Good Monday Morning everyone!

sarah....I love the pic of you and your son.

deb....keeping you and your family in my prayers

kel....your lunch sounds delicious. I am trying to make it one year without meat and it is getting harder and harder....yum chicken

B2U...did you stay up and watch the game last night? I fell asleep in the 10th inning.

Barb...we went to an orchard yesterday too. I picked apples and brought home apples, cider donuts, cider, and wine made at the orchard. yummy. HOw are you feeling??

HOlly, wiz, vonn, weav, dej, pam, moo, tricia....have a wonderful week everyone!

I had a nice weekend. We went apple & pumpkin picking yesterday. Saturday we just layed low.

Today I am making applesauce. My ds8 has an appt. with the pdoc later today. I have to talk with him about my sons teacher. Apparently(I have talked to her) she told the class they couldnt have snack if they didnt finish there math work.

Ds stuggles with work so he didnt finish. She wouldnt let him have his snack as she says it was too late. The problem is that he doesnt usually eat breakfast due to his anxiety. He feels like he is going to throw up, sometimes he does. So snack is the first food in his belly. This will not happen once an education plan is in place! I was soooo mad! mama lion came out of me!


Love and hugs to you all!

Good morning, Everyone!

Kelly - How sweet of DS to take you out to eat. And, you were able to have leftovers and a no cook dinner last night.

Sox - Your poor DS! Mama bear would have come out in me too. Once you come up with a plan, it will be much easier. Most schools, if not all, will accommodate. As for not eating breakfast, have you tried giving him an Ensure type drink for breakfast? It might help tie him over until he is ready to eat. I get the store brand (Target or Walgreens) but I have also heard that Carnation Instant Breakfast is just as good and cheaper. I tried it a couple of times and it didn't agree with my stomach. These drinks have really helped me when my stomach is mixed up (thank you MS). It gives me a nutritional boost and protein. Smoothies might be another option - yogurt (Greek yogurt tends to have a higher protein amount). I hope all goes well at the pdoc today.

Debbie - I still keep you and your family in my prayers daily.

B2Y - I have those days too. I miss my Dad. A day does not go by where I don't think about him. Your Mom sounds wonderful and so supportive. You are very fortunate to have her as a Mom.

Dej - Hopefully things will settle down soon. It's an adjustment. We went through that when DD20 came home for the summer. I hope you start doing better soon.

Barb - OMGoodness! That sounds like so much fun. I remember when I lived in the northeast we would go to the orchards. Some let you pick them and others you can buy what they already picked as well as apple sauce and apple cider.

Sarah - I haven't checked out the pics yet but glad to see you posting and congrats on DS. You must be so proud of him!

Hi Everyone else. I'm thinking of you as well.

Don't have much going on today. Working on a design for a new clock. It's based off of some carnival rides. The old ones have some really cool designs on them. Wish me luck as what I have so far is really detailed. May have to change that.

Have a great day Everyone!

Hi everybody!! Rainy and chilly here today...over 2" so far!!

I hope to hit an orchard this year...we went with DS33 and DIL last fall in DC, and it was so much fun!! I love those apple cider donuts
Kitty, glad you enjoyed your meal with DS...
Sox There is no excuse for using food as an extrinsic reward for work. I think that it sets kids up to use food as the same later in life, which can lead to obesity. Shame on that teacher!!

Thanks to all for hugs and prayers...FIL seems to be perking up a bit, according to DH...plans for a little celebration for MIL's 88th birthday this week has him working hard so he can attend. Everyone needs goals to work towards, no matter the age...

Went to the cardiologist today for a followup. Discussed current sxs, which is mainly irregular heartbeat and feeling faint occasionally. Took BP lying, sitting and standing to see if I have orthostatic hypotension, and BP went up instead of down which would indicate such. But when I stood I got dizzy and got that pounding headache. I have a 24 hour heart monitor ordered for tomorrow and will have to have a tilt table test in the next week. Otherwise she said everything checked out fine. We discussed me on WW and the importance of cognizant eating instead of mindless eating and using food to self medicate. I'm determined to do well this time. This has been a major wake up call, and I want to be around in case one of the kids ever decides to make a grandbaby for DH and me

Well, I have homemade vegetable beef soup on the stove and the bread machine is cranking out the first loaf of the season...love how the house smells!! Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!!

Got a new Vacuum. DS ruined my old trusty, so he had to pay for a new one. He nor I can afford that expense right now, but I have to have a vacuum. DH was not happy.

