Busy Week Ahead

Seth will be going in for surgery on his neck Thursday morning. He has had a visible knot there since he was just a wee baby. It has grown gradually over his two years and just recently it opened up and lots of yuckies oozed out. The Dr. found that there is still something in there which is the reason for the surgery. It will be a 90 minute procedure and they will be intubating him. Please remember our little guy in your prayers. I will be sure to give you an update.

Me, Chris and Theresa

~~*~~

I thought I would get this post done early because the rest of the week is going to get past me in a hurry. The above picture was taken on my baby boy's first birthday. Saturday we will be celebrating his 34th. Would someone please tell me where did the years go! We will be hosting Chris' birthday dinner complete with those brats on the grill that he loves so well. Melody tried to pull a fast one on me by demurely asking if I was going to fix fried chicken too. It didn't work.... I am fixing chicken for the ones that don't like red meat (I don't know where these people came from), but not fried. It will be on the grill and soaked in BBQ sauce. We will have my potato salad (something else they always are wanting) and baked beans. Getting on with this birthday post, I am so proud of you Chris and the man that you have become. I don't remember a time in Chris' life that he wasn't quick to take an every day situation and add something funny to it. When he was 4 years old we were living in Santa Ana, California. Chris' dad's step mother and one of her friends had come across country to visit with us. The friend was getting dressed one morning and Chris just barged right into the bathroom while she was putting on her bra. She was a breast cancer survivor and one of her breasts had been removed. Chris just happened to see her putting the breast form into her bra and he was quite puzzled by it. She allowed Chris to stand in the doorway while she finished her morning routine of getting dressed. Next on the list was to brush her false teeth and then put them in her mouth. Following that was combing her hair, which amounted to adding an extra piece that made it look like her hair was nice and thick. When she had completed her morning ritual Chris was just flabbergasted by the whole ordeal, but still found the words to describe what he had just witnessed. He told this nice older lady that she was just like a puzzle, it took a lot of pieces to put her together in the morning. Chris, you have certainly added spice to my life so it wouldn't be bland or boring. I remember when I would have to punish you for something that you did and you would look at me with those big brown eyes and long eye lashes and ask me how I could be "SO MEAN TO YOU"...... I remember telling you that I punished you and your sister (not so much as you) because I am trying to raise a couple of descent human beings. I have had quite a few jobs over my life time, but when I look at the people you and Theresa have turned out to be, I would have to say that the most important job I ever had was raising the two of you.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS"

We received a call last week from J.D.'s youngest brother to let us know that he and his wife will be coming to visit us for a few days the end of this week. It will be the first time Hulen and Linda has met my bunch of heathens. I just hope they remember to use their company manners and use their silverware and napkins.... (my children, not Hulen and Linda) hehehehe.

Have A Great Rest Of The Week...

laissez le bon temps rouler.......

.............. Let The Good Times Roll

I think that when it comes to Mardi Gras there is a misconception that it only takes place in New Orleans. New Orleans is certainly famous for it's Mardi Gras, but in fact Mardi Gras celebrations are all over Louisiana and Texas as well. Coach Dad even told me that they celebrate their own form of Mardi Gras in California. As I was researching more information on Mardi Gras to share with you, learned a new fact myself. Mardi Gras in America was actually begun in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. It wasn't until 1857, a year after the founding of a Mobilian mystic society, its members brought Mardi Gras to New Orleans. Yeah... I know, I was surprised too.

