Monthly Archives: January 2013

Raising Mom

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At this point in my life, I never thought I would be taking care of my mother. It is what God has led Barry and I to do, so here we are……raising mom.

She was in a situation, at her new home, that was not a safe. James, her new husband, I say new…..I should have said her husband of four years.

The home he provided was not the best place for her to be. I will not go into details about the situation, but let’s just say mom needs to be with us, than her husband.

Having mom move in has been an experience. She acts like she is afraid of Barry and is trying to raise me again. She treats me like I am ten years old, not 47. 

Having her around, has been amusing, as well as a huge challenge. Mom is a breed of her own. She believes in being treated right and will quickly let you know if she feels if she has been wronged.

I’ve written several posts about mom’s exploits, but believe me….I have only written about the tame ones.

One of my many lessons, since she moved in, was on how to freeze pork chops. Needless to say I have had my kitchen for over 20 years. Guess what? I was doing it the right way! As Gomer Pyle would say, ‘Surprise, surprise’!

Mom and I share a love for gardening and houseplants. I discovered my plants were not looking well and I could not figure out the problem. I found out, Mom trying to helpful, had been watering my plants too! I know, I know…she was just trying to help. There are certain things I am totally capable of doing is handling my plants. After throwing out the plants that were not going to survive and re-potting the others, I am now the only person watering them!

Mom and I sat down and went through the household chores and I have asked for her assistance with a few things and she knows that I will let her know if I need more help!

I have to admit, I love having help with the laundry. I hated laundry before becoming disabled, but I simply adore finding cleans clothes in the closet when I need them. So does Barry.

Mom’s memory is declining, ask her she’ll tell you there isn’t a thing wrong with her or her memory. She is overall in better shape than most people we know.

She doesn’t drive after dark any longer and I set her medications up for her by the week. She wasn’t handling them well. Mom can think at times that she is a doctor and will decide which pills she needs and the ones she doesn’t. I settled that issue and just started doing them for her, hint, hint….

If she needs directions, we get them for her. If I need to go with her to an appointment, I go. Our biggest problem has been her adjustment to living with Barry and I, as well as our adjusting to her.

Mom does not know what the word quiet means, nor does she know how to be that way. I am beginning to think she likes to hear herself talk, because she never STOPS! There is always this constant chatter.

I have a huge family and mom always seems to go on for hours about relatives, never heard of in my lifetime. She can’t find her keys, but she remembers all of these people. After numerous head butts, she is starting to understand that she needs to be a little quieter and not to talk as much in the car.

I enjoy the time I have with her in the mornings, when we first get up. She does all the talking while we watch the news. I’m starting to believe she corners me in the living room on purpose at that time of day. It takes an hour of waking up for my voice to wake up, so I get the pleasure of hearing about her crazy dreams. There are times that it is hard to distinguish whether she is describing a dream or a hallucination.

This morning was a little strange. The first thing she asked this morning was if ‘we had seen it?’. When questioned further, she was talking about a little girl in a rocker floating around house. How so you respond to such?

If I can get mom and Barry on the same page, things would be copacetic in the house. Barry doesn’t like her un-nerving me and questioning everything we do. She is also having to adjust to the ‘New Barry’. My life would more stability  if those two could figure each other out. It’s in God’s hands, I’ve been praying…..

Be Patient

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I hate to do this, but the doctor is patching both my eyes through the weekend. I can’t focus on anything and I’m being told my eyes need a rest.

If I get a post completed, Barry has graciously agreed to do the typing for me. He enjoys it as much as I do. He wants to help keep the blog up. Unfortunately, he’ll be doing a lot of things for me this weekend. I’ll take it easy on him.

Hopefully my eyes will straighten out and I can take things over again at the first of the week. Have a wonderful weekend, all!!

Another Award…I should have started a blog a long time ago…It’s good for my ego!

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Nominated by knowledgenut and alyzee17.blogspot.com

Nominated by knowledgenut and alyzee17.blogspot.com

http://alyzee17.blogspot.com has nominated me for the Liebster Award. I would like to extend many thanks to her for following my blog and thinking it worthy enough for this award. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. you are too sweet

The Liebster Award, is a “Pay It Forward” award.

