Write, write, write #2

Hmmm. I was looking over last years' posts. There aren't many of them so it took probably less than a minute. It was a full year in the 'brain' sense. My mind was full. A lot happened.

My preparation for the empty nest was very short-lived as Katie and Emma returned home in January. Why'd they return home? Well, turns out the reason Katie was having headaches, and had been having them since Thanksgiving, 2 1/2 months prior, was because she had three different appliances (one serious, one minimal and one within normal ranges) leaking carbon monoxide into their apartment since they moved in.

So, while dealing with Dave's imminent departure from this world, I was also dealing with much, much research on the subject of CO exposure. In fact, the day that I determined that CO was the cause of her headaches, I was watching Dave and Cheryl's grandson so that they could attend one of the many worker's comp hearings. When they picked up Kylar, Dave was the one hugging me and comforting me. Here he was, just about a month before he left this world, fresh from a hearing that he knew would be his last, and he was comforting me. That was Dave.

The CO stuff hit me initially with a wave of "what could have been." It's mellowed out so that that part of it rarely hits me any more. Now we're just thankful that Katie and Emma weren't injured any more than they were. Katie's recovery has been very slow. She still has headaches. Her memory is still VERY faulty. On the good side, though, her personality has started to come back to the Katie we had before she moved into the apartment. When she's testy (bitchy) now, it's usually because of some external stimuli and not because her brain is injured. She still forgets words and has some retrieval problems, but she's slowly improving. I'm very thankful God was watching over the girls and sent me the epiphany. Of course it was from Him. That's what an epiphany is.

So the empty nest didn't exactly happen. (Especially since India also came home off and on through the year.) I did have that extra room for a while because Emma was in with Katie the first few months they were back. That was silly, though, when I look back on it. What was I thinking? Why didn't we just put Emma in the other room? Selfish me. I know Katie doesn't want to be here any longer than they have to. They're welcome as long as they need to be here. I'm just glad we're able to help out. (I'm also very happy we didn't have to deal with any PTSD.) Time will tell.

I'm thankful Cherlyn, Rob, Bobby and Michael were here last Christmas. I'm glad they were here in October. I wish they were going to be here NOW! Better yet, I wish we were all there!!

Mike asked me last night, "How can you be homesick for a place you've never been?" Or something along those lines. He was looking at Cherlyn's pictures of England I think. It's strange how we both felt like we'd 'come home' when we were there. I miss over there more than I've ever missed Hawaii after we've come back from vacationing there. Can't we just get a little vacation cottage in a quiet English village and live there a few months out of the year??? Anyone want to give us a million dollars? :o) BIG smiles.

I'm not sure what the Christmas day plans are. I wish Pat and Pete were going to be around and that we'd thought to get the 26th off. He has the 24th off but I told him it's ok for him to not take vacation that day and see if someone else wants it. He's off at 6 anyway so it's not like we need it and maybe it will help someone else. India will be home Christmas Eve night and that'll be good. I still need to figure out what to make for dinner. Hmmm. Much to do still.

Time to get going and get some stuff done around here.

Fellowship Letters

Europe 09 Free

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Have a Little Faith, by Mitch Albom

Page 93
From a Sermon by the Reb, 1975

"A man seeks employment on a farm. He hands his letter of recommendation to his new employer. It reads simply, 'He sleeps in a storm.'

"The owner is desperate for help, so he hires the man.

"Several weeks pass, and suddenly, in the middle of the night, a powerful storm rips through the valley.

"Awakened by the swirling rain and howling wind, the owner leaps out of bed. He calls for his new hired hand, but the man is sleeping soundly.

"So he dashes off to the barn. He sees, to his amazement, that the animals are secure with plenty of feed.

"He runs out to the field. He sees the bales of wheat have been bound and are wrapped in tarpaulins.

"He races to the silo. The doors are latched, and the grain is dry.

"And then he understands. 'He sleeps in a storm."

"My friends, if we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of 'I could have, I should have.' We can sleep in a storm.

"And when it's time, our good-byes will be complete."

4th of July 2009

Frontier Days from the Past

July 2009

Easter

I posted this last year and, as it's so good and so fitting, will re-post for this Easter.  I hope it touches any who watch it as much as it still touches me.  A blessed Holy Week to you all, my favorite time of the whole year.

Dave Tiller

Our friend and Mike's co-worker, Dave Tiller, went Home to the Lord this past Wednesday.  That would be the reason why I haven't been on here as much as I would have liked to.  There was just too much going on and I had to let go of some things.  When I can, I'd like to write about Dave, but not right now.  I need a week or so to wind down.

Write, write, write

There are probably 10 boxes of all things Christmas sitting next to the door waiting for me to carry them downstairs. From there, I will drag them into the bathroom, pull down the "hidden" ladder and push and pull them into the "attic" (which is actually a large crawl space we made when we lowered the ceiling in there). Who needs 12 foot ceilings in a bathroom when there are things to be stored? Maybe tomorrow, after Mike wakes up and gets off to work, I'll put them all away. And maybe I'll wait until Sunday when his days off start.

It's been quiet, sometimes too quiet, with Cherlyn, Rob, Bobby and Michael gone, but I've been fortunate enough to be able to iChat with them while they're in South Carolina. Before you know it, they'll be off this continent and starting life in their new home in England. I'm envious!

I always love the beginning of a new year. It's a time to wipe the slate clean and start anew. This is the year of learning to love the empty nest. Katie and Emma moved out in August and India followed in December. There are two extra bedrooms now that I get to fix up. That will probably also be on the list for tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow . . . it's nearly here so I need to get to bed. More tomorrow. I'd like to see if I can re-design this wonderful "vehicle of writing." I also want to go through The Shack some more and maybe write some about that. There's also more furniture to be rearranged. And I don't want to forget the books I've just read in the past month. Life is good.

Be Ye Joyful