NEW ENDEAVOR

I am in the process of doing new things. First, I am working on a project of making a video for a client.

You see my husband has a side buisness where we video tape weddings, events and such and then he takes the video and dresses it up, doing fun stuff to it. I recently made a history video for my job where I took pictures and did basically the same thing.

Tollie and I went recently to record a band, Mid Life Crisis. They were playing at a club in downtown. We were there for several hours and did two camera views of the band as a whole and individuals in it. Now, I am taking those tapes and combining and transitioning and putting fun stuff with it to make a demo video for the band. Fun work! Fun stuff! Just hope we can do a good job!

My next endeavor is my Christmas present. I said in a previous post that I was re-gifted this year. About three years ago, Tollie gave me a present of dance lessons. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a teacher for these dance lessons, or at least procratinated till it didn't matter anymore! His co-worker is good at reminding him of buying a Christmas present for me and asking him if he has gotten it and what it is, etc. When he mentioned to her that he wished he could fulfill that previous gift, she had the solution. Another co-worker use to teach dance! Wow! We are going to have six weeks of dance lessons. Ballroom dance lessons. She says that if we learn the Foxtrot we can do most dances! So, starting in a couple of weeks on Monday nights, we along with four other couples from church are going to take ballroom dance lessons at our place of business. What fun! I can't wait and I am silently preparing for them!

I did it again this morning and was glad. I am already stiff and sore in the mornings and it helps to loosen me up. So, I have to figure out now how I can do it in the morning without giving away my secret! Tollie will be home and then tomorrow night we will be playing and "keeping" the g-kids. They will be spending New Year's Eve at our house. We plan to play and play and take them to McDonald's and just have a great time!

Ever since Hurricane Rita, they have been reluctant to stay away from home or mom and dad. The last time they stayed with us, over Thanksgiving holidays, they both cried when it came to bed time. They wanted their mommy! Hopefully, they will be so tired from playing they will be fine. I know I will be tired!

Have a Happy New Year and talk to you next year!

I DID IT!

I did it this morning. I did it yesterday morning and I will do it tomorrow morning. I can do this and I will do this.

Isn't it interesting how life can hand us what we think are lemons and people tell us to make lemonade. It is easy to say things when it is not your lemons!

Please pray for a little boy named Ira. He is struggling right now in a hospital in New York. Joe and Laura Hays are his parents and his big sister Sophia. I have been reading Joe's blog for a while now. They were given lemons the past few weeks. I'm not sure they are ready to make lemonade yet ~ they are patiently waiting on the Lord to heal Ira. I say patiently and yet I can't imagine the patience it is taking for them!

I have my own lemons with my parents and I will call them today and check up on them. I am going to Lubbock the week of February 15th. I will probably leave the 14th or 15th and stay a week. I just can't go in January. I am at peace with that decision and believe it to be the best. Unless things here or there change, that is my plan.

NOW NEW YEAR'S

Well Christmas came and went with little or no problems. It was actually a pretty quiet Christmas. We went to our kids house for lunch on Sunday after church services. They did the cooking. It was quite nice for a change.

The little grand daughters were so excited about Christmas. At 5 and 3, the experience is so exciting! What do you mean? At 53 it can be exciting too! Anyway, I digress. The little girls had been opening some presents and it came time for them to give me my present. Ashton and Emma had been telling me for days they had a present but couldn't tell me what it was! They were so excited. They had made the present and wrapped it themselves. I opened it and they were jumping up and down. They had made me necklaces out of curly ribbon! Ashton immediately starting putting them on me. They are so cute! (The girls) Not what I would have picked out at the store!, but I cherish them. They were so excited about it. It was so much fun. Tollie got it on tape and it is priceless!

Well, really when I think about it, Christmas was quite an awesome experience. I did things I don't normally like to do and had decided not to do and then wham! I did them.

We had a candlelight service on Saturday night at church. It was very good. We had families at appointed times get up and sing some of the songs for the season. The Goebel's and us sang Joy to the World. Tollie and Jamie sang a duet of Mary, Did You Know. Tollie had prepared a slide show from the picture book we have of the song and had it playing while they sang. They did a great job. It went well, considering I had had my feelings hurt earlier when Tollie asked her to sing instead of me, but that is another long story for another time. The whole service was very uplifting and fun.

The most humbling part was when we served communion. Earlier in the week we had been asked to help serve the communion. We said yes, not really knowing what would take place. There were two couples who were asked to serve. We were asked to come forward and we were served and then we were to stand at the aisle and I would break off bread to give to a person and then that person would dip the bread in the cup and partake. At the time we were served, we were told, "this is Christ's body broken for you, and this is Christ's blood shed for you." I was doing okay until my kids came to us for their turn and when I looked at my daughter and told her, "Christ's body broken for you," I could tell she was fighting back tears and so was I. I had them streaming down my face. Very humbling experience!

Then Sunday morning, while waiting on Tollie to finish getting ready I was reading my blogs. I was reading from John Alan Turner and it was so good! I read it out loud to Tollie and he suggested I print it out and give it to Jerry, especially since it went right along with his sermon. So I did. Tollie had a call during the morning that Robbie was sick and would not be able to do the power point. Tollie asked me if I would do it. I have done it many times, but we have a newer program at Christ Covenant and I had not ever done it. So I agreed.

We got to the building and he was showing me the program, really easy! He then took the article to Jerry, the minister and had him read it. Jerry read it and asked if I would read it to the congregation. Tollie came back and asked me to read it. What?!? A woman in the pulpit in the middle of the service? Of course, I would! I told Tollie I just hoped the ceiling would not fall down on me!

I became a little nervous the closer it got to time. We also had to coordinate Tollie coming to take my place while I read the article and then I would come back to the tower. It all worked very well. I read the article and had many tell me they appreciated what I had read. And guess what? The roof did not cave in, there was no rumblings that I had done that and all is well. Imagine that!?!

So this Christmas as been a time of new beginnings, new experiences, humbling experiences and trying to find my way back to God ~ inching closer every day.

Now, we are looking forward to the New Year and I have a plan in my mind for my health but I cannot share it with you. The reason I cannot share it with you is that as soon as I do, it will not work. I have experienced that in the past. I have a plan and I tell someone thinking it will give me support and accountability but all it seems to do is not work then. So......I am going to keep it to myself this time. Working on the plan and seeing if it works with me not telling anyone. Hopefully, you will hear of changes coming about little by little. Until then, pray for me! Actually, pray for always!

I miss my younger daughter. She is in Missouri and spending time with her boyfriend's family. I know she is having a good time, but it was hard to hear her voice Sunday and especially when she said she was really missing us and had been crying very easily lately. I miss her and just hope she is having a great time. I don't want her to think she has made any mistakes in making the decisions she has made. I think the time in Missouri will be great for her, especially as the spring comes and the weather is better and the love birds appear!!!! We will see!

My parents are not doing as well as I had hoped. My sister and her husband went to their house for Christmas. It was not planned but they decided at the last minute to do it. Cheryl says that mother and dad are depressed and that dad is not making much progress. He still has to have so much help doing anything and mother is so tired. My sister asked me to go to Lubbock in the next few weeks. I want to go and I need to go. But.......

My work is starting fresh and furious. I have new projects to do. That limits when I can go. And then my Christmas present re-gift (another story for another time) starts for six weeks on Monday nights. I will not miss any of those. That limits me again when I can go. I am trying to decide how I can go maybe from a Tuesday to a Saturday or Sunday. But then in January we have some missionary friends coming. Mindy is coming home the first of the month, iiiiiiiiiiiiiii! It is complicated and I don't know what to do. Please pray for me as I plan and prepare to do what I have to and need to do. Help me make good decisions for me and my family as well as my parents and sister! Life is complicated sometimes and I can assure you that getting old is not for sissys.

Have a great day, a great New Year and stay safe.

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!

Christmas will be here this weekend! Where did the year go? Because after next week, we will be in 2006! I remember when it was scary to reach 2000 and now we are five years later! Wow! Time is flying.

I have several hurry up things to do this week. I have decided to sew for my grand kids. I am making them night gowns. It is okay, they don't read yet, at least not blogs anyway! They are only 5 and 3 1/2!

They are so cute! I know my grandkids are the cutest and prettiest in the world! They are certainly the most fun! We went shopping on Saturday, to the outlet mall about two hours away. Ashton, the oldest has really become a home body, especially since the hurricane. She doesn't seem to want to go anywhere. I started talking about the shopping trip on Thursday, really making it sound fun in my voice. She was excited about going! Yet Saturday morning, she was lamenting the fact she couldn't stay home. She really wanted to play and stay home! But when I got to their apartment, she was ready to go and sounded okay. She did okay until after the first store. Of course, the two hours to get there was something of a challenge as well. We did some singing and laughing along the way! She was a real trooper, though.

The only thing was that I had planned to take the two girls with me alone and do some shopping for their parents. It just didn't seem to happen. So, I guess I will try again later in the week. Yikes! Going to the mall a few days before Christmas, that sounds like suicide. Maybe Walmart would be better. Walmart would certainly be more exciting to Ashton. She likes Walmart and is always ready to that! So, looks like Walmart, here we come. I will try on Wednesday and will let you know how it goes.

Only two more days to do my cooking! Every year I make a basket of goodies for those at work. I make candy, fudge, cheese straws and this year I am trying some new cookie bars. I only have today and Wednesday to finish this up because I have to take it to work with me on Thursday.

So......better get busy and get going today! Have a great day!

A WEEK ALREADY?

Has it really been a week already since I last posted? They say time flies when you are having a good time. Am I having a good time yet?

