Make Those Great Shoes Or Boots Feel As Good On The Inside As They Look On The Outside!

It's the time of year when we bring out our cutest winter shoes and boots and show them off! But as stylish and fashion forward as they look on the outside, they don't always feel that good on the inside. But we ladies often pass up comfort for fashion but guess what? You no longer have to! Let me introduce to you Dr. Scholls For Her Cozy Cushions! Yes, an insole that gives your feet comfort with a warm, fuzzy cover to give your feet a sweet, cozy treat. These insoles offer the wonderful support and impact resistance that Dr. Scholls is known for but with the added warm, comfortable, fuzzy cover to keep your feet toasty and dry in all the elements. My feet are cold, year round and they tend to ache (thanks again Fibromyalgia) so when I found these little treasures in my Influenster Rose VoxBox, you would have though the box was filled with diamonds! I had no idea Dr Scholls For Her made these! But now that I do, I will be putting these insoles in my boots AND my sneakers! There are no hard and fast rules saying that only boots can have fuzzy insoles. My feet are warm and cozy, they are dry and comfy and I am IN LOVE with the Cozy Cushions! I recommend them for everyone and I HIGHLY recommend them for my Fibro-Friends! Go out and get some....then come back and share your story with me! You will be happy, I guarantee it!

I Have EYES, Thanks To Rimmel London!

I received a tube of Rommel London's Scandaleyes Retro Glam mascara in my Rose VoxBox from Influenster. Now, I have to admit, I have been through (literally) dozens of different mascaras from dozens of different brands and never really been thrilled with any of them. Either I have to apply 100 coats to my wimpy lashes and then they feel like concrete and flake, stick together and it takes forever to take off. OR I have messy application smears all over my face OR my eyes burn like someone poured shampoo into them. I use an eyelash curler as well. It's a tiring thing trying to make lashes from the tiny things I have! So when I got the Scandaleyes Retro Glam, I was more than excited to try it!

The brush is big and shaped differently than most, like an hour glass. Just pulling the applicator, I saw that there were no clumps, nor did it splatter everywhere. The mascara went on smoothly and suddenly I realized......I'm actually NOT going to have to sit here and put on 100 coats! My lashes thickened, lengthened and there were no clumps or smears and my lashes were not heavy at all! I absolutely LOVE this product!

*Wink*.....you see that? You see those luscious lashes? They aren't falsies....they are Rimmel London's Scandaleyes Retro Glam mascara!

Boy, Could I Use Help Right Now!!

As many of you already know, I am a sweepstakes junkie! I save bottle caps and UPC codes. I will dumpster dive during McDonalds Monopoly
Game and buy products that have instant win game pieces inside. Over the years I have won some nice things, however, I have had to cut back
dramatically on my sweepstakes because of my Fibromyalgia.

You see, I can't sit for long perios of time without pain. I can't stand for longer than 10-15 minutes without going into back spasms and
exercise, while good for my health makes me feel as if I have been hit by a truck!

Anyways....back to my sanity and how YOU can help! And guess what? It doesn't cost anything....no one penny....to help!

Go to Facebook and "LIKE" Visit Florida's page

Then go to this link and click "VOTE"
You can vote every 24 hours until July 6th.....so please consider bookmarking the page.

Now, please allow me to explain how you will be helping me.......

If I get the most votes, I will win a family vacation for 4 at the Don Cesar Resort in Tampa Florida. I am in such desperate need of a vacation
I am on the brink of fantasizing about being put in a straight jacket and vacationing in a rubber room! I want nothing more than to get away with my
family and relax. Also, my husband and I have never had a honeymoon noe have we ever had a family vacation. I'd love for my children to see the
ocean, one of the most beautiful creations on this vast planet we call home.

Secondly, you can help me win a brand new, 2011, Mazda CX-7 Crossover. Wow.....a brand new car?! This is something we could never afford! We have
never owned a car newer than 10 years old! Our vehicles and the "buy here, pay here" lot kind of vehicles.....sold to us by a barrel chested guy
dressed in polyester slacks, plaid tie and smelling of Kentucky Fried Chicken and cigar smoke. Needless to say, our vehicles are far from being
dependable. Dependability is something we need since my son is disabled, I have Fibromyalgia and we both have numerous physician's and
specialist's appointments. And, since my husband is our sole breadwinner, if his clunker dies, he gets my clunker and we go back to holding
cardboard signs reading "Community Hospital or bust."

