2 1/2 weeks of bed resting,BORING,BORING!!

Finally I can move around a little more around the house. This summer has been the worst for heat. It's now the middle of Sept. we're finally getting cooled off. It's just been the last week I've been able to come into the living room. The heat & the asthma have taken a big toll on my body. I never recovered from the severity of the 3rd asthma attack.
A Thur. nite I was trying to get ready for be in my bdrm, I've to take off my 0-2 to clean my face etc. I started feeling really bad, then dizzy. I 'd been in my a/c bdrm but just hadn't felt good that nite. I finally told Allen to get my b/p cuff. My b/p was 160/100, I didn't wantto go to ER. I wasn't having chest pains. I told Allen I get in bed, put my c-pap on ,get on bed rest. The next am My b/p was down. I spent the w/end resting in the recliner w/ my feet up. Mon. I went to the my D.C. to get my back adjusted to see if I have a/thing w/ my lungs or heart pinched off. I was out in the back & had some ribs out of place. Tue. I rested most of the day, part of the time in the time w/ my feet in the recliner. tThe ATENA nurse chewed me out for not going to the ER. Allen came home late for supper. I had managed to cook chicken breasts that am for chicken salad. I went in to help tear up the lettuce for salad. I started feeling real bad & told Allen I;m going back & put up my feet again .I took my BP,it was160/100. I took my BP med.,told Allen if it wasn't down in an hr. we go to ER. When were finishing up eating our salads I got feeling worse. I was getting really dizzy,bad h/ache ,getting disorietened& my legs & R arm was beginning to feel funny. My BP had soared up to 170. i insisted he take me to ER,I knew I had donee/thing Icould @ this point. I didn't want a stroke. all my kids FINALLY decided that they would come out here for T-ving. Last time was 1996 since we all have been together.
I didn't start having chest pains till going to ER from probably have to extert myself getting out of the house trying to get to ER. The admitted me @ 3am to the the Heart floor for observations. I would end up spending 2 1/2 days there. I was really surprised they kept me. Last time I had a hard time getting Dr's to believe me. I have different dr's this time.











finally

60 th birthday gifts

I hadn't had time to mentioned the gifts my kids gave me. Forest gave me a digital camera to use. Now I can post my cars on Flickr. Allen will have to upload the pic's since the memory chip is a tiny square. He's excited since it's a new tech. toy to play with.
Jan gave me Stampscapes early as a surprise when I went down w/ my 3rd really bad asthma attack. She gave me every stamp on my wish list!! I got all the pieces to do a Lighthouse scene for my C-mas cards. Plus trees & the country church to play with. I got alcohol inks & dye ink pads for the background to work on later. I almost didn't see my 6oth b-day w/the severity of that attack. She sent me a $5o check in my b-day card as a bonus!! With HP cutting our salary there is no extra money. I went to the Copper Butterfly in Cloudcroft & bought a blue ceramic piece SW design w/ cutouts on it. It will go w/ my blue Fiesta ware on my shelf. If it cools off enough I can finish the other 2 pieces of SW ceramics I started this spring. Also we had money to go out to eat for my b-day dinner. We ended up @ a new M.E. restaurant on the West side.I had hot stuffed grape leaves w/ lamb & rice which were delicious. They were some of the best stuffed grape leaves I have eaten.I had the chicken kebab,Allen had lamb.they gave the eggplant dip instead of the tabbouleh since I can't eat wheat. The flat bread was fresh & looked so good, I restrained myself & didn't touch it. I have been gluten-free for 6 mo's & don't want to blow it.
Heidi gave me a gift certificate for Ross's. I'm going today to see if I can find a new summer nightgown. A trip out of my bdrm.yea!!! Plus a box is supposed to be coming. Hopefully I will have some fabric scraps for my cards.
Allen gave me a pretty pink flower similar to my African violet. Plus a card that has a smoke alarm sound that goes off when U open it up. Plus he drove us up to Cloudcroft on my b-day & took a day off so we could get out of the heat.
Laur sent me a funny card as usaul poking fun @ my age.

A full nite of sleep in 2 mo's!!

I slept thru the nite the1st time in 2 mo's. Cloud cover came in Fri. pm & cooled us off. 1st a/noon I could rest in my recliner. Yea a day!!! I didn't have to rest in front of my bdrm a/c unit in the a/noon. @ least 1 day's reprieve from the heat. I even got to work in my craft rm. for a short while cutting up my colored images to make into cards. ME colored images will be usedfor my church's mail route. Hopefull I can get my cards off to Iraq soon.

We saw ELK, ALOT @ THEM @ 9,OO FT!!!

