Braeya Convalesces

I had a picture of the stitches, but given that it's taken me two days to warm up to them - I didn't want to be accused of freaking out anyone who has a stitch aversion. So instead, here she is convalescing on her makeshift bed on the couch. Why is it that couch beds always make you feel more on the mend???

Dad...Playing "Here is the Church??"

I took this picture of Dad last week when I went to visit. This is the plaid button down - and the jammie pants were...green plaid, maybe?

He was talking and just randomly clapped, so I asked him to re-enact it for a picture. It looks much more like he's playing "here is the church" to me - but whatever.

Stitches and Staples

Update on Dad: His staples came out Monday and he continues to recover nicely, yet slowly. He gets tired very easily and probably does too much most of the time. The doctor confirmed once more that there is no sign of cancer anywhere now! YAY God! Keep praying for him - he really appreciates your prayers!!!

Update on Braeya: She came home at lunchtime today - in a very good mood. She was happy to be back in her own world, and Kaegan was only mildly amused to see her return. Braeya's whole belly is shaved and she has a pretty big incision - I think I've seen smaller C-section scars on A Baby Story. She has bright pink stitches and wants to show them off. Makes me crazy and gives me the shivers. I take her back the day after Thanksgiving to have the stitches removed. Anyone want to guess how long it will take to convince her to get back in that carrier?? Not to mention how long I'll need to recover if I have to sit with her when they do it. I barely lived through the booster shots.

Where is Kaegan?

Last night I fully expected to come home to an elated Kaegan - enjoying his 24 hour (or so) break from his sister. What I came home to was some strange cat in his fur.

He met me at the door, followed me around, sat in my lap while I played online, gave me tons of nuzzles, and promptly crawled in bed and stayed there. I just shook my head and said to him, "Why don't you do this when your sister is home? Don't let her scare you!!!" She is such an outgoing personality compared to his reserved (and usually skittish) nature. Apparently she must scare him to death even though she's just about half his size.

So I think it will be very interesting to see what happens when she comes home today. Hopefully she'll be so out of it that he'll have a chance to ease back into life with her and maybe lay down the law about who is in charge.

I'm just going to guess no on that, though.

Bob Barker Would Be Proud

Help control the pet population - have your pet spayed or neutered, right?

I am doing my part. I dropped Braeya off at the vet this morning for her snippy snip snip. She is not amused.

Friday evening, I decided to take her with me to visit Dad - so that he could have company and so she wouldn't always associate the cat carrier with the vet. Apparently I was too late and she already views it as the ambulance. She would NOT get in. So I left it in the dining room all weekend, hoping she'd start to play in it and this morning's episode would be much more painless.

Then I got the bright idea to just throw food in it to bribe her to go in...but I forgot she had to fast prior to surgery. So much for that idea.

I'm not even kidding you - I was picking up the food bowls at 5:45 last night before going to church and even as I hid them on top of the hot water heater, those two scoundrels were scoping out the house looking for food. It's not like either one of them is particularly starving. They could live on their own fat cells for a month.

By this morning, they were following me around like the Pied Piper - apparently thinking the morning routine would somehow include food or water. Braeya went so far as to throw her body against the shower door hoping for a drink. I told her that I appreciated her effort but that would not open the door, nor would it convince me to open it.

I packed up the car with everything BUT her and then lured her into the carrier with a jingle ball. I felt like a horrible Mom - tricking her into playing a fake game. By the time we got to the vet, she was firmly planted in that carrier and the poor little nurse person had to extract her carefully. Braeya made those baby blues extra wide and looked at me like "I can't believe you're leaving me here, Mom."

I couldn't take it. I had to call MY Mom just to be reassured that I was doing the right thing. Why I called her, I'm not sure. She doesn't even like cats. But she does know about being a Mom. I got the "Sometimes you have to do what's best for them even when it hurts" speech. It was a good one.

