Last night, things were fine. The night was going smoothly. Then I saw the schedule for the holidays.
Huh.
All was alright until I discovered that I am scheduled to work my normal Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12 hour shifts from 6p-6a. I am expected to get off work at 6am on Monday morning (Christmas Eve), and return to work for yet another shift at 2pm that same day.
Then over New Year, I am expected to work my regular shifts again, and add 2- 8 hour shifts on to it that following Monday and Tuesday, making 52 hours in 5 nights.
I left a note for my boss to tell her that I simply cannot work the Christmas eve one with only 8 hours in between.
I got a phone call from the unit manager (which conveniently I USED to be HER boss at another facility), and she was being VERY cocky and VERY snotty telling me that I was scheduled to work those hours and that I WOULD be there and it would be fixed with my regular hours so I wouldn't have overtime.

How am I supposed to work 12 hours, sleep maybe 5 and get up to do it all again immediately? I can't. My age, and my health. I can't.
But if I don't, I may lose my job.

I'm mad.

Being diabetic and other stuff....

I think changing eating habits is the hardest part of this venture. At least for me it is.
It seems most of my life all I have had is carbs... I survived on sandwiches and potatoes and all that good stuff that I must minimize now.
I did discover that oatmeal is my most difficult thing to have to give up. After a bs of 190 2 hours after eating, I can only imagine what it was 1 hour after! AAArrrggghhhh!
I have an appointment with the hospital diabetes educator December 6th, so I'll know more then.

Other than all of this going on... we had an interesting Sunday night. Our smoke alarm went off and our home alarm system called the fire department cause our chimney was blocked and smoke was filling our home. Firemen came and cleared everything, children had to be taken outside and the firemen cleared out the fireplace...

As they were leaving, they backed into my husbands truck!  Damaging the bed of it. Of course, the city is going to pay for it, but still... when it rains it pours, doesn't it?

I got the children down on their knees beside our bed and we all thanked the Lord that nothing further happened and that we were all together. WHEW! What a week we've had!

The Results are in....

and Chimicole (Julie) has been diagnosed a diabetic.

I have to take Glucophage 500mg twice a day, and Lisinopril 2.5mg every day to protect my kidneys.

I have to test twice a day at staggering times, and have a return appointment January 3rd.

I also need to go either Friday or early next week to have blood drawn to check my cholesterol and my A1c.

Here I am again... 1am, bright eyed and bushytailed....
Well, I've always been bushy tailed, but that's another story!
Been kind of worrying about going to the doc tomorrow (today!) and seeing what she has to say about the high blood sugars I've been having. Life is strange, isn't it? Especailly when something as devastating as diabetes hits you smack dab in the face and while you've KNOWN it was going to come... you've just not been prepared... not at all.
I absolutely had no idea that meal planning was so essential in this quest to healthy lifestyle! And here I go and buy Burger King last night for supper. I really MUST get in the cooking mode. Most of our money goes to eating out, and it shouldn't. Now, it'll probably have to go for medication! (Because of the eating out?)

Bought a new glucometer today...

The one I had from my Momma before she passed either read funny (reading "Lo" a few times, then reading 100, or giving me an erroneous message), and the other one, one of the digital lines had gone out.
So I just went and bought new. It wasn't a horrid price, but enough I suppose. It's just a plain ol' Walgreen's brand, but I think it'll be fine for what I need it for. Maybe if we find out that I truly DO have diabetes, then I can splurge a bit. But until then, nah...
I have a doc appointment on Wednesday. Don't know what she's going to do, since I just called today and told them what was happening. I'm just afraid that if I wait, things are going to get out of hand.
If this is the card that the Lord has dealt me , then I will accept it gracefully, but I am certainly not going to let it take over!

Couldn't sleep last night, so I was up about 1:30am or so.

Just sent the most wonderful husband off to work, and here I sit. Diddling around here and drinking coffee.

I finally got to go to church last night! OH! How I miss church! We studied John chapter 8.

Working night shift on Saturday and Sunday doesn't leave much room for Sunday morning church, and that makes me sad.

 Especially since church would be right smack dab in the middle of my sleep time and I have to work another night shift that night. I suppose I could do it if I worked 8 hour shifts, but I work 12's on the weekends, and I simply cannot have any lapse in judgement when it comes to caring for my patients. The Lord knows this. I feel Him in  my heart.

