I haven't written all week because my headaches became more severe.  I went to the doctor (the new one) on Wednesday morning and he mentioned I was in obvious pain because my blood pressure was VERY high, my pulse was racing, and I was perspiring from the intense, non-stop pain in my head.  He gave me some migraine medicine samples, changed a few things around that I had been taking and ordered some blood work run.  I think his main concern was the headaches are vascular (so are migraines) and can be a precursor to blood clots or a stroke . . . which aren't things that have ever been a problem in my family.  I've been spoiled (up until this year) my entire adult life with relatively excellent health.

Yesterday evening, I was beginning to feel relief.  Emily was here to clean in the morning and early afternoon and I had to lie down in bed (flat on my back in a cold room without much light) while she cleaned.  I missed visiting with her.  She is always such a joy to have in our home!  I stayed down the rest of the day and took the maximum of the headache pills allowed.  I suddenly noticed a difference in my pain, when I got up at dinner time.  *ALMOST* gone.  This morning, I feel NORMAL and have not one trace of a headache.  Praise God!  Our bodies are so weird!  Some of you knew about my headaches and I thank you SO MUCH for praying for me and for your private notes.

I'm catching up on laundry (that's a no brainer!  always at the top of my chore list!) and will have all day because the girls' therapist is ill.  She canceled yesterday and again today.  I hate that she's ill but glad no one has to be taken across town to an appointment.

I finally faced the gargantuan garland over the fireplace and rearranged it where I was pleased enough.  Yesterday, Jesse bought me the "much needed" nails and I might be able to put the other garlands (or at least some of them) up in the doorways today.  I don't want to push myself, but I would love to have the decorating behind me so I can enjoy it all.  Like I said in another post, I'll leave the lights and garland entwined when I take it down this year and put it in labeled (by doorway) storage bins.  Next year should be a breeze.  I still have pumpkins and gourds sitting on my dining room table that have to be packaged and stored until next fall.  Doesn't time just whip by?

Stephanie's mini-van is STILL not running.  The water pump has been replaced as well as plug wires, fuel filter, etc.  Jesse and his mechanic friend are at a problem spot, or stuck spot, replacing a motor mount that just doesn't want to fit.  I wonder if she drove with that motor mount loose for such a long time that the entire engine shifted and THAT'S why they can't get the new one to line up??????  Scary to think of her on the roads totally without a clue that she was in danger of loosing her engine!

Haven't homeschooled for weeks.  Rissy is teaching herself to read and doing very well.  I'm not big (not at this young age) on following all the subjects daily, and if she's most interested in reading, I'm thrilled to help her.  Annamarie is on such a younger level of learning, that she occupies herself with activity books and that's plenty of brain work for her.  She truly has such a tough time figuring out answers.  So, it's not like all is lost and they are falling behind, academically.

It's a dank, dreary, drizzly day and I just started the fireplace.  We've tried turning the two thermostats (the bedroom side of the house and the front living areas of the house) down to 66 degrees at night and leaving it there during the day with the fireplace in the den roaring.  Seems to be okay with everyone.  No one has really complained.  It's been wonderful (with my headaches) to have a cold place to go when needed.  The girls always wear leggings and haven't said a word about being chilled.  Jesse said he was chilly last night and couldn't believe I was lying on TOP of the bedding and was quite comfortable.  It's usually the other way around in winter.  I'M the chilled one.  Anyone, I'm doubly glad I have no where I have to be and I hope the drizzling stops so they can get that motor mount back on Stephanie's car and, if it still doesn't work right, Jesse can tow it to a mechanic's shop and leave it without seeing it each day in our driveway.  They fear she may have blown a head gasket because she allowed the car to run hot.  And, she had almost no oil in it!

Tonight, I'm fixing cranberry chicken breasts for dinner.  I'm thawing the breasts now, since they have to be patted dry before cooking.  It's a simple sauce:  1 can of whole cranberry sauce, 1 small bottle of French dressing, and 1 package of Lipton's dry onion soup mix whipped together.  Spoon that mixture over boneless, skinless chicken breasts that you've salted and peppered; and then, bake uncovered for about 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  I make double the sauce and serve it over white rice, but you can serve the chicken with just a spoonful of sauce by itself and use baked potatoes, twice baked potatoes, or whatever.  It's easy to fix, always tastes good, and is one of my family's favorite recipes.

