Yea!!!

I checked  my blog today and there was my first comment on a post.  Thank you, thank you Pat.  I'm pretty sure I have  decided one the peanut clusters.  It seems to be the only thing I can afford. 
Today was supposed to be shopping day but my regular aid is still sick and won't be back until Monday.  There is almost nothing in the house to eat except canned tomatoes, frozen veggies and frozen pizza which I will be having for dinner. My aid was supposed to go shopping for me today but I guess a person can't plan when the get sick.  The lady that filled in today was supposed to shop tomorrow but she got a phone call to come pick up her daughter because she is sick. So I get to train a new girl tomorrow too more than likely, so she will not have time to cook and go to the store.  This whole thing is really putting me in a real bind.

Homemade Christmas gifts

I'm still wanting and waiting for very inexpensive gift ideas to give to friends, one person suggested just give them Christmas cards.  I have a Hallmark program on my computer that came with my printer if I could  just figure out how to use it.


Please add your comments here.

My new Dr.

WOW I appreciate my new Dr.He came out again today to give me my script for morphine and upped my dosage of the oxycotton.  Hopefully I will get some kind of relief!  I have been miserable for about a week now.  My Fibro has been horrible, mind numbing  go out of my skin type of pain.

.My Blog

I feel like I am only talking to myself so it seems more like a journal than a blog.  I was really hoping to meet some new people but it isn't happening.


What is your favorite Christmas cookie?  Mine is Italian wedding cookies I think we called them snowball cookies when I was young.  I think I could eat a whole pan full all by myself.  They are the round ones with a strong butter flavor, nuts and then rolled in powdered sugar.  YUM!


What are some of your favorite Christmas memories?  I remember my brother and I pulling peppermint taffy.  That was a lot harder than  it looks, but it  was always fun .  I couldn't wait for a big snowfall so we could make snow cream.  It was kind of like ice cream but so much fun to collect the clean fresh snow and getting to eat a yummy dessert just a few minutes later.  My mom and I also always made spritz cookies and sugar cookies. Mom always made divinity, I think that is almost a thing of the past.  Of course decorating the tree probably topped the list.  My best memories were about doing things as a family or with my mom not about shopping or what I got for Christmas.


HO HO HO Merry Christmas until we meet again.

New Dr

The new Dr was an hour late but I didn't mind , it was much better waiting an hour in bed than an hour in a waiting room with sick people all around me.  He did more of an exam on me than than my other Dr. did the whole time I saw him.  He asked me if I had any hernias and I told him I don't know but I do know that I have this one spot that hurts when touched and really bad at other times usually right after I eat.  He came over to me and touched it and said it could either be my galbladder or pancreas and he wants to keep a close eye on it.  My other Dr. really never even touched me to see f it was a hernia or anything.  He didn't charge me for this visit and is coming back Monday even though he knows my insurance won't kick in until Dec. 1st so that won't be a paid visit either.  He can treat all the normal things like fever, flu, ear infections and sprains.  He can even put stitches in if necessary.  He will see you at home at a hotel at work where ever you are he will come to you.  He is much lower cost for people that don't have ins. $85 for the visit and of course lab test are extra he even says they do xrays but I imagine I would have to go on  site for that.  I suppose I could go where ever I want that is closer to my house but I'm not sure.  My nurse wants to start seeing him for her whole family because she doesn't have insurance and he is so much cheaper and a lot more convient than taking her kids 30 miles away to children's hospital.  She is also my sons host home mom.  We really love the Dr. he has but I think she is going to want to change just for the convience.  


It is a beautiful 49° here in beautiful Broomfield, Co I sure wish I could sit out in a chair without pain.  A town near by is having a 3 day winter fest with hundreds of  trees and even fire works one night I wish I could find someone to drive me to look at the lights,  I love another area that the whole subdivision decorates except for a very few that may not for religious reasons.  It looks like a complete fairly tale wonderland.  It is the prettiest thing I have ever seen in my 59 years of life so it much be pretty good cause I've seen a lot of things in my life. LOL  I still haven't thought of a thing I would like to send to my boys in AK if I do end up getting money.  I hope everyone is not stressing out as much as I am about Christmas,  I wish I could just go shopping and get a few things for all the people I love and care about and really enjoy to spirit of  Christmas.  I have a tiny tree for my bedroom and a bigger tree out in my shed but I can't find anywhere to put it up.  I also have a beautiful collection of a lighted Chrismas village that belonged to my mother.  I would LOVE to set it up but there is nowhere to put that either!  My mobile home is just too small :-(  .  I am broken hearted that when I moved someone wither donated, threw out or helped themselves to an old beat up amunition box that was filled with my mothers tree ornaments  some of them were extra special to me because they were bought the year I was born.  I even had a couple that belonged to my mom's mother that died when my mom was 8 years old, but I will always have my memories.  I just wish I had taken pictures of ornament that was special to me.  Some were bought and engraved with the name and year on it ea year I had a child.  I could sure use some ideas of something I could give to all my dear special friends that will cost me very little.  I'm thinking Russian tea mix in a baggie.  I used to give it with a holiday mug from the $ store for ea member of the family but I can't even afford to do that this year.  It is really hard to loose a little over  $1000 a mo and still get by.


Hope everyone is having a beautiful day.  It is a perfect day for holiday decorating outside here.  I don't have outside lights or anyone to put them up for me.  (but I still have my dreams and memories)


Love Darlene

Another day with possibilities

I am going to have to start going around singing "nobody loves me everybody hate me I'm gonna eat some worms."  It seems No One is reading my blog.  My friend wanted me to start writing a book about my life but I can't even get people to read a blog or make comments.


