Pity Party in the Keys

Hi everyone! The hubby & I are on week two of our vacation. Last week we were at Pompano Beach. The weather was pretty rainy for the first five days but we got two days of sunshine before we left. 

We spent about an hour at a local beach. The beach had handicap mats over the sand which allowed my hubby to push me in my wheelchair. While there, I grabbed my camera and took photos of a few people learning how to paddle board. They were so fun to watch. The water was pretty cold and we are wimps when it comes to that kind of thing. So no swimming but we did enjoy the heat. 

I made the hubby go down this slide. He got stuck a bunch of times and had to push himself down. It was pretty funny to watch. Even the life guard was laughing.

Before we left my awesome hubby walked over to the paddleboarders and got their email address. I sent them a bunch of photos that night. I figured it would be fun to have photos from their experience. And...they emailed back and thanked me. Fun!

I am sure Jim would be thrilled to know I used this photo for my blog. Sorry Jim ;)

Yesterday we drove the 4 hours south to Key West. Our rental car is super smooth. I normally have a lot of pain from traveling due to the vibrations from the car. But we stopped a few times to let me stretch. I have to say I did pretty well. The drive was gorgeous. 

Our resort is absolutely darling. We used our air miles to book it and we weren't sure what kind of place we would get. 

Here is our back porch area. Love it! 

Now the pity party part. 

Yesterday we went down to the beach. The hotel receptionist told us that Key West doesn't have the best beaches. This was quite the surprise to us. They have three decent beaches and she recommended one close by. It was at a state park which had a cement walk way. I don't walk far without pain and it is quite helpful to have my wheelchair. 

I did pretty well walking from where we parked my wheelchair to the water (which was shockingly cold). I even "swam" a bit. It was quite fun. 

Me splashing around a bit.

Today I woke up with pain. It was the kind of pain that makes you wish you were dead. My knee hurt, my hands hurt. Parts of my body that normally don't hurt were killing me. My ankles, toes and even my "good" leg. 

And so we are at the gorgeous Key West and I am in bed. And now to be even more honest. I sent the hubby for alcohol. I didn't bring narcotics with me since I stopped taking them in July. I don't drink. Like ever. I think in my entire life I have maybe had 5 drinks. 

I hope hoping a couple Mike's lemonades will help with the pain. Tomorrow we drive back to Miami for the night and on Thursday we leave. It will be nice to be back home. RSD is not fun.

Week in Photos - 10/21/14

I am blogging from Pompano Beach, Florida this week and then we will be driving down to Key West next week. We arrived last night. It was my first time traveling in awhile and my first without narcotics. I did okay. Did I have pain and numbness? Yup. But, I survived. We packed my wheelchair and I was able to use that for the airport. Our flights were smooth and for that I am thankful. 

Our two bedroom apartment is gorgeous.

The view from our balcony.

We made it down to the jacuzzi & pool today and had the entire thing to ourselves. It was a bit chilly for the pool but we enjoyed the warmth of the jacuzzi for awhile. It is now raining which means reading books & relaxing. 

This past week we went to the library for the first time. I have lived in PA 13 years and finally got myself a library card! I packed 8 books for 10 days. Plus my Nook. 

While we are away, our house is getting a mini makeover. Our front and back porch roofs were sagging quite a bit.

After the ceiling fixes, we have a new roof going on. So exciting! 
 

And one last photo. We found this chair on the side of the road with a "free" sign. I made the hubby stop and pick it up. It weighed about a million pounds. I posted it on the Facebook yard sale site for $25 and it sold immediately. Gotta love free money! 
 

I hope everyone has a healthy week!

Week in photos (Fall Foliage Edition) - 10/12/14

I didn't take too many photos this week. We were busy but I forgot about the photos. We had friends come over twice, my weekly doctor's appointment and church this morning.

I am blessed to live in a rural part of PA. It is gorgeous in the autumn time. I am trying to forget that we also got our first flurries this week and that a lot more are on the way.

This is the view from the side of our home. How lucky am I???

The incline plane in Johnstown, PA. Sorry for the blurriness. Stupid cell phone camera.
I have only a month to go before I get a new phone.

The back view from our home. 

The hubby and I are taking a trip in a week! It was truly a last minute thing. My hubby's friend has a ton of time share Wyndam minutes. He sells them off for a low price so he can pay down his time share mortgage. We purchased some to stay in Fort Lauderdale for 8 days.  We had enough air miles to book a car and two nights in KEY WEST! I have never been to Key West.

I am pretty excited and pretty nervous. I haven't traveled in quite some time because of the pain. The last time was January and I had a lot of strong pain meds. This time I won't have those and that is where the nervous part comes in. I don't travel well. But, it was such a good deal and we are looking forward to the warmer weather.

We really hope to move to FL eventually. We visit Anna Maria Island every year which is on the gulf side. We have visited the Pensacola area several times. But we haven't really explored the eastern side of FL - the ocean side.

And...someone posted this on Pinterest.

Week in Photos - 10/4/2014

Hi everyone! 

I had a few days this past week where I had more pain than normal. The RSD just seems to be worse some days. But it seems to have calmed back down today and I am so thankful. Just in time to catch my hubby's cold. (Thanks hubby) This is the first time in three years I have had a cold.

I used some of my Young Living essential oils to make cold capsules and I have been taking them twice a day. I am on day 3 of the cold and it is getting better.

A few months ago I was taking many prescription meds. Depression medicine, nerve medicine, sleeping medicine and of course narcotics. My pills nowadays look a bit different! They are all natural supplements. 

This week I also used my essential oils to make lip balms. SO easy to make! 
 

Some of my pain may have been my own fault. I wanted to do something special for the new home owners moving into my father-in-law's home. We finally closed on his house this week. It took three months but it is done! 

Sold!

I put together a Yankee Candle autumn basket and made these cupcakes to match. They were caramel apple with fondant pumpkins. I love working with butter cream fondant. I have missed decorating. 

We had some gorgeous weather this week. It was in the high 70's which is very unusual for the beginning of October. That changed this weekend but I really enjoyed it while it lasted. 

The leaves have started to change. Autumn is my favorite time of year.

Our neighbors were getting rid of a few things including this wagon and light. I made the hubby stop and pick them up. I snapped a photo of each and already the wagon has sold for $15.

We spent yesterday organizing the basement. Well, I mostly sat and the hubby organized. But I am quite good at giving directions. We are officially done with the basement. It has taken about three months but every part of it is organized, labeled and alphabetized. 

And a few ebay sales! I listed just a few items this week.

1. Dragon software, version 13. I purchased this on QVC. QVC was selling two of the same software for $80. I only needed one copy and so I sold the second. It brought $65 which means I paid about $15 for my copy!

2. It Cosmetics foundation brush. I purchased It Cosmetics foundation on QVC for $40 and the purchase included this brush. I already had a foundation brush and didn't need this one. It sold for $23.50. I love selling items like this since it brings the cost of my foundation down.