Catching up...

First of all, let me again apologize to those that frequently check for updates here at my lack of posting. The excuse for my absence is purely a selfish one. I have gotten hooked on reading the Twilight series of books by Stephenie Meyer and in each minute of my spare time, I am reading. I think I started these 3 weeks ago this coming Monday. There are 4 in the series and I just finshed number 3 last night. If you haven't read them, please do not judge...they are good books and not at all what you think of when you think of "vampire" novels. Anyway, that is my sole excuse for not posting.


But I'm here now. :) Yesterday was a pretty good Thanksgiving day. I woke up about 7am and started cooking. Partially for our mini-lunch at home and partially for the big dinner we'd have at Steve's family's house. I look forward to the time we spend with his family. I love, love, LOVE them! Even though they have their own dysfunctions (what family doesn't), you'd never know it when they are all together. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite times because I get to spend time with them. I just LOVE them! Every single last solitary one (yes, ALL of you!!!) Anyway, it was a great time. I didn't even miss reading while I was there and that's saying alot! Plus, I got to see Chase (my stepson) which doesn't happen as often as I'd like. If I didn't think it would scare the beejeezus out of him, I'd probably have run up and hugged him. Micah and Gage didn't make it this year and that made me sad...to feel our little family wasn't complete, but we'll see her soon enough.


Last week, we happened by the mall after dropping off Jenna's friend and decided to check out the line to see Santa. Well, unbelievably, it wasn't all that bad. We were there about 30 minutes and I thought the picture turned out great!

Now the funny thing is that this picture looks almost identical to last year's. It's the same Santa (why wouldn't it be?!?) and Jenna has on a similar looking shirt last year. But at least I can mark this off my list for this holiday season. And the only thing she asked Santa for was an American Girl doll. Up until this point, she'd not mentioned it. Thank goodness for Santa repeating loudly everything she said!

Also arriving at our house were her 1st grade pictures. I thought these were equally as cute if she hadn't pushed the headband so far up on her head. At least this year I remembered it was picture day and left her hair down. Last year, it was up in a ponytail and made her look like a boy. I won't make that mistake again!

Today, we went to Murfreesboro to visit my out-of-town high school friend, Stacey and some other friends from life "back when". By the time I found the stupid place (a bounce-house), we only had about an hour to socialize! Good grief! Maybe Santa needs to bring ME a GPS this year! It was nice to see her and my other friends though. It's about the one time a year we can do it. Stace-thanks for making the effort. It's worth the trek from SH to see you!

We had leftovers for lunch when we got home and in an hour or so, I'm off to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. I'm hoping my friend Rachel will go and keep me company. Honestly, I'm not sure I'll have the get-up-and-go if she doesn't go with me.

That's about it for now. I hope you all are enjoying your long weekend. I know I am!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. As it tends to do, life just happens sometimes. I'm sure it will be even tougher to post frequently with the holiday season here.

But just for a moment, today, I wanted to stop and thank God for all the many blessings He has given to me. My family, friends, church. There's way too many to list here...but I'm thankful.

Take time to be thankful too.

"I'm begging you...please stop!!!"

That was the heart breaking cry from my sweet, brave 7 year old this afternoon as a doctor, nurse, Steve and I held down her writhing, crying body in order to get rid of the infection threatening her body.

While we caught this infection before it got too bad, it still had turned into an abscess which had to be drained again. In case you don't remember, we've just been though this a few weeks ago. And it was just as awful then as it was today.

She was a trooper until we got back to the room and then she started being a bit clingy. They did the usual, listened to her heart, looked at her ears, nose, mouth etc. And then they confirmed that it would have to be drained. And she started whimpering. When it came time to lay down on her belly, we literally (all 4 of us) had to force her down. If you think it's hard when it's your infant or baby gets shots, you "ain't seen nothing yet". This is awful. And to make matters worse, she knew what was coming and she wasn't going easily.

But because this one was not as bad, it didn't take as long and they used a freezing solution to numb it up a little (little being the operative word). Nevertheless, I really REALLY don't want to go through this again with her. It has got to one of the hardest things to do to hold down the child you love desperately while she is being intentionally hurt (though to her benefit) and looking into her weeping eyes as she screams, "Please make them stop! I'm begging you...please stop!" There is nothing like it and I hope NONE of you ever have to do it.

However, she's a tough cookie and she bounced back. We have several meds now and she's resting.

I couldn't help but think how today was so close to how the Father deals with His children. I'm certain that He has to hold us down, kicking and screaming, "PLEASE STOP!" while we are hurting. But as the Father, He knows that even though it hurts, we must go through the pain in order to avoid "infection" and more importantly death. We look to the heavens and scream, "I'm begging you...please stop!" and just like me, He could stop the pain. I could have told the Doctor to stop...no more...I didn't want to see my precious girl in pain. However, had we stopped with the job halfway done, she would have ended up in more pain and way sicker than was ever necessary. And somewhere in her little heart, she has to trust that her Mommy would not put her through this unless it was absolutely necessary.

Just like the Father asks me to trust Him.

Pray if you can...

I know most of you aren't sitting around just waiting for a new blog to pop up. However, it's 3:26pm Central time and if you read this within the next 90 minutes, send up a prayer for my little girl, Jenna Grace. Wednesday night we discovered another suspicious bump on her upper back near her shoulder blade. If you'll remember the last one got ugly, had to be drained and was determined to be MRSA (i.e. a super-infection not affected by your run of the mill antibiotics). The draining process was the most awful thing either of us have been through (I later developed a similar bump and had it drained twice, so I know how she felt!).

