SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY

Today is Show and Tell time. Please visit Kelli at http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ to find out how you can participate. Today I want to show what I recieved last night. I have finished my real estate property managers classes and have officially passed the test! I am quite proud of myself as many people did not pass. A lot of people who already work in the business did not pass. I worked really hard at this in spite of all that I have been going thru. Thank goodness it is over! No more late nights for me! That is why I look so rough in the picture- way past my bedtime! :)

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Ever Just Have "ONE OF THOSE DAYS"?

Have you ever had one of those days where everything just seems to go wrong? I am sure everyone has! Well, I started today off not in a great mood. I was cooking a huge pot of Chicken and Rice at work and I was stressing out because I could not taste it to see if it was seasoned right. Then I got a call from Aaron at school and he had a migraine. So I left work and took some medicine to him. Well, on my way back to work I was fuming about how crazy it is that the school would not let me leave his medicine in the office without a doctors note because it contained aspirin. So, I took a wrong turn and ended up on this fairly new toll road in our area. I have never been on this road and had no idea where it ended up. I also did not have a dollar to pay the toll. I stopped at the booth and I told the guy I was lost and did not have a dollar. I don't think he believed me. Anyway, he told me to pull over and fill out this form and they would bill me. So as I was filling it out the woman from the other booth came over(she was very hateful) and took the form and told me that the lady behind me paid my toll! What a small but great blessing. I headed on my way and eventually found my way back to work 40 minutes later and 10 dollars in gas! Once at work I was in a hurry to finish my duties and dropped an entire gallon of apple juice down my leg, into my socks and shoes, and all over the floor! Very sticky mess! Thank goodness for crocs- they wash out so easy. But I have made it home- safe and sound and tomorrow is a new day. Thank God for that!

Check this out!

Wonderful Saturday

So Saturday ended up to be a little different than I had planned and for the better. My very best friend, Lynn from long ago showed up to see me. It has been several years since we have seen each other. She is nearly 10 years younger than me. She lives about an hour away and we just lost touch for numerous reasons.
She had seen the news and I guess came to see how we were doing. Funny how I was just showing the mustang I wanted and she showed up in her new mustang! We took off cruising in her car listening to our 80s music. It was like old times. We went to visit her sister and her 5 kids. Wow! So, we headed back to the house and mom and dad came by. Lynn and mom helped me to organize my scrap booking stuff. I found a perfect spot for it all in my linen closet. Then we worked on a puzzle. Lynn and I used to do puzzles for hours when we were younger. It was so fun to work one with her again. As you can see in the background I did get my village houses boxed up but did not get them put away. My dear hubby Sandy was left to clean house! See him mopping the floor. I am so spoiled. What a great time I had.
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To do Today

I am ready to get back into the swing of things here. I feel pretty good this morning and really have a ton of house work to do. I still have my Christmas village houses on my bookshelf! Shame on me- this is February! I will get those packed up today. I also have this huge pile of scrapbooking stuff that is sitting in the floor. I bought some containers and stuff to get it all organized so I want to accomplish that today too.


I also want to start another blog. I have been searching up blogs of people with Celiac disease and feel like I should start one too. Since this disease will be a life changing event for me I feel I could use support from others who deal with this too. I greatly appreciate all the thoughts and prayers you all have sent my way. However, I do not want my main blog to be a boring blah blah about my health. I want to keep those two things separate. I want my main blog to continue being about my boys, family and our life.
So, I am off for a busy day. Have a great Saturday! Oh and look what I found for sale near Bridgettes house! I want it BAD!!!!

