A Different Sunday

Published on 16:40, 07/20,2008
I skipped church today so that Kelly and I could take Jay to a Thomas the train movie. It was only showing on Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 in the morning. What is up with that? The movie was awful, but he enjoyed it. He was sitting between his Mawmaw and his Kelly ... in heaven. When it was over, we met Pap (who went to church) at Cheddar's for lunch. I was still full of popcorn, but Jay polished off all of his chicken tenders and fries.

Then we took Jay home and spent an hour or so swimming with him. He was sooooo happy ... until it was time to go. He wasn't too happy about that at all. Came home and all I want to do is kick back and relax. Kelly's gone to my cousin Ray's house to ride horses. She was supposed to go back to OH today but decided to stay one more day.

Daddy's still in the hospital but improving. He'll probably go home tomorrow. Now if he'll just do what the doctors order! Probably not.

 

Guess Who I Ran Into?

Published on 19:40, 07/19,2008
A little while ago we were on the elevator headed to the 8th floor of Baptist Hospital. You know me ... Ms. Impatient ... and when the elevator stopped on 3 to pick up someone, I was a bit aggravated. These 2 people got on, and as they did, the young man spoke to the woman and when I heard her voice, I looked up. THELMA! She was at our church a couple of times year before last through Room in the Inn. She recognized me too and we had the biggest ol' reunion right there in the elevator! She was there to visit her aunt, but Thelma is off the streets and doing great. BIG PRAISE!!!

 

Family Reunion

Published on 19:15, 07/19,2008

Well, here are two of my cousins ... the goofy one with her tongue hanging out is Lynn. That's her hubby sitting with his back to the camera and her grandson Jeremy sitting quietly. The cutie in the white T-shirt with his hands on his hips is David. He's my age ... OK, I'm 4 months older ... and we were thick as thieves when we were little. Our parents LOVE to tell stories on us ... how we fought over the Baby Magic lotion bottle. How David would touch my sleeve and I'd scream bloody murder ... and he kept doing it and I kept screaming ... just for sound affects and attention, I guess.

Had a good turnout today (about 40) with enough food to feed an army. Randy brought a pontoon boat. He lives on the other side of Old Hickory Lake, so he just drove the boat over. Kids had a blast with lots of water guns. Everyone got hosed with one at least once. Jay and I splashed around in the lake for a while. It was gross (I prefer a pool), but he loved it. I do believe a good time was had by all.

Update on Daddy: I never got to talk to a doctor today, although we did go out there after the reunion and took them supper. According to Sandra his oxygen level is better, he's receiving a smaller dosage of steroids so that they can give him oral steroids when he goes home, and he's still getting breathing treatments. His blood sugar was through the roof this morning (nearly 400), so he's still on insulin. An A1C test will reveal whether he's been diabetic prior to the steroids or if this high reading can be attributed to the steroids.

Back to the reunion. When Randy and Keith (brothers) came across the lake with the boat, Eddie and I walked down to meet them. I hugged both of them. Keith (he ain't right) said, "You might not want to hug me. I'm all sweaty." To which I responded, "Ohhhh, I LIKE sweaty!" Randy piped up, "We'll talk later, baby! Oh, wait. Never mind. We're kin." Keith looked at us like we were crazy and said, "You two! We don't live in Alabama you know!" I told him the old Lewis Grizzard pearl of wisdom: Relative humidity is when you work up a sweat kissing your cousin!" We all had a good laugh.

I'm probably in the dog house with the other side of the family. We were supposed to go to a wedding in Franklin tonight. My cousin's daughter is getting married. Big fancy smancy thing with a huge reception at some swanky place. I'm just flat out too tired. Besides, there were going to be some celebrity type folks there (as in Hannah Mtana and her dad Billy Ray C.), and I didn't want to deal with that commotion. And I had to go out to the hospital to check on Daddy and take them food. Can't be everywhere.


