Good Dr report

Today has been a great day!  For starters today is our 26th wedding anniversary and Mark surprised me by coming home!  I think that this was the best anniversary present EVER!!!!!  I called him this morning and sang "Happy Anniversary,  Baby  Got You On My Mind" and even then he didn't tell me that he was driving home.  But more importantly, he still came home after my awful singing.  So here we are 26 years ago and who'd have thunk of all adventures life would take us on.

I had my follow up cardiologist appointment today so he figured he needed to be with me and I'm so very glad that he made it home for it.   She said that my heart looks good, no damage and this is a congenital heart defect that I was born with.  I'll need to take meds for the rest of my life but losing weight and shaping up will help me greatly.  So next step is to join weight watchers.....again.  It works and I have made my mind up that this time I'll lose the weight and keep it off because I don't want to go thru this ever, ever again.  Basically what I have is called a Bridged Artery which means that my artery is trapped inside my heart muscle and the only way to fix it is bypass surgery but we can control it with meds so I'm all for that option.  I do have to carry nitro pills with me as a precaution but again losing body mass will help the condition immensely. 

I have been staging the house....again....I know, eye rolls all around.  I just can't help myself I watch way too much HGTV!  The trick is staging the house to show people how they can "live" if they buy the house not how you currently live in it.  So that being said I went on a thrift store hunt for staging items for the "terrace level".  Now when I was growing up, we called that a patio but nowadays it is referred to as a terrace.  I hit a couple of flea markets/antique stores and struck gold.  I found this awesome potting bench to put on the upstairs deck which allowed me to move the very weathered aka rickety table downstairs.  I staged it using my existing good will finds from a couple of years past. I need to take some pictures of the deck now that it's completed.

 

This picture was taken before

 

 

And the same little shop had these great wicker chairs so I was able to bundle them into a package deal.  Yes, I watch American Pickers too so Frank would be so proud of me.  Then I had my starting point so I started hitting the thrift stores where I found pillows, rug and wall art to complete the look. Again I staged it using only my prior good will finds from a few years ago.

I had foam seat cushions from a previous craft project and beige upholstery fabric in my stash so I duct taped it underneath instead of sewing in case I want to use it again for another project. 

 

 

Close up of the table scape.  I used mossy twigs from the yard clearing that we did last week to make a display.  Hey, you'd pay big bucks for those kind of props at Pottery Barn.  LOL!  I really wanted a hanging chandelier to make it look elegant and I was going to use candles in it but dang it all, there wasn't one to be found at any of the thrift stores I went to and I went to several.  I did find this metal wall art which I thought fit in really nice.

 

So there you have it folks for less than $125 I now have a relaxing terrace level sitting area! So what do you think?

 

 

 

Don't take your health for granted!

We are now officially back to living in the US after a fabulous year abroad and I do mean literally a year because we left July 23rd  and returned July 19th.  It was a wonderful experience and sure it had challenges but I just enjoyed every minute.  Yes, even the minute where I wrecked the company car.  LOL!  We moved out on Thursday and one of Mark's coworkers moved into our furnished apartment on Saturday so that all worked out great.  The only real snag was they just picked up my boxes/furniture for shipping last week so the arriving family had to deal with my stuff in the entrance hall for three weeks.   It will arrive sometime the end of August or first of July.  It's on a really slow boat from China or make that Germany.  I already miss the fresh bakery items and produce so much along with my favorite Ritter chocolate bars.

So the European Adventure chapter of our lives is closed and we're off on the next US adventure.  When we last left off on the story......we had workmen crawling all over the place getting a new roof (thanks spring  hail storms),new gutters,  painting inside and out, landscaping and my one woman cleaning crew scouring closets and anything else that stood still long enough for me to scour (Clarice moves too fast so she escaped a bath for now).  Everything is completed including clearing out the back of our lot so people can see how big the yard actually is.  We preferred the secluded wooded "forest" look out back but no one else has so we had it cleared last week.  It really made a huge difference and I even assembled an arbor to put at the trail leading into the woods.  It looks great now so hoping to see an offer really soon.  We've had 6 showings and 2 really low ball offers but nothing serious yet.  Keep praying for the right family to come along and love this house as much as we have.  Our realtor hired a professional photographer to take pictures (duh, why else would you hire one?) and I put the link to the house below.  It has been depersonalized a lot but I think shows really well. 


 http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3025-Corsair-Curv_Cumming_GA_30040_M62464-88523?row=2&ex=GA571258098&source=web

Mark rented a furnished apartment in Tennessee last week on a month to month basis so as soon as we have a contract, I'll start looking for our next home over there.  I just don't want to fall in love with something and have it sell before we're ready to buy.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking at listings online but won't be going out with the realtor again until ours is under contract. 

