Don't Be Puttin' No Lipstick On a Pig Now.......

Hey Y'all!

OMG! I am in a serious time warp! Since I haven't been feeling that great over the past few weeks, I have been going to bed early. REALLY EARLY. Like, so early that the sun is still out. Most nights Zorro and I are in the bed by 8:30! This is unheard of for me, but it is the only way I can manage my four hours of sleep each night that the prednisone lets me have. I am looking forward to returning to my vampire way of life soon.... (I am a true night owl, I always have been) but as long as I am on this horrible medicine, I don't think that is going to happen! The upside to all of this is that I get to school really early. I have time to run through Chick-fil-a and still have time to spare. My team is worried. I am worried.

Anyway, apparently due to my early nocturnal doings, I have missed the mudslinging that has begun in the presidential race. And oh my, it's a doozy! Y'all know that I am suthern' and all and "puttin' lipstick on a pig" is akin to the "pink elephant in the room." It's a phrase that we use to make light of something. To point out something. Well, apparently it has been taken to far. I heard a little about this debacle between Obama and Palin this morning online, but my kids were coming in the room and I didn't have time to investigate further. I stayed at school WAY TOO late today, and got home as the 6:30 news was coming on. So anyway, basically a remark Obama made was taken way out of context towards Sara Palin. But this is what gets me... she just used the "lipstick" remark about hockey moms in her speech at the RNC. So, some think it's a slip of the tongue, some think it's a crude remark.... You say tomato, I say tho-ma-to......

I guess now we will really see what this race is going to be like. I am still undecided, but I am leaning McCain's way.... we'll see. Obama's theories on education scare me just a little. Is it too much to ask for someone who has taught in a public school, for more than 5 years to decide policy for our teachers and children? And I don't mean someone who was a teacher for 2 years and then went into administration. We need a true educator, one who has been in the trenches daily! With munchkins!
So we shall see! I have a feeling that things are about to escalate in this presidential race!

Well, it's the witching hour for me. Nighty, night!
:) JKP

Just a Quick Note...

Hi Y'all...

I'm still here! Getting back into the swing of things yesterday was tough! I think both me and my students enjoyed having a "surprise" day off on Friday. Finally today, things were more normal. We seemed to be on more of a schedule and without any tropical storms or hurricanes looming we could focus on what we had to get done today!

I am very excited, tonight I have supper club with all of my friends from the Coastal Area Writing Project that I took this summer. We are meeting at Abuelos, one of my favorite restaurants! I can't wait to see and catch up with everyone. Since school started my writing has gone by the wayside, as I thought it would. It will be nice to reconnect with everyone and maybe get some ideas flowing! I have noticed that this year I am better about not bringing as much home, but since I haven't been feeling great, I come home and rest up for the next day.

My leg is so much better, you wouldn't believe it! I will post pics tomorrow. I go back to Charleston on Monday to be re-evaluated and hopefully I can get off of this dang prednisone. I haven't slept in over a week! I actually got in bed at 8:30 last night, took a Tylenol p.m and only got 4 hours of sleep. Then when I wake up I am covered in sweat because of the hot flashes I am having. Zorro is so not happy with me right now! Not to mention that the prednisone makes me literally want to cry.. LIKE ALL OF THE TIME! It also makes me very anxious! I am so ready to get off of this merry go round!

Well, let me go.. I've got to take a bath before I go out to dinner...
:) JKP

The Hannah Aftermath.....And Knitting Too!

Hey Y 'all...

Well, we survived Tropical Storm Hannah with minimal damage.

Our only wind damage was one of my ferns. It was knocked over by the 30 something mile an hour winds. We did have lots of rain and at one point the road in front of my house resembled a lake, but all in all, we were fine. We didn't even loose power. Our lights flickered twice and that was it. I went to bed about 2 a.m. (thanks, prednisone) just as Hannah was coming ashore in North Myrtle. I didn't hear a thing, and Zorro didn't either. If we have to have storms, those are the kind to have. I am really worried about the folks in Cuba, the Keys and the Gulf right now, IKE looks like a monster storm!

With all of that time on my hands Friday and Saturday, I embarked on a new knitting project. I have about 5 friends who are all preggers right now and are due within months of each other. I have been scouring Ravelry for cute baby patterns and I came across several. I casted on for this garter stitch baby kimono (a pattern by Bernat) Friday afternoon. Thanks to the prednisone, I've had to put it down for a while, my joints are hurting. (One of my weird side effects.)


Here is one front and a half of a front of the kimono. I am using Baby Bernat Jacquards in Spearmint Candy for this project. The yarn does this cool striping effect. It really makes you look fancier than you are! This is just garter stitch and simple decreases and a little shaping. I love the pink and green combination, it looks darling!


This is what it looks like partially put together. When I finish the front, I have the back and arms to knit. All in all, this is an easy knit. There has been a House marathon on USA this weekend, so I've been watching and knitting! I've decided I need to do more of this to get me through my prednisone doldrums. Oh, how I hate thee! But, oh how much better I feel!

On another note, Zorro wants you to know he has everything under control, including all of the blankets in the house. The medicine, which shall not be named, is giving me terrible hot flashes. So Zorro has taken this opportunity to steal every blanket in the house to stay warm while I have the air really going. Bless his heart!

Alrighty, I am off to finish watching House.... and Army Wives is new tonight! Yippee!

:) JKP

My Sweet's Syndrome Timeline

Hey Y'all!

