More Christmas Fun

We were truly blessed this year with so much fun and love this Christmas.

As you may recall, I had a fantastic 3 days with Paige and Haleigh at the end of November and then we were able to have Jenna come stay with us for 3 days before Christmas.

We got Jenna on Wednesday afternoon and she and I promptly went shopping for baking supplies and pizza for supper.

Thursday I gave Jenna the choice of activities for the day. She chose to have us stay in our PJs all day, play with the pets, and watch cartoons. We sure did have a good time just hanging out.

While shopping Wednesday evening we had purchased a hat and scarf set for the kittens to share. It was quite amusing to let Jenna try the scarf and hat on each of the kittens and see their responses. Not one them particularly cared for the hat but Sami seemed to enjoy wearing the scarf. Jenna swears she was showing it off in the photos she took. Yes, there was quite the photo shoot at our house throughout the day.

We did wind up staying late Thursday night and doing some baking to get started on the work needed to prepare goodie trays for our neighbors. We baked 3 dozen sugar cookies and made turtles out of pretzels, rolos, and pecans.

Friday Don took us out for breakfast and then we spent most of the day decorating the baked sugar cookies to look like melted snowmen. It was so much fun, even Don had fun helping us, and they really did look like melted snowmen. We packaged up 10 goodie trays and set out to deliver them. Unfortunately a lot of our neighbors were not home and their goodies were delivered by Don and I later.

Thankfully, we were able to deliver Lori's goodie tray to her. Lori is this wonderful elderly woman who lives three doors down from us. We visit with her as she walks her dog, Pal, by our house and we occasionally share home made soups and chili with each other. Lori is hard of hearing so we went to her back door to deliver the goodies. As usual, she saw us coming around and opened the door and invited us in. Since we had all the other goodies to deliver we did not go in, but her face was all lit up at the sight of Jenna. She gave each of us a hug and gave Jenna an extra hug and a kiss on the cheek. Jenna was so gracious and loving to Lori (a total stranger to her) and I know she blessed Lori beyond measure. Jenna was beaming as we walked to the next neighbor's door, I think she realized what her visit meant to Lori. She is such a blessing to us and to her family.

Friday night we met my brother to reluctantly let Jenna go home. It was a bit easier knowing we would see her in just 2 days at my parents house for Christmas.

Sunday morning we went to church with my parents and then headed to Dexter for the family Christmas get-together. All of us were there and we enjoyed a great meal, exchanged thoughtful gifts, and had a great time visiting and playing cards all evening.

A slide show of our Christmas fun is shown below. Since it was Lynnli's first Christmas you will see her a lot! :-)

Personalize a digital slideshow

LEAF PILES AREN'T ONLY FOR CHILDREN YOU KNOW

You may recall from a few blogs back that we had Jenna here one day and she worked diligently to create a large leaf pile to jump in. Amazingly enough, a large portion of that leaf pile survived the crazy winds and is still all heaped up in the middle of the back yard.

Today Roxie went outside and was out there much longer than usual without barking her request to come back in. I walked to the back door to see what she was doing and this is what I saw:
So now you know - leaf piles are not just for kids!

BOTANICA ILLUMINATIONS WITH OUR NIECES

After our adventurous Black Friday we needed something calm and relaxing to do on Saturday. So Don took us to Botanica to see the illuminated gardens then out to Olive Garden for dinner. It was cold and VERY windy but the lights were beautiful. The musical light show and the carolers singing in the children's garden were two of my favorite things. Here are a few snapshots from our evening:

BLACK FRIDAY FUN WITH THE NIECES

Last night two of my nieces (Paige & Haleigh) came to spend the night so that we could shop the Black Friday sales together. We did this last year and it was so much fun that I was really looking forward to shopping with them again this year.

We scoured the ads and decided which stores we wanted to go to and we then decided that this year we would not wait until morning to begin. So we all got ready and headed to Best Buy at 11:30 so that we could be there when they opened at midnight. We pulled into the parking lot and saw very few open parking spaces and an extremely long line of people waiting outside for the doors to open. For those of you who live in Wichita; the line started at the Best Buy door, headed east down the strip mall clear past Office Depot's door.

Check out the picture below of part of the line. We were all appalled at the amount of trash flying in the streets from these people just throwing wrappers, cups, bags, etc into the street.


