Still here

Yes, I am still here, and yes I know that I promised that I would post photo's of before, during, and after the surgery, and I will. The problem is my daughter Lauren, who took the before and during photo's with her camera, has been working or gone so much in the last week, that I have hardly seen her, much less had the chance to have her send the photo's to my computer and upload them here. I will just as soon as we have a couple minutes together. Which may be after this weekend, because she is going to St Louis for the weekend. It is hard to adjust to having an adult-child. You don't have the say in their lives like you use to, but you have the worry. Anyway, I will post photo's asap.



My parents have been staying with us for the last two weeks while I went through the surgery and recovery. They are leaving today to go home. I hate to see them leave. I also go back to work on Saturday; uugghhh! I really don't like working on Saturday. It takes away any family day that we have to do anything together. Sunday's are full and Andrew works long hours during the week, so with me working Saturday, we have no time at all to go or do anything, and it really starts to wear on you.



I don't have much to post right at the moment so I will leave you with something I found on http://mylittlefella.blogspot.com/ it really ministered to me. It is truly where I am at today and have been for some time. Hope it blesses someone else like it did me. Thanks Lori for the reminder that God is always there and He hears our prayers, even though His answer may not come when and how we think it should.

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate...

and the Master so gently said,

"Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!"

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I relate

hangs in the balance

and you tell me to Wait?"

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign.

Or even a 'no,' to which I'll resign.

You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking!

I need a reply.

Then quietly, softly,

I learned of my fate

as my Master replied again,

"Wait."

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,

and grumbled to God,

"So, I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine...

and He tenderly said,

"I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.

You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;

you'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

when darkness and silence are all you can see.

You'd never experience the fullness of love

when the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save,

for a start,

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

the faith that I give when you walk without sight.

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,

what it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,

but oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you.

So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see

that the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.

And though oft My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still

"WAIT".
Author Unknown

Back from the abyss

Well, I survived the surgery and most of the recovery. I go back to the dr tomorrow to have the stitches taken out and the splint taken off. And get the first real look at the results.
The surgery went well, according to the dr. I was out and don't know how well it went. But I do remember little snippets of things after the surgery. They shot me up with demerol afterward and I couldn't pull myself out of it for most of the rest of the day. I slept in the recliner all that evening and the following two nights.
Yesterday I got up and actually rode to the store with my daughter and sat in the car while she went in. I didn't take any pain meds yesterday at all, not even tylenol. Today I got up and started doing little things around the house, nothing major. I am still unable to lift anything over ten pounds and can't do anything that could injur my nose.
Noah has done so well with all of this. He hasn't cried for me much and when he would wake up and cry for me, they would tell him that I have a boo boo and can't get him. Then he would ask for his sister or mawmaw. So he seems to understand. He will come close to me and we will give "easy sugar" and he will carefully and lightly kiss my cheek. I am so glad that he has done so well. I will have to be very careful for some time that he doesn't bop me in the nose or throw something my direction that may hit me in the nose.
I will take after photo's tomorrow and post the before, during and after. It really wasn't that bad during. I didn't bruise and swell nearly as bad as I thought I would. So the photo's aren't so gruesome.
The weather is wet, rainy, and cold! Just as I feared; straight into winter weather without so much as a layover in fall.
Well, there isn't much going on around the home front. My parents are here and helping with the little ones. The puppies are growing and getting everywhere. Another week or so and they will be finding new homes, I hope. I am hoping to have the house routines back to "simi-normal" conditions in a few days.
I will be working on the new addition to my blog where I spot light someone who has been special in my life. I am working on the who's, what's, why's, and how's of it. So keep checking back.
I would really like more feed back from those of you who read my blog. I know I get emails from some of you and you tell me you are reading my blog, but I would really like to get more comments on the blog from each of you. So if you would, please leave a note to let me know you where here visiting.

Menu Planning...

Thanks to Joyful Mother I found Laura's blog and this Menu Plan Monday. I think I am going to try it. I have never been one to plan my meals ahead. But lately I have been feeling the need to organize things and streamline my life. I have heard so many people say that it save them time and money to plan a weekly or monthly menu. I think I will start with a weekly menu. I followed the links to those who are participating in MPM and found some great ideas. I will try to sit down this week and work on mine. We will see what happens. If you are interested in trying it I recommend you check it out also. There are some really very organized ladies out there that I could really learn from. Because the Lord knows that I need to be more disciplined and organized in many areas of my life.

