CHRISTMAS SHOPPING !!!

Hi Friends!

Sorry that I haven't blogged for a while. Don't worry, I haven't developed any new illnesses. I just got busy with homeschooling and trying to get back into exercising. I'm tapering off the Prednisone, so I am trying to speed up my weight loss. Most of it is puffy water weight -- but exercising (walking for me) seems to help it go away faster. I am now only taking 5 mg of Prednisone daily -- much better than the 60 mg daily I've taken in the past. And when I get the high-dose steroids by IV -- it's 1 gram per day for three days.

Saturday was my vegging out day. I didn't do much at all. I slept in and then just hung out with the kids around the house. Bill did some errands and went grocery shopping. We did some on-line Christmas shopping and took advantage of some cyber sales.

Today we had a coupon for 20% off your entire purchase (including sale items) for JC Penney's. So, Molly and I went to the mall and spent the day there. She had a bunch of allowance money ($45) saved up, so she bought a stylish new outfit. And I took the Christmas lists the kids provided me with, and I did most of our Christmas shopping. I think we have just a few things left to buy now.

The mall was not as bad as I expected. I wore my face mask to protect myself and my compromised immune system from all the bugs/germs. We've had some more outbreaks of the swine flu here. And Bill pointed out that he didn't want me back in the hospital after a mall trip. So I got some odd looks, buy we had a good time. And I felt really good to be out shopping like a "normal" Mom. Last year I was so sick, so we just gave the kids cash. This year at least I had enought energy to plan/buy things. However, I want you to know that I'm only energetic enough to buy for the kids this year. So, please don't feel like you need to buy us anything. Your prayers are more than enough.

It's late and I should go to bed. Tomorrow Bill has 2 doctor's appointments and I have my home health nurse coming at 3 p.m. to do PICC line care and bloodwork. And we still need to homeschool and do our normal routines. It's supposed to rain this week, so that will be different for Southern California.

Much Love,
Michele