I made a pan of brownies (a box mix) two days ago and they are almost gone.  We don't eat a lot of sweets around here.  And, when we do, we dole things out in small portions.  I guess it's been a while since I've baked much of anything and my family (with Emily's help!!!) devoured them this time!

I guess I should grab some more dirty clothes and keep the machine active!  It's good to be back, sitting up, and experiencing a normal day! 

God be with you!

I have a hash brown potato casserole in the oven and turkey sausage links frying for breakfast.  Will whip up some scrambled eggs soon.

Stephanie's mini van (Nissan Quest) is in bad shape - way beyond a weekend repair job.  She's totally without a vehicle, right now.  Many, many things are wrong: some from her neglect and some because things just sometimes break after a while.  So, after a discussion with Jesse last night, they came to an agreement for her to purchase our new (used) mini van (Mercury Villager) and while Jesse gets the Nissan van fixed, she will pay as much as she can for its repairs.  Then, he will sell her old van and apply the sale money to the repair bills and the price of the van we're "giving" her; and, she will pay the balance for the newer van when she receives her tax refund in February.  Sounds like an accounting spread sheet, to me!  I think Jesse also stressed the importance of being responsible with a car - checking fluid levels, air in the tires, etc.  He bought her new tires last November and her current air pressure was 15 instead of 32.  Her new tires only have half of their tread left because she was driving with such low pressure. (sigh) 

I put up ONE garland yesterday, the one over the fireplace mantle.  It's not in the place it will need to be permanently, but I gave up trying because I was getting very frustrated.  I had to wire together 3 bulky garlands and then twist 200 lights through them.  This is a one time project, as I'll pack the assembled garland "as is" for future use.  I was working alone with NEW lights and they kept wanting to spring back into their boxed, curved-wire position!  While trying to put the garland on the mantle, it repeatedly slipped down, one side and then the other.  I called on Rissy to hold the other end in place, to no avail.  The mantle is about 8' long and narrows at both ends, thus the garland-slipping-off problem. 

To top things off, I was standing in front of a blazing fire in our fireplace wearing a turtleneck blouse, flannel dress, and wool blend socks, and thought (through my frustration) that this surely must be a small taste of hell!  I also found out we own (in this entire house and 3 car garage) only 4 nails longer than 1 1/2 inches!  I needed longer ones (preferably with heads, which my precious four 2 1/2  inches "long nails" didn't have) to keep the garland in place.  I'll have to worry about tacking it in place and arranging the lights today or tomorrow when Luci is at daycare.  I won't attempt the doorways until I've visited the hardware store and bought proper nails!  The doorway garlands will be easier because they are plain garland and lights, not entwined with pine cones and berries like the mantle garland. 

My sausage is beginning to smell good and little people are telling me they are hungry.  I need to go for now.  I'll write more tomorrow!

Today, I'm contemplating putting garlands and lights up over the archways.  We are no longer doing a tree (kind of phasing those things out, as we study the Bible more) and will just be putting red berries, cardinals, pine cones, etc. into garlands of greenery with mini lights.  I'm putting that  over the four largest doorways and our fireplace mantle.  I have something similar to the mantle greenery, which is a little different from the rest (pine cones & berries frosted with "snow"), for the formal dining room table centerpiece and will use crystal candlesticks and white candles.  I bought white wrapping paper and white wedding paper (white on white stripes and white roses on a white background) to use and will tie berries and pine cones into different ribbons.  No Santa stuff, no elves, no typical "Hallmark" Christmas looking stuff.  We'll use the holiday as a time to exchange "some" gifts and to have a nice family meal and get together.  It seems to be the most convenient time to gather, since the world (except for 7-11's!!!!!!) shuts down and everyone is off work on that one day.

