We're Home!

Yay! We're home again! We got home last night about 11:00 to a nice warm, lighted house!

The drive home was in the dark but I could see all along the way broken trees everywhere! As I drove in to work this morning, in the daylight, I could see even more destruction! We are so blessed to already be back home with electricity. Two of the women at work still have no electricity.

It's really strange to drive down the road and one block is lit - the next block is dark! It seems like there's no rhyme or reason to the system. Many of the traffic lights are out - they have become 4-way stops. My drive to work and home took a lot more time than usual because of the lack of electricity along the way.

When we got home last night the first thing I did was clean out the fridge and freezer. Of course, that meant everything had to go! Chance is still out of school and he called me at work today complaining there was no food in the house! Oh yeah, I threw it all away! I had to make a grocery run after work today!

So many things have been affected by the storm. Things I never thought about before going through it this week! A friend from work lost her father-in-law over the weekend and the funeral had to be rescheduled three times because there was no electricity to the funeral home. They could not have a viewing at the funeral - again, because of the electricity being out this week! I can't imagine how devastating that would be. My friend was having a pretty tough time with all of it.

I am going to post pictures as soon as I can - probably this weekend. We live in the "woods" and there are so many trees broken. The boat was parked beside a tree and the tree is completely broken in half but instead of falling on the boat it is hanging over the other side. It looks almost like the boat was pulled into the "shelter" of the two sides of the tree.

We don't have any major damage - or maybe I should say any real property damage! I got teary eyed this morning as I left because I saw some of the trees that my Dad planted here when he first bought the property - almost 30 years ago! He loved those trees so much. I hope they come back stronger and even more beautiful than before!

What a week! Now they're predicting snow beginning tomorrow night and some are saying that the extra weight of the snow may cause further damage. Today was supposed to be a bit warmer, but I sure didn't feel it! We still have a layer of ice covering the porch, the trees and everything around. The roads are clear which is a definite plus!

Saturday has been planned - for some time now - for my brothers and sisters and our families to get together to celebrate our family Christmas. I just pray that the weather doesn't prevent us from being together. Two of my brothers live a distance away and it would be terrible if they weren't able to get here because of the weather. This will be our first Christmas without my Mom and I can already feel her absence. I'm sure if the weather is bad we will just reschedule. It may not be until after the 25th, but it will still be Christmas if we're all together!

In His Love and Blessings
annb

Still In Limbo

You know, as much as I love my daughter and enjoy being with her as much as possible, "Limboland" is not a pleasant place to be! Here we are - still no power, no water, no heat and I feel guilty because I want so badly to get back to my own home!

Watching the news today and seeing that they have set up a shelter in downtown OKC for people who have no place to go for heat, food and other necessities - I'm almost ashamed of myself for feeling the way that I do! I dread going back to the house because I know that I am going to have to clean out the fridge and freezer, which won't be pleasant at all! Hopefully since it's still be cold and we didn't have any heat it won't be too bad, yet.

Jody called and is on his way to the house to check and see if we have power yet. I guess if we do and if they delivered our propane like they were supposed to do on Friday last week - we can go home again!

I would like to get back to a normal life. It's no fun living out of a suitcase!

I'm also very thankful that we have a place to go when we need it. I'm thankful for the reminder of what's important!
In His Love and Blessings
annb

LimboLand!!!!

Here I am in Limboland! Actually I am at my daughter and son-in-law's house and have been since yesterday evening because we have no power at my house! We lost power on Sunday evening about 5:00 because of the weather. We are in the midst of an ice storm here. We live in the country surrounded by woods and I'm afraid the trees are all in trouble.

The power came back on about 2 1/2 hours later on Sunday and stayed on for about 20 minutes then went off again. It came back on a couple of times that evening, but then went off about 10:30 and has not come back on since and they're saying it could be 7 to 10 days before the power is restored!

We stayed at the house on Sunday evening and at the time we went to bed we had power. I woke up several times during the night because of the thunder - thunder during the ice storm! Jody got up and went to work on Monday morning even though they were discouraging travel. School as closed so Chance and I stayed home all day. During the day we noticed a couple of trees leaning precariously toward the living room windows. Chance went outside to see if he could chop the trees down and make them fall in the opposite direction, but he just couldn't do it with only one hand.

