Hospitals are just not much fun. You sit around waiting... waiting for tests...waiting for test results...waiting to get better because ANY place is better than here.
No one knows yet what is causing my mom's problems. She's anemic to the point she's having trouble breathing: not enough oxygen flow. She's getting blood this afternoon sometime. Hopefully, that will help her feel better. She's had 2 CT scans, a couple of X-rays, a colonoscopy, and probably some other things I'm not aware of.
The unknown can be a terrible thing. I guess mainly because it could turn into ANYTHING...really scary things...or it might be something that's not scary at all. I guess time will tell...but first we have to wait....
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
After Dinner Conversation
Yesterday was our 26th anniversary. We'll have a get away sometime later this summer. For now, we just went out for dinner. I love going out with just my beloved. We always enjoy each other's company.
Last night we went to the Outback in Mobile. There was a very little boy sitting in the booth behind me. I could hear him talking to his mom and dad: very articulate. Mr. H and I talked about the restaurants we remembered going to as children. He grew up in California. There was a burger place his family went to called Oscars. They also went to Shakey's Pizza Parlor. For me, it was a burger place called T Willy's that my grandparents took us to. The first onion rings I ever had were from Tom Bradley's. I think he was a friend of my dad's that opened a restaurant, but since my dad never met a stranger, that could have been the first time they ever met!
As we were waiting to get our check, the little boy behind me said, "I'm sorry I didn't save you any chocolate. I ate it all gone." I turned around to see him for the first time. He was much younger than I would have thought from his conversation. He apologized again for not saving me any cake. I told him it was okay, I'd had plenty to eat. He cupped his hands together and offered them to me. "Here, take this present," he said. I cupped my hands over his to "take" the present. I peeked between my hands and said, "What is it?" "It's a toy duck!" he answered proudly. "To live in my bathtub," I said. "Thank you very much." I told him my little girl has a whole family of ducks in her bathtub, so it wouldn't be lonely.
Since he had been eating chocolate cake, I asked if it was his birthday. He checked with his mom and told me his birthday was July 19th. I asked how old he would be. He checked the fingers of both hands, consulted with his mom again, and said he was 2 now and would be 3 later. Wow! What a conversationalist at such a young age! I told him he could tell me "Happy Anniversary." He gave it his best shot: "Happy Anni...Birthday!"
Mr. H and I have relatively self-confident children. But they would NEVER dream of striking up conversations with complete strangers, even with both of us in close proximity. I guess that's why God created so many different kinds of people. If everyone were shy, no one would ever meet anyone else. I'm not sure what would happen if everyone were as outgoing as my new little friend. I guess everyone would be striking up conversations, but no one would be listening. We need to share, but we need to listen, too.
Last night we went to the Outback in Mobile. There was a very little boy sitting in the booth behind me. I could hear him talking to his mom and dad: very articulate. Mr. H and I talked about the restaurants we remembered going to as children. He grew up in California. There was a burger place his family went to called Oscars. They also went to Shakey's Pizza Parlor. For me, it was a burger place called T Willy's that my grandparents took us to. The first onion rings I ever had were from Tom Bradley's. I think he was a friend of my dad's that opened a restaurant, but since my dad never met a stranger, that could have been the first time they ever met!
As we were waiting to get our check, the little boy behind me said, "I'm sorry I didn't save you any chocolate. I ate it all gone." I turned around to see him for the first time. He was much younger than I would have thought from his conversation. He apologized again for not saving me any cake. I told him it was okay, I'd had plenty to eat. He cupped his hands together and offered them to me. "Here, take this present," he said. I cupped my hands over his to "take" the present. I peeked between my hands and said, "What is it?" "It's a toy duck!" he answered proudly. "To live in my bathtub," I said. "Thank you very much." I told him my little girl has a whole family of ducks in her bathtub, so it wouldn't be lonely.
Since he had been eating chocolate cake, I asked if it was his birthday. He checked with his mom and told me his birthday was July 19th. I asked how old he would be. He checked the fingers of both hands, consulted with his mom again, and said he was 2 now and would be 3 later. Wow! What a conversationalist at such a young age! I told him he could tell me "Happy Anniversary." He gave it his best shot: "Happy Anni...Birthday!"
Mr. H and I have relatively self-confident children. But they would NEVER dream of striking up conversations with complete strangers, even with both of us in close proximity. I guess that's why God created so many different kinds of people. If everyone were shy, no one would ever meet anyone else. I'm not sure what would happen if everyone were as outgoing as my new little friend. I guess everyone would be striking up conversations, but no one would be listening. We need to share, but we need to listen, too.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Pre VBS Week
This week our church is transforming into a Hawaiian adventure.
It's a painful process to observe. Lots of areas look like this:
boxes of stuff laying everywhere... parts of things, partially done...
This is the Fellowship Hall, right outside my office. All the kids will come through here after recreation to have their snack. It's starting to take on a tropical atmosphere...note the grass roof and the blue water.
These are palm leaves that will be everywhere. Aren't you glad that God didn't do it this way!
This is the room where all the crafts will be created.
This little area is an oasis of calm in the surrounding chaos.
This Tiki Bar is in our preschool area.
The outrigger is in the foyer of the church along with this little hut.
This water fall is in our atrium. It's made entirely of paper.
It's a painful process to observe. Lots of areas look like this:
boxes of stuff laying everywhere... parts of things, partially done...
This is the Fellowship Hall, right outside my office. All the kids will come through here after recreation to have their snack. It's starting to take on a tropical atmosphere...note the grass roof and the blue water.
These are palm leaves that will be everywhere. Aren't you glad that God didn't do it this way!
