Internet Service is Summatime at Best...

We are having issues with figuring out how to be consistently on the internet.  Right now we are depending on the campground internet, but it is some of the time at best.  Looking into satellite internet services looks confusing - does anyone have experience with them?  Our problem is we cannot have a hard line phone, so DSL is out of the question.  Any suggestions?  I might be able to keep up with my blog if we can figure it out.  We are getting desperate here - he needs to be online to WORK!

We spent the entire day at the Dr yesterday.  We had our annual physicals which take all darned do.  I cannot complain, they are VERY thorough.  We had blood work, eye check up, hearing test, stress tests and cardiovascular check up.  We both did great!  All of that but my side still hurts.  I did talk to the Dr yesterday and he is frustrated with the problems I have had with getting a good diagnosis.  He told me a few hints to get through it - and he does believe the pain is legitimate and needs to be identified.   He said that pain from the body is indication that SOMETHING is wrong.  THANKYOU!  I will be persistent.  However, I am still going to take the meds for the pancreatitis and ulcers and see if either make a difference - for  one week.  Then I move on.

Today, I came to Steph's to get online.  This is what I saw:

Miss happy camper was trying to do math - she did smile for me - but this was a funny picture.  All kids love doing schoolwork, right?  Gotta love kids!

Off to pick satsumas (oranges) in the cold.... didja hear?  Cold!  Whoot!

Today Was for the Birds :-)

Today I sat by the little lake and watched the critters - the birds to be specific.  I used to do that for hours on end years ago, but I had forgotten that I enjoyed it and how much it relaxed me.  Today I remembered why I treasured those moments; watching God's critters flitter about.  I vow to do this more often.  More about that later.

What is up with us?   We are doing good.  Living in the camper limits us somewhat, but it is not a bad thing.  I keep getting asked if we have heard anything yet; where we are going, what we are going to do, if we are going to buy a house, where we will live... and we have no answers yet.  I have asked Steve a few times if he has heard anything or if he knows why he hasn't heard anything, but he gets upset.  I realized today that it is just like people asking me; neither of us have any idea, but 'feel' like we need to have an answer for those questioning us and it is extremely frustrating to keep answering the question over and over when we really have no answer.  

Steve has this job in Pascagoula (Mississippi) that will keep him busy until the end of January-ish.  So we really don't need to worry about not having direction until after that job is done.  For now, we like where we are, being back in our little 'playground', near the girls and eating good ol' USA food. 

So, I promise everyone, as soon as we know anything we will share it.  Until then we live by faith, enjoy where we are in life and we are both ok with that.  Amazingly enough, neither of us are fretting over it for ourselves, but more to fill in the blanks for everyone that keeps asking.  We are together and that is what matters - the rest will come.

I went to a different Dr today and as I suspected, he doesn't think the chronic pancreatitis is the problem.  So, back to square one.  He thinks there are several possibilities though; one I do have mild gastroparesis - which means my stomach doesn't digest food fast enough.  He says it does cause pain and it could be that.  He gave me meds to see if that helps.  

I had forgotten I was diagnosed with that a year ago - he is the one that did the test actually.  It was a weird test; I ate and was put under a scanner and it watched my food digest... way too slowly.  Anyway, this Dr said that could be the problem, but my gastroperesis is not that bad.  Instead, he feels there is a very good chance for it to be adhesions - he said he has personally seen it many times; they can cause a lot of pain, do not show up on CAT scans often and the only way to find out if they don't is surgery.  He took blood today to see what my bloodwork shows and we will go from there.

So now you are updated.  My life now is painfully boring, so I don't have much to write about.... lol... so I will share some pictures of my lakeside visit and sign out...

This little shrike picked up a green anole and was eating it for supper.  If you look close, you can see the pour souls feet in the beak of the bird.  Debbie, maybe he ate Charlie  ;-)

 I know it is the vicious circle of life, but I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me...