Today's Encouraging words

Don't wait for something big to occur. Start where you are, with what you have, and that will always lead you into something greater. ~~ Mary Manin Morrissey

Give away

Joyful Mother is giving away copies of Amy Grant's book, Mosaic, Monday morning, so go by and get your name in the drawing. I did.

Contentment

Contentment-when someone is contented they have a feeling or behave in a way that shows satisfaction with their possessions, status, or situation. How often in our society do we experience these feelings? We live in society that is constantly wanting more. More things, more money, more friends, more houses, more clothes, more food, more pleasure, more entertainment, more, more, more... The media tells us that we need more things, newer things, newer versions of the same things we currently have. Nothing is actually made to last for long in our world. Most things are disposable. Our attitude is "throw it out, get a new one", "easy come-easy go". We are driven by consumerism. If you don't believe me then all you need to do is sit down for an hour or so and watch television (strictly for research purposes), flip through some magazines, get onto the internet, go through your mail. Believe me, I know about the mail... I deliver hundreds of catalogs, fliers, and sale papers every week. All of them are trying to sell you more, more, more. And we are buying into it. Literally, buying into it...The numbers of people in America suffering from debt are staggering, and growing larger everyday. We no longer own our possessions, they own us. We buy new things and spend our lives trying to pay for them. We work so many hours that we never enjoy our things, however, we are compelled to buy new things. Continuing the cycle of debt. At the rates that Americans are going into debt, the new retirement age will be Death, because we will never be able to afford to retire. I see this cycle in my own life and am trying to put an end to it. I see the lessons that I have taught my children through the years, and cringe. I have often quoted the saying, "youth is wasted on the young, and wisdom on the old." The youth are strong and healthy but have no sense, and when you get older and gain the wisdom then you are to broken down to use it. I would love to think that we could live two lives, one in which we learn and the second one in which we use the wisdom gained in the first life to live the way we should. But I do not believe this is so, and I must try to undo some of the ill that I brought about by making poor choices.

Philip Gulley, a wonderful writer that I enjoy reading, and I highly recommend, has a segment on WFYI, Indiana's PBS station called "Porch Talk". One of these segments was called Contentment. I highly recommend you follow the link and listen. We could all stand to be a little more like the lady he is refering to in this piece. If you are truly caught up in consumerism, then take a break from it for a week. Don't buy anything, except what is absolutely necessary for your survival that week. If you succeed that week, try another one. Soon you will realize that more things won't bring the happiness or contentment you are seeking. Things will just add to the clutter of you life and the stress of your debt load. Lets all just try living with less and on less and maybe just maybe we will find more, more contentment, more joy, more true happiness, and more time to do the things we truly enjoy in life. Maybe the saying is true, "Less IS more".

Today's insiration

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” ~epicurus

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”~Fredrick Keonig

"Mini-Vacation"

Five Minute vacations...Several years ago I read about this technique. A way to unwind, rejuvenate, and calm yourself is to take 5 minutes and visualize something wonderful, look at a beautiful photo or landscape, listen to beautiful music, and for 5 minutes in the middle of your hectic life you can be on vacation. I was skeptical at the time, thinking that 5 minutes couldn't possibly make that big of a difference. However, I have since learned how important these little "mini-vacations" can be in my life. I have one "mini-vacation" on my way to work. As I am driving on 430 which takes me to my job, there is a point as I round a curve and look ahead, and the river comes into view. Small swells of hills lie on either side of the highway and as I approach the bridge, the sun is usually just rising into the sky and reflecting on the water. A fine mist floats just above the river and I can look around and see Pinnicle Mountain in the distance on one side, and The Big Dam Bridge on the other. Houses are perched upon the highest points above the river in my rear view mirror and they remind me of photos I have seen of distant places, and for those few moments I am on vacation. I soak up the sunshine and feel the excitement of something out of my normal routine. For that moment in time, I forget where I am going, all the worries that may have kept me up the night before, and I forget what lies ahead. I am in the moment. Taking in the sights and the smells coming in through my opened window. Making note of a boat on the water, or a bird swooping down to catch a fish. I feel all the feelings of a child looking onto such a scene, and try to draw in as much as I can through all of my senses. And then it is past, and I pull into the turn lane to take the exit to my job. But I am different somehow. I feel freer, lighter, that anything could be possible now. And no matter what I face after that, I can deal with it much better. I feel calmer when I get to work and can enjoy the day in a way that I couldn't have otherwise. So I have found other places, and ways to experience that same feeling of a "mini-vacation". One of them is listening to music. There are some pieces of music that give me those same sensations. Try it sometimes. When you are completely stressed out and ready to stroke, find something that appeals to you and take a 5 minute vacation and see if you don't feel better afterwards. Let me know what you would appeal to you and cause you to feel as though you were away on vacation. I would be interested to hear how you spend your "mini-vacation".

