Diagnosis......hot spot

This morning when I went into the bonus room to get Princess out of her crate, I noticed her eyes were very "icky" as though she had allergies or an infection in them. Then, I noticed a smell. As I followed her (and Allie) outside, I saw that the fur on the whole side of her face was matted and there was a foul smelling discharge. I called the vet and they wanted to take a look. She got the spa treatment....a bath and brush, anal glands expressed, a shave on the side of her face, and a high powered shot as well as oral and topical antibiotics. We just picked her up a little while ago. This was taken on the way home, when I was stopped at the red light.
The diagnosis was "hot spot". This looks pretty bad...I know, but they shaved the area where she was scratching and applied medicine. Evidentally, labs get these hot spots pretty frequently and they will scratch to try to relieve the itching (I guess it's like a heat rash for us....prickly and itchy.) They also happen suddenly from what I was told. So, I will just keep her doctored up and try to keep her indoors a little more during the day and hopefully we can avoid any more problems.

By the way, she is loving the staying inside part. She and Allie usually stay outside most of the day and come in at night to sleep. OH, and she has lost a pound...she's only 101 pounds now!!!!!

swimming lessons

Abigail treading water...they have to be able to do this for 1 minute.
Abigail with two friends....Amber and ????
I love this 'flying' into the pool from the diving board shot. She LOVES the low dive.

We just finished our first week of swimming lessons for this session. Abigail has done well in level 3, and seems to be learning new skills each day. She still needs to perfect her breathing on her freestyle stroke, but she has mastered or is making progress towards mastery in all areas. We will have to get in on lessons earlier in the season next year....as she will benefit from all the instruction she can get.

As a matter of fact, I am considering taking adult lessons next summer as well since I am a weak swimmer myself. But, you can be assured I will not be photographing that adventure. Me, in a swimsuit, posted for the whole cyber world to see.....nah.

It's green--before and after

Bruce and Abigail both suggested that the walls might look better with the same color above and below the chair rail. So, I decided to use a couple of hours this morning to get the kitchen up to speed.

Actually, I was reminded of the last time I painted below the chair rail in the kitchen. It was October 4, 1999. I don't usually remember the dates I paint my walls, but this date was special. I was painting..just finishing up actually, when I got a phone call from Bruce. He was very serious sounding....like something bad had happened. He said we needed to talk and we could only do that face to face so he was on his way home. So, I hung up the phone, imagined the worst and finished cleaning up the painting supplies and myself. Then, I started praying that no matter what the news, God will give me the grace to handle it well.

Well, it seemed like an hour before got home (and actually it probably was close to that). I was getting anxious...but this was a 'pre cell phone' era for us, so I could not see where he was along his trip home. That turned out to be a good thing.

When he walked in, he had a large peace lily topped with a balloon that said "It's a Girl." I screamed and cried and laughed and repeated the sequence several times. Then, he told me the details that had been passed along to him by Lea Anne, our social worker. We were getting a child.... a precious baby girl (which I secretly preferred to have a girl first).....after all those years of trying and waiting and praying and fasting and crying and many other things. God decided the right child had been born at the right time and that she needed to join our family.

So, when Abigail came home to us on October 15, 1999...the kitchen walls below the chair rail were painted and fresh.

So far, July 23, 2008 has not been noteworthy like the last time I painted those walls. But, the day is still young......

Pretty in Pink

Abigail normally hates pink. Well, maybe not really HATES, but she balks about wearing it because she says it is too "girly." But, she wanted to wear pink today, because she wanted to show off her new shoes. Grammy took her shopping, and the only color in her size was PINK!!! So, since she liked the style so much, she chose them and proudly wore them. She is growing SO tall, and she is almost into adult sized shoes. These are 4.5's I think...and ladies start at size 5!! You can also see my new kitchen color...the green I was not so sure about is really growing on me. I plan to paint the bottom half the same color because I was out-voted. No one else liked tan (I know it's kinda hard to tell from this photo) with the green. I don't totally agree, but that's okay. They have to live with it every day just like me, and the total green with white accents will not be a bad thing..just a little more work:)

My little mermaid

Abigail is currently taking swimming lessons at the pool on the arsenal. She has taken lessons (once as a preschooler and twice during first grade). We felt it was important to get her in the water and learning the missing skills again. So, when we joined the pool on base, we signed up for lessons. Since she did not complete level two at the other place we took lessons, I assumed that is where she needed to be. But, during her first lesson, the instructor took her to level three to be part of that group. If we hit a bump in the road, they'll move her back to level two, but I think she is gonna be okay. She LOVES her goggles, so I had to capture that look. She is also doing some water treading in the lower photo with one of her instructors cheering her on. She also told me today that the girl with 'brown skin' is her friend now:) She is so funny....she still describes people by their skin colors (not in public, but when talking to me).

