A lot of doctor appointments!

It is nice to have a day to catch up around the house! I didn't have to leave the house today, except to go grocery shopping.

Last week was on "off" week for doctor visits. I went to the doctor on Monday for my crud, and then went for my annual mammogram on Thursday (which was normal...yay!).  This week has made up for it though. I took Ricky to the doctor Monday morning.  We got back just before lunch. About the time I got home, I got a call on my CASA case. A situation had arisen that I needed to deal with, which took the rest of the day.  I left the house about 1:00 and didn't get back until 9:30. That made for a long day! Then yesterday, I had my yearly checkup and bloodwork done. Then in the afternoon, I took Daddy to the pain management doctor. He is scheduled to go in Monday for injections in his back to try to block the pain. If it works, they will go back and cauterize the nerves for a more permanent solution. I hope it helps him. I hate to see him in pain all the time, but I also don't like him having to take pain meds every day.

Tomorrow we go back to his dermatologist/plastic surgeon to see about his nose and when they will want to do the Mohs surgery. He also has to get some bloodwork done. His blood sugar has been running pretty high lately and he has also had a lot of swelling in his legs. He saw his primary care doctor Monday morning. I had hoped to take him for that visit, but it was the same time that I needed to take Ricky to his appointment. The doctor has him coming in once a month until he can get everything regulated, so I will make sure I'm available for next month's visit!

A brother at the Eastside congregation, Lanelton Holloway, passed away last Wednesday, and his son asked Dennis to conduct the funeral on Saturday. That pretty much filled up Dennis' schedule for the latter part of the week. He also came down with my crud, so he wasn't feeling well at all. Thankfully, he didn't lose his voice like I did! I do believe it was one of the hottest funerals (at the cemetery) I've ever been to. However, the family wanted it "short and sweet", so we didn't have to stand out in the heat for very long. Believe it or not, Dennis was actually able to keep his remarks short! He really did a good jog...especially for not having the known the man well at all.

Dennis is still feeling pretty rough this week. I'm pretty much over it now...just dealing with drainage and a little coughing. I feel fine though. It was a full 2 weeks of feeling rotten before getting to this point! So Dennis probably has another week or so to go.

This Sunday is our monthly guest speaker and potluck and singing. Buddy C, from Nacogdoches, will be our speaker. Looking forward to seeing his sweet family again. I think they've had a couple of babies since the last time we saw them.

I've been sitting on pins and needles all day, waiting to hear about Chris and Karley's baby! I feel for Karley that she had to go over her due date by over a week. But it will all have been worth it when she gets that sweet baby in her arms! Can't wait to see pictures. The baby is bound to be adorable with such cuties for parents!

Stay out of the heat and have a great rest of the week!

My 59th Birthday

Thanks to all who took time out of their day to send birthday greetings my way!  Although I was too sick to do much, I still had a wonderful day.  Dennis took me out for lunch and I picked up a (free) Redbox movie to watch, which turned out to be a wonderfully inspiring story.  He later brought home some gorgeous red roses for me to enjoy.  I got a Skype call from Stephen and the grandsons.  Although my voice was still pretty bad, we were able to talk for a few minutes.  They are having a great time on their Colorado vacation!  It sure made my day to be able to see and talk to them! Then after supper, Dennis took me out for ice cream.  Who could ask for more?

Dennis has been working on the boys’ window seat this week and is making good progress.  He has half of the boards laid already.  Each one has to be carefully measured and cut and shaped to fit correctly.  It is going to be beautiful when he gets it all completed!  I can’t wait to see the boys when they come next time and get to use it.

I, myself, haven’t accomplished much of anything since we got home from Arkansas.  I woke up feeling pretty bad on Tuesday of last week…the day that Stephen’s family was leaving on their vacation.  I managed to make breakfast for them and see them off, but that was pretty much it for the day.  I spent all Wednesday afternoon taking Daddy to the dermatologist to have the skin cancer on his arm removed and taking care of a few other odds and ends in Weatherford.  Thursday, I took him to the specialist about the cancer on his nose.  The doctor wanted to treat it first with some cream, which will kill some of the cancerous and pre-cancerous cells.  After two weeks of using the cream, and then 4 weeks recovering from that, we go back to schedule his Mohs surgery. The doctor is hoping to minimize how much cutting he will have to do with the usage of the cream first.

