It's been a long week. Mom had surgery on Wednesday, but it feels like a month ago. Since then, it's been a whirlwind around here. On Wednesday, the surgery took longer than expected so I waited with Dad and Aubrey for what seemed like alot longer than 5 hours and thankfully, some great men from church met us at the hospital and kept us from going crazy. The recovery time didn't go nearly as well as expected, with her going from hypothermic to feverish within a few hours. Morphine didn't want to help her ( I was having flashbacks of when I was in the hospital) so it's been difficult to keep her pain under control. What the doctors said would be a 24 hour hospital stay ended up being an almost 4 day ordeal. And Dad, ever the steady one, sat in that chair beside her bed the entire time. I took Aubrey and the kids back and forth to the hospital, answered our ringing-off-the-hook phone (we're pretty sure Mom and Dad know every person in the world), tried to keep the house together, and kept the over-dramatic Timothy from suicide because he thought Mom was surely dying. I cannot tell you how many times I've thanked the Lord for making me quit my job last week instead of next week. Although it's been stressful here at the house, I would gone out of my mind if I'd been at work the whole time and not been able to help with everything here.
So once Mom came home, she hasn't been sleeping much, she's talking like a crazy person, can't walk by herself and, did I mention, she talks like a crazy person from the drugs? (Beth and Shelley are standing here and they say I'm hardly one to talk about that... :) All that means that Dad hasn't been sleeping much, doesn't really leave Mom's side, helps her do everything, makes all her food and drinks, gives her her meds, and always makes sure she's as comfortable as possible. He probably wouldn't admit it, but we know he's exhausted.
On top of all this, there's still normal life to deal with: school, piano lessons, TaeKwonDo, cleaning, meals, laundry, church stuff that comes up every day, and of course answering the main house phone and all 5 cell phones to assure all 982 people that have called that even though Mom hasn't touched her blog in a week, she is really not dead.
Anyway, by this morning when we were getting ready to leave for church, we were all walking around like zombies. Everyone, including me, was looking for any excuse to stay home today so we had to remind ourselves that worship is not about how we feel, it's about the One who made us and sustains us. So we stumble into church, half alive, and a sweet lady pulls me aside to talk to me. She said that she knew it had been a hard week for us and we could be assured that everyone in that church was praying for us. She went on to say that she had had a very hard month and that every time she was tempted to give up and stop trying or to fall apart and cry, she looked to me and my family for inspiration and encouragement to keep going. She said that seeing us at church with smiles on our faces, helping everyone else and making sure everyone was doing okay, gave her strength to keep walking and to trust the Lord in all things. She said that she could see the light of Christ in us and she knew that the Lord was working in us through this difficult time and that the Lord was working on her because of it.
Wow. It was definitely an encouragement to me, but a slap in the face at the same time. It was great to see that at our weakest point, the Lord was still working in us and using us to be an example to others. It was also humbling to hear that on the very day that I had thought about giving up, not going to church, sleeping for the entire day, and not dealing with anymore problems. So now I know that one of the reasons we were at church today is because other people needed to see us there and needed to know that even when we're at the bottom, we don't give up because our hope is still in Christ and Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
So...we're praying this next week is a little better, that Mom makes great strides in recovering, that Dad gets some much needed rest, that the kids relax and stop worrying about life, and that we all will rely on the Lord, knowing that He holds us all in His hands.
11/11/07
11/6/07
Only at the Warren House
Scenes from today that made us laugh really hard.
{Tim and I are at the house, everybody else is gone. I'm getting ready to leave}
Me: Tim, I'm leaving to go pick up the kids so you'll be here alone for a little while. Will you be ok?
Tim: Yes, Sis, I'll be okay. This will be the fifth time I've been home alone.
Me: Good, I'm glad you're counting. Remember, don't answer the phone unless it's family and do---
Tim: I know, I know, don't answer the door unless it's someone from church.
Me: And call Aubrey or me if you need anything or if something bad happens. Do you know our phone numbers?
