Gone Daddy Gone, the Love is Gone Away

I guess I should have posted today.

I am just not in love with blogging right now.

Maybe it has to do with energy level.

Maybe it has to do with laziness.

Maybe it is just because I don't want to.

I am still reading everyones posts though so I am still participating... sort of.

I promise as soon as I have the thoughts and energy to express them again, I will be back.

So don't abandon me, and don't give up on me either...

OK?

Whats in a name

I have been thinking for a while of changing how I refer to my husband on my blog. I don't think it is very original of me just to call him S, that is after all the first letter of his name but I keep thinking that I can come up with something more creative. So from now on I will be referring to him by the pseudonym that he has made up for himself. I present to you...

EMANHAUD

Doesn't he just look so happy to be here!

Wordless Wednesday (Chinchilla)

Menu Monday III

I posted something about having this for dinner last week and had several requests for the recipe. As I didn't really use a recipe I will do my best to try to remember what exactly it was that I did.

Here goes!

White Chicken and Garlic Pizza

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

mozzarella cheese

3 large cloves garlic sliced

pizza crust (whatever kind you like)

1 to 1 and a 1/2 cups Alfredo sauce (recipe below)

Heat a saute pan with some olive oil. Add chicken and garlic and some salt and pepper to taste. Saute chicken until done, set aside. Spread crust out on baking sheet, or pizza stone. Top with Alfredo sauce and a thin layer of cheese. Layer on chicken and garlic and top with more cheese. (Amount of cheese is a person thing and I am not going to tell you how much you should put on yours!) Bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

We used to get pizza like this all the time when we lived in Binghamton New York, but they would put this on it instead of just plain chicken. It was sooooooo good. I miss it!

Alfredo Sauce

1 package cream cheese

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese (DO NOT use the stuff in the can, it doesn't melt!)

1 stick butter

Melt butter in sauce pan, add cheeses and milk and cook on low heat until melted together and creamy.

Sunday Thoughts #4

"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

- Joseph Smith

Randomness and Tunes

This has been a very expensive month. I had to repair and register my car yesterday. That includes replacing a circuit board, replacing the wind shield, an oil change and tire rotation, emissions inspection, and then paying taxes on it. Now we have to replace our washer and dryer. Yes both must be replaced... soon! Neither is working like they should and it is easier and cheaper to just replace both of them. Lets not even talk about all the co-pays, and prescriptions, and procedures that have been or are yet to be paid for.

I hate money! I hate the need for money! I hate that there is never enough money! I hate that even though we have been trying so hard to budget our money the right way, we have circumstances that don't allow us to do so.

Did I mention that I HATE MONEY!

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I have driving issues.

Not my driving, that is just fine thank you very much.

I have issues with the way that other people drive.

There is too much to say on this issue, so I am leaving that to another entire post all its own.

Let me just say, its going to be a doozy!

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I want dessert. I want to eat nothing but dessert all the time now. In fact I want to do nothing but eat lately. I think it has something to do with the fact that I have had such a hard time eating solid food for such a long time. I lost some weight while I was sick and I just know I am going to gain it all back because of the way I am eating. Part of me doesn't care. I am just so

hungry

all

the

time!

(I just remembered that I had a half of a turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich sitting in the fridge that I needed to finish. So I had to run upstairs, mid post, and get it so I had something to eat while I type... pathetic much?)

I am trying to resist, sort of. Food just tastes soooo good right now.

I know.... Be strong!

YEAH RIGHT!

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Everything on my ipod is set up in categories. I can't listen to classical and rock and... well anything else just all mixed up. I just can't do it! Here are the lists I have

Abba

Beatles

Books

Children's Music

Classical

Exercise Music

Favorites

Fun Music

Good Bands

New Stuff

Other Stuff

Primary Music

Sky High

Anything listed with a specific name is just that, Abba, Sky High (soundtrack) but the others are a little vague. Classical is obvious, Exercise Music is anything that has a good beat that will keep me going. Primary music is just that the primary CD's. Now the others are a little more confusing. For example other Stuff, is anything that I like that is a maybe a little older or just doesn't mix well with my other music. Like the soundtrack to Greese, or Paul Simon, or The Bee Gees, or the soundtrack to I Am Sam. (Which is also listed under Beetles.)

