We had Christmas with Alan and Eutemia and family and Steve and Katie and family yesterday at a suite at Swan Lake Golf Academy. We missed our other daughter and her husband and son but they live in Memphis and couldn't be here this weekend. Although we had a good time it doesn't seem as complete without them here.

We had our gift exchange first and the kids tore into the gifts. I had so much fun watching them and their excitement. Kael had talked for weeks about getting a mega t-rex and the picture above is his opening that package. In the first picture is Tyler opened his gag gift of underwear and socks.

Wayne went out and got a pizza and Caden is pictured enjoying his pizza. He acted starved and really tore into it. We had also brought some snack food which the kids seemed to enjoy.

There was a pool at the motel and I was looking forward to seeing if the bouyancy would make it able for me to do some pool walking. And, I was able to exercise for about 25 minutes. What a gift to me for the day. I had all but given up on exercise. Now I need to find a pool close by that will let me come and use it a couple of times a week for a reasonable price.

I wish you all a wonderful happy and healthy New Year 2007!

Tyler's first day of kindertarten
August 2006
As usual the bottom of the layout was cut off of the scan but you can use your imagination to see the whole thing!

The Saga of the Skunk

We had quite an ordeal with a skunk in our yard yesterday (Tuesday the 26th). Wayne left for work and called me right away on his cell phone. He said ..."Come out on the front porch...quick!". I got out there as quick as I can move early in the morning and there was a skunk in our neighbor's yard. I asked Wayne if he felt like he would be safe from being sprayed if he drove next door and took a picture. He was a little leary but went down and took this picture. The skunk ended up in our yard and just kind of stayed there all morning. Around noon I was at the computer and heard this loud bang...like a gun shot. I looked out the window and there were two police cars parked in front of our house and they had just shot the skunk. I was hoping that they called the street department to take the skunk away but...no....there it was in our front yard. I ran to the other side of the house to tell Wayne what had happened. He hadn't even heard the gunshot. He looked out the window and the skunk was walking around. I knew he had to be injured after being shot by the police officer so I called the city police and told them I lived in the house where the officers just shot a skunk in my yard. I told the lady the skunk was walking around and they had to have left it injured and not dead. She said..."That's impossible...the officers told me they left the skunk in 2 pieces." I said if that is so then both pieces got back together and are walking around my yard. I told her I didn't appreciate them shooting the skunk and leaving it for dead...it had to be in pain and (I didn't tell her this part) I empathize with anyone/anything that is in pain with the amount of pain that I have ona daily basis. Not long after that the policeman drove up again and Wayne went out to talk to him. He put on his protective ear wear and walked around the skunk a few times and was ready to shoot when another neighbor walked over with a shovel. By this time the skunk was in the street and the officer was worried about the bullet ricocheting and hitting one of them. The neighbor walked up with his shovel, picked up the skunk and put him in the woods across the street. After walking around the skunk a few more times the officer finally shot him again.

My whole point to this story is this...How safe are we when our police department sends 2 officers to investigate an obviously all ready injured or sick skunk and can't even shoot the little animal and kill it? I just have to chuckle at what reminds me of a Barney Fife episode:)

As far as my pain goes yesterday and the days since I wrote before...I am beginning to get all the joint pain again since the rheumatologist told me to go off my methotrexate...the chemotherapy drug used to treat cancer patients. It was really helping the joint pain but my liver enzymes were elevated the 2nd time in 2 months of testing. I don't see her till January 9th and all ready all this pain is coming back..plus the swelling is back too. Last night the pain was so bad that I was actually getting scared of the pain. Sounds kind of funny, doesn't it? I just didn't know if I had the fortitude to handle this again. I had to get on the computer and play a couple of games to get my mind off the pain and it did help to refocus my mind. Before playing the games I took 4 motrin and 2 vicodin and those really helped me also. I will have to keep the motrin in my system the next couple of weeks. What frustrates me is the rheumatologist was hesitant to put me on another drug of choice because of the cost to the insurance company. I told my general practitioner what she said he said to tell her to stop worrying about the insurance company and give me what I need to get me out of pain. If it is appropriate I will tell her what he said. I don't want to make her mad so I'll just see if it can work into the conversation. I was doing so well trying to diet again and when the pain came back I got out some low-fat potato chips and had a couple handfulls. I don't know what there is about eating and pain but I guess eating has been a comfort since I was born and when the pain level is high it is one of the things my brain thinks of to comfort me physically and psychologically.

