Just a few days to go....

I made my last trip to Walmart yesterday, I am planning a grocery trip on Friday or Saturday and then that is it. I am extremely proud of my spending this year. I didn't overdo it and it feels pretty good at the moment. There are plenty of gifts under the tree and Robert even has a few surprises, the main things he wanted though were tools and so even though they are for Christmas, I consider them an investment in his future--and still we got them on Black Friday so I got really good prices on them. Andrew and I know everything that is under the tree for each other too, but as I mentioned earlier, they were things we wanted and the BF sales, made them so very reasonable. We are taking a weekend trip for New Year's and I would just as leave spend my money then as spend it on stuff just to have things under the tree.....he is the same way.

I have had a bad few days as far as the UC is concerned, calling the doctor today. I went down to 25 mg of prednisone Saturday. Sunday afternoon I started cramping and this morning, I am bleeding. I have kinda figured out the target so I know if he ups the prednisone again, what to try to avoid at all costs this time. I have also been into some junk food/Christmas food and that just doesn't work for me. When will I learn?  Hopefully today.

So, three more days of work and then off until the 27th, then 3 more days and I start vacation. I really don't have a lot to do this weekend and that feels great. Dust and sweep the house, cook Christmas dinner and that's about it. I am also (once again) very happy that if I want to, I can "de-Christmas" the house in an evening--especially if I have Robert take the tree down one of his days home. I am thinking about having that done before we leave for our trip. Robert isn't going with us, work comes first and with books to buy for a new semester, he is needing the money.

I think that's the "Browning report" for right now, nothing too exciting, just keepin' on keepin' on.

Happy Tuesday......

My Christmas Songs of the Year

I regret that I was blogging so little last year that  I didn't put down what my "Christmas song of the Year" was.  I know year before last it was Christmastime is Here--made popular by the Charlie Brown Christmas Special but for some reason, last year....I can't even remember.

This year though, there are two. I alternate depending on what mood I am in. I want my song to be A Christmas to Remember by Amy Grant, and for the most part, it is. I am looking very forward to Christmas this year. My sis and BIL are staying from late Christmas eve until the day after Christmas, that makes Christmas so relaxing, no "hurry and get things done because we gotta go home". Yes, as always, I am hoping for snow.....there is just something about snow on Christmas.

At the same time though (and partially thanks to last week's Glee and my friend Sarah) Joni Mitchell's "River" pops through my head and as much as I don't want to admit it, there are just things about this Christmas that are sad to me. Seems so many people I care about have lost people they care about this year and so many of my friends are going through some real uncertainty and not so good times with their health, family and finances. I have spent a lot of time praying for a lot of friends this year.....I know part of it is we are all getting older but part of me feels like the closer we get to Christ's return, the more we are going to see of this.  It seems like a lot of us have come to realize things like, it's not IF you get cancer, it's WHEN you get cancer. The more we have to realize things like this, the more we have to put our faith in God and just thank him for sending us a Savior, and a Comforter to get us through this.


So, pick which one you are in the mood for and click on the following as my gift to you this Christmas.

A Christmas to Remember

River

The Christmas Countdown

Here we go, two weeks from today and Christmas 2011 will be in the books. Normally by this time I am crazy with trying to get a million things done. I still have a million things on my list but am bound and determined not to let it stress me out this year. It is doable, very doable and I actually plan to have everything done and under control by Saturday--it's a goal and I really can see it working out.

This weeks list:

• Finish the crafts I am making for Christmas presents
• Put finishing touches on homemade cards, sign and send
• Finish shopping for the boy I adopted for Christmas
• Make menus for Christmas day
• Make grocery list for food I am making for presents
• Move craft stuff to the basement (with help and cooperation from the guys)
• Go shopping one last time.

Yep, that looks like the list. Taking this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon off as personal time--taking next Monday too, I think we will do a little shopping that day as well, but if it all goes as planned, it will just be picking up a few things, not really Christmas shopping.

Robert's last Final is this coming Wednesday and then he will be out until the 6th----hope he knows I still have plans for him!

I am really glad now I made the decision not to go overboard this year....I'm already liking that.

Off to work, Happy Monday!

The day finally came!

Back in June, at my first recheck from my first visit to my gastroenterologist, I thought I was doing so much better than I had been--no, I WAS doing so much better than I had been that I was happy with the results. (Warning: bodily function graphics ahead). I had went from an average of 25-30 bathroom trips a day, most without any warning to 7 or 8 and a little warning. I was, at the time, very happy with that, and told my doctor I was doing great. Beleive me, when you go from having NO warning and not even making it from your office to the bathroom, which is just down the hall to knowing you know you have to go, its an improvement--let alone the fact that what you see is more blood that BM. His response" Uh....no, you're not". He told me that day he would consider my Ulcerative Colitis still flaring until I only had 2 or at the most 3 bowel movements a day, and not be diarrhea. I thought he was dreaming but we went to work on upping prednisone continuously until the 19th of November, it finally happened.

I got up that morning and went to the bathroom...normal stool. At about 8 p.m, I had my second one, still normal. It has been that way ever since and I have still been in shock. I have not been like this in over 2 years.  I am loving every minute of it.  The look on Dr. Peterson's face, he is too.  When I told the nurse how great I was doing, she said, "You will make his weekend, you are his last patient of the day." And it DID seem to make his day.  I love that he loves what he is doing enough to get really excited about the results.

I told him I was having the normal side effects of the prednisone now that I didn't have diarrhea, weight gain. He is so funny, he is probably 6 foot tall, about my age, or a couple years older and not a string bean. He had put in my last notes that I was "slightly overweight", I giggled about it for two days because as flattered as I was, facts are facts, I'm fat.

Anyway, he told me if I "wanted" to start working on the weight he would help me, so we are starting that journey. Eventhough I am supposed to write down every bite I eat and count the calories, I am not supposed to look for anything to happen for a few more weeks because of the prednisone. He took the time to explain to me why the prednisone causes people to gain wait. You know that commercial on tv about women and cortisol? Well, prednisone is a manmade form of cortisol. Healthy cotisol levels should be around 7 mgs in the human body at any one time. I am taking 40 mg every day......my body has stopped producing the cortisol because it senses the prednisone, but having the 40 mgs still causes the same effects--hunger and weight gain. I dropped to 30 mgs yesterday and will decrease 5 mg a week until I get to 10. He warned me that when I drop below 10 (which I will do at 2 1/2 mg intervals instead of 5) I will have some days I feel rough, no relapse or anything (we hope) but my body will need to start adjusting to making it's own cortisol again and it will kinda shock my system. See why I think this guy is great?  He took the time to prepare me.

Any sign of going back to a flare, and I call him, otherwise, he doesn't want to do a colonoscopy because it has been so long since I have felt normal that he doesn't want to run the risk of throwing me into another flare...also most appreciated here.

So today I start yet another chapter in my life. I have kinda joked around that I couldn't lose weight because then I would be perfect----seriously, I'm JOKING!! But it does seem to be the only thing I have never been able to tackle if I tried, now I am going to try harder. Don't know what I will end up with but I never knew how much I missed something until I couldn't do it. I am ready to get back on a routine.

On a brighter note, shopped til I dropped yesterday with Mom, good times, I'm glad she was able to go with me--made the day a treat in every way.

The Big 2-0

It is really hard to imagine that 20 years ago today, I became a wife. What a wild ride it has been, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Don't know if I ever shared this, but when I first started working for Walmart, Rita Seimer introduced me to the overnight manager, his name was Drew and the first time I met him, he was wearing a purple shirt with a frog on it, it said "Kiss me, I might be a prince". Rita even commented to me about the shirt after she and I walked away--she had bought it, I said, it was cute. She asked if I meant the shirt or Drew. I just laughed, but the thought honestly did cross my mind.

