sandersfamily

Blessed are those.....

2009-09-08T21:22:00.011-04:00

Yes, I know it has been about two and half months since my last blog.

My baby girl had an incredible trip to Brazil making life long memories. She came home on a Thursday evening - the same day my forever friend was admitted to the hospital. I've mentioned Melody before in previous blogs. Melody was courageously fighting a rare cancer.

I was experiencing such conflicting emotions that day. I was so thrilled that my baby was coming home from a distant country and yet so heart broken that my friend may be living her last days. My precious friend, Rachel, prayed with me over the phone while I was standing at the window watching her plane taxi into the gate.

One of the first things my daughter asked when she got off of the plane was "How's Melody?" I said not good, she was admitted to the hospital today, do you want to go see her?

So off to the hospital we go. What a precious time watching my daughter tell my friend that she prayed for her at a beautiful chapel in Maringa, Brazil.

My friend met Jesus 3 days later.

I have been reading a book by Randy Alcorn entitled Heaven. He writes, "Death is an abnormal condition because it tears apart what God created and joined together. God intended for our bodies to last as long as our souls."

I have spent a lot of time thinking about this sentence.

Earthly death was not suppose to happen. But sin entered the world causing our spirits to separate from our bodies.

God created relationships. Death separates us from the ones we love.

That's why grieving is so difficult. It's abnormal. It wasn't suppose to happen.

There will be a day when our bodies and relationships will be restored for those who know Christ as their personal Savior.

I love this picture of my daughter. She is home! We are waiting with open arms and a bouquet of flowers.

It makes me think about Melody's entrance into Heaven and who greeted her at the pearly gates.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Matthew 5:4

Snap, Snap

2009-06-25T11:46:00.004-04:00

My sister-in-law, niece, and daughter

BYE! LOVE YOU!!

Have you ever heard the saying about when children leave, apron strings are broken. Well, I had some big snaps today!!!

My baby left with her team (of 30+) to Maringa Brazil this morning. I tried very hard to be brave and not cry, but I failed.

She will spend the next 29 hours flying or waiting in 1 of the 6 different airports that they will travel thru arriving Friday evening about 5pm.

The team will spend their time doing construction projects at an orphanage. I'm imagine alot of playing with the children will happen also!

Please keep them in your prayers (and maybe mommy too!).

It's been how long??

2009-06-17T18:48:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it has been over 3 months since my last post. Alot has happened so I think I will just give brief updates of the different events.....

-- I traveled with baby girl's travel team to Springfield, MO for homeschool basketball nationals. While I was there, I received a call that my favorite cousin on my dad's side of the family lost her battle to cancer. I wasn't able to attend the funeral in Atlanta. I'm part of the oldest generation on my dad's side. There were 7 of us cousins - we lost Patsy several years ago. So the 6 remaining cousins, all of our spouses and many of our children gathered in Atlanta in May 2008 for a reunion. Oh!! I'm so glad we did!! We had a great visit, took lots of pictures and just enjoyed each other. If you have special people in your life that you haven't seen for awhile - please make plans to see them.

--My father-in-law celebrated his 80th birthday on March 28th. All of his children (and spouses) and most of his grandchildren gathered in Nashville, TN. We toured the famous Ryman Auditorium and just enjoyed being together.

--While we were in Nashville, we went shopping. There was a store in this high end type mall that I have never seen in my entire life. They sold oxygen!!! Apparently if you suck in large quantities of oxygen, you can get a bit of a buzz. I can't remember the price but I think it was $20 for 20 minutes for your choice of 3 different flavored scented oxygen!! Can you believe it!!

--My forever friend Melody who I've mentioned before received news that her cancer spread to her brain. I have had the privilege to attend her dr's appointments and take her to a few of her radiations. It's so hard to watch her deal with such a tough road. She's the picture of God's grace and a beautiful hand maiden of God!!

--We drove to Detroit, MI to watch the Tigers (my favorite team) lose to the Boston Red Sox (baby girl's favorite team). While there, I was able to visit my mom's brother who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. I was also able to visit with my mom's childhood friend which was such a delightful and special time.

