100th post- Funny Story!

This is my 100th post to this blog- I found this story thru Dee--Enjoy!

"A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door.

She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.

"I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday- School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian Fish emblem on the trunk.

Naturally... I assumed you had stolen the car."

Enjoy your Saturday! Blessings!

Bronchitis!

After being sick since last wednesday, I finally went to the doctor yesterday. I have bronchitis secondary to an infection, so now I am on some good drugs and hopefully on my way to recovering soon. I can already tell a difference as I am not coughing near as much or as hard.

Today was my therapy day for the cochlear implant and Lo and Behold, my therapist has either quit or been sacked. I had a totally different therapist today who obviously had not been given any information about my case. So it was like starting over from scratch. I like the new therapist well enough (I liked the old one too!) and she seems to want to help me. She is going to prepare some material for me so that I can do most of the work from home, that will work well for me as it is hard to find babysitters during the summer.

I took lil K to buy a new dress today for a wedding she will attend with my parents while her Dad and I are in Hawaii! What is the deal with the brown stuff? Everything was either brown or white! I am not crazy about her in brown and white for a wedding was not a good thing. I ended up getting her an aqua and white striped dress but may try to find something else before the wedding or maybe she will wear something she already has (easter dress maybe!) I think I overdid it with the shopping and the therapy today, so I am ready to hit the hay! Have a good evening everybody!

The Shrine of The Mouse!

Let's face it Walt Disney was a genius! How else can you explain why rational, sane people would want to spend tons of money, to go on vacation and run themselves to death. We had a great time but seriously need a vacation to get over our vacation.

We took lil K out of school early on the last day of school solely because it saved us over $500. in airfare to leave a day early! She got straight A's on her report card, I think she will be okay! We flew into Orlando on SW, it was cheap and it was a direct flight, can't get much better than that! We followed the white Mickey glove to our ride on the Magical Express (bus service) to the beautiful Port Orleans Riverside hotel. After checking in and getting some dinner at the food court (food was expensive and okay, nothing to write home about!) we returned to our room to find our luggage had been delivered safe and sound (always a good start to a vacation, when your luggage arrives in one piece.) Lil K and big K took a dip in the pool while I unpacked.

The first day was spent at Animal Kingdom, where lil K got her hair wrapped (something she had been planning for several weeks) and we rode some rides, saw some shows. Then the bottom dropped out of the sky and we got very, very wet!
Luckily it was close to closing time so we just headed back to the hotel. It cleared up and we all went swimming again after dinner.

Day two was spent at MGM, where we learned lil K is our roller coaster loving baby. She would not ride Tower of Terror but loved the roller coasters. It was at MGM that I ran into my good friend David G. who I grew up with and had not seen in several years. Talk about small worlds! Unfortunately, we did not get to visit long because we both had places to be, we had Beauty and the Beast to see and then a Hoop Dee Doo Review reservation that evening. Hoop Review was great, the food was pretty good and the show was corny but very entertaining.

Day three was spent at Magic Kingdom in the morning, a break for swimming and a short rain storm in the afternoon and then dinner at Cinderella's castle in the evening. We had a good dinner and were able to watch the fireworks from the castle windows. Lil K enjoyed the characters and big K enjoyed the fireworks and the castle. Me, I enjoyed making my people so happy. Magic Kingdom had late hours that night so we were able to enjoy the park in the cooler night air and with much shorter lines after our dinner.

Day four and five were spent at Epcot, which is my husband favorite park. It was there we ran into a second friend from college. It is really odd when you are far from home and you run into people you know. We had reservations for Rose and Crown for dinner at Epcot. It was great, we ate on the patio and had front row seats for the Illuminations show that night. Soaring at Epcot is a great ride, be sure and go early and get a fast pass to ride it (it is so popular that the fast passes run out by about 2 pm) It is a stimulator ride and you feel like you are in a glider going over all these different places, mountains, water, fields, Disney World...too cool!

The last day we were at Disney, we went to the Grand Floridian and had a character breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice, The Mad Hatter, Tigger and Pooh. The food was pretty good and the hotel is lovely.

The first time we went to Disney in 2004, I did not get any dinner reservations or character meals. This time we did and it was well worth it. If you are going and you have younger children, it is worth it to book the reservations. The kids really get a kick out of getting the characters autographs and talking to them.

Like I said before Walt Disney is a genius. He got this notoriously stingy, cheap person to shell out big bucks to wait in long lines, get pushed around by sweaty people, eat horribly expensive so-so food and be seriously sleep deprived all week. Yet I had a great time and can't wait to go back and do it all again! Maybe there is something in the water?

We actually did not do that much damage. We limited lil K on what she could buy, so we did not end up with a bunch of cheap junk. She got her hair wrapped and her face painted and bought a couple of things with money from her grandparents but we did not buy a lot of stuff in the parks. I had bought a few things for her at the dollar store before we went, like the glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces that are so expensive in the parks, I got them for $1 and gave them to her before we went out at night. We stayed in a moderate resort but only because the cheaper ones were all booked up. You can do Disney on a budget if you try really hard. It is a really cool place to go if you can manage it. The attention to detail is just incredible. If you are not familiar with Disney theme parks and the things I have been writing about, just go to disney.com and you can find pictures of everything there.

Other than the long lines and hot weather. the only negative things that happen were that big K lost his favorite hat and I caught this awful cold! We are still hoping someone will find his hat and I am slowly getting over this cold.

Sorry for the long post but that was our trip to Disney! If I ever figure out how to post pictures maybe I can show you some of our fun times. I think I will try to make that my goal to figure out how to post pictures by the time we get back from Hawaii, because I know you will want to see those pictures!

Home From Disney!

We survived our trip to Disney World and made it home safely! I started to feel bad yesterday and today have a sore throat and stuffy head. Yep, made flying lots of fun! I will fill you in on all our fun in a few days, once I recover from my vacation! One interesting thing, we ran into not one but two old friends while we were there, no telling how many people we knew were there but our paths never crossed!

It certainly is "A small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world" Come on sing it with me......



Note to Dee-actually ran into David G. while at Disney World, what are the chances of that happening! Unfortunately, I did not get to see Becky or Daniel, they had already left the park that day. I was so surprised to see him, that I really did not get to catch up with him much but it was sure good to see him and get a hug from him!

The Lion King!

Hubby and I were able to enjoy a wonderful night out last Friday. We had tickets for the Broadway production of The Lion King. We made dinner reservations at a little place close to the theatre and were told we were given the best table in the house (not sure why but it was nice!) The show was great! The sets were just incredible. I of course could not understand a lot of the dialog but thanks to my darling daughter I have pretty much memorized the story of The Lion King, so I was able to keep up with no problem. It was nice to hear the audience laugh and enjoy the show so much.

If this show comes to your town, be sure and go, it is awesome. This is the second broadway production of a Disney classic we have seen. The other was Beauty and the Beast, we saw that at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. It was magnificant too! Can't wait to see what they adapt next!

Hope you are all having a good week, it is the last week of school here so we are all busy, busy, busy! Blessings!

Watch Out World!

My passport arrived this week! My daughter has also picked this week to try my patience sorely. The A/C is not working (not acceptable in TX in May--got up to 100 here yesterday!) So far hubby is still in my good graces! But they better watch out, the only thing standing between me and a hammock on some island is my conscience!!! I guess one could argue that my hubby could threaten the same escape (except that he doesn't know where I hid his passport-tee hee!) (Hey someone has to stay home with the child!)

I am only joking, I am not going to dessert my family! It would be more fun to take hubby with me (jury is still out on darling stinker, I mean daughter!) No , I would never leave them here alone with the non working A/C, the mountains of laundry, the bills to pay, the house to clean! No , I would NEVER do that!




or would I?

Lovely Mother's Day

My Mother's day started out with breakfast in bed. The two K's brought me a tray with a cheese and bacon scone and coffee. Then I got to open my mother's day gift of a James Avery Charm. I have a charm bracelet but whenever I get a new charm I wear it on a chain around my neck for awhile before I have it sautered (I am sure I did not spell that correctly) to the bracelet. My husband gave me a cute card complete with two cotton balls (it had a snoring joke referrence!)

We enjoyed a great day of worship at church today. It was sad too because it was The Beasley's last Sunday with us, they are moving to MS to be with their grandkids. The church here always gives Mom's flowers on Mother's Day and my daughter made me a pen with a silkflower attached to it (Maybe I won't lose it so easily with the big purple iris attached, which is my favorite flower!)

We had a good meal out and a quick visit to the Christian bookstore, then home for phone calls to the grandmothers and a wonderful nap! Darling Hubby took darling daughter swimming while I napped! Later, DH figured out how to use the audio portion of Instant Messenger so that I could talk to my Mom and she could type back to me. I think that was her best Mother's Day present, she said she really missed the sound of my voice (since I can't hear her on the phone anymore!) That is one thing that I really miss too is hearing my Mother's voice! Now, I am going to stop writing about it because it is making me cry.

It was a wonderful Mother's Day and I hope that yours was as well! I have said it before but it bears repeating, "Oh what a blessed woman I am!"

Story of my Rings!

I was reading a post by malia about Engagement Rings and a show about them she had seen on Oprah. This is the comment I left for her and I thought it would make a good post for my blog too!

