Deborah's Thoughts

It's May already!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:34:00 +0000

Where does the time go? So far this month, I've been working on my Stampin' Up Business. The retiring stamp and accessories lists are out and so I've decided to host a retirement party. To that end I've been creating cards with retiring stamps and accessories. The black science fair board is almost finished. I'll put the last dozen or so cards on it tonight and it will be ready for stamp club tomorrow night. The other thing that has taken up most of this month is my father-in-law. He is 92 yrs old and is on blood thinner. On Monday evening of last week, he tried to stop elevator doors from closing w/ his hand. He didn't have enough strength in his had to stop the doors, so they closed on his hand. The skin did not break, but a blood vessel in his hand did. He waited about 36 hours before he called my hubby to take him to the ER. Lots of tests later, they decided to admit him so he can have surgery to remove the semi-coagulated blood that is now in his fingers, hand and lower arm. Hubby said he looked like he'd had a zombie arm attached midway between shoulder and elbow. That's about the best description I've heard. So F-I-L has had two surgeries...on Thursday and again on Saturday. WIth all the swelling in his hand, the skin on the back of his hand (about the size of a 50 cent piece) has died. He will need a skin graft to fix that. So today hubby spent the day w/ his parents at the hospital, calling and visiting rehab hospitals and choosing one. He's tired from being at the hospital and I so understand that. That's the May-so-far update.

April 14, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 03:01:00 +0000

Both of my dear sons competed in the State Bible Drill today. Neither made a perfect score, but that's not important. They have both hidden God's word in their hearts this year. That's the best part.

We then had some great conversations with some frinds of ours re: college and things that our eldest needs to focus on during his high school years. That lead to some conversations with our eldest. We have some goals in sight now.

The rest of today was spent on the housekeeping of life: laundry, dishes, gathering all the info for taxes.

March 23rd

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:12:00 +0000

This week has been better than the past few. I was so sick for most of March, that I have not accomplished much. But things are improving this week.

Monday
I helped lead the SENG Model Parenting Class; Took youngest to ortho; snuck in a run to Sam's and filled the freezer w/ meat to use.

Tuesday
Took dinner to a friend who has had foot surgery. Went over early morning, put dinner in her crockpot and then just visited. Great start to the day! Had stamp club for my ladies Tuesday night.

Wed
fewer things to do, but still productive day

Thurs
Went and helped my parents get their tax organizer ready for the accountant; fixed their printer so it works; saw the dentist and then went to the hari salon.

Friday (today)
Worked on straightening up the house, had a friend drop by for a short visit ...ended up 2.5 hrs long! ha. We had fun talking however. Now the eldest is @ the Hunter Games movie w/ a friend; hubster and youngest are off playing laser tag and my roast that has been cooking in the crockpot all day is about to do me in....it smells SO good! Too bad I can't say I sat around w/ my feet up eating bon-bons whilst they were all gone. I told myself I had to organize the bill receipts for the first 3 months of the year; and then made myself clean out the dental insurance EOB file. Shredded stuff from 2003 and older; organized all the rest.

So I am making steady progress. Now to stop, eat dinner and watch a movie.

I hope

Spring Break is over

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:39:00 +0000

Well, March is 2/3rds over. I've spent most of the time sick w/ bronchitis and a sinus infection. We didn't go out of town for spring break, but that was o.k. I needed the time to recover.

I have fallen off the "life-change" wagon. I'm not losing weight. Must restart the process. ugh.

During the illness-induced house arrest, I watched seasons 2 & 3 of White Collar. So now I'm caught up. And I have to wait for season 4 to start. My hubby and I have been watching "Downton Abbey" Hubby is one episode away from finishing Season 2.

We are enjoying an indoor spring, in an effort to limit our allergies/asthma/bronchitis.

Emotions

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:02:00 +0000

February has been an especially difficult month for me emotionally. A dear friend's child has been beset by mental illness issues -- we think. We cannot understand what has happened. We just know that her child wasn't getting the help that was so desperately needed. After yet another round of hospitalizations here, the decision was made to place her child in a long term mental health facility. I hope and pray that this stay provides the answers that are needed to help her child get beter.

I do not have any sisters. But God has given me two 'sisters' here on earth. This sweet 'sister' has had to handle more in the past year that most of us deal with in a lifetime of family issues. I have felt her pain so deeply that I have sucummbed to that evil demon depression for a bit of time -- once again.

