A Visit To The ENT

So I finally broke down and went to the ENT to have me ears checked.
Since summer, they have a buzzing and ringing in them. They feel like they are stopped up all the time and occasionally I get dizzy.

After a bad episode this past weekend with a dizzy spell, I decided it was time to see the doctor. I have been to the regular doctor about this once and he just said it was allergies and to take a decongestant. That never really worked but it did help with other allergy issues.

So I go into the ENT and the first thing they did was check my eardrums then puts me in a hearing booth to check my hearing. My hearing is fine except a loss of high pitch sounds in my left ear. That's ok with me. I hate high pitched sounds.

So then I'm taken to an exam room and I wait.......

So I snapped some pictures. I mean, I am a blogger!

I always do a deep examination of the instruments laid out to use.

Then I look around the room at the cleanliness. I tell ya what, they don't want to leave me alone too long, I will find something I don't like about the place. This one, It was ok. I only saw dust on the back of the chair. Considering its also an allergy clinic, I think the dust needs removed. And why is there a needle disposal container?? And why is full of used syringes?

20 minutes later the doctor finally walks in.
He looks in my ears. They look good.
He checks my nose. It looks good.
He checks my throat and as I open wide he says "You have TMJ. You will eventually start hurting from that ya know".
Well, Ive been told that every time I see the doctor but I do not have pain yet and I'm 47 years old.
Lets get back to the ears.

So here is my diagnosis.......

Nothing. Yep nothing. He said that he is sure I have an inner ear issue but he can't see it without further testing.....He said testing, I heard this ￫￫ $$$$$.
He has scheduled me to come back and do a VNG/ABR test. It's a test that will take approximately two hours to do and they will trigger the dizziness and figure out whats causing it. I think.

REALLY?
"So, I get no ear drops or medicine or nothing????" I asked.
The doctor replies "No sorry. We will $$$ have to $$ do further, Testing". That test is scheduled for Feb 21st. Thats almost a month! Im just gonna play it by ear (no pun intended).

So $50.00 and two hours missed of work later, I still have ringing in my ears and no answers.
I guess I'll wait. I'm tempted to cancel the whole thing. I feel like its just a way to get my money and after that test, they will want to do another test.

Couldn't he at least cleaned them out for me? Wax build up could be the only problem.

I'm sure the ear doctor has seen enough of my issues to know whats really going on in there.
Dontcha think?

Good morning its 1:00

My internal clock went off this morning at 7:00 as it always does. Im one of those people that cant sleep in no matter how hard I try.

So my intentions were to get out of the bed, have breakfast. Then clean up the house a little bit and go to church. The normal Sunday morning routine.

It didnt happen.

If you know me, you know that I have been suffering ear problems. Most likely inner ear. This has been going on quite a while. I went to the doctor once and he said it was probably allergies and told me to continue allergy medicine. Then I thought I had diagnoced myself thinking it was a vitamin I took because it seem to stop on the days I didnt take it. That didnt last long as the problem continued.
I often even have short dizzy spells.

This morning at 7:00. I opened my eyes and the room was spinning so fast I could not see straight, my ear had been ringing louder than normal during the night but Ive started getting used to it.
I felt like I was on the tilt-a-whirl at the county fair. I was sweating to a soak. I never sweat! My husband noticed my problem and came over to my bedside to help. No way could I sit up, much less walk. I was scared. I finally made my way to the bathroom with him guiding me all the way. There, I spent most my morning hugged up to the jon while I continued to dry heave over and over. I thought I was gonna die. I may have a six pack now too. I made my way back to the bed and laid back down. Room still spinning and a waste bucket by my side, I fell back to sleep.

 

Meanwhile my husband went to get me more allergy meds and ear drops. He bacame Dr Nick as he came into the room and said "Good morning, its 1:00pm you need to eat. I tried to eat some oatmeal, that didnt work so I had a half of peanutbutter sandwich and some broth. The ride was over and things were finally standing still. By 3:00 I started feeling somewhat better except for a slight ear ache and its still stopped up. Nick has been such a good doctor and he even did a few loads of clothes and refreshed our bedding.

I continued to sleep in my recliner all day. Its now 10:30 at night and finally feel like getting on my ipad to read and write. I hope I do not have a repeat of this tomorrow morning and I plan to visit the ENT soon. This is the worst I have felt since my back pain a couple years ago. Im never sick but pain and light headness, I can't tollerate well.

Good nite.

Apple Sauce Muffins

I have recently been asked to take a few photos and share some recipes of a couple healthy foods Ive been eating while maintaining my weight with Nutrisystem. I need to have them ready and emailed by Monday.

