Hives!

April 25, 2008, 8:55 am

I’ve been out of commission lately because of some mysterious hives. Again. About 2 years ago I got hives on my hands with no idea of where they came from. They went away in a few days & everything was fine. Now they’re back & not letting up. I’ve had them for over 3 weeks now. Yes, 3 weeks, every day, I’ve had itcy, red, painful, burning hives on my hands, arms, neck, back, feet… It’s getting unbearable. Dog, you say? You think I’m allergic to the dog? I don’t know. The allergy doctor doesn’t seem to think it’s all about the dog or even the cat for that matter. Here’s my history so far:

2/14 we get Kip & I have no problems. We have him for a month & I never get a hive. 3/22 we get Sabrina. 4/2 hives appear. 4/12 I get post nasal drip. 4/19 I get a really bad cough. No one seems to think the cough is related (it’s not hives in my throat, my airway is not blocked, it seems to just be a cold. But that adds to my troubles. I can’t sleep because I’m coughing so much.) I’ve seen my regular doctor, the allergy doctor twice, had allergy skin testing, been on Benedryl, 2 different prescription antihistamines and loads & loads of prednisone, but the hives keep coming back. I’ve been trying to track what could have caused the hives & can’t come up with anything. My allergy skin testing showed only slight dog allergy. But I think there’s something about Sabrina that’s bringing on the hives. What, I’m not sure, but something, I think is what’s helping trigger them.

So do I get rid of the dog? I told the kids I wouldn’t. The allergy doctor didn’t even recommend that. You’d think with all the major medical advances they’d be able to treat me so I could still have a dog even if I was allergic. And the doctor says I’d be having more allergy symptoms if it was just the dog - you know, the typical nasal, scratchy throat, itchy eyes, etc. And I’ve had none of that. I’d post pictures of the hives, but I’m having a hard time getting a clear photo of myself. Trust me, they’re all over & look as bad as you think.

So here I sit, reluctant to even go to the gym, because I do notice that sweating makes them worse and because of my cough, I’m afraid to run too hard, and I’m waiting for the allergy doctor to call back. I’m hoping I can get a shot of something today so I can at least get through tomorrow. It’s Allison’s First Holy Communion tommorrow & I just don’t want to spend the day all red, blotchy & itching!

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New product! Rebirth

April 9, 2008, 11:14 am

This is a little late for Easter, but it wasn’t Easter that I had in mind when I designed this kit. My oldest DD is getting her first holy communion and I wanted something simple for scrapping those types of events. I think it’ll work well for Easter, too. So, here is Rebirth:

It is on sale at ShopJMT or Scrapdish and you can get it for 25% off through the end of April. So the current price is just $3.74. Here are some additional previews & a layout I did. (Special thanks to Anna Hunter for the photograph I used in the layout.)

Oh, and while I’m at it, I don’t think I mentioned the new alpha set I came out with last week. Here are some Plastic Alpha Clips that you can pickup at ShopJMT or Scrapdish for just $2.50 for 5 alphas! Great price!

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9 lives I tell you.

April 8, 2008, 8:15 pm

My cat for sure must have 9 lives. This morning I broke the news to my DD (and the other 2 kids, too, but they didn’t get all the details) that Willie most likely would not be coming back. See, he got out last night about 10pm and I was fearing the worst. Willie is an indoor cat - he’s declawed in the front & we really try to keep him in. But last night when I took the dog out, he jumped out before I could get him. He’s done this before & while it’s scary to have him out at night, we always leave the garage door slightly open & he comes in at some point so by morning he’s mewing at the inside garage door. But last night was different. About 10:30 I hear a horrible screaming coming from a few houses down. Sounded like kids kind of, but it was 10:30 at night. So I quick ran out back & realized it was a cat fight. Uh-oh. My clawless Willie is in trouble. I called to him & no response. I get DH to come down to look for him. Not a sight nor sound. So I go back inside & hope he returns. About a half an hour later, I hear Willie (I just know it was him) yeowling from somewhere not too far away. Again, I go out, this time panicked and also get DH. “What can we do?” “I don’t know!” “I know it’s him, I can hear him! Willie! Willie, come here boy, where are you? Here kitty, kitty!” He yeowls back at me, but I have no clue where it’s coming from. We look around, but can’t find him. The yeowling stops. I go back inside and now am really panicked. If he was OK, he’d have come to me. Why didn’t he just come home? Where is he? What happened?

So DH & I go to bed. At 6am DH comes downstairs in hopes of finding him at the garage door. No luck. I search for him about 8am. No luck. After the kids get to school, I roam around the neighborhood, looking under sheds, alerting the neighbors, really worried that he was seriously hurt and probably dead. But I wanted to find him to know. Nothing. I have to leave to pickup Lauren from pre-school. Upon returning, guess who greets me at the back door? Willie. He was hungry & really tired, but no scratches or anything. Just some ruffled fur. What the heck happened to him? We have no clue, but we’re glad to have him back.

So anyway, I tell my DD all about how Willie got out & never came back, how I heard really horrible noises & we couldn’t find him and that we’d have to prepare for the worst. And then, more than 12 hours after he’s gone, he returns. Silly cat. But we’re so happy to have him back.

So that was life #1 for you Willie. You’re down to 8 now.

Oh, and while I’m at it, here are a few more, better pictures of the new dog:

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Retirement sale (not me, just some older product!)

April 3, 2008, 4:44 pm

I’ve got quite a few collections at Scrapbook-Bytes that are retiring as of May 1st and have prices SLASHED, so if you haven’t grabbed any of these collections, do so now before they retire! I’m retiring 3 collections and all of their pieces, so you can pickup individual kits or save big on the whole collections.

My oldest & one of my favorite collections, Tough Guy - it’s sad to see it go, but it’s time.
Tough Guy Collection - JUST $3 for the entire set!!!

Or pick up the individual paper (Ty & JT) or element packs (denim & iron) for just $1 each!

Then there’s Remix, one of my larger collections that’s fun & funky:
Remix Collection, Downloadable, just $10!!

(The individual Remix kits are just $2 each!)

And finally, probably one of my all time favorites - I just love the colors & the theme I had going on here, Free Yourself, just $7:

(The individual kits are just $2! The alphas are not retiring individually, but the whole collection as an item & the individual kits as well as the word art are.)