Mardi Gras has its historical roots in ancient European customs. The "Traditional Cajun Mardi Gras" dates further back in time than the New Orleans' style Mardi Gras. The term Mardi Gras which is French for "Fat Tuesday", refers to the ancient Druid custom of using oxen in celebrations commemorating the end of winter and the coming of spring. Hundreds of years ago, in France, the poor farmers did not have much to eat during the winter. When all the food was gone, the aristocrats would allow them to beg from house to house. During this time of celebration, the farmers would mock the kings, queens, bishops and teachers by dressing like them, but in rags and tattered clothing. As years passed the begging day turned into a holiday. Oxen were ceremoniously paraded through the village streets and countryside and then the oxen was hoisted above a wooden grate and sacrificed, thereby becoming the final meat meal before the start of what would later be known as Lent. The young Catholic Church adopted and purified this ritual, thus carnival as a pre-Lenten celebration was born. Carnival, loosely translated as "farewell to the flesh," stems from the Latin carnelevare. Carnival usually refers to the three or four week season of balls and pageants immediately prior to Fat Tuesday. When the French Acadians, or Cajuns, settled in Louisiana, they brought this old custom with them.

~ Lake Charles, LA Mardi Gras Trivia

I'll have more information and history for you tomorrow on Mardi Gras.

I stopped by "Betty's This and That" this morning and saw that Betty's husband, Ed discovered Sunday night that he had blood in his urine. He was to see his doctor yesterday and Betty asked that we keep Ed in our prayers. I have provided a link to Betty's blog so you can stop by and offer them a few words of support.

May your blessings be many, as you travel through life's journey.

Love is.........

........Unconditional

Bless The Children

We had word this morning that our youngest Great Grand Child, Caden is in the hospital for a respiratory infection. Caden is the one that had the blocked intestine and underwent surgery this past summer. Please remember the little guy in your prayers. He has certainly had his share of going to the hospital for no older than he is.

I had an appointment with my Rheumatologist the other day. Since the cortisone injection to my knee only helped for about a month and in the process reeked havoc on my blood sugar levels, he wants to try a series of injections of Synvisc. He is checking with our insurance company to see if they will cover it. I'm not real hopeful on that happening. For the past three years the premiums continue to climb, as the benefits continually to grow fewer. Even if by some stretch of the imagination the insurance will cover the injections, I need to do some serious research on these injections before I allow that needle to be jabbed into my knee. If you have gone throw these injections or know someone that has I would appreciate hearing what you have to say about them. One thing that I am particularly interested in, is about how long it last and if it helps significantly.

May your blessings be many.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

If you recall in my last post I mentioned how I try to put special efforts into not being judgemental of others. That effort was put to the test the other day. J.D. received a phone call to inform him that his ex-sister-in-law, Patsy had suffered a stroke and was in the hospital. To make a long story short there is no love lost between the two of us and when J.D. relayed the information of the phone call to me, I opened my mouth and a judgemental statement fell right out. As soon as it was spoken, in my mind I was groping wildly to grab those words and stuff them back into my mouth. Of course even if I hadn't said the words, having them in my mind was the same as speaking them. I have done quite a lot of soul searching, forgiveness seeking in the mean time and had some lengthy conversations with my Creator.

The word that J.D. received is that Patsy had a stroke that effected the right side of her brain. She has bleeding in her brain and at this time she is in a coma. I don't know if it is a medically induced coma or not. He has received several updates since the first call and the outcome doesn't look too encouraging for her. Please add Patsy and her family to your list of prayers.

I thought that I needed to do a little decorating here at Moodscapes. The sites and sounds of the season has such a magical effect on most people. It reminds us that this is a time of hope for the future. A time of healing for those that carry emotional hurt and pain. A time to recall the happiness that was experienced in the past with loved ones that have traveled on without us. A time for families to gather together and feel the warmth of love that is radiated from that circle of love. These are all gifts of the Christmas Season that can be treasured for a lifetime. You don't have to worry about any of them not fitting, one size fits all. No problem if two of the gifts are the same, all the more warmth and love to revel in. No worry about outgrowing or wearing out these gifts, they are constructed of extremely stretchy and tough material. There is as much joy in giving as there is in receiving these gifts.

May you be blessed abundantly with the true gifts of the season.

As You Offer Thanks.....