Things are going a bit more smoothly here. The tension between DS and DH is calming quite a bit and they are starting to get along much better. DH is showing more trust and relying more on DS to help with projects, and DS is stepping up and showing he can be trusted, and wants to help around here. Even if he does vacuum up coffee with the regular vac! eeek! So, the dance is going more smoothly and things are a bit less stressful here. Dear God I needed that to calm down. It was a testosterone festival for a few weeks. They are learning to work with and talk with each other instead of at each other.

No word from my family. My mother is supposed to go to court today because my cousin and her child came into my mothers house while she was in the kitchen and stole her purse. She saw them leaving out the door with it, as she came out of the kitchen to see what that noise was. I was proud of her that she had them both arrested, but my cousin is dangerous and will retaliate. Neice moved in and now sits 20 hours a day on the internet. Sis called for a while to tell me how much she loves and misses me and wants her sis back. She was sober too! but havent heard from her in weeks, so I guess it was BS after all. Meh, im better off without any of it.

Im working on squeezing in some ME time. I am over stressed, over worked, over tired, overwhelmed and am feeling like a cat on a hot tin roof. NExt month is my 24th wedding anny and I think we are going to take a local trip to the lake and do a dinner tour and a train ride, and stay overnight. That will help. DS is here, so he can watch Jack the cat.

Jack is doing great! Im so impressed by him. He has been sleeping with me at night, and so has Lily. He is allowing me to touch him, love him, and scratch him without running off or acting like I have burrs on my gloves as I pet him. I am thinking about having his teeth cleaned he is doing so well. he has stinky breath! ewww.

I am sitting in my office and all ready for class so I thought I would drop in and say hi. I am doing ok. Blood work for crohn's was negative so the doctor says I most likely have ulcerative colitis. I have been really busy at school and the students seem more "needy" than ever. It is really frustrating to try to figure out ways to reach them and have them engage in critical thinking. They are so distracted by technology. I don't think this is a generational problem because lots of faculty seem frustrated regardless of the age of the faculty. I do not have a count down calendar for retirement yet but I am considering it.

I also wanted to mention that I only bought one apple cider doughnut at the orchard. Of course I also had warm apple cake that day with cinnamon and caramel ice cream It was so good!

Good morning, Everyone!

Dej - Glad to hear things are calming down.

Debbie - I hope MIL has a great birthday!

Barb - I agree with the generational thing. Some of these young kids are becoming quite the multitaskers but . . . Glad to hear the Crohn's test came back negative and that you are doing ok.

Vent for the day - My allergies are acting up terribly, still! Had to go back to bed and lay down as they're making me so dizzy. I've been doing my Neti pot twice a day (morning & noon) and my Flonase at night as well as taking Claritin. I don't know when the pollen count will go back down but I sure felt better when it was in the moderate range. They have been in the moderate-high range for several days in a row. Heck, they've been close to being that way consistently since, what? February? It's crazy.

The hug is improving as long as I am careful in how I move, sit, and what I do. But, I am glad the pain is subsiding some and I feel as though I can breathe a little easier. Well. . .except. . . my gall bladder is acting up and is painful! So my right side is hurting now. It's my own fault as I ate some chips last evening. I should know better. But, the pain is making me anxious and I hate that. So, now I'm trying to down some lemon water to help with that too.

Ok, vent over . . . On to more positive things.

I spent some time yesterday at DD21's with her and her puppy. It was nice to hang out there. Her bf bought a couch at Target (one of those futon type couches) for $40!!!! It was originally something like $150. (http://www.target.com/p/Gray-Sofa-Bed/-/A-13349288) It's not the most comfortable to lay on as there is small bump between the 2 seat cushions but for $40 it was a steal! I told her that she could get a twin size memory foam cushion and cut it to the size of the couch and then get or make a cover for the whole couch so that it matches her loveseat (love seat is tan and the futon type couch is gray). The puppy is doing great. He is getting big and is starting to lose his puppy teeth - he's chewing on anything he can find and loves their throw pillows. DD gave up on getting him to stop chewing on them and turned them over to him. haha He gets mad if you try to use one and will pounce all over you as he tries to get the pillow away from you. He loves paper too! They now have to shut the bathroom door as the tp dispenser is perfect for him to grab some tp and drag it all over and chew it. He has torn apart all his stuffed animal toys and when I got there yesterday, it looked like patches of snow all over the apartment. DD21 spent some time yesterday sewing up his toys and I cleaned up the fluffs of "snow." I am so not getting a puppy!

Have a great day, Everyone!

Hi all...cloudy but at least the downpours have stopped.

