Another Sad Day

I had a "12 Months of Christmas" post scheduled for today, but in light of the events in Boston yesterday, I have rescheduled it to post tomorrow.

There are no words to describe the tragedy in Boston. I feel like lately there have been entirely too many posts like this- too many innocent people caught up in something terrible as they try to go about their daily lives, or spend what should have been a fun day out with friends and family.

Prayers are going out to those whose lives have been impacted by such a senseless act. 

Now we wait to see if this was a "homegrown" act of terror, or an outside force :(.

-Kristen

Saying Goodbye

The hardest part of having a hobby homestead, or having pets, or owning animals of any kind, is that we have to say goodbye to them all too soon.   No matter how much lover and affection we shower on them, they will be gone before we are and it's heartbreaking.

Pot as a young pullet.

Today we had to say goodbye to Pot, a black bantam cochin hen. She was only 14 months old, but developed a prolapsed uterus. I researched the problem as best I could and based on my findings, decided that the best thing for her was to euthanize her. Unfortunately, as a young hen in the prime of her productive life, the problem could occur every few days- or several times a day, even if we were able to fix it to begin with.

That's no life.

The hardest part of being with animals is loving them, naming them, then holding them for one last time, knowing you are about to forever put an end to them. I can tell myself she had a good life with us, she was loved and cared for. I can tell myself that she could have just as easily passed away as a day old chick, or lived with someone who neglected her, that a good short life is better than a long bad one, but in the end- a short life is still short.

Pot & Kettle- the day before Easter, 2013

It is important to remember that sometimes, the only gift you can give your beloved pets and charges is mercy.  So I hugged Pot close one last time, stroked her neck feathers while she murmured to me and whispered a quick "I'm sorry".  Then we let her go.  Not because we wanted to, but because it was what was best for her. 

It's part of life, but oh, I hate it so much.  I hate saying goodbye.  I hate even more making that decision, or having to be the one that ends the life.  I don't think it's something I'll ever get used to or take lightly.

Still- maybe there is some comfort in knowing that she couldn't have been loved any better, or missed any more.

-Kristen

Newtown, Connecticut

I've been a bit quiet this weekend as far as the blog goes. 

I, like I imagine most of you were, was glued to the tv and the internet sites, looking for updates on the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut that took the lives of so many.  As the death toll numbers climbed higher, my heart sank lower.

As the names and ages, the pictures and the stories emerged, the tears started.  I wish I could say they have ended, but they haven't.

I was privileged to hear Tim speak on the tragedy in church on Sunday.  Privileged because he had written a different sermon.  He decided less than an hour before bed on Saturday evening that he would speak on the shooting instead.  He didn't write the sermon- he opened his mouth on Sunday and the beautiful words just came out.

He answered the question we all ask- Where was God?

God was with the custodian who ran down the hall calling warnings, with the person in the office who turned on the intercom to alert the classrooms to trouble.  He was with the principal and the school psychologist as they ran towards the shooter, not away.  He was there with the teachers who hid their children in bathrooms and closets, with the teacher who reached into a hallway to pull a child to safety as bullets flew past and with the teachers who used their bodies to shield their students.  He was with the children themselves, as they followed instructions, as they watched out for each other- as one child said "It's ok, I know karate.  I'll lead the way out."  He was with everyone who chose to preserve, to build, to help that day.

Tim told us something else important- this was not God's Will.  People will try to justify it by saying God had a plan and it was for these children to die. God needed the children more than we did.  Others will say God killed the children and wonder how a loving God could do such a thing.

God didn't kill these babies and these educators. We have the opportunity to build and we have the opportunity to destroy, through the free will that God grants us.  A person killed these children.  A person who made a terrible decision.  Noah, one of the little boys killed, had a twin sister who lived because of the decisions her teacher made. 

We can't change the events that unfolded in Newtown.  We can't say the words that will magically take the pain out of the hearts of every person there- and in people across the country and the world.  There are no words to say.   Maybe one day Noah's sister, shaped by the events of today, will do something incredible in honor of the brother she won't get to grow up with.  Maybe those of us who are blessed in that we aren't experiencing this tragedy from such a personal level will hold our loved ones tighter, tell them we love them more often.

The lasting memorial of these children and teachers is Love.  Love harder, love stronger, love more often.  Love those around us who need it, whether they are our relations.  When we rise out of the ashes with love, we take a step forward, a step closer to a better world.


-Kristen

Terrible Tragedy

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world."- Fred Rogers

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Connecticut who have been affected by the terrible events of today.