Actually, I did have a good week. On Tuesday, my son-in-law, (which I hate the term because he is the son I never had!) and I went to Austin to help my youngest move her things home to my house. We arrived about 8:00 pm and went to Jason's Deli to have dinner. We enjoyed our soup and sandwich and then went to the house where Mindy has lived the past year or so. She has rented a room from a young lady whose parents still own the large home in the elite area of west Austin. The house is located in the hills and I do mean hills. The driveway is at a 90 degree angle to the house. Very interesting for parking! It also means we have stairs to maneuver as well as the steep driveway.

Mindy informed us on Tuesday night that she had to work. She had failed to mention this before, or at least I didn't remember hearing it. Anyway, she had to work from 9:00 to noon. So, Paul and I "slept in" sort of, sleeping until about 9:00 and then began packing. We had most of the large items packed in the van by 11:00 am. I had packed the van in my head several times during the night! So....it went fairly smoothly. Especially when I measured the foundation for the day bed at 76 inches and matched it to the 76 inches exactly for the space we had in the van. We were able to pack a day bed with wood frame and all, a cedar chest, dining table, plastic bin with drawers, wicker chair, all her kitchen stuff from pots and pans to groceries, hanging clothes, pictures on the walls, lamps, desk, and two book cases in my van. The only thing we were unable to get were the four dining room chairs. We actually could have gotten them if we had not planned to take Mindy to the airport in San Antonio on Thursday. I think we did really well.

Paul and I both are good packers and have good spatial sense! We decided if we ever needed a job we could start our own buisness for organizing and packing/moving. We would be really good at it.

We left Austin around 4:30 in deep traffic! And I mean deep traffic. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the south side of Austin. We would go a few miles and stop, go a few miles and stop. I don't know how anyone can live in Austin and like it because of the traffic. It seems it is always that way, at least every time I have been there.

We got to San Antonio where we had a room at the airport LaQuinta. We ordered pizza and watched a movie, "Must Love Dogs." It was an okay movie. We all decided watching the previews of it was as much fun as watching the whole movie! We got up Thursday and took Mindy to the airport. Paul was able to help Mindy with her large bags and get her checked in. That was a big help. Mindy parked her truck at the hotel and will be able to ride the shuttle when she returns in about three weeks. She was so excited about seeing Trent again.

I learned from Trent's mother by e-mail that Trent was a little excited too! I think they will have a great time in the next three weeks and have a Merry Christmas. Mindy then moves to Missouri in January. Coming home on Thursday reminded me that she will be moving three states away! I will miss her. Even though we didn't see a lot of her while she was in Austin, she was only four hours away. Now she will be as far away as Lubbock was, or even a little further! Looks like we will depend on airlines again.

I got home Thursday afternoon and Paul helped me unload the van. It didn't take long to unload all the stuff and pile it in several areas. Now.....I have to find a home for most of it. She will be taking some things to Missouri, but no furniture or kitchen stuff. She will be living with Aunt Betty, Trent's aunt and she has an extra room. So... for the next five months, Mindy will be living with her in Kansas City. She plans to go to New Hampton on weekends to spend that time with Trent and his mother Lavonne.

Tollie left for Tyler to work over the weekend. He is replacing all the shelving for the computer room and trying to clean up the mess there. The server was moved to Tyler when we were evacuated for the hurricane and it was decided to leave it up there. So....he had to make a good home for it and that meant a weekend, especially a Sunday when they could un-plug the computer. For some reason the sales people get a little cranky when you un-plug their computers!

I have had a good time with my g-kids. We went shopping yesterday at the outlet mall and enjoyed a fun day. Even though it was rainy and overcast, it was a good day for shopping. I plan to cook tomorrow and finish up some presents by sewing and and wrapping and mailing a package. I can't believe Christmas is here this next weekend. Where did the year go? It has been a whirlwind, especially the last few months with the hurricane and my parents struggles with their health.

Speaking of my parents, my dad is back home. They came home on Friday. Mother fell while dad was in the hospital, actually she fell at the hospital, as she entered dad's room. She had to be taken to the ER and have her gash above her eye glued together. She is not sure what happened. It is getting harder and harder to see them staying in Lubbock with all that has happened lately.

I am getting tired and ready for bed now. I hope to get a lot done tomorrow so need to get a fresh start in the morning. I hope you have a great week.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!?!

I certainly hope not, but I am afraid we are at it again. My mother called tonight to say that she had to take my dad to the ER today. He had not done well over the weekend. He was really tired and she had to help him with everything. When the therapist came today he suggested they call a nurse and she heard a crackle in his lung. When they talked with the doctor's office, he said to take him to the ER. Mother called me while at home getting some things for both of them as they were going to admit him. They said first off his oxygen was too low.

My dad was a smoker for most of his life. I know this is affecting him now. He doesn't think it has anything to do with anything, but I believe it will affect him for the rest of his life. I know that was my main concern when he had the surgery. With the weather getting cold, he may have pneumonia. We will see tomorrow as more develops. At least he is on oxygen and where he needs to be.

I am leaving tomorrow for Austin to help move my youngest daughter's things home. She is moving to Missouri. It is almost here and I will certainly miss her. She has been in Austin for two years and although she was not home a lot, it was not too far if she wanted to come or we wanted to go to see her. But Missouri, that is a different story. She will not be four hours away. She will be more like 15 hours away. We are back to flying to see her or taking a week to do it.

I do hope we can make a trip out there in February or March. It will be fun to drive up and see her in her new surroundings. She starts her internship in January. She is going up there at this time for a visit, for three weeks. She will be spending the holidays with Trent and his family. We will miss her but I am glad she is going. She will be back for a short period to finish out her job in January and then permanently move then. Hopefully, she will be home for a few days in January.

Christmas is almost here and I am just about ready. I really need to get a few more things, mainly for the little girls. I wanted to do something really special, but now I'm not sure I will have the time. We will see.

Life can change on a dime! I keep telling myself that and when my previous boss found he has a brain tumor, we both lamented that fact.

Tollie is wearing a heart monitor today. He went to the doctor after they had taken him off his Toprol. He is trying to figure out what he can do about allergies and that is part of the puzzle to treat the allergies! Very confusing and complicated.

There are lots who need prayers at this time.

Tollie, for his heart and allergies!
Me and my son-in-law, Paul as we travel to Austin
My dad to get better soon
My mom as she takes care of dad and is not in great health herself.
My sister and her husband as they are now "homeless." They have sold their home and the one they will live in is not ready yet. So they are living out of suitcases at their children's homes.
Fred Schwartz, my previous boss.
Gina, my best friend as she goes for a checkup tomorrow for her breast cancer. Please, please Lord let them find nothing this time!!!!!
My attitude toward a few at church when things didn't go very well at a meeting yesterday. I am working on it real hard.
The elders, to be men of integrity and prayer and more than paper shufflers!


Have a great week! Mine has certainly started off great!?!

WONDERINGS!

I was wondering the other day what it would be like if the kids had not moved close to us? Would the girls know us as well? Like us as well as they seem? Where would be spending Christmas this year? I know it does not good to ponder these things too long, but I did think about them and it brought me to thankfulness.

I am thankful that the kids did move close. I am thankful that the girls love to sit in the Pops lap and let him read them books. I am thankful that those little arms reach around my neck and hold me tight and say, "I miss you grandma!" I am thankful that Emma calls me grandma sometimes and Piggy sometimes. It is fun to hear either way!

I am thankful that Thanksgiving was so much fun and every one seemed to enjoy themselves. I am thankful that Thanksgiving gives way to promise of more fun times.

What are we doing Christmas? I have no idea. I did decorate and I am ready for whatever happens. We will be home, maybe by ourselves or maybe with the kids. Who knows? It doesn't really matter. We will be thankful for whatever happens and life will continue and we will look toward the promise of tomorrow's joys.

TODAY!

I like the saying:

"Today is the yesterday you worried about tomorrow."

I had to read this several times before it made any sense! But I now know that it is my mantra. I have to remind myself not to worry about anything further along than this moment in time.

This moment in time I have stopped up toilets and cannot take my shower! Also, this moment in time, I am trying frantically to get a plumber. We called our plumber yesterday and he did not return our call. I should have known something then, but today he cannot come. He said it would be tomorrow afternoon! No way, Jose! or Johnny or Paul or Tom, Dick or Harry! I have no toilet use and my house is beginning to smell like there is no toilet use. Afterall, what are you suppose to do at night?

Let me tell you, when you get up at night and have to trudge across the house to a different bathroom and remember to not flush! It wakes you up totally. I can usually get up, do my buisness and go right back to bed, falling back asleep as I climb in bed! But when you have to do things differently, and your sense of smell is heightened and you can't flush, well you tend to be wide awake and it takes longer to go back to sleep.

So, today, at this moment, this moment that will be yesterday tomorrow, I am deprived of my normal sleep, can't shower and holding it as long as I can!!!

Yeah, I think I have found a plumber who can be here this afternoon! This afternoon? Well, better than tomorrow afternoon!

It is going to be a long day!!!!!!!

THANKSGIVING!!!

I was so worried a few weeks ago, thinking I could not get everything done for Thanksgiving. Now, on the other side, I wonder why I worried so much. Actually, it was good to be gone two weeks before hand and have everything planned out in my mind. Then when I actually had to do all of it, it was easy to do. I got it all done and everything went smoothly.

We had our company, 13 people here at my house for Thanksgiving and we had a great time. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so much. We laughed and everyone pretty much did what they enjoyed doing. We played games, watched TV, took naps, went to bed early, went to bed late, watched movies, did some shopping, eat out, eat desserts, eat Turkey, prayed, talked about scripture and prayed with our eyes open. What a joyful time this week has been for me.

