Update on Condition

The black eye is more a purple eye today accompanied by a sore throat and stuffy head. However the new symptoms are typical of this time of year and crazy weather we have here. Was really puffy this morning and made it hard to see when I first got up this morning. This aggravation resulted in me applying a bag of frozen peas to it while I fixed the girls breakfast. My mother in law got me in with the Dr. she works for and I am going to see them this afternoon after lunch. I will update if they find anything wrong with me - ha ha, we know there is plenty wrong, I mean medically!

Down For the Count.....

Sunday evening I started feeling less than "well"..... I had eaten a late lunch (no supper) and felt like it was just settling heavy on me. I took some Pepto and curled up on the couch with a blanket. I finally drifted off but not for long....I kept waking having cold chills and overall discomfort. I decided to go to our bedroom about 2:00 a.m. and the symptoms persisted. I woke up every hour or so for the next three hours and then it was time to get up to begin getting myself ready for work. I shuffled into the kitchen and decided to take my temperature since I had wrestled with cold chills all night long. I finally found the thermometer and started taking my temperature. I didn't think the thing was ever going to beep and it wasn't doing it's thing fast enough....I was feeling so lightheaded and knew I needed to get back in bed (fever or no fever). So, I headed back down the hall to our bedroom. I got to the first bedroom on the left which still has unpacked boxes in it and didn't feel I could make it much further. For a point of reference, ours is last door on the right and there is another bedroom door across and just slightly past ours (kinda diagonally- I call it the second bedroom and it will ultimately be our "office" when we get a desk for in there!). Can you see where this is headed? At that point in my "trek" down the hallway to make it to my bed, I braced myself against the wall. My head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds and was pulling me downward. I tried calling for Chad but I am not sure I got it out of my mouth or if I just felt like I was calling for him.....but I knew I was going down and quick. The next thing I knew I was "waking up" in the floor". I called for Chad in between crying and shaking.....he was asleep and he told me last night he wasn't sure if he was "dreaming" or not when he heard me calling. He called back to me "where are you" and he said I said "I don't know". I don't remember answering him but I do remember him asking me where I was and I wasn't sure so I guess I did say that. He found me in the doorway to the second bedroom/one-day office room. I was face down and in pain. I could tell I must have hit my head / face when I went down....we still aren't sure on what except for maybe the door casing(???) So he helped me up and to the bed where we were discussing what happened and what my symptoms are/were. I was aching in places I didn't know could ache and my head was just throbbing....as if it weren't throbbing before the impact with the doorway. The morning routine was now all on him as he had the task to get the girls ready and off to school. Thankfully we had laid out clothes on Sunday evening so that part was taken care of....they were a little wrinkled but could pass for the day. I could hear the events of the morning and they all seemed to be doing fine. The girls did come to my bedside to get their hair brushed and fixed and we managed that just fine. At some point I needed to go to the bathroom and almost fell off the facilities due to my lightheadedness. In going back to my bed, I went down again and the girls and I found myself being shaken by Chad and girls at his side. I know that had to worry the girls...poor babies. I found out later that Jessie told Mrs. Kim (our neighbor, who took she and their daughter Emilee to school) all about it! Kim is an R.N. so she has seen and heard it all.....her husband told me they thought I should have gone to the hospital. He cracked me up - he said "Tonya, that's not normal to just pass out. I drink and don't even pass out. You don't even drink...you shouldn't be passing out like that!" I spent the day under the blankets and then out from the blankets as the chills persisted and body aches continued. Sipped on a glass of water to keep from getting dehydrated and monitored the swelling on my face. Also, got in a hot tub of water which did wonders for the aches even if only temporary. Last night, I was feeling some better and we snapped this shot to memorialize the day's events. And this was the view this morning.....can't wait to see if it turns worse tomorrow, especially since I anticipate going back to work tomorrow.

My 1st MEME

I have been reading / following a blog by a Mom called Everyday Mommy. Her blog caught my eye when I read the following on her site "It is my passion to encourage Moms to see the mission field who sleep in the bunkbeds in the room down the hall." That truly hit home for me as I thought about my two girls who not long ago were sleeping in bunkbeds down the hall and thought about where we were and how far we've come. So, this morning she posted a meme 5 Things You Don't Know About Me and here are my responses: 1) I used to skydive....lived for it...but I was young and crazy (now I'm just older and crazy). 2) I share my birthday with my dad and my parent's anniversary....and my best friend's daughter was born on same day. 3) I used to own a pot belly pig. 4) I was a week away from owning a motorcycle when my husband passed away.....kinda made me re-think the whole thing even though his untimely death was not motor related. 5) I was double promoted in school....where did the "smarts" go? TAG - you're it; post a reply here or on your own site and let me know! Have a great day! PS - While we're at it - if you can post without fear of a family member reading it, what's the most outrageous item on someone's list this year or from year's past? Mine isn't all that bad but it's that my 8 yr old wants memory foam pillows and memory foam mattress topper. She wanted the mattress until I explained to her how much mattresses cost in relation to other things (i.e. horses) and that her mattress is very new therefore not going anywhere! She never ceases to amaze me with what she comes up with!

