Our Day in Pictures

Today was our last day of Fall Break, so I thought it would be fun to give you the rundown in pictures...

After the meeting at the nursing facility about Daddy (which went well. He's going home this Thursday!), we went to the mall to do Build A Bear.

Unfortunately, we got there shortly after nine and the stores in the mall doesn't open until 10am. Jenna wanted to wait...so, we did.

We walked around the mall and literally window shopped. Then we found one of those picture booths and did that. Here's Jenna showing off her model-pose and the crazy pictures I paid a whopping $3 for!

Finally, it was time and Jenna selected an elephant from BABW. I have to admit, it was one of her cuter selections.

After that, I decided to show Jenna what a REAL cupcake was like. For those who aren't local and aren't familiar with Gigi's cupcakes, you are truly missing out. These cupcakes are to die for! There's like a billion calories in one cupcake. Jenna readily agreed that she hadn't tasted a cupcake until she tasted Gigi's.

After a stomache and a ride home, Jenna's next request was to play Barbies. Here she is pointing to her Barbie. Just so you know, the other two were mine and they were on their way to watch Jenna's Barbie go bowling. :)

After playing, I took some time to finish up my Bible Study and then we went for a really late lunch. Her choice (quite appropriately)...

Then it was off to do some errands before this coming scrapbook weekend (did you wonder how long it would take me to work THAT in?! :) ) And of course, we went to my favorite store in the world! Can you recognize it?

Then we came back home and Jenna played and watched TV while I did a little work for Jenna. She is in a play at school later this month and she is a cow. It is the parents' responsibility to MAKE the costume. Uh. Yeah. Unfortunately, I did NOT learn any sewing or handiwork from my mother before she passed away. But I figured I'd give it my best shot. Thanks to my bud, Rachel (who provided the black felt and pipe cleaners), I think it turned out pretty good. Honestly, I think my mother would be proud. What do you think?


(yes, I know it's missing a tail...that's the one thing I still have left to do!)

And THAT'S how we spent our last day of Fall Break!

OK, so I'm totally bummed right now. Two of our couple friends from church are doing the Fireproof Bible Study with us. Tonight was our night to host. We made a big pot of chili, several desserts and bought finger candy (think candy corn, M&Ms and Skittles). This morning after church, we got a call that one of our members was sick and so we collectively decided to cancel. I understand and would not want to take the chance of spreading the illness, but I'm totally bummed! I love spending time with these couples (more than you know!) and I'm disappointed we can't get together. I have no idea what to do with all this chili! So, if you are local and have a "hankerin'" (that's a southern word) for some chili, come on over...it's in the crockpot and ready whenever you are hungry!

However, as disappointed as I am, I do have th rest of the day free and I'm wondering what to get into. I had to do all my "stuff" yesterday since I thought we'd be tied up today, so now, it's just a free day. Steve is thining he might get the Halloween decorations out. I've had the urge to go spend money that I don't have (I seem to have this problem), but I'm going to stay close just so I don't. Jenna is still out of school tomorrow and we have several things to do (more on that later), so I want to enjoy my day today.

I went to visit Daddy on Friday morning with Jenna and then we went to have lunch at Chuck E. Cheeses with my friend Carrie and her kids Z and S. After that, we went home where I promptly fell asleep on the couch! Ah...I love Fall Break! Friday evening, we went to the DLHS football game. GO MUSTANGS! We are undefeated.

I did my normal weekend activities yesterday, laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning. After finishing all that, I felt like I should go visit Daddy again, so Jenna and I loaded up and drove in for an hour or so. He's doing very well. Honestly, I think the alcohol has done it's damage to his brain and how he is now is as good as he's going to get. But I do anticipate that he would eventually be able to be self sufficient again, which is good news. He did take a spill on Wednesday when he got out of bed unassisted, but luckily, although bruised and sore, he did not break anything (like a hip!). After we got home, Micah and Gage were here and they ate dinner with us and spent the night, so that was pretty fun. Micah is just dabbling in scrapbooking right now, so I looked at what she's done, gave her a few things from my stuff and talked to her about the basics. It's a pity she doesn't live closer...I'd love to be able to scrapbook with her often.

Tomorrow, Bertie has a meeting with the doctor and nurses at the nursing facility and I'm going to attend as well. We aren't sure that they are actually doing much to help him that we couldn't have done at the house. So, we are meeting to talk with them about how he's progressing, what they think his prognosis is and when they think he can go home. That will be tomorrow morning. We were going to go to Dinosaur World with my niece Karen and her son, but I don't now what time we'll be done with Daddy's meeting. Although I don't think it will take long, I could be wrong. So, to make it up to Jenna, I have told her that if she'd be good while I was in the meeting, we would spend the day doing whatever she wanted. She's already made her list which consists of Build A Bear workshop, swimming at the rec center, a movie, playing Barbies, watching a scary movie at home and eating popcorn. We did the scary movie and popcorn last night and I'm not sure the rec center will have their indoor pool open tomorrow, so we might have to alter her list a bit. ;) I might take her to the pumpkin patch since schools are back in tomorrow.

And now, I think I might go scrapbook some. I NEVER get time to do this at home...It's 2:30 and I have hours to work...we'll see how far I get.

That's all for now...hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday afternoon. GO TITANS!

churched

I wanted to share with you a book I recently read. It's by Matthew Paul Turner and it's called churched. I think this review says it all...

"He spend his childhood trapped within the confines of countless bizarre, strict rules. And lived to tell about it.

In this first-hand account, author Matthew Paul Turner shares amusing-something cringe-worthy-and poignant stories about growing up in a fundamentalist household, where even well-intentioned contemporary Christian music was proclaimed to be 'of the devil'.

churched is a collection of stories that detail an American boy's experiences growing up in a culture where men weren't allowed to let their hair grow to touch their ears ('an abomination!'), women wouldn't have been caught dead in a pair of pants (unless swimming), and the pastor couldn't preach a sermon without a healthy dose of hellfire and brimstone. Matthew grapples with the absurdity of a Sunday School Barbie burning, the passionate annual boxing match between the pastor and Satan, and the holiness of being baptized a fifth time-while growing into a young man who, amidst the chaotic mess of religion, falls in love with Jesus."

I just recently finished this book and wanted to encourage you to buy it (you can get it here). churched is written by a local, Matthew Paul Turner (some might follow his wife Jessica's blog). The story is Matthew's first-hand account about his life. I didn't really know much about the fundamentalist faith, but I learned alot reading this book and actually related to some of his musings to experiences I had growing up in a super-conservative Southern Baptist church! I literally laughed out loud at times while reading!

And for one lucky person, I have an additional copy to give away!!! If you are interested in getting a free copy of churched, leave me a comment or email me. I will draw a name from all those interested and send (or hand-deliver) a copy of it to you. I'll give you a week...so let me know if you are interested before Wednesday, October 22.

That's all folks!

Answered Prayer...

Thanks to all of you who prayed for the Halls today. Believe it or not, they were blessed in not having to wait until tomorrow for the answer. Their son's test came back NEGATIVE for Cystic Fibrosis! Thank you Jesus!

It's tax time at work and so I have to have all of my plan filings done by tomorrow, so I'm crazy busy at work.