S thinks it is weird the way I organize my music, but I think it is weird that his is all in one file all mashed together. So when you listen to his you get anything from Depeche Mode to Kansas all at the same time. I just can't work that way. So today my random list comes from my favorites list.

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Tunes (With commentary)

1. Head On- The Jesus and Mary Chain (Reminds me of High School, nuff said)

2. Holiday- Madonna (Anything from this album will always remind me of a simpler time in my life, no mortgage, no kids, no drivers license. Someone else paid for my meals. Ahhhh 6th grade!)

3. Juicy- Better Than Ezra (I heard this one on what I swear was a Jaguar commercial and had to have it, still one of my all time favorites.)

4. Set Sails Free- The Origin (Again with the high school flash back)

5. Into The Night- Santana Ft. Chad Kroger (Love this mans guitar!)

6. I Caught Myself- Paramore (One of my favorite bands right now)

7. Angels on the Moon- Thriving Ivory (Not much to say about this one, its OK, I cant really remember why I have it.)

8. How I could Just Kill a Man- Charlotte Sometimes (LOVE IT, love the title, love the band name, love the reference, love the song!)

9. Everybody Hurts- REM (This one makes me cry. Every. Single. Time!

10. Girls on Film- Duran Duran (Holy 80's flash back Bat Man!)

Bonus:

Sorry no bonus song, been to sick to download!

Food

I spend too much on food.

Especially since my pantry is full pretty much all the time.

So I am issuing myself a challenge.

I just went grocery shopping, and spend an average amount for me, about $250.

That is what I spend about every two weeks, for four people.

In my defense I do buy a lot of fresh food, meat, produce, dairy, etc.

I am wondering how long I can make it last with what I already have laying around.

Am I capable of living off of what I have?

Can a family of four live mostly off of food storage, when the "fresh stuff" runs out?

I am thinking... yes.

So here is what I am going to do. I am not going to do a full grocery run for another 4 weeks. That doesn't count stuff like milk, and eggs that will most definitely expire within that time frame.

I will also make nutritious meals.

Healthy and tasty is what I am aiming for.

So here goes!

Anyone with me?

Jinx

I really shouldn't say this out loud,

or put it in print,

or even think it...

I'm feeling much better...

(Whispering)

I know I am totally going to regret that, but

it

had

to

be

said

After surgery, infections, drug reactions, and swine flu. I just don't know that there is anything else left to deal with....

OH, my car broke too!

Its drivable but it needs to be registered this month and must be fixed before I can do that. So on top of the medical expenses that would bankrupt most large countries

(not that they aren't already)

I have car expenses too. I swear I can't think of another single thing that could go wrong at this point....

of course Lou Lou might have an ear infection...

and we are having some issues with The Bug right now...

but we have had enough already...

right?

Schmoofta (I need something to laugh at right now... OK!)

S has a tendency to choose strange nick names for our children. Especially The Bug. Kujo, Twinkie, and Mush Doggie, just to name a few. The latest is Schmoofta. Why? I dont know! Anyway we were teasing her when she asked what a Schmoofta was that if you google it you just end up with a picture of her. So to play along...

The Elusive Schmoofta! Not so rarely caught on camera.

Wordless Wednesday (Just one months worth)

Challenge Accepted!

So one of my new bloggy buddies issued a throw down the other day. She challenged us to post a before and after picture of ourselves. I am not one to back down from a challenge so here goes....

This is me first thing in the morning, no make up, no hair done, nuthin!

Me right out of the shower, you will notice the only color I have in my face is on my cheeks, and that is only because I am flushed from the hot shower.

Me with the works. I even have on base, which I rarely wear. I do however wear all the other stuff every day, like I said no natural color in my face at all. I even have blond eye lashes. Everything else must be painted on!

So there you have it, I challenge all two of you out there that read this blog to do the same.

Come on what are you afraid of?

I triple dog dare you!!!!!