Tim: Yes, I know them. But don't worry Sis, I won't need to call you or Aubrey while you're gone. Because if someone bad comes in the house, I can take care of it and I won't need to call you. You know why? Because I have a gold belt in Tae Kwon Do.
{At a restaurant, eating dinner this evening}
Nate: Dad, do you think God loves the non-elect?
Dad: Well, that's a very good question and I think we could have some good discussion about that.
Nate: I mean, God said he loved Jacob and hated Esau, so does that mean he hates everyone who's not saved?
Me: Even if we were to say "yes" or "no" to that question, I don't think our human understanding of the words "love" and "hatred" can fully define the way---
Shelley: Well, here's what I think. I think that if God chose us before the foundation of the world-- [furrows brow] I totally forgot what I was going to say. [scratches head] Man, and I had something really good to say!
Mom: You're getting blonder every day, honey.
{Tonight, right before Mom went to bed}
Dad: Okay kids, everybody come in here for prayer time!
[All of us run into Dad and Mom's room and gather on or around their bed]
Dad: Our main prayer tonight is obviously for Mom's surgery tomorrow. It's not the most major surgery in the world, but still, it's surgery.
Mom: Right John, not major?! They're putting a dead guy's bone inside my leg!
Nate: Mom you should be happy. That guy's memory will live on inside of you!
Dad: Yeah, like when they do the eye transplants and people start seeing visions of what the dead guy saw!
Beth: Or heart transplants where every once in a while the heart will skip a beat or they'll have an emotional feeling if they're around something that relates to the dead guy.
Caleb: Mom, this pretty much means you're going to start walking like that dead guy.
Nate: Yep, pretty soon, someone's going to come up to you and say, "You walk just like someone I used to know!"
Mom: Okay, can we pray already??!!
{Tim and I are at the house, everybody else is gone. I'm getting ready to leave}
Me: Tim, I'm leaving to go pick up the kids so you'll be here alone for a little while. Will you be ok?
Tim: Yes, Sis, I'll be okay. This will be the fifth time I've been home alone.
Me: Good, I'm glad you're counting. Remember, don't answer the phone unless it's family and do---
Tim: I know, I know, don't answer the door unless it's someone from church.
Me: And call Aubrey or me if you need anything or if something bad happens. Do you know our phone numbers?
Tim: Yes, I know them. But don't worry Sis, I won't need to call you or Aubrey while you're gone. Because if someone bad comes in the house, I can take care of it and I won't need to call you. You know why? Because I have a gold belt in Tae Kwon Do.
{At a restaurant, eating dinner this evening}
Nate: Dad, do you think God loves the non-elect?
Dad: Well, that's a very good question and I think we could have some good discussion about that.
Nate: I mean, God said he loved Jacob and hated Esau, so does that mean he hates everyone who's not saved?
Me: Even if we were to say "yes" or "no" to that question, I don't think our human understanding of the words "love" and "hatred" can fully define the way---
Shelley: Well, here's what I think. I think that if God chose us before the foundation of the world-- [furrows brow] I totally forgot what I was going to say. [scratches head] Man, and I had something really good to say!
Mom: You're getting blonder every day, honey.
{Tonight, right before Mom went to bed}
Dad: Okay kids, everybody come in here for prayer time!
[All of us run into Dad and Mom's room and gather on or around their bed]
Dad: Our main prayer tonight is obviously for Mom's surgery tomorrow. It's not the most major surgery in the world, but still, it's surgery.
Mom: Right John, not major?! They're putting a dead guy's bone inside my leg!
Nate: Mom you should be happy. That guy's memory will live on inside of you!
Dad: Yeah, like when they do the eye transplants and people start seeing visions of what the dead guy saw!
Beth: Or heart transplants where every once in a while the heart will skip a beat or they'll have an emotional feeling if they're around something that relates to the dead guy.
Caleb: Mom, this pretty much means you're going to start walking like that dead guy.