I LOVE pine and I guess it is a carryover from my life in California.  Things were lush and GREEN in the winter and in Oklahoma things are beige and gray (and, VERY barren)!  Anyway, I love pine cones and red berries as much as I like the evergreens and have always brought that into my home for the winter months.  Everyone knows what a sucker I am for birds, so red cardinals & white doves are a favorite, too.  In fact, Jesse and I got married January 2nd and our "theme decor" was evergreen branches with white roses and white doves (on the cake) and the greenery branches and white roses on the reception's buffet table.

Stephanie and JanaLyn have stayed for the past 3 or 4 days.  She called Tuesday night and said her hot water tank wasn't working again and they arrived sometime after 9pm.  Then she had car trouble yesterday on the way to work, so Jesse rescued her, gave her our new (used) van to use, and he's made arrangements for a mechanic friend to look at Stephanie's van today.  I think it's the thermostat and a fuel line that's clogged.  No heat and a car that jerks after 30mph!

My chocolate chip muffins for breakfast are ready to be served.  Off I go to enjoy them!

I've had some problems with those dumb headaches.  Friday afternoon I picked up some migraine pills and they DID help - so my guessing some of these are migraines is correct.  These pills don't work for any other type of headache.  I've thought (in great detail) about the cause of my suddenly having headache problems and I find it hard to swallow the doctor's analogy of "rebound headaches."  In rethinking how many pills I've actually had (from the dentist), I don't believe they would be a large enough quantity to cause me an addiction.  (11 Darvocet over a 3 week period).  As far as over-the-counter analgesics, I don't take enough of them (never exceeding the recommended dose, nor take them all day long) for it to make sense that I'm (suddenly) a "Tylenol Addict" and need to attend 12 step meetings with other Tylenol addicts - not just yet, anyway!  (giggle)  Most likely, these are tension headaches, which are triggering migraines.  My last bout with migraines was in my late teens when I was in my senior year of school, worked at a fast paced job, and my parent's were going through a divorce.  The migraines only lasted a little over a year and the doctor, at the time, thought I had tension headaches which triggered migraines.  This whole "illness-thing" has been very stressful and, if I'm "a little tense," it wouldn't surprise me at all!

At any rate, I have quit taking EVERYTHING (just as the doctor told me to do) and have resorted to less migraine medicine and more frozen packages of vegetables on my head.  The worst headache pain seems to migrate to the left side each time.  I have my own special package of Green Giant frozen corn packed in the freezer!!!  Even the girls know about "Mom's corn!"

This is more medical details than most of you reading my blog would like to hear (I DO realize that), but entries from my blog are also printed into a book and the book is a diary (of sorts) for me, for my children, and any other future generations who may find all the details of my life interesting.  So, I write about EVERYTHING and spare no details.  My apologies to those who find my ongoing saga of physical struggles tiring - believe me, I DO TOO!!!  Then again, I've gotten incredible support from people online who have been through similar maladies.  I don't feel so weird, isolated, and frustrated after finding out others have walked in my shoes.

Change of subject: I had an odd type of blessing yesterday. 

We had a list of things to do (Jesse and I) which included going to the bank, eating lunch somewhere, and shopping for the final Thanksgiving meal items at Wal-Mart.  Just around the corner, on the way to the bank, we witnessed a very bad car accident.  I was looking down and missed the details, but looked up when Jesse hollered and I saw a Yukon truck pushing a medium 2 door vehicle into the center of the 4 lane road.  We had two of our children in the car and Jesse pulled into a parking lot and jumped out as I told him, "I'm the one with some medical training."  But, he was gone before I finished my sentence.  I waited forever (I'm sure it was only 15 seconds!!!), told the girls to stay put, and I proceeded to join Jesse in the middle of the street.  I couldn't believe the cars that seemed to race by going WAY too fast.  A girl (driver of the Yukon) appeared from the passenger door of the Yukon and a HUGE young guy emerged from the car.  He was furious because he had purchased the car (cash) 3 days prior and was on his way to get insurance (gulp!) and she became hysterical.  She kept telling him how sorry he was and how everything she'd done lately she had royally, messed up.  She was wearing a cast on her right lower arm and hand.  She was clearly confused and unaware of the racing traffic around her.

