ENT visit

I saw the ENT today and unfortunately did not get many answers. He really does not know what the problem is. He said it is possible that this is temporary and will clear up but also possible that I have lost more of my hearing and there is no going back from that. He is sending me for a Brain MRI to rule out anything else and also referred me to another ENT that does cochlear implants. They did another hearing test and I can tell a real difference in what I am understanding with regards to my good ear (the one with the hearing aid) for the first time since I lost my hearing at age 5, I am understanding more words in my right ear(un-aided) than my left ear. That makes me think that some serious damage has gone on in my left ear. I still feel like there is fluid on my ears and I am having ringing noises in my ears. Looks like I might be able to get into the other ENT by the end of the year so maybe will know something before too long about the possibility of an implant. All of this makes me question if I want to go ahead with the plans to go to Hawaii. I want to go but wonder if I would enjoy it more if I wait until after CI when I can hear better. I feel very vulnerable in strange places without my aid. Airports make me nervous when I do have my aid, so I am wondering how I will feel about trip. Hubby and I need to sit down and talk about all of this I guess.

Hope Your Thanksgiving Was Happy!

Here's wishing everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Ours did not go exactly as planned but it was nice anyway! Only negative thing was that we did not get to see my family as planned, but we did get to visit with my husband's family. Looks like we are all about over our colds and sickness too, so that is good news! Thanksgiving is over so I guess it is time to get into the hussle and bussle of Christmas! Best get busy!!!

Things are looking up (a little!)

Sorry if my last post was negative. Things are looking a little better. K is feeling better, still coughing a little but not near as congested. All our plans for Thanksgiving had to be changed but that can't really be helped. I got an appt for the doctor for tomorrow morning (all booked for today) and am going back to the hearing aid guy this afternoon to see if we can't adjust the aid to at least help me a little bit. These last two weeks without my aid and with the ear infections have been very discouraging. I have profound hearing loss in both ears due to mumps when I was 5 years old. I pride myself on being able to function in the hearing world but that all comes to a screaching halt when my aid does not work. I find that I withdraw into myself and I lose my self confidence. I have been looking into cochlear implants but have been hesitant to do so because they have to cut off what hearing you have in order to fit you with the implants and the thought that something could go wrong and I would be worst off than I am now does not appeal to me. However if I lose any more hearing there will be nothing more a conventional hearing aid can do for me. I already wear the most powerful aid made. I have done a little research into the implants and found that my insurance will cover it but still scares me. I have not had the best of luck with surgical proceedures ( things tend to go wrong). I am looking forward to a great Thanksgiving and hope all of you have a wonderful one too!

Bummer Weekend!

K was up most of the night with congestion, so she is sick on her week off. Got my hearing aid back from the repair place and I can't use it. Sounds are totally distorted. Hearing aid guy says aid is fine, I must still have fluid or infection in my ears. Made an appt with ENT but can't get in until Weds after Thanksgiving. So I guess I will go back to regular Dr. on Monday to see what he can do for me. So all our plans for Thanksgiving are being changed, had planned to take K to see my parents but now we will have to stay home and go to dr. on Monday. I hope they are in the office this week, as all the kids in area are out all week for Thanksgiving Holidays. K is a total grump today. We were scheduled to have holiday portraits made today but cancelled that due to K being sick. So basically this is shaping up to be a bummer weekend. This too shall pass, just hope it does soon! Hope your weekend and plans are going great.

Different Talents

I was reading BST's blog this morning and he added some lyrics that a friend of his had made up to the tune of "Days of Elijah" and it just stuck with me all day. It was meant to be humorus and it was but for some reason it just bugged me as I went through my day of house cleaning and errand running. You can go look at it if you are familiar with BST but in a nutshell it was a put down on rich society, how there are starving kids in Africa and we are more concerned with our fancy cars and things. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to concern ourselves with the problems and the people in the world that are hurting but I also believe that God gave each of us our gifts and we should use them to the best of our ability. Not everyone can be a teacher, a preacher, or a missionary . Some must be financial supporters and emotional supporters for those people who do have the God given talents to go out and do the mission work.
We are not rich by any means and whatever we do have, we have because God has allowed us to have it and because we have worked hard to get it. When we were younger, we went on mission trips and we door knocked and played a more active physical role but now that we have a family and responsibilities we play a more supporting role. We give financially and we give emotionally to the Missions. We teach Bible Classes and help support our local congregation. I don't feel like I was a better Christian when I was younger and more active in Missions. Yes, I know that lots of people have families and responsibilities and still put missions first. Thank God that they can use their talents that way. I don't believe that is what God wants for us right now!
I know I am probably taking this way too seriously but like I said it stuck with me all day. We all have a role to play and as long as we are doing what God wants, what is the problem? Let God judge their hearts and just go on doing the best you can!

