YAY, I did it.

I actually visited, followed and commented on everyone in the list. Ok, ok, so the list was small and no, I didn't actually read in depth everyone's blog, but I promise I will go back and do that throughout the week. And hey, it doesn't take much to make me happy, so let me have my moment.

Ok, I'm done. It's been a long day and I'm headed off to bed. I hope all you blogsters sleep well. OMGosh, did I actually say that? It's my delirium, I'm definately headed off to bed.

Monday Madness - A New Party!

I'm finding that the best way to discover new blogs, is by participating in these parties! i've already met some pretty fantastic people, and I'd love to meet more. Please leave me a comment, and let me know that you stopped by. Follow the instructions, and have your own Monday Madness party!

What is Monday Madness?

Monday Madness was created by us: mommy bloggers Micael and Meghan. Mommy, daddy, single, stay at home parent, working parent, blogger, non-blogger, pie lover, pie hater (who hates pie, seriously?).... it doesn't matter who you are or what you do, Monday's tend to be crazy, right? So we thought we would bring a little fun into your Monday routine. And at the same time you'll get to check out new blogs, network with others, make new friends and connections - multitasking at itsbest!

So what do I do to participate?

It's really easy to participate with us! Just follow the steps below and you'll be set!

1.Follow the hostess blogs at Saving Obsession and The Tuckers Take Tennessee for some Madness Lovin'.

2.Grab the McLinky code and make a post on your blog about Monday Madness, so more people can join in the fun!

3.Add your blog name and link to the McLinky below.

4.Check out some of the blogs on the list and follow ones you like. Leave a comment to let them know you're from Monday Madness.

5.If someone follows your blog, follow them back to keep the Madness going.

That's it! Visit and follow as few or as many blogs as you'd like!

Hey, can you get addicted to blogging?

Ok, so it is painfully obvious that I'm new to blogging, I've only been on here about a week or so (too lazy to check right now). I'm stumbling around with this blog hopping (like New Friends Friday) and with all the ins and outs of posting, commenting and following. I've discovered this entire subculture here, people who have their own language and way of communicating back and forth. But OMGosh, did you guys know that there are free craft ideas, recipes and sewing patterns all over this site? Tips on fashion and home decorating and I'm not sure what else, I haven't gotten that far yet. Well, I sat down Friday to do this blog hopping thing and started visiting all these sites and then I just couldn't stop. I was on most of Fri. until nearly 4am, got up at 9am, got back on and other than an hour and a half cooking, eating and cleaning dinner session, I was on until 2am. Each blogspot you go to can take you to a bunch of others and they will take you to even more, and so on and so on. I hopped and hopped and hopped. Ok, so I know this is not new to any of you guys, but I am totally enthralled with it all, so much so that I will have to show great restraint while on here. I mean, I wouldn't want this to become a serious problem in my life...LOL

I would love to meet new people today!

Sometimes I seem to have just the craziest weeks, but I always am able to find humor in them. Ever had one like that, if so tell me about it, I would love to hear it. I am hoping to find new friends and new blogs to visit. If you would like the same, add your blog addy to the list at the bottom and visit as many as you can, you will be amazed at the amount of visitors you get. As I said, a great way to meet new people.

Friday Followers Blog Hop

As I was surfing around a few different blogs to get an idea of how I might want to set mine up (being so new to this),I ran across something called the Friday Followers Blog Hop. I thought, why not? I put my blog addy in there and had traffic almost immediately. This seems like a great way to get people to your blog and to find new and interesting blogs for you to look at. I know this is probably old hat to most of you guys but this is all new to me and I think any help I can get is great. So, to the gentleman who developed this I say thank you very much.

Flu time!!!! Can anyone help?

Well, I guess the title says it all. It's flu time in my little town which means everyone will get it, and sickness will rotate around and around as if it was in a big toilet bowl. We are set in a little valley which is beautiful but the air never seems to clear out, not to mention the fact that as a small town we just keep reinfecting each other. We moved here about 5 years ago and I just love it. I've noticed though that everybody is related to each other, everybody. It's a little creepy to be honest. I've always wanted to live in a small town and if truth be told, I could live in an even smaller one happily. Anyway, my girls and husband are coming down with the stomach flu and our financial situation is such that we can't afford to have my husband or daughter out of work long. I was wondering if anyone had any remedies that might speed this up or even just make them more comfortable while they are going through it. I would really appreciate any help, and thank you in advance.