--We had a HAIL STORM!!!! We will get our 2nd new roof in 3 years (also due to a hail storm!) and some other repairs to the house. Thank you American Family Insurance!!

--I spent a week at our church's teen camp as 1 of the 2 nurses. Very interesting week. I may write more about that later!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Just trying to spend the summer doing things that I can't do during the school year - deep cleaning, scrapbooking, etc.

I have other thoughts rumbling around in my brain but they haven't developed into complete sentences. If they do, I will let you know!

Good Bye Snowmen!

2009-03-02T10:43:00.010-05:00

I can't believe February is gone!!

I spent most of the month following the Indy Blazers throughout Indiana and watching their basketball games. That's baby girls' traveling team. This past weekend the girls won the Lafayette Invitation tourney. Next weekend is the the state tourney and then we spent a week in Springfield, MO for the Nationals. I also spent the month helping the girls design new spirit apparel for sweatshirts. Do you know how hard it is to get 12 adolescent girls to make decisions!!

Wanted to share a few pictures of some of the snowmen (and women) I collect.....

This one is a special one...... In 1996, I was shopping with baby girl and she said "Look, there's 3 of them. Just like us!"

This one is the grand daddy of the group.........my first one. In our homeschool co-op years ago, one of the moms was teaching a home ec type class. He was the class's example and I thought he was so cute. At the end of the class, my friend gave him to me. Now I have dozens and dozens of snowmen sitting throughout my home. My family and friends know about my snowmen and have added to the collection!

In December, when I put them out - they are cute! Now it's time for them to go back into their boxes to hibernate til next winter!!

I hope Spring comes quickly!!

I've been tagged!

2009-01-30T19:55:00.008-05:00

On Facebook, I've been tagged to tell 25 random things about me. I thought I would share it on the blog also. I have really enjoyed reading other's random facts about themselves.

1. I have been to 48 of the 50 states - just need to visit Alaska and Hawaii.

2. I LOVE cats!! We have 2.

3. I like dogs too and would have 1 if I could train it to potty in a litter box.

4. The first car I bought was a brand new 1984 Ford Thunderbird. I loved that car. We had to sell it, so we could buy a minivan for our growing family. My brother, Jim, bought the car and totalled it on a trip to Florida. (Thankfully, he wasn't injured.)

5. I love to laugh!

6. I spent 3 weeks in Haiti during my senior year in college.

7. I have 2 brothers - my younger brother Jim and my older brother Michael who is in heaven with my parents.

8. On August 1, we will celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary. (My parents were only married 19 years before my Dad passed away.)

9. I spent Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, Israel in 1986. My husband was stationed in Sinai Egypt and I had the opportunity to visit Israel and Egypt with him.

10. My favorite vacation was at the Grand Canyon! Absolutely the most beautiful place that God has created.

11. I'm very proud of my children and who they are becoming.

12. I like watching baseball and basketball. I still don't understand football - it just looks like a bunch of fat guys piling up like a bunch of puppies.

13. I have 3 screws in the base of my femur (thigh bone).

14. I'm in my 15th year of homeschooling. (1 more to go!)

15. I teach chemistry in our homeschool co-op.

16. I'm afraid of large bodies of water. Because of that, I don't know if I will ever go on a cruise.

17. I have seen Bob Seager, Barry Manilow, Phil Collins and Neil Diamond in concert. At the Bob Seager concert, my ticket was 7 rows from the stage!

18. I love to scrapbook!

19. I hate having my neck touched!

20. My heart breaks when I see people being mistreated.

21. I collect snowmen.

22. Certain smells trigger vivid memories for me.

23. My favorite job was being a labor and delivery nurse. Seeing a baby born is an incredibly emotional experience.

24. I hate going to the dentist.

25. I am very thankful that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and I accepted Him as my Savior so I can spend eternity with Him.

Still celebrating Christmas!