If I win this car, my husband and I will be giving our mini van to my daughter. Presently, she has no transportation to get my beautiful
granddaughter to her physician's appointments. She was born with bilateral club feet and sees a specialist regularly as they try to set her feet
and ankles into the proper position. And if the van we give her dies, I will have a dependable vehicle to transport them.

So, there you have it. Will you consider voting and helping me save my sanity with a vacation and changing the lives of my family as well as my
daughter's? If you do, would you also consider sharing with your family and friends?

You will have my undying gratitude and I'd be happy to return the favor! Need your car washed, dogs walked or toilets scrubbed? Need a babysitter,
wedding planner or lacky for the day? I'm will to do nearly anything to show my gratitue!

So please, take a few minutes a day for a couple of weeks and click the vote button for me!! Thank you, friends!

PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Hello there friends!

As many of you know, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia about a year ago. And although it's been a rough road to travel, I am not letting this illness defeat me. However, I am working on something that I could really use your help on.

I have entered a contest to win a new Tempurpedic mattress. This will help with my pain immensley. As it is, I have not been able to sleep in bed with my husband for over two years due to the fact that the mattress causes me so much extreme pain. I could never afford this type of mattress, but have heard many good things from Fibromyalgia patients.

In this contest, I had to submit a photograph showing what makes me happy. of course, I submitted a photo of myself and my youngest daughter, in front of the wen cam, making goofy faces. My entry is titled "Silliness Makes me Happy". Now YOU can help change my daily life!! All you need to do is click a green "vote" box! You can vote daily until December 1st and I would be forever grateful! Thank you....the link is here:
http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/55116/voteable_entries/7894862

I Am Desperate For Help! Could You Lend A Hand?

So, about two months ago, I was helping my son with his bath. As I finished and went to stand up, I placed my hand on the wall......and I fell through!

The paint was moist and the drywall soggy. Upon further inspection....I freaked out a little....MOLD!!

It wasn't till a couple of weeks later, while getting hangers from my son's closet that I noticed an extremely musty smell. I shoved back his clothing and gasped.....BLACK MOLD! There was black mold growing in the corner of his closet, down to the floor and up the wall. Outside his closet, I pushed his bed aside and there was more mold, growing alongside his bed.

Since my husband was unemployed from September of last year until February of this year, running right out and hiring someone to remove the mold and repair things was out of the question. We have no savings and we don't (and never have) used credit cards. Sadly, we've had to put things off.

Our entire bathroom looks like it needs to be gutted.....at least the half where the tub stands (the leaky, mold growing culprit) and my son's closet and interior wall. Gutting the bathroom and cleaning up the mold won't cost us much....however, we will be left with an empty, unusable room and be down one bathroom (which isn't good with a teenager in the house!)

So I got creative.

I found a contest on the National Fix and Flip Network. The video contest is for the entratns to plead their case for the ugliest room in their house. Monthly entrants with the most votes get $2,5000 (plenty of cash for us to remodel our bathroom) and at the end of the year, 10 top vote getters will vie for %50,000!

At this point in time, I am desperate to win that $2,500! My video is there and we are getting votes from friends on facebook and my sweepstakes site. But I need more votes!

Did I mention that just for voting, voters are entered to win $1,000? Oh yes....so by helping me, you could potentially win $1,000 yourself.....or even $15,000 at the end of the contest!!

My video is titles, "Yes, that's An Ant Farm In Our Shower!"....Ummmm, yeah....last week my daughter came running from the bathroom, hair still dripping, "Um, mom....come here, you need to see this."

I follow her to the bathroom to see that tiny little black ants had taken up residence inside a clear tube (washcloth hanger) attached to the tub surround. They are all comfy and happy in there...they have drug in food and even laid their little larva. Are you shuddering with the heebie jeebies yet? Wait till you see the video!

Please....take a look at my video, have a heart and vote for us. We are really desperate for your help! You can vote every day (so please bookmark our video) and please, tell your friends!

http://uglyroom.fixandflipnetwork.com/entries#47412

And I would like to add that there is a possibility that this mold exposure has contributed, if not caused, my Fibromyalgia. So this entire mess could be a blessing in disguise! So vote today....vote frequently and tell all your friends!!

Thank you!

A Letter To The Enemy Within Me

Dear Fibromyalgia,

As I lie here on the couch, barely able to move, I can feel you twisting, grasping and pulling my muscles, contorting and twisting them into knots of horrific pain. My ribs feel as if I've been beaten and kicked, my head is throbbing, my jaws are tight and aching from the pain with which you are devouring my body. I can almost hear your sinister cackle each time I have to pull my body up from where I lie and shuffle, half bent over, to yet another bathroom break.