She fell into my arms crying and telling me her long story.  Three weeks ago, she'd had an accident with a knife in the kitchen and had cut through all her tendons in her right hand, making it impossible to work (a financial strain).  Then a week ago she got her first speeding ticket.  Yesterday morning, she had left the house with the intention of buying a baby gift and getting her mind off of her own self pity and . . . that's when this accident occurred.  I walked her (no, pushed her) out of the street and into the parking lot promising her, over and over again, I wouldn't leave her alone and would stay with her and care for her.  Sad part of this story (to add to the rest of her story), her husband was out of town on business, IN a meeting, and she couldn't reach him by phone.  I later retrieved her cell phone and she attempted to text message him, all to no avail.  She said her parents lived in Texas and she reached her mother, who became VERY upset (being so far away and all) and this girl kept telling her some really nice lady was taking care of her (me)!!!  She said she had great neighbors, both E.R. nurses, but they were at work.  She called a girlfriend who couldn't leave work to give her a ride home. 

I had the forethought to get her things out of her truck before the police and wrecker service arrived.  I retrieved her purse, cell phone, a paycheck on the console, what looked to be business papers, and her garage door opener.  Later she was grateful.  This all happened in front of a Farmer's Insurance agency.  The employees were wonderful and had her come inside their office.  I stuck to her like glue and finally she turned and thanked me repetitiously for not leaving her.  During all of this, Jesse made the bank deposit, went home and got our Suburban (we started out in the mini van, which has one bench seat removed), and then arrived back in the parking lot to give his "witness" account of what he had seen happen. 

The insurance people told her she'd probably be ticketed for still having a Texas driver's license (she's lived here 2 years) which added insult to injury, and they helped her find a tow company that worked with HER insurance company, Allstate.

They informed the boy (who thankfully has always been listed on his parent's insurance) that any new vehicle purchased had a grace period to allow people to insurance a new vehicle and, most likely, his would be covered - although it was clear the girl would be cited, not him, and SHE would be replacing his totaled vehicle.  His mother showed up and was as nice as she could be to everyone. 

A VERY young, pretty girl came into the insurance agency to take care of some paperwork, and she turned to the two drivers and said, "Thank God it's only your cars.  You're both going to be alright and it could have been so much worse."  They smiled slightly, until the lady behind the desk explained that this young girl had recently been in a wreck and had suffered near fatal injuries.

All in all, I praised God while I sat there and realized the girl's (in the Yukon) needs superseded my headache pain and the feelings I've had for these past few months of pretty much not being of any use to anyone.  The guy's brand new car, that he'd saved for and paid cash for only 72 hours earlier, was totaled.  The gal in the Yukon is minus a vehicle right before Thanksgiving and has no husband in town to help.  She's had recent hand surgery, but had no friend to come get her.  Then a very young girl had walked in and told her story of how she was almost killed in a wreck.  I guess we all have our own burdens and no one is spared.

I left our names and my phone numbers in her purse with a note telling her to call and let me know how she was doing and to call if she needed ANYTHING before her husband arrived home later this week.  By the time we dropped her at her house (this whole drama took nearly 2 hours), she was much more calm and told us, "God bless you!" and we were on our way to do what we had set out to do; but, we were thanking God that we had been in the right place at the right time.

I've taken the girls to the doctor's office earlier this morning.  Luci got 2 shots (without any more than an, "ouch!") and the other two were checked.  Rissy is fine (she had a well child check up), but Annamarie's cough, throat, & ears looked suspicious enough to cause the pediatrician to order an antibiotic for her.  AND, my pleasant surprise for the day . . . our pediatrician is due to have her 3rd child at the end of February.  What a surprise!  I've known this gal since Rissy was a few weeks old (6 1/2 years, now) and she is one of my favorite people.  Since I've been so sick and she is pregnant, we agreed not to hug today!

I'm waiting for Jesse to finish a lawn job (yes, someone really need their lawn cut!).  He got a late start, but we may grab a sandwich for lunch (Rissy, Annamarie, Jesse, & I).  I'm really kicking back this week and doing as little as possible to make Thursday as enjoyable as possible for myself.  Sloppy Joe's tonight and chili dogs tomorrow night!  VERY simple!

That's it from Okie-land for today.