Anyway, I just think the current bump looks suspiciously like the other and am afraid we are headed down the same road as the last time except now, we knows what to expect which makes it worse.

So, Steve's on his way to pick her up now and I'm sure she's going to be a basket case when she gets here. Just remember us all in the next little while. I hate to see her go through this again, but I know it's for the best.

April 16, 1937 - November 7, 1992

Virginia M. Jett

"Ginger"

Today marks 16 years since my mother left this earth. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. I have almost lived as long without her as I did with her (she passed when I was 18). I never got the chance to know her as an adult. I see other adult women with their moms and now their families and I get so jealous. There's not a day that goes by that something doesn't remind me of my mom. Although, I will admit after 16 years, the memories start to get fuzzy and my memories now are through pictures such as this and not actual memories.

My mother made me so much of what I am today. And for that, I am thankful.

If you aren't a reader of Beth Moore's blog (Beth is a well-known women's Bible Study writer and speaker), please take a moment to read her blog this morning. It's thought-provoking and to me, personally convicting.

May we not allow Satan to use this election to drive a wedge between us.

Another reason to give (if you haven't already)...

*Edit: This is a long post...I wrote it last night and I was so tired, but had been wanting to get it out there...I didn't even proof read it. I was going to edit it to make it shorter, but I figured I'd just add this disclaimer to the top instead.*

This post is overdue, but life has been...well, life...and I just haven't gotten around to it.

If you are wondering about the title, it's in reference to donations for our Diabetic Alert Dog from Heaven Scent Paws. Here is another reason for you to help us out, if you haven't already...

Last Wednesday, my stepmother (Bertie) received a call that her sister in law was near death (she had alzheimers and a variety of other health problems) and she needed to come quick. Lucky for her, they live just across the street. But because Daddy was home and couldn't stay alone, she was desperate for someone to come sit with Daddy so she could join her family.

I was unable to be reached because I was at work, so she called Steve, who headed right over. I was just about 90 minutes from leaving for work and had my friend Rachel with me (we commute together 2 days a week) and so he opted to go to Daddy and I would take Rachel to pick up Jenna from school and then head on to church.

About 6pm, Steve called me at church and said that his blood sugar level was kinda high, so he took extra units of insulin from his pump (which delivers a basal rate of insulin to simulate the action of the pancreas) and unfortunately, it was out and he didn't have any more with him. Not knowing how long he'd be at Daddy's, he was concerned that his levels would skyrocket without him getting that basal rate. He called a couple pharmacies and his endocrinologist to try and get an emergency supply rather than having me drive across the city to bring it to him.

After about 30 minutes, he decided he thought he'd be fine until he could leave, so I went off to class at church and he left to go get Daddy and him some dinner. And then it happened...

He was in line waiting for their food at Captain D's no more than 1/2 mile from the house. He started feeling like his blood sugar was dropping, so he began taking some of his sugar tablets to bring it up. He got the food, and pulled out on the main road.

Meanwhile, about 6:55, I texted Steve from my class at church with the words "U OK?". Don't ask me why I did that...just wanted to be sure they were OK. I didn't get an immediate response, but I didn't worry because many times he doesn't notice that he has a text and doesn't hear the phone beep. About 5 minutes later, I called him and it rang, but he didn't answer and while I thought that was a bit unusual, I didn't worry figuring he was helping Daddy get into bed or whatever.

A few seconds later, my phone rang with his "special" ring. I could tell he was driving from the background noise, but could not hear him. When I called "hello?" again, he started yelling that he'd wrecked the truck and did not know where he was. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was having a diabetic seizure (or better yet, on the verge of coming out of it). Because he was still terribly low, he could not tell me where he was and would not pull over. Think about if you were riding with a friend in an unfamiliar part of town, fell asleep and woke up 15 minutes later and tried to figure out where you were. It was awful. And I couldn't do ANYTHING to help because I had no idea where in the world he was.

Long story short (too late!), he made it back to Daddy's without further incident. However, when he "came to", he was about 12 miles away from Daddy's with no recollection of how he got there. He did hit the retaining wall on the highway at the sharpest curve and he did it twice.

Now, the miracle of the whole story is after driving 12 miles unaware and hitting a retaining wall TWICE, he managed to keep the truck on the road and the only damage was the driver's side mirror, a small scratch on the running board (most likely can be buffed out) and the white letters on the driver's side tire were scraped off (like when you sideswipe a curb). Do NOT ask me how to explain the lack of damage (vehicular or otherwise) other than an angel was watching over him.

I know that not all my readers have the same belief in God, but I'm telling you...I'm sitting here, looking at a miracle. That's the only explanation in my mind.

Anyway, all this to say this is just another reason for us to get this dog. We are almost at our goal. If you are waiting to give, don't. Give now. Please...this could have turned out so much worse. This dog could literally save Steve's life and give him back to me and Jenna.

OK, that's enough about that. Daddy is back in the hospital with 2 "very aggressive infections". His bladder is still not working so that's become a challenge. I don't know much yet about the course of action other than antibiotics. I'll let you know when I do.

I hope you voted. I early voted a few weeks ago. And no matter whether you vote red or blue, please remember to be in prayer for the candidates and our nation...