Bless her heart!

My poor, pitiful, sick, sweet, little Ashlyn.

These are some pictures of her just laying

around being sick.

Frazzled

Where do I begin? Work has been a bitch since last Wednesday. We have had someone out Wed, Thurs, Fri, and today; which means that I get more phone calls and more orders to take care of. It just really bothers me that someone can be out for nearly a week straight from work. We all get sick, that's a given, but to be out for nearly a week at a time.........that is just uncalled for! Even if you don't feel 100% yourself, you should still give an effort to come to work. There are many days when I don't feel good, but I still come to work. If I didn't come in every time that I "don't feel good" I would be out of a job. It just gets under my skin. Sorry........I just had to get that off my chest.
Friday I received a phone call from Mom while I was at work. They weren't supposed to get in from Costa Rica until late Sunday night, so it startled me a bit when I heard her voice. She said that her and Dad were on their way home. I was puzzled........"what's wrong?" I asked. She informed me that she has had a terrible eye infection that started on Wednesday. She had gone to a doctor there, but they do not have nearly the equipment or technology like we do here. Finally by Friday, she couldn't stand the pain anymore and her vision was fading. She told Dad that she needed to come home, so they went to the airport Friday morning and booked a flight home. Britt, Ashlyn, and I went to pick them up from the Airport Friday evening. Her eye looked terrible! We called the Oncologist on call and he met us at 9:45 that night at his office in Lincolnton. The doctor wasn't really sure what was going on. He told mom to use some antibiotic drops and some drops for pain that he had prescribed for her(the doctor in Costa Rica had already given her antibiotic drops and some kind of drops for pain), and that he wanted to see her again on Saturday. She was in severe pain. She went to her appointment on Saturday. The doctor was shocked that her eye had not gotten any better, only worse. Now her cornea had an ulcer on it. He scheduled an appointment with a cornea specialists on Sunday. She went to the specialist on Sunday, and they didn't know what was going on. Every doctor that she's seen all say that they have never seen anything like this. That's just what you want to hear after coming home from a foreign country! She went to another specialist today, and they seem to think that the pain drops that the doctor in Costa Rica had given Mom were toxic. Here in the US, that drug is unheard of. That's the exact word that the doctor used........"toxic". So.........they still really don't know what's going on with her eye. The doctor wants to see her everyday for the next week or two. Just keep her in your prayers. Hopefully it will begin to heal on it's own, and she won't have permanent damage to her vision.
Ashlyn is sick AGAIN!!!!! I swear.........she finally got better from her bout with the flu. It took her nearly a month to completely get over the cough and runny nose. This weekend it started all over again. Her nose is RAW, completely raw, from her wiping it so much. Bless her little heart! I just hope and pray that it's just a little cold and not something worse! Just call us the sickling family. LOL =)

Was it Really Him?

Saturday night I had the strangest dream. My Pappaw Sherrill died when I was 19. He was extraordinary man. He LOVED his grandkids, Kyle and me! We were his life, well other than his dogs. He had dogs for coon hunting, water racing dogs, he had all kinds of dogs that were worth tons of money! I remember him trading dogs all of the time. He would trade a dog for a truck, a gun, a motorcycle.......basically anything depending on how many races the dog had won. My pappaw was the funniest man ever! He didn't have any teeth. My mammaw bought him a set of dentures, but he just threw them away. He would grin that toothless grin. I miss him sooooo much! On Saturday night I had a dream about him. Just out of the blue. It was the wildest thing. I dreamed that we had been living our lives all of these years without him around, and then out of the blue he walked up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around in total shock........there stood my Pappaw Sherrill right in front of me. All of these years without him and then there he was. He had the biggest grin on his face. The same look that he always had when he got excited. He looked me straight in the eyes and gave me the biggest hug. Then he told me "Min....you've grown up so much. I'm so proud of you! Look at Ashlyn and how beautiful she is!" He looked exactly the same in my dream. Had the same expressions. It was the strangest thing. My question is, was it really him, communicating with me through my dreams? How do we know? Maybe it was or maybe it wasn't, but I know one thing.......I miss that man more than anything! That dream brought him back into my life. I hope that he continues to talk to me and watch over my family. I'm sure that he's up in heaven looking down on me chuckling. That's the kind of man he was. I love you Pappaw and I miss you!

