Post Of Shame

 

I can't believe I am even posting this.. That's a heck of a mess up there isn't it?

That photo up there is one of our spare bedrooms and yes, it's a mess and has been for the better part of eighteen years. Most of it is my husbands stuff and some of the things I've 'collected" over the years. I can't believe I am even sharing this on my blog but you know I always blog about my life as real and raw as possible and so here it is...onto the next photo

And this, this is the second spare bedroom we have. It's been a bedroom twice and a sitting room a few times, as well as an office but yet again it's a junk room and I am tired of both of them. Have been for years. I have wanted to get these rooms cleaned out for many years but we just keep getting overwhelmed by it all and shutting the doors. By the way, that's my husbands new wheelchair. We have to wait until we can afford to buy a hook up thing for the car for him to be able to use it...

So now that I have bared my shame and now that I have the real desire to dive into these rooms, I don't have the energy. My husband isn't much help because of his health and I can't do it alone so I am stuck.. I have no idea how I am going to get these rooms cleaned out but I know I can't stand living with it anymore... Any ideas?

Trying To Stay Alive

 

KateFarms.com

Well, here we are at part three. Gosh this has to be the longest life updates post ever! My dad always used to tell me when I was a little girl, "Robyn, come up for air".. yes, I talked that much.

So yes, you read the title of this post correct. For many many years, more than twenty I have had digestive issues and in the last almost nineteen years I slowly lost my ability to swallow solid foods and since my twenties I also have food allergies. I have had more scopes put down my throat into my stomach than I care to think about and through all of this the medical community does not seem to know how to fix any of this. I have been diagnosed with everything from GERD, hiatal hernia, Gastritis, Achlasia to gastroparesis. Sure, they throw some medications at me and they always seem to make things worse. I have given up on the medical community. In my thirty years of being sick, I am no better and in a lot of ways I am worse.

Last summer if you remember I ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. Thanks be to God that was not the case but it was just another digestive thing. Over the years because of my swallowing I haven't been able to eat the best and so always struggled to keep weight on. Being unable to get proper nutrition affects all body parts. Because of this my teeth have wasted away over the decades as well and I no longer have thousands to keep paying for the dentists kids college anymore. I had dropped down to ninety two pounds since last July and was panicking trying to figure out what to do next. I tried home made smoothies but really didn't gain anything as I can not digest milk or dairy products. I tried eating lots of chocolate again but my gallbladder isn't happy about that and let's me know about it. I can't drink those protein shakes from the stores because most contain milk products, are loaded with sugar and preservatives and literally kill my stomach in pain.

Enter Kate Farms. I found them a month or so ago. This is NOT a paid post or a sponsored post. They make liquid nutrition for people like me and those who use feeding tubes. Their shakes are dairy free and most allergen free as well as organic so I decided to give them a try. While I will say I do still get a lot of stomach pain when I drink these which does make me sick all over, I don't believe it's the drinks causing the pain. I believe it's just my stomach because my stomach has hurt me every single day for the last thirty years. My stomach also does not move food like a healthy persons does. I can eat something at nine in the morning and at two in the afternoon some of it will still be sitting in my stomach. That's the gastroparesis. It's a sort of paralyzation of the stomach muscles.

I have been ordering two cases of these shakes for the last month and a half? I get the formula in chocolate which is a complete meal. It's complete nutrition just as if you sat down and ate a solid food meal and I also get their nutritional shakes which is just packed with vitamins and minerals. So I have been really focusing on this. So far I have gained a few pounds. It's painful but it's working. Now if my stomach would cooperate it would be wonderful but I guess I can't have everything. I will tell you, these shakes are not cheap and we have really been struggling to afford them but we just have to go without something else because I need these for survival.

Then of course I am also in menopause and that, isn't helping ANYTHING. The fatigue and the hot flashes are just, absolutely and completely life altering. And no, I can not do HRT because of family history and I wouldn't anyway. It's much too dangerous and all you're doing with HRT is putting off the inevitable. Once you stop it all the symptoms of menopause will come back so I am going through this naturally and let me tell you, it's rough!. I don't sleep well at all. Haven't a full nights sleep in over a year. The fatigue and brain fog is mind numbing not too mention the muscle and joint pain which I already have one a daily basis due to my autoimmune conditions. It's a real mess and sometimes it's all I can do to just get out of bed and some days I don't. So the thought of typing out a post or reading a book or for that matter anything that takes energy some days is just not something I can do. Hence the lack of posts in the last two? weeks.