Daddy's done much better over the past few days.

There's more, but I don't have time to share right now. Hopefully I'll be able to spend some time updating later this week when Jenna's on fall break!

Pray

If you are reading this right now, please send up prayers for the Hall family who right now are having their youngest tested for Cystic Fibrosis. The test started at 10am and will probably last about an hour. Results tomorrow. Please remember the Halls in your prayers.

Two Festivals, A Milkman and a Prayer Request

Last weekend, we went to the Country Ham Festival here in the "hill". We had a great time and our first stop was the face painting booth. I thought it turned out really cute.

Friday, Jenna had Nothin' But Fun Day at her school. It is like a mini fall-festival for the elementary school. Here she is getting ready to get started.

Then last night, Steve and I went to a costume party with our Sunday School class. I have to tell you, dressing up as an adult is just as fun as when we were kids. That is, when everyone else looks just as silly. Can you guess what we are?

You got it....we are the milkman and the pregnant house mom! :) It was an easy costume to put together at home.

I did went to see Daddy on Friday night at the skilled nursing facility. He wasn't doing as well as we'd hoped but today he seemed to be way more alert. That's good. Let's hope it stays that way.

As for the prayer request, remember the Hall family in your prayers, especially on Tuesday. Their youngest, a son, is 4 1/2 and he's having a test to determine whether he has Cystic Fibrosis. The family is a strong Christian family but is most appreciative of all the prayers they can get. So if you can remember, pray for them on Tuesday and then on Wednesday when they will get the results.

And just to end, a picture I just thought was cute!

I figured it was about time for an update on us.

Quickly...Jenna's infection is nearly gone. Just a little dark dot where it used to be. Still on antibiotics oral and topical and we go back in to see the doctor on Monday to be sure we are all good. I developed the same thing (remember the one on my back?!) the day after Jenna had hers drained. Of course, if I thought the one on my back was in an inconvenient place, the current one really takes the cake! And that's all I've got to say about that. Feel free to let your imagination run wild.

Anyway, I called the doctor on Monday and the soonest they could see me was today, so I took the appointment. On Tuesday, I called the pediatrician to let her know about mine and she said Jenna's culture came back as staph and I think she said it was MRSA. For those not in healthcare, MRSA is basically a super-bug. Normal antibiotics have no effect on it. You have to use the heavy duty drugs. Luckily, being that we have the best pediatrician in the world ("we"?), she anticipated that and gave Jenna the super antibiotic that will work on MRSA infections. But I digress...so, by Wednesday of this week, I didn't think I should wait any longer, so I went to the clinic/nurse practitioner in our office. (We actually have a full fledged clinic AND pharmacy here) and she took a look (due to the location, God bless her) and she decided given the history it was best to drain it and send it off to culture. Fun. It was painful, but bearable because she got most of the infection out and that helps with the pain. Anyway, we'll know soon if it's just an infection or MRSA, but to be sure she also gave me the super-antibiotic.

For those of you germ-freaks, this is not contagious just by being around us. You would have to basically touch an open wound on us and then one on yourself. Not that unusual with a mother and daughter but unlikely for our acquaintances. So that's that on the medical side.

As an update on Steve, bless him...he's just hanging in there with me. I have had the worst medical year this year than in my entire 34 years. He's actually doing pretty good. His service dog training was moved from April 2009 to July 2009. We were a bit disappointed, but July is a better month to be gone from work and Jenna will be out of school etc., so we agreed. We still haven't reached our financial goal yet, but we are working on it.

Now, for an update on my dad. As you know, he went back to the hospital...well it will have been 2 weeks ago this coming Sunday. This past Tuesday, he was transferred to a skilled nursing facility. They intend to keep him just long enough to get him strong enough to get around and retrain those muscles that have gone to sleep since the catheter has been in.

Things haven't gone quite as well as they anticipated. First of all, we discovered he was overmedicated and was sleeping too much. Bertie had those meds stopped and that was OK for a while, but last night they called and said they were going to draw blood to check liver and kidney function and red blood cell count. Those results should be back this morning. So, that's where we are at the moment. I'll post more when I know more.

I am totally looking forward to the weekend.

Squirt!

WARNING: THIS POST NOT FOR THE QUEASY!!!

I'm so serious about that warning...today was a rough day for me and my baby girl. Not sure if I posted about this when it happened to me, but while I was on the cruise, I noticed a pretty large bump on my back, which turned out to be an extremely painful abcess. I actually went to the doctor about it and got a big ole antibiotic shot in the butt and nearly 3 weeks of antibiotics 2x a day!

Well, a week (or so) ago, JG had a bite on her belly right below her panty line. I assumed it was a mosquito bite because it itched (my "bump" didn't itch). It didn't ever really go away and this week JG had started complaining about it, so I ended up putting neosporin on it and covering it with a band-aid to prevent her from messing with it/scratching it.

Yesterday morning, I made JG take the bandaid off so I could see and I thought it looked better than normal. But then last night it looked a little worse, so I left myself a message at work to remind me to call the doctor about it. This morning, JG came to my bedroom nearly in tears to tell me that she wanted to go see "Dr. Mary" right then. The bump was very dark red and apparently terribly painful.

I gave her two children's Tylenol and she felt better so went on to school until I could get in touch with the doctor's office. They had a place for her at 10am, so we went and since she's had a little cough, I figured they would give her an antibiotic shot, an oral for the cough and we'd be on our way, making good use of our one copay! Boy, was I wrong!

The nurse saw it and immediately said, "Oh, we're going to have to drain that!" Now, I don't know what you think of when someone says they are going to "drain" something, but I figured a tiny cut or even a tiny needle to suction out the infection etc. No. I was wrong. If you were thinking that too, then you were wrong. They did it the old fashioned way...

Now, before I go any further, I want to tell you that JG's pediatrician is the best in Nashville, in my opinion. I implicitly trust her judgement. She was very good and told JG everything they were going to do and that it was going to hurt really bad etc. They did give her EMLA cream to numb the area and then put a hot compress on it for quite a while. When it was uncovered, it was very ready to be "drained". Jenna laid on the table on her back and I held her hands above her head. The nurse held her legs and the doctor squeezed the abcess. I'll spare you the gory details, but I will tell you this, the nurse, the wall and even the CEILING of the room ended up with pieces of Jenna before it was all over. And I'm talking like the room had to be sterilized after we left. And Jenna screamed bloody murder and I choked back my own tears. I am telling you, there is nothing more heart wrenching than holding your child down while she screams and cries, "Please stop!! Please Mommy make them stop!!!" I can say I NEVER want to go through that again.

JG was a trooper though. Seriously. After it was over, they cleaned her up, covered it up, gave her some Motrin and loved on her in a million different ways. That child wanted to go back to school. I stopped and got her McDonalds since she'd missed lunch and by the time she got to school, you wouldn't have known anything had happened. Probably the strongest I've ever seen her. We are so blessed.

We have oral antibiotics to take 2x a day for 10 days and then go back to the doctor for a recheck. The good news is that the antibiotic ought to also knock out the cough she's had. They are sending some of the "specimen" that didn't land on the nurse, ceiling, or wall for culture. Let's hope it doesn't show anything unusual. And please join me in praying that they got all of it drained. It IS possible that it fills back up and would have to be drained again. I pray to God that doesn't have to happen.