I hope no one was too miserable after eating all that good food yesterday.  My aid was such a sweetheart bringing me a plate, it had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and Spanish rice.  Her family is from Mexico so things were a little different than this white girl had ever had.  I never had chili powder and a jalapeño pepper in my stuffing before.  She also put squash in it.  It was good but took me a few minutes to get used to it.  She handed me a bowl and said this is dessert and it was candied yams.  I told her my mom always served them as another side dish with the dressing and potatoes and we had pumpkin pie for dessert.  Her sister was bringing a cheesecake but hadn't gotten home from work yet.  I felt like a very honored guest getting served first, and they were waiting dinner on her.  Actually I felt a little guilty.  I am so thankful to have people that REALLY care about me.  More than just for the money.  It really feels good to be loved.


I had gotten my hopes up that I had found a non medical transportation once a week so I could go see my son through his day program but that fell through.


I can't believe what I just found.  A Dr. that does house calls!  Not only that but he is coming  here just to meet me and see if I am still interested in his services.  It's perfect timing, if I call it in before the end of the month my insurance will cover it the 1st of Dec. so I am really excited.  My morning aids daughter is a paraplegic and she just started seeing this Dr. and they love him to death!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

I wish everyone a very happy day full of good food, family and friends.  Please don't forget to give thanks for every thing you have no matter how much or little there is always someone worse off than you that may not have any food or shelter at all today.  Love one another more than you love yourselves.  I may not be having dinner with my family and I my be eating flat on my back but my aid tonight cares enough about me to bring me dinner.  She is such a sweetheart.  I am thankful that I have food and friends that care about me and that we had a roof over our head and heat in the house it was 7° last night.  I pray non of the elderly, sick or homeless people died from the cold.  I live in a small mobile home but it is mine and it is warm.  Thank you Lord for all the blessings you give me.

OMGosh hmm hmm good

I had my aid put a ham in the pressure cooker with 1 c water, some honey and some brown sugar ( sorry no recipe  so I don't know how much of ea she put in)  for 30 min just to infuse the flavors. For some reason part of it was really dry almost like it was freezer burned but I wasn't going to waste a $10 ham so we left it for several more hours on warm (like low on a slow cooker)  Boy was that the right thing to do! That ham soaked in all that fantastic flavor and was nice and moist. My blood sugar went up a little higher but since all I ate was meat it wasn't too bad.  Sorry Honey Baked Ham Store you've got some serious competition here.  Not that I could ever afford one of theirs anyway, but now I don't feel so deprived.  :-)  The only reason I even know what they taste like is my brother sent one to my mom for Christmas about 12-15 years ago.  The only thing I would have liked better is if it had been spiral sliced.  I do miss going in and just grabbing a few slices to nibble on.  I wonder if the butcher at the grocery store now days could slice it while you wait like they do roast into 1" steaks for me when I can get a good sized roast for $2.88lb.  I get one once or twice a year.  I really wish I could afford to stock up when things go on sale but I am lucky to just be able to treat myself to something every now and then.  It is really hard for me to keep my food budget down because it seems like the only thing that doesn't make my stomach hurt really bad is meat.  Unfortunately I don't really like chicken very much except wings. I make myself eat it but I can't really say I like it that much.  I like BBQ sandwiches but I'm not supposed to have the bread.  I also like a good grilled chicken sandwiches with lettuce and tomato but again there's that ugly bread issue.  Fish here in the Denver area seems too be too expensive.  The only things I have found that don't really  make my stomach hurt are ham, steaks, ribs, and tacos and chicken wings and Kung Pao Shrimp.  I wish I could find a good sale on shrimp.. I can't tolerate a lot of veggies either, I do make veggie soup quite often with beef broth and one pkg of soup veggies but I mostly eat the broth. I used to be able to tolerate big pots of bean soup.  I really like it but now beans don't agree with me either.  The Dr. doesn't seem to know what is going on with my stomach.  Like I mentioned before in an older post (i think) I have to be re scoped next monrh, just had it done last month but they didn't like something they saw and want to keep an eye on it. I can't have much sugar or milk products either and not many potatoes.  I have lost 46 lbs since April by severely restricting my flour and sugar and potatoes.  I need a bunch of surgeries if you read my back posts that will catch you up.  The more weight I loose the easier my recovery will be.
I hope everyone has a great day filled with many blessing and be sure to take time to thank God for everything you do have.  I know sometimes it's hard when we are used to having so much more in this day and age.

Money woes

Why wasn't I born rich instead of beautiful?  LOL  actually ROFL  so hard I think I could pee my pants if I'm not careful :-0  !!  I would LOVE to get Todd an eMachines lap top computer that Wal Mart has on sale Black Friday for under $200.  He gave me his lap top when I was having trouble with mine since I am bed ridden and then it went out on him completely about a month later .  Of course he wouldn't have any part of me giving his back to him, he has done without one for close to 2 years now.  I wouldn't even mind a used one. Todd's b/d is also  the day after Christmas and today he just told me he wants to save up his money to buy a $30 Singer sewing machine at Walgreens.  He has been wanting to sew some patches off his old jean jacket onto his new one.  He has mild CP and doesn't have enough strength in his hands to sew them on by hand.  Bless his heart he said that it was too expensive for me to buy for him.  He is such a good son.  He has stayed with me all these years to help take care of his brother that has severe autism and is non verbal and went through about the last 10-12 years of his life being extremely self abusive and occasionally abusive to others.  Todd gave up his whole life to help with him and now that he is in a host home Todd won't leave me.  He feels he needs to be here to help take care of me.  He brings me water, of course helps with any computer or audio video stuff, and brings me my bedtime snack and refills my water so I can take my night time medication, and even makes sure I have an extra bottle of water for the night in case I run  out.  I am on a C pap machine with a full mask and some nights I drink a full bottle of water because it dries me out so badly.  I am so thankful for him and all I have in my life, there is just the family traditions that I miss so desperately. The companionship that comes with a family.
Somehow I am missing a whole paragrah of what I would like to give to my son in the host home.  He needs a heavey duty set of headphones to block out noise and they have a radio in them.  They cost about $70 but I just don't have the money .  All my money goes for bills food and medication and maybe one delivery or bring home some Chinese if I have a late Dr apt and can't have an aid come in to help me get my dinner.  And I have to admit once in a great while I just do it because I feel sorry for myself and it makes me feel sooooo much better and a girl still has to eat.
I pray this finds your families in good health and with all the blessings of your heart.  Remember to be kind to everyone, you never know what trials they are going through in their lives.  Always show your family love you never know when they will be gone.
Till later XOXO Happy Thanksgiving!