Barb, at least you know what it's NOT...did you see the Dr. Oz show about ulcerative colitis where worms are the new treatment? I forgot what kind, but they embed themselves in the intestinal wall and cut the inflammation down to zilch. He showed a photo of the intestine wall with the worms...you should look it up online. It's really helping people.

Trish, so sorry you're still dealing with allergies. Would it help to wear a mask? hope you feel better soon...

Dej, glad DS & DH are cooling their jets and getting along better...and glad to hear Jack's doing well!!

I got a Holter heart monitor attached to me for the next 24 hours...it probably won't show anything, but at least the doc is being thorough..

Picked up MIL to take her to FIL...she had her pants on backwards I'm having a great deal of trouble understanding what she's trying to say nowadays...it's so nonsensical, it takes me a lot of time to decode. FIL looks better, his color is good and he was working out on an exercise bike.

Well, I'm going to take it easy for now...worked out this morning after almost a month off, and I'm beat. Nasty back spasms right afterwards made it hard to breathe, but it was probably from getting overheated during the workout. Just can't win

Glad to hear that many of the medical problems out there are starting to improve. Keep up the good news.

This has been another weird day. Over the years I've had random episodes of irregular heartbeat (paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, also known as paroxysmal atrial tachycardia, and also have had some atrial fibrillation)

I can go for months and not have it, but I've had it the last couple days. Ugh. Even knowing what it is does't prevent that feeling of "Oh no, something's wrong! My heart's flupping around!" I've never taken meds for it and don't want to unless it's necessary. But I sure had that feeling.

I'm not sure that watching this baseball game is helping me calm down any!!! Things are anxious up here in Red Sox Nation.

Hi all...mild and partly sunny, finally

B2Y...sorry the Sox' season ended so badly...what a night for baseball though...

Hope everyone is doing well...I'm about to go to both the nursing home and the assisted living place...evaluations for both inlaws today.

I took MIL for a manicure and lunch yesterday...we all gathered for a birthday dinner at the independent living place where they used to live...all except FIL...to weak and tired (even though he was fine the day before).

She made it through dinner very well, enjoying her friends and fam...but when we got back to her apartment, she showed her anger and disgust about FIL...she was very angry...when she visited him yesterday he slept the whole time after complaining "she asks too many questions."

I wanted to slap him...we are all disgusted. He seems to get weak and tired whenever he has to expend himself...I wonder if he doesn't want to return to live with her and her constant nagging...

She called me at 5:30 am crying wondering if we are going to see him today...after I'd gotten 3 hours of sleep worrying about it all...I'm tired of it...

Well, got to go...

DS got his notice from the orchard that they probably wont keep him on thru the winter. While they do weddings and such, they do very little with farm equipment or the farming side of things, but he will be their first hire come spring. He is upset and beating the bushes for other jobs. He asked me if he should apply for some sort of assistance. I took him downtown and asked him to speak to the welfare office and see what if anything he qualifies for since he is considered a migrant or seasonal farm worker. He was given a phone # and an application for food stamps, gas assistance to get to and from interviews, and may end up with other assstance. There is NO unemployment with farm jobs, or migrant work so he will be floating in the wind without work. I have assured him that he will always have a roof over his head, food in his belly, and we will make sure he has a way to get back and forth to interviews. Poor kid. he is really trying. I bet he has sent out 300 apps and hasnt heard back from one of them. no stress tho. Sheesh! this house is so full of stress!

the new vac is great! im loving it. it has features the old one didnt have. DS got the busted one working, but it has 1/3 the suction of the new one, so its a basement vac now. DH wanted one of those anyway as I wouldnt let him use the rainbow down there.

I have been trying to walk. I have been trying to be good, but my MS is really rearing its ugly head. I am spastic, clunky, I am starting to walk like a drunk, and I am easily lost mentally. I think that is the sx that hurts the most. I have a Masters Degree from Yale, and now I am a big pile of mush that has to think about it when the cashier asks me what price something was. I am so angry at this disease for stealing my brain!

Vik my BFF will be up in November to visit during hunting season. DH doesnt like to leave me alone. Since DS is here, Vik and I can travel a bit and not worry about Jack the cat (who needed a shot yesterday) and we can perhaps see the surrounding town a bit. My Gawd, she is so much fun! She too has MS and we laugh and cry and laugh like real sisters should. I wish I had been blessed with a real sister, and a real mother, but since that isnt to be the case, I guess all of you will have to do. Even the ones that scratch their head at me and wonder if I have lost my mind. the answer is yes! I have!

hugs to those that need um, prayers for those that want them. im sorry but I cant remember who did what by the time I get to this box. Just know I say a prayer with each reading, and send out a hug when I see you need one.