Then there is my husband who needs my help, my five dogs, my chickens my home etc. all of which I am trying to manage as best I can with all the health obstacle's I deal with each day. Not an easy task I can tell you that.

Well I think that's it. I think  I've finally reached the end and updated you all on everything for now. Well, maybe not. I will tell you more in my next post.

Deception

"They proclaim God with their lips

but

deny Him by their 

actions." 

Titus 2:16

Fire Ice and Snow

 

So here I am with part two of my original post here if you haven't read it yet.

I will get to more about the generator in a moment. The Tuesday of the same week I had contacted a man who had a tree service and he sold me a half of a core of wood, he delivered and stacked it all for me. He turned out to be a really nice guy and his wood is excellent. We have a small fireplace in our den and I am so thankful we do because we have had to use it quite a few times since moving here. So while the generator was no more I had the piece of mind knowing we had plenty of wood to burn to keep warm and I could even heat a pot of water over the fireplace if I had too for coffee.

Well. we were now out over eight hundred dollars we had paid for that generator and it had never even been used. That part stung a bit. The same day I went up to Harbor Freight to replace my neighbors fire extinguisher. It was the very least we could do. While up there I thought I'd ask, since that's where we purchased our generator in 2020 if they thought the manufacturer would do anything about this. I was told that the manufacturer only has a one hundred and thirty day guarantee and Harbor Freight only gives a ninety day guarantee but, the manager said, since ours had never been used and he knew it was a technical issue, he knew we didn't start it ourselves that Harbor Freight would make it right and give us a new one free! Well okay, almost free. The only request they had was that we buy the two year extended warrantee for $149.99. How could I say no? Of course because of the storm coming they were smack out of generators because everyone always seems to scoop them up here when a storm is coming sort of like bread and milk. But he told me they would have a truck coming in next weds to call him then.

Next Wednesday came and I was out running errands so I stopped by there and sure enough they had a brand new generator, same one we had waiting for us. Not only did they have the new generator they also gave us a new wheel kit and battery for it free! I looked it up and  back in 2020 we paid just over six hundred dollars for all this, todays prices? Over a thousand dollars for all of this so as you can imagine I have nothing but good things to say about Harbor Freight. Technically they didn't have to do anything about it at all but they really made things right for us. They have also won two customers for life and a rave review whenever asked. 

Well, the ice storm did come in, God was merciful and it wasn't anywhere nearly as bad as in 2014 we never even lost power. However it was bitterly cold here in the South all weekend so yes we did make a few fires in the fireplace because in between all this our heat hasn't been working properly for two months as we were waiting for the repair place to get the parts which were massively delayed due to the supply chain issue and the current occupation we are living under. 

The weekend after this we actually got snow. We don't usually get much snow here in my area, maybe a dusting and within an hour it's gone. Well this past weekend we woke up at six am to see beautiful big fluffy white snowflakes falling and while we only got maybe a half of an inch it was pretty to see. I do miss snow. So me and my husband sat at the dining room table, drinking coffee watching it snow remembering all the snow storms in New Jersey growing up and how much fun we had as kids in them. It was a nice morning but again that whole weekend it was bitterly cold and once the snow melted, at night everything got slick with ice but this time we were prepared. I had gone out before the ice storm came in the week before and bought a five pound bag of rock salt at Home Depot, something else I was missing in 2014 and used up all my table salt on the steps to melt the ice and I STILL fell on the steps that year.

Folks, this is why I always push being prepared. I don't mean for major world events although, with the last two years being what they have been it may be a good idea but rather for what could happen in your life. I don't know if we can ever be fully one hundred percent prepared but we can at least prepare enough to make life a little more comfortable when weather happens.

Once again, I've written you a book so I will stop here and continue on in another post. 

    

Fire and Ice. Life Updates

Is it really February already? I finally understand why when you're little the adults tell you not to grow up so fast.. Because when you do the days, months and years just begin to fly by.. 

I just looked at my blog and realized it's been weeks since I posted anything and there is reasons for that so I thought I'd tell you about them...