So, that is how our day started out. I had originally taken a picture of Jenna waiting for the doctor with the thought it would make a cute blog post, with a picture of her band-aided arm (when I thought all she would get is a shot). Obviously, it turned out much worse and so the pictures just didn't seem to be appropriate! I'll keep you informed.

Daddy is doing well today. They will be removing the catheter tomorrow and hope that he has no issues with that. We are looking at next week before being discharged and perhaps a couple days of inpatient rehab before returning home. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Surgery is over

Daddy's surgery was over about 1:30 this afternoon. They were able to determine there was no additional damage there, but did open the mouth of the bladder a bit. I was able to leave work a bit early and pick up Jenna in time to go see him for a few minutes before we had to go to church. He was very excited to see me and his words to me were, "I tell ya what, I am flyin' high!!!" Apparently, he was still pretty loopy from the anesthetic, but he was making more sense under anesthetic than not a few weeks ago. Keep those prayers coming.

And speaking of prayers, I got an email today that the one of my cousins down in Florida who has been fighting cancer has found out that the cancer is back with a vengence. I'm sure this is a true slap in the face since she's been through so much already. Please send up prayers for her and the family if you think about it. Her name is Anne.

That's about it for now.

"He's back"

First thing this morning, I got a call from Bertie and her first words were "He's back". Apparently, when she returned to the hospital this morning, Daddy was sitting up in bed as alert as he was 3 weeks ago before he went into the hospital. It's a virtual miracle. I have no idea what happened other than he had a UTI all along which just kept getting worse. I wouldn't believe it myself except that I talked to him on the phone myself and he was back to normal.

However, he's still having some issues, so they have scheduled surgery on his bladder about 12:30 tomorrow. Although, it does appear that he is about 90% better than he was yesterday...mentally and physically. He has absolutely no recollection of the last 3 weeks. Not even the day that he got sick. So, that is going to be interesting to deal with. Bertie and I have run the gamut of emotion and he is oblivious. He didn't even remember me being with him all day Sunday. It's amazing to me that he has no recollection of anything. I'm not sure if those memories will ever come back. We still have a long road ahead.

I appreciate your prayers and support more than you know. I'll keep you posted tomorrow on the surgery.

Back in again...

...the hospital, that is. Daddy is back in the hospital.

Yesterday about 6:50am, my phone rang (which is never a good sign) and it was Bertie saying that she needed help. He'd been up all night long for the past few nights and neither of them was resting at all. So, I brushed my hair, threw on some clothes and away I went.

Long story short, he's still very confused, was running a fever (what I would consider low grade), had some pretty serious stomach issues (I'll spare you the detail) and just acted like he was hurting all over. He has been eating and drinking fairly well, but it doesn't seem to stay with him. Anyway, we finally called the doctor about 3:30pm and luckily it was his doctor on call (always nice since they know his history). He said he thought there was more going on (no duh) and that we should take him to the ER.

Well, that probably sounds alot easier than it was. Try to convince and 81 year old man who is sick and severely confused AND who has severe paranoia last time that being in the hospital was a conspiracy against him, that he has to go back. Yeah...it didn't go well. We actually had to get one of Bertie's male family members to come and help us get him to the car. To say it was emotionally draining would be an understatement.

Anyway, they did find right away a UTI in the catheter so they removed it. Last I hear about 9pm last night, they had started an IV antibiotic and had taken him down for another CT scan and were waiting on the radiologist to read it. Most likely they will keep him for at least 72 hours and then they will send him to skilled nursing or inpatient rehab like we should have done before. He can stay in skilled nursing for 100 days and insurance will cover it. After that...well...it is a nursing home unless things start really looking up.

I'll tell you...yesterday was probably one of the hardest days of my life. I am NOT wired to do the elder-care thing. Never have been. Even when I was a teen in the youth group at Radnor, I always hated doing activities at nursing homes and such. I just am not built that way. And God is asking me to stretch and honestly folks, it hurts. It hurts my heart and my mind and my body. I was physically nauseous yesterday afternoon at the thought of having to take him back to the hospital.

Steve took Jenna on to church and took care of her all day long while I was out of pocket. I really wanted him to come along. Heck, I had to fight the urge to run next door to my neighbor's house (Aimee is a nurse) and beg her to accompany me. But I felt it was something I needed to do alone. On the way there, I had a long conversation with God. And what He said to me was that I was NEVER alone. He was right there with me. And I know this is true because I think I prayed literally all the way over to their house (which is about a 40 minute drive) and then prayed quite often once I got over there. And I have no doubt I would not have made it had he not carried me through it.

But even yesterday wasn't the last of it. I think the worst is yet to come and I do not mean death. Death would be the easy thing to deal with at this point. To put it into perspective, the one thing I remember Daddy saying over and over again from when I was a kid up until recently..."I don't want to be a burden on my family". And being in a nursing home and seeing Bertie and I broken with grief and worry...well, it's a HUGE burden for us to carry. And he would not want that.

I do not know really what God is trying to teach me through this. And I might not ever know. What I do know is that He is walking with me through it and I am NEVER alone. I do covet your prayers during this journey of my life.

And I'll let you know when I know more...

Home...

Quick update on my dad...

Yesterday afternoon, he began to get what I would term severe paranoia. He thought they were poisoning his food at the hospital and that we all had signed an agreement with the hospital to keep him there forever. He was not in a good mood, and that's putting it mildly. He was yelling, unreasonable, refusing to take his meds or let them do vitals etc.

So basically, today, when he wasn't any better, Bertie spoke with the doctor and they decided to discharge him home instead of skilled nursing or inpatient rehab. I'm here to tell you that there would have been no way to get him anywhere but home. Bertie I guess will have to spend 24/7 at home with him over the next few weeks. Our hope is that once he gets there, his mind will clear and things will get better.

But I have a feeling the hard part is just starting. Pray for Bertie. I do not expect this to be an easy ride.

That's about it for now. I'll update you more later.

I wish I had a better update on things with Daddy, but whatever I say now could change in a couple hours. Last night, he ate a pretty good dinner considering and seemed way more alert than before. It was, according to my stepmom, "by far, his best day". But then this morning, he only ate a bite or two or breakfast and not any lunch and I don't know about dinner.

It appears his space/time continuum is messed up as he says he'll eat when he gets home and he's not just being stubborn. He just seems to think that he's going home in the next little while. When we walked in today, he smiled and just acted so normal...the way he always does when he sees us. But after about 10 minutes, it's like the newness wore off and he went back to staring off into space. He was asleep when I left so I didn't wake him to say goodbye. However, when he wakes, I'm sure he won't even remember we were there. It's very frustrating.

We are going to have to make the decision soon as to whether to send him to a skilled nursing facility when they discharge him. At this point, that looks like our only choice.

