It's Official!!!

It's official people, I'm old!!!!!!!

I had a check-up the other day. The nurse couldn't believe I was 45 and didn't take any meds on a regular basis, and seemed to be healthy as a horse. All that would soon change :(

The good news is I lost 10 pounds. The bad news is my cholesterol was NOT GOOD according to my Doctor, and she put me on Simvastatin without letting me try to lower it with diet first. She said that wouldn't be enough for me. What? I'm not good with taking Doctors advice, and I'm really not good with taking meds more than a couple of days in a row, so this is going to be bad!!

THEN, she told me I needed two tests: a stress test and some other kind of test to check calcium deposits. I was so happy that I completed the stress test without having to stop. I couldn't have done that if I hadn't been exercising again. But it did just about kill me.

Today I've paid for that treadmill feat! Just turning around threw my back out of wack this morning. No more treadmill for me, give me my Gazelle anyday!!

Anyhoo, I've taken a break from the computer lately, but eBay sales have still been good. We've been enjoying some family time, but Rob says it's time to get back to eBay (can you believe it, he was against it at first!!), so I guess I'll be working again. I have to pay for my new washing machine.

The old one konked, and Rob, my Dad, and Uncle Don tried their best to fix it, but there was no hope. Don said when they were done it was going to be like having a brand new one, haha. That's exactly what it's like!! I can't wait till Wednesday! I'll have those delivery men roll that machine right past the mountain of laundry in the living room and hook that sucker up just in time for Mom to get here and try it out all evening :) (Sorry Mom, but Wednesday is your late night here!!)

We are trying to find some time to go to the River to open our place for the year. Rob wants to take off next week since Sarah is out of work for spring break, but the weather doesn't seem to be promising, so we'll have to see.

Today my girls will be here from North Carolina, so we can't go off and leave them this week! Last year we were all ready for summer by now, but remodeling has to come first right now, and it sure is looking good!!



I did this Daybook yesterday, but didn't get it posted. Ended up having a breakfast date with hubby, and made goulash for dinner since he had to work on the washer!!

For Today:

Outside My Window: It’s beautiful, but a little chilly.

I am thinking: I’m glad my stress test is over and everything looks good. I'll get the results in a few days.

I am thankful for: My Family

From the Kitchen: Not a thing, having a date with my husband today!

I am wearing: Jeans, Blue Babydoll Shirt, and Blue Jacket. Finally, I match!!!!!

I am reading: 90 Minutes in Heaven, and Devotionals for couples with my hubby. They just keep getting better!!

I am creating: A Happy Home

I am hearing: Rob working on the washer, it konked!!

Around the house: Nanny is straightening up, Sarah is, well never mind, Rob’s working on the washer, and I just shipped out 10 eBay items. Sales were great this weekend!!!!

Here is the picture I am sharing: Our little house, coming right along!!

I got my MoJo back!!

Wow, it's been a crazy week! So much going on, no time to finish anything I've started, but that's okay. It ain't goen anywhere!!

First of all, I finally found my Mojo. It's been hiding for quite a while, but things are turning around. Let me explain.

I've been trying to get "back on the wagon", having lost weight and then gaining almost all of it back. I'd stopped exercising and ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Winter seems to do that to me!!

It's been really nice out a couple of days between the snow and rain, and we even made a trip to the River to check on things, and that got me going again. I want to lose this weight before I have to go sweat it out every weekend in Paradise!!

So I decided not to diet, but just eat better, and I've been walking 2-3 miles a day on my Gazelle. I already wore one out and had to replace it, now I'm gonna work on wearing this one out!!

I also decided to only eat God's candy (fruit) between meals. Yea I totally stole that from the 700 club but it sounds more appealing to me than "fruit". That one hasn't been easy, but I'm still working on it!

I also starting looking at the whole closet full of "new" clothes I would have if I got back down to where I was, and that's always motivating!!

I just have to stay away from my Mom because she has "forced" me to eat Oyster Sandwiches twice in one week! We went to Cocomo's Saturday while we were at the River, then she treated us to RipTides Monday when we took Sarah to the Doctor.


Enough about weight, let's move on.

Bobby got a new job!!!!!!YaY!!!!!!!!!

Well it's only Part time at Wal-Mart, but whatever, it's good enough until he can find full time work. He starts Tuesday. Working in lawn & garden. Can I get a discount on tomato plants now?

Sarah was sick as a dog Tuesday. She went to the doctor Monday for Cellulitis in her leg, and they gave her a med that made her so nauseous she couldn't move. Been there, not fun!!

"Get out and stay out" is what this look told me!!

We finally got a different med and she rebounded quickly, thank the Lord. She's not a happy camper when she feels like yaking!