As most of you know I live on the coast of South Carolina near Myrtle Beach. We had what would be considered here, in January, two winter storms. One week apart, both on a Saturday. The third weekend in January we had an ice storm. The last ice storm we had here was back in 2014 and it was a bad one. People were left without power and heat for days and weeks including us although, we were spared by the grace of God and only lost power and heat for four days but that was enough for me. Most of the newer homes here, mine included are all electric and unfortunately at that time we also ran out of fire wood. It was so cold we were pulling these small wood shelves I had on the wall down and burning them so when the weatherman said ice was coming I thought to myself, no way am I going to freeze like we did last time. So that whole week was preparing. Making sure we had enough propane for the grill to cook if need be, that we had the right pots and pans to cook over the grill, making sure I cooked enough before hand incase we did lose power etc.

The biggest prep was making sure our generator was running properly. We had bought a brand new one in 2020 because it's one of those things you have to have here in the South. We never had to use it except to start it up every two months just for maintenance. So that Thursday my husband filled the gas up and turned her on. All seemed fine and then, she sounded a little funky. He went outside to check and the generator was on fire!! The flames were shooing out the front door of the metal housing my husband had built around it. He went to grab the hose which of course got kinked at first and I called 911.

Water wasn't doing anything because it was gas that was burning. Needless to say, I am prone to anxiety and I was having a MAJOR attack through all this. The generator was enclosed in a metal house but it was also close to my house AND it had a full tank of gasoline in it. My husband kept the water on it from the hose hoping the gas tank on it wouldn't explode so the fire department could get there and put it out. Meantime, I'm on the phone with 911 and at the same time trying to get all the dogs out of the house just incase the house should catch fire and of course they were scared so instead of running out the door they ran farther INTO the house. I have been working on some kind of plan if God forbid we should ever have another fire on how to get them out quicker and easier. Geez, when something like this happens everything goes so incredibly fast.

Then, God stepped in. My young neighbor who happened to be leaving to go out with her small children saw the flames and the smoke and came running over with a fire extinguisher, she handed it to me, I ran it to my husband and he had the fire out in seconds as the fire department was pulling up. They and my husband both came to the conclusion that something went wrong somewhere in the carburetor and started the fire. Once everyone left you can bet that I dropped to my knees and thanked God that my husband didn't get blown up, that the back of my house didn't get blown up and set on fire, that the dogs were safe, that I was safe and that he sent my neighbor just at the right time..

Well, this post is getting long already so I will end this here and post a part two. Just thinking about what happened that day still makes my hands shake. 

 

Giveaway Winner!

 

And the Winner is : 

Congratulations!! Please drop me an email at RobynSimpleLife@aol.com

please include your mailing address so I can ship the book out to you this week. I do so hope you enjoy it as much as I did..

Thank you to everyone who entered. I will be doing another give away soon!

It was AMAZING!

 

It was AMAZNG what I did this weekend. Simply Amazing! 

What was that you ask? I did absolutely.....NOTHING! Yeah I know, 

you probably thought I was going to tell you I traveled to some really great place and did lots of great things.. (I wish) but no, I didn't go anywhere and I also didn't do anything..

Everyday of my life, I literally force myself out of bed and I have to hit the ground running. I have breakfast to make, a house to tidy up, a husband to care for, dogs to care for, chickens to be taken care of, there is always something that needs to be done and it's rare I ever don't do anything at all but this weekend? Hubby was on the ball. Saturday neither one of us did much of anything. We were waiting for the 'storm' to come in and we didn't know when it would begin. We weren't supposed to get snow here in on the coast in South Carolina but we were supposed to get dumped on with rain and some freezing rain which we did get so any plans we had made for the weekend we cancelled. I don't mind driving in rain and snow but ice? No Ma'am...

The rain began early Sunday morning sometime after midnight and continued most of the day until around three in the afternoon. Hubby was on the ball. Sunday morning he made me a huge pot of homemade vegetable soup so this way I could freeze most of it, then he cooked a big batch of carrots for the dogs for their dinner. He did all the cleaning up, took care of the chickens, gave the dogs their medications and as for me? I sat on the couch most of the morning and read, then I went back into bed about eleven AM and did some scripture reading and study after which I promptly took a two hour nap..I did cook him a nice dinner last night for all he had done during the day..

