A late night / early morning note

For some people, like me, 1:45 is late night; for others, it's early morning. I'm not usually up this late without having first been to bed for a couple of hours, but haven't been to bed yet. Hopefully, I'll sleep when I do get there.

I've been here in TN since Saturday morning. The people in this house are late to bed and late to rise, which is the opposite of my normal life! Earlier this evening we had family game night. We played Disney Scene It. Later, after the children were in bed, the adults played Hand and Foot and watched American Dreams.

Thank you for prayers for Erica. She is doing very well. Still a little sore, especially when she gets to laughing. I took her to dr today for check up. He took out the drain and checked everything. He said she's doing well. He told her she can lift up to 20 lbs. and go up steps now, but she's not gonna try and lift anything heavy yet. He did tell her she needs to do more walking.

Turned out the hernia she had was a serious one and thank the Lord she went when she did and had the operation. I can't believe her gyn was so stupid not to realize all this time what the problem was. Her surgeon told her it was caused by having had three c-sections. You mean to tell me the gyn never saw this kind of situation before? I even had several retired nurses tell me this is something that can happen in multiple c-sections. If they know this, why didn't the doctor?

The weather here is about the same as home - hot and humid. DGD's Girl Scout troop met at a local water park this morning for a couple hours. It's a pretty neat place. I've never seen or heard about anything like it in NJ. It's a park where they have all kinds of different water spouts running and the children can play in it for free. They had spouts coming up out of the ground, others that poured buckets of water, others they ran through, even big water guns that were stationary. All the children that were there seemed to be having a good time and keeping cool as well. I wanted to take pics but my camera wasn't working. I did get one pic on my cell phone.

Grandchildren are all getting big. The baby is now getting up on all fours so she will probably start crawling soon. Erica gave Elizabth some juice from a sippy cup just to see if she would like it and she did very well with it. She will be 6 months on the 5th of August. Her older brother and sister are a great help.

I think I really better go and get some sleep! My mind is slowing down and I can see I'm just rattling on!

God bless,
Linda

Just a little note today....

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Erica's operation. It went well, but the hernia turned out to be bigger than thought. Originally, she was just going to be an outpatient, but she had so much pain, they decided it would be best to keep her overnight and then she was still not feeling up to it, so they kept her yesterday also.

I talked with her last night and she sounded better than she had earlier in the day when I had called. She should be going home today.

I head out bright and early tomorrow morning for TN for a week. My flight leaves Philly at 7; get into Nashville at 8:15 (their time). Got most of my packing done last night, so I'm a little ahead of the game. Usually, I'm up late getting things together the night before leaving but not tonight!! I'll actually be able to relax!

A friend of mine treated me to a haircut yesterday. I've never had anyone do that for me before. I did need a cut but was gonna wait until I got home. She took me to her hairdresser as she had an appointment for herself. While she was under the dryer, I got mine washed and cut. I really like it. It's nice and short and easy to do, which is up my alley!

I said this would be a little note and so it is! Until next time,

God bless,
Linda

Asking for Prayer Tonight

I'm really tired tonight so this will be quick and to the point!

Please pray for DD Erica tomorrow morning as she is having a hernia operation. Just talked with her a few minutes ago. She sounds calm. She has to be at the hospital by 7:30. Please pray that besides the operaton going well, that it goes on time and she doesn't have to spend half a day just waiting around!! That happened when she was getting ready to have a c-section when Elizabeth was born. She had to be at the hospital, if I remember correctly, at 5:30 a.m. Didn't have the baby until about 1:15.

This will be the first time that Elizabeth has been separated from Erica. Though the operation is only outpatient, it will be a long day. Thankfully, a friend and neighbor has offered to take care of Elizabeth for them. She just lives across the street so at least the other children will be around if needed. Their friend, Tony, will be babysitting the older children.

I will be heading to TN at 7 a.m. on Saturday! The children don't know I'm coming so it will be a surprise for them!

If you notice that I use the word "children" rather than "kids", it's because I've been brainwashed by an older friend of mine who thinks children should be called children, not kids. To her "kids" are goats!! To her, children are individuals - boys and girls - not goats! So, as tempting as it is to use the word "kid" or "kids", I always feel guilty even when she's not around!! :-) But, I love her anyway!! She's like a mother/aunt/older sister to me.

As I said, I'm really tired tonight so will say "Good Night".

God bless,
Linda

Exciting Afternoon....

It started after I set up our GPS to take me to my DD friend's house to pick up some homeschooling stuff she no longer needs which she's passing on to Erica. The woman only lives about 45 minutes from here. She gave me directions, which I could have easily followed, but nooooo - I wanted to take "Emma" (that's the name Dawn & I gave to the woman on the GPS who gives the directions because she has an English accent and Dawn said Emma is an English name).