Forty Years of FUN!!

Amanda and I finally pose for a photo after nearly 2 hours....I was running around the whole time prior to then.
Amanda and her sweetie, James enjoyed the evening. This goofy hat from the Comedy Barn made us all laugh at her.
Amanda appears to be clueless that her siblings are giving her bunny ears.

I am so blessed in that the Lord has given me many friends...all very different and all very special to me in various ways. One of my friends, Amanda, is turning forty this week. She is such a nut....always fun to be around...always making me laugh. Our party on Saturday was no different. About 35 friends, coworkers, and family members gathered to celebrate with her at TerraNova's. We enjoyed great food, lots of laughs, a few tears and some great fellowship. Her brother and I emceed the 'roast' which was quite hilarious. We all learned a little more about some of her antics...from doing the "worm" in front of the whole school where she teaches during a pep rally to getting a friend to give her shots in the right spot by drawing permanent marker dots on the 'target.'

Happy birthday, Amanda!!

Healing from the past.....

"Often some of the worst memories of our past have to do with things people have said that hurt or embarrassed us. Being called unflattering names, being falsely accused of something we didn't do, or being rejected can haunt us for a lifetime. But if you ask God to release you from such negative memories, He will. This doesn't mean that God will give you amnesia when it comes to negative memories, but He will take away their sting to the extent that you can completely forget them unless you need to recall them for the pupose of ministering to someone else. God will also help you forgive the people involved so that you no longer have to endure the pain. Pray this for your husband as well as yourself."

This quote came from lesson 7 in the study guide of The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. It really made me stop and think....and also feel very compelled to post it here. Since I don't teach a Bible study or a Sunday School class, I don't get to "stir the pot" on such hot topics. But, I figure I can do that here:)

I'll start by saying I am pretty 'forgetful'. In talking with others, I find that I remember very few details of past disagreements....once they are settled, I tend to forget the details and just remember that we had a bump in the road but it's all okay now. I am thankful for my forgetfulness, because I have observed that remembering the details causes the people I know to relive the hurt so many times. Yes, there are some things I remember the details of....but not too many. But, I like her idea....specifically praying for release from those memories. I guess I had never thought of that before.

I'd love to hear your comments. I am still 'chewing' on this one.

Thursday's thoughts

Wow! What a whirlwind of a week this has been! Both my mind (and body) seem to be spinning at full tilt with little hope of a slower speed anytime soon. And, before I get any farther into things, this is a drawing Abigail did online with "paint." She will sit for hours at the computer and compose stories, then illustrate them..if I allow her to sit at the computer that long. But when she is doing something 'educational' I usually allow a lot more freedom.

On another note, I have been thinking about the wheel image some more (see previous post). I came across this in my Power of a Praying Wife study guide this morning from lesson 7. I'll quote Stormie Omartian and add a few thoughts afterwards.

"We also cannot move into all God has for us if we do not have the right priorities. God wants to be first in our lives, and if He isn't, we are not going to see life happen the way we want it to. Because our lives can get so busy, we can easily find ourselves out of balance. We start sacrificing our health, our time with the Lord, our spouse, and our marriage on the altar of busyness......When you ask God to help you and your husband establish right priorities, He will do so.....The Bible says to love God above all else and "others" second. Our most significant other is our spouse. When we put God first and our spouse second, then everything else will fall into place..."

"Out of balance"--just a random thought here, but I think of my washing machine. When it is out of balance, it jumps around in the laundry room..moving from its place. Water puddles cover the floor, so I have a big mess to clean up. And, the machine stops working...just sits there...until I reach down and manually redistribute things to a more balanced state. Then, it works again just fine....until it gets out of balance again. The cause of the problem....usually the weight is not distributed right because I am trying to do too much laundry at one time. With only a little thought, I found this to be a pretty accurate spiritual analogy in my life.

And, I will say that as a wife and mom, it is very easy to put my child above my spouse and I have been guilty many times. Also, I can attest to how being busy means that our health suffers (how many times have I had an illness because I did not take care of myself when working crazy hours??). It is also easy to let time with the Lord slide....you don't feel great so you want to stay in bed a little longer....been there, done that??? I have!! I do like that last sentence....when we put God first and our spouse second, then everything else WILL fall into place. The hard part is, sometimes that "everything else" is screaming for my attention.

