My Chronic Life

Yes people are still shopping! Me too. I’m looking for bargains. People who have gift cards are ready to use them. There’s sales everywhere. And guess what? Our eBay store is having a sale!

We’ve also been interviewed by Avid Cat so we’re hoping for some extra traffic and sales from that. Avid Cat is a store directory that’s free and helps direct traffic to your online store.

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ShawnsBidness Collectibles sells Disney items, clothing, antenna toppers and souvenirs. We also sell Die Cast Cars and Vintage Americana. We offer advertising spots on our website Shawnsbidness.com where we also have free eBay advertising for eBay listings.

We love eBay! We’ve been sellers for a little over four years now. Why not take a look and see if there’s something you didn’t get for Christmas. We accept eBay gift cards too, hint, hint…

Tomorrow is the big day, one of the biggest in my life so far. My oldest dd, Lady Ali is graduating from college with a Bachelor’s Degree. She’s soon to be 21 and she had to take semester off for surgery and she’s worked full time most of the time she’s been in school. Now if that ain’t bragging rights I don’t know what is.

We’re celebrating this whole weekend and treating her like the deserving princess she is. So I’ll be gone until either late Sunday or Monday.

Remember my recent post on Olive the Other Reindeer? As I was trying to find Graduation cards in December (not happening - too ugly - went with congratulations) I was thinking of how quirky my dd is. She’s like me in a lot of ways. She’d love the Olive the Other Reindeer DVD, Heroes Season One because she never had time to watch it and maybe even Angel - The Complete Series Collector Set.

Her birthday’s coming up and I may surprise her early.

Our health insurance doesn’t cover massages unless it’s included with physical therapy. Since I have Myasthenia Gravis physical therapy is pretty much a waste of time. I can’t strengthen muscles that are weak. And some (most) PT’s don’t get that fact.

I do try to keep as active as possible in my own ways. But with Fibromyalgia, Rhuematoid Arthritis and Sjogren’s Syndrome I’m living in pain constantly. I’m at the point in my life where that’s what I do, just live with it.

A massage though is often very refreshing especially when the therapist knows not to overdo it on me. My Mom has a massage chair and when I visit I’ll sit there for a while and fall asleep while it’s working on me.

A Human Touch HT 7450 Zero Gravity Massage Chair is one of the latest and greatest Massage Chairs available at HumanTouch.com. This chair makes you feel like you’re weightless, like a astronaut because of the way it tilts your body. And it even has a memory foam cushion from NASA.

You can adjust the type of pressure, the headrest, the height of the footrest, the width of the calf and thigh massage points and other options too. There’s even an area of heat in the lower back.

The HT 7450 Chair is made of leather and available in black or dark chocolate. This type of massage chair and the other products from HumanTouch.com would make me a very happy and relaxed person.

We bloggers have been hit pretty hard financially since the Groogle Slap. Some of us who’ve been used to making money to cover expenses aren’t any more. Some of us who blog as their only source of income have been hit really hard.

But no fear! Payday Loans offers a way to submit online for an emergency or when you just need to stretch your budget a bit. The great thing about this site is that there’s a calculator where you can see what your actual repayment will be, along with different rate quotes. They also allow loans from small amount starting at $100 which may be just what you need to get you by. And it can be automatically deposited into checking account. Plus you can set up repayments from that account too.

This is something we all may need. Use it responsibly just like any type of credit though.

Christmas is almost here. In fact there’s only 22 days left! Hubby and I are getting our last minute gifts and we want to get them quickly and easily.

We still need to buy for our fur baby Little Bit. We’d love to shop at the Holiday Store at PETCO and save some money too. For my Mom and Aunt we’ve been thinking of getting them a year subscriptions to Blockbuster Online.

At CouponCheif.com finding promo codes all in one place make shopping for Christmas easy especially for someone like me who really doesn’t like to be in stores with large crowds. This time of year it’s highly likely for me to get sick.

When I have the opportunity to promote a business run by a person who has chronic illnesses it makes me proud to do so. Running an online business is difficult by any means. Adding to that the stress and medical issues that come along with chronic illnesses and it’s a whole new ball game.

Shirley’s Delight is a beautiful website that features Glassware, Postcards divided by state, Pottery and China. She’s also a seller on eBay so you can link to her 100% feedback. You can feel confident in purchasing your items from her as she treats her customers with “Great Christian Customer Service”.

Shirley has some beautiful items for sale. Check out her Original Imperial #282 Marigold Carnival Glass Hobstar Creamer.