So I've done my part to help control the pet population. Now I just hope she lives through it.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

A couple of weeks ago I posted pictures of myself in all the flower girl and bridesmaid dresses from my long-running career as a wedding participant. Someone left me a comment asking what exactly should be done with all the dresses of yore. I think her collection is doing the same thing as mine: making sure one end of the guest room closet serves a purpose. The sad part is I would imagine that I have close to $500 in four bridesmaid dresses living a life shrouded in dry cleaner bags. I probably don’t even own $500 worth of clothes in my regular closet!! Something is wrong with that picture.

So in honor of that comment, and for the owners of bridesmaid dresses everywhere – here is my list of ten possibilities for bridesmaid dresses of the past.

1. Have a girls night fashion show where every girl sports the worst dress she ever had to wear in a wedding. While selecting the dress you plan to wear, you might want to eliminate all dresses chosen by brides who could be present at the fashion show – unless you were hoping to simultaneously end a friendship.

2. Be a bridesmaid for Halloween. I actually did that one year. I was a fourth grader and reused the flower girl dress I’d worn in my sister’s wedding when I was a second grader. Clearly, two years later, it was more like a miniskirt than an evening gown – but it got the point across. And for you – depending on the decade of the dress, it could actually win you a prize for the scariest costume!

3. If you’re still in the decade of your life where you do at least one wedding a year, try to peer pressure all future brides into using the same dress (and color) that you’ve already had to wear for another wedding. I’m sure she’ll understand that though she’s had her heart set on black dresses from the time she was four, coral would be a much better color.

4. Nothing brings about a case of cold hard reality better than trying to stuff yourself into a dress you bought for a wedding eight years ago. I recommend trying on such dresses on a weekly basis following wedding participation. As soon as it begins to feel tight, you’ll know it’s time to diet!

5. And along that same line, never throw away the dress because you never know when that couple might decide to throw a 50th anniversary party and want the original wedding participants to attend dressed in the original garb. So you better still own it and you certainly better be able to fit into it. How embarrassing would that be? The bride (who can easily slip into her own gown...) stands across the room and points to you and says “See that girl whose dress is only zipped up to her waist? That was my maid of honor.” Or worse: “See that girl wearing a dry cleaner bag and carrying her dress?”

6. You just never know when you might give birth to quintuplet girls and you’ll need matching Christmas dresses for all of them. Of course with the price of diapers and formula (because face it, chicky, with FIVE, you will NOT be nursing), you will not be able to afford cute little Christmas dresses. You better hope you remember the days of Home Ec!! Get out the scissors and start making baby dresses!!

7. Perhaps as a side business, you’ll take up jewelry making – a very popular hobby these days – and you can transform the dresses into jewelry pouches to add to your sales. Of course even if you can get 25 pouches out of the dress, you’ll still have to raise the price of your jewelry by $5 to break even on what you initially paid for the material.

8. Never again can you say you can’t go to a ritzy office party because you have nothing to wear. HONEY! You have a whole selection right there!! You even have a whole collection of jewelry to match – because you know those brides were good girls and gave you jewelry as the surprise gift for being in the weddings! Who knows – you might even still have gloves or a hat or a bouquet of flowers to match!

9. Dress doesn’t fit and no hope that it ever will? No worries! Whack it off at the knee and use the extra material to widen it…and lookie there!! Festive new nighttime apparel. Still doesn’t fit? Cut it open down the front and make it into a robe. And you might call Nutrisystem while you’re at it.

10. And finally – you can always make a lasting memory by piecing all the dresses into a quilt. And then when you’re really old and you’ve forgotten everything about your life, you and your girlfriends can sit around in the nursing homes and guess which squares came from which wedding.

So there you go. Now you can’t say that you don’t know what to do with the dresses. I can’t help it if you don’t like the ideas. But you can’t say I didn’t try.

WHAT?!?! No Suit Jacket?

I knew Dad was feeling better when called me Thursday night to see if I could bring my less-than-functioning leaf blower over to their house. He wanted to see if the neighbor could fix it. I figured if he was up to directing from the sidelines, he was definitely inching his way to wellness.

We Freelans don't inch very well. Well, we do for the first three inches. Then we try to move straight into yards. When I showed up at their house Friday night after work, still sporting my power suit, leaf blower in hand, the patient's chair was empty. I walked in and said, "HEY! Isn't someone supposed to be convalescing in here?" Apparently he felt well enough to go out to his studio and do some work. When I called Saturday morning to check on him, he said, "I think I might have tried to do too much yesterday." Ya think??