"I think engagement rings are very important. They are an outward symbol of an inward commitment. My engagement ring and wedding band have a great story behind them.
My husband and I had been looking at rings for a long time and we had found a set in a jewelry store in Plano, TX (where the in laws live) that I just loved. However, my hubby(to be at that time) was dragging his feet a bit. So we did not buy the ring and went back to Houston and continued to do the "we are getting married but don't know when dance" Long story short, he finally asked me to marry him two days before Thanksgiving and one day before we left to go to his parents house for Thanksgiving. We went back to the jewelry store the day after Thanksgiving, just knowing the ring would be gone. It was there, sweet hubby told the clerk "that is the ring we want" The clerk said "don't you even want a price for it" and hubby said "no, that is our ring, it was meant to be" The clerk gave him the biggest smile and said "Well, that ring is half off today! The ring is beautiful and everytime I have a jeweler look at it they remark on the quality of the diamonds and the beauty of the settings. But it is special to me because Hubby wanted me to have it with no thoughts to the cost!"

That my friends, is the true story of my engagement and wedding rings! I guess I could have them upgraded to bigger diamonds or a flashier setting but why would I want to. They are the perfect symbol of K's love and committment to me. He loves me completely with no thought to the cost!

Oh what a blessed woman I am!

Busy Monday!

It was an overcast, dreary Monday morning but there were errands that needed to be run! I must have hit 10 different stores (or businesses) today but I managed to get most of my jobs accomplished. I guess it is good to combine them into one days worth since that saves time and gas. I will be glad when the trip to Disney gets here, all this planning is wearing me out (I will need a vacation from my vacation!) Nothing too exciting going on around here, just wading through these last three weeks of school. It is good to have Hubby back home again and things feeling more normal.

Blessings to all of you, hope you have a good week.

Home Alone but Not Really!

Darling daughter and myself have been on our own for the past 4 nights as darling hubby has been in Salt Lake City at a conference. He will be coming home tonight and it will be so good to have him back home where he belongs.

We have been doing fine here all week, nothing traumatic has happened but things just don't feel right. I miss his presence. I miss the security of knowing if something happened that he would be there for me in a matter of minutes (not hours). I miss adult conversation. It is harder than usual these days because I can't hear him on the phone and have to rely on emails, text messages and my daughter translating his phone calls. I miss his voice! It is really like a piece of me is missing when he is away, I just don't feel complete.

I wonder if this is how God feels when we wander away from him or fail to include him in our daily lives. I would imagine He longs to hear our voice when we fail to pray. One thing that has really helped us this week is that every night as I say prayers with my 8 year old, we ask God to surround us with his presence and to keep us safe. I have felt His presence this week, watching over us and keeping us safe.

I usually have a hard time when hubby is away because of my hearing. I think I hear things and I wander around the house at 2 am checking doors and my child. This is the first time that I slept soundly all night (except for the two occassions when darling daughter climbed into bed with me at 3 am, but we both went right back to sleep). I know this is because I made a conscious decision to ask God to be with us and he did not fail me. What a comfort to know that all I have to do is ask and he will be right there beside me. That is not to say that I don't believe bad things can happen, I know for a fact that they do happen (even to good, God loving people) but it is easier to bear when you are surrounded with love.

Thank you Lord for surrounding us with your presence and thank you in advance for bringing my sweetie home safely to us. There is a little girl here who really misses her Daddy and a big girl who really misses her husband. Thank you for the blessings you have given us, may we always be grateful. I pray that each of you who read this will feel the loving presence of God in your lives and if for some reason you don't feel it, just say a little prayer and ask for it!

Back From The Beach!

We are back from our short(2 night) trip to the beach. Althought time on the beach itself was short, only a couple of hours, we still had a lot of fun. The place we stayed was very nice, it had recently been updated and was very clean. We were in a one bedroom condo at Port Royal at Port Aransas. It was definitely not cheap but very nice. They were doing construction on one of the pool areas so we did not get to used the water slides and had to make do with only three pool areas (I know, I know, poor us!) The condo had a full kitchen, nicely stocked and a full size washer and dryer (so I did not have to haul home a bunch of sandy stuff)

I wish our condo had been a little further away from the elevators, it was right outside our bedroom window so it got a little noisy. The weather did not totally cooperate, it rained some and was very, very windy. Darling Daughter got to swim quite a bit in the pools and play on the beach for a few hours, so she is a happy camper. Hubby cut his foot while we were there but fortunately it did not turn out to be as bad as we originally thought and he still had a good time too! The place was very pretty. The pool area was nicely landscaped with lots of hybiscus and other tropical plants and flowers. Everyone was pleasant and helpful. Even the 4 bus loads of high schoolers were reasonably well behaved. Most of the other guest were like us, parents with kids. We would definitely go back, it was great!

Back to work and school now. We have about 4 more weeks of school, it sure has flown by as I am sure the summer will too. Hope you all had a great weekend and have a wonderful week too!

It's Official

The deposit has been paid, the plans are made: Hubby and I are going to Hawaii! Our plans have changed a little since the other post but not much. The hotel in Maui is going to be the Kaanapali Shores instead of Kaanapali Beach. We will still spend two nights in Oahu and then 5 days in Maui. Darling Daughter has her nose bent out of shape because she is not going. Too Bad, So Sad! I don't even remember going on a vacation until I was 10 or 12 and that was just to Six Flags. We usually did not have the money for big vacations. She will have more fun if she stays with her Granny and Papa (and so will her parents)! I can't even imagine what it is going to be like to have 7 days of just the two of us. We will miss the little princess but it is going to be great to reconnect with Hubby. What better place to reconnect than Hawaii!

Hawaii, Watch Out Here We Come! (okay, so you have a few months to prepare for our arrival!!!!)

Saturday

I wasn't at all sure what type of day it was going to be. I did not get much sleep last night, I had trouble going to sleep (too much Disney planning) and then toss and turned and had lots of dreams. So I was not a terribly "happy camper" when my daughter woke me up this morning in a rather obnoxious way! However, I did get up and get a shower which helped my mood tremendously and off we went to drive some elementary school kids to a Kids For Christ Rally, they said they did not need us to stay, just to drive and pick up, so that meant 4 glorious hours alone with my hubby!

It was great! We went to Starbucks and had coffee (Toffee Nut Latte for me!, plain Latte for him!) and a blueberry muffin. We met with a travel agent and got some info about Hawaii. We are considering two nights in Oahu ( go see Pearl Harbor) at the Wakiki Beach Marriott and then five nights in Maui at the Kannapali Beach Hotel. (Anybody have any opinions about those places they want to share?) We went to Costco and picked up a beach umbrella and cooler for our trip to the beach. We had a most romantic (well maybe not!) lunch at Sonic and then on to the bookstore. I could not believe we got so much done in just 4 hours and were still early to pick up the kids.

Darling daughter went to play with a friend and I got a lovely hour long nap while hubby got to play a computer game (heaven for him!) Later, hubby and daughter went to the pool while I read and fixed a good dinner. Now hubby and daughter have gone to the store to pick up a few things and I am reading and posting on the blog! I know I am boring but this has been a Good Day!

I need Good Days like this every now and then to keep me charged up for the not so good days. Thanks be to God the Father for all the days that we have together! I pray that I will continue to be thankful for my many blessing including my sweet blogger friends who encourage me when I am down and rejoice with me when good things happen. What a blessed woman I am! May you all enjoy your weekend and may your Sunday be spent worshipping the Almighty, the giver of all things!

Just Call A Travel Agent Already!

I feel like I am a travel agent as I am trying to work out everyone's schedules for work travel, school vacation, stays with grandparents this summer and the 4 solid weeks of church activities that darling daughter (DD) has this summer.

It started out that we would take a weekend and go to the beach just about DD's favorite thing to do, once that was scheduled we moved on to a business trip for darling hubby (DH) and then we progressed to family vacation this summer and a special trip for hubby's 40th birthday! I think we have just about got it worked out and while I have no hope that everyone will be thrilled with ALL the plans, I think the majority will be happy with most of them.

It looks like we will go to Port Aransas and have a nice weekend on the beach, then hubby will make a business trip to Salt Lake City. Whole family will make a 6 day trip to Disney ( got super great airfare)(BTW Disney is DD FAVORITE thing to do!) and then DD will have two weeks of church activities before going to grandparents for a week or so. While DD is with said grandparents, DH and Moi will be flying off to Hawaii for some long overdue alone time. We will get back just in time for DD to start second two weeks of church activities.

This leaves us with about 3 unplanned weeks for the summer. I am sure that the other set of grandparents will either want us all to come for a few days or at least DD to spend a few days with them. Then there is school stuff to buy and get ready for a new year. I am tired already but excited too.

It seems like a lot to do in one summer and a lot of money to spend (although it is really only costing us our IRS refund) which I tend to think of as our play money anyway (Brett, we give our contribution to church based on before tax income! :o) ) We tend to go months and years without any type of vacation and then we go big, so I guess this is our big year!

All that said, that is the plan! Still need to double check a couple of things and finalize the plans for Hawaii! Jettybetty, I still may not be able to hear the waves in Hawaii but I bet we have a great time anyway. I really want DH's birthday to be special and this is what he wants to do, more fun for me and less work than planning a big party!!!!

If nothing else maybe we will escape some of this Southern heat. Yes I know we are going to hot places but it can't be any worse than it is here. It is supposed to be 101 today (Hello, it's only April!) Hope all your summer plans are shapping up nicely. Enjoy yourselves, your family and the beauty that God has surrounded us with!

HOPPY EGGSTER!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!