Katie called me yesterday to tell me a cute Caden story. Caden is Steve and Katie's 2 year old. He saw a picture of Steve, Katie and his older brother, Tyler but Caden wasn't in the picture. Katie was very obviously pregnant for Caden in the picture. Caden said..."Where me?" Katie said see Mommy's big tummy? You are in my tummy. Caden asked Katie..."You chewed me and ate me?" Katie said she had to keep from laughing and explain to him that she didn't eat him. I just love what these little people come up with. It usually makes my day to hear stories like this.

I look forward to American Idol every year that it's been on and it's 20 days from today till we start Season 6. I can't wait!!

"Lightfoot" Christmas
The family gathered at my parents house for Christmas Sunday at noon. My Mom had worked all week on the meal and it was delicious!! I didn't even have a favorite...it was all good. The kids were so excited about their gifts . I can remember the feeling as a child of being excited about all my gifts to open. We started having them open them one by one but it didn't last long with a 1, 2 and 3year old. They didn't understand the purpose or the meaning of you need to wait!

Rhebeca

Jacob
We were sure glad that Jacob and Kristi could be here from Memphis for Chrismas with us this year. They have to fly standby so coming at this time was perfect for them. They are going home this morning...I said goodbye yesterday and as always hated to see them go. I think I cry everytime they go home:(

Only missing one!
From left to right: Rhebeca(8) holding Kaleb (1), Tyler (6), Kael (3), Jacob (2). The only way I could think of to get them all together like this is to have them sit for a picture BEFORE presents. Then there's that incentive of...the picture's over...let's open gifts! Caden had pink eye so he didn't make it Sunday.

Jacob, Tyler and Kael
Tyler is kind of the unofficial boss:) He is the oldest of the boys and the little ones think he is wonderful.

Kaleb, 1 year old
Kaleb enjoyed his day. He is always getting accidently pushed down or shoved into something but bounces right back up with a smile. He's a tough little guy unless he can't find his Mommy. He is such a cutie.

The swelling has never gone down in my feet and ankles since I saw my general practitioner a week ago. By Tuesday night they were swollen bigger than I've ever seen them and I was in such discomfort. I have had enough pain in my back and neck that I wouldn't call the swelling extremely painful but it sure was uncomfortable. I called the rheumatologist on Monday and she wanted me to start back on prednisone so Monday afternoon I took my first dose of prednisone...again. But by Tuesday morning...like I said...the swelling was worse than it's ever been. I talked to Kristi, our daughter, and she thought I should go into the ER and they could get me a water "pill" through an IV to get some of that fluid out of me. Instead they ran all kinds of blood tests and a urine test. He didn't seem too eager to treat me. He (the ER doctor) came right out and said I have too many problems and am on too much strong medicine for him to feel comfortable even giving me something to reduce the edema. I thought...oh Great!!!...$150 to come in for some blood tests.

I did find out though that the liver enzymes were still a little on the high side. I faxed the test results to the rheumatologist on Wednesday but haven't heard from her het. I did go in to see my general practitioner today. He couldn't believe how much fluid I was retaining....he could see it w/o even looking at my feet and legs. He took me from 1 pill a day to 4 water pills a day. It started to help yesterday but I'm waiting to take it till after my pump refill today. Otherwise we will be stopping at every gas station along the way to use the bathroom.

I hope the doctor will listen to my frustrations about my pain levels today when I get the pump refill. I have this feeling that he will be in a hurry to get out of there because they changed my appointment from 11:30 to 9:30. Although, I am learning more and more to speak out and let them know my condition. It does me no good to try to be a "good" patient and continue on in this horrific pain.