I had my best friend beside me all the way. Tollie was right there helping me and doing what he could. My next bestest friend was there for most of it. Gina was here, although she was feeling a little under the weather, she was here and we had some good talks. My family was here, my kids and g-kids. That is always a treat. And new friends, Lavonne and Trent. Ours could not have been happier or more fun. It met every expectation I had.

I talked with my folks today and my dad got to go home yesterday. He is doing well, sounded in good spirits. My mom is doing well, although a little tired. She is doing things she usually doesn't do and I think actually enjoying it. Home health is coming to do therapy and be there for them if they need it. That is good and I think they are surprised by the service.

Life is good, thank you God and God bless all those travelling, especially tomorrow as Mindy, Trent and Lavonne travel to Austin, drop off Mindy and continue through Texas, Oklahoma to Missiouri. Be safe!

I'M BACK!!!

Well, not really. I am in Arlington at my sister's house, breaking up my 10 hour trip home from Lubbock.

To update you, my dad is doing great, my mom is doing great. I left them this morning, reluctant to leave but anxious to get home. I have been gone almost two weeks. My dad had cervical neck surgery is now in rehab, doing great. The only reason he went to rehab was because my mom was in the hospital and there was no one for dad to come home to help take care of him. It was hard the first few days. My dad is one who likes control and in charge. The first few days of rehab, he knew he was not in control and certainly not in charge. And rehab is certainly different from the "hospital". Even though he is in the same building, only on another side of the hospital, things are done differently. When you are in the hospital, people want to help you go to the bathroom and serve you lunch and take care of you. When you are in rehab, you are expected to do as much for yourself as you are able. Help is there, but you have to ask for it. For an 82 year old man who has been babied all his 62 years of marriage and has babied his wife for those same 62 years, this is a hard task. My dad does not like to have to ask for help and is certainly not going to ask twice!!!

Dad is doing great though. I am in hopes he can come home this week. There is a case management meeting on Tuesday morning and they should let us know then when he is expected to come home. It will be determined then also if he is to have outpatient therapy after he goes home. Dad is feeling much better, in fact he said this morning he felt great! He can "bounce" out of bed and go to the potty chair next to the bed by himself in the night. He can walk with a walker and get around as needed with the walker. He is able to dress himself and has no trouble eating and feeding himself. The only concern is the residual effects of the pinched nerves that cause him to have a very weak left leg and tingling in his hands.

His favorite part of rehab is the bowl of red beans. He thought at first it was odd to do this, but they had him massage the red beans in and out with his hands. He was surprised how good it made his hands feel. For a few minutes after doing this, he has "normal" feeling in his hands. They have told him they plan to have him put his feet in the bowl next week. I believe he will come home on Wednesday or Friday. Not Thursday, since that is a holiday. My prayer is for Wednesday.

My mom is doing good. My dad had his surgery on Friday, the 11th and mother was very weak and pale that whole day. The day before she had a injections of cortisone in her left surgery by her rheumatologists. She is on Coumadin and the two didn't mix well. Normally, she would have gone to her Coumadin clinic and had her PT tested, but because of the surgery, we forgot to have her do this. Needless to say as Friday morning passed with her passing out every time she stood up, we knew she was not doing well. But how do you focus on her when your dad is having major surgery. We also thought most of it was due to her stress level.

Saturday morning, she could hardly get out of bed. She felt weak, nauseated and everytime she sat up, she was almost pass out. So to the ER we went with her. My sister had stayed the night with my dad and when she came home, we knew that is where we were headed. After blood test and then repeat blood tests it was determined her blood was four times thinner than it should be and the volume was low also. They would admit her to the hospital.

Now, my sister and I had our hands full. We tagged each other as we passed in the hallways going back and forth. "Tag, you're it!" At least we kept each other laughing!! Mother was given two pints of whole blood on Saturday and although they planned to give her two pints on Sunday, it was determined she didn't need more. She had an esophageal scope on Monday. There was only a small tear found in her duodenum, not enough to cause internal bleeding. So a colonoscopy was planned for Tuesday. But Monday morning, she bottomed out. She had pain in her abdomen and her blood pressure dropped dramatically. It got quite scary for several hours. They took x-rays and more x-rays and gave her Dopemine to get her BP back up. She finally began to rally Monday evening but it was determined she could not have the colonoscope on Tuesday. It was thought that her electrolytes were out of whack and she was having too much go out and not enough liquid in. So they reversed things and took her completely off the Coumadin.

It was determined then on Monday that my dad would go to rehab. Believe me, that was a relief for me. At least he would be taken care of and we would not have to stay in the hospital through the night to stay with him. The heart institute where my mom was didn't allow family to stay the night, so we both could go home and get a good night's sleep. I was looking forward to that.

Dad moved to rehab on Tuesday afternoon, but his first impressions of this facility were not great! He was not very happy in the next few days. Mom was to have her colonoscopy on Wednesday morning, which my sister and I were glad to have done. We knew if mom left the hospital without having this done, it would not be done. Mom was not too enthused about this, but agreed. We spent the evening with her on Tuesday, keeping her laughing and encouraging her on as she drank the colyte to prepare for the test. She did great. This was surprising since she had had a panic attack earlier in the day when the decision was made to have this done!

Wednesday morning went smoothly and we were told mother had internal hemorrhoids and a polyp that would be sent off. We assumed they would keep her to make sure her BP didn't bottom out again. We left about noon to take my sister back home to Arlington. She had to go home and I was left to take care of both parents! (I was the one insisting that my sister go home. She had to get ready for their move in two weeks and had issues at home!) As I was returning from Abilene, I got a call. Mother's friend was in a panic that mother had been dismissed and there was no one to take her home. I called the hospital and talked with the nurses station and explained that I was on my way and would pick her up later that night. They were fine with that.

Remember, we are talking about people in their 70's and 80's who believe every word a doctor tells them and when they are told to go home, they believe they have to leave righ then or be thrown on the street. I called mother to explain I had talked with them and it was okay for her to stay there. I would come and get her.

So....I got mother home on Wednesday evening. She is feeling much better. I on the other hand was not happy, not knowing what the doctor was thinking. Did she still have internal bleeding? Who or when were they treating the anemia? Mother left the hospital with a card stating that she was to see her heart doctor on January 30th. A whole two months away. There seemed to be no conclusion. I called the doctor's office the next morning, asking my questions and expecting a call back. Mother said she didn't think I would get a call back.

On Friday, I called the office again and explained that I was leaving town and had to find out the answers that day. Later in the day, a nurse called me and as I explained the questions, she understood my confusion and feeling of incomplete treatment. Finally, about 5:15 I received a call stating that the doctor thought he had left mother a prescription for iron and they would call in the prescription. Needless to say, I am not too happy with her doctor and plan to write a letter to him to get the rest of my questions answered. I know doctors are busy, I know they have lots of patients, but in this case, it was neglect. I will do what I can to rectify this.

My mother is one that would have gone on and not questioned any of this. She was glad I was there to see that this was done.

I left today, after visiting my dad this morning. When we arrived, he said he felt great and I think he is well on his way to full recovery. I asked him before I left if he would be uncomfortable for me to pray for them. He said he didn't mind and I prayed over them. I am asking God's blessing and peace to be with them. This is all new territory for them and I know God will get them through this.

My mom is not one to stay by herself and this is hard for her. I just talked with her and she is okay! God, please give mom comfort and peace tonight!

CHANGING AGAIN

I am in Arlington at my sister's house. I am on my way to Lubbock and stopped here to get my sister. We found out, when I was in Huntsville, that probably now daddy will not have surgery until Thursday or Friday. The doctor wants to give daddy some more steroid injections to decrease the swelling in the neck. My mother also said that the carotid artery that caused daddy an anuersym many years ago was blocked again. The doppler came back okay and the heart doctor gave the okay for surgery. But I am not sure about the artery. Mother said the doctor mentioned he would have to be very careful and work around that. So.....not sure what that means.

Needless to say, we covet prayers for my family at this time. I am praying that daddy does well in surgery and that the surgery will be soon, if they are going to do it. My sister and I are going to Lubbock tomorrow and we will come back this way by the weekend. I need to be back at home by Sunday, so I can return the car I am driving.

Thank you, Lord for working for a car dealership. A perk is getting to use a car that uses less gas than my big ole van. But, I also know that I need to get the car back so they can sell it. I am driving a VW Jetta. Not a bad little car to drive.

Again, thank you for your prayers for my family and I will try to keep you in touch by way of my blog. It may be this weekend before I can update since my parents don't have a computer. I'm not sure when I will be at a computer again. The prayer should be for the best for my dad. Thanks again.

CHANGING TIMES

Well, it looks like I may be headed to Lubbock tomorrow. Dad had to go to the ER today. He could not walk and when he talked with the doc he suggested they go to the ER. I talked with mom when they put him in a room. The PA says they will do surgery tomorrow night or Wednesday night. Wow! That is quick, but so much better than the week of Thanksgiving!

Thank you for your prayers for my dad. I know you will be praying for them. Dad is 82 and has heart problems. They did a doppler this afternoon and that should be a clue as to whether they can do the surgery or not. Mom also said they were taking him to surgery to do a steroid injection tonight. Not sure what that is about, but probably wanting to see if they can delay the surgery. We will see. I will probably leave sometime tomorrow and go to Dallas and get my sister and then we will head to Lubbock.

I am having a flu shot in the morning and I don't want to not get that. I need that! So......I may be hurrying to get out of town tomorrow. But now is so much better than in a couple of weeks. I can then be home by the weekend and have a good two weeks to get ready for my company. I am sorry my dad is having this much trouble. I still am anxious about the surgery, not sure that surgery will be the answer, but I am here and they are there and I have to trust they know what they are doing. I am sorry he is having so much trouble.