I really enjoyed looking through her postcard collection. She’s also selling a Lochs of Scotland Royal Warwick Loch Linnhe Soup Bowl.

There is much more for sale at Shirley’s Delight. The name says it all. Shirley’s website is a delight for the eyes and the pocketbook. She offers discounts on multiple purchases. Take a look and see all that’s there.

Many of her items can make wonderful Christmas gifts. I’m sure that you can find something perfect for you too!

In order to help my body stay as healthy as possible I take a multivitamin and some other supplements. Having two chronic illnesses that can make swallowing difficult at times, I’m always looking for alternatives to horrible tasting vitamins that get stuck in my throat or large capsules that look and feel like horse pills.

Liquid Vitamin Shop may be a solution for these needs. These vitamins are in liquid form, have no added fructose or sugar and are 100% gluten and casein free. This is good news for people with diabetes or with allergies.

You can search for Vitamins and Minerals by brand, category, gender or product making this is a shopper friendly site. There’s even a Learning Center with health related articles.

There’s no need to sign up for an automatic re-order on your purchases like some other companies require. The return policy is great too. This gives me piece of mind. It allows you to return your product up to 90 days after purchase for a full refund.

Another thing that’s helpful is that you can click on any supplement and see the full label from the bottle. No fine print. It’s all there for you to see.

Our health insurance policy is pretty darn good but the deductibles add up fast. The dental part of it is awful. I think the rates they use are from the 1970’s because they don’t cover anything close to what the real costs are.

Because I have Sjogren’s Syndrome I need to proactive with my dental care.I have my teeth cleaned four times a year and need special dental care products. Our insurance won’t cover the fourth visit even though my dentist writes a Letter of Medical Necessity. They sure don’t cover the extras I need.

Being able to receive discounted costs for dental, vision, medical, prescription and even chiropractic care would be very helpful for me and for other people with Chronic Illnesses.

Even people without health issues know how much these type of costs add up. Ameriplan offers a way to save money on these much needed services and you can start to save money immediately!

This program is not health insurance but a program that offers you discounted pricing with providers who are contracted with Ameriplan. There’s no paperwork to fill out and the discounts are yours for the taking right at the time of service. You can visit their site to check which providers are in your area before you purchase a plan that fits your needs.

Ameriplan is also a work from home company. When visiting their website please be sure to use the Contact page to learn more about this opportunity.

I’m over it. I just want Halloween to be over. It’s too much and it’s everywhere I look. I walk past these huge displays of decorations and costumes and party supplies to get to the good stuff - Christmas ornaments and decorations.

They’re all there in their glory. They’re a bit hidden but they are there. I’m mesmerized by them. There’s talking, singing Santas, penguins, snowmen, angels and teddy bears. Then there’s new fake trees with lights that dance to music. Oh and snow globes by the dozens. I have to keep my wallet zipped and my credit cards in the freezer for a long time. That’s how bad I have it!

Salmonella was found again in packaged spinach by Metz Fresh on August 22nd and the company is voluntarily recalling all of it’s bagged spinach. Thank you Metz Fresh. I mean you’re doing this without any government agency forcing you to do this. You’re doing it before anyone dies or gets ill from salmonella.

Andrew Cumming, Metz Fresh President, said “Nothing is more important to Metz Fresh than the safety of our consumers, period. As soon as we learned of the presumptive positive test, we directed all customers to hold all boxes of the spinach affected as a precaution. Now, with this positive test confirmation, there is no question that we would recall and destroy all spinach bearing these three codes.” from the above mentioned article in Med News Today.

Seriously for a company to do this is way beyond what normally occurs. Usually someone (or more than one person) does die first and then it’s tracked back to what food the person(s) ate. Metz Fresh found salmonella on its own, while doing its own testing. Unfortunately the spinach has been distributed already. There was a breakdown somewhere in the chain of events.

So what does our government do to insure our safety? According to the Associated Press, some of our legislators are saying not enough. “This in no way should be seen as a success story,” said state Sen. Dean Florez, who chairs a committee on food-borne illnesses. He said that Metz Fresh should have caught the salmonella before any of its spinach reached consumers, and that he has written the state’s agriculture secretary demanding answers about “this breakdown in California’s food safety system.”

Those of us with chronic illnesses, especially those who take any type of immune suppressant drugs need to keep an eye on these developments. Maybe bagged salads and spinach is not an option for us. Or we may need to wash these vegetables again before eating them.

All I know is that I don’t take chances with things in my life that I have control over. So if you catch me with bagged salad  draining in a strainer in my sink, don’t think I’ve totally lost it.