After being nominated for this award, the nominee has to:
– acknowledge the nominating blogger.
– tell 11 facts about themself
-answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger created.
-list 11 bloggers who have 200 followers or less (as far as you can tell) , and who you believe deserve recognition and encouragement to continue blogging.
– post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominated to answer.
– tell all of the bloggers you nominated that they have been nominated.
– you cannot nominate someone who nominated you.
11 Facts About Me
– I’m happily married
– I’m disabled
– I love flowers
– I love to mow the grass
– I can be obstinate in a big way, especially when my brilliant physicians are messing with my meds
– I love the Lord
– My husband loves me
– I have a dog child named Maggie that loves me
– Barry and I are raising my mother
– I’m a true southern belle
– I love my quirky family
My 11 Nominees:
My questions for you:
1. If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why? I think I’d like to be Superman. This is my choice because he can do so many things, that I can no longer do. Of course, I cannot fly or anything like that, I’m referring to other things like running, jumping, and picking up heavy things. I actually miss helping carry the groceries in.
2. What are your hobbies? Gardening, my husband, reading my bible, studying and learning more about God’s word, my family, taking pictures, my dog, drawing, my fish, raising my mother, keeping my body strong with exercise, my blog, creating my coping webpage
3. What are you passionate about? learning more about and educating others about my genetic disease. Keeping my body as strong as possible to help me make it through this genetic nightmare I am mixed up in.
4. Why did you start your blog? A psychologist dealing with neurological disorders suggested I start a journal to write my feelings down. The blog was my idea and I actually love it. It helps me relieve stress or get over a stressful situation once it is written.
5. If you could have any job for a week, what would it be and why? I’d be either a greeter at Walmart or a hostess at a restaurant. I can think of numerous people currently in these positions locally that could use a lesson in customer service. Maybe I should change this to I’d like to be a trainer to people in these positions.
6. What type of music do you like? Pop, gospel, country, rock
7. Who inspires you? My husband inspires me. He survived a stroke no one expected him to and managed to get healthy enough to go back to work. He is healthier than ever!
8. What is your proudest moment? After having brain surgery, I walked myself out of the hospital with just a little assistance.
9. If your blog had a soundtrack, what five songs would you choose?  Mercy Me, “I can only Imagine’….inspirational, Josh Turner, ‘Loretta Lynn’s Cadillac…fun, Amy Grant, ‘I will remember you’….good song, nice tune, inspirational…Ray Stevens, ‘The Streak’…just funny, The theme song to ‘The Monkey’s’….fun to sing
10. What is your favorite animal and why?  Boxer Bulldog, I grew up with a sweet pup named Cleo and Barry and I now own the second sweetest pup to inhabit the earth. 
11. What is one thing you hope to see during your lifetime? I would like to see a cure for all brain tumors. It would relieve so much suffering in this work. Better educated doctors and a more patient focused healthcare systems.
My questions for my nominees:

1. Name a book that changed your life? 

2. Who is your favorite author/writer? 

3. How many pets do you have and what are their names?

4. Name the craziest thing you’ve done? 

5. Who’s my best friend? 

6. Name a childhood prank? 

7. Who are your favorite music artists? 

8. Name a place you would love to visit? Greece

9. If I had just 5 minutes left to live, what is the one thing you would do?

10. What’s my favorite sport? 

11. How do I define love? 

“Life is like a box of chocolates”………

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Watching ‘Forrest Gump’ at the theater, when I heard my title in the movie, I giggled. At the time I was a mere 28 years old and didn’t think past which movie I’d like to see next weekend, or what clothes I’ll wear to work tomorrow, or what to cook for supper that night. I didn’t think about the deep, complex meaning those few words can truly hold.

It wasn’t a good four years later that my marriage ended. I moved back to my hometown and back into the house I grew-up in. I had a second chance at life and I wanted to get it right this time.

There were many things about myself that I wanted to do differently, so I got busy and found myself. In that time, I felt like a piece of chocolate in that box that was different in so many ways, but at the same time you could interpret the meaning a a box full of choices. In that box, I found the changes I felt I needed to make and threw myself in head first.

My work ethic grew. I threw myself out there and made my job my number one priority. It kept me busy and kept my head in a good place. I also ventured away from positions I was familiar with and tried something new. The big suprise was I was good at it and found a new love in the nursing field. I job-jumped for a few months, until I settled into the field of geriatrics, where I stayed until my forced retirement.

*In high school, a couple of friends and I made a list of things we wanted to accomplish in life. My main thing on my list was owning my own business by the age of 40. I did it! It felt so good the day we opened our door to patients. We won an award for our service, but then it felt just as bad to close the doors, when we had to. But we had an incredible six years!*

At age 28, watching ‘Forrest Gump’ , I would have never dreamed I would actually meet my soul-mate and have him propose on my 38th birthday. He’s my soul-mate. My first husband was a good man, we just went in different directions. I’m the person I am today, partly because of my time with him, but Barry is the man I was meant to be with. I am the woman I am today, totally because the love and support of my sweet husband!