I am feeling much better today. And that is due in large part to the ministry of my worship director. He brought Regi Stone into our church this weekend to miniter to the choir/orchestera. I didn't want to go on Friday night, but I'm so glad I did. We had the opportunity to write our own psalm. That started the tears flowing. God put a wonderful friend beside me and she spoke His words to my heart. God is good...all the time.

2012

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:07:00 +0000

I honestly thought I'd posted already this year!

New Year's Eve was our usual dinner @ Cafe Roma w/ friends and then an evening at their house playing board games and visiting. I really like having friends that are up for a nice evening IN!

New Year's Day was far from usual. MOm had to go to the ER. Well...after re-reading my blog maybe it wasn't SOoo far from usual for us anyway! LOL. But mom had another blocked bowel. Another stay with fluids and pain killers and she was finally better.

Talked to my great-aunt to update her on my mom and learned my great uncle is under hospice care.

Have started cooking at home more. I'm experiementing w/ crock-pot recipes. We've found a couple of good ones.

I helped some dear friends w/ the school ARD/IEP process for their son w/ special needs.

Have had a kid sick w/ the GI bug (youngest) but he's over it now! he also got braces in January.

My great uncle who was under hospice care died on the 24th. I drove my parents to the funeral. Stopped off to see my brother and his family on the way home. Had a very, very nice visit with them.

I've begun working on a new Bible Study for the spring....and am adding another one for 2 months staring tomorrow night.

The youngest DS has turned 12!!

I guess that's about all for the start of the year. Again...will try to be more regular about blogging this year

Dec. 5th

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:58:00 +0000

Well, I have to admit I did not clock the number of weeks since Bro. Kim died this weekend. That is progress. I am also moving on in the grief process. I'm smack dab in the middle of the anger phase right now. *sigh* this too will pass.

Thanksgiving

It was a busier morning of cooking than I had planned, but we got it all done. Had a nice lunch w/ my parents; the in-laws had just moved into an assisted living facility and were too tired to get out. At 91 and 92, I'd be too tired too! I sent home turkey & Dressing w/ my parents. The O'Briens came over to watch the last(?) Texas A&M/t.u. game. It was a stinker.

We spent the rest of the long weekend relaxing -- except for hubby. He now works for a co. that does lots of business on Black Friday, so he had to work (programming) Thurs and Fri. But that's what you get paid for.

WE did make one big purchase -- a Dyson vacuum cleaner. We've needed to upgrade for awhile now, so that is done! Hooray.

I am working with a friend on getting a handle on the disorganization this is my life. We met after Thanksgiving and set a couple of goals. They are being implemented. Baby steps.

In fact, I must get off here and work on one of those goals == handling the paperwork. Cannot procrastinate!

November 19th

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:15:00 +0000

Wow...it's been 4 weeks since we got the news about our pastor. I cannot believe it's been that long, and then it seems like it was just yesterday. Day by day. There's no other way to deal with this.

I am working at home on the ouse. Not much progress, but it's better than no progress. Anoterh day, another project. I/m currently working on teaddy bears for the S.T.O.P. program at our elementary school.

Long-Time Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:54:00 +0000

As a result of the awful grief that my church has been going through, many former members of our church came to town today to attend Bro. Kim's memorial service.

I hate the reason for my friends return, because I want Bro. Kim to still be here. But seeing all of those people -- it was just the medicine my soul needed today.

Wendell & Karen, Mike & Tasha, Jim & Rhonda, Mike & Amy, Kristen & Jud, Steve & Ruthie, Stacey & Suzanne, Sharon, Sissy, Joyce...there are too many of you to name! But please know this -- I know your presence was for Martha and the boys, but it sure did me a whole lot of good too. Thanks for making the effort.

Beginning to Heal

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:37:00 +0000

Today was the memorial service for Bro. Kim. It was amazing to see how many people came in person to remember this wonderful, faithful man of God.

At the request of his wife Martha, our church choir was part of the service. We sang "Worthy is the Lamb." It was miraculous to see Martha's countenance change as we sang that song. She'd been in deep sorrow as she came into the sanctuary, but when we starting singing that song (one of Kim's favorites), Martha's whole demeanor changed. For that brief moment or two, she moved from grieving her husband's passing to praising her God and King. I want to love Jesus that much too.

Many words were spoken about what a wonderful pastor and teacher Kim was. But one of the things I liked best was when one of the speakers said (and I paraphrase, as it's been a long 4 days), that in the book of John, it's stated that when Jesus was getting ready to leave his disciples, he said this:

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last..."

