My Sweet Gator Grandson.

Thera-flude and Thankful

1. Thera-flu and lots of fluids are the top of my THANK-FUL list.
2. Fresh sheets that I actually managed to pull off the bed, wash and reapply. That was not easy!
3. The fact that it takes very little effort to be Thankful even with a runny nose, fever and too much commotion going on around you.
4. My husband kissing my eye lids to make me feel better. ( sigh )
5. Any excuse to get to bed earlier than I normally would.

Sneeze, Cough, Sleep

In that exact order I am afraid! Yes, I am offically sick with the flu. Haven't slept so much in a very long time. Guess I am grateful that I am off and all I really have to do is laundry. Got up and threw a load in, slept till the next load was due and got up and did it again. Wow, how is that for motivation?. Waking up to the alarm of the washer.

Woke up thinking if I will have the 5 things I am grateful for list today. You bet I will. Just got to sort them through because although I am not feeling great, I am grateful.

I can tell you that I am grateful for Jason Mraz. What a great voice to lift my spirits. Just makes me want to sing along. Tapping my foot as I type. I especially love the song I'm Yours, the live version. My husband and I can dance all night to that.

Sick but Thankful

1. My husband bringing me medicine, tea and tissue
2. A warm bed with plenty of fur babies to keep me warm
3. The fact that I DON'T have to work tomorrow
4. My Grandsons 8th Birthday and his "i love you, miss you, bye" message.
5. My new hobby Blogging even if I can't receive responses! ( still trying to figure that one out ).

Does it work?

Try as I may to deny that I have any sort of upper respiratory thing going on I have succumbed to it. Up half the night coughing and now of course it's "productive". gross I know, sorry. Lots of fluids today and hopefully I have caught it in time to avoid the antibiotics. Curious that it all happens to be related to spending an hour cleaning dirty equipment Friday at work without a mask. I didn't wear a mask and complained all day about the fumes. hhhmmm. Next time I will wear a mask or better yet, do my job as an R.N and not pretend I am an equipment tech. But wait! Equipment techs DON'T work on holidays!! Guess that means I will have to wear the mask.

Thanks to my friend I hopefully can receive comments on my blog now. I followed the directions carefully so lets see if I am a total goof or really tech savvy.

Giving Thanks

1. Laughter of a child
2. My precious dog curled on my lap even if it means I can't quite reach the keyboard
3. Minute by minute updates on the U.F/FSU game by my daughter who was in the stands.
4. Blake turning 8 and so Proud of it!
5. Hebrews 12, 1-2.

Help!!

Help!! Any of my friends know how to walk me through allowing comments on my blog'?? A few people have told me that they can read the blog but not comment on it. I have searched and searched my sight and can't figure it out! E-mail me at h1slady@aol.com please

Look who is 8 years old!!

WOW! What a Game!!

Like any crazy GATOR fan I count myself among them as I hold my head high and say IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!! The last home game today and wow what a way to end the season. I am proud and sad that it was Tim Tebows last game on our beautiful field but man what a ride!! Hannah was one of the lucky 90,000 people in the stadium and she is still partying as I blog. What a great experience she is having at U.F. Ahhh, lucky girl.

Had my pedicure today and while deciding on a color to paint my toes I was talking to Hananh and she "dared" me to pick orange and blue. What? Dare me? I don't think so! Guess who has orange and blue toes? Yep. Me! I will send a picture soon!

Tomorrow is Blakes 8th birthday and so tonight we went to CiCi's for a Pizza dinner. Not my choice but hey, he's 8 and what 8 year old doens't think CiCi's is the greatest place on earth? We ate, drank soda, filled up on cupcakes and took lots of pictures. Lots of fun for sure. I can't believe my grandson is 8 already. Time is going by so fast. Just another reminder to savor EVERY moment.

God is good folks. He loves you and me with an OVERWHELMING love.

One of our Fur babies in the woods

This is just one of the many I feed at the Lake Mary colony. She is beautiful, somewhat friendly and loves her belly rubbed. She is about 4 years old and has lived a happy life in her little neck of the woods.