When Mommy's Sick

When Mommy's Sick (Children)

Mommy's sick in bed today. Doctor says she has the flu. Sissy's got a stuffy nose and she might get it, too. When Mommy's sick it makes us sad she doesn't feel so good. She's having juice and medicine like the doctor said she should. It's not the same when Mommy's sick, our hugs are all sick, too, and kisses for our boo-boo's also have the flu. Our sads are even sadder so our happy's aren't as glad and when we're being naughty, that even feels more bad. Let's get her better, Sissy! Get some more juice in her 'cause I remember something else, ewwww... Daddy's cooking dinner... C.J. Heck I was looking for something funny to post today about being sick. This seem to fit the bill. Darling daughter has tomorrow off, so let's pray that Mommy gets to feeling better!

Any Old Ags Out There?

I am finding more and more bloggers with ties to A&M, so if you are an "Old Ag" or have a child who is either a student at A&M or a former student at A&M, please leave me a comment below! If you are a former student at A&M and a former member of the "Aggies For Christ" please leave a comment also! Lastly, if you know someone who was in the AFC's or at A&M tell them about my blog and have them post a comment. I would love to hear from some of my old friends if they are out in blogsville! I was at A&M during the 80's but don't let that limit you in responding. Whoop! GIG 'EM AGGIES!

PS> I don't want any posting from "Jim Shorts" Almost every year at church when the new semester started and the several hundred college students placed membership someone would sneak in a card by "Jim Shorts" and Bob D. (campus minister at that time) would read the name out and wait for this guy to stand up. Everybody would laugh including Bob and he'd say "I can't believe you got me again!" AHH, Memories!!!!

Hello God? Is it really you?

We have been studying a book in our Life Group called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. (I tried to underline it but blogger won't let me, sorry!) I confess that I am having a hard time getting into this book. It may be my conservative COC background but often when someone tells me they have been "called by God" to do something, my first reaction is often "are you sure it was God doing the calling?" and my second reaction is "have you talked to someone (psychiatrist) about this?"

I am trying to read this book and keep an open mind about it but it is difficult. A friend of mine recently told me she had been dreaming about Africa alot and wondered (jokingly) if that meant she should move to Africa and be a missionary. I (jokingly) told her "No, it means that you need to go buy that animal print purse and the matching shoes!"

I don't know if I am just not strong enough in my faith for this study yet or what. I definitely believe that God can and does put things in my life to help me make decisions but am just not sure that he "calls" me in a tangible way. I am not confident in my ability to sort through, what is God's will and my want. Also, I worry that it is not God speaking but Satan who puts the thoughts and ideas in my head.

I think I will have a lot of questions for God once I get to Heaven. (or maybe once I get there it will either not matter anymore or suddenly all be crystal clear) For now I guess I will read the chapter for Sunday night and try to participate as much as I can. Even if I don't totally agree with everything in the book, it is a good opportunity to study and ponder God's word.

Anyone have any thoughts on God calling us to do things or go places?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bummer Day for Little K!

My 8 year old is having a total bummer day! First thing this morning, I squashed all her joy by refusing to let her wear her new flip flops to school. I insist on following the tennis shoes at school rule and that makes me a "mean mama"! She was already in a bad mood because she did not get to go swimming on Sunday and it was the first day the community pool was open. She had planned all winter to go to the pool on the first day it was open but because we had out of town company, she did not get to go (so sad!)

She planned to go to the pool today and her Dad took off work so he could take her. She called her friend to go with her and the little friend could not go until after 5. No problem, they decided to wait and go after 5 instead of at 4 like they had planned. At approximately 4 :45 I looked out the window and it was dark and beginning to rain! So no swimming today! There is a dark cloud hanging over this house and I don't mean the rain clouds!

Good Book!

Hello Friends! Hope you all had a good weekend. Ours was rather uneventful (a good thing) Hubby and I were able to enjoy each other's company for almost the whole day on Saturday because darling daughter played at a friends house all afternoon and then we had already arranged for a babysitter in the evening. We were able to go to Costco and browse the whole store with no one saying, "I am bored, let's go home" I love to check out the book section at Costco and came home with a few new ones.

I just finished one of them this morning as I was working my way through our endless supply of laundry (who knew 3 people could produce so much laundry!) "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith was a good quick read. It is set in Botswana, Africa. It is a short book (235 pages), so it doesn't take forever to get through it. It looks like it is a series with several other books continuing the adventures of this unlikely lady detective. I can't wait to pick up some of the other books in the series.

Looks like we might be getting some rain, we sure could use it in this area. Here's wishing you a delightful week, full of good friends, peaceful families and all of God's richest blessings!

Spoke too soon!

Things got a little more interesting around here after I posted about a boring week (isn't that how it usually works!) The new (expensive) computer decided to bite the dust. I was working on it and and an error screen popped up and before I could even react to that the whole screen went POP! I tried everything I knew to do to get it to come back up but it would not boot up, it would show the logo and then fade to grey! I was just sure that we had a 90 day warrantee on it and that it was day 91!

Hubby tried to fix it with no success ( he is the computer expert) so I was really sweating it out at that point but we got on the other computer and using the webpage figured out that it was a bad memory card. It will work with only one card (yeah!!!) and the card was covered by a One Year Warrantee (double Yeah!!!!) So now we are back in working mode and a new memory card is on it's way to our house! So all is well once again.

That is enough excitement for me this week, I will take my dull hum drum week back now. Had another remapping done with the CI today. Just have to be patient and wait and see with it! It is in God's hands! Have a great weekend!

Nothing Much Going On Here!

Keep trying to come up with something to post about but this has just been an ordinary week for us. Filled with hum drum stuff that married people and families do! Hasn't been a great week and hasn't been a lousy one! We picked up a new area rug for the family room. K has doctor appt this week and I have a remapping on Friday for the CI.Maybe this will be the week that they make just the right adjustment and everything falls into place.

Thanks be to God for hum drum weeks, they can't all be terribly exciting and thankfully it has not been a bad week! Hubby and I are teaching a class at church on Weds. nights in sign language. We don't have a big group but they seem eager to learn and they provide us with lots of laughs.

All you bloggers out there with exciting weeks, write about them so us hum drummers can have something to read about this week! Taking any trips Jettybetty? Any cute pictures Maui Mama? Have a blessed week everybody!

Home Again!

Hello friends! We are back home again after spending some time with my folks. They celebrated thier 50th Anniversary last week and we gave them a party on Saturday. It turned out really nice, especially considering that it was planned from 300 miles away completely through e-mail between my brother and myself.

Hubby and I stole away for two days to a B&B in Galveston, while darling daughter was spoilt rotten by my parents. The B&B was great and time alone was wonderful. It was called the Mermaid and the Dolphin and it was in a beautiful old mansion on Galveston Island. It was too cool for the beach but we had fun walking along The Strand and just spending time together. The hot tub for two on the private veranda was mighty nice too!

Now, we are back home with a pile of laundry to do and lots of little things around the house to keep us busy. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted. Hope you are all enjoying your week and a Happy Saint Paddy's Day to you all tomorrow!

ON A POSITIVE NOTE!

I know that you all are used to me complaining on my blog but I actually have some encouraging news to report. First of all, I heard my daughter ask me a question on Friday through the implant. We were in the car and I can never understand her when I am driving and she is in the backseat. I had pulled into the parking lot where she takes her swimming lessons and turned off the car. She said "mama, what time is it?" ( I was not looking at her and had my head turned where my processor was towards her) and immediately I said, It is 3:11. Then I realized what had just happened and so I asked her what she just asked me and lip read her say I asked what time it was! I told her that I heard her thru the implant for the first time and she said "Mama, that is so cool!"

Second great thing is I got to go out with my favorite date twice this weekend. My daughter spent the night with a friend (different friend this week) on Friday and we had already arranged for a baby sitter for Sat. So what a treat to have time alone with my hubby two nights in a row. My daughter made it thru the night at her friends house this week ( I am not too surprised because she knows this friend and her family much better than the girl she tried to spend the night with last weekend. So no midnight trips across town to pick up an unhappy child this weekend!

I was able to hear a couple of words clearly and can tell that I am hearing speech more frequently now, rather than just beeps and whistles but there are still some problems with the processor. It is too loud to wear for any length of time so I will have to have more programming done this week. But I am very encouraged because this was the first time I heard anything besides just beeps and whistles. So while it is not fixed by any means we are making progress and I can see there will be a time when I can hear with this implant. That gives me great hope for the future and as Christians we all know how powerful hope can be!

Hope you all had a happy weekend, full of good times and good friends. Blessings to all!

GREAT FRIEND!

I am fortunate to have a great friend, Carrie. Some of you know her and already know what a special lady she is. She is always there for me if I need to talk to someone, we meet at a Christian themed coffeehouse for breakfast somtimes and spend an hour or more sharing. Lately I have been sharing more than her because there is a lot going on in my life now but we always seem to laugh and come away feeling a little better afterwards. I hope that I am able to give her back a little of the love that she is so freely giving to me.

So today I am saying a special Thank You to my friend Carrie! Thank You for laughing with me and crying with me too! Thank you for being there to take my child when I had my kidney stone attack and landed in the ER. Thank you for being such a sweet friend. I love you and I thank God for blessing me with such a sweet friend!

Goodbye Old Friends!

Growing up in my household meant the men ruled the television. My brother was big into Star Trek and my Dad was big into westerns. Thus I watched way too much of both of those types of programs.

Andy Griffith was one of those shows that everybody got to enjoy! Barney has been making me laugh for close to 40 years. My 8 yr old likes to watch the DVD with the old shows on it. Poor ole Barney (Don Knotts) passed away this week. I never cared for his character on Three's Company but always enjoyed Barney. Andy Griffith put it best: "Don was a small man ... but everything else about him was large: his mind, his expressions," Griffith told The Associated Press on Saturday. "Don was special. There's nobody like him.

