Happy Memorial Day...

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. -John F. Kennedy





As I am sitting/ laying around mending this weekend I wanted to be certain to wish you and yours a wonderful Holiday weekend. How blessed we are to live here, in the United States of America.

Food For Thought...

I heard this quote the other day and it's stuck in my brain.

I felt the need to share.

Things work out best 

for those who make

 the best of the way things work out.

Nurses

I have a great deal of respect for nurses.

Honestly, I do.

I couldn't do their job, nor have I ever wanted to.

Needles, bedpans, gross, sick people, crabby people...

Not something for me.

But here are a few things I took notice of during my last hospital stay.

Some people just shouldn't be nurses. 

Even if you can handle to drama and the icky - 

at the end of the day, if you're rough and mean and 

lack compassion, don't do it.

Nurses don't dress like nurses anymore.

In fact, if you work in the hospital, you dress however you want.

Remember when nurses looked like this?

One of my nurses told me they aren't even allowed to wear a nursing hat a graduation.

I liked nurses uniforms.

They don't have candy stripers anymore.  

They have senior citizens who volunteer.

Nurses have assistants called PCT's (Personal Care Tech)
They do a LOT of work.

I had a few that I loved, a couple - not so much.

As for the PCT's - most of them I didn't like.

Doctors don't necessarily respect the nurses opinions all the time.

Sometimes I think Nurses lack common sense -
like why would you wake up a patient to ask them if they wanted to order breakfast at 7?

Sometimes you get a nurse that is awesome.

Sometimes.

But all the time?  You need to know what they are doing.
You need to understand why they are doing it.
Always be an active participant in your healthcare.

So to the amazing, compassionate and wonderful nurses who took care of me and
the ones who tend to hundreds of others - I praise you.  You have a difficult job and it's
one I wouldn't and couldn't ever do.

Room With A View ...

can you see how swollen my hands are?

Okay, so if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time 

you know I have some health issues.

In fact, just a couple of weeks ago I spent the day in the hospital (again) while they try to discover what's "wrong" with me.  Their most recent decision was again that my heart is in awesome shape, but now I have acid reflux.

I said "poppy-cock!"  (yup, I said it - it felt appropriate)

So last week Tuesday when I was feeling icky after dinner 
I said I refused to go to the hospital.

But, after 17 hours of pain that I can honestly say was worse than labor ( I swear) 
and almost 3 bottles of antacid, I caved and went to the E/R.  
Where I sat and sat and sat.  
And well, I complained - a lot.

I almost lied about my name because we have no insurance.  They have us priced so high we couldn't afford it.  But I can't afford these crazy visits either.  So, I did consider lying about my name but I couldn't go through with it.

I was not nice to deal with this time.  

I was insistent that I be treated with respect and that 
this situation get resolved once and for all.

So they sent him in.

I think his name was Doopda.  I swear.  
Something insane like that.  

He said, "have you ever had an ultrasound?"  
(duh - had a baby dummie)  
But he meant of my abdomen or chest.

So, he did it.

And we found my problem.

My gallbladder was not only dead, 
but crazy infected and screwing all kinds of things up in there.

I was so sick that they had to pump me full of antibiotics before they could operate.

Which is when they discovered it was as bad as they anticipated 
and I know have a wacky incision across my entire abdomen. 
 Actually I have a couple.

No laparoscopic surgery for me - too dangerous apparently.

So, now, I'm finally home.  
After many days of tubes and needles, 
pokes and prods, tests and pain meds.

I'm not allowed to do anything, but I'm in my own home.

I have learned a lot about the medical community.  I'll share later.

For now, it's time for me to nap.

And ask for forgiveness for not visiting all of you.

I was busy - kinda - in my room with a view of nothing much.

how gross can one woman get I ask ya!?

Can you shave with a carving knife?  Machete?

Before...

This is destruction.

When we moved in the cabinets were a honey oak - I painted them cream.

The counters, walls, and trim were all a horrible ugly blue.

The backsplash were those tiles you see.

The appliances were old, broken, and black.

The tiles were on the wall and weren't coming off so I covered them

by attaching beadboard with liquid nails.

It worked awesome the past 4 years.

Some people tear down their drywall and find amazing walls, or wood, or treasures.

I find the remnants that the mice left behind.

The mice are gone now - another thing I had to take care of, but icky signs of them 

remain in the walls.  But, there is only one room left to destroy the walls in...

All traces of those little vermin are almost gone.

This was fun.  Taking down the soffits to fine another soffit underneath.

LOTS of using this tool.

Here you can see the fresh new wall getting a glorious coat of paint.

Being a 1970's house there were very few outlets in the tiny kitchen -

we added more.  