Jesse is outside blowing the leaves (into the neighbor's yards . . . No!  just kidding!) out of the flower beds and will "suck" them up later with his "leaf sucker upper" or mow over them and bag them from the grass catcher thingy on the mower.  Can you tell I have no lawn care vocabulary???

The other day, I really THOUGHT my laundry was caught up.  But, like anything else in life . . .  If it seems too good to be true, most likely it is.  Rissy's and Annamarie's baskets were overflowing yesterday and I asked them last night to drag the baskets out to the laundry room.  Rissy's basket is more than halfway done and I haven't touched Annamarie's basket.

Talked with the doctor yesterday about my headaches.  They never fully go away and, at times, can be incapacitating.  HIS thinking is that I'm dealing with rebound headaches that are triggering migraine headaches.  It all started when the dentist gave me masses of drugs to sedate me 3 1/2 weeks ago.  It dawned on me that the few times I've had surgery, I've suffered each time for 24 hours afterwards with a horrible "drug headache."  Apparently, you can take too much ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin and naproxen sodium until your body CAUSES a headache without the drug and the drug itself becomes ineffective.   His nurse called me back around 6:30pm last  night and said he wants me to stop taking EVERYTHING, including vitamins & herbs.  He said to take only my prescriptions his office has given me (thyroid, bcp, etc.).  He wrote a prescription for migraine pills (VERY affordable) and hopefully Wal-Mart will have those in by this afternoon.  Jesse can pick them up when he takes Luci to her therapy appointment.  I feel like a junky.  Or, an addict.  But, I'll do anything to get rid of this nagging headache stuff.  It took me forever to fall asleep last night (I can still take my sleeping medication) and I thought, "My gosh, this must be how someone feels coming off of drugs and needing a fix."  I was restless.  Walked in circles around the house . . . I DID take the headache pills he prescribed last week, but only that and the things he told me to take.  Until I have the new headache pills in my hands, I'm afraid I'm not willing to go completely cold turkey without some help.  Coffee is the only thing that brings relief, but then (of course) it keeps me awake at night.

The good news . . . while tossing and turning last night, I had LOTS of time to think.  I have been considering giving Rissy her own bedroom and having Luci & Annamarie share a room (we have 4 bedrooms).  That would still leave a guest room for company.  Luci & Annamarie are two people who can't stand to spend one minute alone.  Rissy is becoming more and more needful of some private space and time.  She LOVES the current guest room's color and how it's decorated - lots of pinks, periwinkle blues, & purples with birds set in mini floral or wreath arrangements and white lace curtains).  We would have to do very little (an extra closet rod installed) to ready it for her. 

I can move Luci's twin bed into the current room that Rissy & Annamarie share.  That's how it was when we originally moved into this house - a double bed and twin bed.  I have 3 sets of bedspreads or quilts that match both beds - so it's perfect for the two of them to share.  They are still more immature and very "little girls" while Rissy is maturing and liking things a little more in the grown up (but ultra feminine) styles.  Annamarie would be thrilled with Care Bears, etc.!

That would leave Luci's current room with a king bed for guests.  It must have been used as an office or library before we bought it.  It has a 12 foot wall with built in cabinets and shelves and a small closet that's been converted to ALL shelves.  I'd love to regain those storage areas and move the Tickle Me Elmo and fire trucks to a less visible area!!!!!  That's the room you see after entering the front door!  Thinking of that extra storage space for my sewing and homeschool items just thrills me!

I'd need to move the girls' dressers around.  Luci's white, mismatched dresser can go in the closet of the room she'll share with Annamarie - it's a huge closet.  I'll move Rissy's dresser/mirror (walnut/mahogany - a duplicate of Annamarie's dresser set) to Rissy's new room and take my mother's antique mahogany dresser/mirror from the room Rissy will have and move it to the NEW guest room with the king bed.

Lowe's has some nice-sized, mesh, utility shelves in black (for kitchen or garage) that would work in the 2 rooms occupied by the girls (I think $79/each) and (with some clear bins for their "things") the shelves should hold their toys nicely AND neatly!!!  I think the black shelving will be just fine with the dark wood furniture in both bedrooms.

