Stomach bug = D = Lost weight = I'd really rather not have gone through that

So Christmas Eve afternoon, I'm out doing some running around with a cousin.  The plan was to get our nails done, have lunch, then do some shopping.  We did do all that, but because she was getting her acrylic nails removed the old fashioned way by soaking them off and filing them by hand, it took forever!  By the time we were out of there, it was close to three o'clock and the choices for lunch were slim to almost none.

We ended up stopping at Del Taco.  I grabbed my normal fish tacos.  Ate them, no problem.  Salsa was a bit hot but figured the jalapenos that day were spicier than normal.

We go shopping, I spend way too much money, then go home to get a few things done before Hubby and I go to church then drive to my mom's.

As I'm wrapping my gifts, my tummy begins to hurt, as if something I ate didn't agree with me.  Pre-band, had this happened, I would have just walked to the restroom, stuck my finger down my throat, and got rid of the offending food.  Now, that just does not happen.  I really miss those days!

I eat a Tums, we load up the car, go to church, then head to mom's.  Have dinner, play some games, eat some candy (too much candy).  Finally, I get this strange feeling that comes over me.  I think I'm going to be sick.  I go to the restroom, stand over the sink, wretch once, then say I'm not going to let myself be sick, then head to lay down in a bedroom.

Before I can make it, I'm falling, face first, into the doorway of the bedroom.  I hit my temple and my knee, before Hubby is able to catch me.  He moves fast, by the way, when he needs to!

This, of course, scares all my family.  There I am, on the floor, and my brother is on one side, trying to remove my jacket.  I have a tight turtle neck on and they are pulling it away from my neck.  Hubby undoes my jeans button.  They take my blood pressure and it is very low, like 80 something over 50 something.  Twice.  A few minutes later, it comes back up to my normal of 114/75.

After refusing to have them call 9-1-1, I'm able to slowly get up and make it to the bed I was originally aiming for.  I rested a couple of hours then went home.

Saturday, my tummy still hurts, but no fainting.  I could eat, but it always made my tummy upset, therefore I didn't eat much.

Sunday, same thing.  But then that evening, I finally had my first BM since Friday.  First one wasn't so bad, other than it was hard, due to the constipation.  After that, it was like Niagara Falls.

Monday, a little bit more of the D, but seriously, what was left in my system after Sunday?  I call the doctor to make an appointment and am able to get in at 11 o'clock.  After taking my BP twice, which was 90 something over 70 something (I think), they concluded that I have normally low blood pressure.  I explained what had happened and the conclusion was that when I wretched, I put pressure on this nerve that starts with a V, like vaga (vay-gah), or something like that, that caused my already low BP to drop even more, which caused me to get so light-headed, that I went down.  But they did an EKG just to make sure nothing was wrong with my heart, which the results were normal, and did blood work, which I haven't gotten back yet, to make sure there was nothing else going on.

My greatest fear this whole weekend was that it was my pancreas again.  I absolutely didn't want to go back to the hospital.  That was pure torture.  But thank God it wasn't.  Had it been, I would have been in severe pain, throwing up, pain in my back.  Pretty much like what happened the first time (except I only threw up once then).

So while I was at the doctor's yesterday, they took my weight and it was 217.  With my clothes on.  If you recall, that doctor's office (my PCP) is where my official high weight was taken from the summer of 2009, which was 294, also with clothes.  So if I do my math right, I'm down 77 pounds.  However, I would really have rather not gone through this to lose a few pounds.  Really.

Now I'm feeling better.  My digestive tract is not totally restored to its former glory, but it is on its way.  The doc did tell me to drink lots of water, to keep well hydrated, to help keep my BP up.  I think that means in the mornings, when I'm getting ready, I should probably drink water rather than my coffee, although I'll still have coffee, but start out with water first.  I know this last month has been bad when it comes to water consumption as I have just been so busy with work.  I can't let that continue though, as I really don't want a repeat of this, or have to take medications for it.  Although, are there meds for low BP?  I really don't know.

So my Christmas weekend pretty much sucked.  I'm hoping the New Year's weekend is much better.  We're going to have our annual party.  Which means tomorrow and Thursday, I've got to get my butt busy and clean house!  Do food shopping!  Make my wonderful finger foods (because I can't spell the word hores de vores)!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and you have a great New Year's Eve!  May God bless you as he has me.  Hugs to you and thank you for following me and keeping up with all my drama, news, and boring stuff too.

