When it rains, look for rainbows

I've tried to write this blog entry three times already.  I just don't know where to start.  Our world has changed so much in the last two months.  I guess that's about right.  Somewhere around the end of February, the first case of coronavirus showed up here.  Today, we have 810 THOUSAND cases and 44 THOUSAND deaths.  To be exact, 44,234 Americans have DIED.  While I know how this happened, I watched it happen, yet I still cannot fathom this incredible LOSS.

New York has been hit the hardest so far and they have had to resort to using air-conditioned trailers to keep the bodies in until they have the time, the manpower, the energy, to process them and give them decent burials. This is happening here, in this country.  The United States.  I just can't believe it.  It's like we're watching a movie.  But we're not.  It's real.  Georgia has 19,881 cases today and 799 deaths.  Hospitals are bursting at the seams, healthcare workers are working double shifts, without proper protection, using the same masks and coverings shift after shift, day after day, getting sick themselves, some of them dying.

I absolutely, completely and without any shame, blame Trump for this.  Not the virus, of course, he didn't cause that.  But his RESPONSE.  Too slow, not serious enough, his severe mishandling, LYING to us constantly about testing and masks and every-damn-thing else, absolutely no empathy for anyone so no concern for the sick and dying.  I knew this guy was garbage from Day One and I also knew that WHEN THE TIME CAME that we'd need a LEADER, he would fail us.  But never in my wildest dreams would I have thought we'd have such a horrific tragedy as this and this unbelievable loss we're suffering.

I am a government worker so I am considered "essential" (although when I was furloughed every Friday for six weeks seven years ago, I was non-essential.  Oy.) but the base decided to let those of us who have underlying health conditions (diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, immunity issues) go out on two months of administrative leave, they call it Weather and Safety Leave, in March, to try to protect those more fragile employees.  I took advantage of this offer since I have three of the conditions listed on the form.  I got my doctor to sign it, I turned it in to them and I've been at home since March 26th.  

Larry, however, works for a company that believes itself to be essential so he's been working.  We're washing hands, using Clorox wipes, Lysol and face masks.  Doing whatever we can to stay safe and healthy.  So far, so good.

It's horrible.  The whole world is under quarantine.  I follow a bunch of celebrities and influencers on Instagram and they're all sharing bits and pieces of their lives while stuck at home and it's comforting to see that we are, indeed, all in this together.  As far as all of us trying to stay home and stay healthy, anyway.  We're NOT actually all in this together.  22 million people in this country have lost their jobs.  The government threw us all a $1,200 bone this month but $1,200 will barely cover April's mortgage payment and groceries for an average American family.  Uncle Sam gonna have to do better than that!

I've spent my 26 days at home cleaning house, organizing things, keeping the laundry caught up, working in the yard a bit (we put fresh mulch in the front yard flower beds but we're out of mulch and are not going shopping for more any time soon), drinking lots of coffee, getting lots of rest, watching lots of Netflix.  I have a TBR stack two stories high but I just cannot sit down and read.  I did finish the book I was reading but that's about it.  Mostly I just stay on my phone or watch 24-hour news and stress out.  I've gone in to the office about once a week to catch up any work I have and check email and stuff like that.  I have Kroger deliver our groceries every week and we practice social distancing with our neighbors.  We watch church on Sunday mornings and we covet a double roll pack of toilet tissue.

Folks are doing all kinds of things to try and stay positive.  There's the bear in the window thing where people ride around the neighborhood and see how many teddy bears they can find sitting on window sills.  We have one in our front bedroom window.  Of course we do.  There's the rainbow thing, too, where everybody is drawing chalk rainbows in the street, their driveways and putting paper rainbows up in their windows.  

We believe that rainbows are God's promise that He would never again flood the earth.  We believe that He will send us one when this storm passes as well.  In the meantime, we've got a driveway and we've got sidewalk chalk. 

Disney Dooney Day!!

I have never in my life had a pocketbook that cost more than $25.  I had a Liz Claiborne years ago that I got for $13 at the outlet store outside Atlanta and I've picked up several Vera Bradley and Lilly Pulitzer bags for cheap here and there at estate sales.  In fact, my friend, Kim, gave me a VB for Easter.  

Lately, though, I've been eyeing Dooneys on QVC and I decided I was gonna get me one for my birthday next month.  Easy Pay and all that.  Less sting.

