I’m trying to link my blog to Facebook. If you’ve been asked to verify that I’m actually the author of my blog, help a girl out, eh??? Thanks, everyone!!!!

That’s right boys and girls, it’s back to school time! This year I’ll be attending Indiana University East.

If you’ve spent much time with me at all, you may recall that I’ve attended IUE before. I know, I know…this is a shocking development! This means that I’m attending a school for a second time (although these semesters aren’t concurrent!). The only other time this has happened was UC and that was right out of high school!

Okay, back to IUE….I’ll be going through the IUEverywhere online program to complete my B.S. in Business Administration. I already have my A.S. in Business Administration so this is where most of my credits transfer. “But you don’t like business!” you say? That’s true! But I do like finishing my degree in just over two years!

After I finish my B.S. I hope to be accepted in the Masters of Arts in Counseling program at Cincinnati Christian University.  At this point I’m waiting to see if this is God’s plan or just mine.  Know what I mean, Vern?

Yep, I have a lot of school ahead of me!  Good thing I love learning!

Hmm, I wonder how much Tupperware I’m going to have to sell to pay for school? LOL!

After much contemplation there’s a new addition to the family…a Kodak EasyShare Z1485IS 14MP Digital Camera. It has a lot of the features we were looking for and some we didn’t even know we wanted!

I was playing around with it on the car ride home and WOW it takes some pretty pics! I can’t wait to take yarn pics with it. ;0)

Thanks to every one who shopped for a cause through the online party !

We raised $77 to donate to the NFA!

Gloria K. won the $25 Loopy Ewe gift certificate and has beeen contacted by email.

Mary B.  in Waban, MA won the $25 Tupperware gift certificate but did not give me her email address. Mary B., if you’re out there, please speak up!

Thanks again, everyone!

So far we’ve raised $50 for the National Fibromyalgia Association! 

Thanks so much to everyone who has bought something so far!

Because we’ve reached over $200 in sales, in addition to the $25 Loopy Ewe gift certificate, there will now be a drawing for a $25 Tupperware gift certificate!

If you haven’t gotten in on the action yet, don’t worry…there’s still time!  The party doesn’t end until May 10th!

Click here to start shopping for a cause!

Yesterday I was volunteering to answer the phones at church when the office manager started asking me questions about what it’s like to have Fibromyalgia.  Inevitably the conversation came around to the point where we talked about the fact that it’s difficult to have something that so few people know about and even fewer understand. 

When I was diagnosed I was so angry.  I was very depressed for a very long time.  I simply didn’t want to face the fact that I was going to live life with limitations.  To be quite honest, while I’m not so depressed anymore, I’m still not sure how to deal with the living life with limitations part yet.  It’s hard to not look sick and still have to say to people, “I’m sorry, I can’t do x, y, z, because I need to save my energy.” 

Christine, the author of “But You Don’t Look Sick” hit the nail on the head.  People who have diseases and disorders where we don’t look sick every day still have a limited number of “spoons” that we can use up each day and our number of spoons is much lower than that of a healthy person.

Please, if you’re struggling to find a way to deal with your own Fibromyalgia limitations or with the limitations of someone close to you, take some time to read But You Don’t Look Sick.

In knitting news…I finished my Trekking XXL socks and they fit like the proverbial glove.  Just need to kitchener the toe of the second sock and decide if I’m going to tear out the toe of the first sock and redo the kitchener on that one.

Happy Tuesday!

May 12th is the National Fibromyalgia Day of Awareness.  If someone you know or love suffers from this chronic pain disorder, please  consider taking the Pledge to Care.  Fibromyalgia can make life seem extremely desolate and knowing that people care and are willing to help can make all the difference.

When I was diagnosed ten years ago (at the tender age of 20!) it seemed like a death sentence!  After all, I was 20 and I felt like I was 90!  Now, at 30, because of all of the advances in treatment I can do so much more and live a much more productive life.  For instance, I can knit every day now and that’s a matter of life and death for a knitter (and their family!) LOL

There’s still so much to learn though.  We don’t know what causes FM, for instance, and that could be key in finding a better treatment or even a cure.  That all costs money though.

So…in honor of National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day I’m hosting an online Tupperware party with all proceeds going to support the work that the National Fibromyalgia Association does.  If you need some Tupperware, or have been thinking about buying some, would you consider supporting this cause?  For each piece of Tupperware that is purchased the buyer will be entered into a drawing for a Loopy Ewe gift certificate.  (Sheri deserves some good to come her way for all the good she does for everyone else!)

Please consider helping this cause…According to the NFA website: “Fibromyalgia is one of the most common chronic pain conditions. The disorder affects an estimated 10 million people in the U.S. and an estimated 3-6% of the world population.”

To start shopping for the cause click here.  Please note that the online party ends May 10th.

Thanks for your help and may your days always be healthy!

We had spring here in southeast Indiana for a few days and then it dropped 40 degrees overnight and started flurrying.  I was not thrilled, to say the least, as this causes major problems with my health.  Yet, that’s the weather you sign up for when you live in the mid-west and until I move somewhere else, that’s what I get.  So, complaining over!

I’ve been so busy with my newest endeavor that knitting time has been scarce!

What is it, you ask?  I’m now selling Tupperware!  I’m so excited about it!  It’s been about a month now and although I’ve only done a couple parties so far, I’ve already got about 8 booked through the end of May.  I adore Tupperware and bought scads of it when my SIL was selling it, but just wasn’t in a place where I could start selling it then.  When my friend Noelle had a microwave cooking class a little over a month ago and I was telling her more about the products then she could tell me she looked at me and said, “Seriously?  Why aren’t you selling this?”  So I signed up!  It works out great for me too since I’m no longer working full-time so that I can go to school full-time.  The education program is full of classes that require you to be available during the day and then during the night the next semester so it’s hard to have a regular, 9-5, job.  Tupperware lets me be flexible, go to school, and still do all the volunteer work and bible studies that I value so much at church.  Yay, TW!

Okay, knitting content next post, I promise!

Oh, and for anyone who might be interested, there’s a great sale on a Mother’s Day Lunch Bag on the Tupperware site.  Let me know if you’d like it!

It’s been snowing here since Monday and there’s a chance of snow until Saturday with the temperature never making it above freezing.  I’m loving it!  School has been canceled all week and I have lots of time to spend with Michael, the cats, and my knitting.  We’ve moved bedrooms, gone through old clothes, and I’ve started a new scarf.  It’s been productive.

A Knitting Survey