In another vicious circle of life, I didn't feel so attached to those fish this little cormorant was catching - but he was sure watching me.  I didn't even consider having him for supper, but he thought I was thinking about it - he kept one eye on me while he was fishing:
 

I kept watching this treehouse, and finally just as dusk set, I saw a bird dive into it.  I didn't even have a chance to see what it was.  I will be watching it though:
 

We had lots of rain over the last few days which is why I didn't get to set outside until tonight.  I loved the reflection of the tree in the water.  Wish I could have gotten a tree with a bigger puddle, but there was mud all around the one I wanted.  This one still made me smile:
 

Fall is here and the colors are changing.  I saw a bird across the little lake and took a picture of where it landed.  Now, I know you cannot see it, but there is a cormorant with his wings outstretched on a limb here, but I really just wanted you to see the beginnings of the colors starting to show.
 

South Louisiana is strange.  We never get much 'color' in the trees, and they go from a little color to no leaves at all in a day or two.  No vivid color, just a tad - then gone.  Odd, not like the rest of the country.  I have no idea why.  I like the way the colors are smeared on the water.  There was just a little breeze so that is why it looks like that.

I have seen dozens of bald eagles since I have been home, but I am always in such awe watching them I forget to grab my camera.  One dive bombed me the other day - I hate to tell him, but I am much too big for a snack.  That little doggy next door though... well that is a different story!  I will try to remember to grab my camera.  The bald eagles are breathtaking!

And finally dusk...

My day is done again.  Boring days right now, but it will all pan out.  I will find my balance soon and until then I will enjoy taking more pictures.  Surprised?

Into the Embers of a Campfire's Glow

Into the embers of a campfire's glow

I sink into a depth that no one knows

Deep in the heat of a chilly night

I drop my cares into a beautiful sight

Into the embers of a campfire's glow

I take my thoughts where no one can go

All of the memories that brought me here

I wish for them to just disappear

Into the embers of a campfire's glow

 I toss them in and no one will know

In the embers I leave all the tears

All of my hurts and all of my fears

Into the embers of a campfire's glow

My mind can wander and finally let go

Ghosts of the past and present I leave

For it is in tomorrow that I now believe

Deep in the heat of a chilly night

I see a future promising and bright

 © Euvah

    11-14-2010

One of the many poems I have wrote.

One of the very few I have shared.

Vicious Cat Bite! Lol...

A kitten BIT me!  Not a teeny little owie either - it chowed down on my hand and I am sure at least 2 puncture wounds went all the way to my bone!  Well, maybe they ARE 9 teeny tiny owies, but they hurt like heck - and a couple did go to the bone - for real!  Grrrr... Today, I feel like a truck ran over me.  So, here is the story...

We had  just had a great supper at a little Italian restaurant in our town.  Nice ending to a great day - I thought.  We returned to my car which I had parked at a grocery store to find people around it.  When we got out they told us there was a cat under the hood.  Sure enough, "Meow" - there was indeed a cat.  For whatever reason, I have 20 flashlights in the camper, but not one in the car.  I ran into the store, bought a flashlight, and hubby located the little rascal in the front bumper area of the car - under the plastic.  He had to dismantle the bumper, remove the kitten and he handed it to me - thankfully, after it peed on HIM.  I take the nice little kitty, and it immediately starting chowing down on my hands - biting all the way to the bone repeatedly!  OUCH!  

I couldn't drop the teeny critter (hubby would not have been happy to have to remove the bumper again or better yet, drop the engine), and I couldn't get out of its death grip to grab it by the nape of the neck like I should have from the git-go.  It had me embedded in its teeth.  That darned cat (wasn't that the name of a movie?) held on to me for dear life, and there was no way to get it gone without it running back from whence it came.  Sooo, finally the people that had originally found it, grabbed a bucket and we stowed it in there, covered it and I looked down and what did I see?

Blood and chomp bites all over my fingers!  Lots of puncture wounds!  Ok, so it wasn't a picture I took, but I did find out my phone made videos and I didn't even know it!  Let's face it here, I wasn't exactly paying attention to what I hit when I took the picture - but it gives you an idea of what I saw...

I ended up, with much prodding, going into the ER.  I felt like a fool for doing so, and I am sure my dear hubby thought it was a wasted trip; wasting good hard earned money on cat bites we could hardly even find after I cleaned them up.  Yeah, he was THRILLED about going and I was apprehensive they would roll their eyes and toss me out onto the plank for wasting their time.  That Dr didn't even bat an eye though - he had an IV antibiotic in my arm in nothing flat!  He said waiting until tomorrow would have been too late, so I guess I am glad I went in.  I don't think he meant curtains for me, but that the infection would have spread and been harder to deal with.

