It's Friday but Sunday's Coming ....

Technically that "title" is true but not in the sense that I want to discuss. You see Resurrection Sunday (you may think of it as Easter) is coming. And I'm thinking about a really great sermon about how it was Friday (when Jesus died), but Sunday (the day He was Resurrected) was coming ~ we can go through so many "Fridays" in our life where we really need to be encouraged that Sunday is on the way. When Jesus died for our sins that Friday, his disciples must have felt terribly alone, and confused. You see they didn't know what we know about the Resurrection Power that was coming until Sunday when they discovered He had risen from the dead & was no longer held in that tomb. So when we face our worst day or night that may equal a "Friday" experience but we can hold on to the fact that Sunday is coming.

Of course if you do not have a relationship with God, do not believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead you will have your "Friday" experiences and be stuck with little or no hope of a resurrection Sunday on the way. I don't know how you will get through your difficulty without the strength of a faith built on God's mercy & grace. For me I could not survive without my faith in God, nor in my ability to Trust Him with everything.

Yeah I know this may sound "preachy" however if I have this great relationship and never share it with you then how would you ever know about it? How would you know that you could ask me why I believe, and know that I would tell you about the many times when I needed God to see me through & HE did! How when I thought I could handle things myself, in my own strength & how I got to the place where I made stupid choices that left me feeling alone & confused and as if I had managed to get so far away from Him that I did not think I could ever find my way back into His grace. Yet in all of my stupidity God never left me alone. He simply stayed by my side and let me see how my choices were really self destructive. And He waited until I admitted that I really did not like what I was doing & how I was behaving, how I was feeling & how far I had run from Him. Then He let me open my eyes to the truth that He never left me. That He did not like my choices either but that He still loved me. HE Loved me enough to forgive me when I confessed my sins and repented of my wicked ways. And now I know that for me those areas of my life that I was weak in before I am now much stronger and can lean on HIM to resist the tempations that may come my way.

I don't share that to sound as if I've "arrived" at perfection. Rather I share that to say I know how difficult it can be to stand firm daily in my faith. And that God provides the strength I need in order stand firm when I lean on HIM. When I lean on myself I fail to get through the day.

The truth is we have friends who we can call on no matter what time of day or night & know that they will be there for us. God is that friend to me. He is always there for me. No matter what.
And He is who I want to lean on first & foremost.
So as I sit here thinking of this upcoming celebration of Christ's Resurrection I pray that all of you have a relationship with the Savior of the world. That you know you can have eternal life with God. That you can face your "fridays" with the hope of the Sunday to come.

Wishing you all a very blessed day.

Things I Love Thursday ~ my cell phone's camera feature

I must admit I tend to be 'behind the times' however slowly I enter into this "day & age" I want you to know I eventually "catch up" to everyone else! So here I am, have had my cell phone for a few years & almost never used my camera feature. But as I was enjoying my granddaughters I discovered that using the camera was fun. Let a few more years go by I just have to tell you who knew you could actually send those pictures taken with your cell phone's camera to your email address??? Or to other people's cell phones??? Well I finally "arrived" at this stage of technology and today while visiting my niece at the hospital following the arrival of my great nephew I took some pictures with my cell phone's camera & then sent them to my family members then sent them to my email so they could be saved on my computer!!!! YAY for cool cell phones with decent cameras built in them.

So yes who knew? Well knowing me all of you knew before I did that this could even be handled all from your cell phone!!!!

Wishing you all a great day ... call someone or send them cool pictures from your phone to theirs!!!

Works for Me Wed. ~ yay!

So I try to "enlighten" myself by reading other blogs that share what works or doesn't work for them and really enjoy reading Jill's blog ~ she seems to always share something interesting & since I'm a grandma to 3 adorable girls she often has things to share that I can relate to even though my children have all flown the coop. Reading her blog today & seeing the games she has recommended inspired me to share our favorite toys/games source as well. Discovery Toys has educational toys & games geared for all ages from birth to adult. I know that they have been around for 30 years & that their goal is customer satisfaction.