In Thanksgiving....

• Monday was full of funeral activities, glad it's over - was thinking about how he's gone and how I don't have any grandparents any longer. I will always have the memories of better days!
• I have a JOB!
• Reconciled with a family member
• Had dinner last night with Chad's Family
• "Paid it forward"
• I love my kids, husband and our horses!
• We have our health.
• Will have Thanksgiving time with our families tomorrow
• Am off work on Friday and will get to spend time with my girls!
• Plan to ride some this weekend.

and baby makes 3......

Did that title get your attention? NO, we aren't expecting an addition to the family....but this past weekend we kept my 11 month old nephew as my brother and his wife went to Atlanta for a wedding. He's a good baby and goes to sleep without a lot of fanfare and sleeps pretty well. We also took him to the Hitchin Post for the trail ride on Saturday. Mom got to ride Goldie and Goldie didn't try any of her usual tricks. I took Shelby on a "trail ride" where I walked her on Blackie thru the woods and made a loop on a nice little portion of the trail. When we got back I let Shelby have the reins and she and Blackie and I went to the outside arena and we played around weaving in and out of some barrels for a bit. Then Jessie and I went for a ride on the same loop with me on Hannah and her on Blackie. He got lazy halfway thru the loop and I had to take Hannah behind him and prod him along. He is a great "speed" for Jessie right now but she will be back up to full speed in good time. She is asking me let her ride Blackie with me on a real trail. I may take her to Oak Mountain for a little ride and change of scenery for us both. Also, the arrangements were made for my Grandfather and the funeral was set for Monday the 20th with viewing and graveside services all in one. We also had to secure pallbearers. On Sunday, Callie - Richard and Allison came over for us to take each other's pictures for our family CHRISTmas cards. We picked the coldest day of the year - brrrr! We took their photo using Blackie and got a cute picture of Allison on Blackie. I really need to take more pictures of the girls with the horses - the one of Allison turned out so cute! My brother and his wife came to get James and soon we were back to our family of 4. He's a great baby but it's such an eye opener to what life would be like if we added another. Chad missed a part of our time of having James at our house as he wasn't home Saturday night to go hunting with his Uncle and didn't get home until almost 11:00 on Sunday afternoon. He needs to have the full weekend to really understand the impact! I think we will give it a few months before we "pretend" again!

For Whom the Bells Toll.......

At lunch, I visited a local mall to make a few purchases. As I left, I stopped outside the store's exit and fumbled in my purse for my keys. As I stood there fumbling for my key's the Salvation Army bell ringer was ringing his bell. I was not even paying attention to it until I was stopped to find my keys. As I stood there the bell's ring, seemed to resonate in my head and I was totally distracted from finding my keys. My focus kept drifting to those that have lost loved ones and those that are going thru difficult times as we approach the "holidays". The bell was ringing so methodically and my head was almost spinning. In such a brief moment, I thought of so many families and their situations....many of the families listed in my "Praying For" list located on the left of my blog. I couldn't believe how my mind was racing....couldn't find my keys....wanted to find a dollar bill to put in the kettle and wanted to run....all at the same time. As I walked to the kettle, I thought specifically of the wife lost today in Tennessee - BJ Kilpatrick and of little Jake Raborn and how his family continues to turn his death into opportunities to "pay it forward" and of Hannah Sobeski's family "carrying the torch". I pushed my dollar in firmly and hoped it would find a way to "pay it forward". The ringer smiled, wished me a nice day and I thanked him and told him "you too". It was as if the bell stopped but I know it didn't....I know he was still ringing it and with the same methodicalness that was there a few moments ago....it just didn't have the same resonance that it seemed to have just moments earlier when I fumbled for my keys and was going to pass it by. I know a dollar isn't an impactful amount.....at this moment I don't think that ordeal was about the amount but about the recognition and the reflection that took place for me. Little did I know I would get back to my office and receive a message from my dad about 20 minutes later. That message was that I needed to call him and that it was very important. You never know with my dad...important can have varying scales with him but that's another one for another day. I called him to have him tell me my grandfather had passed away this morning. He is my Mom's Dad and she is an only child. There have been extenuating circumstances that have placed a strain on the relationships we all shared with he and his wife (not my grandmother, she passed away in 99). Nonetheless, it met me with a swell of mixed emotions and will cause some angst for us in the days to come. So the bells have tolled and continue to toll....life must go on, even when others have passed on. To quote James 4:14, "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." How small that truly makes our life yet so important that we live it while we can. So, I will persevere thru the next few days and close another chapter in my life. As the next chapter begins for me and for you...I'd ask you: Are you living your life - truly living it? Can you take the time to hear the bells and really hear them? Can you pay it forward? Can you carry the torch? In my prayers - Tonya

Trails to Ride.......