Chance and I stood outside for a little while and you could hear the trees breaking everywhere around us. It was eerily quiet until you heard the crack and then we could see the tops of the trees falling to the ground. So many of the trees around us are broken! It really is horrible to see.

Our driveway is about 1/8 of a mile long and when Jody left to go to work on Monday he had to come back to the house and get a machete to chop the branches hanging down over the driveway. By the time he came home the driveway was completely covered with broken branches and trees that had fallen across the driveway. He could not even drive down to the house! He had to get the chainsaw and it took him about an hour, with Chance's help, to clean the driveway enough to get to the house.

We were due for a propane delivery on Friday last week, but for some reason they did not deliver it and then we were extremely low. Jody decided we could not stay at the house Monday evening because he didn't know if the propane would last all night! It was one thing to stay home with no electricity with heat! It was completely another to stay with no electricity, no water and no heat!

We decided to camp out at Elizabeth's until the power is restored. Jody spent all day today, after taking off work, cleaning the trees from the driveway and around the house again! He just now, at 8:05 pm, walked in for supper. He is completely worn out. He said he had to cut down a lot of the branches that were hanging down over the electric and cable lines around the house.

School is closed tomorrow again because . . . still no power! I will be going in to work tomorrow from Elizabeth's. I don't even have my car here so I'll have to use her car, too. It makes it hard - not being able to be at home and not knowing how long before we can go back home! I am definitely being reminded how blessed we are to have electricity in our homes!

I took some pictures around the house on Monday but since I'm not at home I can't download them to my computer . . . which is not powered, but I'll post them as soon as I'm back home. I'm using Michael's laptop now.

That's the scoop for now! Please pray for all of us in Oklahoma who are are limbo. I am so thankful that we had a place we could go to when we needed it. Pray for those who have no place to go! Please pray that we Oklahomans will get back to normal soon!

In His Love and Blessings
annb

It's Beginning To Feel Like Christmas!

Jody and I went Christmas shopping yesterday and got a few things. I still have so much to do before I'm ready for the BIG day! We are not extremely extravagant in the gifts we give, but we do try to match each gift to the person receiving it! Sometimes that is really difficult!

Chance, of course, is our biggest "givee"! Since he is our only child at home anymore, he gets the Christmas "goodies"! Jody and I don't do much for each other because it seems kind of silly to spend money on each other just because it's Christmas! We will exchange something - but nothing big!

We bought a new Christmas tree this year. I have never enjoyed putting up and decorating the Christmas tree. Yes, I admit it! Bah Humbug! I don't think I'm a Scrooge, but that is just really not my thing. When Candace was still at home she always decorated! She even came out last year and decorated my tree for me. I felt a bit guilty and didn't ask her this year. She still enjoys decorating - it's just in a different house now - her own!

When Jody and I went shopping yesterday, I asked him if we could get a new tree - smaller and already lit! Yay! He said yes and we got one. It's much smaller around and I don't have to string lights! I don't care if I get anything else for Christmas or not - the tree absolutely makes the season for me! I trimmed the tree with candy canes (which will be gone before Christmas!), colored bells and bulbs and voila! Beautiful tree in 1/4 of the time!

This past week flew by! Chance is still recovering from surgery on his wrist so I kept him home from school this week. He goes back to school tomorrow. He will have the stitches taken out on Friday and I guess Dr. M will schedule a time for the rods to be removed from his hand at that appointment.

Chance has been going with a girl, I'll call her B, for a couple of months now and she spent a little more time at our house this past week. She is so sweet! It's fun to have another girl around again. She went to church with us this morning and then to lunch afterward. She then came over to the house and we watched movies this afternoon. I'm really proud of the way Chance is behaving himself - a true gentleman!

B's mom brags to me all the time how polite Chance is when he is at their house. She is really enjoying him being around. It makes me feel good as a mom to hear another mom bragging on my son! He is so quickly becoming a man!

I turned 50 this past week! I can say it without pain - 50! The girls in our department decorated my office quite lavishly! They brought snacks for the day and I'm supposed to plan a day to go to lunch with everyone - my choice of restaurants! It's always fun for us to go to lunch together! It's fun to get out of the office and spend time together! I know, I always say it - but it's true - I work with a great group of women!

Addy called me tonight after attending the Hannah Montana concert! She was so excited! Her daddy took her as a special treat. She wanted to tell me all about it - she saw Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers! She's six years old! Sometimes it seems like she should not be so excited about a singer at her age, but then I remember how I dreamed about Elvis and I was pretty young then, myself!

