Hives....uff dah

I am a very frustrated woman right about now. I am having a hard time understanding how we have come so far with medical science in the year 2009 and yet they still don't have a way to diagnose WHY I am covered in hives for going on Day 5. You would think it would be an easy thing to do-they're just itchy red bumps ALL OVER ME!! Isn't there a blood test for goodness sake? Apparently not, as the Dr. told me on Monday-"well, it's an allergic reaction to something"! Duh!! I knew that before I even went in to see him. He gave me a bunch of medication and by the end of the day, they were all gone. Great, case closed...no such luck! They came back again on Tuesday and I called the Dr. again and they called in 2 more prescriptions. So now I'm taking 6 different meds and the stinking hives have not gone away at all. I am itching like crazy and frustrated beyond belief. I have racked my brain and I haven't done or ate anything different...what the heck? I have another apt. with the Dr on Tuesday and I hope that we do NOT have to talk about hives! I have heard from so many people who have suffered from them and not a one said that they ever figured out what was CAUSING them...lovely, just lovely. Thanks for letting me vent!!! I need to go now, I'm on the hunt for body-sized pieces of sand paper....

Jolyn's Birthday

Today would have been Jolyn's 49th birthday. Jolyn, Pati (her sister) and I started a tradition of getting together somewhere between September 10th and October 5th (Pati's birthday) to spend the day together and go "fall shopping" and have lunch together. It was truly one of the highlights of my year and I looked forward to it immensely. After Jonie died, I knew that this year was going to be difficult to say the least. Pati and I decided on the day she died, that this year we would get together ON Jolyn's actual birthday.

My day started out with tears because when I pulled up Pati's facebook account, the picture she had on it was one of the 3 of us from last years day together...so, I drive to Bonney Lake and when I tell Pati about how my morning started, she handed me something-it was a 5 x 7 of the SAME picture! Uff dah, more tears and we haven't even left the house yet!

We started out at This-n-That in Enumclaw, and actually did pretty good. A few tears but not bad. The gal that worked there knew Jolyn and was very kind in her words to us. Then we headed to Sumner to Folk Art Gatherings where Jolyn worked...that, was HARD. I had a hard time just getting in the door, but I did. We walked around and collected a few things-I had put a cloth pumkin on the counter and Pati walked up and said"you could make that". WHAT???!! At the same time we both looked at each other and started laughing-she coudn't figure out where that came from and neither could I and then it dawned on BOTH of us...it was JOLYN!! Seriously, those were the exact words that Jolyn would always say to me when we shopped- Pati had NEVER said that to me before. How crazy was that?

LuAnn, the owner of the store, was talking and told us she needed "to come clean" about something. Turns out that Jonie had left her reading glasses at the store and LuAnn wanted to keep them there as she found herself using them when she'd forget hers. We told her to please keep them so that there would always be a little part of Jolyn there when we came to shop. We both tried them on , and put them back down and had a nice little cry. She did give me the chain that Jonie used to keep them around her neck-I'm now using it for my glasses.

We went to lunch and had great conversation and then went to Jolyn and Gary's house to see Gary. I'd not been there since her death and it was very difficult for me. I was thankful for all the boxes of kleenex that were around! Gary is doing amazingly well-it was just good to see him. Katie(daughter in law) and Noah ( grandson) were there too. We all shared some tears and some laughs together and it was a wonderful way to end the day. We missed Jolyn so much today, but she would've loved how we spent the day. We knew that she was having a very special birthday party with her Mom in heaven today...and they were both eating all the chocolate they could find! Happy Birthday Jolyn...I love you so much.

Pathways in the Park

Yesterday was our church's annual Pathways in the Park day. It started out simply because the original school we rented ,needed us to not be there on a particular Sunday-what to do? Have church in the park and make it a fun day...and we did...and a tradition was born.

It's has always been a fun day. I love that we can be out in God's creation and worshipping him through music and speech. I have to say that we have usually faced some sort of weather obstacle on the day that's chosen-however, yesterday was a complete challenge! We have had record setting heat waves and days of no rain for the entire summer-what do we get on the one day we'd love it to be nice?... coldest day of the year and a record setting day for the most rain! God certainly does have a sense of humor doesn't he?

We were able to set up for the service under a covered area, but the rain came in sideways and the wind blew-oh my goodness were we all so cold! Everyone huddled around the barbeque grills to try and get a little warm...thanks to Joel and Cathy for bringing a nice HOT dish to share-it was really good! After lunch, the kids were determined to go on the jumpy and on the water slide-which they did. Freezing cold out and they still managed to have a lot of fun...seeing Tyson with his teeth chattering and his lips blue and still going down into the cold water made me ache all over! Oh, to be young and clueless again!( Well, I guess I could still be considered clueless at times..!)