We waited on that long line of people to file into the store and then we headed in, with a mission to find our Garmin. It was CRAZY, people were rude, the lines were long, and you could barely get through the crowd to find the item you were shopping for. In fact, when we left the store we saw a friend of mine in the parking lot. She and her friend had just gotten mad and left the store without buying what they were shopping for because they were so disgusted. Although frustrating, we did get our Garmin (which Don and I are thrilled about. We have wanted one for several years and now we finally have one!) and left feeling happy with our accomplishment.

We then shopped Target, where we stood in an even longer line and made $25 in impulse purchases while snaking through the store. But we did leave with our bargains we went there to purchase and another name got checked off the list.

When we left Target it was around 2:30 so we headed to IHOP to have breakfast. Once again we had a long wait. We finished our breakfast and made it to Sears shortly after they opened at 4 AM. Sears was much nicer to navigate and there was only a 5 minute wait in the check out lane - another name checked off the list!

We left Sears and went to Kohl's. Unfortunately the line at Kohl's was longer than I wanted to navigate to pay for my one set of sheets I wanted to purchase, so we ditched the sheets and left the store. We headed to Gordman's made it there at their opening time of 5 AM. Believe it or not there were more people at Gordman's than there were at Best Buy. I have yet to figure out what the big deal was. It was almost 5:30 by the time all the people in line got into the store and we could then go in. The girls did some shopping in Gordman's. As any of you Black Friday shoppers know this is not a good time to shop - as in looking around to see what you might like to buy. Once the girls were satisfied that they had what they wanted we set out to find the end of the line. I think it took us almost 10 minutes just to find the end of the line. Then we began to wait . . . . and wait . . . . and wait . . . . and wait . . . until I felt like I was just going to burst from the inside out and could not stand there another second. At 6:30 I advised the girls that since I had nothing to purchase I was going to abandon them and wait in the car. I went out, went to McDonald's and got us all a drink, then sat in the car and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . yeah, you get the idea. After several texts back and forth to check progress the girls were checked out and to the car at 8:14. I believe those poor girls probably stood in line for over two hours! Now that is dedication.

We left Gordman's and went to Bed Bath & Beyond. This was a really good shopping experience. We were give a coupon at the door for 20% of our entire order and there was room to move about the store and look at what was available. We didn't even have to stand in line. The manager saw us pull into a line where there were 2 people and he escorted us to the customer service desk where we were quickly checked out.

We left Bed Bath & Beyond and I made a quick stop in Perfect Peace. Here I received a free pen, which I can take back to be engraved, and was able to purchase my nephew the Bible he wanted for almost 60% off. Next stop Kohl's for Paige to get a really nice item she had seen before that she decided her friend would like.

On our way to Kohl's I was teasing the girls because they could barely stay awake and I was having no trouble at all. Me, an old woman who had been up since 8 AM yesterday morning (over 24 hours ago). Check out the pictures below:

Paige in the passenger seat:


Haleigh in the back seat - she just got comfortable and gave into the sleep:


So the two teenagers are worn out and sleeping or struggling to stay awake and the old lady is wide awake just waiting on Paige to come out of Kohl's with her purchases.

Those young whipper-snappers ain't got nothing on me!


Gotta go - I'm fading fast - need sleep right away!

IS IT JUST ME, OR IS IT COLD IN HERE?

This is the time of the year that we see how long we can wait to turn on the heater. It is just so wonderful to get those utility bills that do not reflect the constant running of an A/C or heater.

Several nights have been pretty chilly but with warmer days in the forecast we grab out blankets and hold out for a while longer before we flip that switch.

The other night it was pretty cold in here. I had on my sweats, long sleeves, socks, house shoes, and was wrapped in my favorite purple fleece blanket. I look over at Roxie's bed to see the kittens snuggled together trying to stay warm. My purple fleece blanket was quickly thrown over them as the guilt of seeing them that cold washed over me. If you have kittens, you probably know that they would not normally want a blanket put on them. They may want to play under a blanket - IF they choose to go under there but they don't want anyone to make that choice for them. My fur babies must have been very cold because they all snuggled in closer and stayed under that blanket most of the evening.

Just in case you are feeling sorry for these spoiled kittens, check out the following picture of Bella and Roxie playing in the yard the next morning.

Yep, that's Bella in the tree. LOL!

MY FIRST CHERRY PIE

Tomorrow is NWCC Thanksgiving dinner and Don requested a cherry pie. I have never made a cherry pie but decided to give it a whirl.

