I tell you the hits come in bunches. Two weeks ago my dad was in the hospital, luckily it ended up being OK but it was stressful while he was there. Then I got news that a friend’s daughter had died in a car accident. Then a friend of mine did an extremely hurtful thing to another friend — so hurtful that it will have a lasting effect on my friendship with her, if the friendship can even be salvaged. This weekend I just needed to clear my head so I could regroup and refocus after this wild ride I’ve been on the past few weeks.

Today was a great day. I finally started to see some light. My eyes had a slight sparkle once again. I didn’t spend the day in tears. Then, this evening I e-mailed a friend to ask if she could do me a favor when I’m gone. She said yes, because she’s such a great friend. But, then she told me her dad passed away on Saturday from cancer. My friend lives in Wisconsin and all I want to do right now is give her a hug. I just want to share my shoulder so she can cry but I can’t.

Can I get a refund on the ticket price for this ride? I’m really not liking it.

Till later…

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…because I definitely need something to lighten MY day.

What, you ask, is “Butt Dust”? Read on and you’ll discover the joy in a child’s sincere originality. No adult is this creative!!

JACK (age 3) was watching his Mom breast-feeding his new baby sister. After a while he asked: “Mom why have you got two? Is one for hot and one for cold milk?”

MELANIE (age 5) asked her Granny how old she was. Granny replied she was so old she didn’t remember any more. Melanie said, “If you don’t remember you must look in the back of your panties. Mine say five to six .”

STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom good night. “I love you so much that when you die I’m going to bury you outside my bedroom window.”

BRITTANY (age 4) had an earache and wanted a pain killer. She tried in vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained it was a child-proof cap and she’d have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked: “How does it know it’s me?”

SUSAN(age 4) was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. “Please don’t give me this juice again,” she said, “It makes my teeth cough.”

DJ (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked: “How much do I cost?”

MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple that were hugging and kissing in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad: “Why is he whispering in her mouth?”

CLINTON(age 5) was in his bedroom looking worried. When his Mom asked what was troubling him, he replied, “I don’t know what’ll happen with this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?”

JAMES(age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His dad read: “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.” Concerned, James asked: “What happened to the flea?”

TAMMY(age 4) was with her mother when they met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy looked at her for a while and then asked, “Why doesn’t your skin fit your face?”

The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget…. this particular Sunday sermon…”Dear Lord,” the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. “Without you, we are but dust…”

He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter who was listening leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little four year old girl voice, “Mom, what is butt dust?”

And now, I think I’ll have to start going to Starbucks….I don’t think my coffee place serves this one.

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My dad and sister are in the newspaper. We’ve been waiting for the article to be written but it’s there.

Till later…

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I’ve been stressed and worried all week (and last week) about leaving for my dad’s surgery. I’m excited about what it means for him but worried about all it entails for me. I’ll be away from home for about a month. I’ll be able to work but reality is I’ll be caring for my dad and sister as they recover from surgery and keeping my nephew occupied while they recoup. I’m worried about how this will impact me financially and how I’ll keep on top of all the work I have to get done. Unfortunately, this worrying has me not getting things done like I should. I just keep worrying and fretting when I need to concentrate and work.

Then, this morning I got some sad news. A friend’s 17 year old daughter died in a car accident yesterday afternoon.

Tammy Jo and her husband granted their 17 year old daughter’s wishes; Brandy was an organ donor.

I’ve sat here crying today thinking about the grief my friend is going through and it reminds me of the grief the family who donated my dad’s kidney and pancreas most likely went through. I think about the past 13 years of health that my dad had because of the unselfishness of their decision during their sad time.

I’ve been sitting here praying for Tammy Jo, her husband and other children along with Brandy’s friends who are grieving today. I’ve been praying for the families of the recipients of her organs and for the success of their surgeries. I’ve been praying for the patients who received these gifts of life and their families and hoping that they truly appreciate the sacrifice this family made.

And now, I’ve been slapped back to reality. I have ten days to get things in order so I can do my part in this sacrifice. My sister is literally giving a piece of herself, I need to get things going to give a piece of my time. And the finances….well I’ll just trust that they’ll work out. I know my food bill, at least, will be lower since I’ll be at my parents.

Till later…

And, to Brandy’s Family and Friends: You are in my thoughts and prayers.

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I had a great labor day weekend. Went with some friends to Spokane Friday night for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants — PF Changs. Saturday morning these same friends and I headed out to the St Joe river to join our families camping. The weather was perfect all weekend. Saturday a bunch of us girls decided to float the river. Some of my friends know the story of my last float trip — this was 100x’s better than that!!! LOL But, everyone else was miserable (when your last experience was as bad as mine was this was a great one). After walking, err sliding, down the gravel covered rain washout on the side of the cliff we got in the frigid glacier water for our float. Unfortunately the river was so dang low that the floating ended up with quite a bit of walking down the river. But, I still had fun.

Sunday we spent relaxing on the river jumping in and out of the ice that was supposed to pass as a rushing river for quick dips to cool off. A friend suggested swimming up to the deep swim pool which sounded fun. It was, except when I was fighting the current trying to swim upriver to get there. I finally just enjoyed the swimming and would swim upriver then float down to just swim upriver and repeat the fun. Which was all great until I was driving home Sunday evening and couldn’t lift my arms because the muscles hurt so bad. LOL Swimming upriver is HARD work. LOL

Duh.

Anyway, I came home Sunday evening so I could work on Monday. That kind of took a back seat when I got the call Monday morning that my dad was on the way to the ER. Just really ruined my day. I had planned on having lunch with a friend and she ended up locking herself out of her house which we took as a sign that I just needed to refocus and not be at home worrying about my dad.

The ER visit wasn’t so worrisome that I would normally be as nervous as I am. But, with the transplant surgery date looming it’s scary because if he gets sick the surgery could be canceled.

I talked to my mom this evening. It seems this all started because my dad has a toothache. So, tomorrow they have an ambulance transporting him to a dentist office for X-rays then the dentist will come to the hospital to work on him. He also has some fluid build-up on his lungs because he missed one day of dialysis last week because he was so sick. So, they are watching him for that.

He sounds horrible on the phone. I’m worried and keep getting distracted so it’s taking a lot to stay on focus for work. Which is good until someone decides to call me then I get distracted all over again. He’ll be in the hospital until at least Thursday.

I’m just stressed right now. Things were getting stressful anyways then this just tipped the scales for me. I know, I’ll get through it, but it’s still rough.

On a more positive note: the weather is gorgeous, this weekend was awesome, some friends invited me to go out on the lake later this week, I’m going out Friday night, and have plans with friends Saturday night.

Till later…

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