The Christmas Season....

The Snow Globes

The month of December is slipping away ever so quickly. It is amazing how time flies by. Before it is gone, I'd like to share with you some highlights of the month that make me smile. First on the list of sharing is our snow globe collection. I won't go into the whole story right now but will instead encourage you to read here for a laugh. Go ahead, I will wait.

I must admit that this year has caught me stopping in the stores to pick up snow globes and ponder the idea of adding to my collection as I watch the snowflakes swirl to life in my hands.
 

While trusting that you will "link away" to read my previous snow globe story, I do want to take an extra minute and share this picture with you. A couple of mornings ago the sun was shining so brilliantly through the windows that it made everything sparkle to life. Pippin grabbed my camera and snapped a few clicks. This shot made me pause when I downloaded everything. I love the sparkle of the sunlight and am intrigued at the secondary image of the angel in the orb of the sun reflection on the glass dome. I love how God gives us extra delights all the time. He is so very creative.


Now for the Christmas Tree

A couple of weeks back we went to pick out to our Christmas tree. As is usual for us, we made great sport out of the whole thing. Our girls both have a quirky sense of humor and continuously challenge me to "think outside the box". In picking out a tree, they always look for the best oddball in the lot. Their philosophy is why have something in a perfectly full and normal bell shape when it can have its own character of life to proudly shine in our home.

This year they picked out a tree that had multiple tops to it as well as an assortment of extra long branches to stick out and hold our array of ornaments. There was no cutting off of branches to make things uniform, for uniform is boring.

Instead of our angel tree top being perched on the tip top branch that is 'tradition', she is nestled in between 3 top branches perfectly balanced.



 This branch that sticks out to almost touch the china hutch is holding a beautiful crystal ballerina. I imagine that it is as if both ballerina and tree branch are bursting with the joy at the Good News Of the King.


 





My Unique Elves

These mischievous elves are another oddity in our home. A friend made them for us as a gift a couple of years back. Standing each at a good 3 feet tall, their oddball presence actually brings a chorus of "Mom those are so creepy". I gotta admit that they are a little odd and 'not normal'. Even Kekoa sits and growls at them from time to time. Maybe they wink at him when I am not looking. It doesn't matter to me though. For some reason I think they are so odd and gooney that they are positively adorable and I can't wait to put them out for all to see each year. 





 Our Birthday Celebration

Each year I look forward to a special event in the month of December. Smack in the middle of all the hubbub of Christmas preparations is the joy of being able to celebrate my shared birthday with my mom. Not everyone can say that they have the same birthday as another family member. I have the joy of being able to share my birthday with my mom on the very same day (and actually before her dad went to be in heaven his birthday was also on the same day with us). It wasn't planned that way. It is just when God chose us to be born. 

After Hubby and I retired and moved back "home", Mom and I began the tradition of spending the day together. Family can plan parties and what-not in the evenings and weekends but we get the day for just each other. And in that tradition I get to surprise her with a special new place that she has never experienced. As traditions go, she makes sport out of trying to guess and pull the surprise location out of me and I always invent new ways of being two steps ahead of her in loving sarcasm and whit.
(By the way, Mom made those leis we are wearing)

This year, in honor of her island heritage, I picked a local Hawaiian restaurant that I had heard great reviews on. Oh my the 'ono grinds' (good food) we drooled over. Everything brought back so many memories for her and we couldn't decide which good things on the menu to have.

With the air outside being chilly and wet we opted to go simple and comfy. We started with appetizers of lumpia and manapua.  I could have been happy and content with just that but we got more.




 We both ordered medium 'auntie size' bowls of saimin with char siu pork, fried egg, green onion and cabbage. It was the real kind with home stock and everything. None of that pretend Top Ramen with a billion grams of salt.






Then when we thought we could eat no more, we were presented with birthday candles Hawaiian style. Our waitress had put a candle in our heavenly concoctions of coconut sorbet and mango sorbet. Again, they were the real things with frozen coconut milk in the half shell and frozen tropical island mango served in it's own skin as the bowl.


 It was all such a wonderful day, such a memory filled weekend and I am grateful for every ounce of it.

Thank You God for memories and joys, celebrations, family and friends. Thank You for loving on us and taking delight in creating big and small all the things that make us smile.

The Gift of Memories......

Yesterday my brother and I along with our spouses, surprised our parents with a special gift for their 25th anniversary. They have been our support and encouragement through so much over the years and a shinning example of how marriage works.  We thought long and hard about what to do to honor them and wanted more that a fleeting gift that would get old and dusty. We chose the kind of gift that lasts and shines even more with time....the gift of memories.  We honored them with a special 2 hour lunch cruise downtown aboard the Portland Spirit.

It was an amazing day and the weather was perfect. We didn't tell them what we were doing before hand so they made great sport out of trying to figure out what the itinerary of the day was. My mom sized me up in my clothing to try and guess if we were going for a hike or touring the waterfalls in the area while my husband teased that we were driving to Seattle for lunch.

Going inside the ship made them feel so special. Seeing the tables full of crystal settings brought tears to their eyes. Realising that the boat would be actually moving instead of docked while we ate made the tears overflow with humble honor and overwhelming joy.

You can't see in this picture but my brother's left arm is in a sling and his shoulder is all taped up for stability.
He did well on the trip. It was his first real outing since he broke his collar bone a couple of weeks ago. He was bound and determined not to miss this special occasion. And after all the tension he and my sister-in-law have had with his recuperating these past few weeks, they enjoyed getting out. When their special song came on they danced and romanced one another with smiles and giggles.
You can't see in this picture but his left arm is in a sling and his shoulder is all taped up for stability.

My hubby and I had a good time relaxing as well. We were so grateful and doubly blessed that the weather was so perfect for our excursion.