I did request Saturday off so I could go to our candlelight service we are having to celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday evening.  So since I am not working SAturday night, I can go to church Sunday morning too! Yea! I am excited!

I think I may get dressed here in a few and get a load of laundry in to wash. I also want to make some bread and work on my crafts for Christmas today. DH and I are going for a simple country christmas this year for our tree. We have a patchwork tree skirt and I bought some pretty ornaments with poinsettas on them. The children and I are going to string popcorn for garland and I am looking for a pattern to make some little Christmas ornament dolls for our tree too.

Yea, it's gonna be a good day!

Thank You Lord for such a blessing!

Today's Business....

I had today off work, and felt "crafty" today.

 I finished up an apron that I made for myself. Don't really care for it, I think the skirt is too "bunchy". Does that make sense?

I also made 2 potpourri jars with lights, one for the bathroom and one to use in my sewing room/granddaughters bedroom for a nightlight.

DH and I were on our way back from picking up more potpourri from a shop, and his phone rang. It was our son, and dh could hear the baby crying. DH says, "She wants her grandma..." and our son said, "Tell her to come and get her!" So I did. We made a direct turn around, and my "supposedly" little fussy girl is asleep in her bed and has been since 7p or so, after a warm bath and a lotion rub down.

I don't mind in the least. DS and DIL are having some issues and I think the baby can sense things like that, ya know? She has her moments at our house, but for the most part, is a loving, cooing, precious little angel.

I don't think we're going to get our house we want. The broker says we have to have $17000 down and then calls again and tries to say they want $30000 down. WHAT? I don't think so. AS beautiful as it was, we can stay right here, if this is where the Lord wants us.

Had to work on my computer today cause I couldn't get my email to send anything. It would receive fine, but when I would try to send something, it would lock up! It's been doing some strange things lately... and yes, I have Norton , and it is updated.

I started wrapping some Christmas gifts today, just to see where I was in everything. I think I am doing alright! I'm doing alot of homemade and "gifts in a jar". My "buying time" is almost complete! So I am tickled about that!

Well, just an update on the ol' homestead happenings around here! Nothing much... just typical everyday stuff!

How are you doing for Christmas? Have you started yet?

Good morning!

Been kind of busy on the ol' homestead here and looking up crafties to do for Christmas, so haven't really had time to blog... or maybe I should say that I just haven't had the desire to blog.

Made up a new schedule for the children for homeschooling. At least that's complete now. I really need to work with Logan on his Math. He can understand grades higher up, but can't do 2nd grade division! *sigh*

Abby is doing well, and so is Amelia.

Abigail's ballet teacher has been requested by her own daughter to teach Abby privately and enter her in competitions. (I knew she was good... but wow!)

Amelia's cooking skills are coming along nicely. She made supper last night, and the previous night. She did a good job, too!

Had a phone call from a mortgage company last night. She thinks we should have $17,000 down on the house we want to buy. *Yea, right!* And they are asking if we want to look at other houses, or if our hearts are set on only that one. I think I am going to have to be content to stay where I am. There's simply no way to come up with $17,000 dollars! And that's ok. While I would love to have some land in the country, I don't know if it's going to happen any time soon....

Maybe the Lord will intervene somehow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've finished a dishcloth for Christmas, but I don't know if I am going to give it away or not. I may.....

Have a few gifts gathered, and a few still in the idea stage, but I don't think it will take too long to do. I am going for a gift jar holiday. Homemade theme. Can't afford to buy a bunch of usless things that will be broken in a day or two, or won't be appreciated. With my new found "live simple" way of life, I think homemade gifts would definitely be more more appreciated, and, in my opinion, a "commercial" Christmas takes away the real spirit of the holiday anyway. The hustle bustle of the shopping centers, the non-smiling crowds, and the "grouchiness" of it all, just takes it out of me and I end up not enjoying the holiday at all. I am determined to enjoy it all.. this year.

We have also "adopted" a needy family this year for the holidays. A gal that dh knows through his work was laid off recently. She has 2 little boys at home and is expecting a 3rd in January. Her husband works, but doesn't make enough money to support his family without his wife's help. DH wants us to help the family get through the holidays. So we will. We've talked to the children about this family, and they have agreed that we should follow the Lord's whispers and help out where we're needed.

Anyhoo~ that's the update on us! I've gotta run now and get busy....I want to bake a pie today and maybe a Pineapple upside down cake before I go to work.

