IT IS WHAT IT IS – Page 3 – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME

RECOVERY IN PROGRESS UPDATE DAY 180

It’s hard to believe we are at the 6 month mark. Sometimes it feels like it’s been 10 years already. Then when I try to eat something I’m not yet ready for I realize, it’s just been a very short time in the realm of relearning how to eat.

PROGRESS REPORT

So, for some weird AND unknown reason many food smells that were once welcoming AND comforting now turn my stomach. The doctor says this is fairly normal, but CANNOT answer why it is “normal”. Some of the once loved foods that I can no longer stand to be around are:

hard boil eggs
pancakes
cabbage
sausage

I also cannot eat much bread, potatoes or rices because they take up too much space in my egg sized portion of stomach with virtually no nutrient value.

‘REGULAR’ WILL BE A LONG TERM AND ONGOING LEARNING CURVE for the REST of my life

I have SLE (Systemic Lupus), Fibromyalgia and recently ended up with a non-weight loss stomach bypass that changed my life beyond belief. Just 6 months ago you would NOT have been able to convince me to EVER give up ALL sugar – (nothing like waking up from a routine surgery and learning it was anything but routine and you can never again have certain things), but I have to say no sugar is NOT the worst thing ever. I ALSO DO NOT do ANY sugar substitutes or preservatives because of the SLE and Fibro. So, while my diet does become a bit limited, it is possible to cope. The thing I REALLY miss is coffee, but am making it work with green tea which is ultimately so much more healthy.

I had needed to lose 15 pounds or so as we all do at this stage in life, but now at the 50 pound mark lost, the doctor’s concern is that I lose no more and try to maintain where I am – he actually felt that way at the 25-30 pound mark. Because there is no “real” stomach or holding vessel for food, the body does not absorb much at all. For that reason I have certain vitamins and supplements that will be 5 times a day for the rest of my life. I also have to be picky on what I eat as many foods still do not agree with me and I can never eat sugar again. Anything with high fat is also an issue so it really limits my choices every day. The biggest lifetime issue will be the amount (or lack there of) of food I can eat at any given time. My stomach is now the size of an egg. My stomach does not and will not stretch. It also does not absorb much in the way of nutrients. My stomach will NOT grow or change in any way. Eating is now and always will be in the future something of a challenge.

One of the biggest shocks was the need for ALL new clothes, I went from a size 8-10 down to a 2 so far. I have had to buy ALL new underwear, bras, pants, dresses and even shoes! Yes, I said shoes. I lost an entire shoe size – I didn’t even know that was possible. This is just one of the piles of shoes I made when trying to find something to fit on Easter morning.

SO MANY LINKS, SO MANY BLOGS… just NOT ENOUGH TIME

Somehow in Chasing MY Life I got away from my actual description of the journey. My life became all about the kitchen, well at least primarily. One of the discoveries I’ve made with life altering surgery that changed how I eat is that my life is no longer just about the food and recipes.

So, as we say goodbye to A HOUSE FROM HELL, put EVERYTHING in storage and begin the next leg of our journey to spend some time concentrating on working out and recovery and then search for our next project (hopefully our last) I want to return to my blogger roots and chronicle ALL of life.

I’ve been getting organized to get back into link parties and such, just searching around to see who is still out there and where the parties are at. I have found that many of my old favorites are no longer, but there are soooooooo many new parties to link up to which leads me to my post title, SO MANY LINKS, SO MANY BLOGS… just NOT ENOUGH TIME. Initially I’m choosing link parties by whether or not their title peaked my interest.

AND soooo many parties are now co-hosted which creates even MORE links to explore so I’m still reading as much as I can and finding new interests to become a part of.

I’m sure I’ll will find many more new blogs and parties on my future journeys, but for now I’m excited to be joining these new linky parties on a regular basis.