But then!  I saw the DISNEY Dooneys and fell head over freakin' heels in love with them.  I love Disney.  I've been to Disney World three times in my life, the last time almost three years ago when Larry and I went to Orlando for a week.  I was going back and forth from the It's A Small World bag (because that is my FAVORITE RIDE EVER OMG, from riding it with my mama and daddy and brother my very first time at Disney World the summer I turned 7) to the Sketch, which has just about everything about Disney on it, including that amazing Mickey Mouse chocolate-covered ice cream bar that is literally heaven on earth when you've walked 12 miles and you're about to pass out from the heat and being fat.  Oh, it's so good.  And now I hear they'll be in stores soon for a very limited time.  I will buy every box I see.

Anyway, I had to go to the doctor last week about my wrist pain and lo and behold, this lady sat down beside me in the waiting room with a Disney Dooney Sketch bag!!  I saw one!  In the wild!  In real life!  I said, "OMG, you have a Disney Dooney!" and she said she bought it SEVEN YEARS ago in Disney Springs and uses it every day (except during football season, she's got a UGA Dooney for then) and it still looked brand new.  No fraying of the handles, no wearing on the bottom.  What??  That made up my mind for me.  

Larry bought me one for Mother's Day!  We were a little late ordering it (because I couldn't MAKE UP MY MIND) and I got it today!  

Let's unbox, shall we??

Disney tissue paper!!  Squeeeee!  How many characters can you name??

There she is!!  Carefully wrapped in tissue and plastic.  

They do a GREAT job with shipping!

More tissue paper!  

Ta-da!!  Cute as a button and holding ALLLLL my stuff.  I love it!!  I also lovelovelove Spartina 449 and I got their market tote for the summer in their Moonglade pattern a couple weeks ago.

I've been through H-E-double-hockey-sticks the past six months with this foot and if I EVER get back to work, I'll be ready.  Bagwise, anyway.  Looks like surgery number FOUR will be next week.  The MRI showed fluid in my ankle joint that looked like infection so doc's gonna go in and draw it off, have it tested and then we'll treat it accordingly.  If it's infection, I may have to go on IV antibiotics with a PICC line to try and stop it from absessing and damaging the bone.  Please continue to pray for us.

When this is over and I can walk 12 miles, in the heat while being fat, we goin' to Disney World!

More of the neverending tragedy that is my foot

I saw my doctor again yesterday for a follow-up from my most recent surgery.  I've still got some drainage and bleeding that my nurse was concerned about (still, at three weeks and three days post-op) but I wasn't as worried about that as I was the pain I'm still having at the spot where my foot lifts across the top and the constant popping and snapping that I'm feeling.  

Well, I got worried when he started pressing on my wound and there was pain I didn't even know about hiding in there.  He pressed out a lot of drainage and immediately had three x-rays done right then and there.  The results showed no fractures or problems with the one remaining tendon anchor (but the rubber-band-like snapping I'm feeling MAY be from the one anchor that is not there anymore, the one he took out in January...makes perfect sense to me) or even arthritis, which is what my nurse suggested might be going on.  Nope.  None of that showed up.  What's going on is there's infection in there, either deep tissue or bone.  Since I had staph in the hospital in January, I'm more than a little worried about this.  He took out the one remaining stitch that was holding the graft on and I'm on antibiotics for a week.  We're watching the wound very closely, changing bandages every day.  If there's still drainage after a week, I'll have an MRI to see if the infection is in the bone.

The skin graft has healed over the hole and my thigh has healed as well, I just have a bright pink 2x2 square on the side of my leg, that's all.  But, hey, pink is my signature colah.  I've started working on that scar and it'll be lighter and smaller in no time.

If you've been following me throughout this nightmare of mine, please continue to pray for my foot to heal.  Once and for all, to HEAL.  Every time I think I'm getting better, something else crops up.  

Today is Holy Saturday, the day we remember Jesus' full day in the tomb.  The day all those years ago when all hope was lost because Jesus was dead.  They all saw Him die, right there on that cross.  If you're living what seems like an endless Saturday like that one was, where all hope is lost and you can't see daylight, and sometimes, I do feel like I am, then let me remind you that Sunday is coming!  It's not done yet.  God has a plan for your life and mine, too.  My foot will heal and there will be unbelievable joy for me on that day.  

Just like there will be for ALL of us tomorrow morning.  

New year, same me...

