God in the good and the bad

I hold back from writing this because I am not sure if I want it to be told. My only reason to do so is to ask for prayer. I do not like attention or to feel that I am held in a spotlight. I deeply respect people who can sing solos and act on a stage, because I would rather you sit and poke my eyeballs than to do so. I am very comfortable sitting back and watching people. Even then I feel as if I draw unwanted attention to clap loudly or sway to the music or hold my hands up. It is a curse of being a true dork. So here I go....For about three weeks I have had stomach pains. I went and had an Upper GI and it showed a Hiatal hernia and spontaneous reflux. After a few days of taking Nexium I was not relieved and still having pain so I went back. The next day I was scheduled for a CT scan to look for lower digestive problems and cysts on my ovaries.

The day after the CT scan I recieved a call at 11:00 with the results. She told me that it looked like I have a tumor on my pancreas and that they made me an appointment with a surgeon at 12:15. I told her I was to teach a class at 2:00 and she said that they really wanted me to get into the doctor that day. The tone in her voice was evident that I needed to go. The surgeon was more positive and said that it is a posiblility that the spot on my pancreas could even be something that I have had from birth and just a weird thing that is not anything to worry about. Or, it could be a tumor. He did say that a lot of people can develop cysts that are nothing to worry about but the radiologist that read the films did not think it looked like it was just a cyst and was concerned enough that we need to check it out. I also have a 22 mm cyst on my ovary which is nothing of concern.

My next step is that on Wednesday I have an appointment to schedule an endoscopic ultrasound. They will put an endoscope into your stomach that has an ultrasound thingy on it and can better see the spot on my pancreas. He also can biopsy it if it is suspicious. Then, we would go from there.

I covet your prayers. I understand to a small degree that I might have cancer and in the near future have surgery, go through radiation, and possibly chemo treatments. It is also possible that nothing is wrong. That one is not as believable with my symptoms, but it could be nothing major. I do know that I have a true relationship with Christ and can depend on Him to walk with me through whatever the future holds. It may be bad but that does not change who He is or His love for me. I pray nothing is wrong, but more than that I pray to stay in His will though whatever comes.

When I was a teen I knew God's word and I often said and did what I knew to be right. In my heart I was on the fence with God. His word says that we can not be lukewarm. He spits us out of His mouth- Revelation 3:15-16. I wanted God's insurance plan of where I would go if I died, but then wanted to choose my friends and life. I thought God would make my life holy and boring with really dorky friends. I finally came to the end of what I could do and had my life in such misery that He became my only hope. I was ready to do it His way. Is it easy- No. Do you still have problems- Absolutely. But, you have a friend that is there through each and every trial. Each trial produces endurance and discipline and teaches you more about who God is and how much He cares for you. I have that friend and assurance... do you?

Garage sale 8/29/09

I picked up this frame for $3.00. It is larger than it looks in the photo. I needed a frame for the painting my aunt did of the home my mom grew up in. My grandfather built the home himself. It was a small two bedroom log cabin on the property of my grandmother's parent's home in Ellisville, Mississippi.

I paid $5.00 for this frame, hoping to frame a very large photo that was done of me when I was three. It wasn't the correct size. This frame is very big and has beautiful coloring. I will have to frame a chalkboard or burlap board because it is too fabulous to let go.

I bought this painting for $4.oo to go in our turquoise bathroom. The lady said her father-in-law painted it. I think he was very talented. He didn't sign it, which is sad. The edges of the canvas are not painted. I need to frame it, don't I?

Pillow for $1.00

Bass shoes for $2.00

The oblong basket was $1.00. It will be perfect for rolls or breadsticks. The welcome sign was $1.00 and the eggs were $.50.

Pear candle was $.10. The lady said she HATED it when I came to buy it. I gave her a quarter and waited 10 minutes for change and got 5 penneys. I should have ran without getting change. I am not sure I really like it either, but for $.10 it is a great candle to burn.

Two spatulas for $1.00. The bag of protectors to put under the feet of furniture was $.50.

Double ball bowling bag $5.00. My husband is sending it to his uncle that has started bowling.

The chest was $30.00. I don't like the crackle finish so I will be painting it probably a blue to match my kitchen table.

Condiment server was $3.00 and it was new in the box.

The set of six bottles was $3.00.

Two crib size quilts for $1.00 each. I was thinking of using them for making tote bags.

Full size quilt was $3.00. I can always use quilts.

This is a square pillow sham- a really big one. I love the nubby fabric!

Set of three candlesticks was $3.00.

Visit Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for more posts. Be prepared, Rhoda mentions that she is getting bored with garage sales lately. I just covered my ears.

There's a snake in my garden!

Cameron was taking out our backyard pond when he heard a frog croaking. He looked in the brush and this snake had the frog halfway in his mouth and the little frog was screaming his head off. So, we got to go snake hunting to get him out of our pond area. I am guessing it is a Garter snake, but I don't know.

