CABIN FEVER

WOW!!!!

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL FRIDAY????

And I say this because we have had nothing but itcky, cold, icykily (is that a word)?

weather this week in Arkansas.

Today it is beautiful outside. It is Cold but atleast the sun is shining...

Too cold to be doing any gardening but we can think about it!!!

Is anyone else really for flowers to start popping up? anything growing, even the weeds..

I am ready for SPRING.

Sunday is February 1, 2009. a whole month gone from our lives...

Did you do something special or productive in January. God always gives us

the different seasons (atleast in Arkansasj) to grow and learn and be productive.

I hope it was a good month

Have a great weekend....

~~Annie~~

FRIENDS AND PRAYERS

ANN, DONNA, ANNA,

MARGE, SUE & ANNIE

F R I E N D S

WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT THEM???

Same pic but with Ms. CHARLOTTE in front

Marge had to take the pic

Today is a dark dreary day

outside but as I think of

the great times with my

friends, my heart

warms.

I am one of seven ladies in a group that we call the "Garden Club". Not too much gardening going on right now (and I don't know that but ONLY one or two really gardens ) but you can feel the sunshine and the love when we are together that can produce a lot of beautiful seeds. We are like the different flowers, all with different personalities that makes a beautiful bouquet

when we are together.

They have enriched my life in so many ways thru the years, been there for me all thru my days of chemo, encouraged me with cards, food, phone calls and little acts of kindness that only another silly gal could do. Everyone needs a Garden Club of Friends...........!

And now my heart aches for one of our group--DONNA -- (she is our Rose) as she experiences a major set back in her life. She was diagnosed over a year ago and had the painful surgery for TN (trigeminal neuralgia). It is a neuopathic disorder of the trigeminal nerve that causes episodes of intense pain in the eyes, lips, nose, scalp, forehead, and jaw. Surgery, as I understand it, means going thru the back of skull and clipping a nerve.

It is estimated that 1 in 15,000 people suffer from trigeminal neuralgia, although those numbers may be significantly higher due to frequent misdiagnosis. TN usually develops after the age of 50, more commonly in females, although there have been cases with patients being as young as three years of age . My friend is a female and over 50...(oh, she may not like me telling that!)

The condition can bring about stabbing, mind-numbing, electric shock-like pain from just a finger's glance of the cheek. After her surgery in Sept. 2007, the Drs told her the surgery should last/or could last up to 5 years. Within 3 months, she was back in pain. All it takes is brushing

her teeth, a slight brush of her face while putting on makeup, or even eating...and the pain explodes. Pain medication does not always do the job.

Please pray for our friend--DONNA-- a very fine Christian wife, mother of 2 grown girls, grandmother to 4 young men and a very jovial person whose family is her center. She is so giving, thoughtful and wonderful to be around and we are so sorry that Drs. have not been able to help her. More testing to follow...will keep you posted on results of a follow up Dr. appt this next week.

Please remember our Donna.

Have a great weekend my friends and always GIVE OF YOURSELF!!

~~~ANNIE~~~

THANK YOU! GLAD TO BE OF HELP!!

Have you ever said that to someone..???

Have y ou been in the right place at the right time to help someone???

This has happened to me lately that sometimes, it scares me...but I love to be alarmed

this way. Oh, not in the sense that someone needs me. It's just reminded of how much help we could be to each if only we ask. Both times in the last two days, I have called someone to just check on them and ended up doing something for them.....why??? they, my friends needed some help. One, was an elderly lady who detest calling on anyone to help her but she needed a ride to the Beauty Shop. I volunteered to take her. I asked her b 4 we left if she had any other errands ......she meekly said, well I do need a few groceries...she proceeded to give me the grocery list and I promised to do that while she was getting beautified. I had not been gone over 5 min. when she called to say her hair dresser was not in.....had been hospitalized over night with some serious problems. I turned around to go get her... She did get her hair fixed by someone but after going back and waiting on her, I told her we would just together to get groceries. That said and done, we picked up some lunch and drove home.....appreciate, oh, yes she did....but alas, I was the winner....

After leaving her home, I called a high school girlfriend we'll call Mary. Her husband died 9 years ago and she still has her up and down days. Yesterday was one of her down days.

How do I know? She did not tell me over the phone, other than at late afternoon, she was still in her pj's....(you might catch me anyday in mine and in a good mood too) I felt that I needed

to check her on and she was more than receptive. When I got there (15 min drive), she had changed clothes, spruced up the house, she said, and had candles lit. I drove thru a local fast food place after calling her on the way and asked if she had eaten dinner...she said no...Oh, she was so excited to see me and you would have thought I had brought a top sirloin meal with all the trimmings. (A chicken sandwich from Burger King) Nothing special although it was tasty and very hot. But she went on and on about the timing and how down she was....Ladies, I did nothing really and am not looking for acolades....but how often do we get so wrapped up in our selves that we overlook the little things in life that we, the givers, receive so much more from life's experience than those we extend our love to. And shame on me for not doing more for others. Having been in chemo for so long and home bound, I know how it feels to be the recipient. Thank you God, for reopening my eyes. I must get back in the swing of things.

LIFE is what we make it....for OURSELVES and OTHERS.

Be a Winner....Give of yourselves to others.

Have a good Sunday.......

~Annie~

EIGHT days into January....hope your world is good.. I am getting my strength and energy back after a year and 1/2 of chemo treatment. Each day I can tell I am stronger. My blood work is better too...Don't want any more shots of Neuprogen for the neutrophils (part of white cell count) which is the immune system. 2009 and I pray the year is mine. Atleast that is my new determination and hope that I will get around to alot of those things I have been putting off for so long. I tried to go back to work part time..but with the continued chemo and other medical issues, I worked part time and even though we all have those days when we are working,, we would love to have a weeks vacation, I was not ready to retire. But alas, I did on August 31, 2008. It was a tough decision but at the time, God knew it was the best one. I am finally getting out of that..."oh, I have to go to work" mode when I wake up. I admire all of your ladies who are so good at this blogging. I have followed many and here I have been trying for a while and just couldn't get it up and running. Yes, I probably need some help from my sweet grandkids who can text faster than I can talkbut for now, I am just plugging along and hope that all of you will stop by and leave a comment sometimes. I may learn how to have a beautiful blog after all.

Annie