Miss ETBU

Natalie was a contestant in the Miss ETBU pageant this past weekend. Yep, that's what I said. Our Natalie...in a beauty pageant. She was wonderful. She represented Student Foundation, one of the many organizations she's involved in.

The competition included interview with the judging panel on Saturday morning, and then evening gown, talent, and on-stage interview Saturday night. She wore her two favorite prom dresses - the gorgeous black sequined dress for the runway portions and the blue shorter dress for the talent portion. She looked beautiful and did a super job on her clarinet solo and in all of the on-stage competitions. Even though Natalie was definitely the winner in our eyes, she didn't get the crown on stage. Here's the article from the Marshall newspaper.

We celebrated the evening with Nat and Brandon at IHOP, the college students' favorite late-night hang out. We are so proud of Natalie for participating and jumping out there and doing something unexpected.

The pictures of her on stage didn't turn out so well, but I hope you can see how great she looked.

Hospital time again???

What a week! This was one of those weeks that reminded me that I am NOT in charge of my life.

Just after lunch on Tuesday I began to have pain in my abdomen. I left school thinking that going home to my potty would make things better. Two hours later with no relief from the pain, Chris took me to the ER. I continued to writhe in pain until we saw the first doc around 5. Thank God for Demerol! Two x-rays and one CT scan later, the diagnosis is obstructed bowel. The second doc ordered the CT scan which confirmed the diagnosis; doc #1 was certain I was coming down with stomach flu. Anyway, the next thing I know, I have an NG tube, an IV, and a room on the 5th floor. (This is the Reader's Digest version of the story; I didn't get to the room until midnight.) The best guess is that the obstruction was caused by scar tissue left from a surgery almost 15 years ago. Who would have thought that it would cause problems so many years later.

Wednesday was a miserable day. The tube and the general yuk involved with it were awful. The pain was gone, and the tube did its job of clearing the obstruction. Obviously, I couldn't have any food or even water until the tube came out. The tube finally was removed Thursday morning, but I still needed IV antibiotics and other meds until Friday morning. I finally got to come home late Friday morning. Sleeping in my bed last night was heavenly!

Chris has been a prince. He felt so helpless on Tuesday, but he got help for me as quickly as he could, let me squeeze his hand just like I did when Nick was born, packed a bag for me by following my drug-induced instructions, called my absence in for me, and even called my professor to let him know that I wouldn't make it to class Wednesday night. He got supper for me from Magel's last night, and today he made breakfast and went to the grocery store and fixed the light in the kitchen. What a guy! He truly is the best husband in the whole world.

I haven't ventured far from the sofa and my easy chair all day today. I was hoping for more energy by now, but it's just not here yet. I plan to try to get out and do as much as I can tomorrow so that I can get back to work on Monday.

So...what can I do to prevent a recurrence of this experience? Eat healthy foods, drink lots of water, watch how I eat and how much I eat, and keep everything moving.

The bottom line, though, is that we never know what's around the next corner. It doesn't matter if it's a sudden health problem or an accident or an unexpected blessing. God is totally in control, and He uses every experience we have to teach us something either about Him or about ourselves. The best we can do is acknowledge His sovereignty and thank Him for getting us through. This experience has certainly taught me that I can't ever take my health for granted and that I have to slow down and take much better care of myself.

Old Friends

I had the chance to see an old friend last week - one that I hadn't seen in at least 13 years. Chris's quintet had a concert at a small university in central Arkansas in the same town where my friend Debbie lives. As soon as I found out about the concert, I started making plans to go with Chris so that I could see Debbie. We had a great time talking and laughing and catching up with one another.

Debbie and I met at library school at UCA in 1992, and we immediately became fast friends. We couldn't believe it had been 13 years since we had seen each other; it felt more like just a few months. We picked up right where we left off and we talked and talked for a couple of hours. Her sweet husband hung in there with us most of the night. We talked about our schools and our libraries and about our families and our grandchildren.

It's amazing how our lives have taken almost parallel paths. We're both school librarians, and we're both finishing our administration certification. There are pages on her library website that are almost mirror images of some of my pages. She has more grandchildren than I do, but we both enjoy the wonder of havinging those little ones in our lives.

I hope it's not another 13 years before we see each other again. We had a great visit which left me wishing we lived closer. Chris and I didn't get home until 2:30 that night, but it was certainly worth it.

Welcome to 2008

Happy New Year! I hope that your 2008 is everything you want it to be. We're thankful to have another year together. Chris and I will celebrate a milestone this year - our 30th anniversary. WOW...amazing, huh?

We rang in the New Year in a pretty boring way. We were awake at midnight watching TV, but that's about all we did. Natalie and Melissa joined the youth group to watch TV and shoot fireworks. Again, nothing special for any of us. We slept in pretty late on New Year's Day and got up just in time to watch the Cotton Bowl Parade, the pre-game, and then the game. Unfortunately, the Razorbacks didn't show up for the game. Bummer.

Natalie went back to school on the 2nd to help get the dorm ready for the semester. One dorm has been closed, so a lot of girls will be moving into her dorm. She'll have a few more girls to be responsible for this semester. There are times that I wish I could be a fly on the wall to watch her in action. She's so mature and so responsible but I don't think she realizes how well she does at things like this. I say that but then I'm reminded of how scatter-brained she can be at times. She called not long after she got back to Marshall and told us that she left several things at home - all of her hanging clothes and her make-up mirror. We met her in Mt. Pleasant last night to make the delivery and have dinner. It's always fun to see her. I miss her when she's not here.