We discussed painting two of the bedrooms (not the one Rissy will move into - periwinkle, and she LOVES it) and decided the closet rod material, 3 shelving units and paint should be around $300.  Lowe's has an offer right now of no finance and no payments for twelve months on purchases of $299 and up . . . which means no initial cash outlay for us.  (yay!)   Jesse would have projects to do with all of his free time this winter.  When I presented the idea to him, he seemed to not only be in agreement (agreed to a decorating idea?????!!!!!!),  but rather excited about having something to do with his time and GIVING something to the girls.  I think the fact it was affordable and wouldn't need to be paid for until his lawn business starts up again (next spring) was even better sounding!  Of course, a place for all of my junk and ALL rooms being freed of "junk" probably was appealing, as well!

He wants to get started after Thanksgiving and we even have an "easy" plan for what room gets painted when; and, where that room's furniture will have to go while being painted.  I haven't painted since Oct. 2004, but we aren't doing ceilings or woodwork this time - so the main pain in the neck is the edge along the ceiling and woodwork where you have to be so careful.

Jesse wants to surprise the girls after Thanksgiving week end and not breathe a word before then.  It's kinda fun for us to look forward to, also!

Today is our youngest granddaughter's third birthday! 

Happy Birthday, Jaiden!

Jesse's gone off to do some personal business and bid a lawn job!  It must be a "leaf-pick-up job" - surely no one needs their lawn mowed in the middle of November!  AND . . . do we have the leaves!!!  Fall arrived 2 days ago with leaves turning beautiful colors and dropping like flies.  FINALLY!!!

I think I've figured out how I'm going to orchestrate Thanksgiving dinner next week.  I'll make the white and sweet potatoes on Wednesday and refrigerator them in whole chunks.  I'll bake the two pies at the same time the potatoes are cooking.  Hopefully, the bird will be thawed enough to get out the package of innards and I can boil them with onion and celery to make the broth for my dressing.

Wednesday night, Stephanie can come over and I'll teach her how to make my turkey dressing  - my mother's recipe.

Thursday morning, I can stuff and put the turkey in the oven, then make the fruit salad (Jell-o, Cool Whip, cottage cheese, and fruit cocktail).

Thursday afternoon I can reheat and mash the white potatoes and make the caramel glaze for the sweet potatoes.  I'm making frozen extra sweet yellow corn and frozen peas (with a jar of chopped pimentos) in the microwave and that can be popped in soon before we eat.

When it's time to eat, I'll have the gravy to make, the rolls to heat, a can of cranberry sauce to open (ouch!  such work!!!) and carve the meat.

The plan sounds good.  Will see how stress free it end up being!  Rather than use all my nice serving dishes on the dining room table, I'm going to serve (buffet style) from the kitchen, out of the original cooking dishes.  I love using my platters, silver trays and crystal or silver bowls, but the thought of cleaning up is a bit overwhelming to think about this year.  I WILL use my china, crystal water goblets, and fancy Oneida silverware. 

I think the more simple I keep things, the more I'll enjoy it and not feel like cratering to the center of the earth, afterwards!  That would be one large hole I'd leave in the earth if that actually happened!

Speaking of eating, I made a new recipe yesterday that I modified from one Emily gave me.  (By the way, God made the sweetest gal when He made her!!!!  Such a joy to be around!).  It was basically canned corn, canned creamed corn, Jiffy cornbread mix, sugar, sour cream and cheddar cheese.  Of course, VERY low in calories!!!!!!!!!!   I think we would have liked it better without so much sugar.  It baked up like a souffle  with a crunchy top.  I made that smoked brisket I've talked about for the past couple of days, sweet & sour red cabbage, and green & yellow string beans.  We had some of Emily's homemade rolls (to die for) and a pecan pie she made for Jesse.  I think a salad will be the fare for dinner tonight!!!

I need to try to hang the sheers and valances back up in our bedroom today.  Laundry (not sure WHY) is in pretty good shape and caught up.  Sounds like a restful day with only taco salad for dinner tonight.

I have heard nothing new about my brother, so I can only assume that is good news.  Still praising God for sparing his life.

