Happy Monday

How was everyone's weekend? I spent all day Saturday shooting a friend's wedding. We started at 8am and we were there until about 4:30. 

I actually met her because her family hired me 2 years ago to shoot her sister's wedding and a wonderful friendship developed from there! This family is truly the epitome of all families. So loving, sweet, & caring!

I'll post pics as soon as I am done editing!

My friend & assistant photographer Bev came into town to assist with the wedding. When we got home we took a 3 hour nap! TIRED!!

Sunday a group friends went to Ryan's for lunch. I am not a big fan of buffets at all but everyone wanted to go so... One thing that really annoys me is seeing people just sit there all day so they can just keep eating. I have a friend that manages Ryan's and she tells me people will literally sit there for hours. There really should be a 2 hour time limit for greedy people like that. Ok, off my soapbox.



After Ryan's, me, Bev, & Lillian went out & did some shopping. I rarely find anything at Ross (similarr to TJ MAXX) but we hit the jackpot. They must've just gotten some new stuff in because we found so many great items from clothes to home decor!

Sunday night we had a houseful over to watch the NBA Finals. I was going for Miami, but as you know the Mavs won. Eh, what can you do right, maybe next year!

(image)

Recap

*warning- this may be kinda gross*

So for the last few weeks I have been battling this very strange "thing" that started as a simple little bump on my toe. It was like a little ant bite. Of course it itched like crazy to the point where I had to pop it. It began getting worse and spreading like a fungus. There was an open wound that would not heal. 

About 2 weeks later, I noticed these tiny little white bumps on one of my fingers. Again, looked like an ant bite but it itched like crazy. Then within 24 hours it began to "look" like I had these little ring worms on all my fingers. The area around my nail bed was so swollen with bumps and palms itched like crazy.

I can't even describe HOW MUCH IT ITCHED. I literally rubbed my hands together so hard that they felt like they were on fire. Then my upper arms & thighs began to itch. I had to take scalding hot showers to soothe the itch! It was TERRIBLE!

I googled everything & found all sorts of possibilities of what this could be. Everything from poison ivy to ringworm to hand herpes. Hand herpes!! I didn't know there was such a thing or how in the hell I could even get that because it's not like I'm handling ANYTHING that has herpes on it for that matter.

So I go to my doctor  expecting to hear the worst news ever, and she tells me its ECZEMA. I don't know how that's possible but she prescribed me some creams ($70 worth of cream might I add) and sent me on my way. There is no history of eczema in my family at all so I have no idea why it just started all of a sudden.  

Here are a few pictures of my hands!

Excuse the terrible condition of my nails, I couldn't even get a manicure for the last month!

(click on images to enlarge)

Besides the prescribed lotions the doc gave me, which weren't curing the itching at all, I went out and bought probably close to $200 worth of other products. I bought Aveeno Oatmeal Bath, Aveeno shower gel, aveeno itch cream, Caladryl, Cortizone, Tecnu, & many more potions, lotions, & powders. 

So I can't really say which product worked the best because I used it ALL. I am still recovering and my hands & foot still look like crap, so no manicure or pedicure for a few more weeks!  I'm praying it's healed by the 4th of July so I can be ready for Vegas.

 Update on the hubby's grandmother....

Be ready to be irate.

So the grandmother-in-law has been in the hospital because of ongoing cough, that turned out to be some type of bone-eating bacteria, that required surgery on her collar bone area.  She's 80-years-young and needs assistance with things like going to the bathroom, taking a shower, etc. (Mind you, she is also an amputee and has only 1 leg). Well about 2 weeks ago, after the surgery, she soiled herself in the bed and rang for the nurse to come help her get cleaned up. 

She buzzed for the nurse at 11am and the nurse, his name is JERED (yes I am using his real name bc I am that angry) advised her he'd be right there. At 1:30, YES 2.5 hours later, he still never showed up. So she rang again. Do you know what this MOFO said to her?

"Look lady, I am tired of you buzzing me, you ain't dying, & I told you I'd be right there!"

OMG, she called her daughter in tears because she couldn't believe he was acting like that! So of course the family went up there (they didn't call me or the hubby- I'll get to that later) and when they got there, apparently some OTHER nurses had cleaned her up and began apologizing for Jered's behavior and said they would take care of it.

