Last week this time I was riding 4wheelers with the men in my life....this week they are riding without me. I opted to stay home tonight to get a few things done that I hadn't managed to do all week. Hopefully they will be careful...I'm sure they probably need more adult supervision :)


This week I have been reading blogs about children that are suffering from all sorts of illnesses some of which are very critical situations. My heart absolutely breaks for these families. I recall the roller coaster ride we were on when Morgan Kate with in the NICU. You would just hold your breath and pray that you could handle the situations as they came at you. Two families come to mind tonight and I hope you will pray for them. Jack Huffman http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jackhuffman is fighting a fierce battle with cancer. He was scheduled for surgery today but they were not able to successfully perform the surgery. Then there is a little boy, Stellan, http://www.mycharmingkids.net/, who I have read about since he was born. While he was in the womb, the doctor's told his mom he would never live because of a heart condition. Miraculously he was born without any heart problems. However, they are surfacing now and he is battling his heart racing away at a scary rate. One thing that strikes me about these two families is their display of amazing grace and faith. As I have thought about these families this week, I have thanked God numerous times for the progress that Morgan Kate has made and for the miracle that she is. She was 7 months old on Tuesday and I'm so grateful that I am her grandmother and that she is doing well!

Sometimes it just doesn't pay to have a plan. A few weeks back, my niece, Kelly, contacted me and suggested all of our family get together for my mom's birthday. I was all for it and started putting my wheels in motion to plan things. I planned the menu, ordered a birthday cake, contacted my sibilings and for the first time in forever everyone was going to be able to come for the birthday! The plan was to be in church to see my mom's choir sing, watch her expression when she noticed the flowers in the church were in honor of her, gather at our house for lunch and enjoy fellowship with each other. All week long I had been looking forward to this day because I knew my mom would be so excited to have all her "children" together. Well, well....Friday things started slowing falling apart. I went to pick up my mom's birthday cake and her name was misspelled...no biggie, I 'll just get the cake lady to redo her name. Well the cake lady is no where to be found so I decided not to sweat it. Saturday morning, my mom calls and is sick and needs to see a doctor...we manage to get that accomplished and got her on some meds. I also talk to my brother whose son is not feeling well so only half of his family can make the trip from Georgia. Then when I talk to my sister, she is sick, and she won't be here as well as one of her children who is sick. I take a deep sigh and and realize as much as I wanted ALL of us to be together, I am excited about those who can come. This morning I called to wish my mom a Happy Birthday and she was still not feeling real well and therefore was not going to make it to church....at this point, I share the news about the flowers and assure her we will take pictures of them for her to see. Everyone brought some good food for the lunch and by the end of the day, "a large time" had been had by all. I hope my mom enjoyed her day, I know I sure did. As I write this post, the quietness of my house is almost deafening...I honestly believe I could live like the folks did on the tv show "Dallas'...where everyone lived in one big house! (I probably just dated myself by writing that) Anyway, I close by saying Happy Birthday Mama Jean and I hope that everyone made it home safely!

Yesterday was a day of highs and lows 0r should I say a low! I'll start with the highs and they involve all of my children. First up....I get a phone call from Heather saying that she has received the best news in all the world. I immediately laugh and ask if she is pregnant. She doesn't find the humor in that statement because she is so excited with her news. Morgan Kate went to the pulmonary doctor and got an excellent report!! He said he wouldn't even consider her as having chronic lung disease. Oh my gosh - I was so overwhelmed with joy that I couldn't even talk to her I just passed the phone along to her daddy. Little did I know that they were going to talk for about 30 minutes so I am standing there wondering about everything that the doctor said. I knew by the expression on Loitton's face that everything was good - he was one beaming granddaddy! Next up, I get a phone call from Owens. He and I email alot but there are days where we just have to pick up the phone and call because there is nothing like hearing his voice and actually talking to him. He asked if his dad and I would be around this weekend because he was coming home! Boy was that music to my ears. Since Morgan Kate has been born, most of our family time has been spent in Columbia so he has not been home in quite some time. Immediately my wheels start turning on what meals to prepare, what we can do this weekend, etc. Then baby boy (ha ha) calls! He, too, is excited - I mean fast talking excitement. Kyle had gone turkey hunting for the first time and killed a turkey! Now I am new to this type of hunting so I may not fully convey the right terminology....but boy he was a plump turkey and that "thing" that hangs down ...can't think of the name was long (I want to say they call it a beard)! Kyle explained it to me it was in comparison to the antlers on a deer....it determines how good the kill was (I think). Anywho...excitement was in the air at our house!


