Hello, friends! Can you believe today is the last day of January? Of course, being sick the entire month it seems as if it was just a few days ago that I celebrated New Year's Eve. Time goes so fast, but I feel as if I've lost an entire month.
Thank you so much for all your prayers and good wishes. I think I am finally on the mend. No more blowing the nose. Coughing just occasionally. When I was at the doctor's office just a few days ago, he listened to my lungs and said they were all clear. Good to know! He did change my medicine, but I am worse with the new medicine than I was with the old one. Major headaches, nausea and heart palpitations. I am calling him today to tell him I am going back to the old one and not taking the new one anymore. There must be something out there to help me. I just don't have the money to keep buying a month's worth of medicine every few days just to "try it out".
But enough of that. Here it is the last day of the month and I still have not shown you my January decorations. I sort of cheated this month since I wasn't feeling so well. I always put out snowmen and snowflakes in January. When I was visiting my sister on Christmas, she offered me a lot of snowmen figures that she was getting rid of. I chose the ones I wanted and brought them home with me. Being so sick, I used just the ones I got from her without pulling out the box of mine. It was nice to see something new and different in the house. Tomorrow I will pack them all away and put up my red hearts. So before I do that, let me show you how I used them.
I have on my front door the little wooden sled I got at Rite Aid about two years ago. Or is it three? Whatever it is, I really like it and put it up after I take the Christmas decorations down. I know it looks a little Christmassy with the pine cone, fir branches and holly berry ribbon, but I like it so much. So it lives on my door for the first month of the year.
I put a snowman in my front window. I took down the colored Christmas lights, but left up the white snowflakes. It looks so nice in the evening.
Here's a closer shot of the snowman. I brought him out of the window so you could see him better. I like his little black top hat, his red and white striped scarf blowing in the wind and his sweet little sign that says, "Let It Snow." The goofy smile on his face makes me smile too. And his little pom-pom buttons puts him over the top in my opinion.
Inside on the little table by the window I have four snowmen set up. The picture is a little dark because I took it with my phone in the afternoon. There isn't much sun in the front of the house that time of day. Isn't the little snowman in a pail of snowballs so cute? The one in the back is a stuffed snowman. He leans against the flowerpot to stand up. The other two ceramic snowmen are just adorable.
The ceramic snowmen are also candleholders. I put a couple of battery operated tealights in them and they really lit up the evening.
I put another large snowman on the shelf under my mirror. I left the Christmas "Joy" sign on the shelf. It just seemed to fit since the snowman was so jolly. Have you ever seen such a sweet face?
And Elaine even gave me a snowman soap dispenser which I put in the bathroom. It is so adorable that I am going to leave it there until all the soap is used up. Probably in another two weeks or so. I love his little broom in his hand and the sweet cardinal sitting on his other hand. The blue and green scarf is so cheery and seems just right against his red jacket.
I'm sort of sad to put them all away until next year. But not having them out all year makes them even more special.
I hope you enjoyed seeing them. Now I am going to feed Jack and myself and then start my day. I'm even feeling well enough today that I think I am going to do some cleaning in the kitchen. Just a little because I am not going to wear myself out. Too late to clean out the refrigerator since the trash men have already come. But maybe I'll do it anyway. Hope you all have a good day.
Kathy
Happy Chinese New Year! A few days late, but the sentiment is the same. I so enjoy celebrating Chinese New Year even though this year was sort of low key because of all the things going on with me. This is the year of the White Metal Rat. Sounds sort of gross doesn't it? But that's not how the Chinese feel about it.
Since the rat is the first animal in the series of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, it is viewed as the year of new beginnings and renewal. The last 12 years are put behind you and you are starting your life fresh. The Metal Rat year is known as a prosperous year for everyone.
According to Chinese beliefs, it is a great year to invest in real estate and start investments of all kinds. Hmm... maybe I should look into this. But beware because this will only succeed if things are carefully planned.
The first week of February is full of creative energy and motivation. It is the gift of a clean, fresh new year with no errors or regrets.
So maybe a metal rat isn't all that bad! All of this information came from the website "thechinesehoroscope.org".
