Happy Halloween!

Well despite having a bumpy start to the day the evening went great. Took the kids to the business trick or treating and my youngest was all into it. She knew what to do this year LOL She went dressed as a oriental princess, my son as a "Soldier on vacation" as he put it. (army fatigues,hat, and gas mask along with a Hawaiian shirt :P) Hubby wore a kind of phantom of the opera/half moon mask which looked cool and I was a sugar skull. I was kinda rushed so didn't do it like I wanted but still got compliments. Then we went to Sonic for the 50 cent corndogs for everyone and then to my MIL's for a visit. Then we did our trick or treating. Some cool points of the night was someone flying a small plane going over and was showing off for people. Then there is a house that was set up pretty cool with someone dressed as No Face using stilts with their hands for a animalistic appearance. Pretty cool. They also had a police car set up with lights going and all. Not much else to say right now other than we did walk til we wore the kids and all out. Tomorrow is the first day of the 30 day challenge :D Yayz! (Drawing challenge) 

As time flies

 Mystery snail with beta in background....damn those snails are creepy

Time of course is speeding by as usual. My mom is still having serious health issues. On top of her organs starting to fail and the massive internal infection in her abdomen....after a blood draw the dr. informed her she has to take iron 3x a day. She should have had a transfusion in the hospital but they didn't give her one. She is very weak and still has infection. They are retesting about the 2nd week of November or so to see how it looks then but they are very worried and so am I. 
As for myself I started suffering from excruciating pressure headaches. The dr. was a bit worried with them starting out on one side because I am sort of prone to TIA's (ministrokes) but pretty much everything seemed fine other than it seems they were combination headaches. Stress/sinus/and caffiene withdrawal (which apparently can be pretty vicious in itself) and plus high blood pressure so I was put on medication for them and told to drink some caffeine each day to stave them off and then drink a lot of water (for possible dehydration) and also if they continued to stay really bad through the week call and I would need a brain scan to make sure there is not something more going on. Still having some but medicine is working and I am still suffering from stress but definitely not as bad as they were so hopefully. 
Also I've discovered Sparkpeople.com which I am loving. I had used myfitnesspal in the past and it is pretty good too but there just seems to be a lot more to offer from Sparkpeople and seems more geared to what I need. They have recipes, exercises, etc. So far so good and also to keep my blood sugar with in reason they have plans that can be tailored to your needs and I've done that. I am also trying to get back a bit into belly dance though instead of like last time .....I learned my lesson about trying to jump back in at the level I was at. I am starting off much slower. Here lately I've been a lot more tired too which is annoying. :/ 
I have been watching the presidential debates some and honestly can't figure out what it is that people seem to like about Romney. While I can see they are desperate for change and such he seems like he'd actually just bring us all the way into complete disaster in ways that we've not seen yet. He does more than just constantly flip flop. He lies...CONSTANTLY. You can pretty easily find where he says one thing and then turns and says the complete opposite sometimes in the same day. For those keeping record he's done it in under an hour before. He is snobbish and very full of himself. He also seems a bit war hungry. Maybe it is just me but that is how he comes off.  I am thinking of going third party ...not entirely sure yet but one thing is for sure I will NOT vote for Romney. He and Ryan both seem to not have a clue about women either. For some that may seem a minor issue but as a female ...well it is pretty major to me. They are also just fake. If you haven't seen the story on Ryan faking washing dishes in a soup kitchen look it up. He wasn't even supposed to be in there at all. In any case I am not sure what exactly to expect post election. Which by the way I've also found that there were like 4 or so presidents who won election not by popular vote but by the electoral votes (They voted against popular vote) Interesting. Also I've found if the 3rd party gets enough votes they open up as an option with the electoral votes. 

Anyway. Whomever wins I am really thinking there is going to be a big stink about it because the country is far too divided on this issues with very strong feelings about it on either side. 

Oh something else of note that I just find interesting is that in the last several months there have been an awful lot of white government vehicles around our small town. (SUV type) I started pointing these out to hubby and now he's been noticing as well. The tags are mostly the give away but seeing them mostly parked across from our local small grocery store. (the one that is so small most people just go to the bigger one instead) at a place that used to be a grocery store but is now used to build slot machines for the casinos. ...anyway just one of the weird type of things I notice. 