Wacky Weekend

Girls......I had so much fun Friday night! Everytime that I go out with you girls I laugh so hard that I'm sore the next day. I'm not kidding! That says either one of two things......either we have WAY to much fun when we go out, or I am WAY out of shape. LOL!!! It's probably a little of both!
Saturday Ashlyn and I got up and went to Wal-mart. I absolutely hate going there, but they have the best prices on groceries.......so in order to save a little money I go there and always ask myself why I went there as I'm leaving. I have to say that it wasn't nearly as bad as it normally is. I think it's because the new Wal-mart opened in Conover, so I'm sure that everybody's going to check it out. After grocery shopping we went home and basically did NOTHING! I was so bored. Normally I like to have days like that, but Saturday wasn't one of those days. I really didn't even care to take a nap, which is not normal at all for me. I laid Ashlyn down for her nap while I made some chicken salad. I don't know what it is lately, but I have been craving chicken salad. It is the kind that Britt's mom makes. I swear it is the best chicken salad that I've ever eaten. Britt told me that I had finally made it just right this go round. YES!!!!
Mom and Dad are in Costa Rica right now on a mission trip. They left on Friday so we are keeping Symba while they are gone. He's usually no trouble at all, and I figured that it would be good for him and Rudy to have one another to play with. WELL......let me tell you these dogs have been nothing but TROUBLE! Rudy does not care anything for Symba. He just growls any time that Symba gets close to him. Now both of them are house trained. I wake up Sunday morning and while I'm in the bathroom getting ready I get a whiff of the worst smell that I've smelled in a long time. I had just let both of the stupid dogs out, but since it was raining they hurried and ran right back inside. I peek my head in the kitchen to check on them and Symba had pooped in the middle of our dining room floor! The smell was AWFUL!!!!!! I was gagging while cleaning it up. Ashlyn's dirty diapers smell like roses compared to this odor. Then I look around and Rudy had peed in the floor. UGGGHHHH!!!! I was about ready to kill them both! I cleaned up both messes. Then I got Ashlyn up and got her ready. We went to Mammaw Sherrill's for Annette's birthday lunch. We had the best time over there talking and laughing about old times. I just love my family! When we arrived back at the house I walked in and still smelled a foul odor. I looked all around for more doggy doo, but nothing. I let Rudy out of his kennel and low and behold he had pooped all in it. It was all over him, all over his blanket. I was so aggravated!!!!!!!!! What is up with these dogs????? I thought that it was going to be an easy time with Symba, but it looks like it's going to be a VERY LONG WEEK!!!!

Mood and Emotions

Since I've had my IUD removed I have felt so much more like my old self. You wouldn't believe the difference. I can't believe that a device that small could have such side effects. The IUD and I have one of those love/hate relationships. The #1 thing about the IUD was that I did not have a period the entire time that I had it, which was a little over 2 years. That was GREAT, but boy did it make me moody! I am just amazed at the difference in my moods after having it removed! I honestly don't know how I didn't drive Britt completely insane, hell I drove myself insane because I would get so upset over nothing. I would get so frustrated with myself for feeling the way I did. If I would have known that the darn IUD was causing all of that I would have had it removed a long time ago! =)
I feel like my life is taking on a whole new chapter. It's kind of hard to explain right now, but let's just say that I think this year is going to bring a few new changes. And NO......I'm not pregnant. Things are just finally beginning to come together for me. I'll tell you girls all about it when we meet on Friday! I can't wait for that! Just thinking about all of us bowling makes me laugh out loud! LOL!!!!
I've also signed up with a company called Just Ducky. They are based out of Asheville. I'm going to be a sales-rep/hostess for their company. They sell an amazing line of children's clothing. They mail me the trunk show pieces (fabric swatches, styles of clothing, etc.) and I host home/trunk shows and sell their line. Everyone mark your calendars. I will have the show Feb. 15-18. I will be able to take any orders during this time period. If you or anyone you know would be interested in attending or hosting a show in your home please let me know. Britt's sister buys from this line every year. She's the one who told me about the company. I'm telling you......this line is AWESOME! Check it out for yourself. www.justduckyoriginals.com .