Nate: Yep, pretty soon, someone's going to come up to you and say, "You walk just like someone I used to know!"
Mom: Okay, can we pray already??!!
10/25/07
purge
How to clean out your closet:
Find yourself some sisters.
Gather them in your closet and display your entire wardrobe.
Hold out each item or try it on so they can see.
For each piece, say something like, "This looks so horrible on me." or, "I look so fat in this." or, "This color makes me look dead."
If there is silence in the room, get rid of the item.
If there is wholehearted agreement with your statement, keep the item. They're probably just saying that because they want your clothes.
If they disagree with you and say you look great, put the item aside and go ask a brother. He'll tell you the real truth.
Find yourself some sisters.
Gather them in your closet and display your entire wardrobe.
Hold out each item or try it on so they can see.
For each piece, say something like, "This looks so horrible on me." or, "I look so fat in this." or, "This color makes me look dead."
If there is silence in the room, get rid of the item.
If there is wholehearted agreement with your statement, keep the item. They're probably just saying that because they want your clothes.
If they disagree with you and say you look great, put the item aside and go ask a brother. He'll tell you the real truth.
10/22/07
this is torture
Just wanted to state my anguish over the weather today. It is currently somewhere around 50 degrees outside, 30mph winds, and a thunderstorm coming through. With all of that, it feels more like 3 degrees. Not really my idea of fun, especially when I have to drive in that to get to work today!
Candace said she's happy to be inside her warm house, but since our house is always freezing (thanks to Mom and Beth who are babies about the temp never being higher than 69 inside) I'm really cold! I think I might run over to the Sabo's house. :)
Alright, I'm going to go dig out all 3 sweaters I have. I'll probably be wearing all of them to work in a few minutes.
Candace said she's happy to be inside her warm house, but since our house is always freezing (thanks to Mom and Beth who are babies about the temp never being higher than 69 inside) I'm really cold! I think I might run over to the Sabo's house. :)
Alright, I'm going to go dig out all 3 sweaters I have. I'll probably be wearing all of them to work in a few minutes.
10/21/07
Since my days at the store are coming to a close, I thought I'd post a few pictures to show you what it looks like now that we've been up and running for close to a year. All these pictures were taking with my phone, so I'm sorry about the blurriness or weird angles. The above pictures are just funny that have happened... Sam likes to come help me by getting all of my toy swords off the wall and lining them up on the floor...Beth doesn't want to hang the mountain of clothes so Emily buys her a drink that we don't have a bottle opener for so she uses the fire extinguisher to open her soda. Customers frequently laugh at our ongoing antics and I think it's why they come back.
The next few pictures are a sort of panoramic view (the best I could do with my camera...) of what you see when you walk in the front door. It was a weird time of day and all the sunlight is coming in from the windows, but you get the idea... Okay, left to right...
In the next few days, I'll try to take some pics of our day-to-day goings on, instead of just how the store looks.
10/20/07
costumes
So...Beth and I have 2 more weeks of work left. We're pretty excited to get to sleep in on Monday the 4th. :)
I'm still making plans for my trip to Virginia in December and looking around for the cheapest ticket. So far, the best one I've found is $254 round trip. If you have any better ideas, let me know. I'm so happy that I get to be there to see Judah!
The next 3 weeks for me will be living hell because someone that I work with decided to take most of my pain meds. 2 bottles that always last exactly 30 days lasted exactly 10 days. I'm already in full-on withdrawal which is really horrible, but the worst part will be after the withdrawal is gone and I'm just left with pain and good ol' Advil. I'm kind of glad that I don't know exactly who took all my medicine, but boy would I like to yell at them. And Beth would like to yell at them, too, because she gets to hear me complain every 3 minutes about how horrible I feel. Please pray that the next 20 days go by really quickly and that I'll be able to handle all the withdrawal and pain until I can get meds again.
On to something a little funnier... If my family celebrated Halloween, here's what Beth and I would look like.
Beth would be Rollie Pollie Ollie.