Ok, so I cheated, and used cherry pie filling. BUT, I did get pretty dern fancy with my pie crust. OK, OK, it was also store bought dough. Common, I need all the help I can get. I did my best to do a pretty lattice on top and I am feeling pretty good about how it turned out:


So, if you want a slice of this beautiful pie just come on by NWCC tomorrow at noon and join us for the Thanksgiving dinner!

SPECIAL TIME WITH THE RICHARDSON KIDS

Last weekend we got to spend 3 days and two nights with our nephew and 2 nieces in Winfield. We treasure these times, especially with the older two now being in H.S., we realize they will not always be available to spend such quality time with us.

Saturday we came back to our house to do some work on our kitchen/laundry room project.

The girls helped me with the painting of the pantry doors:


Trevor helped Don with adjustments to the back door:


The girls and I took a walk to the park to pick up leaves:


We had some fun climbing trees and taking pictures:











We then returned to the back yard where Jenna raked up a big pile of leaves then tried to convince Trevor and Paige to jump in it with her:




She finally convinced her brother to jump in with her:





SIKE! SILLY BROTHER WAS JUST TRICKING HIS BABY SISTER!


I had a crazy number of photos of the the kids playing in these leaves but I will spare you looking at every single one. However, this is one of my favorite:



What a great weekend! We are so blessed to get to be a part of these kids lives. They are so incredibly awesome! So, as they grow we will take advantage of any 'special time' we can get with them.

Gage Plays Baseball

Today we got to watch one of Gage's baseball games. Since we are still working on our laundry area we had to pick up a few things and get back home after the first game.

Gage loves baseball and he plays well. Following are a few pictures from the game:


Gage getting ready for the first batter.


Gage playing 2nd base.


Gage is ready!


Swinging for the fences!


He was screaming "Hit it to me!"


"Come on! Hit it to me!"


Greg working with the coaches.


Don watching the Game


Toni and Lynnli on the way to the truck to try to warm up the bottle.


Full tummy + warm body = happy girl!


Toni happy that her baby is happy!


Mom and Dad arrive for 2nd game.

Fun time. Wish we had longer to stay and watch the 2nd game and visit with family. But it was nice while it lasted and much work got accomplished this afternoon and evening. Things are really coming together nicely.

Neither Beautiful or Efficient - Changes Happening

Our laundry / office area is a mess! It always is overflowing with 'stuff' and just looks junky!

Thanks to a great sale on an unfinished pantry, some leftover paint, plus the baskets and shelves I have bought over the last 5 years, this room is getting a makeover!

Following are the BEFORE shots:






Stay tuned for AFTER photos . . . .

Roxie and the Ghostly Tomatoes

The weatherman is warning us all of the possibility of a freeze tonight. GREAT! We have tomato plants that didn't produce even one tomato during this scorching hot summer. However, when it cooled off, the plants became loaded with little tomatoes. Unfortunately these tomatoes are still green and a freeze is not conducive to their continued growth. In an attempt to save the tomatoes from the possible freeze, Don covered the plants with sheets.

Jump ahead an hour or so . . . I was sitting in the living room and Roxie started woofing. (OK, Woofing is not really a bark. It is more like a relatively quiet 'woof' sound.) I went to see what she is doing and and there she was staring out the back door. Thinking she just needed to go to potty I opened the door and let her out. She ran out into the middle of the yard and stared at those plants covered in sheets. She stared for the longest time - woofing periodically. (I must interject here and let you know that Roxie is NO guard dog. In fact, she is scared of any sudden sound or movement. Heck, a grocery sack falling off the counter can send her running to the bedroom.) As she worked up her courage she stood up straight and tall and walked slowly towards the ghostly figures in the back yard.

Laughter was already welling up inside of me when a gust of wind came through and blew up one of those sheets. OMG! I thought she was going to jump out of her skin and she came running back towards the house. Check out her photo below:

(Notice the furrowed brows)

With much encouragement Roxie finally made it all the way out to these terrifyingly ghostly plants and found that there was nothing to be afraid of. I bragged on her bravery and this is her happy-with-herself smile.

APPENDIX GONE!

Monday I had surgery to remove my appendix. Dr. Beamer said that the previous inflammation, that he was concerned about, had resolved itself and he was able to remove the appendix laperoscopically(sp?). I spent one night in the hospital and got to come home yesterday in the late afternoon.

Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers over the last 3 months, it was a great comfort to me!

SURGERY SCHEDULED

As you may remember, I had an emergency appendectomy on June 24th. Well, they never actually took out my appendix due to a large amount of inflammation found by the surgeon.

Over the last 3 months I have had a colonoscopy, small bowel series, several blood tests and a CT scan. The surgeon can find no signs of Chrone's Disease (which was his original fear) or cancer (thank you God). In fact, he admits that this has him puzzled. Anything that would show up on the outside of the colon in inflammation should start on the inside and all the tests show no problems inside the colon. The CRP blood test that they keep giving me to check for inflammation indicates there is still a large amount of inflammation somewhere in my body. The lowest count was 20 (normal is 0-5).

Next Monday, 9/26, I will be having surgery at 3:30. The plan is to laproscopically(sp?)remove my appendix and send me home the same day. However, I have given the surgeon instruction that if he sees excessive inflammation again to open me up and do what needs to be done. He feels that the worse case scenario would be that a small portion of my small intestine may need to be removed. This will only be done if there is clear evidence that it needs to be removed. It is unknown, at this point, what he will see when he begins surgery. The CT Scan doesn't show anything 'remarkable' but the blood test results do create some concern.

Please pray with me that God would give the surgeon the wisdom and skills to do what needs to be done (only what is necessary) and that He will give me the mental and physical strength to heal completely. Please pray that all confusion will be cleared up and that what needs to be done will be clear and unmistakable.

I have had so much support from friends and family along this long journey and to each of you I say THANK YOU and I love and appreciate each one of you!

WHERE OH WHERE IS MY OLLIE????

Our kitty, Oliver, went missing last Sunday evening. We were not too worried because 2 other times he had refused to come inside at night and he had been anxiously waiting at the door the following morning both times. Monday morning - no Ollie. I called and called him but there was no sign of him. Both Don and I walked the neighborhood calling for him and looking for him - no Ollie. Tuesday and Wednesday we continued our search and placed over 100 flyers on the doors of houses in our neighborhood but still - no Ollie. By Wednesday evening I am a bauling baby during my late night walks in the alley and down the street late at night but still - no Ollie.

Earlier in the week I had gone to the animal shelter and registered Ollie as lost. Thursday morning I received an email from the animal shelter that a cat of Ollie's description had been brought in. I looked over the picture and IT WAS HIM! I knew it 100% - it was him. Don was not so sure. We went to my Dr. appointment then rushed out to pick up Ollie. I was so excited when I walked in there. I couldn't wait to get my arms around him. The man at the front desk walked us back and there he was - a beautiful male that looked almost just like Ollie. Oh the sadness, I just wanted to drop to the floor and cry. Thursday evening I am so distraught thinking of him hiding somewhere sick and dying or locked inside someone's outbuilding starving to death that I can't rest. So, early Friday morning I began walking the neighborhood again. I was much braver by now and way less concerned about what people might think if I was walking in yards that did not belong to me. I searched yards, alleys, and any open shed where I thought he could be trapped.

Several times over the the last several days I had thought I heard him answering me in front of Jessie's house. I would stop and call again and wind up convincing myself I was hearing things because I could not hear it again. I went to the sidewalk in front of Jessie's house again. I called for Ollie and after 3 or 4 times I thought I heard him again. I kept calling, and this time I could hear him louder and louder. My fur baby was answering back LOUDLY. I walked down Jessie's driveway and Ollie was shouting his mews from the garage as loud as he possibly could. There is no way for me to convey the joy I felt in my heart when I heard his cries. I knew it was him!

Excitedly, I rang Jessie's doorbell and peered in her windows. However, Jessie was at work. I ran to the neighbor's house and asked if he had Jessie's phone number, which he graciously shared with me. I burst into the house and called Jessie and left a message on her answering machine. Thinking back to several months ago, when I first met Jessie, I remember her telling me where she worked. Frantically, I looked up the number and called. I was able to leave a message on her voice mail but feared that she may be out of town (since Ollie had been locked in her garage for 5 days). After several assertive messages and a plea for help from the secretary, Jessie called me. She will be home at 3:30 to let me get my fur baby out!