Well, I got another week gone and new one beginning! I'm not sure what will be happening this week other than Dr. M for Chance and probably more Christmas shopping. That is, more shopping as soon as I figure out what to buy!

In His Love and Blessings
annb

Surgery's Over!

The surgery went well and we're home tonight! It has been a long day!

Chance had to be at the hospital this morning by 11:00 for his surgery scheduled for 1:00 pm. He and I got there in time to visit the gift shop before he checked in so I could get a book of crossword puzzles to work while he was in surgery.

Jody got there about 10 minutes before 1:00 as they were getting ready to take Chance to the operating room and I was glad he would be there to sit with me for the long wait! The surgery took three hours which the doctor had prepared us for beforehand. Dr. M came out about 4:15 and said they had just taken Chance to recovery and would come get us in about an hour once he was back in his room.

Dr. M explained to us, again, everything he had done during the surgery. He said he did a lot of work and Chance was going to be pretty sore for awhile! He put a screw in the bone that was broken, put two pins to hold the dislocated bones in the correct position while they healed. He said the pins would be removed in a few weeks. Once he got in he also found some of the smaller ligaments had been torn in the accident as well and he was able to sew those back together. He said the big ligaments all looked pretty good.

The anesthesiologist then joined us and together they explained that a nerve block had been put in at Chance's shoulder to numb his entire arm to help with pain control - at least for a few hours.

The nurse came and got us about 5:20 when they had Chance back in his room. He was in a lot of pain! I was surprised because the way the docs talked the nerve block should take care of the pain for the first few hours. They gave him some medication through his IV for the pain but that didn't seem to help either. They then gave him a shot in his hip to take care of the pain and to prevent any nausea and after about 20 minutes the pain eased up quite a bit.

We finally left the hospital about 6:30 with two prescriptions and our instructions. I was really glad to be home! I put Chance in mine and Jody's bed for tonight - we have a king size and his is only a twin. I was afraid if he rolled over in his bed his arm would either fall off the bed or he would roll over on it or something would happen! I know, I'm a bit of a worry wart!

Anyway, Jody and I will sleep in the guest bed tonite (queen size) and then tomorrow Jody will move Chance's twin out of his room and move the queen in for him to use until his arm is better. I had hoped to move the beds tonite (and stay in my bed) but Chance has one of those beds with the motor to lower and raise the head and foot of bed! Lucky kid, huh! The bed is way too heavy, because of the motor, for me to help Jody lift it so he will get some help tomorrow and move the beds around. I'll be back in my bed tomorrow nite!

So, Chance is sleeping (drug-induced, thankfully) now and I will set my alarm to give him pain medication every four hours for tonight so that he doesn't start hurting. I think if we can keep the pain under control for the next couple of days, he and I will both rest better!

Our Thanksgiving, yesterday, was really nice. Both Candace and Elizabeth had called me last week to let me know they would be coming if I was cooking - so, of course I cooked! Addy was in Texas with her other grandparents but both of the girls, their hubbys and Jody and Levi came for the day! I love it when our families are able to be together!

God is good and I have so much to be thankful for during this holiday as well was every other day of my life!

In His Love and Blessings
annb

Skateboards - Who Needs 'Em?

Today starts another week and I'm glad for the opportunity to "begin" again! Last week and the week before were a bit more than I had hoped they would be.

Chance, in the last few months, has taken up skateboarding! Yes, that's right - skateboarding! I'm learning a lot of terms and descriptions that I never really cared to know in relation to my children. Chance has decided his "longboard" is his joy and is on it - with his buddies - every opportunity afforded him!

I can't say that I allow him to do it because it's "harmless", nor because I think it must be great enjoyment for him! My real thoughts about the whole idea of skateboarding are screaming inside my head, "No, Stop Him - this is not good! This could be very bad! He's my only son!" I have tried to get him to wear a helmet - to no avail! I want to tell him to stick with computers (which he absolutely loves!), and to give up the "thrill of the board!"

Now, of course I know there are worse things for teenagers than skateboarding - but right now, skateboarding is providing my almost 50-year-old hair more gray than I think I gained in all the other 49 years of my life! I look at Chance and can't deny the fact that he is no longer a child that I can steer in another direction . . . away from danger! He'll be 18 in two months - 2 months! I now do the only thing (and really the most important) that will make any difference in his life whatsoever! I pray - daily - for God to watch over him, protect him and guide him in the choices he makes in every aspect of his life!