Saturday Finally

Although the last couple of days were crazy busy and fun I am ready for today. Calm, cool and Christmas. Lots to decorate today but I love every moment of it. I always have and it's the one day I look forward to all year. Everything feels whimsical and possible at Christmas time.

Heading out to the cat park this morning to look after my little feral cat community to feed and make sure there little houses in the woods are warm enough for them these next few chilly days. I take care of 2 colonies along with a couple of girlfriends and we take turns watching over our little gang of wild kitties. So many people ask me "how come" I do this. Do what? Make a commitment to taking care of little hungry kitties and provide them love and warmth? My question is who wouldn't? The reward is in knowing that once these kitties are fixed, ( we do that to ). They are free to grow fat and lazy and live out the rest of their lives without being a breeding machine. Everyone has there calling and that is one of mine.

Long Day in the NICU

Today just felt very long but at the same time good. Not sure how to explain that but anyhow lets just say it was a mixture of both. The long and the short of it is I work with some really GREAT people and then some really needy ones. You know the type? They just can't seem to do much on their own and require a great deal of assistance. Not saying that I don't like to help out but come on already!! On the whole it was okay and I have to say that there are many more good than bad so that's that.

I plan on spending tomorrow snuggled up on my couch watching the UF/FSU game and staying warm. Supposed to be really cold and I love that! We don't get many of those days here in Central Florida so I like to take advantage of it especially during football season. I think I will sleep in even! Wow, really? I say that now but I am pretty sure I will be up at 7 whether I want to or not. Just my own clock I guess.

Molly is plugging along on her Steroid high and for now we will take it. The Vet said that she will try to treat her as long as possible and we will just have to wait and see. I never thought I would feel so much pain watching my sweet little dog fight to live. She is such a trooper and I swear she understands what is going on. I know other people have said the same thing but I REALLY think she understands. Okay. I know your thinking shut up already.

Waiting for sweet Hannah to come home. Drinking Thera- Flu instead of wine. Uuugggghhh. Tired and ready for bed soon but first let me give Thanks.

1. New friendships and old ones. They sustain me.

2. Knowing that my husband would take a Million dollars for me.

3. Hananh kisses

4. This beautiful refreshing weather.

5. My Orange and Blue star.

Ahhhh, Turkey Day. Thanksgiving too!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving friends!! Long day of work, but I am grateful for that.

1. MANY great friends to share lots of Turkey, Stuffing and the works with today at the best place to be employed in the world!

2. The Freedom to praise and worship on the greatest land on earth.

3. Being married to my best friend

4.Children that love me and whom I love in return

5. My life and all it's quirks.

Today's Thanks

1. 
   My sweet baby girl ( 19 years old ) home with me and making me laugh until my sides hurt.
2. The love of my life's smile when he walks in the door. My heart still skips a beat.
3. God's forgiveness, over and over and over again.
4. A wonderful job where I see his mercies made new every day.
5. 4 kitties that want nothing more out of life than my lap!

A Rainy Day

And I love it!!!

Looks like it could snow today if you look out the window at the gray skies and rain on the window. Although it's 80 degrees outside I can still dream of snow can't I?

Hannah is home and we are snuggling together while we laugh at You Tube videos. I treasure these mornings because they are so few and far between.

Tommorow I will work on Thanksgiving Day. I am Thankful for a job when so many people are out of work. I would rather be home with my family but like I said, I have a job.

Count your blessings, name them one by one.

I truly believe that if Jesus was walking these streets today, He would definitely hang out at his local Goodwill. If He can heal the blind, and make the lame walk, surely He can surprise me by turning someone else's trash into my treasure, and He does it - time and time again.

Today I am Overwhelmed with Crazy Gratitude

1. Thankful, Thankful, Thankful for the wagging tail of my sweet Border Collie Molly when I came home from work today. She has bee so sick. The steroids kicked in, at least for a little while. Thank you sweet Lord
2. My girl is home from College for the Thanksgiving Holiday. She is happy and safe.
3. Thankful for the love, support and compassion of so many during a very stressful time of our lives.
4. Good wine. uuuummmm, good :)
5. Soon to be under my own roof, with my cats, dogs and crazy life.