I know because I had called regarding an item purchased that needed a new piece & they sent one out no questions asked. Another thing I have found that amazes is me is that I have purchased several of their games and play them with my granddaughters. The one I absolutely love is Flip Flop Faces, but as I bring my games for play time with the girls they always want to play with the Meausre Up Cups. These cups are for 12 months & up ~ but they have so many ways to be used that they can easily be for children in elementary school! My 2 yr. old sees me & always says Cuppie Cuppie ... we take the smallest cup & hide it under the larger ones & we take turns with who hides it & finds it. She is really good at this game & enjoys it very much I can't wait to play with her outside so I can show her the basic math skills these cups help you teach your children. The other game I bring I use with my 4 yr. old granddaughter (I can't wait to play it with her cousin who is 3 so I will be patient a little longer) it's recommended for 5 + yrs. & it teaches & reinforces basic math skills of addition & subtraction. Kyla & I will go sit at the table & play game after game, and often her little sister will join us & watch while we add or subtract.
We alternate between them and I always ask her which one she wants to play. She loves it! This is a great way to bond over math & have fun doing it... she is starting Kindergarten this fall.


So many games so many options however one really great thing about their games/ toys is that they also make their products with every need in mind. If your child has special needs you would be surprised at the options they can provide for you to be able to play with your child in an educational way. Just ask a Discovery Toys Educational Consultant about your child's needs & what toys & games are best suited for them. (If you don't know a DTEC you can always ask my daughter Sarah for suggestions.)

Wishing you all fun filled & frog free projects :)

Sleep update / crochet update/ life update ...

Ahhhh Choo!!! yep I've been sneezing. I am a bit confused, but what else is new?? I never understood how important humidity could be to one's health. Too much is often not good & too little or none is not good. I've lived in my home for 21 yrs (this May) and our oil furnace is forced hot air & no humidifier on the furnace ~ makes for one dry environment. I've survived these past 21 yrs. with sinus issues on & off during the winters. Now that I've finally come to understand the importance of getting on top of my sleep apnea and dealing with the therapy for it I'm learning that humidity or the lack thereof is a bigger factor to my well being then I ever realized.
You see the machine that sends the positive airway pressure is drawing the air from my room (my environment) through a filter, into the machine & through the hose into the nasal mask I wear to sleep. This air is what I breathe in during my sleep. If it is too dry it will cause me to be too "dry" in my sinuses etc. So between the "vendor" as my doctor has called them & my doctor I am very confused. My vendor tells me that I need my doctor to prescribe the machine & my doctor tells me that he wrote a generic prescription because he is not in the business of selling machines. So between the two of them I am left wondering what went wrong??? Since the vendor has an idea of which machine might best meet my needs he should have brought that one to me instead of one he felt might not be able to handle my humidity needs based on my pressure settings. Not knowing who to believe has given me a headache.

Waking up in the early hours of the day (anywheres from 3 to 4 a.m.) is not my idea of good sleep. I'm certainly not ready to begin my day at that hour. But I have had to add water to my water tank on my machine every morning when I awaken at that time. Since we bought a room humidifier and have it set up a few feet from my machine I really hoped that it would help but there hasn't been any improvement. Anyway I will have a new machine on Wed. to try this all again & hope & pray that finally we will have the "right fit" for my needs.

I've been going to the pool M-F and doing my best to move in the water and get my weight under control. I'm huge ~ & for me this weight ~which I do realize is just a number on a scale~ is way too large a number in my opinion. I don't like how I feel, nor do I wish to "learn to live with it" anytime soon. I want to see it begin to go down & continue on the downward path until it reaches the best "number" for me. (Only God knows what that number is but I promise you it is not the number I've been seeing when I do step on the scale!!!)

So God willing as my sleep apnea gets treated & brought under control so will my weight. I'm trying to make the best choices every time I have to decide what to eat. When I want to make brownies & can talk myself out of doing that & chose to eat fruit instead I think I'm on the right track ... the only problem is I have no idea how long I can continue to make the right choice. So far though I have managed not to make the brownies for a week now.

As for my crochet update ... still need to complete the items for Kathleen (too tired) and for the baby gifts (again too tired) ~ but while playing online I came across a beautiful afghan pattern that I thought you all would enjoy ~ even if you never want to make it for yourself or for a gift it is so beautiful you should enjoy seeing it! Check it out & let me know if you agree.

http://www.happyyellowhouse.com/htm/atw.html

Now here is another link from happy yellow house that you may enjoy ~

http://www.happyyellowhouse.com/htm/crochet.html

I love the free patterns here & thought you migh enjoy them too!

