Day 361 – STOP

Since you guys have been on this journey with my mom I wanted to update you on the doctors visit. Her EKG came back normal so they are sitting her up with another stress test next week. The doctor was concerned about the pain but because it went away when she would rest he told her to keep nitroglycerin with her at all times and not to exert herself at all until the test.

It was a relief that he didn’t seem to be overly concerned because I really trust her heart doctor. She told me before the appointment that the reason she didn’t want to go was because she hated the stress test a lot, she even whined a little, so when he told her he was scheduling her for one next week she gave me the nastiest look So right now we are still in a little bit of limbo but I am so happy the process is moving forward.

Thank you all again for the concern and kind words, my mom has really been so touched that all of my friends have been asking about her and keeping her in their thoughts and prayers, and I am very grateful as well.

 

Day 360 – Periwinkle

I had to take this with my iPhone on my way out of work because I just didn’t have time to take the camera out today. I don’t think I will be much use until I get my mom to the doctor and they tell me everything is ok Thank you ALL again for your kind words and support.

 

Day 359 – Broken Window

Thank you ALL for the words of support about my mom and for sharing your personal stories. I shared each post with my her and they really seemed to hit home. Barbara yours in particular actually made her stop arguing with me and say “oh my.” So I am happy to say that I conspired with her co-workers and basically forced her to make an appointment and she will be going to see her heart doctor on Thursday.

She let it slip that she down played the pain in her chest and tried to pawn it off on a cold she has had for a few days so I think I am going to try to take off work and go with her to make sure he gets the whole story. She is a stubborn woman but the big battle has been won and we are getting her in to see what is wrong. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have that first step out of the way and I can’t thank you all enough for your kind words. It means so much to me that you have not only supported my blog but that you have all become my friends!

I took a quick shot while driving down the road today because I am really been a little too preoccupied to concentrate on my photo blog and this is what I came up with

 

Day 358 – Coffee Break

Today has been a long day. I woke feeling a little under the weather and I didn’t sleep well either. I had dreams all night about being thirsty, how strange is that? I remember that every two minutes in my dream I had to get a glass of water and by the time I woke up I was exhausted from running around looking for things to drink. It is so odd how a dream can affect your day because even though you slept the entire night you do not feel like you got any rest at all.

In addition to that I have been very worried about my mom. If you read this blog at all you know how much I love my family and my mom means the absolute world to me. She had stints put in her heart several months back and they told her that the chest pains she had been having should disappear completely. Well they haven’t and she is being so stubborn about going to see the doctor. She keeps saying “I only have to go once a year!” and I keep trying to explain that is only the case if she is feeling fine. My mom never complains and before this happened she could run circles around every single person in our family. Now, even though she doesn’t complain I can see the pain on her face if we walk too much or too fast. I can see how exhausted she gets and she tries not to let anyone know. I am very worried and have recruited my sisters to annoy her until she agrees to go to see the doctor or we are going to make an appointment for her and escort her in. She gets really annoyed with me for bugging her about it but if it means keeping her around for many many years she can be mad at me all she wants.

Thanks for listening to me go on and on. Sometimes we just need to get things out to deal with them and oddly enough I feel much better.

Day 357 – Easter Pageant

Every year Southeast Christian puts on an Easter Pageant that has become quite well-known in this area. It is a full on production with live animals, full set, and special effects such a angels soaring over the crowd. I have heard about it over and over since I was younger but never went to see it until tonight. This is the last year for the pageant and it saddens me that I didn’t see it sooner. It was an awesome show and I am in awe of how much work had to go into putting something like this together. The church holds about ten thousand people so you can get an idea of how big a production this was.

Remember me mentioning that I cry at the drop of a hat? Well it was full on waterworks tonight. I may post more photos but for now I am just going to post a couple because it is late and I am exhausted. I was REALLY far away so excuse the quality.

Thank you to my nephew Chris and his beautiful wife Kristin for treating all of us tonight and thank you to the rest of my amazingly wonderful family for sharing such a great evening with me.

I also want to thank everyone for the wonderfully kind comments on yesterday’s post. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me.

Day 356 – Perspective

It is snowing, yes I said snowing. It was 80 degrees here this past week and today it is snowing. I am not a fan.