-Kristen

False Advertising

I recently purchased 25 Black Broiler chicks from Ideal Poultry.  According to their website "Black Broilers are efficient producers of broiler meat for those who do not wish to have white plumage broilers. When broiler rations are fed, producers can expect to have six pound broilers in seven weeks or less. Since black broilers are more active than Cornish Rocks and grow slightly slower, they rarely experience leg weakness or Ascite, which is fluid in the body cavity."
This is the entire description.  Sounded good to me- fast growing, efficient birds, without the worry of sudden death. 

At 7 weeks old, my largest bird weighs 2 3/4 lbs.  Now, admittedly I am not good at math, but it seems to me that 2 3/4lbs is somewhat smaller than 6lbs.  In fact, it seems like it is a lot smaller than 6lbs.

Upon calling the company, I talked with a representative who told me she hates the wording on the website because no one gets those results.  In fact, according to her, every single factor must be 100% correct to get a 6lb bird in 7 weeks from this cross.

Wow.  Can we say False Advertising much?  My birds have been fed a high protein broiler feed, given clean water and kept properly- and they are not even half the advertised size.   I did get my money back for the birds (after demanding something be done), but meanwhile I've put quite a bit of feed in to them and now I am stuck with birds that aren't even close to a good butchering weight, and may not be ready for another few months!

At this point, I am trying to figure out when to cut my losses and have the birds processed.  I can expect maybe a pound and a half chicken if we have it done now, but I can not have roosters that start crowing.  It is annoying to me and I am sure it will be annoying to my neighbors.

I have been very disappointed with my dealings with Ideal Poultry.  Meanwhile, these poor birds are in a situation where they are unwanted because they didn't perform as expected.

Oh well, it is what it is.  We'll see after butchering the first few roosters if it's worth it or how to proceed from here.

-Kristen

What the drought means for us.

www.thedailybeast.com

I live in North Carolina- so why should I worry about the drought in the midwest? After all, we've been getting rain.

Initially, we are actually going to see some slight benefits from the drought.  I predict that price of meat is going to drop as the market is glutted with animals going to slaughter.  If you are looking to purchase farm animals yourself, you're going to find a lot of quality animals for bargain prices in the winter and early next year as people begin selling off parts of their herd to reduce the feed bill.

However, the drought that is killing field after field of corn and burning up the hay fields will make itself felt in not-so beneficial ways.  After the initial flooding of the markets with beef, expect to see much higher prices next year as smaller herds mean less animals to go to slaughter.  The price of food, from dog food or farm animal food to people food and other necessities that contain corn will rise, rise, rise as the crop will be so poor that any corn that makes it to market will be sold at a premium price.  The U.S. ships more than half of all world exports of corn- a failed crop impacts anyone that works in those industries.  Those in farm equipment sales are seeing a drop in sales as folks either can't afford to purchase new equipment or having nothing to harvest.

It's not all about corn either.  Most of the soybean crop is also beyond saving.  We are lucky here in the southeast, as soaking rains earlier this summer have helped restore some of our crops and gardens, but on a global scale, it's going to be too little to help.  Other countries are experiencing their own droughts and record high temperatures, which isn't going to help ease the world wide burden.

So what can you do?  Not a lot, unfortunately.  Now is the time to stockpile what you can and as much as you can, as food prices are expected to soar.  If you and your family love corn, I'd make plans to grow my own next year and meanwhile hit the local Farmer's Market in hopes of getting some to freeze for later.   If you have the ability and the need, go ahead and buy your hay now before the price increases hit. A friend of mine has already seen her rabbit feed price jump $2.00 a bag in a week.  Cull down any herds or flocks that you can now, while you still have an opportunity to make back some of your investment or even turn a profit.

There is no need to panic, but there is every reason to start preparing now. 

The Dark Knight Rises

We went to see "The Dark Knight Rises" yesterday.  Actually we found a pretty decent little theater that sells tickets before 5:00pm at the ridiculous sum of $4.00 each.  We will be attending more movies this summer, I think!

Anyway, we arrived, grabbed our tickets and headed in to the sparsely attended movie.  That's why I go when I do- I hate crowds.  The rustling of food containers, the slurping of nearly empty drinks- the inevitable talker, nose-blower and small child who won't hush and really shouldn't have been in the movie anyway- yes, that's why I attend weekday matinees.