...because I'm already fabulous!  Ha!  

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions.  I just try to do better than I did the previous year.  I can do that again with 2019.  No need to make weight loss promises to myself, no need to promise to be a better person, kinder and more forgiving.  I just will do what I need to do to feel good about ME, love on those around me, who stand with me and by me.  That's what I'll do.

I have pretty much cut some folks out of my life the last couple of years.  Toxic, abusive and controlling people that I love, still love, but can't tolerate anymore.  It's sad, really, but you gotta do what's good for YOU.  Decades of verbal abuse and just putting up with it, biting my tongue and not defending myself are over.  Completely over.  Apologies that I'll never get and closeness that I'll never feel again, those realizations have been hard but I got through it.  2019 is the year that I move on from it, not looking for apologies anymore and definitely not needing that closeness anymore.  

Oh well.  Life is like that sometimes.  The world continues to turn and life continues to fly by.  I still can't believe how fast 2018 went.  Most of it I spent in pain with my foot.  Oh, how I wish I could go back to that pain!  That pain was nothing compared to what I'm going through now.  The hematoma left my foot with a huge crater and no matter how carefully and lovingly Larry has cared for it, it is not healing.  The pain is unbelievable.  I cry all the time and nothing helps, not narcotics, which I have in abundance, not rest, not staying off it, nothing helps.  It is not healing like it should be so tomorrow, I'm having a second surgery, this one at their Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital in Phenix City, Alabama.  

Debridement.  Google it and cry with me.

Workers' Comp has assigned a nurse to come here to our home and take care of me.  She will come and change this sponge and drain thing that will be put on me tomorrow.  She'll come every 3 to 4 days, I'm told.  This whole experience has been nothing but a nightmare.  I just wanted my foot fixed.  I wanted the nerve pain to go away so that I could walk like a normal human being, go hiking with my husband, walk on the beach with him without hurting.  I had NO idea that this was in my future.  But it was and I know God has me wrapped in His loving arms.  I know that.  I know He's with me during the dark, dark nights that I sit in my recliner and cry.  I know He's with Larry, who feels completely helpless in this whole mess.  God has amazing healing powers and He will heal me, too!  This was part of my journey to get to the next phase in my life.  I know I will survive it and that I will come out on the other side smelling like the pink rose that I am and wearing real shoes again.

I appreciate your prayers and thoughts of us as we continue to fight this.  For better or for worse, in sickness and in health.  Larry has kept those vows like a champ.  I could not have made it without him.

What happened to June???

Wow!  It's July already!!  I had a wonderful birthday month.  Larry spoiled me slap rotten with Pyrex and other gifts, a beautiful cake, fish tacos on my birthday, a movie date and lots of love.  He made me a beautiful wooden planter for the front porch that we filled with apple blossom caladiums.  And this weekend, he's working on a garden bench.  

Here's a pic of the caladiums when we planted them June 12th...

 

And here they are today!

They really like it out there!

Mama Bird never laid any eggs in her nest in the decoy plant that I made for her.  :(   But somebody laid an egg in the plant next to it!

So we are still on nest watch, even though it doesn't look like there's even a nest for this little egg.

Father's Day, I shared my birthday with Daddy and we had a little party for both of us.  I got two pairs of cute pajamas from Mama and Daddy, a sundress and a super cool vintage pitcher from Ami and Brian, two really pretty beach totes from Mama and Ami and Ami gave me some sunscreen to take with us on our trip. 

I see SO MANY posts on Facebook about folks going to the beach and getting cooked.  Get you some Banana Boat spray.  It works.  I use the 50 or 100 and we've been to the beach three times now using that stuff and have not even gotten pink.  It works!!  Protect your skin.  Get you some!!
 

Does my mama know me or what??  :D

 

I got a beautiful cake, a pineapple plant, a vintage silver butter dish and bread plate from my folks at work.  I was told early last month that I'm being reassigned to C-130's so I'll be leaving my F-15 family soon.  I'm not entirely happy about that but I trust my God.  I know He's got something wonderful planned for me and I'm pretty excited to see what that is. 

Larry gave me several really beautiful pieces of Pyrex for my birthday and one piece, my Holy Grail Friendship, arrived in about a bazillion pieces.  We are still battling the seller for a refund.  Ugh.  My friend, Stacy, saw my post on Facebook about it and she ordered me another one!  And it was here, in one piece, just a couple days later!