Ashlyn's earrings

It was finally time to get Ashlyn's ears pierced. She had been asking about having earrings for a while. She sees all of the little girls at church with their pretty earrings, and was always asking when she could have some earrings too. I finally gave in. I told Britt that I wasn't going to get her ears pierced until she started asking about it......and since she is ALL GIRL I decided that it was finally the perfect time. We went on Saturday afternoon. She did GREAT. She cried for a split second, but once she looked in the mirror and saw her "big girl" earrings those tears stopped in no time. These aren't the best pics, but I wanted to post a few of Ashlyn and her earrings.
Moriah - I really need you to look at my camera sometime. It is starting to take the crappiest pictures. Also, tell me what kind of camera to get for our next one. I think that I'm going to ask for one for Valentine's Day or my birthday.

Favorites

I had heard people talking about this store in Hickory off of Hwy 127 called Hobby Lobby. They carry fabric and craft supplies, plus they carry home accent furniture and decor. Let me tell you......This place is my new favorite store. It is HUGE inside! They carry trunks, accent tables, shelves, candle holders, mirrors, pictures, picture frames, vases, floral arrangements.....I could go on and on. The items look like pieces out of pottery barn and pier one. If you haven't been there before, you DEFINITELY need to check it out. I could not believe the items and the GREAT DEALS that they offered. I was looking at a trunk or a sofa table for our living room. It is REALLY bare right now and we need some new furniture in there to help spunk it up a bit. Anyway......they looked like the exact same thing that you would find in pottery barn, but less than half of the cost that you would pay there. I'm telling you I fell in love with this place. And the best thing......they have sales ALL OF THE TIME. And the items that are on sale aren't cheesy items that no one would want to buy. They are actually great bargains on great items. I just wanted to fill everyone in on my new find.

New Year's and More....

This weekend flew by! Friday evening was the Black's Christmas get together. It's always fun going to see all of that side of the family. They are a hoot! Sherry's always there, and you know there is never a dull moment with her. She was showing us her scars from bowling. LOL! They had all taken Collins, Mitchell's little boy, bowling over Christmas break. Well, Sherry was trying to help Collins roll the ball down the lane and all of a sudden Collins went running down the bowling lane, and Sherry went running after him. Need I say more!?!?! Sherry completely busted her tail. She had bruies all down her arm, a broken tail bone, and a busted lip. I would love to see a video of that. I can see it now. Thank goodness she's ok! She's just really sore.
Friday night we went over to Steven and Rebecca's. They were having people over to play cards and just hang out with friends. It was a fun, but tiring night. Saturday Ashlyn still wasn't feeling back to her normal self, so her and I just laid around all day while Britt went to play golf. We had dinner with some friends at River Crest Country Club. It was the best food I think I've ever had! After dinner the guys came back to the house to watch football and the girls went to watch a movie. We decided on 'The Holidays'. It is going on my favorites list Girls....You've definitely got to check it out! It was GREAT! The only thing that sucked was coming back to reality.....our beer drinking men with no romantic bone in their bodies after we left the movie. =)
For New Years we went to Catawba Country Club for their annual New Year's Party. I really wasn't sure how much fun we would have....I mean how much fun is it to hang out with a bunch of old yuppies? The answer....REALLY FUN!!! There weren't nearly as many older people there as I thought there would have been. You paid in full and got as much food and drinks as you wanted plus a limo ride home. You can't beat that! And the best part is that we didn't get kicked out. I'm kind of surprised that we didn't with all of the craziness that was going on in our group. =)
Monday I took down all of our Christmas decorations. I love the decorating, but I HATE taking all of that crap down! It's such a pain. That's my weekend. Ashlyn is finally beginning to eat again. It's taken her a while to build her strength back up. I hope that we are done with any sicknesses for the next year. We've had enough to deal with the past month to cover for a whole year.

