What a week!

My DF had surgery Monday. It was supposed to be a Robotic Assisted Prostatectomy (for prostate cancer) that was only to be a 3 hour long surgery. Well, there were complications and they had to remove it the old fashioned way and fix some things inside while they were there (not quite but to make a long story a little shorter that’s what we’ll say). It took 6 hours! A lifetime when you are waiting in a waiting room and 2 lifetimes when you are waiting almost 1000 miles away! He made it through that though pretty well.

Oh Tuesday, he had an episode, as my DM calls it, where he just went to sleep and they could not wake him for a while. Very scary but when they did wake him everything was fine... or so we thought.

Wednesday morning, his blood count went way down and he had to have a blood transfusion. They called in an internist and we discovered that he had had a mild heart attack on Tuesday. They ordered tests.

That night, his heart got to racing as he was sleeping and the nurses and doctors came rushing in the room to check on him. They spent the rest of the night trying to get that back under control with medication. More tests ordered.

Thursday he got one test done after waiting around all day and then he had a good night.

They were hoping to go home on Friday but again they had some of the other tests to do and they waited a lot but they did get them done but not early enough to get released so... He will go home tomorrow.

It’s been rough week for him and my DM not mention all of us kids but we made it through and hopefully DF will be just fine. His pathology report was really good, thank goodness! And he will go see his regular doctor to make sure his heart is okay and do whatever might need to be done there.

Monday, I was a nervous wreck and had a very hard time holding back the tears most of the day (I was not successful at all really but I tried very hard!) but you know I was amazed at how calm I was the rest of the week. It like a peace had settled over me (frightening in itself really) and I just felt calm and certain that everything would be okay. I did get a little teary some on Thursday but it had as much to do with DH being deployed through all this as the actual situation. But I am back to being calm again.

It was a rough week but we made it, more importantly DF made it and will be back home in his own bed tomorrow (Saturday). DM made it too. I know this had to be really stressful on her and she handled it like a... hmmm... well, she handled really well and I’m really proud of her. I just wish I could have been there to help her through it, to help them both. I love my parents more than words can say. They are the best, really the absolute very best ever. I love you Mom and Daddy!

Inauguration Day...

Well, so much to say but not sure I have the words to say it.

I got up and turned on the TODAY SHOW first thing and we just kept it on most of the day. I was really surprised how into it my kids were. Even DD who is only 9. She watched it all day and never left. She was very into it and really soaked it all up and made comments and was just amazing. DS took it all in too and he made comments as well but he's 14 so I expected it from him. They were both very into it.

It was exciting to watch history unfold. It was very moving to see it all. Oh, how I wish we could have been right there. Which by the way, I did not receive my invite to the Commander-in-Chief Ball as a spouse of a deployed soldier. Hmmm.... the kids said they are sure it will come in the mail tomorrow! HAHAHA

We pretty much just watched this for school today. They did get some math done but I just really felt that this was important for them to watch and feel apart of as well and I think they did.

Well, I just saw at the Ball he said that it was enlisted and junior officers and I guess we don't fall in there anymore. Oh well, that's as it should be. I'm so excited for them to get to be there and for the soldiers overseas to get the opportunity talk with our new President. How awesome!!

I can't wait to see where we go from here. Please don't disappoint me Mr. President!

Morning?

Thank goodness I had my nap yesterday because I am up early this morning! My sweet little dog was up and jumping off the bed to vomit at 5am. Thank goodness he jumped off the bed! Poor thing then just wanted me to hold him and rub his belly. Then I couldn't go back to sleep so here I am... I'll probably need another nap today!

I really should get up and go exercise or clean or something in stead of just laying here looking at the computer but...

Well, I guess I will, I actually have lots I could be doing so here I go.... Have a good day!

Sunday...

Ahh.... Sunday.

When DH and I first got married we took a Sunday afternoon nap together every week. Then the kids came along and well, DH still often got his nap but I seldom ever did.

BUT TODAY, DD reminded me that (in her words) "A long time ago Sunday was really a day of rest" and so I decided to let it be for me today too and I took a GLORIOUS Sunday afternoon nap. It would have been better with DH but it this one was nice too.

