Introspective

Well, it's been a full week now since I put my baby to bed and I'm not feeling as lost and I thought I would. I miss it, I miss my gal pals, but I also know that I've had more time for my family, I've done more playing, more cleaning, more scrapping, more "being there" than I have in a long long time. I've also been able to concentrate on getting some old difficulties handled and am on the way to not being worried about the outcome of some other problems. All in all, life is good.

Now for the good, bad and ugly.

The Good...
I've gotten word, finally, of the hearing date for my disability appeal. I've contacted an attorney and we're working towards getting my appeal represented properly to get approved for Disability/SSI income. The hearing date is Nov 5th but they are thinking we should wait and find out the results of today's doctor's appointment before posting a request for a change of date. Either way, I know this group will help and I'm looking forward to the hearing. I'm tired of robbing Peter to pay Paul since I'm not able to stand/sit/walk/function normally any more.

The Bad...
I have to go back on pain killers. I've been off them since April (my choice) and my rheumatologist has said that I MUST go back on something that will help me get mobile again. She is trying so hard to get me into a situation where I can help myself too and nothing can happen until I can move without being in excruciating pain. So, tomorrow I see the pain management specialist to help with this issue.

The Ugly...
I'm meeting with my "lady doctor" as my parents called it, to discuss the idea that if I"m going to be rid of one of my medical issues, I'm going to have to have a hysterectomy. One of my biggest problems caused by my being female apparently is chronic anemia. I've been anemic most of my life (since my jr year in high school) and it's gotten worse. My blood count is 8.3 (supposed to be higher than 10) and my "visitor" is getting worse and worse, so now they are saying I should just alleviate this issue all the way around. I'm actually hopeful that this will happen. I am way too old to have the issues I do. I've already had problems with cervical cancer and need to get this whole thing alleviated now. So wish me luck with the ugly. While I certainly am not wishing unnecessary surgery, with mom having passed away from ovarian cancer, I don't want to take unnecessary risks either. (Interesting fact: The longer you're on Birth Control Pills, the lower your risk of ovarian cancer... apparently the longer you ovulate and the more you ovulate, the higher your risk. I've been off b/c since 1995. So, since I was a smoker and increasing my risks of one kind of cancer while taking pills, coming off them and subsequently stopping smoking, I've increased my risk of cancer. Sheesh... you're darned if you do and darned if you don't...

So, nothing philosophical today and not waxing poetic at all. Just a personal update.

Perhaps later when I have more news. I'll let you know1

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a few layouts I've done recently for the Divaliscious Top Scrapper challenge. We'll be getting a new challenge this weekend I think so I'm looking forward to continuing this.


This one was made for a challenge to scrap a 2 PAGE LAYOUT with a minimun of 3 PHOTOS. The theme must be about your inner strength and you must JOURNAL on the spread.
My journaling reads:

In my life, I've been through the very good with all the right highs. I've also been through the very bad, with all the lowest of the lows. The only constant throughout everything was the knowledge that God would never leave me, never give me more than I can handle. More than that, I have always known that as long as I kept the faith, God would carry me through the fire and deliver me safely to the other side.

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
Psalms 27:1

This next one was another BOM type entry about who we are based on an inspiration piece. The inspiration is on the top and mine is on the bottom (duh - right? LOL)




I think you can figure out the journaling aspects of this one.


This last one was our initial challenge piece: - just to create a layout about anything we wanted to create it about... just to create...

This is called "Create Yourself" and I used it as a double whammy - it was also in the final issue of The View from Untamed. This is Taylor and Dalton the day we took Taylor to Longwood for his first day at college.