Today I have had to remind myself of those priorities....'everything else' has been some school related issues/responsibilities which are more demanding of my time than they have been in the past. These things are important, but I felt a bit of an ache in the pit of my stomach as I jotted 3 more activities on my calendar that is already pretty full for that time period. While I KNOW God has set this course for me and my family, sometimes the details have to be handled in a way that require a sacrifice of time. So,I have to remind myself.....sometimes almost even verbalizing it...God first, Bruce second...Abigail third....other things next.....

So, Thursday's thoughts are busy ones, but maybe by next Thursday, things will slow down a bit???????

To be or not to be....a wheel

Our Sunday School teacher made a very interesting statement this morning and I am trying to decide if I fully agree with his analogy...or maybe if a slightly modified version would work better.

He stated that instead of thinking of serving God as a "to do" list with things numbered in order, we should picture a wheel. God is the center of the wheel and everything else we "do" is a spoke on the wheel. He said that sometimes the spoke called family hits a bump and we slow down and spend more time there or perhaps it will be the spoke called job or friends. There is pressure on the wheel depending on the resisitance on the road at that point. All said, GOD is the center of everything we do....we don't just "do" our "God stuff" and check it off the list. Everything we do in life (family, friends, work, hobbies...) relates back to God..or should.


I like that....but in my mind, the spokes are all the same. (in the image that is) So, if that image holds true, family is no more important than a hobby or friends are no more important than work. And, I just cannot reconcile that in my mind, as I feel strongly that God wants our families to be second only to Him.

So, I am trying to think of a new image. I am a very visual learner...can you tell?? I even went out to look at my van tires and my DD's bicycle tires. But, so far....no new image?

Anyone????? Or am I way off base here???

This week..........

This week has gone very quickly in some respects and very slowly in others. It has been a very full week in more ways that one.

On Monday I was able to get an official diagnosis (sort of) on my foot problems. I am now using a fitted orthodic device in my athletic shoes a few hours a day to resolve the issue. I'll be checking back in with the doctor in a few weeks to see if the device is working or if there are other issues at work. It is entirely possible that I am also dealing with a second issue, but the best way to know is to treat the first problem and see which symptoms improve and which, if any, do not. I am SO grateful for health insurance when it comes to things like this. Yes, there are co-pays and such, but being able to pay a "discounted" amount means I can get the help I need as opposed to not getting help at all or delaying treatment.

On Tuesday I was able to help a friend who had a surgical procedure done. Not only did I get to transport her, but I got to help with her children for the day. Thankfully, my neighbor was very eager to allow my child to do school work at her house while I did the transporting. That was a good thing since the whole thing took a lot longer than the medical staff had originally indicated. We had a full and fun day with her family and she got some much needed rest at home...alone..with no one arguing or asking her a million questions . My child enjoyed her children a great deal...and wants to play again soon.

Wednesday was busy with appointments. I met a really neat fellow named Paul. He is a pedorthist (the one who fitted my shoes with the metatarsal bar/pad). He was sharing about his children and how he changed from a higher paying job as a chemist to a lower paying job as a self employed pedorthist because the new job allowed him to be with his family more and also to be in attendance at church on Sundays and Wednesdays (unlike his previous job where he had to work one or the other and sometimes both). You have to admire people like that who will sacrifice so many things to reach those higher goals they have.

Thursday we stayed home! That is good because there were many things to tend to around here and I barely scraped the surface. But, I did get the most urgent things done so that is a good thing:)

Friday was full of errands and busy-ness. Kim , our awesome babysitter, had returned from 3 week trip earlier in the week, so we were able to have her watch Abigail for a long session during the day. When she left, Abigail and I were able to join Bruce for dinner out as a family. Then, we just hung out and enjoyed each other's company for the rest of the evening.

Oh, there were a LOT of other things that happened during the week, but we survived them all:)


I have completed almost a week on the Biggest Loser Challenge I am currently doing. And, even with a few instances of being 'out' and needing to get a bite, I made wise choices and did not overshoot my calorie/carb/fat....limits even once. For me, that is pretty remarkable!!

Also, I have enjoyed my time with the Lord this week. I am part of a study group doing The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. This has been SO awesome for me to see all the ways I can pray for Bruce. But, as I have prayed more and spent more time in the Word, I have definitely felt the enemy's attacks. While that is not any fun, it is a reminder that I am where God wants me to be.