"Drew" and I were friends from there on out. He was my boss so he was most definitely off limits but we were still friends. We had a mutual friend who knew more from each of us than he would admit for a long time. I used to catch shoplifters, this friend, whose name was Mike, was my mentor. One day, Mike pointblank told me that he had to tell Drew to let me be that day. I had gotten beat up by a shoplifter one time and after that, if Drew was working, the people would end up dumping what they had.....I had no idea that Drew was making them nervous and making them dump it. Anyway, Mike was the catalyst that caused us to finally go out after work one night. A week later, we went on our first official date  (I was officially done with the Effingham store the night we went out after work--so we could FINALLY date) and 6 weeks later, we made the trip to Kentucky to tie the knot.

Why did I put "Drew"---I had called him Drew for 2 years, on our way to meet his folks, 20 minutes outside of town, he tells me his mom hates for people to call him anything but Andrew. I have called him Andrew ever since.

We are at home this evening, we knew when we got married that doing anything big right before Christmas is impossible if you work in retail. We are planning a trip over New Year's to Louisville. I am taking him to the Ali museum and he is taking me on a New Year's eve dinner cruise.....can't wait!

Into December

It amazes me that time could go any faster, but it does. How is it that I remember those times as a child that it took forever for a certain day here or there to get here?  The day school was out, the first day of a family trip.....Christmas???  Now it seems like it gets here before you know it.

I have decided this year to downsize Christmas as our house---not the meaning mind you, but all the preparation and decorating. I normally decorate every nook and cranny in the house and yesterday morning, I decided I wasn't doing it. I have the tree up, the mantle decked out and of course the porch as well as the kitchen is decorated and I have declared it enough. I couldn't do it on my own though, I had to have someone validate my thoughts. I called my mom, not home. So when Robert got up, I asked him if it would be okay.....yep, he says, "I always thought you went overboard anyway". So, when Mom called, I told her I had decided to do this.....her response: "I always thought you went overboard anyway". So there you have, my official permission to get by with this. Yes, pangs of guilt sweep up every once in a while and I think, "I should just run up and get this, or that and put it out. I hate the "I have to do it all" syndrome I have....and am fighting it like killing snakes. My reward is telling myself over and over again, it will only take me about half a day after Christmas to get life around here back to normal.  We have a couple of other projects in the works so eventhough I am planning vacation the week after New Years, I really do like the idea of it not being spent taking down Christmas. Whew, now that's off my chest.

The main project we are getting ready for is the basement. It is not finished and we have no big schemes to finish it now either. We are repurposing it though. It had always been the "teen cave" but now, with Robert's friends scattered, it hasn't been used for that lately. When his friends do come home, they end up in the family room now, if here at all. So, Robert is needing more room in the garage to work on cars, Andrew is wanting a place to do woodworking ( which he never honestly got to do with his shop in the garage because it was always pushed aside to work on cars) and I want a craft room. I made my own Christmas cards this year, and the fact that I had my dining room a mess while doing it drove me nuts. We are still in the moving stuff down there and laying out plans stage but I am hoping to have everything 100% by the end of the first week of January. Should be great!

I keep waiting for life to slow down because Robert is out of high school, it hasn't, it has just changed. This week, he had ballgames on Friday and Saturday night both to play at for pep band. He went to work after he got home from them, which means he has had a couple of really late nights. Andrew is supposed to be working three twelve-hour days, in reality, he is working three twelves and a nine. And then there is my work, which just remains interesting and crazy and fun all wrapped into one. Thursday I got an email from the state wanting to come and do a site visit on one of our offices.....this was an honor because the people who are working on the software for our new program wants to see how it is working and how we are interacting with it. They want to go someplace where they know the workers know what they are doing. This will happen either Wednesday or Thursday of this week and I have chosen the Paris office for them to visit.

On the medical front, I go back to my gastroenterolist on Friday. I have had, as of today, 2 really great weeks. I have not had one bad day since the 18th of November. The downside----since the diarrhea has stopped, I am getting the typical weight gain from the prednisone that everyone else gets. I do at least feel like getting on the treadmill though so I have been trying to combat it. I believe he will start weening me back of the prednisone, I was not happy thinking about this at first but I think I am ready because this watching what you eat and still gaining is for the birds.

I think that catches up our lives, church this morning, shopping this afternoon, church this evening and then back to the grind tomorrow.

Life is good!

I'm a Believer.......

in cataract surgery.  I had seen a couple of people have this surgery and come out the other side being able to see better than they had in years but tonight I saw it first hand. My 84-year-old uncle had a cataract removed around 4:30 this evening. At 5:17, he could see the clock, through the bad eye, with a steel mesh patch over it....unbelievable. 

The thing that I got the biggest kick out of though was my mom. She has spent WAY more than her fair share in operating rooms, which tallies up to me, and various members of my family spending same said time waiting. There is a reason God put her on the table, she is not a good waiter. I thought it was funny, I know she didn't, but I remember countless times that she would be in surgery for 6 to 8 hours and we would be waiting. They took Uncle Jr back at 10 til 3, they called at 10 after 5, those apparently were the longest 2 hours of her life. She started worrying at 5 after 3 and by 10 til 5 was about fit to be tied.


Anyway, I don't believe you could say anything except the surgery was a success. They go back tomorrow but all the way home, he was telling what he could see and how happy he was.  Yep, I'm a believer.

Happy 47th Baby!

Andrew celebrated his 47th birthday yesterday. He spent the day working, 7:30 a.m. to 8 last night. His request for his birthday though was still a steak and a pineapple cheesecake.

So, at 8:45 last night, I treated him to a very rare New York strip, baked potato, scalloped corn (the way his momma made, not the way I made), Texas toast and his pineapple cheesecake. It dawned on me earlier this year that I have been a terrible wife all this time. His favorite cheesecake is Pineapple, I make it once a year......why? I don't know, because that is what I always fixed him for his birthday, and for some dumb reason, it never occurred to me that he could enjoy it other times as well. Oh well, New Year's resolution, make my husband more pineapple cheesecake.

What did he get for his birthday? Well, he is wanting some major work done on the jeep, before winter. Most of it he and Robert can do themselves, but some has to be taken to a machine shop to be customized. That's what I am paying for. Then, just because I couldn't let him not have a present to open, he got a beard trimmer and a nose hair trimmer set. Probably age-appropriate there on the nose hair thing, it says you can also use it on your ears, yep, he's starting to need that too. 

Anyway, back to the grind today, but at least we had a little birthday in there!

Black Friday---GREAT Friday

Anyone who knows me knows that I think my kid is about as perfect as anyone could get here on earth--99% of the time anyway. Today, I think I kinda realized why I think that--he is my kid, through and through. And as he turns into an adult, I love the fact that I still love spending time with him and more importantly, that he loves spending time with me.