I'm working on that. 

This is not one of them.........

But I have had this recipe saved to make one day and today was the day.
I plan to have one for breakfast but other than that, I didn't need to make these. I just miss baking sometimes.
 

I get bored and while I wait on the clothes to dry or a program to come on TV,  I start piddling around in the kitchen. Ingredients in the pantry stare at me and scream, not to mention the smell fresh baked goodies put in the house.

 

These muffins were so easy to make. These included self rising flour, unsweetend applesauce, sugar, butter and 2 eggs. 

You can find the original complete recipe and instructions at the simpleasthat blog. 

At 145 calories each, they are soooo good with just enough sweetness.

Now back to photographing the healthy stuff then later im going shoe shopping for some new Nikes. 

Feels Like Spring

I know, Its only January but our temperatures here have been unseasonably warm.

The morning temperatures have been in the 50's and then warm up to the 70's by noon. It feels like spring.

I looked out the window this past weekend to find a sign of spring. It was a dandelion all alone in the middle of the back yard. I had to run out and snap a photo of this cutie.
We will have a hate relationship come summer.
  

 

I may have even talked to it. 

Ok yes, I did talk to it. Silly me.

As I was pulling into the driveway after work yesterday, I noticed my Camilla bushes (also known as "Tea Flower") were in full bloom. I think they are so pretty and look great in a vase.

 

I have a white one on one side of the house and a pink one on the other. Again, I had to snap a photo. 

 

These bushes are suppose to bloom in late Winter.

shhhh they think its late Winter.

I woke up this morning to birds singing and dancing; I think they may be confused. I love the sound of birds chirping in the mornings. I also love the sunshine beaming through the windows as I awaken but I'm not getting that yet until time starts changing. I guess "time" is something you can't confuse.

Its another beautiful day as the temperatures once again will be in the 70's.
I hear that by the end of the week, temperatures will be back to 30's in the mornings and 50's in the afternoons. I still do not think ill be needing a coat.

Moving Fiasco

My daughter and her roommate decided to move again. This will be the fourth time we have moved our daughter since she graduated college.
She keeps moving closer to uptown. She likes being a city girl and she also works here.

 

It was only about a 3 mile move but it still takes the same man power.
She is on a 3rd floor apartment with a forever long hall that leads to the large elevator. Moving things seem heavier and bigger now that we are older, so with that in mind, the girls decided to hire a moving company to move the furniture, large items and boxes that were stacked and ready to go.
The roommate was out of town but she had her things ready for the movers as well.

Saturday we rushed through breakfast, packed some tools and headed to Charlotte to help with getting the smaller things out and walls spackled at the old apartment and help get things in order at the new apartment after the move.

The movers were suppose to arrive at 12 noon.
We waited.........

1:00 came and still no movers so we called to find out an ETA.
The movers apologized and said they were not going to make it out due to family emergency or something like that. Great service huh?

So there we were, it was raining outside, and we left the pickup truck at home. Even if we could find someone to help, it was raining and a pickup truck would be useless.

After desperately searching for another moving company, we found one that would do it for more than we wanted to pay, but we had to get moved. They said they could be there between 3:00 and 3;30.

We grabbed a cart from the office and started loading our SUV with the smaller boxes. We were ready to take them over to the new apartment but we couldn't leave because it was to close to 3:00 and we didn't want to miss the movers.

So we waited....

 

and we played.....

 

and we waited.....

4:00 still no movers. We were fit to be tied, We were grumpy and the daughter was in tears. By now, we could have already moved half of this stuff ourselves. We called the movers, and left a message on their voice mail to just forget it, we want to cancel.
They called back and said "please do not cancel, our guys are pulling in now".
So we rush down to the loading dock and.....we waited....

4:30 still no movers. I called to tell them (again) to just forget it. We are tired , they lied and we will figure out another way. They begged us to wait.......assured us they would be there in a matter of seconds.....we waited.

5:30 Finally!!! They came......In a U-Haul! (a U-haul was actually gonna be our plan B).

I'm sorry to say this, but there were five large men and one woman that looked like they just escaped prison.....I kid you not! And only two of the six were the least bit friendly.
But we were desperate....

They get to the apartment and the price just went up because of the 3rd floor and long hall these men will have to battle. But we argued over this and got the price back down....Nice try.  I mean, We literally only had two beds, three dressers, a sofa and a TV table other than a few large boxes for them to move.

The guys were tired and acted like they were being forced to work.
Ok, first a real moving company will come equipped. These guys had no hand trucks, or anything! Really? But after a few hours, they eventually got the stuff loaded on the truck, and moved into the new apartment.