This past Saturday lived up to all my expectations and much much more! I awoke earlier than I do for work during the week and began getting my stuff out to the truck and trailer. Chad got up with me and was a huge help also. A big thanks to Nee Nee (Chad's Mom) for keeping the girls on Friday night so we had no little ones to contend with - but they probably would have slept right thru me leaving as early as it was. I didn't leave or get up quite as early as Chad does for fishing tournaments but I had a little drive ahead of me similar to some of his fishing trips. (Our exit was actually the Lay Dam exit!) At any rate, Chad helped me load Hannah up and I think the high temperature on Saturday had been reached when we were loading up at 6:00 a.m....with the humidity and 65 degree temperature, I was "glistening" (HA!) as I left for the first leg of the drive. The temperature would only continue to drop as the day passed and it dropped rapidly. The first leg of the drive meant a quick detour off of 65 South onto 459 North to pick up Kristan and her horse Foxy, who I had "met" on an MSN message board, AL/GA Horse Lovers. I have jokingly called it my "blind date"...now I have told everyone that my blind date went well and I think we may "go out again". She was super nice, so easy to talk to and not a "weirdo"! That's just a joke...since her husband had asked her how did she know I'm not a total weirdo? and she said, how does SHE know I'm not a total weirdo! I told Chad he ends up in his boat with a total stranger everytime he fishes a BFL tournament as they have to draw for a partner and is most always someone he doesn't know....then they are in a boat from daybreak to 3:00pm fishing together. In my case and his, you are at least with someone you know you share one common interest with and for both of us those "interests" are something we are very passionate about. With that in mind, it's easy to make friends in those settings that you might not make in a different setting. So, I had a great time meeting Kristan and was glad to have some company for the ride to Clanton. Kristan and I headed to Clanton and got there with time to spare! The place was absolutely beautiful. It's called Creek Valley and the owner, Les Hope, was a super host. You can see my day's pictures in my shutterfly album. Take a look, Creek Valley was a beautiful place to take in and spend the morning....the Outback Riders gathered for a quick meeting and then they split up into a couple of groups. We went with the slow group and started our trip. I was quickly in my "la la land" as it has jokingly been referred to.....when I get on the trails, it's like nothing else is going on. It's so peaceful and just a great time to clear your head. But we were in a good size group and I stayed in check as much as possible. Hannah was doing great and wasn't letting anything bother her other than she was playing with her bit for most of the ride. Pretty soon, we found ourselves at one of the first hills on the trail. The next thing I knew the riders in front were all-out running their horses up this hill. I am totally not accustomed to that because the guided trail rides at the barn do not allow people to run their horses. I have to say, the first time up was a little shocking and I was wide awake by the time we got to the top....but I couldn't wait to do it again.....and we did - again and again and again! Poor Hannah will probably never want to get back on the trailer again. She and I are so out of shape and several others were commenting that their horses weren't ready for that either. Well, I want to keep Hannah and shape and I can't wait to do it again. When we got back to camp, we ate lunch and they were going out again. Kristan and I had decided our morning ride would be it for that day and we were going to load up. Several others were going to call it a day as well. The temperature was rapidly dropping from the morning temperatures we met when we first began. Earlier that morning, I was SWEATING as we loaded up and suddenly we were freezing! Back at camp, I saw the owner again and he asked me what trail we went on.....I told him that I thought we went out on the yellow trail and came back on the red trail. In a questioning tone, he said "I don't know how y'all did that....well, if you did you would have been up and down, up and down (doing his hands like a roller coaster and shaking his head)" I said - We Were! and I just laughed. It was absolutely the most fun I have ever had riding. I am looking forward to going back as soon as possible. This weekend we have a ride at our old barn where we used to board. I am keeping my 11 month old nephew this weekend so my Mom is going to go with us so we can all ride and keep James Adam. Next weekend, I plan on going to KC Ranch in Double Springs with the Outback Riders Club and am shooting to ride on Dec 2 back at Creek Valley. A view of the pavilion and one of the ponds My trailer and Yukon on the right and miles to ride out in front! Me and my dirty but good girl Hannah! Group taking a break on the trail!