What are you doing today?

Suppose I'd better update....

Although there's really nothing interesting going on (which is good, I imagine).

Took the children Trick or Treating last night, which was a fun time. There weren't as many houses doing it this year as last, but they still brought home enough candy to last awhile! LOL!

We were able to take the precious gd and she ws able to stay the night with me (even tho Abby took her upstairs to sleep with her last noc). I bought her a little sleeper that was orange and white stripes, with pumpkins on her feet, and a bib pumpkin face. She, of course, was adorable!

Still no word from the realtor.

I'm feeling a bit "crafty" this AM, so I'm going to go make something!

TTYL!

HiHo! HiHo!

It's off to work I go!

For a 12 hour shift this evening and night.

Hubby had to take over the church "doings" this evening for Pastor. He and his Mrs went out of state for a well deserved mini vacation.

Hope this eve goes alright. There are 2 of us on the floor and we have one of the best CNA's to work with, so I think it'll be an ok night. We have had 3 admissions yesterday and there was supposed to be one today. Hopefully the folks will be settling in and the family's will be content to leave once their folks ARE settled in. We have two wives staying full time, 'round the clock with their husbands, which is ok, I guess, but sometimes it goes a bit to the extreme. Especially when we have to go in and assess the patients in the middle of the night, and we wake the wives who get upset. But if we want to do our jobs right, then, that's what we have to do, huh?

I went to the food co-op today and bought some goodies. Found some organically grown wheat berries to grind so I can make my break, and I bought some organically grown short grain rice to grind into flour too. That, and a bunch of other stuff, so I can do my very best to keep my family healthy and happy for a long time to come! LOL!

It's a bit on the chilly side this evening, so I think I am going to go put my long john unders on beneath my skirt before I go to work. Have to pull 'em up a bit, but I don't care! LOL! At least my legs will be warm and they won't ache!

Still no word....

from the realtor about the house we want. But his assistant DID call us yesterday and told us that he is "still working with our finances", but wouldn't be back to town until Monday.

What does that mean? Dennis thinks it must be a good thing because he said the realtor would have known by the beginning of last week if it was a no go, and would have told us already.

I guess so, but I am so antsy! LOL!

Here's a pic of Abby sitting in the expanse (huge cause you should see what we have now! LOL!)  we'll call the back yard.....

Yes, we went and looked at the property again yesterday and walked around it a bit more..... lovely, just lovely...

We talked about what we were going to do, and what we wanted to do....

It's going to be a perfect home..... just wait and see.....

Oh! And here's a picture of my little dog Cole as we're heading out to the house. He knew we were going somewhere interesting.... (he's my little 4 1/2 pound chihuahua).

 I want to show a picture of the house itself, but I'll wait till it belongs to us. Then I'll post pictures out the ying-yang! Hahaha!

Anyway~ continue to keep us in your prayers for this. We're asking for the Lords hand to touch this endeavor....

Home skilling at its best.....

Abby and Amelia making homemade wonton soup....

Here's the finished product!

What a fun time that was!

And last night, Amelia made a Dutch Apple Pie... would post a pic, but it disappearedrather quickly after Abby and I came home from dance with a bucket of vanilla ice cream!

Know what today is????

Sweetest Day!

I'm takin' my Honey to breakfast!

What are you doin' for your love of your life?

Today is Friday...

and there's about 1/2 hour left of it.

Den said the realtor didn't call today. Wonder if that's a bad sign or a good sign? I tend to be the worrier in situations such as these, and although I know I need to place my trust and hope in the Lord, I'm afraid He built me this way! (Good sense of humor, there Lord! Thanks! LOL!)

Now we have to wait until Monday to see what has come of the realtor delving into our private personal he** called "credit" to see if we are deemed worthy to buy the house we have all fallen in love with.

 I may very well vomit before then......

Work went well this evening. I was on the "other side of the building" that I had never worked on before, but things went ok. My friend made up a "cheat sheet" for me to kind of go by and to get to know the people a bit better. She wrote down their likes and dislikes and how they took their meds and so on and so forth. It really helped that I had an angel for a CNA, who helped me right along too. *Thanks Susan!*

Now tomorrow, I'll be at my own personal little space again, and we'll see just what that brings for a 12 hour shift.