Again, please keep my parents in your prayers. This is such a problem when you live 12 hours away from aging parents. Wish I were closer. But for whatever reason, we are still here, even after three years of prayers to be closer to my family. (My family, at least kids, moved here). I am closer to my kids but not my parents and they are alone in Lubbock. Thank you for the church family there as they minister to them.

PROGRESS!

I have made progress. This weekend I was able to clean the garage, move the old freezer and move the weight bench out of the extra room. I need to get going this morning and now clean the bedrooms.

Yes, the kids moved back to their apartment. It was really quiet at our house this weekend. But we did have some quiet time for Tollie and I on Friday night and enjoyed being alone! But I do miss those little kisses and hugs from the girls. Ashton was so adamant that they were back in their apartment. I think it is best for them that they be home with their things and have their own space. They are such little troopers.

I will continue to clean and get the house ready for our company. Only 2 1/2 weeks until Thanksgiving and our house will be full and full of love. I am so looking forward to it. It will be such a blast. We will wish it were not over so quickly, I know.

I don't have a lot of time today as I need to get the vaccum out and start cleaning the floors. Have a great day. Hope everyone is feeling better! I certainly am.

BEING TAGGED

Several in the blog world are tagging others to see what their 23 post had to say and especially the 5th sentence in that post. Supposedly, it has deep meaning. Here is my sentence:

First, I am so tired. I just want to sleep.

Yep, I guess that could sum up the bigger portion of my life! I do feel tired a lot. In fact, I use to feel so tired I wanted to sleep all the time and then I finally realized I was depressed and took "happy pills" for a while. But, now I am not taking anything! Back in the summer I went to my family doctor and the PA put me on a cholesterol lowering drug and I didn't like the way it made me feel. She tried some other medications, two different ones and each one made me feel wierd. So......back in September, I went off everything. I don't take vitamins, no glucosamine-chondroitin and certainly no cholesterol medication. I read somewhere that taking the glucosamine-chondroitin can raise your cholesterol. So I figured if I stopped taking it, then I wouldn't need the cholesterol medication any more. And.......if I don't go back to the doctor then I won't know if my cholesterol is lowered or not! I think is a form of sleeping?!? Just ignorance is bliss? Out of sight, out of mind? Of course my mind is out there anyway. Sort of broke!

So, maybe there is deep meaning in my sentence. I am asleep, so be sure you don't wake me when you come by to read and comment!

TODAY MAY BE THE DAY!

Today is Friday! Friday is the last day of this week, well almost anyway. Saturday is the last day and it is a work day for me and mine.

It looks like the kids apartment may be ready at last! This may be the last day they are here, or maybe tomorrow. I think they like being here, of which I am glad. I am glad my home is such that people can come and stay and enjoy themselves. But there comes a time when I need my house back! Okay, okay, I know I could kick them out and say enough already! But I want them here! I love having my grandkids come in and kiss me good morning and say "have a nice day!" I love that Emma came to me crying this morning and just needed a hug. I love having them here!

But in the greater scheme of things, I need my house back. I need to get started cleaning and getting ready for company. I have deep cleaning to do in both rooms that are occupied. Today will be cleaning in the garage and outdoors. Tomorrow will be cleaning in the bathroom, changing out faucets. We have a problem with the faucets in the front bathroom. So....I have purchased new faucets and hopefully, they will improve the function. I need to clean the closet in there and the shower and tub and especially the floor. I need to clean my own bathroom.

I think it is funny how that as we live and do our everyday things, the room can get filthy around us and it seems to creep up on me. I know I should do somethings every day, some every week but sometimes it is several weeks before I get around to it. And then when something like Rita comes along, it may be more than several weeks! So......I have a lot to do.

I have only about two and half weeks before Thanksgiving! I spent time Wednesday looking at tile for my kitchen. I think insurance is going to pay for our kitchen damage from Rita afterall. We spoke with our agent and he agreed that it should be paid for. Our deductible is large, but it should be enough to finish out our deductible and still get some cash to do the job. I have to get our receipts copied and faxed to them. I don't want to be greedy but I do want to get what is coming to me from insurance. Afterall, I have been paying into Farmers for 35 years and have only had a few claims in all that time. This is ligitimate damage and they should pay us for the damage.

I found a pretty porcelain tile. Wouldn't you know it is more expensive than ceramic! But it is so pretty and goes well with the laminate flooring in the den. It will allow us to replace the kitchen and still have continunity into the den. I think it will make a good flow. Tollie is even talking of replacing the carpet in the hall and bedrooms. That would be great, but I don't want to use all of our funds up. It has been nice to have surplus these last few weeks. We need to keep it that way. You never know what may come up!

I spent some time yesterday getting recipes off the internet to make bar cookies. I want to make up some batches this weekend and get ready for my Christmas baskets. I think this year, instead of doing several things, I am just going to make all kids of different bar cookies. I think it will be fun to try different types and variations and then make a basket of them. You see, every year I make up baskets for those people at work. I have done this for several years and now I can't not do it. Mr. R would be so disappointed if I didn't do it. He looks forward to it every year. I have always, in the past, made a loaf of homemade bread and then added some homemade pear jelly to it. But this year, I think I will do something different and make the various cookies. It will be fun to see how many different types of cookies!

Have a great weekend. I plan to work, work, and work some more and get ready! The holidays will be here before we know it.

PS Haven't heard from my dad, yet. He should get the package today or tomorrow, hopefully!

TRIBUTE!

I want to write a tribute to my husband. He is the greatest and I love him so very much. It seems lately, I have not taken the time to really let him know how much he means to me. We had so much going on and it will only get worse during the holidays.

So......this is to say that I love my man more than words can describe. I know he is great and I can't explain to you here how he makes me feel and how proud I am to be his wife! One of the best things about my Tollie is that others respect him so much. I work part-time at the same place Tollie has worked for 28 years. I have a great time at work, mainly because I am respected and valued, only because they value and respect Tollie so much. This has to be the reason because it started that way, even before they really knew me!

I thank God every day for Tollie and look forward to many more years of marriage and happiness and joy and fun with him. We have been married 35 years as of last June. We have been through many difficulties and much more happiness. And through it all, we find strength in each other after we follow our Lord's lead. I think that is one great thing about us, we have the Lord in our lives and we both look to Him for guidance and that makes it easier to deal with anything.

Tollie was and is a wonderful dad. I say was and is because his dad days have changed since our girls are grown. He was a wonderful dad in that he was involved with the girls. He made every effort to talk with them and be there for them and love them. He was not afraid to make them cry or laugh! He had their best interest at heart and made sure they knew the Lord and what he had done for him. The girls love their dad and he is special in a lot of ways. When our oldest got married, she made sure and mouthed "I love you, daddy" into the video camera set up at the front. Her dad cherishes this moment. Of course, it was a surprise to him and he loved it! There is a specialness with both girls and I thank God that he has been an example of what true love is and a mentor for a good marriage. I think my daughter has chosen wisely for her mate. We think of Paul as our son, not our son-in-law. And our other daughter will choose wisely as well. We have been concerned about some of her choices for boyfriends at times, but she has a good one now. So we have confidence she will find that right mate. One of the things their dad always told the girls is, "look for the right mate but more importantly, be the right mate." I think that shows a lot of wisdom on his part. That shows the kind of dad he is.

Tollie has always had a heart of compassion for those less fortunate. He is a hard worker and really loves what he does at work. He is a hero at work so much of the time, (when he fixes a computer, they all love him) and he is my hero all the time.

If you don't know Tollie, you should meet him and get to know him. He is special and I am thankful he is mine and I am his. We are one and I look forward to the rest of our lives together and in love and peace with each other. Come grow old with me, the best is yet to be!!!!

ANTICIPATION!

I am counting the days for Thanksgiving. I was told once that if you look too much to the future, you lose the days of the present. I guess that could be true, but I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving and I don't want anything to get in the way.

So.....I am a little ticked at my dad for scheduling his surgery for the Monday before Thanksgiving!!!! I know he is having trouble and wants to get it done as soon as possible, but I think in all this I am mainly concerned that he is having this type of surgery to begin with. He believes he is going to live forever and is so determined to do whatever to get him to that point!

My dad has had some recent problems with cervical neck herniation. It started only a few months ago and when he saw a neurosurgeon, he immediately wanted to do surgery. Of course, he told him it was no hurry and it was an elective surgery! I told my sister I would like to check and see if the doc has just bought a new Mercedes or something! As far as I know, no other modalities have been tried. So why the hurry to do surger? It will be a three hour surgery, complicated with metal plates, screws, cages and done posteriorly, which I understand is not usually done, at least according to the articles I have read. He will have a long recovery time. He will have to wear a neck collar for some time and it could take up to six months for full recovery and again, according to the articles I have read, will never be the same. When you fuse the spine, it is never "like it was." My dad is 82 years old! The biggest thing is he is in no pain! He has some numbness and tingling in his arms and hands. And he is having a little trouble walking from a dragging foot. Those are his symptoms!

So.....I ask for prayers for my dad. I ask for prayers of wisdom and an open mind to other solutions to try. I ask for prayers for my mom who is there to take care of him. I ask for prayers for my sister, who just broke her ankle and is now on crutches. She plans to be there for the surgery, but is unsure at this point. I ask for prayers for me. I have given mother and daddy a choice of my being there for the surgery, coming in one day and leaving the day after the surgery or coming a week later and spending the week to help them out. It is in their hands. But I have told them, I will be home on Wednesday before Thanksgiving!