2009-01-14T14:42:00.008-05:00

Sometime during the Christmas season, we get together with my cousins. We tried to gather on the Saturday after Christmas at Edna's but it didn't work out. So we celebrated Christmas at our home this past Sunday. Here are some pictures of my extended family.

My little 3 year old twin cousins meeting Phillip. My cousin, niece and daughter relaxing!

Toddlers in the house sure add to the excitement. Aren't they cute!

I'm so thankful for a loving family!

Holiday Happenings!

2009-01-03T15:59:00.008-05:00

As usual, from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day was busy, fun and went by very fast! Here are some pictures and an update about the last 6 weeks.

We usually travel to Vicksburg, MS to spend a few days with Jerry's family during the week of Thanksgiving. We weren't able to this year because of Jimmy's job. His employers insisted that every employee work on 'Black Friday' or face losing their job. (He worked from 5am to 9pm!!) We enjoyed a delicious meal, using Mom's (almost 50 year old) china and spending the day together. We also enjoyed the movie "Bolt."

December 13, our first born turned 20!! ( I can't be old enough to have a 20 year old child!!) The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum had a free day and we took advantage of it. We enjoyed looking at the different displays and took the tour bus ride on the famous oval. After dinner at birthday boy's favorite place, Applebee's, he opened a Garmin GPS for his travels.

The Monday before Christmas, we treated ourselves to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert. I loved it. The first half was alittle slow, but the laser light show, pyrotechnics and incredible tweaking of classical music into rock was wonderful!

Christmas Eve we enjoyed home made fondue for dinner and then attended Christmas Eve services at our church. (For many years, we wanted to include Christmas Eve services into our family traditions and visited different churches. For the last 3 years or so, our home church has had a "carols and candles" service that we have very much enjoyed!! It's always better to be home!) Since the kids were babies, they have gotten to open 1 present on Christmas Eve and it's always pajamas!

Christmas Day, my brother and his family spend the day with us. We ate too much, played games, opened presents and watched movies. We had 2 movies playing at the same time, the family room tv was showing Prince Caspian, the latest Narnia movie and the basement tv was showing the The Dark Knight. Earlier in the day, my 2 youngest and their little cousins had an air soft gun battle!

Last Monday, we traveled to Vicksburg, MS to spend a few days with my father-in-law. He is always so kind and gracious to allow his quiet lifestyle to be interrupted by all the noise we bring!

I have really enjoyed the past few weeks. It was a time to reconnect with my family by playing table games, watching movies and talking. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful family and I thank Him!

The True Reason for the Season

2008-12-22T13:03:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about what I wanted to write about Christmas and couldn't quite get my thoughts to form into sentences.

This morning in the Indianapolis Star I read Lori Borgman's column. She is a local writer dealing with "family humor" that I really enjoy reading. (I think her column is picked up in other newspapers also.) Today's column was cut out and will be added to the others that I have kept.

Here's the column .....