But as I lie here enveloped in your web of torture, I hear my little girl laughing from across the room....and I smile. You may think you've taken over my life, but I have news for you....you have entered the body of a fighter.

Yes, you have changed many parts of my life. You sent me to the hospital, making me believe my heart was failing me. Your trickery of agony has brought me to a nervous breakdown and made me question my own sanity. You've sent me to the doctor, making me fear for my life, questioning whether cancer or some other fatal disease was attempting to take my life. You have even turned this drug hating, medication avoiding woman into a pill popper.But being the fighter I am, I didn't give up until you were identified as the illness that was trying to take my life from me. And the pills, hey, they silence you, they help me to sleep and they help me to take back the pieces of my life you are so blatenly trying to steal.

You see, I have your number, I know what you're all about and I know all too well how sneaky and underhanded you are. You try and take me down when I have things at home that need to be done. You wrack my body with pain when all I want to do is be up, out and enjoying the day. You lull me into this exhausted state where all I do is crave sleep.....but you see, the sleep only makes me stronger and more determined.

I will continue to smile and laugh. I will get up and spend time in the sun, my hands in the soil as I tend to my garden. I will take my little girl shopping, even if I have to stop and take a little break because you are screaming at my body with all of your might. I will play with my dogs, visit with my neighbors and continue to travel and fulfill my dreams.

You are an uninvited guest here. You are not wanted. You may think you have me....but you don't. You never will. I have been through far too much emotional pain and trauma in my life to just lie down and roll over to you. I have watched my child fight for his life and nearly die in my arms many times. I have protected another child from the dangerous hands of someone who claimed to love her. I have fought for the rights of disabled children and built a park for them when no one believed that I could. I have even set aside my own wants, needs and feelings as I handed over a newborn son to a deserving couple. I have seen some good things in life and I have seen many that are equally as bad. Compared to all of that.....you are nothing.

You, my dear Fibromyalgia, are a mere blip on my radar of life. I may allow you to slow me down, but you will never stop me. I will fight you every single day, with every fiber of my being and you.......YOU WILL NOT WIN. Never forget, you are not wanted and no matter how insistant you are, you still will not win.

You picked the wrong person to inflict. And you are in for the fight of your life. If anyone will beat you, it will be me. Because I am a fighter.....I never give up.....I never shut up....I never give in. I will win.

With hatred and disgust,

Your unwilling host,

Edie

Fibromyalgia + My "Type A" Personality = Chaos, Mayhem and Frustration!

Those of you who know me personally, know all too well that I am a self professed control freak....a type "A" personality. I like everything a certain way or I have a little meltdown. When things go awry, I morph into "fix it" mode....I run around like a chicken with my head cut off making phone calls, Googling things and scribbling notes in a notebook. I have strong armed county prosecutors, had medical interns fired and nearly pushed my ex son-in-laws car into rush hour traffic after chasing him through a Home Depot parking lot in my mini van.

When I got sick, nothing changed. I researched, read, Googled and spent hours on WebMD trying to pinpoint the reason for my body falling apart. Finally, a diagnosis came.....FMS..or Fibromyalgia Syndrome. SYNDROME. Definitely NOT a word a control freak (like me) wants to hear. You see, a syndrome, unlike a "disease" has no textbook set of symptoms because they vary so widely from patient to patient. GREAT.....not only is my illness making me feel like hell, it's not something I can contol by following a strick medical regimen or reading a colorful phamplet. It's wild. It's unpredictable.

The commercials you see on television about a certain drug to help control the symptoms of FMS is SO FAR OFF THE MARK! "Fibromyalgia is explained as wide spread pain that doesn't go away." Ummm, wow, what an oversimplification! You wanna know what FMS is really like? Step into my twisted world for a moment and allow me to explain.

Wide spread muscle pain: I like to call it, "Guess what hurts and win a cookie!" From day to day, I NEVER know what's going to hurt. It could be my head, my knees, my neck, my back, my arms, shoulders, ankles, jaws, scalp, spine, stomach, ribs, chest plate, hips, hands, fingers or toes. In addition to that, I get these incredibly unpredictable muscle spasms. I don't have to lift anything heavy, twist the wrong way or strain myself in any way. Just out of the blue, my shoulder or back or shoulder AND back will go into painful spasms. Sometimes it feels as if someone is reaching in and ripping my spine out through my skin. Seriously, no exaggerations here.