Now please leave comments ~ you can ask me anything ...you can share anything you can agree or disagree but seriously I'm wondering how to survive with a comment here or there every couple of months!!!!

Where did the week go????

So umm I have nothing to say. Well we know that's not true! I always seem to have something to say however it usually is stuff no one really wants to hear (or in this case read) about. For example we went to the store to get a humidifier (I still have no idea how to select one, so we opted for the one where the information on the box indicated it had permanent filters that never need replacing! So it's supposed to be a very easy care item. Get it home & open the box to discover it was a "returned" item. Normally returned doesn't always mean defective & in this case I might have considered keeping it if it did not smell of cigarette smoke. I am not kidding this thing stunk horribly of smoke. That & the water still in the bottom of it indicated it was a used item!!! So back we go & I send hubby to the customer service so he can get in line while I go grab a replacement from the shelf. Two on the shelf; one in a horribly ripped box and the other is open, no plastic covering so it looks like a returned item. Grab the one in the ripped box and head to the cs line. Our turn so I explain to the woman that I want this item opened before I will take it home in case it turns out to be unacceptable. And once we see the pristine condition of the humidifier I tell her I want the box the rejected one came in... back home and my humidifer seems to be working just fine. ~ So basically nothing noteworthy really & my hubby actually told me that the sales woman certainly did not care why we were returning the item nor did she care that I said the other one should be taken off the shelf since it looked to be a used item also.
This evening we will go see our beautiful 4 yr. old granddaughter sing & dance at a talent show fund raiser at her church. I am sure it will be fun.
Okay still working on Kathleen's items expect to get them done very soon.
And the baby sweaters that I need to get done ... yep very soon.
Still adjusting to the machine/ dealing with the dryness / humidity needs etc. Not feeling as good as I did those first couple of nights on the first machine yet. So if this doesn't change soon I will request a different machine for my treatment.
Wishing you all frog free projects :)

Fresh week ~ what to say?

Well I missed the fun of the pool today because I got to sleep so late (or should I say so early this morning) ~ all is well Thank You God. But it was a long & boring night.
I've started the second hat for Kathleen so hope to have it finished by tomorrow night or early Wed. then if there is enough yarn left over to make the scarf that will be good.

I've got an idea for a baby sweater so if I can get some time to play with it I would like to make it for my friend's baby.

I have been having a little bit of problems with my computer since my Norton's 360 expired. I downloaded CA security 2007 from Time Warner (because we have tw for our internet provider) and around the same time I joined facebook... so I am not sure if the trouble is due to facebook or the virus protection (I"m sorry it makes me believe it is 2 yrs old & therefore outdated based on it's title) ...

As for my OSA & my bi-PAP machine ~ I'm still on this journey. The doctor sounded confident that if I keep using my machine & deal with my moisture issue by getting a humidifier for my home (along with the one on my machine) that possibly I will see some marked improvements.

So let me leave you with this... take good care of yourself because no one else will. Sleep is vitally important so make sure you get enough of it to do your body good!

Wishing you frog free projects & great sleep :)

Lots of "New" things here ...

So much to say & where to begin??? Okay first my friend Heather had her baby girl Abigail on Sat. (I haven't had a chance to see her yet but knowing her parents I'd bet she's one beautiful baby)... thankfully the baby shower is in April so I have time to finish her gift. (I'm so close to finishing the baby afghan it should be soon.)

Oh I've started back to the YWCA ... which means I'm back in the water!!!!! I can't tell you how much I missed being in the pool. It's been way too long. I'll just leave it at I had a gain of 13 pounds with out my exercise. So first thing this morning I was back & I was in the water for 2 hours. Being in a pool is heavenly to me.

But the big news is my bi-PAP machine. First off when they advise you to allow 6 to 8 weeks to adjust to the use of it, they aren't kidding! So I would not describe this as the "honeymoon" phase ... it's more like the love/hate relationship just before the wedding due to all of the wedding details that can drive a couple totally insane.... I woke up from my second sleep study feeling very strange & weird to the point where my only way to describe it was I felt as if my brain were 'awake' or very alert... something I had not felt in a very long time. So I think that made me believe I would feel that way automatically once I started using my machine at home.
Well let's be honest here ... in the sleep center my sleeping was all monitored & if I needed more air pressure or less it was being controlled by the technician down the hall. Here at home the machine is set to the setting prescribed for me. However the truth is this adjustment period is to see if this machine & this setting is the right "fit" for me & my needs.