Today Monday, It's SO cold outside!.Now yes I know, those of you up North and in the mid west really have cold and I too am from the North East so I do know what cold is but I've been down here in the South now for eighteen years and anything below sixty is cold. Today it's forty one degrees with a wind chill of thirty eight. That wind is blowin hard!. So I am snuggled up on the couch with a blanket, a dog or two and I am reading blogs and working on a crochet project. Later on I am supposed to run to the drug store and pick up one of my husbands medications but he doesn't need it right away so may not do that until tomorrow but I might go down and visit with Linda for a little while. Things aren't going well with her and I don't know how much time I have left with her...

I hope everyone is staying warm if you're in a cold climate and staying cool if you're in a hot climate.. What is on your agenda for today?

Wednesday Hodgepodge Questions

1. What do you wish you'd done more of last year? Less of? 

I wish I had read more books and I wish I had spent less time on social media

2. What's the tallest building you've ever been in? Do you have a fear of heights? 

The Statue of Liberty and yes, I do!! 

3. Do you have a word for the year? Elaborate if you'd like to elaborate. 

Yes I do and it's "Breath".. I've spent most of my fifty one years running around at the speed of light from one thing to the next. Never slowing down to be in the moment. I've missed a lot of moments because of this. So now it's time to slow down, take a deep breath and be in the moment.

4. January 11 is National Milk Day...are you a milk drinker? What kind? Your favorite recipe that calls for milk (cereal doesn't count)? 

No, I don't drink milk. Lactose intolerant.

5. What excites you most about the future? What do you miss about the past? 

I don't think about the future. I was never one to look to the future of things. I always look to today because today is all we have. I miss my parents and the ease of the days before the world got so crazy..

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Are you in Introvert or an Extrovert?

I Finally Did It And A Giveaway !

 

(photo credit)

Hello Friends an Family..

Well ladies and gentlemen I finally did it.. I actually did it... I actually read an entire book. Finished it. Completed it.. I know this is nothing mind blowing but, if you read my post here about Trying To Grow  where I told you about my addiction to social media and all the problems it's caused me in the last too many years then you'll understand why I am happy about this small accomplishment.

And, since I have read this entire book I thought I would also share it with you incase you may want to read it..Before I tell you about the book let me explain a little about how my brain works when it comes to books.. First, I like biographies and true stories. I've tried fiction before but I just can't get into it. Oh, there is a very small amount of fiction series that I have gotten deeply into but for the most part I like biographies and true stories.. Secondly, for me to enjoy a book and be eager to finish it the author needs to really catch my attention within the first ten minutes of reading. I'm not one to 'see if it gets better". Once a book becomes a snooze fest for me, usually within the first ten minutes of reading, that it's. I'm done. I will not finish it. I like my reading to be an escape. I want to experience a different time, place, life. Having said this let me recommend the book I just completed to you..

When I said I like biographies most people think of famous biographies and while there are VERY few famous biographies I like, I am more into learning about every day people of the past and present and the book I just finished is just that. The title of the book is :

Dear Kitchen Saints by Mrs Connie Hultquist. Letters from an Iowa Housewife.

This woman Connie was no one famous but she had an interesting life. The book is really a compilation of posts from the blog she faithfully wrote on for many years using an old e-mail machine. For those of you too young to know what that is, it was a small square little machine you could hook up to the internet and send email through and that was about all you could do with it. I had one as well. This is what Connie wrote her posts on to her blog..I don't know how she posted from her E-Machine but that's what she used.. She had her husband had six children and a lot of hard times in their life together and not together but her faith is what got her through it all. Her faith is what got them ALL through it together and sometimes apart. The way she wrote her posts to her readers were as if she were sitting with you at her kitchen table over a cup of coffee and a donut. Everything about her was as real as it gets and she didn't sugar coat anything. Had I had the pleasure of ever meeting Connie I think we would have been very good friends.. We think a lot alike.

As I said above she was always very real and raw in her postings on her blog. She wasn't one to write a post and make everything 'seem perfect and just wonderfully joyful in her life and all times" like a lot of bloggers do. She gives life to you straight. She knew her strengths and her weaknesses and she wasn't afraid to write about either..

If you like stories about everyday people who are actually pretty extraordinary in a real life way then I think you will enjoy this book and learning about Connie and her family as much as I did.. You can pick up this book on Amazon or maybe even your local library may have it. As I write this I have decided what with money being tight for most people today how about I do a giveaway of my copy of this book? I have read it, I won't probably read it again and I would love to share it with someone who would enjoy it too. So to enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on what kind of books you like to read and why. I will pick a winner on Monday January 17th 2022. USA only please as I will be paying for shipping and overseas shipping is very expensive for me. I hope you understand..