Other types of pain also happen and can vary depending on what sort of mood my FMS is in. It can be a dull ache, a sharp-shooting pain, a knife-in-the-head type pain, a burning sensation, a burning and itching sensation at the same time, needle pricks, sore and throbbing or stiff and painful with movement.

Other things that plague me and other FMS suffers (in Edie speak) are:

Morning Wood.......I get up in the morning and suddenly, I have no knee joints! My legs feel like the trunks of trees...they're heavy, stuff and achey. I walk around a bit looking like I have a stick up my butt and eventually they work themselves out and I again have knee joints. I also get morning wood in my back, arms, hips and shoulders.

The Potty Dance.....It never fails, I can be on my way out the door to a doctor's appointment, a shopping excursion or a jot to the mailbox and suddenly I have to squeeze my cheeks together and run to the bathroom.My tummy bloats, gets extremely gassy, rubmles, gurgles and decides on an hour by hour basis what it will tolerate. Some days, I get up, have my decaf and a little breakfast and all is well. Still other days, the minute something hits my stomach, my irritable bowel syndrome hits the big red eject button and a mini explosion begins to take place within my bowels. So please, don't get offended if you ask me out for lunch and I politely decline. IBS is nothing you want to take into public....especially if you;re like me and REFUSE to go number two in a public restroom. And if you happen to catch a foul scent shortly after I've had a meal, remember, the dog did it.

Sniffling, Sneezing, Snotting & Stuffy Fun......I've never had allergies. I could dance among the blooming spring flowers, roll in the grass and pet every kitty cat in the neighborhood....but not anymore! Oh no! In the spring, I sneeze over grass and tree pollen, flowers, weeds and anything else that tickles my nose. Summer, fall and winter are no better either. Dust, dust mites, mold....you name it, it makes me react either by sneezing and having my entire head clog up so I feel like my head is as big as the Goodyear Blimp or I begin to produce mucous like a fountain! Add to that the itchy eyes and scratchy throat and it's time for a Benedryl party!

I've got the flu.....PSYCHE! There is nothing worse than suddenly developing a fever, body aches, chills, nausea and extreme fatigue. When it happens you just know you've got the flu or some other nasty bug. But with FMS, you can feel like that one day and just KNOW you are destined for a week in bed with a box of tissues, a trash can within easy reach and terrible daytime television. But then guess what? PSYCHE, a day or so later, you're fine. This has happened to me quite a few times. My family actually thought I was harboring some sort of rare moneky flu that lay dormant in my body and would pop up once a month or so.

The Morning After Glow.....This happens after a beautiful night of making love......or mopping the kitchen, weeding the garden, walking around the block or shopping for an afternoon. I will wake up the next day feeling as if Jillian Michaels has been working me out for a solid 7 days with no break. Every muscle in my body is sore...and not just sore, BRUISED. Don't touch me! Trust me, I will cry like a toddler! it hurts to move, it hurts to sit, lie down and if I have to sneeze, that's all she wrote!

The Faux Heart Attack.......it only takes three or four visits to the emergency room before I realize that I'm not having a heart attack. I'm actually having nonspecific chest wall pain. Damn sure feels like a heart attack. And when I'd have that pain in my chest, of course, I freak out....I get anxious, sweaty, clammy, dizzy, nauseous and....look those symptoms up and see what you get! Heart attack! But nope, it's just FMS's way of letting me know who is in charge.

And let's not leave out the other fun things that FMS has brought to my life......

Fibro Fog (I lost the keys AND my ass and by the way, who are you again?)

Gritty Eyes.....like being lost in the Sahara Dessert without ever leaving the living room. A cool way to travel the world...not.

Mood Swings.....woo hooooo, this is fun, no, I'm bored. WTF are you doing breating in my space?! Heyyyyyyy, I love you!!

Irritable Bladder.....gotta pee...no I don't....gottta pee.....never mind....OH! I really gotta pee!

Insomnia.....I watch ALOT of late night TV. Never realized there were so many "little people" shows. And some of those cable channels get pretty riske' after midnight!

Sleeping beauty....the only time I don't have pain! And I can sleep until noon, maybe later! Try me!

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...I wake up, but can't get up, can't stay awake, can't do anything! Or I'll be fine and suddenly, it hits me and I crash....can't move, can barely lift my head. Oh no, gotta pee again! No, I don't.

