Our Christmas Card...way ahead of schedule!

It is a Christmas miracle...our Christmas card is 

With Love Christmas Card

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Welcome Little Averie

Introducing a New Little Addition to our Extended Family...

Averie Ann

Born on July 22, 2011

A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.
-- Anonymous

Congratulations Uncle Steveo and Aunt Julia!!

Spring '11 Two Women's Barn Bazaar

It's been a week...I'm still reminiscing a bit about the beautiful Sunday spent at the Two Women Barn Bazaar.  A perfect day for live country music, fair food and a ton of beautiful friends who appreciate old junk just like me!  The talented Vendors all lined up in pretty little rows with wonderful vintage finds.  Even though the day was a little soggy, the spirit of junking friendship and love was abound and all around.     So if you didn't make it out last weekend, no worries...another date is scheduled for the fall.  The two, Two Women, Fielding and Diana, also have the Christmas Barn Bazaar at the Palouse Grange.  Just as with the earlier spring show at Funky Junk (my favorite show!! :} ), excitement fills in the air regarding the upcoming junking season and all the pleasantries a Spokane spring brings!!  I came home with just a few irresistible items...my favorite being my 'manny quinn' aka Brad Pitt Model, and also love love my vintage scale which now adorns my cupboard top in my kitchen & serves as a conscious reminder to healthy eating!.

'people's bank altimeter...for measuring skirts, interest rates and pile of money'...Hollie is so excited to with her new multi-purpose ruler! 

what!?! a male 'manny quinn'...and vintage to boot!?!   This guy is beautifully built...and as an added bonus...no body hair!!

Two Women Barn Bazaar is most unique because of it's own show venue property.  Every day, Fielding and Diana are so lucky to wake up and get to enjoy the amazing rolling hills views, flowering fields and their beautifully displayed and repurposed vintage treasures.  Here's a sample of a few...

Inspiring...

a gift for Zackie...his favorite now!

I remember that old Canada Dry Shelf rack...looks like an old Ballyhoo Girl piece!

I so badly want one of these!!  Someday... {{{dreamy}}}

here little ms kitty...

Part shopping cart, part wagon...Love this repurposed piece!

Loving this style of this little barn Ballyhoo girl!!  (Erin, your daughter is amazingly beautiful!)

I know I 'want' this...but with such a soggy Spring...do I 'need' it?

Shhh...It was Sunday and I skipped out on church...no matter, the Lord is always with me. :)

Michelle...A gal pal who I always find the good stuff from...

I don't remember this dolly's name, but when I had one like her, I called her "bitshy"...nice!

Beauty of Junkin...Buying Old American!  Whenever you can...Buy American!!  

I love, love, love Smokey the Bear...reminds me of my dear grandma Campbell and camping days with him and grandma as little girl.

New bathroom scale for me...It really works...I just have to re-balance it... I so don't weight 240lbs...gasp!

Also if you miss out, Two Women is open on the weekend.  What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.  Thank you Fielding and Diana for sharing your junking love!!

Put the Frogs in Hot Water, or Cold Water and Turn Up the Heat?

Finally we started my mom's pain management treatment today...praise, praise God!  It feels like forever until this day would come, and I guess if you include the past 14+ years...it has been.  So the first appointment was with a completely new internal medicine doctor, who my mom had never worked with before.  I have to say, even in today's crazy medical world, there are fabulous doctors and this one clearly is one of the good ones!!  First, she and her assistant took their time with mom...40 plus minutes!  I learned something valuable, when making a first time appointment with a doctor, request an interview/consultation appointment.  This gives both you and your doctor ample time to review the history and start a plan for your health...whatever the aliment.  

The doctor and her assistant went thoroughly through each and every medication my mom is on...all 16+ of them!!  One by one they discussed how each medication was either working or not, and then made some changes on just a few...a start.  One change that was made, that was so ridiculously obvious, was the need to change the opioid medications from morning to night.  Perhaps now my mom won't be exhausted by 11 am!!

Some meds, well in time, will not be necessary.  That is the goal of not only my mom (and me), but of her complete new healthcare team.  But if you or someone you know is going through a similar experience with pain medications...don't, don’t, don't cut off things without a doctor's supervision.  Elimination of meds on your own can lead to harmful withdrawal effects. Our doctor put it so beautifully...what is better? ...Dropping a frog into a pot of boiling water, or start with a pot of cold water and turn up the heat?  Although the changes are small, they are a start to a better future.

