THANK YOU SO MUCH

Thank you all so much for you kindness, thoughts of concern and advice concerning my reaction. I especially want to thank Katie from Blessed Femininity who gave me great advise on what to be aware of and to seek medical help if anything on the list either started, continued or got worse.  She felt that another option was that I was reacting NOT to the Latex Free bandage itself but to the adhesive (I never knew that a person can be allergic to the adhesive). This makes a lot of sense since to me now, especially since my good friend and reader Anu (no it's not a typo, that is how she spells her name and it's pronounced Ah-noo), over at More Bark for you Buck, contacted me with a great tip to keep my reaction clean and get the latex bandage off my leg. Yup, the outer bandage that sticks to itself has latex in it. When I took it off there was no reaction to the rest of my leg, just where the original band aide was!  So I made a note to mention this to my doctor next time I go there.  So thank you all - I am doing better. The swelling is gone from my ankle and the rash is not as raised.

Swelling is gone but the redness remains, this will take a while to heal I'm told but I am watching for all the signs that Katie told take seriously

 My new "cover up" as advised by Anu. The washer had eaten it's mate (Why does that happen!) So I cut off the foot part and have a perfect cover up to keep anything from getting in. Great Advise! I love frugal women.

Have a wonderful weekend, and Thank you All again.  Visit both Katie's blog and Anu's website - you will not be disappointed at all.  See you Monday!

Oh No! Not Again???

Remember when I had some kind of allergic reaction to my thumb? Well it happened again only this time I know what I was reacting to. Well I think I know what I'm reacting to.

Can you make out the outline of the bandaged? Boy my leg looks fat when the camera is so close to it taking such a flattering shot!    So here is the story: I had a itch on my leg and found myself scratching it so I got up and put on this:

Notice that it says "Latex Free"

Well, after a few hours my leg was itching again and so I took off the bandage and saw this:

Yes, the ankle is swollen! So am I allergic to the Latex Free Bandage or the Itch Relief! Since I have the shape of the bandage I'm going with that.  Anyone else allergic to Latex Free bandage's? What do you do then, when you need a bandage?   This is what I am doing now.

Hoping this stops the itch and keeps out any germs. It's also a different brand, just in case you know. And I got Maximum Strength because it was the same price and figured for the same price, I want the stronger stuff.

This will also fight infection - well that's the plan anyway.

With nothing to stick to my skin, I shouldn't have a reaction, right? RIGHT?

This bandage sticks to itself so again with nothing sticking to me I hope there is no reaction!

So to all my readers out there, ( all 4 of you) any ideas on what else I can do?  I am also taking 4 meds to help with allergies. A pill, a nasal spray and two different  inhalers to keep my lungs open so that I don't have a full blown Asthma attack. I love Spring!! It still is Spring right? 

Wednesday Hodgepodge: End of Spring Edition

Than you Joyce for another set of great questions. Click on the button above to join in. 

1. Do you and your family enjoy camping? What do you enjoy most/like the least when it comes to family camping? When was the last time you camped?

OK what kind of "Camping" are you talking about here? The tent on the ground and sleeping in a sleeping bag - NO WAY!  A trailer, or RV? OK I can do that. I can see myself camping with that and have done a little of it in the past.  To be honest, it's been a long time since we have done that. Over the past few years our vacations have included a hotel room, with Internet service, hot water and even room service. After all, if I'm on vacation and have to cook and clean, is it really a vacation?

2. Did you attend a summer camp when you were a kid? Is that a happy or not so happy memory?

Yes, when I was little, I went to a day camp.  It was OK but it was not a great happy time. I knew I was there because my mother didn't want me around and was doing everything she could do to get rid of me. Not all women are cut out to be mothers, or wanted to be mothers, but became mothers none the less.  Nuff said.

3. Over the course of your life, what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else?

WOW, it never fails - Joyce always ask at least one hard question.  I guess I would have to say I ponder a lot of "What ifs"  What if I had never come to know Christ. What if I had not married the man I did. What if I had not stopped having children.  What if I reacted in a different way to whatever. What if..... there are a lot of "what ifs". Too many to really count. 