I put in my destination, turned on my book on CD which I'm listening to (The Glass Castle), and started on my way. I'm driving and driving and driving without a word from Emma. When I finally got to a place that I knew was wayyyyyy beyond where I was going, I pulled into a parking lot, tried calling the woman whose house I was going to with not answer, reprogrammed Emma and again continued on my way. Then I realized, she had been talking all along; I just couldn't hear her with the CD playing! Emma got me to the street I needed to be on, but there was no house # that matched. I asked a man who was working in his yard and again, wrong neighborhood!

Anyway, I decided I better call the woman I was suppose to see (it's already been over an hour when I should have been at her house). Turns out, she didn't live on Brentwood Drive, but Bentwood Drive! I looked at the paper I had originally written her directions on and sure enough it said Bentwood. For some reason, I saw "Brentwood" when I looked at it before leaving home! When I got that straightened out, Emma took me right to her house with no more problems in five minutes.

After that, I programmed Emma to go to Florence. I wanted to see the building site that the Homes for Our Troops is building for Andrew & Sara Robinson. Here are some pics I took:

The house with exterior work almost done - in three days.

They finally finished later in the afternoon.

Andrew & Sara with their 3 week old nephew.

The last piece!!!

The man in blue in the center is Andrew's father, Bill.

I went there thinking maybe I could help, but they had everything under control and didn't need me so I just visited for awhile until after the house finishing "ceremony" which was quite touching. They had laid down wooden planks from the road to the garage for Andrew's wheelchair. After the flag was raised and the last piece was nailed, everyone sang The National Anthem and "God Bless America". I noticed several men wiping their eyes. Andrew & Sara went up the ramp into the garage of what will be in September, their new home.

Now the interior work has to be finished and the landscaping. It's hard to imagine how much got done in just three days without seeing it! It's sort of like a shortened version of Extreme Home Makeover!

It was very hot out there today. All the men and women who worked on the house are to be commended for all their hard work and willing labor in that heat! Yes, there were women out there right along with the men, including a couple from our church!

After all this, it was time to eat!! But, that's when I made my exit. I figured I hadn't done anything so there wasn't any reason for me to stay.

Thanks, again, to Dawn for helping me figure out how to put pics into my post. I can see I'm going crazy with adding them already! Just hope I remember for the next time!

For those of you from the Book Bugs who might read this, here's a picture of one of our "Bugs"....

Until next time....

God bless,

Linda

More Thanks...

A great big thank you to Sandy for the beautiful header!! I love it! I envy people who have such talent and creativity.

More thanks to Dawn for her help this morning in showing me how to add more elements and how to rearrange my blog. Luv ya!

Just a quick note this morning

I hope this works, but here is a link about the Robinsons house being built by Homes for Troops that I mentioned in last night's blog......I didn't see it, but apparently it was on one of our local news stations...

http://cbs3.com/topstories/Marine.Injured.Iraq.2.773866.html

Have a good day.

God bless,
Linda

Today's Good News Stories

One of my best and oldest (not in age) friends became a grandmother for the second time this morning. What makes this such wonderful news is that her daughter, who has been married about 13 years, was told she could never have a child. Anyway, about four months ago my friend, Marian, called me to say she was gonna be a grandmother again. I congratulated her, assuming it was her DIL who was pregnant. When she told me, no, it was her daughter I started crying. What a miracle!

I know if you're counting you are wondering how, if it's only been four months, she can have a baby already but she was five months pregnant and had no clue!!! They have a beautiful baby boy! So now Marian and her DH have a granddaughter and a grandson to love! What makes it even nicer is that her daughter and SIL only live a few miles from here while their son and his family live about 2 hours. I can't wait to see Shane Patrick!!


Today begins the construction of the home for one of our fighting men who was seriously injured in Iraq two years ago.

Andrew Robinson is the son of our friends, Bill & Carole. He was on a mission in Iraq when his Marine convoy was bombed. Three of his men were killed and another injured. Andrew sustained compound fractures to his lower legs, collapsed lungs, and a fractured vertebra that has left him paralyzed from the chest down with partial paralysis of his arms.

Homes for Our Troops is building Andrew and his wife a home here in NJ not far from their parents homes. It is comparable to Extreme Home Makeover where they build a whole house in a small amount of time with the help of hundreds of volunteers from around the country.

Carole was put in charge of providing meals for the workers today so she, of course, turned to our church and friends. She designated today as pasta day so many of us made pasta dishes. I made speghetti & meatballs and macaroni & cheese along with a loaf of bread. I dropped it off at her house this morning but she and Bill were already gone to the site so I didn't get to talk with her. Tomorrow and Saturday different restaurants and stores are providing the food. I'm hoping to get to the site on Saturday to do what I can to help.