The food was all gourmet and amazing. Our appetizers were jumbo prawns with the chef's special cocktail sauce. My sister-in-law also ordered some sauteed mushrooms but I was so enjoying the food and company I forgot to take a picture of it.

Our main course was just as spectacular. Most at our table ordered Herb Crusted Beef Shoulder platter. My brother ordered  Baked Salmon Fillet and I had Tortellini Provincial.  All platters came with yummy steamed veggies and spaghetti squash.

 Does dessert really need an explanation? giggle giggle..... We picked plates of chocolate chocolate gourmet chocolate cake, raspberry cheesecake and Bailey's Irish cream cheesecake. The Bailey's was mine.
(It definitely didn't go with my new eating plan but I enjoyed it and slept away the effects later in the day with no consequences.)

 The whole day was an amazing experience and we were so pleased to be able to treat and honor our parents with special memories of love.

~~~~~~~

 And on a completely different venue of memories for the weekend......
regarding the inheritance money I received recently that sent me in a quandary.
With a small portion of it I chose to buy a brand new washer and dryer. That may seem silly to some but let me tell you how it makes me smile. In our 21 years of marriage and raising of so many kids, we have always traded in used for used and taken the appliances others have cast off as they upgrade. They have all been blessings that served their purpose for the time needed...and our pocketbook. But they have all had their cute quirks as well that we have dealt with. They crash and bang around with imbalance and we had to choose certain times to wash because of the noise factor. Imagine the machines making their jubilee sounds so hubby turns up the tv which makes everyone talk more loud in their conversations, music practice gets more intense, phone conversations hide in the corners because of sound and not secrets.....

This is what I bought and had delivered on Friday. You can't imagine how excited I am and I want to wash everything in the house because of the efficient way this set makes everything clean. These machines are so quiet!  And in a way, every time I walk by my laundry room, I feel that it is a blessing from Daddy that makes my days easier.

The girls are all teasing me like crazy because I made up a check sheet for how to use this sparkling team. My reasoning for being so structured is that we have always had these old fashioned dials where you choose water level and temperature and type of clothing. These machines are so new and different. They are digital and do it all for you. It is foreign and scary to do the first load for fear of pressing wrong buttons.  And goodness.....though it sounds logical.....don't try to open the door of the front loader in motion to put in that forgotten article of clothing.


Thank you for reading along and sharing in the blessings of my weekend.
 I pray for you to feel God's blessings and encouragement this week as you pursue the fact that you have a purposeful destiny and are loved with a mighty never ending love.

December 29, 2010 11:34pm

Thank you for our birthday well wishes! Mom and I had a wonderful day together enjoying one another to ourselves. We had a quiet lunch at Bob's Red Mill and stuffed ourselves silly before topping it all off with a chai from Starbucks. That night we took the family out to roam a farm a few miles from here that decks out the whole property with lights and fairy tale story scenes. It was all a blessed day for everyone.

The passed couple of weeks have been filled with visits and friends from out of town. Precious Rixxi (the girl that used to room with us) came through town for a visit as well as other Gaggle members Raph and Harper. Having my home filled with giggles, smiles and girls everywhere I turned brought joy to my heart. They are always such a breath of fresh air for me.

For Christmas, I never could quite get into all of the things I normally do but I did bake for everyone something like 60 dozen cookies of my recipe for chocolate toffee cookies. Humbly speaking, I heard over and over again that they need to be sold because of their goodness. It just blesses me that something so simple brought smiles to people.

We bought presents for the grand kids (thank you Lord for Toys R Us being online and shipping everything for me). And then we also did presents for our 3 girls (our 2 being Pippin and Puddin as well as our "adopted" girl who now lives with us and delights in her new nickname of Icca) here at home.

Hubby and I vowed to not buy one another things for under the tree. Instead, we celebrated the fact that this past spring we became debt free. While that not so small feat enabled all of the traveling between here and Texas this last year and covered so many emergencies; it also made us able to buy one another much needed new (used) cars for Christmas. Yeah really.

We weren't set on doing right at Christmas time but I got up one morning hearing the words Craig's List again and again in my head and I figured why not look. We ended up with a couple of amazing deals that enabled us to package together this beautiful '06 Kia Sorento for me as well as an '04 Jeep Liberty for him. We turned in his beaten up car that kept trapping him inside the vehicle because of a broken door lock and we gave my old car to Pippin for her to use 100%. We are both too excited at our new toys.

Now with New Years around the bend my mind is starting to dwell on what the new year will bring. What are my goals? Where does God want me to be? What will my new plate of responsibilities look like?

As I am stepping out and putting my toes in the waters of events, I find that after a couple of days of usual stuff I definitely need a serious nap and feel very overwhelmed. I can't do like I used to do. Is it because of .....you know....everything and I must give myself time? Or is it because I am now 40 years old? Now isn't that dramatic? (Silly girl. It is only a number and you have never paid it the slightest attention before.) Or just maybe my routine from a year ago was way too much and I never slowed down long enough to figure that out.

Thank you God that I don't have to figure it out on my own.

December 17 And It Is A Great Day......

I want to begin by saying thank you so much for all of your encouraging comments, advice and hugs. Thank you for reminding me that every season has a purpose and is valid and that I won't always feel the way I do. It has meant a lot to me as I begin each day.

With Christmas in the air I have been jumping and hopping, often with nothing to show for it but feeling tired at the end of the day all the same. I have been baking like crazy and did something like 20 dozen chocolate chip toffee cookies just yesterday (while assembling bedroom furniture with Pippin at the same time). Aside from our newly placed Christmas tree though, that is all I have to show for it at this moment. I haven't done a stitch of shopping yet and though I am always most definitely done by now, I don't feel bothered at all.