It's down!

My Christmas tree, that is! We finally finished taking it down tonight. I took off all the ornaments last week, but needed Hubby's help taking it down and smooshing it back so it would fix in its box.

Now I just have to vacuum the floor, move the table back, and the living room will be back to normal.

I wish you a Merry Christmas

May God bless you and your family on this very special holiday. My wish for you is that you have a close relationship with Jesus Christ, who was sent to us this day.

Love,
Miss Tori & Hubby
Cinnamon & Sugar

From my heart to yours

I want to take a moment and wish you and your family the very best holiday that you celebrate.

Happy Hanukkah!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Kwanzaa!

Happy Boxing Day!

My calendar doesn't show any other holidays, so if I've missed yours, then Happy Holiday!

But most of all, Happy Birthday Jesus! I'm not quite sure how many candles we should put on Your cake, but Your light will shine upon us forever. Thank You God for sending Your Son to us!

Here is one of my most favorite pictures celebrating this time of year. May your hearts and homes be filled with love and happiness.

Gift wrapping

Hubby and I got some more gifts wrapped last night. He actually helped without my having to ask. Also, he wrapped the neatest present he's ever done. (Hubby's normal wrapping consists of putting the gift in the plastic store bag he brought it home in, tying it up at the top, and sticking a gift tag on it. And maybe a bow. His wrapping skills still need some fine tuning). Needless to say, he was very proud of himself.

Tonight is the hard work. House cleaning! Ugh. Luckily, most of the laundry (towels and bedding) are done, but I do need to throw some of my clothes in, plus really clean the bathroom downstairs. Hubby usually cleans the two bathrooms (except mine - he won't do mine for some reason), but not the shower downstairs. We rarely use the shower down there so I do need to scrub it down, then I got some of those gritty strips you place on the floor of the shower so you don't slip and fall. I tried a bath mat, but it would shift and about make you fall, so I thought I'd try something different.

My older sister has celiac disease which prevents her from eating wheat, rye and barley. So I've got to figure out a menu for the time they're here that doesn't include those things. It shouldn't be too bad, I'll just not fix any pasta, and she have to skip the bread. Oh, and she doesn't eat pork, so I guess I won't be fixing my nice thick pork chops either.

I go and pick up my sister and niece tomorrow morning at the train station about an hour east of here. The train is supposed to arrive at 8:15, which means I've got to get up early. Ugh. Then we'll drive a little farther and pick up my nephew. I plan for us to go to the zoo and see the Electric Critters Saturday night. Santa Claus is supposed to be at a house here in town that's all decorated, so we might go there too. Sunday we have our Christmas program at church, then after that, maybe we can just relax and visit.

I have a feeling that the next two weeks are going to fly by!

Christmas Poll

I copied this list from Jen's blog. Feel free to copy it and post it on yours as well.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. I try to recycle any gift bags I get, but also use wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. Hubby and I both think that a real tree is too much hassle, not to mention the fire danger it poses. Plus my tree is prelit so I don't have to worry about hanging lights on it.

3. When do you put up the tree? Normally the weekend after Thanksgiving. Since I'm off work during that time, it gives me plenty of time to clean the living room, remove some furniture, and bring in the tree and all of the decorations.

4. When do you take the tree down? The first week or two in January.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, with nutmeg. When I used to drink, I also enjoyed it with a little bit of Kahlua.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Oh gosh, it's hard to choose. Either my Tonka truck or my Big Wheel. (I was a tomboy until junior high.)

7. Hardest person to buy for? Hubby. Unless he tells me exactly what he wants, I usually go with Steelers memorabilia.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Me!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, but I want a new one. Mine is too small. I want a larger one to put in front of the fireplace.

10. Mail or e-mail Christmas Card? Mail (I actually did mail out Christmas cards this year. I'm so proud of myself!)

11. Worst Christmas gift you have ever received? Hmm, can't really remember this. Maybe a perfume gift set in a scent I don't care for.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? Home Alone

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In December

14. Have you every recycled a Christmas present? I love to regift!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Dinner with the family. What is on the table is unimportant.

