Bye bye football

We said goodbye to football until September this past Sunday. Boohoo. In celebration of the Super Bowl, we made brownies and sausage dip. I didn't take a picture of the sausage dip. Who knows why. Oh, wait. I know. Because I decided to make it last minute. And because I didn't have any sausage. And because I went to the 4way (the store close to our house... like, within walking distance... or golf cart riding distance) and they were out. And because I called my mother in law, who didn't have any. And because I called my sister in law who didn't have any either. And because I wanted to call my other sister in law but she wasn't home and she didn't have any anyway. And because of all of that, I sent Scott and Ella racing out the door at 5:40 to Ingram's (they close at 6 on Sundays), the country grocery store in Eclectic. (By the way... I love living in the country. I know I'm a redneck at heart). So, they come back with the sausage, at a whopping cost of $4.02 for sausage. Yowzas! Anyway, I mixed the brownies while they were gone and when they came back I began the sausage dip. During all of this, my little rugrat is opening drawers, pulling out rubbermaid bowls, um, excuse me... throwing rubbermaid bowls and the like. So, anything I do takes twice as long with that little sucker toddling around. I get the sausage going and in walks Scott's brother for coffee. He plays with Shep while Scott makes the coffee and I work on the dip. I finish the dip only to discover it's time for Shep's bath. So, I take him to the bath tub and throw him and Ella in there together. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone. I get them all clean, ready for bed and put Shep down soon thereafter. I go back to the kitchen to FINALLY eat the sausage dip. I sit down at the kitchen table with it and am ready to watch the game. And it's halftime. Yep, I missed 2 quarters of the game! All because of the sausage dip that I DIDN'T EVEN TAKE A PICTURE OF!!!!!!!!!!!



But. Here is a picture of the brownies while preparing. My sous chef took this one. She said, "momma, this one is so good I'll bet you can put it on your blog." So, this one's for Punky. :) This is a great tip, by the way. I make my brownies like this all the time. In muffin pans. I either use regular muffin pans or the little muffin pan. Either way is fine. So much easier. I just HATE cutting brownies for some reason. This technique elminates all of that. And with kids, you don't have to worry about who gets the biggest piece. They are all the same.





















Should you want the recipe for the sausage dip... here goes:

Sausage Dip

1 can of Rotel (I use Mild but any would be fine)
1 block of cream cheese
1/2-3/4 roll of sausage

Drain Rotel. Mix with cream cheese and melt over low heat while cooking the sausage. Drain sausage and mix in with cheese and Rotel. I say 1/2-3/4 because it totally depends on your preference. Serve warm with tortillas or Fritos. Eat at halftime. Oh, wait. Nevermind. ;)

Ain't too proud

I remember when I was in high school, my friends and I would make the trip to Montgomery to Thrift World. It was on the Southern Boulevard close to Baptist Hospital. Not sure if it's still there or not. Maybe that's where my love for thrift started. Nah. Maybe not. I think it started before that. I remember yard saling with my mom and aunt when I was a wee little girl. So, maybe I've pretty much always enjoyed thrifting. One man's junk is another man's treasure, right? Now, I do know people that think it's crazy, gross, etc. Whatver. To each his own. All I know is that half of the clothes you see on this momma came from the thrift store. I just ain't too proud... ;) And I kid you not, no less than once a week does somebody say... "ooh, those shoes are too cute" (Which by the way, have to look quite new for me to step into them, so I'll give you that one...) or "oh, Da where did you get that top" and the list goes on. Just at church yesterday, I was asked about my shoes. Got 'em at Faith Rescue Mission... for $1.99. Never been worn.

So on Saturday, as Scott, Shep and Ella went to see Willie (that would be our horse, ;)), they dropped me off at Faith Rescue Mission. My. Favorite. Store. In. Town. No joke. Now, I don't always find something in there and sometimes I leave with nothing, but I still like it. Saturday, no exception. Keep in mind people... it is a THRIFT store. It is second hand er, stuff. I hesitate calling it junk. Just cause it's not all junk. But like I was saying, keep in mind!!! It will NOT be the nicest, cleanest, friendliest, quitest, (in fact, the cashier burped SO incredilby loud when I was in there Saturday) shopping experience. Just remember all that and you'll be ok... ;) I will say this about them. They are relatively organized. Even color coated. Be still my heart. My closests are color coated too! They have short sleeves organized by size and color. Wow, huh?! See?
















Jeans too...

















So what did I walk away with? I bought some pants (from Old Navy) and a jacket for church... all for a whopping $1.98. Sweet!

Happy Grandparents Day

Today, we went to EMCS for Grandparents Day. We had a luncheon with food catered from Firehouse Subs and an hour or so of the children singing hymns for their grandparents. We had all of the grandparents there and it was such a blessing for Ella... it's times like these that make Scott and I miss our mommas even more. We are so blessed, though, to have Ella in a school that bleeds a biblical world view and where she will learn the love and hope of Christ.

