The Best Answer Ever

And the answer is YES! My mom was transferred to a long-term care facility in our home town to continue her recovery with her pneumonia. To read about our day, go here.

One Question

Will tomorrow be the day? Stay tuned. . . . .

We Got Snow!

We didn't get much but it was better than nothing!

What I Have Learned

I have learned a lot in the last several months and I thought I would share some with you. So here goes:

*I have learned what a truly loving marriage is from watching my parents and seeing the love in their eyes when they see each other. I have always known that my parents had a very special relationship but what I have seen over the last seven months but especially over the last four months. They truly complete each other. I pray that my marriage is as strong as theirs is after 40 years.

* I have grown to love my Dad even more because we have been able to spend more time together and grow closer. Since there were three girls, my Dad was always kind of in the background. Don't get me wrong, he was always there for us no matter what but I always wanted to be closer to him than I was and now I think I am. My Dad is awesome.


* I always thought that I would be able to move away from my hometown and my family. I am a big girl. . . .right? Well, over the last four months, I have realized that I would have a very hard time leaving. I love the time I spend with my Mom. When we lost our baby, my Mom was always there to help me through it.

* My Mom is the rock in our family. She takes care of all of us so with her being gone, we have all had to learn to take care of ourselves. My Mom is awesome.

* I already knew this but my husband is such a loving, caring person. He has been very supportive with me helping my parents. I have been traveling to MDA with my parents since this summer and then of course have spent every other week there since October. He has not ever complained about me being gone. He rides with my Dad every other Friday to ride home me. He is my rock and he ROCKS!

* My extended family has been awesome. Each and every aunt/uncle has done whatever they can to help. We love them all and can't wait for all of us to get together and celebrate Mom.

* Our church family, well, I always knew they were caring but they are always there for us, to pray for us, to encourage and to lift us up.

* Our friends are great because they have been behind us 100 %.

* That I could not be a nurse. But I have learned a lot and can help the nurses out a lot.

That is some of what I have learned.

Guess What

Possible good news. . . .check it out here.

Prayer Request

Dear blogger friends, please pray for my Mom. She is not doing well at this time. I am very worried.

Finished Product

Well, I finally finished the arrangement I wanted to do for Baby Giggles grave. I showed my Mom the picture today and she said I did a good job (hopefully she won't make me start doing all my own arrangements). I loved the colors and thought that it was boy appropriate and springy. Here are the pictures (please ignore the clutter on the counter! I just realized that the faucet timer is sitting on the counter. . .still!).

As I write this, I am watching Oprah (not something I usually do) and they had a preview for tomorrow's show and the guy talking said this and I thought, how true. You can not find peace until you find all the pieces. I only know one person who can help you find all of those pieces and sometimes I forget that and run around trying to find those pieces by myself. Of course, I can't until I rely on that one person who can help me. Do you do that too?

Valentine's Weekend

We celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday because we had a busy weekend planned. Mr. Giggles took me out to Outback Steakhouse and then we went to see Tooth Fairy. That was a really cute movie. Saturday we went to the Olive Garden to celebrate Mr. Giggles sister's birthday and then we went to the in-law's house for cake and presents. Sunday of course included church, went to the cemetery to put the finished arrangement on Baby Giggles grave, lunch at Casa Ole (mmmm), Wal-Mart and then home, went to my parents house and cleaned out the cat's little box, filled the food box and watered all of the plants in the hothouse. Then went back home to finish packing and then to load up to head to MDA. Sundays when I have to leave are so busy and so stressful. You would think that I could do it with my eyes closed now but I can't, I stress really bad. Well, that is all I have for now. I did get some pictures of the arrangement but I will not get them posted tonight. Neither Mom or myself got much sleep last night and I am exhausted. I am afraid that tonight is going to be a repeat so I will post them tomorrow. Until then. . . . .toodles.