Today I am Thankful for

Perhaps this should say YESTERDAY as it is almost 2 in the morning as I write this but since today isn't quiet ready to start I will make up for yesterdays "thankful list"

1. Above all that I awoke in a warm bed with the comforts of home at my beck and call. Hot coffee, warm cereal and my loving animals at my side.

2.My husband at work providing for his family.

3.Quiet time alone with my camera, nature and all of God's glory around me.

4.Another day to care for our aging Border Collie

5.The ability to help a friend in need of pain medication ( no, I am not a drug dealer). :)

Look what I found in my Backyard

It's been an Emotional day.

Jeff and I spent another sleepless night taking care of our Molly. Molly is our beloved Border Collie who will be 13 years old soon. She has had a very rough last couple of months and was diagnosed with Addisons Disease a couple of weeks ago. Since then we have gone from bad to worse. What started out as an enormous amount of water consumption has reversed to NO water consumption and very limited amount of food. She has a very difficult time standing up and going to the bathroom. I am bringing her food while she lays and she will barely lift her head to eat or drink. She still wags her tail when you talk to her and tries her hardest to get up and chase the light of the flashlight but I think that old age, arthritis and now Addisons Disease is starting to take it's toll onour old girl.

My question to myself and to those that love our old girl is where do you draw the line? I for sure will not watch her suffer in pain if there is anything I can do to prevent it. I will pay what ever price it takes to make her well but I fear there is nothing that money can buy to make that happen. I asked the dr today what our goal was for her. Quality of life or a life of more test's, more sticks and more sleepless nights. I think Jeff and I know where all this is going but we just cannot bring ourselves to NOT fight for her. Our beloved girl. Our confidant and most loyal companion. For now we will keep the check book open, and keep the prayers going for Molly.

Oh, I almost forgot. The 5 things I am Thankful for today

1. Waking up with Frito feet beside me snuggled so close I could NOT move!
2. Another day of knowing that Jeff and I have nothing planned and all day to do it in.
3. Knowing that my precious college girl will be home in 2 days and I can snuggle her neck.
4. That God loves me enough to love me through his Grace and not by anything I have earned.
5. My husband and I both have jobs and reliable cars to get us where we need to go.

A View from my Backyard

Jeff and I were driving around Lake Monroe today and I snaped this picture. Made me think of the Christopher Cross song. Sailing. Water so peaceful, all you need is a nice glass of wine, your favorite person by your side and sail away..... Good night my friends.

Another Lazy Day

Another weekend is almost gone and for the first time in a very long time I can announce that Jeff and I did absoulutly NOTHING!! Felt great and something I can recomend highly.

When I say that we did nothing I must clarify and say that although perhaps nothing was acomplished we still managed to catch up on each other. We took long drives down winding roads and today we took my car and had the top down which was glorious as the weather was perfect. Can't say that too much around these hot and humid woods but today was text book lovely. I even managed to get some pictures of the sky with it's soft white clouds just to prove it.

Today I am Thankful for.............

1. My husband and his endless patience with me and my mood swings
2. An unscheduled day to do nothing and not feel guilty about it.
3. Knowing that I made my son and grandson happy by sending them to their very first Gator game! Oh and the Gators won by a MILE!
4. My healing breast ( long story but believe me, THANKFUL ) !
5. Crazy Love. ( a wonderful book that is serving to remind me of our God and his crazy and unrelenting love ).

Spent a lazy afternoon with my husband and did nothing but drive the streets of our wonderful city. Actually drove all around the Central Florida area. We live in such a nice area and sometimes fail to see what beauty is around us. For example this bull I found in a pasture next to the Panera bread! What the heck? There he was grazing right next to us. Glad to have had my camera with me. The kids in the field called him Old Blue. I just call him big!

Playing with my new Toy

Trying out my new toy. Nikon d5000. Love this new technology!

These photo's were taken on my daughters 18th birthday. What a wonderful day we had.

After spending an hour trying to find a nice back ground for my new found hobby ( blogging ) I still can't find the right color of font to go with it. hhhmmm

I also am showing my ignorance in the high tech world by somehow down loading a sticker! Not sure how I did it and worse yet I am not able to delete it either. What a slow learner I am! Amy can you help me with that? You are the computer genious of all my friends. HEELLLPPP!!