Today's Inspiration

Stress is the trash of modern life - we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life. ~Danzae Pace

Friday Felicities

My Friday Felicities

~cool mornings

~spending time with my honey

~laughing with my kids

~feeling content

~walking barefoot on the beach

~watching the sun rise over the mountain

~snuggling

Arkansas State Fair Time

I am in a real funk today. I don't know what it is, maybe hormones, who knows these days. But for some reason I just couldn't get going today. It is 3:30 in the afternoon and I am still in my pj's. I don't know what happened today. I folded a couple loads of laundry, did some dishes, made the bed, but not much else. I did manage to feed the kiddo's and the pups, but don't ask for much more than that. Tomorrow is work day for me, so I just decided to go with the funk and relax today. I will however, have to get up in a few minutes and start supper. I think it will be crawfish fettuccine with alfredo sauce and a veggie. That is fairly easy to throw together.
A week from today, my surgery will be over and nothing left but the crying. Hopefully the pain won't be to bad. I figured that I carried and delivered three children, surely I can deal with this. It isn't like they are pulling a watermelon through my nose or anything. We shall see...I will post before, during, and after photos for those of you who can handle it.
Fall, maybe here... This is the Arkansas State Fair time. I am not sure when we will try to go. But I do want to go at least to see the exhibits. I want to see the livestock; especially the goats; and I enjoy the arts and crafts. Tuesday Megan, Noah and I went to the farmers market and we met a lady there with goat milk soap. I bought the lemongrass and honey soap. I love the smell of it! Anyway, she is going to be at the fair with demonstrations of her soap making. So I would like to see that. She invited us out to see her at her home and she would show us how to make it. I just might take her up on that. I have wanted to make goat milk soap for so long. Anyway, she is at http://www.arkansassoapcompany.com/ if you want to stop in and buy some soap. Her name is Kelli, tell her that Deidre' sent you. And if you are interested in the Arkansas State Fair follow this link.

I have been thinking about people that are very special to me and have made a lasting impression in my life. I was thinking of doing something to honor them. So starting in a couple of weeks, I am going to take a few moments to pay honor to one each week. So stay tuned for future developments in this new endeavor.
Thought for Today

The miracle is this – the more we share, the more we have.

- Leonard Nimoy

Photos

Here are the photos that I promised. They are from Noah's birthday and the puppies. They were born on his birthday. I will take current photos, (they are now almost 4 weeks old), and post later.

What's cooking?

What's for supper? Don't you hate when you can't decide what to fix for supper. I get so tired of coming up with meals for my family. We have such different taste in our household. Yes, I am one of those that will cook different things for each child because of their likes and dislikes. If you make your kids eat whatever you cook and they do it, well, congratulations! But mine won't. Yes, when they were very young, they would eat what was cooked, but now that they are older...It is a free for all for meals. There are a few things that I cook that we will all eat, very few. But I can't cook those over and over again. Most of the time there is a main item; say pasta; that everyone will eat, but the veggies are different and the meat is different for someone. Like when we eat salmon, Megan eat fish sticks or chicken instead of the salmon. So you get the idea. So deciding what to cook can be a pain sometimes. I enjoy cooking when I am inspired, but on a day to day basis, after the laundry and school work is done and I have had a crankie toddler pulling at me all day, well, let's just say, I am not inspired to cook. But I still have hungry mouths to feed. And hubby comes in wanting to eat, so I suppose I need to find something to cook. Hummmmm....lets see....

Well, while I am thinking about that I will leave you with this this:

Today's inspiring words

William A. Ward

Four steps to achievement:

Plan purposefully.

Prepare prayerfully.

Proceed positively.

Pursue persistently.

Getting rid of stuff...

I will start with a correction: I think I miswrote the title of the audio book I am listening to, the correct title is It's Only too Late if You Don't Start Now; How to create your second life after 40 by Barbara Sher. Anyway, I have been listening to it and it has helped me in my thinking. I am actually starting to relisten to it, for the things I may have missed. So if you haven't read or heard it, I suggest the audio version. I got it at the local library and I put it in my car, so when I am driving I can listen to it.

