Be Slow To speak, and Quick To Work!

We started studying the book of James last night and the verse that stands out to me the most is

James 1:19-20 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

My biggest problems come from being too quick to speak and even today, the day after we studied this I snapped at someone who was only trying to help me.   I’m tired and feeling under pressure but not being much of a witness by getting all growly. I hope sleep will improve my personality!

Progress on getting everyone on the new domain was slower today which makes sense since the first ones were all fairly close to each other geographically and now things are more spread out and some of the computers are not “standard operating procedure” so it takes longer and there is a bit more troubleshooting involved.  There is the added pressure of time because grades need to be exported Monday.  Tomorrow – another day, another building, another growing to-do list.

Thank goodness for friends who are willing to help and chocolate!

Beauty From Ashes

Eye make-up washed off by tears – $10.00

Lotion for hands sore from clapping – $ 3.99

Cough drop for throat raspy from yelling – $1.98

Heart full of pride – PRICELESS!

I’m scribbling this in the car on the way home from the UIL band competition.  We made it in time to see the Paris Blue Blazes Band take the field and their show was just beautiful and graceful.  We stayed til after the North Lamar Panther Band finished playing and until we knew both bands had made ones!

I yelled and clapped for both bands and it made me incredibly proud that I work with these wonderful creatures who overcome so much everyday. Band teaches a sense of community, responsibility, accountability, and that practice really DOES make perfect.

Today, it taught them that beauty can come from ashes, that you can move and work through grief, and you can create meaning from senseless loss.

They proved to themselves that you can step up and do what needs to be done even when it is painful, and that the beat is still in your heart and head even when the drummer stops playing.  I am humbled.

Plans and Prayers

I had worked on a post last night and planned to finish it today. We all have plans all the time.  We plan what we will do at work, what we will have for supper, what clothes we will wear.  We plan on our kids outliving us and being living proof that while we leave this earth – we go on, in our children and in the people we have affected while we are here.  We are not ever supposed to outlive our children.  This week not one but two sets of parents are having to experience what that is like and this is not a very big community.  The two kids who died, both in car wrecks, were both seniors in high school – one in each of the larger schools in town.  One was a band kid with ties to most of the debate kids that were at a tournament today. The other had just started speech and debate and worked at Braums.

Plans are made but in a blink, plans come to a halt and all the things that seem important aren’t even a blip on the radar.  I hugged kids today – and a couple of moms.  The debate tournament went on and the kids managed to pull it together and to love and support each other.

The kids at the other school collected money for the little girls funeral.   We see so much bad and worry about the world but in the last week I have been so proud of kids, and so heartbroken for them as well.  I don’t dare try to imagine what it is like to lose a child.  There is a part of me that thinks about my kids driving and I just want to take the keys and keep them home again like when they were small.  Then I had a little control – then I could protect them, or at least I had the facade that I could.  That facade has been gone for some time and I just keep coming back to prayer.  That is all we have left after a certain point.

That’s all I know to do tonight.  The older I get the more I believe that it’s ALL I know for sure.

Thursday Stuff

I went to church for a half hour before work this morning.  It isn’t a beautiful sanctuary with stained glass windows, but the lights were low and Jason was playing guitar and singing praise.  There weren’t a lot of people there, but those who were, sang and prayed and I left with a peace.  I could start the day like that every day.

A student was killed in a car accident last night.  It was not known til this morning and the kids were already wound up because tonight is the bonfire.  There are having a candlelight silent time in her memory.  I couldn’t go. I knew her by face but other than that not really.  I have friends who lived right next to her while she was growing up – she used to keep their kids.  She was a senior yesterday and now she is gone.
I made it the whole 24 hours and didn’t even really fell any discomfort til pretty close to the end of the day.  Food was on my mind but I didn’t want it – weird.  I may try to do this every now and then.  Every time I thought about food I remembered to pray. Even with all the crazy little things going on all day.

A server tanked today and I have people scheduled in the lab and no idea if anyone will be able to log in.  We don’t realize just how ubiquitous technology has become – until it is broken.  Tomorrow will be interesting.  I’m sure there will be a lot of questions and complaints.  It’s Friday though and we will survive! Hug your kids tonight – I know I will mine.

Blog Action Day – Poverty

The day is here, or in my case almost over. Bloggers all over are posting on poverty and I stayed busy and almost let it slip by.  I have been thinking today about spiritual poverty and how it goes hand in hand with physical and economic poverty.  In a nation that has boasted that it is the richest nation in the world we have poverty and how can that be?  How can so many have so much and some still go to bed hungry.

