Deja vu...

I made a quick trip to see my older son's family yesterday and to help out after my granddaughter had tubes put into her ears. She was fine, but parents were frazzled, and it so brought back memories. I was totally sympathetic and told my daughter in law to go take a nap. 4:30 mornings are not fun and just irritate the natural trepidations of any kind of surgery on a child. My son went on to work, but would have rather taken a long nap, too.

My younger son had surgeries until he was in the fifth grade, and I am hopeful that my grand will not need them again. Everything was going fine until I changed her diaper. She was scalded from the antibiotics and started screaming, so mommy woke up from a much too short nap.

After checking that her chick was OK, she did get a mental break while we played outside for the rest of the morning. I left her with a reminder to take another nap when her daughter did. I never would have survived the toddler years without regular naps.

As I drove home, I remembered my most traumatic times with my own kids. My older son was pretty healthy, but I remember the anguish of a sprained ankle. He insisted that he was OK and could ride his bike, but I still wonder if I should have taken him to the doctor just to be sure it was "just a sprained ankle." It was much more complicated with the younger son. He had years of tubes, paper implants, and finally at age 10, a tissue implant. He also had his tonsils and adenoids taken out and will always have to stay clear of small ponds and such.

I remember one really hard time when my husband was in Corpus with a hip replacement, and my son was in Victoria with a tubes surgery. I was flying low between Victoria and Rockport when a state trooper pulled me over. He asked if I even knew how fast I was driving, and that was when I broke down. I boohooed that my baby had just had tubes put in and my husband wanted me at his side at 6AM, and I was just concentrating on getting home. He made me promise to use my cruise control, and I dutifully drove home on 55. He didn't ticket me, but I never speed through that little town anymore. I mentally give thanks that God uses state troopers to keep us safe.

As my kids and their kids travel through the challenges of raising children, I am constantly reminded that children are best raised by young parents. The energy it takes to just keep up is a challenge. I was fine as a parent, but I must admit that after playing with grands, a much needed nap always follows. I always leave happy, and am thankful that my kids let me share in the adventures of parenthood. I continue to pray for all members of my family. I pray for their health, happiness, and wellfare. I pray that they get to see the God moments in their lives. God has abundantly blessed us, and I pray that he continues to do so.

What Day Is It?

Gosh, time just seems to get away from me. I just reviewed my last two posts, and praise the Lord, my daughter-in-law is in remission for a year now. We visited them about two weeks ago, and I have had two cataract surgeries since I last blogged. I can see the print with OTC glasses now, and reading is once again a pleasure. My next appointment will hook me up with a new prescription, and I will be all set for the next 60 years.

My knee is fine, but bursitis of the hips is showing its ugly head again. Man, sometimes I hate getting old, but most of the time I just keep on trucking. Hubby and I made a trip to Victoria town. I visited and shopped with my mom while the brawn worked the trees. We have hired companies in the area to take care of the fertilizing, spraying, and herbicides. Until my hub retires, the only thing we can handle is the trimming and shaping of the trees. There just aren't enough hours in the year.

Plans and invitations for my mom's 80Th birthday are finished and sent. Relatives and remaining friends are calling, and it should be a fun day for her. She seems to be getting weaker each few months that go by, and I am thankful that she has lived as long as she has. She moved her breathing machine to the bedroom, but still refuses to have home help. Stubborn old gal!

My kids and their families are fine, and I thank God everyday for the blessings that they bring to me. I just smile every time I think about them. Such peace I get even on the bad health days. There are more great days than hard days, thank God.
My younger son will deploy for Afghanistan in September, and every time I hear the withdrawal hype on television I think, "Liars." This world just seems to be getting more complex every day. After this deployment, they are going to try to be stationed in Texas. I pray for his protection and God's blessings on him during this stage of life. He had some issues with random killing of innocents during his last deployment, but was honest enough to talk to us about it. I told him that God uses people in ways that no one can ever understand, and that he is to follow orders. His next deployment will have a job description that won't involve these issues. I just want him safe and for him to come home. Such is the prayer of all military moms.

In the meantime, I grasp to understand the happenings in the world. Satellite makes it convenient to see the devastation happening far away and yet not so far. My cousin's nephew is stationed there. As we watch Japan and pray for God's mercy in this recent catastrophe, I wonder if Japan prayed for us during our times of trouble. Sometimes I wonder how God is working in all of this, but I know that he is in control, and it is not for me to question.

Prophesy tells us that these are but the birth pains of troubles to come. These peeks at the future are scary, but I have determined to make the best of my life each and every day. I pray for these countries as they struggle to understand and hope that the next day will be better. Haiti is still struggling and now Japan. I doubt that these will be the only sad topics in the near years to come. God help us to continue to praise you in these times to come.

Mixed Feelings

Once again, I am struggling with my frustrations in life. Don't misunderstand, I have a great life 99% of the time, but the one percent always seems to present itself when my husband is gone, and I get to face the aggravations of that 1% by myself.
I have these totally rude neighbors. They live right behind us. Tonight their excuse for rattling my windows with their speakers is supposedly a birthday celebration for a grandmother, 83 today.
I spoke to these 25 year olds about 2:30 when I was awakened from a much needed nap by the first blasts of the cantina music. I was nice, but asked them to just turn their speakers away from my house. Little did I know that my side neighbors paid them a visit and asked them to tone it down. They complied and said that they would turn it up a bit at 7 pm, but the party for granny would be over by 9 PM. Well, it is almost 10, and I have my TV volume turned to its highest notch, I still hear the boom, boom of the base.
It's a good thing that I am a night owl, but I am so ready to move......I want my nice, quiet, gated apartment back. For now, if these ill mannered people don't tone it down by 11PM, I am calling the constable. Maybe the law can shut them down.......