He's such a great kid! Even though I miss the wonderful little boy that he was, I am enjoying getting to know the man he is quickly becoming before my eyes. I thank God for our son and our daughters as well.

The last couple of weeks, as I stated, have been a little more than I hoped they would be because of a "little" accident on the longboard! It was one week ago last Wednesday as I left from work at 5:00 pm, two blocks into my trip home - I get "the" phone call! Chance had called me at 3:30 asking permission to go with his buddies to one of their skateboarding spots and I had given him permission to go. When I answer the phone I hear, "Mom, I think I broke my wrist!"

I told him I was just leaving work and would be there as fast as I could and sweet guy that he is he said, "Don't drive too fast! I don't want you to have an accident on the way!" I wasn't sure if his statement was because he was concerned about my state of mind and therefore, my driving - or if he thought that an accident would delay his trip to the ER thus prolonging the intense pain he was in!

My normal drive home is about 40-45 minutes. It took me 30 minutes to get to him and we headed straight to the ER as I called our doctor to let her know what was going on with him and to get the approval to go to the ER! You know, if you don't have permission to go to the ER from your primary care physician - insurance don't pay!

This is what I saw when I picked Chance up:

Yeah, I was pretty sure it was broken, too!

Chance is a very confident, secure guy and doesn't really care what other people think about him, the way he dresses or anything else about his person! I love that he is strong in that way, although at times I am surprised at how confident he really is!

About halfway to the ER as I was calming down a bit, I notice what he is wearing! When I look at him, really look at him, I crack up! I am laughing so hard I have tears running down my face, blurring my vision and totally breaking up the tension I had been feeling about the whole situation. I've included the picture below to help you understand why:

Great look, wouldn't you agree?

Chance doesn't own a pair of colored socks to his name! He wears - normally wears the white no-show socks with his shoes! To see him wearing those socks was absolutely the highlight of my day! You should have seen the many looks he got while we were in the ER and then when we went to WalMart to get his prescription for pain medication! The looks never bothered him at all! They don't bother me either, so it was fun to watch people as they noticed him.

Anyway, to make an already long story a little shorter - they x-rayed his arm and discovered that he had broken the "growth plate". Broke what?

I was in the Air National Guard when I was - much - younger and my job in the guard, after completing Tech School, was as an X-ray Tech. In all of my training, part of which consisted of learning all of the bones in the body and their structure, I never heard of a "growth plate"! Maybe that really shows how old I am!

The ER doctor on call told me to make an appointment with an orthopedic doctor the following week and he would probably put a cast on Chance's arm, then. She put him in a splint and a sling(for support) until we could get to the Ortho doc. The sling lasted about half an hour!

We saw the Ortho doc, Dr M, last Tuesday and instead of him putting Chance in a cast, he explained that not only had he broken the growth plate - transversely - but he had also dislocated some of the bony structure in his hand! So much for that cast!

They scheduled him for surgery on Friday, the 16th!

Thursday morning at work, right before 8:00 am, I got a call from Dr M's nurse saying that she had just received a call from the hospital and Chance was not there! Of course, he wasn't there - he had been scheduled for Friday - OOPs! There was no way I could pick him up from school and get him back to the hospital in less than an hour, so they rescheduled his surgery - for this coming Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Dr M explained that it will be a 2 1/2 to 3 hour surgery and that Chance messed up his wrist "pretty bad"! He most likely will have permanent loss of some of the range motion in his left hand!

What a couple of weeks we've had! But, there is good news - Dr M said no skateboarding for at least 3 months, the time that his hand will be out of commission! Chance also, in his cute little way, made the statement to Dr M that he guessed now he would not be a concert pianist! Dr M asked him if he played the piano before and Chance replied, "No, just Guitar Hero"! Dr M then said none of that, either. Sometimes Chance opens his mouth and finds that his foot has fallen into it! I was really glad he said it, because I would never have thought of asking about that!

Even in light of the accident and the drama following it, I have so many things to be thankful for today! I'm thankful that Chance only broke his wrist! He also hit his head, but thankfully, he has a hard head! The ER doc checked it and it seemed fine, so that's a big Thank You, God!