We settled in and I noticed it- the cracks of light showing around the door of the theater that exits to the outside.  I won't lie and pretend it didn't make me uncomfortable.  I'm not one of those folks that immediately thought "oh no, there was a shooting in Aurora, so it will happen if I go see the movie too", but let's be real.  There are copycats out there and people are clearly crazy.

I noticed myself paying more attention to people who got up to leave during the movie, whether it was for a quick potty break or to get a refill of one of their snacks.  I ran my eyes across them to make sure they looked the same as they had when they left.  I watched a movie attendant come in not once, not twice, but three times during the 2 hour and 45 minute movie to check that door I mentioned earlier- the one that leads to the outside.

It's sad.  A harmless pastime, a way to beat the heat and escape the real world for a while is no longer the safe haven it was.  We find ourselves on high alert, even if you know the odds of the same thing happening that happened in Aurora are very, very low.

This insecurity will last for a while. Then we'll find ourselves slipping back in to complacency- at least until the next big, horrible tragedy.  Who knows what form it will take?  At least for a while, we'll be able to pretend the violence is only something we see on the big screen.

Incidentally, the Dark Knight Rises was excellent.  I really recommend seeing it in a theater.  Just don't be surprised if you find yourself tracking the movements of those around you. 

-Kristen

Colorado Theater Shooting

I woke this morning and jumped on some news sites only to discover that a deadly shooting had occurred in Colorado, at the premier of "The Dark Knight Rises".

As more information surfaces about the tragedy, the media begins giving the body count names.  Yes, the "12 dead" had lives, families, stories to tell us.

One such "number" was a 6 year old child.  One was an aspiring sportswriter that had survived the Eaton Centre shooting in Toronto just a month ago.  Jessica Ghawi's last blog was detailing an uneasy feeling that led her to change her plan of eating sushi and shopping, instead scarfing down a burger and then heading outside for fresh air.  Less than 3 minutes later, a gunman opened fire from the same spot she had been sitting.  A victim was found in the same area she would have been, had she gone for sushi instead of obeying some higher instinct.

To survive that, only to senselessly die in a movie theater- it almost seems like something from a movie itself. We can't believe life would be that cruel, to allow someone to avoid a fate only to fall to it a month later.

In the wake of the shooting, many people are crying out how terrible guns are.  They don't want to acknowledge the gunman was also carrying a knife or that he threw in "some type of smoke bombs" and a bomb that "spewed a noxious gas".  Clearly, this is a deranged individual that was intent on hurting or killing people, no matter if he had to do it with a rusty nail and a spoon.  This is no time for a knee jerk reaction, calling for the heads of all gun owners, nor is it the time to try to force people to give up their 2nd Amendment Rights.

But this isn't about politics. Or gun control. Or anything but the heartbreaking tragedy of the families of a group of people who just wanted to be the first to see a movie.

Even as I write this blog, I'm watching the sympathy pour out on Facebook, speckled with the inevitable "my cousin once visited a city in Colorado.  Hope he's ok" type attention-mongering.

This kind of thing makes you worry- makes you wonder if you are safe going to a concert, or a festival- or yes, even going to a midnight premier of a movie.  What else can you do though? You can't lock yourself in your home and wrap your family with bubble wrap- even then you aren't safe.  You just have to realize that bad things are going to happen to good people.  That this didn't happen because God wanted it to, but because some asshole decided to open fire in a theater.  Bad things are going to keep happening and you just have to live your life as best you can and hope that you can get through your years on this earth without them happening to you and those you love the most.  None of us are guaranteed 80 years of stress free happiness- I wish we were.

Today, it's time to just hold on a little longer when we hug, laugh a little louder when something tickles our funny bones and give just a little more of our love to those around us.  If not for the pure pleasure of doing it, do it in honor of those who will never be able to hug their loved ones again.

-Kristen

Depression Lies

Whether you suffer from crippling depression or "depression lite", as I self-deprecatingly refer to my own struggles, it's important to remember one thing.

Depression Lies.
That's what it is, you know. It's every self doubt, every bad feeling, every tiny, niggling, paranoid thought you've ever had.  It takes up residence in your brain and it roots there.  It's anxiety, blackness, despair- and it's a liar.

I have finally been able to identify some of my own triggers. I can be perfectly fine for such a long time, then suddenly there it is- it starts with a fluttering feeling in my chest and a sense of urgency. It moves to an almost frantic searching for something.  Maybe it's a way to save more money, I don't know- it just depends on what the trigger is at the time as to what I'm searching to change, or "fix".