 

Once the movers left, we put her bed together and got back home at 11:30 pm. We were so tired.

 

We headed back the next morning to help get things unpacked and in order. We hung her curtains , mirrors and pictures, got her internet set up and cable working. woooh . We are done.

 

We learned a lesson and will probably never use a moving company again unless its a well reputable name even if it cost us more.

Isn't that the cutest kitchen though? My daughter was like "no cabinets! Where do I put my dishes?". On the shelves my dear. 

 

:

A New President

Happy Inauguration Day!

After eight long years, we now have a new face leading our country.

Hasn't It has been the craziest year? The nastiest campaigning and most awful news coming at you from all directions? I'm ready for things to settle down and lets get the ball rolling.

Not everyone is happy about President Trump being the new President but I have to admit, I'm pretty excited to see what he will do. He is strong and stands up for what he believes. He doesn't sugar coat anything. He says it like it is no matter how rude he may come across. I don't agree with everything he says but I'm willing to give him a chance. I think he needs to be a bit more humble and I don't think he handles criticism well. But hey I like him and when he says "Lets make America Great again", I believe he means it.

Will he do everything he says he will do? Probably not. But I'm excited to see him try.  I'm ready to have a strong military and secured borders. I'm ready for a new choices in health care and hope for more jobs coming in and less going out. I'm ready for the country to buckle down on crimes and have more values.  

People need to set aside their differences and come together. The president needs our support. He needs our respect and he needs our prayers, but you don't have to like him. 

 

Ok, so I had to purchase these cool socks to wear today. My blogger friend BJ got her a pair too and in her words "These have GOT to be the ugliest socks ever!" 

I agree but they gonna be fun! 

So here's to you President Trump. Lets make America Great Again!

No Bake Energy Balls

Do you ever have a sweet tooth or just need a little bite of something that's satisfying, healthy and gives you a little energy boost?

Sure you have.

Well look no further than this great little recipe I'm going to share with you today.

I have a busy weekend ahead and will using a lot of my energy as we will be helping my daughter move....AGAIN. more about on a later post, so first let me tell you about these little energy balls.

These little nibbles are great before or after a workout to add energy. They are just enough to satisfy you. I keep them in the fridge and grab one when I'm hungry before time to eat. It will satisfy that craving. It tells your mind you just ate a large candy bar but tells your hips that you just had a bite of oatmeal and honey.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw oatmeal ( I used the quick 1 minute ones)
• ½ cup peanut butter ( I used Jiff Natural low sodium. Just as good as the other)
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup mini semi sweet chocolates (optional)

Instructions

1. For best results, place oats in a food processor and process until oats are a course powder. pour into a mixing bowl.
2. Add peanut butter, honey, and vanilla to the oats. Stir until well combined. (this is the hard part)
3. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Roll into a small ping pong sized balls (about 1 tbsp each).
5. Place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes where they will get firm. (I just put them all in a bowl. They didn't stick to each other.)

Each ball has 87 calories so don't go all crazy on them if your trying to loose weight. Other wise, eat all you want.

You can mess around with these and add other things to them such as nuts, raisins, etc...

They are sorta hard to mix up but if they are too dry, add more peanut butter. If they are too sticky, add more oats. But with this recipe, mine were perfect.

ENJOY!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Today I had a baby shower to help with. It was for my niece. This will be her second baby girl. Shes due in March. My sister in law hosted the shower at her home and me and my daughter along with other family members, helped with the food and pickups. The theme she wanted was "baby its cold outside" while using pink and gold for the colors. 

It was originally scheduled for last week but due to the snow, we figured it would be best to reschedule it for today. I think the snow would have made the theme more appealing though. 

Today it was in the 60s and beautiful outside. 

I decided to make little smokies in the crock pot. I mean, arent those at every shower? Ha.

I made them by adding equal parts of grape jelly, mustard and BBQ sauce then let them cook for a couple hours before serving. They are always a hit.

I have to brag a bit on the gift my daughter made for the baby. Now, my girl loves cupcakes so this fit her creativness well. She used little onesies and newborn socks and created these adorable useable cupcakes.

  

 

 

Speaking of cupcakes, whoever made the real things, they were delicious!

They were pink with snowflakes and sprinkles.

 

I decided to make home made butter mints. I made these before the shower was rescheduled so they were in my house for a week screaming at me everytime I walked by them. It was hard not to snatch one or two but I did good at ignoring the notion.

 

I used moms recipe which consist of powdered sugar, corn syrup, Butter , mint flavoring and a drop of red. I used a fondant cutter as a press to look like bows stamped in the center. They turned out sort of ugly but what was done was done. I made too many to start over. No one seemed to care what they looked like.