As for the use of the machine it's not too bad ... I will need to decide where I'm sleeping and set it up & leave it there ... I can't just fall asleep anymore without thinking about where I want to sleep & how I'll be able to set up my machine. You see any "planned sleep" including naps is to be done with the use of the machine. So it does present me with the need to "think" before I "sleep" ... which if that doesn't make you laugh ... WAKE UP it was too funny!!! But since I've been waking up with a terrible back ache (weight gain but don't tell my hubby I've been blaming the bed) I chose to sleep in my recliner and oh my I slept!!!!! I slept all night through!!!! Okay you may not realize this but I haven't slept the whole night through since I can remember. I slept last night from 11 to 4:45 am. For me that is a really big deal. I felt like I wanted more time with the machine so opted to go back to sleep for 45 minutes longer and when I got up at 5:30 I felt good. Not Great. But really good, and even now after having gone to spend 2 hours walking in the pool I'm not tired. That is really Big news for me ... after years of waking up tired and any activity where I would feel good afterwards was always followed by the need for a nap I'm really excited that I'm seeing this kind of improvement so quickly.
On the down side I did notice my sinuses are much drier than usual and I'm just concerned about this leading into any kind of sinus infection. The machine I'm using does have a humidifier but it doesn't stop the air pressure from drying me out this I've learned really fast. My view is that I'd much rather deal with the dryness than go back to not having real restful sleep.

Okay that's boring ... the class at the bead store was so cool! I made 2 bracelets. I could have actually completed a 3rd & begun a 4th but I really don't work with my wire often enough to have my hands /fingers in shape to have worked on it much longer. The other ladies who came to the class were making their bracelets and most had 3 done by the time I was leaving. Pictures to come ... I haven't had a chance to take them yet.
I loved the class & I will admit I think the larger beads would have been a bit better I used small ones & they look great but the others made theirs with larger beads & they just looked better (imo) and I think they worked up a little bit faster (just a bit) ...

Okay running out of things to share ... will continue to let you know what's going on with the sleep apnea/ bi-Pap machine ... and the love / hate relationship.

Wishing you all frog free projects & real restful sleep :)

Something new ....

Facebook. I have heard of it. I thought it was basically a lot like myspace. Apparently it's so much better than myspace. I've been told that 'myspace' is so last year, "facebook" is today.
So I joined facebook. Oh yeah my kids are there (well most of them anyway) and amazingly so are many people I've met or known over the yrs. So this is the "something new" in my life right now. Can I spend any more time on my computer???? I don't know. But it seems I already have been.

On the theme of something new... I will be attending another class at Diva Beads & Jewels (near my home) bracelets ... something about her work just draws me to that lovely little shop. I wear very little jewelry & yet I want to create beautiful pieces. When I have taken classes there I always walk away excited to work on this new skill. Wire wrapping & oh well all I can say is I'm very excited to be able to attend this class (I've missed out on at least 4 or possibly as many as 6 classes that I really wanted to take since last Sept.) When she finally gets me in on one of the regular beading classes look out. So far it's always something to do with the wire wrapping & beads or stones that I've been most fascinated and therefore compelled to try.
That is tomorrow night. So I won't have to wait long.

On a crochet note ... working on Heather's baby afghan ...and happy to report it is now very close to completion. I need to make a baby boy sweater, and I need to make another sweater for Heather and I need to get Kathleen's hat & scarf done... at least now I've got her yarn wound into a ball. I'll work on her hat today. ( I hope)

May your projects be frog free & may your day be full of creative fun.
Oh and drop me a comment ~ I really never know if I'm writing to myself here.

