Time Change

 

  A beautiful Day

 Greetings. 

 Has this time change affected you? For us, it seems that we just acclimated to getting an hour extra sleep at night, but Saturday night we sprang forward an hour, so we lost an hour of sleep and yesterday, everyone that I know was having trouble, forgetting something or just getting out the door to get to work or school or other appointments. 

 Karyn's co-worker forgot his badge and couldn't get into the building and then after a trip back home, she dropped him off at work and she went to work and lo and behold, he left his phone in the truck. Thinking that it was hers she dropped it into her purse and then later discovered it. He managed to call her and said he would just let her keep it, so she didn't have to make another trip to his office. She picked him up and he just wanted to go home. It was a Monday after all and he had already had a rocky start to the day, bless his heart. Karyn's day didn't go well either.

 She came home and was in bed by 8:00pm. I swear that girl was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She needs a few days off after this past week. She said... "This Job Is Trying To Kill Me Mama". 

 But... It is a beautiful morning here in Austin Texas, considering that I did not sleep much last night. Karyn is here with us, and she didn't rest well either. I know that my mask is a little tight and just didn't want to wake up enough to adjust it, so it is basically my fault that I didn't rest well, and Karyn I think worked in her sleep most of the night. 

 Foxy has a hair ball, and we are trying to experiment with her food, adding some oil to help lubricate the hair so that she can get it up. Long haired breeds usually do have them due to being long haired and shedding. We keep her groomed, but all the shedding that she does, our house is filled with dog hair. I guess that is part of being a fur baby mama. I mostly let Jonathan and Karyn keep the dog hair swept up these days lol. 

 So, as I mentioned earlier, Karyn is here with us. She has been working in the office this week and she found out yesterday that she is going to be here another week. This job is not being convenient for her. The added expense is another reason as to why. She lives an hour south of us now and the price of transportation is crazy... Right now, a friend of hers is loaning her his truck so that she can commute to and from work from our house, but it is still expensive. It's a good thing that he doesn't live too far away from us, but it is a pain in the butt and Karyn is trying to pull in some overtime so that she can make up for having this crazy commute. 

 Laurie came on Sunday for about an hour. It was good to see her. I had not been back since the ice storm. I had some things that I wanted to give to her, and it gave her and Karyn a chance to catch up and I was glad that I could get them out of the way. It has been here for a good while. I didn't have room in my suitcase when I went last and it is just too hard to take what I need, my medication and now I have to carry my machine with me so it was a little much so it was nice to give it to her and she can always use it or rehome it all. I don't care as long as it is out of my way lol. 

 Speaking of machine, I have to have another sleep study done for insurance purposes. The company that I was using went out of business so I had to get a different company and they have some strict rules. I had to see my pulmonologist and she is the one that will sign off on it and she couldn't get my sleep apnea results and her hands were tied so I am going to have another one, but this time it is going to be in a sleep center and not at home. 

 I am not a big tv kind of person, but the last month I have been Binge watching Netflix. I watched season 1 of The Secret Of Skinwalker Ranch. I remember hearing about this stuff as far back as high school. It is creepy but I have never thought that we were alone in the Universe, and I believe that our Native American ancestors had some great stories to tell.

 It is on the History Channel, so I am now watching season 2. I have to deal with the ads, but they don't bother me very much. So, in order to watch it, I will watch the ads. I'm not much for reality television, but this one... WOW I am really not sure what to say, but since I was growing up with this stuff, I am caught up in it and I know that the producers and editors cut and clip and make things more interesting. They would have to because who would want to watch a bunch of scientists and researchers who are analyzing tons of data? Still history and science are my favorite subjects it is easy for me to get lost in the data aspect of it all. Not that there is much to make me zone out, just enough to keep me guessing and of course coming to my own conclusion and then go... OKayyyy WOW lol.

 So, if it is something that might interest you, there is I believe 6 seasons. The first season is on Netflix and then seasons 1-6 are on the History Channel. Just remember that there are ads on the History Channel. At least we use to call them commercials once upon a time lol.