My impatience was getting the best of me and I decided to see if any doors to the garage had been left unlocked so I could get him out NOW. I went in the gate to Jessie's back yard and saw that the garage door had windows in it. I looked in the garage - no Ollie. Shouting his name, and wondering if I was loosing my mind, my hands cupped around my face and my eyes searching that garage - no Ollie. Several calls later, I see him! His beautiful face is right in front of that door looking up at me. He looks great, he looks well, I am so relieved. I tried the door but it was locked. 3:30 could not come fast enough for me.

Sometime between 3:15 and 3:30 Jessie drove up in front of our house and said she would be opening the garage door and let me go in and get Ollie out. She opened the door and Ollie was nowhere in site. I continued to call him and slowly, with great fear in his eyes, he started easing his way out of the small opening in the wall. Any quick move from me sent him running back to the opening. Finally he came out and let me pick him up. At that very moment I am sure that I was, indeed, the happiest person on earth.

Jessie was sitting outside the garage in her running car and was relieved for me when I walked out with Ollie. Ollie, in his nervous state, freaked when he saw her and bolted from me. He ran to our house and waited on the front porch for me to get home.

Jessie said she had not even eaten lunch, feeling terrible that she had not heard him crying over those 5 days. She conveyed several times that she had looked for him (after she received our flyer in her mail slot) because of noises she had heard. Neither one of her searchers ever showed any signs of him. I was so happy to get him, and so grateful that he had been in a safe, dry, warm place that I would never blame her. She did search for him and never saw him. He was probably hiding from her because he is scared of strangers.

Hopefully Ollie has learned to never enter ANY building except our home!

I want to end this blog by giving each person who read it encouragement to know that God hears your prayers and cares about your heart. I had been praying desperately beginning Monday afternoon for God to either bring Ollie home or keep him safe and give him a new family. My emotions were up and down, feeling full of faith at times and at other times feeling like God didn't care about what I was going through or the safety of my cat. I mean really, God has such bigger things to deal with, things much more important than an animal. But (in hind site) I believe in my heart that God knows that Ollie is, as are the other pets we have, a member of our family. We have not been blessed with children and we love these pets with all our hearts. He did keep Ollie safe, and He did help me find him. Thank you God for hearing my prayers and for helping me bring my Ollie home!

The Waiting Game

Just to give everyone a quick update. . .

I called my family Dr.'s nurse (Connie) and spoke to her about being more proactive about trying to find out IF I have any health issues other than an appendix that needs to be removed. Dr. Beamer had told me he thinks there is more going on but doesn't seem to be in a hurry to find out what it is. We ran blood tests on July 15th that showed an even higher blood count on my CRP test than the count was while I was in the hospital. The CRP is a test that indicates inflammation in the body. After seeing the results of the blood test Dr. Beamer decided that he just wants to wait and run the test again 8/10. I got the impression from Connie that my family Dr., Dr. Scott, didn't want to step on Dr. Beamer's toes. Dr.Scott reluctantly agreed to call and talk to Dr. Beamer to see what he is thinking could be wrong and then get back with me.

That was on Tuesday and here I am . . . . . . . still waiting.

Surgery Scheduled

Met with Dr. Bemer today. He answered all my questions but left me a bit confused with his comments. He was very surprised that the results of the colonoscopy did not show anything impressive. He said that with the results of that colonoscopy he must conclude that all the inflammation was caused by the appendix being infected. However, he also said that he is still not 100% convinced that there is not another problem. He ordered blood work, which I will have drawn at my family Dr.s office tomorrow, to see if the indicators of inflammation are still decreasing. If they are not, there is another test he wants to run.

After a lot of questioning he did say that he can not force me to have an appendectomy, and that I CAN choose to just wait to see if I have another emergent infection. He also pointed out that the chances are 20% that it will become infected again. He thinks that is a high likelihood of recurrence and that is good reason to just go ahead and take care of it. But, if you think about it, that is also 4/5 chance that it will not. I went ahead and scheduled an appendectomy for 8/19 in the outpatient surgery center. Honestly, I am still thinking about cancelling and waiting it out to see what will happen.

AWESOME NEWS!

Dr. Bemer said that the colonoscopy showed no signs of Crohns Disease! There was nothing unusual but some infection caused by the appendix. It appears Dr. Scott's original diagnosis of an appendicitis was accurate and I will be going in for an appendectomy in about 8 weeks. I have no idea why I have to wait 8 weeks but hey, this will be a piece of cake!

I will be taking 875 mg of antibiotics twice a day for 2 weeks then meet with Dr. Bemer to schedule the appendectomy.

Thank you all for your love, concern, and prayers!

