OK

 Not sure what to call this blog post this week but I will say God has been good.

I went to the hospital yesterday.  Don't laugh but I thought I had a parasite in my eye.  On thursday afternoon, I went out to do another mow since they said it was going to rain Friday and through the weekend.I have been cutting my grass on a higher setting and with the branch destroying my gazebo and all last week, I didn't finish mowing everything I had intended. I went to finish up the job and earlier that same morning my new gazebo arrived much sooner than I expected.  I was disappointed to find that despite the price being around the same for the one I received as a gift from my parents, the one I purchased had much cheaper materials and I doubt with another major storm or whack of a branch that it will withstand any of that.  I attempted first to put it together but managed only to do the legs as I felt I would need another hand to get everything together. I had expected my dad to come out and help me but he was not feeling well and has been unwell for the past few days. My mother said he was sleeping out of the covers and probably caught a cold, I hope he gets better soon and it is not COVID. He is going to be 80 in June and he was the first to be vaccinated.  I am watching so many people let their guards down after getting vaccinated and we can't afford to do that.

So instead of struggling with teeny tiny parts, I decided to get some satisfaction out of the day and mow my lawn. I edged up my driveway, sidewalk and around other fixtures and mowed my diagonal lines as usual to make my lawn gorgeous and stand out among the rest. I watered plants and as I was finishing up the back a company that some of my neighbors call to mow rolled through and started working on my neighbors properties.  The owner blew my grass clippings off of my walkways and driveway in an attempt to get business from me. I have seen them around but I honestly enjoy cutting my property. My lot is 10,019 sq feet and my home is about 1500 sq feet. I have a hill in the back and alot of area to mow with my push mower but I like the control I have with the push mower and unlike the riding mowers they use, I am not scalping my lawn and potentially damaging the grass roots like what they do when they are at my neighbors.  I like a higher grass blade and I like a richer color.  The lawncare nut got me into really enjoying the mow.  THey were blowing dust and grass debris around and I am not certain if that got into my eye. I had on my glasses and eye shield over that and I was wearing my double mask to avoid breathing any of that dust and pollen in. 

Friday I took the day off from work. After my son finished school, I rushed off with intentions of buying some cooking oil, some garden labels if I could find them (I didn't) and a mother's day gift for my mother.  I returned home nearly $450 less all thanks to the cunning marketing strategies of Lowes, Walmart, and Ross combined.  I stopped first at Lowes and picked up everything for myself and son and nothing for my mother. I decided to get an umbrella and stand to go with my patio set so I could have a comfortable place to sit until I can get the gazebo up. I bought a white rose bush, blueberry plant, blackberry plant and a bunch of other plants and seeds...oh and fencing for my son's garden that just keeps on expanding at the bottom of the hill. The bigger it gets, the less I have to mow. 

At walmart, I picked up a mother's day card. It was at this point I knew that I messed up. I forgot to wear my gloves as I usually do and needed to touch my eye area. I tried to relieve my eye discomfort and continued on to the third store. I had touched my eye area after handling the cart knowing that is a huge No NO.  

I found beautiful gifts at Ross and some more stuff for myself and forced myself to get out of there. I drove home but my eye was bothering me and getting worse as the time went on. When I arrived home I went out side and put the rose bush in the ground. I took my hosta looking plants around back and set up the umbrella. I set up the fencing for my son's garden and wanted to do more but my eye was doing too much. 

I went inside to try washing it out a few times and there was no use. I decided to take a look in the mirror to see what was going on and that was when I saw something that appeared to be a clear long lump on my eyeball. I tried using tissue to dislodge it but it wouldn't move and then I thought it was a bulge underneath my eye.  I had never seen anything like it before and took photos of it. Remembering the terrible videos I have watched of horrible things happening to people's eyes I was afraid to look up on google and diagnose myself and called upon my mother to see if she had heard of this. She was not helpful to say the least.  When my pupil would get underneath the clear bubble line my eye would hurt. My mind could go no where else but to parasites. Perhaps when the guy was blowing that debris, eggs or something became airborne and got in my eye.  I can't go blind, there is money to be made. I have to go get this money man. 

I decided to go to the hospital since urgent care plays games and they don't have enough qualified people who can give a fair diagnosis or treatment. I hung out at the hospital and paid my $100 copay to be seen, ouch.  I had drops put in and dye and the Physician's assistant called it some crazy latin name I had never heard and cannot pronounce if I wanted to. Then she started to think it could be conjunctivitis. They gave me a script for some drops and I paid $10 for that at my pharmacy before going home to continue doing more yard work, $110 poorer.  

I am thankful I had it available when I needed it, even if I didn't necessarily need to go to the ER.  I am also thankful that I am fully vaccinated so I didn't have to enter the hospital with my previous fear of catching this virus without having some vaccine protection. I still wore and will continue to wear my masks but now I know I must keep gloves on and absolutely under no circumstances, touch my face or eyes with unwashed hands.  I might be avoiding covid but MRSA, cold viruses, bacterial infections, ebola and everything is still out there lurking on shared surfaces.  Yeah, ebola, don't want that in my eye. 

I am thankful and God is good. Today, church service was a bit freehanded today.  I am the quiet shy one but couldn't sit back and let things fall by the wayside. No one was willing to take the lead and get things started so I jumped in to get it going.  I thank God for giving me some talents that can be used for His church, to glorify Him.  I am thankful for the opportunity to use them today and to be a leader when I am so used to sitting back in the shadows and watching others do it. To know I am capable of doing so, I am thankful.

God is good and may you continue to experience the goodness and greatness of God today and into the new week to come. 

Happy Sabbath