Friday, February 29, 2008

Leap Day Blues


Well, I am not exactly leaping on this Leap Day, I am resting at home after a scary day yesterday. If your read my friend, Natalie's blog yesterday, then you read that several of us had scary days yesterday!

I have been dealing with a certain uncomfortable health issue for awhile now...I have had HUGE amounts of irregular cramping and bleeding over the last few MONTHS...not long ago, the doctor did an ultrasound, but the lining of my uterus was so thick it was hard to see anything, so he suggested a d&c. The surgery I was supposed to have next week was quickly moved up to yesterday. I was right in the middle of my second class, and I had this frightening feeling that I was bleeding...on the carpet. Not the best thing for middle schoolers to see, so I went to the bathroom to take care of that. (Mind you, I had already been twice to do just that and it was only 9:30 in the morning. If you are a teacher or know one, then you know it is next to impossible to get to the bathroom that many times in one day...) I took a minute to call the doctor's office, and the woman who answered the phone asked if I could come in right that minute to see the doctor. (Normally, I am so obsessive about my job and not leaving my students unless I absolutely have to do so, I would have said, "Of course not...I am a TEACHER....I am at work.") But this time, thankfully, I was scared enough that something just took over me. I explained to my assistant principal (poor man...I usually say more than I need to when I am nervous) then I just left. I did not worry that I had no substitute, no lessons that someone else could do with them...I just left.

It worked out that they could add me on the the end of my doctor's surgery schedule for the day. (He does them on Thursdays.) I walked right across the parking lot, signed myself in, and started calling my family and friends. The procedure was fast, and I just remember waking up with a sore throat and a bit of cramping. I slept most of the evening, and the sweet daughter took care of dinner and phone calls. My parents were AMAZING, as I had driven myself to the doctor's office, and could not drive home after surgery. They managed to make it down there for hugs and kisses just before I went back. Daddy drove me home, and mom drove my car. They brought groceries that the daughter would find it easy to cook for us over the weekend. The husband brought me ice cream for my sore throat.

So, today, I feel a bit like I was hit by a truck, but I am taking it easy and resting. Please pray that the bleeding and cramping will STOP! I am a little nervous that it won't. After 35 consecutive days of it, I do not know what I will do if this does not make it better.

Thanks for checking in with me...if you have time, go by and check on Nat's H. He must be feeling like he was hit by a truck today too.

Hope your Leap Day is lovely! Have a happy weekend...

(Image credit: http://theblogofthefrog.blogspot.com/2008/01/save-frogs.html)

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

An Avalanche of Creativity





This is what my dining room table looks like when the daughter and I both get late night creative urges, and we are in a whirlwind of creation... I know, scary, isn't it?


My very best friend in the whole wide world is having a birthday this week, and I am working on a tiny scrapbook for her. The theme? RODEO NIGHTS, of course. Every year for her birthday, I purchase rodeo tickets for us; we go to dinner, head to the rodeo, get seated, "yeehaw" like lunatics, and have ourselves a right good time! This year, we will be heading out on Friday evening to participate in the fun. To celebrate this time in our lives, a traditon, I am creating this book for her. I have not felt so great during the last few weeks, so I have obviously waited until what feels like the last minute! Hence my creative fury.


The daughter's boyfriend is away at the moment, and she is missing him like crazy, so she's working on a scrapbook / journal that my innovative friend Natalie taught us how to fashion out of a composition notebook. It is really an amazingly simple thing that makes the finished book look so cool. I will post photos of both finished products as soon as they are done.


I must confess, seeing the dining room table (in the above photo) made my head spin a little bit when I arrived home from work several minutes ago. How can we possibly get any work done in that? We really are able to accomplish so much, but it would seem that productive work couldn't possibly happen there! LOL...


It made me wonder...what does your creative space look like? Are you messy when you create (as we certainly are) or are you completely organized and neat? What kind of space works best for you? I would love to hear your thoughts.