In the animal world: Mitzi DID yak on Bobby's bed, sending him into a full on freak out! She was banned from his room forever, which lasted about 12 hours, cause she will sit at his door and scratch & meow until he opens it!

Rebels made his ears bleed from scratching. I never knew dogs could have allergies so bad! Between shaking those big old ears and licking his paws to death, he's gonna drive me crazy! I don't know what he's allergic to, I just know I spend more money on his medicines than I ever have on my own!!

The Offenders!!

Sometimes they just kick Bobby out and share his bed!

I'm loving Facebook, and spending way too much time on there. It's addictive, but so much fun. I've been talking to a couple of friends from school lately, and lots of family!

Now, if it would just quit raining, so Rob can work outside on the addition, instead of hanging around in here bugging me to death, all would be right with the world!!

It's Monday Morning, the first week in February. Let's see how those New Years Resolutions are going!!

1. Lose Weight: Lost 5 pounds!! Yay, Happy Dance. Gained 5 pounds. Sob. Eat another cookie.
2. Don't work nights: Did great most of the month. Worked 3 nights last week, much to Robs dismay!!
3. Read Bible every day: Okay, this one I've got down. Doing great!
4. Keep on top of my Prayer Life: This one is still hard. I'm Praying a lot more during the day, but still fall asleep trying to pray at night, Urgh!!

Well, it seems the greatest problem right now is weight. Do you ever get so miserable you don't even want to put on clothes? No, well aren't you just the lucky one! I've been living in sweats all winter, and when I do put on a pair of jeans, Mom and Robert tell me I look so much smaller. Well you would too if you were squeezing 10 pounds of lard into a 5 pound sack!! Give me a break, one of these days those jeans are gonna blow, and trust me, you don't want to be around when that happens. Gonna be some injuries for sure!

Soooo, once again today, I'll start all over. Except that I already had a cookie that Bobby and Kate made last night with my coffee this morning. Good thing they burnt em slam up. One's about all I can handle!

My Wittle Bobby and His Wittle Kate!

Now, here's what happens when you start a blog about an adult child of yours: She's starts a blog of her own to dispute everything you say, haha! Sarah has started her own blog!! At least she can do much of it herself. All I did was set up her account. After all, she's an old MySpace Pro, so she can teach me a thing or two!! Check it out if you'd like. You can get to hers by clicking on her picture on my blogs followers.

I had a great weekend with eBay. Sold quite a few things. Got lots listed. Got lots scheduled for auction. Every time I think I'm getting caught up, I get more "stuff". Bobby cleaned out his room again this weekend, and gave me lots of "Almost Brand New" things he doesn't want. Why does he buy this stuff and then not use it? Well okay, he's just like me!!

I plan on working on Sarah's school pictures today, but first, I just had to post pictures showing that she really did USED to love her brother, and actually got along with him!

Awe, they were so sweet and innocent back then!

This would NEVER happen today


Or this

Back then they called this fun, now they call it torture

Precious little Bean Snappers!!

I just found out the the Spina Bifida conference is at Disney World this year! That figures! It finally gets close enough to where we could possibly go, and it's at the worst possible time. Too many renovations left to work on, not enough time or money! Such is life.

On a sad note: The Cardinals lost the World Series. I mean the Super Bowl. Whatever!! It's just a dumb game with a ball and boys in leotards!

~Scroll down to see Pics of Sarah, my daughter with Spina Bifida~

I Promised I would keep you up to date on how the whole Screening process goes for the Long Term Care Waiver for my Aunt, so here's what's happened so far.

By the way, if you didn't read the post about waivers, there is a waiver that disabled children and adults can get that pays someone of your choice to take care of your child. In my daughter Sarah's case, it pays up to 30 hours a week, plus 720 hours a year in respite care. Both of her grandmothers are paid to take care of her. You can use the respite care to supplement the 30 hours if you need someone longer than 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. You can email me at crystalcooks63@aim.com if you want more info.

On Thursday I called our local Social Services Department to request a screening for the EDCD Waiver for Long Term Care. The first person on the phone had no idea what I was talking about but she finally connected me with someone who did. If you get the same response, insist on talking to a Supervisor or someone who knows about Medicaid Waivers.

Once I got the correct person, she knew exactly what I needed. She said she would mail out an application for Medicaid the next day, and I should apply for that before they do they screening for the Long Term Care. She did write on the application "Long Term Care" so it would not automatically be denied because of income.


On Saturday, the application came in the mail. That was incredibly fast I thought, so I was impressed!! Here's another look at the application, there are 13 pages, but we only have to fill out about 8 of them. They mark out what you don't need to fill out. That helps, because any paperwork like this is quite confusing to me.