The Carnival Dizzies....what fun to have a carnival ride in my own head! I can spin while watching television or typing on the computer and if I want a really wild ride, all I have to do is get up really fast! Sometimes I see colors and stumble!

Numbness fun.....this is a doozy! Sometimes my fingers will tingle and my hands will go numb. But that's not all, my feet will do it too! And when my shoulders and neck spasm badly enough, my neck and face will go numb too! Go ahead, poke me, see if I feel it!

FMS Headaches.....these are such fun. They start at the tender points in my neck and shoulders, they then shoot up my neck, into my jaws and radiate into my scalp. Sometimes, on really special days, I get stabbing in various areas of my head.....without headache pain too! I must look like a nut walking through the Dollar Tree and suddenly grabbing the top of my head and saying, "Ow".

Anxiety and Panic.....YES! The disorder that threw me into the ER (along with the faux heart attack) and led me on the road to diagnosis. Anxiety starts with that little tingle in the pit of your stomach and then the brain takes over..."OMG! That pain in my head....is it a brain tumor? it could be. Maybe I should Google the symptoms. OMG! Now I'm short of breath and my heart is skipping! I'm short of breath, having a heart attack and I have a brain tumor!" Before I know it, I'm sweating, chilling, pacing the floor, the room is spinning, I can't think, I can't talk...I'm trembling from head to toe. This can happen any time, any place....at home, in the car, at the mall.....you just never know!

Tummy Troubles....in addition to the IBS and bowels from hell, I get tummy aches. Indegestion, heart burn, bloating, gas and nausea. The nausea is fun....can happen at any time and for no reason. All I can do is grab and little trash can, line it with a grocery bag, lie down and hope to keep my lunch.

Itchy, Scaley, Scratchy......ahhhh yes! No it's not jock itch or scabies.....just my irritable and sensitive skin.....which I never used to have. Winter is the worst....I get little itchy patches on my arms and face. I must look like I have Bolgarian Body Rot or something cuz I feel like I'l always scratching.

Bye, bye vision......suddenly, I can't read whether the Hamburger Helper box reads 1/2 cup of water or 1/3 cup of milk. Newspapers can only be read by the window and at arms length. Paperback books....hahahaha...forget it. I have about 8 pair of cheapie reading glasses I picked up at Target. I NEED those now or else I'll end up taking 13 tablespoons of cough syrup every 2 hours.

And I can't leave out breast pain, hot flashes, night sweats, feeling as if things are swollen, dental pain from grinding my teeth, inflammed ribs and breast bone and a host of other things I'll remember when they rear their ugly heads once again. I'm just a walking party, aren't I??!! HA!

The cool things about Fibromyalgia....I got a cool, new, technologically advanced heating pad with 4 heat levels and an automatic shut off! I have a nice selection of stick on heating pads that usually end up on my back or shoulders. I now have my own personal pharmacy that includes anti-anxiety drugs, muscle relaxers, allergy tablets, nasal spray, analgesics, anti-inflammatories, acid reducers and rash creams. I drink a killer herbal tea to help me sleep and my husband is actually considering a newfangled air type matress for us so I'll stop sleeping on the broken down, extra soft and cushiony couch. I'm also going to get glasses soon and I'm looking into massage therapy.

When people ask me how I'm feeling, I know that they care.....simply because they know that question could bring on an onslaught of complaints and whining. When people don't understand how I can be so sick, but look so "normal" it makes me sad.....it frustrates me.....it makes me cry. I wish everyone could understand that FMS is a real illness that makes the sufferer miserable. I wish everyone would understand that when I'm up, out and about...or if I'm happy, laughing and smiling....I'm having a really good day with tolerable pain or occasionally no pain at all. Those are special days! I just wish everyone would take the time to read this.....to understand.....to tell their friends.....and to be aware. FMS sucks. I can't control it and I hate that the most. from day to day, hour to hour, I don't know how I'm going to feel.

As I close this essay......I'm kicked back on the couch, computer in my lap. My vision is hazy partly from eye strain and party from the 2 muscle relaxers I took an hour or so ago for left shoulder-chest pain. It still hurts when I breathe, but the meds are helping along with the Therma Care heat wrap stuck to my shoulder. My neck is sore, it hurts to move it and I have a bit of indegestion from the burger I had for dinner. But bedtime is soon and whether I sleep right away or three hours after I lie down, it's something I look forward to. With sleep, I feel no pain. I'm just Edie again, dreaming about what it was like to be healthy and pain free.