I have been thinking about things lately. I have been reevaluating my life and the way I live. I have alway been a pack rat of sorts, not a to the extent of needing a psychatric help or anything. But, I do tend to keep things well beyond their use; (just in case you know, someday I might need it or there may be a use for it that I can't think of right at the moment. And boy would I hate to get down the road a few years and realize I really could use it now, and then have to go buy a new one...) Sound familiar to anyone? Well, anyway, I have been thinking seriously about downsizing and getting rid of a lot of things that are stored up somewhere, or that we aren't using. But the task seems monumental and I just can't seem to get started on it. And when I do, then I run into the problem of what to do with it? I can't throw perfectly good things away... ( when there are so many poor, hungry people in another country that could use it...) I just can't seem to get that which was engrained into my head in childhood out. So with that in mind, I have given a lot of things through the years to Goodwill or to someone I know who could use whatever it happen to be that I was getting rid of at the moment. But I also have my mom on the other side, saying: "You shouldn't throw away any of the kids things, those are their memories, and they might want to show them to their kids." This coming from a woman who never threw away anything of mine or my brothers. If something was broken, she couldn't just throw it in the trash, she had to burn it. She never gave anything of ours away, because she felt like it was giving part of us away. Well, I am not that bad. I do throw broken things away and I do give things away. But that guilt is hard to get past. But my rationalization for that is...by the time the kids get older and have kids of their own, they won't want this stuff they have now, the kids will have so much new stuff, they couldn't care less about this from my kids childhood. With a few exceptions, like for instance, special stuffed animals or dolls, or small trinkets that meant something special to them. But my kids have had so much stuff through their lives that it would require a whole house just to tore all of their things. Which brings me to a point... We have a double garage; can we park in it? NO! Why can we not park in it? To much stuff... We have a 12x24 foot out building behind my parents house in Louisiana full of what...MORE STUFF! But if that isn't enough, we pay $50 a month on a storage facility here in Arkansas for what??? Yet more stuff!! Some of this stuff, hasn't seen daylight in years. Some I packed away when we moved to Kentucky in 2000, and it is still packed away, only we are moving it around with us with every move, and paying good money to store it. We have far exceeded the value of the stuff in storage fees through the years. WHY you ask? For the life of me I can't tell you. This is one thing that I have been contemplating lately. Why do we have so much stuff? Why would we need so much stuff? Like I said, it is just the idea of having to rid ourselves of it that is the hard part. It isn't parting with it, but just going through it all and deciding what goes and what stays, that is the real problem. To compound that, well, there are these little thing called SPIDERS!!! I hate them. And we have brown recluces and black widows here. And I have seen them in the storage shed that we rent. (Just in case you don't know about them, I have included a link to each, enjoy!) So I am deathly afraid of them, and I don't know just how to go about cleaning the shed out without encounting one. Did I mention that I am VERY afraid of spiders? Anyway, so those obsticles have kept me from doing anything about the junk. BUT, the time has come...

... the Walrus said,"To talk of many things: Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--Of cabbages--and kings--And why the sea is boiling hot--And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,"Before we have our chat; For some of us are out of breath, And all of us are fat!" ..........................

Sorry, I got a little side tracked there...

As I was saying, the time is here to make some changes...and getting rid of the stuff is a first step. So I have called a consignment shop and I will be taking clothes, clothes and more clothes that we no longer need, or can't wear; mostly the latter, to get rid of. I am planning a yard sale soon to rid myself of more stuff, and then what doesn't sale will be taken to goodwill. Then when I get the garage cleaned out, Andrew's job is to go to the storage shed, since I am a wee bit afraid of spiders, and bring the stuff back here a few boxes at a time, and I will go through them and do the yard sale/goodwill thing again. And what noone would want, or for whatever reason isn't usable, will be thrown into the trash, (sorry Mom!) without guilt! Because once I am freed from the stuff in my life, then I will be lighter and happier, Right?
"Of course you will dear."
So these things have been on my mind and one day I happened upon a podcast. While I am working at the PO, I listen to my ipod and one of the podcast that I like to listen to is
The Story from American Public Media. If you haven't heard it before I put a link to it, you should go visit the site. Anyway, there was one called, My 500 things (follow the link to listen), and it really got me inspired and interested. The guy took inventory of his things and decided, like me, it was time to downsize. So he wants to get down to 500 things that he owns. It was really inspiring and eye opening for me maybe that is just me, but I recommend everyone listening to his story.
So now that I am working on getting rid of this junk in my life, I am also looking around at other things in my life that need to go...and a really big one is about 40 pounds. Literally, I need to get rid of about 40 pounds. So I am working on that issue. Maybe my next blog entry will be about that. Or maybe just about some radom thing that is going on that day. I am still planning to post the photo's of the puppies and of Noah's birthday. I am getting around to it.

Fall is on the way, I would love to take a trip up east and see the wonderful fall colors, but since I can't I suppose these will have to do...