My Spine Dr apt

After 7mo I finally got in to see the Spine Dr.  He said the reason I have been in so much pain is the the surgery I had done 4 1/2 yrs ago was done wrong. That why I've been i a wheelchair since about 3 weeks after my surgery.  When they put the rod in they didn't stabilize it and it is out of place and it will be more than a 9 hr surgery to take it out and put a new one in and do it  right. then he wants to look at another disc in my lower back, plus I still have the spinal stinosis & still need a rod put in my neck.   He said he wants me to take a couple of  months to get my heart and lungs stronger.  I have my apt to to follow up  on Jan 21,2011 to look at my Ct scan disc from the other hospital and then decide what he is going to do I had gone to the old Dr. 3 weeks after surgery and told him I thought something was wrong, he didn't do another CT scan and that is where it showed up when I did finally get one done 4 1/2 yrs later.

I was having a great week

I was having a really good time this week.  I had some dental work done for free, picked up some dinner from my favorite Chinese restaurant afterwards,  I had to wait several hours before I could eat it but I LOVE Kung Pao Shrimp! LOL  Yesterday my neighbor brought me some salsa from one of her favorite restaurants so I really enjoyed that and then she went to Arby's and brought me back a roast beef sandwich and seasoned curly fries.  


Then today came along and the lady that was supposed to bring Duane over never called all week even after I left her a message. When I tried to call her today her phone was disconnected.


I have a love hate feeling for the holidays.  I LOVE having friends and family over for an open house all day Christmas day after the main meal and opening all the presents are opened and there seems to be the let down so  it is nice to see people and the kids telling what they did for Christmas.  The problem is I have no more family to come over for the big dinner and no friends to come over to visit me in my bed.  My son that still gets excited about presents lives in a host home and it is doubtful that they would ever bring him over.  I'm sure the respite care worker will be too busy if I ever hear from her again.  My B/F gives me some money but it is too late to go spend it on my friends and family.  I HATE being alone on Christmas and Thanksgiving and I HATE not having money to buy presents for everyone I care about.  Sometimes I actually have chest pains and wonder if I am going to die of a broken heart.

Sorry

Sorry I haven't been around much.  I have been working really hard trying to get my affiliate business going.  I won't know if I am making any money until after Nov. 15th and the 1ST CHECK WILL ONLY BE FOR 2 WEEKS AND THE  (OOPS SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS) the places I place ads for have 30 days to turn it in to the people that pay me.  Then they said something about 45 days to get the pay check,  All I know I made on the first ck was $2.01 LOL  hopefully I will have a little more than that but I was doing everything wrong at first so I may not really know until the next ck when ever that will be.  I am getting about 100 clicks per day somebody should be signing up for something, surveys, or buying things  check out all my ads at darlenesads.blogspot.com  If this doesn't work all I have lost is $40 and a lot of my spare time laying here in bed.  Sure that would be really sad because I have put my heart into trying to learn how to blog and tweet and get this thing  going.  I'm not giving up but I have to admit it is really hard to keep spending hours working when you don't know if your making ANY money.  Time will tell.  Maybe God is trying to teach me a lesson on patience.  I'm not sure why because I think I am one of the most patient people in the world.  You have to be when you have a non verbal autistic son with many other special needs and medications and side affects.  His host home mom took him off 2 of the meds he was taking and diet pop , and he is doing a lot better.  She is a nurse and looked up the side affects of Duane's meds and found out that 2 of them and the diet pop could be giving him stomach pain and headaches so she got the Drs. OK to ween him off of them.  I had been telling the Drs. for YEARS that I though either his head or stomach was hurting him.  His old Drs. said it would be impossible for him to have headaches EVERYDAY.  I guess it WOULD BE POSSIBLE if they kept giving them to him.  I'm waiting to hear about a class action law suit that says one of his meds caused his seizure disorder.
Speaking of Duane he is doing really well since his surgery.  I don't know when I am going to get to see him again,  I am still grieving over having to let him move out.  I miss him soo much.  I start crying every time I think about him.
I am still having a lot of pain in my stomach which the Drs. can't figure out what is causing it.  I had an endoscopy done about 2 weeks ago but I guess the biopsy turned out normal because they never called me with results but I am going to call them Monday if I can stay awake long enough.  They did say my stomach is still red and inflamed even though I take 20 mg of Nexium morning and night.  I was in so much pain this morning after eating a small amt of chili that it doubled me over. The chili was not spicy and I had it the last 2 days and it didn't bother me at all.  I had a bean burrito with mild gr chili and salsa and it didn't bother me at all.  Last night I had roast beef and it really hurt my stomach so I am going to try taking that stomach med again but I didn't think it worked the last time I tried it.  The Dr. told me I can take it as needed.  I can go a week and not have any trouble and them BAM out of nowhere!  This is the same pain I was having a month or so ago and spent 2 days in the hospital having all kinds of tests and nothing showed up.  This pain is not in my mind darn it!  To top everything else the wet weather yesterday made my FM flare up and I ached so bad I was going out of my mind.  I thought for sure I was going to have a panic attack but i got lucky and got the pain under control just in time.  Pain and lack of medicine causes my systems of a panic attack or withdrawl.  My FM is still giving me upper back pain today after all my meds.  I took them about 10:30 so I guess it may be wearing off.  I want to wait closer to dinner time so I don't have such horrible pains when I eat dinner about 7PM.  I am snacking on red grapes they have been sooo good the last few weeks.  I wish I had gotten more cantaloupe when it was cheaper.  
That's about all for today but that should pretty much catch you up.  Thank God for Todd he helps me so much.  He helps train all the substitute or new aids that come in to help.  He knows how to work my appliances better than I do.  He pretty much knows where all my groceries are and that helps a lot since that is the main thing my morning girls do.  They fix me a lunch, dinner to be eaten later and a sandwich on Oat nut bread to eat with my bedtime meds.  I usually only eat half the sandwich with a whole tomato.  I also snack on a another tomato between dinner and bedtime.-
 I hope this finds everyone safe and healthy and happy.
Love
 Darlene