Today I woke with my entire right side sore as all get out.  The arm is throbbing, finger and lymph nodes are swollen, and I generally feel like a truck ran over me on that side.  I only had 2 puncture wounds on that hand - and 7 on the hand that is barely sore!  To be honest, I also had a flu shot 2 days ago and an IV last night in the sore arm,so it is probably just rebelling.  I am sure I am fine.

Now here is the funny part.  Stray cat under my hood.  Nice people take stray cat to unknown home somewhere far, far away from my tender, bloody fingers to nurture it and let it grow up safely.  Did I remember to get their name and number?  Nope.  Did I even care?  Nope.  Do I know if stray kittens can have rabies?  Nope.  Do I have any way of finding out if that poor innocent baby had creepy crawlies?  Nope.  

All of this because some IDIOT dropped a poor innocent baby off in a grocery store parking lot to be 'found'.  It was terrified!  Don't even get me started on the idiots that would do such a thing!  It ran for its life forever (people in the store told me they had been trying to catch it all day) and was scared to death!  No wonder it bit me - it had been running from monster cars and trucks all day and crazy people trying to catch it.  Never mind there were 7 of us around the car hubby dismantled to get it out...  
 

Do I know if I will get rabies?  (Laughing here... tongue in cheek folks...)  No, I don't.

But I have antibiotics for weeks and memories to last forever. 

That darned cat!  (It was really just a tiny kitten with a BIG bite!)

I hope it grows up to be happy and healthy - and a licker now.

Thinking... Yes, I am Capable of Thinking Thankyouverymuch!

Have you ever felt like you were living in a time warp?  That is what I feel like now - I went from fast paced, always busy, life in the fast lane to a screeching halt.  Stand still.  Stopped.  Lol... nothing to even blog about... 

So, I resorted to going through some past pictures to share.  The picture above was taken at the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans.  Our son was lying on the window sill of the bubble glass watching the fish swim.  I saw the opportunity to take an awesome picture, and lo and behold, it is indeed one of my favorites of all time.  Looking at it makes me see exactly what I feel, watching life go by while we watch.  I know this is temporary, but it is still not comfortable.  I must find something to keep my busy.  Right now, I am going freaking nuts!

While searching through the pictures, I came across this one:

It always makes me smile.  This is my very short grandma, Dee, (who is now gone) with my very tall cousin Phil (who is long lost and living somewhere but not in touch with his cousin).  My Uncle Ed took the picture.  Grands and I were very close and Phil just makes you roll your eyes and smile.  So together, I feel warm and fuzzy when I see it.

Driving to our Uncle's place a few years back, we came across this car:

Only in Texas, right?  Actually, it was in Oklahoma - so was it a wanna be?  Almost a Longhorn?  Lol... gotta say, I did a double take.

And this says it is the World's First Riding Lawnmower... 

Do you think it really started like that?

I am enjoying the fall weather and the skies...

Even if the darned antenna got in the way... 

The leaves and blue skies take my breath away.  I don't think the skies got this blue in Singapore - did they?  I know the leaves didn't turn all kinds of amazing colors...

So I guess what I am trying to say is that I have nothing to say.  Give me a bit of recovery time - it will come.  Until then...

Can someone please tell me what to do??

My meds came in so I started taking them yesterday.  No change yet.  Steve went back to Pascagoula today (for a meeting) and will be home tonight.  3 hours one way to have a meeting then 3 hours back.  Ugh.

I am going to play in Houma.  Dee?  If you read this CALL ME!  I have tried calling, tried e-mailing and tried texting... are you trying to tell me something?!  Lol... my phone number has not changed.  Call the cell please.  You know you want to see me  ;-)

I am off to find something to do to keep me busy.  Wish me luck.  I will take the camera.  Maybe I will have something to blog about tomorrow.  Til then, stay safe, sleep well and play hard.

A Touch of Randomness

My feet are SCREAMING!  I actually heard one of them yelp when I brought a tennis shoe near it.  It nearly tripped me trying to get away from the shoe!  My poor feet do not know how to handle all this extra mess on them.  Shoes?  Socks?  Are you kidding??

After 2.5 years of this...

