Thankful for God's Word

Today I set out to get my mom an appointment at Emory to be evaluated and find out what the heck this lesion on her forehead is.

Nowadays, unlike the good ol' days, you have to go through a process.  You can't just call a doctor's office, make an appointment and go on about your day.  Oh, no.  Now, you must call the doctor that your PCP referred you to, who wants you to see a specialist.  They have to fax their records to Emory, as well as the PCP.

So then you have to call the PCP and make sure that they got the records from the doctor they referred you to.  And if they did, which always takes at least two phone calls, they have to fax their referral with insurance authorization to the specialist at Emory.

You can then call Emory and make an appointment.  But wait a minute.  The referral isn't in the system.  Say what?  You're looking right at it.  You're holding it in your hand.  Nope, the system won't let them go any further with the appointment making until it's in the system.  Call back Monday midday.

It's unfathomable to me the way the medical system works these days.  I don't understand it at all.  Anyway, today has been a challenging day for me.  I know everything is in the Lord's hands, the timing of each and every appointment and procedure is already made in the Lord's calendar.  He already knows the outcome of everything.  But wow, is it hard to be human.  I'm praying every minute.  Wish I knew a way to lift my mood.  I feel in my gut and my heart of hearts that my mom is going to be fine.  I just don't have the feeling that it's any sort of cancer.  I feel like if it was, I'd feel some certain way.  She had a knot removed from her scalp last year and it was benign.  That knot hadn't deteriorated her skull, though.  But the Lord knows what's going on.  Why even bother to guess.  Why even bother to worry.  Hasn't changed one single thing.  So here's a few pictures of my feelings for the day.  And, of course, one of my little sunshine, Grant Cameron.

I ordered him the cutest little play set, which obviously he can't play with yet.  Each little farm friend makes its animal sound.  I will enjoy watching him play with them.  If he's like his daddy, he'll love to play and make believe.

This scripture has been me today.  I've been praying that the Lord will make my arms strong to handle the tasks at hand.

This one is a favorite of mine.  I've shared it with friends going through tough times.  

And obviously, this one needs no explanation.  Who hasn't meditated on it before?  It's a comforting one for sure.  

And then this one has been with me through some tough times, too.  Gotta work on that merry heart part.  

Do you have a favorite verse that gets you through the tough times?

Till next time...

In the Blink of an Eye

Tuesday started out as a wonderful day.  I have been out of town on vacation with Suz, Reid, Alayna and Eli for Spring Break.  We were in Destin, Florida and had such a great time.  I will blog about it later, because there were so many fun memories and laughs and I don't want to forget a single one.

Since I had been gone and was missing my sweet Grant, I offered to sit with him awhile for Alicia to have some time to get work done, or housework or just whatever she wanted to do.  

He is the biggest ray of sunlight for us.  For my whole family.  I took him to see my parents, who were delighted to see him.  He slept most of the time, but that was okay.  They love to watch him sleep, too.

My mom had started having headaches on Monday and she had a lot of swelling around he eyes.  In fact, when she woke up Tuesday morning, she said one of her eyes was swollen shut.  She had a doctor's appointment with her primary care doctor at 4:20 that afternoon.

While I was babysitting Grant, at about 3:30, Jeff called me.  He was broken down at Wesley Chapel Road.  Which if you live around this area, you know that's pretty much one of the worst places to break down.  Put it this way, in my opinion, it's one of the armpits of metro Atlanta.  Without a doubt.

Cam picked him up and Jeff had the car towed to our mechanic.  Turns out the alternator is gone out and must be replaced, along with a new battery.  And  Jeff must have  cracked a rib or something trying to get some things out of the car.  He was being hasty and not really thinking about what he was doing.  I think he was just trying to figure out how to stay safe in a non-safe area.

So he gets home and Grant goes home and I'm just working in my office a little and my mom calls.  Her PCP wants her to go straight to the hospital and have an in-depth CAT scan of her head.  So I stop what I'm doing, meet her at her house and to Piedmont Henry Hospital we go.  Every time I go there, I swear I'll never go again.  This time I really swear I'll never go there again.  We waited in that ER waiting room for well over six hours.  When we were finally taken back to an ER patient room, we spent the rest of the night there.  We were at that hospital for 13 hours.

Crystal texted the manager of the office she works at 6:00 a.m. to let her know she wouldn't be at work.  Within 30 minutes, the manager's husband, who works for Henry County Sherriff's Department, brought us steaming hot coffee, biscuits and hashbrowns.  You don't realize that people care about you until you're in a time of trial.  Then you realize you have lots more friends than you ever thought you had.