UPDATE

Can you believe that for a year and a half I have seen around 12 or more doctors with no answers. Now, I go to this one doctor and within 3 days I have answers. Wow! I recieved a phone call today from my newest specialist. First thing she said was that my vitamin D was very seriously low. Funny I had just bought some vitamin D at Whole Foods this week. The ones I got were 1000IU. Take one a day. She said no- we need to call you in a prescription. 50,000IU! Wow, I am really low. Then she said that all of my test result show that I have CELIAC disease. Over the past few months when I have been researching autoimmune disorders I kept going back to this one. What kept throwing me off was the symptom of weight loss. I actually have weight gain. But I still had all the other symptoms and a few weeks ago I had told my mom and dad that I was sure this was what I had. Well, looks like I might be right. Tomorrow I am going to have a DNA test done to look for the gene that causes this. This way I will know 100%. I feel this great relief. For years I have had multiple health issues and it all makes sense now. Yes, I know this is something I will have for the rest of my life and yes I know that there is no cure and yes I know that this can cause other things like cancer but my diagnosis could be so much worse. I am so thankful that I am getting somewhere with all of this. This will be a life changing diagnosis for me but I know that God will give me the stength I need.
THANK YOU ALL FOR PRAYING FOR ME AND LEAVING SUCH ENCOURAGING WORDS FOR ME! YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH THIS HAS HELPED ME. I am so sorry if I have not been by your blogs to check in on you but I have just had so much going on- AND I STARTED SCHOOL!!! I am taking some night classes and hoping to get an office job. It is very important for me to get out of the kitchen-even more so now with this diagnosis.
I will let you know my DNA results when I get them :)
God Bless all of you!!

STRESS

I know many of you have been asking if stress could be the reason for my hives. Well, if that was the case I would have had hives the entire 11 years of my first marriage! :) No, seriously- stress is not the CAUSE of hives but once the hives are in your body stress can AGGRAVATE them. Also, many things in my blood work and my biopsies point to something else. Stress would not cause a change in those things. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to know that all of you are thinking and praying for me. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

More Disappointments

I feel like things are just spinning out of control. I need to get a grip on this emotional rollercoaster. I headed to yet another doctor today- an internist. I have seen all other doctors and she is my last hope for an answer. I did not learn anything new today but I did pray that she would be a doctor who would listen and take time with me. That prayer was answered. She is confident that we can get to the bottom of this. I am now on some very serious medicine that does have side effects but what choice do I have now. The hives have taken over my face. I have never had them on my face and have always been able to hide them. I felt like a freak walking thru the office today. I look in the mirror and just do not see myself. I am desperate for answers. The stress of everything else is not helping matters. I have now learned that the boys' dad is also being charged in another county for breaking into cars and stealing possesions. 13 counts. I just don't understand why he does not realize how this affects his children. When his name is splattered on the news and his children step into school, people know. It is such an embarassment for them. I wish we could just run away and start over. I want to take them all and hold them so close. I want to protect them and yet they sometimes act like they don't need it. Like they are strong enough on their own. More than anything I need my health now. I need to be there for them. I need to hold this family together. I need healing. Physical and emotional. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I know there is an end in sight. Austin reminded me that something good always comes out of something bad. Smart kid! I will hold onto that.

REAL HONEST LIFE

Those words were put in my title for a reason. I wanted to be able to blog about important real things that happen in our lives. That has ended up being a difficult thing to do. I have met so many wonderful people and have been able to take a peek into your lives. Eveyone seems to have such a 'normal' drama free life! Of course I do know that we all deal with difficult issues. So, here is a peek into my REAL life.
Friday around 5:30 I recieved a phone call from my sister. She was at work and someone had called her and told her that they were watching the news and saw a story about two guys robbing a store and shooting at a witness. She said they had named my oldest son Billy. My heart sunk and I began to shake inside. I quickly turned on the news and began to search the story online. I kept telling myself that I had just seen Billy several hours ago at work. Surely this did not all happen in the past hour. Then it hit me. It had to be his dad-my exhusband. They both have the same name. I grabbed the phone and called the detention center. I gave her the name and she said, "Yes, he is here." I asked her to please tell me his birthday. When she did a wave of relief came over me. It was not my son. Thank God. But then the real emotions set in. I have to tell my boys what their father was involved in (he was not the shooter) . Of course this would not be the first time they would have to learn the hard truth. My exhusband does have a history of drug and alcohol problems and has been in some minor trouble with the law. The first thing I did is drive to Billy (my son's) house and hug his neck. He was a little upset that we would even consider the fact that it was him. He said he is not that stupid. Then the most critical and painful thing I had to do was to tell Aaron. Aaron and his dad are very close. Very! My heart was breaking for him. He had not really talked about it much in the past few days and is having a hard time with this. I know that his dad will get out on bond and I REFUSE to let the kids go to visit him. I was not aware that he had sunk back into his drug problem and I feel terrible that I had even been letting them visit him. I have changed Aaron's phone number and have let the schools know that he cannot pick them up. I know this is dangerous ground that I am treading on. I know when he finds out that I am keeping his kids from him that he will retaliate. I know the degree of his anger and wrath. Once again I will walk on egg shells and constantly look over my shoulder. I am greatly struggling with all these emotions. It is so difficult to open up this part of my life to all of you. But this is our real life. And although I have been divorced for 12 years I am never free of this man or the repercussions of what he does in his life. It will always affect my kids which in turn affects me. I hope my children take this as a learning lesson for life. When you get involved in drugs and alcohol and you do not choose the right friends something bad can and WILL happen.
Please pray for my boys and mostly Aaron as we deal with this.
Thank you :)