I still feel that grogginess you have just after a nap that probably lasted a little too long but I still feel good. Aaaahhhh....

I started doing some menu planning before the nap but now I need to do the grocery list. I tried to pick healthy foods but easy to prepare and easy on the budget. I don't know if they will end up healthy the way I want but it's got to be better nutrition wise from Zaxby's, Chick-fil-a, Fazoli's, and Arby's. Surely!! I know it will be easier on my budget anyway. Now, if I'll just stick to it!

I also need to get on paper our school plans for the week. Shouldn't be too hard but I just need to get down on paper for accountability.

Well, I better get to that grocery list. Have a good week.

Good Morning

Well, it's Friday. I love Friday's. It's the start of the weekend. Today we have several things we really need to get done. I've got to get the kids registered for Gym and Swim. They gave very short notice on when registration was and we were headed out of town so we missed it.

I need to finish putting a few things away still from Christmas. My back is feeling much better so I have no excuses now.

Then we just need to do some laundry and some cleaning. I ALWAYS have cleaning to do. If only I would stay on top of it then it would be so much easier. Someday maybe I'll learn that trick and actually put it in to play.

Change of subject.... Marriage is hard work. I love it but it's hard work and it takes lots of compromise and understanding. Now, imagine it long distance with a war in the middle!! And the long distance lasting for 15 months. UGH! Talk about hard!

We had a few words yesterday and didn't hang up in our usual loving way. That's the pits!! I immediately started sending my "I love you" emails and my "I'm sorry" emails. At least I could do that. Pour DH had to go to a 2 hour meeting and couldn't do anything. He did eventually call back and we were both I'm sorrying and I love youing.

This morning I got the sweetest email ever. DH isn't always eloquent but when he is, it just melts my hearts. He is one of the sweetest people I know (when he wants to be!).

Ok, enough of the sappy stuff. I best get off here so that I can go get busy with my to do list. Have a glorious day!

Whatever Happened to....

Whatever happened to going to church to have fun? When I was little, say.... 6th grade, we went to church on Wednesday nights for dinner and choir practice. We ate dinner and then had children's choir and then while our parents had choir (if they did) we sat and watched "The Wonderful World Disney" together and we had a blast! We might have colored at the same time or something but mostly we watched a movie. Those Wednesdays are some of my best and strongest memories.

Now, I know what you are thinking.... sacrilege! No Bible study or class! For shame! There probably was a class for the adults who weren't in Choir but I wouldn't have paid much attention to that because it didn't affect me at the time. But is there really anything wrong with kids, children or teens or adults for that matter, just going to church to have fun? Is it wrong to want my kids to enjoy being some place that is just fun sometimes?

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be classes and studies. Of course there should be but is that ALL there should be? Should we really be teaching our kids that church isn't a place you can go just to have fun? That in order to have fun at church you have to endure a lesson as well?

When I was a kid, we had both. Sometimes it was just about fun and sometimes it was just about "Sunday School" or Bible studies and sometimes it was about both. But it seems to me lately, at least at my church, that we can't go to church and just have fun and fellowship and that makes me sad. Sad that my kids don't have the same feelings for church that I ... used to have. You know sometimes growing in Christ can happen just through fellowship and sharing and playing with others. Sometimes you can grow closer to Him just through fun and knowing that He WANTS you to have fun and to have fun in His House!

I've been feeling very frustrated lately and this is part of it. Our Church has 2 Worship services on Sunday mornings with Sunday School in between. On most Sunday evenings we have music stuff for our children and youth and also our Youth Fellowship which usually includes a lesson of some type. We also have a group similar to this for our children 3rd - 5th grade. Also there's a Youth/children's dinner.

Then on Wednesday's they used to have the regular lesson type thing for the kids and then children's choir, then they switched to Children's choir and a short devotional and now, last night it's only a Bible study and they are moving Children's Choir to Sunday nights. They have a Bible Study for the youth and then end the night with a Praise Worship service. All of this follows a dinner that is catered.

When my daughter found out about the change in her schedule (no children's choir) she said, "Mom we don't have to come Wednesday nights anymore." It just about broke my heart. They can't just have Children's Choir on Wednesday's because it would be terrible not have a Bible study when you are at the church.