Now that I got the ranting part over I have to thank the universe for giving me some perspective today. I was sitting at home early this morning worry about, well just worrying, and I heard some woman on TV talking about cancer. She said something to the effect of “life is not a dress rehearsal, we only get one shot, so don’t waste yours.” This resonated with me and I felt quite foolish for thinking I had problems. I know pain or simple problems for that matter are all relative to the person that is going through them but sometimes you get a slight nudge to let you know you don’t have it so bad.

I set out for the rest of my night with a new attitude and headed to Starbucks with Chris to work on a web design project.  My contribution was drinking coffee and occasionally telling him what to do, and him looking at me with his never-ending patient smile and nodding his head in agreement. Yes I worked hard tonight. Out of the blue it started to snow and the universe gave me a second reminder that I needed a little perspective. There was a homeless man sitting in Starbucks trying to escape the cold and the snow and the kind workers were continuously filling up his coffee cup to keep him warm. He would leave for a few minutes at a time and come back to warm up, I assume he was looking for a place to sleep tonight. The last time he walked out the door I looked over at Chris and he was wearing the same concerned look that I was and I just started to cry. To say I cry at the drop of a hat is an understatement, but it  broke my heart to think that this man had no idea where he was going to sleep or how he was going to keep warm tonight.

So you see, my problems are by comparison very small. I don’t deny my right to worry about every detail of my life but any concerns I have seem a little less important after today. I hope you all had a wonderful Saturday and wherever you are I hope you are free from snow and smiling.

 

Day 355 – I Love Lamp

I am a couple of hours late posting because Beth and I have spent the better part of 5 hours catching up and talking about things that are going on in both of our lives. I really love nights like these when you just sit and share what is going on with a friends. At one point I said to her “OH HECK, I forgot to take a photo for tonight”  to which she said “oh I am sure there is something here you could shoot… take a photo of this lamp.”

So that is exactly what I did. This is a small lamp sitting on my end table. It isn’t a very inspiring story but it is a pretty cool lamp.

Thanks for spending the evening with me Bessie, as always I had a great time!

 

Day 354 – Windows to the Soul

And my soul sees rainbows Yes I was bored and playing in photoshop.

 

Day 353 – You Get What You Need

Thank goodness I have people in my life that know exactly what I need when I need it most.

Lecia took care of me all day today at work, Christopher took the evening shift, and now out of nowhere Mikey IM’s me and I haven’t chatted with him in forever. I sincerely love my friends and feel so grateful to have some of the most amazing people surrounding me.

I want to thank you all for the encouraging words and concern, I am still sort of in a fog and calm which is scary. You know when something bad happens and a person is quiet or really calm and you think UH OH when are they going to freak out? Well I am wondering that too LOL! At least for now all is quiet and I have some awesome people to thank for keeping me distracted. I hope you guys know how much I love you!!

The photo I am posting was taken with my iPhone and it was during a play that I went to with Christopher tonight. We had a blast and we drank lots of wine and had yummy desserts. You can’t go wrong with wine and desserts!

Day 352 – Clouds Before the Storm

I know the saying is the “Calm Before the Storm” but today was anything but calm.

It has been a very trying day. I felt off all day, just out of sorts and totally out of it, I woke up feeling that way and couldn’t shake it all day. Work was on every nerve I have and of course it was creeping by at a snail’s pace. I had all of  these errands and chores I needed to get done when I got home and the only thing I accomplished was getting the laundry put away. I then sat on the sofa just trying to will myself into a better place.

The evening didn’t get any easier, it actually got even more difficult. Relationships are hard and they take a lot of work whether it is a friendship or a marriage. They are tested and the future of that relationship relies on how each person reacts in those difficult situations. The universe was preparing me for a rough time today and I am grateful after the fact because it helped me to keep calm and be rational. Mistakes can be made, trust can be broken, and relationship can change but what you can take away from any difficult situation is how you handled yourself. That is the one thing that is in your control.

Now before I get all kinds of emails and texts, I am good. I promise. At the end of the day I was reminded of how wonderful one of my girls is and how much she cares for me. I am more of a seeing the light at the end of the tunnel kind of gal so there is light behind those clouds