With my Chinese heritage I usually celebrate the new year. But this year I was just too sick. And broke. I have spent so much money on doctors this month. I didn't even go to a restaurant to get my "lucky" food of long noodles and potstickers. I did, however, make my fried rice to celebrate. Joe really likes my fried rice and so do I. I have never found anyone else's rice to match mine. So I was happy with that for dinner.
But the next day, Sunday, Joe and I stopped at the Asian Bar at Shoprite after church. I got an egg roll, some long noodles (lo mein) and some chicken and broccoli. It was very good and just hit the spot.
I finally made it to church on Sunday. It was so good to go even though I kept coughing through the message. We had our annual business meeting after the service and I really wanted to get to that.
The weather has been pretty cold lately, but it is going to be in the 40s for the foreseeable future and I can live with that. I won't go out if it is too cold unless I absolutely have to because I have cold induced asthma. Not fun. The other Kathy at church also has cold induced asthma. Maybe it comes with the name. Ha, ha!
I am going to see my cardiologist this afternoon. I am hoping he will change my high blood pressure medicine. I don't see how I can go on living with this one I am on because of all the side effects. I spoke to the pharmacist and she told me to cut down on the dosage and see if the doctor would change it. There are hundreds of different medications that won't give me itching, rash, swollen legs and feet and make me so sleepy and depressed. So there has to be something else I can take.
I don't have a lot of pictures to show you today, but let me end with a few pictures from the lion parade that I got off of the internet. Someday I will get to see it in person again. Those people familiar with Philly's Chinatown will recognize the Peace Gate in the first photo.
Hope you all have a wonderful day. I'll be back to see you soon.
Kathy
Hello, friends! As Joe would say, "Welcome to Friday." The weeks just fly by, don't they? And here we are about to enter the last week of January. A lost month for me. I am feeling a lot better, although I have a wicked cough which I feel deep in my lungs and isn't going away. Each day, though, I am a little better and hopefully will be myself soon.
On Wednesday I went to Bible Study with Joe. It was the first time I had been to church this year. I sure didn't feel good and was happy I was able to sit on the sofa in the meeting area, put my head against the back of it, and close my eyes for awhile. But it was so good to be out of the house. My pastor isn't doing well health-wise either, so please my friends who pray, pray for Pastor Ralph. I'm not at liberty to say more, but God knows and that's what matters. And pray for Joe who now has what I have. I was taught to share when I was growing up.
The thing about being sick is I have had lots of time to knit. And one thing I have finally completed is my temperature blanket from 2019. I had the stripes finished the beginning of the month. It took a few days to catch up. But finally I put the border on using gray yarn. I am very happy with how it turned out. I was very disappointed at the beginning because I didn't like the dark colors, but as I got into the red, hot pink, yellow and orange, it began to pop. Looking at it makes me see just what a temperate climate I live in. Here's a photo I took of it to show you. January is at the top and December at the bottom.
I'm already using it and it is very warm.
I wasn't going to do another blanket this year, but when I was cleaning up the back bedroom I found a stash of beautiful, wonderful yarn that I couldn't resist using. I'm not sure I have enough for the entire year, but that's OK too. I started another blanket which is so different from any other I have done and is totally beautiful. I can't wait to show it to you at the end of the month.
The other thing I'm doing is an advent scarf from 2014. I have never had much luck with advent scarves but this is turning out nice. Here is the first day. Sorry it's so dark.
And here is the second day.
And the two of them together.
I am working on the third day now. It takes me more than a day to do each section. And even though I did the first part three times I can't seem to get the zig-zag pattern to line up correctly. The first of the designs is perfect but as the row goes on it gets more and more messed up.
Again, I know I don't have enough yarn for the entire thing, but we'll see how far I get. In the meantime, I'm just enjoying doing it. I really like to knit lace.
And with that I am going to get off of here and get myself together. I am trying to do something productive today. I have had too many days where I just sit on the sofa doing nothing.
I hope you all have a good day too.