Where’s Jesus? Seek and you shall find
Lori Borgman Monday, December 22, 2008

During Advent, a certain toddler made a habit of lifting the plastic Jesus from the nativity set in the family home and toting it around with her. Apparently the child forgot where she put the baby Jesus one day. The next morning, and each morning after, the toddler came down the stairs calling “W’are you, Jesus?”
What a great question. Each passing Christmas, He seems more difficult to find.
There is that regal velvet throne in the center of the mall that looks fit for a king, but it’s Santa who beckons the children come, not Jesus.
You’d think a Christmas tree might have something to do with Christ, but a lot of them are sporting dried fruit this year. Glazed plums, frosted pears, sparkling apples and pomegranates with a patina.
But then, according to the decorating experts, the season is not so much about a savior as much as it is shimmer. Mirrored garland and clear glass balls will light up your holidays. Not exactly light of the world, but the pages of Better Homes and Garden can’t do everything. If that’s not enough shimmer, you can purchase a disco ball to hang from a chandelier. Nothing says holy day like disco.
You won’t find Jesus on the sides of buses in Washington, D.C. Those are occupied by a skinny Santa in dreadlocks and the words, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” The placards are sponsored by The Humanist Association; they don’t know where Jesus is either.
You won’t find Him in the public square. Not in the court house or on the statehouse lawn. One might slip in here and there, but He’s ringed with candy canes and toy soldiers to protect the public. You wouldn’t want something like religion spoiling Christmas.
It is unlikely to find Jesus on school stages or in the classroom. Those are for holiday parties and winter festivals.
He is, however, popping up (quite literally) in a few front yards. Along with the inflatables of the Grinch and Homer and Mickey and Minnie decked out in holiday fare, there are also inflatables of Mary, Joseph and the baby in the manger. Yes, you can purchase the holy family, tether them to your front yard, inflate them with a fan and illuminate them with a flood. The yard ornaments aren’t terribly dignified, but at least homeowners can point to where Jesus is.
Where is He? With the broken and the downtrodden. He is at the city missions, in rehab centers and in the prisons where people who have everything stripped away suddenly see clearly. He’s in hospitals, surgery waiting rooms and the ER.
He’s with our troops and their families.
He’s with the persecuted and the political prisoners. He’s with the church in Third World countries where they greet Him warmly, enthusiastically, with obedience and without compromise.
He’s with the joyful and the reflective. He’s with every man, woman and child who has room at the inn.
In the Old Testament, Jeremiah 23:24 says, “Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?" declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?"
Where is He? There’s nowhere He isn’t.
If you’ve lost Him, Christmas is a good time to start looking.

What am I thankful for?

2008-11-24T14:28:00.002-05:00

I have been blessed far more than I deserve.

Here is a small sampling of the blessings that I have been granted....

1. An incredible Heavenly Father that loved me so much that he allowed his only son to die in my place.

2. This same Heavenly Father is preparing an eternal place for me and a glorious reunion with so many of my family and friends waiting on me.

3. A Christian Heritage that has formed and developed who I am today.

4. A fabulous husband that puts up with me and provides for his family.

5. Children that are healthy and trying to figure out their way in this big world.

6. My furry children - Phillip and Lillian

7. Friends

8. My church

9. Good Music (Point of Grace, Steven Curtis Chapman, Mercy Me, Casting Crowns, etc.)

10. American Freedoms that are ours to enjoy at the cost of a military person's acts of selflessness.

What are you thankful for?

The Giver

2008-11-05T12:13:00.004-05:00

I have really been thinking about this book that my children and I read several years ago. The Giver is written by Lois Lowry in 1993. It is about a futuristic society that has eliminated pain by replacing it with sameness. The society also has a disturbing way of dealing with the inconvenient.

It's a quick read, but the thoughts and emotions that you should feel after reading the book will stay with you for a lifetime.

I just hope that this story isn't a foreshadowing of how our nation will become.

Brendon

2008-10-23T13:06:00.002-04:00

Our little friend met Jesus face to face this morning.

Can you just image the wonders of heaven he is experiencing?

Is October over yet?

2008-10-09T15:35:00.006-04:00

When I was pregnant with our 2nd child, we made the decision that I would become a stay at home mom. About 6 years ago, I returned to the nursing profession and was employed by Community Hospital Home Health Services. Throughout the year, I work occasionally at health fairs taking blood pressures. But for the month of October I'm a flu nurse. I travel all over central Indiana (Greenwood, to Elwood, to Kokomo, to Anderson, to Alexandria, etc!!) giving flu shots at different clinics. Last year I gave over 600 shots in a 5-6 week period. My schedule this year is the busiest yet.

Monday morning as I was leaving our home to go to Greenwood, I saw a cross in the sky made from plane vapor trails. I felt like something was going to happen and prayed for a couple of friends that are going thru tough times. At 1pm, I was in Middlebury for another flu clinic and got a call from my 2nd born child. He was very upset saying he "hit something," but wouldn't tell me what it was. Finally the story was - a big wasp was attacking him and he became distracted and hit and destroyed a neighbor's mailbox. Well, the rock in front of the mailbox broke something in his car. Thankfully, Jerry is only 5 minutes from home and was able to get to the 'scene of the accident' and calm him down and talk with the neighbor. Insurance will pay the $230 mailbox and post (we live in a neighborhood where the homeowners association requires a certain type) and 2nd born learns an adult lesson when he writes out the check for the damages on his car since he only carries liability insurance.