First Baptist of Ivy Gap

Ahem, ahem... guess who is the official photographer for the Wetumpka Depot. Yes, yes... yours truly... ;) I sat in on the final dress rehearsal for First Baptist of Ivy Gap for some candid shots and a cast photo. This warm and delightful play is their season opener for 2011. The story chronicles the lives of six women who have seen the best and worst of life has. Their journey spans over 25 years as they discover themselves and the meaning of community, family, love and loss. Show dates are February 3-5, 10-12, and 17-19 at 7:30 p.m., and February 6 and 13 at 2:00 p.m. Be there!

Happy birthday

to my 8 year old Punk! I tried several times to upload an old video of her singing but it never did work... oh well...

a picture will do... from 2007

January

is Shep and Ella's birthday month. We celebrated Shep's birthday with a low key family party. I thought he would devour the cake but he actually had nothing to do with it. The look on his face here says it all...

Tomorrow is Ella's birthday and she is taking cupcakes to class for the first time ever! She is so thrilled.

This fog...

seems to be lifting from me. Here is the jist of it...

It took a long time to even realize I was in it. Looking back, I know that it started when I was pregnant with Shep. I just didn't seem myself. Tired... very tired. But I passed it off as being pregnant. And that pregnancy seemed to last forever. I enjoyed it, yes. But it was so tiring. Then after Shep was born, I noticed that I was a little less joyous than I should be. I cried a lot. I missed my mom terribly. I looked around at everyone that had their moms helping them with their little ones and it made me angry. So, I was happy to have my sweet new baby, but was sad, mad and angry on the inside. I passed this off too. I must be having a little post partum. And soon, I got over most of those feelings. But the tiredness would not leave me. It took all I had some days just to get through my normal routine. I lived for the moments when Shep was asleep so that I could rest as well. Any homeschooling I was doing would be workbooks and Ella reading out loud or silently. This too I passed off as me having so much going on or maybe it was just that I was getting older. So, I trudged on. Fall comes and then Christmas season. Scott gets sick and I have to take care of him. No big deal, right? Well... it was such a big deal. I think this is what catapulted it all. He had been struggling with chronic sinus infections and after getting an antibiotic from his ENT, he develops an allergic reaction about a week into the prescription. Now, I'm not talking about a little allergic reaction. This one had joint pains, flu like symptoms, 104 degree fever (umm... yeah), rash... you name it. I was so stressed out b/c we weren't sure what was causing the reaction. The doctor told us to continue the medicine and he did continue for one more day and that was it. It was such a scary time. I have never seen my husband so sick. Immediately after him getting better, I get sick. I almost fainted in church so I thought maybe my blood pressure was the culprit. I had it checked at Urgent Care and it was normal but my heart rate was 122. The wait was forever, so I decided to go home and rest. I didn't get better so 2 days later, I went back to Urgent Care and was diagnosed with a virus. Heart rate was 125 that day. They did bloodwork, and EKG, chest xray, and urinalysis. Was told to drink Gatorade and my heart rate should come down. The following day, they called and said my TSH was low. Do huh? What is TSH? Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. Ah. Now we are getting somewhere. That Thursday, I had an ultrasound and then followed up with my primary care physician. They were sure that I had some form of hyperthyroidism and order yet more testing. Keep in mind... I got sick at church on Sunday, had a RESTING heart rate in the 120s and this was Thursday... let's just say your heart rate is in the 120s while jogging. So, inside, I had been jogging for days!!!!

My PCP gave me beta blockers right away to lower my heart rate and I could tell a difference within a few hours. I was so relieved. My other symptoms, however, were still there. Hand tremors, hot flashes, nervousness, forgetfulness. I will spare you some of the details of dealing with some of those symptoms.

I had an appointment with the endocrinologist and also a nuclear uptake scan (sounds scary, huh) done last week and went this week to have all of the pieces of the puzzle put together and figure out what is going on. After dealing with this for almost 2 years, and most dangerously this past month, I finally have a diagnosis. Graves disease. It's a hereditary condition in my family. Because I don't have my mom here to advise me, I probably went longer with all of this going on that I should have. But that's ok... I'm so thankful to have a diagnosis and to know that I'm not losing my mind. Seriously. Just ask my family. They have had to deal with this more than you realize. And I do have to praise God for giving me such a compassionate and caring husband. He has truly been supportive in all of this. I love him! Oh... I am on medicine and hope to have everything regulated within 4-6 weeks!

So... with all of that said, I now know why I've been feeling like I've been in a fog for so long. I really WAS in a fog! My prayer is that God will restore my day to day joy that is so often taken for granted and that I will each day rest in His mercies. Because His mercies truly are new every morning.