How cold and hard you say? Well, my daughter's boyfriend is coming for Thanksgiving and is bringing his mother. We have never met and I am so anxious to visit with her. We have e-mailed and I know we will be friends immediately! The Lewis', Lavonne, Trent, Mindy, the kids and g-kids and us! A houseful, but a house full of love and laughter and games and enjoyment. I have pictured it for so long and especially after Rita came through and we wondered if it would even take place. Now......I am counting the days in anticipation of a fun time.

TRICK OR TREAT!?!

I find it amusing that my kids did not want their kids to have anything to do with Halloween when they were first married and first parenting days! But now, they still don't like Halloween but are in the trenches. Actually, my son-in-law Paul is in the trenches mainly because he is a youth minister and has those responsibilities. So.......our congregation is doing a Trunk or Treat. This is where members of the church decorate the trunks of their car and the kids then go around and do the trick or treating thing from these trunks. It is a safe environment that allows for the experiences without the trouble or problems associated with Halloween. We are having a chili supper first and then inviting the community to come and participate.

Last evening, Paul and I went canvassing around the neighborhood, passing out flyers annoucing the invitation to the Trunk or Treat. He confessed that he didn't mind doing it and it was the first time he had ever done anything like that. I told him I didn't mind doing it as it was totally harmless, and in fact was a first step in introducing ourselves to the neighborhood. We talked with those jogging and outside during our walk.

I must preface this event with the fact that Paul was very discouraged yesterday. He became the youth minister for our church back in the summer and has been doing an excellent job. But he is very discouraged. He has a small youth group. Really only two kids in the H.S. group and two in the J.H group. There is an additional kid that graduated but has stayed around. The problem he is having is that the kids want to do the fun things, but when it comes to doing the "spiritual" things, like the passing of these flyers, they find excuses to not do it. That is why he and I did the passing out of the flyers. He is discouraged to the point of wanting to go back to teaching and I think if he could would start tomorrow and kiss this experience goodbye!

I have been trying real hard to encourage him to hang in there and concentrate on the younger kids and do what he can. He is limited when he has so few and until we do something to encourage and get young families to visit, it will be hard. Paul has tended to "jump" from one activity to another, which includes jobs as well. I had hoped he would stay with the teaching and I believe he will return there next summer and hopefully stay. They need some stability in their young family. So, I pray for them and Paul's decisions and will try to encourage them as I can.

I am encouraging another young family who is really struggling right now. I walked out in faith a couple of Sundays ago and confronted a young man with his sinful actions in their marriage and told him we needed to talk. His wife and parents did not think he would go through with it, but Tollie and I had dinner with this young family last week and I boldly challenged them both to work, work together and save this family. They have two precious young souls counting on them to make this work and they need to put aside their own wants and desires.

I know there a lot of hurting people and especially young families who need our help, guidance, prayers and mentoring. I pray I am mentoring boldly to help save them. Pray with us as we teach young families in class and work with them each day.

HOME TODAY!

Tollie will be home today. I am ready! He called last night. They were at the lodge at the base of the Chisos mountains in Big Bend, Texas. They usually stay in the desert and camp another night, but they were all tired! So, they went to the lodge, got a room and were able to shower and rest. I am so thankful he is down and okay. I did worry a little about him. As I said in an earlier post, he usually prepares a lot for this trip but this time he prepared litttle. Mainly, he prepared little because of hurricane Rita. We were gone for two weeks and during that two weeks, he was so busy! He worked constantly, getting everything back to normal. I was glad he went on the trip, but I know he would have liked to have had more time to prepare. He is okay. Now the long trip home!

Sunday! My son-in-law is preaching today. It will be a good day!

FINALLY, NO PAIN

Finally, no pain when I swollow this morning. The first in about five days. I guess the antibiotic is working. I did wake during the night and had a bad sore throat on the right side and my right ear was really hurting. I finally go some saline spray and poured it down the right nostril and then turned my head to the right. I could feel the saline going down the eustacheon tube and it felt warm going into the ear. I think that is why things are better this morning. It really helped.

It is funny the things you remember. There are so many things I don't remember from my childhood, even my children's childhoods. But this I do remember. When Mindy was a baby, she had lots of ear problems. She did not like being in crowds. I mean this was when she was about two weeks old. I would be nursing her and if I talked to someone else in a normal voice, she would cry out. And if we were in a large crowd, like at church, or her baby shower!, she cried a lot. My mother finally took her to the back room and rocked her at the baby shower. She just didn't like a lot of noise. Later she had to have tubes in her ears and that helped a lot.

But her pediatrician told me to put nose drops in her nostril and rotate her head to that side and back just a little. It would help open up her ears. I have remembered this. I don't use nasal sprays much because you can get so addicted to them and messed up with them. But I do use saline spray and it really helps. I think that is one of the reason I have been sick much. For about a year, I used saline spray every night before I went to bed. I has really changed how I am able to not cough and get a dry spot in my throat that would make me cough and gag. I don't really know how to explain it, but it has helped it.

The kids are still here. Emma was sick with a stomach virus last night. So the Goebel's are all reeling from little sleep. I just hope none of the others of us get it! She is better this morning but still complaining of some nausea. Jamie said there is a lot of stomach virus going around at her school.

I didn't sleep well last night. I couldn't get to sleep. Once I got there, it was better, but I will really be glad to have Tollie back. I just hope he is enjoying his hike and doing okay.

Have a great weekend. The weather should be good here. We are suppose to get some rain on Monday night and Tuesday and I hope so, because we really need it.

FEELING BETTER?

Well, I think I am feeling better. I went to bed last night with a sore throat on the right side. The left is doing much better. That tonsil is about the normal size, but the right side tonsil is still quite swollen and sore. It still hurts to swollow and my right ear has been hurting, especially last night.

But all in all, this morning I am feeling better. I think I have more energy and I feel hungry today. I was hoping I wouldn't want to eat for a while and maybe shed some of these pounds, but we will see.

Not much to report other than that. Just counting days to Thanksgiving when we will have a houseful of company and laughter will abound. Looking forward to happy days.

I am so thankful for the company Tollie and I work for. They were very gracious during the hurricane and took good care of us. They paid us for the two weeks we were off. I usually don't get paid if I don't work. I am hourly but they estimated my pay and paid me anyway. Then to top it off, I had extra hours from the previous time sheet and they gave those to me in addition! I wrote Mr. Ruddy a thank you note and I received a really sweet e-mail in return.

Yesterday, Tollie came in from work and he had received extra kudos for working during the two weeks of evacuation. Like I said, they are great people to work with and I am proud to say that I work for them. They are special people. Tollie has been with them for about 28 years and you now know why! God has certainly blessed us in this area of our lives, as well as other areas.

Have a great Friday!

Tonsillitis?!?

It started Monday evening when I noticed that my throat was a little dry and I had a lot of sinus drainage. I took some Loratadine, Claritin if you will, and went to bed. I was surprised when I woke during the night and found I was sore and hurting all over!

On Tuesday, I got up and took my shower to get ready for work. I made it to work, but I was moving slow. My skin hurt! Have you every felt bad where your skin hurt? My did and it didn't matter whether I touched it or not, it was so sensitive that even clothes touching was painful! I knew I didn't feel well, but thought it was the cold front pushing through another something that I might be allergic to and just stirred up my sinuses. We had an appointment with the insurance agent concerning our adjuster's estimate about 2:00 pm. I told them at work that I thought I would just go home after that and rest. I really was not feeling great and thought a nap would make things better.

I found that I just sat all afternoon and was cold most of the day! Now that is really unusual for me. I mean we are talking about someone who has a window unit A/C above her head all the time running. I mean all the time, even in the dead of winter. I sleep very warmly and can't stand to wake during the night sweating under the covers because I got to hot! Well, when I went to bed Tuesday night, I didn't even turn on the unit. That was something real different for me. And then during the night, I would get up to pee and come back to bed shivering! So......much to Tollie's delight I cuddled with him. He is a cuddler and because I sleep so hot, I don't like to cuddle. But cuddle I did that night and found when I got warm, the aching stopped in my bones.

I woke Wednesday morning, after Tollie had left for work, to a ringing doorbell. I jumped up to see who was there. It was my son-in-law. He needed some socks before he went to work. Remember, my kids have been staying with us until their apartment is ready. Maybe this week!?! Anyway, I let him in and told him I didn't feel well and went to take a hot shower. I realized right away, my neck was swollen in all the glands and I could hardly turn my head. It hurt every time I swollowed. After my shower, I got the flashlight and took a look. EWUUU! My tonsils were swollen and had white spots all over them. This was de javu! I use to have that happen when I was kid. But never in succession enough to have them out. I remember my mother taking and "painting" merthiolate on them. That was probably putting mercury poison in my system, but who knew then! Anyway a quick call to the doctor.

Well, my regular doctor was in today. He is semi-retired and I never can remember the days he is in and those he is out! But he had not appointments. Would I be interested in seeing another doctor or even a nurse practioner? Certainly. I will see the janitor if he has a key to the medicine closet! Would it be alright to go to another location? Sure! So four hours later I was seeing a nurse practioner.

SETMA ~ Southeast Texas Medical Associates. They are a monster of a machine! I mean they have four known locations to me and employee hundreds. They probably employ more than the local hospital! The amazing thing about them is that they are paperless. You see I can go to another location because all my history is on the computer. They don't need my chart! Although when I walked in the office to face a room full of people and a long desk with a choice of about eight clip boards to sign in on, I did wonder why they had shelves of charts in the back!

