~ Stress Test stressing me out ~

Yesterday I was sheduled for a stress test.
I'm telling ya,
just anticipating it was more stress
than I could handle.
So I chickened out and canceled it.
I know, I know, my bad.

A few weeks ago, I had to undergo a CTScan
with iodine contrast.
Iodine!
I'm deathly allergic to iodine.
Have been since the early 1970's.
I've done everything I possibly could
over the years to avoid it,
but still somehow managed to go into
anaphylactic shock a couple of times.

My Doctors know about my allergy
but the xray people still insisted on using iodine
for the CTScan.
They had me take prescan meds to help me keep
from having a reaction.
                                
I STILL had a bad reaction, 
one of the most uncomfortable, 
frightening 
reactions I've ever had.
And adding to my distress, 
was the fact that my arms 
were tightly wrapped to my body 
with no chance of waving them for help. 
There's supposed to be a microphone in there
so we can communicate with the xray techs,
but the darn machine was clanking so loudly,
I didn't know if they'd be able
to hear my faint cries for help.
I could barely breath, much less cry out!
Just when it felt like I was surely going to die
from a way too fast heartbeat, 
they came and pulled me out.
I survived the ordeal,
but will never let anyone do that to me again.
EVER.

And now my doctor wants to do a stress test on me??

I DON'T  THINK  SO, thank you very much !!

~ I BELIEVE ... and other tidbits you always wanted to know ~

JITTERBUGBELLE / PEACHBELLE

I believe in miracles, answered prayer, dreams come true and that honesty is the best policy.

I believe in and live by the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, and the slogan "I'll try anything once so long as it's not illegal, immoral or fattening".

I believe babies and animals understand every word we say to them, and I've discovered they all like being called "baby", and older people all like being called 'young man/woman'.

I have seen angels.
I collect Angels, ceramic frogs, ceramic & poster kissers.

I'm a vegan, because I can't eat anything that runs from me in fear, loves its younguns, and grieves over their dead as we do.

I've been told I snore occasionally.

I'm very nearsighted and wear one disposable contact lens in my right eye.

I'm an extremely safe driver- only 3 minor speeding tickets, in 40 years on the road.
However, I've been a passenger in 5 car wrecks, each car was driven by a male member of my family and each car had red interior.
Needless to say, I have a phobia about red interiors and will not ride in or drive a vehicle with red inside.
I'm not too crazy about red exteriors either.
One of those wrecks left me with two steel rods holding my jaw together and a permanently crooked smile.


I was an AirForce Brat, born in Middle Georgia and partly raised here; and  in
Miles City, Montana; in Anchorage, Alaska; in Panama City, Florida; and have lived in Killen, Texas; in Riverside, California; but I like Georgia best.

I have a PhD in Clutter-Control...i have it Piledhigh&Deep.
I can be a bit of a slob sometimes, with piles in every room, especially of books & papers since I'm extremely cerebral.
But my closet is organized & maintained with precision. All my hangers are identical, white with swivel hooks, and I painted the entire closet white.
And i keep the inside of my truck immaculate.
The outside of it is hopeless. Living on a dirt road, it stays either dusty/dirty/muddy.

As a teenager, my family & I would go behind the pecan pickers, scratching the earth to pick up the pecans they left behind. We sold them to earn our Christmas spending money. Hard work, but a memorable family tradition.

There are 9 of us kids, in 3 sets of 3.
Mom & Dad had 2 boys, then me.
When I was a baby, they divorced and married other spouses, each having 3 more children.
I've never been in a room with all 8 of my siblings, and never will.
My Dad, step-dad, one sister, & one cousin died from cancer, while one brother died from heart attack.
Everyone else is hale & hearty, except we have the genetic type of cholesterol problems.
Even with me being a vegan/vegetarian. Bummer.

With my eyes crossed, i can move one at a time.
Grosses everyone out who see's it.

I can whistle and hum at the same time.
Sometimes I whistle while I work.

As a young child, I wanted to be a ballerina, then as I got older I wanted to be a singer, then as a teenager, I wanted to become an airline stewardess.
I didn't do any of these things.

If I won the really big mega-millions, the first thing I'd do is set aside my tithe.
Then I'd buy a luxury RV, travel all the state parks in the USA, and explore every nook & crannie of Georgia.
I'd find the best plastic surgeons to rebuild my sagging face & body. And I'd use part of my tithe to help accident victims have reconstructive surgery on their faces.
I'd make a list of every person who's ever helped me along my life path and reward them.
I'd keep up with the news and whenever a genuine need came up, I'd be an anonymous benefactor.
I'd build animal santuaries and hire elderly workers to run them.
I'd build a leadership school for white girls just like Oprah did for the South African girls.
I'd take singing & acting lessons just for fun.

I have a mysterious mark on my left wrist I'd like to have explained to me.