In other news, last night, Steve and I (and JG) went to spend the evening with two couples from church, the Babbs and Heplers. The three couples went through a fabulous marriage class several years ago and ever since we have gotten to where we really enjoy getting to spend time together. It had been MONTHS since we'd gotten together and so last night was such a welcome distraction! We grilled out and caught up and then played a few games. How fun! We just laugh and laugh when we are together. What it also meant was that we got home really late. I hope it's not that long before we get together again. We plan to go see the movie Fireproof and then go through the Bible Study that goes with it. I can't wait. I love these couples and their family dearly...they mean the world to Steve and I!

That's about it for this weekend though. I enjoyed a very relaxing day yesterday even though today was crazy busy. I would love every weekend to be like yesterday. Ahhhhh...

Well, here's to another week!

Diabetic Service Alert Dog Update

Several months ago, I posted about Steve being accepted into a program run by Heaven Scent Paws to receive a diabetic alert dog. (Link to that approved post will be here). Since that time, so many fundraisers have taken place and so many of you have generously donated time and /or funds to help us reach our goal. Steve is scheduled to travel to Missouri in early April 2009 to train for 3 weeks with his new canine companion.

As for fundraising, we are currently $1,500.00 short of reaching our goal. We have another 4 weeks to get there! So, if you've already donated, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! If you are waiting, now is the time to step up! You can donate directly by making your check payable to Heaven Scent Paws and including Steve's ID number on the check...HPS151108343 and sending it to us or them at HPS, 108 Hwy PP, St. Elizabeth, MO 65075.

Thank you to everyone who has had a hand in getting us as close as we are. We are forever grateful.

Update on Daddy & our parent-teacher conference

Well, there is some news on Daddy this morning. Yesterday, they took him to get an MRI and lumbar puncture to check with infection in his spine (which could cause some of the confusion he's experienced). By the time I got to the hospital (about 6:00), he had just arrived back from the recovery room (he was sedated for the MRI and spinal). I figured he'd be drowsy, but he was wide eyed and pretty alert considering. Steve and Jenna stayed for a while and then headed home and then Bertie stayed a bit longer and then headed home herself. Because he had not rested all night or day, he was restless and so she did not go to the funeral visitation as originally planned. The doctor had not made it back around so we figured he would not be in last night and Bertie went home to get some rest.

I got to spend several hours with Daddy...mostly being quiet, but talking periodically. Even though he's lucid most of the time, it seems he is in his own little world. He's quiet and staring off into space like he's really thinking about something hard. If you ask him what he's thinking, he usually doesn't have a good answer.

Anyway, believe it or not, his doctor showed up about 9pm. He had come by earlier, but Daddy wasn't back from his testing yet, so because he was on call last night, he just came back later. Thank God I was there. The tests all came back negative for stroke, dementia (other than that which is common to 81 year olds!) and infection. The doctor spoke loudly and slowly and right to Daddy. He told him most of the memory loss and agitation he'd experienced was from the trauma of being so sick with the pneumonia (to start with), being in the hospital and having so many drugs pumped into him etc. He also told him that he had to quit drinking.

For those of you who don't know, my dad has been a heavy drinker my entire life. Mostly just beer, but we're talking 1-2 six packs a day usually when I was a kid. When Mom was diagnosed, he put it down and didn't drink a drop for 7-8 years. Some times ago, he started back up and ever since, things have really gotten bad for him in many areas of his life, mostly health. Much of the problems while in the hospital were caused from alcohol withdrawal. And this was the first time he'd actually heard that. So, I talked quite frankly to him about it after the doctor left. The result was good, he agreed to stop, but who knows what will really happen.

He still has a long way to go physically and mentally before they will discharge him, but every day should be better than the day before. I covet your prayers during this time of recovery. Unfortunately (or maybe forunately) he won't remember much of the darkest time of this stay. Fortunate that he won't be haunted by it, but unfortunate that he won't remember how awful withdrawing from alcohol was. But Bertie and I will remember. I can assure you, it is NOT something you want to watch a loved one go through. What I've written here is only a small part of what has happened. Nothing can erase what is forever burned in my mind.

On to happier things...we had our parent-teacher meeting with JG's teacher yesterday afternoon. First of all, we totally love her teacher. She's pretty, young and fresh. She said Jenna was doing very well. She's apparently very smart and on the second highest reading group in the class. She's right on the verge of being in the next group up. By Christmas, she should be reading at the level that they want you to be when you LEAVE first grade. Fabulous!

She said she was fine in math and had good handwriting. The only negative was that she is bossy. Um, yeah...I've noticed. I asked the teacher what she did when she was bossing around the other girls and they didn't listen. She told me that most of the times the other girls did listen to what Jenna said, but when they didn't, Jenna would tattle on them. Um, yeah...I've noticed that too! So, those are the things we have to work on. If you have any ideas on how to help with that, let me know. I know you parents of more than one child probably have had the tattling issue, so how do you tackle it? All in all, we have a smart girl on our hands. And if we can curtail the bossiness, she's going to most likely make a wonderful leader some day.

I'm leaving 1/2 day today to take her home since she's out of school. I don't know yet if I will stop by the hospital or not. I got home really late last night (11pm) and didn't rest well. I think I might just go home and veg on the couch. We'll see.

Thanks to everyone who has inquired about Daddy. I am sorry that I haven't updated yet. It's been a crazy week.

Daddy is doing better. Most of the day, he is more lucid, although he is not nearly back to the way he was before all this happened. They did try and do an MRI as the neurologist thought one side was a bit weaker than the other and maybe he'd had a possible stroke. However, he was unable to lay still long enough to get the MRI. They did an EEG on his brain and a CT scan, but we have not yet gotten the results back.

I was able to talk to him on the phone twice today and several times, he said things that sounded just like the normal Daddy I know. It made me feel better. He is a long way from being better. We remain unsure as to how much damage there is and how permanent it is. My stepmom has a funeral visitation to attend tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going to head up to the hospital after work to spend a couple hours with Daddy. Pray for me...I am very nervous about being with him alone because he is still so fragile. But I'm hoping that tomorrow will be an even better day than today, even though the evenings seem to find him a little more agitated and confused.

Tomorrow afternoon after work is also our fall parent-teacher conference with Jenna's teacher. I'm always anxious to hear what her teachers have to say about her and this is no exception. Will post more...probably not tomorrow but maybe Friday. I'm taking the last part of the day off to keep Jenna since she's out of school.

I guess that's it for now...off to bed with me!

Update on Daddy

I didn't update last night because there was not much to update on. Yesterday morning, Bertie called to say that Daddy had a rough night and had to be restrained tightly on the bed. He was not aware of what was going on and not lucid in the least. Yesterday afternoon, he was less agitated and they were able to at least loosen the restraints and move him from ICU to a step down unit with video surveillance.

Because he was no longer in ICU, Jenna was able to visit with us last night. I was able to get a few bites of dinner in him but while he seemed to recognize us, he was not really aware of us being there and was not able to converse with us at all.

I just got a call this morning that he had another bad night and they have retightened his restraints. He still remains unaware most of the time and now is in apparent pain when he tries to urinate. They attempted catheterization unsuccessfully and have called in a neurologist to assess the situation. There is clearly more going on now and we are unsure how this all will play out. Right now, things do not look well at all.

Please continue to pray for me and my family.

