Random Tuesday

It's Random Tuesday with Stacy Uncorked!  Join us!

Sooo... I have wanted to abandon the last three books that I've started reading.  One was about a woman my age who is developing early Alzheimer's Disease.  Can you say, "Depressing?"  I've put it down and picked it back up three times, and I'm still only on about page 100.

Another was a young adult novel about a girl who moves into a house where someone one was killed, but she is the only one in the family the "ghost" will communicate with, and it has something to do with a serial killer who is currently killing his victims and staging them like famous horror movies.  It was just moving too slow.

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Then, I started reading The Guilty One.  I wanted to give up on that one, too, but I thought, maybe there's just something wrong with me that I haven't liked any of the books I've been reading, so I made myself finish it.  It was a long, painful process.  Review to follow soon.

And Sunday night, I started reading a new book, and it was great, but it was sounding familiar.  I got all the way to chapter 4 before I realized I had already read it!  They were short chapters, thankfully.

But I'm happy to say that my One Year Bible reading is on track.

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Last night, I actually sat down to watch a show all the way through.  Okay, it was just a half an hour, but I watched in real time, and I wasn't grading papers, playing on the computer, I was actually watching the show!  That's pretty good for me.  I'm rarely ever doing only one thing at a time.  I guess I needed a break.

I can't wait for our summer weather to be over.  We don't get too many beautiful splashes of color here in Texas, but I'd like it if I could have morning temps in the low 70's and highs no higher than 85.  Cooler weather makes me feel all autumn-y and fall-ish.  I love the fall season.  AND... basketb all season starts in three weeks!  Woot!

If you pray, please start praying for me... My doctor thinks I may have to have another surgery, and I don't think I can take another 5 or 6 weeks in a sling so soon after my previous surgery.  Please pray for a non-surgical solution.

Last, please visit this blog and leave an encouraging comment.  It won't take you two minutes to make someone happy by doing so.


And now it's time for Coffee Chat with Time Out for Mom!

She asks us to...

 Tell us about something you have never done, 

but would like to do now.  

What was holding you back?

I've wanted to visit England.  My in-laws are from the UK, although they live here now.  I never really thought I would get the chance, at least not for a long time, due to the time and expense.  But, my baby girl is going to study abroad in Oxford for a semester beginning in January, so I am planning a visit!  I didn't know that Oxford University was the oldest English-speaking university in the world.  And it's beautiful!

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And London is only an hours' train ride from Oxford.

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Planning to visit in March!  Share your experience with me if  you've ever been to England!  I'd love to hear do's and don'ts!

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Why You Should Worry Less

Please visit this young, Christian blogger and leave a comment for her.  Giver her some encouragement!
Worry Less - Pray More!

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Prayer

Do you believe in the power of prayer?  I always have, and I hope that faith doesn't fail me now because my family needs some serious prayer regarding a personal matter with one of my kids.  Would you please pray for my family?

Not Happy for all Mothers

Making funeral plans for a 14 year old.  What a  horrible thing to be thinking about on Mother's Day.  My daughter's friend Jenny didn't survive.  She died in the early morning hours of May 7.  I cannot begin to imagine what her parents are going through right now, especially since Jenny was their only child, not that that makes it any easier.  It makes me want to keep my children close, but I know I can't do that all the time.

Accidents.  They can happen anywhere, any time.  I don't understand, though.  I know God has a plan, but I wish I knew what it was.  Maybe then dealing with the death of a 14 year old young lady with so much potential might be easier to explain.  As it is now, I just don't understand.

This picture was taken 2 or 3 weeks ago.  Jenny is on the left.

I'm worried about my daughter and my son (twins),  but mostly my daughter, her best friend.  They tend to hold their feelings inside.  How do I help them with their grief?  A dear online friend, Rachel Anne, has recommended a book called Beyond the Gates, and we already have a copy of Heaven is for Real (I had planned to read that one anyway).  If you have any words of wisdom, especially Biblical words of comfort, please let me know.  I'm having such a hard time answering her questions, and none of us can explain WHY this happened.  If I can help my daughter deal with this huge loss in her life, I would be ever so grateful for any suggestions.

Not Just Prayers... but A Miracle

Is what we need now.  Poor Jenny. Some of the things she was doing for herself, she is not doing anymore.  It's as though her body is shutting down.  No reflexes or movement.  Her pupils are fixed and dilated.  Breathing tube is doing all the work. The Drs. aren't optimistic about meaningful brain activity.

I have cried so much today.  I'm so glad I took my daughter to see Jenny today and didn't wait, because there may not be a "later."  I have to be honest with myself about this.  My poor daughter is beside herself, yet she is still hoping for a miracle.  That is what we need.