This morning, we left at 3:30 and headed to Evansville for Black Friday. I had a list 3 pages long, complete with the addresses to type into Georgia, the GPS. Our first stop was supposed to be Lowes, to get Robert an impact wrench set he was wanting, it was one of the doorbuster specials and low and behold, YESTERDAY, you could buy Lowe's Black Friday stuff online and pick it up in the store today. That cut an hour off our time, so our first stop was Menards @ 6:00. When we arrived, people were lined up all the way out to the highway. Cars were parked in the grass medians, in the road, behind other cars....my first thought was it wasn't worth it, but quite honestly, the Menards list was the longest, and had Andrew's entire Christmas wish list on it. Robert was driving, he drove around for a little bit and would you believe, some guy, who had the parking spot RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OUT DOOR, decided to leave, and we were sitting right there. He started backing out and Robert put on his turn signal. There was a Cadillac Escalade, pulled up behind the guy, I KNOW he saw our turn signal but started to pull forward. Robert put his foot in it and pulled in the parking spot. I started to say something and he said, "Would you have not done the exact same thing?" and in all honestly, I had to answer yes (while yelling TOWANDA!!! of course). He says, "Then shut up!". That was probably the only hint of rude we saw all day. We sat in the car until they unlocked the doors, very calmly walked to the end of the line, entered the store, asked a lady where some key things were and away we went. I went to get the cricut cartridges and Robert went for everything else. Believe it or not, when we met back up, we had found (for the most part Robert had found) everything on our list except one $5.oo trimmer and nobody had asked for it, it was just something I thought would be good to have. So then we get up to the line for the register and not one, but two people told us to get ahead of them because they were still waiting on other people. That was the only crazy place we were in and it was great. The next stop was to find me a P-touch labeler. If you know me, you also know I am an organizational freak. I have one of these at work and love it. I have had so many thoughts on how I could use this at home--one of the main ones is labeling all the tops of the dresser drawers so when Andrew puts my clothes away when doing laundry, he knows where they go. Last year, I missed them at Staples, they were $10.00. The one I have at work I got for free so I didn't know how much they were. I thought it was no big deal, I would just buy one anyway.....$40, yes, I am a tightwad when I know that one day a year, I can get it for $10. So I have waited, for the last 365 days. Today, we left Menards and headed for Staples, but on the way, I saw Office Depot and knew they had the labeler for $10 also. We pulled in, Robert dropped me off at the door, I walked in, asked the guy where they were, he took me right to it and handed me one. I was in Duck heaven! Meanwhile, Robert nabbed his SECOND front door parking space of the day. Harbor Freight was next on the list, this would finish out both guy's Christmas lists. We went in, got everything we needed, out, loaded the big thing (a 12 ton press--Robert's Christmas from Nana) into the van and we were off again. At this point, absolutely everything that was a "have to have" was marked off the list. We hit several other stores and bought several more things--Robert new boots, me a new cape and purse, another cricut cartridge, Christmas decorations.....yep, it was a haul and the best part was, we just plain out had fun.


So, we arrived home at 2:30, took a nap until 4 and decided to decorate the porch with the new garland I bought today. The garland was so nice ($30 for $6 nice) that I decided we needed new lights for it. So, we loaded up and drove back to Olney to Walmart, came home and our porch is now decked out for the holidays.

I love my life........as I started to type this, Robert brought me a hot chocolate with peppermint marshmallows, yep, don't think it gets much better.

So, it is officially the "Christmas season" for me. I love this time of year. This will be my 20th Christmas with Andrew, we get to celebrate our anniversary in just a little over a week.

I have been asked by several people why I dont' blog anymore. I honestly didn't know anybody every still read it, I miss blogging honestly and have decided to try to get back at it. So, this is my New Year's resolution, but I'm gonna start practicing now.

Happy Black Friday everyone!

What a Ride

Okay, so I have some friends out there who think my life is a real adventure. There are a lot of days that I really don't see what they do, but today; reflecting over the last few months--it is nothing short of one wild ride.

We start a new part of the LIHEAP program tomorrow. a new optional benefit is being added to the line-up. Normally, we help low income families by paying a lump sum towards their utility bills in the winter. Two years ago, a new law was passed by the Illinois Congress that we offer a Percentage of Income Payment Plan. It is a good deal for families who are trying to work their way to a better life--the downside is right now, the only clients it is available to are Ameren clients. I believe that will change over the next few years. The deal is, most middle class families spend between 3% and 6% of their income to pay their heating and electric bills. Low-income families can pay between 20% and 50%. The PIPP (pronounced Pip-not P-I-P-P) lets the customer pay 6% of their income a month towards their bill and we will pay an additional amount up to $150 a month. Of course, this is the "simplest form", there are a lot of rules, and hoops as normal, but I am still excited about the prospect. We have been running a "Pilot" program for two years, I have 110 clients over 9 counties that have been participating religiously.
Up until now, it has all been by hand, and not under the mandates of the state law. The law requires the PIPP go into effect by September 1, 2011. I have spent most of the summer working with a group of people from all over the state helping lay this thing out and make it run smoothly. As far as the program itself, I believe it is in the best position it could be to begin. We have a new computer system along with it and even though it is not perfect, I believe with time, it will be good. I have also been involved with the look and feel of a lot of this.

This past weekend, we were supposed to get those people we already have in the program into the system. My part was supposed to get done Saturday, that didn't happen due to unforeseen problems with the system. Monday, I worked until 9:15 (I would have stayed longer but Andrew lured me home with Baked Ravioli in the oven). Tuesday, I went in at 6:30 and because the system was down, left at 4. Tonight, I was down to 7 apps that were causing problems. At 7:00 one of the girls from Ameren called and said she had everything she needed from me. I closed my computer.

Now I am looking back over where I have been and what I have become. 11 years ago tomorrow was my first day of my first LIHEAP season. I started working for ERBA 15 days before the previous season was over and just saw an app or two done before we were out of money for that program. I was so very "green" to Community Action. I really didn't know what I was getting into, or how much it would mean to me personally to be "Helping People, Changing Lives". Today I read an article in MORE magazine. It was an article about being able to work for a non-profit. It was so funny because we held a meeting on Monday and I told the girls that I felt like we were the most fortunate of all because people are always talking about helping others, making a difference and seeing change. We get to do all of that AND bring home a paycheck.

Yep, it has been one of the busiest summers of my life, but one I will never forget.

Yep, my 110 families are safe and sound in the PIPP system tonight. And my feeling of accomplishment is almost overwhelming.

Happy Um...Birthday

Yesterday, the kid turned 19. It was an eventful day at our house and we ended up celebrating his birthday at 11:30 last night, approximately 12 hours after the exact anniversary of his birth.

Of course, he started to school Monday and with mine and Andrew's work schedules, Robert realized on Sunday that we would not be in the same house, at the same time before 10 p.m. before Thursday, aka, today.

He knew what he was getting for his birthday and with his college classes starting the next day, he asked if he couldn't possibly open his present on Sunday. So, this is usually reserved for that time in life when your kid is out of the nest, but we celebrated PART of his birthday Sunday evening. He got Dell's equivalent to an Ipad and has been using it daily to take notes at school, so I am glad we gave it to him. It should ensure his test grade from this coming Sunday night being an A.

The second part of his birthday was celebrated with an Ice Cream Cake when he came home from work last night. Andrew managed to get home a few minutes early, so I honestly walked in the door with the ice cream about 5 minutes before Robert had to leave for work. I hadn't ate supper and we had groceries to carry in, so we decided to wait until later.

I went to the doctor yesterday and my prayer for prednisone was answered. Things aren't perfect yet but I already am feeling a difference.

Oh, and yes, I celebrated my 44th last week...highlights was going out for dinner on Sunday, Robert getting me a B&N card for my nook and Andrew paying for my Pampered Chef order. All in all a pretty good time for 44.

Life is crazy, work is crazy, but it's still a good ride.

Happy Thursday!

Getting ready for the crazies.