The day ended earlier than usual, but we were able to spend time in fellowship with one another and in the end, that's what it's all about. I feel so blessed to be able to attend a church filled with so many wonderful people that I can call family. God is so good...and next year, He needs to bring us SUNSHINE!!

The Evergreen State Fair

Today was the annual "Kelly family does the Monroe fair"...We have gone to the fair on Labor Day weekend every year for as long as we have lived back in Washington..22 consecutive years! Bree's birthday is always somewhere near Labor Day, and that's what she wants to do for her day...so, off we all go.

For the most part we have enjoyed the fair experience...there was one year when Tonya didn't want to go at all (during her teen years) and certainly made the experience less than satisfying. She spent her whole day staring at her then boyfriends picture...oh good grief! But hey, one year out of 22 isn't bad at all! Tonya has certainly come around and now is a great sport about going-although I don't believe it's her favorite thing to do!!

It's fun to do the fair now with the grandkids-they really love it. This year they loved to see the momma pig and her little babies...Bella loved to see the ducks...they had fun petting horses...Shane walked to the top of the huge slide ride and went down all by himself!...they rode a couple of rides...the boys had snow cones...Shaney Boy had to show off his new horse watch to one of the riders...Maddy filled her Crocs with ketchup!...they all rode on the horses...Auntie Bree actually held Tyson's hand!...we all ate scones...Maddy wanted to see the quilts...and best of all, nobody had a meltdown!!

The sad thing to me is now it's gotten so expensive to go. $10 admission, $10 to park, $25 for 6 kiddie rides, $7 for a sandwich, $3 to play most games...it's crazy! No wonder the fair attendance is down. No matter how much it ends up costing, I'm sure we'll continue to go , because the tradition is priceless!

Happy Birthday Bree

Twenty eight years ago today, I gave birth to our youngest daughter, Bree. It is absolutely amazing to me how fast time goes. It really does seem like just yesterday that she was running around looking much like Maddy does now. Where does the time go?

I have so many memories from the past 28 years...crawling full speed and then stopping for no apparent reason to just roll over and look up at the ceiling...blonde curly hair flying in the wind at the beach..the nickname Breezy really fit..sharing "orngins"(oranges) with her Orngin Gampa(my Dad)...didn't want to go to pre-school cuz she didn't want to be away from me...dancing with her sister and singing to "Jesus Was Born Today" at Christmas...always being the tallest one in her class...picking flowers in the outfield of her t-ball games...playing the violin..gave me a surprise Birthday party with just her as the guest..more little league games than I can count..."Mom, I heard God's voice"...kept tabs on her big sister...All Star softball teams in the summers...not wanting to turn 10 years old(??!!)...Canyon Park Jr.High:softball, basketball and yes, soccer(UGH!!)..playing Alliance basketball with a fabulous group of girls and Mr. D as her coach..going to State in her soph year at Bothell for basketball and breaking her wrist taking a charge...crashing my car through the Suntana front window...playing Reign softball..getting baptized..more basketball at Bothell...Nick...valedictorian of the class of 2000 at Bothell...her dorm room was the exact dorm room I had when I met Al...playing 1 college softball tourney-did great and then quit..whipped cream bikini contest winner..(don't ask..)...meeting and falling in love with Jeremy...their wedding...presidents medallion winner and loads of other honors at CWU..John Doe/John Deere!..going through graduation TWICE at Central(don't even ask...) working at Quadrant..day after Thanksgiving Day shopping with her sister.. giving birth to 2 of the most beautiful girls on the planet...

Happy birthday Bree, I'm looking forward to the NEXT 28 years of memories. I love you so much and am so very proud and blessed to be your Mother. You are an amazing woman .

Friends

I have been in a reflective mood lately...Isn't it funny how this life we have works? Last night we had dear friends over for dinner and had a wonderful time. We didn't know these friends 4 years ago, and now, just couldn't imagine our life without them in it. We have a whole GROUP of friends that we didn't know 4 years ago, and can't imagine them not being in our life now.! Four years-a blip on the radar screen of life, but for me , the past 4 years have seemed like a lifetime...that's how long you would usually think it would take to make the friends we have made. Our common thread is that we have all met through our church, Pathways. We have gone to several churches over the years, and have never been as connected as we have been since coming to Pathways. The friendships we have made have been such blessings. We have shared our lives with each other, we've laughed together, we've even cried together. I am looking forward to seeing all of these relationships grow and am looking forward to the NEW friends we have yet to meet...