You're Gonna Have to Face it You're Addicted to. . .

facebook!! Bet that wasn't what you thought I was gonna put! Wow but am I addicted to it. I have had so much fun finding old friends and catching up. Being in better touch with my family and extended family. We planned our 20th high school reunion with the help of facebook. I don't play the games because I would spend way too much time or should I say, waste too much time. Anyway, just tonight I have gotten back in touch with my best friend from school and a guy who was my parents first "rent-a-son". I hate losing touch with friends and fb makes it so easy to stay in touch. The down side is that I spend too much time on the computer between fb, keeping up with my blogs and reading all of the other blogs I follow. Some days I am much better off not even turning on my computer!

Update on the weather here. It has rained all day. We are about to float away. It was sleeting earlier. I really hope that we get a little snow. Right now it isn't doing anything. Oh well we are in a winter weather advisory but that definitely doesn't mean anything around here.

Good night y'all.

Weird Weather

This afternoon as I stepped outside to run down (not literally, I wouldn't make it across the pasture!) to my parents house to feed the cats, I noticed that the rain sounded extremely loud. Well, I paid a little more attention and noticed that it was sleeting. We have a chance for some wintery precipitation tomorrow night. We shall see. We haven't had any snow yet this year. I would love get some. It did snow at the hospital in December but it didn't here at home which was strange because the hospital is farther south than we are.

Well, I still haven't figured out what I am going to do for my hubby for Valentines Day. It is going to be a rushed day because I have to head back to the hospital. We can't do anything Saturday because we will be celebrating my s-i-l's birthday. I really wish that I had come up with something really cool but I guess a card and whatever little goodies I can find between now and then.

So, that is all for tonight. It is cold and I am ready to go to bed. Maybe tomorrow I will get my arrangement done. Hopefully I will be able to get it to the cemetery on Sunday if it doesn't rain too much more.

Craft Project. . . .DONE

and it looks good. Ok, what you are supposed to be looking at is the green thing around my neck (please ignore the glaring light, picture quality (I am using my computer camera), the cheesy grin and of course, the double chins). It is called a bolas and is so easy to make, all it takes is yarn, fun fur and straws. It isn't as long as I wanted it but it will work and I like it.

I am going to finish my post, wash dishes and then start another craft project. This isn't one I am especially excited about. I am a little worried about how it is going to turn out. My mom usually does this for me but she can't so I am going to try. Each season Mom makes a floral arrangement to put at Baby Giggles grave. We missed fall this year and I used the Christmas one from last year again because it held up pretty good. Well, it is past time to remove the Christmas arrangement. Today I went to Michael's and picked out some flowers in shades of purple and lilac and some pretty ribbon to go with it. I haven't done a floral arrangement since I was in college (the first time in the early 90's) and Mom isn't here for me to ask questions or to offer advice. If it turns out good enough, I will share a picture if not. . . .well, we will see.

Have a good night.

Monday

Oh my goodness did we get the rain today. It didn't rain very long but it rained a lot. When I could finally see outside, there was water standing everywhere. And as the rain moved on the cold air came howling to cool everything down. . . . . . .way down. I can't remember how much I have said about our home but it is not a good winter home. We have a window unit in the bathroom because the central air does not go to that part of the house (you see, our house was built in the era of the outhouse. . . .and it had one) so in the summer it is very HOT in there without the a/c and in the winter it is very COLD (we have a little space heater for heat). Well, we have a sheet covering the window unit and the window and when the wind blows the sheet blows. It is kind of spooky if you aren't expecting it. Anyway, it cooled way down in the house so we bundle up in blankets, sit in our recliners and watch tv.
I don't know if you are a Heritage Schoolhouse follower and if you are, I know I have been missing Mrs. H as much as I have. Hopefully she will be back with us soon. She is the sweetest, is an awesome cook and a great friend (yes, we know each other in "real" life). If you ever meet her, you will love spending time with her and her family.
Well, that is all for tonight. My mom had a pretty good day. Can't wait til she comes home.