I finally received my bonnet and another dress for Abby that I ordered from ebay at the beginning of the month. I guess the lady had some family emergencies and her computer crashed on her. The dress is lovely, and the bonnet too big for my head, but I'm going to wear it anyway.

And how has YOUR day been today? Just a normal every day-day? or did you do something out of the ordinary?

C'mon! Tell me about it!

Yea! Another Field Trip!

We went to the museum today! Went ahead and bought a family membership for $40 for the year. Good buy, I think, cause we'll certainly go more times than just today.

For instance, Logan and I looked alot at the indian displays, since that's what we are learning about in history right now.

Alot of it was just plain ol' fun too.....

WooHoo! My fantasy kitchen!  

Here's the three looking at an old airplane! (It's a Davis original...)

Ahhh... and one of my favorites... the apothocary... my goodness, we have come along way, haven't we?

Abby heading into the one room schoolhouse...

              And Logan wearing the Dunce cap (appropriate for his behavior today )

An actual jail cell that used to be used in a town nearby..... kind of creepy the way that things had to be done. Probably taught lessons better than the "comforts of home" they have now (don't mean to offend anyone~ just my opinion!)

Here's another personal favorite... the ambulance.... wow..... can you imagine?

Now here's one for ya..... who remembers when prices were like this? L-O-N-G time ago, huh?

 

Thank you for joining us on our "visit" to the museum. We had alot of fun, and I hope you did too!

Leaf Collecting!!!

We journeyed to our local arboretum to see what we could find in the way of leaves. To see if we could identify anything. LOL!

So we bundled up in some warm fall garb and off we went!

First, we had to find the correct trees we were looking for...

But we also found puffball mushrooms...

Had a great time overlooking the fountain....

Running down hills...

 And finally warmed up inside and learned a bit more in the building!!!

All in all, we had a good day... together... as a family.

And today, we are going to build a cell with jello, and other food stuff!

Ah..... the joys of homeschooling!

OH! And I almost forgot to tell you! We have a realtor working on the house in the country for us. He came over yesterday to look our home over, and his last words to my husband as he left were, "We'll make it work."

So how great does THAT sound? The Lord sure does answer prayer, doesn't He????

Pressure Cooker/Canners

Mine has had a new gasket, I have taken apart the vents and the new gasket and cleaned it inside and out. I even bought a new gauge today!

When I try to test or to cook with my canner/cooker, the pressure gauge does not go above "1".

What is going wrong?

Any advice?

Thanks!

Brrr...... 1st cold day of the season!

And we are toasty warm inside with our little fireplace. It was 65, and we were all chilly. Now we're snug as bugs in rugs.....

I know it's a little crooked, but , well, I think it may just be me! LOL!

Prayer request please...

If any of you that may read this finds it in your heart, will you please pray that the Lord opens a door to a house that we saw yesterday and absolutely fell in love with?

It has 3 bedrooms, 3 acres, a garden spot, wild raspberries, and even a clothesline! There's even a perfect little nook where I can school the children!

It appears to be perfect for this family to get us far enough away from the "issues" of city life, and the troubles that accompany it.

We just are asking for the Lord's hand in it.

Oh, and did I tell you...?

That we had to go to Muncie to get Abby's pointe shoes for ballet?

On the way back, we stopped at Rally's. It was our gd first  time to go to Muncie AND to Rally's. Another Grandma and Grandpa first! LOL!

She is just sooo precious!

Abby is the one in the striped shirt. My little ballerina....

And Logan making a funny face, and Amelia... and of course, my dh. There were fire trucks driving by, that's what everyone was watching!.

See my Rendezvous in the background? That's MY truck! LOL!

Check this Out!

Here it is October in Indiana, and lok what our little garden has produced for us!

We went out Saturday and picked some things, then today.....

 

We had to go and get pointe shoes for our dd today. She is my little ballerina and needed them to begin, so after the "garden pickin's", we had to run.

It was a busy day... a good day, but a busy day....

WOOHOO! I did get my shawl today! A lovely black wool shawl w/ fringes that will keep me snuggly warm in the cool evenings to come!

And more skirts and dresses came for the girls today.

We looked at a house that's up for sale today. Beautiful land, and beautiful house. Just don't know where that man of mine gets his ideas, but now he has one that we ought to move to the country, and that's alright with me, but where is the money going to come from? And why am I looking at houses now, only to hear my Mister tell me not 2 hours later, "Well, we wouldn't be going anywhere till after winters over anyway..."