Steve, Jenna and I went late this afternoon to see Daddy. When we arrived, I went in alone. The nurse was there preparing his dinner to feed him. He was awake, although very groggy and not able to talk much. The nurse asked if I would like to feed him, and so I did. He ate a pretty good dinner considering. I took him a couple pictures of us, a card JG made for him and a cupcake decorated by JG and her good buddy Bailey (more on that below).

He knew that I was his daughter, but he couldn't think of my name. Of course, as any parent of multiple children knows, this isn't all that unusual because lots of times he scrolls through the names of all my siblings before he lands on the right one for me! When I showed him a picture of him and JG, he said "That's me" and when I asked him who the little girl was, he said, "That's my Jenna". :) So, I know he's in there somewhere.

Bertie showed up shortly after and was so thrilled that he knew who she was and that he was eating so well. She stayed just for a minute and then let Steve come in. True to form, Daddy just beamed and said, "I'll be dawg"...he absolutely LOVES seeing Steve anytime. He was semi-lucid for about half hour before he started sliding into that confusion he had before. He's removed several IVs and has been restrained for part of the evening.

Several times while I was there with him, he said he was scared "yesterday". Apparently, the whole thing started on Thursday afternoon when he got choked on some milk he was drinking. The milk he aspirated into his lungs caused infection/pneumonia. I know that sounds odd, but in someone with severe COPD, anything foreign in the lungs for any period of time really can cause trouble. There are other issues that complicate things as well...

Just remember to pray for him, my step mom and us. This is still very serious. And it's awfully hard on me. This is so close to what my mother was like shortly before her death. For those that don't know, my mother died when I was 18 after only a 6 month battle with cancer. She spent many days and nights in the hospital and she was very rarely lucid. She was gone long before she stopped breathing. After her first stint in the hospital, she was never herself again and I fear the same for my dad. I don't know if I can watch this happen again. I'm praying that I don't have to.

On a happier note, Jenna's friend, Bailey (Leigh Ann is Bailey's mom and my Bible Study leader and you can link to her blog here. Believe me, it's well worth the read) came over today and played with us for a while. A few weeks ago was Bailey's birthday and we had to miss the party because we had another party to attend. So, we had Bailey over today instead. After picking her up, we visited Petsmart where they ran through the aisles oohing and aahing over every animal down to the fish and crickets. Then we went to Target and let Bailey pick out her gift. While Jenna would jerk the first thing she saw off the shelf, Bailey was very thorough in picking out what she wanted. She even suggested we might try another store! Finally we got home and the girls started playing while I whipped up some cupcakes for decorating later.

While they were baking, I came upstairs to sort and load some laundry. That's when I found Jenna carrying Mittens the cat, soaking wet. Jenna and Bailey had given Mittens a bath in the bathtub, complete with baby powder and hair detangler. Yeah. First it's beyond me how two little girls managed to keep a cat in the tub that long for a bath. Poor Mittens. But he is fine and now he smells oh so good!

We went to Snappy Tomato for lunch and then back home to decorate the cupcakes. That was fun and I really think the girls enjoyed it. It was a nice distraction for me with all that's going on. I have pictures, but I am too tired to load them up.

More tomorrow.

No news...

No news on Daddy really. He's still heavily sedated. My step mom was with him this morning. He still didn't really know where he was and never called her name, but seemed to know who she was. She managed to get a little bit of grits and eggs down him for breakfast and some OJ. But one arm is restrained and he's still very "out of it".

Looks like it will be several days before they even think about taking him out of ICU.

I plan to visit later this afternoon. Will post more when I know more.

ICU

I just got back from the hospital visiting Daddy. He is not doing well. He hasn't slept, was very restless and was talking "out of his head". They aren't sure what exactly is causing this, but because he has pulled out one I.V. and pretty much destroyed the heart monitor that was hooked to him, they moved him to ICU.

He had been heavily sedated when I arrived and I stayed until they moved him into the ICU and then I left and Bertie (my step mom) left shortly thereafter. Visiting hours are 9-noon, 3-6pm and 8-9pm and children under 10 are not allowed even in the waiting room except for between 5-6pm. So, we'll go tomorrow, but won't stay long.

I covet your prayers for my dad and my family.

Prayer

Please remember my dad in your prayers today. He was taken by ambulance to the emergency room late last night and diagnosed with pneumonia. For those that don't know, Daddy is 81 years old and has severe emphysema. Pneumonia in someone who has such advanced COPD can be deadly. Going into it, Daddy only had 20% lung capacity and pneumonia kills your lung cells...

Just remember him (and all of us) in your prayers. I'll keep you posted.

Remember...

Remember all those who lost their lives September 11, 2001.

Update on us

Just thought I'd do a quick post. This week was crazy busy. I feel like I haven't been online all week which is unusual for me. I have to tell you though, my ladies Bible study started back on Tuesday night and it was like coming home. Each and every one of the ladies in that group are like family to me. I just love them all and I can't wait to go back when we are on break.

Jenna has had a good couple of weeks at school. She's had 2 spelling tests which she made perfect scores on. I am so proud! Our parent/teacher conference is next Thursday afternoon, so we'll see what the teacher thinks about how she's doing at that time.

Steve had another follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon last week. The doctor was pleased with his progress, but said he wasn't ready to release him yet. I think he goes back in another 6 weeks. He did, however, tell him that he could cease going to physical therapy. I think he was really glad of that and it will help out with our schedule at home too since he was going twice a week after work. He's doing a little walking around the house without his cane.

As for me, work has been busy, but not crazy busy like before. It just seems like I have something going nearly every night after work and that makes for a long week.

That's about it for us around here.

Anyone used or heard of...

I had a suggestion to check out www.care.com (Thanks Sally!) for babysitters. It looks like a pretty neat website. Has anyone out there ever used them or know someone who has? Would love to hear your thoughts.

And thanks to all of you who commented with suggestions. I appreciate the personal offers of help (as far away as AZ-Christy!), but I don't want to impose and I want something that I know will be available for most (if not all) of our days. But...I might be calling on one of you for next Friday. I still haven't lined up care for that day and it's getting closer!!!

Thanks again!

Need your advice

I know, I know...I haven't blogged in days and here I am asking you for help. I promise to catch up this weekend! We're still trying to get back in the school routine. Which is actually a brilliant segueway into what I need your help on.

I am wondering (mostly for you workforce moms out there) what do you do with your children on the days that school is out (for a reason other than weather or holidays) and you have to work?

Here's our dilemma...JG goes to a local private school. I realized today that between now and the end of the school year next May, there are about 16 days that they are out and I have to work. Because in April, Steve will be training with his diabetic alert dog for 3 weeks in MO, we really need him to save his time, so he can't take off work to keep her. All my babysitters are in the Williamson County school district and NONE of their days out correspond to ours. So, babysitters aren't an option. I can take off, but after all the time I've missed this year with Steve's issues and the 2 week vacation (much needed), I'm going to be out of time soon, not to mention having my boss mad that I have to take off 1-2 days every month!

I called the local Peanut Gallery and they have out-of-school care, but only for the 2 school districts they are in or touching. The local gymnastics place covers some days during the extended holiday season, but that only saves a few days.