I hope the rest of your week is a fabulously creative one!

Monday, February 18, 2008

BSM: Color Creeps In





I live in the south, and the winter weather here is sporadic at best. One day it might be 75 degrees, only for us to discover the next morning that it has dropped to 29 degrees. Local people pray for warmer temperatures, but I am really one of those strange sorts that does not. I always hope for snow...lovely fresh falling snowflakes that make the world stop (literally) and wait for the whisper of winter. It is rare here for it to snow, but it does once every so often. When it does, I was not kidding, everything here shuts down- schools, stores, traffic (except for those truly foolish people who think they can drive it in without any precautions of any kind...we always see them in a ditch on the nightly news). It is just so rare and usually unexpected, that we do not have the means to prepare the roadways.



Alas, it is nearing the end of February, so the likelihood of snow for me is disappearing with every new sunrise. Yesterday, we had horrible thunderstorms, and even tornado sightings, so the weather was quite unpredictable. I did not even leave the house. Still not feeling terribly well, and sometimes I just hate driving and being in such rainy weather. Sunday found me curled up on the couch with a book and the cats. The weather was so bad, I thought I would have to rely on the photo of the painting above my fireplace...(I love the reds and blues; it is a painting done by a young girl in Romainia. My oldest brother scored it off of EBay and gave it to me when he moved.)




I am off from work today, as it is a holiday. So, this morning, I ventured out into our yard to see precisely what damage we had from the storm, if any. I imagined that all traces of color would have been washed away with the torrents of rain that came through. However, I spotted these dainty pink blooms hanging on for their sweet smelling lives! Also, the rain made the moss between the stepping stones look a refrshing green color. The sight of these shades actually made my heart ready for the upcoming burst of glory that spring is here. It literally is right around the corner.
I hope your Monday is a lovely one. For more color, see Tracy and the gang.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Old Photo Friday: The Cadence of Us

(Circa 1980 something)

19 years we have shared together...and more to come.

This man is amazing. He does the laundry, even the ironing. He puts up with all of my crap, my issues, my enormous rear end, and so rarely complains. He makes me laugh. He supports me when I cry. He loves me unconditionally, in spite of so much. He works harder than anyone I know. He has so many talents that make me proud.

When I look at this old photo, my favorite from around the time when we first met, I see our carefree days of youth when we only thought things were complicated. Back then, the biggest thing we really had to face was an unplanned pregnancy...that turned out to be our greatest gift! Life was so much easier back then...little did we know!

God has blessed us with so much, and I realize daily that I do not deserve any of it. The blood of Jesus covers me...I am whole and forgiven because of it, but I sometimes struggle with the realization that God loves me that much!

This man, the one that I love, in the last three years has endured unbelievable things... a heart surgery for an extemely rare condition, brain surgery to remove a softball size tumor, a second surgery nine months later to remove the golf ball size tumor that grew back in the same place. Through all of this, this man has remained strong, confident, capable, filled with faith and love. He is my miracle. I love him more than I could ever fully express.

This past summer, while working on my master's degree, in my poetry class, I wrote a poem for this man. I will share it with you as a lame attempt for you to catch a glimpse of how much I love and appeciate what we have.



The Cadence of Us
For A.

Your hand brushes against my bare shoulder
Skee be de bop
I feel your fingers playing on the base of my neck
Shoo be do bee
Your embrace is electric
Skee be de bop bop bop
I lean in closer
Shoo be do bee wop bop
Your hand guides my chin up close to yours
Skee be de bop bop bop oodlee aw wop
Our eager lips meet
Shoo be do bee wop bop bop oodlee oodlee
Ah!
July 2007


I hope you are able to snuggle up with a special someone this weekend and make some jazz!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Thursday Theme: Pure





Pure BLISS.
Eighteen. First love. Valentine's Day. Need I say more?
For more with Thursday's Theme, click here.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Wordless Wednesday: Foreign Finds in My Home

(Philippines)




(India)
Go here for more Wordless Wednesday posts!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Not BSM, but best weekend find...