16. Lights on the tree? Yep, it's prelit, and they are white.

17. Favorite Christmas Song? I love almost all Christmas songs. We went caroling last night and it was so much fun (except for my toes freezing!). I really like "Mary Did You Know?"

18. Traveling at Christmas or stay at home? Both. I'm going to my mom's for Christmas Eve (which is only about an hour's drive), then we'll be here to spend the day with my in-laws at our house.

19. Can you name all of Santa's Reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and of course Rudolf!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star. For some reason I am not a fan of angels on top of the Christmas tree.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? This year, we'll open some gifts on Christmas Eve since we'll be at my Mom's. But, we'll also open gifts Christmas afternoon with my in-laws. Once we have kids, we'll open presents Christmas morning because that's when Santa will have left all of his gifts!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? All of the political correctness. The reason for the season is the birth of Jesus Christ!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Don't really have a theme, but my colors are purple and silver on the tree.

24. Favorite ornament? It's an angel that my mom still puts up on her tree (or at least I hope she does) that is a beautiful emerald green dress (made from large sequins) and gold head and wings. I think it also has some peacock plumage on it. I'll have to look when I go there next week.

25. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? As I said before, I really don't have a favorite. We'll make a rib eye roast with baked potatoes for dinner this year.

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? I'd like the Nintendo DS, which is really unusual for me. I'm not typically a fan of the little electronic games, but for some reason, I feel the need for one, just so I can play the Brain Age game.

27. Favorite holiday tradition? Waking up to presents from Santa Claus! Of course, right now, Santa is me, but I know soon we'll have little ones that Santa will come and leave presents for.

28. Favorite holiday drink? Mulled apple cider.

29. Do you want a White Christmas even if you live some place you can not have one? That would be great! Just let the roads be clear!

30. Do you hang Mistletoe? No, I don't. Maybe I should, then Hubby would have to give me a kiss, rather than running from me all the time! ;-p

Visitors for Christmas

We're going to have a houseful before Christmas this year. My older sister and her daughter are bring the train in this Saturday. I'll go and pick them up, then drive a little bit further and pick up my younger sister's son, who will also stay with us during the holidays. My younger sister works for a bank, and unfortunately doesn't get any extra time off.

This will be fun. I think it's been about two years since I've seen my older sister and her daughter.

So I've got to get the house cleaned and ready for them, as well as get all their Christmas presents wrapped. No waiting for the last minute here!

What about you? Are you traveling for the holidays or will you stay home?

I just had to buy this!

I just had to buy this! I collect Aflac ducks and MetLife characters, and normally get them for free from my carrier representatives. However, when I saw this online today when I was doing some research for work, I just knew I had to have this.

The proceeds benefit cancer research for children, so if you decide that you have to have it too, please feel free to click here.

Can't leave out Hubby

Hubby has to have his ornaments too on the tree! Go Steelers!!!

Sorry the picture is so dark, took it this morning in a rush to get out the door.

Poll: Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

Are you a "Merry Christmas" or a "Happy Holidays" greeter? Me? I say Merry Christmas with pride and joy.

At work, we have a little welcoming board where we normally put up the names of our visitors for the day. Today, we decorated the office for Christmas, and our receptionist put up "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!" Our ops manager told her to take it down and put up "Happy Holidays" because he didn't want to offend anyone. Happy Holidays offends me! And many others!

Good grief. I am so sick and tired of all this politically correct BS it's not even funny.

Merry Christmas my friends! And Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends!

Christmas tree

I put up our Christmas tree last night. It's so pretty. It's decorated with silver and purple. Does anyone else have problems with the star on top? Those things just don't like to sit up straight! If you have any tips, please feel free to share.

Let the madness begin!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is time for the next holiday. I love Christmas! Not only is it very special to me in that my savior was born that day, but it is also time to share with friends and family, and give a little to those who may not be able to receive otherwise.

Our church is supporting a local organization that helps needy families. I'm going to go shopping for items they need like diapers, mittens, scarves, etc. No toys, as another organization helps out there, but actual needed items.

I have several different gift exchanges to buy for as well. So tonight after work I'll go and see if I can find some really fun items in the $10-$15 range. I'm not going to waste money on expensive gift bags, though. I'll either use the wrapping paper that I have left over from previous Christmases, or I'll use newspaper comics.

I hope that December brings good things to you, but that you also take time to enjoy your loved ones. Give the gift of time. You'll be remembered for it!