Today as I was coming home from a clinic, I was stopped at a stop sign in our neighborhood when I saw a car going at a high rate of speed backwards!! He missed me, went thru landscaping and smashed backwards into someone else's garage. I immediately called 911. As I was talking to 911, the car hits the gas and appears to be leaving the scene of the accident. The back of the car was smashed in, had bricks on what was left of the trunk and dragging bushes. He stopped a short ways down the road. I was fearful of walking up to the car since he was driving so erratically, but got to the side (with 911 still on the phone) and saw an elderly couple with the wife crying and screaming for help. The little lady got out of the car and I got her by me and the elderly man stayed in the car. Within a couple of minutes, an off duty officer was on the scene, followed by several more officers, a fire truck, ambulance, and the tactical team (to determine the damage of the home.) Apparently the older gentleman suffers from dementia and tried to run an errand. I'm sure I watched his last drive. Broke my heart......

I'm very thankful for God's protection this week. Both situations could have turned out so differently.

So it has been an eventful week. Don't even get my started with the problems we had with our toilets!

I made a comment to my daughter that I wished October was over. She said "You don't want to celebrate my birthday?" in her poor little pitiful me voice. So I do have something to look forward to - my baby turning 17. Oh wait - that's bad too!!

The Cancer Club

2008-10-01T18:31:00.002-04:00

This thought has been rumbling in my head for the last few weeks and I'm not sure if I can adequately explain what I mean. I have been with my friend Melody to the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, IL twice in the last 6 weeks or so. The patients share an instant bond with each other the moment that they meet. They have similar thoughts and concerns. They ask the same questions. It's interesting that the conversations become quite personal with strangers that have just met. The camaraderie of facing such a struggle has made them 'instant friends.' I guess being close friends to the cancer patient makes us junior members to this club that no one wants to join.

Melody and I met a new friend of this club Sunday night. She is a young wife and mother of 3 and fighting lymphoma. She is so sweet and we really enjoyed visiting with her. She got bad news today and will be facing major decisions and treatments in the next few weeks.

I have a little friend named Brendon who is 6 years old. He has been fighting brain cancer for the past couple of years. I heard today that he isn't doing well and has been admitted to the hospital.

Can you please pray for my friends? My heart has been very heavy today.

Meet our furry family members

2008-09-20T15:48:00.017-04:00

PHILLIP and LILLIAN

Today was our annual trip to the vet. Don't let these pictures fool you! They were NOT happy to be there!

Phillip is our 8 year old Alpha male who is KING of his world. Lillian is our shy, chubby, physically handicapped 7 year old female. She is basically blind and spends her day running into doors, walls and other obstacles or just hiding.

They sang a duet of unhappy meows on the way to the vet. During Phillip's exam, if his 'complaints' could have been translated into English, he probably would need to have his mouth washed out with soap!

When we got into the exam room, Phillip stayed in the back of his travel taxi, 'napped' and hoped no one noticed that he was in the room. Lillian enjoyed the scales, so she stayed there until the vet came in. Lil's diet is working!! She lost a pound!! Now she is 15 pounds!

We usually only see the vet once a year. When Phillip was little, he was declawed and had his manhood snipped away. Then there was the time he had a bladder infection and he had to stay in the kitty hospital for a couple of days. He also 'hooked' himself with a fish hook when he escaped to the garage and we had to make an emergency trip to the vet!

