Martha. Martha. Martha.

Martha Stewart SUCKS!!!! I got together with two of my friends from childhood last Sunday to decorate cookies and dye Easter eggs. Our mom's used to always get us together when we were little at holidays and we are starting that tradition again. It is such a good feeling to have friends that you have known for so long. We attempted an egg dyeing project from Martha's latest magazine and it was a total failure. I feel that I am pretty crafty and was determined to figure out what the problem. The eggs were sweating so much from the humidity that nothing would stick to the eggs! We tried electrical tape, vinyl, stickers and hot glue, YES hot glue. My mom would be proud! I think I have figured out what the problem was, since we live in such a humid area we need to dye the eggs when they are still warm or let them sit out for about an hour so they stop sweating. I'm going to attempt the project again this weekend. Wish me luck!

The cookies that we made were delicious and so cute. I had a blast regardless of how the eggs turned out and we looked so cute wearing our Easter bunny ears!The funniest part of the day happened when Kristen  was trying to get a sticker to stick to the egg and was squeezing it and it broke! The hilarious part is it was a raw egg and it broke in her hand! The face she made was priceless! I still think that Jamie put a few raw eggs in the carton on purpose!!!

Check out our pictures here.

We are going to San Antonio for Easter with our friends Ernie and Jacinta. We are going to be working hard helping my dad build a deck for the new spa that is on order! I will post pictures!

So many MINI's...

We are part of a MINI Cooper car club. It is a great group of friends and fellow MINI Cooper enthusiasts in and around the Houston area, organized driving events are held throughout the year. We drive over to Louisiana to the casinos, to the Texas Hill country or just around town for a holiday drive. Besides the driving events, we meet up at a local Sonic and also at the Showboat drive-in.

Our drive last weekend had about 25 MINI's it was the 2010 Wild Flower drive through the Hill Country in search of Wild Flowers and green pastures! The bluebonnets were bigger this year but not plentiful. The route was full of curvy roads,high speeds and rolling hills with plenty of Texas Hill Country sites! We ate lunch in Round Top, TX. Round Top is the SMALLEST (MINI) incorporated community in Texas. Population is 77 people. We spent about an hour and half in Round Top then were back in the MINI and motoring through some more scenic roads back towards Houston. The drive was around 150 miles. We ended the drive at the Showboat drive in movie theater in Hockley, TX.

Check out our pictures by clicking here.
A you tube video was made of the drive check it out by clicking here.

Our next drive is the 5th Annual Wash, Wax and Cruise MINI Style (Minus the Wash and Wax, we're just Crusing to Galveston). It is April 24th to Galveston and benefits the Shriners Burn Hospital for Children. An event t-shirt will be sold and all proceeds will go to the hospital. 


Until next time........ Happy Motoring!!

A birds eye view...

As most of you know, I love crafts!!!!! We now have a yard again and two trees so I made thought I would try to make a decorate a bird house. I asked Tony to buy me a bird house that I could build and decorate when I was told to take it easy after my ER trip. I decorated the roof with pine cone and the sides with natural moss. I also added a little charm with a bird on it to hang over the opening in the front. I had so much fun with the first one I decided that the other tree needed a bird house also. The second one I didn't think to take as many pictures of... it is a wicker ball that I weaved with moss. They are both hanging in the front yard and I hope they will not remain vacant for long! Check out the pictures...click here ---> Bird House Pictures

Never a clear answer...

I had another appointment today at the cardiologist. My urine test came back normal which is a really good thing because they were looking for hormone producing tumor markers!!! The blood that was taken the other day was not tested by Labcorp they threw it away…. if I was scared of needles I probably would have cared more, but I just let them stick me again. The new blood that was taken will be testing my cholesterol, liver function, etc. I guess those results will be in tomorrow.

I had an echocardiogram (Ultrasound of the Heart) today. They were looking for two main things, a thickened heart wall (this kills a lot of athletes) and again for a tumor. They didn’t find either, again a good thing. He said that I have a healthy strong heart. They did find that I have Mitral Value Prolapse, but I figured I had that it runs in the family. It isn't life-threatening and doesn't require treatment or changes in lifestyle. Since I don’t have any life-threatening issues and the meds are working they are not going to do anymore testing unless I ask. He did say that there is a procedure that some people opt for to destroy abnormal heart tissue that causes arrhythmias and palpitations so they don’t have to be on meds for the rest of their life, it is called Catheter Ablation. I’m not opting for this at this point we will see how I do long term on the medicine. However, I will not be able to take this medicine when I am pregnant. So two months before we decide to try I will be weaned off the drugs. Of course, that means I will most likely have high BP and HR again.

He wrote me a prescription for a MRI to check my brain (no laughing please!) because I have so many headaches. He said that it might just be sinus issues but I should have it checked out. I’ve been having headaches since my first accident that was 9 years ago. He said that there is also a possibility that my brain is the cause of my high BP and HR. I’m not sure when I will go in for the MRI.

So with that said, we still don’t know why my blood pressure or heart rate was so high and might not ever know. The doctor said that 70% of patients that come in with these issues never figure out why they happen. He will keep me on the medicine to control the BP and HR. I’m supposed to go back to my normal lifestyle, so I can work out again!!! I will go to him for a follow-up in 6 weeks.