Happy New Year!!!!

Are things ever going to settle down after the Holidays???? =)

Christmas was a blast. I'll start from Saturday. Kathy had a Christmas party at Windy City Sundries in Hickory, and since Britt had to work Ida and I went together. Talk about fun......get Ida and me together and we are trouble, but in a good way! We had the best time that night. I wasn't planning on drinking that much, but by the end of the night I was feeling PRRREETTY good! We ran into, of all people, Candace there. It was kind of awkward at first but once we all had a few drinks in us it was like old times.
I got up Sunday morning and went to church. Then came home and got everything together for Christmas Eve at my Mammaw and Pappaw Drum's house. It's one of our family traditions......spending Christmas Eve at their house. I LOVE IT! We eat, open gifts, and then head to church for the candlelight service. Ashlyn was so excited. She didn't know which present to open next. She liked all of them, but her favorite was a my little pony doll that was bigger than the regular my little ponies are. You could fix her long pink hair. Whitney and Derek got it for her. She kept saying "this is my favorite pony ever!" Cute!!!
After all of the festivities at Mammaw's and Pappaw's we went over to Mom and Dad's to open our gifts over there. They went all out this year. I got a gift certificate to the spa. WHOO HOO! Britt got a gift card for some tools. We both also got clothes and a few odds and in things. Ashlyn got a pop-up playhouse, baby chimp, clothes, and a few other things. By this point I had NO clue where we were going to put all of these toys, and we weren't even halfway over.
Santa brought Ashlyn her gifts for Christmas morning. She was grinning from ear to ear. She got a Fisher Price art Easel that talks and does all kinds of neat things, the tj bearytales bear that tells you stories, a star station (it hooks up to the tv and she can watch herself sing and dance on the television screen with her microphone). She loves seeing herself in pictures, or on video.
Then we were off to the Cody's lunch. It was great seeing Pauline and all of the family. After lunch there we went down to Mammaw Sherrills and opened gifts there. Ashlyn opend a ton of presents over there. She got so many toys! I honestly don't know how all of this is going to fit in our house. =)
Next we went to Britt's Mom's for Christmas dinner. We ate some delicious food, and then opened presents and enjoyed the company of one another. Over there Ashlyn got 2 cabbage patch dolls and alot of nice outfits. She played with her cousins Reid and Alain all evening. She loves them sooooo much! She thinks that she can do anything that they can do.
We all went to bed after our exhausting day.
Tuesay we were supposed to go to the Drum Christmas Get together. I may have missed it once the whole 27 years that I've been going. Ashlyn was exhausted though. She kept telling me that she wanted to go nite nite in her bed. So I laid her down and I took a little nap too. There was just no point to take her when she was going to be miserable at the dinner.
That evening we drove to Britts dad's house in Taylorsville to do our Christmas with them. We grilled steaks. They were sooooo good! Ashlyn and her cousins got to play a little longer before they headed back to Clemmons. She got a few more toys from Pappaw and Treva. She absolutely loves her shopping cart. She strolls it all through the house.
I went back to work Wednesday. It was fairly slow. I'm hoping that most places are shut down this week. Next week will probably be pure hell at work once everyones back to all of the major companies.
I ended up being out of work today because Ashlyn is sick, yes again! UGGGGHHHH! She had been running a fever. I came in from the doctor today and she puked all over me. We cleaned it up. A few minutes later, she puked all over our chair and a half, and so on. So now that we've battled the flu, she now has a freaking stomach virus. And let me tell you, THIS IS NOT FUN!
Hopefully she'll start feeling better very soon! I sure hope so. Having a 2 1/2 year olf vommitting uncontrolably is not my cup of tea!
So that's my Christmas in a nutshell. Hope you aren't pulling your hair out after reading this. =)

Oh - and on top of everything else, I did have my IUD taken out today......we'll see how that goes. FUN FUN!!!! It's nonstop at the Cody house.

Wishing all of you a happy new year!!!!!!