Looking Ahead.....

This weekend is approaching with the excitement mounting inside me. I am so excited that I am going on a trail ride with some girls from the horse lovers message board. So, while our last few weekends have been busy with doing things for others and with others - I am getting some "me" time and getting to spend it with my horse Hannah. The only thing that would be any better is if Jessie were at a point that she could go.....she'll get there again one day and Shelby will too! This week our elections have made headlines and provided abundant fodder for the analysts, journalists and other interested parties. It's not that I'm not interested but I'm just not very politically motivated. This campaign season tried to pull me in whether I wanted to or not. Our democratic candidate for State Supreme Court was running an ad which contained a song running in the background. The song was the oh-so-well-known children's church song "This Little Light of Mine". Her ad's focused on her experience as a judge as well as her personal life as a church pianist. My daughter's would hear the ad and immediately begin singing...it was kinda cute but then snap back to reality that it was a campaign ad that had them lulled into singing their church song. Kind of an oxymoron - dontcha think? Anyway, this same ad had a blurb in it about her house being firebombed at one point in her career as a judge. My oldest daughter has a heart of gold and was truly concerned about the fate of the judge's family and her home after this "fire bombing". She asked me numerous times if I could "find out what happened"....I did a quick search of the internet and came up pretty empty. So, I went to the candidate's website. (You might be asking why I keep saying "her" and "candidate"??? It's just that if anyone is searching for this person on the web, I don't want my blog to be a hit for them in the search.....not interested in any political ties or torture as a result of this post) The website was a dead end as well...so I e-mailed the campaign office and did not hear anything back. Some time passed and my Mom and I happened to be discussing the candidate's and this whole series of events came up. My Mom was a little miffed that I had not heard anything back from the campaign office.....and just as luck would have it, she had a little free time on her hands that day. She began making some calls and was running into dead ends and even "butt ends" as she relayed that someone in the campaign office was less than cordial when she inquired. Next thing I knew she was asking me to look up the library number to the candidate's hometown. Apparently there was an article in the candidate's hometown paper and the library there should be able to provide it. She relayed to me later the librarian was a little hesitant to discuss the life and times of the towns seemingly favorite daughter. It's a small town, they are family friends, they go to church together and I know that in small towns you live and die by the garden club, your church and the beauty shop! So, Lord bless the librarian for her loyalty to her friend and town but also for her dutifulness as she sent us the article which she had to retype into an e-mail to be able to send to us. The article explained no one was home at the time and the damage was minimal. They felt the suspect was probably someone who had been in her court however I don't believe anyone was ever charged. I will say I'm not sure that this firebombing was as sensational of a headline once the details were unearthed but it sure sounded good in the ad and got your attention (at least my daughter's and in turn ours). At any rate, I am glad my Mom didn't have to have the interview with the B'ham reporter who was chomping at the bit to interview her and find out why no one would divulge the details of this firebombing...I'm glad Jessie got her answer....I'm glad the good librarian helped us all.....I'm glad the candidate only donated $300 to John Kerry instead of several thousands and Dear Lord I'm glad the ads are over. May "This Little Light of Mine" never be exploited again! PS - she won the election....may her values and hometown roots guide her in her decisions and in the relationships she is about to cultivate.

Horsey Scare!

On Monday of this week, Chad called me and told me that Goldie was not getting up. Goldie is Jessie's horse who is her "dream horse" - a Palomino! He said he could get her up but she would go back down and for any non-horsey people, that is not a good sign for horses! He called me several times with updates and I was on the phone with vet and a few friends of ours getting advice. I also called my Mom to head that way to help Chad since he works from home and needed to be "working". He also didn't want to leave to go get Shelby from Kindergarten. I finally couldn't take it anymore and asked to leave work. I picked up Shelby and my Mom headed to the Hitchin' Post Stables to get the medicine that the vet said we needed. I made it to the house a little before her and headed out to see about Goldie. It was not good! When Mom arrived we gave her the medicine and kept her up walking. All speculations were that Goldie was colicing. An hour after giving her the medicine she was acting very sleepy and almost drunk. Spoke with the vet again and concluded with needing to keep a close eye on her and use a little salt on the tongue to encourage her to drink. She went down again one more time but then gradually improved over the remainder of the afternoon. We put her under the "almost finished" stalls and used our round pen panels to make an enclosure. There she would stay dry from the approaching rain. The other horses were staying close by and it seemed as though they knew something was going on. We were trying to keep the severity of this from Jessie. She was supposed to have lessons and when Courtney arrived she asked if Goldie was colicing? Jessie's radar went up because she knew colicing is what killed her friend's horse last year. We were going to do lessons on Sparkle but she was feeling way too frisky for Jessie to ride. We used the lesson time to talk with Courtney about where Jessie is and what she needs to be working on as well as Courtney rode Sparkle. Courtney really liked Sparkle and told Jessie that Sparkle would be her barrel horse if she gets to that point. I stood close to Goldie's temporary stall and kept an eye on her. Throughout the evening I kept tabs on Goldie and when we fed the other horses, she was very vocal with us that she was there too and obviously wanted feed. She couldn't have any yet, Dr's orders. But it was a good sign that she was whinnying to us. I was instructed to give her a half dose of the Banamine at bedtime and so I did (in the rain and mud!). As I went to sleep, I asked God for peace of mind through the night about Goldie. I didn't wake again until 4 a.m and got up a little later and headed out to check on her. She craned her neck over the top of the stall and whinnied at me. That was the best sound I could have ever heard!!! As I log this, she is doing great and we are all happy we made it thru this scare. But we only made it thru with the help of a few great friends, each other, our vet and lots of prayer!