I'm still making plans for my trip to Virginia in December and looking around for the cheapest ticket. So far, the best one I've found is $254 round trip. If you have any better ideas, let me know. I'm so happy that I get to be there to see Judah!
The next 3 weeks for me will be living hell because someone that I work with decided to take most of my pain meds. 2 bottles that always last exactly 30 days lasted exactly 10 days. I'm already in full-on withdrawal which is really horrible, but the worst part will be after the withdrawal is gone and I'm just left with pain and good ol' Advil. I'm kind of glad that I don't know exactly who took all my medicine, but boy would I like to yell at them. And Beth would like to yell at them, too, because she gets to hear me complain every 3 minutes about how horrible I feel. Please pray that the next 20 days go by really quickly and that I'll be able to handle all the withdrawal and pain until I can get meds again.
On to something a little funnier... If my family celebrated Halloween, here's what Beth and I would look like.
Beth would be Rollie Pollie Ollie.
And I would be Stitch.
10/6/07
we must be awfully small and not as strong as we think we are
As you can probably tell from the lack of serious posting, I've been very busy. My store is getting crazier every day and I drive home like a zombie every night. I have no idea if I've said this already, but my last day at work is going to be November 3. When I finally had a firm date I was so relieved but very sad at the same time. I've put alot of time and energy (well really, ALL my time and energy) into my store and it's hard to leave just when we're beginning to see some of that work pay off. At the same time though, I've worn myself down too much and pushed my body further than it can really handle. I'm looking forward to the break and praying that I will be able to regain the year of lost recovery time.
I'm still trying to decide what to do about school. I will be going to school, I just don't know what I'll be doing yet. My motto is from Steel Magnolias: I can't think about that today, I'll think about that tomorrow!
It looks like Dirk is the most excited about me quitting my job. He has already enlisted me to be the church "secretary", which really means I will do all the things that he has no time to do. I'm excited about doing his phone and computer work so I can stay in my pajamas and burn my makeup. Oh happy day.
As I said, I'm not doing well physically right now. This thing that I have, whatever I have, seems to be somewhat cyclical. It flares up and slows down as it pleases. There is not pattern that I can figure out, but it certainly is vicious. After my last appointment with the doctor that was supposed to be the leading skull-base surgeon in the AF, I gave up on the system once again. I thought I would never see another doctor again and I would just deal with this myself and learn to live with it. To me, it seemed better not to see doctors and not see any progress than to constantly be hoping that THIS doctor would be the one, only to be disappointed after every appointment. But thankfully, I didn't think like that for very long and this week I picked up the phone and scheduled some more appointments. I'm praying for the forcefulness to demand some new doctors and more tests, including a vertical MRI. We'll see...
Tomorrow is Sunday! Be happy!
I'm still trying to decide what to do about school. I will be going to school, I just don't know what I'll be doing yet. My motto is from Steel Magnolias: I can't think about that today, I'll think about that tomorrow!
It looks like Dirk is the most excited about me quitting my job. He has already enlisted me to be the church "secretary", which really means I will do all the things that he has no time to do. I'm excited about doing his phone and computer work so I can stay in my pajamas and burn my makeup. Oh happy day.
As I said, I'm not doing well physically right now. This thing that I have, whatever I have, seems to be somewhat cyclical. It flares up and slows down as it pleases. There is not pattern that I can figure out, but it certainly is vicious. After my last appointment with the doctor that was supposed to be the leading skull-base surgeon in the AF, I gave up on the system once again. I thought I would never see another doctor again and I would just deal with this myself and learn to live with it. To me, it seemed better not to see doctors and not see any progress than to constantly be hoping that THIS doctor would be the one, only to be disappointed after every appointment. But thankfully, I didn't think like that for very long and this week I picked up the phone and scheduled some more appointments. I'm praying for the forcefulness to demand some new doctors and more tests, including a vertical MRI. We'll see...
Tomorrow is Sunday! Be happy!
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