We got a late start out of the door. We went to the shops on the b/walk 1st since they close @ 5 p.m. We ate supper in the car since my knees hurt so bad since some of the shops had steps to get into. The area where the Copper Butterfly is more w/accessible. I was so glad I had our curried chicken salad in the cooler. I was starved,it tasted so good.
We went for a drive in a different direction. We headed up the road to an observatory. along the way there was a turn out we stopped @. I almost didn't get out, my knees hurt so bad from walking. The sun was in the way so we couldn't take a pic. They had some benches there, & I sat down to rest. The West has so much open spaces!!! This was such view,U could see literately see for miles & miles. The mtns seem to roll in wave after wave into the horizon. Massive rows of trees dotted the foreground in greens & browns. I soaked it all in to remind me when I 'm going crazy in my bdrm. Breeze blowing in my face,sun setting in the horizon,peace & quiet.
As we were driving higher on the right we saw what appeared to be deeer grazing. We couldn't stop since a car was behind us.We got up to 9,ooo ft, where the observatory is. We drove into one area about 4 or 5 deer were grazing on the grounds. It was closed, so Allen walked around. He found a piece of bear's bread growing on the tree. The last time I saw that was in Sitka, Alaska on my mission in 1974. It's a fungus which bears like to eat
We turn around to head back down the mtn,it's dusk. On the left, Allen stops & sees what is an Elk. She's too big for a deer,not a horse. I haven't seen an elk since I was 19,20 yrs old in Wyo. or Y/stone.They have a darker brown color up on their shoulders . We drive a little further down the road there is about another 4 or 5 elk grazing on the left.Allen driving ,all the sudden he saids WHOA!! There is this elk w/ a massive rack of horns out in the clearing. I haven't seen one this close up ever w/ this big rack of horns. My father would have loved to see him. He was a hunter,this would have put meat on the table when younger.We drive down the road looking for the area where we saw deer grazing earlier. It was a big herd of elk grazing maybe a dozen of them in this lush green valley.We didn't have a camera w/a telephoto lenses,just a d/able one. It was dusk so the light was bad, plus they were in the distance. I have never seen this many elk together @ 1 time even @ Yellowstone Park or in Wyo.
We're driving down the road, I'm looking @ the side window, when Allen quickly stops, right in front of us,an elk is climbing up out of the brush coming onto the road in front of us!! Elk are big animals U don't want to hit UR car!! She doesn't know what she wants to do. We wait for her to make up her mind on where she wants to go. I couldn't believe how close she was to us. I don't
think I have ever seen an elk up this close before. She back tracks down where she came from.
It's like God pulls out all the stops for me this day to have a wonderful view of his creations for enduring the last 6 wks before my 6oth birthday. THANK YOU GOD!!! for this w/ful feast I saw w/ my eyes & to savor in my memory of UR creatures. What an impressive b/day gift.I can't believe the range from desert, to mtn's full of lush green forests w/ wildlife only 2 hrs away from each other.
All good things have to end,we're back in El Paso where it's warmer. We had almost too cool a breeze @ lunch w/ cloud cover. It's so wierd knowing it could be so cool to eat o/doors in August. Luckily gas is cheaper this year so we could make the 3 trips we did this year. I don't know what next year will bring,it;s a day by process w/ my health problems. It's nothing short of a miracle I even made it to our 31st anniversary in June . W/ the severity of this 3rd asthma attack it has taken over 3 wks to get back on my feet,this trip was a big bonus.@least Allen will have some warm memories of us when I die. Couldn't do w/o his help. We have to take 2 cylinders of 0-2 w/us plus my p/able tank for when I leave the car. He has to put the new tanks on for me in the back seat of the car, open up the valves etc. A VERY GOOD BIRTHDAY,NATURE @ IT'S BEST!!,

6oth b-day, I made it!!!!

We made it to our trip to Cloudcroft N/m. on my b-day!!!I t was an impressive feat getting there. I have had 3 major asthma attacks in July. the 3rd one was the most severe I have had in 5 yrs. It has taken me over 3 wks to get back on my feet from this one. It has taken alot of effort just to make it thru the last 6 wks of the 100+ days here in El Paso.
I managed to pack of cooler of gluten -free food for us to take by doing s/thing small each day.
It's such a relief to know I can still walk around. The cool mtn. air really helped. I have had muscle spasms so bad in my calves the last 3 days from not even being able to walk around the house .
Thanks to my dau. ,Janevieve who gave me a generous check besides Stampscapes stamp earlier, I had some spending money. W/HP cutting our salary theere no rm for extra's. We went to the Copper Butterfly,she has b/ful ceramic collection from local artists, Indian items, rocks,SW items,jewelry etc. I luv the rich colors & shapes of the ceramic's. I had a hard time picking out s/thing. Price wise ,space wise ,I had alot of items to chose from. I got one w/ cuts on
it in a S/w theme. The blue w/ go w/ my Fiesta ware collection. I used to do ceramics, my hands are loosing hand strength & dexitry. They must be using glazes that have bit of glass in it that melts & runs down the piece
We ate lunch in the picnic area,in the town square,there was a good cool breeze blowing. It was so great to be able to sit o/side & eat on a picnic table & stilll be alive. It was such a contrast to being cooped up in my bdrm w/ an a/c during the heat of the day. IT'S BEEN THE LONGEST 6 WKS TO GET THRU THIS HEAT FOR THIS TRIP.!!!!! I luv being able to sit o/side & have the wind blow thru my hair eating my lunch & being alive!!

