WHATS HAPPENING TUESDAY

Dear Jan and OH Peeps~

Before I get into my post I would like to say CONGRATS to Chip~WOO HOO. Glad to have you on the bench with us buddy! I bet your glad its over with too~I will keep praying, as Im sure others will too, for a speedy and uneventful recovery. Surgery may seem like the hard part, but I say that was the easiest-now the hard stuff begins.

Also-if you could all say some prayers for Bev B. She is my angelette and has had some issues that postponed her testing for her surgery and so on. We are waiting for the results, so please take a moment and pray that it was nothing serious and nothing that will postpone her surgery. I have her on my prayer chain, but have forgotten to post about it-Bev, dont take it personal, honey-have had a lot going on, but trust me, we are praying for good results. Love you!!!

Can I just say, the gloomy weather is getting to me. I am finding it really hard to stop and be happy. I want to. I am feeding 40 needy or homeless people on Thursday, and I know I have a lot to be thankful for-but it sure seems like the devil is coming at this family in full force this week. I am angry, and I am sad. I spent a lot of yesterday on my knees, upset tummy AND crying. Then, I spent last night sick, and with the worst diarrhea I have ever had, until 2 am. I know its nerves, you have me there. No one has to tell me that. I am a fixer, I guess you could say, and I cant fix things going on around me right now. To top off the fantastic day we were having here-the kids brought home their progress report. Stephanie is failing-and I mean BIG FAT 30% to 48% in ALL classes but one. Even her art class-which she kicks butt in-she is failing. There is absolutely NO REASON for it. She hasnt been working now for 2 weeks or more, AND 2 of the teachers said little to no effort in her attitude or class work. Mike grounded her from her phone. She cannot get it bac****il she raises ALL grades and she is not allowed to have ANY extra curricular activities. Now-I agree 100% and stand behind him-but with her emotional problems and her cutting issues, I am now scared to death of what she is going to do. I know I cant worry myself to death over it, but I do. I really feel that she will try to get us back for taking her phone away. She lives for that phone-truly. She even named it-Ruby. I would appreciate any and all prayers you guys can muster up for me and Stephanie right now. Actually, I am getting tired. Really tired. Its always something. I checked to see if there were some kind of support group around here for parents or loved ones of troubled teens and I cant find anything. I wonder why? Heck, I guess I shouldnt-for a town this big-I cant believe that there is nothing for bariatric support groups either. I have wanted to start one for almost a yr now-but its just been one thing after another this whole year!

I am very worried about Mel too right now and her family. Mel withdrew from school yesterday and will start back in Feb. Her sister called her after her moms appt with the surgeon and its CANCER AGAIN. I dont know the extent of it right now, but I know that Theresa, or as I call her too-mom has already been through chemo and all, so I dont know where they are going from here. On top of all of that, Mel is dealing with the issues with those 2 beautiful children and their messed up parents-which I have personally been through-those people are exactly like Darrels biological womb-only I didnt have to listen to the fighting and such on a daily basis-because WHEN she would try to tell me-I would just say I dont care-if it didnt affect Darrel-and it didnt, cause he lived with us-I dont care (but with them trying to get permanent custody, she is keeping track of all of their fights, police being called out and so on so she can show the courts etc). Never wanted her to misunderstand and THINK I cared OR that we were friends-HA! So-she is dealing with that (cause she HAS to), and then her beloved dog, Buttons-may lose BOTH of her eyes. I know Mel is just tore up right now. PLEASE say prayers for her and her mom, and her family. They can use all the prayers we can get them right now. I wish I could go down to her moms with her-but I asked when she is going back and she said Thurs or Fri and I am feeding the needy on Thurs and working on Fri and Sat. Dang it. Maybe I can send down some flowers and a teddy bear to her-I bet she would do that for me. I want to be there in person to hug her though. I feel misplaced right now, really. Out of sorts or whatever you want to call it.

My kids were better for a day or two and POOF, just like that, they got worse. Not sure if its the bad before the good, you know? I sure hope all this is over with before Thursday, or I will be cooking and sending it with my mom and dad. I wont be able to take them like they are today. Today is their last day at school until Monday, which will be nice-I want to get the house somewhat organized and get the Christmas tree up and decorations. I dont feel very festive right now-maybe that will help some. I love to see Jon get so excited about Santa and the thought of what he may get in his stocking and for presents.