SUNDAYS
DISHING IT & DIGGING IT at Rustic & Refined
SUNDAY’S BEST at Mother 2 Mother
SUNDAYS AT HOME at Celebrating Everyday Life and My Soulful Home

MONDAYS
CELEBRATE YOUR STORY at Celebrate & Decorate,
COOKING & CRAFTING with J&J AT Julie’s Creative Lifestyle
HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
MAKE IT PRETTY MONDAY at The Dedicated House
MELT IN YOUR MOUTH MONDAY at Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
MENU PLAN MONDAY at I’m an Organizing Junkie
MERRY MONDAY at Two Chicks and A Mom
MIX IT UP MONDAY at Flour Me With Love
SHOW and SHARE at Coastal Charm

TUESDAYS
LOU LOU GIRLS FABULOUS PARTY at Lou Lou Girls
TAKE OUT TUESDAY at The Painted Apron
TREASURE BOX TUESDAY at Memories by the Mile
TUESDAYS WITH A TWIST at Stone Cottage Adventures

WEDNESDAYS
DELICIOUS DISHES at Walking On Sunshine
SHARE YOUR CUP @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

THURSDAYS
FAVORITE THINGS at Katherine’s Corner
FULL PLATE THURSDAY at Miz Helen’s Cottage

FRIDAYS
BLOGGERS PIT STOP at The Blogger’s Lifestyle
HOME MATTERS at Life with Lorelai
KITCHEN FUN & CRAFTY FRIDAY at Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons
PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY at Coffee with Us 3

SATURDAYS
SHARE IT ONE MORE TIME at Everyday Home
SWAY SHAREFEST at The Sway Life

LIFE – IT IS WHAT IT IS!

As I was scrolling through facebook this morning I ran across this post from 7 years ago. I found it speaking to me as it still describes life so well. I’m also pleased to say that even though there have been MANY (cancer, 5 surgeries and The House from HELL just to name a few of the BIG ones) curve balls thrown at me since then, I have de-cluttered my life really well, for the most part. So I offer you a rerun of that post below.

“Life has this funny way of testing us and sneaking in trials and tribulations that weren’t in our original game plan never quite fit into “OUR” plans. That is how it’s been for me the past many months.

As many of you know I have spent the last 7 1/2 months helping out various family members around the country. First it was my elderly in-laws (MIL just turned 90) who begged us to come help them sell everything including the house and move them closer to family (we all know how that went – FIL is still trying to assign sentimental prices to everything in sight) and now it is my aunt & uncle. My aunt has end stage Parkinsons disease, such a sad disease. My aunt is extremely artistic and a beautiful painter – or at least she was. The Dyskinesia from the Parkinsons disease has robbed her of that ability. My uncle recently saw the Oprah episode on hoarders and has decided that my aunt is one. Trust me, she isn’t. I once worked for a real estate company as a stager for homes and they would send me in to work on homes that were similar to those on the Oprah show – those were horrible. So ask yourself, what is my (your) happy medium on the stuff I’ve (you’ve) accumulated? My theory? If you have a place for each item and it’s in its place, you’re NOT a pack rat or a hoarder. I do offer you the definitions below.

This is one of my favorite paintings of hers. She did have a LARGE collection of art supplies and empty tins for storing those items in, but in her defense men do think in simpler terms and this is just a meeting of the minds discussion. And in his defense they should be getting rid of most of this as she is now in a assisted living home and will not be able to use these items again. Donating them to the church or a school while they are still usable would be best, but can’t be forced. I pray that I will have more grace regarding these type of decisions if I reach that point and give up things more willingly, but none of us can ever be in one another’s shoes and truly know what we would do.

PACK RAT

~~Also called trade rat. a large, bushy-tailed rodent, Neotoma cinerea, of North America, noted for carrying off small articles to store in its nest.~~
A person who collects, saves, or hoards useless small items or an old prospector or guide.

HOARD

a supply or accumulation that is hidden or carefully guarded for preservation, future use, etc…
to accumulate money, food, or the like, in a hidden or carefully guarded place for preservation, future use, etc…

Long story short (I know too late), I have decided it is time to take back MY life. So, over the next couple of months I will be making some changes. Some big, some small, but ALL necessary to be myself and get a handle on MY life.”