"I loved him very much," Griffith added. "We had a long and wonderful life together." I sure hope when I die that my friends can say that about me!

Another actor Dennis Weaver died this week also and he entertained us with Gunsmoke and later MCCloud but I think what impresses me the most is he was married to the same woman for 61 years. It is really hard to find that in Hollywood anymore! Of course, he did not live in Hollywood, preferring to live in Colorado in a solar powered home that was made from mostly recycled material. A family man who cared about the enviroment sounds like a good guy to me!

I don't know anything about either of these men's spiritual life. I hope they knew Christ and I hope they are with the Father now. I can appreciate both of these men for the joy they brought my family and countless others. Think I will go watch a Andy Griffith DVD and laugh with Barney for awhile!

Nice Anniversary Dinner!

Hubby and I went out for a nice dinner down on the riverwalk Friday night. It was a dress up place and darling daughter was at a sleepover. It was nice to get away for a little while just the two of us and try some things (food wise) we had not experienced before. It wasn't Hawaii but it was still quite nice. We have decided that it will be "our place" and when we need to get away, we will get a babysitter, get dressed up and escape to "our place"!

Then back to reality! Darling daughter called at 12:30 am and said she wanted to come home! Poor Hubby had to get dressed and go pick her up. She was so tired, she was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow. This was only her second sleepover (other than grandparents) and so we were not too surprised. I think I came home from a sleepover or two but then again, my friends were next door not across town!

Hope you are all having a blessed weekend! We got a little sunshine on Thursday (which was our anniversary) but then back to the rainy weather. We need the rain but have been getting mostly drizzle. Today we got a pretty good downpour so maybe it will help the aquifer fill back up and we won't have water restrictions and brown yards this summer. Look forward to going to church in the morning and singing (and signing) praises to God. Week just goes better if you start it off right! Blessings!

Rainy Days and Tuesdays and Wednesdays.....

WARNING THIS WILL BE A PITY PARTY POST! I KNOW THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE IT WORSE THAN ME BUT RIGHT NOW I JUST NEED TO VENT! FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS POST IF YOU DON'T LIKE PITY PARTIES!

Will the sun ever shine again in SA? At least it is not as cold as earlier in the week. It is just so dreary, it is hard not to be depressed. K is home with a fever, they called me from school to come get her around 1:00. I am not sure what the problem is, she really seems to be fine, not really complaining about anything. She is just complaining because I won't let her go out in the drizzle and jump rope and also I told her we would not be going to church tonight. That girl takes her church going seriously!

I had my balance test this morning and the crystals in my inner ear are messed up. They have migrated into the balance area of my ears and I have to go thru a series of manipulations by a physical therapist to put them back. Sounds like quackery I know but it is legitimate stuff. I was embarrassed because during the balance test I started to cry, I am just so frustrated with all of this stuff. I am dizzy all the time, it seems and I have all these side effects from the surgery and yet I still am not making progress with the cochlear implant. Dr. wants me to have an x ray to make sure the electrodes are in the right place. He also wants the representative from the company that makes my implant to do a complete diagnositic on the unit and make sure it is working correctly. He wants me to walk every day to improve my balance and then see the physical therapist on the 6th for the manipulation to put my crystals back in the right spot.

It just seems like I am worse off than when I started. I felt like I had to try the implant because there was nothing else that could be done from a hearing aid standpoint but I really did not know that the side effects would be so severe and so emotionally draining. I am trying to be patient and do all the things that they tell me to but it is so frustrating. I really wish I could go back 6 months and just be hearing impaired again. True, I could not hear a lot of things but I could still talk to my mom on the phone and call my husband when I needed him or just to hear him say "I Love You, Babe!"

Sorry for the pity party post. Maybe I have SAD and need to get one of those sun light lamps! Now I will count my blessings: I have a God who loves me and gave his Son for me! I will be with Him in Heaven one day! I have a fantastic husband who has been my friend for about 19 years and my hubby for 15 years (tomorrow!) He is my biggest supporter and encourager. He is always there for me. I have a beautiful healthy little girl who can make me laugh and smile just by being herself. I have a roof over my head (a pretty nice one too!) and plenty to wear and too much to eat. I have friends who love me and will put up with my pity parties! :0) So I am a blessed woman!

Rainy Days and Mondays!

Like the old song says "rainy days and mondays always get me down" add to that "cold " and a pile of laundry! Enough said! Here's to a brighter day tomorrow!

Almost New Furniture!

We got the couch and the two recliners back from the upholsters today. Had to write them a big check but I am pleased with the results. Everything is starting to come together in the formal living room. It is never really going to be formal but it definitely looks better now. I bought two throw pillows in the same stripe as my dinning room chairs are covered in (that was a job recovering those things) and they look great on the new gold fabric of the couch. The formal living and formal dining room are really one big room ( no wall between them) so this ties them together really well.

The furniture guys also moved another couch which had been in the living room into a small bedroom at the front of the house. We call this room the baby's room because when we moved here we put the crib and nursery furniture in that room. If we had another baby that would have been the nursery. I don't think there are going to be any more babies in this house, so we have decided to make it into the office/guest room. Some of our guest are having a hard time with the stairs so we thought we would put the blue sleeper sofa in that room and they can use it if they don't want to climb the stairs to the real guestroom. I have several blue bonnet pictures and accessories so I am thinking of decorating that room with them and calling it our "blue room". But first we need to get rid of some of the junk in there. We have gotten into the bad habit of putting stuff in there until we can decide what to do with it. Maybe I need to go read the fly lay.com for some ideas on decluttering that room.

Anyway, after 16 years of hating that SW couch, it is gone! I am so thrilled! The old dirty pink recliners that survived about 11 moves , are now beautiful and clean! And after 5 1/2 years in this house I am finally fixing up the living room and making an office! Hey, I am slow but eventually I get it done. Probably what this all means is my hubby will come home and tell me he has been transferred. Usually that is what happens about the time I get my house the way I like it! (TMK and Jenny-- no we are not moving, does not look like they will transfer big K for at least 10 years, I am just being pessimistic!)

Tomorrow I go back to CI for remapping. I am a little more hopeful this week that my brain is starting to get this stuff. I actually understood that someone was reading scripture on a CD that I was listening to (could not really understand what he was saying but could tell he was reading scripture) and then today, I kept hearing a funny sound and I finally figured out it was the telephone ringing. So I am making little baby steps.

I think I am about to get over this flu and cough I have had forever, got some good news regarding a problem my family was experiencing (relief in sight maybe!) and just generally seem to be feeling more positive about the CI. Thanks for all your prayers, I know they worked and helped me get through a rough time!

Honey Is Coming HOME!

What I have been avoiding writing is that my hubby has been out of town on business all week! ( I wasn't comfortable blogging that we were home alone!) So not only were K and I sick all week, we did not even have anyone to take care of us! All together now AWWW...YOU POOR THINGS!!! I heard "I miss my Daddy" hundreds of times this week!

However as of 11:30 this morning he is on the final leg of his flight coming home. K and I will go pick him up later this afternoon. I am looking forward to talking to an adult in the house again. I am looking forward to sharing the parenting load, although he may get to share a little extra this weekend, because I need some sleep.

I just don't function as well without him in the house. I am afraid something will happen and I will not hear it. I often wake up several times during the night and wander around thinking I am hearing something. Even simple things like not hearing the alarm clock (yes I know we can buy an alarm that will shake the bed but we haven't yet!) Let's just face it I don't llike to be alone! I miss having him in the bed with me, I even missed his snoring! (now that is true love!) Mostly I missed laughing with him. Alot of our time spent together involves laughing, we find humor in almost every situation (I am convinced that is one of the things that has gotten us through some rough stuff! ie..miscarriage, moving 1300 miles away from all out family, infertility issues) No matter what, we can always find something to laugh about!

If the tone of his emails and text messages is any indication, he missed us just as much. He is a homebody who likes to be with his girls! I don't think he sleeps so well in those hotel rooms all alone either. By the end of the week, I think he is more than ready to get back to this boring old routine. So Baby hurry home, I miss you like crazy!

Thursday

I had an appt with the ENT today, he said I probably have the flu but gave me antibiotics just incase it was something else. He said he did not want to take any chances with the implant. He is having me come back in two weeks to do a balance test again, since I am still dizzy when I turn over on my left side. He is also concerned that I am not understanding more with my CI, so he wants a representative from the company that makes my CI to be there for my next mapping with the Audiologist.


I feel like I have the flu, all I want to do is go to bed but K will be off the bus soon so I need to stay up and take care of her. Maybe she can go to friends house to play this afternoon. She does not have school tomorrow (in service day) but has a brownie activity in the morning. We can sleep in a little (about an hour) but that is it. Hope all of you are well and don't have the flu, cause it is NO FUN!

Weary Wednesday!

I kept K home today. She threw up once yesterday but that was it! However, every time she got up from the bed, she would complain of nausea. I am thinking she did not get sick because she did not have much in her, just a little soup and crackers. Today she has not had much of an appetite and is just kinda moppy but has moments when she is her old self (and her goal is to drive her mom batty!)

