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I got an email about getting a good deal on a Branson vacation package.
Branson?
As in Branson Missouri?

I am not so sure that me and my family would enjoy ourselves there, it is like a country music place, and uh, we are so definitely not into country music.
They say they have stuff for everyone though.
Roller coasters, live music, boating, magic shows, musicals, comedy acts, etc, but I still don't know if it's "our kind of thing".
I guess it's something that I would consider if like part or all of the trip was something I won, you know?
Like if I won a trip, I would definitely go, but I don't know if it's something that I would pay for because I am so not into that whole country music scene.

Anyone ever been there?
Was it any fun?
If you don't like country music, like how many days would it take before you wanted to stab yourself in the ears?

I had my pain doc appointment today, it went as it usually does.
On the pain scale, 1-10, with 1 being no pain, and 10 being OMG kill me now it hurts so bad, where are you right this minute?
I was at a 7 this morning because I had a rough night.
I was super stressed out so I didn't get any sleep, and so I just laid on the couch watching movies all night long, and so my back got super stiff and locked up by morning.
The dose of my pain medicine this morning just didn't cut it after such a crappy night, and on doctor day, you don't double up because they pee test you, and if you have too much in your system, you get yelled at, so I just dealt with the pain until I left.

I did finally tell the PA (my doc's Physician's Assistant,  Mary) about the Elavil and how much I don't like it, so they put me on a new one, Cymbalta.
I have been taking the Elavil since July 17, 2009, and I tolerated it every month, but it's side effects kept gradually getting much worse for me.
For the last few months, I would say, the last 3-4 months, within 20-30 minutes of taking it,  my throat felt like it was closing up, like something was stuck in it, and my hands would start shaking uncontrollably.
Those side effects would last anywhere from an hour to several hours, so I asked to be taken off of it today and she agreed with me that if that's how it's making me feel, then we should definitely switch to something else.
She said that they have been trying Cymbalta with some of their patients who also cannot tolerate the Elavil for a wide variety of reasons, and so far so good she said, so she put me on that.
She gave me two sample bottles and each one contained 7 capsules, so that was enough to get me through 14 days, but Mark and I just got back from Walgreen's and Publix, so I already picked my prescriptions up.
Because there is no generic for the Cymbalta yet, my insurance co-pay is a bit higher than it normally is for my medications, but it's still a really great price at just $6.30 for a 30 day supply.
The regular price with no insurance is $188.79, so yeah, way happy to have insurance.

I am really hopeful that I can tolerate the Cymbalta a lot better than I did the Elavil, because it looks like Cymbalta can actually help me with my chronic pain too.
This is what Drugs.com says about Cymbalta;

Cymbalta is used to treat major depressive disorder and general anxiety disorder. It is also used to treat a chronic pain disorder called fibromyalgia, and to treat pain caused by nerve damage in people with diabetes (diabetic neuropathy).

That makes me so very hopeful that not only will I be able to tolerate it well, but that it will actually do what it says.
That would be so awesome, you have no idea.
If it can actually help with chronic pain and nerve pain, then I would have to take less actual pain medicine which would be freaking awesome!!
Keep your fingers crossed for me that it really works please!!

One of my friends took me to my doc appointment and pharmacy today, and all I had to do as a way to "pay" her for the ride, was to help her take her respironics oxygen concentrator to the medical supply place, and have them fix it.
She can't lift it, and I know, I'm not supposed to lift heavy stuff either, but as soon as the clerk saw me getting it out of the trunk, he came out with a dolly and wheeled it in for us.
Then she went in and told him what was wrong with it, and they fixed what wrong with it which was just a dirty filter, and she admitted that she never cleaned it, she said she didn't know how to open it, so they cleaned it for her and then put it back in the trunk for us so I didn't have to try and lift it again.
Her son was at home (summer vacation) and he's the one who put it in the trunk for her, and she said that he would take it back out again when she got home.
I had offered to go home with her and get it out of the trunk and take it in her house for her and then she could drive me back home, but that's when she told me that he was at home and he was the one who would take care of it, she was just happy that I was with her and so willing to help her.
She said that one of her other friends that she is always giving rides to, never, ever wants to help her with anything, and complains the whole time they are doing anything at all where she needs help.
She almost started crying when she was talking about it, I felt so bad for her, so I told her that anytime at all that she needs help, all she has to do is call me, I'm usually always at home so I can be ready to go and help at pretty much a moment's notice.
That's when she really did start crying and saying thank you about a gazillion times.
I said she didn't have to say so many thank yous, she helped me with a ride to my doctor's office, the pharmacy, and home again, so helping her is the least that I could do.
I am always so appreciative when people help me out with a ride where I need to go, so helping them in return is my way of saying thank you and repaying them for the help. 

