I haven’t been blogging. Most of the time I feel I have nothing interesting to say. Also, I have been struggling with my health since 8/07. That was when we moved into my “dream house”. Which turned out to be infested with black mold.
Two years and countless doctors and specialists later I now have a diagnosis of sorts and a treatment plan. Lots of days are rough. But most days I can breathe again and my lips don’t swell up like they did for so long.
There are lots of “experts” who are actually paid by insurance companies and builders that say “mold is everywhere, it can’t hurt you.” To them I say “Walk one day in my shoes and you will change your mind.”
I am 41 (42 on 7/25). I was fit, thin, exercised often, did yoga. Then I got hit with toxic mold. Now, I struggle to breath, I am in constant pain, I have no energy. *Poof* Literally happened the week we moved into this house. I now have autoimmune disease and my thyroid is being attacked and destroyed. I am on a celiac, diabetic, vegetarian, lactose-free diet. Think about that. What would you eat? It’s tough.
But I have hope that we can get this under control. And that I can go back to being a healthy person again. I may blog about the road to my recovery. Maybe I will look back at it and say, “Yeah, boy am I glad I am not there anymore.” That is my hope.
January 8, 2009 – 1:43 pm
I actually won a radio call in show once with this question.
Why?
Because in my fridge was a Praying Mantis Egg Sac! Yes, a real one. I was keeping it in hibernation until the spring so I could populate my yard with natural pest killers.
I plan to get one again soon to populate the new yard.
Why am I posting about this? I started a thread at Lampworketc.com of inspirational pictures to stimulate us at the torch. Someone (Nagibeads) posted a pic of an Orchid Mantis. OMG! What an amazing creature! Then I found out there are LOTS of amazing mantids!! Here are a few from an amazing photographer:
I see some cool beads coming….
January 4, 2009 – 2:00 pm
Yesterday was an adventure. I had to take my Greenwing macaw to the vet for his annual and to make sure that he is only going through a heavy molt and not plucking.
Taking a 3 lb bird to the vet is not always easy. He has to ride there in a carrier, which in my case is a large dog crate. Usually getting him into said crate is quite a task. But yesterday, luckily it was fairly easy. I took him out of his cage and just started walking towards the crate and put him in, no fuss. He was doing a nervous laugh the whole way towards it, then once he was in there he started scratching at the paper and making hrmmph hrmpph noises.
He did pretty well at the vet considering he had the indignity of having a q-tip put up his butt. LOL
Here is the sweet “little” guy…
Here is a video of him Dancing
Diego Dancing
January 2, 2009 – 11:41 pm
I purchased the most wonderful tutorial on Etsy. It is from Stoney Marie and it is just fabulous and very worth the money!!
My problem is that I am one of those people who does not follow recipies. I kind of consider them rough guidelines. That is probably why the kids are never thrilled when I say I am going to try a new dish. LOL
However, I found Marie’s tutorial helped me to think of things I hadn’t before and try some new stuff. And bottom line, isn’t that what it’s all about?
Some beads from the tut:
December 29, 2008 – 5:53 pm
I was pleasantly surprised at how well our Christmas went. We decided to cut back a lot and to be honest, I think it was a better Christmas for it. The two 14 yr olds decided to combine their gift spending limit and get Rock Band 2 for the Wii. I have yet to try it. I am not sure i could handle the embarrassment of singing in front of people.
I am looking forward to New Year. Just a chill night with a few friends and some board games maybe. No driving with the amatuer alcoholics. YAY!
Both of my boys are about to enter High School this month. (Oh lord, let me survive this!) Last year their middle school had uniforms and it was so easy. No fighting about inappropriate attire, no wanting designer clothes, etc. Well, that is abut to end. My wallet is going to be hurting! At least it is tax-free weekend. No tax on school supplies or clothes.
My son in particular is tough to buy for. He is so tall and thin it is a challenge.
Here is my “little boy” who just turned 14 and is 6′1″
A few weeks ago I took a few days off to spend with my boys before they go to High School (EEEKKK!). We went to a local small zoo. My family and I seem to have a Bird Whisperer vibe going on. We often have encounters with birds and this trip was no different.
We were standing along a fence talking to a cockatoo and a free-roaming peacock jumped up on the fence and parked himself right in the middle of us. He was fascinated with checking us out and even let us pet him. He was not the least bit skittish. Even the keeper was a little amazed.
In the last pic, he is looking at some water in my hand. LOL
What a nice weekend! DH and I went to Asheville for a nice getaway weekend without the children. Ahhh heaven! To me, I just fit in there. Lots of vegetarian restaurants, lots of walking, art everywhere….*sigh*
Then, Sunday came and it’s back to reality! The kids did a good job of keeping Bentley from having accidents in the house and cleaned up after themselves pretty well. One rather annoying yet somewhat amusing thing was to come home and find out Travis (SS14) ate 1/2lb block of cheese by himself in 3 days. He might need a little fiber to help him out. Hehehehe
The culprit…
If I could do anything I wanted and still be able to live comfortably I would say that I would be an animal trainer. A whisperer type.
I have been told by trainers that I was born with the ability to communicate with animals and I do see that as a gift. So, my fantasy job would be working with all manner of animals. Equine, dogs, cats, birds, etc. Maybe I could be the next Caesar Milan! LOL
These are my puppies…Bogey (lab mutt) is 16 weeks and Bentley (sheltie) is 10 months. This past year brought us the loss of both of our long-term pets and we have been given the opportunity to watch two new lights grow in our family…
The topic on Flaming Hot this week is “Being Proactive” in this changing economy. I have been taking steps in my non-jewelry life to be proactive. For example, my husband is now carpooling to work most days with 4 other people. It is saving us a bunch of gas! We also try to make more of an effort to walk to the grocery store. It is about 3 miles round trip, so it is good exercise too.
As far as my glass, I am trying to set aside time to update my website. That seems to be a constant struggle for me. Time is sparse when you work full-time, care for 6 parrots, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 2.5 children (the .5 is a college aged step-daughter who is living at home for the summer).
I did list a number of sets in both soft glass and boro:
Here’s a few pics:
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