Small Mercies...

Good Morning Company Girls!

Once again I'm doing this on Thursday night because tomorrow is hubby's scheduled day off and I think will be busy from first thing in the morning.

The lady in the picture above is my mother-in-law Bessie Mae...she's holding her newest great grandchild William. Last weekend Bessie had a heart attack..she's still in the Cardiac Care Unit of a hospital about forty-five minutes from where we live. This week they attached an external pacemaker to keep her heart beating the right number of beats per minute and today was her best day yet..her breathing is still somewhat laboured but all told I think she may make it. Thank the Lord...not only for the good of Bessie but for the good of all of us....hubby and I are still worn out from my dad passing, and the followup of getting mom's house ready to be sold ...plus my kids...a couple have expressed their feelings that they couldn't take losing another grandparent right now. It's so very hard.

So, other than going back and forth to the hospital, cleaning and sorting and throwing out stuff at mom's house...it's been a pretty ordinary week. Oh, I did take Emma for her annual check up with the surgeon that removed 2/3rds of her right lung almost six years ago. I casually mentioned to him that I'd like to know the effects of smoking pot or regular cigarettes on Emma's lung.....he went on to explain just what effect that would have...of course not good, (as I figured) plus he stated the negative effects of it, such as smelly breath, dirty looking teeth, wrinkles on your skin. Well, let's say Emma was not pleased with me for bringing this up.....as we were leaving she said to me..'I'm not speaking to you'.....if only I could have counted on that...as soon as we were out of the office she started in about the latest thing that she wanted to do....go to the beach with her friends who most assuredly do drugs....of course she denies that they do...but..as I've often said to my kids 'last I looked I don't have stupid written across my forehead'! Anyways, as we were going to the van...Maya, who had joined us after the appointment (the appointment was at the hospital that Maya has been working at) wanted to sit in the front seat. Emma said, 'no, my stuff is all there...I'm sitting there'......I just looked at her, (because I really didn't want her sitting by me at this point) and said..'no, you're not speaking to me, remember? Maya can sit in the front'. Well, Emma huffed and puffed all the way to the van. I do admit to having a small amount of feeling of satisfaction over the whole thing.

So, this weekend all the kids are suppose to be away...well, the youngest four anyways...3 are going to a youth retreat with our church and one will be going to her friend's. They are all very excited ....hubby and I are rather excited too...a whole weekend with no teens!!!!

Praise the Lord for small mercies!

Have a great weekend Company Girls!

Pictures!

This is my mom at William's dedication this past Sunday.....my son and his wife had it down at the beach....very private and secluded...just some friends and family...the water was calm and it was quite peaceful. Here we all are....hubby and myself, my mom, Ryan holding William, daughter-in-law Jennifer and her parents...who drove all the way from Dryden, Ontario...about 18 hours away!..It was a lovely day. We are thankful.

Miss Verity checking out one of her presents at her birthday last week...

Paul and his girlfriend Sara.....

The birthday twins!....only about 17 years apart!

That's about all for now....blogger takes forever to load the pics from hubby's new camera.....have a wonderful day...

if you're a praying person please pray for my mother-in-law Bessie who had a heart attack over the weekend and is in CCU right now....thank you.

Birthdays and such...

Good Morning Company Girls!

I had hoped to have a couple of pics for you today but alas, hubby and I got home quite late last night and were quite exhausted and they didn't get transferred from the camera to my computer.

So, I'll just have to tell you about Paul, former army boy whose going back into the army, and Verity, the most photogenic little girl you've ever seen....

It was their birthday this week! Of course, there are a few years between them in age....Paul turned 22 and Verity turned 5, both on the 20th of May.

We had a family dinner here on Wednesday night since Paul's girlfriend wanted to take him out on his birthday....it's been a long standing tradition in our house that you could choose (within reason) what you wanted for you birthday supper. Paul chose lasagna and Caesar salad.....Verity hates lasagna and wanted Chinese food.....well, at first she wanted pizza...then changed her mind to Chinese......so, her mommy bought her her very own Chinese food to eat while the rest of us ate lasagna....then when Verity's sister and brother saw the Chinese they wanted some too along with their lasagna......always interesting moments when you have little kids...well, big kids too for that matter......

If, I had taken any pics around the supper table, you would have seen fifteen of us enjoying time together......it was a pleasant time....there was a little angst at the beginning where Paul, jokingly quoted myself...'can't we just have a nice dinner together'....don't you just love it when your kids start imitating you? All in all, it was a good time!

Oh my goodness,...so many pics I need to take....Lauren, second oldest daughter got her own very first car......an extremely old Ford Tempo, previously owned by some little old ladies... she's thrilled to have her very own wheels and we're happy for her...she's been bummed since hubby blew the engine on his old car which Lauren liked to drive whenever she could, and now hubby doesn't let anybody (well, except me cause it's my car too) drive his new( to him) car! So, that let Lauren out...although she did become quite comfortable as the soccer mom in my van....