August is trying to sneak up on me and unfortunately, the laid back times that we have had for the last 6-8 weeks are coming to an end. I'm not sure, but I think I might be okay with that. I honestly think I function better when life is a whirlwind.  I always used to anyway. The UC has changed all that but I have renewed faith in some things with that so we shall see. I stopped ALL of my medicines Tuesday because I felt like I was getting worse with it than without it. I started back on the sulfa medicine yesterday because it is the one that I truly thought was working. When I don't take anything and I am having a flare, I start having a problem urinating. It's weird that my colon could affect that but I physically feel like my colon is so swollen that it is cutting off my bladder. Anyway, I started back on the sulfa meds at noon yesterday and about 3:00 this morning, I woke up needing to pee. I know, it's graphic, but facts are facts. I was REALLY happy that I knew my kidneys were working. I also found a low residue diet yesterday online that is supposed to help people with colon problems. I had originally been told to just make sure I cook most of my veggies--and I had but low and behold, I found out a lot of the foods I have been eating are things that I am NOT supposed to be eating while I am having a flare-raw OR cooked. Broccoli is one of the mainstays of my diet. I knew it was a natural blood thinner and I couldn't eat it if I was bleeding but we eat cooked broccoli at least 3 times a week, cauliflower too for that matter. They are both on the "avoid" list, no matter how they are prepared. Anyway, there were many things on this list that I eat on a daily basis. I am looking forward to seeing what changing the diet does. I really have a renewed energy about this getting better. Sunday and Monday, at Springfield, I was so miserable that I had decided I was probably going to be doomed to surgery. Now at least I have hope for a while. I go back on the 24th, hopefully I will have improved by then. Most people who have this seem to have a flare that last a few weeks and then it goes away for a year or so. Most people don't have more than one flare a year. Honestly, in the last 2 years, I have had 5 really, really normal weeks. Unfortunately, it was only while I was on the prednisone, which doctors say with my age and the dose I have to take (20mg), I can't do on a regular basis.


Anyway, enough of that....on to our "real" life.

I started teaching classes again last Tuesday night. As always, totally different bunch of people. It's going to be a good class and I have 1 more new one joining us this week.

For the most part of the last two years I have been involved in the planning stages of a new program to help low-income families with their utility bills. We are in the final days of the preparation. I get to start actually testing the new computer system for it this coming Wednesday. Everything is supposed to kick off September 1.

The 8th, Andrew goes to a new doctor at Terre Haute for his back. We have friends who believe this guy can help. I have been praying fervently that they are right. 46 is too young to be walking with a cane.

Robert starts school on the 22nd. He GETS to go buy books anytime after next Tuesday---to the tune of about $600. Of course, most of his graduation money went to buy the $1,000+ worth of tools and boxes he needed for school. So very, very thankful he got the scholarships because in the realm of things, we aren't paying much for him to go to school.

To top it off, his car goes to the body shop next Monday, at least he has the El Camino up and running so he can drive it to work next week.

I still have pictures from our St. Louis trip to post, maybe sometime this weekend.

That's life in a nutshell. Happy Saturday y'all, enjoy the weekend!

First One to Fly the Coop

Sunday August 10th, one of my "other" sons left for the Army.  Sure am going to miss this kid being around all the time. This is the one who comes home, even if Robert isn't here yet, let's the dogs out, answers the phone if it rings, raids the fridge and always loves my cooking. He turned 18 on the 20th. Hope he had a happy birthday--as happy as it can get when going through basic anyway.  Already looking forward to his first trip home.

AAGGGHHHH!!!! or ahhhhhhhhhh.....

This post was originally intended to be put up Sunday, was having trouble loading pictures and then ran out of time to work on it.

Talk about a crazy roller coaster ride of a week. This is the epitome. Monday we trekked over to French Lick Indiana for a long overdue daytrip. We started out our trip with a two hour trip on the train.

Andrew's dad was visiting, I think he enjoyed the trip too.

 We saw some absolutely beautiful countryside.

Then we met with some excitement. A group of train robbers.

Yes, they robbed us, at gunpoint if you asked them too. (They were taking up donations for local charities).

Then we decided to check out the hotels. Someone asked which one we stayed at, neither of them THIS time. I am planning on Andrew and I going back by ourselves for a day or two though. This is the French Lick Hotel, it has the new casino attached to it.

The following picture is the closest I will ever get to a casino. Andrew absolutely forbids it. There was a sign that said no pictures but this picture was at the security guard's suggestion. Guess she thought it was funny :-).

So when we go back, I will choose to stay at the West Baden Hotel. It is WAY more laid back and relaxing as you can see below. Both have spas and I will want to take full advantage but French Lick is the exciting one (it reminds me too much of work though, these are the kinds of places we get to stay when we go to national conventions--lots of activities and lots of busy-ness). West Baden, I could sit out on the porch and watch the fountain and the gardens and be perfectly content.

So, life gets back to normal a bit and then this.........

Yes, it is Robert's new car. Last Thursday morning he was headed to a friend of ours to buy tools for school. People think it was a joke, but he really was stopping to save a turtle. The turtle was hit by a semi while Robert was falling into the culvert. We have a lot of good people in Jasper county. One of those "Catch the Spirit, Live the Dream" days for me. The guys with the towing company were so very careful. You cannot tell there is anything wrong with the car just by looking at it. Underneath it, there is some cosmetic damage but had Ron Slane and his company not took the time to get it out, they could have pulled it straight out and totalled it. They had to hold the front end down with a second truck to keep it from flipping. It will be fixed but I am so very thankful to God for watching over him that day and for saving the car that he absolutely loves. I only had my own "first car" a couple of months when I totalled it.

So, this week hopefully will be more calm and relaxing. I hope!

Let the Good Times Roll

So, everybody who has the Cars song stuck in your head now, you're welcome...I did it to myself too, the minute I typed the Title.

I took a long weekend with the holiday being Monday, I decided a couple months ago to take Friday off (Doctor's orders--more downtime and summer is the easiest for me to do that). About a week ago, I found out my FIL was coming for a visit so I decided I would take Tuesday off too. I would have taken the week except for this one report that is due Friday. I can't do it until I get an invoice from Ameren (which will come Tuesday or Wednesday) and then it takes me two or three days to complete it--might as well face fact, I gotta be at work those three days. ANYWAY, I saw this as a perfect opportunity for a day trip. We haven't taken one since March and my loyal readers know that just isn't like us. Of course, we had a week's vacation trip planned for last month and Andrew's vacation was denied--twice. So much for our trip to PA.

The summer before my dad died, we went to French Lick and rode the train. When we went to the cave in March, we went through French Lick and said we would like to go ride the train. I looked it up and low and behold, there is even going to be a robbery that day!  So, tomorrow we are heading for a train ride and the adventure of being robbed--it's good to know these things ahead of time, ya' know?

My camera is loaded and I am ready to take pictures that are blog-worthy, let's see if I make it :-)

BTW, went to eat at the bowling alley while Robert was working last night, that was fun. Of course, our goal was to see how many dishes we could dirty. Unfortunately it wasn't many.

Bob got here yesterday afternoon, we went and ate and watched a stupid, stupid movie on Netflix but hey, the popcorn was good at least :-). Today we are off to church as normal, then just vegging the rest of the day. Hamburgers on the grill tonight. I am packing a picnic for tomorrow's lunch and planning on a trip to the Black Buggy at Washington for dinner. Tuesday, Andrew has to work, and I have a conference call for a couple hours that morning so I think Robert and Bob will head to Effingham to the Corvette museum.

That may be this week in a nutshell.

Facing the Music

So, I went to the doctor a week ago today. My report was not what I expected and I think I have spent the last week letting it sink in.