Sunday Thoughts #3

Yea and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto he Lord, that he may watch over you in you sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Alma 37: 36-37

AND THE WINNER IS....

There you go people! I want to thank everyone for the shout outs!

You guys are all AWESOME!

Everyone make sure you go congratulate M-Cat too! She had the most entries and got the most people to enter as well! Way to go M-Cat!

Randomness and tunes, and don't forget the give away!

I am so tired of health issues, it seems like every time I have a good day and things are starting to look up something else happens. I finished my antibiotic about a week ago. I am no longer in pain, which is a good thing. Right? Well on Wednesday I was feeling really good, I got a lot done, and have even managed to go walking twice this week. Well I should have known that wouldn't last long. I started itching badly that night. Just my elbow, and my stomach. I realized at about 10 that night that my elbow wasn't just itchy but it was swollen too, and I had red blotches on my stomach. I immediately knew that something was wrong. I went to bed that night and had a very uncomfortable night. I couldn't sleep past 4:30 in the morning because I had started itching in several new spots. I had giant red blotches all over the place. I made an appointment as soon as the doctors office was open and anxiously waited for the time of my appointment to come. I tried not to itch, but it is just so hard! by the time I got in both my knees were swollen to about twice their original size. For some reason it seems to want to attack my joints. It quickly went from itchiness to pain. The steroid shot I got did not help with that because it just added more pain. I am on the worse drug known to man now, and it still doesn't look like it is even close to clearing up. In fact it is worse. I don't understand why this has to keep dragging on! So in the last month I have experienced...

surgery

stitches

nausea

infections

pain

itchiness

and

swelling

I am tired of this.

I WANT IT TO STOP NOW!

I HAVE HAD IT!!!!

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I love finding old friends. It is so fun to catch up with people and find out what is going on in their lives. I have been doing that a lot lately, it is so fun.

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Sorry folks that is all the randomness that I can deal with right now.

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1. Staying Alive- Bee Gees

2. Wrapped Around Your Finger- The Police

3. Two of Us- The Beetles

4. Golden Slumbers- Ben Folds

5. Chicago at Night- Spoon

6. How Deep is Your Love- Bee Gees

7. Footsteps- Pearl Jam

8. Scarecrow- Beck

9. Hollywood- Zeromancer

10. I am the Walrus- The Beetles

Bonus:

Elevator Love Letter- Stars

Relator- Pete Yorn & Scarlet Johansen

Train Song- Feist & Ben Gibbard

(Got these off of a play list from this blog by my cute niece-in-law.)

Holy screw up Bat Man! Enter the give away below anyway, and could this title BE any longer?

I so screwed up!!!

The contest is for my 200th post!!!!

Not my 500th!

Don't know where my brain has wandered off to lately but there you go!

Make sure you enter anyway.

500th Post and HUGE Give away!!!!!!

TODAY IS MY ONE YEAR BLOG-IVERSARY!!!!!!!!

So here are the details and rules of the give away.

Rules:

1. You must leave a comment on this blog, if you do not you cannot win!

2. You will get a second entry if you list yourself as a follower, if you are already a follower you automatically get a second entry

3. A third entry will be added if you post about this give away on Facebook.

4. You will receive a fourth entry if you post about my give away on your own blog, make sure if you do that you come back here and post a comment to let me know that you did, same with the FB entry.

Here are the prizes:

This set of Jewelry made my yours truly (earrings not shown)

A $10 gift card from my all time favorite store

This truly funny book, from one of my favorite blogs

And a picture of your choice from here, all pictures are taken by my amazingly talented husband! Make sure to look at all of them and see what a great photographer he is becoming.

So there you go. You have until Friday at midnight to enter, and by the way if you are reading this off of Facebook, you MUST go to my blog and comment, and don't forget you get another entry if you list yourself as a follower. Just commenting on Facebook doesn't count! Don't know how to list yourself... just click on the follow button and follow the directions from there.

Good Luck Everybody!

What are you waiting for?

GO!

499 This is one of my favorite things...

TV!

I love TV!