Kathy
Hello, friends! Hope you are having a good day. As for me -- I am still sick. I have had a fever, sore throat and runny nose. They are gone, but now I have a stuffy nose that I am constantly blowing and a wicked cough. I can feel the congestion in my chest. And being the person that I am, I shared it with Joe. He is about a day behind me and is feeling so bad. He went to the doctor yesterday who told him he just had to ride it out. It is now 21 days that I have been sick. I am so sick of being sick. To top it off, my doctor had surgery yesterday and will be out of the office for about three weeks. At least there is Urgent Care if I get worse.
To help me out with this cold, I have been drinking a lot of hot tea which seems to help a great deal. For Christmas my sister Elaine gave us a really nice box of assorted teas.
It is by Taylors of Harrowgate and is used by the Prince of Wales. Well, according to the box. I can understand if he does use it, though. This tea is wonderful. Some people like coffee. I love my tea.
It was so pretty when I opened the box.
There were 8 different teas, each in its own little cubby in the box.
And the box closes so nicely keeping everything fresh.
So far I have tried the Decaffeinated Breakfast Tea, the Earl Grey Tea, and the English Breakfast Tea. All were excellent. Joe has had the Organic Chamomile which he really liked. What is good is that the ones I do not like, Joe does. So the Green Tea with Jasmine, the Chamomile and the Organic Peppermint are all his. I want to try the Lemon and Orange Tea and the Assam Tea this weekend. In fact, I think I will have the Lemon and Orange for breakfast.
After Joe's doctor visit yesterday we stopped at Shoprite to pick up a few things we needed. With this snow storm coming, I did not want to go out driving to the store for things. I forgot eggs and bread but I was not going back through that mob to get them. I can get them at 7-11 today. We are both feeling so bad. In fact, the facial tissues were on sale for 88 cents, so we each have our own box which we carry around with us for our poor noses. We had even run out of tissues and were blowing our noses on paper towels. Ouch! These are much softer.
I am hoping that my next post I can say to you that I am feeling wonderful and am finally over all my illnesses. I think my body is so run down that no matter what comes along, I just get it. The only place I have been besides hospitals and doctors' offices for the past three weeks is Monday I was feeling good and went to the nursing home with Joe and Rick. I stayed far away from the ladies and gentlemen that were there, so I hope I didn't pass on what I have. I wasn't feeling sick then or I wouldn't have gone. Joe says we will probably cancel this week because he is too sick to preach.
And I think we will both stay home from church this week. I have never in my life missed three weeks of church in a row. In fact, I can't remember when I missed three weeks of church in a year! You know I am sick if I don't go. My sister's church records their service and posts it on YouTube so we have been watching those when they go up on Tuesday. But it's not the same as being there.
At least I am getting a lot of reading done. I am reading "Anne of Green Gables." Can you believe I have never read it? And as I am reading, I wonder why I haven't read it before now. It is so good. Yesterday at the VA Hospital while I was waiting for Joe to have his appointment, I read 11 chapters. Yes, we waited from 2:00 to 4:00 for the doctor to get around to seeing him. He said he was running a little late. Uh huh.
And now I think I will get something to eat and lay down again. I look around and know I should clean the house and do the wash and I just can't. The dirt will be there tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that.
Thanks for not giving up on me. This is a rough time in my life but I have hope it will get better. Really.
Kathy
And I sure hope I am OK by Valentine's Day. According to Snoopy here, I have 33 days to feel better.
Yes, I got sick again. I was feeling so much better, back to myself, until Monday. Then I felt bad again. I ended up going to the doctor on Tuesday. I told her I was there twice in one week because I loved her so much and she laughed. But I did get a prescription for antibiotics and I'm feeling 100% better. But I still didn't go to church this morning because the medicine makes me nauseous and I just couldn't sit there feeling sick. This is the first time in years I have missed two weeks in a row. I am going to try to go to the nursing home tomorrow and to Bible study on Wednesday. They are short meetings and a good way to ease my way into going out again.
It was a beautiful day today. The temperature was around 70*F (21*C). It was so warm that I didn't need a jacket when I went outside. I even had the front door open for awhile to let some fresh air and sunshine in. I was enjoying it while I could because by the end of the week it is supposed to be in the 30s F (3* to -1* C).
