Spoons & Stitches

Today I realized something new about ME and Fibromyalgia. That tight feeling that I get, like I can't stand the clothes I'm wearing or my skin is too tight, might be tied to the onset of rapid heart rate that I somtimes get. My new phone (Galaxy S5) has the ability to check my heart rate more easily than I used to do myself. This morning it went to 92 and then over 100 bpm. I was sitting still at the time with no stress at all. This isn't new--I've had it for over 11 years, though it hasn't been around much lately. What is new is this rapid heart rate and that tight feeling at the same time. I never paid attention before to whether the two occurred together. I'm going to have to monitor that going forward. The good news is that I've had all the heart tests (stress, EKG, and some I can't spell) and all is normal--just fast. I'm not sure what this can do to help things, but knowledge is supposed to be power-right? Have a great day!

This Christmas season I find myself thinking about my grandparents that have passed away. My step-grandfather, Jim, passed away last century. My maternal grandfather passed before I was born, so Jim was the only grandfather I knew in my mom's family. My maternal grandmother passed a few years ago. My paternal grandparents both passed this year. All of them were dear to me and made every visit feel like a special occasion for me. I remember visiting Grandmommie (my mom's mom) and she always made these wonderful holiday meals that were very southern. Jim made the best pumpkin pies and also the BEST strawberry and rhubarb pies in the summer. We would beg him to make a pie when we visited! I still remember how he used to bend down and hug me every time I came, treating me like the most special girl. His hearing aid used to beep when he hugged me and he would tell me that it was an alert that a pretty girl was near. The house always smelled wonderful and they had a whole room dedi...

By now you can tell that I am back from London and running way behind in posting about the trip. However, I still want to finish the write-ups. So today I'm going to write about our second bus trip out of town. We visited Windsor Castle, the Roman baths, and the well-known Stonehenge. Outside view of one of the towers Windsor Castle The town of Windsor was quite beautiful. The old-timey look of the buildings was beautiful. The castle was beautiful too, of course. There was quite the line to see Queen Mary's dollhouse, though I didn't join it. I'm sure it's fascinating, but doll houses just are not my thing. Pictures inside Windsor Castle are forbidden, so I have mostly pictures of the outside (naturally). The rooms were immense, including the ball rooms the king's and the queen's), as well as the sitting rooms, presence rooms, dining rooms and the rest. There was one room that held what must have been the crests of every family in Britain there were ...

It's taken me a few days to get to posting about this trip and my apologies to my few loyal readers for that. We were taking these all-day tours that started at 6am and ended at 10, so finding time to do much else wasn't happening. So let me try to catch you up. Warwick Castle Proper apparent pronunciation: Warrick Castle This is a medieval castle, architected by William the Conqueror circa 1068. It is located in the area of Warwickshire (shocking isn't it?). The castle has been added to, burned, rebuilt and otherwise altered in that time. The bedrooms inside were interesting, though few. There are a number of drawing rooms, sitting rooms, receiving rooms, and other such rooms. In fact, Queen Anne's bed is supposed to be in here, too. What I honestly loved the most was the beautiful rose garden. This is only a small view of a few roses. The garden includes white and pink roses, among others, in a beautiful walking path. Lest you think that this castle has nothi...

Happy Fourth of July Independence Day to everyone! It's been quite strange over here. While my group hasn't done anything terribly outrageous, we did see some fun things today. We caught a group of Americans singing (in a beautiful a Capella harmony) the Star Spangled Banner right outside Buckingham Palace after the changing the guard. Gutsy and earned much applause. The changing of the guard was fun to watch, though we missed the beginning due to a late start. We knew we were in the right place when we could hear the drumming, then the music, of the band (see them in red to the right). The ceremonial aspect of the pageantry is impossible to portray in pictures, but it was impressive. When the guards began to move you could see the entire crowd take off after them. Talk about a mob! We followed at a distance and watched the guard march toward Buckingham Palace. All in all, this even took over an hour. After that, we decided to head toward Kensington Palace. My young class...

Today our class went to see the Tower of London. I had hoped to get out to see the All Hallows Church at the Tower, but that didn't happen. My shins are screaming from all the walking we do here. :) The first thing we saw was the HMS Belfast , the only ship of its kind still in existence. It's quite impressive! From there, we crossed could see the Tower of London. The Tower was an incredible experience. We saw it from across the Thames River and could clearly see the Traitor's Gate, as it was seen by the incoming prisoners. the Traitor's Gate was originally called the Water Gate because it's on the river. Henry wanted to avoid transporting prisoners via the streets. He eventually had to add a portcullis and receiving area to protect this entrance from marauding ships. Another impressive part of this area is the Tower Bridge. This bridge is quite busy and quite long. Here you can see two views of the bridge. The first is from upriver (by the HMS Belfast). The s...

So today was our first full day of "class" here in London. I am studying Church History with classmates from Liberty University here in London. It's been great getting to know them all. out of 13 students, three of us are studying pastoral counseling, one or too more are studying chaplaincy. Others are fulfilling history requirements for various undergraduate degrees. Outside of Westminster Abbey Today's trip was to Westminster Abbey . It was incredible! The Gothic architecture is breathtaking. We saw the high altar where the coronations take place. We also saw the coronation chair, which is kept in St George's chapel when not in use. Saw the tombs of so many monarchs, though I found the one for Elizabeth I the most breathtaking. Right next to St George's chapel is a remembrance in honor of Franklin D Roosevelt . This is quite close to to the memorial for Winston Churchill and the tomb of the unknown soldier. Sorry, inside photography not allowed. ...

It's been a long time since I posted here. Not since my last birthday, in fact. Part of that reason is I've been in a flare with the Chronic Fatigue for almost a year. I rarely find energy to do the extra things that I want to do. Sometimes my brain just doesn't want to work. Recently I was forced to take a good, long look at myself and my health. I realized that I missed almost a month of work for sickness last year. That doesn't include the days that I worked from home when I was sick. I finally looked at that number and thought, "A month? That can't be right." It's not normal, anyway. So I broke down and talked to my doctor. I took my articles, my list of questions and concerns and we had a good long talk. She wants to try some new therapies, though I am thinking it might be too late. But we're trying them b/c she's the medical professional, after all. One of those new therapies is working okay, but the other had to be discontinued due to ...