This next week promises to be busy as well. Looks like we'll be on the go every day. I promise to take photos and post them later on:)

WOW!!

A few weeks ago we had a great opportunity to see the Blue Angels practice before a local air show. I was amazed that they were so perfectly in line and obviously, they were paying close attention to their own actions, their leader and each other. Even a slight miscalculation or a little distraction could have been very dangerous, or even deadly.

I had to stop and think about my life. I wondered if I am always that focused on God. (of course I know I am not) I get distracted by the 'clouds' and 'birds' in my life, and when I do, I tend to lose my focus on the most important ONE in my life. Or maybe, I shift to autopilot...just going about my business without really thinking, but again, that is not a good way to live....too many disasters await me when I am not focused on God.

As I think back over my life, I realize that there have been times my focus has been in the wrong place.....not a bad person, job, situation... necessarily.....but just a wrong focus. This is SO easy to do when you are a newly married person or a new mom or you have a new job or you have a new friend or a new 'toy' of some sort. You want to spend a lot of time and energy there, and in some cases that is required (ie., I have never seen a baby change and feed itself), but there are still ways to find the Lord and focus on Him, even in the busy hustle and bustle of those life changing events.

Right now, I would say that my 'job' (homeschooling and teaching at the cover group) and my family are my primary focus, besides the Lord. My challenge is to keep God first, family second with friends and job and other things in my life following. I am sure that none of you struggle with that....but it has been really tough for me recently. The urgent overtakes the eternal.

I wish I had a great and insightful answer for this problem but I am finding that it comes down to me. I have to commune with the Lord...I have to make it a priority.....I have to find the time....I have to give myself to Him. I know when I do, my day goes so much better, or if it doesn't, at least I know that He has been invited to help me thru it all and to show Himself stong in my life in the struggles.

I am also having to learn that I cannot be everything to everyone and sometimes I have to say 'no' and if the other persons involved get mad at me, then I will have to pray for them and move on...because I have spent way too much time trying to please others and not enough focus on making sure I am pleasing HIM first (and He'll show me what I should be doing for others).

So, it is my prayer that I will have the intent focus on Him (just as these pilots have on each other and their leader), and that my life will shine as a light for Him. It was kinda hard to miss these guys...they were something else to see. I hope that the same can be said of me, as a follower of Christ.

Biggest Loser

I won't make much of the issue, but if you read this and if you think of me, please say a prayer for me. I am part of an online group (we all have CM/scrapbooking in common) that is currently running a Biggest Loser competition. We have been divided into teams and will work hard on our own for the six week duration to learn and incorporate healthier habits into our lives. Using online accountability, we will check in with each other and report our weight losses, loss of inches, exercise totals, challenges faced and how we overcame those...... I can see that this would be a great opportunity to allow the Lord to shine....please pray that I will have wisdom in my communications with the ladies on my team.



For those of you who know me well, you know that I have diabetes. I take medicines for that as well as medicines for some related conditions and for preventative measures (ie., blood pressure meds for protecting my kidneys). I would love to get to the point that I had to take little/no medicine.....or at best, I could reduce the dosages I am taking.



I am undergoing this challenge from July 7-August 18 and my goals are to lose 8-10 pounds, increase the veggies in my diet, work in some strength/resistance training and to learn and actually implement healthier habits.

My team number is 11....so when you see an 11...just pray for me.

Random thoughts

I know it is not apparent by this photo, but Abigail is actually on the high dive. She is a pretty brave little gal (I would NOT be up there...no way......no how!!), but she got scared. Maybe because she saw me taking photos??? Probably because it was a good bit higher than she is used to???

But, finally, after much coaxing, she did jump. (At this pool, due to safety issues, you are not allowed to climb down the ladder once you have gone up.) As soon as she 'got it over with' she went right back to the low dive multiple times and with no fear at all. It made me stop and think.....what can we learn from this?

Perhaps, even when we know everything will be okay, we just have a hard time falling into the deep water because of fear....rational or not. God is there....He loves us and He will protect us...but how many times have I let fear keep me from taking a leap? While Abigail was in her comfort zone on the low dive and went back to that immediately afterwards, I wonder how many times I have just hidden and failed to even do the little things that I am pretty comfortable with.

While you won't be seeing me on the high dive or low dive for that matter (I am not a good swimmer), I do hope you will see me taking those steps of faith up the ladder of the high dive...trying something a little scary and out of my comfort zone, knowing that God will be there. And, I also hope you will see me taking those little steps on the low dive too......again, being willing to step out a little bit and do what I enjoy doing and what God wants me to do.