My aunt passed 4 years ago and in the end they found she did not have Parkinson’s disease, but did have Lewy Body disease. Unfortunately the only way to tell for sure is through an autopsy. The treatments are similar and in the end would not have changed much. She was offered the DBS (deep brain stimulating) surgery early on and refused it (surgery scared her to death – especially brain surgery). As her disease progressed she wanted the surgery, but had waited just too long and it was no longer a viable option.

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RANTS, RAVES, & THE PURSUIT of a KINDER WAY of LIFE

This is a re-post of a post from almost exactly 6 years ago. Ironically, it is even more true today!

Life is busy these days, real busy, but there are a few things I still notice. We are all overworked, over stimulated and over tired! I seem to notice less and less quality in everything around me whether it’s sitting down to dinner as a family or the quality of the products that sit on my kitchen counter.

My brother and I had a conversation not too long ago about the pursuit of the iconic TV 50’s way of life – you know, slower and kinder. Now you need to know that my brother and I, at times, are as far apart on the political spectrum as 2 siblings can be. We’re close, but there are many a subject that we have an agreement to agree to disagree on and move on to another topic. He pointed out that the 50’s that many seem to want to return to is nothing but a TV iconic way of life. I beg to disagree though. Now I wasn’t alive in the 50’s, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that life in general was kinder, slower and calmer and MUCH less stressful. This is one of those spots that I would go off on a rant about. You see, I believe that stress is a catalyst of much of what ails us today, specifically cancer. But, that is a story for another post.

If you were to watch say the Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, Happy Days or Leave it to Beaver, you would see homemakers vacuuming in high heels and pearls or maybe cleaning the refrigerator. Husbands would be in ties and coats or at least a sport shirt and loafers. Now while I don’t think things need to return to that formal, I do expect guys to pull up their pants. I don’t want to see their butts. In my era, the only butt to see was in a pair of tight jeans – where you had to use your imagination and fantasize. WOW that made me sound old, but I’m not really, just tired of seeing ugly underwear hanging out of over sized pants that are falling off some guy’s butt. Many women aren’t much better though. No one wants to see rolls of fat hanging out of a midriff top and low cut jeans – both of which are things for teen girls, not overweight 20, 30, 40, 50 somethings or even overweight teens. Get the picture here – fat is not something to show off, but something to lose and hide while you’re doing it!

Another thing you saw more of in the past was Common Courtesy. I find this ironic since we seem to need it more now, but it appears to be non-existent many times. Whether it’s driving on the freeway or driving basket at the supermarket, common courtesy seems to always be in the backseat. When I was a kid, I was taught to ‘drive’ my basket at the supermarket the same way you would a car on a 2 lane road – stay to the right, park off the pavement and use your signals. More and more I notice at the supermarket that people leave their baskets in the middle of the aisle while they are roaming up and down looking at various things. While I commend the label reading, how hard is it to park your cart off to the side and out of the way? Interestingly enough, if there is no one around and I go to move the basket aside so I can pass, someone always magically appears and is miffed that “their” basket is being moved. Well excuse me! The sense of entitlement and the self righteous (and unearned I might add) indignation is way too over the top.

On this same subject we all know that pedestrians have the right of way. But don’t they also have a responsibility to NOT just walk willy nilly and blindly out into traffic? What happened to looking both ways before entering a street?

Okay, I will get off my soap box now and return you to your regularly scheduled blog hopping.

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HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 17 of 2017

I hope you all had a GREAT weekend. Ours was quiet. I’m stuck in the house for the most part again.

Having a compromised immunity SUCKS. Thank you SLE. It especially sucks when you’re working with a house like this and constantly exposed to something lurking. Despite my constant effort to wash the dirt and grime away I keep ending up with bacterial infections from what I am coming in contact with. Fortunately this time I got into the doctor the next day after I noticed a problem . She took one look and said I had what she thought was cellulitis. She referred me a great specialist the same day who says we caught it in time to avoid the hospital and eye surgery.