Lillian has had a couple of medical issues. During her spaying and declawing, she was allergic to the 'glue' that is placed on their paws and had to spend a couple of days in the kitty hospital. Another time we found her drooling and foaming at the mouth. I was very worried and had myself prepared to 'put her down.' The vet said she probably ate a spider or bug and has an upset tummy, gave her a shot and sent us home. He said when humans are nauseous, we know to keep our saliva in our mouths, but cats just drool. Just recently Lil had to visit the vet for personal reasons..........let's just say that she was too chubby to take care of her personal needs. That's why we were so excited that she lost a pound!

Hopefully we won't have to see Dr. Havens again until next year!

An interesting field trip

2008-09-19T22:09:00.001-04:00

As most of you know, we homeschool. I'm a nurse and my daughter wants to be a nurse. Today we took a field trip to "Bodies - The Exhibition" at Clay Pool Courts in downtown Indianapolis.

It was fascinating!!

There are about 20 complete preserved bodies in various forms of dissection. It was absolutely amazing to see how God created humans! I won't say anymore in case the readers don't share my fascination with the human body!

My oldest son went with us and found it to be a bit disturbing. He went thru the entire exhibit in about 15 minutes. My daughter and I took 90 minutes to complete the tour.

If you go, it is kinda expensive. Do a little research about the exhibit before you go.

We will remember

2008-09-11T14:58:00.000-04:00

What are your memories of 7 years ago today??

It was a Tuesday and the children and I were driving to the church to attend our homeschool co-op. We were listening to Christian radio and the announcer told us to keep the people of New York in our prayers. We had no idea why. When we arrived at the church, someone had found a tv and we homeschool moms sat there with our children in shock watching the horror unfold.

Our lives were changed forever. We will never forget.

A Busy Summer

2008-08-15T16:59:00.000-04:00

I can't believe "summer" is over! I know the seasonal summer will last until September - but it still feels like the end of summer for me. My daughter starts her Junior year on Monday and the boys start their 2nd year of college on the next Monday. It has been a busy summer! We were able to enjoy a trip to Atlanta, GA, to visit family, attend a Braves game and visit the World of Coke. If you ever have a chance to visit the World of Coke in Atlanta - it is well worth the time. The memorabilia is amazing!! The final room of the tour is the tasting room with all of the products Coke produces from all over the world. Some drinks were tasty - some where NOT!! As you know, the 3 oldest children in the picture are mine and the 2 younger ones are my niece and nephew.

Another huge project of the summer was painting and redecorating our home! (Mentioned in a previous post) We aren't quite finished with the stairs, but life gets busy and the unimportant things get put to the side.

Last Saturday, I surprised my friend with a luncheon to celebrate a 'special' birthday.

Last Sunday, my daughter and I went to spend the night with April at college. April needed to move into the dorm early for band and her parents needed to be home to get her brothers ready for school. So, we went up and stayed with her until her 1st band meeting. The girls had a blast and I got a taste of what it will feel like when my baby goes away for college. Let's just say, my eyes were QUITE watery!

We also attended the Indiana State Fair. This event has become a tradition for us and we always enjoy it. We went last Thursday with 3 other families. We went again last night to check out the things we missed last week. My little cousin got 'Grand Champion' for a rabbit poster and we just had to see it!!

Well, those are the highlights from the last few weeks. Thanks for letting me share!

Still thinking of Heaven

2008-08-05T15:02:00.001-04:00

This is Pastor Griffin and he was my pastor for 22 years.

He was the pastor who preached the funeral services for both of my parents. He was the pastor who married Jerry and me 21 years ago. He was the pastor who dedicated our sons to the Lord just days after they were born.

This is a picture of Pastor dedicating Jimmy. Pastor was retiring and a beautiful retirement service was planned in his honor. Pastor said "if we could get that baby to church on his last Sunday, he would dedicate him." Jimmy was only 10 days old!

Pastor Griffin died yesterday from complications of a stroke. I would have loved to seen the reception he received when he entered the pearly gates. He was a kind and gentle servant of God. He had a difficult childhood, even living in an orphanage; then married a beautiful lady and raised a lovely family. One phrase he said consistently was "Hold steady, just hold steady." What a great reminder that this life is so temporary and eternity is so permanent that we just need to "hold steady."