They are rebelling against the alternative. But.  They don't like being cold, so we are wrestling with the difference between freedom and warmth.  Warmth is winning, but I swear I hear them whining from within the shoes.  I am terribly afraid someone else is going to hear - how will I explain the muffled cries coming from my shoes??

I gotta tell you, they are loving these though!  The feetsies thank the person that made them profusely.  They can be warm AND free all at the same time.  Thank goodness for friends  :-)

Speaking of friends... girly?  You practicing?

You all need to keep on encouraging her to be brave and adventurous - she won't do it on her own!  Stay after her - and do it for me, please?

I heard from another friend, Sue.  Her hubby had to have stints after miserably failing a stress test.  She is going in to have a stress test soon, too. Please keep her in your prayers - and her hubby, Phil.  He just had the stints done. 

Megan?  I thought of you when I took this picture:

Can you figure out why?  No, silly not the jewelry (we know what a jewelry person you aren't)... so now... what is it?

Missing this site... it was a daily part of my life for the entire time I lived in Singapore:

Have you ever heard of the Jesus crucifix catfish bone?  When I was taking those gorgeous pictures of the sunrise the other day, I was thinking what a gorgeous gift the colors are from God.  Just as I thought how thankful I was to be able to embrace and enjoy it, I looked down and saw this:

Look closely and you can see the crucifix on it.  Cannot see it?  Look here.  Pretty darned amazing isn't it?  It was a great reminder of why I am able to view this beauty.  What a blessing!

Well, I have been busy trying to stuff 7 suitcases of 'stuff' into this little camper.  It isn't working, but I am getting close.  Steve is supposed to be home today, don't know what he has planned, but I am looking forward to him being a sardine in here with me.  I sure do miss him when he is gone. 

I met a new friend yesterday - she is a neighbor in the campground.  She is the third person I met since we came here.  We are going to go to THAT STORE in a bit - it will be nice to have a friend to go with.  We all know how much I like that store... lol...

The first two people we met are our next door neighbors.  They live here after the hubby had a stroke.  They had lived in Missouri and came down to visit their son.  While here, the dad had a stroke, was hospitalized, and then put in a nursing home.  She couldn't stand it, so she removed him and they have parked the camper here and are going through rehabilitation right here beside us.  I cannot imagine going through rehab from a stroke in a camper.  Will  you please keep Nancy and Bill in your prayers?

I realized I have not renewed our registrations on our vehicles.  One of the problems of being spread out all over the world is you never know where your mail is or what is overdue.  I am off to do that today and get my inspection sticker (yes, I noticed Peg, but I was gone in May  ;-), and I am sure I can find a few other things to do... like stomp the drug store?  Still have not gotten my meds from them yet.  Mix up at the Drs, mix up at the drug store, mix up at the supplier... beginning to think it is not meant to be for me to get well...

Tata for now.  Later gator.  Be back soon...

Sunrise in Louisiana

I couldn't sleep last night.  I have no idea why I cannot sleep these days, but sleep is beyond me.  When the clock struck 5am this morning, I was dressed and out the door with my camera.  I had no destination in mind, but ended up going to the lighthouse nearby and watching the sun come up and of course, catch it in my 'forever' lens:

It is right beside these two bridges:

Right here:

Right on the other side of this one:

And by this waterway:

No, we are not staying at the 'lake park', but nearby - someone asked that question.  However, I did go to the lake park to take pictures after leaving the light house this morning:

It is crazy how just a few minutes make such a difference in the lighting.  I was not there more than 15 minutes, but look how much the colors changed!
 

After my trek out to the lake this morning, I came back to our little corner of the world and saw this:

Mystic morning...  Again, just a few minutes and look what a difference!

Still haven't started the meds for the chronic pancreatitis, but supposedly will have it today.  The Dr forgot to put the strength and then the pharmacy didn't have the strength in stock.  I am supposedly supposed to start today - the pharmacy is going to call when they receive it.  Small town living - gotta love it!

I was going to sew while Steve was gone, but when we finally found my sewing machine in storage it was so far back we would have had to move a mountain to get to it.  Sooo, I cannot sew yet.  Steph said I could use pR's, but we haven't gotten that 'round tuit yet.  Guess it will come...

Oh well, I am off to Steph's house.  Gonna see what trouble we can get into before her hubby comes in from offshore.  Hope you have a great day - and girls on the flip side?  Rest well.  I sure do miss you.