If you're a praying person, please remember to ask for healing for Jenny and comfort and strength for her parents.  Please also ask that my daughter, one of her best friends for the past six years, will be able to deal with her grief should the miracle not happen.  These precious girls are only 14 years old!  I don't know God's plan, but I know he has one.  I just wish I understood it.

Still More Prayers Needed

I know it's time to post a vlog, or a review of some sort, or a funny quote, or a tackle, or a picture... but I'm just not feeling it right now.  As I mentioned yesterday, my daughter's best friend is in the hospital fighting for her life.

Jenny is a beautiful, smart, loving 14 year old girl.  Saturday night, she was riding an ATV with some friends at a birthday party..  She was wearing a helmet.  There was some sort of accident, and the ATV fell on her puncturing one of her lungs.  She was without oxygen for a fair amount of time.  Then her brain began to swell (hypoxia, brain injury after another type of trauma.)  The hospital in College Station did what they could for her, but they flew her to Texas Children's in Houston on Sunday.  She hasn't been conscious since the accident.

The good news is that she doesn't appear to have a spinal cord injury.  But... there is almost a certainty of some brain damage, especially if the swelling doesn't go down soon.  The highly critical 72 hour time period will be upon us soon.  Prayers.  Please, God, listen to our prayers!

It's hard to think about too many other things when your daughter's best friend is suffering.  And how do you explain to a sensitive 14 year old that when she sees her friend, she's not going to look the same (bruising, swelling), that she's going to have tubes and machines all over the place, that she may not wake up, and if she does wake up, she may be "different."?????  My heart is breaking for the family.

Our youth group talked about, "Why do bad things happen to good people" last week in their lesson at church.  I'm so thankful for the timing of that discussion.  But, of course, it doesn't explain everything.  There is so much unknown in this world, and it's just really, really hard sometimes.

My dad died of a subarachnid hematoma six years ago.  Memories of that awful time are flooding back.  In his case, there was NOTHING the doctors could do.  Jenny, at least, has a chance.  And of course, I think often of my blog friend Queenie whose husband suffered a traumatic brain injury.  She knows, more than anyone, the effects.

And I think it is ironic in a very terrible way that Jenny's mom is a paraprofessional in our school district who works with children with severe disabilities.  I don't want her daughter to have that need.

 We love Jenny!

My Poor Kitty (and more)

Sweet Lacy has two puncture wounds on her front, right leg.  (Graphic picture follows - may want to scroll past).

She went out in the garage or on the back porch a little over a month ago.  My husband lets her out.  She's supposed to be an indoor kitty.  We heard a crash and she came tearing inside.  She had a little knot on her arm/leg and was limping, but we couldn't find an actual wound.

Well, days and weeks go by, and she's been licking at her leg.  We see she's got not one, but two wounds.  We thought they were cuts.  We took her to the vet.  They couldn't see anything too worrisome.

Fast forward a couple of more weeks. The "cuts" have gotten worse, puffy, oozing, bleeding.  We're back at the vet.  They shave her leg.  There are two huge puncture wounds on her leg.  I have to giver her anti-biotics by mouth and ointment on the wounds, and she'll have to wear her cone until it heals.  She has some pain medicine if we feel it is necessary.  We had to see the vet three time for this incident!

My poor fur baby! Please pray she gets well soon.

And while you're praying, and on a much more serious note, a friend of mine has a daughter who is in ICU at Texas Children's suffering brain trauma from an ATV accident that happened Saturday night.  Please pray for Jenny (she's the one in the middle).  She is one of my daughter's very good friends.

Update

Thank you to everyone who prayed for my mom! Her surgery Tuesday was successful, and good news, there was no cancer in the lymph nodes. The doctor also took some preventative measures for her potassium and sodium levels, and so far, that hasn't been an issue, and neither has the reaction to the pain medications because she has had a novacaine pump and no oral pain meds. We are going to make it through this one without a near-death experience! Or, so it appears. I always hate to have my hopes up because the last two times she had surgery, she was fine the day of, and the day after, so tomorrow will be the true test.

If all goes well, and I'm continuing to pray that it does, she will get to go home Thursday evening. Since she lives alone (Dad passed away almost 6 years to the date), I'm going to go stay a while and help take care of her. I know she isn't going to feel very good. That's to be expected.

Thank you for your concerns and prayers. It means a lot to me.

And if you want to experience some more goodness, how about visiting Our Dandelion Wishes for her "Queen for a Day" post. Fun!