I've spoken about my friend Mindy here many, many times, about how her and her family are just really great people, any time that I've needed help, a ride, or to be taken to the hospital, there they are, ready and willing to help me.
Well now Mindy and her family need my help, your help, our help.
Her post explains in detail what is happening, but if they don't get some help, Mindy and her family, husband, son Jeff, and daughter Katie, they will be homeless.

Things have not been good recently around here. Chris and I just recently found out that our landlords must sell the house that we have been renting since October of 2008. It wouldn't be such a big deal because normally tenants are allowed to stay until the house does sell. Not in this case. They have asked us to leave by the end of this month. They are in the midst of a foreclosure and are wanting to sell asap and the easiest way to do that is get rid of the occupants so that it will be a smoother transaction for all parties involved. Except of course, US.

We may have first months rent but nothing more. We have been looking and most renters now are required to pay security deposit, first and last months rent up front. That is a lot of money to come up with in just a few weeks. A goal that we will not be able to make on our own. Our parents are all retired. They receive their social security and are budgeted to that alone. They are willing to help as much as they can but the reality is, it will not be enough. My biggest fear is that if we do not come up with enough funds that we need, we will be homeless.

Mindy and her family need our help, whatever you can spare, even if it's just $1, they need our help to come up with a security deposit, first, and last.
Mindy has always been there for me, they never ask anyone for help, they are always the ones helping others, but this time, they really need help.
If you can help, please, please, please, go to Mindy's blog and click on the PayPal donate button and give whatever you can.
And please, spread the word, link to her post on your blogs, Twitter, Facebook, wherever.
Mindy and her family need our help, I am begging for help for them.
They are really great people, so kind, loving, and generous, always helping everyone else.

That is the question both of my sons ask me, why do people constantly bug them to get their drivers licensee?
Neither of them want to get their license, because getting a license doesn't actually make things easier.
We can't afford to buy a car, we can't afford to get insurance quotes and actually pay for insurance, we can't afford to put gas in the car, we just can't afford a car and all that goes with it, so why bother getting a license?
I can totally see the teens point, they make great points, but people still pester them to get their license even though we cannot afford to get a car and all that goes with it.

Please forgive my blogging absence since like last Tuesday I think?
Yeah, Tuesday.
Anyway, I've been battling an illness again, and this past weekend was pure hell for me and the teens.
I had a ton of stuff going on, I caught some sort of stomach thing that Mark had caught but in me, it mutated into the stomach thing spawned from the very bowels of hell, and it was also the "end of the month" pain medicine wise, so I was short a few days just like every month which resulted in my stomach being even sicker than the stomach thing that I was dealing with.
But I got the pain medicine taken care of by my doctor, but the stomach thing stayed and got worse, and worse, and worse as each day passed.
I was so sick that I was completely unable to eat or even drink anything at all for about 3 days, and if I tried to take even super small sips of water to wash down my pain meds and now some seriously strong antibiotics and phenergan that the ER gave me on Saturday to try and stop me from vomiting,  I ended up even more violently ill than I was within just minutes of taking them.
All the vomiting and diars I was dealing with is not exactly the best weight loss supplement, but I did drop 9 pounds from Wednesday through to today.
Hey, weight loss is weight loss for this fat chick, it all counts to me no matter how I lose it. 
But I was so ill that the teens got really scared for me and made me go to the hospital again on Sunday, and that was the absolute worst day of my weekend.

I only have brief recollections of actually getting to the hospital on Sunday, I know that my friend Mindy took me, that Sebastian called her, and I recall being put in a wheelchair, and then the next thing I remember is waking up on a hospital bed in the ER with an IV in my right arm and 2 doctors standing over me and talking about my high white cell count and a massive infection that they couldn't locate just yet.
While I was out, they drew blood and ran tests, ran a cath line and took urine samples, and they were talking about the possibility of cancer.
Again.
I have an unnaturally high white cell count, it's always been high, but it's been extremely high since my first spine fusion in 2006, but apparently it was really super high this time, and so they threw around words like cancer, again.
I've already been down this road, I've already had tons of cancer tests, but here they were, talking about it and I admit to getting, and still being, really, really scared.
I was in the ER on Sunday from about 3pm until almost 10pm, they pumped in bags and bags of fluids because I was so dehydrated, they gave me about 6 doses of Zofran because it was obvious that the phenergan hadn't helped me at all, and about 6 doses of dilaudid for all of the stomach cramping and pain that I was in, but I continued to be violently ill, so violently ill that they had to bring in a portable toilet for my room.
I know, TMI, and it was embarrassing and humiliating, and I hated every damn second of it, but being hooked up to an IV and getting sick so rapidly, I wouldn't have been able to make it to a bathroom if I tried.
Puking and the diars at the same time, ugh, and the nurses kept coming in to check on me and clean me up, and there was some sort of brownish liquid in my vomit that concerned the nurses, so they went and got the doctors again, and they kept calling the lab to make them hurry up with the blood test results so they could try to figure out what I had so that they could treat me properly.
By the time they released me, they still didn't have the lab results back yet, so they said they would fax them to my doctors ASAP, and then they sent me home with some more antibiotics and a script for Reglan which is another anti-nausea medication and it also "speeds up the the rate at which the stomach empties into the intestines."
They gave me that in the hopes that whatever this thing, infection, whatever the hell it is that is in my gastrointestinal tract, will get the heck out.

