7.16.2016

early morning coffee & a memory.



So, this morning while sipping my coffee, I was trying to de-clutter my phone and manage my storage.... I came across this note (from February of this year) while deleting things. I have a habit of typing little notes to myself when I don't have time to sit down and write a blog entry or my laptop isn't near.... It is something I have done regularly since my dad died, just to keep me in check about the 'big picture'.  Just a little way to remind myself that there is always hope. At the time I typed this, I was probably pondering life in some way while sitting in the hammock or on the ground in the field watching the horses. Actually, yes, I believe this was right around the time Hazel came to be with us, so yes, this little snippet makes perfect sense now.

Anyway, I am finally feeling back to 100% (no pain anywhere!!) and actually have plans this weekend!! The horses are getting their nails done this morning, but before that, I am hitting the grocery store before it has a chance to get crowded, then a little yard sale-ing. Later, I am gonna be picking up some things (that I am SUPER excited about) from a friend that is moving and then at some point I have to organize my loft closet.... It looks like a tornado came through :)

I will hopefully be back this evening for some pics of my treasures from the day! Happy Saturday y'all!!

Xoxo!

-s

7.14.2016

~ worn ~

Eeeeeek!! It is Thursday and I am so happy to be feeling better AND approaching the weekend!! I am hoping to be able to slowly get back to my fundays on the farm very soon! I haven't even been able to use my riding lawnmower since I got sick on July 3rd... wah! It looks as if we may have some rain the next week, so hopefully after a week or more of showers, my grass will be ready for a trimmin'...

I actually got in a few good thrifting finds this week..... I will share more this weekend because I think I am gonna get my yard sale ON Saturday! Seriously, I am soooooooo glad to be feeling this good. I really was afraid I had messed myself up big-time. I will never let that happen again!

Last weekend when I was able to walk without pain, my friend Holly came and picked me up from home to get me outta the house for a bit. We hit up the huge GoodWill store in town and I got everal dresses, some shoes, and a few knick-knacks. I wore the dress below on Monday paired with some boots I snagged up from thredUP and a denim jacket I got years ago from Target.... The dress has pockets, is made of cotton, and is absolutely PERFECT for summer!! 





So there you have it. My first worn post in a lonnnnnng time. I am still trying to slim down from the weight gain last year, and man is it tougher the older ya get??!? This sickness had me too nauseous to eat too much and I lost a little weight that I hope to keep up, but still cannot exercise too much. I think tomorrow morning I will be heading out for a walk before work - a slow stroll for my mental well-being more than anything else. It is daylight at 6am, and I love early morning walks. 

Happy Thursday!!! 

xoxo - s





7.13.2016

long time, no see....

Ahhhhh! 
So, the last eight days, I have been recovering from a mini heat stroke. There were some contributing things that allowed me to be in the position to have one, other than the heat. One of them was that I had a little spell of anemia. Another one was the fact that it was on a day where the temps reached 100 degrees.....and the other big ones were that I totally forgot to eat (and didn't drink nearly enough for being out in the brutal heat for that long), and that I absolutely love being outside on my little farm, and I have never had any problems with heat, that I ignored all the signs because I had never really familiarized myself with them. I was actually playing the whole day. Had a friend's kid come over the early part to the day, where she was having a ball playing in the water trough (or as I kept calling it, my above ground pool - ha!) and brushing and doting on the horses. After she left, a another friend came over and we just chilled on feed buckets with our feet in the trough while catching up on life. 
I went to an urgent care facility (after stupidly waiting just over 24 hours) running a fever that I could not break and having the worst headache I have ever experienced (and I used to have migraines - this one was off the charts of any migraine I ever had), they were pretty certain it was a mild heat stroke, performed a CT scan (kinda cool - never had one of those before), and confirmed that I did have all the signs of heat stroke, then informed me that I had some inflammation in my liver, lungs, and kidneys. They gave me a shot of a powerful anti-inflammatory, and sentenced me to my bed for three freakin' days. Poor Christian endured a complete whiny bitch the whole week. I was pissy because I couldn't do ANYTHING. If I did get up, I had to take the tiniest of steps (because my organs being inflamed taking a step was utter misery)....
Luckily one of my dear friends came by the house and picked me up to get me out of the house after day 5 of being cooped up, and I was just able walking again comfortably.

Anyway, fast forward to today, things have been improving, and I pretty much feel almost back to normal. Yesterday was a HUGE improvement from the last several days, but this morning I actually feel great (compared to the last week)!! 

So, because of my horrifying experience, I wanted to share some of the warning signs that I ignored....

~ turning bright red. This I ignored because I am pretty fair-skinned and turn red a LOT when hot. Well, my friend informed me that I was turning bright red, and I just assumed it was either the fact that I was wearing a red shirt, and it was reflecting back onto my face OR that I was just getting my normal flushed hot face. I splashed some water on my face, and kept playing because I actually felt fine...

~ For me, and for any 'sweat-hogs' out there, this is key: I stopped sweating AND I didn't feel that hot actually (this was the start of my fever) - I actually still felt fine, and the heat wasn't bathering me anymore.... So, if you are normally a heavy sweater, and you realize you are NOT sweating in high temperatures, GO INSIDE AND TAKE YOUR TEMPERATURE. If you are running a fever, jump in a cool pool, drench yourself with water, start drinking small amounts of water, and get yourself to an ER. If I would have broken my fever or at least started the process by cooling off my body, then gone to the ER, I would have saved myself a lot of this internal pain, and I wouldn't have had nearly the inflammation in my organs as I had. I wouldn't have been sentenced to bed rest for three days. FIRST THING, and I cannot stress this enough though, is to COOL OFF EXTERNALLY FIRST. Cold bath, cool body of water, hose yourself down, cold shower - and do this BEFORE you head to doctor. You will be freezing cold, but at least you will have started to bring your temperature down.

~ and last but not least,  DO NOT TAKE ANY MEDS - I did take acetaminophen and ibuprofen because of my throbbing headache and fever before I reluctantly went to the ER, but acetaminophen,  ibuprofen, antihistamines can further damage your very sensitive organs at this time - especially the liver.

That is pretty much all I have to say on this subject. It was the WORST experience medically in my life. I would not wish this on my worst enemy. PLEASE be careful out there y'all. I did not lift a finger doing any type of work that day. I was just playing outside and being a kid.... No alcohol contributed to my dehydration, but if it is hot, and you are drinking, your chances are even better to get heat exhaustion or heat stroke because you are less likely to be aware of these little warning signs.