Hi Mrs. H's mom! Can't wait til y'all come visit again.

This and That

Menu:
Monday: taco salad
Tuesday: left overs and chicken quesadillas with spanish rice
Wednesday: fend for yourself
Thursday: fish sticks and potato salad
Friday: out for dinner
Saturday: celebrate sister-in-laws birthday

What I am happy about today. . . .that football is over! Of course that means another sport will take it's place but at least it won't be football for a while!! New fence at back of property has been completed and cows are no longer around my house which means no cows in my yard.

What do I have planned for the week? Work at parents house, clean my own house, take my hubby's truck in to get some work done, if I can get my jury duty changed I will be subbing choir Wed - Fri, pack to go back to MDA (that is all I can think of for now). Oh and figure out what I am going to do for my hubby for Valentine's day.

This weeks weather: cold, rain and just plain dreary - I need some sun, I can handle the cold.

That is all for now. Have a good night.

Home Again Home Again

Well, I am back home. It was a long week. If you want to see how things are going with Mom, go here. We got some crummy news but I won't go into it here. You will have to go to her blog. This is going to be another busy week at home for me. I won't bore you with it right now (!) because I need to get my work done for church tomorrow.
Today was beautiful, the sunshine was so pretty after a week of drear and rain. My aunt was in town she walked our new fence line to see how the fence looked. She said that it was very, very wet. We went from drought to flood!
Question: What do you think of the TLC show: Toddlers and Tiaras? I think that it is scary. Some of the dances these young girls do are way too old for them. Anyway, that is all I will say for now. I was just curious what others think, especially those who have children (specifically little girls).

Hope you had a really good week. I am looking forward to the week even though it is going to be a killer one.

Am I Nuts?

I decided this week that I was going to stop drinking cokes. Why you might be asking yourself well the reason I chose this week is because a coke is SO expensive here and it never tastes good. But, this week has been a NO caffeine week because the water here is nasty and even tea tastes gross here at the hospital so I have just been drinking water (bottled of course!). Anyway, I haven't felt bad this week because of the no caffeine but today it is kicking me in the rear. I have a headache that just won't go away. I have been trying to keep away from taking some ibuprofen because I want to donate platelets for my Mom tomorrow but I am going to have to take something so I won't be able to. I am bummed about that. My aunt is coming tomorrow and she will be donating.
I started making the cutest little scarf thing. It is kelly green and I can't wait until it is done. I will be doing a black and silver one next. I will take a picture and post it on here when I am done. They are sooo easy to make. I can't believe I waited so long to learn how to make them. My Mom has made a bunch of them and she made me a really pretty blue one. Anyway, that is as crafty as I have been lately. I don't know if I will finish before I leave here tomorrow but we will see.
Well, that is all I have today. I am ready to see Mr. Giggles and to sleep in my own bed for a few days (and to eat good home cooking even if I have to do it!)!

Monthly Goals for February

Yes, I am behind on posting my February goals.

More Bible study
Make better food choices
Get in a little more exercise
Be a better wife, daughter, sister, friend
Have a better attitude

I think the only one I somewhat accomplished in January was better food choices and it wasn't choices as much as amounts. Well, I did eat more vegetables last week than I usually do. Hopefully I will do better this month!

Mom had her procedure done this evening (finally! she was a very hungry lady when she finally got back to her room at 9:15 pm). Hopefully this will help and we will be on the way uphill. Thanks for your prayers.

Prayer Request

Tomorrow my Mom will be having a procedure to see if they can fix a problem she has been having for about a month now with her bladder (yes, this is all related to the stemcell transplant for her leukemia). Please say a prayer that it is successful and that all goes well and she gets closer to coming home.

I don't guess I have updated her journey on my blog. We passed the 100 days on January 21st and we are still in the hospital. Very frustrating time. . . . .still. So please remember my Mom in your prayers that she gets to get out soon.