Well below chronicles my whole debacle with Sweet's Syndrome. My first lesion appeared on my leg around the 30th of July. It is now September 5th and I am just starting to heal thanks to some prednisone. Although it makes me feel yucky, it is really helping my leg.

This is what my lesion looked like about three days after it appeared. We began to think it was a spider bite or maybe even staph. At this point I was in some pain, and I was on 2 antibiotics.

This is the lesion about two weeks after the first picture. This was taken the day before I went to the surgeon for a biopsy. At this point, I am in alot of pain and my leg is really swollen. I am having a hard time standing and walking for long periods of time.

Another shot on the same day.

Another shot, same day, you can see how large it is.

Slide of 1st biopsy by the surgeon in Myrtle Beach.

My leg as of last night, Sept. 4th. This is after 1 dose of prednisone.

Another shot from last night. The black looking things are my collection of stitches from the 2 biopsies that I had done.

In this picture you can see how large the lesion turned out to be. I am a short person, so it took up almost the majority of my lower leg.

So that's it. I should be a whole lot better by Monday. I'll post pics throughout the weekend so you can see how I am healing. The scary thing is, these things can be recurring. No thanks!

I am off to track Hannah!

:) JKP

Battening Down the Hatches!

Hey Y'all!

Well, remember in my last post how I said that Myrtle Beach was going to be fine and we were in school for the next two days? Hee.... I was somewhat wrong. We got word this morning about 11:30 that school was cancelled for tomorrow due to the "unexpected nature" of the tropical storm Hannah. So I find myself with a day off tomorrow! The weather experts still can't determine where she will actually make landfall, but I do think that the weather is not going to be fun tomorrow night. Luckily, I had an inkling that this may happen, and visited the grocery store on Tuesday. Yeah, I'm psychic like that. So Zoe and Zorro have bones and water. Most importantly, I have cheese doodles, movies and yarn. We are set.

Y'all.. that nasty evil prednisone is working! I am starting to feel better! My sore is getting a little better, and it did not hurt as much today. Also, my leg didn't swell as much either. Tomorrow I am going to post a timeline of pics for this Sweet's Syndrome that I have. It will blow your mind when you see how this thing literally took over my leg. I am so thankful that the pain is lessening. I actually took Zoe and Zorro for a stroll tonight and didn't have to limp. Don't get me wrong, my leg is still repulsive, but by next week it should be gone. Let's just hope another one doesn't pop up anytime soon. Although, I must say... it has been a few years since I have been on the prednisone. I forgot how bad it makes me feel. But it does give me lots of energy! p.s. visit the link for Sweet Syndrome above... it made CNN!

I've been upstairs tonight pulling together baby yarn for some projects that I need to work on. I have 5 friends who are expecting babies within the next 6 months, so I need to get busy! I have found some cute and easy baby sweater patterns on Ravelry that I am going to work on over the weekend. Luckily I graded all of my papers last night, so I can play and rest my leg this weekend.

Well, I am off to watch the Republican National Convention. You know, I am interested in politics... however.... these past two weeks of conventions has given me the best nights sleep in a long while. I am going to be lost when they are over! Give me a crowd and a speech and I can call it a night!
:) JKP

I'll post tomorrow and let you know how we are doing!

Paging Dr. Gregory House... STAT!

Hey Y'all....

I am wondering if that hospital on the show House is real. Is there really a Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital? Surely there is a Dr. House somewhere....at this point I think I could qualify as a patient!

Anyway... the doc figured out what is wrong with me. I had another biopsy done yesterday and today it came back and they have concluded that I have Sweet Syndrome. I wish that meant that I was chronically nice, but it doesn't. It's a syndrome that some folks with Crohn's get.. and lucky me! My sore on my leg is larger. I have four new stitches to show for their exploration yesterday. My students are very impressed at my collection of stitches these days! I have to start on a round of prednisone and take it for the next two weeks. I have a follow up appointment on the 15th. So hopefully I can return to the land of the living soon!

In other news, we are still monitoring Hannah. She can't make up her mind if she is a hurricane or tropical storm. By all accounts, I think that Myrtle Beach is going to be safe. We are going to school for the next two days, so I think that means we are in the clear. My kids have been really excited about the storm, though. I had to pull out some hurricane stuff because they were so interested. We go online during the day to check out the progress of Hannah, Ike and Josephine. Tomorrow we are going to write a Hannah poems. Hee! If you can't beat them, join them!

I off to bed... I am so tired! I just finished grading 10 sets of papers. What a glamorous life I lead!
:) JKP

We're Off to See the Wizard.....

Hey Y'all,

I hope that y 'all enjoyed your Labor Day today! Zorro and I have been taking it easy all weekend. The thing (as I have termed it!) keeps getting larger and more painful on my leg, so I have spent the weekend taking it easy. I take my pain meds at night, mainly to get some sleep! The pain meds do help with the swelling of my leg, foot and calf. Tomorrow I have an appointment in Charleston for the doc to take a look and see if we can finally get a diagnosis. I am a little worried that it keeps getting LARGER, but oh well. It has definitely grown an inch since the surgeon did the biopsy last week. Good Times! Today I went to Target to pick up some bones for Zoe and Zorro and I ran into several teacher friends. Instead of looking at me and saying hi, they looked at my leg first! Yesterday I went to Walgreen's and instead of greeting me, my pharmacist said "Oh, can I see your leg?" So, I am still a medical mystery.

Zorro and I are off to watch Nim's Island and to monitor Hurricane Hannah on The Weather Channel!
I'll post when I have a diagnosis!