Becky's swollen feet
This is an example of what I'm dealing with as far as the swelling in my feet and legs. It is painful and feels like pins and needles sticking in my feet. I am wearing the pink robe and Wayne's foot is next to mine to show a normal foot.

Rhebeca and Kael's Christmas Program
We stopped by their house before the program so we could drive together and sit together. Beca is all ready for her program and excited and nervous about singing a song with 5 other girls. Kael is taking a power nap and it helped because he did a great job and sang and participated. He's not like his Daddy at that age because his Daddy was always the one sitting on the teachers lap...so disappointing with a first child who you can't wait to see in a program:) That was one of my first lessons in learning that they don't always do what you want and have little minds of their own!

I went to the pain doctor on Friday and I saw his associate. My doctor only comes to the hospital one morning a week and that's on Thursday. The associate bumped up the pump to 7 mgs. of dilaudid a day. He said if I still need more that I can ask Dr. G rove on Thursday when I have my pump refill. They try to take it slow because they worry about respiratory depression and the patient being too sleepy. I have neither of those problems so let's get me some pain relief!

We are having Christmas at my parents house today. It's exciting to have all 3 kids and all the Grandkids there today. Missing is Eric..Kristi's husband. We will miss him but are happy to have the ones there that can make it. We decided to exchange names with the adults this year so that should be fun.

The colors of love
The colors of love is the title of this two page layout. This is page 2 of 2 pages but I wanted to go ahead and scan it today anyway. I went into my picture program and changed the hue of each picture to yellow, red blue and pink. I should be able to finish the 1st page today but I never know what a day will bring.

I don't know if I've talked about it here or not but I have a new machine called the cricut. I have several die templates that can be put in the machine. You can print each item anywhere from 1 inch up to 5 1/2 inches. The love was printed from one of those programs. I love the machine and what it can do!!

I had the root canal yesterday. Once they got me numb it wasn't bad at all. It was harder than usual to get me numb yesterday. He had to stop and give me more novacaine 4 times and by that tme I couldn't feel al thing. The dentist was very patient with my problem and I really appreciated that.

I will post more later on today. I keep falling asleep. I usually don't sleep after getting the novacaine ... so last night was a pretty sleepless night.

The two layouts above are some of my recent scrapbooking work. The top one is Jacob with his Daddy (Eric). The picture was taken about a year ago. The sencond layout is Caden at Halloween in 2005...also about a year ago. I"m behind on everybody's things but I just keep pougging along.

This is a very special day for Wayne and me. It is our 34th wedding anniversary. I remember hearing people say they were married for thirty some years and thought they sure were old. It doesn't feel so old anymore. I still feel like the young girl that got married....just with a lot of life lessons that have been learned and three beautiful children raised. We both would marry the other again if we had the choice. I have had my losses in health but am so thankful for our relationship. It has pulled us both through some hard times.

I am slightly better today. Still some nausea and headache but I can tell it's just a tad bit better. My tooth is still holding on without pain as long as I keep smothering I with canker sore medicine. Please pray with me that I will be well enough to get the root canal on Tuesday!

Tyler and his Roboreptile

How do you suppose Tyler got to play with his Christmas present early?? If you said he has a Grandma that can't say no...you're right!! I have let Rhebeca play with her American Girl doll and all I ask is that she put her in the box when she's ready to leave. So, I thought I'd let Tyler play with his roboreptile early and then put it back in the box. I told him Grandpa would probably be mad at me for letting him play with it but not to worry about it...just have fun. Well, it wasn't too long till Wayne came in the door and Tyler ran and closed the door to the room we were in and said..."Wayne, you don't need to come in here." That about cracked me up. I told him we're not going to lie to grandpa...we'll tell him what we did. Then he was free to play. At first he was scared of it...as you can see in the 3rd picture he's safely on the basement stairs. The remote control is a little difficult to learn and I'm hoping Tyler's Daddy can figure it out!! Isn't part of the fun of doing something ...doing it when it's not the right time or it's a little too early? Like eating cookie dough before the cookies are made? He'll remember that long after the roboreptile is gone and in the dumpster!