Duane's surgery

Duane did well during the surgery but it was a lot longer than expected.  (4 hrs instead of 1-2)  There was lot of calcification since his nose had been broken so long ago.  I think he has broken it more than once.  I asked the Drs. about it before but he said it probably wouldn't do any good because we wouldn't be able to keep him from hitting it while healing, Or just breaking it again another time.  The Dr. today said  we should know in about 2 weeks (when all the swelling goes down?) if it helps him breathe right which is almost a positive, but we should also be able to see if he quits saying his left ear hurts.

I had a blessing last night and my horrible toothache got better almost instantly and I got a clam peaceful feeling about not going to be with Duane at the hospital.  I would have been in tears I would have been in so much pain being up for 6 hours or more.  I would have had Charlie Horses in my legs one after another.  I hope that goes away after my surgery, when ever that will be.Darlene in Co

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visit with Duane

Sunday I had a wonderful but short visit with Duane for about an hour.  He was slapping his ears and was talking on his computer before he came over saying that his ears were hurting.  Even though he was in pain he was so glad to see us and Todd had him laughing so much.  It was nice to see him in such a great mood.


He is scheduled to go in for surgery at 6AM about 30-40 miles from here Tuesday AM.  They have to go in and re break his nose and fix his deviated septum (SP)  anyway fix it so he can breathe out of the left side of his nose again.  He keeps breaking it hitting himself in the nose when he is is pain.  It is critical that he doesn't hit his nose again for 6 weeks so he is going to have to wear a helmet with a full plastic front on it with a cut out right at the nose but it says it will protect the nose.  I don't see how!  He can't eat with it on so he will have arm boards on to keep him from bending his elbows to hit his nose.  I don't think he is going to be happy for the next six weeks.  It just breaks my heart that he is going to have to go through this.  He loves to eat and drink a lot of water and I just can't see people taking the time to change from the helmet to the arm bands just to give him a drink. I don't think he will be getting a drink every time he wants one and that is upsetting to me because I have meds that make me have cotton mouth and the way he drinks so much I wonder if he has the same issue.  I think this is going to really mess up his Halloween.  Hopefully he will be ok  for Thanksgiving and can eat all he wants without a mask and helmet but I have a feeling that may not be quite 6 weeks at that time.  I haven't counted it out on a calendar yet.  I just found out about this a couple of days ago.  The next day I had an endoscopy and 2 biopsy's in my stomach so I haven't been quite up to par.  I've having some stomach cramping and so I've been sleeping quite a bit to escape the pain.

I'm dumbfounded or just dumb

I have no idea why that last post came through so bad.  It started it and then started it over and then finished the first one.  I only posted it once as far as I know.  Maybe my pain pills were affecting me more than I thought LOL.  Actually I hadn't even had any extra pills so I can't even blame it on that.  Oh well no one is perfect and I'm a perfect example of that! :-)  The really weird part about it is I ck the preview and read it before I hit publish.  I wish there was a way to delete my post. I have soooo much to learn. LOL

My aid visit today

Not too much going on so I am cross posting Sorry

My aid made canned chili and I told her to put it in the dig

My aid made canned chili and I told her to put it in the digital pressure cooker/crockpot she put it in there and filled the pot to the max full line with water.  I just assumed she would KNOW that it was already cooked it just needed to stay warm for my dinner tonight.  I had her dump out all the water out and add a can of tomato sauce, chili powder and cumin, if it is still too runny I will have my night time aid add a can of tomato soup and more spices and see if that helps.  I'm sure it will turn out eventually LOL  I forget that people don't know how to use all of my appliances. I am a totally addicted to kitchen appliances. One aid totally unloaded my stove which is filled to use as storage.  I have cooked everything in a toaster oven for maybe 10 yrs now at least that long.  I MAY have used my beautiful new oven (in the one house I had) 4-5 times to make cookies.  It all started when my oven went out 10 yr/s ago.  The first oven didn't really go out the electronic ignition went out and the stove was so old we couldn't find the part to fix it, it was just too hard for me to bend down to light it with a match so I quit using it. I had a microwave with a convection oven in it and that was all I needed.  I usually just cooked one pot meals on the stove or heated up casseroles in the convection oven now I just use a toaster oven, my stovetop or my digital pressure cooker.  My aids are usually only cooking for me so we usually have extra for the freezer.ital pressure cooker/crockpot she put it in there and filled the pot to the max full line with water.  I just assumed she would KNOW that it was already cooked it just needed to stay warm for my dinner tonight.  I had her dump out all the water out and add a can of tomato sauce, chili powder and cumin, if it is still too runny I will have my night time aid add a can of tomato soup and more spices and see if that helps.  I'm sure it will turn out eventually LOL  I forget that people don't know how to use all of my appliances. I am a totally addicted to kitchen appliances. One aid totally unloaded my stove which is filled to use as storage.  I have cooked everything in a toaster oven for maybe 10 yrs now at least that long.  I MAY have used my beautiful new oven (in the one house I had) 4-5 times to make cookies.  It all started when my oven went out 10 yr/s ago.  The first oven didn't really go out the electronic ignition went out and the stove was so old we couldn't find the part to fix it, it was just too hard for me to bend down to light it with a match so I quit using it. I had a microwave with a convection oven in it and that was all I needed.  I usually just cooked one pot meals on the stove or heated up casseroles in the convection oven now I just use a toaster oven, my stovetop or my digital pressure cooker.  My aids are usually only cooking for me so we usually have extra for the freezer.