And then the speaker said that we are the fruit of Bro. Kim's work; his faithfulness to God's calling on his life. Then this simple fact made a difference. ...that we as fruit have many, many seeds inside us...and it's our job to continue following our calling to glorify God, and by doing so, continue to plant the seeds that Kim planted in us.

I just loved the thought that even though Kim is gone from us, our work, and the work of my children will, in part, be attributed to the faithful work that Kim allowed God to do through him. God is so awesome!!

Lastly, I just have to say this...I don't know WHERE God is going to find another pastor/teacher who can teach me and reach me consistently, every week with something new to say, like Kim did. But this I KNOW -- God will do that, and I may be dragged kicking and screaming into another style of preaching. But I'll bet you anything, that if my grumpy ol' flesh will get out of the way, I'll learn just as many wonderful things about my God from "the new guy" as I ever did from Bro. Kim.

Extreme Sorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:10:00 +0000

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I write this.

Our beloved pastor, Kim Hall, died this weekend. The worst part is that he took his own life. And that is not because he wasn't a "true Christian" or because there were skeletons in the closet that were about to/or had come out. It was because that horrid, insidious demon named depression was present in his life.

Depression is NOT an indicator that a person is not walking with God; nor, is it an indicator that you "just have unconfessed sin in your life and if you'd just confess, all would be well." Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain. It is a medical condition and it is NOT a character flaw or due to weak character or morals. Depression is a medical condition. Period, End of story.

My life has been touched by depression, my father's life, his sister's and now my beloved pastor. The past 24 hour have been a series of contrasts for me. Four years ago, my dad tried to take his own life -- he survived, Bro. Kim did not. Dad used one implement, Bro. Kim used another. My mom discovered my dad, Bro. Kim's wife did NOT. (Thank you God!) But both of these men suffered from depression and were on medication.

We are moving through the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I feel it will be a long time before I get out of any of those stages. Shock is the major emotion right now. Grief, crying, "what-ifs" and "if-only"s are present as well.

But this is one thing I know with all my heart:

Bro. Kim is in heaven with Jesus. His depression is gone. He is whole, healthy and happy, living in the presence of the living God.
Yes, we will mourn, but we do not mourn as those who have no hope. I will see Kim again and hopefully, my Nana and Grandpa have already introduced themselves to Kim.

So if you read this, and suffer from depression, and if you think that life would be better for everyone if you were "out of the way." Hear this.. LIFE WILL NOT BE BETTER IF YOU ARE GONE. There is at least one person in this world that will miss you every day for the rest of their life. And for most everyone of us, that number will be higher -- much higher.

You are loved, you are cherished, you are someone's whole world. Please know that God loves you more than you will ever be able to understand. Find a local church, friend, or crisis center. The answer is NOT to take yourself out of the picture. The answer is to change the picture and trust in God and your doctors and your counselors until you can see that the picture is 100%, TOTALLY incomplete without you in it.

blahh

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:39:00 +0000

I have been very down in the last week. My sleep schedule is WAY off...so much so that I missed a haircut and color. Now that should tell you something.

My youngest is NOT getting the support he needs at school right now and I'm more paralyzed than anything with the frustration and disappointment in his classroom teacher than anything at this point. He and I worked on homework off and on all weekend long. Not a realistic set of expectations for a 5th grader.

My eldest had a good weekend. My mom had to go to the ER for at UTI and help w/ pain killers and antibiotics. Hubby is busy busy and I am depressed.

I start a 6 week parenting class tomorrow w/ my co-facilitator. I've done all the administrative stuff tonight. Now must get clothes ready and get my bag packed. Have to BE there @ 8:30. and Im NOT a morning person.

I survived the 1st week of school...

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 01:49:00 +0000

and that was no small feat, as I drove band carpool! We had to leave home at 6:10 AM!!! to pick up the other riders. Then had to get everyone to HS to dump backpacks, etc. in the band hall before 6:30. Then I had to drive them all to the football stadium to practice!

Seems VERY incompetent people were hired to stripe/sandblast & restripe the parking lot all before school started. Since it was done incorrectly, band had to bite the bullet and practice at the stadium last week.

BUT the joy of carpooling is that I DON'T HAVE TO DRIVE FOR 3 MORE WEEKS!!! Happy dance!

The band did a fabulous performance at their first football game on Thursday! And that was so fun to see. I've never been a band parent before, but I think I'm really going to like it. Fundraising is already underway for our HS band and my son has already reached his goal for the year! A big thank you to all my friends who have pledged money for the march-a-thon!!! We couldn't do it without YOU!