Which Hotel?

Travel Agent sent me three price quotes for the trip to Hawaii. The most expensive is for Hyatt, then Westin and the cheapest was Kaapannali Shores. Anybody out there got an opinion about one of these hotels or maybe a better suggestion. I guess I need to get a travel book from the library or bookstore and do some more research. I am torn between being my normal frugal (always hunting for a bargain) self and throwing caution to the wind and being a little extravagant with this trip. I guess I need a happy medium somewhere! So Jettybetty, Sandy tell me what to do, I need to make some decisions soon!

Awesome Little Swimmer!

K is doing fantastic with her swimming lessons. I thought those lessons were going to be the death of both of us. She fought me tooth and nail over them but Mama won and she has stuck with them for about 8 or 9 weeks so far! Today she swam the whole length of the pool twice, which is quite an accomplishment for a child who refused to even stay in the water a few weeks ago! I knew she could do it once she made up her mind. This child can accomplish amazing things if she has the desire. If she lacks the desire it is near impossible to get her to do it! She is my little blessing from God, the try-er of my patience, the cutie pattootee, my pride and joy and at times our greatest obstacle for household peace. I think I will keep her! (At least until tomorrow!)

A Bit Better!

I am feeling a bit better and starting to get back into my old routine. I need to go to the school and do some work for K's teacher and then tomorrow I work in the copy room at her school. Life goes on even when Mama gets sick. So far K has not gotten sick, thank goodness for that! Don't have much to say today, just wanted to get off the pity party entry and onto something more positive. Hope all have a wonderful weekend.

Poor Pitiful Me!

My ears have been stuffed up and ringing since Sunday and my hearing aid is broken. I could not go get the aid fixed yesterday because I needed to wait on the furniture repair guys to come pick up the blanket chest that was damaged when the water line burst and flooded the house. While I was waiting for the repair guys, I started sweating like crazy and was dizzy. Then the room started to go dark and I got dry heaves. So I sent my dearest hubby a text message (I need my hearing aid to use the phone) to come home, so he could let the repair guys in and deal with darling daughter when she got off the bus. ( Also just on the outside chance that I did pass out or have a stroke I thought it would be a good idea for him to be home!) Of course the repair guys got here before darling hubby, so I let them in warning them I might have the flu ( I am sure I looked like something the cat drug in and the dog refused to play with!) Once they left, I left the front door unlocked so daughter could get in the house incase hubby was delayed and went to bed. Hubby showed up shortly and was appropriately sympathetic and helpful, kept daughter out of bedroom and later brought me crakers and sprite. Whatever this was lasted about 4 hours and then I was okay.
Today I woke up and still have stuffy ears and it feels like I have battery acid down my throat and my ribs and teeth hurt (what is up with that?) So I drag myself to the doctor, where the nurse proceeds to yell at me because the receptionist told her my aid was broken and she should talk very loudly. I told the receptionist not to talk louder to me but to look at me because I read lips. I can hear the noise I know you are yelling at me but unless I can see your mouth I can't read your lips .But she still told the nurse to yell at me! (I think the receptionist must be related to the doctor because she has been there a long time (5 years) and is not the brightest bulb in the office!) Nurse was very apologetic and stopped yelling at me promptly! Dr. said I have one ear drum bulging in and one bulging out, guess there is a vacuum (or maybe a void) between my ears! Anyway, I have a sinus infection so he gave me two shots (sore bum!) and three different meds to take. I really hope to feel better soon.
I am going to take my aid in tomorrow (if I am not too dizzy to drive) and see if I can get it fixed. When it rains it pours around here. Hubby was sick last weekend and am hoping darling daughter can stay well! So here is my little pity party, tomorrow better be a better day! It has been a no good, horrible, very bad few days!

Saturday Night Wow!

