Me, Squeamish?

So we got to my Mom's house at noon today, and one of her friends was here taking care of her. Since it was time for her eye drops, she showed me which ones when, and started putting them in Mom's eyes, when all of a sudden I was hot all over and sweating like I was going to be sick! I rushed to the bathroom and then got woozy. It was the weirdest thing. I'm not squeamish! I've been a teacher and a mom. I've cleaned up blood, poop, and various other body fluids without batting an eye. I've held my own unconscious child while listening to ambulance sirens coming for her. But for some reason this got to me; I wonder why.
I've done this 3 times before. Once was when I was pregnant and my mother-in-law got a nose-bleed. Again, it surprised me when I felt that way because I'd been around blood before. I blamed it on the pregnancy.
Then one time we were visiting my parents, and a neighbor's dog had been getting into their trash. So my dad decided to scare it away...with a shotgun. Let's just say he aimed a little high. Mike said he shot, the dog dropped, and Dad said, "I didn't mean to do that." They went to the neighbors and apologized, and they actually didn't care. But when they brought me their blood-stained clothes, it made me sick! I had to make Mike do the laundry. Strange.
And the third time is when I was allowed to help Margo in the delivery room with her oldest son, Nathanael. I had been through this twice myself already, but for some reason when they started giving her an epidural, and I saw that 9 foot long needle (well, that's how it looked) the room began to spin and I had to go sit down. What a night that was, huh Margo?!
I'm not sure what to blame today on. I was hungry, and had been in the car. I don't know. Maybe it was switching roles with my Mom, and seeing her in more pain than I was prepared for. Maybe tonight I'll be able to be her nurse with my usual mothering calm detachment. I hope so!

God's Amazing Goodness

My Mom's surgery went well, and she's resting at home with friends taking care of her.

I bought a new washer today (with Mike on the cell phone!) and have already done 3 loads of laundry. :) We got it on sale, and didn't pay for delivery because they couldn't deliver until tomorrow, so Mike said to just call some guys from our church. I called one, and the other one was with him, and they met me at the store, loaded it in my van, followed me home, took the old one out and installed the new one. God bless John and David!!

Mike finished his class in New Orleans and should be home in an hour or so.

And to top it all off, today of all days, on our way home from ice cream after AWANA Awards Night, Jessica said, "You've been the nicest mom in the world today." Wow. Words I never thought I'd hear, especially on a day like today! That's proof that God still works miracles in our world today, because there's no way I could have been "nice" on my own!

This prayer my cousin Valerie sent me just seems to fit:
Saint Theresa's Prayer
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

Breathe in, breathe out

Mike left town Sunday, won't be back until tomorrow night.
My washer died today. (There goes our "financial peace," Angel!)
My Mom has surgery on her eye tomorrow, requiring her to keep her chin to her chest for 10 days.
We leave on our big trip Friday, and I haven't done laundry since, um, last Friday.

But in the big scheme of things, I'm really only concerned about my Mom. And she would sing to me,
"Cheer up ye saints of God, there's nothing to worry about!
Nothing to make you feel afraid, nothing to make you doubt.
Remember Jesus never fails, so why not trust Him and shout:
You'll be sorry you worried at all tomorrow morning!"

I'm casting all my cares on Him, for He cares for me.

Rebecca makes me laugh

[I thought of one more! The other night, when I said they could watch "Dancing with the Stars" before going to bed: "Mama, you ROCK!"]

A few days ago in the backyard, running around with a stick: "I'm da bomb, 'cause I've got the biggest stick! I'm da bomb, 'cause I've got the biggest stick!"

When she eats something yummy: "It's goooood!" (Like the chipmunk in Enchanted)

Tonight, alone at the supper table, after eating half her skabetti and all but one bite of her green beans...the last bite, which I told her to eat so she could have her brownie (I know, I know): "Mama. I just know I'm allergic to green beans."

Mmm, mmm, good!

(milking practice)

Yesterday morning we got up and went to the 20th Annual Magnolia Blossom Festival and World Championship Steak Cook-off! It was a lot of fun--better than Toad Suck Daze! We went to the parade first--65 barbeque grills decorated and performing. We gave up after about grill number 38, and walked around looking at craft booths and eating free samples of sausauge, pecan/peanut brittle, kettle corn, and even whole hot dogs! Free lunch! Bonus. Mike and I were amazed at how many people we knew already. We went home after that and cooled off & rested for a few hours, then headed back up for our steaks. It's such a neat system; you stand in line for your plate, tea, potato, & salad, then pick any grill in the square to get your steak from. We went with friends, and had 7 steak tickets, so we got them from 6 different grills and had our own tasting and judging. They were all good, but 3 were incredible. Melt in your mouth. And they didn't even place! Our friends have an office on the square, so our husbands actually did the standing in line (for an hour and a half) while we sat on a couch in the air-conditionded office talking and watching the kids play with their best friends. It was a very good day.
Here are some pictures of the parade, with something for everyone...

for Mike, from Texas, of course:

For Steve and Joanna, from Monticello:

for Margo, from Oklahoma:


For Angie, from El Dorado (and the Grand Prize Winners!)

For Dancing with the Stars fans (it was actually Saturday Night Fever, but Rebecca was obsessed with the disco ball):

And beach lovers:

(Rebecca told me to take those last 2 pictures. I missed a picture of SAU's "Beauty and the Beef" float, but it was awesome...had a crystal chandelier and a fountain!)