I'm thankful for Cheryl, the speaker at the ladies retreat I attended with Elizabeth! I have communicated, by email, with Cheryl since the retreat and she is such a wise, Godly woman and I am just so appreciative of the "truths" she is showing me about so many things. She has suggested a study for me and I'm excited to get started on it. Elizabeth and I are going to work the study together!

I have so much more to be thankful for and will share more at a later time. This post has almost gotten out of hand and if you stayed to the end . . . I'm thankful for your friendship, too!

In His Love and Blessings
annb

Are You In?

I spent this weekend in Guthrie, at a ladies’ retreat hosted by Lodestar Ministries. It was one of the most awesome weekends I’ve had in a very long time.

Elizabeth and Michael, for my birthday, surprised me with the retreat! They had paid for everything for me and Elizabeth was going, too! Spending the weekend with her and the retreat – it was a treat that I definitely needed!

We had a wonderful speaker, Cheryl Lange, founder of LodeStar Ministries, who among other things, shared with us her own testimony of the faithfulness of God in her life. The theme of the retreat was, “Are You In?”, based on The Great Farini, a man who crossed over Niagara Falls, on a tightrope, many times before a large audience.

At one point, he began carrying his manager on his back across the falls. The audience loved it! Then one time he brought a wheelbarrow into the act. He would get up on the cable and ask the audience, “Do you think I can walk across this cable and all the way back without falling?” The audience said “Yes, we believe you can do it” – so he did. Then he asked the audience if they thought he could carry his manager on his back – all the way across the falls and back. Again, they said “Yes” and became even more excited. Then he asked the audience, “Do you think I can push this wheelbarrow across the cable and back without falling?” This really got their attention and they roared with excitement – wanting to see this feat! He then said, “Okay now all I need is a volunteer to ride inside the wheelbarrow across the cable!” The audience grew silent – they didn’t trust him that much!”

The analogy was made that many of us are like that with God. We say that we trust him in all things, but we’re not willing to step into the wheelbarrow and let Him carry us. It seems too scary to put that much trust into Him, even though He has promised that He will care for us.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day has passed. Psalms 139:14 – 16.

This verse really touched me. I, of course, know that God is everlasting – but to put into perspective that He knew my life even before the beginning of time – and loved me even knowing the choices I would make throughout my lifetime – some good and some bad. There truly is not another being that deserves trust more than God! He loves me for me and loved me with an everlasting love. Jer 31:3.

I have to admit that I am guilty of stepping into the wheelbarrow and quickly stepping out again! Many times I let fear guide my decisions instead of allowing myself to be led by God. I live a good life and I strive every day to live my life in a way that is pleasing to God – but I really struggle with giving up what I think is my control over my life! The truth is - He is in control and the struggle I put forth over letting go creates much more turmoil and stress in my life!

I have been going through some very difficult things in the past few weeks and this retreat came at exactly the time I needed it most! Imagine that! God putting things in place at exactly the right time!

I have been struggling with some life-changing decisions and was most likely headed in the wrong direction. My eyes have definitely been opened and I know that I have to trust in the Lord, my heavenly Father, and make my choices accordingly.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. I John 3:1.

Cheryl encouraged us to keep a faithfulness journal. In this journal, she suggested we write whatever is on our hearts and to pray about it. She also said to write in the journal when God answers our prayer. It's easy for us to forget sometimes, that God is faithful - He hears our prayers and He answers them.

When we are in the depths of confusion, depression, anger, hurt or whatever we struggle with and feel like everyone, including God has deserted us, to be able to open our journal and read of all the evidence and experience of God’s faithfulness, it will become easier to trust Him in everything! The more we read and recall past experiences and the evidence of His faithfulness in those times, the more trust we can put in God and begin to know Him as He really is - thereby leading us to be more like Him!

One of the highlights of the weekend turned out to be a fun one! There were six mother-daughter couples there and so it was decided that a game would be played in our honor. It was played like the Newlywed Game in which first, one was asked a question and the other had to guess what they thought that person would say. Then the other one was asked a question and so on. The team with the most matching answers won prizes. Well, guess who won? That’s right – Elizabeth and I matched more answers than the other couples. That was a lot of fun! Elizabeth and I are so much alike – it seemed easy for me to figure out how she would answer. Evidently, she didn’t find it as easy to figure out my answers but obviously, she did better than she thought she had done!

This weekend was truly one of the most touching and eye-opening experiences I’ve had and I will remember it always!

In His Love and Blessings
annb