Not Sure....

 

Hello friends and family..

Well, I was unsure what to write about today so I thought I'd just recap the weekend for you...By the way that photo up there? I wish I walking through that. Since moving to the South 18 years ago we don't get snow here and I do miss it. I've always loved snow. I don't like clearing it but I do love how beautiful it makes everything look and walking in it at night when it's so incredibly quite because the snow acts like insulation and dulls the noise..

I had plans to go to Mass on Saturday night but it didn't happen. My husband was sitting on the couch Friday night and suddenly he said he felt hot, he was sweating, got lightheaded and felt like he could almost pass out and then it just went away. He just had a nuclear stress test done at the end of December so it isn't his heart.

Then he said he didn't feel well at all. He looked okay he just said he felt bad. By Saturday morning he looked kind of pale in the face and was complaining of muscle aches and pain, extreme fatigue, headache and all over weakness. So I pulled out the last Covid home test I have and ran it. It was negative but I'm thinking he may have the flu. I keep asking him if he wants to go to the doctor but like most men he says no but, if he's still feeling poorly in the morning I'll get him to go and see if they will test him for the flu. From what I understand Flu type A is running rampant here in South Carolina..

So that pretty much wrapped up Saturday. Instead of going to Mass I took down all the Christmas decor and the tree. It's such a shame, it takes me so long to put everything up because I want it to look nice and it only took me and hour and fifteen minutes to get everything down including the tree and put away. I then put the living room back together because we have to move furniture around to put the tree up. I put the rest of the house back the way it usually is with the usual decor, I took a look around and thought, gee, the house looks so bare now. I was so used to seeing all the Christmas decor. I put my tree up and everything out last year the Monday before Thanksgiving. I think it's always nice to have Thanksgiving with the tree up. Just a small reminder of what to be truly thankful for not only on Christmas but everyday..

On Sunday morning I was like a literal walking zombie. We went to sleep around eleven pm Saturday night and I dont think my head was on the pillow five minutes before I was asleep. Of course a hot flash woke me up around twelve thirty am but I go right back to sleep. At four thirty am our German Shepherd, Rosie decided she wanted to go outside so that woke me up. Then another hot flash woke me up at five thirty, the next thing I knew my alarm was going off at six am. Yes I keep my alarm set on the weekends too. If I don't it just throws me all off. So I really got next to no sleep but I had things I had to do and with my husband out of commission it was all on me to get it done.

I got up , got dressed, went outside, let my girls out of their coop, gave them some scratch and some pets and came inside. It was time for the dogs breakfast so I fed them, then I started a big ol' crockpot of chicken noodle soup for my husband. I peeled, washed and cut up all the veggies and added the spices but took a short cut with the chicken. I had picked up a rotisserie chicken from Food Lion the night before so I just pulled that all apart and added it to the soup. Sometimes, ya just need a shortcut.. When I was done with that the dogs had to go in and out fifteen thousand times, then I had to go outside and clean out the inside of the car because the detail guy was coming today. It had to be done. Lets just say I had gone to Costco a week ago and bought four gallons of milk (I freeze my milk for the month) which I put in the trunk. One of them leaked and the smell was.. Well I think you understand now why I had to have the car cleaned.

So I dragged out all the stuff from the trunk and the blanket from the back seat I keep down for when I have to take the dogs to the vet. Came inside and put the blanket and my sweatshirt in the washing machine, Filled my husbands medicine boxes for the week. Bill came up to get some extra plastic shopping bags I had for his kitty litter boxes, we sat and talked for a bit and when he left I went in for a nap.

Before I knew it , it was two thirty, time to get up , the detail guy was already outside working on the car. Added the noodles to the soup in the crock pot then I made a from scratch Apple Crumble for my husband for desert which he had with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream after a big bowl of chicken soup. Must be the Italian in me or the 'mother' in me but when he's sick, I feed him..I know it isn't going to cure whatever he's got but food always helps us feel a little stronger when we feel weak.

Then it was time for the dogs to have dinner, I fed them, went and let the chickens in the yard for the next few hours, put away the clean dishes and then washed up the dirty ones. Put away the soup and the apple crumble, cleaned up the kitchen, went outside and put my girls up for the night. Came in, read and studied the Scriptures for a while, took a hot shower, did my nightly routine and then into bed with a book.