Some pictures from Christmas

Christmas Card

Moriah put this together for us. Thanks girl! You did a great job!! Unfortunately I tried taking it to a zillion places to have the cards printed and every place that I went to did not have a PLAIN 4x8 card that I could print it on. RIDICULOUS!!!! I was going to send it to a company on the internet to print them and then mail them to me, but with Ashlyn getting the Flu last week it threw my timing off. So.......with all of that being said, I will not be able to mail this particular card out, but I wanted to share it with all of you. Thanks again Moriah!!! Next year I'll have to get a VERY EARLY start on my Christmas cards! =)

testing

I set up the beta blogger account. I'm just making sure that it works.

Flu

Tuesday night Ashlyn started running a fever and was extremely whiney. Wednesday morning she was still running a high fever, so Britt stayed at home with her. I figured that it was just a little cold and she would be feeling better in a day or so. When I got home Wednesday evening she was burning up and wouldn't eat any supper. She slept with me Wednesday night and was up all night crying. I had been giving her Tylenol every 4 hours. At 5:30 I took her temperature and it was 103.5 with the Tylenol in her system. At this point I knew that I had a very sick child. I let her sleep a little longer and then I woke her up and took her to the doctor. He checked her out and said that her throat was extremely red and swollen. He started putting all of her symptons together and said that it sounded like the flu. He did a flu test and sure enough it came back positive. =( She is pitiful! Yesterday she didn't even have the strength to keep her eyes open long enough to watch tv. All she did was lay in my arms and sleep. The doctor prescribed her some Tamiflu. It's supposed to shorten the length of time that she has the flu. I dropped her off with Britt and then headed to the pharmacy to have her medicine filled. Get this......the lady behind the counter said that they did not have any Tamiflu and their warehouse wasn't expected to get any in until December 19th. I couldn't believe it! Why in the world wouldn't a pharmaceutical company have enough of this stuff on hand? Every year there are millions of cases of the flu. I just don't understand why we don't produce enough of the flu vaccines and medicines to have on hand once flu season hits. This happens EVERY YEAR!!!!! You would think that we would have learned that by now! Anyways, the lady went back to double check and she found ONE box. So I got the very last box of Tamiflu that they had on their shelves. Thank goodness for that! The funny thing with this story is that Ashlyn had her first round of flu shots on November 28th and she still got the dern flu. I guess now I don't have to take her for her second round now. She'll definitely have the immunity to it after this. And Britt and I didn't get a flu shot this year. Wasn't that just brilliant?!?! Now we'll probably both get it and if we do we'll be sick over Christmas. LOVELY! I've been lysoling the entire house and taking vitamin C. Only time will tell. Just make sure to wash your hands and keep disinfectant with you at all times. The flu is here and in full force!

THEY ASK SO LITTLE

TAKE TIME TO LAUGH AND SING

AND PLAY AND CUDDLE THEM A BIT,

TELL THEM A STORY NOW AND THEN

AND STEAL A LITTLE TIME TO SIT.

AND LISTEN TO THEIR CHILDISH TALK

OR TAKE THEM FOR A LITTLE WALK.

TAKE TIME TO HEAR THEIR PRAYERS AT NIGHT,

TO REALLY CHERISH AND ENJOY.

A LITTLE GIRL WITH FLAXEN CURLS

AND THE SMALL WONDER OF A BOY.

THEY ASK SO LITTLE WHEN THEY'RE SMALL,

JUST LOVE AND TENDERNESS, THAT'S ALL

(ANONYMOUS)

I received this from a gentleman at the craft-show on Saturday. It's too good not to pass along to others! These are definitely words that any parent should live by!

Whirlwind Weekend!