Trick or Treat - we had them both !

With having the Fall Ball "bash" at our house, the girls and I discussed not buying costumes this year or going to any other fall festivals. But, they are my girls and in that they are resourceful! So they came up with things we had at home to make costumes out of and twisted our arms to take them to Nee Nee and Big Ron's neighborhood like we did last year. (Sidenote - last year, was the first time we skipped the church fall festival and took them to their neighborhood. We only took them to houses that Chad and his family have known forever. They loved going to the doors and then coming back to dump all of it in the living room floor of Nee Nee and Big Ron's.) Jessie decided she would be Ellie Mae and knew exactly what she wanted to wear to achieve this look. Shelby wanted to be a princess and we have plenty of apparel to accomodate that! Jeannie aka Nee Nee had us all over for supper and invited my parents as well. My parents brought my nephew James Adam as my sister-in-law and brother had to be at the funeral home for her step-father's visitation. My parents visited the funeral home and then brought James over with a monkey suit in tow. Jessie poses with her "costume", note the hay string she chose to adorn her hair with! Shelby poses in Jessie's first pageant dress AND in a real crown that Shelby won in her first pageant. I had out a play crown and she would have nothing to do with it. Slightly out of focus picture of James in his monkey suit AND he has the hat still on his head. He hated the hat. There are better pictures below but no more with the hat on..... To add to the excitement, Sandi and Ryan got their wedding pics and had a gazillion pictures to look at. We "oohed and aahed" over those as Jeannie called us all to the table. It was hard to put those down as we relived that day....Sandi could be the cover of a bridal magazine and Ryan could be a model as well. Then I saw pictures of my girls.....they are soooo pretty and I can't wait to order some of those for myself. We also had Tiffany and Mark with us for dinner. Last year, Mark had fun tormenting trick or treaters and the "fun" was about to begin again. However, in the torment last year Shelby was petrified of a mask that Uncle Ryan had brought out. She asked Chad a million times yesterday if "that mask" was still there. Chad promised her "no mask"! We were posing the girls and James on the stairs for pictures (see first picture below) when she looked up shortly after I took the pictures and she saw Ryan in "THE mask"....she frieked out.....see next picture. Chad admonished everyone involved. Bless her heart...she has been sick this week and almost didn't even get to go and then this!

she had not seen the mask yet

now she's seen it!

Chad, Nee Nee and the kids left to go hit a few houses....before they could get down to the sidewalk - "Ellie Mae" had a fight with the stairs and the stairs won. Chad carried her in the house crying and we had to doctor a skinned shin and arm before they could continue. While they were gone, Mark and Ryan tormented our trick or treaters with jumping out of the shrubs with power tools and masks on. They crack me up!

The kids came back with candy in tow and they sorted thru their loot in the living room. We took a few more pictures during this time (all can be seen in our online albums in the Halloween album at http://tonyahall.shutterfly.com). We had a great time having everyone together, minus Big Ron who had taken his parents to the beach.

The girls are in a wedding this weekend - YES, I do rent them out for weddings to earn extra money for my horse habit!

I am sure I will have more pictures from that event to post later.

Thanks for reading about us. hug your kids or a family member and live life to the fullest in God's Grace!

Fun Pictures....Fun People

Pictures from the Rodeo

The girls look on at the action.....we'll have fun next year! Jessie rides a mechanical bull. She has asked could she have this at her birthday party next year, since they rent it out. Look out parents, we'll be having a rodeo at our house!