SO. All that to say, what are some of your suggestions? Do you know of places that offer service like this? Most of my stay at home mom friends are homeschooling or have little bitty kids and who wants another 7 year old running around?! I know there has to be more working moms like me out there with this problem. And my blog is probably not a wide enough forum to get enough answers...but I'm asking anyway...anyone have ideas?

I finally figured out how to work the comments on my layout. Don't ask me how I did it. I don't know how it happened, but I was up late Friday night trying to figure it out. Go figure. It was an accident...

I know I owe you all more cruise news, but first, a little on our week last week. We finished our first full week of school and that went well. Her teacher seems really nice and I think this is going to be a really good year.



Last night, we met Micah and Gage at the Wilson County fair. It was superb weather, but being the last night, it was packed! But Gage was in a good mood and we were glad to get to see them.

OK, so more on the cruise...let's see, where was I?

Wednesday, August 6, Day 4 - Cozumel Mexico

We got up pretty early this day too and actually went and ate breakfast in the dining room. We meandered off the boat about 10am when the crowd had thinned out. The water in Cozumel is amazing. but the "mall area is alot like Thailand in that they want to follow you around and show you their wares and that really makes me uncomfortable. Jenna got a braid in her hair. We saw several kids with half or whole hair braided and luckily Jenna didn't want that! After we wandered around looking for the Harley shop (there's not one), we took a cab down the strip to eat. I had see this restaraunt in Grand Cayman and took a picture of it for my friend Stacey. Stacey...this is especially for you. :)






Finally, it was time for our excursion which was really more for Jenna. She got to swim with the dolphins and absolutely loved it! It was worth every penny we spent, but man, was it hot for those of us just observing!!!

Thursday, August 7, Day 5 - Belize City
Rather than eating in the room or the dining room, we had breakfast up on the lido deck. This day we just had a day at the beach. It was called Bannister Cove Beach. We had lunch there and just basically played around. It was beautiful here too, but the beach was very rough right at shore due to all the shell pieces. Further out, the sand was so soft, it felt like mud.



Friday, August 8, Day 6 - Isla Roatan, Honduras
We just did a beach day here too. I think I have already talked about how beautiful it was. In the midst of the poorest of the poor, there was this beautiful resort called Tabyana Bay. This is where we snorkeled and just had a really good time. Because I did spend so much time in the water, I didn't get a picture of it, but here are a few of the area in general.



We went back to the boat to have lunch this time because lunch on Belize was expensive. Our second formal night was this night...we were a bit red, but we got some good pictures nevertheless.
And then we had to try and stay up for the midnight buffet which was amazing as always. We did NOT stay up long enough to actually EAT any of it though. For those of you who have either never been on a cruise or never went to the midnight buffet, the entire display is made of food. It is really unbelievable what people can make out of fruit, cheese and the like!

OK, that's enough for now. The last two days were spent on the ship, so there's not really much to say...but there are a few more pictures I want to share...

Until next time.....

Comments

Well, I just figured out that there might not be a way to post comments on this new blog design which is really frustrating to me because the comments let me know that someone is actually reading what I write!

If you have any suggestions or are a blog designer looking to give away a free design, email me. Most of you reading should know how to find me in one place or the other. If not...well, I guess I'll never know then!

Stay tuned....more changes may be coming soon.

Phew!

I have decided that I could never be a web designer. It's taken me two nights until bedtime (last night nearly 11pm!) to finish my new blog look. Let me know how you like it. I know there are no photos, but never fear, I'm on it. It's just late again and I'm going to bed.

More to come, but let me hear your thoughts on the new look.

New Look

I'm working on a new look to my blog...bear with me as things change. :)

More to come

I went back to work today after 2 blissful weeks of vacation. I was able to stay un-stressed and relaxed about 1/2 a day and then it all went down the tubes. Oh well.

Since my last post, we've had an eventful time...I got Jenna registered for school and she had her first 1/2 day last Friday. Today was her first full day. I'm so blessed that she likes going and looks forward to the beginning of school. I always liked school and never wanted to miss and I prayed she would be the same way. So far, so good.

I know I didn't get through most of the cruise, but life's going to be crazy while we get back on schedule, so bear with me. I'll get to it eventually. Right now, I'm beat from getting up early. Tomorrow is Weight Watchers day. I know I gained while on the cruise, but hoping to have gotten it back off. Last week, I walked 3 days in the week and mowed the grass two, so exercised 6 days.

OK, more to come, I promise.

Check this out...

My cousin sent this to me (Thanks Tracey!) and I thought it was way too good not to share.



Jenna had her registration for school today. She is a big 1st grader now. And looking back, I can't imagine her being in 2nd grade instead. I'm so SO glad we did Pre-1st. If you have the choice and have a summer birthday child, I highly recommend it. Anyway, we didn't really have a preference for teacher this year. We had some concerns of her being in one class only because the teacher was over before and aftercare as well and since JG participates in that, we thought that might be a little too much. As luck would have it, Jenna was placed in the "new" teacher's class, Ms. Gates. I met her for the first time today. She's young, very pretty and super nice. I think we are really going to like her. Tomorrow is the first 1/2 day of school. Jenna is super excited and I am too. I will admit, I live vicariously through Jenna because I always looked forward to the first day of school too. :)

After registration (I volunteered the whole time), we met Steve and went to lunch. I had a doctor's appointment at 1:30 supposedly to follow up on my eczema. However, that is going fine...but I had developed a "place" on my back that I thought might have gotten infected. I noticed it last Thursday or so while I was on the cruise. I don't remember getting bitten, poked or hit by anything, but when I noticed it, it was already painful. And as time has passed, it has gotten worse. Way worse. And as luck would have it, I had this appointment already set, so I went in. The doctor agreed that I have a serious infection and thinks it might be a bite of some kind or a hair follicle that got infected. I don't know for sure and really don't care. I just wanted some relief. The pain was getting nearly unbearable. I got a big ole shot in my hip, antibiotics for 20 days (2x a day) and a bunch of samples of Aleve and Advil. I tell you, 34 is apparently the age at which my body has decided to fall apart. I was hoping to get to at least 35, but seems that this is the beginning.

It stinks getting old.

The Cruise-Part 1

OK, so several have emailed wanting details about the cruise...so here we go...

Sunday, August 3, Day 1

Our flight was at 6am, so that meant getting up about 3:30 to get out of the house by 4:15 so we could get to BNA by the allotted hour before flight. The good thing about Steve walking with a cane was that we got to board first and with Southwest, that's a real perk! The flight was probably not even 1/2 full which made since at that time of morning on the weekend. We arrived in Tampa right on time at 8:45am local time. We went to baggage claim and got our bags and then carried them to the TGIFridays in the airport to get breakfast. After that, I sat an surfed the net while waiting until time to go. A taxi took us to the Carnival Port and then we stood in line to get everything set. It wasn't too bad though as we were there WAY early. We did get to board the boat early but did not get into our rooms until 1:30. We were automatically upgraded to a balcony stateroom which was a nice surprise and even though it was a partially blocked view (lifeboat), we truly enjoyed it. Soon as we got on, we went up to the Lido deck and had lunch overlooking the water (before embarkation). That was nice and Jenna just thought the whole hotel looking boat was awesome. Our boat was the Carnival Legend.