I told Stacy that that was the true meaning of friendship.  :) Stacy and I went to electronics school together and both got jobs at the base because of it.  God puts people in your path for a reason.  I'm so glad my path crossed Stacy's.

Larry got me a brown on white Town and Country (it kinda looks blue in this picture but it's brown) and a Shenandoah one day and came home with a yellow Cross Stitch and yellow and black Gooseberry another day!

Last weekend, we went to Jekyll Island and celebrated some more!  We played footsie in the sand, rode the waves together, had fresh seafood for supper at Latitude 31 on the water, watched our very first ever lacrosse game at the soccer field and just had a wonderful restful, relaxing weekend.  We'd been babysitting our friends' puppies for them last month so they took care of our babies while we were gone, too.  

We had such a great time!  And then we came home and the house was 80 degrees and we had to get the AC fixed last week.  Ahhh, the joys of home ownership.


  

But for a couple of days, we had this.

So now it's July!  We're having steaks and baked potatoes and ice cream cones tomorrow for the 4th and we'll probably sit out on the porch and watch the neighborhood firework show.  

Happy 4th, y'all!  Be safe, be happy, be loved.

Sweet November

Wow, November is nearly gone!  We have had a great month, cleaning out the garage, having a very successful yard sale on the 7th, driving down to Jacksonville Beach to visit Larry's aunt and uncle and getting ready to host Thanksgiving next week!

Our yard sale went better than we had even hoped!  We sold almost everything and what we didn't, we donated to a local church that has its own thrift store. 

I made these signs Friday night and Larry and I went around the neighborhood and put them out!

Saturday morning, we had folks out there at 6:30!  We had Tom the Turkey up early!

It threatened to rain all morning and did sprinkle on us once but I started praying and the rain clouds blew on away from us, the sun came out and it got HOT!!  Thanks to all of y'all who came out to see us and buy our junk!  :)  We had some pretty cool stuff.  And now the garage is empty and I can park my car in there again.  Yay!!

Sweet Cleo

Last weekend, we went to Florida and had the best weekend with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Don.  Larry had not seen them since he was a teenager and I had never met them.  They greeted us at the door with big smiles and warm hugs.  Aunt Ruth had homemade chicken salad and crackers waiting on us for lunch and she made a delicious lasagna for supper.  Then we had brownies and butter pecan ice cream at bedtime.  We were so tired and so dang full but we still got the best sleep that night in their guest bed and then we got up and went to church with them Sunday morning.  I made friends with their cat, Cleo, who has the most adorable black "ink spots" on her face!  She's an old girl, born in Germany about 13 years ago.  When raccoons started eating her food, she found her way to Aunt Ruth and Uncle Don across the street and they adopted her.  Her owners were okay with it so now she's theirs.  And she never has to fight raccoons for her food again!  And she likes to play in Aunt Ruth's hair at night.  :)

They gave us lots of old family photos and told us the stories that went with them.  Like this one of Larry's grandpa, Herb, and his cat, Smoky.

I loved this one of Larry's aunts and uncle, Carolyn, Wilma and Hal, Jr.  I LOVE that Wilma has her eyes closed!  We are kindred spirits.  :)  They were all very talented children and all played musical instruments, were actors and sang.

This handsome boy, Hal, Jr. has such a sad story.  Days after this picture was taken (he's the one on top) and hours after his performance as Huckleberry Finn in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Jacksonville Beach's Junior Little Theater, he went to his job at the boardwalk amusement park and was killed trying to retrieve a lady's pocketbook from the roller coaster she had been riding.  He was only 15.  I'm thankful for all the photos we were given but the ones we have of Hal are special.  What a smart, talented, handsome, sweet kid.  He died helping somebody out.  So very sad. 

 

Aunt Ruth and Uncle Don are models, too!  We got to see this Winn Dixie circular they did several years ago.  :)

Sunday morning at First Baptist Church, they voted on their new pastor and we were there to welcome him in!  We made a new friend at church, too, a guy named Zach, who had the most awesome t-shirt on.  It said, "Pirates, Terrorists, Sex-Traffickers.  They need Jesus, too!"  We were immediately drawn to this guy and made fast friends with him, "friending" him on Facebook so we can stay in touch.  He shares Jesus with the homeless on the beach and we think he's just awesome.  If you're reading this, hey, Zach!  :)

We had lunch together at Longhorn and then Larry and I went to the beach!  Lannadoo was going on at the Seawalk Pavilion on the beach and we enjoyed the beautiful Celtic music, the dancing and the arts and crafts festival.  We even saw a guy walking around in a kilt! 