I noticed that I never showed you what Joe got me for Christmas, so I thought I would add that to this post.
My first gift was a beautiful mini jewelry box. It has a mirrored top and red velvet bottom. Half is grooved to hold rings and the other half is a tray for other jewelry like necklaces and bracelets.
The outside is rosewood with butterflies all over it. The butterflies are outlined in silver and the wings and the leaves on the vines are mother-of-pearl.
It is so beautiful!
The clasp on the side is a silver butterfly. The sides of the box is black with more silver and mother of pearl butterflies and vines.
He also gave me a bottle of Chantilly cologne. Chantilly is one of my two favorite perfumes.
And then he gave me a gift set of perfume sample bottles -- Chantilly, Chantilly Eau de Vie, Navy, Tabu and Tabu Rose.
And finally he got me socks. I need socks so badly and between Joe and Elaine I got 25 pair this year. That should hold me awhile. My problem is I buy socks all the time and wear them once and then they disappear into the wash never to be seen again.
I didn't take pictures, but for my birthday Joe got me a bottle of Gloria Vanderbilt perfume (my very favorite) and a mug with my name and birthdate on one side along with facts about world events that year. The other side had sports statistics from the year I was born along with the price of different things like milk and gas. Such a cool gift.
Again, thank you for all your prayers and good wishes. Even though I am still sick, I am getting better. Hopefully by this time next week I will be fine.
See you all later.
Kathy
Hello, friends! I'm taking the small moments of time when I feel better to write some posts to catch you up on things. Each day is a little better than the one before. At least I'm not getting worse as I was last week. Let me tell you about New Year's Eve.
I had come home from the hospital the day before. I still was not feeling 100% with my pressure still elevated, so I decided to not do anything. That's right. I laid on the sofa or the bed all day. I watched some TV, read some and slept. What a way to end the year! But I needed it. I got up at one point and made myself a scrambled egg but almost wasn't able to do that. I was wiped out when I sat down to eat it.
I forgot to say that the night before Joe had made me a huge plate of scrambled eggs for dinner which we shared (including Jack the cat). Joe makes the BEST scrambled eggs in the world. He said he learned how to do it when he was a cook in the Marine Corps. I do the same thing he does and mine does not turn out tasting as wonderful as his does. So I was trying to recreate it, but just couldn't get there.
For dinner I had taken out some breaded flounder to cook. We usually have fish on New Year's Eve. Joe ended up cooking that too. He did a great job of it.
After dinner we have our devotions. We are still working on our 25 days of Christmas. So many interruptions happened this year. But Christmas is not relegated to one day, so we are just going to plow ahead and read it. Then I read aloud another portion of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." As I finished, Joe said, "The book is so much better than the movies." It always is.
We watched a couple of TV shows I had recorded. "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown" was cute. I don't remember seeing it before. And then an ABC special on 2019 in review. By this time it was getting late, so I went into the kitchen, got a tray, and put together a snack for us from the things my sister had put in that huge basket.
Six different kinds of crackers, salami, three different kinds of cheese, mini chocolate Santas and peppermints in the gingerbread boy jar. The white glass is a candle scented sparkling champagne which I thought was appropriate. The little bowl is a few cat treats for Jack. After all, he couldn't be left out. At this point I was feeling pretty good and wanted to surprise Joe because he has been doing pretty much everything around here.
We snacked, talked, and watched the ball drop in New York City. At midnight we kissed and said 2020 was going to be a great year. Little did I know that in less than 24 hours I was going to be sicker than I've been in many years! But that's a story for another day.
I took a selfie to show you fine people that I was doing good and still in the land of the living,
Yep, that's me. Just 8 hours before disaster struck and I had an intestinal virus.
What have I learned in all of this? That ultimately God is in control of things. We can't see the future, but the future is in His hands. I prayed in the hospital, believing He would answer me but I don't think I really trusted that He would. I have learned a big lesson on believing God. I wonder how many more times I will have to learn it because I'm pretty dense when it comes to that.
I went on Dayspring.com and took a quiz to find my word for the year. It gave me "Abide" which is a great word, but I think the word I really need is "Trust". It is something we as humans really need to learn. God has already gone before us so we can trust Him because He knows what's ahead.