Last night we met with the realtors who will sell my parents old house....emotionally, it's a very confusing time.....closing the door on something that you'd like over and done with but are not quite ready to say goodbye to yet.....dividing up the stuff...oh my gosh, all the stuff still left in mom and dad's house.....it so reminds you of the scene in Scrooge where the laundress and the seamstress and the undertaker meet to go over their stashes.....not pleasant at all. Which reminds me....I have to start throwing stuff out...we collect so much stuff over the years don't we? Special meaning to us...but in the long run somebody's just going to look at it and say 'why the pete did she keep this' before they toss it into the garbage bag.....

This weekend, our youngest grandson, William is supposed to be dedicated. It will be a long drive Sunday morning, they're about three hours away...fortunately the dedication is suppose to be on the beach, after their morning service....it will be a long day but hopefully a good day..filled with family and the celebration of new life......those are good days...

....since, here in Canada it's the Victoria Day weekend or as it's commonly referred to 'the May-2-4 weekend' ....we'll get a holiday on Monday which I'm sure we'll be relaxing and hopefully enjoying....life goes on....

Have a good one ladies!

Looking at the clouds..

Yesterday hubby took a half day vacation day. He was suppose to take it the day before we left for Chicago but didn't because things were sooooo busy at work. We have these very good friends...they used to be our pastors..oh, about twelve years ago....they're lovely people, in fact he (Bob) came and did the sermon at my dad's service last week. Bob was telling us that a few days before, his own mother celebrated her 102nd birthday! One hundred and two years! Good grief! One week later his mom died. Hubby and I went to the visitation yesterday afternoon in another town. Originally hubby said that I could meet him part way and we would travel the rest of the way together but then he changed his mind and took his half day and came home first. I was ever so glad. Going wouldn't be the problem but I really don't like coming home part way...leaving hubby to get into my own vehicle and driving the rest of the way home. It's kind of lonely, parting that way.

So, off we went...it was a lovely sunny day....hubby's (new to us) car has a sun roof which he opened and I felt like a little kid as we drove along and I stared up at the clouds high up above. It got me thinking about my dad in heaven. I said to hubby...'have you ever wondered where heaven actually, physically is?' 'I mean, the scriptures infer that it's somewhere, up there...but I wonder, where is it?' hubby didn't have an answer....inside my head I was actually thinking....where's my dad....are you up there somewhere dad...looking down on me driving with my hubby....while I'm wondering, missing,.....missing so much....

My hubby's car is an older model Saab.....it's a lovely car to go into debt for for the next five years....he's really enjoying driving it as he travels back and forth a couple of towns away to go to work......

Hubby looks over to me and grins and says...Are you glad you came 'saabing' with me, dear?...I smiled back and said 'yes, yes...I'm glad I did'.

I look back up at the clouds and know my dad would be smiling too.

Relaxing summer time???

Last night, hubby and I sat with the calendar trying to figure out summer holidays. It was very difficult. Our weather has been so weird it's really hard to know when the best times for camping would be. When I was a kid, July was always quite warm and pleasant and August was usually very hot. Now we seem to get the warmer weather earlier so that by August it's very cool and damp. Cool and damp and camping aren't really a good combination.

Plus, as I was saying about appointments...it used to be that I could schedule appointments before school ended and then after it started again in September.....now, we have three specialists and a family doctor appointment in July...very annoying to try and work around when you're at the trailer 2-1/4 hours away....it would seem that specialists don't take into consideration that you might be on summer holiday...and if you don't take the appointment, then you have to wait three more months! Geesh!

All the time that my kids were growing up, hubby and I used to look upon summer as the 'down' time...you know...no schedules, no having to take kids for music lessons, athletic events, you know..a relaxing time......When did summer time become so much work?

Do you think we could just skip summer this year and get on with fall?

Running Away...

It's Monday morning...the start of a new week.....

I have absolutely no scheduled appointments this week!

Now, I'll probably get some..... :0)

It is a rare week that I don't have at least one....I know they're necessary but they really are tiresome. I figure, looking at my parents lifestyle with appointments the last few years....that...I'll probably just get finished with the kids appointments when they'll start piling up for Don and I!

It's enough to make you want to run away from home!

There are many times over the years that I've wanted to run away from home..alas, I'm really not adventuresome (just ask my kids)!

I think I even bought a book with that title once...I have a lot of books....but, for the life of me, right now I can't remember, other than the obvious, what it was all about. It also reminds me of a series of children's books about Frances...some kind of rodent....she ran away, took some cookies in her bag and ran away to under the dining room table...that would probably be me...

as long as no one could find me... :0)

Where would you run away to...or would you?

Two Men...

Good Morning Company Girls....

As some of you may already know..it's been an especially difficult week.

On Tuesday we buried my dad.

It was a lovely funeral service, as funerals go...the music chosen were some of dads' favourites...'A Wonderful Saviour', 'The Well is Deep', My All is on the Altar', my daughter Leslie, accompanied by my niece sang 'The Love of God'.....while she was singing my wee little mother raised her hand in praise as she wiped away the tears...another daughter Lauren read one of the scriptures...the one in 2 Timothy where it talks about fighting the good fight, finishing the race....which was my dad...he fought right up until his final moments...not that he didn't want to be with his Lord but the protectiveness that was ingrained in him over 66 years of marriage, to stay with my mom, to look after her, kept him fighting.....