The beach was absolutely glorious!  Windy, with strong waves and a few clouds but I've never seen a beach day I didn't like.  

Now we're looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving here on Thursday with our family and some friends.  When we found out a few neighbors and friends didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving, we invited them to join us.

It's almost Christmas.  Eeeeek!!!

But the greatest of these is love

My Andersonville blog was one of the hardest ones I've ever written.  This one will be the easiest.

I have wanted to go be in President Carter's Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church for as long as I can remember, for as long as I've known it existed, really.  For one reason or another, I just never went.  In light of the recent health issues he's had and his progressing age, I decided I'd better go NOW.  I encourage anybody reading this blog to go, too.  Soon.  If you want to hear him share God's word in a way that only he can and get your picture made with him and Miss Rosalynn (and that's pronounced ROSALYN not ROZLYN, in case you didn't know), you better try to go in the next coming weeks.  His Sunday School schedule is posted at the church's website.  September 13 and 27 and then October 4, 18 and 25.  Those are all of the dates posted right now.  He told us that he is undergoing immunotherapy treatment and with cancer, you just never know when he'll feel up to it.  He LOVES it, though.  He LOVES us and wants to do this for us.  He's quite a remarkable man.  But we already knew that.

So.  To help the church handle the crowds that are coming, the church came up with a plan.  Beginning this week, they started giving out seating arrangement tickets to ensure folks get in.  Or at least the first 400 folks.  Larry and I drove down there Saturday to be at the church at 1:00 to try to be two of those 400 folks.  We arrived a little after 12:00 to find the parking lot of the small gas station next door to the church absolutely packed.  They wouldn't let you on the church property until 1:00 sharp.  There was already a numbering plan in place to line up to go onto the church property and Larry and I were able to get number 70 for our truck.  Now when you have that many people in one place, things start to get a little sticky.  I'll just say it was organized chaos and leave it at that.  Everybody was desperate to get a ticket.  While we waited, we got somebody to snap this picture of us with Jimmy The Peanut, something you pretty much HAVE to do when you're in Plains.  Cheesy, maybe.  Historic, absolutely.  We were all over it.  :)  

We all lined up best we could and drove onto the church property.  Now that was organized!  You never even left your vehicle.  You drove up to a man (who we now know is George Williams) and he gives you a ticket for every person in your car and then you drive around the church and back out onto the road.  Easy peasy.  We got numbers 69 and 70!  We were so excited!!
 

We left there and went to the old Plains High School, which now serves as President Carter's main museum and visitors' center.  We walked around in there and learned a lot about President Carter that we never knew and were reminded of lots of things that we did.  The photos of him and Miss Rosalynn when they were dating and first married made me cry.  This Navy photo of him and what he inscribed to her had me squalling.  Darling, I love you with all my heart - for all of my life.  Jimmy 

These are a few of my favorite things from the visitors' center.


This poster.  I must have one.

I would totally put this up in our yard.  :)  There are signs now all over Plains that say "Jimmy Carter for Cancer Survivor".  Awesome.  His entire family has been cursed by and died from cancer.  His daddy, James, Miss Lillian, his sweet mama, his sisters and his brother.  Cancer sucks.

These election pins.  This is the kind of stuff Larry and I look for at estate sales!

This old schoolroom. 
 

We picked up some goodies in the gift shop.  Some cajun peanuts, peanut brittle and post cards.  On our way back home, we stopped in Andersonville, went by and visited with Mama and Daddy for a little while and then came home and went to bed early!  We had to get up at 4:00 Sunday morning in order to be at the church by 7:00.

We drove down in darkness, getting to Maranatha a little after 6:00.  Not knowing what to expect, we wanted to get there early.  We lined up in front of the church, by number, just after 7:00. 

There was a bunch of us!  You can see how the line wraps clean around into the parking lot.
  