I really thought I was doing great. How many times have you went to the doctor thinking something was really wrong and the doctor basically tells you that you are fine?  That didn't happen.  I was going back though after the rounds of prednisone and I was expecting, "You look like you are doing great, have a great day and call me if you have a problem." I was expecting them to schedule a colonoscopy just because they had told me last time that they would like to have a more detailed look than what the one at Effingham got.

Well, after a couple minutes with the doctor, I said, "I think I am really doing well". He says, "Not really, I think you are on the verge of another flare-up and if we can't get these under control, your colon won't last you five years". I believe I was in shock. Okay, so here is the partictulars. When I was in my last flare, I couldn't go more than 45 minutes without being in the bathroom, and eventhough I was getting 2 to 3 hours of sleep at a time of a night, I would make it up for it with a minimum of 10 trips to the bathroom the first hour I was up--and always, always, there was more blood than anything. Now, there is no blood THAT I CAN see, and I am down to between 7 and 8 times a day, with 2-3 of those being within 2 hours of getting up AND I am able to sleep all night. Seemed great to me compared to what I had been doing.

The doctor says I can't say I am in remission until I have 4 or less trips to the bathroom a day, I haven't done that in over a year and a half.  He says he won't do another colonoscopy until I can "cool down" and to start two new medicines, one, that if it works, I will take for the rest of my life and the other, a suppository-yea.  They also did blood tests that showed my inflammation is still twice the normal and my platelets are high, which means even though I can't see it, I am still bleeding.

No exercise other than walking (I had started working out with some girls at work three times a week--that's done), no heavy lifting ( I didn't tell him I carried most of the 22 lb bricks to Andrew the week before--not to mention helping loading all of them at Menards) and the big one, I HAVE to learn to take it easy more. At that, I am failing miserably. I can't make myself sit down when I see things that need done and around here, there are always things that need done. I know my house being a mess drive me nuts so I can't just come home and sit in the middle of a mess and even pretend to relax.

So, that's that. I go back on the 24th of August and if he thinks I am doing better, they will schedule the colonoscopy.  He is also wanting to do an upper GI because he said he can't rule out Chron's without it and Effingham didn't do one. He doesn't want to do too much at one time though so that may have to wait awhile.  I believe the suppository is working, it is supposed to help the inflammation, and I have been having really weird feeling cramps, so I would say that is my colon coming down from the inflammation--I hope anyway. His biggest fear about the new oral medicine was that I would have an allergic reaction, so far, so good there, and hopefully it too, is starting to do what it is supposed to, although I haven't really seen a difference yet, I will pray I will soon.

Patio project

Catching up- my baby boy graduates

What a wonderful, emotional weekend. The party for Saturday that I had been planning since December went off perfectly. It was EXACTLY as I envisioned it, some of Robert's friends got here at a little before 4 and our last guests left at about a quarter til 11.

                             

Then came Sunday...THE day.
 

makin' it official

Ready to make the rounds for his friends' grad parties:

Awe-inspiring

I never come to the IACAA conference without going home changed. This year will be no exception. Yesterday, I spent most of the day with a remarkable lady named Donna Beegle. She truly has a wonderful story of getting out of generational poverty, this is probably the hardest type of poverty to ever escape from and I have to admit, when I look at our clients, they are the ones I normally think are least likely to make it out of the system. There are several different kinds of poverty, the two most common are situational and generational. Situational is where something dramatic has happened to change the dynamic of the family and or person. These are the homeless people you see who say, "I had it all and now it's just gone". These people, eventhough it's a struggle, still have a lot of the right connections to pull themselves back out of their situation. 

Generational poverty is one people normally write off. They are the ones that seem to be the target of the most judgement and the least understanding. These are the people who people just think will "never change" or dont even want to. That's not quite the case, however, their outlooks can be very different that what yours are. Most of the time, we have goals and dreams of what we want to be doing in a year, in five years, or even at retirement. People in generational poverty just try to make it through the day. One of the biggest things I have changed about my thinking this week is the judgement perspective. Of course, I had an article about this woman with me last Saturday and had Robert read it. He saw the EXACT same thing glaring at him.

We have all known people who are living in poverty and when you do something to help them, you realize, while going to take them someplace, or bring them something, that they are sitting in their living room watching a bigger tv than you have, or that their kids come to school with brand new Nikes on and you think, "What are they doing?" They should have paid bills with that. The thing is, look around, what does it take to be accepted in America?  Don't kid yourself---it's there. Robert claimed for a long time not to worry about what clothes he had--of course, his has always had the right names on them. Saturday, he admitted. This hits the nail on the head, it is down to if you don't have the right cell phone, people wonder what is wrong with you. Robert sometimes goes through this himself because his trucks aren't as fancy as everyone else's. Yes, we could have bought him a nicer truck, but hmmm..... he has not one but TWO trucks and they are paid for. Most of his friends have car payments, he doesn't and he is going to be a mechanic so he knows what needs done when they need worked on--most of the time it is a no-brainer, but there are days he still gets ribbed over his old trucks.
 Remember, people in generational poverty don't normally look past tomorrow and today, they have the money to go to Rent-to-Own and get a tv and so this is the day they might be happy and accepted.

It also is not as simple as getting a job. A minumum wage job is not going to get anyone out of poverty--and quite frankly, neither is a welfare check, or drawing disablity. Donna said yesterday, there are only two ways to get out of poverty. 1) Get an education, 2) get a skill. Until you start on one of those journeys, you are going to be stuck.

She also pointed out something that I had thought for years.We have all been told all our lives: If you work hard, you will get ahead. Fact is, if you work hard and you have no education, you will NOT get ahead, you will just keep being expected to work hard. Most unskilled laborors get less than a $2.00 raise over the first ten years they work--that's total, and you think about it, that would be a twenty cent raise a year--with little hope of moving up into a better position, because those positions go to the educated. 

Once again, I am coming home with some new ideas and some new perspectives. I have one little quick note to all my friends out there who deal with children. Take pictures. Those in generational poverty believe things like school pictures, are something they can live without (basically because it is something that the other kids might easily overlook when the teachers are handing out the pictures).  There are several school districts now that are working on programs to make sure every kid has a basic package of school pictures. Why?  Donna says she doesn't have a clue what she looked liked as a child, part of that tells her she really doesn't have a history. It IS something that doesn't sound important but down the road--it is. So, when you have an opportunity to snap a few pictures of your kids, your AWANA clubbers, your Sunday School kids, do it, and give them a copy, but save one for them for years down the road too.

Yes, it's a small thing, but it is something you can do.

Happy Tuesday.

The verdict

Met one of my two new specialists Tuesday. This guy's name is Paul Houk and he is the Physician's Assistant to Dr. William Peterson (If you are a CSI fan, you will recognize the name, although Grissom's real name is "Petersen")--anyway, I caught it the first time I heard it--geek that I am.

Paul was in the office with me for an hour. We talked, extensively, about what I had been through, the stress levels in my life, the likeliness of anything stress wise changing (that would be a NO because I LOVE my life the way it is). His wife has this too, so he has first hand knowledge as well as the book knowledge. Becky had taken all the blood tests except the one that showed what degree of inflammation/ infection was going on in my bowels. Well, he just called. Normal is .3-.6. My tests came back 3.3--not a huge shock, we knew things we not good right now although they are better than they were. He said as long as I am not having signs of a flare to keep taking my prednisone and keep my appointment for the 20th.