I woke up at 3 am feeling like I had swallowed crushed glass. Major earache on the implant side and yucky cough. I took a chloreseptic throat lougenzer and swallowed the silly thing when I laid back down, almost choked to death! All I could think of was great, K is going to wake up in the morning and find her dead mother! Obviously, that did not happen. This morning my throat was not as sore but my head was full of congestion and I am back to walking into walls again. Played phone tag with the ENT all day and finally got word that he wants to see me tomorrow morning. (Sure hope K can go to school tomorrrow!) I guess they don't want to take chances with this $70,000 device in my head! (Yeap, that is really how much it cost, I saw the hospital bill.......Thank Goodness for Insurance!)

I think everyone must be sick, even one of K's doctors called and cancelled her appt for tomorrow. The Dr. is out with the flu! The kids here are out of school on Friday as it is an inservice day for the teachers. So that makes me even more determined that she goes to school tomorrow. I can't really see any reason now to keep her out another day, no fever, no vomiting in over 24 hours. When you factor in the cranky Mama, everything points to the fact that K would be much better off in school tomorrow. There is more to this saga but I will save that for another day!

Several people have asked me about the CI, how it is going? It is incredibly slow and frustrating. I am not recognizing anything as speech or music. It remains beeps, and robotic type noises. I can tell that they sometimes follow the same pattern as the person speaking and so that is a little improvement. Basically, if I am having a good day, it is easier to deal with the frustrations of the CI and tell myself it will get better. If I am having a bad day then I am likely to feel like it is not worth the frustration. Fortunately, I have a lot of support from other people so when I am having a really bad day, they encourage me to stick with it. So I take it one day at a time! Hope all of you are staying healthy!

Tuesday!

Today has been a long day and it is only 3:30! K woke up at 6:30 saying she did not feel good (tells me that a lot) I sent her to school anyway thinking she would feel better once she got going. I got dressed and was headed out the door to go to the school when the school nurse called. They said that she was complaining of feeling nausous but had not thrown up, did I want them to send her back to class or pick her up. I explained I was on my way to the school to work in the copy room this morning, to see if she could go on to class and I would check on her when I got to the school. She went on to class and when I checked on her she was doing fine.

The copy room was crazy this morning. We were totally out of white paper for the first few hours I was there, but could still make copies if the teachers wanted colored paper. Then the copier maintance guys showed up so I had to stop everything while they did their things. Finally about the time that the copier guys finished the load of paper was delivered so we were tripping over paper boxes everywhere. From famine to feast in the paper department! I should have worn my pedometer today because I know I walked several miles.

About noon, I went and checked on K, she was at lunch with her class. I walked in and she had her head on the lunch table, not eating just looking sad! She felt warm to me and she has a mark on her forehead that turns red when she gets a fever or mad or just really hot from playing and it was very visible. So I went ahead and brought her home. She has not thrown up but just is really dragging and obviously does not feel good. If she isn't better tomorrow we may need to call up the good ole doctor!

Here's hoping for a better day tomorrow and a well child. I think I have a date with a couple of my girlfriends for breakfast tomorrow, sure hope I can make it but we will see how the night goes. It is yucky when you or your kids are sick!

Remapping Sessions!

First of all thanks to all who said a little prayer for me. I've had a really rough week and may have some more really rough ones in the future too! I am trying to take little baby steps and deal with the stuff I have control over and not get too stressed out by the things I have no control over. I would appreciate it if you all would keep praying for me over the next few week (months?) as I know prayer helps!

I finally got in to see the Audiologist and she did a remapping session. Basically, she reprogrammed the processor on the CI. I don't know if it will be better but it certainly could not be any worst than it has been. I have 4 new programs to learn. She gave me some names of people with CI's to talk to (friend jenny also gave me a name--Thanks Jenny!) so maybe I can find out first hand if my experiences are normal.

It is going to be another busy weekend here, with lots of girl scout cookies to deliver. SuperBowl party with the Life Group on Sunday! Hope you all have a great weekend and your team wins! I don't care who wins, I just like the commercials and of course it will be interesting to see who gets naked at the half time show! However the only celebrity names I have heard are Mick Jagger, Aretha Franklin and Steve Wonder and I really don't care to see any of them naked! Maybe we will have a kinder, gentler, child friendly half time show! Hope so!

BIG REMINDER! Don't go to the restroom during halftime! If you have to go, don't flush! You might blow up your toilet! Enough said!

Prayer Request!

I don't like to whine and complain (except maybe to my family) and certainly don't like to do so on my blog ( no one wants to hear about it!) So I am going to try to make this short and sweet! I am having a really hard time right now, things are not going so well with the Cochlear Implant and there are some other stuggles going on with my family. I really need some prayers to get me through all of this! So if you are reading this, please say a little (or a big, long) prayer for me and my family! Thanks!

Sorry about that!

My friend TMK just emailed me that she hasn't been able to leave comments on my blog. My husband changed the settings for me a week or so ago so I could delete someone's email address from my comments and I guess he changed something else too because she could not leave any comments. So if any of you have tried to leave me a comment and it did not get posted, please go back and try again. Whew I am glad to know that there was a problem, I thought maybe I had committed some type of BLOGGER Faux Paux or something. Some type of unpardonable sin and no one was talking to me anymore!

I think Blogger has some weird quirks to it because ever so often I find that I can't get to my friends' blogs. I will get the same one for two weeks and then all the sudden I will get the two weeks worth on one day! Guess that is just to keep me on my toes and keep life interesting.

So A thousand apologies if you left me a comment and it did not show up. Please leave it for me again, I want to hear from you!

"Marley and Me"

Just finished reading this book, "Marley and Me" by John Grogan. If you are a dog lover, this is a great book for you. This dog, "Marley" was something else but his family loved him. It is an easy read and will tug at your heartstrings. It will play on all your emotions but does not require any deep analytical thoughts to enjoy it.

Hubby and I have a babysitter all lined up and we are going out tonight! Yeah, we find that life just goes a little smoother if we carve out time for each other away from the house and child. Last night we took K and a friend of hers to a hamburger place with a patio and a little playscape. I am not going to tell you the name of it, (we might be disowned by our Aggie friends!) but it is well known in our area. It was great, food was good (not great but good) and Hubby and I sat inside by big window and watched girls play outside on the patio. It was all enclosed and they were perfectly safe. Adult conversation for us and the girls had a blast! What more could we ask for? Free Meals? I don't want to get greedy! Yeah, it is friday! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Just Say No to Predisone!

Predisone and me just don't mix! I saw my Allergist last week and she put me on predisone for a week. ( This is the third round of the stuff I have had since I started all this business with my sudden hearing loss in Nov.) I feel like I did not sleep for 5 days. I know I laid down and shut my eyes but there was no rest or real sleep involved. I had the weirdest dreams. One night I dreamed that an emanciated dark brown cow was wandering thru my house knocking over stuff while singing a single phrase from a song off the Zoe Group CD Desperate (not the whole song mind you but just one phrase over and over!) I understand where the song came from, as part of the training of my brain to use the Cochlear implant I am supposed to listen to CD's and that is the one I have been listening to the most lately. Where the cow fits in I don't know? Maybe I am feeling like a washed up old cow? Who knows?

No more predisone for me! I am swearing off the stuff! Anyone who knows me will tell you, I am interesting enough without adding drugs to the mix! Here's hoping for a good night sleep and no COW DREAMS!

Insurance companies drive me crazy!

I just got off the TTY with my insurance company, only took me 35 minutes or so to actually get someone to answer my questions. I got a reimbursement check for an overpayment on a co-pay today. Two things that I wanted to talk with them about. One was that they made the check out to my 8 year old because it was her doctor visit and secondly, they reimbursted us for exactly the amount that they raised the co-pay this year! Apparently in Tx, it is illegal to charge a co-pay that is more than the amount that the insurance company has to pay. For example this bill was for $50 and our new copay is for $30. So under TX law the insurance has to pay at least 1/2, so everytime my daughter has to see this doctor then she will get a $5 check back, unless the doctor raises the fee to $60 instead of $50.

I ask them to send the check to me or my husband so that we could cash it, nope they can't do that but said most banks would cash it no problem. Then I asked if I could just pay $25 copay at that particular doctor and save us all the hassel of reimburstment checks. Nope, I have to overpay and then be reimbursted. Well, I tried and so now the silly insurance company can just be out the postage and cost that the check cutting cost!

It never ceases to amaze me the stupid stuff that goes on in businesses and especially gov't offices. Some of the stuff that my husband has to do because of gov't contracts just flies in the face of common sense. It is no wonder we have to pay so much in taxes! Okay I will get off my soapbox now! Darling daughter will be getting off the bus soon so I better go meet her. Hope you are all having a great day, it is beautiful weather here. Sunny and not too warm, it is January after all!

TTY Lesson

I had an unfortunate experience with a TTY call on Friday and it was mostly due to the person I was calling being unfamiliar with the a Relay assisted call, so if you will bear with me I would like to explain how it works!

Because I can't hear on the phone anymore (although hopefully that will change soon), I have to use my TTY and a service called Relay to make my phone calls. I am going to assume that no one knows what these things are so that I can educate a few people. A TTY is like a small typewriter that hooks to my phone line and instead of talking, I type into it. Relay is a service provided by most ( if not all) states and is for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or verbally impaired.

When I want to make a call, I turn on the TTY and type in a phone number for Relay Texas. An agent at Relay Texas answers the phone and asks me for the phone number I wish to call. The agent then dials the number and when a person answers the agent tells them, "you are recieving a relay call, have you ever recieved a relay call before?" If you tell them "No" then they will explain the service to you. You speak to the operator who types in your words, verbatim ( as well as anything else they hear in the background) and then the operator reads the TTY users response back to the hearing person recieving the call.