Not feeling so great...nothing hugely wrong...just not feeling like myself lately. Had a great time at the conference...sadly, no photos though! Absolutely no time for that...was disappointed, but amazed by all that I learned there, especially amazed by a keynote speaker I heard- a Georgia author, Melissa Fay Greene, who has written a book called There is No Me Without You. As soon as I am able, I am heading straight to the bookstore to purchase this book. She made me laugh, cry, think, worry about the world, DREAM...I wanted to know her, have coffee with her, chat about her story...or at the very least, curl up in my bed and READ her fabulous book. Now, THAT I can do.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Mini-vacation

Road trippin' with my very best friend in the whole wide world, S.
We are off on an adventure...a conference for English teachers at Callaway Gardens! YIPPEE...
No school, no families, no responsibilities...well, not many...when I return, I will post some photos of our grand journey. This poem, S. once shared with me, expresses what we feel about the going...the trip...the part that we enjoy most. Hope you like it as much as we do. Enjoy the rest of your week!

The Sacred
by: Stephen Dunn

After the teacher asked if anyone had
a sacred place
and the students figeted and shrank

in their chairs, the most serious of them all
said it was his car,
being in it alone, his tape deck playing

things he'd chosen, and the others knew the truth
had been spoken
and began speaking about their rooms

their hiding places, but the car kept coming up
the car in motion,
music filling it, and sometimes one other person

who understood the bright alter of the dashboard
and how far away
a car could take him from the need

to speak, to answer, the key
in having a key
and putting it in, and going

Wordless Wednesday: Middle School Pajama Party




(Sort of Wordless Wednesday) Sweet, well behaved children, home-made hot chocolate, cookies, games, and pajamas at school- What fun!!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Blood, sweat and tears

I feel ridiculously foolish...and I am in a tad bit of pain.
Spent most of today at a local emergency medical site...slammed my finger in the car door. This is completely why they call these things "accidents." I honestly do not know how this happened! I just recall snatching my hand out of the door and seeing the blood gush. I was worrying about my fabulous boots that I got for Christmas (LOL); no blood stains on them, when all of a sudden...the pain hit!
Let's just say that I would be the first person to spill the beans if anyone was ever threatening to make me reveal secrets by removing my fingernails! (You know you've seen that on movies, where they use torture tactics to make people talk!) Anyway, I had seven shots, three x-rays, one fingernail removed, stitches in the nail bed, two perscriptions, and a woozy head when it was all said and done. I am THE worst kind of baby with NO tolerance for pain. The husband most likely has sore spots on his hand where I grabbed and held so tight.
So, I have been resting in bed the rest of the day coasting on a cloud of pain medicine. I will be fine...just wanted to admit to being THE clumsiest person on earth. This post has taken FOREVER to type, so I am going to go crawl back beneath my cozy comforter now.
Hope you had a nice weekend!

Friday, February 1, 2008

Old Photo Friday- 5 Generations

Butter beans, fresh field peas, snap beans, fried chicken, home-made buttermilk buiscuits, sweet tea, and Milky Way cake. These days are long gone. This photo, circa 1989, represents my heritage. My father's people are from Dublin, Georgia...down home seriously southern folks who know how to cook and know how to eat. Besides me and the daughter, my father is the only one in the photo that is still living. In years past, he has had to bury both of these women who helped raise him into the most amazing man. I ADORE my dad. He has taught me so much in my life- about generosity, work ethic, loyalty, patience, and unconditional love. This is the man that I had to tell, at seventeen, that I was pregnant. This is the man who was disappointed, but did not take long to wrap his arms around me and say, "It's going to be alright." This is the man that I am so thankful to have in my life. I could not have asked God for better parents. Just wait until you meet my mom!

Have a fabulous weekend...hope you are able to enjoy your family!