We didn't get news of this until 1 day later. We were SOOOO furious! I sent a letter to the hospital (and I am still waiting for a response) and the hubby went to look for Jered to "politely discuss" how he had treated his grandmother...needless to say, he was not there.

We don't know if he was fired or moved.

I can't even express how angry I am by this. If you choose to work in the medical field, then guess what, that's your job to help those in need. I am thoroughly disgusted.  She has been moved to a new facility all together and is getting wonderful treatment & care now.

ANYWAYS...

To end this on a light note...

Here is the hubby & Bebe in the man cave playing video games together. 

Yes he has a headset on. :)

Hiatus

It's been a rough few weeks....I'll be back soon with a recap!  :)

High Gas Prices

Yesterday it cost me $65 to fill up my Nissan coupe!! $65!!! So in light of that tragedy, here are some not so humorous pictures about our current gas price situation.

Happy Monday!

It's only Monday and I already ready for the weekend!

Though this weekend I'll be working because I have a wedding to shoot, but my friend Bev will be back in town to assist with the wedding.

I wanted to share some interesting news with you all. One of my friends just bought a new car & it doesn't even have 700 miles on it yet.  She hit a slight bump in the road and it caused over $1500 in damage! When she contacted the city, they advised her that she should've called the police when it happened and had a report filed. They would have then compensated her for the repairs and notified the contractor responsible for that roadway.

Did yall know that?

It seems silly to call the police over this, but after seeing her go through this I will definitely remember to call 911! She is so upset because now she has to come out of pocket for the repairs. Doesn't seem fair, considering they could easily go out to the location & verify that the "bump" is still in the road. I would be super annoyed if I were in her shoes right about now.

Anywho, hope you all have a great Monday!

Remember this little tidbit in case you're ever in the same situation.

Last Week

It's been a busy week, sorry for not posting sooner!

Here's what we've been up to....

Last weekend we were supposed to be cruising to the Bahamas, but we rescheduled it since we decided to go to Vegas for the 4th. So last Monday we decided to take a day trip to Panama City Beach. The hubby has never been and it's been on his bucket list for a while. Sad considering PCB is only 3 hours away.

So Monday we hopped in the new car and took the 3 hour drive to PCB. Our first stop when we got there was Pineapple Willy's for lunch.  Every time I go to PCB I have to have a pina colada! 

After lunch we spent the next several hours just hanging out on the beach. It was so relaxing!

When we got in the water the hubby was hesitant. He's really freaked out by the idea of fish & sharks & waves. LOL! The further I kept trying to get him to go the more annoyed he got. He finally told me, "Look, you married a black man. And black folks don't play with the Ocean. This is as far as I am going!" Oh it was SO funny!! So we stayed close to beach to keep him at ease!

When we got back home, we got some bad news. BOTH of the hubby's grandparents were in the hospital. His grandmother was already in for heart failure & rheumatoid arthritis but they had now moved her to an isolation room with clean air. You have to wear a mask & gloves to enter. They said she's going to be there for a while. And his grandfather is in because he blacked out one day while getting out of his car and fell down & hit his head. He was released in 24 hours, but then it happened again. So now they are both in the hospital. It's definitely sad to see them like that. They have been married over 50 years, have 10 kids, and they are just great people.  I pray they both get well soon.

Hubby with his grandfather

The other bad news we got was that my friend Latrece, who has been cancer free for over 1 year was back in the hospital.  She had something called radiation recall where the radiation that she had done had come back somehow. Her breast was inflamed and hot to the touch. She was hospitalized and then they found her kidneys were not functioning properly. Luckily with some good medicine they have got her stabilized and feeling better again! She lives in Chicago so I hate I couldn't be there.  But I am so thankful she is ok!

Latrece & I at our wedding in 2004

This weekend I'll be going to a surprise bbq for a former wedding client, now friend. She's graduating from college, finally pregnant, and I am so happy for her!

This is an image I took from her Bridal Session!

Isn't she gorgeous!?

Tomorrow the hubby's mom has to work all day so we won't be able to properly celebrate with her. We will be taking my mom out to eat. She loves Chinese buffets (yuck) but it's her day so that's where I'll be!

 pic of mom &  I from 2007

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mom's & soon-to-be mom's!

Wordless Wednesday

Grab some tissue...

Amen!