For my friends in Washington, Idaho, and Colorado...maybe one of the 28 grills we didn't deepen our sunburns watching was from there. I know there was one from Canada, and one from Michigan! If your favorite state wasn't represented, buy a grill and come down next year. I'll even put you up. :)

Guess who!

Guess who's getting a new toothbrush?

Guess who's spoiled rotten by her husband and now has a robot to vacuum for her, just like Mrs. Jetsen?

Guess whose baby girl is a cutie-bug?

Praises, Prayers, and Pictures

Praises: 1. We don't own two houses mortgages anymore!!! Oh, have I mentioned that before?
2. My 17 year old nephew got his driver's license 2 weeks ago. (That's not it.) 2 days ago, he was driving a friend home (too fast) and ran into a concrete barrier. Totalled his parents' van, but neither boy was hurt. I get tears in my eyes thinking about what this week might have been. Thank you Jesus!
Prayers: Mike needs a new toe. Seriously. He had surgery on both toes about 6 years ago, but they're bad again. This time the dr. said he needs joint replacement--like hip or knee replacement, but in his big toe!
(Praise again for a job & health insurance!)
Pictures:
From Conway--
My neice Sarah, Jessica, and grand-nephew? great-nephew? Garrett

Mikayla and Garrett

My neice Whitney on the phone with her boyfriend (read this in teasing, "ooooo" kind of voice)

My nephew Thomas & his wife Stacy

Sarah and Rebecca

Rebecca and Garrett

My nephew Jason, his wife Kelli, and Garrett

Garrett again. Don't you just love elbow dimples!

My great neice? grand-neice? Gabby on the phone with her Uncle Shorty in Chicago

My sis-in-law Sally with Garrett

Jason and Kelli with their "baby," Lucy

Gran and Gabby (with Kennedi in the back)

Rebecca painting Whitney's fingernails

Gran and Garrett--I wish you could hear him coo!

From Texas--
In Nacogdoches, on our way to Houston, we ate lunch at a city park with HUGE oak trees and pretty rolling hills. The suspicious-looking parked cars and gang markings made us nervous...but other than that it was perfect!







And here are the girls with their Mamaw, on Mother's Day. We love you, Mamaw!

Howdy

I'm in Texas, writing on my sis-in-law's computer. Which means I won't be adding pictures this time! We got home from Conway on Wednesday night, an hour before AWANA time (and we couldn't miss--it was store night and they have Webkinz!!). I had signed papers to close the sale of our house that morning. (WOOOOO HOOOOO THANK YOU LORD all over again!!!!!!)

Got up and did school and laundry the next day (yes, we did do school in Conway, too, by the way) then got up Friday and drove to Texas. Whew. Mike's mom is a little worse. Can't remember our names, except Mikayla for some reason. I guess she really is unforgettable! She also keeps trying to change TV channels with her phone, and we keep telling her it's the phone, not the remote, and she gets irritated and says something like, "I've always done it before."

It's okay to laugh!

So last night Mike went and bought us pepperoni rolls from Double Dave's, which if you're ever in College Station or the Woodlands and you get a chance to try them, do it. Dip them in Ranch. They're awesome.

Then today we took Mike's mom to Chili's at lunch for her Mother's Day, and she wouldn't let us pay. Happy Mother's Day! Then Jeannie (Mike's sister) took me shopping a little, and now we're all just chillin'.

And I wanted to share a kid funny with you, one I've wanted to for a long time but keep forgetting:
Know how Rebecca makes a choice of what to wear or eat or play or watch?
"Meeny moe, checker by my toe, fifty dollars every day, my mama says to pick my very own one and you aren't it." Makes me laugh every time!

So what do y'all think of TyGirls?

Good news, bad news

The good news is...I'm in Conway to sign papers on the sale of our house! (yippeeee!)
The bad news is...Mike couldn't come, because of BCM responsibilities, and I had to drive through storms to get here.
We had 12 (update: 14) tornados in Arkansas yesterday, at least 2 of which were F3's, and 7 people (update: 8) were killed. The first hour of my drive I was very uneasy...okay, scared is more accurate. I would look at the sky, watching for funnel clouds, then back at the road, then in the ditches on the side of the road, planning what to do if I had to pull over, then back to the road. I was praying for God to dissipate the storm, then started singing, "Ah Lord God, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power. Ah Lord God, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thine outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for thee! Nothing is too difficult for thee! Great and mighty God, great in counsel and mighty in deed. Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, nothing is too difficult for thee." Remember that one? It calmed me down. We stopped for gas and a potty, and I asked the lady behind the cash register if there was severe weather anywhere, and she said, "All over the state. Be careful!" Yikes. When I left there, the sky opened up. It poured. I drove through blinding rain for about 30 minutes. Then it quit, and the sky cleared up. Phew! We stopped in Little Rock for lunch and to visit the Arkansas Historic Museum (which I LOVED!), then went on to Conway. I found out that night that one of the tornados was right where we had eaten lunch. When we got to my Mom's house, she said she'd had a few sprinkles and that was it. Another F3 hit about 30 minutes north of her house. Shudder.
More good news...I got to see my Uncle Billy and cousin Valerie, whom I haven't seen since my Dad's funeral 6 1/2 years ago!! She's 6 months older than me, and we had such a good time talking and laughing and catching up. We slept in twin beds in the same room, just like old times.


And one more goody...
my nephew Shorty Mark Philip graduated from Navy Basic Training yesterday! Go Navy!