After embarkation, we just looked around the boat and got ready for dinner in the main dining room. I guess being obsessive about planning paid off because check out the view from our table in the dining room....
We went to bed early since our day started so early. Oh, and the other thing to note is my lifetime watch battery died about the time we got on the boat. UGH

Monday, August 4, Day 2
We slept in since this was just a day at sea. We ate breakfast in the main dining room and then tried to go to the pool. Well, by the time we got up, got breakfast and got up to the pools, they were jam packed. I had woken up with a really stiff neck. I had the same thing happen to me 3 years ago when we moved into the house. I must have strained my neck while moving and that time, when I woke up, I literally could not move. I had to roll off the bed and crawl to the phone to call Steve. After a couple days with heat and a muscle relaxer, it was better. I didn't have it to that extent on the cruise, but after a few minutes at the pool, my neck started really tensing up and I was in a fair amount of pain. So, back to the room we went, hooked up Steve's TENS unit (an electrical stimulation unit for pain) and a heating pad and took some pain reliever and after a while felt like I might could get up off the bed. This was the first formal night, so we started getting ready for dinner. Here we are... After dinner we went to Camp Carnival for a while and Steve and I wandered the ship and stopped by to drop some buckage in the casino. I won back my $20. Steve spent about $5. After that, we picked up JG and went to the show and then to bed.

Tuesday, August 5, Day 3-GRAND CAYMAN

We had to get up pretty early so we had room service breakfast. We left the boat for our excursion at 7:15am. The bus first took us to the Turtle Farm then on to one of my favorites... the city of Hell. It's really not much there, but the city's name is actually called "Hell" and you can send a postcard to yourself which is postmarked from Hell. I just thought it was hilarious and so I sent my BIL and myself a postcard (it's not arrived yet). Then we went on to StingRay City which Grand Cayman is very well known for. The stingrays are extremely docile and swim right up to you. It was a 20 minute boat right to the middle of the ocean to get out of the boat. The water was about 4.5ft deep and so we all got out. But the waves were choppy, yes even in the middle of the ocean, and it was hurting Steve to try and stay up. I was holding Jenna and it was hard to hold her and keep myself on my feet. But we did get some good pictures.

OK, I know that's only a couple days, but that ought to give you all some reading fo the time being. I have other things I want to say about today and then I'll post more about the cruise...

Back in Tampa!

Well, it's official. The Taylors have re-entered reality from the land of relaxation and fun. Total bummer. :)

We are now sitting in the Tampa airport waiting on our flight. We arrived here about 10am this morning and our flight doesn't leave until 2:25pm.

We had a fabulous time! I kept a written diary of things we did, mostly for scrapbooking purposes, but I will also use it to blog. However, the quick itinerary is as follows:

Last Sunday, Day 1-the flight out of Nashville to Tampa and then boarding of the boat and embarkation. Most of this day was travel and unpacking etc.

Monday, Day 2-at sea. We slept in and had a big breakfast. Spent just an hour or so at the pool on board (because EVERYONE was there) and then just hung out until dinner...you know, exploring the boat.

Tuesday, Day 3- Grand Cayman....ahhhhh....that's all I'll say for now. But we toured the Turtle Farm, Hell (oh yes...I sent myself a postcard from Hell) and Stingray City.

Wednesday, Day 4-Cozumel Mexico. We did a little self tour around the pier, ate lunch and then took Jenna to do Dolphinaris where she got in the pool with a Dolphin. Very cool pics from this. One of my first purchases when I get home is a scanner. :)

Thursday, Day 5-Belize City, Belize. This was a private beach day. It was nice to just relax. The beach was a little rough as there were lots of shells and shell pieces, but once you got just a few feet into the water, it was OK...the sand was a little mushy feeling, but it was beautiful.

Friday, Day 6 - Isla Roatan, Honduras. Holy Cow. I almost did not book an excursion on this stop because really...Honduras? Who does Honduras on a cruise? The waters we docked in were beautiful, but the port was just like you would imagine Honduras to be. Very poor looking. We had booked a beach day at this stop as well. It was about a 15 minute trip by van/taxi and it was straight throught the poorest part of the city. But then you end up at the beautiful, wonderful white, powder sand beach. Unbelievable.

And here I must confess...I have never snorkeled before. I did try on the last cruise and basically hyperventilated the minute I put my face in the water. It's that pressure or something. I just couldn't breathe. But I rented snorkel equipment on this beach determined to get it right now that I had time to do it slowly and learn at my own pace. My first dip in the water caused the familiar hyperventilating, but after removing those stupid flippers and readjusting the life vest, I had the hang of it. I saw a fish here and there, but nothing spectacular. That is, until the little man in the kayak (who was apparently patrolling the reef) pointed me in a different direction. And as I swam, this beautiful coral reef opened up below me and there were colored fish all around. I was amazed. I have never seen anything like this before and it was amazing. So amazing that I rented ANOTHER set of snorkel equipment for Jenna and took her out with me. Of course, she has no fear and is a way better swimmer than me, so it was easy. She was amazed and kept wanting to go further and further out. I'm so glad we did because there was like another world out there. However, we got too far out and somehow got caught up in the coral close to the surface. Not sure if any of you have done battle with coral, but it's no fun and you will lose. Suffice it to say, Jenna got an express ride back to the beach in one of the kayaks patrolling the reef and it took me another 30 minutes to swim it back. And both of us had bleeding scratches on multiple parts of our body. But we survived. :)

Saturday, Day 7- Sea Day. Got up early this day, had breakfast by one of the pools and then let Jenna spend most of the morning at the pool and then just a variety of things around the ship.

And that brings us to today, in the Tampa airport. And on a PC that has a battery about to die. I need to start thinking toward getting wrapped up because in just a couple more hours, we'll be on the way home. I will give you more details about our stops when I'm home. I took all next week off and have a couple things to do (dentist appointment, meetings for school, registration, first 1/2 day etc.), so I hope to have time.

Bon Voyage!

Well, just a few hours and we are off!

Jenna spent the night with a friend last night and didn't come home until 4pm, so we had all last night and today to get things together. Steve and I went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-d last night. It was good. It was nice to watch a movie that wasn't animated or a cartoon.

I got most everything done, or so I thought. But here I am at 10pm and not close to getting into bed. Our flight out leaves at 6am, so we have to be at the airport by 5am and that puts us leaving here at 4:30am no later.

We are very much looking forward to this trip. I'm taking my PC, but not sure how much access I'll have to the internet, but I figure I can at least have it to download my photos to if needed.

Will update when I get back!

Missing...

Today was an interesting day. Well, it actually started last night when I got home from work (I worked late) and Jenna told me that her filling had fallen out. Sure enough Steve confirmed that she had a hole in her little tooth. So, I left a message with the dentist's office to call me first thing this morning and let me know when we could come in. Since we are leaving on Sunday, it would have to be before Friday.