As far as the situation with my Mom I am struggling to find balance with that and my family. I do not want my Mom left alone for any length of time with her being so weak and sick. She can barely get up to go to the bathroom much less do anything else so I have to hope to find understanding with my family when this affects what we can do. (I.E. I don't like to go far and if I do I want someone close by if she needs help) she doesn't qualify for anyone to stay there full time. It is difficult. 
I am trying to work on my own health as my dr. told me that part of the reasons I've been having so much trouble lately is with a compromised immune system to begin with and a ton of stress and coming off of antibiotics myself I am really just running my body into the ground. I am trying to not overdo the exercise but yet trying to get some in each day. I need to get some of the weight off. I signed up for a 1mile walk which shouldn't be hard as it is something we used to walk all the time and I have a way to map that out on my sparkpeople thing. I have it all ready. On another note I am doing the 30 character challenge which starts Nov. 1st and runs all through November. Something that isn't that demanding but that which challenges myself at the same time. 

Back to where we were

 Some of the new playground equipment at our local park

Information on bats

I thought this was interesting

 Inside the hippo

What a hippo has inside it 

Every time I think we are to where things might settle down (Though I will admit I'm not feeling like things were settled anyway) something else happens. Things always seem to happen all at once when they happen. This time around it was my Mom going back to the hospital by ambulance. She was saying she didn't feel right and was having stomach issues and felt dizzy and so I went to call her nurses and before I could even do that my oldest came running over to tell me she'd fallen. I called 911 instead and ran over to find her laying face down on the floor in the hallway. She could speak but couldn't seem to move and after the paramedics showed up when they tried to turn her over she started seizing so they had to rush her out. Turned out she had a massive infection through out her entire large intestine and stomach. She has Crohn's which is something I am to be tested for which during this whole thing I had to cancel my appt. with the gastro ironically. I've been suffering what appears to be the worst tension headache I've ever had. I almost went to the ER myself over it. It felt like my head was going to explode and mainly remained on the left side of my head and since I seem to be prone to TIA's (mini strokes) I was getting worried. It seems to have eased up today. Anyway I made it to see her while she was in the ER Thanks to my MIL who watched the kids for us for a bit. During the stay in the hospital which wound up lasting about a week it seems (not quite but still) her oxygen levels remained low til today, her vitals were very low. Blood pressure couldn't register on the machine. They put her on antibiotics and were beginning to worry that they weren't working. Finally they sent her home and they had her vitals and all up but still have her on antibiotics because there is still infection and want her to have a scope done to attempt to find the source. I personally worry that they sent her home too early. She's been in intense pain all week. During all of this my oldest ran into some friends of hers and then decided to move in with one of them so to prevent too much activity and more going on in the house than need be she came and got all her belongings before my Mom got home which really she was just finishing up as my Mom got in. (We'd tried to help by removing it all from my Mom's house so my oldest could pick everything up without disturbing her) So all of that went well and I hope everything works out for everyone all the way around. My husband took the younger 3 kids to the park today (I say younger 2 of them are teens) where they've installed new playground equipment and I am really impressed with the equipment they chose. Like a hippo that shows all the internal organs of a hippo inside...(Will post pics if I can) educational things. My youngest is so obsessed with it now that she kept the newspaper article about the new equipment so she can see the pictures LOL :) She cracked me up with that. (This is my 3 year old that did this) I stayed with my Mom because honestly I'm afraid to leave her alone right now. Also they'd given her heparin to prevent clots even though she is a free bleeder so immediately as soon as she got home she had a raging nose bleed. So anyway we are back to square one of my oldest having moved out (Not a bad thing really just hoping this time it goes better for her) My Mom being sick and needing the 24/7 care again which falls on us because she doesn't qualify for the care she needs, back to me having health issues from a combination of stress and my lupus....One of these days if things ever slow down I won't know what to do with myself ....though I'm sure I will find something ;)