The anxiety builds, it paves the way for a little more self-doubt to sneak in. Then a lot more.  Then suddenly, everything is bad. Everything.
Some people spend days or weeks in a dark fog, unable to get out of bed. Some people are "walking depression victims"- they can function and seem relatively normal, but inside is a turmoil.

Why am I posting about this?  Why do I occasionally post about depression in general?  To remove the stigma.  I'm not going to say something kitschy like "depression isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign you've been strong too long"- I'm going to just say- Depression Lies.
Whatever it tells you, wherever you are, whatever is going on in your life- it's too easy to listen to the negativity.  Don't.  If only it was that easy.

-Kristen

Job Worry

In this economy, worrying about your job security is pretty commonplace.  Tim and I are lucky in that we know that Tim is guaranteed an appointment- though there are rumors that this guarantee may be nixed in the near future.  Even then, Tim is a rarity in his field- a young, first-career preacher.  Top if off by the fact that he hasn't been in major trouble and he graduated from a top University (two, if you want to be honest) and is oh-so-close to becoming fully ordained and you find him several pegs up from the bottom of the totem pole.  We all know the cuts start with the bottom positions and the oldest folks (think forced early retirement), so we are at least confident that Tim will have a job always unless something drastic and terrible happens to the Methodist Church as a body.  We are extremely lucky to know that we have one income we can count on.

Then there is me.   With Tim's job requiring moving around a lot, it's much harder to build a career.  In fact, in the mountains a career wasn't possible, as the few jobs that existed were very much filled based on who you knew or were related to. So I took the job I could find and dealt with the fact that I didn't particularly enjoy the work.

When we moved, it was a bit difficult to find new employment.  After all, the economy was down, the nearest big city has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state and not long after we moved here more businesses shut down- leading to more unemployment.

We all know all about this kind of thing- so why am I bringing it up?

My job is currently $15,000 in the red.  They made budget cuts at the beginning of the year and through some folks not giving what they had committed to and some complicated church politics... we are still hemorrhaging money.

An emergency finance meeting is being called for May.  My worry is that soon my position may be reduced- or eliminated all together.  Where does that leave me? Unemployed or working even less hours than I get now- which isn't going to work for us financially.

Luckily, thanks to my stockpile, we do have a lot of health items- toothpaste, shampoo, etc.  That will be helpful if we go down to a one-income-family.  I am going to be focusing my energy on finding things to sell around the house and hitting the sales even harder for non-perishable food items that I can stock up on.  What extra money I can scrimp and save will go in to our "Emergency Fund". 

I guess we should be thankful that the trip to San Diego is 80% paid for- we have our tickets, the rental car, the hotel, etc. already booked and paid for.  I'll just have to coupon harder to save us money while we are there!

This could all be for nothing- I could keep my job and my hours- but since I do have some warning that there could be a problem, it would be foolish not to prepare as best I can now.

-Kristen

Racism and the movies

 The Hunger Games is out and it is huge.

I read the books- they are fantastic.  I have seen the movie- it is fantastic.

However, wouldn't you know that people have taken something that should have been wonderful and fun and twisted it in to something ugly.

There are two characters in the movie, Rue and Thresh, who are Tributes from District 11.   In the movie, they are portrayed by black actors.

Let me start off by saying both people do a stellar job with their parts.  Thresh especially fit exactly what I was expecting out of him, even though he and Rue are not in the movie very much. 

Spoiler Alert

Apparently some of our narrow-minded nation has flocked to Twitter and other social media to complain that the two characters are *gasp* black.  Never mind that the author writes about them having "dark skin".  I guess she didn't spell it out enough for these people.  One wrote that "Ugh, they made Rue black.  Now her death has no meaning."

Yeah...read that again.  Because this little girl is black, her death is meaningless.
That's probably not what this teenage idiot meant.  More than likely, she meant that she was so distracted by the difference in the Rue on the screen and the Rue in her head that it robbed the little girl's death scene of it's emotion because she couldn't just get over it.  That is not, however, what she said.

Other tweets of note:

"Ewwww rue is black?? I'm not watching,"
"Why did the producer make all the good characters black?"

"Why does rue have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the movie."

Wow.  Not to mention the "N" word was bandied about.  After all, Lord forbid you find out that the character you bawled over was really just some little black girl.  

These two people should be celebrating a phenomenal opening weekend after having landed the great roles in a movie that is breaking records left and right.  Instead, they are dealing with racism surrounding the color of the skin of fictional characters.  My heart goes out especially to this adorable little girl, Amandla Stenberg, who is 13 years old.