The area that you're seeing now used to be divided by a wall.

It used to be a tiny kitchen and a tiny dining room.

Now, it's one giant room.

Here is the kitchen.  No floors, no cabinets, but lovely new fresh walls.

A nice big window to provide light.

A clean canvas.

A fresh start.

Turning the ugly house into a home.

Now, I hope to figure out how to load the photos from my new camera into my computer

and I hope to share some "current" photos within the next day or so.

She's Sixteen, She's Beautiful, and She's My Daughter

Here she is - we're waiting in line at the DMV for the doors to open.

Today is her 16th birthday and she's been driving for a year and is getting her license.

She was nervous, excited, scared, and bursting with emotions.

(so was I)

We met a friend of hers there.

Her mom and I graduated high school together.

Then we worked together years later.

Our sons are friends.

And we shared in this milestone together this morning.

Here is my baby girl showing you her license.

16 years ago today I went to the doctor for my check-up.

We lived about 40 minutes from the hospital/doctor.

It was at that doctor visit that I was told I was at 7cm.

I had no idea!

20 minutes later I held my daughter in my arms for the first time.

Today she has wings to fly.

She's so excited.

I'm so proud of the young woman she is.

I'm a lucky mom.

God Speak

Okay, I admit, I've struggled in my relationship with the Lord sometimes.

Since we moved to this house I have had difficulty feeling comfortable at church.

I missed my old church.

My old pastor.

But, it's just too far to travel.

So, I kinda fell apart.

But, I'm getting back to church.  Letting my new church become the home that my old church was.

Not easy, but necessary.

So, yesterday during praise and worship, I felt my heart crying out to God.

It was during this time that I heard God speak to me.

He does that ya know.  If only we're listening.

I'm not really good like that.

I kinda wish he'd just leave me a post-it note on the bathroom mirror so I knew exactly what he was trying to tell me.  Funny thing, he doesn't do post-its.

Anyways...

So yesterday God told me that I have to seek him.

I have to spend time in his word every single day.

I have to spend time in prayer daily.

And ya know, I knew completely that he was right.

I'm glad I was listening.

My & My Kiddo's

Here are my children and I at our Mother's Day "Linner" at Maggiano's Restaurant.

Here is the AMAZING gift I was surprised with ...

It was a fabulous Mother's Day.

I hope yours was wonderful too.

Happy Mother's Day...

Before I was a Mom -
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.
Before I was a Mom -
I cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom -
I had never been puked on - Pooped on - Spit on - Chewed on, or Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and My thoughts. I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom -
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests...or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom -
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life
so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.
Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known The warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

Sneak Peek...

This is BEFORE.  

They had this lovely parkay (sp?) flooring in the kitchen.

Of course only in the kitchen.

Our space WAS 3 rooms.  

Kitchen

Dining Room

Living Room

NOW it's one room.

One floor.

One space.

This is progress.

You can see parts of the ugly carpeting  just past the subfloor.

And a wee bit of color on the walls

(which I am loving)

So, that's it for now.  

Lots more photos and progress to show...

Soon

Living Your Dreams...

Here's a little something you might not know about me.

Before I met my husband, I was a biker chick.

(that's right!  Leather, boots, chaps, the whole 9-yards!)

I swore I would never marry anyone who didn't ride a Harley.

I didn't do it. 

My husband didn't own a motorcycle.

But, I've brought him over to "my" side.

He bought a "starter" bike (that's him on the right).

Our friends are on their Harley on the left

He's going to get his license and buy a Harley

We're making a dream a reality.

What dreams do you have that have been sleeping since life swept you away?

What dreams are waiting for you remember them?

Don't let your dreams die

Remember them

Live Them

Make them reality

Captain Chaos

Okay, things have been a wee bit crazy here at my house.

We were making tons of progress on our upstairs reno and then no kitchen cabinets.

No one knew where they were.  They're m.i.a.

Considering I'm expecting 65+ people here on May 15th, that's not a good thing.

Took my oldest son out last Friday - he stresses me out like nobody else can.

A bit of other stressful things here and there led up to one really bad moment.

A bad moment that landed me back in the E/R.

One good thing came out of it.

I have passed every known EKG, stress test, cardio ultra sound... known to mankind.

I do not have heart issues.

Thankfully I demanded to be let out of the hospital (we have no insurance) and was let go 16 hours after being admitted.

Bad news?  Still don't know what's wrong with me.

Relatively certain it is all connected to my digestion / stomach issues.

Still in pain and still not functioning too well.

So, that's why no bloggy visits or posts as of lately.

But, no time to be sick - there's a party to host.

The kitchen cabinets are finally coming on Thursday.

Guess what I'm doing this weekend???