As I threw myself into my new job, I forgot about all the other important things in my life. I missed my oldest sisters kids grew up, the next thing I knew they were graduating high school and my baby sister was about to have a second baby and her oldest was starting school. It was time to slow down and make time for me.

I guess what I am trying to say in all this babble is that “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get” (movie quote: Forrest Gump, 1994)……but it’s your choice, the box is full. Life is too short, make your choices count!

Awards Night…….

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This is a re-post from the night I got notified of the award. I’ll do my best to finish it now:

Thank you for the nomination, Sheri at http://theothersideofugly.com! I’m about to go to head off to sleep. I’ll post all of this tomorrow. Pooped tonight!

Thank you again for thinking of me. You are too kind!

Sheri at http://theothersideofugly.com writes an extremely fresh, well organized blog that I enjoy reading daily. Her poetry is creative,thought provoking, both inspirational and motivational.

The Shine On Award

nominated by randomuzings and the othersideofugly

nominated by randomuzings and the othersideofugly

To me this award is for the blogs that shine, make you feel good and are inspiring to the reader. The blogosphere is a large place and there are so many blogs out there that deserve this award.

Sheri had a beautiful piece written up about this blog, but the link I received is no longer working.

I’m going on memory for the requirements for the award, but I’m sure I have forgotten something. I have to nominate 15 blogs, as well as recommend notable blogs that tickle my fancy. I believe their wrote some questions to be answered, but I’m not sure. I’ll add just a few things about me just to bore you to tears!

I am going with some of the newer blogs I have recently discovered, as well as a few I have been following for a while. Then my list of ‘Tickle my fancy’ Blogs are going to be a mixture of the two as well.

My nominations are as follows: I hit publish when I meant to save as draft until I notified everyone. I’ll get that done after our church service is over tonight. Please forgive me!

http://thebottomofthebottle.wordpress.com

http://melanielynngriffin.wordpress.com

http://uwana.wordpress.com

http://theasianreloaded.wordpress.com

http://Gooseyanne.wordpress.com

http://lindavernon.wordpress.com

http://tellthejourney.wordpress.com

http://peacefulpartings.wordpress.com

http://michelleproulx.wordpress.com

http://fishofgold.wordpress.com

http://stuffitellmysister.me

http://gardnersworld.wordpress.com

http://lostcompanion.wordpress.com

http://therantingpapizilla.wordpress.com

http://deriklawrence.wordpress.com

The blogs that tickle my fancy: 

http://chrisman2college.com

http://mysouldances.wordpress.com

http://ldsconvertblog.com

http://beachtreasuresandtreasurebeaches.com

http://hopeforheather.wordpress.com

A few things about myself:

I’m a southern belle, through and through…

I do not play games, I speak what is on my mind!

God, my husband and my family are my life. I learn something new about all three daily!

I’m attempting to figure out how to garden from my wheelchair….

I try to see the good in everyone…..

I can be gullible….

If God had had it in his plans for me, I would have had a houseful of children…

My husband is my best friend and a gift from God!

Time Reblogged…….

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******This is a re-blog. I felt it was appropriate to post it again, cuz that old dislike is the word ‘Time’ is coming out again. I have something go wrong and I feel like crap-ola. All the doctor’s office can say is give it time, they will come in. I truly do not like being in this position. One thing has changed since I wrote this, I have been reminded that I am not supposed to worry about things. I need to put it in God’s hands, he is in control. So much has gone on since 2009, I had kinda forgotten that huge fact. I am actually beginning to feel more at ease about my illness. I do not like getting worse, but I have to remember, I’m just getting closer to him. Honestly, being able to give a little of this worry up is wonderful! I’m loving the peace!*****************************************

I learned to hate that word several years ago. When you are healing after anything to do with the brain, everyone’s favorite thing to say is ” Time, just give it time.”. I do not know about anyone else, but both Barry and I can be a tad impatient. Time is a word impatient people can’t stand.

I have to admit that I enjoyed paying Barry back with a few time comments. You have to understand my husband’s quirky sense of humor. I know he thoroughly enjoyed telling me “Give it time.”. He smiled and giggled a little too much after saying it. I turned it around and now use it on him just a little. I tried to hide my snickering.

Ok, well down to the news I need to share. My visit to neuro-oncologist was quite informative. He gave us more information than we have ever received from other doctors. He confirmed that I do have Cowden’s Syndrome. With my medical history, he doesn’t feel the blood test is necessary. He is scheduling an MRI of the brain and a full body PET Scan. He says he hopes they are both negative, but to be prepared for the possibility. Said it could be as simple as the thyroid cancer not being totally removed or something else manifesting in the neurological symptoms that have been popping up. Here we go again with that word, TIME! Barry and I are praying and giving it to God. If it’s meant to be……….