Now, life goes on....my mom putting one foot in front of the other....the rest of us dealing with all the necessities..my sister spent the afternoon at the bank with mom yesterday...all the legalities..they're overwhelming....we must go thru their house, sort thru the remaining furnishings and belongings, clean it and get it ready to go on the market, sell dad's car...he loved his cars...he was that kind of man..took extra care with them..

Yesterday, I took my youngest to a sudden trip to the orthodontist to get a wire put back on her braces that came off on the weekend, then in the evening, took one of my sons to a special banquet for exceptional kids where he had been nominated for an 'I Can' award. Then, I hurried home because an officer from the Ontario Provincial police (I guess in the states that would be your state troopers) was coming to the house to take Corey's statement about the accident he had a few weeks back.....because Corey is still living with the woman that a judge ordered him to stay away from, means he's in breach of his probation....so the officer and Corey had to meet at our house. The trouble was that it scared Corey...when you've been in trouble with the law before, then a cop coming to your house is rather intimidating. Corey handled the situation the only way he knew how...he got drunk.

When he refused to leave his buddy's house to come here, I went and got him...brought him back for the officer to question. It went fine and thankfully Corey is a drunk that actually sounds halfway intelligent when he's drunk except for repeating himself....then I drove him home, listening to him talk all the way about how he was going to sue his friend, the driver of he motorcycle...he was going to get a lot of money...going to buy a M-15 weapon....I told him that that would get him in prison for the rest of his life...of course he didn't believe me...I really didn't believe him either...personally, I don't think he should get any money...he was just as drunk as the driver, just as responsible for getting on the back of the motorcycle...yes, his body still wears the scars and sores from the accident...so what....consequences of his choices, I say. As we got close to his house, I remembered when he was 4 years old and he graduated from nursery school, I overheard a conversation that he had with himself where he was pretending that I was telling him how proud I was that he had graduated and he was saying back to me...'thanks mom'....

So, when I pulled into his drive I said, 'Well, Corey,..I'm proud of you for coming to the house tonight and talking to the officer...it was the right thing to do'....He gave me a hug and said 'thanks mom'....just like when he was 4 years old. He's a mixed up little kid in a 26 year old body that's addicted to alcohol...a life royally screwed up....

Two men....one my dad who made choices at 19 to get married and go overseas to fight in the war, who lived a good life, an honourable life.....
...and the other one, that, due in part to his genetics, to his birth mother drinking while pregnant with him and damaging his brain......is probably due to continue living his life in this vicious circle of confusion and alcohol...how much could he help, could he control...I don't really know..I guess that's why I haven't given up on him yet...and I know that God hasn't ..

Two men...the choices they made......two different lives.

Redeemed...

As I paced the hotel room, shortly after I called my sister...the Lord, I believe put the chorus of this old Fanny Crosby song in my head,...and as we drove all night to get back from Chicago...it kept going over and over......I pictured my dad standing beside the Lord.....redeemed!

I shall know Him, I shall know Him.
And redeemed by His side, I shall stand,
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
By the print of the nails in His hands.

My dad was gone, a final heart attack taking the last 18% function that his heart had left......he fought the good fight...he fought so hard......

He just said to my mom yesterday afternoon, before this happened in the early evening, as he took her hand....'Let's just go together'.........


A good man, a godly man.....well done!

Good Morning Company Girls!


True Love....that's my mom and dad....this past March they celebrated 66 years of marriage.
This past week, since my dad had his heart attack a week ago, they've put in an unbelievable difficult week. By last Friday afternoon my dad had been transferred to the cardiac care unit, he was very, very sick. He was on Isopril to regulate the beat of his heart, and antibiotics for the C-dificile and V.R.E. they discovered after he got there. He had to wear an oxygen mask to keep his oxygen sats up in the 90's and they had difficulties keeping his blood pressure higher than in the 70's over the 30's...we all wondered if he was going to survive...we didn't know how he could.

By Saturday, he showed a tiny bit of improvement...on Sunday, you could actually have a conversation with him. We were encouraged. By Monday, the doctor said they thought he had 'turned a corner' and she was cautiously optimistic. I decided, on the advice of many to go with hubby to Chicago. We came here on Tuesday and my sister sends me daily updates that show that dad is getting a little better each day. Yesterday they were able to wean him off the isopril but he still requires extra oxygen.

The doctor said my dad was a fighter.....why would he fight when so much was wrong...he told me the day after his heart attack that he thought it was all over..that he was so tired of fighting. When his dad and sister were faced with death a few years ago, they gave up and within a very short period, died. My dad is still here..why..because of the love of his life, my mom....my mom has dementia, my dad does not want to leave her, he still wants to look after her....

That's what I call...... True Love.......the very best love that can be between two people.

Always, always hold out for that kind of love.....it's stands the test of time, through hardships and joy....the very best kind.