 Karyn and I were talking to Laurie about taking the kids to the park this weekend, but it is supposed to turn off cold and rainy. So maybe weekend after next if the weather is pretty. Those kids have so much energy bottled up they are ready to explode! We decided that we will grab a bucket of chicken, some sides and have a picnic and the park that we are taking them to is called an All Abilities Park. They have challenges for people of all ages and abilities. From Mazes to playground equipment to hiking and bike trails and they have the half pipes for skateboards and roller skating. Basketball hoops and so much more. It reminds me of the park that I use to take my boys too when we lived in Nevada. It is all free of course but I need a new Chairity to donate too, and these parks always need donations. One Park is asking for trees this year, so I donated to 2 trees and a dog park. I donated money to the tree fund I should say. They get to pick what kind of trees, buy them and plant them so that is all great with me. Trees are much better than those umbrella stands that they have in places that don't have much shade.

 I am having issues with my photos. All of my folders are empty. My external hard drives are packed up in the shed somewhere. Karyn packed up a lot of my things and now I have to dig them out when I get some energy. I don't know what happened. I still have a few, but you might see me using a few that I already have posted before. Just be patient with me. Even the photos that I take with my phone are not showing up, so I don't know how to fix it. I am going to keep trying though.

 Have a great week and take care of yourself. Hugs to all... BB

Friends Of The Heart

 

 A Beautiful light on your journey.

Hello,

Friends,

 I have waited to post this message until I had permission. It is with a sad heart that I tell you that our Beloved Miss Edna has passed away. 

 Her sweet daughter asked me to keep this to myself as she and her sister were trying to notify all of the family and she and Deanne had so much to do so of course I waited until Audrey let me know that I could post this news.

 In our lives, we have that one person that we hold dear to our hearts and Miss Edna was that person. She was more than a friend. We can't choose our family, but we can choose our family of the Heart and Friends of the Heart and Miss Edna was that kind of person to me.

 She was so funny, serious one minute and cracking me up the next. If she had something that she thought that I needed to hear, then believe me I heard it! 

 She knew so many things about me and the same for me to know about her. Her favorite colors were yellow, and orange and she said that it reminded her of a sunny day. Flowers of every kind, and birds, Oh her birds! Florida was a bird watching adventure. Some days we would just try to see what different kinds were out. Lots of fun stories there!

 I will close for now. I am sure that you understand, and I promise to be back soon. Having some issues with my laptop and I will tell you about that Next Time... 

 Hugs and Blessings to all, BB

 Ohhh I do have one other thing to add. One of Miss Edna's favorite songs was sung by Willie Nelson called "Something You Get Through" and I am playing this song, remembering my beautiful friend. Blessings!

Miss Edna

 Hey,

 Just a quick post to let you know that Miss Edna is in the hospital and said that she has a lot going on and that she will call me as soon as she can.

 This is super short because I have been having a upset stomach last few days and I have eye procedures in both eyes in the morning, so I will be back as soon as possible. 

 Have a awesome rest of your week and weekend. and Steve, stay WARM!!!!!!

 Talk to you later, BB

A New Machine

 

This is my B-Pap machine. This is what I wore to bed since March 2022, but this last time I was hospitalized they didn't send me home wearing a B-pap or anything and I had to apply for a sleep study, per request from my insurance.

 I now have a new machine. A C-Pap and it is much smaller, even the tubing and mask. Last night was the first night that I wore it. I went to bed at 8:pm and woke up at 5:00 this morning.

 I hate this new laptop. I am having problems with my photos not showing up to where I can save them or move them to another album, and it is frustrating, but I will try to show you a picture of my new machine.

 

 So, the top one is the machine, and the bottom is the mask. It is a lot different than the B-Pap one is. It runs so quiet, and I tell you that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I am hoping that I have more restful sleep in the future. I do have to let my body adjust.

 Hello,

  I have not been that busy lately, but at the same time I have felt that I have been very overwhelmed at everything that I have had to do lately. 

 I don't know why it feels that way but dealing with multiple doctor appointments has been a bit challenging. I just got my new calendar filled out and have made the necessary changes in scheduling and rescheduling and a couple of those were really exasperating. But I think that I got them all done, so I am happy about that.