 

Daddy's in the Hospital

Published on 18:43, 07/18,2008

While I was maxing and relaxing at the pool this afternoon, I got no fewer than 7 phone calls to tell me Daddy had been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. I flew home, took a quick shower, and ran out the door ... wet hair and no makeup. But an open sunroof and windows dried my hair and I have to say, it didn't look half bad. Anyway, after x-rays and bloodwork and God knows what else, Daddy does NOT have pneumonia. Instead, he has asthmatic bronchitis. He also has what the doctor referred to as "dirty lungs," brought about by 60 years of smoking. Also COPD, which is a chronic lung disease. For more info on that, see  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Copd/Copd_WhatIs.html

 

Currently his lungs are hyperinflated, which means he can take in plenty of air but he can't get rid of it. The airways are narrowed. The steroids should help open the airways and ease his breathing. He's also getting breathing treatments and a strong antibiotic through his IV.

 

His blood sugar was elevated, which could be attributed to the steroids (or not), so they're giving him insulin too. He is not to get out of bed for any reason, not even to go to the bathroom.

 

Daddy said something about having an echo-cardiogram while he was down in x-ray. I THINK he said something about an enlarged heart, but I'm not sure. I did not hear that from the doctor. I was hoping to talk to the cardiologist, but he never came by.

 

Just keep him in your prayers.


Still gotta finish up cooking for tomorrow's family reunion that he now will not get to attend. What a week!



 

Tomorrow

Published on 09:22, 07/18,2008
Continue to pray for the Dickerson family. Fidge will be buried tomorrow next to his great-grandfather, who passed away just 4 weeks ago. It's a private service for family members only. Thank you to those who have been lifting up this precious family in your prayers.

And tomorrow is a packed day for us. We have a family reunion all day and a wedding at 7 p.m. in Franklin. Will have to cut the picnic short, but by 6 hours they'll be tired of us anyway!

Good thing I took off today. Made my grocery run early and now I'm working fast and furiously in the kitchen. Here's what I'm taking tomorrow: marinated chicken to grill, potato salad, rainbow slaw, broccoli salad, pasta primevera, chocolate oatmeal cookies, zucchini cobbler, and drinks. 

And I'm STILL going to the Y in a little while. Bought me a magazine to read between swims and naps.

 

Shattered

Published on 15:42, 07/17,2008
As if all the shattering of lives this week hasn't been enough (three deaths), on the way home today a piece-of-junk van threw a huge rock and shattered the windshield. Of My New Car. Now I have a nice (?) starburst that starts right at the top near the mirror. I wanted to cry (again).

Unofficially the word is that Fidge's parents are only going to have a graveside service for him. He will be buried next to his great-grandfather, who died on June 18.

I'm taking a mental health day tomorrow. I may bury myself under the covers and stay there all day. No, too much to do. But I am going to take a few hours and go to the Y and bask in some lovely summer rays.

We have a Bridges family reunion all day Saturday and a wedding to go to that evening. Did I mention that our wild-child daughter is coming in tomorrow night? Bless her heart. She's driving 6 hours here to go to the picnic on Saturday and then will turn around and drive back on Sunday. Pray for her safety. Lots of traveling and I've had all the tragedies for one week that I can stand.

 

Death of a 5-Year-Old

Published on 13:44, 07/16,2008

Four weeks ago today my good friend and coworker Carla buried her dad. This morning a terrible accident occurred at the home of her son David. A swingset fell over on Carla's grandson, affectionately nicknamed "Fidgie." He was rushed to the hospital, injured and unresponsive. Carla was at the hospital with David, his wife, and his older son, when Fidgie was pronounced dead.

 

Fidgie was "all boy"—his nickname tells that story—and was dearly loved by all members of his family.  Carla commented that Fidgie was probably sitting in Pawpaw's lap right then. 

 

Carla and her family would covet your prayer support in the midst of this tragedy. 