Prayers Answered

Once again, I have been praying for my kids' families. My younger son's wife is now in remission for her 9 month scan. I am praising the Lord for preserving that sweet family which is so precious to me. I can't imagine the anxiety before the tests, feeling good, but wondering if I would be clear. My daughter-in-laws both amaze me with their ability to handle whatever life throws at them.

I rest in the peace I get knowing that both families are in God's hands, I firmly believe if God takes you to it, He will get you through it. So many young women are getting cancer these days, and my prayers and heart goes out to them. I pray that God will bless all the people I know who are being treated for this disease. I pray specifically that God will grant them the peace that comes from faith in God at times like these.

I really don't know how unbelievers make it through the challenges of life and sometimes the life threatening diseases that are so prevalent in today's society. I will pray that all I know will find relief in their darkest hours, and that God will give them a peak at the light at the end of the tunnel.

Good news from my husband about his mom. Her hospital stay isn't over, but it is not life threatening. She will be released on Sunday, and he will come home. He has been down this road so many times with me and my mother. The hospital isn't the most exciting place to be, but our parents receive great comfort when we can be there with them. This decade of our lives will involve many hospital stays, and we have mentally geared up for these times. Many of our friends are in the same circumstances, and all have pretty much accepted the challenge of part time caregivers. In years to come we will be glad that we took the time to be there for our loved ones.

Just a Chuckle on Aging

My favorite aunt turned 76 this year, so I sent her a card wishing her a happy 75Th. She informed me last year that she'd had her last birthday. As a baby boomer who turned 60 this year, I completely understand, and I too have endured my last age recognition birth date.

Never ask a women her age used to be the standard rule for good manners, and I am in favor of taking a stand for this rule and applying to my life from this year forward. In twenty years, I think I would rather have people comment that I sure look poorly for a 60 year old instead of commenting you can tell she's 80, bless her heart. I admit that I have a weird way of thinking, but I would rather retort, that's because I am really 80 instead of the polite "and I feel it or and I have earned every one of these gray hairs." I doubt seriously if there will be any gray hairs during this decade either, but one never knows. I might up and decide that I don't mind looking my age and regard my life as a triumph of sorts. I doubt that too.

Writing to Relieve Stress

Once again, I am venting just for my own posterity. It helps. I look back at past posts and think, huh, that is just so unimportant in the real scheme of life. I wonder what triggered my desperation at the time. God is my witness, I am just a worrier. I worry when I don't understand. I worry when no one seems to be able to make me understand. Then, I wonder why I don't understand. I am a fairly intelligent person. I know spiritually that I am not supposed to worry, but I just can't help myself. I tell myself to go on about my business, and do just about anything to distract my thoughts. That results in stupid chest pains that always, always, always have been nothing more than a panic attack in the making. I now curb this anxiety with deep breathing exercises instead of pills. I have finally evolved into an almost in control person I think.

My latest debacle in life has been brought about by a business venture to round out our portfolio. In theory it was supposed to work, and be relatively self sustaining due to income from dividends already in place. The market has dictated otherwise. As a logical person, I know the market will turn in 18 to 24 months, but the trick is to hang on without losing too much of our retirement in the process.

My husband is gainfully employed and always has been. He retired once and is now working in the same capacity, but for more money. The family budget is secure. We have been able to stay even with the investment with our personal funds, but it is tiresome. I am a wizard when it comes to handling the family budget. My husband will willingly give me credit for that. What I am not a genius at is handling large sums of money and the understanding of the interest, what kind of interest, and how that interest affects my pocket book. I am learning. It costs to learn these kinds of lessons. Our accountant says thank you very much with each installment.

The saddest part of this irritation in life is that I had the resources to have avoided it all in the first place. My older son has his Masters in Business, and understands most of the ins and outs of business. It gave me comfort to talk to him last night even when he explained that this wasn't the way we should have invested. He gave me pointers on how to undo the damage, and it will work. He asked if we would be able to handle the work involved until the business was off the ground,and ironically that is the same question I asked myself at the beginning of this venture.

It is possible that I will find relief this week as we talk to bankers about a proper business loan. There is much to be learned ahead, and as long as I don't panic, I will be able to absorb and apply the knowledge.

Yep, just blog to relieve stress.........

No More Stuff

I Facebooked that there isn't enough Crown in the world for the life collections that are now relocated in our garage. I read that Americans are the only people who store crap in their garages while the 30K+ vehicles sit out in the weather. We are now officially a part of that subculture. It is all I can do to walk into the garage these days.
On one brave trip through, I noticed a box of stuffed animals and huge dinosaur puppets. Just what two, over the hill, almost retired people need for amusement in their golden years!!! Never fear, I think a garage sale is in the future. I hate garage sales, having them verses going to them. I am often sidetracked by a sign or two.
I could also go through each box and then wonder why this or that was saved in the first place. I will just become frustrated if I do that, at least in this busy month.
About February I will tire of getting out in the rain to run errands and begin the job of sorting. Who knows, I might find some treasures........