The ophthalmologist also told me that cellulitis can be from a mosquito or spider bite. It usually affects the skin of the lower legs, but mine is in the muscle of my lower eyelid which makes even blinking painful. While it isn’t contagious, it can spread withing your own body quickly making it a potentially serious bacterial infection that can become life threatening by spreading to the lymph nodes or bloodstream when left untreated, Boy am I glad I didn’t ignore the pain and went to the doctor right away. I can’t be out in the sun because of the medications so, it will be a quiet week indoors for me again.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

It’s supposed to warm up quite a bit this week, high 80’s+ and even a low 90’s, but at least there is no rain in the forecast for the next 5 days!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE

Black Cherry yogurt and coffee.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

I’m pretty happy. Doing the laundry and deep cleans on Saturdays are making for HAPPY Mondays!

WEEKLY TO DO LIST & HOUSE PROJECTS

We’re going to work on some finishing touches around here this week:

Caulk and seal new molding on door frames
Seal windows

CURRENTLY READING & TELEVISION / DVR

Not much on TV at this time of year, just a few straggler shows that are about to wrap up for the season and some cooking shows backing up on the DVR so I’ll catch up on those this week. We did find a new show on Netflix that we are liking and we watched Adam Sandler’s Sandy Wexler this past weekend. It was okay.

I’m currently reading Ava Miles Dare River 5 book series. I’m on the second book, Chocolate Garden.

CRAFTS/PROJECTS

I’m working to finish a quilt for my niece Jill and her first baby, Luca. I used a Noah’s Ark theme for one side and spring showers for the back.

KITCHEN WISHES

LOL nothing for now, but dreaming about my next kitchen.

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
BREAKFAST	FRUIT & COFFEE	SCRAMBLED EGGS	FRUIT SMOOTHIE	FRUIT & COFFEE	SCRAMBLED EGGS	BACON & EGGS	PANCAKES or WAFFLES
LUNCH	FRUIT & CHEESE	C.O.R.N.	MEAT ROLL-UPS	SALAD	MEAT & CHEESE	C.O.R.N.	C.O.R.N.
DINNER	CHICKEN CHOW MEIN	INSIDE OUT CHICKEN POT PIES	BLUE APRON TAWANESE CHICKEN & RICE	BLUE APRON SEARED COD IN CREME FRAICHE SAUCE	BLUE APRON SILCILIAN STEAK & FREGOLA SALAD	C.O.R.N.	C.O.R.N.
DESSERT

SUCCESSFUL RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS

Health tips for Kids – Precautions are better than treatment

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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Just a little chat and update on MY life plus a review of my first Blue Apron recipe

THANK YOU Carrie! My first Blue Apron box came today. Such pretty vegetables and all the fixings for the next 3 days. They also included wonderful recipe directions that were really easy to follow. I couldn’t wait to make dinner. I let hubby choose the recipe and he chose the Chicken Under a “Brick” for our first meal. I have to say I was thoroughly impressed! Definitely a meal we’ll have again.

We also thought it might be a good idea to do a “Vision Board” for our search of the next house project. We would really like to find and old church, train station, fire station or school to rehab into an open floor plan and make a forever home. Anyone know of anything in any of these states?

SAVORY KITCHEN TABLE

Do you ever get yourself spread so thin that you just want to start over? LOL I know you do. We ALL do at some point. Savory Kitchen Table is my start over point. I’m working on this being the perfect collection of the tried and true recipes worthy of repeat appearances for my family and yours as well as the BEST parts, photos and memories of life as it happens. Life IS WHAT IT IS and should be celebrated, the ups AND the downs.

All of my other blogs will be phased out over the next few weeks and Savory Kitchen Table will be an accumulation of our life around the kitchen table and that won’t always be recipes because more than food happens around the kitchen table, at least at our house. It will also include product reviews (good and bad)!

Category: IT IS WHAT IT IS