I read everything i can get my hands on, mostly non-fiction & rarely finish completely a book, unless it's library books. Undisturbed, I can read 5 in an all-nighter. I normally sleep with a good book next to my pillow, and a lamp on. When i wake in the night, i read a couple of pages.
Best sleeping pill in the world.
My passion is How To Get Organized books.
I think i've read 99% of all thats ever been written on the subject and get teased by the librarian that it's time for me to write one.
I'm well known at all the local libraries.


I've studied food & nutrition all my life since being told I'm a borderline diabetic.
But i absolutely despise trying to count calories.
A balanced diet to me is chocolate in both hands.
I only have a kitchen because it came with the house.
I don't skinny-dip, i chunky-dunk.

Numbers are quickly becoming a foreign language to me.
I worked with numbers all my life in my jobs, so this is a new & frightening development.

To me, knitting is a foreign language with the hands, needless to say, i don't speak it.

I simply can't save up any $, but I sure spend what $ i have wisely, sniffing out the best bargains.

I have severe ringing in my ears - like static on late nite TV after a station has gone off the air. I can hear the sound of voices, but can't make out what they are saying.

I'm slow.
I talk slow, walk slow, chew slow, drive slow. The posted speed-limit is just fine with me.
I have the classic endurance of a tortoise.
I hate rush-rush-rushy. It causes accidents, mistakes, fatigue, and ulcers, none of which i need.
I have the 'Patience of Job', unless stress is coming at me from every direction, then I tend to disintegrate.


I adore cooking for someone who eats it, making a 'Happy Plate', but i absolutely despise to cook for picky eaters.
And the chore i hate worse than anything in the world is ... grrrrrrr... washing dishes.

Whenever someone in the house is cranky- i bake cupcakes! The aroma always soothes the savage beast.

I'm mechanically inclined- i screw up everything!

I know that good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement.

I love
full-moon nights,
the freshness of early morning,
a sweet breeze on my face & shoulders,
the wind playing with my hair,
rain in my hair which makes it super soft,
taking my dogs bye-bye in my truck (God Bless their precious hearts),
personal pan veggie pizzas minus cheese
& with extra marinara sauce on the side for dipping,
spring, autumn, winter, summer .. in that order,
white cotton arch-support socks,
freshly clean bed linens,
the smell of cut grass,
cutting the lawn with riding mower,
white-painted furniture,
pastel walls,
napping in front of a very sunny window,
my 80 lb dog napping on my feet,


.........................

I hate
dog-days-of-summer (brutal humidity),
liars,
head-game-players,
violence of any kind,
greed,
mosquitos & gnats,
snakes,
speeders,
sleeping in clothes of any kind,
waking up,
wasting time eating & sleeping,
unvacuumed/unswept floors,
romance .. the whole walking on a beach holding hands/ candlelight suppers
kind of crap,

give me a man who washes his hands, brushes his teeth,
not afraid to get dirty & work hard/but cleans himself up afterward,
a man who will spend his free time helping others no matter 
how hard he has to work,
a man who is moved by the beauty of nature,
a man who doesn't litter,
a man who is broad at shoulders/narrow at hip and moves like a
a powerful stealthy tiger,
a twinkle in his eyes and white healthy teeth,
who can make me laugh/understands my humor/has a wonderful sound of laughter,
who likes to dance anywhere & everywhere but especially on the backporch
after dark,
likes being out in the full moon,
a man who has an excellent relationship with God/prays/
takes his family to church,
a man who can fix anything,
and can keep my truck running,
a good safe driver,
non-smoker,
a man gentle enough to take care of his people/
but tough enough to fight to protect them,
a man who is a vegan,
who loves, appreciates & respects animals,
who knows the meaning of unconditional love/ tough love/
and to whom marriage is sacred,
a man who can handle me! : )





 

~ Why I Became a Vegan ~

At the tender age of 4, I was sent to stay with my relatives for a few weeks one summer. My cousin, a year older than me, lived way out in the country. Her family had one cow which they milked. Behind their house, thru the woods, was a slaughter house.
Cousin had to deliver milk a couple of times to the butcher there, and I went with her. To this day, I can still smell the stench from the slaughterhouse. The first time we walked thru there, I asked her what were those things hanging on the walls? She told me they were dead animals the butcher had killed and hung there.
My insides revolted from the horrible scene before me. How can anyone hurt, much less kill animals and do these things to their bodies? This just wasn't right!
The second trip there was more than I could handle and I never went back and
I've never forgotten the memory.
Soon as I walk in the front door of grocery stores now, I can smell that same stench from the meat department, as I smelled in that slaughterhouse.



Before I even started going to school, I was crazy about 'weenies', or hot dogs. Soon as my mom would bring them in the house I'd have half a pack eaten before she had the rest of the groceries put away.
Somewhere along the way, I asked her what they were made of.
I threw up on the spot when she told me. I was VERY indignant that she would feed me such rot! To this day, I've never touched another weenie.