I went to the Kroger pharmacy to pick up her antibiotic.  I was there when they opened the window at 8:00 a.m.  Got it filled, dropped mom off at her house.  Explained what was going on as best I could to my dad, who was totally busy with getting a new roof on their house.

After I got home, I got my job that I had for later in the day covered, took a shower with some of the best smelling soap I've ever used (thanks to Kimberly Liscio, Alicia's mom), washed my hair and conditioned it, but didn't brush the tangles out.  Took a four hour nap and this is what my hair looked like after my nap.  Whoa, the frizz.

So my mom has some sort of cyst or tumor or cellulitis on her forehead that has eaten away the bone of her skull.  We don't know why.  We don't know what it is.  We don't know if it's cancer or not.  (Although, I'm not claiming any part of cancer.  Nope, no part of it!)  So we go today to an ENT to find out what his thoughts are and what we are to do from there.  I'm trying to be positive.  I'm trying to keep calm and trust God.  Most of the time I'm doing good.  Then others, the devil creeps up on me and puts fear in my mind.  It's a struggle.

My mom is the rock and the strength of our family.  I've never ever known anybody stronger than she is.  I'm so thankful to God for her.  She took us three girls to church, where we were all saved.  She made our clothes.  She cooked every single meal.  Lord knows, she's nursed and taken care of my daddy.  And everyone, especially and including him, knows that without her he'd have been dead long ago.

She left her family and home in South Georgia to move to Atlanta to find an exciting new life.  Away from the small town that she had grown up in.  She was the only girl of the family and was her daddy's June Bug.  She did all this at the age of 18.

I could write a book on my mom and the love she has for her family.  Right now, all I want is for the Lord to heal her.  Whatever is causing her problems in her body, I pray He will heal her.  I trust He will heal her and I'm already thanking him for his healing.

Till next time...

Easter and a New Car

I had a wonderful Easter.  Went to church in the morning and came home and began to get ready for our Sunday Easter Supper.  Everyone was here, so we had a big crowd.  We still ended up with way too much food.  My dad's sisters always had plenty of food at get-togethers so as not to run out.  I'm the same way.  I have a fear of running out.  So then you're left with a ton of leftovers.  

Just look at this sweet little thing asleep in his car seat.  This was his first Easter and he had three days worth of cute Easter outfits.  This was Saturday's.

I don't know why I did this, but I just had this strange idea to make a coconut cake.  When I had been thumbing through my recipe book the other day, I came across the Rich's Bakeshop Coconut Cake.  It's made completely from scratch and boy, is it a doozy to make.  But nonetheless, I made it.  It wasn't the prettiest cake I've ever seen, but it was homemade.  I thought it looked pretty with my flowers on my kitchen table.  

When Cam and Alicia bought their house, the person that lived there before them left a few boxes.  In one of the boxes were several Little Golden Books that were very, very old.  I love old books, so I was happy to take them. And then low and behold, two of them were Easter-type books.  I liked them displayed on my table.  They were perfect.

On Saturday morning, when I was doing my grocery shopping to prepare the food for Sunday night, I decided that I wanted lots of fresh flowers displayed here and there.  I bought several different bouquets.  I LOVE FRESH FLOWERS!  

 Sunday morning, Jeff and I went to church.  He usually takes his mom to lunch on Sunday afternoons.  It's kind of his thing that he does for every week.  They usually go to Picadilly.  This week, though, P-Nut and Sherry brought food to Jean.  So Jeff was able to go to church with me.  I do love it when he wears a suit.  I was proud to have such a handsome hubby beside me at church.

Crystal and her family also came to church.  We had the whole pew filled!

 These two handsome boys that my sister raised!  I'm so dang proud of them and her, too.

Me and my sister.  

Of course, Suz's family went to church in Buford, so I didn't actually get to see them in person.  But she sent me this pictures of them.  Aren't they beautiful?

Suz made this cute cookie cake for dessert.  We had so many desserts to choose from, so she had a lot of it left.  I hope it didn't go to waste.

Nighttime egg hunt was a success as always.  We braved the mud and the wet to hide soo many eggs.  It started to sprinkle just as the last eggs were picked up.  So thankful it didn't rain us out.

Cam, Joseph and Reid won the prize eggs!