Sheila spent Friday night and all day Saturday with us.  I was too puny to do anything, so the three of us just sat and visited.  It is always great to have time with our girl. 

Sunday morning I woke up feeling worse and unable to speak AT ALL!  My voice has gotten bad before, but never disappeared completely.  Dennis was able to get me a doctor’s appointment for Monday afternoon.  She said that it was all viral, so I just have to treat the symptoms and wait for it to get better.  She told me to start doing nasal lavage again.  I did that after my sinus surgery several years ago, but it is such an unpleasant experience, I didn’t keep it up.  Guess I’ll just have to learn to live with the grossness of it!  It really does help, both with allergies and sinus problems.  I’m also supposed to NOT use my voice until it gets better.  I’ve done pretty well until Stephen and the boys called!  I’m able to squeak a bit, but I really have to force it out for anyone to be able to hear me.  I am starting to feel some better today though.  The sinus lavage has taken a lot of the pressure from my sinuses, so my head doesn’t feel like it is about to explode every time I cough.  I’m still pretty lethargic, but I don’t hurt everywhere like I did.  I expect to see improvements every day from here on.  I have a busy week of doctor visits next week, so I need to be back to normal (or almost).

Tonette is taking the folks to Spur tomorrow through Saturday.  I know they are excited to be getting to spend a few days on the farm.  They really miss it.  I’m thankful that Toni is so good to take them out there whenever they get too homesick.

I’m looking forward to this next year.  There are challenges to face and (hopefully) new beginnings to encounter.  I eagerly await my trip to Vietnam to meet my newest grandchild and the changes that he will bring to our family.  I’m also excited to see what we accomplish on our home remodel.  My last year as a 50-something-year-old should be quite an adventure! 

"Learning to Lean on Jesus"

We are home, unpacked and trying to catch up on laundry.  We had a great week at the summer camp meeting!  I will try to share our experience, but I know I can never do it justice.

We left last Saturday before 7:00 and went to pick up the folks.  They were finishing up their breakfast, so we got everything loaded and ready.  We left Brookdale about 7:45 and headed north.  Our first stop was in Haslet, to meet up with Kay.  Dennis had asked to borrow her dad’s New Testament that he had copied himself, to use as a “prop” for his lesson.  It was a rainy day and traffic was terrible until we got to Oklahoma.  The rain stopped and the traffic thinned out and the trip was uneventful for the rest of the way.  We made it to our hotel in Clarksville around 4:00 pm.  After getting everyone settled into their rooms, we rested a little, met up with Ted and Carol, and went out for supper.  The Mexican food was tasty and the company was great!  We were happy to have them as neighbors in our hotel.  Later that evening, we drove out to Keith and Lesa’s to borrow one of Kenneth’s old Bibles (another prop).  We ended up spending a good chunk of time visiting with them.  We knew that we probably wouldn’t have much opportunity as more people arrived.  It was great catching up with dear old friends (old as in long-term!).

Sunday was a full day!  We weren’t expecting a big crowd, being the first Sunday of the meeting, but the room started filling up quickly.  Dennis began the week long discussion on “Learning to Lean on Jesus”.  He used a lot of examples of people he knew and had props for demonstrating how they had spent a lifetime “leaning on Jesus”.  After a beautiful service, we enjoyed lunch and fellowship all afternoon before having another assembly at 4:00, in which Craig gave an inspiring message about “Building up our Wall” (taken from Nehemiah).  More food and visitation afterwards rounded out a wonderful Lord’s Day!

