WHATS HAPPENING WEDNESDAY POSTING WHILE I HAVE A CHANCE

Hi Auntie Jan and OH Peeps~

Hi everyone! Did everyone see that my sweet angelette-Angy got to go home last night? She text me as they were leaving the hospital on her way home and said that she would post when she got home-so I wasnt about to get in and post-figured it would just be a bit-and all you prayer warriors would see it right from our girl, herself. PRAISE GOD!!! I was so worried about her. I laid a pillow on the floor and I got on my knees and prayed for several people. My oldest son came in and asked what I was doing-he thought I had fallen down again, since my head was bowed, and I was crying. He has never seen me do that before (I usually shut the door for privacy and peace and quiet) anyway-when I said I was praying-he asked if he could join me....Of course you can-the more the merrier!

I got a text from Melissa yesterday-her grandma-whom I adore and love to peices was put in CCU yesterday from the ER. It was her heart (Well, yeah-CCU is the cardio unit) anyway-I was praying for Grandma Gert too. I havent seen her since momma Theresa passed away, right in that time frame-but I do send her cards and such to cheer her up. So, I was praying for her too.

Yesterday was one of the worst days I have had. I could feel that storm rolling in and NOTHING was working for the pain-I HATE days like that. The pain controls my life and I CANT do anything but rotate heat and ice and cry. I feel for Joe, Jan-I KNOW exactly how he is feeling. I wish we lived closer-I would share some of my meds with him to see if they would help. I know tho, that he sounds like me, and there is NOTHING that works when our bones and joints are that bad. Refresh my memory-did he have the nerves burned in his back last year? I know he was getting the spinal injections-and they were using twice the normal amount, werent they? Because of how bad his back is? I could be thinking of someone else???? I went through the 3 shot series of those spinal injections that your allowed to have once a yr-and I think it was shot #2 helped me for 2-3 days and that was it. Not worth the pain of the shot-thats for sure-because right where she had to put the needle in-is where I had a bulging disc and a cyst-and when she touched it-I jumped off the table and tears were rolling down my face instantly!!! Yeah-those were FUN shots!

We have flooding all around us again. I didnt get my garden finished the other day like I wanted, because by the time I got home, it was raining. Now, it doesnt look like I will-too late. Unless I go fight the mud...LOL...I really dont want to do that. They said something like 9-15 inches by the time its all said and done-and I guess thats with it raining from yesterday to Saturday? YIKES..... 2008 has been CRAZY with all the happenings-all the flooding, wildfires, earthquakes, tornados. It seems like there is ALWAYS something going on somewhere-its pretty scary to me.

Mike and Aaron each won 2 passes to the BIG PRO-MOD races in Tulsa this Saturday. $100 worth-2 adult passes each and they really want to go. Megan and I will be staying home-and she will hang out with me and we are sending the guys up-with the boys. Megan is too afraid of getting sick-we know she will, but we dont want to be that far from home-and ecspically if its hot out-anyway-and I really dont want to try and take that car ride right now....if this weather pattern is going to stick around a bit-it WILL reak havoc on me-and I wont enjoy myself no matter what. Megan and I are going to TRY and finish Stephanies old bedroom so I can get Mikes sh*t ALL in ONE ROOM and get MY HOBBY ROOM/OFFICE done FINALLY!!! Why on earth is it taking me so long? GEE Whiz-Ive never had my task list take this freaking long. Its really depressing and disappointing to me.

I called my MIL this morning and asked her if she could work through Sunday and she said no problem. I dont plan on leaving if I dont have to. I went grocery shopping yesterday and ONLY because I had $15 worth of coupons that were going to expire yesterday for Dillons. I use their card and every couple of months I get coupons-good ones, like yesterday $7 off total purchase of $70 or more in one transaction, then I had $1.50 off of fresh vegetables, poultry, beef and frozen vegetables when I bought $5 or more. Then I had a couple misc. ones-and they double them-so I had cereal ones and they were on sale-that sort of thing. I couldnt let those just expire-its like flushing money down the toilet when its stuff I buy anyway-they go through what you buy there on a regular basis and thats the coupons they send to you (EVEN off the generic brands!!!). Pretty soon-in the near future-I NEED to get out to the morton building and totally go through the deep freeze out there-Grandma, then Vikki and Erik and Mike and I all have stuff in it-but they have said that their stuff probably isnt good anymore-since they have basically forgotten WHAT they have in there and they dont want to mess with going through whose stuff is whose. I know for a fact whats mine-because after I seal it all, I put them in walmart sack or whatever and use a sharpie and put Mike or Jan on the bag several times so they know it belongs to us. I HATE not having enough freezer space-because I have to be really careful what I buy-and I have put a lot of stuff back-because of it.

Anyway-so I am not working or helping anyone until Sunday. I did laundry for the kids yesterday because Megan had her classes and Aaron had a dentist appt in Springfield yesterday. Thats the closest for his dental insurance-was Springfield-so I did their laundry-but I hv done it 4 times this week and havent taken any gas money from them-so thats $40 its cost me to go to town. I have been trying to do ALL Of my errands when I go in-so there are no double trips-but I cant afford to-AND dont want to-I want to stay home and get some of my to-do list finished here.