I watch a lot of TV, don't worry all of you out there, I wait until my kids are in bed for anything that they shouldn't watch. I do not watch TV all day when they are in school either. I see my TV time as my vacation time, I don't get to go on trips much or have a lot of time away. So I use this as a little mini vacation every night. Some people ask me how I have time to do all of this TV watching... well.... I have no idea, I just do! I used to post about the shows I was watching a lot and I haven't for a long time so this post will cover that.

The old favorites:

Lost

The Amazing Race

Heroes

Eureka

Medium

Law and Order

CSI

Chuck

American Idol

(After last season though I don't know if I will be watching any more)

Burn Notice

In Plain Sight

Eleventh Hour

Leverage

24

Psych

Better Off Ted

Bones

Law and Order- Criminal Intent

The Big Bang Theory

The Office

The Mentalist

Castle

Dollhouse

New Additions to my line up:

Vampire Diaries

Eastwick

The Forgotten

Flash Forward

The Good Wife

Warehouse 13

Modern Family

Community

Shows that I could (and do) watch over and over:

The West Wing

Veronica Mars

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Alias

Food Shows:

Challenge

Iron Chef

Good Eats

The Next Iron Chef

So what are you watching?

Any suggestions?

498 Love my tunes

I post some random tunes about once a week. I love doing this because it gives me a chance to share with all two of you one of the things I love most. Music. So since I am trying to burn through my posts by tomorrow I thought I would post some of my new favorites.

Here are the tunes I have been listening to the most lately.

Superstitious- Stevie Wonder

(not a huge fan of his but I love this song)

Edge of Seventeen- Stevie Nicks

(I love her smoky voice, I just decided I need to get more familiar with her work so I put a whole lot of her stuff on my ipod.)

Hotel California- Eagles

(I dare anyone not to love this song!)

You Give Love a Bad Name & Living On a Prayer- Bon Jovi

(John Bon Jovi mmmmmmm need I say more?)

No Sleep Till Brooklyn, Girls, & Brass Monkey- Beastie Boys

(Not a fan of rap, but love their combination of rap and rock)

This Woman's Work- Kate Bush

(Amazing pipes this girl has)

Hey Man Nice Shot- Filter

(Just love the title of this one)

Wishing Well- The Airborn Toxic Event

(I love unusual band names and this one just pulled me in)

Nothing To Worry About- Peter Bjorn and John

(Great beat!)

Help I'm Alive- Metric

(Ditto!)

No Surprise- Daughtry

(Mediocre album but dang the boy can sing!)

Sober- P!nk

(I really don't have enough of her on my list!)

Stop That Holy Dance- Climber

(A friend turned me onto them, Thanks Becka!)

Louis XIV- Louis XIV

(love the lyrics on this one)

Old Letters- Company of Thieves

(Sometimes the free download is totally worth it!)

Smalltown Boy- Bronski Beat

(SO 80's! )

Black Metallic- Catherine Wheel

(for some reason this reminds me a lot of high school)

Love Letters to Japan- The Bird and the Bee

(Probably my favorite of the last year!)

Bruises- Chairlift

(LOVE LOVE LOVE the lyrics!)

Perenthesis- The Blow

(Again with the Ditto!)

Paralyzer- Finger Eleven

(Probably one of my all time favorite songs, I had it and loved it about a year before anyone else was playing it!)

Under African Skies- Paul Simon

(Probably my favorite off of his Graceland album, amazing duet)

Dust in the Wind- Kansan

(S had this on his ipod and I heard it and had to have it,

somehow it reminds me so much of the kind of music my parents used to make us listen to as a kid.)

So there you go...

anything you want to add?

What are you listening to lately?

497

I was hoping to have something a little more happy to blog about but,

when something like this happens how do you not say something?

My "normal" child (yes that's right the eleven year old) just bit her sister.

Yes the autistic!

I am so angry I can't even look at her.

Unfortunately this isn't the first time either! I don't know what to do! She has been grounded from TV for the next week, and I want to take more away than that, but nothing seems to matter to this kid.

Any ideas out there?

496

So I just realized that I only have to do

4 more posts

to make my blog-iversary and my

200th post

happen on the same day...