There have been parties to attend, extra work hours for Pippin and then with Puddin in the advanced choirs this year there has been many beautiful and talented performances. Girlfriends have been spending most every night as the last of the school work gets finished and the winter break begins. The daily things have still beckoned for attention as well with chores and errands. Even crisis have crept up as (maybe to be written about at a later date) I have been counseling with a parent and his teen daughter on things she was scared to confess to him and how to move forward from here.

Today is a special day. It is the day that Mom and I celebrate our birthdays. How cool is that? Nope, she never planned it that way. It just happens that I was her birthday present 40 years ago. Yeah....40 years. I have never been one for giving the faintest bit of attention to numbers and age. But this one has a little bit of change in it for me. It just feels vaguely strange.

In a couple of hours I get to go spend the day with my mom. It is our special time together and we look forward to it every year. We only live 15 minutes apart and see each other weekly. But our birthday is the only time that we can go do something for a bit of time without others saying, "hey whatcha doing? That sounds fun. Can I come too?"
I try to surprise her every year with a new lunch destination and she makes a game out of trying to figure it all out before we get there. I have learned to not tell a soul my plans because she can be wonderfully crafty and good hearted at extracting information. It is funny.

I would tell you where we are going today but since I am so very much like my mom, I am a bit too quick for that. As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Mom you won't find out here. You will just have to wait a couple more hours. wink wink

Have a blessed and wonderfully amazing day today.

Short Story Here....

I am alive and all is well I promise!
I know you must be really worried with a whole month gone by and nay a word from me. Believe me I have been crawling the walls with wanting get on here and post.
Right after I arrived back in San Antonio my dad's computer crashed and it is still not fixed. Ugh! I am writing my thoughts in a notepad but.......oh my gosh it is so not the same! I hope to share it all with you but I confess it will take a bit to transpose it all.

So how am I here tonight? Well my cousin brought me over her laptop and cell phone for the night so I could check my mail and do some internet shopping for Daddy. Now if time could just stand still so I could tell you everything right? But that won't work so.......

Super Short Story here......
Daddy is doing so amazingly well with rehab and we are finishing up the last of the therapy home visits. We have had tons of doctor appointments on the calendar and then we crash on the couch at the end of each day with a sigh. We did a CT scan last Friday to see if there has been progression with the cancer but we don't know any results yet. We signed on with hospice last week so that we could get some much needed help and support and it has already proven to be a good decision.

In other news my mom is finally free of that vac pac she carried around for almost 3 months (it seems) to heal from surgery. Yahoo and praise God!
Hubby and girls are doing great. Puddin is having a ton of fun with her junior year of school and I am so very glad. Pippin is in the process of being hired on at a coffee shop down the road from home and she is thrilled. Hubby is working hard at work and is doing a great job at keeping the house and persons in it in harmony.

I don't know when I will be able to share more but I hope it will be soon.
I will be transposing all of my messy handwriting notebooks writings here and after the above quick update you may find it tedious and redundant. To that all I can say is the promise God gives that to everything there is a season. :-)

Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers.
I konw there are those who are praying and reading here that don't leave a comment and that is totally fine. I am grateful for you and I understand for I am a silent reader to many also. But may I just say here specifically to Janine ....you are an amazing joy. Thank you for being such a support to me.

God bless your week with purpose and destiny that makes you breathe with thankfulness for knowing you are so very much loved and valued.

Things That Make Me Smile....

Time passes slowly and quickly all at the same time but it has been a good week for us. It is all sort of fuzzy in my head right now so please bear with me while I try to organize my thoughts. Let me share a couple of pictures I snapped with my phone in effort to give you a 'being a mouse in my pocket' kind of feeling.

4th of July

It was a quiet day for us. Well maybe quiet isn't the right word since there were colorful evening displays all over the neighborhood. How about laid back instead. Daddy was pretty sleepy and slow over the weekend so I decided to try and tempt him with a delectable stroll down memory lane. I prepared some favorites for dinner that I hoped would make him smile. I made a small ham (which thank you Mom: baked in coca-cola is very tender) and a small batch of mashed sweet potatoes. Then I did up the jello creation that you see above. He ate about 5 TBSP all together but it made him smile so my goal was accomplished.


Conguito

This cute lil' guy is the yorkie that will be going home with me to become a permanent playmate for Kekoa. (Sigh! Gosh I miss Kekoa!) Conguito is a sweetie and he is attached to me wherever I go. He sits at the kitchen gate and stares at my bedroom door until I come out in the mornings.


In this picture I had just finished giving him a bath because he had been digging at the fence and dirt trying to get at some cats that were just out of reach. He is a silly little wimpy pushover that cowers easily to my command......but when it comes to cats he somehow flips a mental switch in his head and becomes the likeness of Bugs Bunny's Tasmanian Devil. I don't remember the day exactly, but sometime over the weekend he did succeed in grabbing a cat that got too close and it was horrible. I tried to move quick but I wasn't fast enough. Ok that is not a smiling thought so let's move on.





Really?

I had to stop and take a picture of this yesterday when I was running errands. It is a Daiquiri Lounge....with a drive thru! See the window on the right with the arrow that says Drive Thru? Boy is that a million dollar idea or what? (sarcasm intended) I had to laugh simply because at times the oddest thing can be a tension breaker. I don't see how that place can be legal. Not only does the idea of a drive thru obscure the law of no open containers in the car but isn't the purpose of a lounge to....lounge? I sent this picture to a friend and he responded back with laughter pointing out that the cones must be there so patrons don't run into the front of the building.

Chemotherapy

Daddy started chemo two days ago (at 75% of the dosage) and he is doing absolutely perfect so far. No pulmonary flash edema, no side effects yet and his energy has all of a sudden perked up. He has been awake and talkative, had me drive him a couple of places, made some jokes and has been looking around the kitchen for food. Goodness this is all so unpredictable. I was talking with my aunt yesterday about that very fact. She was caregiver to her husband through his battle with cancer and totally remembers that every time you get comfortable with a routine...the body changes things up and keeps you on your toes.

