling so cruddy!  I did get in some time on the exercise bike this week.  Small improvement, small progress but it felt good to accomplish something!  I may be in the ditch, but I have not given up.  Are you hanging in there with me? 

Thanks for checking in with me today!  Tune in tomorrow for Thankful Thursday.  Blessings!

Ten On Tuesday

OK.... TRYING to post for 10 on Tues.  Blogger has somehow lost my background... I cannot figure out why... AND it keeps dropping in my vertical pictures on their side... Getting on Monogirl's VERY last nerve.  So before Monogirl throws her pretty pink computer out the window in a fatigue induced fit of blogger rage.... I think I shall go to bed.  Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day for Monogirl.... and blogger.  Both would be a very good thing.

See... now you just won't be able to help yourself from tuning in tomorrow to find out how it all turns out.  Am I right?  ;)