I saw the dr again on Wednesday for my final post-op visit. Everything seems to be healing fine...although kind of slowly. The biggest piece of advice he gave me was no lifting. I'll probably never lift anything over 10 pounds or so. I told my dr. that I really like him, but that I don't want him to have to repair this stuff again. Recovery has been so much slower than I expected, but I've learned the hard way that I have to take better care of myself.

Speaking of which, the new diet starts tomorrow. Today I'm cleaning out the pantry and buying groceries. I've got to start cooking breakfast and healthier meals for dinner. Lunch is mainly salads and chicken or tuna. Yum Yum! And, the exercising starts next week as well. I'm planning to go to a class after school two days a week for an aerobic workout, and I'm going to walk and practice yoga on the other days. See I've put it in writing, so I have to do it! I hope you guys will help keep me accountable! I need to do this for myself as well as to get myself ready for the wedding.

Thanks for stopping by.

Engaged!!!

Yep, Natalie is engaged! All of this happened last week, and I'm just now taking time to blog about it. Ready for the details???

Nat and Brandon met during band rehearsals before the first week of school at ETBU last year. I remember her calling me to tell me that she had a date with a great guy one of the first weekends she was in school. She was incredibly excited about it...more excited than she had been about anything in a while. They continued to date, and spent time with us and with his family in Baytown through their first year at school. It was pretty obvious from the start that Brandon and Natalie had a special relationship, so we weren't at all surprised when Brandon asked for time to talk to Chris and me a couple of months ago. He was incredibly nervous and very sweet when he asked our permission to marry Natalie. It was obvious that he put a lot of prayer and thought into his decision to marry her. The hardest part was keeping it a secret for two months!

Natalie flew to Houston to spend some time with Brandon the week before Christmas. Brandon's plan was to take her to Galveston to spend some time on the beach and then to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Nothing about that was unusual or surprising for Nat. What she didn't know was that he was going to propose on the beach around sunset. How romantic!!! He asked and of course she said yes. I don't think the smile has left her face since Wednesday!

Here's the cool part for us - Not only were Nat and Brandon having dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, but his parents, his sister and her husband, and Chris and I met them at the restaurant. Nat and Brandon got to the restaurant just before we did (our flight was over an hour late), and they were at the door getting ready to go in when we arrived. Nat saw the truck drive up, but she had no idea we were with Brandon's parents. She couldn't believe we were there. It was a great surprise for her, and we were thrilled to be with her on this special night. Dinner was great, and we spent time on the beach taking pictures as Nat and Brandon recreated the whole proposal. It was a wonderful night.

Merry Christmas!

What a great Christmas morning! Chris and I slept late (Nat is STILL in bed!) and I made us a really good breakfast. We're watching the Disney Christmas parade while Chris is reading the paper and I'm updating blogs. Our plans for the day include going to the movies later today and maybe even taking in a double-feature. I'm making taco soup later and that's about it. What a great way to spend the day!

We went to Christmas Eve candlelight service at church last night. It was a very nice service with lots of wonderful music, scripture, and the traditional lighting of the Advent wreath. I always enjoy Christmas Eve services to focus my mind on the true reason for celebrating Christmas. It's not all about the presents...it's all about the ultimate present - the birth of Jesus Christ.

We're looking forward to Thursday when we'll entertain my family for Christmas. We usually try to get together before Christmas Day, but we just couldn't do it this year. We'll probably have 20 people or so including 5 boys under 10 years old. Ethan will be so excited to see his cousins and to run and play with them all afternoon. What fun! We're not planning anything elaborate at all; we're just looking forward to time to spend together.

We were in El Dorado with Chris's mom for his birthday. Nick, Angela, and Ethan got to join us, and we had a great time. Ethan entertained us the whole time, and Boo Boo really enjoyed playing with him. It was lots of fun. Here's a pic of Ethan with Nick and Boo Boo.

Enjoy your day, and I hope you get to spend it with family and friends. Merry Christmas everyone!

Back to Work

My "vacation" officially ends tomorrow morning. I've been resting and taking care of myself since surgery on the 16th, so it's time to go back to work. According to the doctor, everything is healing well, but I'm still to take it easy especially at work. No lifting or moving books or carts for a long time. I still tire very easily and I'm having some discomfort when I'm out and about, so I'll really have to watch it. My brain is SO ready to be out of the house!

So...what did I do for two weeks? I don't remember the first week (Thanksgiving week) very well. My sister brought me home from the hospital on Sunday, and Nat and Brandon stopped by on their way back to Marshall. Mother came over on Monday and took care of things while lots of friends stopped by with food and to visit. I was home alone most of the day on Tuesday with a few friends stopping by. Nat and Brandon came in Tuesday night although he had to leave Wednesday to go to Plano to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Nick, Angela, and Ethan got here in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and stayed until Thursday night. Brandon was back Saturday night before he and Natalie went back to Marshall Sunday evening. WHEW! Busy week! The girls took care of cooking for Thanksgiving, we worked a couple of jigsaw puzzles, and we had a blast watching Ethan perform. I took a nap every day and tried to focus on getting the plumbing working again.

Last week was much quieter. I got up when I wanted to, I read two books, I tried to work on School Law stuff, I went to lunch with Frances, and I went to class in Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday. I ventured out on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to do a little Christmas shopping, get my hair done, and to go to church. I didn't do anything for very long...I get tired and uncomfortable really quickly.

But all that changes tomorrow. I'll be back in the library taking care of all the library business that awaits me. There are reports to do, bills to pay, websites to update, and books to process. I'm planning to take my time and find the most comfortable chair in the library. I'll have my pillow which I hope will help. I'll probably take a long lunch and come home to rest for a little while. We'll see. I just know that I'm ready to get back into the swing of things for a couple of weeks until Christmas break when I can rest some more.

Be sure to check my reading blog to see what I've been reading. I hope to get it updated tonight.