Then along came the low which took some of the wind out of my sail.....it's a lengthy story but the gest of it was an adult man thought he could come in our yard and fuss at my son! Need I say more....my mother instinct and claws were at full force. It's a situation like this that reminds me why God placed a very calm, levelheaded man in my life. He convinced me to let it go! I bet most of you moms out there are thinking "oh heck no" but I know the best thing to do is to leave it alone and I did. In the big scheme of my day, this was really trivial and in no way could damper all the good news and excitement. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the weekend. Hope your day has been full of highs!

For those of you who know me, you know how much my maltese Gracie means to me - she is like another child. I am rather particular about her and therefore I am really picky about who will groom her. We have been through several groomers...some good some not so good. In fact most are not so good until we finally found one that we really liked, Gracie seemed to like her (or liked her as much as she willl like anyone who is going to scrub, cut and blow dry her) Well on Friday we found out that our new found groomer would be leaving town. Now what are we going to do! Any suggestions???

On a totally different note, we helped celebrate the Eagle Scout ceremony of a dear friend. As part of this service, the scout master asked that all Eagle scouts in attendance come stand with the current Eagle candidate. The pin that was being presented passed through the hands of all Eagle scouts before being presented....each Eagle told their troop number and the year they received their award. There were 21 Eagle scouts present in that room! My hubby was one of them....he had knocked off the dust and even found his pin that he received 37 years ago and wore it to the ceremony! It was a very special moment and what made it even more special was the fact that I was in attendance 37 years ago when he received his and it was such a good feeling to reflect back on that time and realize how many, many special years we have shared together. He has aged quite nicely, I might add :)

As I sign off tonight, I ask that you please pray for Morgan Kate's trip to the pulmonary doctor tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, "house arrest" will be over.

Whew - this is the first time I have sat down since I got home today. As soon as I got off work, my hubby had the 4wheeler loaded up and we headed to the farm to enjoy this nice weather. Actually it was not as warm as I thought it was so the ride was a little chilly but it didn't matter because it was so nice to spend good guality time together. After our afternoon of riding, we ordered some pick up food on the way home .....yummy! We ordered from Chestnut Grill - my children accuse me of not wanting to eat any other place in Orangeburg but hey, if you know a good thing why go somewhere else.

I have to give a shout out to my blog designer...the one and only Heather! Hope you like my new look ....she worked hard on getting it to suit me. There was way too many choices and decisions to make about the layout. Hopefully one weekend soon, she will conduct a "Blog 101" class and she can show me all her tricks and how to add pics. Until then, I will continue to learn on my own.

Off to do some laundry.

Reflection

Yesterday my mom had to have her pacemaker replaced and for most people that is usually a fairly simple procedure but for her she makes the surgeon work for his money. She is totally dependent on hers so it's a little tricky (a test to the doctor's dexterity)....he has to get one out and the other pacemaker in place in a very timely fashion. Yesterday was a success! After the procedure, she came to our house to spend the night. Having not had anything to eat all day, she was starved and we probably could have fed her a peanut butter sandwich and she would have been thrilled but we did a little better than that.