TOMORROW!

So I am going to post a couple more times today. I don't want to just waste those posts so I am throwing it open to guest posts today. If you read this and want to guest post, just email me and I will post as many as I can.

Keep your eyes peeled for my 200th give away tomorrow for my 1 year blog-iversary too!!!!

Menu Monday

I made this recipe this weekend it turned out pretty good. I got it from this show, I can't stand her talk show, but this one is a favorite in our house, anyway here it is...

Tandoori Chicken

1 cup plain yogurt

3 lb. boneless skinless chicken

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 cloves minced or grated garlic

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Fresh juice from 2 limes

In a large bowl combine all but chicken and lime juice, mix well. Cut chicken into serving size portions, and add to mixture. Coat chicken well, and place in deep baking dish, cover with remaining sauce and bake at 350 until juices run clear. Squeeze lime juice over the top and serve. Goes well with rice.

( I appear to have spelled every single spice wrong the first time,

thank goodness for spell check!)

Sunday Thoughts #2

In respecting others we respect ourselves.
When we see virtuous qualities in people we should always

acknowledge them.
Walk in love, honoring one another more than ourselves.
Build up others as well as ourselves.
Beware of pride.
Act for each other's good.
Pray for one another.

If you do these things you will see good and glorious days; peace within your gates and prosperity in your borders.

- Joseph Smith

Friday Randomness and Tunes With Commentary

I love this Facebook thing, it is so much fun finding old friends. I have found two old friends this week. S and I sort of have this contest going. Who can find the weirdest FB connection. I think I win because I found my Bishops Wife from when I was 17 by looking at the comments under a post by my current Bishops Wife. He thinks he wins because he found someone that he was friends with in High School by looking at the comments on my sisters post. Either way, both weird connections.

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Still looking for donations for my 200th post,

anyone...

anyone...

Buhler...

(crickets chirping)

Ooooo K then... anyway.

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Can a married man and a married woman (not his wife) ever just be friends? I am not talking about someone you formerly dated, just someone you were friends with.

Discuss please!

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I love conference weekend. We are having guests, and that is even better. I love having guests. Yes it is a little work getting the house in order before hand, but it is worth it. At least it gives me an excuse to get my whole house clean.

What about you, do you like having guests?

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We got The Bugs hair cut yesterday. It looks a little like this (minus the blue of course).....

I gotta say it is pretty cute on her. I will post a picture of her actual style as soon as I actually manage to style it. Yeah yeah I know lazy mom!

It was new hair style day yesterday, my hair used to look like this...

Now it looks like this...

Believe it or not this is the closest I could come to my natural color.

What do you think? The last time I went a lot darker and accept for S everyone in my entire family hated it.

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I went grocery shopping last week, and I promptly got laid up the next day. So now I have a fridge full of groceries that need to be used up, I will be cooking up a storm this weekend. Thank goodness for guests that can eat it all up for us! Hey guys (you know who you are) make sure to come with a good appetite, I plan to feed you up and make you both fat like the rest of us!

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Here is the music

(I always have something to say about every song so from now on there will be commentary with the tunes)...

1. No Big Deal- Love and Rockets (How can you not love this song!!!!)

2. Love is Dead- Kerli(She was a bit of a one hit wonder about a year ago, the album isn't half bad though.)

3. Out of Control- She Wants Revenge (Who knew that these guys are a couple of surfer looking dudes, very seductive music.)

4. Candy Everybody Wants- 10,000 Maniacs (This is the live version, LOVE IT)

5. Only You- Portishead (Very underground trip hop, so cool!)

6. Bigmouth Strikes Again- The Smiths (Morrissey, is the coolest thing to come out of the 80's)

7. The Metro- Berlin (Yes they actually had more than that Top Gun song!)

8. Ants Marching- Dave Matthews Band (not a huge fan of them, I think this is the only song I have by them)

9. Stay- Lisa Loeb (This one is OK it reminds me of living in NY for some reason)

10. Genius of Love- Tom Tom Club (The 80's ROCK!)

Bonus:

Paramore- Brand New Eyes (The new album, so excited!)