In other news for the day I went this afternoon with some of the women from work to see the play "Chicago", starring John Davidson. I've never seen the movie nor the Broadway show so had no clue what it was about. It was pretty good. I loved the music. Some of the language was a bit rough but unfortunately, that's how it goes these days. We had really good seats - 3rd row center. For me, the only problem with that was I've been extremely tired all day due to not sleeping much last night and being up earlier than usual today so I felt myself nodding off. I was embarrassed, thinking the actors might be able to see me sleeping!


Well, I am tired so I'll call it a night. It's too early for bed but I think I'll just veg in front of the TV and fall asleep there!

God bless,
Linda

Thank you!!

Hi everyone!


First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who wrote welcoming me to the blogging world! Wow! Dawn told me I shouldn't be upset if I sometimes don't get responses, but this is overwhelming! Of course, now I feel like I'm under pressure to write something fun and interesting!! :-)


Dawn is going to help me add my clock and counter after she finishes her dinner since she just got home from work.


Speaking of work, to begin to tell you a little about myself.....I am employed as a church secretary for a Lutheran church. I've been there 13 years and I love it! It's in a primarily senior area of the state so most of the people who attend the church are senior citizens. There are a few younger people (including the Pastor and his family) but I'd say about 95% are senior citizens and the largest percentage are in their 80s. We even have about 10 who are in their 90s. One woman in particular comes to mind. She turned 93 a few weeks ago. She doesn't look it nor act it. She looks like she's in her 70s. She dresses to the nines, is smart and articulate and even still drives, though only locally. I always say that I wouldn't mind living to such a ripe old age but only if I am in good health.


Adding the elements was fun! We were trying to do it through IMing but finally I just called Dawn on the phone. It went a lot quicker that way.


I'm really pleased with my veggie garden this year. Last year this time I wasn't in a place where I had the energy to do much with it. I had just stuck a few plants in pots but they didn't do well at all. PTL this year has been much different. My DH does the rototilling for me but the rest is my job and I love....as Rebecca Kohl says....getting my hands dirty!!


We had our firstfruits of the green beans for dinner tonight. Ummmm!! They were delicious! I don't use any insecticide on my plants and it's so good to just go out there, pick what I want, wash the dirt off, and eat! I can't wait for the tomatoes to ripen. I usually wind up eating as many as I'm picking. I love the smell of tomato plants!


Those of you who know Dawn know that she's into "green" these days! That makes my heart happy!


For anyone who likes to listen to books on tape (or CD's these days), I'm listening to a good one. It's titled "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. It's a memoir of her life. While listening to it, I think I read the book a few years ago because some of it sounds familiar. The only problem I have with it is that there is quite a bit of bad language because her father curses alot. The woman who is reading does a very good job.


I haven't listened to a book in quite awhile but I'm getting tired of the radio. While I enjoy the Christian station I usually listen to, they play the same songs over and over. The talk radio can be okay sometimes but other times not. So, for awhile anyway, I'm back to books on tape while traveling back and forth to work and other times when I'm by myself in the car. One time when DH and I were traveling I asked if he would like me to read out loud the book I was reading as if it were a book on tape, but he said "No."!! I can't remember what book it was, but he probably wouldn't have been interested anyway!


During the next few weeks when you're saying prayers, please pray for my DD Erica. Next Wednesday she will be having a hernia operation. I will be going to TN to help out the last week in July. She has three of the six grandchildren (Dawn has the rest) including the baby. They told her the recovery time will be 4-6 weeks. Unfortunately, I cannot go for that long, though it's tempting. Times like this is when it's hardest being so far away. I keep telling myself that we're not the only ones but that a lot of families are in the same situation where they are separated by so many miles. Of course, she could be even further away. Thankfully, it's only two hours by plane and thank the Lord I was able to get a good price.


Well, I was gonna go on about just how good the Lord has been but it's getting late and I've sort of rattled on so I'll save those stories for another day.


Good night and God bless,

Linda

Here goes nothing.....

Wow! I can't believe I'm actually doing a Blog!! I kept telling my daughters I had no need to be a blogger but now that I'm here, I think it will be fun! So, those of you who have been hesitant like me, come on in...the water is fine!

I'm on here with the help of DD Dawn! She has IM'd me through this process. Thank you, Dawn! I think the hardest part was coming up with a name and http!! She will be helping me get this thing set up further as we go along and I get more confident. I want the little clock thing and some of the other neat stuff she and others have on their Blogs!!

Tonight's post (as most of my posts) will be just plain and simple - like me! It's getting late and Dawn had to head off to nighty-night and I'm getting tired myself. All this excitement is wearing me out!

I know this is short and sweet but there's more to come! See ya tomorrow!

God bless,
Linda