A little glimpse of Heaven

2008-07-16T10:42:00.000-04:00

I had a great day yesterday.

I spent the day with Melody and Jane. We grew up together. We were babies together at old 1st church. We spent the nights at each other's homes. Melody and Jane went to the same college together, Jane and I lived together just before I got married. We have lots of memories together. Jane lives in Pennsylvania and comes home every summer. The last couple of nights she has stayed at Melody's.

Yesterday, after Melody's appointment, I went home with her and spent the rest of the day with my forever friends. Being female - we talked ALOT!!

Here are some of our topics.........

Husbands and marriage (between the 3 of us - we have over 60 years of marriage!)

Children (between the 3 of us - we have 11 children ranging in ages from 19 to 5!)

Jon and Kate plus 8

Music (we love the new Point of Grace song "How we live")

Home decorating

Cars (yes, I know that's a surprise since we are females!)

Our struggles

The time was getting late and I needed to drive almost an hour home and I hugged and said good-bye. As I was driving home, it dawned on me that my day was a glimpse of Heaven. We talked, laughed and didn't cry. There will be no tears in Heaven. Plus, we will spend eternity with the One who loved us so much to suffer for us so we can live.

Feeling Blue

2008-07-10T11:21:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know it's been awhile since I posted. I wondered how well I was going to do with this blog.

There are 2 reasons why I haven't written.

When we moved into this house 8 years ago, I told Jerry I could live with the color and wallpaper for "awhile" but we would have to redo the entire main level of the house before the boys' graduation. They graduated last year.

The paint color was a light muddy brown and the wallpaper was horrid - GIANT pink and blue flowers!! Jerry has been a trooper! He has even taken 4 days of vacation. The wallpaper and border has been our greatest challenge. It took Jerry a day and a half just to get the border down in the family room and kitchen. Whoever put this wallpaper up had to spend a fortune on glue!

Now we have beautiful blue walls.......cool, relaxing, sky blue walls! I LOVE IT!!

We aren't quite done yet. We still need to take the wallpaper down in the stairway going upstairs to the bedrooms and paint the stairway and the upstairs landing.

I'm now enjoying 'redecorating' my home. We have rearranged some of the furniture and I'm putting things back on the walls. I even splurged and got a few new wall hangings.

Now for my 2nd reason for feeling blue.

My very dear friend of over 40 years was given news that no one ever wants to hear. She is a wife and busy mom of 4 (oldest going to college, youngest going to kindergarten and 2 in the middle) who was just feeling tired and and having trouble with anemia. (What mom isn't tired?)
Now she knows that she has ampulliary carcinoma stage 4 - an extremely rare cancer. Very little is written about this type of cancer and most of the written material is in the form of medical research. I spent an afternoon reading what I could find on the internet and found that 6 people out of a million have ampulliary carcinoma.

So, in the last couple of weeks, I have gone to her doctor's appointments and sat with her during a brief admission to St. Francis oncology unit. Her doctor's aren't very encouraging. I tell myself and I have told her we serve a God who isn't interested in human timetables and schedules. My friend is a great story teller and an incredible witness for our Savior. When we found out that she had a metastatic cancer just days before her daughter's graduation openhouse, I told her that God knows how well she puts words and stories together and he is going to use her for his glory.

We have shared many memories over the last 40 years - wedding attendants; children's birthday parties; camping; other day trips; LOTS of phone calls; just 5 months ago she sat with Jimmy in a Kalamazoo, MI emergency room after a snowboarding accident.

I want to share many more memories with my forever friend.

2008-06-14T16:28:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is Father's Day.

Father's Day (and Mother's Day) is always bittersweet for me.

I was 16 when my Dad died suddenly. He was 54. He would have been 84 in August - that seems hard to believe. As a teenager, I didn't realize what I lost.

Now I do.

2008-06-14T12:09:00.000-04:00

We just entered the "new"world of technology by adding a DSL line to our home. Now on a moments decision - which isn't like me - I decided to start a blog. We will see how this goes!