If you recall not long ago I asked for your prayers for Melody's sister Mindy and then again for her brother Robert. Now I am asking for prayers to go up for her 9 year old nephew, Taylor. Melody's mother has raised him since he was a baby, for reasons I won't go into. Taylor's teeth had come in crooked and she had taken him yesterday to the dentist to discuss the options for getting them straightened. After doing an ultra sound they discovered that the reason his teeth had come in crooked was because he has a mass in his gums. I was going to wait to hear more details from Melody before I posted this. We don't know yet if it is cancer or not...... So I felt an urgency to get a prayer chain started. I know that prayers make a difference and I know that I can count on all of you to spread the word and get even more prayers going up for Taylor. So please add this prayer request to your blogs and your e-mails and as you sit down at your table tomorrow and offer thanks for the gifts you have received through God's Love and Grace, please ask for God to wrap Taylor in His Healing Love.

As a follow up on Mindy and Robert. Mindy is still struggling with toss the cigarettes away. I quit smoking with the help of Chantix, but taking a drug to assist her isn't an option for Mindy because of her health. As for Robert, his test results showed that he has a fatty liver. There are many reasons why a person can acquire this condition, but none of these reasons apply to Robert. It has the doctor scratching his head, so as a result Robert will be undergoing more tests. I will keep you all posted on what is going on with Robert, Mindy and Taylor. I thank each and everyone of you for your prayers and concern.

It was brought to my attention that Xerox is doing something special for our men and women in the Middle East! If you go to this web site, 'Let's Say Thanks' you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq .

You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!!
This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?

No matter what your feelings on the War in Iraq, our military needs to hear from us that we appreciate them and the sacrifices they are making.

Prayers For Baby Gracie

I had called to talk to Melody last night and she told me I needed to hurry and start posting to my blog again because she had a prayer request. Her request is for a friend's 2 month old grand daughter, Gracie. Following a seizure Gracie was diagnosed with Lissencephaly, also known as 'Smooth Brain Syndrome'.

This is a somewhat rare disorder. Normally, while the brain is developing during pregnancy, neurons develop in the center of the brain and migrate to the outer layers of the brain, forming the hills and valleys of the brain . In Lissencephaly children, something goes wrong during this migration and the neurons are left scattered throughout the brain, leaving incomplete connections.

The doctors have told the family that Baby Gracie will probably not live longer than two years. I can't even begin to imagine how heartbreaking it would be to wake up every morning and wonder if this is the day that my baby will die.

We are praying for a miracle here. With your help it could very well happen. We are hoping for a world wide effort in prayers for this precious little one. Please right click on the Baby Gracie graphic above and display it on your blog and send it out in e-mails with the request that it be forwarded on. Feel free to copy this posting and use it in your e-mails and on your blogs. By one hand taking another hand, and another, and another we can form a prayer chain that reaches around the world and all take part in praying for a miracle to touch Baby Gracie.

I have created an e-mail account in case you would like to send a message of hope to Baby Gracie's family : Pray4babygracie@gmail.com

May you be showered with more blessings than you know what to do with.

Prayers Needed

On May 29th we became the proud Great Grandparents of precious baby boy, Caden Wayne. Rebel son, Greg is Caden's grandpa. Some of you may remember Greg's visit with us in May. He is the one that rode his motorcycle from Texas to come for a visit. We received a call from Greg yesterday saying that they were life flighting Caden to a hospital in Dallas because his intestine was blocked. Greg had the same thing wrong with him when he was a baby and he nearly died of starvation before the doctors decided what was wrong with him. The last we heard from Greg was about 9:30 PM yesterday. Caden was in surgery at that time. So far we haven't heard anything more. Greg, his wife Tammi and his mother-in-law Sandra are all three in the medical field. I think they are waiting until they know for sure how things are going before they call with an update.... but I don't know if I can wait that long. I am thinking that I will have JD call in a little bit to check on things. So if you would please keep little Caden in your prayers, it would be greatly appreciated by all. I will post an up date when we hear something.