We attended a fundraising concert for SWCC (Southwest Christian College) that was held at our church last night. All I can say is Wow! There was a group from SWCC, A couple of groups from Austin (One Voice and Soldiers of Power), and then some local groups that sang. Wow, it was awesome! It ran long and my 8 year old was getting antsy by the end but it was great! I am surprised the old church is still standing because they raised the roof and rocked the rafters last night. A couple of my friends at church were in charge of getting it together and they were very pleased with the money that was raised last night so I guess it worked out well for everyone. Our church has gone from being a predominately anglo congregation to a nice mixture over the last year or so, due mainly to a split within one of the black congregations in the area unfortunately but their loss has definitely been our gain. We have become good friends with several of the new families and are enjoying the diversity. During the benefit, my daughter said she wanted to attend college there when she grew up and then after seeing the video show she said "but there were no white people there" We told her maybe that will change by the time you go to college. Hopefully by the time she can go to college it will not matter what color you are, no matter where you decide to go to college or worship. Thank you God for making us all different and all special!

Hawaii Lowdown!

Anyone who lives in or has visited Hawaii, please leave me a comment and tell me what to do and what to see when we go for our second anniversary. Please keep in mind that I am over 40 (just barely) and out of shape (not so barely) So surfing is probably right out, although I might could manage jet skis. So if you are listening (or rather reading) out there send me the inside scoop on what to do and see to make this a memorable trip. Thanks in advance. I know that Jettybetty and Sandy will have some good suggestions for me, anybody else? If you haven't been to Hawaii but just have a good travel tip or romantic suggestion, send it on my way!

Lots of Trick or Treaters!

Our little subdivision always has lots of trick or treaters and last night was no exception. Seems like no matter how much candy I buy, we end up giving away most or all of it. Which is good because we certainly don't need to eat the leftovers. It is good to live in an area where I feel safe letting my daughter (she was Cinderella by the way) go around to the neighbors houses. I may have done too good of a job making her feel safe, she had a hard time understanding why she could not eat the candy until we had inspected it. She kept saying "no one would hurt me" or something to that effect. How do I keep her innocent and yet keep her safe? I don't want to scare her but there is no way I can know every family in this neighborhood although we do try to limit her door knocking to the immediate area around our house.
We live in a gated community but it is not real hard to get in ( just follow someone) so we usally get extra carloads of kids for Halloween. In some ways that bothers me that "outsiders" are in our neighborhood but then I realize they are just looking for a safe place for their kids to trick or treat. As long as they are not causing trouble, what is the harm? So I try to soften my attitude and figure that is what Jesus would want me to do.
It is a lot cooler today but it is Nov. it should be cool outside! Hard to believe that 2005 just has two months left. They will be busy ones and fly by I am sure. Hope this finds you and your families enjoying the blessings that God has bestowed upon you. For we are all blessed beyond measure and have so much to be thankful for. Happy Autumn Everyone!

Good Day!

Today has been a good day! Got my hair cut and best I can tell they did not butcher it. I got twenty dollars off a sweater I have been wanting but wouldn't buy because it was too expensive. I went up to the school for a look at the finally finished Guided Reading Book Room ( the one have I spent a million hours in since school started) It was almost finished when I had to take a break to deal with all the repairs on my house and this was the first time I had seen it completely finished. Several people told me they appreciated my hard work in the bookroom and the volunteer coordinator even mentioned my name in the school newsletter. It was not necessary but it is nice to be appreciated (it really was a lot of hard work and long hours in basically a big closet!) Little K has been a lot sweeter today than she was yesterday and big K brought me roses!
Another big weekend awaits us, K has two different Fall Festivals tomorrow and then hubby and I are going out tomorrow night (long overdue) Sunday, hubby will do communion for both services (long morning) and then K has birthday party across town. Maybe we will find sometime to rest in there. We gain an hour on Sunday morning so that will help a little. We have really been enjoying the cooler weather around here, hope it continues but you never know in TX. God's blessings to all of you. Have a great weekend!