When you go to see President Carter and be part of his Sunday School class, you gotta get through Miss Jan and the Secret Service first!  The Secret Service is much nicer.  :)  "Miss Jan" Williams has been a member of Maranatha Baptist Church since it split from Plains Baptist in 1977.  Having been raised a Southern Baptist, I know all about split Baptist churches.  Mama, Ami and I were all members of a split split church.  Mr. George, the ticket passer-outter, is Miss Jan's husband and all I gotta say about Mr. George is bless his heart.  She is a tough old bird but there's a heart of gold underneath all that toughness.  And she loves President and Mrs. Carter dearly.  She protects them like a mama bear protects her cubs.  Miss Jan comes out of the church about 7:30 barking orders -- no bags, no purses, nothing but your camera or phone, your keys and your money if you're tithing.  That's it.  Then she proceeds to line us all up like second-graders and that was more than a little off-putting but she's been doing this a long, long time so if you decide to go on your own or because of something you read here, just remember that.  Go easy on her.  Smile at her.  Thank her.

Don't take pictures of the Secret Service OR Miss Jan unless she tells you you can.  I took a few before she told us.  :)  This guy, Dan, looks SO MUCH like Anderson Cooper.  He was super sweet, down-to-earth and friendly.  They work shifts so Dan may not be there when you go.  They're all pretty nice, though.  You place everything you own on a table and while one Secret Service guy looks at your camera and stuff, another guy wands you.  You clear, pick up your stuff and walk into the church.  Just like any other Sunday morning, right??  :) 

Just listen to Miss Jan and you'll be just fine.  You think I'm joking, don't you?  I'm warning you is what I'm doing.  Ha!



Inside the church.  What a beautiful sanctuary!  President Carter made that cross that hangs over the baptismal pool.

Miss Jan comes out after everybody gets seated and she starts her hour of instruction.  You're not to applaud President Carter when he comes out (he hates that), you're not to stand when he comes in, you can't take pictures of him until he starts his "Where Are You From?" part where he walks around and asks each section where they're from.  You can only yell out your state once so if somebody else says "Georgia!", you better shut up.  Don't let her hear "Georgia" more than once.  Once he's done with "Where Are You From?", he'll go right into asking if there are any ministers or missionaries, past or present, in the audience.  It's then that you turn your phone OFF and you can't take any more pictures.  They film the entire service and supposedly the phones cause problems with the filming.  Turn it OFF.  Don't try her.

After her hour-long instruction period (She's not all bad. She's funny and very entertaining, too.), you have about 10 minutes to go potty and get back before President Carter comes in.  Be back in there before he comes in.   

He came in so quietly I missed it.  I just heard him start talking to us and when I looked up, there he was.  Frail, pale, soft-spoken but with that same big smile on his face.  He started by telling us he was so glad we were there and he told us a little bit about his cancer and his treatment that he's undergoing.  Not chemo right now but immunotherapy, to boost his immune system so that he can fight the cancer better.  Peacemaker that he is, he was supposed to go to Ghana this week but had to cancel due to his treatment.  After we all told him where we were from and he had a young missionary woman lead us in prayer, he started the lesson.  1 Timothy.  Faith.  Paul was telling young Timothy to stay there in Ephesus and tell the people to stop teaching false doctrine, for false doctrine is not advancing God's command to love from a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith.  The folks in Ephesus wanted to teach but they had no idea what they were talking about.  He spoke some on the importance of women in the Bible, in the church and how Jesus lifted up the women in His life.  He didn't mistreat them or treat them as second-class citizens.  Jesus loved everybody.  It was a great lesson.  I hung on his every word.  He strayed over to 1 Corinthians 13 once and quoted one of my favorite passages.  Verse 13 says, And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  How wonderful our world would be if we only loved like Jesus loves.  

He finished up his lesson, we had a short break and then morning worship began.  President Carter joined Miss Rosalynn on a pew to the right of us and we enjoyed church together.  They have a wonderful young preacher who knows his Bible, he's funny and he loves the Lord.  You can tell.  After worship service was over, the Carters went down front and sat on stools (his doctor told him he could continue to do pictures as long as he sat down to do it).  Miss Jan came back out, dictating who goes first and who goes next, taking folks from all over the sanctuary randomly.  I guess that works best.  She should know.  When it was our turn, I went straight to Miss Rosalynn and Larry went to the President's side.  It was over in a flash, literally.  She said "good morning" to me and I told her how happy I was to see them.  We took Larry's phone from the photographer and we marched down the left side and out of the church, just as Miss Jan had instructed us.  :)

I had my eyes closed in the picture so we got back in line and got a second one!  This time, Miss Rosalynn was the one with her eyes closed.  But that's all right.  I made her laugh and it's a very sweet memory for me and I wouldn't change one thing.