Little bit of catch up

 Only in Oklahoma

Today is one of those semi-quiet days for me that I actually have a little time to blog. This has been so busy but seriously when are things not for me. :/ We went to court on the city thing and plead not guilty so have to wait til end of November for trial. Curious to see how that all goes. Anxious to get it over with and hopefully move on. That was a totally different experience than I've had before. Very laid back it seemed. We sat there for around 2 and half hours waiting on our turn but there is no bailiff or anything like that. They just call your name and you go stand directly in front of the judge and then when you are done with him you scoot over a little so that you are in front of the court clerk and finish any business there. We paid our bond early....didn't have to pay it til the week before court and if we win the case I think we get all that back. Which would be nice. Especially before the holidays. Anyway so got that out of the way for now. I've got an appt. finally with a gastro dr. I'm a bit nervous about that one but the dr. wanted me to kind of get a head of things since Crohn's runs so heavily in my family and to help keep it from getting half as bad as my Mom's I hope. I will have an appt. with a Rheumatologist to help me with my Lupus and RA and such. Hopefully though will remain as med free as I can. I do NOT want to become dependent on any medications. I don't mind taking them for when I need them but I hate the thought of any daily type thing. :/ Other than my vitamins which I finally found some I can take....Gummy ones for adults LOL :) Only ones that don't seem to bother my stomach. I'd recommend them for anyone else too who has that problem of them causing stomach upset or have a problem with taking those horse pills. I have decided to make myself some fingerless gloves for my arthritis since I prefer mobility and need something in the winter. Gads I hate feeling like a 20 year old in an 80 year old body. Very annoying. I did see some I'd like to buy too. I may get them anyway. I have it really bad in my feet too. :( Anyway I still do what I can to find ways around it. 
I finally bought a pumpkin to paint though haven't had a chance to paint it yet. I thought I'd found an oversized sketch pad but turned out it was newsprint. :/ I used to LOVE to draw on those though. May still try and find one. We replaced pretty much all of our living room furniture except the desk (which I want to keep), The coffee table (it works in here for now) and the entertainment center (want to replace) and then a book shelf. Got a new couch and a couple of chairs and a sewing machine cabinet and long dresser type thing (forget what my husband calls it) but it looks a lot nicer in here. Now I just want to repaint my walls where my youngest colored on them (maybe a darker color) and put down a rug again and get covers for the chairs. Most of this was things my MIL was replacing that she sent our way but it is very appreciated. We also wound up with a small trampoline for my youngest (also for me to use sometimes. I really do want to lose weight :(  ) 
I finally got my Halloween decorations out. I also have a garden spider on my porch that I was teasing about having to put a sign next to her saying this one is real. She laid an egg sack in our spider plant appropriately enough... LOL :) 
I have some posting to do on the recent political debates but I shall do that in another blog....maybe today if I get the time. 

B is for Busy and Blah

Sometimes you have to wonder if life will ever calm down or make sense. Anyway...I guess most recent events here are: We have court coming up this week for that deal with the city. Should be interesting. Really just kind of want to have it over with and hoping all goes well. Would be super nice if the city attorney looks over it and decides to drop it before we even have court. Would be even better if I am feeling better by then. I am not feeling well at all right now. I had an infection seem to pop up out of nowhere in my jaw. Happened to have some antibiotics left from when I was taking them for the cuts on my legs so I started them last night and am calling the dr. probably tomorrow. It seems to have extended to the whole right side of my face and last night I was having dizzy spells and such which isn't good. :/ On top of this have a bit of a sinus thing going on it seems. :( I hate being sick. Yet for some reason all of this seems to make people want to be right on top of me today. I can't even smile but at the moment I keep needing to laugh so quite the problem. LOL Doing some changing up of things around the house it looks like. Changing out furniture and stuff not really a bad thing. It needs it. Trying to get the weed eating and mowing done again and things keep breaking so that is not so easy at the moment. We haven't even dug out Halloween decorations yet plus it has dropped off cold so no one really wants to be outside much. There just doesn't seem to be a happy medium. I guess I will blog more later as I'm not really so into it at the moment but wanted to do a quick update.