Did anybody miss me? I think it's been well over a week since I've been on this blog. I have had a rough week and anytime there is nothing from me on here you can guess I'm going through a hard time.

First of all the rheumatologist put me on about 4 times as much prednisone (steroid) as she did a few months ago. My heart started racing and my blood pressure shot right up. I called to tell her and found out she takes Friday afternoons off. So, I called my famiy doctor and he said to stop the prednisone right away. I stopped it and it wasn't 24 hours till my whole body swelled up. When I went for an injection to my neck on Wednesday the doctor that gave me the shot saw the swelling (or edema) and said he bet I was retaining 15-20 pounds. First thing Thursday morning I called my family doctor and he got me right in. Sure enough my weight was up about 20 pounds. There's no way I could actually gain that much in a few days. I was just miserable with the swelling. He said finally this is something I can help you with. At times when I go in there he just doesn't know what to do with me so I could tell he felt good that he finally had an answer. He gave me a very high powered water pill and said to stay near a bathroom. Funny thing is... in the next 12 hours I only went twice. It finally did kick in today and the swelling is down considerably. The only problem is the water pill makes me very nauseated and gives me a headache. I've taken it 2 days (he wants me on it for 7 days) and I think I'll switch to my other water pill...demadex. I used to use lasix but it doesn't work for me at all any more.

I am hoping for one of those weeks where I feel good every day. I had a dream this morning when I was sleeping (I slept a lot because I used a phenergen suppository for the nausea from the water pill) that I thought signified how I feel about my health. I was driving a car to a familiar spot in Plymouth. It is by a lake where we once found lots of mushrooms. For some reason I drove out there and got into this really thick deep dirt. I just wanted to go home but couldn't back up. I took a turn to try to get back home and it got even worse...it was really deep sand. The car barely moved and finally got stuck and then I woke up. Now, I don't always think that dreams have a meaning to them but this was so clear when I woke up. I want to get back to my old health and to be like I used to be and that was the going home part. The getting stuck and bogged down was illness. I just couldn't get out of it no matter how hard I tried. And I knew I could call someone but also knew they wouldn't know how to find me and that is the doctor's that just don't know what to do for me. I think that there are times when our dreams have a real meaning comparing them to our lives.

Last night I was at my most miserable state. My feet were so swollen that they felt like there were pins and needles stuck in them. BUT...Rhebeca and Kael had their Christmas program last night and there was no way I was missing that. This was Kael's first time to be in front of people and he did such a good job. He was in the front row and he smiled and sang and did most of the hand motions. We all had wondered if he would just stand there but nope...he did it!!! (At that age his Dad used to sit on the teachers lap on the front row). Then Beca's group came on . She sang with the choir and then sang in a group of 6 girls. I know she was really nervous but she did a great job. She looked confident and had the nicest smile on her face. I was really proud of both of them. I had to leave a little early because my feet were bothering me so much. But, I stayed to hear Beca's group sing. I wouldn't have missed that for anything!!! I loved what she told me at their house before we left for the program. I asked her if she was going to be doing any of the drama. She said no, they had to choose between singing and drama. I just love her self confidence because she went on to say that's going to be a real big problem in the future. She said...I'm good and acting and I'm good at singing...I don't know how I'll decide which one to do. Well, Beca, you decide and Grandpa and I will be there to listen to you whatever you decide!!!

I was supposed to get a root canal on tooth #29 last week. I was too sick to go there and it's scheduled for this Tuesday. A couple days after it was scheduled to have the root canal a big chunk of the tooth fell off. Then last night I was eating some pretzels and I felt something hard in my mouth. It was a huge hunk of my tooth! Now the tooth is really hurting. I imagine the nerve is exposed. I have to be real careful when I eat and drink and keep putting the canker sore medicine on the tooth because that numbs it. This is the first time I am really anxious to get the root canal:)