In other news, my hubby has a new job title -- Director of International Integration at Living Social. Sounds impressive. The plus side for us is frequent flyer points! ha. I'm thrilled for him.

My youngest child is in 5th grade. He's adapting to school. He was very bored with the whole organization, planning aspect of the first few days. On Friday he said, "We finally did some real work at school today." I guess he's ready for the challenges of another school year.

And on the final note, I have completed the 4x4 dinner groups for my Sunday School class. Groups have been made and I'm out of the loop for it now. I'm just a participant at this point. My next big thing for SS is to organize a fall social. Must give that one some thought. I am getting ready for Bible Study to start soon.

So my accomplishments this week were:

getting everyone delivered to band on time!
picking up / decluttering the house on Thurs/Friday
Have doen all the kids laundry (yesterday)
Made it to SS w/ the snacks today!
Have purchased all required school supplies (that I know about).

Our Chinese boys have come and gone

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:59:00 +0000

I cannot believe the three weeks with our Chinese boys have already gone by.

Charlie & LeBron were our sons/brothers for three weeks. It was really fun and interesting to have them here and to be exposed to another culture.

The parting was harder on Charlie & LeBron that on us, it seemed on Monday. They both shed some tears as they had to leave. We did not cry, but *boy* was the house quiet that night! They boys and the rest of their tour group should be in Disneyland today. Then they leave for China on Friday, I believe.

Tonight is the wrap-up / reflection mtg @ church. I'm looking forward to hearing how the other families enjoyed their homestay kids as well.

Over halfway with the homestay

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:15:00 +0000

We met our Chinese boys on July 20th. We now have living at our house...LaBron,James and Charlie,Daniel(s). So figuratively speaking wer are dribbling and fiddling around here! LOL

James, LaBron and Charlie went to Texas/China Camp M - F last week. We went to the Mesquite Rodeo on Saturday night, after everyone slept in very late. We did take everyone to Sichuan Cuisine (restaurant) becuase Charlie was asking for spicy food. They really seemed to enjoy it! Then Sunday was church day. Then in the afternoon Glenn helped a SS class member move to a new house. Then Glenn & Daniel went swimming @ Jack Carter, but the rest of us stayed home.

I think it was good that we did, as I jokingly told the boys that their parents didn't send them all this way to text in chinese to their friends. They are here to practice their English, so we played cards and had a really good time.

Then for dinner last night, I made tacos. Charlie had been wishing for spicy food, so we bought jalapenoes, green salsa and two habaneroe peppers. The first two items didn't reallly register on Charlie's spice scale, so we brought out the Tabasco sauce. I think that finally was spicy enough for him!

I've not yet attempted to even slice the habaneroes. I'll have to watch Alton Brown before I do. I'm not touching them w/o gloves!!

Today's the day!

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:35:00 +0000

our two Chinese boys arrive for their 3 week stay! We've been working very hard around here to try to get the house arranged and cleaned.

My feet are killing me, so off the podiatrist I will go next week.

but for now...I've gotta keep workin'!

Wednesday, July 6th

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 01:34:00 +0000

We did it! The boys and I made it back home, sans hubby/dad, and it was a much smoother trip coming than it was going!

We got up at 4:30ish. Everyone got dressed, got the last stuff packed, and we were out the door @ 5:15. We stopped in the Metro station and purchased one-way passes to Reagan airport.

We got to the airport, checked in and got to the gate. We only had to wait about 10 minutes before boarding. The fight home was fine. We were among the first to get to the luggage claim & our bags were among the first 6 or so bags to come out.

less than a 2 minute wait for the shuttle to take us to remote parking and we were outta there!

Great trip!!!

Tuesday, July 5th

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 01:32:00 +0000

Well, the trip has been good for my youngest. He's been eating and *sleeping* and has been in a growth spurt while we were here! So today, we bought passes to go to Ballston and back. We shopped for a new pair of khaki dress pants for D, had lunch @ Chick-fil-a and came home.

We got everything packed and ate out tonight.

Have to be up @ 4;15 in teh a.m. to leave on time!

Monday, July 4th

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 01:29:00 +0000

Well the plan was to get out and go to the National Cathedral today. Reality was that we stayed home and rested.

There was a party on the roof of the apartment building tonight, so we ate dinner (tacos!) and then went up for the party. We had an almost 360 degree view around Arlington. We had lots of far, distant fireworks to see. Then the Capitol fireworks started!

They were fantastic! The mall looked so crowded on TV that we felt we really did make the right choice in staying home.