Imagine a million band-aids....

That is what it felt like when they removed the holter monitor, like a million band-aids being ripped off really slowly. Each electrode was secured to my skin with tape that was about 3in x 3in and I had 6 of them. My chest was covered in tape and boy did it itch. The tape is put over the electrode so you don't pop one off on accident. Hopefully the monitor will tell the doctor something... I did not see the doctor today but will see him at my next appointment on Monday, March 22 at 11:00. He will do an EKG and I guess I will get the results from all my testing. I'm having weird sensations in my chest and a tiny bit of pain every once in awhile. I doesn't feel normal but who knows. I seem to have more palpitations when I'm relaxing. My blood pressure remains normal and my resting heart rate is staying in the 80's which is considered normal.

Other than constantly paying attention to my heartbeat, I'm busy preparing for my Pampered Chef party this Friday and making my birdhouses. I'm going to post some pictures later. Off to cook dinner...

Wires Wires Everywhere...

I went to the dr this afternoon and they hooked me up to holter monitor. It would be much more interesting if this little box showed me something! Hopefully the girl that put this on me knew what she was doing... she was referring to a drawing on the wall behind me to see where to place the electrodes and then had to switch two around. I didn't see the dr so I don't know if they have the results from my pee. I have to go back to the dr tomorrow to return this thing. The new medicine that I'm taking is soooo much better. No headache and it seems to be controlling everything even better.

Tonight we had my friend and her kids over for dinner, Aida(8), is my God Daughter and Michael(10). We made homemade pizzas and put on the movie Planet 51. i thought it was a pretty funny movie I haven't seen the entire thing, but the kids were not interested. LOL! It was a good night until our granite cracked from the heat from the pizza stone! You can barely see it now but we know that it is there.

I wish I had more to tell you about my heart but once again I don't know anything. Next appointment is March 22 until then I just keep taking my medicine that controls my blood pressure and hope that my heart doesn't race.

Blood and more tests...

Well... my blood work came back perfect. Which you would think I would be excited about but we still don't know what is wrong. I dropped my 24 hours of pee off at Lapcorp this morning and they took more blood. I'm glad I don't have to remember to get the container from the garage mini fridge before I use the restroom!! LOL! Tomorrow I see my cardiologist at 3:00 for a holter monitor. I will wear it for 24 hours. So I better take a good shower tomorrow morning cause I can't shower with it. I discontinue taking the Cardizem LA and I also start my other medicine Bystolic tonight. Hopefully it doesn't give me headaches also. I bought a wrist blood pressure monitor Friday and have been using it a few times a day, my BP was ok and my heartrate was a little elevated today, highest HR I recorded was 98. Other than being tired and feeling a little weak I'm fine.

So this is what has been going on...

I’ve always had heart palpitations but my cardiologist said as long as they are not causing any problems to not worry about them.

Last Tuesday(3/9) in the lunch room at work I had a heart palpitation that was so strong and long that I blacked out for a few seconds. I got really dizzy and hot. Right before I was about to say “I think I’m going to pass out” I recovered. I sat for a little while and soon felt better. I made an appointment with my cardiologist, but he couldn’t see me until next Wednesday (3/17). . I felt a little weird all week but nothing serious. I worked out this Wednesday evening and felt pretty good. Yesterday morning(3/11) I had a dentist appointment and my blood pressure was checked. It was very high 150/97, it was checked again to verify and it was 140/90something. At that point I was just glad that I had an appointment scheduled with my cardiologist. Yesterday evening while lying on the couch watching TV, I suddenly was very aware of my heart beat. Normally it just beats and you don’t really have a second thought about it, mine was racing and beating really hard like I had just had a major workout. I monitored my heart rate for a few minutes and first wondered if I was multiplying wrong but it was beating at 120 beats a minute! I sat up and told Tony that I didn’t feel well and something was wrong. We decided as a precaution to have it checked out.

In the ER they immediately ekg, did a chest xray, blood work and monitored me for a few hours. The chest xray was normal, ekg was normal but tachycardic, most of the blood work was normal except my thyroid level. My thyroid level was high. All of my symptoms point to a Hyperthyroid but the blood work indicated a Hypothyroid. Basically the ER docs said they were confused and to follow up with my primary care physician and cardiologist. They monitored me for a few hours. My heart rate remained high but blood pressure dropped a little. The nurses eventually came in and turned off the alarm for high heart rate (over 100) I guess they were tired of listening to it. The alarm for extremely high (over 120) went off quite a bit also. I was told I would not be admitted unless my heart rate was 150 so I was released.

Today (3/12) I went to my primary care and had blood drawn to check my thyroid levels. I will have those results on Monday. My cardiologist couldn’t see me but a friend from work was able to get me in to see her brother in law. Thank you Beth Ty. At the cardiologist office around 11:30 my blood pressure was 140/100 with a high heart rate. All day today I felt like I was running a marathon. I was given Cardizem LA to take for a few days, then I will take Bystolic. I am doing a 24 hour urine test for the high blood pressure and will see my cardiologist a few times over the next few weeks for a holter monitor and another ekg. We still have no idea why my blood pressure and heart rate have been high but tests are being run. I will keep you updated.