If you recieve a relay call, the correct way to respond is to simply ignore the agent/operator and just speak to the person. In other words, you should say "hello, how is it going?" not "tell her that I said hello, how is it going?" There are only a couple of things that you really need to do differently than a regular phone call, one is at the end of your phrase or question, when you are ready for the TTY user to respond, you should say "go ahead" and the operator will type in "GA" which tells me/TTY user that you are finished with whatever you were saying and I can respond. At the end of the phone call, you would say "bye bye go ahead or sign off" and that way I know the conversation is over on your part. I would reply "Bye SK" or if I had something else to say or ask could do so before signing off (SK)

This service is a real lifesaver for me and it gives me a lot more independence than I would have if I had to rely on others to make all my calls. I still rely on my husband quite a bit just because people sometimes freak out when they get a TTY call. The agents at relay are all bound by a confidentiality clause so it is no big deal that they are listening to your call. I would imagine most of them are not really paying that much attention to what is being said but rather making sure they type it correctly. I am reading this to my husband to get the hearing persons opinion and he said to share with you that if you are going to be saying a long phrase then you might want to pause just a second to let the agent catch up. Like anything else some agents are more experienced than others and some type better and faster than others. He also said to let you know that the TTY users phone number will show up if you have caller id so you will know who you are talking to.

Some people are just really uncomfortable using Relay, even my Mom does not like it, preferring that I send her e-mails. So sometimes I call her with relay to tell her to send me an email or to check her email because I need a response. Most people are patient and willing to work with me on TTY and I really appreciate their patience. It makes up for those who are rude and impatient with me because a TTY call takes longer.

It is possible to call relay TX and ask them to call me. You would just call 1-800-relay-vv ( this number may only work if you live in TX) and give them my number and then the process would be the same as if I called you. However, because I have two hearing people in my house and no one ever calls me with a tty I do not answer the phone anyway ( I let the answering machine pick up or someone else answer it). The best way to reach me personally is to call and leave a message on my home phone or call my cell phone number and I will call you back at the number you called from. I need to have caller id put on my home phone so I know who calls but if you call the cell phone then I have the number to call you back.

Thanks for reading this long blog and hopefully it will make it easier for you if you should ever recieve a TTY call. Hope you are all having a lovely weekend and make some time tomorrow to worship the Lord who makes all thing possible! Blessings!

All downloaded and ready to learn!

The doctor visit went fine this morning. No concerns about the incision or surgery. I worked with the audiologist and a lady from Cochlear. The sound was not exactly what I was expecting but the ladies seemed to think everything was working correctly. It sounds like a bunch of bells going off everytime I turn it on and then as I wear it awhile it only sounds like bells when someone speaks. The tinkling or bells follow the words as the people are talking so I know it is working. Right now it still does not sound like anything, I still feel deaf and like I am in a box trying to hear people a long way off. It will get better as my brain adapts to the program. I am supposed to listen to books on tape and watch TV with the closed captioning on. Anything that simulates my brain to make the connection between what it is hearing and the words the sounds represent. It is going to be a long haul but hopefully with time and work it will pay off in the end. Thank you all for the support and prayers!

Tomorrow Is The Big Day!

My appointment with the ENT is at 8:30 tomorrow morning. He will check out the incision and give me an "all clear" to go ahead with the processor. Then I will sit down with the Audiologist and she will "hook me up"! The processor looks like a hearing aid except that there is nothing going into my ear canal (no earmold) and there is a button like piece that attaches by way of magnet to my head. If you want more info check out www.cochlear.com

Anyway, she will begin by attatching her computer to my magnet in my head and download the program into the little computer that is implanted in my skull. Then she can turn different programs on and off and adjust the volume to a comfortable level. I am not sure how much I will be able to hear. Some people recognize speech right off and others have to work a little harder at understanding it.

I will try to update you all on it tomorrow but it might be Thursday before I get around to it. Please pray that this works and there are no complications from the surgery. My hubby is taking the day off work to go with me and I hope that his voice is the first thing I hear! I am hopeful that I will be able to talk on the phone but don't think it will be immediate. My Mom is really hoping that I will be able to talk to her on the phone on Weds. but it isn't very likely to happen. I am nervous and excited all at once, sure hope I can get some sleep tonight. Blessings to all of you!

Ho Hum Weekend!

Nothing too amazing happening this weekend. Did get to have dinner out with my hubby on Friday, while K was at brownie sleepover. Nothing too exciting on Sat. just shopping (hubby did that) and a little housecleaning while K and friend played. Today I have felt so yucky. I have bad headache (allergy related I think ) and a good bit of dizziness (guess still related to surgery) I hope that the two dr. visits this week will help with these things. I am excited about the appt with the ENT and audiologist, it will be good to see what I can hear. I have read so much stuff both good and bad on the internet, now I just want to see how it affects me! K is off from school tomorrow so I guess we will try to do something fun together, any ideas? Hope you all have a great week!

Our Chrstmas Present Arrived!

The laptop that we ordered for our Christmas present to each other arrived this week. We are having fun and frustration getting it set up. I am glad we were able to get this laptop as our other computer is 7 years old and runs windows 98. Hubby is in the computer field so I imagine that was frustrating to him to have such an old, out of date computer at home. We are keeping old computer so daughter can play her games and to have a back up but will probably put most stuff on the laptop.

I took it yesterday when I had to wait to pick up daughter from school. I watched Veggie Tales DVD in the carpool lane. The picture was great and by turning on subtitles I had captioning. This is going to be nice for long car rides. We have portable DVD player (christmas present from grandparents last year) but that screen is only 7 in, the laptop is 17 inches!

Hubby bought a new game last night ("just to make sure the graphics card is working" Yeah right, baby!) By the time he got the wireless installed and all the other stuff it was 9:30 so I talked him out of playing it last night. He would have been crabby today after spending all night playing! So I think I know what my hubby will be doing this weekend!

I think it is going to take a lot of self disipline not to spend all my time on the laptop. I need to remind myself that I have other responsibilities and committments. I think I can do it, I am stronger than some computer, I do not need to play computer games, need to connect to blogsites, need to go to internet, pick up laptop, PICK UP LAPTOP......AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

The Lord's Day!

I woke up with a headache this morning so I sent hubby and daughter off to Sunday School and I joined them later for Church. It is hard to find a place to park if you just come for late service, I did not know that because we are usually in Bible Class. If I ever doubt that the people at Northside love me, I shouldn't . From the time I walked through the door, people were hugging me and asking how I was feeling. I must have repeated the same information 50X but it was sweet that so many people wanted to know what was going one with me. One Elder that I am particularly close to, grabbed me, kissed me and started lifting up my hair to see my scar.

Alot of people did not understand that the implant does not work immediately and that it would be several weeks (possibly) before I can really start hearing things. While it did my heart and my spirits good to be at church, my body was not crazy about the idea. I know that I am still weak physically from the surgery so that is definitely playing a part. It is frightening to be in a crowd when you can't hear. People would walk up and touch me and I would jump. I was constantly looking around me because I felt vulnerable. I finally asked my husband to take me into the auditorium (to our seat) just so I could calm down a little.

I was surprised at how little I could understand of the service. I am sure some was due to being tired but other parts were undoubtably due to having no hearing on my left side. I could barely hear the sopranos and alto's singing although my husband said they were very loud today. I was having a hard time with the preacher and usually can hear him pretty well. After service was pretty much a repeat of before service with lots of people asking lots of questions. Usually we eat out after Church but today I just wanted to go home, so hubby and little K went and picked up Quizno's. Yummy sandwiches and soup. My tongue is still not working right but soup is one thing that usually taste right.

Read the paper and watched a little TV before Life Group. I always enjoy being with the families in our life group but had so much trouble following "lesson" or discussion talk. Sometimes it is so confusing I just have to take myself out of the picture for awhile and not try to be a participant only an observer. It has been a good day but now I am tired and think I will probably sleep well tonight. Hopefully will not be as restless as usual, I know that I disturb hubby when I am so restless. Counting down the days until the activation, 10 more to go!

Jenny, I am sorry I missed you today. I did see your husband and cute baby ( I asked Tracy if that was them) but he was already out the door and I am in no condition to go chasing down other women's husbands! (Ha Ha) Maybe we can meet up next week. We usually go to second service and sit up in the middle section on the right (if you are looking at the pulpit) One of these days we will meet, I am sure of it!

Things always look brighter in the morning!

I am feeling some better today. The doctor's office finally called back this morning. I got answers to my questions (more or less, some where pretty vague answers) and I got the go ahead to get the incision wet so I could take a true shower and wash my hair (good scrubbing) My husband helped me wash my hair a couple of times but we had to be so careful around the ear that it really did not feel like it was totally clean!

A new day and a clean head and I am in much better spirits! I am going to venture out later and try driving for the first time in a week. My daughter has an appt this afternoon and it is not very far so it should be no problem. I am not feeling dizzy at all today so everything should be fine. Funny, how you lose your confidence after being out of commission for a week.

My hubby is so sweet! He got darling daughter off to school again this morning so I could sleep in (rough night), cleaned the kitchen up and even fixed the coffee pot so I could just turn it on this morning. I feel very blessed and loved right now. God gave me a good guy and I hope they both know how much I appreciate him!

Blue Day!

It has been a hard day today. I guess I am still recovering and it is just starting to get me down. Say a little prayer for me ya'll! I know that things will look better tomorrow so I am not going to harp on everything that went wrong today. I just really wish that Dr. offices would call you back when they say they will!

First Day At Home Alone!