 Last week the weather was just gorgeous. We got to 80F yesterday and then a cold front came in and we are supposed to be in the 60"s today, but it is still cold outside, due to the winds and we got down into the 30's last night but will see sunshine today.

 Miss Foxy wasn't impressed with the cold this morning! She walked outside and sniffed before turning her tail around and went to the door to go inside. She climbed up in bed for a few minutes and then wanted breakfast and I fed her and offered to take her out, but she climbed up into my chair and is sitting right beside me. It is still rather chilly outside with the wind blowing. I agree with her with staying inside.

 I am going to go to my daughter Laurie's house to spend the weekend with my grandkids. We are trying to see the Green Comet as it streaks our skies. It hasn't been seen since the stone age! We think that it is going to be awesome, but so far have not seen it. I meant to go out and look this morning, but I just forgot.

 Oh, I got a text message from Miss Edna, and she said that she was ok and will try and call me later. So at least I did hear from her. I tried calling her again yesterday, but she didn't answer. I will try to call her again and see if she feels ok.

 Take care everyone and I will try to be back soon. Hugs to all and stay well! BB

 

A Little Late

 

Foxy trying to get my glasses off of me. I fell asleep with them on and she was just trying to be helpful. lol. Those glasses are history now. They finally broke and she is much happier with the ones I have now. She doesn't try and knock them off my face anymore. Now it is my phone. She will knock it out of my hand if I don't doze off before then lol. Usually, I wake up when my phone lands on my night stand table! She has learned that the more I have my phone in hand the less attention she receives lol.

 This is usually how we sleep at night. She needs to be in my arms and petting her and telling her how much she is loved and how smart and beautiful she is. Foxy is a Princess and expects Royal treatment.

 Hello everyone and Happy New Year! 

 I hope everyone had a great New Year. We had a very quiet Christmas and Jon cooked a great dinner and we watched tv. So it was a nice day, then New Years Eve, Karyn and I went to see Laurie and her family.

 We had eaten before going to her house and the kids just wanted to snack on leftover Pizza then we all stayed up to watch the fireworks from her balcony and had a lot of fun. Karyn went home the next day but I stayed on for a few days.

 I haven't said much and not sure if I posted about it or not, but I was lucky to be home for Christmas or much of anything really. 

 Karyn was spending the night with me and we were talking and I got up to use the bathroom and couldn't catch my breath and then I couldn't breathe at all. Once I could breathe, I came out of the bathroom and told Karyn to call an ambulance. I quit breathing and according to my kids, the EMS crew did CPR all the way to the ER. I came to with a tube down my throat. I had what they called a cardiac event due to high potassium. It all started with a UTI infection.

 I was released 2 days before Christmas. I feel alright at the moment, but I do get scared, especially when I lay down to sleep.

 I have to update this blog, so I will be back as soon as I can. BB

 Sunday...

 Hi I am back. I was trying to get back on last night but I had some things to get done and then it got late and I was tired. I went to bed at 8:30pm and I slept for a hour or so, but then I was awake until 2:30am. I knew I would probably have issues trying to sleep, but I started watching The Secret of the Skinwalker Ranch and I spooked myself and couldn't sleep!

 I caught up on a blog and learned that Miss Edna had Covid. I have tried with no luck to get in touch with her. I will update if and when I hear from her. I sent a text this morning asking if Deann or Audrey could at least text or call me to let me know how she is if she herself cannot respond. I don't know anything else to do, but I am concerned about her.

 Jonathan has gone to the grocery store and I need to do a few things so I have to close for now, but please stay safe and well. Love to all and I hope that your New Year is off to a wonderful start. BB

Christmas Day

 

Oh My, I love finding older folders on my computer and remembering the fun I had in creating the pictures. This picture is really old, and I used this photo program to give it a fun look. This picture was taken right before Adrien's surgery. 

 Hi,

 I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and that Santa didn't leave anyone any lumps of coal in their Christmas Stockings!