Friday I was planning on skipping lunch and leaving work an hour early so that I could paint some pottery. Well..........that didn't happen. Britt called me around 2:00 and informed me that I needed to take Layla, our female chocolate Lab to the Vet. He had to go to work, so that left ME to take her. Somehow she had cut her eye open.......not the actual eye, but the bottom eyelid was torn open about 1/2 inch-1 inch. She must have gotten it hooked on something. It looked REALLY BAD!!! Soooooo......I left work early and headed to the house to get Layla. Let me just remind you that she doesn't like getting in the car. She's a big scaredy cat (dog). So I'm wrestling with her to get her in my car. She wasn't going to budge. After about 20 minutes of trying to force her in the car I just gave up. I got in the drivers seat and just sat there hoping that she may calm down and then jump in for her doggie treat that I had waiting on the console for her. FINALLY she slowly climbed up into the floorboard of the car. And we were off. The vet's office was packed. I didn't mind the wait though. I sat and talked with all of the other dog and cat owners. Everyone is always so friendly at the vet. I learned about every animal there and what problems they had. I'm a HUGE animal lover, so it was nice to sit and play with all of doggies that came in. They finally called our name. The doctor looked Layla over and told me that she was going to need stitches, and since the tear was by the eye they were going to have to sedate her, which meant that they had to keep her overnight. I told her goodbye and went home. Poor Nate didn't know what to do. He howled almost all night long. I felt so sorry for him! They have never spent a night apart, so he was extremely lonely. I went and picked her up Saturday morning. I dreaded hearing the total amount that all of this was gooing to cost. I just knew that it was going to cost us an arm and a leg, but it had to be done. The doctor started reading everything that they had done back to me. The list goes on and on from shots to stitches to her medicine. The total came to be $110.00.......I couldn't believe it! Only $110 for ALL OF THAT!!! At most vets her shots alone would cost $100. I must say that after this ordeal I HIGHLY recommend going to Dr. Robinson. We take all of our animals there, but fortunately we have never had to go for an emergency until Friday. Dr. Robinson is not out to only make money. He actually wants to help people and not charge a ridiculous amount for his services.
Saturday morning Ashlyn and I met Mom and Pam to go to the Metrolina craft-show. I found so many bargains. I got half of my Christmas shopping done that morning. After the craft-show Ashlyn and I went to Concord Mills to do a little more shopping. The mall was so crowded, but alot of the stores had some great sales. I was able to knock out a few more names on my list. Then we headed to MegArt in Mooresville to paint some pottery. I painted 2 trivets for both of my mammaws. I made and angel and used Ashlyn's footprints for the wings. I can't wait to see the finished product.
Yesterday was a lazy Sunday. I was worn out from our big shopping day, so I just rested for most of the day. Ashlyn had her Christmas Program last night at church. On our way to church my car started making a terrible sound. It sounded like a flat tire. I turned around and headed back home. Sure enough my back tire on the passengers side was flat. JUST MY LUCK!!!! I ran in and grabbed the keys to Britt's truck and transferred everything from my car into the truck. We got to the church just in time. The children did a GREAT job! Ashlyn was an angel. She looked precious! She kept waving to my mom while she was on stage singing. It was TOO CUTE! I helped clean up the family life center and set the tables up for our United Methodist Women's Christmas dinner on Wednesday night. Guess who's catering it.............KIM! Yep. I can't wait to taste her delicious cooking.
That's my weekend. It's always and adventure with me!

Prayer Request

Please keep Britt's Grandma Cody in your prayers. She has been battling cancer for almost 2 years now. She is the sweetest, most caring person that I've ever met! She thinks of everyone else's needs before her own.........If only the world was full of Pauline Cody's. I look up to her and thrive to be the kind of woman that she is. I've never met anyone with a heart like her's. Unfortunately the cancer has gotten progressively worse. Britt went to visit her yesterday and she didn't even have the strength to talk. All she did was sit in her chair and stare. It just breaks my heart to see her like that! Not once, the entire time that she has been diagnosed with the cancer, have I ever heard her complain. I honestly don't think that I have ever heard her say a negative comment. She always looks at everything with a positive outlook. Please just keep her and our family in your prayers. It's a very difficult time for everyone in the family right now. Thank you!

Cute as a Baby Doll!

P.S.

We aren't completely finished with either tree. I'll post the finished product later!

Trees.....Trees everywhere

ASHLYN'S PINK CHRISTMAS TREE ;)

THIS IS OUR TREE

HOPE YOU LIKE THEM!!!!