a great few days

Wow it has been a wild time lately. Sat. I called my brother who just got into town from California and he was up in the mountains gambling.  It is an old gold rush town and a lot of the casinos kept it that way then somehow the big ones got in and built big fancy ones but a lot of the town is still quaint for people who have never been there (mainly his wife).  It was good for his memory too because he had a stroke recently and it has erased a lot of it.  So he should claim his trip as a medical write off right?  LOL  
As soon as I got off the phone with my Bro my niece called and said she was on her way down to see me. She lives in another town in the mountains just a few miles away from where my bro was.  I haven't seen her in about 3 1/2 years and she hasn't seen my bro since 1970.  Anyway Joye and her husband came down and they took me to Panda Buffet (one of my favorite places).  I slept almost all day Sunday just because it is so exhausting on me.
Yesterday my brother, his wife and his son came to see me and brought Jack in the box, then we looked through a lot of old family pictures.  They stayed about 4 1/2 hrs.   We took some pics outside as they we leaving (of course my battery was dead so I didn't get any of my own.) but they promised to send them to me via email.  My brother bought a Droid phone the day before they left so he was having a lot of fun trying to figure it out.  It was a sweet and sad reunion, as I thought it would probably be the last time I'd ever see him since neither one of us is in that great of health.  I had a nice surprise just before they left they told me the son is getting married in April so they are planning on coming back then (the good Lord willing). I hadn't seen him in 10 years so that will really be nice.  I hope my back will be good enough that I can go and actually enjoy the wedding.
 Today I am trying to work some but just being kind of lazy.  I am dying from the heat and I couldn't figure out why.  Todd never turned the cooler on after I asked him to..  We don't use it until I just get all stuffy and hot and feel like I can't breathe then we turn it back off as soon as the sun sets.

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WOW the real deal

Imagine a site that really does pay real money for taking surveys, not just a sweepstakes for a chance to win something (I hate those sites).  I  did this yesterday and it took me about 5 min or less to fill out a few questions so they  know which surveys best fit you. Ck it out and make a few bucks while your at it.  Just copy and paste this addy in you browser to get you started .
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Thanks.  Be sure to ck back often for 
new deals.  You can also follow me on my other blog for my almost daily posts on home health care and my special needs @ wheresallthegoodhelp.blogspot.com

Todays lunch/dinner and dinner/supper

My aid this morning make some really good breakfast burritos for the freezer I had one with leftover gr. chili I have enough gr. chili for one more and several burritos in the freezer.  Tonight I am going to have a simple supper of kind of a egg drop soup without the eggs.  If I am still hungry I will have a fried chicken patty sandwich.

Getting paid for reading emails

I think I am going to try this today.  I don't have much else to do.   Ck it out at http://www.aphlogin.com/aff_c?aff_id=77446&offer_id=15709

re:Duane

Imagine for a moment me being about 6 y/o and singing "Duane's got a girlfriend".  For those of you that don't know Duane, he is 22, non verbal, about 3 mentally (or maybe more if he's got a GF LOL) he also has Autism.  He just started a new day program and he also just got new glasses.  He sits next to a little girl that also has glasses and if she takes hers off he takes his off, if she hits the table he hits the table.  If his host home mom tells him to put his glasses back on he will put them on but sometimes they are one the side of his head.  He is so funny an so darn cute!  I wish you could all meet him.  He is such an  blessing to anyone that meets him.  Of course my opinion isn't biased at all! ;-).

Asian beef kabobs

I had some Asian beef kabobs in the freezer that I got from the food bank so I had my homemaking aid cook that up for my dinner but the meat was so tough I couldn't even bite into it.  I think she may have over cooked it because SHE likes her meat very well done.  She told me the meat was really tender and I asked her if she had tasted it and she said no.  How would she know if it was tender or not?  Anyway I had her take them off the sticks and put the meat in one c of water in the digital PC for  15 min. and it automatically goes to warm for the rest of the day.  The meat was still tough and dry with no flavor, but at least it was edible now so we added some cauliflower & broccoli mix, some baby carrots and  terryaki sauce and called it done.  Actually other than over cooked dry beef  it was pretty good served it over rice. It was not as good as my favorite Chinese restaurant but who can afford eating out all the time?  I could eat Chinese or Mexican food almost every day!   What was you frugal meal today?

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I'm sorry the link isn't going to the right place

When I tried to go there it took me to something about a webber grill.  Sorry for the confusion I am still learning how all of this works.  It seems like I am calling customer support everyday!

free sub sandwiches for a year

Wow would this make my son happy!  He LOVES sub sandwiches. Ck it out at http://www.aphlogin.com/aff_c?aff_id=77446&offer_id=35896

Another PCP stoled from me.