It's an ugly world, Amandla, full of ignorant people who speak before they think- who do a lot of things before they think.  Unfortunately, they tend to breed and create more small minded idiots just like themselves.  The best thing to do is just keep smiling.  At the end of the day, you two are huge successes. They are just sad, racist, narrow-minded, pathetic sacks of worthless.  Maybe if they are lucky, some day they will crawl out of the gutter and join the rest of society. 

I wouldn't count on it though.

-Kristen

Allergies

It appears that I finally have developed Spring allergies.  Oh joy of joys.

Even though it is March, Spring is in full bloom and has been for weeks.  With temperatures ranging as high as the mid-80s this "winter",  the bugs are out and about- being obnoxious, as per their purpose in life.  I even had to dodge a lazy bumble bee yesterday, who came out to investigate our beautiful buttercups.

For several years I've dealt with the vague feeling that spring allergies were going to start appearing in my life- the occasional itchy eyes on a particularly high pollen day, a sneeze or two more than normal... but it's sad to see them finally here.

Oh well, it's a small price to pay for the beautiful, depression free, 60-80 degree-days winter that we just experienced.  I do have a feeling that bugs and allergies are going to be particularly bad this year.  I hope Summer comes in like a lamb and we get more mild, beautiful days than we do scorching hot ones!

-Kristen

Regrets

The radio station I listen to in the mornings (and pretty much always, but this involves the morning show) was on the subject of regrets this morning.  Did you know that the average person spends almost an hour a week thinking about their regrets?  That's 52 hours a year- over two full days out of every single year.

We all have things we wish we hadn't done.  Or that we wish we had done- or handled differently.  The more time we waste on our regrets, the more time we lose of our lives. 

Can you do anything about it now?  If yes- then do it.  If not, move on!  I realize it doesn't seem that easy, but what is the other option? Spending two days a year for the rest of your life worrying over things you can't or won't change now?

Everything you have experienced, both good and bad, make you who you are and have brought you to this point in your life.  If you are having a rough time, you are learning, you are toughening up, you are forging a new part of yourself.

Don't waste so much of your life thinking about what could have been, should have been.  Appreciate the lessons you've learned the hard way and pick up, move on! There are bigger and better things always around the corner, if we can just see them.

-Kristen

Call the Lawyers

So, I'll be getting a lawyer soon.  Allstate, the insurance of the person who caused the wreck I was in wants to give me $500 (which includes the $212 it cost me to go to the doctor and get medicine) and wants me to release them from any future responsibility.

Oh hellllllllllllll no.

My neck still hurts. I don't know that I might not need some serious treatment later on- or not so later on.  $288 is not going to cover anything if I have to get more medicines or start physical therapy.

So, I'm in the process of seeking a lawyer and we'll see how it plays out from here.  I have definitely learned a lot about what to do after a car accident.  I can't wait until later on when I can fully blog about all of this!

-Kristen

Death-

No one will ever get out of this world alive.

Tim's Granny Drum isn't doing well.  She was admitted to the hospital on Thursday with almost no kidney function.  His uncle chose to ignore her Living Will, which forbids the use of any machines to keep her alive and asked the doctors to put her on dialysis. Friday she was unresponsive and Tim's Mom (Sharon) and Uncle (Steve) were faced with a tough decision- deciding whether or not to take her off of dialysis.  They had pretty much decided to keep her on pain medication and leave her feeding tube in, but discontinue any other life saving measures because of her wishes stated in the Living Will.

We were trying to plan when we might need to go to Atlanta, I was trying to find funeral clothes and Tim has been informed he will "get" to do the funeral.  When you are a preacher, you don't get a chance to be grieving grandson/son/cousin/in-law/whatever.

Today, Tim's Granny is responsive.  In fact, she was sitting up and speaking with everyone at last update.  The doctors aren't sure whether or not she will make it- she has some health issues and some early-stage dementia.

Right now, we're in a holding pattern.  We don't know if Granny Irene will pull through or pass away.  She may make it through this scare and pass away a month later- or a year later.  Or ten years later.

We just don't know.

-Kristen

Side Effects May Include...

I'm a little disappointed in my doctor.

He put me on two medications to help me recover from the car wreck, the first being a muscle relaxer and the second being a pain reliever.  I asked a few questions- should I take them on an empty or full stomach, things like that.   He answered my questions, then added that the muscle relaxer may make me sleepy.

It didn't, but that's ok.

However, he completely neglected to mention any other side effects that might occur.