We bought a business 6 years ago and actually moved here for that specific purpose. Due to the economy, especially in this state (Idaho), we very quickly went from a half a million dollar a year business to losing everything. It was so fast, I still can't believe it happened. I don't mind so much what we lost (sort of) but my husband and I really have a problem with owing people money and not seeing any way to pay it all back. In the blink of an eye everything changed and we now struggle to put food on the table. I'm not whining, just stating the facts. I'm sure there are so many people out there in the same situation or worse and I wish things would turn around quickly, but I'm afraid it will be a while yet. I hope I'm wrong.

My sister and her family are coming home tonight from a two week cruise and I'm really excited to see them. We live next door to them as they very generously let us move a mobile home onto their 5 acres. Funny thing, I've been with Mark for 27 years and she's been with Jim for 25 years and we just discovered a few months ago that the guys were related. They are actually second cousins. It really is a small world. I hope you all have a great night and a blessed evening.

Not a great day - I changed my mind, it's a great day!

I want to start by saying that I rarely complain about my pain because it doesn't help anything and it makes everyone around me sad, but today I'm going to do it. (Sorry) My pain is so bad I can hardly stand it, it has made me cry and makes me want to scream! There, I said it. The walls didn't fall down and the earth didn't shake. I know that sounds silly but trust me, it has everything to do with how I was raised. You know, something about suck it up soldier. Besides, I don't want to bring everyone around me down, I feel bad enough for a hundred people sometimes. I'm pretty sure I caused this myself by trying to wean off the steroids before my body was ready, but you don't know if you don't try. This flare looks like it's turning into one of those really long ones, I was afraid of that. It started with my whole body covered in hives and rashes that moved around, popping up somewhere then disappearing and popping up somewhere else. I even had the butterfly rash on my face, just lighter this time. It never ceases to amaze me how many different ways this disease can present itself. There are so many symptoms associated with it I can hardly keep up. I don't usually have rashes that bad at the start of a flare, normally it's a combination of ulcers, swelling in my hands (very painful), extreme tenderness in my joints and muscles that makes me walk like a ninety year old woman, small rashes and various other signs. My asthma always worsens, but the one thing that drives me the craziest is that my hair starts falling out. I mean clumps of it, not just when I brush it but just running my hands through it gets me the same result. I cannot tell you how glad I am now that I had unusually thick hair all my life. I didn't like it so much growing up because it was a hassle, but I'm grateful now. It's funny the things you become grateful for when you have Lupus, things most people take for granted. That's one thing I hope anyone with Lupus remembers, as bad as it is that day, the pain, the depression and the isolated feelings, there is always, I promise you, always someone out there worse off than you. All you have to do is turn on the news to understand that. I don't mean to get on my soapbox but I've read a few blogs about Lupus and the thing that breaks my heart is that not one of them talked about anything good in their lives. I get the craziness of having this disease, the endless rounds of doctors appointments, the endless bouts of pain and the feeling that nobody truly understands what you are going through, but I can't believe that none of these people have anything good in their lives. I hope I'm wrong and that they've just chosen to only write about the downside of this disease (as if there is an upside), but I get the feeling that some of these people have just given up and that really does break my heart. Life is so precious that as long as you're breathing there is something good in your life, there has to be you know, something to hold on to until you start feeling better, anything to grasp and strangle until you come out on the other side. I have to believe that or I wouldn't make it through these flares and I don't think others can either. Now (stepping down off my soapbox) I feel stupid for writing this stuff sometimes, but I think that's what this is all about, I least I hope it is. Did I mention that I was on heavy drugs? No? I'll tell you about that later when I'm not feeling so loopy. I always start these early in the day and don't finish them until the end of the day, that's why I jump around so much, I'm not that loopy yet LOL. I hope you all have a great evening and a blessed night.

Meet Me now...sort of

Good morning and Happy Easter everyone. I didn't make it to church with the rest of my family today, I tried, even woke up early, but I could barely move so I didn't go. :( Last night was the second night I took only half of my steroid dose and I don't think my body is ready to taper off them just yet, so back to full dose I go. I think I will call my PA and ask her how long she thinks it might be this time on the roids. I have the coolest PA here, she just treats my symptoms and lets me call most of the shots. Now I know that any of you out there with Lupus would be horrified to hear this, but my situation is a little bit different.