The other interesting item was the doctor's concern of mom's Vitamin D3 levels.  I have heard from friends with their own autoimmune issues that their doctors have added large doses of Vitamin D3 supplement to their diet.  One girlfriend went from extremely low levels to now taking 50,000ui's per week!!!  Mom will start off with only one additional pill to her current Calcium Citrate, but more may be required, that will raise her levels to 35,000ui's.  Not only is Vit D3 necessary for calcium absorption, but also it has some other amazing effects as well such as reduction in inflammation (important for autoimmune diseases), less fatigue and most importantly slows the harmful effects of Osteoporosis!

This is a week of beginning the my mom's future...I just hope I can make it through without jumping into my own pot of boiling water!

Getting Personal ~ Unchartered Ground finding Ground Zero

Unchartered Ground.  Yup, I'm definitely walking into unchartered ground.  Last week I brought my mom home to live with us for the next 6-weeks (maybe even longer) to go through a rehab/pain management treatment.  It's uncharted ground because of so many unknowns, plus let's face it, having a parent live in your home, well, it puts a crimp on the old life style.  It alone is a big old science project; well, more like psychology project!  I have spent a lot of time wondering if our story is one to share, if it would mean anything to anyone, if it could even be helpful...well forgive me mom...here goes.

To start off, Pain is Real.  I'm not talking about the pain from a broken leg, or a sliced opened stitched injury kind of pain.  What I'm talking about is the pain that goes with the ever so popular diagnosis Fibromyalgia and other closely related chronic pain diagnosis.  Sadly, my mom deals with terrible pain everyday of her life where it has become so debilitating that she literally is not able to fully care for herself, not for awhile anyway.  Then there's the friendly close cousin diseases and diagnosis's she received which only help exacerbate the problem.  Rheumatoid arthritis, depression, chronic sleepiness (this is a fact, not a diagnosis), heart issues (caused by the meds), lupus and a couple non-related, non-pain related things.  For 14-years, she has seen by doctor after doctor at the good old Kaiser Permanente and they have cared for her by giving a new pill try for the pain.   Currently, she is on a treasure trove of several pain/depression meds, none of them that work because she will tell you, her pain is a thousand times worse than it was even 6-years ago let alone 14 years ago.   Unfortunately, this has become the norm for patients like my mom, maybe even like someone you know.  Pain is treated by a Magic pill to cover a problem, let me tell you...it does not cure the problem!

I went to a fundraising luncheon the other day that I hope to tell you about soon when I get some time to sit and share.  It was for an amazing organization, Women Helping Women, and the ever-so-talented and beautiful Naomi Judd was the guest speaker.  She gave one of those 'God-Moment' discussions.  She talked about major events that occur in one's life that forever changes the course of the path you think you are on, your personal Ground Zero.  In fact, she wrote an amazing book I'm having a hard time putting down...thank you Ms. Naomi!! 

Everyone has a story that has changed them in such a dramatic way, it rocks their world.  For my mom, I'm not sure of her ground zero.  Honestly, even after I find out, I'm not comfortable sharing it here for the world to read.  But I do know something major happened that rocked her world and created the pain she physically feels today.  When I was growing up, things seemed pretty 'normal'.  She and my dad seemed to have a happy marriage, a nice home, a little money saved and we did 'normal' family things such as vacations to the beach and off to see grandmas and grandpas.  Although perhaps 'normal' for some people, is just too stressful?  We live in a society of such chaos that 'normal' is incredibly hard to come by.  

I do however know the pain my mom has endured over the past 6-years is caused by deep grief.  First, it was the loss of my amazing grandfather (her dad) in 2004, my beloved aunt (mom's sister) in 2006, sweet grandma Gabelman (mom's mom-in-law) 2008, her best-friend ~ my dad in 2008, and then my other beloved grandmother (her mom) in 2009.   It has been a vicious cycle of loss that sometimes can be so overwhelming and all-consuming.  And as hard as it is for both my sister and I to wrap our minds and hearts around this 'Great Loss', my mom has struggled so terribly she cannot get a breathe before sinking back into the drowning grief.

For our family, this is a incredibly daunting task ahead.  The pain that begun 14-years ago has been treated with over-prescribed meds and multiplied by tremendous grief.

It's now been a week since we picked mom up and brought her here.  Already she is showing small signs of improvement but pain is still visible in her face and her attitude.  (sigh)  Next Monday was start our doctoring, the part I want to definitely share because progress for pain like Fibromyalgia can be achieved without heavy meds.  We have a story to share, please pray with me, for us have find a happy ending.  :)

Funky Junk Day 1

Wow, What a day!!  It's been said a pictures worth a 1,000 words and since I'm so stickin tired so I'll just put up some pics of what you can see tomorrow...It's been put out for sale tomoroow...and all must go!

 How Springy is this little lamb??

 Spring break luggage!

 Found this little girl on my way out the door...needless to say the girls at the office will be SO jealous of my new card holder!

I'm now gonna rest in my nest...good night...good funky junk dreams!!