I've been feeling weird lately.  Elevated heart rate, dizzy, shortness of breath- that kind of thing.  Unfortunately (well, no, make that fortunately..for the most part), I am completely unused to taking medicines and it never occurred to me to look up side effects until Tim mentioned I should.  I blame it on the brain fog this medication had me in.

I forgot my meds yesterday and while we were out all day, I felt pretty ok, other than a bit of pain.  I got home, popped my pills and almost immediately here came the fluttery heart feeling.  Oh yeah- I was supposed to look up side effects.

Both medications list a racing heart and shortness of breath as a severe side effect.  One of those "stop taking immediately and call your doctor" side effects.  I had one or two other problems that were just the normal "this might happen to you" type things, but it bugs me that he never even mentioned "Oh yeah.  If you feel like you are on the verge of your heart exploding, that's a side effect.  Stop taking your medicine and call me."

Is that really too much to ask?

-Kristen

Car Wreck Update

Well, the car is fixed, looks wonderful, drives wonderful- but I'm hurting.

My back and neck are paining me almost constantly, I have limited mobility in my neck and at least mild headaches almost daily.

I finally called AllState to find out the procedure for medical claims and the adjustor informed me in the bitchiest manner possible that it had been more than 30 days since the accident (it happened December 8th, I called January 9th. Wow.) they weren't sure if they would pay my bills.

Newsflash. In the state of NC, I have a year to make any medical claims. Suck it, insurance.

Anyway, I have a doctor's appointment on Friday. They want my medical history. What medical history? I don't have one! I avoid the doctor's office like the plague. I went to the minute clinic at CVS for my acute bronchitis. The previous time I had been to a doctor? Five years earlier when I had chronic bronchitis. I don't go to the doctor unless it is 100% unavoidable.

I have to figure out what in the world I'm going to do as far as a medical history- and I've got to have it by Friday. Perfect.  Because I don't have enough stress already.

I guess we'll start jotting down the numbers of those TV lawyers, in case we have to get ugly with AllState.

-Kristen

Prayers and Thoughts Needed

If you could, please keep my friend's son in your prayers and thoughts.  "Squeaker", as she nicknamed him, is only 5 years old, but on Wednesday he faces a brain surgery.

Squeaker was diagnosed with autism this year and was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation (type 1) two years ago. This malformation is what is sending him to surgery just a few days before Christmas.

Tim & I are going to go down to visit our friends as soon as I get off of work on Wednesday.  While I am thrilled to see them again (it's been 5 years- yes, we've never met Squeaker, but I do remember him as a bulge in his Mama's belly) I'd happily never see them again if it meant we wouldn't be headed to a hospital.

So if you get an opportunity today, tomorrow or any day, please think of Squeaker and his family!


ETA:  Squeaker is out of surgery! Things went more quickly than they expected and he's out early.  No incidents, hooray!

-Kristen

Acute Bronchitis

I do so love my propensity for bronchitis.  About 5 years ago I ended up with chronic bronchitis.  Thanks to have no insurance and being very stubborn, it progressed to the point that though I had fought off the virus, my throat continued to spasm, causing me to eventually need an inhaler to help "paralyze" my throat so it could heal.

Fun.

I was sick a few weeks ago and while I was well on the way to mending, I wasn't quite there when I had the wreck.  Not long after that, the "plague" returned with a vengeance.  I finally headed to a CVS "Minute Clinic" on Thursday, where I was diagnosed with Acute Bronchitis.  They loaded me up with enough medicine to choke a horse and here I am now- still hacking up a lung, but at least able to mostly sleep through the nights!

The thing that sucks the most about bronchitis is once you have it, you seem to be more at risk to get it again.

Hopefully the copious amounts of codeine-cough-syrup, my inhaler and the benzonatate pills help me get it under control sooner, rather than later.

-Kristen

Week of Hell

I sit here not sure where to begin.  I caught some kind of plague Sunday/Monday and I am still trying to fight that off.

Wednesday I busted up my knee pretty badly, which I posted pictures of.

Thursday I was in a car accident.  I don't feel like I can do a lot of talking about that right now, but we will hopefully know Monday if the car is totaled or not.

The one bright spot in this horrific week was yesterday.  Even it came with a price!

We went out with friends to Olive Garden and had such a great time.  Then they came to a Chili cook-off at one of Tim's churches... which I won!

However, today I can't speak.  At all. I can croak out a few words, with much effort, but that's about it.  I think I really overdid it yesterday.  I heard myself getting hoarse last night, but I stopped speaking and it didn't do much to save my voice. 

Sigh.

-Kristen