This is Oreo, our neighbor's cat. He is SO funny. He thinks he lives here, and we'll often find him napping in our flower bed or garage if we leave up the door. It is my prayer that our home will always be that comfortable for people too.....that a person feels he/she can come here, relax, enjoy a meal (okay, I DO sneak him some tuna from time to time), and be themselves, maybe even stay a night or longer if needed. God has blessed us with so much...and we feel that if He wants our home to be a haven for others, we will not get in His way.

family fun

I knocked down a few!! For some reason, she wants to bowl left handed, even though she is a 'righty.'
I had a LOT of fun!

Bruce was able to take off from work on Thursday, July 3. Abigail went to soccer camp while Bruce and I enjoyed running some errands together (to get all the necessary supplies for the family cookout). When we picked Abigail up, we had an 'okay' lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger (GREAT onion rings, but the burgers were not quite the same as usual). Then we headed over to RSA to bowl on base. These photos were taken there. None of us did great bowling....Bruce did break 100 the second game though. We did enjoy ourselves a lot, and I am so grateful for a family that enjoys being together and having fun!!

July 4th...I am grateful for so much!

Am I making you hungry yet???? These are my BBQ beans and they are usually requested at every family gathering. Our celebration on the fourth was no different.
I know these potatoes look a little pale.....this was before they hit the grill. I baked them, then added some melted margarine and topped them with rib rub. Once grilled then we can top them like a regular baked potato.
These are the soon to be cooked brats and hot dogs. We thought the kids might not like bratwurst sausages. Making the brats was "fun". We had to buy beer to boil them in before putting them on the grill. Neither of us are drinkers at all....so we had to call someone who knew something about beer to tell us which kind to buy. Then, when we went to buy it, they needed to card us???? at the grocery store. It was kind of funny considering that there is NO mistaking that we are well above the age limit here.

Abigail and her Huntsville cousins are enjoying dessert after lunch. I am grateful she has great cousins here and in Georgia that she enjoys spending time with.

After our family meal, Grandma and the three grandkids enjoy playing ball in the street between rain showers. I am SO grateful for a Grammy who is full of energy and enjoys doing active things with the grandchildren. She works so hard at being a good Grammy and really being a super influence in their lives.

We had such a nice and relaxing day. After everyone left, we headed out to Bridge Street to see a wonderful fireworks display. Again, this happened between rain showers. We had no more gotten home and settled in until a NICE rain shower started and eventually lulled us to sleep:) We are grateful for the rain and for so many things not even related to the holiday we celebrated today.

Of course, we are very grateful to the Lord for blessing our nation and for the many people who have given their lives or who have made great sacrifices to help protect our freedom in the USA!!

Where did June go?

Just wondering, but where did the month of JUNE go??? Have we really been done with full time school for over a month? Have we actually had a vacation (which was a visit with family in Georgia as opposed to a beach or Disney experience)? Those 30 days seemed to speed by and so many days and parts of days just cannot be accounted for.

Actually that is a little sad to me. As I get older, I find that I cannot remember the details of my days like I used to be able to. Thankfully, I have an eight year old whose memory is not cluttered like mine...so she remembers EVERYTHING....even those things I wish she would not remember. But, to think that unless I read back over a blog or my Joni Erikson Tada day planner, I cannot remember what happened on a particular day or group of days, it is a little saddening....because I guess I did not take time to appreciate the little things that would make that day stand out in my mind.

My prayer is that July will be a bit more memorable. Today was a good day. While Abigail was at soccer camp, I had a chance to reconnect with a former student of mine. MEH was one of my third graders back in the early to mid 1990's, so she is now in her 20's. This young lady has faced a WORLD of challenges both physically and mentally, but she has such a wonderful attitude and wants to be helpful. She calls me frequently and asks if she can help me with anything, but it seems that between her activities and illnesses and our busy schedule here, we don't find too many days that will work. Well, about 2 weeks ago, I realized that today, July 1, would work for both of us. So, I dropped Abigail off at soccer camp, then picked MEH up from her home. She and I worked alongside each other for about 2.5 hours...dusting, wiping counters, wiping blinds, vacuuming.....basically a very belated spring cleaning. I still have some chores left to do, but the mopping and other touchups will still be waiting on me tomorrow. For today, I have the memories of working alongside a very positive young lady while listening to the Gaithers (her favorite) and singing along.

Yes, I think I will remember July 1 for a long time.