A Day On The Mountain

The first thing I want to do this morning is to ask everyone to please continue your prayers for Karen. She is a friend of Connie's at 'Over Good Ground'.

My dear friend Linds at 'Rocking Chair Reflections' hurt herself at work. She has been camped out on her couch with ice packs. After visiting the Doctor again he has ordered her to continue staying off of her feet.

Gene at 'Turning The Pages Of Life' is a firefighter and has been out fighting those raging wild fires out west. His blog is one of my regular reads. I am sure that he and his fellow firefighters could use a little help from some prayers.

If you have the opportunity please stop by their blogs and give them some moral support in the way of a friendly comment.

Thanks to Violet Lady, I have found a new blog to visit. 'Edie's Attic' is such a warm and wonderfully inviting blog. As soon as you walk through the door you will be greeted by Sherry, who will take you on a tour and make you feel right at home. Please stop by her cyber home for a visit. I enjoyed her postings so much that I have already added her to my blog roll. While you are there you might also like to sign up for her give away in honor of her Aunt Edie's Birthday. She has such lovely items chosen for some lucky person to win. I am not going to tell you what they are, you will have to drop by and find out for yourself....... lol
Not a lot happening here on the mountain. J.D. has been tirelessly working at trying to get the wood pile stocked up for winter. Our well is covered with a plywood door on the ground. Since it is a seepage well, from time to time it needs water hauled in and added to it. J.D. went to check the water level yesterday and when he stepped on the door the plywood busted through. It had rotted out from all of the rain. So J.D. had to climb down into the well and skim the top of the well water with his own handy dandy makeshift skimmer to get the wood pieces out. He was on his work computer last night drawing up plans on Auto cad for a pump house to replace the rotted plywood door. That door was an eyesore any way and I was always worried that one of the grandchildren would step on it and end up in the well.
We made our way to town yesterday to do some grocery shopping. Melody had told us to stop by the next time we make it to town because Riley had gotten something for me. It turns out that when they had gone shopping the last time he bought a pack of 'Juicy Fruit' chewing gum for me. Every time we go to visit I make sure that I have Juicy Fruit gum in my purse for Riley. It really touched my heart that he wanted to get his Grandma a pack of gum. That tells me that Chris and Melody are teaching him to be generous. He could have very easily gotten something for himself, but instead he thought of me. I opened it right away and shared with him...lol

Just as we were getting ready to leave, here comes a little guy perhaps 4 years old into the yard and climbed on Riley's Gator Jeep. Riley was tickle to death and brought him up on the porch to the 'Toys 'R' Us' annex. We had no idea where he came from and there was not a grown up any place to be seen. Melody decided to give it about 15 minutes and if no one came looking for the little guy she was going to call the police. We kept asking him where his house was and what his name was, but he wouldn't answer. He sure was having a ball playing. Riley kept trying to coax him around to the side of the house to show him the new hole he had dug, but no deal. It wasn't long and sure enough here comes the neighbor from across the street looking frantically for her grandson. It seems that she was baby sitting and had gone to the kitchen to wash some dishes while he played and when she went to check on him he was gone. This could have turn out tragically in several different ways. First of all the street that Chris and Melody live on is well traveled and more times then not the vehicle speeds are much higher than they should be. The little guy had to cross that busy street to get to Riley's yard. We learned from the little boy's Grandma that he has a some autism and that is why he didn't answer us when we were questioning him. He could have wandered out of sight or a stranger could have picked him up in their car. One thing is certain when it comes to little ones, you have to give them your undivided attention because they can be gone in the blink of an eye. I am glad that this story had a happy ending. So many stories like this don't.