Daddy is not so hesitant to get in the car now that I have shown him how to use a pillow. I learned last year after my surgery (thank you Alice) that a pillow between body and seat belt keeps everything from jarring around inside. That one simple bed pillow is making such a difference in his countenance and pain thresh hold when it takes us 30 minutes each way to get to his hospital visits on this bumpy Texas roads.

We make conscious effort to find the good in things and tell each other so every day. It is like a game we play. Daddy decided to try and eat a burger with me yesterday. He couldn't taste it and enjoy the teriyaki sauce on it but he could feel that it was a different consistency from the other things he had tried to eat. And he kept the food down so that was a major positive.
Then while sleeping last night he knocked out his attachment for his feeding tube and the pump kept flowing everywhere in his sleep. But the positive is that we have been taking such good care of his j-tube that it didn't hurt and wake him in pain when it pulled out.

Angel-girl

I miss home so much but my family does special things to help me stay a part of it all. My special little niece is growing and changing on a daily basis. My brother and sister-in-law published some videos so we could see her and all the new things she is learning. She is 11 months old now and taking steps on her own. Here is a short video of Angel-girl doing on of her favorite past-times....singing.






Another Thing I Am Grateful For

My mom had surgery a couple of days ago and everything went wonderfully well. It was a planned surgery that had been put on hold when she had that small heart attack in May. It is the first time that I haven't been there to help her and watch over her and that feels very strange. But I know this is where I need to be right now. Her sister is there watching over her and being a wonderful encourager and giving me updates and I am grateful. And there are friends. A friend of Mom's came in from out of town to help around the house and then another friend from Hawaii is flying in on Monday. Yes Mom is well taken care of and she is going to feel so much better with this surgery behind her.


Well...

For now I must go. I am on an adventure to find a medical supply store today. We have supplies delivered to us once a month but I am needing to acquire some new things that Walmart and Walgreens don't carry. So yeah! Adventures are fun! How lost can I get?

You are so wonderful. Thank you for your faithful encouragement and prayers. Have a completely blessed and destiny filled week and know beyond a doubt that you are loved and have purpose.

The Things That Matter......

I have much to wade through and share but before I begin sorting those thoughts out, I want to re-cap moments I jotted down to be sure and remember.

Prom Night

Below is a picture of Pippin and her friend, "Jerry", on prom night 2 weeks ago. Oh my goodness what a fun night it was. It was a right of passage for both girls. Both are first borns with always a unique sense of responsibility outweighing their own views of frivolous behavior. Both have labeled themselves over the years to being "tom-boys" to the bone and swore that things like make-up, hair styles, and dresses were nothing but a distracting waste of time. After all, how can one climb a tree or straddle a horse with a dress in the way.

But they let themselves embrace feeling like princesses. They were gentile and full of humble giggles and excitement all through the day.

Pippin on the left and Jerry on the right.

I must say, I think they have grown up into a couple of amazingly beautiful young women inside and out.

Say Yes To The Dress

My girls and their friends are always so wonderful to say thank you for things and give cheers my way for....the food, the party, the ride, the gift, the wisdom, the_____fill in the blank. But sometimes I know that it is more of a sense of being polite than genuine gratitude. Not that I am complaining. I think I am a spoiled and love lavished mom. But recently Puddin' made my day.

I was walking through the living room with a load of laundry and my attention was caught by a show that Puddin' and Rixxi were watching. It is called Say Yes To The Dress. It is filmed in New York at a super fancy wedding boutique that people from all over the continent go to because of it's style and finesse. As with any tv reality series, it wouldn't be a show unless someone was making a fuss worth filming. What caught my attention was the filming of a mother and daughter. The daughter had found the dress of her dreams that made her feel like a princess more grand that Disney could ever hope to conjure. It was stunningly beautiful and fit all of her simple elegant desires. The mother pushed the consultant out of the way to go sort through the dresses herself while spouting on and on about the idea that she didn't care what her daughter wanted. Having nothing less than top notch sparkle and bling would be a social disaster.

I shook my head and said, "Someone needs to shake some reality into that mother and remind her that it's her daughter's wedding. If money isn't an issue and obviously it isn't, then shouldn't the look in her daughter's eyes and the happiness in her heart be the only thing that matters here?"

Puddin' dropped her stuff and jumped off the couch to hug me. "Oh Mom you are so amazing! I always say you are the best mom ever and I really do mean it. But when I see moms like that, they make me so mad and...I REALLY do mean it. I love you!"

Yeah, I was pretty rosy cheeked and misty eyed over that for a while.

The Things That Matter....

Right before prom things changed for us. It has ever since been a time where people keep saying, "Oh my goodness! How do you do it? You are so calm and peaceful."

To trace back the events, I think it started with my brother-in-law. My husband had gotten an urgent and panicked call. "Please talk to your brother!" It was his brother's wife on the other end of the phone. We all have different levels of things that we think we can handle. Sometimes when that level gets too close for comfort the person can feel that shutting down is the only answer. That is what happened here. The wife, who has advancing MS, had thrown her cane across the kitchen floor and football tackled her husband to the ground. With that accomplished, she sat on him and called his brother on the phone to be a voice of reason. It was the only thing she could do to keep him form walking out the door and possibly ending his life. A couple of weeks in the local hospital learning new coping skills and goal assessments seems to have created a new man and we are so very grateful.

At that same time frame, Hubby had to leave town for a week with work. The boss had started up a new contract 8 hours away in Idaho and asked Hubby to to the evaluating and training for the area. It was an honor and we are so grateful for the favor shown on him. But it was different having him gone for the week. A plus though is that he was able to spend some time with the kids and grand kids.