Whirlwind Week-Part Deux

Here it is Weds and I feel like I am just now catching up after the past week and weekend. K had a nice birthday party with 4 little girls from her school. We had it at a little teashop. The owner provided them with boas and hats and they had tea and scones. The owner was supposed to spend time with them and give them some etiquette lessons but the shop was overbooked and packed. I knew when we got there that things were not going to go as planned. There was a group of older "society" ladies waiting to go in to have tea. They were mostly dressed in black with the most outrageous hats you have ever seen. One of the hats was a huge spider with black netting as the web. My Mother in Law asked them if they were a "Red Hat Society" and they exclaimed "Oh No Dear, we are the "Mad Hatters" Before the other little girls arrived they latched onto my daughter and took pictures with her. They were quite a group of characters and there were quite a few of them and this was a very small teashop. So the tea party did not go exactly as planned because the owner had to keep leaving the girls to go wait on the other groups. The girls still seemed to have a good time and the owner tried to make up for the inconvience. She gave K a cute little ladybug teapot and charged me less than half of what we had agreed on. MIL was not happy with the situation but K was okay with it so everything was fine.
In Laws breezed out bright and early Sunday morning, did not even say goodbye to me or K. I think they said goodbye to their son but am not sure! Hubby had to be at church early to set up communion for early service, so I was left to deal with a very angry little girl. Sometimes I think that people forget how important little things like saying goodbye are to kids. K got to sing and sign a song with the elementary kids during the baby dedication at church so that helped her mood a little. Sunday afternoon found me running to get a baby gift for a shower I had forgotten about and then attending the shower. It was sweet because this girl had several miscarriages and I had spoken with her in Feb. and she told me that she knew that God was going to answer her prayers and she had not given up hope. Now, her baby boy is due in Dec. Sunday was wrapped up by going to Life Group, end of a long day. Monday and Tuesday were spent getting the last few problems worked out on the work done to the house. Halelujah, it is finished! Also yesterday I was able to find K a halloween costume for about $10, she likes it and it did not cost me a fortune or require a tremendous amount of work on my part. Yeah. She will be Cinderella, originally she was going to be a beauty queen but outfit looks like Cinderella so she is going with that. Last year she was the Statue of Liberty and that costume was a pain to make.
I think maybe we are back to semi normal around her, just the normal everyday life stuff. I think I have had enough excitement for awhile so it will not hurt my feeling to be dull and boring for a few weeks. Hope that God is blessing all of you with a wonderful week!. I apologize for the mis-spelled words but can't get the spell checker to work and am too lazy to go hunt up a dictionary!

Whirlwind Week!

What a week it has been! They finally finished the repairs on my house (well, almost they have 3 things to fix tomorrow) and it looks livable again. The carpet relayers and the carpet cleaners both came on Weds and finally got out of the house about 3:30 ish and K and I left the house for a doctors appt at 3:45, followed by dinner and church. Thursday was K's 8th birthday so it is was a whirlwind of activity all day long. It started out at 6am with:

1. breakfast taco's (which is a big deal because I am NOT a morning person)
2. logged onto the computer so that I could wake up K with an e-card from her Granny and Papa,
3. got K off to school
4.stripped her bathroom of all rubber ducky stuff and redecorated with tie-dye and butterflies.
5 Errands and picking up her cake (while I was doing my errands I witnessed a shop lifter so I had to take a bit of time to report that to the manager)
6. Take Cake and juice boxes to school for party
7. Work for K's teacher at school (2 hours)
8. Party with classmates, blue icing on carpet ( fortunately it is blue carpet)
9. run home to change into swimsuit and do homework
10. Swim lessons
11. Birthday dinner at Magik Time Machine (across town)
12. Home to open Birthday presents
13 Finally everyone to Bed!

Friday Morning I only had a little to do:
1. Get K off to school
2. Workmen doing touch up on the house
3. Try to put back all the furniture and stuff from having three rooms of carpet clean
4. Change sheets on beds
5. clean 3 bathrooms
6. plumber replace pressure regulator valve (dug up front yard and cut off water)
7. welcome in-laws for weekend visit at 3 pm
8. K off bus at 3 pm

Whew, I am getting tired just typing about it, well time to get the dinner going so I will make this Part 1 and continue with Part 2 later. Hope all of you had a much more relaxing weekend than me!

Great Family Retreat

Our family just got back from a great retreat. We went out to Leakey, Tx to the H. E. Butt Foundation Camps. The man who started HEB grocery stores, set up this camp area in a canyon along the river ( don't remember the name of the river) and he allows church groups to hold retreats out there in the spring and fall and then they have youth camps during the summer.
When I was in the Aggies For Christ we used to get to go out there occasionally, it was great then and even better now. They have made a lot of improvements over the last 15 years or so, but even way back then it was the nicest place we went to for the AFC retreats.
Our childrens coordinator and our youth minister did a fantastic job with everything. One of our members is a manager for Red Lobster and he took charge of the food and we ate GOOD! We got a little piece of the Zoe Conference in that several of our members went and brought back the beautiful new songs for us. We had a joyful time praising God and learning these new songs.
One of the best things was that K did not get sick and end up in the hospital this year!!!! Praise God for that! (Last year she caught a virus and had to be hospitalized for dehydration and her birthday party had to be rescheduled. Let's face it, it is hard enough for a kid to be sick but on their birthday, that is just too cruel!) We were able to witness a baptism in the river so that is alway a wonderful thing! Guess I better go tackle the mountain of laundry but I go happily singing "Great is our God, sing with me. How Great is our God...."