Grant in his Easter outfit.  

We got Grant an Easter basket from poppa and me.  He didn't seem too interested in the goodies inside, but one day he will be.

My mom made us this cute little cup of goodies.  I love the Charlie Brown cup.  I have almost a full collection of them now.

So then Monday night, we bought a new car.  It's a brand-new 2016 Ford Explorer and I love it.  Even though we might not NEED a car quite that big, I feel much safer driving it.  And as much driving as I have to do for my job, I want to feel safe.  And I also like having the extra room.  I felt rather cramped at times in the Escape.

Yesterday, Alicia had an eye doctor appointment so I got to sit with Grant while she was gone.  It was one of the most perfect visits I've had with him yet.  I got to play with him for a long time.  He was so happy and smiley and just cooing like crazy.  Then he got cranky and wanted his bottle.  I fed him his bottle, got him burped and then this happened.

He fell in the deepest sleep.  And I snuggled with him and fell asleep, too.  It was heavenly.

He's trying hard to get that hand in his mouth, just can't quite make it yet.  Soon.

That's about all that's going on around here.  The pollen is killing me.  I've had a headache for days.  We're expecting big storms and rain tonight, so hopefully, the rain will wash it all away.  Fingers crossed.

Till next time...

One Busy Week

This week has been crazy.  We are so busy at work.  I have worked almost every day and on Wednesday we were on the record for over eight hours in one of the most boring cases I've ever had.

I'm crazy about sunrise/sunset pictures.  I also love a pretty full moon picture.  This full moon picture below was over my parents' house Tuesday night.

This picture below is the same full moon just about to go down early on Wednesday morning.  I'm so thankful that I was awake to see it.  It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  It was so peaceful.  I just sat outside and spent some good, quality time with the Lord.  I really enjoyed being up so early in the morning.  Notice you can also see the same star in both pictures.  So amazing to me.

I'm confident that I made it through the long, hard workday on Wednesday because of the time I spent with the Lord earlier that morning.  

I'm getting ready for Easter Sunday.  I've got all my Easter baskets made.  One for each of my boys.  One for each of my girls.  And, of course, one for Grant.  I've got my Honeybaked ham and turkey picked up.  Just got a few groceries to shop for in the morning and I'll be set.  I even have an Easter dress already!  I stepped my game up this year.

Yesterday I started filling some of these eggs for our annual nighttime egg hunt Sunday night.  We'll have supper first and then after it gets nice and dark, we will hide hundreds of eggs and the kids (who aren't really kids anymore) will hunt for them.  I'm glad that my nephews and my niece are patient with me and don't mind entertaining me with egg hunts and gingerbread houses.  Lol.  Besides, I fill some of he eggs with cash.  Who doesn't need that?

 Speaking of Grant (aren't I always), he started trying to find his hands this week.  Alicia said he was trying to get that thumb in his mouth and would get frustrated with himself when he couldn't.  I hope he's not a thumb sucker.  Although it's the cutest thing, it's a super hard habit to break.  I mean, you can't exactly take away their thumb.  I don't think he will be though.  He's not too crazy over his pacifier.  I guess we will see.

I got this picture of him today.  I nearly died when I saw him in those little blue jeans.  I ordered his Onesie off of Etsy.  They have some of the neatest things on there.  If you've never shopped there, I recommend it.  Unique stuff.  Not stuff you see everywhere.

So since it's been such a long week, I'm looking extra forward to our weekly Pedro's chips and salsa.  Headed that way now.  I look forward to sharing my Easter memories on Monday.  Love to anyone who might be taking the time to read this.  I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend.  And always remember, that because He lives, we can face tomorrow.  No matter how daunting that seems at times.  We can face it because He lives.

Till next time...

Recap of a Good Weekend

Every Friday night, Crystal, James, Jeff and I go to the local Mexican restaurant.  They have good chips and salsa and it's a fun place to relax after the long workweek.  This week Cam joined us.  He didn't bring Grant, which was probably pretty relaxing for him.  We ran into some old friends there that we used to go to the beach with every year.  They remember Cam from when he was like four years old.  They would have been so amazed at what a pretty baby he has!  But, boy, I bet it would've made them feel OLD.  Had to stop by Grant's house on the way to eat just to get some good sugar!  None better.

Reid and Ross spent Saturday together.  I guess you could say they were working.  From the look on Ross's face, not too sure about that.  But anyway, it makes me happier than words can say how close our boys are.  The cousins are really more like brothers than cousins.  

