Migraines! Yuck!

I just spent two days of my life having a migraine! Two wasted days! This one was so bad I had to go in for a shot to relieve pain and to stop the vomiting. I just wish the shot would have removed all the pain. Instead it just makes me sleep. Everytime I would wake up I'd still be in pain. My dosage was strong enough to keep me asleep all day on the second day as well. Guess all that rest was good for me and must have been what I needed. I just hate to waste my time with a migraine though! Ugh!!!
Does anyone have any great suggestions for treating migraines? I use a rice bag that I warm in the microwave. I use ice bags also. Sometimes I take a steaming hot bath. I've used mentholatum on my neck. I've rubbed the area between my thumbs and first finger, massaged my feet, tried thinking positive, tried relaxing. Seems that when it happens, it is just supposed to happen!

Great Weekend

I had a great weekend. Period. Last week was a VERY busy week, several presentations, lots to do and no 'office time.' I really needed the weekend to relax a little. My dear friend came over the weekend. She got here around 9PM and we spent the next 4 hours catching up. Saturday morning I woke up with a migraine! Grrrr. That happens to me occasionally, especially after such a busy week. Fortunately the meds worked quickly and we were able to shop downtown Buhler. At noon two other Discovery Educators met us at The Mustard Seed for lunch. We then spent all afternoon making plans for our new Discovery Educators' Leadership Council. This was very exciting for us as we launched our DEN Leadership Council just this month. This was our first meeting of all four of us. I think we make a great team.
Saturday evening Tanya and I went to Wichita to shop and have supper. We were thrilled to hit a great sale at Shoe Carnival.
This morning we went to Crossroads Christian Church and heard an amazing message. I played the piano for first service. Lunch was quick and easy - a Taco Ring - recipe from Pampered Chef.
Tanya left this afternoon and I took a two hour nap. Another dear friend is coming Tuesday and spending most of the week with us.
I love seeing my very dear friends. It's great to catch up and to share all that's happening in our schools and in our personal lives.

"Lucky-So-Far"

Thirteen or fourteen years ago, we were given a sweet little kitty. We had no intention of having a kitty in our house. A special aunt thought our children needed a pet. Lucky-So-Far was the only survivor of the cat family on the farm - too many dogs and coyotes. Consequently the name. After a couple of incidents we thought maybe we should call her "Luck Ran Out." Even though I shut her between the storm door and the screen door for a couple of hours and smashed her under the garage door, she still managed to survive.
Lucky was a sweet little kitten until she had her visit to the vet for surgery. She came back a different cat. She never wanted her stomach touched. You could pet her but you had to learn just where she would allow you to pet her and watch for signs that she was finished being petted. Most relatives recognized that Lucky ran our household. If she was at the top of the stairs you had to step carefully around her, watching her constantly or she might just take a swipe at you. If she was curled up in the chair you wanted to sit in, you sat in another chair. If you were too close to her when she was in one of her moods, she'd hiss. Most of us didn't want to disturb Lucky!
Lucky and Bill had a special relationship. If she was acting naughty, he would hold her head and talk to her like she was a person. If all five of us were sitting in the living room, she'd choose Bill's lap to sit on. If we needed Lucky moved off the stairs so we could use them, Bill would handle the situation. He was always very tender with her, as if he understood her.
Lucky often acted like she was Queen of the Universe. When we'd drive into the driveway and click the garage door opener, she would come running. She'd get in front of the car and then lead us into the garage with her tail raised high or wagging. This was her greeting many, many times. She loved it when we came home.
Yesterday morning I was sitting in the living room and Lucky jumped on my chair and rubbed her nose into my arm. I knew that meant she wanted me to rub her head. I felt honored since Bill was available too. For some reason she chose me. I rubbed her head until she'd had enough.
When I drove in the garage last night, Lucky did her usual thing. Only her timing was off. She got entangled in my front tire. Our son had heard me coming in the garage and was anxious to tell me something so he had the door to the house open. He witnessed the whole thing. Lucky died about 20 grueling minutes later.
We really miss Lucky-So-Far. The house doesn't seem the same without her.

The Writing on the Wall

Growing up with 4 older brothers and 1 older sister in a two-story, 4 bedroom farmhouse, we didn't have much room for privacy. The house had a basement but it was a spooky, damp utility basement. No one dared go down there alone. However, the entrance to the basement was another story!
Right inside the basement door on the wall mom and dad started a measuring chart where they could chart our growth. My older siblings thought if mom and dad could write on the wall so could they. So for the next eighteen years our lives were chronicled on the wall.
We did a lot of reading and writing on the wall. It might be simply "Mary loves Gary," or it might be a short story of what seemed like an important event in the life of one of my siblings. We loved writing on the wall. Granted some of the things we wrote about each other clearly portrayed sibling rivalry. Other writings were more like journal entries, revealing some pent up emotions.
For me, my first writing on the wall was writing my name with a crayon. Since I was the youngest child, it was the lowest piece on the wall. We added some of our own artwork occasionally, but mostly we wrote words. We were all writers. Authors. I'm sure mom gained a lot of insight into each of her children when she read the wall. Some things she probably wished she hadn't read! But it was our wall and our time to express ourselves. We were developing as writers.