 Jonathan and I had a quiet day, and it was really nice. Karyn and her family stopped over for about a half hour after having Christmas with his mom because it was his son's week to spend the week to have Caleb and after he had his Christmas with his mom, then grandmother and his aunt and uncle, it was time for them to go home so they could have their own Christmas.

 I was surprised to have been able to see them at all, so it was a nice surprise.

 Jonathan had cleaned the kitchen and then he prepared our Christmas dinner. We had ham steaks with pineapple, stuffing, baked beans, collard/turnip greens and a style of creamed corn. It was a different kind. He even baked some rolls. 

 We had a German Chocolate cake, but we were so full and had no room for it. I ended up cutting a slice of it today. We have learned to just buy the small personal sizes of baked goods from the bakery because an entire cake or pie would just go to waste with us. We like the brownie bites, and he will get them, and we may have one or two if we want something sweet and that is usually enough to curb our sweet tooth. 

 We even shared our meal with Karyn to take home so they would have their dinner and not have to cook once they got home. They live an hour away, so after the long day and the trip home, I am sure that cooking dinner was not something that they wanted to do so sharing our food was fine. 

 I finished the last piece of ham and the last of the stuffing yesterday. Jon and I didn't think that those ham steaks would have fed 5 people and still had ham left for a couple more meals. 

 I talked or text all of my kids. Matt and I text, and Nathan had to work so we text, then I talked to Laurie.

 They had their Christmas at midnight. That is the tradition that they want for their family and the kids wanted to do it as well. It gave them a chance to stay up and to play with their new gifts, so I am happy that is something that they would like to do as they go forward.

 We had Christmases when my kids were growing up to open our gifts at midnight. It was really better for us as a family because then the kids could have time to enjoy their gifts. We were always expected to go to his mom's house Christmas. That was for me to help cook and clean! 

 But once the kids opened their gifts, they were busy enjoying their presents and I usually put on a DVD that we had bought and laid on the couch where I usually fell asleep. One year I remember waking up on the couch and Laurie was asleep in the chair, Karyn on another sofa across the room, and the boys had a blanket and a pillow asleep in the floor and Jonathan is the only kid that had sense enough to go to bed lol.

 Somehow, we all got enough sleep to get up and get through Christmas Day at my husband's parents' house. It was usually a hard day for me at least. The amount of clean up was insane. Of course, my sister-in-law helped me, or I would still be there cleaning. And of course, his mother always had something that just had to be done and couldn't wait and no matter how tired I was I was expected to do it. After the kitchen was put to rights, I always had to bleach the counters and stove and wipe down the refrigerator and then sweep and mop. It was all just so exhausting. There was a lot of resentment as well. My sister-in-law was always upset that her husband and kids couldn't really have a Christmas Day for their kids to be able to enjoy their gifts. They had to leave them at home and then make the trip to her parents' house. They lived about 11/2 hours away and so I understood. They always held or attended a party or church service Christmas Eve so; they were tired too.

 For me, I resented the fact that I never could have Christmas with my family. I had to do it Christmas Eve by hosting my family. One year we did go to my mom's, but I didn't get to visit my sisters or the kids because they had already left to go home, and it was after rushing thru Christmas at my in-laws. I told everyone that I was going to leave to go be with my family and I got out of there as fast as I could, but disappointed that I had missed my 3 sisters and their families. So, I ended up hosting on Christmas Eve and continued because it was easier than rocking the boat and making everyone mad. 

 So, I haven't spoke of this in my last blog post, but I had a bad experience a few days before Christmas. 

 I couldn't catch my breath and then I couldn't breathe at all. Karyn was here and she was napping, and I went to the bathroom and suddenly I couldn't breathe at all. I remember I walked out of the bathroom and told Karyn to call 911.

 She knew I didn't ask if it wasn't an emergency. Once the EMT's arrived they put me into the ambulance, and they had to do CPR all the way to the hospital and the trauma team met us and intubated me on the way in. I don't remember any of this. 