I told Mom that at least now I know where I get it. Whenever I'm sick, the moment I have the tiniest ounce of energy, I feel that I must use it. It's kind of like the moment I receive a gift card...I treat it as though it has a 30 minute expiration time! :)

So today Dad went to church. I asked if he wore his jammie pants. No...he wore dress pants and a button down shirt. I said, "WHAT!?! No suit jacket?" He was quick to assure me that he did wear one this morning but tonight he thought he might just take one along with him. It's more comfortable without actually wearing it.

I think that is the best idea he's had yet. I'm about to leave for church. I think I'll wear my jammies and take along my dress clothes. MUCH more comfortable that way.

I Sit Corrected

My parents do not have the internet, so they can't read any of this fun stuff that I post about them. I feel it is unfair that they can't see what I'm saying (although I also feel it's unfair that they're minus the internet...), so I've been sending them copies of it all.

And after my last post, Mom has informed me that perhaps I misled you. ACTUALLY I knew exactly what I was talking about but this particular change in wording happened in support of the "I'll spare you the details" section. So now, consider yourself UNspared of one detail in order to correct the misleading information.

Dad's blood clot was not as you might normally think of a blood clot - as in somehwere in a vein, artery, vessel or other blood transporting word that I'm missing due to lack of recent use on Grey's Anatomy. It was actually a blockage in his catheter - and causing quite a problem. (In my own defense - I was quite sure I heard him describe it to someone as a blood clot. But maybe from the fetal position on the floor with my hands over my ears while screaming MAMA, I lost something in the translation.)

Consider this the printed retraction!! Maybe THIS is why I did not pursue a medical degree. Clearly I'm not qualified.

Slow Goin'

I usually have to work until 8 on Tuesday nights, but I was miraculously set free last night at five!!! You've never seen such celebration in an office as three women who were just given three free hours!!! Screaming, hugging...dare I say a little bit of fancy footwork too????

Anyway, so with my free time, I was able to go visit Dad. He WAS out of the gown - and into the most interesting combo of a plaid button down shirt and different plaid pajama pants. Because he's sick, I didn't call in the What Not to Wear crew. However, if upon full recovery, I see this particular combo again - he and I might have to have a little chat.

He had kind of a rough day yesterday. I'll spare you the details (I was not spared) - but long story short, he had a blood clot that caused quite a bit of pain. He made one extra trip to the doctor to have that issue resolved, and he said after that, he was feeling much better. Much, of course, is a relative term.

He was sitting up in the chair and eating eggs and pudding (not together, thankfully). Moving is hard, but he's giving it his best shot!!! He loved the pictures that I posted - so for those of you giving me a rough time about it - he knows and approves. And he was well enough to be able to assist Mom with directions about how to put wood in the fire. That right there told me that he was on the mend.

Please continue to pray for him as he deals with pain and catheters and all that fun stuff!!! (And pray for Mom - that she'll learn how to put wood on the fire!! JUST KIDDING, MOM!!!)

Good News!

Hey everybody!!! I just wanted to let you know that Dad's test results came back in a GREAT way. (Hate to use the words positive and negative - because here, positive means negative and negative means positive and WHO HAS TIME TO FIGURE THAT OUT??)

But the news is that the cancer is not in his lymph nodes, so there is no further treatment necessary!!! We are very thankful!

Continue to keep him in your prayers as he has quite a little road of recovery ahead of him. And pray for my Mom too - that she'll get her rest and be a great nurse!!

As Promised....

And here it is!! The picture I promised you! Dad always has such a sense of humor. (He's sticking out his tongue - in case you can't see it well.) I think he should wear the hat all the time. I think it adds so much. This was his pre-op picture. The nurse was there to take him away to surgery and I just could not resist capturing the moment. What would he do without a daughter whose camera is part of her being??

Much more somber after surgery. This picture was taken shortly after I convinced him (or started the convincing, anyway) that the oxygen hose needed to go.