100% EXHAUSTED

I am beat! Sore! Tired and wore slap out! Bridgette and I were on our own today and we worked hard. We got the kitchen floor done and the kitchen painted. What a weekend!

The floor looks good. The floor is wet in the picture and that is why the grout colors look different. It looked great when it dried. There is Bridgette's cat supervising us. I think I was going to pull my hair out at one point! LOL! I was not sure that I was up for the drive home but made it here to see Billy and Wesley. They were here doing laundry. I missed a great shot of the two of them hugging and asked them to do it again but they wouldn't. So they just shook hands and then acted like they were going to fight. Billy broke out in a smile in that one.
Then they got carried away with these little guns that shoot out small soft balls. They really do hurt and Aaron got Wes in the eye once.You can see Aaron had a round lid for protection. Smart kid! It was so great to come home and watch them all playing like a bunch of kids again.

Photos

Here are some of the photos of Bridgette working on the floor. Also a picture of Jeremy taking down some sort of cabinet with an old vent hood attached. Not sure who made that cabinet! I looked just a little bit redneck so we figured we would dispose of it! LOL! I will be going back over to help them again today. I have been working the past two Sundays with them and have missed out on going to church. It is just such a long drive there and I really need to get an early start. This will be the last weekend I will go and then I can get back on track with my own things that need done.

The Day Ahead

It is early morning here. I awoke around 3:30 unable to sleep. My mind is spinning with thoughts. My heart is aching. We have had a difficult situation here but I will talk more about that in a later post. Don't worry-the boys are all fine and so am I. I must however get up and face the day. Aaron has a basketball game at 9 this morning. When we are done there I will be heading of to help my niece, Bridgettes do some more work on the house. I have been meaning to post about it but have been so busy. As some of you know, Bridgette got engaged at Christmas. They found this cute little house to rent in a real small town. However, the house needs a lot of work. Lucky for them the lady they are renting from has told them that any work they do she will deduct that amount from their rent. So we have been busy trying to get the place in order. Today we are going to grout the ceramic floor in the kitchen and lay the tile in the bathroom. I have been showing Bridgette how to do all this and she is learning quickly. I had to laugh last night when my sister called and said that Bridgette was on her hands and knees gluing the tile down. That is so out of character for her! :) We did try to show her how to paint but that is obviously just not her thing. Last weekend her and I were so dirty and covered in tile glue and we had to go to the store for a drink. We were laughing so hard and thankful that we were in a new town where no one knew us! I kept saying that I wish I had the camera so I could put this on my blog(obsessed- aren't we bloggers). I had such a good time hanging out and laughing all weekend with her. I have not really had much time like that with her. It has been so much fun. I will take the camera today and get some pictures to show everyone what we have been up to! Well, it is time to start the day! Have a great weekend all!

SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY

It is time for Show and Tell again. I just love this and love seeing what everyone else has to show. Visit Keli over at http://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ to find out more.
Today I am showing my small world perfume bottles. These were made by avon years ago. I had some of these when I was a child and then purchased the rest on ebay. I am missing the hat for my cowgirl. I also have the matching pin that holds perfume too. I never understood why one of the small world dolls was made in glass but the rest were plastic.??
I also have these adorable oriental people that are salt and pepper shakers. They are in the same display case as my dolls. I bought them at an antique store. I just fell in love with them!





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I've been tagged!

So my wonderful new friend Jennifer over at http://dustbunnyhostage.blogspot.com/ has tagged me for 7 random facts about myself. She put a very creative spin on hers but I am already having a difficult time just coming up with something.

1. I love doing home improvements. I laid all my own ceramic tile and wood floors. Years ago I even built a small attic room for Billy.(Well dad did the stairs and floor)I love to paint, wallpaper, ect. I love remodeling!