There is a story that I read about what heaven and hell are like.  A man goes on a tour of heaven and hell.  At his first stop, there is a group of people sitting around a pot.  Wonderful smells are coming from the pot and the people have spoons that are long enough to reach the pot, but so long that when they try to maneuver them to their mouths, the spoons tip and the stew spills out before they can eat.  They are all weeping and moaning from hunger.

The next stop the same wonderful smelling stew is cooking in the pot and people are sitting around the pot with the same long spoons but they are all happy and talking and no one is hungry.

The man is told that the first stop was hell – plenty to eat but everyone hungry.  The second stop is heaven and the only difference is that the second group has learned to feed each other.

It is spiritual poverty that has our country in the economic state it is in.  Everyone has plenty and big long spoons to eat it with, but we haven’t learned to feed each other.

We have been studying the minor prophets at church and in nearly every case of troubled times, a prophet would call for a time of fasting and praying.  Our pastor suggested we as a congregation call a fast.  They will have the church open at 6 in the morning so people can stop for prayer and worship before work, for a time at lunch, and again after work.  The fast is not a requirement for anyone – you are invited to participate if you want and are medically able.  You can just pray if you don’t feel led to fast.

There will be directed prayer as we pray for our country, our community, and our ministry as a congregation as well as quite worship time.
I thought it was a fitting way to look at blog action day – doing without food by choice as a reminder of those who go without so much and as a prayer for those who have so much.

If you know me then you know it will not hurt me to miss a meal.  I don’t know if I will make it the whole way, but whatever hunger I feel will be a reminder to me of how blessed I am to have the choice and to know that while I might choose to go without food, I can if I so choose, head for the refrigerator at 2 A.M. and eat my fill and so can my children.

I know that I can make the house note this month and the electric bill will be paid so I will be able to keep posting on this computer.  I have my choice of shoes and clothes to wear and they are all clean because I have a washer and dryer and water.

My hope and prayer for our nation is that we would be a people of heaven, that we would be filled by so much more than food, and that we would learn to feed each other and stop trying to fill ourselves with the junk of the world that leaves us with a yearning for something the world can’t give us.

If we want to cure poverty, we need to cure the spiritual poverty that has caused us to harden our hearts to the needs around us.  The change that would happen externally is going to have to start internally in our hearts.

Charlie Brown Politics

I tried to watch the vice-presidential debate.  I realllllllly did.  I managed a half hour and then it just seemed like mouths moving and that blah blah sound coming out like a Charlie Brown cartoon and of course my face hurt from squinching up every time Governor Palin said Nukuler and Eye Rack.  I know that’s petty, but it just kept making me lose track of everything else that was being said.

None of it made me think either one of them has a clue when it comes to the day to day lives of the average American family.  None of this gives an answer to the parents of men killed in Iraq.  I REMEMBER Viet Nam.  Not just what it did to so many young men, but what it did to this country.  It tore us apart.  Generations seperated and the confusion in values that came next is still not repaired.
Now the bail out bill has passed and I am having a hard time (being math challenged) wrapping my mind around it. How you can find money to fix a problem that was caused by mishandled money.  Where does that money actually come from?  Will it actually “fix” anything?  Will people stop borrowing money they can’t pay back for things they don’t need as it looks to me like we are all going to have less money.  If we stop buying stuff will more people be unemployed because there is no need to make stuff that people can’t afford to buy because they are unemployed??  Will I have to pay for this?
Sarah, Joe, whoever ends up in office – can you help me make sense of this?  Translate all this down to how much will I be able to spend at the grocery store.  Will I be able to help my kids through college?  Will there be anything left in our little retirement fund when we actually need it or will I be limping up and down the halls at work on my walker?  That is if I don’t die because I can no longer afford health insurance.  That is if any of us are here since the polar ice cap is melting because I have used too many paper towels and took too long to switch to the energy efficient light bulbs. Sorry polar bears, I didn’t mean to kill you off.

The bible tells us that we are to “cast our cares on the Lord” – that we are literally not supposed worry.  He is big enough to handle it all.  I’m glad because it is too big of a mess for me.   Goodnight and good luck America. I love you and I’m praying for you.