Mother's Day weekend was a very different time. Friday afternoon my mom had a mild heart attack. How can the words "mild" and "heart attack" ever be used in the same reference? As I drove to the ER I told myself that her headache and tight chest symptoms were only because of her recent cold and the medications she was taking for congestion. But when I saw her face I knew and didn't need hours of blood draws and enzyme calculations to tell me what we had already been through 5 years before. She was admitted into the hospital for observation and later it was decided to do another angiogram.

Mother's Day morning I was at the hospital waiting to hear the results from the cath lab. The attending cardiologist, whom we have dealt with on a previous occasion, lazily talked to me with a smirk on his face and an 'I told you so' glint in his eye. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "nope I can't do anything else. There are no stints or prescriptions to help with this", and he proclaimed her heart to be 20 years older than it should be. I wanted to put my fist through his face.

As I sat there in her room watching her rest, I absently worked over word search puzzles and fought back an overwhelming fear at the notion I might lose both my parents in the same year. My heart felt the swirling blackness get more thick around me, I cried out to God for rescue and hope and He reminded me of a fiction story I read a while back. In this story, the forces of good and evil are played in tandem with regular lives. The characters walk around through much of the story unaware that good and evil are all around them vying for territory just like Ephesians 6:12 says they are. Specifically I saw in my mind a part of the story where the main character was gripped by overwhelming fear and felt like he couldn't move. Then the story spun to the parallel spiritual realm and showed that same man with a demon named crippling fear that had latched his talon claws deep into the man's shoulders and was weighing him down to the ground. I decided then and there that I had a choice to move and look up or let myself fall down and give up. I decided anew that for every day there is breath, there is reason to have hope, purpose, and destiny.

Mom is home now and doing well. We went to spend the day with her today and bless her with a helping hand. I brought 4 young adults with me and they worked all over the yard cleaning and planting flowers to give her the summer joys that she loves without the stress and labor that goes with it.

Daddy is doing well too. His last scan showed that there was marginal shrinkage in 2 of the 4 tumor masses and no new tumors. He excitedly started another round of therapy and is anxiously counting down the days to our pending visit.

Along with these events, there are other things too. A step-grandma passed this week and a niece is in ICU after a massive seizure. I received an email today from the wife of a dear old friend. He has been battling caner this last year and it is spreading at an alarmingly horrid rate. They have decided to begin Hospice. This hits me in a way I can't even begin to wrap my heart around just yet.

Last Tuesday, I received a call that my husband's uncle in Nevada passed after a sudden massive heart attack. It took everyone by surprise. None of the family live here in town and most everyone lives out of state. But they are all coming here so he can be buried at the national cemetery. We have been asked to organise a memorial service.

It is an event that we never think of having to deal with but I am so grateful to be able to help the family out in this way. The widow and children need to be able to focus on one another without having to worry about a building or food. I have definitely learned a lot along the way and have found the web to have some great resources. If you ever find yourself in a position of needing to make a memorial service program, this site has beautiful user friendly free downloads.

This next week will be busy with the funeral and with us leaving 2 days later for Texas....but I feel entirely peaceful in a way that I can't even describe. All of these things happening to people we know and love. I don't understand it all. I can't reason it all. But I know that God is still God.

Okay, I could write more and more, but it is almost midnight and I must get some sleep.

For now, have a blessed and destiny filled day!

Mother's Day......

Mother's Day was so nice yesterday. We went to church and then spent the rest of the day up at my folks' house.

This platter of Tuxedo Strawberries is one of the things that I took up to contribute to the array of yummy foods. I love making this patter because it always makes everyone smile....especially my mom.

My mom did her famous Kahlua Pork as the main dish. Sound interesting? No it isn't soaked in creamed liquor. It is actually a baked oven combination of liquid smoke and island sea salt that gives the taste of pork served in a Hawaiian luau that was cooked in a pit.

As has become tradition, my hubby loaded up his trailer with bark dust for my mom's present. It is always so cute. He goes to work the day before Mother's Day to load up and when he shows up with trailer in tow she always pretends surprise and shock.

I am so grateful for my family.

Where Is My car......

Yesterday I had placed a circle on my calendar blocking out the day so I could spend it with my mom at the hospital. She had been scheduled for a procedure called coronary angiography. Once she was settled in and prepped with all the needed lab work, she kept telling me to go home, go away, or go get something to eat. It was going to be a long day and she was being my mom; always concerned that I am multi-tasking too much and spread too thin. I wouldn't budge though as I am a firm believer of being an advocate for the patient during a hospital stay.

I used to work in a medical surgical unit so I know that whatever a family member can do to help can go a long way in making a stay complication free. The person laying in that bed can feel so vulnerable. Having a second set of ears to hear what the doctor said, ask questions, make giggles, and at times be a silent encourager is invaluable. Plus as well intentioned as all the efficiency can be, with so many staff and procedures at a hospital, sometimes mistakes can happen that are easily avoidable if there is an extra someone watching.

Case in point: after an angiogram procedure, the patient is to lay flat for 4 hours. This is because the catheter camera is placed in the femoral artery. It takes 4 hours afterwards to make sure that the entrance site is stable and not going to re-open.
My mom's procedure was done late in the afternoon and when the ICVR closed for the evening she still had a couple of hours before she could get up so they moved her to a general stay room in the hospital. The CNA that was getting her vitals for that unit wanted her to get out of bed and stand on a weight scale. Oh my goodness! I dreamed about that all night long last night. What would have happened if I had not have been there to say, "No she hasn't even sat up yet. We have to keep that artery stable and immobile for 2 more hours."