4. Which of the seven natural wonders of the world would you most like to see? There are many lists of 'wonders' but this is the standard naturalwonder list-Mount Everest, The Great Barrier Reef, The Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, The Harbor of Rio de Janerio, Paricutan Volcano and The Northern Lights.

Can I pick all of the above?  Yes, then fine - all of them but I have to pick only one, then the Grand Canyon because I love the south west.

5. What was your first real job?

I was a shoe packer at a shoe shop. It paid "piece work" meaning every shoe had a small tag on it, you took the tag off as you packed it and saved them till the end of the day and then turned them in and got paid according to the tags. Different shoes paid differently. Boots paid better that flip flops for example.  Women did this job and the "old timers" could be ruthless and would trip you and knock you over if you went after the boots. These were woman who were feeding their children with the money they were making and they counted on the money much more than I did. It was really cut throat.

6. Lemonade or Sweet tea...which do you prefer on a hot summer day?
I like tea sweetened with Splenda and lemon. Large and I am drinking one right now while I type this.

7. What is something that always brings a smile to your face?
Seeing the faces and hearing the voices of my Hubby, Children, and Grand children. I am so blessed. Hubby is one in a million!  He loves and cares for me more than I can express here. My children are grown with there own children and they are such mature, smart, funny, exceptional people.  Both have there dad's sense of humor which I love!! Our grand children are funny, wonderful and full of life.  What's not to smile about?

8. Insert your own random thought here.
The hay is down and the deer fence is up. The garden is officially in. Now to water it and watch it grow.

Great job Joyce, thanks for a great Hodgepodge this week.

Another Goal Achieved: Another project in the works

We interrupt this blog for a special announcement.  I  reached my 1200 miles Monday night (in fact I achieved 1202.74 Monday night). I am quite proud of having met my goal.  The lobster with butter will have to wait a few weeks, Hubby is working long hours this week and next week is Father's Day and I plan to take him out. Still, I have achieved something that I wanted to achieve and I wanted to share, now back to the regular blog.

I have my grandchildren's toys in this planter. Others are scattered around the living room, my home office, the back yard, etc.  This is not the toy storage I wanted in the house but it worked. Then we started the kitchen make over and an idea hit me... 

 I am using the old cabinets from the kitchen make over. They cannot be rehung but with a coat of paint, new door pulls and a new top will make these great for toy storage. But for now they look like this.

A work in progress for sure but I hope to have them up and ready for the toys soon.  Some projects take a while and that is OK. I'm learning patience, and I hope to learn that quickly.

Have a good day everyone. 

Weekend Review: 400/800/1200 Mile Challenge

I sure hope you all had a great weekend, I sure did!  Friday night after work, I put the weed block around the raised beds in our garden. Hubby did a great job making the raised flower beds. Saturday evening the plants went into the ground. It hopefully will be a good year for gardens! I want to put hay down over the weed block and maybe some mulch around the plants to help keep the water in. But for now, I'm very happy!

The fence around the garden will help to keep the wildlife  away.

Saturday, during the day, our church had it's annual "Give Away Day". Think of a really big yard sale without any prices!  Our men did a great job moving so many items to people's homes. Furniture, appliances, TVs, clothes, computers, office furniture, Christmas items, toys, and I kid you not even a kitchen sink and cabinet's were all given away. Many wonderful people came to give new homes to all the stuff. Also we had a Bone Marrow Registry so that people could sign up for that very noble work as well.  Once I got home from there, I started on the new project; turning our old kitchen cabinets into toy storage for our grand daughters. I'll keep you posted, photos later.  

Our Fearless leader Shanae hurt her back and is down for the count for now, but she encourages us all to keep on and to keep moving.  I did just that week! Weeding and painting were tops on my list. Here is the break down for this past week.Walking = 7.05 milesStationary Bike = 12.23 milesWeights = 7 milesYard work/painting = 38 milesStep Aerobics = 15 milesGrand total for this past week = 79.28Total for the year so far = 1186.83
I hope to reach my 1200 miles in a few days and then plan on my mini reward, Lobster! In Butter! All Low Carb!!!!
All in all it was a busy week and even busier weekend, now my allergies are acting up so I took Sunday and rested most of the day.  Body needs to rest as well but only for a little bit.   So tell me, how was your weekend?