Owl City- Ocean Eyes (new album too)

Ordeal

OK

so...

where do I start...

So you all know I had a little procedure two weeks ago... right?

And you all know that it was indeed a little procedure... right?

And you all know that I have been down for a while... right?

So, after said procedure, I was feeling really good, I was on the mend, able get up and move around, go grocery shopping, do laundry, eat normal food. The last day I remember being able to do all of that was last Thursday. That night S and I went out to dinner with his parents and proceeded to stuff ourselves silly, so I wasn't surprised when I had a hard nights sleep. Friday I woke up with a pain on my left side, it was a little uncomfortable, like when you eat and then run, that kind of cramping pain. It hurt a little when I took too deep a breath, but the pain was bearable. I just figured it was the after effect of a heavy meal. Well Saturday I woke up and it was a lot worse. I made some comment on facebook about pain and that it hurt when I breathed in too deep. A couple of people promptly told me to get my butt into the Doctor so I heeded their advice and went to the Insta-Care. I do not like going in there, first of all because it is a $75 copay, second because you rarely see the same doc twice, and last because you have to wait forever to do so, but I went. To my dismay the Doc that I saw said that he was concerned about the pain but that there was nothing he could do about it because their CT scanner and x-ray machine were both down. (My kind of luck right!) So he strongly urged me to go to the ER. (As always things like this never happen on week days.) So I went home to get the Man, and to find someone to watch the girls. I proceeded to call every neighbor I could think of. NO ONE WAS HOME, I mean what did I expect, it was Saturday morning after all! I finally got a hold of one neighbor who helped me get a hold of another who took the girls.

(Becki YOU ROCK!!!!!!! Paul your not so shabby either!)

S gave me a blessing and we left for the ER. This was at about 11:30 am. We got to the ER and had to wait for a surprisingly short time to be admitted. To make a long story short, after drinking 64 ounces of the most disgusting stuff I have ever had to drink, eating almost an entire roll of winter green lifesavers, draining an entire bag of IV fluid, and dealing with the ordeal of chest x-rays and blood work I was told there was nothing wrong and promptly discharged. The one thing the ER doctor did say was that it looked like there was a little bit of a spot right around my bowel that might have a problem but he didn't think it was anything to worry about. Plus he was very concerned about my right ovary. Well DUH, that was part of what the whole "little procedure" was about anyway! So we went home. Well eventually the pain started to move, not go away, just move lower. I stayed home from church on Sunday, and missed the Primary Program, that I was suppose to participate in. By Sunday night I was starting to feel a little better. Monday I got up and was feeling OK which was saying a lot. I got the kids off to school, showered, put make up on, got dressed, and had some normal food. I had enough energy to run some errands, get my hair cut, talk to some friends, and color my hair. I was feeling pretty good. Monday night the pain returned, in a completely different spot. I was in pain all night. I even called S home from a service project because I was feeling so rotten. Tuesday morning, I couldn't hardly get out of bed. I called my doctor and moved up my appointment that I had scheduled for the next day. I went in to see him and described the pain and where it was. He seemed genuinely perplexed. The problem is that there is nothing on the left side of the body that could cause that kind of pain. He looked with an ultrasound and... nothing! He was concerned about what I was describing however, and put me on a gorilla-cillin to try to clear up whatever was wrong. He said that it seemed as though I "might" have some sort of infection around my bowel and that the thing that would help me is to get up and move around more. I have tried, I swear I have! I get up, I move around, I eat normal food, I do normal things, but the pain keeps coming back, especially in the evenings. It is like my body just gets so worn out by that time that it gives in. I am so tired of this! I don't want to be in pain anymore! I know compared to some people that this really is nothing, but it just hurts so much! I am going to call the doctor... AGAIN today to update him and try to get some more of the MONDO Ibuprofen I have run out of. Hopefully since it has been almost 48 hours the antibiotic will kick in and the pain will start to subside. Thank you all for you amazing support, and care. I have be so touched by all the loving messages that I have received, there has been some great advice, and I appreciate all of you!

I will keep you updated... promise.