And with that I am going to get off of here and do something with my day. It may be just clearing off a table or emptying the dishwasher, but it is going to be SOMETHING.
Hope you all have a wonderful day! Enjoy!
Kathy
Hello, friends! First of all, thank you so much for hanging in there with me through this terrible sickness I've had. It's only been a week, but it feels more like a month. I have been truly touched by all your kind wishes, thoughts and prayers. You brought a tear to my eye and you will never know just how much you all mean to me. I am not over being sick yet, but I am better.
Last Sunday was my birthday. What a celebration that was. The day began with a lot of fog. Here is a view of the battleship New Jersey which is docked in the Delaware River and you can't even see it or New Jersey in the background.
After church I was at a restaurant with Joe when I began experiencing chest palpitations. Not my heart. But my chest was actually vibrating and you could see it. I felt as if I were going to pass out and had to leave immediately. We had gone to my favorite Chinese buffet which is near to my house. We like it because it specializes in a low-salt menu. I even said to Joe, this soup needs salt! I had eaten only half of my first plate of food when all of this started. It was so good too.
The egg roll was good but I thought rather bland. The potstickers were good and the egg and honey custard was to die for. I had just finished the honey chicken when all of this started.
I thought I could go home and lie down and drink water and it would be OK but it just got worse so I left the rest of my food on the plate and Joe and I headed for the E.R. I really thought I might be having a heart attack.
By the time we made it to the hospital I could barely walk. He had to help me into the Emergency Room. Then it took awhile for them to get to me. I was given an EKG and put in a room in Emergency where they hooked me up to all kinds of monitors. As soon as I laid down, all the palpitations stopped.
After tests and x-rays the doctors determined that my heart was fine but my blood pressure was through the roof. At one point it was 212/88. Various things were tried and it would not come down. It would come down a little for a bit and then go right back up again. So the doctor told me they were going to keep me overnight for observation.
Joe was such a gem and never left my side. He went once to the Starbucks in the building to get a coffee and bagel but that was it. He stayed the entire night with me watching the TV. Finally in the morning I made him leave so he could get his medicine, feed the cat, and get some sleep. Our friend, Carole, came to pick him up and took him home.
That day the doctor changed the dosage on my medication and the pressure slowly came down. It was still high but he let me go home that afternoon. He said that being in the hospital was stressful and I would probably be better at home. But my pressure had to be low enough to leave.
The doctors and nurses that took care of me were so excellent. I was really happy with the care I was receiving. But I just wanted to go home. I kept thinking of all the things I needed to do.
About 5:00 p.m. Joe and Carole walked into my room. I was sound asleep and Joe woke me up. I opened my eyes to Carole telling him, "Don't do that! Let her sleep!" He asked what was going on and I sent him to the nurses' station. He came right back with the news that the doctor had just signed my discharge papers and I was on the way home.
I drove home and Carole followed us to make sure we made it OK. I felt so much better, but it has taken several days to get my pressure back to where it is supposed to be.
To make matters worse, the day after I got home I got a stomach virus which I still have. Fever, nausea, stomach rumblings and diarrea. It never ends. So glad I didn't get it in the hospital. I had no change of clothes (Joe brought a change with him when he came back with Carole) and it would have been bad. Joe has been doing wash non-stop for days.
BUT... I am on the mend. I am so much better, but taking it very slowly. I have a doctor's post-hospital appointment tomorrow so we will see what she says.
So much for my New Year's Resolution to do a massive clean out of the house beginning January 1st!
Thank you all so much for hanging in there with me. It really, really meant a lot. Thanks to all of you that follow me on facebook, also, and have been keeping up with my daily little sentences. You have made me feel so much better. I hope to be back posting several times this week. Keep hoping and praying.
Until later...
Kathy
Hello, friends. Thanks for staying around. I got very sick and ended up in the hospital for a couple of days. I am doing better and hope to be back very soon. Thanks for your understanding and any prayers would be appreciated. I'll tell you the whole story when I get back. And show you some new socks too.