TOO HOT!!!!!

Can't type on my blog,too hot in l.rm. Get up in early am to check e-mail.Having to sleep up in bed just trying to breathe@ nite. Have to let it go for awhile. I just want to make it to my 60 th birthday w/ no more attacks.

3 major asthma attacks

IT HAS BEEN MY WORSE ASTHMA YEAR IN 4YEARS!!!!!!! THE LAST ONE has taken me 2 wks to get back on my feet. It will be 2wks ago that it hit hard & fast. i had been working in my craft rm. I had to take my laxative that day. the brm is right next to my rm. I had left some hummus in the food processor to finish up. i had to add some garlic etc,scrape the bowl out etc so I could get out the blender. I also had truned on my hot backs since my back had goen into muscle spasms. I wanted to make a protein shake since I was hungry. The kitchen is really hot in the a/noon. I can tell if it's getting hot in there@ 9-10 am,we're going to have 100+ day.
There was a knock @ the door,the p/man had left a pkg @ the door. The dogs go crazy when the p/man comes. They ran out the door as soon as he left the gate. I went back into the kitchen,then it dawned on me he didn't leave any mail. So I went back to the door,George was going crazy barking. It was hard to get them back in even w/ shaking the dog biscuit box. So I was yelling @ them, which was causing exertion w/ the heat etc. I hit the hot kitchen,I couldn't think clear. Do I stay here & make my shake or go to my bdrm. I grabbed my inhaler & took it. I made a mad dash for my bdrm in my w/chair. By the time I got in front of the window a/c I was coughing,gasping for air. @ that time I thought I was wheezing now I realize I was gasping for air. It has never been this bad for me. I may have sat ther 20-30 min's coughing & gasping for 4air. It would take 45 mins. before I could breathe in & calm down. I made a mad dash to the kitchen to throw my shake together. I sat in front of that a/c unit for 4 hours breathing in a stream of a/c air into my lungs.
I did'nt even get to open up my box,a swap that I had wait for 6 wks until I could get my breathing under control. I swapped out things I wasn't using & listed things I wanted. I got alot of ATC's that I can use for quick cards this fall. some wierd ones will work up good for a set of cards for Laura's b-day.I would had liked some vintage PP,but didn't get any. A Stampin Up c/log kept me company looking@ it in front of the a/c.
Last week was another100+ wk. Just moving & any exertion would leave me breathless. We ate alot of salads,deviled eggs, nuts etc for snacks.

Did U know?

1.That the author, of a BED of RED Flowers is a ''blue eyed'' Persian.!!! I have brown eyes & an Anglo of English mix.
2. She wore French design clothes before the "Taliban clothes" police came.
3.The burqu was not normal for most Afghan women to wear. It came from rural culture.It was seen as as a tool of women suppression. In 1959 women no longer had to be veiled. so she grew up wearing what she liked to wear as for fashion. They had a lot more freedoms before the Soviet invasion & the literal takeover of their lives & the Taliban.
4. Her father was a doctor, her mother a school teacher. The king provided free education for all children before he was ousted. She was very well readed esp. in Persian literature.
5.When the soviets took over the schools, changed teachers,classes etc. One day they brought Soviet made dresses for the girls to wear. The dresses were so ugly after they left. They commented they had no style, they refused to wear, they were used to Western design clothing. Some of the girls burned the dresses off school campus in refusal to bring them home.
Supposed to be 101F today,too tired to type more.

El Paso,friendiest town

The summer heat will bake U & cook U. The people are some of the friendiest I've met . I won't go back to DFW area. Won't be able to type for a few days because of muscle spasms in upper back. Wll write later on on our fun brk,trip & book review. Time of the yr L.Rm gets to hot to stay long on computor. Please be patient,my blog is my link to the o/side world.

Back in muscle spasms

Wont be able to type for a few days. Want to type my book review on the Bed of Red Roses. Hurt my upper back when I came home from the Reclast IV Tues. Tripped on the door mat,must gotten dizzy when I got up from my w/c. Tired from our trip to Ruidoso. Went out to brf. on O"Clock cafe good & fun place to eat on the 4th for Allen's b-day. Got to rest so I can get out Sat. for our hmg mtg. @ RS Sat. am. on Provident Living.