I am very, very happy with Paul. I meet Dr. Peterson on the 20th, hope to be as happy with him. I finally feel like we have some direction and I confirmed some fears that I was having. My aunt had colon cancer and my mom had a cousin with UC that turned to colon cancer. Not to mention that Mom has had a lot of her own bowels removed because of adhesions. Not the same, but still bowel problems nonetheless. We need to keep me from having flares if at all possible. Every flare increases the risk of the cancer. Paul told me though, if I think I am going to be going through something overly stressful, like an unbelievable deadline, which happens a lot, to call him and we would start some preventive measures. I like that and feel like that too, is a step in the right direction.

Right now, I am battling a stupid cough. Don't know where it is coming from. Last Saturday, my throat hurt, really bad, but it quit hurting by Sunday and by Monday I was doing the coughing thing. It was so bad yesterday I thought I would cough up a lung. I slept in the recliner last night, because it gets worse when I lay down. I am taking Tylenol Cough and Cold because I am afraid to take anything other than Tylenol based OTC's with the UC.

I have a crazy 10 days, gotta whip this. The UC is doing so well, I am just really aggravated that I am being pulled down by what is apparently a cold. Hopefully nursing myself back to health today will do the trick.

Short lived

Today I

• Worked on my bosses computer and meanwhile accidently deleted almost 3,000 of her saved emails.
• Got the emails back with a free utility tool.
• Couldn't actually export them unless I paid $40.00
• Paid $40.00
• Got the emails to export but the files they were sorted into were (and still are) gone
• Now have 3,000 (almost) emails that the only way you can tell what they are is to open them.
• Then, after calling my boss and fessing up, went back to my own office to another email
• This email told how many ways a spreadsheet I sent to the state this morning was wrong.

So much for Superwoman. Somewhere, the cape flew right into the path of an oncoming train. I think I was still attached.

Diary of Superwoman

Love it when a plan comes together--- and when for just a few minutes, I can at least FEEL like I have it all together, all together.

Yesterday turned out to be one of those days, one of those, "Yes, you can have it all" days.

I read a disturbing chick-lit book not too long ago that was telling the heroine that there was Work, Love, and Family--Choose 2 but that to try to have all 3 would cause you to fail miserably at all. Well, of course, the heroine proved her mentor wrong. I have to admit there are days I worry that somebody is getting shortchanged. Here lately, the only thing I can guarantee is that it isn't work. I am so fortunate though to have a son and husband who both step in and pick up the slack because they are part of this family too, not because "Mom's not doing her job".

Anyway.......Wednesday night, four of us left for Rend Lake for a meeting yesterday. Our meetings were scheduled for 8:30-5:30. Our Ladies Tea (aka the "Mother-Daughter" banquet) started at 6. I had pretty well tried to warm Mom there was no way. I had been asked if I could "get out of" the training ( not by Mom). Well, no, I was one of the speakers so that was a little impossible.

When we took a break for lunch yesterday, we were already ahead of schedule, then nobody wanted to take a full hour, making us MORE ahead of schedule. At 2:00, we were on our last slide. There was a little glimmer that I was going to make this happen.

Two of the girls had gotten out of their meetings at Noon, they were waiting on Brenda and me. I really figured they had drove to Mt. Vernon, and we would have to wait a little bit for them to come pick us up. I texted Sharon that we were ready, she texted me that they were sitting in the parking lot. Yeah!  I had said the night before that if we got out in time, I would love to get home for this. We got in the car and never stopped, pulling in the drive at the office at 4.

I had called Robert right after school and texted him a grocery list. He ran to the store for me and was pulling in the drive with my groceries as I was pulling in from work. So the next hour went a little like this:

I got to the kitchen, pulled out a bread tube, opened the refrigerated Italian loaf (it was supposed to be French bread, but being out Robert improvised--GOOD THINKING!). Sprayed the tube, popped it in and stuck it in the oven.

Ran to the computer and printed off the recipe for my Parmesan bites, because I never remember to make a recipe for them. Meanwhile, the Italian loaf exploded in the oven because there was too much bread. Took a knife, cut the ends off the bread, put the lids back on, came back to get the paper out of the printer.

Had Robert clear a path up the attic stairs because I realized my dress was up there--yes, the stairs serve as storage---one of these days, that part of my life will be a bit better organized...ANYWAY, while he was doing that, I was mixing cream cheese and Parmesan.

I ran upstairs, found my dress, which just had to be UNDER the clothes bar that fell last fall--at least it wasn't wrinkled.

Came back down, opened the crescent dough, rolled the Parmesan logs, cut up a red pepper, sprinkled on top, rolled the crescents around them, cut them into pieces and got them on a baking tray.

THEN, I ran to the bedroom, changed into my skirt and blouse, came back to the kitchen, took the bread out of the oven, popped it out of the tube and into the freezer. Stuck the Parmesan bites in the oven, and cut up my cucumber.

Meanwhile, I sent Robert on a search of the bottom of my closet for my shoes. I sliced the bread, cut the cucumbers with a little scalloped cutter, put onion dip on the bread, then the cucumbers, sprinkled everything with some basil and wrapped them, took the bites out of the oven, put them on a tray, wrapped them. Went to touch up my makeup and realized all my makeup was still in the back of the van--so I survived with some lipstick and combing my hair. Ran through the house saying "Yes, I AM Superwoman!" slipped my shoes on, grabbed the other purse to go with my outfit, put on my jacket, and out the door I went--approximately an hour after I got home!

Changed out my purse sitting in road construction and made it to the banquet at 10 til 6. 

Yes, days like that just make me feel good. The banquet was wonderful, Barb Mulvey was our speaker and she was hilarious. We had a wonderful, wonderful time and I am just very thankful to God for letting me live this wonderful, crazy life.

On the Road Again

Off to Rend Lake this afternoon for a PIPP training. I am one of the presenters in the morning. Scary and exciting all at once. There are a couple of people that could eat me for lunch if they want to--people who have been with their agencies longer and are skeptical to new things most of the time.....I just pray I say the right things.

Stopped by Becky's office and begged for more prednisone. I have been feeling SO GOOD but the day I went to one prednisone there were little signs that I was going to have problems. She gave me 10 more days. I really needed about 23--to get me through Graduation but she said 10 will have to do and hopefully I can make it to St. Louis to see the specialist soon.

Better get, time to make the donuts.

M

The Ugly Truth

So, I am getting all these messages about what is going on. The fact is, I have a four day span this week that I had time to go see about what has been giving me fits for the most part of the last 9 weeks. Most of my friends know I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis last July. I was having a flare when I was diagnosed and the colonoscopy made it worse, still, three weeks after taking the meds and following the diet to a tee, I was better, then I had a flare in November brought on by antibiotics, once again, the meds and lifestyle got me quickly through it.

This time has been different, and worse. I started having some bleeding in my stools in mid February, it was on an off until the 18th of March, I learned early to keep a diary of what happens when and what I might have done to cause/prevent it. Anyway, I started myself back on asacol on the 21st and called the doctor on the 31st when I was seeing no improvement. The doctor said to keep taking the asacol until July 1, then call him back. I know he assumed a few more weeks on the asacol and I would be better again.

Things has consistently gotten worse. I had my first "accident" in our attic on the 12th, it was bad and the first time I realized how much blood there really was. I puked and puked just trying to clean myself, my attic floor, my bathroom floor and my clothes up. I had another accident last week, at work, at least it was almost time to go home. I knew it was time I had to do something. I called my doctor, they were gone, I tried again Friday, still gone. I knew they did surgery all day on Monday, so I called my family doctor on Friday, she wanted me to come right then. I said I had too many things going on and I could come first thing Monday morning.