Jenn at Blogging Girl is asking bloggers to help spread the word about what a bunch of scammers Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are.

You can read Jenn's post for all of the details, but basically, Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post, get bloggers to do work and then they don't pay for it.
Basically, Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are a bunch of scammers.
To quote some of Jenn's post,

Well over a year ago I signed up for Blog Advertising Store, though at that time they were calling themselves Paying Post. Between then and this past February I have written $109.00 worth of opportunities. I followed the instructions on each opportunity, included the required links, wrote relevant, high quality content, and submitted each opportunity on time. Every opportunity that I did was approved, and as of April 2010 I was eligible to receive payment, as my balance had rolled over $100 (that is Blog Advertising Store's / Paying Post's minimum payout amount). Only...I didn't receive a payment in April. I didn't receive one in May, either, despite Blog Advertising Store's / Paying Post's dashboard stating that I would be paid $109 on May 1st, 2010.

She followed all of their directions on how to receive her payment, and has sent them emails requesting her payment, and they still haven't done it.
She even sent them an email about how she had heard from other bloggers about their business practices and their handling of payouts, and they still did not reply to her or pay her.

I have been a bit wary completing posts for your company, as in the past I have read some unsavory things about your business practices and the handling of payouts. Please ease my anxieties and compensate me with the money I am rightfully owed. Again, the balance due is $109.00, and my PayPal account is x@jenn.nu.

She has sent them an email every single day requesting her payment of $109.00 for the work she completed and was approved to be paid for.

I forwarded the May 11th email to them on May 12th, May 13th, May 14th, May 15th, May 16th, and May 17th.

The situation has now gotten even worse.
Not only have they still not paid her, but they have now locked her out of her account on Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post, they have blocked her emails, and they have banned her home ip address so she cannot access the site at all.

Seriously, y'all need to go read Jenn's post about how Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are scammers, and help spread the word.
If you are a blogger who is working for them, you may want to seriously reconsider that, and if you have a blogging friend who said they were thinking about signing up to work for them, send them the link to Jenn's post.
Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are scammers, plain and simple.
DO NOT work for them.
Blog about this, post about this to Twitter, (to make it simple, you can use this to Twitter it; Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post is a scam! http://bit.ly/basppscam #paidblogging #scam) and post it to Facebook, everywhere.
Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are scammers and they need to pay bloggers for the work completed.

They need to pay Jenn the $109.00 she rightfully earned and was approved to be paid.
They are being totally unprofessional by blocking her emails, banning her ip address, and refusing to acknowledge that they owe her this money.
Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are scammers and they need to pay Jenn and all of the bloggers who work for them, the money they have earned.

I just had to put some Dentemp in my back tooth that has a huge gaping hole in it and needs dental care, but it can't be done.
Because of the way my head is stuck down, it prevents my jaw from opening fully, I can barely fit a spoon in my mouth, so a dentist getting his hands plus tools in there to rip it out, is impossible, I know this, I've accepted this.
So every few weeks when the Dentemp breaks down and falls out, I just replace it.
Each package of Dentemp has enough putty filling in it to replace a lost filling approximately 8 or more times, so I'm grateful that it's only around $4.00 depending on where I go to buy it.
After a few hours, I'll be able to eat again, it has to be let to harden up, usually takes about 3 hours at the most to set up properly.

I was in looking at Marks tv while they were playing a video game, it's a nice flat screen LCD HDTV, and it's sitting on an old wobbly table I have. I've had that bale for ages, the legs are super wobbly, si I was looking at www.standsandmounts.com to see what kinds of tables or other ways that I could set his tv up so that it would be more safe.
I would love to hang it on teh wall, but I don't think our walls are strong enough to hold a tv. I'd definitely have to get one of those stud finders to find a stud and try to place a mounting system on it so that it would be sturdier and hold the tv better.
I'm always looking for ways to improve the look and quality of my home, there's so many things that I would love to do to the house, I would love to make it look better in here, but for now, it's all just dreams, I can't really afford to do much in here.