To me Children's Choir is still a type of "learning" about God and our Faith. In fact sometimes I bet it's better because the kids don't even know they are learning! They are just having a good time singing and being with each other IN God's House.

I don't really know when things really changed. Maybe it hasn't for other churches, maybe it's just mine. Maybe it never changed and my churches from my childhood were different from the rest of the world's. My father was my preacher until I got married and moved away so maybe being the preacher's kid made things seem different to me. All I know is that my kids just don't seem to find the same joy in church I used to and to be honest, I don't either.

Don't get me wrong we do enjoy our friends and consider them part of our family and we enjoy going to church but it's just not the same as it used to be. It's sad. Maybe it's our church and maybe we should just look for a new one but we just don't want to leave our friends. Besides we will be moving within the next year and figure we might as well wait until then to start over but until then....

Okay, sorry, I just had to vent and like I said earlier this week ... this blog is a type of therapy for me.

Family time...

We had another good day. The kids couldn't wait to play "Clue" today. DD especially. We played 3 rounds and each one of us won one. They had so much fun! They loved it. We also did some reading of "Inkheart" and it is really getting good!

I have to tell you that DD didn't even watch a minute of TV today! How awesome is that. She is usually the worst about how much TV she watches but she didn't even ask. DS loves NCIS and The Mentalist so he did watch those but she was in the tub and then reading and then bed. I'm really proud of her. I need to be sure that I comment on this to her and tell her how proud I am of her.

Tomorrow we will be trying to fit in schoolwork, the dentist, a haircut and then church. I'm not sure that we will all the schoolwork in but we're going to try. They've been working hard so if we don't get ALL done as long as we get some done it's okay.

Well, I need to get off this computer and go see what else I can actually DO till bed. Have a wonderful night!

Family Fun!

We bought this today. What a great investment! The kids had a blast playing it and begged to play several games. We already had plans and it was almost time so they only got one game in but it was fun. I promised to play again tomorrow. This could be a great incentive to get their school work done in a timely manner! We love to play games but don't play all that often. You know, TV shows get in the way. We didn't even turn on the TV today until almost 8:00 tonight when our movie we'd been wanting to watch for a week came on Hallmark. It was great day.

We also like to read aloud. We are reading "Inkheart" right now and they are loving it. This was another time they begged for more but we HAD to finish getting the Christmas decorations put away. We got them packed up but not in the attic yet. I just don't trust DS yet to carry my grandmother's nativity scene up the ladder yet. I have a backache so it will just have to sit here until I'm feeling better.

We had so much fun this afternoon that we actually forgot about dinner until after 7:00 which is way too late for me to eat but we did and it was good. Then we settled in for our movie. It was a good day ~ school and all.

blogging

Today for some reason, I went back in time... well back in time reading some old posts from several years ago. It was fun and made me realize how much I miss really blogging and how VERY therapeutic it really is for me.

I was reading from Christmases past... from the last deployment. Wow! How much stronger I was then. Really! This Christmas was so much easier as DH was home on leave and we had such a wonderful time.

We did all the things that the army tells you NOT to do while on leave. We spent money and spoiled the kids and probably if truth be told, each other. We just hung out and we ate out (pigged out!) and had fun. Now we didn't go into debt or anything. We only spent money we had but we probably shouldn't have spent as much as we did but you only live once, right! It was great.

It was spoiled a little (understatement) when my DF was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Christmas Eve but because of all the above I was able to push it to the back of my mind...sometimes. Now, with DH is gone it's harder to do. I worry, a lot, but I know he will be fine and all will be okay. The kids and I are going to go spend a couple of days with him before his surgery and have some quality family time with him. If you know me, you know that I don't travel when DH is gone so this is a big deal but it's right for me this time. I'm hoping it will reassure me that he's okay. As DM says, "We'll get through this." I know we will.

So, blogging... therapy... it's probably what I need so maybe... I'll be blogging more... not anyone reads here much anymore but it's more for me right? So for now, I'm off to find the storage thingy that I need to finish putting away my Christmas decorations. I know, I'm behind! Have a wonderful evening!