I finally found the correct sign in board and signed in, noticing that only four people were ahead of me and their names were highlighted. Hopefully, they were all on their way to the pharmacy or some testing to be done! However, I was willing to wait and wait, I just need some drugs! After a very few minutes my name was called. I paid my co-pay and sat back down. In another fewer minutes, my name was called. I found the young lady at the front door. Where was she taking me? Oh, across the hall to another suite of exam rooms! I told you they are a monster of a machine. She got my info on how I was feeling and said someone would be right with me. Sure enough, the nurse practioner came in after about four minutes. Wow! That is better than any doctor! She got the repeated info and then asked to exam me. She looked in my ears and then asked me to open my mouth. I obliged to a resounding Whoa! You do have a problem! Yes.....I thought that was why I was here!?!

She began to tell me I need a flu shot but not now while I was sick. She wanted me to gargle with salt water twice a day. Oh, I like her. She uses them ole home remedies. She proceeded to tell me to take Advil, not the generic, but Advil. It would help with the pain and swelling. She asked if I was allergic to anything and I could tell by my response the wheels stopped turning. Yes, I am allergic to penicillin and Ceclor. Oh my! Those are the two best things to treat this with. So.....she pulled a trusty little devise from her pocket and said, "let's see what Stanford has to say about this." She punched the screen several times and then asked if I had ever taken Biaxin. Yes! I had. I think it was for a urinary infection or tooth infection, can't really remember which. That is what she would prescribe. She wanted to give me a shot but the only injections she had was for the things I couldn't take. She said she was do a culture for documentation but that she would be treating me the same with or without it. I didn't think it was necessary. We both had seen my "kissing" tonsils and knew there was infection. Why have a culture to tell us the same?

I left in a few minutes with a prescription and assurance that I would call if I did not start to feel better in the next few days and that I would call tomorrow if I needed something for pain. So off to the pharmacy to get my drugs. It would be a while before they could fill it so I went home and asked Tollie to go after work to pick it up.

This morning, I do feel somewhat better. I still have swollen tonsils, especially the right side. But I am not cold anymore and even slept with the A/C unit on last night. Of course, when it is cold outside, it only blows air, not cold air. So I slept pretty good. Only waking once with a really bad sore throat and took some more Excedrin because it had worked so well earlier and went back to sleep. I am up, showered and dressed, wondering if Tollie made it Uvalde okay.

Tollie left last night about midnight to start his backpacking journey. He offered to call it off to stay home with me, but I assured him I would be alright with him gone. I do have my drugs and I can sleep without any one here.

BIG BEND TIME

This is the time for my husband and his friends to go backpacking in the Big Bend. I think it is a guy thing. They drive hours and I mean hours to arrive a the Chisos Basin. They will leave at midnight tonight and arrive there sometime early Thursday morning. I think it takes about ten hours to get there. It is about 673 miles from here to there. They plan to camp in the desert on Thursday night and then hike up the mountain on Friday. They will camp in the mountains on Friday night and hike back down on Saturday. Spend the night again in the desert and then head home on Sunday. They will arrive back home about 8:00 pm.

All this travel to hike up a mountain peak. Like I said, it must be a guy thing. Now I can see going that distance to attend a flea market or some flower show or craft sale! But to climb a mountain? I just know that Tollie enjoys this time and is ready every year to go. It will be cold this year. It is suppose to be in the 40's at night and he will be cold. The daytime temp will be up in the 70's so that will be good. I just hope he doesn't push it too much. The other two guys he is going with go every year and they are little more physically fit. Tollie ususally spends time walking around the neighborhood with his back pack to prepare for the trip. Because of hurricane Rita, he could not do that and I don't think he is as much prepared as usual.

*************

We had an appointment with our insurance agent yesterday. He had pulled our file and had received the same estimate the adjuster had given us. He already had some questions and had already called to find out about some stuff. He is asking for another adjuster and he said he thought the kitchen floor should be paid for as well. He also thought the food in the refrigerator and even maybe the living expenses we had while evacuated. So he is checking on those things and we should hear from another adjuster in a couple of days. I just want them to pay for the kitchen floor, or at least to count it in the estimate toward the deductible and then maybe we will get something.

We both has said as time goes by, we don't notice the floor as much as we did. So......we may not do anything but if they will pay for the kitchen floor, we will probably put down tile and then try our very best to have the laminate in the den replaced by the good stuff in the kitchen. They say it is not possible, but I think it could be done. It would have to be done a certain way and very delicately but we will have to see. I certainly plan to tile the laundry room.

I think I am cleaning out the garage today. That is if I feel okay to do that. I have not felt well the last couple of days. My throat has hurt and my ears have hurt. I know it is sinus stuff brought on by the cold front, but I think I ran fever the last two nights. I am never cold and I have been shivering when I get out of bed. So....hopefully, I am feeling better. At least I am not shivering this morning!

Thanksgiving is coming and I am counting the days. We are having lots of company and I want to enjoy all that to the fullest. Have a great day and count your blessings!

RECOVERY

Things are beginning to get back to normal and about the time we think they are back, we find something unusual. After work on Friday we made a few stops for errands and then as we were heading home I told Tollie I wanted to run into Walmart. Mind you, this is a 24 hour Super Walmart. As we came near the store, we realized there were no cars in the parking lot. They had closed at 6 pm!

Then Saturday, Jamie need to run to Walmart and I went with her. We arrived about 5:45 and had to wait in line to get in the door. They let us in about 5:55 and we were able to shop and get what we needed, only because the lines in the checkout were out into the store in every line open. Waiting for them to thin down, we were able to make our selections and then head to the checkout line where we still had to wait. It is unreal!

I wonder where all the people are coming from and yet everywhere you turn, businesses are asking for employees. It seems not everyone has returned to Beaumont, yet there are so many cars and people here. At first I thought it was from the line workers and tree workers, but they would be driving their trucks, and this is just car traffic! So, I'm not sure what the deal is or what is happening but it is no fun to run errands in a short amount of time. You have to make plans for everything to take longer then it use to.....which includes eating out. There is always a wait on sitting and everything just takes longer.

But I do believe things are getting back to normal. We seem to be getting back into a routine. Our routine is not yet normal simply because we still have our kids living with us. Their apartment is almost finished and probably they will be going back to their apartment this week. It will be quiet here when they leave. I love having the little girls come to our room every morning and give us a hug and kiss. Ashton wakes me up with a nose to nose kiss if I am still asleep when she comes in. She is so soft and gentle and happy!

Tollie leaves for Big Bend this week also. So......I may be here by myself the latter part of the week! That will be different, but it could be soothing at the same time. I think we have all be dealing with post traumatic syndrome. Not the kind where people are having to seek help, but a mild form of it where you just feel tired and emotional. This has been an emotional ride for all of us. I am thankful we had no more damage than we had, but what we have we are having to fix and I think we had assumed since it has been so long, we were immune to such devastation. It was a shock to see all the damage and now our landscape everywhere has changed. I really need to work in the yard and do some different things because I have always had so much shade and all my plants were planted with that in mind. Now......I have sun, full sun for much of the day. At least my plants will be able to adjust with the winter sun and not the summer sun. That will help. It will be interesting to see who all this comes up in the future.

Have a great week. I plan to.

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY

Tomorrow is Friday and usually that is just another one of my days to spend at home, doing what I need to do and sometimes what I want to do. Tomorrow though is the end of a very busy week. I have been putting on different work hats. That on top of the post traumatic stress syndrome we all seem to have.

Last night, Tollie and I both came home and thought we would rest our eyes for just a few minutes before going to Bible class. Wrong! An hour and a half later we awoke with a start realizing we had slept hard and class had already started.......without us. Then when the kids got here, they were all beat as well. It just seems we all are tired and emotional and I think it is still a residual from Rita. She packed a punch and we are still reeling.

So....tomorrow I will work in parts and sell parts all day. Hopefully, the regular parts person will be back and in full swing by Monday. (She is in jepoardy of losing her job if she does not come back soon!) I don't mind filling in for her, but I realize how very tired I am when working there. It is also brain tired because I am having to remember so many things from so long ago! Actually, it was only about two years ago, but seems a lifetime.

I realize also how much I enjoy my part-time job and how stress free it is and fun. So.....even though Fred indicated he may want me to take my old job back, I want to continue doing what I am doing and enjoying it.

How about you? Do you enjoy your job, and why?

THE WORDS

Last night, my youngest daughter called me and asked for my advice! Wow! What a great feeling that was! You have to understand this is the same child that didn't want anything to do with her parents when she was in high school. That is probably an exageration but you get the picture. So this was a moment. A moment when I had her undivided attention and because she wanted me to share my thoughts with her. It was also a very sobering moment. A moment in time when what I said could have potential bad outcome or good outcome.

The best part of it all was the realization that my parenting days have not ended. I know when she went off to college and the other daughter married and has a family of her own, I felt somewhat lost. It seemed everyone had a job, but me. My job had ended. I knew in my head that my job never ends, but in my heart, I felt lonely and sad. I needed to be needed. Even though we had our troubles when Mindy was in high school, she was still home and needed me. I knew and she knew it. But when she went off to college and she grew up, all of the sudden my job was over, or at least it felt over for a time.

So you see why it was important for me last night to connect with her. I am so proud of Mindy. Actually, I am so very proud of both my girls. My oldest daughter is a school nurse and is the best mother of two precious girls. Her choice in a mate is wonderful and we love Paul like a son, not a son-in-law. And then there is Mindy. She is so beautiful and poised and mature. She has a heart for God and people. I love to hear her talk of her studies and what she is learning and how she plans for the future to help those who can't seem to help themselves. She is beautiful in and out. She has plans, but the wonderful part is she relies totally on the Lord. She is moving to Missouri in January and although she has made some connections for looking for a place to live, that is still up in the air. I worry how she is going to make it and where she will live. She has every confidence in the Lord that it will all work out and be great. I love that about her. She knows whose she is and I am thankful she has the father to place her confidence in.