Garage Sale 8/22/09

Nothing too exciting today. We slept late and there weren't as many sales.
Bracelet for $1.00

Books for $1 and magazines for $.25 each.
Travel bag $2.00

Scrabble for $.50. I want to make some of the pendants for necklaces out of the tiles.

Planter $1

Head over to Southern Hospitality to see more treasures found this week.

Homemade Vanilla Ice cream

We love our new ice cream freezer. It is both electric and hand cranked, so we can use it in parks or on a boat when electricity is not available. There is nothing better than homemade icecream.

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups sugar

1 tall can evaporated milk

5 eggs

1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 gallon whole milk

Beat eggs. Combine eggs with evaporated milk, sugar, and vanilla. Place in 4 qt. ice cream freezer. Fill to the top with milk. Freeze.

Tomatoes

I picked all these tomatoes yesterday off my two plants. These plants are covered in tomatoes this year. I picked them a little early because something is eating them if I let them get fully red. Whatever it is will chew almost half of the tomato and move on. They are really larger than they look in the photo. That cucumber is really too big. I didn't know about it and just happened to see it. And, my first jalapeno. With my painful stomach this week I will have to take other's word for how it tastes.

When you can't sleep... Dream!

I found a new blog tonight. Knack Studios is in South Carolina if you happen to be lucky enough to visit in person. If not, you can still drool over some of the items in her shop. She has a blog showing the before and after of all these pieces. I love painted furniture. I love when you take an old, ugly, out of date piece and transform it with a new color and new knobs. I have been thinking of painting the table and buffet in my foyer a shade of green. I like this shade or one in this shade but with a darker tone.

I have a three drawer end table that I am going to paint. It is on a narrow wall at the entrance when you come in our garage door. My table set in the kitchen is a color similar to this. I think I am going to paint the table similar to this.

Can you picture the ugly '70's china cabinet that this was. Do you usually see no hope for those pieces? There is hope.

Oh, my! This looks like it came out of a French castle. Absolutely love it!

This would be fun to paint on the top. I know this is either fabric or wallpaper, but you could copy a piece of fabric and make a stencil and paint on a design as well.

How NOT to advertise your items for sale

This is a listing off the Huntsville, AL Craigslist. Can you tell what the person is selling? They actually have the same item listed twice with one photo on the first listing and one on the second listing.

Did you guess the cabinets? Nope. Both listings are for a retro 1950's blue and white table with 6 chairs for $350. This is like photography gone bad. One, can we see more than the tops of a couple of chairs? Second, I would do all things possible to avoid getting the messy, opened cabinet in my photo. I guess I am just a little weird, but how about cleaning off the top of the table and actually photographing the table. The scary thought.... what if they are avoiding a mess? One that is worse than what they photographed. Um, Clean Sweep, we have a project for you.

Disclaimer: I know that people outside of the South think Alabama is full of hicks that can't speak well and marry their relatives. I am here to say that although the above person seems to be someone without cleaning abilities or much skill at pointing a camera at an object to photograph, they only make up a small portion of people living in our wonderful state. I am sure there are people without skills in your area of the country as well, so please do not pass judgement on us. Let's all learn to live together and love one another.

Key Plaque: Before and After

I bought this at a garage sale for $.50 on Saturday.

I spray painted it white. Then, I painted the letters with my bronze paint. It naturally crackled,I wasn't planning on that, so I just left it. I then screwed back in the hooks just enough to hold upright and painted on the bronze paint with a brush. I took a brown glaze and antiqued the frame. I used an old rag to wipe it on then wipe it off.

My garage sale pieces hung

I am joining in 2nd Time Around Tuesday at A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words.

The wall hanging above the door in the foyer. I got is Saturday for $2.50 at a garage sale.

The grate above the back door was also $2.50 from the same garage sale. We also hung the photo collage of my husband's trip to Budapest, Germany, and London that he did not take me on. It would look better with photos of me in it. See the curtains? I found them in a box someone put out in front of their house for the trash. Four tapestry panels. It was rich people trash. I could tell it was household stuff so I grabbed the box to dig through.

We moved the desk out of my daughter's room to sell on Craigslist. It was in the foyer waiting for me to list it. I decided to try it on this wall, thinking it would be way too big and be in the walking path. It is perfect. I am going to paint it black. I bought it at a garage sale for $15.00. I also bought the bulletin board for $2. I am going to hang some plates or something in the dead space between the desk and bulletin board.

I have had these plates to hang for awhile. I have a small oval white platter to go under the blue one, but need another wall hanger. The chandalier is my $5 garage sale find.

The top cross is the one I got Saturday. The others were bought over a year ago. They were a set from Kirklands in a box. I paid $2 for the box of crosses.

The table was my mom's. It opens with three leaves to seat 14 people.

I hung this one by the garage door. I also found it at the garage sale Saturday and paid $2.50 for it.

The buffet was my mom's and the dresser was my great-grandmother's.

I am hanging the two other black wall hangings in my master bathroom. I will show you that later. We took down the old towel bars and have patched the wall and I need to paint that then hang our new towel bars. So, just hold your horses, People.