I am so upset! My PCP this weekend was a substitute and she stoled some equipment from me that I need to return to Comcast. I wonder how much that will cost me.  .Of course I turned it into the company,but I wonder if I should also contact the police. It is more the fact that people think just because I am bed ridden I don't know what goes on in my home.  I'm physically disabled not menntally, at least not that bad LOL
The boss of the PCP company just called and she said she didn;t even touch the boxes but Todd had seen them on the couch that morning before she got here.  When Todd walked in he hit her with the door because she was behind it and he saw the stuff out of the box sitting on the lid of the box and she said it was the only place she could get her cell phone to work.  After that she took the other two boxes off the couch and stoled the contents of a second box and put the one box with the stuff still on it on top of the other two empty boxes.  She said she didn't touch any of the boxes.  Todd saw it so there is no doubt who did it this time.  I feel bad that she is a single mom but I just can't let her get by with it.  How many other clients is she stealing from?  They may NOT be as mentally as alert or have a Todd to help watch for things.  If it weren't for Todd I wouldn't have know, but he is so alert he would have even noticed if the boxes had been moved even an inch.  That is part of his Aspergers Syndrome he just notices every little thing.  Sometimes it is really anoying and sometimes it helps a lot! I think I'll keep him.  :-)

update on visit with Duane

Duane did much better the rest of the day.  I could hear him laughing out in the kitchen with Todd.  He kept coming in to see me or at least to watch my ceiling fan, but at least I got to talk to him. :-)  I even got him to laugh a couple of times when I told him I could hear him laughing and having fun with Todd.  He sure does love his brother.  He even laid down next to me and let me scratch his head.  He loves to be scratched on his back, arms, legs, or head, but that is the only thing I could do without hurting me too much.  Actually he likes more of just a really light touch on his arms and legs.  It ended up being a great day.  Steve even said Duane was really good the rest of the day and if I want to do it again in about 3 weeks he MIGHT be up for it.  Steve doesn't like to commit to anything.  Even when he is saying yes he says there is about a 95%  of him doing it even if it is the night before.  Sometimes that is really maddening because it really leaves me hung up o holidays if he decides to go to see his family in another city.  Then he is out having fun and I am alone.  He just doesn't get that holidays are really important to me and that I have no one else in my life to spend time with.  Todd doesn't celebrate them at all.

Wal Mart woes

I got a call this morning from Wal Mart to come pick up my new lenses for my glasses.  The trouble is they lost my frames. I hope they find them they were only 1 year old.

I got to see my son today

We went and picked up my son from his host home and we are to have him for 4 hours.  We took him out for lunch but had to end up bringing his food home. He kept banging his head on the wall and screaming out.  I don't know if there was some kind of noise he tuned into that we didn't notice or what but he kept hitting his nose and and his hand on the table and wall.  He even hit me about 6 times and then my friend came and moved him away from me.  My friend is so sweet he has been so protective of me the last 3 years since I had my last back surgery and ended up in the wheelchair.  Duane (my son) is better now that we got home.  He even laughed a few times when his brother tickled him. He is non verbal so he acts out when he is hurting.  Thank God they had given him a Vicodin BEFORE we picked him up.  I think it finally starting to kick in. Right now we are still on pins and needles to see if he is going to get better..  He is trying to be happy , he makes some happy noises and then he cries out and hits himself or bangs his head on the wall and he keeps hyperventilating and almost passes out.  Well mystery solved Duane has some really bad gas so he is probably having gas pains.  Steve thought for sure he had done something in his pants but it was just gas but Steve brought him in to me to check him. :-)   As far as I know he takes himself to the bathroom every time he has to go potty,  he just has to be supervised and wiped if needed.  He is doing VERY WELL with potty training.  I'm so proud of him. :-)

More about my studying

I forgot to mention when I was through studying I tried to call customer service to see what to do next I found out they are closed for the weekend. grrr  If I can stay awake I guess I'll go to the next product on my list and start looking for a demographic group that would like "Blog Success: The $9000 a mo Blogging system".  That sounds interesting for to me.

Busy studying

First of all I have to take time to thank God for letting me stay awake long enough to study and Blog.  Yesterday I slept all day long.  I hope I'm not fighting the shingles again because my nerve pain has been really bad again and all I want to do is sleep even with less medicine.  Today I have been doing my homework and going through all the companies that I want advertise for.  I also went through twitter and joined several people to follow.  I am looking for people that dress modest and not tacky!  I think I am following 25 people now but I have no idea how many I need to follow to get my following up to at least 300 people before I contact the companies to start advertising for them.  All of the people I picked today will be potential customers for the Bra Clip.  I still have to look for other demographic groups for the other products I have selected.  Keep checking back to see the different groups of people I choose and if you can figure out how to leave feedback I could use help wording my search in twitter for the demographics for ea item.Thanks talk to ya soon,

my business experience

WOW there is so much to learn . Every time I do something right I find out there are at least 3 other things I am doing wrong. Maybe someday I'll get it right. It is really hard when you are so computer illiterate. I was sending people to my website and yesterday I found out that it is only meant for me to look at and then decide which items I wan't to advertise for. That was about 2 weeks wasted. Grrrrr. Maybe I'll get it started someday but right now it is still a very much learn as I make mistakes not just as I go LOL. The more people that tell me it won't work the more determined I am to make it work. I hate to be told I can'r do anything. :=)

Sorry

I was informed that there were no instructions for the flour less cake.  I looked it up in my recipes I saved and there are no instructions there either so I will try to find it in my old emails.  Sorry about that  .If I find it I will post it immediately.

home from the hospital

I am home from the hospital.  I blew the Dr. away because I wanted to come home when I was still in so much pain.  I know there were a lot of typos and not making a lot of sense in the last post.  Sorry for all the confusion. I'm not seeing really good today. Probably because of the meds I take but I am still in pain but NOT as bad as I was in the hospital.  It least my shingles pain is under control.