This is the room where all the crafts will be created.
This little area is an oasis of calm in the surrounding chaos.
This Tiki Bar is in our preschool area.
The outrigger is in the foyer of the church along with this little hut.
This water fall is in our atrium. It's made entirely of paper.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
L's Highly Improbable Scenarios
Our youngest daughter, L, is always coming up with "what if..." questions. And they are so odd! We call them her Highly Improbable Scenarios. Tonight, when we got home from church, we were watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Out of the blue, she asks, "What if we lived in a garbage bag?"
Mr. H loves these questions. My response was that it would have to be one of those stretchy ones that you could put a piano or a rhinoceros in. Mr. H said it sounded like a Monty Python skit and he was off in his best British accent: "When I was young, we were so poor we lived in a garbage bag . . . in the middle of the road. My dad would wake us up 2 hours before we went to bed to lick the pavement . . ." That got lots of "Eeewwws!" He can quote whole skits from memory: the penquin on the television, the busy day burying the cat. It's amazing what he spent his youth memorizing!
Mr. H loves these questions. My response was that it would have to be one of those stretchy ones that you could put a piano or a rhinoceros in. Mr. H said it sounded like a Monty Python skit and he was off in his best British accent: "When I was young, we were so poor we lived in a garbage bag . . . in the middle of the road. My dad would wake us up 2 hours before we went to bed to lick the pavement . . ." That got lots of "Eeewwws!" He can quote whole skits from memory: the penquin on the television, the busy day burying the cat. It's amazing what he spent his youth memorizing!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Saturday Stuff
Mr. H and I are fixing some things on the old '94 BMW so I can use it as my daily driver. It gets much better mileage than the windstar. It's got a new windshield and inspection sticker, fresh oil, freshly vacuumed carpet, and soon the passenger seat will pop forward to let the back seat riders out.
We went to see "Prince Caspian" at noon today. We really liked it. M was camping with a friend, so she didn't get to come. I'm glad she opted for the friend over a movie: much more important. While we were out we stopped in at Lowe's to get some replacement bulbs for our under cabinet lighting in the kitchen. They sell the lights that say "replaceable bulbs" on the package, but not the replacement bulbs themselves. I hate it when that happens. I have a toothbrush like that. It's a battery powered spinning thing with replaceable brush end, but Wal-Mart went for a year and a half without carrying the replacements. Luckily, I kept it anyway, and noticed 2 weeks ago that they had them in. I'm hoping Lowe's will order some bulbs. Otherwise, it's online purchasing, here I come.
That's about all for this weekend. Mr. H doesn't get Memorial Day off, so we don't have any big plans. However, the 29th is our 26th anniversary! No definite plans, yet, but we'll see. We usually celebrate more for the anniversary of our first date (12/01/79) than we do our wedding anniversary. I'm not sure why.....yes, I am. It's all those birthdays and Mother's Day in May. In December, there's ONLY Christmas!
We went to see "Prince Caspian" at noon today. We really liked it. M was camping with a friend, so she didn't get to come. I'm glad she opted for the friend over a movie: much more important. While we were out we stopped in at Lowe's to get some replacement bulbs for our under cabinet lighting in the kitchen. They sell the lights that say "replaceable bulbs" on the package, but not the replacement bulbs themselves. I hate it when that happens. I have a toothbrush like that. It's a battery powered spinning thing with replaceable brush end, but Wal-Mart went for a year and a half without carrying the replacements. Luckily, I kept it anyway, and noticed 2 weeks ago that they had them in. I'm hoping Lowe's will order some bulbs. Otherwise, it's online purchasing, here I come.
That's about all for this weekend. Mr. H doesn't get Memorial Day off, so we don't have any big plans. However, the 29th is our 26th anniversary! No definite plans, yet, but we'll see. We usually celebrate more for the anniversary of our first date (12/01/79) than we do our wedding anniversary. I'm not sure why.....yes, I am. It's all those birthdays and Mother's Day in May. In December, there's ONLY Christmas!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Nice Way to Start the Day
This morning I noticed that the hanging basket with the house wren nest in it needed water. All the other baskets had been set on the ground under the edge of roof to catch the rain last night. This is one of the nests that L has been checking on daily since we discovered it under construction several weeks ago.
I got the watering can and started pouring it on the side away from the nest. About that time I heard rustling coming from the nest. Four little birds launched themselves, one right after the other, and headed for the bird bath under the pecan tree about 15 yards away. Mr. H went in to tell L, who came out to see. I pointed out the 1 little bird I could see on the rim of the bird bath. L started walking slowly toward it. She got within 6 feet and stopped to look. The little bird never flew away! L stood there looking at it for a few minutes, then turned around. She came back with a big smile and said, "I've never been that close to a bird that could fly!"
I got the watering can and started pouring it on the side away from the nest. About that time I heard rustling coming from the nest. Four little birds launched themselves, one right after the other, and headed for the bird bath under the pecan tree about 15 yards away. Mr. H went in to tell L, who came out to see. I pointed out the 1 little bird I could see on the rim of the bird bath. L started walking slowly toward it. She got within 6 feet and stopped to look. The little bird never flew away! L stood there looking at it for a few minutes, then turned around. She came back with a big smile and said, "I've never been that close to a bird that could fly!"
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
How Time Flies!
Reading Marshall's post about the face in the rearview mirror reminded me of this book I made for a friend a little over 2 years ago. The baby had her 2nd birthday 3 months ago and can sing and dance on her own. Big brother will finish 1st grade on Friday and earned over $200 for our church Building Fund by operating his own lemonade stand for a couple of months.
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