Mom's angiogram went well and showed there was no new blockage at all. We are so grateful. This was her 5th angiogram since her heart attack in 2004 so we all felt pretty versed in what would happen. Strangely though, this time around we all seemed to feel more nervous than in the past.

While I was sitting in the waiting room, I visited with a man that was trying to pass the time just like me. During our conversation he mentioned meeting a woman outside the hospital that had lost her car. Try as she might, she could not remember where she parked. He thought it was rather odd and ridiculous. I said, "Oh poor thing. She must be so stressed to not remember."
He replied with, "Sure but who forgets that? Surely walking around would trigger some sort of memory for her. How in the world does a person forget where they parked their car?"

Later that evening (10pm to be exact) after Mom had proven to me that she could get out of bed just fine and would be going home soon, I relented that it was time for me to go home. I said my goodbyes and headed for the parking structure tunnel. I had taken the stairs out of the parking structure that morning but knew that the breezeway and elevator were on that same side so it couldn't hurt to take the path more lit.

I got up to level C West and headed towards where I parked my car but nothing looked familiar. I walked back and forth but didn't see my car at all. I mumbled to myself about getting turned around and being so foolish. Then I reasoned that the stairs were close by and if I go back and take the stairs then things will be familiar and I would remember.

Yeah that didn't work either. I stood there in the desolate parking structure at 10pm at night pacing and listening to that man's voice in my head saying, "How ridiculous that someone would not remember where they parked."

A hospital employee came by and recognized the look in my eyes and offered assistance. He took me over to the security phone and said, "Hey Charlie. I am over in C West with a 10-5. Yeah her name is Julie. Okay I will tell her." Then he turned to me and said, "Security will be here in a minute to drive you around and help you find your car. That way you are not alone."

I had to laugh. It actually happens so often that Security has a code name for it.
Security did come and once we went around the first corner.....there was my car. It took longer for him to get me than it did for us to find my car. I felt so foolish. I thanked him and got to my car as quickly as I could before the silly tears came.
I guess after 11 hours of appointing myself strong for everyone else.......I was a bit tired and more wound up than I realized.

Birthday Celebrations....

Sigh.....the headaches are back with a vengeance it seems.
My physical therapy appointments have really been going well and I felt I was really making progress with my daily stretches and such. But now.....
I ended up back at the doctor yesterday trying to see through the foggy pain enough to explain myself. It seems that the muscles in my neck where my head sits at the base, they are so tight that they spasm rock solid and cut everything off. So the next plan of attack is muscle relaxants (praise God they cut through the pain) and a referral to a neurologist.

I am frustrated. Here I have all this time on my hands now and I am worthless. The girls are at school, hubby works,.......and I sleep. I hate it when he does the laundry. No he doesn't do anything wrong and he is glad to do it and just wants me better. I just hear failure in my own mind. I do it to myself.

But enough of that yuck. Before my pill kicks in I want to share something fun.......

Last week my mom and I were finally able to have our birthday lunch. Our shared birthday is actually a week before Christmas, but the snow and ice storms that raged over here for a while put a damper on our plans.

Oh my goodness we had such fun. Our standing rule is that she pays for the day and I make the plans. I always keep it a surprise and she always tries to trick me into saying what the surprise it. She is so funny.

This year I made reservations at Cheryl's Cup of Tea in Oregon City. Cheryl made everything so perfectly beautiful and tasty. We sighed at all the wonderful decorations and felt like lacy ladies in the dainty environment. Our special lunch had 4 different kinds of little sandwiches, a scone, and a fruity salad with champagne vinaigrette dressing. Cheryl made us a pot of eggnog chi tea and a pot of organic apricot passion fruit tea. Oh my we were so full when we finished eating. But Cheryl wasn't finished. She brought out two little surprise birthday cupcakes with our names on them and sang to us.

It was truly a wonderful and blessed day.....the food and atmosphere were definitely fun but the thing that made it a blessing was just to spend precious time with my mom.

2nd Weekend in October....

I took my dad to the airport on Wednesday morning, dropped the girls off at school, went on my 3 mile walk, and then came home to closed windows and ignored the world.
It was such a good time for my dad to be here. We did talk about things. We cried, hugged, and healed. It was so hard to take him to the airport and to talk to him on the phone now brings more tears to my heart. But that is good.

*****

Praise! My mom had her first cataract surgery on Thursday and she is doing wonderful. It was funny to visit with her yesterday and explore a newly uncovered world with her. It reminded me of so many of those same feelings that I had with my eye surgeries......"wow everything is crisp" and "oh my gosh how did the bathroom get so dirty". Now we are all looking forward to the next surgery, which I hope they schedule soon, so that she can see clearly with no struggling.

*****

In the midst of everything I have been sporting around continual waves of major headaches. It is really getting on my nerves. They hang around for a week at a time slowly building to a non-functioning climax that sends me to bed with the world spinning. I have an appointment on Monday but things have calmed back down and I can do most things without noticing the irritation. Don't know that an appointment would solve anything now.

*****

On to other things......
Last night our oldest daughter came into town from Spokane for the weekend with her boyfriend. We decided that we needed to go downtown to the hockey game because our Portland Winterhawks were playing the Spokane Chiefs. Those who know me well may or may not be surprised to find that mind mannered me absolutely LOVES hockey.

Do I understand it all?....no. Do I know any of the players?....nope.

Do I even follow the game at any time during the season?...definitely no.

But it is the only sport that I get excited about and have a desire to watch. Maybe it is the combination of speed and the thrill of the ice. OR maybe it is the almost guaranteed assurance that there will be a fight during the game. Just being honest here.

I haven't been to a game in years. As a matter of fact the last time I went to a game, we took some dear friends of ours and they had their little baby girl with them (who now is in 2nd or 3rd grade). Sometime during the evening I slipped out of the suite box and rocked her to sleep on my chest while the sporting crowd chanted on for plays that I couldn't see. I was happy though because there is nothing like holding a baby in my arms.