Sunday, July 3rd

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 01:28:00 +0000

The guys all went to the National Building Museum today. My feet were so sore and painful that I opted to stay home. I washed laundry all day and got everything clean!

Tomorrow is th 4th!!

Saturday, July 2nd

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:35:00 +0000

We left around 11 and made our way to the Holocaust Memorial. We picked up tickets for the permanent exhibition as soon as we arrived. Our time on the tickets was 2:15. So we toured "Daniel's Story", visited the museum store, saw the Hall of Rememberance, and the exhibition about propoganda.

When it was our turn to enter the permanent exhibition, we rode up an elevator to the top floor of the museum. We worked our way down to the 2st floor over a 2 1/2 hour period. The photographs, the personal tetimonies, the history of what Hitler and the Nazi party did was horrid.

The rooms that affected me the most were 1) the room of shoes left by those being herded into the gas chambers. 2) the room with photographs of the hair shaved from those same victims heads, 3) the tower of photographs made by the 4 photographers in Eishyshok, Lithuania; and 4) the testimonies that were filmed and played back in the last room of the musuem.

My youngest was very emotional after the visit. It's the first time he'd heard about this and then to be faced with it as he was in the museum affected him. I know that many would argue that he's too young, but as I was musing later about how unusual I found it to be that the US has a Holocaust Museum (since it didn't happen on our soil), the youngest said, "They had to [build it] so we can see it and learn about it so it never happens again!"

My sentiments exactly.

Friday, July 1st

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:34:00 +0000

The boys and I stayed in during the morning and watched Wimbeldon. We finally got out and met Glenn @ the Living Social offices on New York Ave, NW. Very cool office space. Then we left and rode the Metro to Union Station. WE had dinner there @ Johnny Rocket's and then took off for our DC after Dark tour. We saw the Tile Bridge, The Capital Reflecting Pool, the Capitol, drove down Pennsylvania Avenue. Saw the WWII memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, drove past the FDR memorial, saw the Iwo Jima Statue, and then back to the Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean Memorials. We finally got to see the Korean Memorial at night. very striking.

WE saw the White house and the North lawn. WE were so close to Glenn's office that we left the tour there, stopped by his office space to grab his backback and then made our way home.

Thursday, June 30th

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:30:00 +0000

We took off around noon and went to the Madison Building -- part of the Library of Congress. I got a Reader's Card so I could get into the Main Reading Room in the Jefferson Building. After that we went to the 6th floor of the Madison Building to the cafeteria to have some lunch. When we finished there, we were leaving and discovered the large statue of James Madison. Took a few pictures and then went to the Jefferson LOC Building.

We first went to the Bob Hope Exhibit. Kim met up with us and we went to the Childrens' Reading Room. We actually walked in on story time @ the LOC! How fun!! We explored the three rooms that were open to us. We even found a Braille copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Beside that we also found a Hebrew version and an Arabic version of the same book!

Then we all went to find out how to get into the Main Reading Room. The guards were very nice and allowed J & D to go into the Main Reading Room with me! Even though they were too young! Kim requested a book that was in the Rare Books Collection and the three of us looked for one of G's books. It was actually listed there as well! We brought home the printout to show hubby!

While Kim was in the Rare Books Section, the boys and I went to the Bookstore in the LOC. D and I then took off and used our "Passports to Knowledge" to look at other exhibits in the Library.

The Library closes at 5 or 5:30 most days, so we had to leave "early" by our time schedule!

Another great day exploring in DC!!

Wednesday, June 29th

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:29:00 +0000

The boys were begging for a day off, so we stayed in, relaxed and generally did nothing!

Tuesday, June 28th

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:27:00 +0000

Today we got out of the house earlier than usual and met our friend Kim Murff at the Capitol Visitors Center. I had contacted my State Rep. and had gotten 4 tickets for the Congress tour. We got to see the Crypt, the National Statuary room @ the Capitol and the Rotunda.

Then we got to go back in to take more pictures of the statues in the crypt. From there we saw the statue of Freedom, the bronze statue that graces the top of the Capitol dome. WE had lunch @ the visitor's center and hti the gift shop. Then we took the tunnel from the Capitol to the Library of Congress. We took a guided tour and saw the Gerorge & Ira Gershwin Room; the Whitthall Pavilion where the strativarius vioins and violas are kept. Then we saw the grand entrance, the Guttenburg Bible the main reading room and then saw the Thomas Jefferson collection of books.

All in all, so interesting, we're going back there tomorrow.