I was born in Texas, spent almost 10 yrs. out of the United States (Army Brat) and then moved to California, where I finished growing up. Oh, and did I mention I was adopted? (makes it real hard to pin down family history of illnesses) Funny thing, I guess I was but I never thought of myself as sickly growing up. I had horrible migraines starting at age 6 which didn't end, for the most part, until I was pregnant with my first at age 21. My mom took me to a series of horses azz doctors that said I was either making it up for attention or I was crazy and just imagining the kind of pain that had me vomiting and writhing on the floor. (remember, it was the seventies and I guess they just didn't know better) My mom, God bless her, as this was one of the very few times in my life she took my side, of course it was hard to miss the veins bulging out of my forehead and throbbing, so she took me to more doctors. They couldn't figure it out either, but she believed me and that's what really counted to me even at that young age. Finally at about age 11 or 12, one specialist concluded that it might be migraines but was unwilling to give me anything for the pain because of my tender age. My mom read up on a new type of therapy called Bio Feedback and taught me her own version of it. It was life changing in that it allowed me to get outside of the pain long enough until I either passed out, or it just passed. It is honestly true that this was one of the only things she ever did for me unselfishly in my life and that's why I will never forget the power she gave me over some of my worst pain. I'm really not whining or boohooing about my pitiful childhood, I'm just saying. Anyway, as you can imagine this sent me on a lifelong path of ignoring things wrong with me, lying to doctors if I thought they wouldn't believe me, or sharing any intimate details about myself, like anything going on with my body. Not the best things to do for a girl growing up with Lupus. As if it isn't hard enough to diagnose, I made it nearly impossible.



Ok, I'm back after a 5 1/2 hour break. Break, HAH! I was babysitting for my neighbor. I knew I should say no but I can't help myself, I adore that little guy, just love the stuffin out of him. (7 mth. old perfect little specimen) I'm really tired now, shaking inside from pushing myself so I think I will finish my intro at a later time. I'm really starting to like this, it's cathartic in a way and it almost feels sinful at the thought of strangers reading about my most personal thoughts and feelings. More later, I hope you all have a great evening and a blessed night.

Meet my husband (sort of)

I'm definitely not one of those techie type of people, and I never thought I would do something like this as I am an extremely private person, but the idea of actually writing down my feelings and emotions is somehow really appealing. I can't imagine why anyone would find my life at all interesting but I will say that if through my many years of experience with Lupus I might help someone, it would please me immensely. I will start with the basics so here goes: I am 42 yrs. old, married and have two wonderful daughters. (I guess everyone says that, huh?) I've been with my husband since I was 15 and he was 21. What a pervert, right? Anyway, we are still very much in love, no really! We actually like each others company and still talk about everything going on in our lives. He's not perfect nor am I, but he's less perfect and here's why: My husband is, was and always has been a pretty selfish person. His mother babied and enabled him all his life, and when I got together with him, I took right over where she left off. I know, I know!!! I knew what I was doing then and I know what I am doing now. I take some perverted pleasure out of being the one person who can do everything for everyone, make everyone happy and still be everyone's best friend. It's a long complicated story I might share later, yadda, yadda, yadda! Anyway, He has always liked things his way and I've always accommodated him for the most part, even after my diagnosis 12 yrs. ago, until about 5 yrs. ago. I became the sickest I've ever been and have not been able to rally from this one, meaning a flare. A flare is when you are having active symptoms due to the Lupus as opposed to being in a remission like state. I must say five years is a long time to be constantly sick when you have a personality like mine. My poor husband, what was he to do? I was still able to do for him to an extent, but nothing like what he'd been used to all his life. Well, I'll tell you what he did: he changed. Not totally or all at once, but slowly and with some hard bumps. But he changed! He started doing more for himself, and more than that, he started doing more for me. Can you believe it? Mister, I have to have everything my way and must not be inconvenienced, actually started waiting on me. After 27 years together habits can be pretty hard to break but he is, slowly and surely, and he couldn't have shown me he loved me more if he had shouted it from the rooftops. Now you see why I said at the beginning that I was still in love with him after all these years. It goes without saying why he is still in love with me after all these years. (you know, all the waiting on hand and foot) Damn! I said it anyway, Oh well. Like I said before, I don't know if anyone will be interested in any of this, but it sure felt good to write some of it down. I'm kinda proud of myself, an old non-techie like myself. This just might become a habit. ;) More later, must cook dinner. I hope you all have a great evening and a blessed night!

New to this: Not tech savy, but gotta start somewhere

I would like to start my new blog but as usual, I have to go. Welcome to Mi Vida Loca LOL