So, last night was fun. Somehow we ended up in the section where I think all the hockey parents sat. I would guess they were so because of their participation /anger level. What was really humorous to me was the lack of people everywhere else. The picture below will show you all the empty seats around the stadium.

But we had a ton of fun. Since our daughter and her boyfriend are from Spokane, we had our own team rivalry banter going back and forth amongst ourselves. Here is a picture of hubby and I with his classic "goofy face pose".

This is our girl with her boyfriend. See their happy faces? That is because Spokane won 6 - 2. And yes there were 3 fights all in the 3rd period of the game.

(see how bad I am at sports. I had to sit here and think of what to call it...a quarter...an inning....nope it is a period.)

And those enthusiastic hockey parents were embarrassing by the end of the evening. They were so sore about losing that they yelled out names and directions to the referees. Then one proclaimed loudly as we walked by that "Spokane Sucks!"

Our daughter looked him in the eyes with a smile and said, "Oh that is not nice to say. We are from Spokane."

He stumbled ever so slightly in speech and followed back just as loudly as before with, "But we LOVE that they spend their money in Portland!"

Floating on a Raft....

Here come those memories again. I was looking at some of Quilly's beach photo's last night and my mind floated back to a time when we lived in Hawaii.

Quilly's photo brought to my mind a memory of being at Bellows Beach with my parents. I had to have been between 3 and 4 years old. My dad had me in water that was waist high for him. I was sitting on a body raft and giggling in the moment. I can remember my dad smiling and saying, "Angel, can you find Mommy? She is an awful good swimmer and just might sneak up on you." At that point I leaned over for a look in the water and saw my beautiful mom swim under me. It sticks in my mind that she had on a yellow swim suit with red colors on it, maybe flowers, and she swam with her sunglasses on. I remember that the water was so very clear, so clear that it had no color. The ripple of the waves mixing with the sunlight made intricate patterns of shadow on the sandy floor. The water always tasted yucky but it was always so warm and inviting.

I was just a little girl when my dad was stationed at the Air Force base. I think I was maybe a year old and we lived there until I finished 1st grade (early memories are so fuzzy). Being so young, my memories are snippets of pictures and feelings. All of these snippets include the joys of family. My mom had done much of her own growing up in Hawaii and had many relatives there.

I remember being at Nana and Grandpa's house a lot. In my mind, their house was huge with big open rooms. There was a front concrete patio with a brick wall. Along the driveway there was a rock retaining wall that led to the road. I can remember someone holding my balance as I stood on that wall to watch the 4th of July fireworks. The smells were so strong and the loud noises muffled because my dad put his flight line headset over my ears.

I remember going for walks with Nana around the neighborhood and telling the barking dogs "no-no".
Here is a funny one.....I remember faking coughs so that I could sip Nana's homemade cough syrup that was always on the refrigerator door. It was a mild concoction of honey, lemon, and rum.

I remember our own 2 story home. My cousin would come over to visit on a regular basis and we would play our imaginative games. Always our role playing was about pretending to be grownups and it was always a race to be the first to proclaim that there was coffee in our pretend cups.
I remember a neighbor boy named Calvin and how we were always teased that we would grow up to be married to each other because we played so well together.

I remember my dad taking me to school one day. For some reason that I don't remember, school had already started and it was to be my first day in class. When we showed up, the class was getting ready for a field trip to the zoo and I was given the option of attending with them or going back home. I can remember thinking, "of course I am going back home. I am not going to spend the day at the zoo with people I don't know."

I remember in school that I had a friend named Susan. Once we did a presentation as a whole class in Polynesian dance. We spent weeks making grass skirts by rolling newspaper around pieces of straw and gluing them into place. On the day of performance, we had to go to school in our swim suits, preferably bikini style. With leis around our necks and flowers in our hair, we did dance arrangements with balls on string. I don't remember the name of them but it was a skilled art form and we had to do it a certain way. Each of us had two of these balls on string. We spun them in circles and made them bounce in pattern back and forth as we alternated hands. I remember a man there dressed in royal finery to resemble King Kamehameha. My mom still laughs at the scene as she remembers that I was the only fair skinned redhead on the group and I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Another big memory for me in Hawaii is going to the zoo. Though I didn't go on that day with my new classmates, it was always an experience I looked forward to. What sticks out in my most is a bridge that went over the giraffe habitat. I remember that I would run ahead up to that bridge, sit down on the side, and share my roasted peanuts with the giraffe. The bridge was just high enough that the giraffe had to stick its tongue out and up to enjoy my delights. I would always cringe and laugh at the same time as I felt the roughness of that tongue.

Now it is time for me to get back into the world of today. This has been fun though. Thank you for sitting and sharing a few minutes with me and my memories.

Recent Signs of Spring....

I wanted to share these things that have made me smile lately.

Come take a walk around my humble home.

These roses are from my hubby....just because.

I love how the color blends from white to delicate pink in the center.

God is such an amazing creator.

Okay, maybe not a sign of spring, but they made me smile all the same.
Hubby, Pippin, and Rosie added to my Willow Tree collection for Mother's Day.

Can you see the varigated color in these rose buds?

Each mom at church was given these for Mother's Day.

I have never seen such color in a rose before.

This tree brings me such joy every year. It is a Star Lilac.

At one time, the edges of each star was framed in white, making a 5 point star.

I think maybe I am missing some nutrients in our soil because that effect no longer happens.

Still the smell and beauty takes my breath away.

I am not skilled in growing plants.....at all. But for some reason I am able to get these pretty babies to thrive in my kitchen.

They must love the sky light.

I am actually really gtreatful they are healthy and happy.

They are violets and some sort of greenery that were given to us when my father-in-law and my husband's youngest son passed away.