I had just dropped Jenna off at camp today when the dentist's office called. The dentist was going to be off tomorrow and Friday, so today was the day. In fact, they wanted us to come in right then so that it would be easier to work us in. So, I turned around and picked Jenna back up from camp and headed to their office. We waited about 45 minutes when they finally got us in. They looked at the tooth and said it was just the edge of the filling that had fallen off and they could just sand down the edge. BUT. Her two bottom permanent teeth were already coming in behind the baby teeth and those weren't even loose. In fact, I had an appointment scheduled for after vacation to have them looked at. But the dentist thought they should come on out.

They prepped her with some numbing shots and nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and I went to the waiting room. A few minutes later, they told me that while sanding the edge of the filling, the whole thing popped out and they were going to have to replace the whole thing.

All that to say, I have a very snaggle toothed little girl! She was so excited to have these teeth out and wasn't even scared that they were having to be pulled. And of course, she's looking forward to her first visit from the tooth fairy tonight. Oddly enough, her cousin Garrett (just 2 weeks older than her) had to have the exact same thing done just a few months ago. Something in the bloodline I guess! :)

Now, while all this craziness was going on, I got a call from my co-worker stating that a transformer blew at the office early this morning and there was no electricity, more importantly, no A/C at the office and they'd closed our building. Normally, this would excite me to no end, but I have a BUNCH of stuff that HAS to get done before I leave on Friday. So, I went ahead and went in after our dentist visit and worked. They got the power back up shortly after 10am so I had plenty of time to work and really accomplished alot. So, that's the excitement of my day. PHEW!

Hodge Podge of Things...

I haven't really spent much time on my blog lately, so this one is going to be a bit long and just a hodge podge of things I want to talk about.

First, let's get the third thing I learned out of the way...

3. What I do every day DOES make a difference: Before, when there was a need for someone to take a meal, I'd volunteer but I'd never think much about it or put much effort into it. But in the 3 weeks after Steve got out of the hospital and folks would bring meals, I realized what a big deal that is. Each and every person that would come to us, I'd want to hug them and tell them how much this meal they prepared would help us out. How much more important to others are the little things I do every day? I just have to remember that I never know the impact of even the little things I do on others. Gives me quite a bit of food for thought as I go throughout my days.

OK, now for some beach pictures and a rundown. First of all, if you go to Carrie's blog, she's got a really good summary from her perspective as well. But we both agree, we had a GREAT time! The girls got along...well, they got along like true sisters. When it was play time, they were best friends, but when it was quiet time and they were tired...they got on each other's nerves. But all in all, they were the best girls and so darn cute. Check 'em out!
We arrived right on time. Can't complain about Delta this time. Left on time and arrived on time during all flights. Getting on the plane in Nashville, the flight attendant asked if Jenna would like to meet the pilots. They were so wonderful.

Carrie picked us up in her husband's convertible. I think Jenna was way more excited about riding in a "car without a top" than the trip itself! We did run into quite a bit of traffic on the way to the beach, but all in all, the trip there was fine. Both full days we were at the beach, we did the beach the first part of the day, eat lunch in the room and then the second part of the day at the pool. I am amazed at how well Jenna can swim. She's been in the water since she was 9 months old and taken swimming lessons every year since, but I guess I've never really seen her in action. Check this little fishy out...

The girls were very sad when they dropped us off at the airport. But in reality, I think Jenna was glad to get home to her daddy and I think Sami was glad to get home to her daddy and little brother. Carrie and I are already trying to think about where 1/2 way is for our next trip!

OK, what else? Going backwards, we had July 4 and Steve's birthday. We spent some time down in Pegram with Deanne. Here is a pic or two from that...

Right now, we are just preparing to go on our cruise. I'm so thankful that we had this planned almost a year ago and paid off before this whole hip surgery. And speaking of that, Steve is still recovering. I think the biggest hurdle we've had to overcome is our idea that this would be a quick recovery like the kidney stones. He's about 7 1/2 weeks out from surgery and he's still experiencing a significant amount of pain, some swelling and of course, never far from his cane. They are saying about 3 months he will start seeing some glimpses of life before the surgery. It might be up to a year for him to be completely pain free and back to "normal" if we can even remember what that is by then!

I guess I'll leave you with a little something I wanted to share from our Sunday School lesson this morning. Our teacher, Rian, was talking about as a kid, remembering making those diorama's where you make miniature worlds with people in them etc. He said he remembered making one with a sugar cube igloo in which he put little penguins and eskimos etc. And he asked us to imagine we had made a diorama and then could choose to shrink ourselves down to that size...and actually enter into the world of the diorama that we had ourselves created (stay with me here). And then imagine when we got into the world that we created, that the penguins (or people...whatever you put into your diorama) were mean to us. They taunted us and told us that they didn't believe we were the one that made the diorama. How would we immediately make ourselves life-size again to just prove how big we were and that we were the ultimate creator of this world that these little things live in. I know it's a stretch to think about, but just imagine it for a moment. You made this little mini-world with your hands...put all the pieces together just so...and then...you liked what you made so much that you shrunk yourself down to get in it. And when you did, you got nothing but disbelief, disrespect and just plain ole' meanness. To these little things that you created!

But isn't that just what God did? He made this world with His own hands. He gave to us all the things to make our lives just so. And then...because He loved what He made so much, He came down into the world that He created. And all He got was disbelief, disrespect and more than just meanness. The creation that He so lovingly made turned their back on Him and then they crucified Him. And don't you imagine while He was on the cross listening to the taunts of "You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!" (Luke 27:40 The Message) that He might have wanted to say, "OK, that's it! It's time I show you who I really am?!" Wouldn't we?! Faced with what He was faced with, wouldn't we want to prove that we really were creator. I would. I would have brought myself down off that cross and called to my side a whole army of angels to defend me.

But He didn't.

In His loving mercy, He didn't.

And praise Him for that.

Things I've Learned...

The second thing...

2. I'm not as nice as I think I am: I always thought I was a pretty nice person. Until I had many people, many strangers, be extremely nice to me. I have never experienced the kindness of strangers until Steve's fundraiser breakfast. The Applebees where we had the breakfast was literally full of people, most of them folks we've never met before and yet all there to help us. Prior to this, I would not have considered helping a total stranger unless there was some type of connection.

Beach Fun

Just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived yesterday afternoon at Virginia Beach! We are so excited to be here. The girls (both sets!) are getting along well and having fun. You know a true friend when you can not see each other for 15 years and then meet up like you've never been apart. :)

We went to the beach first thing this morning and then we came in to eat lunch and we are about to head to the pool. You can check out Carrie's blog to see a video of the girls. Click here.

OK...OK...

Well, I've been promising a post for while about things I learned through all the stuff we've been through this summer. While I had jotted down a few thoughts on paper, it seems to be taking me alot of time to elaborate on them. I figured if I don't do something, no one will care about what I learned and it will be a mini-novel that no one will have time to read.

So, I decided every few days, I'll give a quick update and then post one of the things I've learned. And without further ado:

I have spent a while mulling over this post and know I have promised it for quite some time, so here it is:

10 Things I've Learned This Summer

(more specifically during Steve's stay in the hospital and recovery from hip surgery)

1. Humility: There's no way you can be taken care of the way we were and not be consantly humbled. I have tried to think of ways to adequately thank everyone and have come to the conclusion that there are just no words to do that.