I'm Home

Released from the hospital today.

Surgeon's office will call tomorrow with instructions and dates for colonoscopy.

On the way home from the hospital Don took me to Applebee's. We shared a Triple Chocolate Meltdown for my birthday cake. YUM!

Crazy Few Days

I was so excited about my sister having her first baby and about getting to keep my 10-year-old nephew that I continued to power through some increasingly painful stomach symptoms. Toni gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Lynnli Jane - picture in previous post, on Thursday 6/23. That evening and the next morning I was still making excuses in my head for the now severe pain in my abdomen. When I took Gage to the hospital Thursday night to see his baby sister for the last time that day I had to confess to him that my stomach was hurting when I walk and ask him to walk slower with me. Being the wonderful little gentleman he is, he happily shuffled slowly into the hospital with me. By the time we left the hospital I could barely bare the pain of standing up or walking.

Friday morning I took Gage back to the hospital where we joyously took turns holding his beautiful baby sister then we walked over to McDonald's to have lunch together then back for more baby holding. Gage is going to be a terrific big brother - he is so proud of Lynnli and loves her so much.

We left Gage with his parents and Don took me to the Dr. office for my 3:10 'work in' appointment. We finally saw Dr. Scott about 4:15. Things started moving quickly and I had blood and urine tests and a CT scan. The radiologist read the CT scan and Dr. Scott was sending me to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy by 4:30.

To shorten the story a bit I will just say that what should have been a quick surgery and easy solution to my problem became a bit more confusing. During the surgery the surgeon found that my appendix was not the only organ swollen - all my organs were inflamed. He left my appendix in and closed the incisions. They are in the process of trying to find out what is going on. The Dr. thinks it is colon related. Blood tests show a strong white blood count - which ruled out cancer. THANK YOU JESUS!

I have been on two different types of IV Antibiotics and a steroid since Friday night. Last night I FINALLY got to have some clear liquid to eat. That went OK so this morning they let me eat real food for breakfast. Swelling and pain are much improved and I am feeling better than I have for weeks.

The plan for today is to see how my body responds to the food I am eating. I MAY get to go home this evening (which would be great since it is my birthday!). Unfortunately I will have to come back Monday or Tuesday for a colonoscopy. The surgeon said last night that he is thinking I may have Crohn's Disease. I was hoping for a more short-term problem but if it is Crohn's Disease it is something that can be managed many times with diet and medicine.

Please pray for my Dr.s that they will have the wisdom they need to make a correct diagnosis.

Lynnli Jane Storm has arrived!

Look at this beautiful baby! She's my niece, Lynnli Jane Storm. She was born this afternoon and weighed 7 1/2 lbs and was 18 1/2 inches long.

Her mom, my sister Toni, had to have a C-section but both mom and baby and doing great!

We are now at home watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 with Lynnli's proud big brother, Gage. Gage can't wait until after breakfast tomorrow morning so he can go hold his baby sister some more. Today we went shopping and he got a cap that says "Big Brother" and a shirt that says "I love my baby sister". Awesome kid!

IT'S ALMOST HERE!

I can't believe after all these years and all this hard work I am actually graduating in 6 days! To say I'm excited would be an understatement.

There were a couple of really rough months that left me doubting my career choice and myself. But the Lord gave me strength I've never had before and helped me grow in wonderful ways. What a blessing to look back and see how He was there for me. Giving me the strength and ability to make changes. He was shaping me and changing me into a better person and teacher, and he used a wonderful Christian teacher to guide me through.

He also helped me to see and appreciate what a wonderful husband he has blessed me with. Don has remained consistently loving and supportive through the hardships and trials and he always celebrates my success with pride and enthusiasm. Who could ask for anything more?

We will be having a cookout on Saturday May 14th beginning at 1 PM. Come on over and celebrate with us! If you need directions or additional information you can call or text me at 316-633-1923.

PRAYERS NEEDED

My Sister-in-law's dad, Kent Radcliff, owns a ranch near Dexter and was burning pasture when he fell off the back of a truck. He has broken all his ribs on one side, his clavicle, and his collar bone. They may have to put a steel plate in to keep his ribs from puncturing his lungs. They life-watched him to Wesley where he is in ICU.

I believe Kent is around 70 years old, plus he has sugar diabetes, so I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers for a quick and complete recovery from his injuries. Also, please pray for my SIL, Noel, her mom, Paula, and Kent's sons.