Saturday, we were able to go and visit Johnny in Savannah.  He's in Memorial Medical Center recovering from major, major colon surgery.  They were able to remove the tumor, but unfortunately, in doing so, it caused them to have to remove most of his colon, too.  He was doing very good.  He looked so much better than he did the last time we saw him.  He seems to be coming to terms with his situation.  We're so thankful that he's alive.  He's had such a long, hard road.  He's got an incredible memory.  He can remember things -- little, tiny details -- about people and events  It really is fun talking with him.  Can't wait till he can really laugh and enjoy talking about the old memories again.

Before we went to the hospital, we decided to have lunch at Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons in Savannah.  It was St. Patrick's Day weekend, so the streets were still crowded, even though St. Patrick's Day was Thursday.  Crazy.  Que pedestrians everywhere.  I even almost had one as a hood ornament.

Crystal had to work that morning and Ethan also had two baseball games that afternoon, so she didn't make the trip.  But maybe next time.  And after tasting Paula's mashed potatoes, y'all, there will be a next time.

Pretty sweet tea!  Not too sweet; just right!

By the time we had eaten, we were all too full for dessert.  But you can't go to the Lady and Sons and not have dessert.  We had just a taste of each.  The peach cobbler was the hands-down favorite.

This isn't a good picture of us, because it was a glare and we were using the Selfie Stick, but I want it for my memory.  

I'm a huge fan of sunrises and sunsets.  This was the beautiful sunset from the 4th floor of the hospital.  Gorgeous!

Suz spent Saturday night down here because it was so late when we got back home.  We stayed in Savannah until around 7 o'clock.  

She didn't have any of her things, so we didn't make it to church.  But we had lunch with Crystal and James and then we baked and baked and baked cookies.

We were running low on frosting, so she frosted hers since she had to go home.  I've got to frost mine tonight.  Look how pretty hers are!  Crystal rolled and cut the shapes out.  Suz and I manned the oven, made the frosting and just kept things cleaned as we went along.  Sisters make a great team.

 And just because I could never leave this sweet picture out of my memory blog, here's our sweet Grant today.

The cold snap has let him be able to wear a few of his cold weather things that he didn't get to wear too much.  This little sweater suit was one of my very favorites!

Gotta get to frosting!  Till next time...

Sometimes You Gotta Pig Out

For some strange reason, I've been craving Golden Coral.  I know, crazy, huh?  Who craves that?  I guess when It's been a while since I've had any "home cooked" food, I start craving it.  But it's not really like Golden Coral is home cooked food, but you know what I mean.  

So yesterday, all by myself, I went to Golden Coral.  And I must say, it was wonderful.  Where else can you go and eat fried chicken, meatloaf, fried shrimp, rice and gravy, sweet potatoes, coconut pie and bread pudding?  The only problem was that after all that food, I wanted to come home and take a nap.  So that's what I did.

 I don't know if it's the pollen or the time change, but something's got my motivation in the toilet.  I have no energy and no desire to do anything productive.  All I want to do is be with Grant or be in Buford having fun with Suz.  I have soo much work to do and absolutely no desire to do any of it.  Do ya ever feel like that?  But then I tell myself the old saying, time enjoyed wasting is not wasted time.

And besides, when this little guy lives 10 minutes from me, how am I supposed to think of anything else???

 Last night we went over and sat with him for a couple of hours while the kids went to eat.  I tell ya, there's nothing in this world like this boy to me.  I mean NOTHING!  And when I see Jeff with him, it reminds me how sweet and good he was with our boys and it takes my heart and turns it into a big ol' pile of mush!

 Just look at that!

Jeff's mom and her sisters and brother went out for lunch yesterday to celebrate Sonny's 71st birthday.  They have incredible genes and are so blessed to still be together.  The oldest sister is 91.
Bless them.  I remember when I first met Jeff, and for years later, Jean and her sisters could run circles around me.  There was nothing that one or the other of them couldn't do.  Need a seamstress?  Got one.  Need a cake?  Got one.  They cooked for their families every single Sunday and their families were HUGE.  And shop?  Honey, they could out shop even me!  And that's saying a lot.  They don't do any of that now, but they still get together to celebrate each other's birthday.

Well, I know this is thrilling reading material, but it's my life right now.  Been running my wheels off working and listening to people's complaints of injuries from car wrecks.  Looking forward to a little down time in a couple of weeks.

Till next time...