Hello All ( or at least the two or three of you who read my blog on a regular basis),

Well, things are on their way back to normal around here. Darling daughter and hubby went off to school and work this morning as usual. Hubby let me sleep in this morning and got K off to the school bus, I guess everything went okay as I was still in dreamland. I know hubby made it to work as he sent a text message a bit ago and can only assume K made it to school since they have not called wondering where she is!

I am still in a fog and will get dizzy if I stand up too quickly but am not in too much pain from the surgery. Dr. made it sound like I would be fine the day after surgery but was not the case for me. It may be due to being sick the whole week before the surgery. My body was weakened and then the surgery just knocked me down further. Once I feel better I think I will talk with Dr. about not "sugar coating" the recovery information.

When the doctor places the implant into the cochlear, he cuts off whatever hearing is left in the implant ear. I guess it works kind of like lossing a limb and you get phantom pains because I have interesting noises in my left ear. It starts off very quietly, like a train in the far distance and then gets louder and louder until I think my head will explode and then it goes away. The trick is to not lose your mind before it goes away! It is never the same noise and there is no warning that it is coming on. It does seem to be happening less frequently than it did right after the surgery so that is good!

I have an appt on the 18th to be" hooked up" or "turned on" with the processor ( that is the part that is worn outside the body and looks like a hearing aid) Until the processor is added and the program installed, I have no hearing at all in my left ear. I am not sure what I will actually be able to hear once they turn it on. Some people hear right away and others can only hear robotic noises (beeps, chirps, R2D2 sounds). I suspect I will fall somewhere in the middle, being able to hear some things but needing to work on speech.

We ordered a laptop for our Christmas gift to each other and I sure wish it was here so I could stay downstairs and check out my email and blog. Hopefully it will arrive in a few days. My head is spinning and my enegy stores are depleated so I think I will make my way back downstairs to the comfort of my recliner. Hope everyone's new year is off to great start!

The Journey Begins!

Short post today as I am still very dizzy and on some pretty good pain killers. The surgery went well, except for my thick skull which took a little longer than usual for them to drill through! My face is swollen and my taste buds don't work on half my tongue but hopefully that will go away soon. Thanks for all the prayers, please keep them coming our way. I think I will inch my way back to bed now and rest my weary, swollen head!

50th Post- Big Day Tomorrow!

Hard to believe this is my 50th post but it is! Hope this finds all of you enjoying a post Christmas glow! Christmas was fast and furious as always. We were all sick at various times over the last week or 10 days but hopefully all on the road to recovery now.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! I am scheduled to be at the hospital tomorrow at 7:30 am to check in and do lab work and surgery is scheduled for 10:30. I just finished up a round of antibiotics and still have a little bit of a cough but hopefully it will not be enough to delay the surgery, the anaestesiologist(spelled wrong, I am sure) will decide that after examining me in the morning. So please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray specifically that I can have the surgery tomorrow as planned, that the doctors will all be healthy and alert and God will guide their hands and that the proceedure will be a success.

We appreciate all the love and support we have recieved so far. Give me a couple of days to get over the proceedure and the headache that will likely accompany it and I will blog again as soon as I feel up to climbing the stairs to the computer. Happy New Years!

Finally some answers!

I am scheduled for my Cochlear Implant on the 29th of December. They are going to go with Advanced Bionics and I will go pick out my processor this thursday. It is supposed to be day surgery and I will go home that evening. When I have my appt with the audiologist to pick out the processor, I will probably get more answers to my questions, I like the audiologist, she is very personable. According to the office staff at the doctors office, the insurance has approved the surgery and there will be no out of pocket expense for us. Cool! This is going to mess up our Christmas Plans a bit but what a great after Christmas gift for me. What a great era we live in! I feel very blessed.

CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? under the tree

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? We have two trees, one with white lights and mostly angel decorations and then a smaller tree upstairs with multi colored lights and all kinds of ornaments. Outside we have both white and colored ( I was not consulted! but not complaining because I did not have to hang the lights!)

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope, no parasites in the house!

5. When do you put your decorations up? Whenever we find the time, usually drawn out over several days (sometimes weeks)

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? "Honey Baked Ham" ( but too expensive so we get it from costco or Sam's instead of the Honey Baked Co) Broccoli, Cheese Rice Casserole is a close second! Yum!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Just spending time with family and all the good food.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? "What Truth about Santa?"

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We always opened gifts in my family on Christmas eve. Christmas day was all about Santa and what "he" brought. Hubby grew up with opening gifts on Christmas day. So it depends on who is spending Christmas with us but we always open at least one present on Christmas Eve ( usually new PJ's and a book for little K)

10. What kind of cookies does Santa get set out for him? Granny's Cherry Cookies and Milk

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it! but rarely get it in TX. We saw a lot of it when we lived in Va.

12. Can you ice skate? No, unless you count sliding around the ice on one's butt!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Not as a child but getting Family Bible as an adult was very special!.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family, giving to the Angel tree (fun to buy presents for little one's who need it)

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? My Mom's (aka Granny) Cherry Cookies and Pumpkin Bread

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? A few years ago we got a stuffed cowboy Santa and we named him Stinky Pete (after Toy Story) and Stinky Pete is a sneaky guy. At night time he roams the house and we find him in very unusual places. It is fun to wake up and try to figure out where he is!

17. What tops your tree? An Angel
.
18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? Giving Although I am not opposed to recieving at all!.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Carol? Shepherds We Have Heard On High

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yummy in moderation but oh so sticky!

Patience Is Not My Strong Suit!

Here it is Monday afternoon and I am still waiting on Dr. office to call with surgery schedule for Cochlear Implant. The Dr. said I would know something Thursday afternoon. No call, so I called Friday Morning, staff says Dr. is in surgery, office closes at 1 pm, will call Monday morning. I called again this morning and they apologize and assure me someone will be calling today. Meanwhile, all Christmas plans are on hold waiting for them to let me know if this will be done this year (Dr. said this year!) or if it will be in Jan. Both sides of the family and even extended family are waiting anxiously to know when the surgery is scheduled and can we keep all the Christmas plans we have made. At this point, I really don't mind (too much) waiting until January for the surgery, I just need an answer, so I don't finalize all our Christmas plans only to have to change them again. Lord grant me patience, but do it now!

Yahoo!

After a long, long day of CT scans and tests and waiting (lots of waiting) I have been approved for a Cochlear Implant. It is possible they may do it before the end of the year. This is moving fast. I am excited and nervous at the same time. More news later. Thankyou to all who prayed for me. Thanks to God for making it all possible!

ENT visit

The ENT visit on friday was long and complicated. They did a hearing test and then the Dr. spent over an hour talking and examining me. He does not know what is causing the dizziness but feels I would be a good candidate for a cochlear implant. So today, I went and did a 3 hour balance test, not fun but not painful either. On Thursday, I will have a CT of my ears to rule out any abnormalities which might make the implantation impossible. Then I take the films to the Dr. and I undergo a 1 1/2 hour evaluation for the implant. It is mostly a test to see how much I can understand using hearing aids. Then after that I will meet with Dr. Krueger to see if I "pass" and if I can have the implant. My sweet husband is going to take the day off and go with me. That way he can ask the Dr. any questions he might have and also be my extra pair of ears. It is an exciting time but also a bit nerve racking. Please pray for me that all will go well and that I will qualify for this proceedure. The Dr. on friday seemed very upbear about the implant. He kept saying you are going to be amazed at how well you can hear after this. So it sounds like he feels I will qualify for it. The level of hearing that the doctor indicated that I would achieve with the implant far surpasses anything I have been able to get using the hearing aids.

Makes You Wonder!

Yesterday I saw this headline "Eminem Impersonator faces life in prison", makes you wonder what the punishment is for actually BEING EMINEM!!!!! I know I don't want to find out! Have A Great Day!

ENT visit

I saw the ENT today and unfortunately did not get many answers. He really does not know what the problem is. He said it is possible that this is temporary and will clear up but also possible that I have lost more of my hearing and there is no going back from that. He is sending me for a Brain MRI to rule out anything else and also referred me to another ENT that does cochlear implants. They did another hearing test and I can tell a real difference in what I am understanding with regards to my good ear (the one with the hearing aid) for the first time since I lost my hearing at age 5, I am understanding more words in my right ear(un-aided) than my left ear. That makes me think that some serious damage has gone on in my left ear. I still feel like there is fluid on my ears and I am having ringing noises in my ears. Looks like I might be able to get into the other ENT by the end of the year so maybe will know something before too long about the possibility of an implant. All of this makes me question if I want to go ahead with the plans to go to Hawaii. I want to go but wonder if I would enjoy it more if I wait until after CI when I can hear better. I feel very vulnerable in strange places without my aid. Airports make me nervous when I do have my aid, so I am wondering how I will feel about trip. Hubby and I need to sit down and talk about all of this I guess.

Hope Your Thanksgiving Was Happy!

Here's wishing everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Ours did not go exactly as planned but it was nice anyway! Only negative thing was that we did not get to see my family as planned, but we did get to visit with my husband's family. Looks like we are all about over our colds and sickness too, so that is good news! Thanksgiving is over so I guess it is time to get into the hussle and bussle of Christmas! Best get busy!!!

Things are looking up (a little!)