Quaker Haven Retreat

This weekend, I spoke at a women's retreat at Quaker Haven Camp. I think the last time I was there, I was a sophomore in college - so I was really excited to go back and catch up on all the changes!!!! Saturday night, before our final session, we managed to build a fire. By "we," I mean I carried kindling and took pictures and those much more qualified than I actually participated in the fire building. But we got to roast hot dogs and marshmallows!!!

I had my first experience with air hockey. I did okay as long as it was a one puck game. Once we made it a two puck game - I was in big trouble. But as you can see - I did so love to focus!!!


This is not the retreat house where we stayed - but I did a little photo shoot all around the grounds at the places I'd stayed before. This one was my "home" during the times I worked the Pastor's Short Course camp - my college years participation at Quaker Haven!!!

Home Again, Home Again - Forget the Jiggety Jig Right Now

One more post for the day - Dad is home! Yay!! :) I only talked to Mom briefly - and quite frankly, we were talking more about free turkeys than Dad (although I can see how the two would be related....) so I didn't get many - or any - details.

Tomorrow is the day he gets the final test results, so I'll let you know what I know when I know!!!

Thanks for praying!!

Goodbye to Pediatrics

Morning!! Just wanted to post a quick note that if all goes well, Dad should be coming home this afternoon around 1. I forgot to mention earlier that he was put on the pediatric unit at the hospital - a fact I found most amusing. So today he says goodbye to clown border and whatever else they keep on that unit - and he comes home to his own chair and his own phone and his own jammies (which better NOT have the split down the back) and his own everything!!!

I thought about taking the cats over to visit - at least Braeya (she tolerates travel better than Kaegan) but I thought perhaps my mother would not appreciate that, so I guess I'll leave them home and just send pictures. :)

He really appreciates everyone's prayers - and will continue to appreciate them as he goes through his recovery!

Sunday, November 5, 2006

Ahhh…the eternal rat race I so lovingly call my life.

Funny how I can just get back from a retreat…a weekend away…and already feel behind. In fact, as I sit here writing to you, I have a living room and dining room full of suitcases, bags, and sacks, waiting to be unloaded, and right now it’s looking like (with the exception of things I need before then) Wednesday is going to be the best time to undertake that project.

I don’t know how people who are married and have kids do it – because I’m single and behind. This whole year has been full of such fun adventures, and certainly my scrapbook has much to show for it (or it would if I had time to scrap them) yet my basic life is in a state of upheaval.

Last week I found myself digging through my cedar chest looking for a shirt to wear to work – because I don’t have my winter clothes out yet. I haven’t had a Saturday at home to do the great seasonal laundry swap, and I refuse to be so busy that I require a vacation day to do my laundry. I might be facing the replacement of an entire yard of grass if I don’t make it outside sometime soon to rake my leaves. I console myself with the news that at least now that they’re all on the ground, dead, and shriveled up, they should fit much more compactly (is that a word?) into my trash bags!

We won’t even talk about the last time I dusted or swept my house – because it would mortify my mother, and let the record show, she did raise me better than that.

So the combination of digging for seasonally appropriate clothing, the inscription of my name on top of my coffee table, and the realization that I now have an entire THATCH of gray hair sitting at the front of my head (because I’ve been too busy to call for a redye), has driven me to admit that I am too busy and I must learn to eliminate and say no. NOW.

Some of you might remember that a couple of years ago, I took a month-long “sabbatical.” Other than church and work – activities I could not miss – I didn’t do anything for a month except stay home and read or write or clean or cook…all catching up.

Enter my plan for next year.

Oh how nice it would be to take a year-long sabbatical from it all. Hide away in a hole and read and write for a whole year. Sadly, I don’t think my mortgage company is going to recognize that as an acceptable means of payment for 12 straight months. So I’m going with plan B.

I haven’t really formulated plan B yet, but it occurred to me (probably via God) that back in the Bible times, they had built in – by God – a Sabbath year of rest. See, He knew we crazy humans would overextend ourselves and our land. So He made a way to rest. He told Moses that every seventh year, the land had to rest. They weren’t supposed to plant crops or work in the vineyards. That, in turn, gave them a year off – because that kind of work created their jobs. So it was an all around break for everyone.