I also made these fun little rice crispy squares dipped in pink chocolate melts and sprinkled with edible gold flakes. 

 

It's hard to see the gold flakes in the photo but I tried to get a quick shot before everyone started grabbing them.

I cheated on these though. I used premade rice crispy treats and cut each one in half. No one noticed.  

 

The shower turned out nice as it was just a drop in which meant no goofy games and staring contest. 

She liked her gifts she received. Remember the crocheted set I made? It got a lot of ohhhs and ahhhhs.

 

I decided to make a white pair of boots to go with the set. The pink ones I made first just didnt look right to me so I did a do over in white. 

Its been a long day and im tired. I got the call from my daughter that shes back home safe so now Im calling it a night. 

Writers block

Im having a bit of writers block.

Not sure if I have so much to say, that I dont know where to start or I that I really just dont have anything.

Things happen in the world and I get in "one of them moods". 

No, nothing bad has happened to me but just hearing the news and all the fussing over politics and things like that. I hear of murders and mean things happening everywhere and , well, it takes me out of the writing mode.

I think I have the Winter blues.

I just want to wake up at the beach.

Its Sunday, im heading to church then later I have a baby shower to attend. Stay tuned as I plan to share some of the ideas in putting it together. 

 

The Bun Beanie

Oops heres another crochet post. Hey, its cold over here and I got yarn! Im happy as a bee on a flower when Im sitting in my recliner crocheting. Especially when I know Im getting money out of it. I mean, health insurance is killin me and my pay check shows no remorse. So your getting another crochet post!

Before Christmas this big fad starting making its way around facebook and Pinterest. Its called a messy bun beanie. Girls that want to wear their hair up and still keep their ears warm all want these. They just slip their hair bun or ponytail through the hole and wah la.
Guys, if you got a "man bun" it will work for you too.

Two weeks before Christmas I got a slew of people wanting me to make them one. I had to turn them down because no way could I have gotten them all made before Santa came. 

Well things have calmed down around here now and I made a few of these neat little hats. The orders are coming in. Im Tickled. I make them available only through my shop. It never works out meeting someone for purchases. To much of a hassel. Its a lot easier to drop them in the mailbox. 

Here it is "The Bun Beanie".

 

Want one? Click on the picture and it will take you to my shop or click on the tab at the top of my page.

Ok. I think thats enough crochet show off. Ill brings some stories soon.  

Toodles.

Hooking in Pink

Haha got your attention didnt I.

I thought that was funny. 

I looked over at my husband the other night while I was curled up in my recliner and asked him..." Guess what I am?" He rolls his eyes, takes a deep breath and says " wut?".

My answer, "A lefty hooker". Get it? "Im left handed, crocheting, uhh, nevermind". Needless to say he didnt find it too funny.  He just nodded, " yea ok, whatever".

My niece is having a baby shower on Sunday. It was suppose to have been this past Sunday but was cancelled due to the snow. 

Meanwhile, I was stuck inside the whole weekend and needed to do something with my hands or I was going to eat the refrigerater. So I crocheted a couple baby things to give her at the shower. I already have her gift but this is just some extra purties from Aunt Lisa. I was going to crochet a baby blanket but I waited to long and then Christmas came, then new years. I was too busy to crochet such a project.

So, I crocheted some pink things for the new baby girl coming into the world in March. 

I crocheted a set including a romper with matching shoes and some button booties.

 

Her shower theme is pink and gold so I went with a gold ribbons. Not my favorite choice but I had it on hand and nothing else to use it on. 

 

I used my logo buttons on the button wrap booties. I think these are the cutest little things. Pretty easy to make but being left handed, shoes are hard for me since I have to follow all patterns backwards. Everyone crochets right to left but I crochet left to right. So with things that are left and right, it usually will not turn out correctly. 

Confused yet?

 

These little booties have neither a left or right so they are really easy for me to create. 

 

This was a first. A baby bubble romper. I found the pattern HERE and changed it up a bit. I added ruffles to the arms and puckered the leg holes a bit. Another cutie.

I will be making some pickups for the shower and can't wait to share those with you this weekend so stay tuned. 

And We Have Snow

The weatherman was right. I woke up to this.

 

I would say its about 3 inches. Enough to cover the roads, close some businesses and a lot of sledding. I keep watching up the road for the kids to come out and play. The snow is still coming down. Me and Nick may take a walk when it stops. Its 29 degrees here at 10:00 in the morning. 

One of the managers asked me to reschedule a couple appointments that were scheduled for today. He was unable to get his car out of the driveway and I have the means to login to the work computers from home. 