Prayer Request

I have a prayer request this morning. I believe I have mentioned our Amy in another post. She went to school with Chris. She had an after school job at the same place where I was working. As was usually the case with a lot of Chris' friends, Amy adopted me as her "Mom" and has been a part of my life ever since. She is now living in north western Kentucky with her Significant Other, Frank. Yesterday we received a call from Amy with a prayer request for Frank's cousin, Kelly. She had to go someplace and asked her mother to babysit her boys. In one of those moments the two year old slipped away and went over, under or around two fences to get to the pool. Everyone searched the yard for the little guy and his brother found him floating in the pool. He was taken out of the pool and given CPR. When the paramedics arrived they found a heart beat, but they couldn't get him to breath. He was taken to the hospital in Evansville, Indiana. They have him on a respirator, but are only giving him a 15 % chance to survive. I ask that you taken a few moments today and send up a prayer that little Dominic will beat the odds and survive..........

The poor baby is needing all of the prayers that he can get. I will update as I hear anything.

Wishing you a blessed day. ~Jo

Prayers Still Needed

We just received a call from Darlene's husband concerning her condition. They didn't allow her to go home because of the spiked temperature. Sometime today they discovered that she is bleeding and they don't know as yet where the blood is coming from. They are going to give her a transfusion and watch the blood flow. As it stands right now they are planning on doing a CT Scan tomorrow. If the blood flow warrants it, they will do the CT Scan tonight. Please continue to keep Darlene in your prayers.

Spring Is In The Air

It was a pretty day yesterday with mild temperatures and sunshine. So many of our little feathered friends are returning and blessing us with their sweet songs. I won't put any humming bird food out yet though. Last year when they returned, they came to the windows and hovered there looking in as if to say, "Well, it's been a long trip.... Got anything to drink in there?"

On the way to town the other day I saw a few new calves in the fields. As more are born we will see the older cows meandering around in the fields munching new grasses while the little ones are full of energy and go running and playing. Something I really enjoy is when the baby bunnies start popping up all over the yard. I love watching them, they can be so comical.

If I had to choose a time of year that I could call my favorite, I think it would have to be Spring. I love the beauty of autumn with the bright colors of the leaves and the smell that accompanies those leaves as they dry up and gently float to the ground can not be compared. To me though, Spring is just a bit more beautiful because of all of its symbolisms. It is plain and simply a rebirth of everything that is. A promise of new beginnings that comes every year. Something we all can use from time to time. How Great Is That? In the spring every where you look is eye candy. The pretty fuchsia pink of the red buds followed by the bright white of the dogwood. The dogwood itself, the symbolism of the Crucifixion of Jesus. It is such a beautiful sight to behold, to see the dogwood in bloom in the woods and hillsides. It looks as if big billowy white clouds are floating amongst the trees.


I felt a bit of Spring Fever coming on yesterday. I really had the urge to go out and start digging around in my flower beds and getting them ready for the warmer weather. I have my first appointment at the Pain Management Clinic tomorrow to see what (if anything) they can do to help me with the pain associated with my fibromyalgia and Polymyalgia Rheumatica. I think it would be wise for me to wait a bit before I jump out there and start digging around in those flower beds. I neglected them terribly last year because I just plain hurt too much.

Thanks to the price of gas it doesn't look as if we will be traveling far from home this year. With that in mind, I have been considering putting out a small vegetable garden. I don't recall a year that my mother didn't have a vegetable garden as I was growing up. I remember when I was small, quietly picking up the salt shaker and going to the garden. I would find a good hiding spot between the tomatoes and cucumbers and would eat tomato after tomato until I was as full as a tick...... While most children balked at eating vegetables, I couldn't get enough of them. When J.D. talks about the garden his grandma grew, he calls it a truck farm.

J.D.'s oldest daughter, Darlene will be having surgery today. She has been in the hospital for several days. They have diagnosed the problem as pancreatitus. She is in so much pain that morphine isn't even touching it. They have her on some sort of pain meds now that is 5 times stronger than morphine. They have found blockage of the bile duct and will be trying to repair that. She also is having pain that is generating from her colon, which they will deal with after they take care of the problem with her pancreas. I know there are a lot of Prayer Warriors out there and I ask that you please remember her in your prayers as you go about your day. I will post more when we know more. Wishing all a blessed day. ~Jo