Randy Pausch

From the Google Blog:

Goodbye to Randy Pausch, a great teacher

7/26/2008 10:25:00 AM

Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and a good friend of Google, passed away last night. In addition to being recognized as a pioneer in virtual reality research, he became widely known as a gifted teacher and a mentor to many. Millions of people saw his inspiring Last Lecture on YouTube. Read more about Randy and his contributions on our Research Blog.

Posted by Kevin McCurley, Research Scientist

If you haven’t seen “The Last Lecture” please do – you won’t be sorry.  If you do not have access to YouTube – watch it on google video.  You can also buy it in book form.

His family has my prayers – I liked him and never met him.

Beyond My Comprehension

I’m ashamed to have been complaining about Starbucks closing – how sad is my little world?
Story in the BBC today:

At least eight women and one man are reported to have been sentenced to death by stoning in Iran.

The group, convicted of adultery and sex offences, could be executed at any time, lawyers defending them say.

The lawyers have called on the head of Iran’s judiciary to prevent the sentences from being carried out.

The last officially reported stoning in Iran last year drew strong criticism from human rights groups and the European Union.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7516238.stm

Published: 2008/07/20 14:20:18 GMT
I tried to imagine myself as the person about to be stoned – what it would be like to be buried to your shoulders, knowing what would happen next.  I tried to imagine what it would be like to be the man involved who got away free – is he hiding?  Does he feel guilty?  Relieved?

What would it be like to be the parent of the young woman that was about to be stoned, or the friend? What would go through the mind of the person or persons that make the decision to go through with this as a punishment?

Who am I that picks up stones and waits for the last shovelful of dirt to be in place.   Do I know the person I am going to use as a target?  What are the sounds?  Does the person cry out?  Where does this happen?  Is there a regular “stoning” place in the village?

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.  But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

According to several sources I read including Wikipedia, four eye-witnesses would need to be produced to prove adultery.  They have to be men and they have to be Muslim.  If four eye-witnesses could be produced, how could rape have happened in the first place?
Who do they find to throw the stones?

I could say something about how we throw metaphorical stones at each other every day.  That idea doesn’t mean much when I picture the real thing.

Personal Update

Three posts in one night!  Whew!  This is just to let a few family and friends know what has been happening with us.

Dale had a test the other day, I actually posted on it earlier.  There wanted a 24 hour urine collection because the previous one seemed kind of iffy and if there was protein in the urine it would mean a biopsy of the kidney – everything was fine!
I had some tests a little over a week ago.  I have had Ulcerative Colitis or UC as it is “affectionately” known for a little over a year.  I had a flare up that started about a month before school was out and it just wasn’t getting better.  I was miserable and not eating.  We did a little tweaking medicine-wise and I am finally getting back to normal. This is my second flare-up and until I was told I had UC I had never even heard of it.  Leave it to me to get something weird.  It is chronic which basically means I have to live with it.  It would seem that certain foods and stressors trigger flare ups but these things differ with each person.  I also did a little reading and it seems that the incidence is much higher in smokers who have quit and that some people are getting some relief from using the nicotine patch.  Learning my triggers is going to be a priority but the patch is going to be on the list of things to try.

What this has meant is that I didn’t get as much done this summer as I had wanted to but I am definitely better and hoping to squeeze as much into the rest of the summer as I can.

We have been hosting a bible study on Tuesday nights at our house and I was loaned an awesome commentary by John MacArthur and I would highly recommend his books – either the commentaries or the bible studies.  Great outlines and scripture references that let you cross reference everything.  It has meant growth for me personally just because in order to prepare I read nearly every day.  Meeting with this group of faithful seekers every week has kept me going. I have started keeping a journal of my study notes and prayers and through it God has been showing me that while I may stress about every little thing, He has been faithful over and over in the big things and I am s-l-o-w-l-y learning to trust. Letting go of control has always been an issue for me (not the only one by any means) but seeing God answer prayers over a period of time makes me realize what a “foxhole” Christian I have been.  When ever things go crazy in my life I am right there praying – asking God to fix this problem and heal that sickness.  I am always a basket of pieces at that point and forgetting that I need to thank Him for all the blessings He has already given me and through looking back at what He has already done, realizing that I have much to be thankful for and that I can fully trust Him to work things out for the best.   If God never answers another prayer, I need to always remember that He loved me anough to send His only Son, to die on a cross for my sin and of all the gifts He gives me – that one is sufficient for everything else.

Amen and goodnight!

Just Checking In For A Moment!