Graduate!

It is official now I am a graduate of the Physical Therapy Program. Today was my last day of PT and I passed my evaluation with flying colors. I stuck with it and it really helped my shoulders and neck. The Dr. was really pleased with how far I had come in a few weeks. I am able to sleep all night without waking up every 1/2 hour or so because my arms are numb and I have significantly less pain than before the therapy. I am going to miss seeing everyone at the office but not paying the big co-pay every visit. They gave me some exercises to keep doing at home and said to come back if it starts acting up again. So, yeah for me I stuck with it and am relatively pain free now!

Whoops!

Boy, did I mess up this year! I totally forgot that I needed to get the Cherished Teddie Age 8 Birthday figurine for my daughters birthday ( which is in about a week) K was going through the curio cabinet and she brought out some figurines and asked why we had two of these ( I got a great deal on a set of 13 on ebay and so now I have about 4 that are the same) and she also announced "I will be getting number 8". Lightbulb goes off in Mom's head!
Of course the store does not have #8 (every other stinking # but no 8) so today while K was playing at a friend's house I called every store within 20 miles and of course no one has it. I even looked into ordering it online and they will express deliver it in 4 to 8 working days (still too long and too expensive) So I went on Ebay and found one that ends tomorrow night, it still may not get here by her birthday but at least it will not cost as much. I went ahead and bid on #9 and #10 too, so this won't happen again for a year or two.(depending on if I win the bid of course) I guess I need to put the 4 duplicates back on ebay and try to sell them, I have bought from ebay before but have never tried to sell anything. It is usually easier just to donate my stuff to charity and take the tax write off. Lazy way to go!
Here's hoping that I win the cherished teddie #8 so my daughter will get her traditional bear and Mom will save face this year! I will probably get all three and promptly forget where I hid them for year 9 and 10! Things we do for our kids!

Yeah for the Weekend!

It finally feels like Fall here! It is in the 50's, drizzle rain and the wind is blowing. K performed in a PTA program last night, she did a really good job. It was so cute, all these 2nd graders singing and dancing to these silly songs. K did one about the wild west, complete with rattlesnakes, cactus and wagons. Then, they did a version of the chicken dance. I couldn't help but think this is probably the last year they will be able to get the boys to freely participate, they are going to start saying it is "too girly" to dance before long. They all did a great job.
I guess I am an old stick in the mud but it drove me crazy the way people did not control their small children. Some of the parents let their children run around the cafeteria (where the PTA meeting and program were held) and up on stage, before and DURING the PTA meeting. These kids were making so much noise, we could not hear the speakers. They were walking up to the stage area and clowning for the audience. They repeatedly asked the children to clear the area and had to ask the parents 2X to come get their children so the 2nd graders could perform. Is it any wonder that schools have problems controlling kids when their own parents will not take responsibility for their kids? I had no problem with them running around before the program started but during it was a bit much.
They came out and did the estimate for the repairs of my house today and said they will start fixing it next week! Yeah!!! My parents are back home after being hurricane evacuees for about two weeks. You can just hear the relief in their voices now that they are back home. Today they were clearing out limbs and brush that had blown into their yard.
I bet it is a quiet blogging weekend with so many people at the Zoe Conference, hope they all have an uplifting time. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend, I certainly plan to have a great one!

Another Prayer Request

It seems like I am posting a lot of prayer request these days but then again, there is a lot of people who need prayers. This one if for my parent's preacher and his wife. His wife is undergoing radiation treatments in Houston, so they are staying with their daughter (who lives in Houston) She is having a hard time and talks of "not making it" and wants her husband with her at all times (very understandable) but he feels torn because he feels needs to be overseeing the repairs of his church (roof and water damage) and helping out his congregation members with their problems. Also their grandson is serving in Iraq and that worries them. So if my blogger friends could lift these folks up in prayer I would really appreciate it.

My parents and brother's family are all still stuck in Ark but hopefully will be going home by this weekend. My parents are older (late 60's and mid 70's) and this is taking a toll on them. They are trying to take care of everyone else and they could use someone to take care of them sometimes.

We are still in a state of disarray due to the water damage but hope to get started with the repairs as soon as the adjuster gets out here. We are thankful that the damage was not worse and that we are still able to live in our house, even if it inconvient right now. Anybody got any really good news to share? We could use some around here! Blessings to everyone!