STRESS IN FULL SWING

Well my last semester is almost half over and my stress level is HIGH! What with the budget cuts and everyone talking about how there will be NO jobs to get once I have my diploma and the anxiety of trying to make sure I'm not letting down the cooperative teacher or the kids I'm teaching, I'm feeling exhausted and emotional. Add to that the fear that when I do get a teaching job it is going to be non-stop work every waking minute like it is now and I am living on the verge of tears! In fact, I get to school before 8:30 every morning, leave between 4:30 and 5:00, come home and have dinner with Don, and sit at my desk trying to create the perfect lessons for 3 hours or more. Keep in mind that I am not even responsible for all the lessons yet. I am only teaching Reading, Reading Tier II, Social studies/Science, and Writing.

Some people try to be encouraging and tell me that I can always sub next year. This is true, and it pays pretty good money, but I could have subbed before I started spending all this time and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ on an education. Frustrating! Plus the thought of substituting scares me to death. Walking into a classroom of students you don't know, where you don't know the routines, and have not seen the lessons you are supposed to teach - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAA!

On the plus side - I have been blessed to work with a really awesome cooperative teacher who has taught me a lot and the 4th graders I work with are incredible children that I really enjoy teaching.

So, I will keep trudging on and doing my best while hoping that next year I will have my own classroom of wonderful students.

Copy Cat Post

While reading some of my favorite blogs I found that my friend had a brilliant idea for the first post of the new year - so I'm stealing the idea and making a similar post.

Following are a few words that come to mind when thinking about 2010:

STRESS AND WORRY
Early in 2010 we were in quite a financial crunch. We had tuition, late bills, and car problems that left us feeling overwhelmed and a little lost as to how to get the problems under control. We cut back everywhere possible and did the best we could just to get by.

BLESSED
As time went by we were blessed with a financial gift and my parents unexpectedly offered to take care of the car. We took the car to their mechanic, thinking he was just going to repair the one thing that was giving us the most problem, and were overcome with gratefulness when we picked it up. You see, mom and dad had instructed them to go over the car and make any repairs needed. WOW! What a blessing.

I was also offered a temporary job at our church (the job I had given up 2 years earlier to focus on school) to work part time while they looked for a permanent replacement. The months spent working at the church provided us with the extra income we needed to further improve our financial situation.

We also painted our house this summer. A job we had planned to do ourselves - with the help of Don's brother, Jim. However, some really awesome men at church surprised us by showing up and painting for 2 days. The day Don went back to work all we had left to do was paint one side of the house and we felt overjoyed to have had such wonderful friends and to have gotten so much finished. They were not done surprising us yet! While Don was at work, 3 men came over and finished the job! Words could not express how grateful we were.

These unexpected blessings brought to light how blessed we are with wonderful friends and family and how God watches over us and takes care of our needs (even when we feel like we don't deserve it).

EXCITEMENT
Those of you who know me know that I have spent a lot of years at WSU. At times I have been unsure of what I needed to do with my life. I was pursuing an accounting degree but constantly felt that God had something different in store for me. After much soul searching and testing I changed my major to Elementary Education. The process has been so long I sometimes wondered if I would ever really finish or if I would fail at yet another goal in my life and leave us with the financial burden of all these years of tuition and struggling to make ends meet on one income. As I began my fall semester, I realized that it is completely possible that I will actually be teaching my own class of students at the same time next year. This was so exciting and it gave me the courage I needed to get through a rough patch in my semester and excitedly look forward to completing my education.

HERITAGE
This year my parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. The Bible talks about the heritage that we are left from the generations before us. What a blessing that my parents have left a heritage of love and commitment for me and my siblings. This heritage was left to my mother by her parents as they were married 72 years when my grandpa passed away.

Looking forward to 2011 I am thinking of the word SUCCESS. It is impossible right now for me to put into words how I feel about actually getting through these next 20 weeks and walking across that stage and having that diploma placed in my hand. The funny thing is, I am just as excited to watch the growth of 'my' students as I go through my internship this spring. I know that I will face problems and setbacks but right now I feel confident that with the support I have had in the past and will receive from Don, Dr. Mukes, Penny Longhofer, Ms. Mog, and countless other friends and family that I will learn a lot, grow a lot, and be ready to walk across that stage with the confidence that I can AND WILL be a great teacher!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May it be filled with happiness, love, and more blessings than you can imagine!