I have been off the grid since my last post. It has been a very busy week and this weekend is going to fly by! We hosted the District UIL met at our school this weekend and while my part is small, it was fun with lots of payback. I coach Computer Applications (my first year) and my student took fifth place which I think is wonderful considering this was her first year to compete. My own kids attend school in the next district – a weird think I know but we are a small area geographically but have three school districts. My daughter placed second in Computer Applications and My son placed third in Extemp (I hope I have that right or I will never hear the end of it!)

A friend is at WordCamp Dallas 2008 this weekend and I hope learns some great stuff to share. I would love to have gone but too many conflicts this weekend! I will have to be content with searching for posts to read to live vicariously!

We have joined a small group bible study and we meet on Tuesday nights so that is one night we are busy, and then we are trying to attend two different churches right now which is confusing but we are trying to work out some things. One place has incredible teaching. the other has definite issues but we went there for years and many of the people there are like extended family. We have gotten involved with a small Sunday night praise service and tomorrow morning there will be a youth led service and then in the evening we will continue that theme but I AM TO GIVE THE MESSAGE. I have been struggling with this all week. I would have preferred a skit but they are doing one with the kids in the morning.

I’m relying on Luke 15 and the parable of the Prodigal Son but I’m concentrating on the eldest son. I would really like it to have meaning and bear fruit and I don’t want it to be about me. If you are a praying person I would ask for your prayers for this service that I would disappear and the Word would do whatever God needs it to do in this place and at this time.

There will be very little rest this weekend so I’m going to crash and burn early. I still need to do some more writing and tweaking. This is the first and maybe the last time I will ever do this – it is such a huge responsibility. I can’t imagine what it would be like to do this week after week. I AM looking forward to the kids’ skit. They will be goofy and cute and forget stuff but isn’t the way it always is?

For now world, goodnight! I will try to get some more tutorials up in the next few weeks.

Spring Break Update And A Little Mac Tip

It has been an “unbusy” week. Spring Break means no school so we have enjoyed family time. There has also been sleeping-inage which has been great!. We went for a drive up in Arkansas (which is becoming a major luxury considering the ridiculous pride of gas these days) , had a family shopping day and did a little closet cleaning and catching up on housekeeping chores. The firewood has been moved out to the back fence and the back porch has been polished up and we ate supper out there tonight.

I helped the praise band at church set up a blog – they now have a name: “The Damascus Road Experience”. I get to sing a little harmony with them but if they ever get a bus I am relegating myself to “roadie” and resident geek.
I will get back to tips and hints for the Mac and PowerPoint tutorials soon. A short hint for tonight: If you have a Word document and want to open it in Pages just drag the document onto the Pages icon in the dock. It will open in pages. If there is much in the way of formatting you may lose the formatting but you will have the basic document. I have already learned that automatic page numbering in the header does some weird things. You can do the same thing with Excel and Numbers or Keynote and PowerPoint. Again this is only a good idea if there is no fancy formatting going on.

Interesting and Scary Article – Outsourcing Patients

What I’m reading – The Last Book In The Universe by Rodman Philbrick

Best TV show ever? The Big Bang Theory (I’m so glad the writer’s strike is over)

Best movie I’ve seen lately – August Rush (yes it is a little corny and some of it is a bit of a rip off on Oliver Twist but Freddie Highmore has the most enchanting smile I have ever seen and you just feel good at the end of the movie – which is becoming rare.)

Happy Resurrection Day tomorrow everyone!

Friends and Family and Healing

From Derricks and Diamonds, the philanthropic organization supported by Schlumberger and National Oilwell Varco has an article about a member of Dale’s family (Dale’s check-up went fine by the way!)

Here is the article:

Sage Martin – Update

March 10th, 2008 by Sean McCoy in News | Many of you have read about Sage Martin on our Our Inspiration page. We received an update from his father Gary today.He is still in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit with the possibility of two more weeks of treatment. While the chemotherapy has caused him to loose his hair he took it in stride with the understanding and calm of a person far exceeding 10 years of age.

He is showing improvement in two vital areas after receiving the bone marrow transplant. His total white blood cell count is at 240 per micro/liter up from the 10 per micro/liter he had when he checked in. The normal white blood cell count is 5000.

His Absolute Neutrophil Count was 0 for 5 days and went to 10 on his 10th birthday (Friday March 7th) but as of today has raised to 170. Normal is 1500 or more and a count of less than 500 is considered severe neutropenia.

The good news is he’s getting better and responding well to the treatment. Gary and the rest of Sage’s family appreciate the kind words, concerns and prayers for them during this time.