To add insult to injury-if I dont have surgery this month, I have officially put my family in debt for another almost 4 grand, due to my spend down. I could almost vomit when I think about it-so I am trying not to. Mike keeps telling me not to worry, its only money. I understand that-but its going to ruin our credit we have just gotten cleaned up. CRAP! We need the good credit to buy this house that we are leasing. We only have 2 yrs to rebuild and get it back to what it used to be. The owners keep saying not to worry about it, but the bank isnt going to say that-or the lenders, you know? I am thinking once my back surgery and knees are done that I HAVE to get back to work. Since what I do is more or less a desk job-which I do have to get up to meet patients once in awhile-and sometimes all day-but when I meet with them, we sit down and talk and go over paperwork-so its not like I am walking all over the hospital and such. Maybe they will release me to work. They have all said no (3 diff surgeons/docs) but I am not taking no for an answer and I believe my God is greater than my injuries/diseases, right?

Well, I suppose I better get this done and get my housework done and get my lists made for our day of cooking and baking tomorrow. Plus the insulation people will be here in the morning-so I need to be organized and get all my pans out etc. My parents are going to get the things I forgot Sunday. I ended up having a really bad gb attack at Dillons grocery store while Steph and I were getting our Thanksgiving stuff-and I forgot celery and butter-stuff like that. Geez. So-they told me to make a list and they will get that stuff for me. I had to go into town last night and work the office for a bit while my parents sat down with the owner. They are trying to get the owner to agree to having an assistant manager in there so my parents can actually get away OR not have to be called at all hours of the night at times because of unruly tenants or such-so I went in and worked for a couple of hours. It was funny-while I was working, 2 van fulls of people (that doesnt sound like its worded right-but?) came into the office-and offered me $30 and a bag of apples for a room. Of course, I had to turn them down, then they came back in with a bag of oranges and grapefruit as well-and said the old managers used to let them stay for the 30 and fruit-and I politely told them that is why the old managers arent here anymore. They demanded the new manager-and I went and got the actual owner, because he doesnt ever realize the crap we go through there-he has no clue-he stood there and said-what does this look like-a barter shop? He said-hit the road-and then amazingly enough, the man in the other van came in with all the money-BUT, they had 12 people they wanted to put in one room-with 2 double beds and we still told them no. This truly happens every week. At LEAST one person will come in and try to get a room for $20 or less than the $39.95 and then they will argue with me about it-like its optional to pay what we are asking. Whatever. The amazing thing is-that most of the time, you can smell alcohol on their breath. If you have money to drink-you have money to pay full price. I dont rent a room to anyone with alcohol on their breath-I dont care if they are a happy drunk or not, we all know that can change in a heartbeat.

**Jan-Glad to hear that the truck is okay. Thats really a small price to pay to know its all healthy-and WAY cheaper than a new one-plus it looks really nice! I think you made a wise choice. I am so sorry your not feeling well again. I agree about the masks. We have them for Jon because when they do the fields or mow outside, that happens to him, so we bought some of those surgical type masks from Home Depot. At first he didnt want to wear them, and when he realized that he had to stay inside unless he put it on, than he did ok. LOL.... I hope to see ya on Monday. I will email you this weekend-already put it on my calender, so you will bring the pictures from the reunion to the group with you. I would love it if OH would come somewhere in MO, close enough for us to get to them. I forgot to put down St. Louis, I would even go there-and when I was there-would see if we could meet up with Chante and Krissy-they both live close to St. Louis and that would be perfect to get to meet with them.

**Brenda-I will be praying for you, for pain relief. I am so sorry. I know exactly how you feel and it stinks-I know that. I will also be praying for Sydney. I hope you have a wonderul Thanksgiving and I miss and love you.

**Tammy-I hope you have a good Thanksgiving too-and congrats on being so excited. I love reading stuff like that. I know...I know people thought I was nutso when I was excited about being able to do the dishes, standing the WHOLE time and not having to take a break. Thats major to us!! I am so proud of you. Congrats and love ya girl.

**Renee-hope to see you on Monday. I will email you soon. Thanks for everything. Love ya.

**Shannon-CONGRATS on the sz 20. I am so happy for you. I am so glad you and Bobbie got to meet.

**Nutti-I will email you in response to your PM. I didnt do it yesterday because I had a bad day and was having trouble posting. We will get together soon.

**Bobbie-I cant wait to be able to meet you-and Im serious, if you need me, email or call me. I am a good listener.

**Mel-not sure if you will get on to see this, but I love you. I am so sorry for all you are going through right now. We will ALL be praying for you and IF I can do anything, let me know, ok? We will get through this. Look at it this way-2008 HAS to be better than this year was or has been so far. Dang. Consider yourself hugged till I can see you in person. Keep your chin up and we will prevail and moms a fighter-thats where you got it-right? She will get through this. She will!!!~~ Im not believing anything but she will be fine. So, dont let the devil take it in any other direction. Ok?

Alright everyone-Im signing off. Have a good Tuesday and as always, your in my thoughts and prayers. Take care, Janet