So.......the words, "mother, I need your advice...." have a special place in my heart today as I rehearse the words we spoke and the advice that I gave her. She is special and I love her. Thank you God for my special girls......all of them!

INSURANCE!!!!

Well, our insurance adjuster was just here. We have minimal damage. And the insurance coverage does not cover our kitchen floor, because it was a power outage not within the confines of our home. In other words, the power outage was caused by outside causes, not our lines. Go figure! I thought that would be covered, but any way, since it is not covered, then our freezer, the floor in the laundry room, the kitchen floor are not covered. The food was covered but we have a large deductible and it was only about 350.00 worth of food lost. We did have minimal damage on the roof, not much, just the northeast corner and she marked that. We had fences down and they cover that with the wind damage coverage we have, but again due to our deductible, no coverage.

So....the bottom line, we didn't have enough damage to go over our deductible. I guess that is good news and bad news at the same time. I was so hoping to have enough to cover the floor, at least. We will live with it, but it is damaged. Tollie says we will get an estimate and see what it will cost to replace those pieces. We have been told you can pop out the laminate flooring and replace them, with the right person doing it. So we will see about that.

Rita left a lot of damage in a lot of homes and I should feel very thankful and lucky that we have no more damage than we have. I guess right now I am feeling a little cheated. Don't ask me why! I really don't know. It is just a feeling and I can't explain it.

Thankfully, we have had money from FEMA and the Red Cross and that will help cover some of this damage. I don't want to be greedy. Actually, the amount we received from them covers the deductible, so if we had had a lot of damage, it would have been great. I am thankful!

Life continues on in Beaumont. We have had a lot of damage and I think you can feel that when you try to find a place to eat out. There are so many restaurants still closed and many running on low staff with minimal menus. They were saying on the news this morning that many employers are struggling in their businesses because people have not returned to their jobs. They are unsure what is causing this, if people are still evacuated or just didn't return. It will be interesting in the next few weeks to see if more return. If they don't return, believe me the jobs are open here. If you need a job, come on down and I think you would be able to get a good job easily.

Our adjuster was saying that Orange really had a lot of damage, but you never heard much about it on the news. She said they never had the military coverage that Beaumont had and yet there was no looting going on. I thought that said something good about Orange! I think there are a lot of smaller towns that are in the same boat as Orange. They had major losses but the news didn't cover them. In fact the news is still covering Katrina, even now. I guess it is the storm of the year.

How about those Astros! Yeah, I hope they make it into the World Series. That would be exciting. It was a good game last night. I don't usually watch baseball, but I watched last night and enjoyed it. I think it is more fun to be there, but was a good game. Go Stros!!!!

NEW JOB

I have a new job this week. I went to work yesterday and as you can imagine, all sorts of things are happening. It is still a process of trying to gear up to work and everyone is a little overwhelmed at what has happened and how long it is taking to get things back to normal. I am trying to do whatever needs to be done and just be there for who ever needs me.

The parts person who took my job when I retired is going to be out for two more weeks. It was asked of my boss if I could fill in for her. He made a resounding no because he had already given me a job to do this week. I am the official cook for lunch for the next three days. Wow! Getting paid for what I love to do......cook. I started immediately thinking of the menus and doing a shopping list.

I went yesterday afternoon and got the groceries for the chicken and sausage gumbo for today, the Hot Chicken Salad and hot yeast rolls for tomorrow and the potatoes for the Potatoe soup for Friday. I am excited and my boss certainly is excited.

I have the gumbo stewing in the large pot right as I type this. I can smell it throughout the house. I started the potatoe salad last night and will finish it up in a minute. (I didn't know people ate potatoe salad with their gumbo until recently!) I need to get a fresh lemon pie made. We came home from Rita with one of the lemon trees intact with three large lemons still hanging on and yellow! So....I will make a couple of lemon pies for those few of us lucky enough to eat them. I am feeding about 25 people. It will be a long, but very fun day.

Are you able to get paid for what you love to do? I hope so. Have a great day!

NORMALCY

There is something to be said for normalcy. Even though the kids are staying with us, Jamie is trying to keep the girls on a normal routine, as much as possible. She is getting them up in the morning and getting them to their daycare, even though she is not working yet. Her school should resume next Monday.

I didn't do much yesterday, other than picking up, making my bed and cooking supper and shopping for groceries, which is pretty much what I do on Monday's. So, things are slowly getting back to normal. I know that kids mostly do better on normal routine and it makes sense that probably most of us require normal routine to function well.

Today, I go back to work. It will be interesting to see what that unfolds. I am part-time and my boss is not back to Beaumont, yet. They just got their electricity back yesterday. So, I am going to do my own thing and interview people to find out what their adventure was during this hurricane process. It will be interesting to find out what others did and how they coped and where they went. I will then put together a newsletter to distribute to the company for everyone to see what happened to our "family". I think my boss will like the idea as well.

Life in Beaumont is slowly returning back to normal, as well. A lot of the resturants are opening and trash is picked up today! Yeah! That has been horrible. Every time you walk outside the smell hits you from all the freezer and refrigerator food! That will be a really good thing.

Is is wrong for us to have a normal routine in our spiritual life? I know we can get in a rut in everyday life when we go through the same routine all the time. So, do we get in a rut in our spiritual life as well? It has made me wonder if normalcy in our spiritual life is good or if we need to keep things stirred up to keep our relationships fresh and not so much in a rut. I would like to hear your thoughts. Have a great day, blogworld! I plan to.

HOME AT LAST

Two weeks and two days ago, Rita paid a visit to our home. I left on September 22, thinking it would be my last time to walk out the front door of my home. It is a hard thing to do and I had packed all the things that I thought I could not live without. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. Picture albums, pictures framed taken from the walls. I had packed sentimental items, such as the quilt Tollie's grandmother made for us when we married. The four delicate glass bowls I had found at a flea market that called my name. The girl's baby dolls they had when they were infants. Things that money could not replace, time could not replace and actually it was very little.

The first time we evaucated back in the 1980's, we drove three vehicles piled high with pictures and momentums. Of course there were four of us then so naturally we had more stuff. But this time, it was different. I guess my priorities have changed! I walked through the house for two days trying to decide what to take and what to leave. It was hard and eventually, I just couldn't make any more decisions. I had all that I could handle and it was harder than I ever thought it would be. But at least now I know that my family and the memories we have made mean a lot more than my "stuff". I walked away from my house, really thinking it would not be habital after the storm.

But Rita had other ideas. She moved just enough east to give us her good side. There were still 120 mph sustained winds. I can't even imagine staying in a house with wind that strong! And there was some damage, mostly fences down, power lines down, trees and trees and more trees down but not one shingle was lost from our roof, at least that we can see. We are having it inspected to make sure, but we believe we came out of all this relatively unscathed. We did have some floor damage in the laundry room and the kitchen when the freezer and refrigerator leaked water. We will see what insurance will do about that and the fences and the food we lost.

What have I learned from Rita? Stuff is stuff and the important thing is to know that people are more important than any stuff. I have also learned there are all kinds of people out there. There are some really strange and weird people. I cannot imagine anyone wanting to stay in the midst of such strong, unpredictable weather! I know that I have a lot, God has blessed us immensely and I know that I am not as thankful as I should be. I will leave when another hurricane decides to visit us, no matter the size! It is just not worth the risks of staying and riding out the storm.

I have also learned that being home is really comforting. We were so blessed to be at my sister's house for a few days, worshiping with them on Sunday. They were so gracious to us and it was comforting to be with family. We then went to a lake cabin that really soothed my soul. It was quiet and I could walk in the woods and think and work on my projects and be isolated from all the news. I think that was good.!?! But most of all it made me appreciate Tollie's employer so much. They have taken such good care of us and we are most thankful. I appreciate so much our home and am ready to take better care of it and use more to the service of God. I know I have become lazy and selfish in how I use my time and my home and I want to do better with that.

The kids are with us at this time. Their apartment was damaged by flooding water and they are displaced as they fix it. It is good to have the kids here, especially the grand kids. They are so cute and I love that Ashton climbs in bed with me in the morning and loves on me. They are precious children. Emma is a hoot and I love her strength and laughter.

Thank you God for all that you do for me and my family, the way you have protected us and helped us through this difficult time. Thank you for your love and care with people who have been so good to us. Thank you for our jobs and the people that provide work for us. Thank you, thank you and thank you.

God's Grace

God's grace is glorious. I can't tell you how blessed we are and we are so thankful to God and his mercy. We have fared so well in this crisis. I can't say our emotions have fared that well, but when we realize how fortunate we have been, we are thankful. That eases our emotions.

I know we are ready to go home. Isn't it just like us. We don't want to be home, going on vacation, but when we can't go home, we want to be home.

Tollie is at our house in Beaumont as I am writing this. He flew from Tyler to Beaumont on a private plane with four other men from the dealership. He is at our house and walking through, checking things out. Seems the only problem is the kitchen floor that buckled when the refrigerator freezer thawed and leaked out the water. It will probably have to be replaced. But that is all. The tree that fell in the backyard, took with it some landscape lights and concrete pathway, but only lifting them up. He stated that the tree root stands about 8 feet in the air. Our lemon tree, one of them anyway, survived, even keeping the heavy lemons on them and they are now turning yellow.

He stated that leaves are plastered on the front of the house. It will have to be cleaned. But all the furniture we left on the front porch is okay. No windows broken, no problems on the outside. We will probably have someone inspect the roof just to make sure there is no damage.

I can't thank God often enough for all the blessings.