This is just a typical Medicaid application. If you've ever applied for Medicaid, then you know what type of questions they ask. If not, there is a section for General Information, for Resources (like Checking Acct, etc.), for Income. I admit I had to have my husband help me fill out Sarah's, and even then we weren't sure about some of it. You can always go to Social Services and have them help you if need be. If you already receive Medicaid, you don't need to do this step. They will just schedule a screening for you. The lady told me the screening should be able to be done by January 30, she would call me with a date soon, so that's not a long wait.

So now I will take this application to my Aunts house on Tuesday (weather permitting) and I'll let you know how it goes as far as getting it completed!!

One thing I would like to tell you is that here in Virginia, there will be a waiting list for this waiver starting in July, so they encourage anybody who wants to apply to do it as soon as possible. That may be the case in all states, but I'm not sure.

Now, on to other things. I have been looking at pics of Sarah when she was little, and want to share some of her pics with equipment that she's used, etc. As soon as I figure out how to use my new scanner, I'll get right to that!!! For now, I'll share a recent pic of her. She'll always be my baby girl, even though she's 22 now!
Sarah has a best friend one year older than her that also has Spina Bifida. They've been best buds since 6th grade.
That's all the Spina Bifida talk today, I've got to read a scanner manual!!!!!!!!

But, here's the ooey, gooey dessert I made last night. It was really good, but soooo sweet. I only ate a bite, been doing great on the diet and lost 5 pounds this week, so I divided it up and took some to Church for the Hospitality Room and the rest to my Mother in laws for dinner!! One diet disaster averted, we'll see how the rest of the week goes.

Ebay has picked up a little bit. It's been very, very slow since Christmas, but I have sold a few things this weekend, so I'm not complaining. It probably helps that I have more things going to auction right now, so it drives more traffic to the store. I still have a whole giant bucket of brand new shorts to list, but I can't seem to find the time.

This is the HATE part of my Love/Hate relationship with eBay. That used to be my fireplace, now it's just temporary storage for my summer stock. Can't wait to finish listing, and get that stuff put away. But honestly, it never really goes away. As soon as I finish that, there will be more. There always is :(

You should see the other side of the room. Not gonna show that yet, I haven't got that brave!!!!!!!

God Bless everyone today with a great, relaxing Sunday!
Crystal :)

What am I doing here?

Ok, I started this blog a couple of weeks ago with the intention of blogging for the very first time in my life. It has taken me TWO weeks to get back to it. It's now the middle of January!! I have so much I want to write about, and so little time. I really am the LAST person to jump on the blogging bandwagon!!

I was hoping that blogging would give me an extra push to keep my New Year's Resolutions, which I have more of this year than any year before!!! Obviously, that didn't happen yet :) Also, I wanted to chronicle my struggles with Ebay, Prayer, and Weight Loss, all of which seem to give me big greatest challenges!

I have a Love Hate relationship with Ebay. I absolutely love selling on Ebay, but it has taken over my life and my house. Anybody who sells a lot (or TRYS to sell a lot) knows that merchandise spills out of every nook and cranny in your house, garage, shed, everywhere. I'm surprised I haven't started storing stuff in my vehicles!! Hey, that's a great idea, no ,no, no you can't do that. I'm okay now, but I struggle with those conflicting kinds of thoughts daily!!

Now, if I could get my Prayer Life in order, I would be soooo happy. I've started reading through the Bible in a year, like I do every year, the only difference this time is I've actually kept it up almost a month now. I'm so happy!! But this year I'm doing it on the computer, and since I spend my whole life in front of the computer, it's been easy this time. It is the first (most of the time) thing I do in the morning, after I make the coffee and fix Robert & Bobby's lunch for the day! Prayer, on the other hand, is so much harder for me. Almost every time I start to Pray, morning or night, I get sidetracked so easily. Am I the only one who thinks about everything I have to get accomplished when I try to spend some quiet time with the Lord? I don't think so, but I'm working on that too!

Now, about the weight. I've gained all but 7 of the 30 pounds I lost 4 years ago. It took 4 years, but I managed to gain it all back. Now I have a goal: to lose 20 pounds by the time we start going back to the River for the summer, so I'm not sooooooo miserable in my clothes, and I won't break my husband and dad's back when they have to pull me back in the boat again! Long story, lots of bruises, not doen that again~!!!

I think I've covered everything for my first blog! Except, I'm working on a Medical Journal to sell on Ebay, and I want to update my progress as I go!! I've used this Medical Journal for Sarah (who has Spina Bifida) for many, many years and I've had so many Doctors and Nurses, Therapists and others tell me they wish everybody would use one, that I thought it was time to share. I'm excited about this book, and just made one for my Aunt who has MS and lots of other medical problems.

I should go for now, I've got sooooo much to do, but this was fun, and I just might give this blogging thing a real chance!!!!!!