_____________________________________________

My good friend is spending time saying goodbye to his family dog of twelve years this weekend. She is going down so quickly and is not able to eat or do much of anything and I know the whole family is hurting.

Last night I went to the church where we watched The Passion Of The Christ in the gym. There were just a few of us but that’s okay. I worked on the computer on the PowerPoint for this Sunday evening – not out of disrespect for the subject matter but because I knew there were parts of the movie that I would not watch. I closed my eyes for some of them when I saw the movie at the theater when it first came out.

I guess if the intent was to get people to understand the magnitude of the sacrifice that was made for us then that point was certainly ahem…hammered home. Today in most mainstream churches we tend to shy away from talking about THE BLOOD. We may say it fast as in “thebloodoftheLamb” which takes away the sin of the world. We might sing about it in hymns – “What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus”

I like to hear about grace. I’m not so fond of hearing about how it was bought. Jesus sacrifice was painful, messy, and bloody. But throughout the Old Testament we see that it was blood sacrifice for atonement of sins that cleansed God’s people and made a way for them to come into His presence. I thank God for Jesus sacrifice. I thank God for His healing grace. As much as I like you Mel – I think you stopped the movie at the wrong place.

I’d like to see the movie go on to tell, as Paul Harvey would say – the rest of the story. We leave the movie with images of pain and how horrible we humans can be. If we weren’t vile there would be no need for the sacrifice. There would be no need for a savior. But we have God’s love anyway. The sacrifice Jesus made was not just for “nice” folks. It was for the very people who beat Him, mocked Him, and nailed Him on that cross. If He could do what He did for them – then surely He did it for you and I, and if He did it for us, then surely we can try to forgive and love others as He did. Surely we can believe that there is a resurrection for us too? Good Fridays and Easter Sundays – they come all our lives.
We all go through these seasons of sacrifice and pain and thankfully they are often followed by seasons of healing and grace. I pray that this Easter season is one of healing and grace for you and yours. If it isn’t, then I hope you will take strength and comfort in knowing that it will come. It may not take the form we wish but God WILL bring healing.

“On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand”

Winter Wonderland

It is chilly here and we have the fireplace insert working overtime but it is nothing compared to where I grew up. I ran across a news/weather flash the other day about the New Years winter storm in Southeast Michigan and had to go looking for pictures of the 16 inch snowfall.

I remember the quiet muffled peaceful atmosphere when winter snow would cover everything – softening the lines and slowing everyone and everything down.

We lived with Lake St. Clair in our front yard and a canal similar to this one in our back yard. We spent the summers in the water and the winters on the ice. In the winter it was often much quicker to get from one place to another by cutting across the ice.

I remember the fun when we were kids. School closings were very infrequent – you might be late but you got there. The salt trucks would be out on the main roads but those of us who lived on little side roads had to work together to dig ourselves out. As an adult I remember what a lot of work and trouble it was to deal with the roads, the cars, and the slushy muddy mess when it all melted.

These images were from the Detroit Free Press and the Port Huron Press Herald.

Stay warm and safe everyone!

We have a doctor appointment for labs tomorrow morning (yes I had hoped to be back at work tomorrow but it will have to wait til Friday) and I will post about our results tomorrow evening. We know that Dale’s vitamin D and calcium levels are low and they are going to be addressing that. If you are a transplant patient you are supposed to protect yourself from exposure to the sun which is one source of vitamin D and because your potassium levels can be affected but the anti-rejection drugs you are restricted in what you can eat. Milk is high in in vitamin D (fortified) but also high in potassium.

The medications also can cause problems with your bones so Calcium and Vitamin D are important. Dale feels a little like a chemistry experiment gone awry but it is slowly getting better.

See you all very soon!

Happy 2008!

Dale just “first footed” the house. He had a piece of wood, some money, and a bit of food in his hands when he came in – this for the old Scottish Hogmanay tradition. It helped that he is tall and dark haired too. When the tradition started, it was not good luck if a blond-haired man came to your door at night – these were the days of the Vikings after all! It is superstition but I honor my grandmother be keeping it up.

We are thankful for the blessings of this past year and pray that 2008 will just be calm. I also pray that all of you have enough for the next year. Enough money, enough food to eat, and enough fuel to warm your homes. I also wish you enough hope, enough humor, enough faith, and enough joy for the new year.

Happy New Year everyone, and God Bless you!

One Month Kidney Transplant Anniversary!