We are staying now in Tyler and living at this point in a cabin at Whispering Pines. It is an RV resort just north of Tyler, about 14 miles. We have a deck we can sit and watch the beauty of God's kingdom. It looks like we will be staying there for the duration of our time away from home. Well, someone has to do it! Again, we are thankful for God's Goodness. The company is picking up the tab and we are thankful for that as well.

I miss my kids, my grandkids. Hopefully they can come see us this weekend.

I may not be able to post for several days as we have no connection in the country. Only here in town at the dealership.

I came today to put out the word for employees to have a contact number for their paychecks. The company is paying everyone! They have insurance for this kind of thing. Thank you, God, again for your great mercies.

Take care and Rita will not keep this ole gal down long!

NO NEW NEWS!

Right now there is no new news. We are still waiting to see when we can go home. We search the internet daily for any news. It is hard to find that news sometimes. I have found that I can get a stream of our local radio station on the internet and that has helped....hearing familiar voices!

Tollie may need to go to Tyler for work. The server was airlifted from Beaumont to Tyler and now there is work to be done there. If he goes, I am going with him. He can do most everything on line but it would be easier to be there to work.

I just don't think I can be without him right now! I told him I just want us to be together. I need him and he needs me. I think the uncertainity at this time causes me to grasp the one normal. So I am hanging tight to him.

We hope to go home by the end of the week. Each new morsel of information gives us hope that things are returning back to normal. Schools won't be starting in that area for another week or two and many businesses will have repairs before resuming work. We are still uncertain if the dealership is okay. But we think it probably is. One of the guys who does all the contracting things, maintenance on the building and electrical things stayed in Beaumont.

At this moment, we are still in Arlington, helping my sister and her husband paint their house to get it ready to sell. They will be moving as soon as it sells. Tommy resigned his position as preacher for the New York Avenue Church of Christ in Arlington this past Sunday. His doctors have encouraged him to retire. He was hoping to work for about a year more, but the elders thought it best for him to retire now. So......we are trying to help them. It is good to have something to keep us busy.

Busy is good at this time, it helps to be "normal". Hopefully, we will be going home soon. We keep holding tight to the Lord and his will in all this and our faith is ever stronger.

PRAISE GOD!

We stayed up most of the night watching the news. We did sleep some, intermittently. All I could imagine from what we saw on the TV was that our house might be standing but the windows and glass door on the back might not have survived.

I suggested a few minutes ago for Tollie to call our neighbors across the street since they were not sure they were evacuating. When he called, their answering machine came on! What a surprise. So....he called our next door neighbor, Terry. He answered the phone and then lost connection. Tollie tried again and it rang and rang. Then, Terry answered and said he had just walked in the door. He had spent the night in Beaumont in a hotel. He works for Entergy and had stayed close to start work soon after the storm passed. He had gone home this morning to check everything out. He said from what he could see, everything was intact and okay. He said he would call back after more inspection.

Terry called back and we did loose one of the big trees in the back yard, but since the wind was blowing from the north it went away from our house and fell in the neighbors back yard. The house was intact and there did not seem to be much damage. He had lost a ridge vent and there was some shingle damage.

Now I am in shock and praising God that we have a home to go home to. Now it will be just a matter of time to get electricity back on. I feel great knowing what I can face when I get home. Thank you God and I pray that others fared as well. The storm going into the east of us helped take the brunt to the east of us and not on us. Sorry for Lake Charles and thankful they had evacuated.

Will update more as I know more.

AFTER MIDNIGHT

It is after midnight and we are, well let's make that clear, I am still waiting and watching. Unfortunately, my sister does not have cable. So.....I am on the computer searching for any recent news concerning Rita.

I found a website out of Houston for a TV station and it has helped feed me some of the information. I should just go to bed and wait till morning, but it is my home we are talking about. I want to know how the house fared. But in reality I won't know until someone goes home and checks everything out.

The best news to hear to night is that Rita is 30 miles southeast of Port Arthur. Wow! Southeast is good news. We live on the west end of Beaumont. Beaumont is northwest of Port Arthur. So that means we are on the west side of the eye wall. That could mean less damage, less rain and wind. I have to remember that Rita is very large and there will be some damage, but by being on the west side, there is less chance of tornadoes and the wind comes from the north, not the south.

I have hope. I am clinging to that hope.

LUNCH, A NAP!

It is amazing how lunch and a nap can give you a different perspective.

I awoke this morning around 7:00 am. I had a restful night. I did wake several times during the night but that is to be expected since I am in someone else's bed. But each time I woke, I was able to go right back to sleep without much effort, a definite difference from the night before! So I did get a good night's rest.

When I got up this morning I turned on the TV to check the progress of Rita and bam! The I-45 tragedy struck me full force and the tears started flowing. I felt exhausted and cried at every word out of my mouth. I went ahead around 9:30 and showered and dressed for the day with a headache the size of a watermelon and just about has heavy.

My sister called about 11:00 am from her work and we all went to lunch. I tried not to dominate the conversation with our concerns and it was an enjoyable lunch. We came back to the house, me and Tollie and both fell in a restful afternoon nap.

I awoke an hour later, no headache and much clearer eyed. I feel much better.

Hurricane Rita has downgraded to a 3. She is still going to be large and dangerous and it was a good thing that we left. We have made some decisions that I feel good about. The first decision made this morning was that we will only take the disabled couple back to Beaumont when we are assured they have their apartment with adequate electricity and their assistants are back to help them. Otherwise, we will encourage them to stay here where family can assistant them. We have a work friend who is closer to Beaumont where he evacuated to and we have made contact to ask him to check on our house. That way, we will be able to determine better when we can return and what we will be returning to find. With these decisions in place, I feel better.

Is is a control issue? Yes. We have laughed that Tollie tends to shut down and he will sleep most of the day. I get into gear in these situations and work my brain when my body can't do anything and solve all the problems. I really want to allow God to be in control and I am doing pretty well in that area. But my feelings of needing to be in control are there and I am trying to distinguish what is a feeling and what is an action in that area.

Thankful is the word of the day. Thankful we are here, thankful we have a place to lay our head and thankful my family is safe.

JUST WATCHING!

I am sitting in my sister's house, watching the news. I have a headache pounding in my head, making my eyes tear! Or maybe, the tears coming from my eyes are making my head hurt. At this point, it is hard to tell! It is all a blur, swirling around in my head, much like Rita!

I watch as Rita is swirling in the gulf, heading straight for my home. My home of 30 years. We have enjoyed the springs and falls. We have loved the trees. We came from west Texas where trees were sparse and the grass turned yellow in the winter. The trees, large trees with lots of shade are green all year round, because they are oaks. The grass is not as green in the winter, but stays green all year.

My home, where we added a front porch just two falls ago and have enjoyed sitting there, enjoying the rain or watching the kids play in the front yard. My rocker that came from Cracker Barrel, given to me at Christmas from my wonderful husband is sitting against the house, hopefully close enough to remain there.

I sit here wondering what to expect. I believe I will have nothing left when we return. Now I am second guessing about what I brought with me. Did I get everything I could? No, I had plenty of more room in the van. I could have taken so much more. But was it necessary. I almost got the genealogy stuff, but decided at the last minute to leave it. I have worked long hours searching for that information and why did I not get it? It was a decision and I was tired of trying to make those decisions.

Rita is swirling and my head is swirling. I am hopeful, I am here, I am safe, my family is safe and God is in control!

WE MADE IT!

We left Beaumont about 5:45 this morning with our little disabled couple in tow and we headed north. We were cruising along pretty well when we hit a stop north of Kountze. And I mean we came to a dead stop. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to reach Woodville, a trip that normally would take about 45 minutes to an hour. Which really when we hear the horror of the parking lot on I45, that is not too bad. After reaching that point, it was bumper to bumper but we were able to keep moving. They had finally called the mandatory evacuation and when they did that it opened all intersections to the north traffic. There were police directing traffic at all major intersections and we were able to go on through without a hitch. In fact after reaching Woodville, it seemed the traffic just kind of thinned out. We wondered where all the traffic went. But each time we came to a small town, the traffic would back up again and be slow.

We arrived in Dallas about 3:00 pm, tired but thankful. We left the couple at a motel in Lewisville and waited for their family to arrive. It was taking a long time for them to get there and we left about 4:30 to head to Arlington. We arrived at my sister's house about 5:30, read weary but in one piece.

Our oldest daughter left with her family about 9:30 pm last night and had planned to go 287 to Corsicana to her cousin's, but when they arrived in Woodville, 287 was closed to through traffic. So.....they had to go all the way to Lufkin and then go back down to Corsicana. They finally stopped for about an hour to sleep and then arrived there about 5:30 this morning. They are safe and sound.

Our youngest is safe and sound in Austin.

Where is Rita going? Only God knows at this time. I have had the feeling all day that I would not have anything to go back to. I'm not sure why, but when we walked out the door this morning, it felt like it would be the last time. Only God knows if that is going to happen. I have cried my tears and will cry more but I am okay with it! If we lose everything, we are still blessed and we have each other. That means more than any stuff!

I also had the feeling of a mother hen all night and this morning, wanting to gather my chickens under my wings and protect them. As soon as I knew Jamie and Paul and the girls were safe, I was okay. I then realized I was in the protection of my father and we would be fine.

I don't know about my neighbor. They were not going to leave, but when I talked to them this morning, they had decided to evacuate. So......not sure where they went or when the left. I just pray everyone gets out in time. It will not be good no matter where Rita decides to come ashore. There will be damage of some sort. We live north of I10. One report today said that if Beaumont takes a direct hit, we could get a storm surge of 20 feet and it could reach I10. That is hard to believe, but we will see.

Prayers are needed, especially for those on the roads in Houston and other areas where they are trying to flee. I am just so thankful we got out in time. Now it is all in the Lord's hands.