I also had this smiling at me this morning. 

 

The first flower of the season. Shes small, but every year when she sheds her flower, I will repot her in a larger pot. 

Meanwhile, I decided to make some egg muffins ( literally ).

 

I sprayed a muffin pan with cooking spray, and filled each cup with spinach, eggwhites, bacon and cheese. Then I baked them at 350 for 15 minutes. 

 

Delicious and only about 50 calories each. 

My plans today are to stay in. I have some laundry and house work to do, then Im heading to the kitchen to make some homemade Butternut Squash Apple Bisque soup using a recipe I found at Mountain Mama's blog. Go check it out. 

Ive never had butternut squash soup and only tasted butternut squash once, so this will be a surprise treat. The husband has his doubts about it so I hope its a win. If not, we will be eating bread and milk sandwiches. Haha. Just kidding, but cornbread and milk would not be out of the question.

I heard Myrtle Beach was even expecting some snow.

 

And the ones that have it can't use it.

 

Really? 

How is the weather where you are? 

Snow On The Way

Where I live snow is rarely seen. We can usually count on some kind of snow fall about once or twice between January and March. Very often will it be enough to lay on the roads.

When the weather mans says the S word, everyone goes crazy. The grocery stores are packed, the shelves are empty and bread turns into blocks of gold. 

According to the forecast, it suppose to snow all night and into the morning. 

They are calling for 6 or 7 inches and I cant find my gloves! Like everyone else, ill go digging around in the closets and drawers looking for some winter wear in case its deep enough to build a snowman. I don't think I even have a coat and rarely need a jacket. 

Driving home from work yesterday, I noticed the city has already treated the roads with a salt mixture.

I'm not a fan of snow. I'd rather be where there is warm sun and sand. I guess if I didn't have to worry about having to go to work in the snow, I might enjoy it better. 

However, Being a Saturday snow down, I think I can be a kid again for a day or two.
Im also gonna make some homemade soup.

Next weekend it will be back to feeling like spring. 

The Homeless Person

Part of my daily job is stopping by the post office in the mornings to pick up and drop off the business mail.

The post office is a large historic building that sits right in the middle of town. The streets are full of homeless people and panhandlers.  Though I am a compassionate person, I will admit, I cant stand a pan handler. It makes me mad that people walk up to you asking for money for bus tickets or to pay there moms doctor bill. I just don't buy into that. They are flat out lying to me. Its the same ones every day. These people are walking around all day doing this, they could make themselves presentable and work if they wanted too. But that's just what I think. 

A lot of times my husband will drive me to the post office on Sunday nights to get the mail so I don't have to on Monday. The post office seems to be a safe haven for the homeless after 6:00pm. Its always open, its warm and the there are recepticals to charge their phones. However, they ruin this luxury. It never fails, we walk into some nasty stuff after hours. There is pee in the floor and poop in the corners. I have even walked up on a man masturbating in the middle of the walkway. Its scary.
I loose compassion at this point. There is always a janitor cleaning the floors come Monday morning. The city ignores the problem and you are shunned and considered a hater if you complain about it. 

It was New Years day, We had just cleaned up the dishes from my new years dinner. I had lots of left overs and we delivered a plate to Nicks brother and headed to the post office. We walked in, and lying under the the mailbox I needed to get onto, was a person curled up in a blanket playing on a small flip phone.

I honestly could not tell if it was a male or a female as his hair was long and greasy and she/he was skinny as a rail and wearing mix matched clothes. She/He did not ask for money but spoke kindly to us as we walked by. "Yall have a nice evening" she/he said. Me and Nick both nodded and said you do the same as we tried not to make eye contact. I felt sorry for this person as they have scooped so low on life. Here I was, just finished a big meal surrounded by family and this person is making a bed with a rag blanket against a mailbox. My heart broke as I called back to him "stay warm!" She/ he said "I will. Thank you!"  

When we were safely back in the car, I told Nick I wish I knew that person would be there and I could have brought him a plate of left overs. I had so many.
Sometimes I think "what if that was Jesus?".
This particular homeless person has been on my mind ever since. I would have loved to hear her/his story. What makes a person like this? No family? Drugs? Just release from jail?" Who knows. Something keeps telling me I should have shared some scripture with him. But I ignored my chance. 

I now have an idea of making some care bags filled with protein bars, Tylenol (because they have to hurt), a water, some moist wipes and a tiny Bible. I will keep them in my car in case I run into another sweet homeless person. I usually don't pay them much attention as I feel they choose this way of life. But sometimes there is that one that hits my heart.