 I had a UTI, and my doctor prescribed an antibiotic for me, with my suggestion, telling her that it worked better than the one I had been on. I had 3 UTI's back-to-back, for the last 3 months and we needed to knock it out. She researched a proper dosage and as it turned out, I should have never had the antibiotic due to only having one kidney. It caused a critical injury to my kidney, and it caused my potassium to become very high. The potassium caused my cardiac issues. I have to see a pulmonary doctor, Jan 16th. It has caused some problems and it seems like all my blog posts are somehow about my health. 

 Besides that, it was the Christmas season, and I didn't want to have a depressing blog post.

 I don't remember the date that this happened, but I was released on the 22nd, just a few days before Christmas. Karyn and Laurie and I had already decided to have our Christmas New Year's Day so at least I was home for Christmas. Praise the Lord that I survived. 

 I don't know how Miss Edna is doing. She doesn't return my phone calls, or text messages. She said that talking on the phone causes her breathing issues to be worse, but she would return my texts, but I haven't heard from her since the last update I gave. I am worried about her, but I hope that she is doing alright. I would think that Deann or Audrey would call me if she was in the hospital. 

 It is after midnight, and I am really tired. I had a long day and I had not slept well the night before, so I wanted to go to bed and to sleep early tonight. I was in bed before 9:00 but after tossing and turning, I got up and decided to finish my blog post, but I think that I can rest now, so I am going to bed.

 Stay Safe and Stay Well and I will talk to you later on. BB

 

Merry Christmas

 

This is a picture I found of my beloved Cisco. Not a day goes by where I do not miss him. He was not just a pet to me and our family, but our baby boy, or sometimes we called him our little man, but to me he was my baby. Here are some other photos that I found with him and his beloved toy from Auntie Miss Edna. He just knew everything package that we received was for him and mostly it was lol.

He had many toys from Miss Edna, but this one remained one of his very favorite right up to the very end. He had his own bed (a gift from Miss Edna) that he used for his naps but at bedtime, he was up in the bed with me. 

 Gosh how I miss him. I have Foxy now and I love her, she is my baby girl, but I miss my boy. 

 He never left my side when I came home from having my kidney removed. He stayed as close as he could get to me and became very territorial. Not in a bad bad way, but he wouldn't let Foxy near me and was very selective about who could actually come close to me. 

 He only left my side to go eat and potty and he was right back close to me. I was in a lot of pain because they had given me liquid pain medication and they had the wrong dosage on the bottle, so I was not getting the proper amount.

 Karyn actually called the doctor, and they said that no wonder I was in such pain. They called me in medication that was in pill form and poor Nathan, he walked all the way to Walmart which was a 5 mile walk just to get my prescription. He was able to catch the bus back home but had a bit of a long uphill walk just to get back home. 

 Cisco allowed Nathan to get as close to me as much as he wanted to, but Jonathan not so much. Only when I told him to back away would he grudgingly agree. Jonathan and Nathan had to help me up and down, so I needed their help, but Cisco didn't think so.

 Cisco laid to actually support my right side which was the source of my pain. They say that dogs can take the pain from those that they love, and I believe I would have had a much harder recovery than I did have if it had not been for Cisco. 

 I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and thank you for taking this trip down memory lane with me. 

 We are having a small meal tomorrow. It is just Jon and I so we are having ham steaks with pineapple, stuffing with cranberry sauce and mac and cheese, baked beans and a salad. 

 We are going to have an old-fashioned Southern style dinner at Laurie's on New Year's Day. They are having Christmas at their house for the kids in the morning, but we can all be together for New Years, so that is when we decided to have our Christmas and dinner. 

 We are having our traditional dinner. Turkey and Dressing, collard greens, English pea salad, black eyed peas and what ever the else they decide to make. I am sure Karyn will bring stuff and I am going a day or so early to make the dressing and black eyed peas. Probably the collard greens too. 

 Oh and Steve, What Adrian had was actually a birth defect that is caught early after the babies are born. It has a name a mile long but we are just thankful that they finally caught it and corrected it.

 On that note I am going to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and call it a night. Foxy is whining at me to come cuddle with her so I am going to bed. It has been a long day. Have a Blessed Day and be safe everyone. Hugs to all... xx BB