Things I Love Thursday ~ Abreva

Abreva is expensive (to my budget anyway) at $16 or more per tiny little tube. (And I do mean tiny). However if you suffer from cold sores like I have then you may find out like I did what a Godsend this tiny tube of medicine can be. I was driving home from I don't remember (church meeting?) and as I was driving I noticed the first pain of a beginning cold sore. I called my husband to tell him I was stopping at the drug store to find out if there was anything that really workded. Prices were outrageous. I actually asked a pharmacist for help in selecting one of the choices before me. I was told Abreva was supposed to work but only if you caught the cold sore at the immediate first sign of it. If you missed that initial first sign & used Abreva on the cold sore it basically wouldn't help.

I spent the money on it because I believed I was at the very first sign of the cold sore. I really wanted it to work. I was surprised when it did work. I am happy to report I purchased that tiny tube of medicine at least 2 yrs ago. I still have medicine in it & I have used it to reduce the life span of many cold sores. You see you really are instructed to use a very tiny amount of this cream & if you miss the very first sign of the cold sore you will be wasting the medicine as it works quickly at the onset. I literally carry this around with me so that if a cold sore is about to start I've got my abreva with me to immediately go to work.

So gotta tell you I do Love my Abreva & I especially love that I haven't had as many outbreaks of cold sores as I once had.

Sleep Over accomplished

Everything went well on Sat. I managed to have only one small amount of stitching left on my quilt front. Class went nicely. I learned that you can actually accomplish a project in the 2 hours allotted for the class if you actually make the 9 patch and then simply sew it to the batting (which would then be called machine quilting!!!) then add the back panel ~ right sides together trim edges if needed (but you should be sewing about 1/4 inche all around so shouldn't need much in the trimming department... when sewing around you should leave the center section of the last "side" unsewn so that you can turn (pull ) right sides out. Then make sure your corners are all pulled (pushed) out and stuff with either a pillow form or with fiberfil. Sew last section. Very pretty pillow!!!
But since I chose to embrioder on my 9 patch the teacher, Sandra, suggested I get a heart traced on my 4 unadorned squares to use the sewing machine and sew the front panel to the batting. Only I decided that I would like the hearts better if they were "stuffed". I used some left over fabric, cut into 4 pieces approximately the same size, folded all 4 and cut out a heart shape. They were a little too big so folded them all again & cut again. I thought they were perfect, Sandra helped me pick out a stitch on my sewing machine to sew them to the panel. Once I finished that I had to very carefully pull the hearts away from the panel in order to place a small slit in the back of them so I could stuff them with fiberfil. All I can say is that made my 9 patch come alive (in my opinion) ... I really like how it looks. So as class was ending I put my work away & have my "finishing instructions" from the teacher. I chose to do several things to the front of my "quilt" so now in order to attach the batting to the panel I need to use some random stitches here & there. When I manage to finish the work on this I will post pictures.

Picked up my sweet heart for our sleep over date. She was all excited. We played a couple of games while papa made dinner. Dinner was fun. More games. Snack time. Followed by getting ready for bed. Watched a movie. Snack time again. Brush teeth and get settled in bed. Told her some stories so she would settle down. Her on the air mattress, me in my recliner.
She was very happy to know that I would be right there if she needed me for anything.
Sleep was so very peaceful. For a little while anyway. She got up needing a drink, then potty time. Got back to bed. Back to sleep. But at 4 am she was standing right in front of me ~ startled me awake. She climbed up & snuggled in my arms to tell me that I was snoring so loudly it scared her. So she is snuggling & I'm dozing off only to hear, "there's that sound again".
Me snoring. She was so excited about all the things we were going to do when we "woke" up but she couldn't settle back down to sleep. And everytime I dozed off she woke me up because my snoring was loud and scary. The day went well & we returned her home safe & sound & a bit tired ;-) so she told her mom about how I snored and how loud it was LOL. Her mom said well I guess you didn't sleep very well on your sleep over & she piped up with no I slept great it was a great sleepover and I want to do it again. Sweet heart she can come anytime but next time papa is sleeping in the recliner! (He snores sometimes but if he does it is usually on the light side.) And God willing my CPAP machine will be here & all set up before she sleepsover again.

My son turned 30. My love bug slept over & all went well. Sunday after church we went to my other son's home for dinner and the girls all got to play togther. Ate a wonderful meal. Then brough her home. Got home ourselves and fell asleep. So getting back on "schedule" hopefully today.

Wishing you all frog free projects & restful/ peaceful days.