This was the nicest gal you could ever hope for as a GYN.  Remember, this is the new clinic where I told you the male doctor I visited was a jewel.  She really listened to me.  My 3 questions were about bcp's that I could take continuously without a monthly flow, my T-4 thyroid being slightly low and should I be concerned, and estrogen dominance (thanks InnerJoy)  for which I fall in the medium category of symptoms.

She asked a very thorough family history (which, isn't exciting to talk about since we don't usually have anything wrong, of any significance), she talked in length about some of the things that bothered me (insomnia being the worst culprit).  I told her about my incredibly dry skin in the winter and my losing my hair the past 24 months.  She decided to try a low dose of thyroid for 2 months and see if many of my ailments lessened or disappeared.  I'll have another Thyroid Profile done in 6 weeks.  She also agreed that since my bcp's were doing so well and not causing me problems, it was safe to put me on the same pill that would have no break for a week in the cycle.  Our family seems to go through menopause at age 57-59 and those next few years on bcp's shouldn't cause me any worry of cancerous complications.  Plus, there is not history of cancer in our family.  She said my heart, arteries,blood pressure (104/64), and *THANKFULLY* my lungs were all in really good shape.  And, many of the nagging types of complaints on my list were hormonal, which the thyroid and bcp's should fix.  She said estrogen dominance is a very real thing that happens to most women (I'm 54 and a little old to be doing all of this) BEFORE they get ready to enter menopause.  She said all of the supplements I take are the correct things for balancing my vitamin/mineral deficiencies and the thyroid/bcp therapy should help with the rest.

She thought my recent headache problem was a virus. (rolling my eyes)  Seems every little thing that comes past my body - I catch.  She said I was VERY blessed to not be bothered with anything but mild naggy headaches that are easily treated with 2 aspirin.  I don't know know how Jesse deals with frequent migraines.  I'd rather deliver 5 children via natural childbirth in a week's time than suffer with a headache like I had.

My head hurt too much to call my mom Sunday night, but I had a wonderful report when I called her lastnight.  Michael's nephrologist has removed himself from Michael's case, as he feels his services won't be needed.  His blood work continues to improve.  The way things look today, he will be home (not a convalescent home) by the end of this week.  This is something the medical staff and my parents hadn't except to happen.   They were preparing my parents for his death.  Thank you all for your prayers!

My children have prayed diligently, although they have called him "Mom's uncle" not realizing he's my "brother" and THEIR "uncle."  (Does it really matter?)  Sunday night, little Luci (the one with the severe behavior control problems) came into my bedroom and said, "I'm going to say my prays with you tonight."  I wasn't really up to saying her prayers with her, but she laid her hand on my arm and quietly prayed, "Thank you, Lord, for my mommy.  Thank you for my life and her life and our bodies that YOU made.  Please heal her headache and make her not hurt.  I want my mommy to smile and and feel happy, Lord.  Please, Lord, I know you're the only one who can do it!"

IS THAT NOT THE MOST PRECIOUS THING????  This is the child who causes us so many problems with fits and outbursts on a daily basis.  We've prayed that God would work a miracle in her life and she would be well enough to not need medication.  We pray for her (in front of her) ALL the time.  Guess some of our praying has rubbed off, huh?

Well, I got the remote start put on my Suburban.  We picked it up last night at 6pm - RIGHT as they were closing.  I'm sure I'll enjoy it when the cold weather arrives - and it will arrive eventually!  As we were leaving the restaurant lastnight, I activated it and the heater was already warm when we climbed in and closed the door.  Ahhhh!  Luxury!

I'm going to have to pick  up the house a bit before Emily comes to clean!  It's sad that I have to pick up the house so someone can clean it, isn't it???!!!! LOL  It's not in really bad shape, but rooms have to be cleared of little toys on the floor (so she can vacuum) and my kitchen counter tops have to be reduced to a few piles of clutter so she can clean the surfaces! 

Picking up the Suburban at 6pm meant I didn't cook lastnight.  Instead, we went to Applebee's and I had a fried chicken salad, Rissy had an adult cheeseburger, and Luci & Annamarie had mac & cheese with a a side of appleasauce.  Guess tonight will be that smoked brisket menu!

Have a wonderful day.  I'm going to go wake up my husband.  It's 8am and I'm lonely!