Monday, Dennis and I went for a drive through the countryside.  Then we stopped by Keith and Lesa’s again to drop off the Bible…and ended up visiting with them and the Moores for a while.  We made it back to our hotel in time to pick up the folks and take them to lunch.  While we were eating, in walks Logan, with 6 or 7 boys in tow.  He is SO good with the kiddos!  I love how he cares about them and tends to them…and they all adore him!  After lunch we went to the bowling alley to watch all of the young folks enjoying themselves.  There were as many (or more) spectators as there were bowlers, so we had plenty of folks to visit.  Afterwards we went back to our room to change and rest up a little before heading back to the campus for supper and evening assembly.  The speaker lined up was Marshall H.  I’d never heard him before but had heard very positive things about him.  I definitely wasn’t disappointed!  He emphasized the point that we should not lean on our own understanding…nor on the culture around us…excellent study!

Tuesday morning, we had two young speakers:  Zach W. and Logan S.  Zach spoke on being prepared by putting on the Christian armor.  Logan admonished us to humble ourselves as a little child.  Both did a great job!  We had a very special guest on Tuesday.  Kenneth was able to get a reprieve from rehab for the day, so Ken brought him down for the assembly and lunch.  Everyone was SO glad to get to see him!  He has had a pretty rough spell here of late.  We were all very thankful to see him on the mend and able to make it!  After lunch we took the folks back to their room to rest and them spent the rest of the day visiting.  After sharing supper with the folks and Jarrod and Melissa’s family, we found a spot to enjoy the firework display…another great day!

Wednesday morning was the men’s breakfast.  So I just spent the morning taking it easy and lining out the folks’ meds for the remainder of the week.  When I prepared them before leaving home, I only did a few days, so we could see how they were going to make the trip (and if we’d need to bring them home early).  They were doing great, so we figured we’d be able to stay through Saturday morning, as we had planned.  The young folks were going skating in Russellville from 11-1, so Dennis and I checked to make sure the folks would be ok without us and headed over there to watch the fun.  It was another great turnout!  We were having a blast just watching everyone and visiting the other spectators.  I loved how the older and more experienced skaters were helping the younger and less experienced!  Dennis kept talking about how much he used to enjoy skating and looking longingly at how much fun the little ones were having, so I told him to go for it.  And he did!  The other adults were pretty nervous, as were many of the kiddos, to see him struggling to stay on his feet.  But he did ok and only fell once…no injuries! 

We all met again for supper that evening and had another wonderful assembly with Richard N. giving a wonderful study on Relationships.  There were snacks and dodgeball afterwards in the gym, and Daddy and Bobbie even stayed to watch.

Thursday was the Ladies’ Luncheon in the cafeteria.  We had a great gathering of young and old, with a little exercising of Titus 2:4-5, great fellowship and good food.  A little later that afternoon was the Sing-On and then supper and another assembly, with Owen C. admonishing us to “Be Strong” as we were “finding more power than I’ve ever dreamed” in leaning on Jesus.

Friday morning we had a morning and evening assembly.  Bryan P. was the morning speaker.  It was my first time to hear him also.  I’d also heard good things about his speaking, so I was looking forward to hearing him for myself.  I was blown away!  He gave an excellent lesson on Confidence…and where it comes from.  I look forward to hearing more from him in the future!  Again we had a good lunch and fine fellowship and then some of us spent some time singing together in the chapel (actually, we were in the basement of the chapel…much cooler!)  Then we were blessed with a lesson on “Hard Sayings” from Houston that evening.  Dennis took the folks back to their room to rest up, and then we tried to squeeze a bit of last minute visiting out of the week before having to head home this morning.  It was SO hard to tell everyone good-bye.  It was truly a time of refreshing!  I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed a week as much.  There was such a sweet spirit everywhere you looked!  We loved catching up with old friends and making new ones.  I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make it all possible…especially the City Park Church of Christ!  I also want to thank Patsy W. who loaned us a wheelchair to use all week to make things easier on Bobbie.  I believe that is what made it possible for the folks to hold up so well all week.

Even though we hated to leave everyone and miss the final two assemblies (and lessons), it was good to get home.  The folks looked VERY relieved to finally be back in their little apartment at Brookdale.  I know that Dennis and I were thrilled to get home and relax.  We are SO thankful that we were able to make the trip, and that the folks were also able to attend and do so well!  We are already looking forward to next year!