I am a person who is all about routine and a schedule...sometimes I'm a little too obsessive about a schedule. So when it came time to go to bed, I wanted my mom to sleep downstairs to avoid the stairs and I slept up stairs. Because of our schedule, right off the bat, Gracie - my sweet little maltese, knew something was not right....she pranced around for quite some time before she agreed that it was OK for us to sleep upstairs. We crawled into bed, said our prayers and as I turned off the lights I noticed these bright spots on the ceiling. I rubbed my eyes thinking I must be seeing things but then it dawned on me....Heather in one of her many decorating attempts had put these stick on stars on the ceiling that glow in the dark when the lights are off. I honestly laughed out loud. My mind started to wonder and I reflected on all the many times she had decorated her room - put zig zag lines on the wall - painted it every color in the rainbow - to the point that the paint is so thick on the walls that it has a crackling effect look. I thought about all the laughing and crying that had taken place in that room.. I truly reflected on her entire childhood. Those stars turned out to be better than counting sheep because apparently I drifted off to sleep. I can't wait to see all the attemps MK will make in decorating her room :)

Silent Saturday

Heather's blog simply stated "Silent Saturday"....although she uses that term to describe a post with no words, I use it to describe the ride home after leaving Morgan Kate. Not only was I silent while reflecting in my mind how nice the weekend was but I was silent so that I could savor each moment. I just wanted to think back on her precious smile, her laugh, her little noises and how comforting it is to just simply sit and hold her. So tonight, I will continue to be silent and think about how rewarding spending time in Columbia is! Thank you God for my children and granddaughter!

Just for the record, it's not only Morgan Kate that we get excited to see, but we love spending time with Heather and Travis and an added bonus was having Owens and Trenholm there! Family means the world to me, if you can not already tell. Sorry Kyle that you had to work, maybe next time.

Just a few that could use your prayers

I'm glad to report that I am feeling much better - I hate to report that I think I passed it along to Kyle. He too went to the doctor yesterday and got some meds. He is one of many that I would ask you to pray for. Another request I have is for a special little friend, Luke. He, his mommy and daddy (Mark and Laura) have been family friends for years. Luke just celebrated his first birthday. In his short life so far he has already had to have open heart surgery actually not long after his birth. Well tomorrow morning he has to have a little procedure done and will have to be put to sleep for it. Of course, his parents are anxious about him having to be put to sleep with his heart situation so I know they would appreciate the thoughts and prayers. A special lady I know found out last week that she has cancer. I do not want to mention her name because she wants to keep things low key and I respect that but God will know her by name when you pray for her. I have been reading a blog that I came across and the mom on this blog, Devon, has really touched my heart. She lost twin boys last year this time - in fact March 7 and 8 of 2008. I ask you to please pray for her as she reflects back on this past year and remember her sweet boys. I certainly can not fathom her loss but you can just feel the emptiness and pain in her words. Lastly, please pray for my nephew, Chad and his wife, Corrisa - they lost their sweet Isabel (their poodle).

I would like to sign off with a praise - Morgan Kate weighed in at the doctor today at 11 lbs. 1 oz. and continues to make great progress! I stand in awe of her and the true miracle that she is and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will see her this weekend!

No one seems to understand my urgency

After laying around most of the weekend and trying to rest and fully recuperate from this grud, I decided to call the dr. back today. Most people could not believe I was going back to the dr. after my long wait last week but I have got to get well! When I called, I was greeted with sure, come on in around 11:45. In my mind I am thinking - perfect time! They will want to get everyone in and out in order to go to lunch - NOT! After about 45 minutes or so, we were told that the dr. was in but had not seen a patient yet. OK, I am trying to digest that comment and before I have an opportunity to question the nurse, another lady speaks up and inquires exactly what that means....like here it is 12:30 and the first patient of the day has not been seen. We are hoping we have misunderstood but that was not the case. Since I work right down the street from this office, I ask if I can return to work and come back at a later time....I go back to work and return to the drs. office later in the day. This time, while sitting in the waiting room, I engage in a conversation with a sweet little old lady. She turned to me and said honey, I'm hungry...I've been here a long time. Of all the days to not have a snack in my pocketbook! I sure wanted to help her out. As we were talking, I explained to her my urgency to get well. She just smiled and said, grandchildren make a world of difference, don't they! Unfortunately no one else understood because I was told to take some more medicine and rest and it will take time for it to run its course! I was hoping for a quick fix like maybe a shot in each hip - something that would work overnight! Well I will press on with the rest and meds because I am determined to be A-okay by this weekend. The good thing is I am much better and almost there! If you have any home remedies for a lingering cough, holler at me and let know.