I like it. I think everyone should have a Sabbath year of rest. This seems like the perfect year for me to do it – because this is my seventh year of work in the same job, my seventh year out of college (we will not even talk about that) – my seventh year living in this house…do you see a pattern?

My goal is to create a way for me to cut down on the things I’m involved in and to take stock of what I do. It’s great to be involved, but when you’re involved in 112 things, you can’t do any of them well, because you’re running around trying to accomplish everything.

What I really want is a year of Jubilee. That was one of God’s plans too – and it came every fifty years. That year, they not only got to rest, but they got to wipe out all their debt and slaves were set free and no one charged interest and…boy I sure could use one of those right now! Again – I don’t think the mortgage company is going to buy into that, really.

The holidays are coming up, and I suppose it’s pointless to tell anyone to take a rest right before the busiest season on earth. I know it’s pointless to tell me that. But maybe you should think about taking a year of Sabbath rest – or even a week of it. Just don’t go anywhere. Because the unpacking will require another whole year of rest!

Not Really Back in the Game - But at Least Off the Oxygen!

Hello hello hello!! I have returned from the land of women's retreats - much against my will. For being the girl who never liked to travel or be away from home, I find that I do it a lot more often these days - and not only that - I actually love it!

I stopped to see Dad for a few minutes in between coming home from the retreat and heading out to a birthday party. What a busy day! But I wanted to give an update to you. He is doing much better than I thought he would be. He tends to not handle surgeries - medical procedures of any kind, really - very well. We Freelans like to complicate things wherever we can, and he chooses that arena.

But when I went into the room today, he was able to tell me how many fingers I was holding up (my standing form of determining wellness) and was not slurring his speech anymore. When I talked to him on the phone Friday just a couple of hours after surgery, he kind of sounded like Barney Fife in that one episode where he was looking out for Mrs. Mendelbright and he drank too much of her outdated cider. Today he was coherent. (Dad - not Barney. Barney's dead.)

He was, however, on oxygen when I went in. I hated to, you know, make him feel worse or anything, but that just kind of made him look like a for-real sick person, so I asked why he had it. He said when he tried to take it off, his nose plugged up. Someone else who was there suggested that maybe if he would take it out and leave it out for an hour or so, his nose would recuperate. He immediately took it off and that alone made him look well enough to go home.

These boys - they just don't think about appearances like we girls do - so I was glad I could help him recover in appearance. Next I'm going to work on nixing the gown in favor of real clothes.

If all goes well (in his words - "if there are no significant setbacks") - he should get to go home tomorrow. He really appreciates everyone's prayers, and boy do I have a fantastic picture of him for you - just as soon as I get it developed. It will be worth the wait. Dad as you've never seen him. :D

Dad Update

Dad is out of surgery.

Everything went well and there were no surprises.

We are waiting for final tests results (which will be in on Tuesday) but there is no reason to think that it has spread.

Dad's Surgery - TOMORROW

I realized yesterday at lunch when I sat down to watch Andy Griffith while I ate a hot dog that it was the first time my TV had been on since SUNDAY. I haven't been home at all this week!! Hence - no posts.

Anyway, TOMORROW is my Dad's surgery. It will be at noon (we think) and should last about two hours. The "we think" part is because it was originally scheduled for 2 p.m., but it got moved up after they had a cancellation. So who knows - maybe sooner again!!

Dad really appreciates all of you who are praying for him and the rest of us do as well!! Please pray for Mom too, as she will have lots on her plate in the days to come!!

I am working on a way for an update to be posted on my blog when Dad comes out of surgery - so feel free to check back!!!

The Wedding Sagas in Picture Form - Keep Scrolling!

I found pictures of all the weddings I wrote about in my October 15th post. I had to post them all separately because my computer has attitude tonight. Please pay special attention to the questionable hairstyles being sported in some weddings. My two flower girl pictures are separated from the rest by my regular Sunday post - so keep scrolling!!!

The Wedding/Obstacle Course

This was the wedding where I was the coordinater and so gracefully fell through the hole hiding under the aisle runner. Can you tell through my gritted teeth how much my feet hurt?