Not so much in this one but in every single photo I took of President Carter, he has a light all around his head.  The lighting in the church is pretty bad but Larry nailed it.  God is all over that man.

We left and ate lunch at Mimmie's Diner, along with just about everybody else from the church, including Miss Jan.  Good old Sunday dinner country cooking.  Baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli casserole, squash casserole, collards and okra, corn bread and biscuits, pecan pie, ice box lemon pie and pumpkin pie.  And cold sweet tea.  It was delicious!

I'm so happy we went.  Nobody knows how long we have so first of all, we should make sure things are good with God, then things are good with others and finally, things are good with ourselves.  I encourage everybody reading this to go have this experience for yourselves if you can.  It's a little work getting your seating tickets and all but we all know that anything worth having takes a little work.  

Sunday School with President Carter is worth having.


***I made a sweet new friend from North Carolina this weekend in Plains, so Julie, if you're reading this, Happy Birthday, girl!!***

In sickness and in health

We had quite a weekend!  I got a call at noon Friday from an EMT telling me he had Larry in the ambulance and that they were taking him to the Medical Center in Macon because he was having chest pains.  He told me that Larry was awake and that his vitals were good.  Trying not to freak the hell right on out, I asked him to let me speak to Larry.  He had been working in the woods building a fence and was stung by something, from behind on his shoulder so he didn't get a look at it.  Shortly after that, he started having pains in the center of his chest and he called 911.  Once I heard his voice and was positive that he was alert and awake, I tearfully told him I'd meet him at the hospital.  I told my supervisor and I took off.  I called Rhiana, Mama and Ami on the way.  I didn't know what I would find when I got there, how he would be, but I wanted them to know what was going on.  I asked for prayers on Facebook.  I believe in the power of prayer, I believe God works in our lives and I believe that He has lots more still for Larry to do in this old world.  I was worried but I wasn't worried.  Does that make sense?  I got there and he'd already had an EKG in the ambulance and he said nothing showed up.  That was good.  They also put a nitroglycerin patch on him and it didn't help with his pain.  That was also good.  I know from our experience with Mama that nitro helps when you have a heart problem and when it doesn't, it's usually something else.  So I was relieved to hear that.  But then the hospital does their own EKG and they detect some "abnormality" and decide that he has to be admitted and have a stress test done in the morning.  Ami and Brian came to see us and so did our pastor, Andy Cook.  I was glad for the company!  Once they decided to admit Larry, I came home to get us some clothes together, check on Tabbie Hoffman and Banjo and get a shower.  On the way back, I stopped and got us some supper because I remembered that neither one of us had eaten all day!  I got back to the hospital at 9:30 and they had already moved Larry up to the heart tower.  We spent the night there, a miserable night as y'all know if you've ever spent the night in a hospital.  The Luce Heart Institute is a swanky $85 million dollar heart specialty hospital (the "heart tower", they call it) and the rooms and bathrooms are really nice but the beds are teeny tiny.  I slept on the sofa bed with my own pillow I brought from home and a cotton blanket a sweet nurse brought me.  

This was us Saturday morning, snuggled up in Larry's tiny little hospital bed.

Here's Larry having his 4th EKG Saturday morning.

They never did pinpoint what this "abnormality" was they kept seeing but since everything turned out fine, I'm thinking it was most likely something the bug bite caused.  Larry passed the stress test with flying colors, exceeding the goal they set for him and never even breaking a sweat.  His pain stopped Friday night and he was his old self again before we even went to sleep.  We left Saturday afternoon and was told today that the stress test was normal, no heart problems were detected at all.  He may have just developed a slight allergic reaction to the bug venom and after it passed through his system, he was fine again.  Dangest thing I've ever seen!  But I wouldn't expect anything else from Larry.  He's the strongest, most pulled-together person I've ever known.  He just flat refused to let anything be wrong with his heart.  

There's not.  I've had that heart for 27 years and I've never seen a thing wrong with it.

Eggstra Special Good Friday!

I took the day off and slept in while my sweet husband boiled eggs for us to dye with our Elizabeth and Emma tomorrow.  He created this little Good Friday egg cartoon and I just had to share it!!  He is so creative and smart and pretty much the coolest person I've ever known.  From the moment we met, I knew.  I knew he was the one for me.  That day and every day we had to live apart up to this amazing, beautiful life we have now.  We are truly blessed.  Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!!