In kidney transplant you have several milestones. Dale reached his first one today – the one month mark. The next one is the three month, then 6 month, and from then on it is measured in years. His labs still are not perfect but they are better every time. His creatinine was 1.4 and his potassium was 4.7 (they shoot for less than one on creatinine and 4 on potassium) so we are looking good.

The bad part of the day was having to be there at 7:00 A.M. for the glofil which entails drinking 10 glasses of water in 45 minutes and blood work and then repeats (in all he drank 17 glasses) which made him sick. The sheet of instructions they handed us when we got there said you need to start a few days before the test making sure you are well hydrated – unfortunately that is a piece of information we should have had several days ago. The problem is they are spread out between several buildings because of major remodeling and sometimes there is a communication issue.

He has to take this test every milestone so he will have plenty of time to practice but you can bet your gallon jug that he will start drinking a LOT the days before the tests!

There were several people there who only had to drink 5 glasses to start. We are going to aim for that!

Image by Darkpatator

We Didn’t Journey To Bethlehem But Paris Seems Pretty Heavenly!

We have caroled, spent time with friends, were late to candlelight service, and are having a peaceful day. Here are some thoughts for today.

I Have No Gift To Bring BaRumPumPumPum
Dale’s sister gave him the ultimate gift

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room
The support and love we have gotten from friends and family has been overwhelming. The love of Jesus has shone through all these precious people who definitely have made room in their hearts for Him and us!

I’ll Be Home For Christmas
And we ARE!

The First Noel
People have many firsts in their lives but not everyone has a first Christmas with a new kidney!

Silent Night, Holy Night
Our Christmas Eve was calm and bright. Both of our children were here and all of us under one roof – safe, dry, and warm. The Christmas tree lit and the fireplace glowing, food to eat – no huge excitement or loud parties. Just all of us here – at home.

O Come All Ye Faithful, Joyful and Triumphant!
We have been faithful and we have come so far from Thanksgiving to Christmas. This one could have also been Over The river and Through The Woods LOL
Fall On Your Knees, O Hear The Angel Voices!
So many prayers have been answered. We have not done it perfectly (whatever that means) and it has been harder than Dale ever thought. It has been humbling and maybe that was part of the message. We have survived and have a period of healing to go through and adjustments to make but we are so grateful to be here.

The World In Solemn Stillness Lay To Hear The Angels Sing
What a gift a night of sleep in your own home can be…

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
The kids are playing Guitar Hero in the other room and we are here with them – that is our Christmas present (that and trying to see how many songs I know from the video game). It’s funny sitting here and listening to ZZ Tops’ “La Grange” and FogHats’ “Slowride” in the other room.

Silver Bells, Silver Bells, It’s Christmas Time In The City
And we are NOT there – nuff said.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
I hope that all of our friends and family are having a Merry Christmas and that the love and peace of Christ surrounds you and yours this day.

thanks BJ for the ornament

Christmas Countdown

We are back at the Dallas Transplant Institute waiting for Dale’s labs. We enjoyed the trip home and are hoping that we are going back today. It will be great to be home even if it means driving over here a few times a week.

We will have a lot of packing to do – it’s amazing what you can accumulate in a very short time. We carried stuff with us when we went the other day but there is still a lot at the apartment.

They took half his staples out – every other one – including one that was driving him crazy and they are going to start tapering the prednisone so he is happy about that. He also got his pneumonia vaccine.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are home!  Dale’s creatinine was 1.9 and his potassium was down a bit too.  We don’t have to be back til Thursday (and that appointment is at 7:00 – in the MORNING!)

We’re tired and the house is a wreck since we basically just threw everything in the house.  It is amazing how much you can  accumulate in a very short time.  I’m not going to worry about the house tonight – I’m just going to crash and burn!

Shhhhh – We Snuck Home!

Just for the night – we aren’t really telling anyone yet because he doesn’t need any visitors yet. He just had to get out of that apartment.

His creatinine was 2.1 today and his potassium was down a bit. We are going to have to watch the potassium for awhile because some of the meds will mess with the potassium so we have to try to not add to the problem with diet. Of course the things that are high in potassium are things like milk, vegetables, beans, nuts – the very things he was hoping to get to eat after transplant. It will get better as they back off the meds but for the next few weeks, no fun food.
If his labs are good again Friday the doc said he could skip Monday so we could enjoy Christmas without a doctor appointment in the middle of it. I am hoping for warm weather – Dale just wants to sit on his back porch. We are so ready to be home.