Meanwhile, I had been on the crohn's and colitis foundations website and pretty well figured out that the only way I was going to get through this was the IV prednisone. Everyone on the site goes to the the hospital to do this. I was pretty sure of my future.

I went to my doctor this morning, she knows I normally fight her tooth and nail about going to the hospital but I told her this morning I was okay with it because I knew I needed the IV. She said I was exactly right, I needed the IV but she could do it in her office. She took blood tests so we can see if I need a transfusion and then gave me an IV in one arm of prednisone and a shot of it in the other arm. I start are steri-pack tomorrow.

I have already quit bleeding, that is priceless. I have diabetes too and the prednisone raised my sugar so I don't feel good but I still know we are heading the right way. I am also being referred to a specialist at Barnes, I have to tell you, honestly for the first time, someone is taking this seriously.

I know I do a good job of faking being fine, but I don't with my doctors, I do what I have to do to get everything done that I believe needs done. I know it puts a shock on people when they see me in the days before acting fine. God pretty well told me on my way home from church yesterday that it was time to just be still and get some rest, and I am. UC is stress induced, not having held up my end of bargains would induce more stress. 

So, I find out in the morning if I have to have blood, I am home three days to rest and then hopefully we get to start life back to normal, which is good because my window of opportunity was these 3-4 days. I kinda have that "Mr. T" thing going on tonight though:  I just love it when a plan comes together.

Oh and to the few that have had to ride the roller coaster with me, Deb and Carol, who I probably gave whiplash a couple times getting to a bathroom in Springfield, Beth (I think) who opened the door to the bathroom at work as I was having problems and promptly left when I begged whoever it was not to come in, Susie, who saw me after that and figured out something was terrible wrong, my mom, who puts up with my stubbornness because she knows she is to blame for it, Marsha, for the same reason, and especially Andrew and Robert, who have seen the "real" story every night and day for the last 9 weeks: Thanks for your patience and your prayers, and your support. Sorry I had to take you through this and once again, thanks for putting up with it. You know me, all things works together for good---we just gotta find the right time to get it done.

Thursday, life gets back to full speed ahead!

Six fun-filled weeks....Here we go!!!!

Latest roller coaster ride at the Browninghouse boarding now. I feel like the last few months things have been unusually calm and now, here comes everything at once and the best part is, it's all good.

Robert, my baby boy, graduates in 5 weeks and 6 days. I am planning on posting more over the next few weeks just because so much is going on and some of my warped friends think these times are really exciting and I have pretty well let them all down this winter.

Things that are going to happen in the next 6 weeks.

• The bathroom project will be 100%-- should make it right under 11 months, but it is beautiful.
• I go to Springfield this week, be home Wednesday, learning the first of three new programs.
• The Musical, Robert's last one in high school, this weekend, Footloose, can't wait!
• Week after next, train the field on what we are learning this week.
• First week in May, travel to Rend Lake for training for the 3rd new program.
• 6th of May, Robert's final concerts
• 15th of May, IACAA conference, my favorite of the year, highlighted by the Family of Distinction dinner--my VERY FAVORITE night of my working year.
• 21st, Robert's graduation party
• 22nd, Robert's graduation

We are going on vacation the 11th of June and get to see my only friend in Pennsylvania (you remember their license used to say, "You've got a friend in Pennsylvania". We were out there 2 years and that is exactly how many true friends I had out there). She was the only one that I would allow to watch Robert and she was the only one I went shopping with, called and just hung out with. It will be 17 years next month since I have seen her. They have a summer house about a half hour from their own house and they are opening it to us for the week. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait.

Promise to keep everyone posted on all the excitement around here, for now, Happy Monday!

Welcome Back Me.

To say I haven't been myself lately would be an understatement. Life throws us for more loops than we could ever imagine and I honestly just wasn't in the mood to tell about them.  I have probably had every emotion possible in the last few weeks; anger, frustration, disappointment, joy, elation. Sometimes, those kind of swings are too much for a person to take.

So, all the things that has happened since the last time I blogged:

Good news: Robert received his letter on the 9th of March that he had received tuition Scholarships for Band and Chorus at OCC. 16 credit hours a semester, the most you can get. We were definitely elated that day.

Bad news: One of my best friends, the one who is responsible for me going to work for ERBA, the one I spent more time with than I did my guys for five years, the one I have watched her little girls grow into young women as I watched her go from struggling with two full time jobs to getting to have a great life---was diagnosed with cancer, liver cancer. She is 46. To say it pulled the rug out of under me would be another understatement. In the last six months, one of the girls I run around with became a widow, now one has liver cancer. These are things that are supposed to be happening when we are 70, not 40.

Good news, My friend, Patty, mentioned above, got word from MD Anderson yesterday that things are not as hopeless as she had first been told. The doctor has Plan A, which is chemo, but he also has a Plan B and even a Plan C. I missed talking to her last night but did talk to her oldest daughter, who was so very encouraged by the hospital, the staff and the treatment plan. We have a bright side, which made it easier to sleep last night.

Bad news: Of course, all other bad news pales in comparison but they are still aggravating nonetheless. The transmission went out of my van, at least it didn't go all the way and leave me stranded but it did have to be replaced, We bought the van new and have had it about 20 months. I drive alot so it was already over what a regular warranty would cover but we got in on the tailend of having the Lifetime Warranty come with the vehicle, so we were saved. I may NEVER get rid of the van.

Good news: Congress has been throwing around our programs like we are ragdolls. Now that the dust has settled, it looks like we will survive the budget. We don't know by how much, but at least we are still on there. It's always better to take a cut than to be cut. Once you would get cut to zero, it is doubtful that we would see funds ever again.

That's probably the extremes that has been going on. We are working towards the 21st of May, Robert's graduation party. I am spring cleaning and Andrew is getting our bathroom remodel wrapped up. 

I am working on a lot of projects at work, which keeps my job very interesting, if not at times, downright entertaining. I am getting to do things that I never imagined this country bumpkin would get to do. One of the them is doing a presentation for the rest of the state about using technology to make our jobs easier. April 1, I am doing a workshop for the Head Start Parent Fair, There I am presenting information on keeping your computer and your identity safe online. I go to Springfield for 3 days next week for another project that I am going to help mentor for our agency. Today I am going to Tuscola to work on computers. I LOVE my job and am so very thankful that I get to keep it.

11 years ago in May, I sent a resume to a PO Box. Two days later, I received an application for ERBA. I filled it our immediately and sent it back. On Friday of that week, Patty called and asked if I would come in for an interview on Monday. I was so excited. Nila, my sister, worked for Community Action and I was thrilled to think about getting to also. When I went to the interview, I was so disappointed. Patty and Brenda (LIHEAP Coordinator and Outreach Office Supervisor) didn't interview me. We visited, talked about our kids, talked about life but as far as wanting to know what kind of skills I had, they didn't even ask. I went home, called my mom and cried. I knew they had already picked someone for the job. The next morning at 10:00, Patty called and said if I wanted the job it was mine. I started on the 15th day of May, 2000. (little did I know at the time, they had already chosen me, as long as Patty and I got along well).I fell in love with helping these people and decided that I wanted to do more than fill out the applications, I wanted to make a difference in these peoples lives. On May 25th, 2005, I started working as Brenda's assistant in the Greenup office. I now get to work with projects on the state level. About a month ago, the business rules came out for a new program we are working on. I questioned two of the paragraphs in the business rules because I didn't think they were fair to our program or our clients. The person who is in charge writing them, wrote me back and said they had went through this at great length and they had to be this way, then she started researching and realized I was right. While we were in Springfield, she sent out revised business rules, with my suggested changes in place. I made a difference. I wanted to cry, that was what I go to work for each day.

