I am really getting excited! There are only four more weeks until I am on a plane. 28 Days until I land in Oklahoma. Again I am really getting excited!

I need this time away. I am tired. The whole situation with my Father In Law is wearing me out. First the amputation, then the heart attack, then the move back to rehab. I feel blessed that he is still alive. I have been spending more time at the hospital then I have at work. Then when I make it home I have 2 teenagers that seem to miss their mother.

I did get a good laugh the other day at Craig. I was sitting on our bed writing checks for bills. He wanted to know what I was doing. He told me that I had already paid bills. I laughed and informed him that I had paid his father’s bills, now I was paying ours.

I would love to tie all this into something spiritual but all I can say is that I am sorry for the lag in blogging. I think that if I spend much more time in the hospital I am going to get a WIFI aircard.

My 13 year old daughter just came in my room and informed me that I have to get up and go to work in the morning. That I should really turn off the lights and go to sleep. I think I will take her advice.

Have a great weekend!!!

SIDENOTE: The President was in our town today. So the California fires that are running on the news that he is looking at are here. Yucky smoke still heavy in the air.

Saturday we celebrated Hope’s 13th Birthday which was the 2nd. We had planned a pool party for the end of June but that was the weekend that all the fires started and the air quality was terrible. The fires are still burning but the delta breeze has helped with the air quality. So breathing is a little easier now.

All of Hope’s friends showed up. We barbqued hamburgers and hotdog, had lots of chips and soda. Of course we had a birthday cake. My daughter is my mother’s child in this area. Hope requested a chocolate cake with chocolate filling and chocolate frosting. I totally thought of Natalie and Kim when we cut it. I passed on the cake.

There was just one thing that really bothered me about the party…..

I blogged about it in May. Only one parent came to the door with their daughter. She was the only parent that I even really know. So all the other parents, mom’s included, just pulled up and let their daughters out of the car. Seven girls and I had never met their parents. They didn’t even come to the door with phone numbers in case of an emergency.

This is our pool. It is made out of concrete and plaster. There were a bunch girls that were getting rowdy in my concrete pool. What if one of them had cracked their head open when jumping in or some other injury? Amazing to me.

Really….What is going on with today’s parents?

I thought I would share a shortcoming of mine with you. I have always been insecure. I have always worried about making other people happy, doing the right thing and being liked.

I get nervous when I am meeting new people. That cracks up my friend Leslie because she says I am really out going and easy to talk too. I of course want people to like me and worry that I am not good enough. Things have changed over the years. I don’t get as tramatized as I use too. I have been known to sit in my car and talk to God for a long time before going into a gathering though.

I know that He doesn’t want me to live this way. I also know that He loves me and that supercedes everybody else’s opinion. I don’t want insecurity to define me anymore. I have been studying Who I Am In Christ for awhile now and INSECURE isn’t on the list. If you suffer from insecurity, I totally know how you feel! Here is just one of the many scripture that tells us we are important to God. If you need more don’t hesitate to ask. I have them.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me. – Psalm 139:17-18

Tell me that isn’t awesome scripture….When I wake up you are still with me! Amen

Hope everybody has a blessed weekend!

My Father in Law, Mel, has been moved to a rehab hospital. I know this is a good thing. Him being moved there this quickly is actually a very good thing. He appears to be highly motivated to start his rehab therapy.

When Craig and I went to the center today, I got a really uneasy feeling. There wasn’t anything visually out of place there. No patients that looked abused or stranger than normal smells. The place just bothers me.

By the way, not sure if I have ever mentioned that until the last 5 years or so Mel and I preferred to stay away from each other. He is kind of a womanizer and well I am kind of not. Just a little history. We have grown on each other the last couple years especially.

I wanted to load up his hospital bed and bring him home right then!! His doctor said that if he gets strong enough to move from the bed to the wheelchair easily that he can come home in 3 weeks instead of 6 weeks. I am praying and motivating him in that direction. I really just want him home.

I am having a really hard time finding my peace right now. I will say that it is amazing what the Lord can do to your heart when you aren’t looking. I really do love the old guy. I also give all the glory to God that we didn’t lose Mel last week.

Thank you all that have been praying for my Father In Law’s surgery and recovery. The procedure went well. He looks great already. It is amazing what prayer, food, nutrition and chopping off an infected part of your body can do for you. Mel is looking at 6 weeks of rehab and a prosthetic. There is a period of depression that the doctor warned him about that usually comes about 2 weeks into rehab. We are hoping that his strength will be good enough to come home in the next 3 weeks and continue with the remainder of his rehab as an outpatient. I will update you on any new developments. Thank you all again for your support.

I would like to introduce you all to my husband Craig the Smuggler! We were all at the hospital when Mel was brought to his room from recovery. We stayed awhile and then a group of us left. Craig stayed behind and talked to his dad for awhile. When Craig finally left to come home for a bit he asked his dad if he could bring him anything back. Mel wanted a milkshake. YES A MILKSHAKE!!!

Now I am pretty sure that that is not on the list of acceptable foods to eat when you have had half your leg cut off and you are diabetic. Well my wonderful husband wanting to make his father feel better brought him one of those pictured above. He smuggled it in the hospital and Mel started drinking it. They got busted by the nurse. The nurse though was wimpy and wouldn’t take it away. She did have to call Jack in the box to find out how many carbs was in it to get him the right amount of insulin. The lady nurse then sent in the big man nurse and he was a little intimidating. Craig stood his ground and Mel told mannurse it was good and he would do it again. Ryan, Hope and I were laughing so hard we almost pee’d our pants.

Tomorrow we are expecting to see a DO NOT FEED THE PATIENTS sign.

If you are ever having any surgeries, let me know and I will send over the smuggler to bring you waxy choclate donuts, Starbucks, Lava Cake, etc.