Well, ok.

Had our granddaughter today, and boy was she a little fuss-bucket! I don't know what's going on in her little 2 month old body, but she cried real tears almost the entire evening! About 8:30p, her Daddy called and asked if she could stay all night. I agreed. So now my little fuss- bucket is asleep in her crib in my sewing room (finally). Beautiful little angel that she is!

Some changes....

are good. Some aren't.

We've been having a bit of both in our family lately.

I won't bore anyone with the details of the bad (not really bad, just disappointing) behaviors.

How about....

My work hours have changed! I now am scheduled to work 2-10p on Fridays, and 6p-6a on Saturdays and Sundays, and have a 4 hour shift in the week somewhere. I get to be home with my family for the better part of the week now! YEA! I get to actually go to bed with my husband, and I get to stay while the children finish school work.  I get to sew! :)

On that subject, I am almost finished with an apron I have been making. Should be complete by tomorrow, I think.

My ebay purchases have began to roll in. Received 4 packages today. Of course, the girls are mortified that I would want them to wear those clothes in public! LOL! (Little do they know....)

I happen to be in love with mine, and am looking forward to wearing it tomorrow. I pray my shawl comes tomorrow. THAT'S what I REALLY want! LOL!

Oh my dears, enough yammering.

I can surely talk alot and not say too much, can't I?

G'nite folks... have a restful evening.

Maybe I'll take some pics tomorrow and get them up for you to see!

Got bread rising and am in the process of cutting out an apron for sewing.

Amelia has the kitchen mopped and Abigail has been working on dusting. Logan just finished reading his Science assignment to me.

Hubby just got home and is taking a soak in a warm tub (It rained today and he is chilled!).

Life is good, and family makes it even better.....

Good Morning!

I set my alarm for 6a, and have been enjoying peace and quiet for at least 2 cuppa coffee's worth now.

I love mornings! The solitude... time to ready ones self for the hustle and bustle of the day...

I'm back to work for three days starting today, but I can handle that, I suppose. We had a yard sale this weekend and ended up with about $150 we didn't have before! Alas, tons of leftovers went to Goodwill, but there isn't really a better charity than that. I do alot of our clothes shopping there!

I have discovered ebay this week.  Ebay and clothes and shipping charges.... but I have also found lovely dresses for the girls and myself, and my big prize that I won last night....a beautiful Mennonite shawl/wrap.... I am so excited about that one! I've wanted one for so long (not necessarily Mennonite, but that was in the label, so I decided to run with it!)

Amelia is rather grumping about me buying dresses from ebay. She's a gal that think if it doesn't come off the rack at a higher priced store, then it isn't fit to wear on her body... I beg to differ. She has lost a lot of clothes by way of that thinking and is bound to lose more. I have been getting rid of her clothes bit by bit, and buying more dresses and lovely skirts. I have already informed the girls that these are the last pants they will have. Abigail is ok with it. Amelia, however.... well, Amelia is a strong willed, bull headed 14 year old.

We had the grandbaby this weekend. Wonderful little blessing! She only woke up at 2am, then after a feeding and changing, went back to sleep till 7a. I gave her breakfasts and suppers of baby food, and I think that helped her right along.  She didn't make a peep at the yard sale at all. We had her in her stroller, and out in the sunshine and fresh air, which I think did her a world of good too!

Ahhh... I adore that little girl!

I also finally got my freecycle chalkboard hung up in my sewing room last night. Logan and I did it. We couldn't figure out a place in the kitchen area, so we hung it up in the sewing room, cause we spend alot of time in there also.

And... on a last note.... I had another visit from my precious Momma yesterday. She came on the Sabbath in the form of a perfect, white moon flower. Right in the center of the chairs that Dennis and I sit in on the front porch.

How has the Lord blessed you today?

Have a wonderful day!!!

Is this not the absolute greatest?

Look what I have!!!

My grandson is the Great Pumpkin!!! (I love the look on his face! LOL!)

WOOHOO!!!

Guess what I got today from Freecycle!

A chalkboard! A 3X6 chalkboard! Now I have to figure out what to do with it! LOL!

Love you all and will talk to you soon!

PS: I'm on Jury Duty this week too......

rough, Rough, ROUGH day at work!

I'm tired.

G'nite.