Well as hard as we tried yesterday to let our little preemie go meet Jesus he is still of this earth. His little body is breaking down in everyway but he still will not go. I am not sure what we are to learn from watching him suffer but I am sure that this little guy has served a purpose to so many of us involved in his care. His Mom and Dad have finally come to terms with it and now we are leaving it up to our God who is the author and finisher. I keep looking at him yesterday and prayed that God would release him to his perfect body and I know that it is coming. Who am I to question God?

Reading one of the best books called Crazy Love. In the book the author asks the question about how come we feel we have the right to question God anyway. So many people do and I am one of them. I think God is big enough to handle our questions. We are human and as part of our humanity we ask. Why

Some of the best advise I ever recieved was from my grandmother. She said, "Robin, God will not fall off his thrown just because you sin". That was the reality check I needed as a teenager to know that the world did not revolve around me. That our God was big enough and forgiving enough to not let my sin give him a bad day.

Wishing you a good and forgiving day. God is good today and tomorrow and his mercy endures forever.

Such a busy day with my little guy today. A little closer to Jesus by the change of the shift. So painful to watch and now I am mad. I don't know where the line is as to how far we go as a medical profession. I just know that God would not want this precious little one to suffer and that is what he is doing right now as far as I can tell. I am just so sad for him and for his parents. My prayer tonight is that God would reveal his plan for this little guy and that his mother and father can find some peace. One thing I know for sure is that NONE of this has taken our mighty God by surprise.

I am off tomorrow and plan to spend the day spoiling my grandson Blake and shopping with him for his Tim Tebow t-shirt for the big game on Saturday afternoon. What a cutie pie! It is great being a "young" grandma!

After I work on Wednesday I am off for a week! Whoop Whoop. I am in need of rest and recoup.

Still pinching myself over my Nikon. My only regret is that I haven't had all weekend to play with it! Not to worry though, there is always Tuesday! I am off that day and plan to do alot of "playing".

Worked today, what a day! Busy with a very sick little guy. Mom and Dad are broken and I am so sad for them. What can you say when you look into a mothers eyes as she silently pleads for you to save her little boy? I wish it were that easy. This is something only God can do. I am a vessel and ultimately the healing will be up to him. God do you have any miracles for this little boy? I think perhaps he was placed here to become an Angel for all the other little children that will follow him.

Arrived home after a wonderful night with Jeff. He surprised me with a day in the Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World but before we started on our day he opened the trunk to surprise me with a lllloooonnnngggg awaited dream!! My Nikon D 5000!!!! What the heck??? This in one wonderful man I married!!!! Anyhow, wow!

Jeff and I had the most glorious day with the weather being nothing but perfect. No humidity, blue skies and cool breezes. I could not have custum made this day any better. God knows the desires of his children but more than that he knows the needs of their hearts. I needed moments with my husband where it was just about us. Thank you Lord for giving us the desires of our hearts. Yesterday was worth the wait.

My new camera rocks!! Going to spend alot of time learning my new toy and hopefully making new memories and sharing with my family and friends.

Hananh is for the weekend and tonight we are picking up Jordan from the airport. Yeah us!! Our family is all together tonight. Couldn't be happier than I am at this moment.

This is my darling husband. He would hate that I called him "darling" :)

Date Day with my sweet man. God is Good and I am Blessed!!!

Alive after Five with Jeff tonight. Needing a date with my husband in the worse way. Love the cooler weather.
Spent the day watching my sweet border collie go through Chemo for an adrenal gland tumor. She is doing okay but only time will tell what the out come will be. She has been the greatest dog for the last 12 years that we feel we owe it to her to give it all we have. Tons of money being spent. What price do you put on "man's best friend"?

Let my blogging begin!!

November 12th 2009,
After reading so many blogs I have finally decided to start one myself. Funny how I want one of my own but don't really feel I have much to say. I think as I told my friend Amy I will use this just to share my love of life, my love for my family and the journey we have taken over the last few years .
I am a wife, mother and NICU nurse. I take care of the tiniest babies and see daily miracles. I am humbled by the human spirit and by God's faithfullness everyday.