Several years later, (when I was 6 yrs old) she remarried, to a very sadistic man (I won't go into all the details about him, after all, this post is about food).
Mom would cook fat sausages for supper sometimes, which I really hated. She would make me take at least a bite which I would, grudgingly but obediently.
But then, when she got up from the table, her husband ( I refuse to call this person my step-dad) would force me to eat all the sausages in the bowl that they hadn't eaten. I hated doing this with a passion! He wouldn't let me go from the table till i'd done it, and he couldn't be reasoned with. He would smirk with that awful evil glint in his eye as I suffered thru choking down that crap.
Soon as he released me from the table, I'd run to the bathroom and throw it all up.
My mother never stood up to him on my behalf so this went on for a couple of years.



Fast forward to my teens...

I was beginning to give up meat, bit by bit, with my ever growing knowledge of animal abuse and nutrition.

When I was eighteen yrs old, I was already pregnant with my first baby.
(Something I DON'T recommend, by the way)
At this point, the only meat I was eating was smoked pork chops occasionally.

One day, my husband (yes, at least I was married) and I went squirrel hunting. He was a real country boy and had grown up in the woods watching the animals.
We sat under a tree for the afternoon watching quietly all the activity around us.
He'd say "now watch that bird or listen to that birds call, everything they are doing is all for protecting their babies".

Boy, did I have an ephiphany that day!

As we sat, watching with fascination, I was overcome with several feelings of empathy and wisdom.
I felt to the core of my soul the fact that I never wanted to eat anything that can run from me in fear, anything that has babies it cares for, protects and has the same love for, as I do for mine.

Sitting there, swollen with my first very precious baby inside of me, I realized I wouldn't want anyone killing MY babies for food!

I've always had a soul-deep love for animals. To me, they are not food, but our
brothers & sisters, our companions & friends.

That day, I vowed never to eat meat again and to always treat all animals with the respect they deserve.

That was in the summer of 1970. I've kept my vow for 36 years now, and will until the day I die.

In 1970, 1974, 1981 I gave birth to healthy, good-looking babies from a vegetarian diet.
I tried to raise them as vegetarians too, but when they got their teeth and smelled the meat I had to cook for their dad, he would gleefully tempt them with it, completely ignoring my pleas to let them stay meat-free.

After our divorce in 1988, my youngest daughter told me I didn't have to cook meat for her, she got enough of it at her dads to satisfy her. Bless her heart.

In my present situation, my Boss cooks his meat and I cook the veggies & such.

His grandson brought a hog from his FFA class at school, out here to the farm for us to keep. At first, I disliked the idea, as I'm not crazy about smelly pigs. (that and the fact that the Bible tells us they are 'unclean' animals & we are not to touch or eat them).
But that hog really grew on me and we actually fell in love with each other!
I was the only friend on this earth he had and he seemed to realize it.
When it was decided he was to be slaughtered for the kitchen table, I begged with all my heart, please don't.
But my cries fell on deaf ears.
When the packages were brought home filled with his poor carcass, it was so revolting to me, I couldn't even look at the packages, much less be around when he was being cooked.
Sometimes, when Boss would be mad at me for some stupid reason, he'd leave one of the packages lying open on the kitchen counter just to be mean to me.

For those of you becoming vegans, I tell you what.... meat-eaters can be horribly cruel to you just for their fun of it, and that is something you will have to get used to, because it WILL happen to you all your vegan life. People who have no feelings for the poor animals they kill and eat, also have no feelings for you.


The King James Bible tells us that our original diet was to be fruits, veggies, nuts & seeds. Because men started killing the animals for food, God said ok, if you insist on eating animals, here's a list of clean & unclean animals and how you can tell the difference. Read DEUTERONOMY chapter 14, verses 3 - 20

When God instructed Noah to build the ark and load the animals, he told him to load the clean animals by sevens and the unclean animals by two's. Genesis chapter7 verse 2

Going down to chapter 8 verse 20-22, and we see that Noah burnt & offered clean animals to God ...

So, I can't say eating clean animals is wrong with God ... but... for me personally ...it is.


I leave meat-eaters alone and only wish them to leave me alone with my veganism.

It may be true you need to combine grains with beans to get a complete protein, but it isn't hard to do. I've never suffered any malnourishment from a vegan diet.
( I left being a vegetarian and moved into being complete vegan during the past few years).

I'm stocky, well nourished, well formed and if you look at all the animals who are vegetarians, they are stocky and healthy too. Horses, hippos, goats, etc...

There is a book out about how to eat according to your blood type. It tells how certain types are carnivores, some are gatherers and so on. I'm type A and a gatherer, but my ex-husband is type A and a carnivore so I don't know how much truth there is to the theory.

I encourage and proudly applaud anyone who becomes vegan.
And the animals do too : )