Sorry if my last post was negative. Things are looking a little better. K is feeling better, still coughing a little but not near as congested. All our plans for Thanksgiving had to be changed but that can't really be helped. I got an appt for the doctor for tomorrow morning (all booked for today) and am going back to the hearing aid guy this afternoon to see if we can't adjust the aid to at least help me a little bit. These last two weeks without my aid and with the ear infections have been very discouraging. I have profound hearing loss in both ears due to mumps when I was 5 years old. I pride myself on being able to function in the hearing world but that all comes to a screaching halt when my aid does not work. I find that I withdraw into myself and I lose my self confidence. I have been looking into cochlear implants but have been hesitant to do so because they have to cut off what hearing you have in order to fit you with the implants and the thought that something could go wrong and I would be worst off than I am now does not appeal to me. However if I lose any more hearing there will be nothing more a conventional hearing aid can do for me. I already wear the most powerful aid made. I have done a little research into the implants and found that my insurance will cover it but still scares me. I have not had the best of luck with surgical proceedures ( things tend to go wrong). I am looking forward to a great Thanksgiving and hope all of you have a wonderful one too!

Bummer Weekend!

K was up most of the night with congestion, so she is sick on her week off. Got my hearing aid back from the repair place and I can't use it. Sounds are totally distorted. Hearing aid guy says aid is fine, I must still have fluid or infection in my ears. Made an appt with ENT but can't get in until Weds after Thanksgiving. So I guess I will go back to regular Dr. on Monday to see what he can do for me. So all our plans for Thanksgiving are being changed, had planned to take K to see my parents but now we will have to stay home and go to dr. on Monday. I hope they are in the office this week, as all the kids in area are out all week for Thanksgiving Holidays. K is a total grump today. We were scheduled to have holiday portraits made today but cancelled that due to K being sick. So basically this is shaping up to be a bummer weekend. This too shall pass, just hope it does soon! Hope your weekend and plans are going great.

Different Talents

I was reading BST's blog this morning and he added some lyrics that a friend of his had made up to the tune of "Days of Elijah" and it just stuck with me all day. It was meant to be humorus and it was but for some reason it just bugged me as I went through my day of house cleaning and errand running. You can go look at it if you are familiar with BST but in a nutshell it was a put down on rich society, how there are starving kids in Africa and we are more concerned with our fancy cars and things. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to concern ourselves with the problems and the people in the world that are hurting but I also believe that God gave each of us our gifts and we should use them to the best of our ability. Not everyone can be a teacher, a preacher, or a missionary . Some must be financial supporters and emotional supporters for those people who do have the God given talents to go out and do the mission work.
We are not rich by any means and whatever we do have, we have because God has allowed us to have it and because we have worked hard to get it. When we were younger, we went on mission trips and we door knocked and played a more active physical role but now that we have a family and responsibilities we play a more supporting role. We give financially and we give emotionally to the Missions. We teach Bible Classes and help support our local congregation. I don't feel like I was a better Christian when I was younger and more active in Missions. Yes, I know that lots of people have families and responsibilities and still put missions first. Thank God that they can use their talents that way. I don't believe that is what God wants for us right now!
I know I am probably taking this way too seriously but like I said it stuck with me all day. We all have a role to play and as long as we are doing what God wants, what is the problem? Let God judge their hearts and just go on doing the best you can!

Which Hotel?

Travel Agent sent me three price quotes for the trip to Hawaii. The most expensive is for Hyatt, then Westin and the cheapest was Kaapannali Shores. Anybody out there got an opinion about one of these hotels or maybe a better suggestion. I guess I need to get a travel book from the library or bookstore and do some more research. I am torn between being my normal frugal (always hunting for a bargain) self and throwing caution to the wind and being a little extravagant with this trip. I guess I need a happy medium somewhere! So Jettybetty, Sandy tell me what to do, I need to make some decisions soon!

Awesome Little Swimmer!

K is doing fantastic with her swimming lessons. I thought those lessons were going to be the death of both of us. She fought me tooth and nail over them but Mama won and she has stuck with them for about 8 or 9 weeks so far! Today she swam the whole length of the pool twice, which is quite an accomplishment for a child who refused to even stay in the water a few weeks ago! I knew she could do it once she made up her mind. This child can accomplish amazing things if she has the desire. If she lacks the desire it is near impossible to get her to do it! She is my little blessing from God, the try-er of my patience, the cutie pattootee, my pride and joy and at times our greatest obstacle for household peace. I think I will keep her! (At least until tomorrow!)

A Bit Better!

I am feeling a bit better and starting to get back into my old routine. I need to go to the school and do some work for K's teacher and then tomorrow I work in the copy room at her school. Life goes on even when Mama gets sick. So far K has not gotten sick, thank goodness for that! Don't have much to say today, just wanted to get off the pity party entry and onto something more positive. Hope all have a wonderful weekend.

Poor Pitiful Me!

My ears have been stuffed up and ringing since Sunday and my hearing aid is broken. I could not go get the aid fixed yesterday because I needed to wait on the furniture repair guys to come pick up the blanket chest that was damaged when the water line burst and flooded the house. While I was waiting for the repair guys, I started sweating like crazy and was dizzy. Then the room started to go dark and I got dry heaves. So I sent my dearest hubby a text message (I need my hearing aid to use the phone) to come home, so he could let the repair guys in and deal with darling daughter when she got off the bus. ( Also just on the outside chance that I did pass out or have a stroke I thought it would be a good idea for him to be home!) Of course the repair guys got here before darling hubby, so I let them in warning them I might have the flu ( I am sure I looked like something the cat drug in and the dog refused to play with!) Once they left, I left the front door unlocked so daughter could get in the house incase hubby was delayed and went to bed. Hubby showed up shortly and was appropriately sympathetic and helpful, kept daughter out of bedroom and later brought me crakers and sprite. Whatever this was lasted about 4 hours and then I was okay.
Today I woke up and still have stuffy ears and it feels like I have battery acid down my throat and my ribs and teeth hurt (what is up with that?) So I drag myself to the doctor, where the nurse proceeds to yell at me because the receptionist told her my aid was broken and she should talk very loudly. I told the receptionist not to talk louder to me but to look at me because I read lips. I can hear the noise I know you are yelling at me but unless I can see your mouth I can't read your lips .But she still told the nurse to yell at me! (I think the receptionist must be related to the doctor because she has been there a long time (5 years) and is not the brightest bulb in the office!) Nurse was very apologetic and stopped yelling at me promptly! Dr. said I have one ear drum bulging in and one bulging out, guess there is a vacuum (or maybe a void) between my ears! Anyway, I have a sinus infection so he gave me two shots (sore bum!) and three different meds to take. I really hope to feel better soon.
I am going to take my aid in tomorrow (if I am not too dizzy to drive) and see if I can get it fixed. When it rains it pours around here. Hubby was sick last weekend and am hoping darling daughter can stay well! So here is my little pity party, tomorrow better be a better day! It has been a no good, horrible, very bad few days!

Saturday Night Wow!

We attended a fundraising concert for SWCC (Southwest Christian College) that was held at our church last night. All I can say is Wow! There was a group from SWCC, A couple of groups from Austin (One Voice and Soldiers of Power), and then some local groups that sang. Wow, it was awesome! It ran long and my 8 year old was getting antsy by the end but it was great! I am surprised the old church is still standing because they raised the roof and rocked the rafters last night. A couple of my friends at church were in charge of getting it together and they were very pleased with the money that was raised last night so I guess it worked out well for everyone. Our church has gone from being a predominately anglo congregation to a nice mixture over the last year or so, due mainly to a split within one of the black congregations in the area unfortunately but their loss has definitely been our gain. We have become good friends with several of the new families and are enjoying the diversity. During the benefit, my daughter said she wanted to attend college there when she grew up and then after seeing the video show she said "but there were no white people there" We told her maybe that will change by the time you go to college. Hopefully by the time she can go to college it will not matter what color you are, no matter where you decide to go to college or worship. Thank you God for making us all different and all special!

Hawaii Lowdown!

Anyone who lives in or has visited Hawaii, please leave me a comment and tell me what to do and what to see when we go for our second anniversary. Please keep in mind that I am over 40 (just barely) and out of shape (not so barely) So surfing is probably right out, although I might could manage jet skis. So if you are listening (or rather reading) out there send me the inside scoop on what to do and see to make this a memorable trip. Thanks in advance. I know that Jettybetty and Sandy will have some good suggestions for me, anybody else? If you haven't been to Hawaii but just have a good travel tip or romantic suggestion, send it on my way!

Lots of Trick or Treaters!

Our little subdivision always has lots of trick or treaters and last night was no exception. Seems like no matter how much candy I buy, we end up giving away most or all of it. Which is good because we certainly don't need to eat the leftovers. It is good to live in an area where I feel safe letting my daughter (she was Cinderella by the way) go around to the neighbors houses. I may have done too good of a job making her feel safe, she had a hard time understanding why she could not eat the candy until we had inspected it. She kept saying "no one would hurt me" or something to that effect. How do I keep her innocent and yet keep her safe? I don't want to scare her but there is no way I can know every family in this neighborhood although we do try to limit her door knocking to the immediate area around our house.
We live in a gated community but it is not real hard to get in ( just follow someone) so we usally get extra carloads of kids for Halloween. In some ways that bothers me that "outsiders" are in our neighborhood but then I realize they are just looking for a safe place for their kids to trick or treat. As long as they are not causing trouble, what is the harm? So I try to soften my attitude and figure that is what Jesus would want me to do.
It is a lot cooler today but it is Nov. it should be cool outside! Hard to believe that 2005 just has two months left. They will be busy ones and fly by I am sure. Hope this finds you and your families enjoying the blessings that God has bestowed upon you. For we are all blessed beyond measure and have so much to be thankful for. Happy Autumn Everyone!