I hope you all had a really good weekend..

 

Pain Killer Daze

 

Pain killers.. Let's talk about pain killers. 

Hello friends and family....

If you read my post on Monday of this week then you know I had mentioned I was having a hell of a time with constant migraines. I finally asked my doctor last month to give me something. I couldn't take the pain and sickness anymore. Tylenol does nothing for a migraine by the way and I can't take any of the migraine medicines because most of them have aspirin in them and I am allergic to aspirin. I also tried Ibuprophen and that didn't help either. I was out of options. All except the one I REALLY didn't want. I am not a pill person. I will suffer until most people would have jumped off a cliff before I pop a pill but I am finding as I age I am not able to handle the pain that is my body as well as I used too.

So my doctor prescribed me Tramadol 50mg tables to be used when I have a migraine. Two weeks ago on a Sunday morning a migraine began and this sucker ramped up so quickly I didn't even have time to think. By one in the afternoon I couldn't handle the pain anymore. I thought if I didn't get some relief soon I was goin to die from the pain itself. So I reached over, grabbed the bottle of Tramadol from my end table draw, took the pill in my hand, said a prayer and swallowed it. Okay, I crushed it up because I can't swallow pills but you get what I'm saying here. I had no clue what I was in for next. What did I know? I don't DO pain pills. I have NEVER taken anything stronger for pain than a Tylenol.

It took THREE hours for the pill to help the pain but along with that I was SO sedated I felt like I had been put under for surgery or something and I was SO dizzy I was seeing double. I literally could not even watch the TV because I was seeing TWO of everything!..I wound up spending the entire day and night in bed not because of the pain but because of the effects from what was supposed to help the pain. By the way, it did help the pain but ontop of the frightening dizziness and sedation it also made me nauseous and I still dealt with hot flashes every two hours as well. I was NOT in a good place. 

THIS is why I hate anything that has to do with pain killers. I do not like feeling out of control of my own body and I certainly was. I was also thanking God for Lou having had installed a safety bar in our bathroom last year near the toilet because if it hadn't been there, this day I would have taken a header a few times right into my tub. It was absolutely horrible. I woke up at 11pm that same night and I was STILL dizzy and somewhat sedated. This is almost twelve hours later. 

The next day I woke up and I felt HORRIBLE. Nauseous, weak, my legs felt like shaky little bird legs, exhausted and a little light headed. I called my doctors office and explained to the nurse what had happened. She called me back a few hours later and told that the Tramadol doesn't come in anything less than 50mgs but I could cut it in half or even quarter it if I want and to take it soon as my migraine starts and not wait hours like I had. 

So I guess when another migraine hits which it inevitably will I will start out with a quarter pill and if it doesn't help within an hour I will take another quarter....

Getting older does suck, don't let anyone tell you different. 

Damn Neighbors

 

Do you have disrespectful noisy neighbors? I do and I have had it...

I am telling you, nothing yanks my chain than lack of respect for others. We have lived across the street from each other for the last twelve years and have always been polite to each other. They are of Mexican heritage and they have a lot of friends and family, are a tight knit group and they like to have parties a lot.. No problem, that must be nice to have and I am glad they are so blessed but.......

EVERY single weekend I sit in my own home and I can not hear my own damn television unless I turn it way up, I am woken up if I am napping which I HAVE to do every day to relax the muscles in my throat so I can get some soup down when I wake up for nutrition and I do not sleep well at night because of hot flashes. I sleep in two hour increments. Every single weekend, ever single holiday the entire damn block has to listen to their loud booming ethnic music over a loud speaker, their karaoke, their soccer games etc. I am all for people having a good time but what about respect for those around you? They also know Linda and Bill and were at one time pretty good friends with them that is until, Linda became sick and then they haven't bothered with them but they know Linda is in her older years and noise like this isn't exactly good for her. Think they care? Obviously not but they sure did like her when they would walk into her home and use her washing machine and dryer whenever they wanted or feed their kids out of her kitchen whenever they wanted etc..

They never give one thought to the neighbors around them that maybe we don't want to spend every weekend and holiday listening to their stuff.. Nope not one thought...So I have decided tomorrow I will walk over there and try and have a talk with the husband and if that doesn't help then I start calling the sheriff's office. I don't like being at odds with any of my neighbors because we all have to live together on the same street but when you don't have an ounce of consideration or respect for those around you, and if and when we speak you still don't get it then I will get the law involved because you have given me no choice.