I don't ever know what God has in store for us, why he wants us to do what he lays out there, but I do always know he is right.  And I thank him for my ups and my downs, without them, my life wouldn't be what it is today.

Catching up

It feels like I have been playing "catch-up" ever since the ice storm. Being home two days should have at least made a difference here but somehow, we spent most of our time "vegging out" and watching movies. It was good to just relax though.

Musical tryouts finally happened this week. Robert was cast as Coach Roger Dunlap. I know he was hoping for a larger part this year but there are truly no small parts, as he knows. It takes everybody to make the play happen. Once the kids get into practicing, it is more about getting to spend time together and making memories than it is about who is doing what.  Coach Dunlap is a challenging part too as he has to deliver some pretty dramatic lines. Funny, when we watched Footloose in St. Louis at one point in time, Robert leaned over and said "What a jerk!" Now Robert has to get the right mindset to deliver those lines so everyone in our audience will think the same thing.

I have tried to nail down what is happening for the next few weeks as the schedule fills up again. My worst discovery----Robert graduates from high school 14 weeks from tomorrow; which means 14 weeks from today I am having him a graduation party. That makes life a little brighter. 14 weeks from today, I am hoping we will have gotten pretty use to 70 and low 80 degree weather. That part puts a smile on my face.  Hopefully, a couple weeks after that, we will be heading east to take Robert back to where he was born. Looking very forward to our family vacation this year.

Between now and then there are several other big events for our house. Next Wednesday, the 16th, Robert auditions for scholarships at OCC. He is auditioning for band and chorus both. We find out sometime after March 1. On the 18th, Andrew and I travel to Evansville to see the pain specialist again. I have to admit, right at the moment, this guy is one of our favorite people as he has found Andrew some relief that last more than a few hours.

On the 24th, Andrew is having a sleep study, I bet I won't sleep that night as I will be home alone.

On the 26th, one of my "other" son's, Trygve Butler, goes through his Eagle Scout ceremony. Way to go, Trygve!

March 5th is our AWANA grand prix, one of my favorite days of the year. I have even decided to build a car this year--my very first and I know we have been doing this at least 10 years.

 Footloose will be presented the 14th-17th of April, then Easter is the next week, so our church Cantata will be in there sometime.

Friday, May 6th will be Robert's final concerts at the High School.

May 15th will be our annual Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies conference, I will get home on Wednesday and then Robert's party and graduation is that weekend.

See, makes for some busy times. These are the times I love though. I don't know what I will do when life isn't so busy. Robert going to OCC and being in band and chorus both though, I am looking forward to still having busy schedules the next couple of years.

So, that's life in a nutshell. Working on scrapbooking, bunches of stuff I want to get completed before the party. Yes, that's the grand countdown, everything is based around having everything picture perfect.

Happy Saturday!

Learning my Lesson

Never ever, ever, ever imply that life is uneventful. Lesson learned. Apparently in God's eyes, that is not a good thing for the Browning family. Last Saturday I basically stated that and this week truly became more eventful.

Sunday evening, on our way home from church, we spotted a car in the ditch. We stopped and it was a girl from Oblong, just a year older than Robert. She had spun 5 times according to her tracks. She was pretty shaken up but it couldn't have happened at a better time. An hour later, her car was out (thanks to other members of our church), parked at our house for the night and she was on her way home with friends who had met us at the Y to get her.

Monday night, 8 p.m. I get a phone call from Andrew, "I need you to come and get me", "Why" I asked. "The jeep isn't moving". Great. So, I loaded up and went and got him. Tuesday, a wrecker brought the thing home. Wednesday, Andrew dug into it and found that it needed a new diff and new ring and pinion.

To top the week off, on Thursday, Robert's water pump bit the dust. He had his final therapy Friday evening so I was hoping that at least could be fixed in time for him to go to therapy. It was, and the truck has recovered. Unfortunately, nobody around here carries the parts we needed for the jeep. They are ordered, hoping and praying they get here by Tuesday, Andrew's next day off.

So, just trying to get everyone where they need to be when they need to be there has been fun this week. We own four vehicles and had to borrow Mom's car, not good. At least Robert was able to get the truck running pretty quick, so it is a good sign that he is going into the right field. Heck, his dad alone will be able to keep him in business.

I do have to admit, I got an incredible amount done at work this week. I came home every night and crashed instead of doing anything around here but the list I got marked off this week made it worth it. I finally have 17 of our Head Start centers online. This completed the task of having every building ERBA occupies on the internet. The Head Start centers were the last to come on, but I finished the last one this week. I also installed a new system for one of the centers, installed new software for another, installed a new DVD drive for one of the field offices, finished getting all our computer lab computers converted to Windows 7 and started a new inventory system just for the computers, this to be in compliance with Homeland Security rules. That was just the IT side of my job.

My LIHEAP side was just as productive, this in light of the State of the Union Address where President Obama announce he would be making cuts to Community Action programs. Yes, that us. Cuts to Unemployment AND available assistance. I believe we are going into scary times. Desperate people do desperate things, after all, they get to thinking they have nothing to lose.

This coming week really is going to be an adventure. Tomorrow our church ladies are hosting a baby shower for Dailene and Anna Mae Kemper. Tomorrow evening, we are having our Valentine's dinner at church, followed by the Angela Lilly Trio Concert at 6:30 ( Come out at 6:30 to hear them at the Hidalgo Independent Christian Church, they are great!). Monday evening, Robert auditions for Footloose, his final high school musical. Tuesday, we get the results. Wednesday, we are having "Wii" night for the high schoolers. Thursday, I travel to Springfield for an energy roundtable. Yep, this is more a normal week in the Browning house. Hopefully by the end of this week we will be back to 3 vehicles and a little closer to having a new bathroom.

Happy Saturday, y'all.

Life goes on, and on, and on.......

11 days without a blog post. I hate to say it but things are unusually calm around here. Not much overly adventurous going on. Robert is doing therapy and doing well. I believe he will end up making this stick for a lifetime.

Andrew and I traveled to Evansville yesterday to see the pain doctor. He told Andrew he thinks his back pain is being triggered by migraines. It sounds weird but Andrew used to have migraines that were out of this world, and they stopped. So to us, it makes perfect sense. The big problem is the pain medicine they gave him is out of stock in this part of the world. Andrew called every Walmart within 75 miles, the CVS here in town, the Medicine Shoppe, Harmon's. The soonest anyone can get it is next Wednesday. Not great since he goes back to work tomorrow. Doc also thinks he has sleep apnea, which he says can intensify pain. I totally agree. He does the snoring, quit snoring, snoring thing a LOT. He will have a sleep study done soon and hopefully that will improve his energy level all together. Then he could feel like taking care of himself.

There isn't even anything overly exciting going on at work right now. Day to day, getting things done.

The bathroom is still progressing, Andrew tiled the box around the tub. I love it just as much as all the other tile. I hope he is planning on putting the glass tile up today on the "T" between the shower and tub and over them, Then he will be ready to grout FINALLY!

I think he will have the tile 100% by next Friday. Then on to the floor, the sink and a new light fixture.

Yes the end is in sight and I get more excited with every project getting finished.

 Musical tryouts were originally to be last Thursday evening, the music was late getting here so they have been rescheduled for the 31st. We have a baby shower and a Valentine's Banquet at church a week from tomorrow so that should be a fun, busy day although Andrew won't get to come to the Banquet.

Guess that's about it.

Happy Saturday......at least I posted :-)