Of course the little brown egg between us is Banjo.  :)

Happy Good Friday, y'all!!  It was the saddest day in earth's history but it led to the best thing that ever happened to us.  They put Him in that grave but He didn't stay there!

How'd you spend your weekend?

What a weekend!  Yesterday, Ami, Brian and I went to Atlanta to visit the grave of an old friend of ours, old friend for her, old kid I babysat for me.  Today is Wayne's birthday.  He would have been 37.  He was a deputy in Cherokee County and ten years ago, he was killed answering a call, doing what he did best, trying to help somebody.  He was a sweet kid who would do anything in the world for you.  What's so sad and the hardest to deal with, though, is that call was a false alarm.  We'd never been to his grave so Ami picked this weekend to go, to celebrate the day he was given to us.  After we got some help finding his grave (Crest Lawn is huge!!), we sat there a little while and talked and remembered him.  I think my most vivid memory of Wayne is how he would not go to bed when I told him to.  His little brother, Matt, would fall asleep on the sofa and I would move him to his bed but Wayne wanted to stay up and talk to me.  He would "just ten more minutes!" me until his parents drove up in the yard and then he would run to bed.  I babysat them for $2 an hour.  I'd give anything to have just one Saturday night back.

On our way to Atlanta, we stopped off in Forsyth and shopped at two thrift shops.  I went with my heart set on some record albums, some blue and white plates and some vintage bedding.  I got all that and more!  We went to Circle of Care and Family Thrift Store.  This is Circle of Care.  Yeah, I know.  We were overwhelmed.  There is so much to look at!!  I ended up getting two sheets and nine pillowcases for $8.50, two beautiful blue and white plates for $10, a pretty blue and white saucer for 39 cents (YES!!  39 cents.  Because it had a tiny chip you can hardly see.  I don't mind chips.  I think a chip in a dish (or cup or flower pot) just shows that dish had a life.  It has lived and has a story.) and 22 albums for $3.70!!  And a whole bunch of other stuff.  Here's a pic of my buggy.  :)

 

  
I got this gorgeous fall painting at Family Thrift Store for $10.  I love it!!  I joked on Facebook that it's hanging over our sofa right now and I'm trying to figure out a way to jump in it.  Do you blame me??

We had lunch at The Prime Palate and it was so delicious that it was borderline ridiculous.  I had a pork chop (and later fried chicken!), mac & cheese, cheesy potatoes, black-eyed peas, butter beans, green beans, cornbread and blueberry cobbler for dessert.  I was full as a tick when we left and sooooo miserable.  But it was a good miserable. :)

I talked to Larry this morning and he went to Wild Adventures yesterday!  And rode everything out there.  Including the 180 foot bungee jump.  I cannot tell y'all how many times I said to him, "you are SO crazy!" while he was telling me about it.  I lost count.  He had a blast, though!  He loved all the roller coasters and the fast-upside-down-take-your-breath nonsense of it all.  I'm kinda glad he went on and did all that 'cause this girl ain't crazy.  :) 

We're just about to the two-thirds mark.  October 8th, we'll have three months left!  Things have not gone the way we thought they would or hoped they might but that's all right.  One of our favorite scriptures is Romans 8:28.  God works all things together for the good of those who love Him.  God will work this for our good, too.  I don't believe God brings us to a trial without having something great waiting for us on the other side of it.  He has proven this to me over and over.  While this is indeed a trial, our something great starts January 8th and I cannot wait!!

I went to Willie's funeral this afternoon.  I don't even want to call it a funeral, though, because it was like no funeral I've ever been to.  It was a going home celebration!!  A celebration of Willie's life given for him by the lives that he touched.  That church was packed.  Standing-room only.  Full of family, friends, coworkers and classmates.  I was amazed from the beginning all the way to the end.  From the beautiful white horse-drawn carriage that brought Willie to the church, to the gun salute and the playing of "Taps", to the music, the memories, the tears, the laughter, the praise dance that had me sitting there with my mouth hanging open, to the breathtaking dove release at the end.  A wonderful, loving send-off.  I've never seen anything like it.  I'm so happy I went and was a part of that.

I've had a busy, busy weekend!  Now I think I'll follow Tabbie Hoffman's lead and take a nap.  :)