Gmail - Inbox (13) - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

The ER doctors said I had a partial bowel obstruction but the radiologist said my CT was perfectly normal? ER admitted me and had me NPO (nothing by mouth) for the obstruction but then the floor dr. had an ultra sound done for the gallbladder and that was normal too so since they weren't giving me half the medicine they were supposed to and only 1 of my 3 pain patches and they weren't controlling my stomach pain or my lower back pain or my neck pain. When I asked the dr. for nausea medication because they were going to give me one of my meds that makes be deathly sick to my stomach, he had them hook my IV back up even though I was already drinking lots and not getting sick at all, I got upset because it was already stinging like crazy and felt like it was going to blow any min. I don't have many veins left I have had so many IV's and blood tests done this past couple of weeks. I guess I just have really strained muscles because I remember straining my tummy muscles Wed night but I thought if that was it, it should have shown up Thursday morning not Friday night. Plus I had fallen Monday and strained everything trying to get back up. My CNA talked me in to going to ER because she thought it was my gallbladder and she said you don't want to wait until it get any worse. It was already hurting to take a deep breath or to yawn. It feels better today but that may just be because I got all the right medications and time is healing it. It felt like the day after you just started doing sit ups and decided you could do 100 to show off but the next day you couldn't hardly move.
Darlene in Co

http://darlenesundstrom.blogspot.com

twitter.com/darlenesun

http://darlenesundstrom.mydealscenter.com/

Duane

Duane had 2 Dr. apts yesterday. He went to the eye Dr. and they said he is extremely near eye sighted. Micheal picked out glasses that look like goggles because he thinks they will be more durable. If he has to wear his goggles all the time to see far away how will he still see up close? He won't have the ability to take them off to see things up close. I hope they don't look too dorky. :-) He also went to the ENT and he needs surgery to have his nose reset. I don't know how they will keep him from re breaking it before it is even healed. Do they have some kind of a nose guard to protect it? He has a deviated septum and can't breathe out of the left side of his nose at all. It is totally blocked and Dana thinks that may be why he has been hyper ventilating all these years. The Dr. said that it can give you really bad headaches. If he stops hyper ventilating and holding his breath until he passes out and then hits himself I am going to make a complaint on his old Dr. She refused to give him anything for pain because how do I know he had a headache? Just because he can't tell people he has a headache doesn't mean he doesn't have one.. I have been telling his Drs. for years that I thought he had a headache. First it was his medicine and now this. I can't even imagine how much pain he has been in all these years. Poor little guy! I can't believe everything he has been through. He is such a trooper. No wonder he was banging his head into walls. Dana thinks he is a nose breather (I really never noticed) I would just assume that if you can't breathe through your nose you would automatically breathe through your mouth. Try plugging the left side of your nose and don't breathe out of your mouth. I could only do it about one minute and felt like I was suffocating. I hope he gets it fixed soon but my back Dr. said that since I had Medicaid they had to book my apt 6 months out and it took six months to get into the dental surgeon. He does have medicare also so hopefully that will help speed it up.

ABOUT DUANE

darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

We were told a few days ago that Duane had a really bad day at the day program . They said he cried and beat himself for 4 hours! They know he does this when he is in pain. It took a behavioral specialist to tell them this after hours of study when that is what I have been saying for years. By the way he keeps breaking his nose doing this! He is probably going to have to have surgery to reset it. His Dr. thinks it is causing him breathing problems. They gave him an IB with no results but refused to call anyone to come get him or give him his Vicodin that they are not allowed to give him even with a Drs. order. They should have sent him home. Yesterday he hit the bus driver 3 times and she went to the door and told Dana she had to come get him off the bus and then he hit her and he has never hit her before. She said he came home without his little fish he clings onto (so it could have been a tantrum but) she also said he was really gassy and he kept putting his hand on his head so he may have had severe gas pains (I get them and they are worse than labor pains) and a headache. I have fought with Drs. for 21 years because he couldn't talk so how did I KNOW he was in pain it could just be his autism and I needed to get used to it and then I was told he needed to learn how to control himself even if he was in pain. What the heck is he supposed to do? HELLO He can't talk. I get really upset that people don't listen to the parents more often. We are the one that have watched his behavior for years day and night good and bad days. I just thank God everyday for his Dr. that felt his pain and gave him his first Vicodin and believes us that something is wrong and sends him to specialist to check it out. I am very thankful that Dana is a nurse and found out that one of the main medications Duane was on listed stomach distress as the very first side affect, He had been on it for years. He is MUCH calmer now that he is off of it, she is trying to get him off his physic atrophic drugs but if these outbursts increase he may really need them. It is just a trial and error stage right now. He is almost off of them but they MAY have to increase them we just have to wait and see how he does.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

 Ingredients (8 Servings)

Butter-flavored cooking spray
5 egg whites
4 oz. baking chocolate, bar,
   bittersweet, chopped
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, ground
   (also try almonds or hazelnuts)
1/2 cup Splenda® No Calorie
   Sweetener, granulated
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs

Darlene Sundstrom

Darlene Sundstrom

This looks like a really interesting interesting recipe for FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE. I recieved it in an email from Acucheck and on the side bar it said Bon appetite

Ingredients (8 Servings)

Butter-flavored cooking spray

5 egg whites

4 oz. baking chocolate, bar,

bittersweet, chopped

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, ground

(also try almonds or hazelnuts)

1/2 cup Splenda® No Calorie

Sweetener, granulated

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

Gmail - Inbox (31) - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

I am having a horrible time with my eyes. I guess I have allergy eyes for the first time in my life this year. They are itchy and blurry and hurt. I can barely open them more than a slit for the past 2 days. I'm also getting realy bad headaches with them. Sorry I don't have more to say.