2. I am from a very small town in PA called West Fairview. It was mostly all made up of family. Every year since I was little they have a big "town picinic" in July. They still have it and I have taken my boys a few times. It is held in an old theme park with the old wooden coasters still running!

3. My father is a carpenter by trade and is also a traveling evangelist. Sound like anyone you know! LOL!

4. I was always involved in drama doing school plays and such since I was very small. I would memorize everyone's part and could recite the entire play by myself. Great memory I have!

5. I LOVE to roller skate. Always have! I think I was born with skates on my feet. We had a huge front porch and I would start skating early in the morning when everyone was still asleep. I was always up about 4am every day.

6. I am very competitive. I loves games, puzzles, trivia,and books. Not to brag but I am pretty smart :)

7. My favorite comfort food is cocoa and toast. You toast the bread and butter it real good and then dip it in your cocoa. I have eaten this since a child and even have it for my main meal. My aunt still teases me about the fact that I can eat a whole loaf! Well, now with my wheat allergy no more cocoa and toast :(

8. Bonus one! I love to write. My father always told me that I had a talent for writing and should write a book. A few years ago an english proffesor read some of my writings and was very impressed. That made me feel so good.I recently helped my niece write one of her college papers. I have written a few short stories. I know my writing skills do not show up in my blog anywhere! I just type as if I am talking to you on my blog. Maybe I will work on that!

I think most of my friends have already been tagged for this, but if you want to play let me know so I can stop by and read yours----tag-your it!

Lady Be Fit

In searching for any useful health information I pulled out this old book I have. It is called 'Lady Be Fit' and was written in 1942. It seems back then that people just did not have all the ongoing health issues that we have today. So I figured I would spend some time reading how women kept healthy and fit back then. Well, much to my surprise I found this chart that shows your correct proportions. Funny, funny, funny!!! According to this chart at my height which is 5'2" I should be: Weight -119 pounds, Bust-32 1/5, Waist- 25 1/5 Hips- 33 4/5 Arm-10 2/5 Thigh- 18 3/4 Calf- 12 4/5. Perhaps this is my problem. I am not even close to these! (Just kidding- I am not really taking this seriously). I know my waist was 24 when I was 15! Yes, I know that I am a little overweight and I am working out and eating right and have already lost 9 lbs. Wonder what I would look like if I was exactly what this chart says. There is some great stuff in this book. Very interesting read. Click on the chart to enlarge and see where you fit! :)

What do you think

Awhile back we were looking thru some old Christmas photos. This picture was from three years ago. As we looked at it we all kind of went- wow- Aaron looks just like Sara! Aaron has always been the one son that looked different from the rest. We even used to tease him about it. Somehow we never thought that he looked like my sister until we found this picture. It is a bit blurry but what do you think?

More on the bookshelf games

Several of you were interested in seeing more of the bookshelf games. I was in a hurry to get to work and made a sloppy post of my show and tell! The binding of the games look like an old book and most of them are very pretty. The ones made by 3M are the original and best. I have collected some other brands. When you open the box there is another box inserted in the sleeve and then the game is inside. Here are some pictures of the Facts In Five game. In the example card I have shown you have to list magazines in a certain category- like sports. It is neat because I have all the original papers from this game and it is neat to see how the answers vary from all those years ago.






This is our favorite. It is called Jumpin. It is a very high strategy game similar to chess or checkers but you can only move if you can jump. The metal pieces are so heavy. They do not make them like that any more! I have collected about 15 or more of these and I get them all from ebay.

SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY AND GIVEAWAY!

So it is time again for show and tell over at http://kellishouse.blogspot.com. I have not participated in a few weeks so I am glad to be back. Today I would like to show you some of my favorite board games. I am crazy about board games and we have about 100 of them. I love collecting real old ones too. Today I would like to show you my bookshelf games. These games were made in the 60s and 70s. They look like a book and fit right onto a shelf. Some of these have become our favorite games to play. I think they are real neat and a great conversation piece. Sorry I do not have time to show more detailed pictures. I am late for work :)




I would also like to show you this vintage bridge scorepad. It has never been written in and the pencils look like they have never been sharpened. I do not play bridge but bought this to try and sell on ebay. I have not had any luck :(. If anyone out there loves bridge or just loves to collect vintage games just let me know that you are interested in having it and I will sent it to someone. I just do not have the heart to put it in the donate box.

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