I have purged, priced and set up for my moving sale.  It looks like a flea market exploded in our garage and here's the proof

Prim sewing table and rope bed

Advertising and Ice Cream collectibles

 

Prim

Prim

 

Christmas

Christmas Corner

Vintage Office

 

 

If you see anything you like during the preview sale (LOL) just let me know and we'll see what shipping would cost ya or you can come to Atlanta and shop in person.  I'd even put ya up in the house free of charge.  I'll be sorting thru my Fall/Halloween this week as time permits.

 

Finally as my title suggested my health hasn't been good these last couple of weeks.  Thank God we were already home before the worst of it.  A week ago Sunday, I worked in the garage all day finishing up pricing items and editing my displays so when Mark suggested going out for an early dinner I jumped on it.  I hopped right in the shower, threw on some clothes and away we went.  I was hot, tired and just didn't feel that great but hey it was the only way we were gonna get a meal that night.  We ate while I made faces at a sweet little baby girl at the next table and then we got our ice cream for dessert.  I took about 2 bites then asked Mark if he was ready to go...this is very out of character for me because I love, love, love ice cream.  As we walked out, Mark asked what was wrong because I didn't look so good.  I told him that my bra was just too tight, my shoulder and neck were aching,  I couldn't catch my breath and I think I just really needed to use the bathroom.  An besides I had on no makeup and my hair was yanked back into a clip so it was still wet.  He said we're taking you to the ER because you don't look right.  I insisted he just take me home.  We arrived home and I used the bathroom, changed my bra and laid down on the bed while rubbing my shoulder.  Mark insisted that we were going to the ER but I kept telling him I was fine.  He finally got the ipad and showed me the warning signs for women having a heart attack.  I agreed to go to the ER after taking 2 aspirins  but after we got there I said I'd just sit in the car for a few minutes then we'd head back home.  Then the pain moved right thru me to the front of my chest so I went into the ER.  Let me just say if you mention chest pain you are whisked away instantly!  They hooked me up to a million different machines, slipped nitro under my tongue, started iv and took so much blood I thought for sure they had drained me dry.  They decided to admit me but so far the blood work looked normal....yea!  After I got settled into a room the blood work showed I'd had a heart attack and if you remember,  I saw a cardiologist back in the winter and she said I'd experienced 2 at that time. So now I'm scared and of course, I had already sent Mark home for the night because I was "normal".  I cried a little, worried a lot and put up with more needles than I care to remember.  They blew the veins in my left arm and hand so they started poking me in the right...awful, terrible jabbing!  They decided to do a heart cath to get to the bottom of everything.  It was a good thing they did because we found out my heart is healthy, no heart damage, no blockages, arteries look clean however, a secondary artery leading into my heart is "caught" in the heart muscle and at times it gets constricted, limits blood flow and makes my body show signs and enzymes of a heart attack.  The great news is there is a medicine that I can take to help relax the muscle and along with losing weight and exercising can control it.  If you are the least bit squeamish then don't look at the photo below. I am bruised so badly and in places that I can't show ya but I'm so thankful that bruised is all I am.

 

It hurts like all get out but hey, I'm just so happy I didn't truly have a heart attack.  Ladies, I just can't stress enough to you that women's heart attack symptoms are different than a man's and you should know what they are.  Please don't be an idiot like me and think it's nothing!  The dr's couldn't believe that I went home and waited 30 minutes before I allowed Mark to take me to the ER.  That was probably the most stupid thing I have done in my life and trust me, I've done lots and lots of stupid things.  Here's what you need to be aware of:


Heart Attack Signs in Women

1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

If you have any of these signs, don’t wait more than five minutes before calling for help. Call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away.

 

Ok that's  enough of my ramblings for now because I really do need to head into the basement to sort those last 4 boxes of Fall/Halloween.  I can't lift anything over 5 pounds yet or drive or exercise or anything but I can sort and price stuff.