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Prayers

Please pray for my mom. She will undergo a double mastectomy this morning. She had a knee replaced one year ago, and she had a thoracotomy for lung cancer 22 months ago. Both of those surgeries created terrible reactions, and I just pray this one is different. We almost lost her both times, and I just hate that she would have to go through that stress again, not to mention how it makes my sister and I feel. We just lost our dog, and I really hope I don't have another reason to cry any time soon. Please, Mom, pull through with flying colors! I don't want to lose you!

Please, if you're a praying person, regardless who you pray to, please remember mom and her doctors. Thank you.

Prayer Works

Thank you, everyone who has prayed for my mom. It's nothing short of a miracle.

She has had so many difficulties since her surgery January 7. I can't even begin to name them all. She started coming around mentally Wednesday evening (a week after her lobectomy). She'd been in distress both physically and mentally for the whole week. We thought we were losing her.

The problem that remained until today was her heart rate, which had soared. There was an irregular rhythm, an atrial flutter, not something you can live with for very long. She was scheduled for a heart shock (not the medical term, obviously), but today, shortly before being taken for the procedure, her heart returned to normal! On its own. Even her cardiologist had no explanation for it except prayer.

The last 36 hours have been great. She is even being moved out of ICU to a regular room. If we can get her blood pressure to return to normal, she may come home soon. And - her doctor convinced her to have chemo (in a few weeks) which she had adamantly refused since this started.

If anyone tells you that miracles don't happen, or that prayer doesn't work, I'm here to tell them they're wrong. Please keep her in your prayers for continued healing. And THANK YOU! All of my blog friends are absolutely amazing!

P. S. Maybe I will have a chance to read some of your blogs this weekend.

Thankful Thursday

We sometimes realize we have so much to be thankful for, and other times we completely forget. I have been having a rough week for a number of reasons, and now is probably the best time, when I'm feeling low, to verbalize (so to speak) my blessings.

1. I have a God who forgives me even when I don't deserve it.

2. I have a set of moral rules to live by.

3. My children are a blessing. No, they're not angels, in fact, sometimes quite the opposite, but I am blessed to have a legacy that I can train up in the way they should go.

4. I am blessed to have secure employment and the ability to save money for retirement, which won't happen for about 15 - 20 years. Another blessing is being able to save for college funds.

5. I have a dependable, paid for vehicle that gets me from point A to point Z and all points in between.

6. I am thankful for my family. Lots of stress and headaches, but the love makes it worth it all.

7. I am becoming more conscious of my need to pray throughout the day and to make an extra effort to make a connection with the Lord.

God bless each and every one of you. Here's hoping tomorrow is a more positive day.

I am UNofficially a Grandma Now!

My husband is officially a grandpa now. Do I become a grandma by default? I'm too young! I really don't mind, though. His son and daughter-in-law are new parents.

D-I-L had to be admitted to the hospital for pre-eclampsia last weekend. She was pregnant with twins, just like I was 11 years ago! I also developed pre-eclampsia and had to be hospitalized. However, hers became worse more rapidly than did mine. I was able to hold off delivery for almost two weeks. She had to deliver today. The risk factors are kidney failure, seizures, and death (for the mom), and the only way to cure the mom and save her life is to deliver the babies.

She was only 25 weeks pregnant. I had made it to 33 weeks, and my babies were little, only 3 and 4 pounds. The new babies, Connor and Collin, are only 1 pound and 1 pound 5 ounces. They're hanging in there, though, with the assistance of the NICU at the best OB/GYN hospital in the state of Texas (in my humble opinion). Their mom is on medications to continue the prevention of seizures, but she may be released from the hospital in a few days. C and C may be looking at a 3 month stay, depending on how things go. They are perfectly formed babies... just tiny. They have to learn to eat, drink, and gain some weight, as well as be able to maintain their body temperature outside of an incubator in order to be released, so it will be a while.

Please pray that nothing goes wrong, that they continue to develop normally, and that they will be a joy to all who know them. Thanks!

Point to Ponder

This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.

Philippians 3:13 (KJV)

Tonight I had an argument with my husband. It began with a playful remark that apparently offended him, and came totally out of the blue. So, I got "dismissed" with a wave of his hand and turning the radio off completely. I felt very disrespected. This "dismissing" of me is an attitude I have talked about with him previously. This time, his daughter and her friend were present. He didn't speak to me for hours, then he went up to bed. I wanted to resolve things because I was truly only being playful, so I went up to talk to him. Instead of resolving this, he brought up another argument over a completely different issue that several of us were having, and he attempted to compare the two situations. They are apples to oranges, though. Totally different situations. Needless to say, the problem was not resolved tonight, either, and probably became worse.

This scripture, I am hoping, will help us to forget what has happened and move on to the future without another incident like it. I pray for the wisdom and the words we both will need to resolve this conflict, leave it in the past, and go on with our happy lives. Please include me in your prayers as well.