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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thanksgiving

This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day, and we have much to be thankful for. 
Most of all, I am thankful for my husband's successful heart surgery, and very thankful for the thing I mentioned in my last post -- that my granddaughter does not have cancer! 

Here are some pictures of her right before the CT scan.  She was very brave; of course she didn't know that the possibility was.

 
 


But then there are so many other things that rank right up there.  The fact that at the age of 78, I am still of sound mind (sometimes that may be questionable), that I have a loving family and a warm home and security.  There were so many years when it was hard to be thankful, because I had none of that.

Most of all, I give thanks to God from whom all blessing flow.

We are having a big Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday at my daughter's home.  Not only will our side of the family be there, but also my son-in-law's family will there, so it will be a houseful!  Fortunately they have a big house, with plenty of television sets because of course the men will want to watch the football games.  We women will be content to sit around the table and talk, and the children will be having fun doing what children do.  Everyone is bringing food, so it will be a feast.  I signed up to bring the pumpkin pies and the cranberry sauce.  We also bringing some folding tables and folding chairs and some extra silverware.  I know it will be a really nice Thanksgiving Day.

The last week in October, I took care of my grandchildren while their parents were in Hawaii.  On that Sunday, we first had Sunday School at home, then I took them to a nearby park.


Joey immediately made friends with some boys playing basketball.







 
No, this picture isn't upside down; Joey is the one who is upside down.


 
Carly took this picture of me in the park.
 

 
They love exploring things on the IPad.


 
This is a recent picture taken in their back yard.
 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Irrational Fear

This morning I was dealing with a lot of irrational fear.

I spent a lot of time praying about it.

I believe II Timothy 1:8 -- "God has not given us the spirit of fear...."

There was a legitimate reason for the fear.  This past Monday, my granddaughter had to have a CT scan to determine if she has cancer.  We were expecting the report today or tomorrow.

I did really well till this morning, then I started worrying and fearing.

This little girl stole my heart the minute she joined our family when she was fourteen months old.
She and I have a very close relationship.
I know that sometimes bad things happen to good people.
And sometimes cancer happens to children.

I tried very hard not to fear, but I was really having a struggle about it.

Finally, this afternoon I got the word -- no sign of cancer!

Praise God!  Answered prayer!
I can breathe again.

Monday, November 18, 2013

I'm still here

I haven't posted for a while -- it's just been a busy time.  Paul isn't cleared to drive yet, so I'm kept busy driving him to his various doctor and rehab visits.  We see the surgeon this Thursday and I'm sure after that visit, he'll be driving.  He is doing quite well, but he's getting impatient with how long it takes to get his strength back.  He forgets how major the surgery really was.

Speaking of the surgery, we got the statement from the hospital the other day.  The amount billed for 6 days in the hospital -- and this is only the hospital, not the bill for surgery, doctors or nurses  -- it was for $174,173.00, which comes to $29,000 per day.  Just for being in the hospital.  Fortunately we have very good insurance and our co-pay is really very manageable.  But what do people do without good insurance? 

That's why I don't understand why the Republicans are fighting against the new health care plan.  They don't even want to give it a chance.  There is so much good about it but they have to fight it just because they hate our president.  If the Republicans would have come up with a better plan, I could understand it, but they haven't, and they won't.  There are big problems with the rollout of the plan, especially with the computer programs needed to let people enroll.  But this is a massive program, with millions of lines of computer code, and anyone who is at all familiar with computer code knows how difficult it is to get such a complex system working correctly. 

We are enjoying some beautiful fall days, but the cooler weather is coming.  It seems impossible that Christmas is only a few weeks away.  This year has absolutely flown past. 

My task today is to re-arrange the living room to see if we have room for another recliner.  We have one recliner, but we both like to sit in it, so if we can make room, we'll get a second one.  The one we have is very big and manly, but I know they make more "lady-like" recliners and that's what I would be looking for.  But our house is small so this will be a challenge.  So now - I'm ready to start solving this problem....

Friday, November 1, 2013

Getting back to normal

Whatever normal is.

I came back home yesterday after babysitting my grandchildren for a week.  It was uneventful -- nobody broke a bone, nobody tried to break into the house, I didn't fall down the stairs -- we all survived.  Actually, it was a very special time with the children.

After I got home yesterday, my stepson who had been staying here, flew back home to Nashville.  I appreciated his help more than words can say.  The whole family was very helpful, and I am grateful.

But it's good to be home and just the two of us.  I did have to take Paul to the doctor today unexpectedly, for a chest x-ray, but fortunately he didn't have to be re-admitted to the hospital. 

Now I am trying to get the house back to normal and trying to catch up on some rest.  I'm not sure where the month of October went -- but here it is November already.  We're having some beautiful autumn weather, the leaves have been beautiful in their golden colors, and fortunately I'm not the one who does the leaf raking.  I think a couple of good strong winds should take care of the leaves on the ground!

Now for a cup of tea and some chocolate -- and a quiet evening.