You might be wondering what that is in my kitchen that my pretty violets stand on.

This also brings a smile to my heart and I cherish it.

When my parents first married, my father was active duty Air Force and stationed in Japan. They lived in a tiny little apartment and furnished things as they went along.
This old fashioned ice box was the first piece of furniture that they purchased together.
My mom still laughs when she thinks about them arguing a fair price with the little Ojiisan (grandpa).

It has been in my family for a little over 38 years now.
I don't know how old it really is.
Maybe 7 years ago, I claimed it from my mom's garage, stripped and re-painted it
and now it sits in my kitchen filled with cookbooks and kitchen towels.

Just One More Picture...

Here is a better picture.

We went and played with the little fuzzball this evening.

She has definately found a soft spot in my mom's heart already.

Meet Lani.....

My parents came knocking on our door last night with this cute little bundle.

After 20 years of pinning away, my mom finally indulged her desire for a "fuzzy child".

Say Awe!

Late At Night...

I am starting to get sleepy now. Everyone is sleeping, the laundry is finished, and I think I am all packed. Now I am sitting here with a bit more detail coming together in my mind and I feel overwhelmed at the amazing way things have transpired.

Yesterday was my birthday. I am now 37 years old. It is just a number to me. It is fun to have celebrations, no matter what the focus is. I just always love being able to share it all with my mom. I don't expect gifts...not that I am a perfect unselfish person....having a December birthday usually means that one's birthday gets lost in the Christmas festivities. Anyone that has a mid to late December birthday can testify that they receive birthday boxes wrapped in holiday Santa wrap or a Christmas box that is labeled "also birthday". Truly it is okay and funny. It is a great and humbling way to keep pride in tact. (giggle giggle)

Usually I can predict what is going to happen in the "surprise" catagory of my birthday. Yesterday was differnt though and so amazing. Spending the evening with my mom was too perfect already and I would have been blessedly content. However, when I came home, more was waiting for me.
Without my knowing, several people from my church had taken up a collection and blessed me with a new dishwasher. The one that came with my house had been broken and un-fixable for the past 3 years. (Now, washing dishes by hand is not a big deal. I promise I didn't complain.) Their goal was to collect enough funding to purchase and install a basic model while I was out for the evening and unaware. But oh how God worked. Such a collection was taken up that they purchased a deluxe model and still had a sizable amount of money left over. They all signed a beautiful card and placed the money inside with the statement that I could do whatever I saw fit with what was left.

I was so shocked and overwhelmed.....still am shocked and overwhelmed. I am sitting here thinking about how much I have wanted to be with my dad during this time and how perfectly God provided the means for me to get there. I know I mentioned something in the previous posting, but waves of comprehension are washing over me. The left over money was only $20 shy of a complete round trip ticket for me. It blows my mind.

A Few Seconds.....

I am just grabbing a few seconds and making a mental note here. I haven't had opportunity to sit and organize my thoughts and it will be a few more days yet before I can weave something here.

Our birthday was so wonderful last night. My mom and I were like little girls enjoying all that The Melting Pot had to offer. It was such a dinning experience. The staff went out of their way to make sure we had a birthday celebration like none other.

This morning my father called from far away and said that my step mom lost her battle to cancer. Tomorrow morning, my brother and I are flying out for a few days to grieve and try to encourage. I am so grateful to have been blessed with a huge envelope of money just last night that almost perfectly covers the emmergency cost of my plane fare. God is so amazing. I wouldn't have been able to do this otherwise.

It Is That Time Of Year....

As I have said before in times past, this can be a pretty stressful time for me. As glorious as this season is, people can sure get ruffled the wrong way if they are not careful. I really am having fun though. As we wrap up these next couple of weeks of school, I have cool things in the works that will change things up.

Hmmm....."Change it up"...... That line always brings to my mind a scene from D2 Mighty Ducks where the teacher, Michele MacKay, is filling in as coach. She says to the team, "We look tired. We need to rearrange people."
A team player says, "Say Change it Up....no, yell it."
Michele yells, "Change It Up!", like nobody's business and everything and everyone miraculously falls into place with relief.

Falling into place.....along with school, working up the next batch of Sunday school lessons, and my other regular stuff; I am crafting gifts for a long list of treasured people. It is too much fun.

One of the best things though that I really get a kick out of before Christmas morning is planning a birthday....two birthdays as a matter of fact. Seven days before Christmas is a very special time for me because it is my mom's birthday.......and mine. Mother and daughter on the same day. No, it wasn't planned. It just happened that way. And if that wasn't cool enough, her father, my grandfather, also shared that exact same date of birth. When I was little, I remember we would always have a giant chocolate sheet cake with a fish for Grandpa, a rose for my mom, and a ballerina for me. As a child, I always thought I was cursed with a mom that had special ESP. I just knew she could read my mind and find things out BECAUSE we had the same birthday. Of course, now that I am the mom, I know the smarts comes from the fact that I can say, "Honey I been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt before it was even a nano thought in your mind."

So, I am planning our birthday date. Now that my husband is retired from active duty and we live back in our home stomping grounds, Mom and I spend the day together doing whatever we want. We eat and shop and giggle the day away. Every year, I have fun planning some new surprise for my mom that will beam a shinning example of how special she is to me. This year is no exception. I have special reservations made and everything. I am so excited. She is going to flip. I called that place over on......

Well now, I can't say, because that would ruin the surprise. Mom stops by this blog every now and again to visit. So, I will just have to keep it a secret.
Right about now, as she is reading this, she is mumbling something about me being a little (@#*) and then giggling about the apple not falling far from the tree.
See, along with our special day and my special planning, her special job is to try and trick me into divulging precious information that would give the secret away.

I'll just have to tell you about it AFTER it happens.

I love you Mom.