So tell me do you have have noisy inconsiderate neighbors? And if so, how do you deal with them?

Trying To Grow

 

The old saying goes, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". Well I can tell you after raising fourteen dogs in the past twenty years that is certainly not true. Not even sure where that saying came from. Anyone can learn something new, it just depends on if they want too or not.

I finally did it. I deleted my Facebook account. I also deleted all social media apps off my phone. I did however create a completely new Facebook account just so I can keep track of the services in the county I live in and a couple of support groups I enjoy interacting with along with a bible study group that I am currently doing. I have no friends or family on there, I follow no other social media people, nothing. So now, instead of spending hours falling down into a never-ending scroll on social media, I go on, see if there's anything I need to know locally, check my menopause group, my bible study group and I am off.. I sound like I really have this all together don't I? (laughs) today is the first day but I will say, mentally, I feel so much better already!!!

You see, each morning before I even get out of bed, after having prayed (I do that the minute I open my eyes) I pop on the local news on TV for the local weather and then I open my tablet and start scrolling.. Instagram, Facebook Tiktok, I take my muscle relaxer so I can eat some scrambled eggs and before I know it, the first hour of the day has gone by and I have done nothing but get lost in a social media haze that within that hour has manipulated my thoughts and my emotions without me even realizing it.. It feels SO CLAUSTROPHOBIC!!

I am being open, raw and honest here. I am addicted to social media. In the last four years? I can't remember but it's been a long time. Every area of my life has suffered because of it. My relationship with the Lord has suffered tremendously, my faith has suffered. He NEEDS to be BEFORE everything and everyone and I have been putting Him last. I feel so bad about this because HE always puts me FIRST..

I stopped reading. I have stopped watching my old classic movies, I haven't watched a movie with my husband in so long I don't even remember the last movie we watched together. My blog, maybe some of you can tell has suffered. I post, maybe, here and there. I go months and months with nothing and then suddenly pop up again. I start projects and they sit for weeks on end if I ever finish them. You know, instant gratification and all. I can't stand it anymore. 

So last night a few hours before bed I sat down and deleted the apps off my phone which is what I use to post the most. Created that generic facebook account as I explained above. Today, New Years Day since I was unable to go to Mass (health reasons) I did TWO bible studies this morning. I am liking both of them so much so I don't want to stop one for the other. I cooked dinner this morning so I didn't have to cook it tonight. I went outside and took care of the chickens and spent some time with them. Yes you can spend time with chickens. I have three girls and soon as they hear my voice they start yappin away. I refreshed their water, made sure they had enough food in their feeder, gave them a healthy helping of scratch because after all it is a holiday. Sat in the pen with them for a while, pet them talked to them, they talked back to me, have no idea what they say but I'm sure they know...

Made breakfast for my husband... I actually finished my recipe binder that I started THREE months ago and has been sitting on my table waiting to be completed. Tonight I actually read a good portion of a book that I started a MONTH ago and will continue to read when I am done posting to my blog...Once I really began to get serious and realize that no one can make the changes in my life that I want besides myself I asked myself a question. All these people you watch on YouTube, TikTok, follow on Instagram, Facebook, are they adding anything to your life? Are you gaining anything from spending your precious time in hours at a time listening too, watching them following them adding anything, anything at all positive to your life or is it taking things from you? The answer is, no, nothing positive. Why am I involved in these peoples lives? Do I know them? No, I don't know them, I don't them from a hole in the wall and they don't know me. They are doing nothing for me, I am gaining nothing from them but I am losing a lot by wasting my time and energy on people and things that I neither know nor add anything positive to my life. Time to pull the plug. Halleluiah , thank you Jesus I see it now!..

And as for my blog, I used to make a post and then I would go and post the link to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. Now? I don't care about numbers. I don't care how many readers I have or don't have. I am writing for me. I have always said, having my personal blog has always been like therapy for me but for a while there I worried about numbers and followers and you know what? It sucked the joy right out of it for me. I don't care about any of that now. If people read, that's really nice and if they don't that's okay too. If google lets people find my blog that's great and if they don't, well that's okay too. It's not about any of that. It never was until I became addicted to social media. Time to pull the plug on that line of thinking as well.

So you see, I'm fifty one now and yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. The dog just has to decide if they want to learn and grow or not.