 

In the Paper

Published on 08:26, 07/16,2008
Had another recipe published in the newspaper today. That's 2 in about a month. Coworker Jon will go NUTS. He insists I have connections to the folks at the paper. If you're interested, go to http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/FEATURES02/807160370/1004.

Don't get too excited. It's only for slaw. But this recipe is different (Rainbow Slaw) and it is yummy!

 

Facing Our Own Mortality

Published on 20:15, 07/15,2008
Eddie and I went by the funeral home tonight after supper to pay our respect to Lee and the boys in the death of their wife and mom, Janice. Our kids are the same ages, and we've known Lee & Janice since Kelly & Jason played T-ball together when they were 4-5 years old. They are now 28-29. Long time. Their oldest son, Brian, and our Chris have been good friends since they were boys.

Last August Janice became ill, but it took until about Christmas for the doctors to diagnose her with pancreatic cancer. A death sentence if there ever was one. And yesterday God called her home. I told Chris while I was cooking dinner that it is bad enough to pick up the newspaper and nearly every day see the name of someone my parents' ages ... to see the names of parents of my schoolmates. But when you pick up the paper and see names and pictures of people your own age ... well, it hits very close to home. I mean, I just lost a cousin last year who was only 47 and one last month who was 58. This week it's 53-year-old Janice. Only Janice looked like she was 75 if she was a day. Cancer is a hard way to die. It can strip a person of all dignity and age a person by decades.

We didn't stay long. I didn't expect it to hit me so hard ... Janice looked so bad. I wouldn't have recognized her. I told Ed that if I look that bad when I die that I do NOT want an open casket. Not sure if I want it open anyway. Hadn't thought about it much. But I was on the verge of tears after I saw her body and was in a full-blown meltdown by the time we got in the car. It's not that I'm not ready to go. I am, and I know where I'm going. It's just seeing and knowing that Janice suffered so much. It breaks my heart.

So when we got home, we sat out in our new rockers on the deck. Ed was very quiet. Finally he spoke up and said what I was thinking (we do that A LOT) ... that deaths like hers makes you think about your own mortality.

Just be ready, friends. Know without a shadow of a doubt that you're a child of God, a believer in and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Losing a loved one is hard enough even when you know that person is healed and sitting at the feet of Jesus and worshiping and praising and just having the best time ever. But to lose a loved one and to not be sure of his or her salvation is a terrible burden. Be ready. Be sure.

 

Socializing

Published on 15:57, 07/15,2008
Did more socializing today than work. Four of us took lunch (pizza) out to David, who is still recuperating from shoulder surgery. Took forever to figure out what we were taking ... David has a sensitive stomach, Chris can't eat pork, Stacey didn't want subs because there's too much bread, and I never consulted Jessie ... although I remembered she doesn't like tomatoes. So Stacey and I made an executive decision and ordered pizza ... but one without tomatoes and without bacon, ham, or sausage.

Anyway, we had pizza and Cokes and a good visit with David. He's coming along. 

Then at 2 there was a baby shower for a coworker who is having a little girl, Brooklyn, sometime next month. Lots of cute little girly things. I'm continually amazed at the new gadgets on the market, baby gadgets, that is. She got 2 "oral care" things. I'm sorry, but both of my kids came looking like their granddaddy ... NO TEETH. So what's up with oral care for babies? Surely I'm not the only mom who gave birth to toothless babies. I still am in awe of warmers for diaper wipes, which, by the way, did not exist when I had babies in 1979 and 1976. I used a good ol' warm washcloth. But then, I also used cloth diapers instead of disposable. Wish I'd invented those ... the wet wipes. 

Came home and my Jaybug is here. Chris's childhood friend, Brian, lost his mom yesterday to pancreatic cancer. She was only 53. Brian's dad, Lee, was one of Kelly's baseball coaches 20 years ago. Seems like it was just a little while ago, not 20 years. So Jay is with Mawmaw while Chris has gone to the funeral home. Ed and I will go after supper.

 
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