Gmail - FW: NEW ADULT CPR METHOD - important - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

Gmail - FW: NEW ADULT CPR METHOD - important - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

The New, simpler CPR method Interesting to note that certification is not required. If you haven't seen this, you should. If you have seen it, it won't hurt to see it again. This is a new CPR technique which is much simpler. This is a very important video regarding the latest CPR procedure. Please watch and forward to your friends and family if you haven't already done so. You never know, a life may be saved utilizing this new procedure. http://tinyurl.com/2fx8r59

My Dr. apt today

Gmail - Trash - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

My CT scan with dye went really well. My friend Steve took me dropped me off and then came back to get me later, that way I didn't have to wait hours until a cab decided to come get me. They took me in right away which was good but they had to stick me 3 times once in the bend in front of each elbow so every time I bend my arm one of them is still hurting. Steve helped me get settled into bed and then he took off and I slept for 3 hours and had to make myself stay awake. I was kinda of bad though on the way home I made a quick stop at Wendy's to bring home a Jr bacon cheeseburger deluxe w/o the cheese. It's the cheapest way to get they lettuce and tomato I wanted and still have a cheap burger and an order of extra crispy fries. I could have been much badder (is that a real word?) I guess I should have said worse LOL. Oh well, I really wanted a Frosty but I resisted the sugar. :-)

FB Warning

Gmail - Compose Mail - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

The warning I posted about the FB Warning was false sorry I didn't check it out first.

Here is the link to read about it http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/greatestgift.asp

Gmail - Facebook warning!! - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

Gmail - Facebook warning!! - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!Do
NOT join the group currently on Facebook with the title "Becoming a
Father or Mother was the greatest gift of my life" It is a group of
Pedophiles trying to access your photos. This was on FoxNews at 5.
Please copy and post!!! Let's keep our children safe!!(Please take
a......minute to copy & paste)

dinner/supper

My fajitas were horrible! I think the beef had been freezer burned. I had to throw this out too and it was enough for about 3 dinners. I ended up eating a can of chicken noodle soup. :-(

Todays lunch/dinner and dinner/supper

We made nachos today.  We took Cheese packs leftover out of mac and cheese made with water.  That said I had my aid put a layer of chips, cheese sauce, refried beans, and homemade salsa.  We usually put guacamole with it but my avocados were bad.  I could only eat half of what she brought me.  I hate throwing food out but I really don't know what to do with soggy leftover nachos.  Now that I think about it I suppose I could have used it under a base of chili and corn in a casserole but it's too late this time.
Tonight I will be having fajitas.  Yum.  I just wish I had some of my favorite salsa from a small cafe that I love "Cafe Mexico".

nerves

I am still trying to find a ride to the DR tomorrow to get my  CT scan of my liver to find out why it is inflamed..  I have to drink that chalky stuff about an hour before and then get an IV with dye.  That is really hard do to do when I am not well hydrated.  Wish me luck.  :-)

Sorry

That last posts was supposed to have about 10 pictures to go with it,  I guess there is a limit to the size you can post.  Sorry it didn't work it was really neat all the things this person carved out of the ends of pencils even the leads.

Gmail - [4on4] Fw: Pencils..... - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

Gmail - [4on4] Fw: Pencils..... - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

Sorry about the typeo's

I thought I could get it bigger so I could see it better but when I went to that page it had already been posted before I could proof read it.  Boy I look pretty stupid. LOL

Gmail - [PC-Recipes] Digest Number 4444 - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

Hi I went to the I Dr. yesterday and my script was totally different. I told her the last glasses didn't seem to help as much as the dollar store glasses. She told me that the last script

wasn't even made for a person with a stimatisim the curvature of the lense was totally wrong. No wonder they didn't work! The sad part is that Sr. Charged $250 because she was an optamologist and she should have been good because I took Duane to her about 18 years ago! I wonder how many other people are getting the wrong scripts. I asked my new Dr. if they could do a special needs child but they siad they have to at least be verbal. He isn't now and he certaintly wasn't 18 yrs ago. I hate it when I find out these Drs.are making all this money and not even doing it right. For a whole year I've been thinking it must have been the medication I was taking making my eyse so blurry. It will be interesting to see what the new glasses will do. I found out that if I use my frames that were only 1 yr old I can get new lenses put in them for $49 at Wal Mart.

Gmail - Fwd: How fairy tales really end: - darlenesundstrom@gmail.com

Gmail - Fwd: How fairy tales really end: -

This was just too great to not share with everyone.  It made me smile several times.  Have a wonderful fun night.

How fairy tales really end: Cinderella Snow White Little red riding hood Sleeping beauty Jasmine (Aladdin) Belle (Beauty and the beast) The little mermaid Seems like only yesterday... BARBIE DOLL has her 50th birthday this year...... Tweety Bird is 60 years old! And what about all our other .... CHILDHOOD SUPERHEROES? SUPERMAN Thor Wonder Woman (touch of menopause here I think?) Batman and Robin SPIDERMAN s "Life is short, forgive sooner and always keep smiling.

nesundstrom@gmail.com

Gmail - Fw: Iceland Volcano

Gmail - Fw: Iceland Volcano -

A really good friend of mind sent these pictures to me. They are pretty awesome. I can't imagine living any where near all that ash. It must be really hard to breathe.

Iceland_Volcano.pps 1928K View Download

Gmail - Fw: Iceland Volcano

Gmail - Fw: Iceland Volcano -

A really good friend of mind sent these pictures to me. They are pretty awesome. I can't imagine living any where near all that ash. It must be really hard to breathe.

Iceland_Volcano.pps 1928K View Download

Gmail - Fwd: Fw: Small Request -

I received this from my cousin and thought I would pass it along too.

Small Request - this seems like it might be worthwhile to pass along. Cancer is a strange cell. You can go along for years in remission and then one day it pops its head up again. Pray for the day there will be a permanent cure. A SMALL REQUEST... 93% won't forward, but I'm Sure You Will......... A small request.....Just one line Dear God, I pray that You will guide someone to find a cure for cancer. Amen All you are asked to do is keep this circulating... Even if it's only to one more person. In memory of anyone you know who has been struck down by cancer or is still living with it. A Candle Loses Nothing by Lighting Another Candle... Please Keep This Candle Going