Time for an update I guess. There's alot going on and life is chaotic, but we're managing just fine. Mom is healing nicely, she's able to walk more and more without her walker, and she felt well enough today for me to take her to get her hair cut. These are all good things.
Thanksgiving was great. We had around 50 people here and more than enough food to go around. Thanksgiving at our house has always been an all-day affair and this year was no different--we had people stay from 11:30am till 10pm. It was definitely loud and crowded but we all had so much fun together. From playing football, to cooking the last minute food, to watching the Macy's parade, to eating all the food, to watching the football games, to eating desserts, to walking the dogs around the neighborhood, to taking alot of pictures, to playing board games, to eating more food, to telling funny stories, to listening to the kids play, to jumping on the trampoline, to rocking babies to sleep, it was a good day. I was so grateful that all the families that were here didn't mind a bit that it wasn't as fancy as previous years or that things weren't as organized as Mom usually has them. Everybody understood that we were down a Mom and a Beth, so we just all kicked back and had a good time.
Well, I registered for school last week. I'm just going to take 14 hours in the spring...not nearly as much as I used to take, but I figure it's better to start back slowly. Only one class will be online and all the rest will be on campus. I decided to go ahead and start where I left off (on the nursing track) and just see what happens. After researching and weighing my options over the last few months, I couldn't think of anything else I really wanted to do besides nursing. I really have no idea if the nursing school will let me do the clinical training required to graduate, but I'll go ahead and finish all the classroom hours I can and then worry about the clinicals later. Maybe I'll be in a different position health-wise by then.
I could probably write a book on my thoughts about going back to school and maybe I will write a post on that soon, but for now I'll just say that I'm quite nervous and I need constant reminders not to worry about it. It's still 6 weeks away though, so hopefully I'll get all my worrying out of the way by then. :)
It's been a month since I quit my job and I have not regretted that decision for a single day. I knew when I quit that it was the right thing to do, but I still thought I'd look back after a few weeks and be sad. Nope. I feel nothing but relief every time I think about it. Most of that is probably due to the fact that my parents need me around the house right now and I'm able to take over Mom's place while she's down. And even when I'm sitting at home doing nothing, it's just a relief to know that if someone needs me, I'm available. Available is something I definitely was not during my 60 hour work weeks.
I've also noticed a huge change in how I'm feeling since I quit. The muscle tension and and my overall stress level has greatly decreased and that has made an incredible difference in how I feel. And it just feels good to be home. Home is good.
I'm leaving for Virginia on Saturday! I'll be up there for 3 weeks and hopefully Baby Judah will cooperate and decide to come early so I can spend lots of time holding him. It will be a fun (oh, and freezing) trip and I can't wait to meet Judah and see the rest of the kids!
I have a post in the works of more Funny Warren Moments, since it seemed to be such a big hit last time. stay tuned!
11/28/07
11/11/07
encouragement
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.
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.
11/6/07
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.
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