WOW-I have a metal roof and IF I hear the rain-its coming down so hard you wouldnt want to drive in it-and I just looked out and its raining to beat the band!! The wind is blowing like crazy too-cuz it has blown the basketball hoop over and I went and got my hanging plants taken down and the other flowers taken off the ledges-they are in flower box type planters and I have one in between in each pillar on the ledge-so 4-and they were sliding around. I am really surprised none fell off-they usually do IF I dont take them down when I anticipate the weather will be like this. It feels nice outside temperature wise however....thats a bonus-I HATE running the air-because our electric bill is sky high when the pool pump is on. We havent been running that for a few days...so, will see what happens. I usually keep my thermostate at 78-80 and then when Mike gets home, he turns it down cause he is too hot. LOL....Man-I remember before surgery-I kept it at 68-70 and I WAS STILL SWEATING!!! LOL. Now Im the one who is cold, even when its hot to everyone else. Its funny, but I dont sweat really, I think 2-3 times this whole summer-Mikes clothes will be wet from him sweating so bad-and I am just starting to glisten! Cracks me up!

Megan DID check to see IF she could do these classes on-line and these arent offered on line yet. She will be doing ALL online classes next semester-and then the semester after-she will be taking the rest of the classes in person that they dont offer online-then I think she is done. I will be a sitter then... Mackenzie will be staying with me when she does her classes-they have funding to help students with income guidelines-get babysitting services, but they dont want strangers watching her-and Im glad! I see those shows where they will change a babies diaper and then give them a bottle or feed them and not wash their hands OR let them just cry.....too many horror stories and WHEN you DO finally get someone thats been recommended-they usually have a waiting list!!! OR they are so expensive, a normal working couple cant afford them.... Newborns are usually more too-until they are potty trained. I did tell her that when I have my back surgery, I didnt know how long I will be out. I cant possibly babysit while I am in recovery for that. I wont be allowed to pick her up for quite a while. A couple of months. I will be able to hold her IF someone hands her to me but I cant lift her up and things like that.

We reset my phone this morning and I got to see Tammys new grand-daughter, but I didnt get to see Tammy-anyway-HOW ADORABLE IS SHE??? Cheyenne Nicole, weighed 8.3# and was 20 inches.... She is beautiful. Thank God mom and baby are doing good!!! Congrats to Tammy and your family. Tell Heather her daughter IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!

So far, homeschooling with Jon is going well. He loves it. He is so smart too! We are using the "award" system with him and for each day he does ALL his school work-AND I dont have to get onto him, he gets a ticket (like a raffle ticket) and after so many tickets-he gets a reward-He is LOVING that. I have to MAKE him stop doing his work-or he would be whizzing by doing 2-3 workbooks a day thats how much he loves it.... His speech therapy is going well too. We are still struggling with some words, but he does like to sound them out-and he is funny right now-because he will try and spell different words and when he spells something-no one has any idea WHAT he is spelling BUT him-and he gets frustrated IF we dont know what he is talking about-Its comical to us, but HE takes it very seriously, so we just go along with it.

Mike and I are MAKING the baby a trunk. It will either be a hope chest (being that its a girl) OR a treasure chest (IF Im wrong and its a boy)....we are going to make it together and Mike does such beautiful work when he does make the time to do his wood working. Anyway-we are starting next weekend on the chests for our 4 own children-for Christmas presents. I will use the power tools that Mike cant use because of his shoulder-and he will make sure that the tables are high enough that I wont have to lean over too much and hurt my back....

Oh crap-its so windy I just heard a CRASH and looked out-and my Wrought iron table and 2 of the 4 chairs have fallen over and the umbrella IS IN THE POOL! DAMMIT! Deep end too-so there is no way I am going to be fishing that out!!

Im looking so forward to hanging out with Renee tomorrow. A lot of you dont know this-but when Stephanie was cutting herself and I found out - and was going through so much-Renee emailed me and she helped me through so much. She has worked with troubled teens before and she would send me the longest emails, explaining so much and she made the biggest difference in my life. She really got me through some of the roughest times I have ever had! She has been my angel in countless troubled times. I know that the good Lord put Renee in my life for a reason and I am MORE than pleased to return the favor being HER angel with this surgery!!! I love and adore her to peices!!!

~~~Speaking of pre-op people and this surgery. I KNOW that there have been A LOT of complications with our fellow losers lately. Its HARD to be excited about the surgery OR TRYING NOT TO BE NERVOUS when they are encountering complications like they have been. Please, Please, Please-know that they do NOT happen as often as it seems right now-more often than not-a surgery goes off without a hitch-its VERY rare to have more than one person having complications, you know? PLEASE dont let these cir****tances make your decision. Im NOT saying that their complications arent real-and not to pay attention to them, I dont mean that AT ALL-What I am saying is that each person IS different, and for the most part-people sail right through.....I got real sick after surgery as well-but, if given the chance-I would do it all over again-AND every year IF I had to!!! My "new" life speaks for itself. My pictures speak for themselves AND even with being hit with all kinds of health problems right now with my back and all-IF I still weighed almost 450#-I have NO DOUBT in my mind that I wouldnt even be sitting here typing this. Ultimately, you have to follow your heart and what decision is BEST FOR YOU~ I pray for our pre-ops all the time that you have strength and peace of mind-because this surgery and the pre-testing and all-is NOT for the weak at heart. You gotta be strong emotionally and IF your not-you have to find someone/someplace to draw your strength from and to talk to-and thats where this website AND THESE WONDERFUL PEOPLE come in-AND support groups-use us!!!! Thats what we are here for! One thing that I think about quite often-is even when I started coming to this board-I dont think we even had one surgery a month-and Im NOT joking-now, we may have 2 the same day every week for a month, or 10 in a month-its REALLY Changed- Just keep your chins up and make the BEST CHOICE FOR YOU-NOT based on someone elses experience, ok?

**Jan-Im so glad Joe got the pipes done-or lines....I will say extra prayers for him. I sure hope that the docs can do SOMETHING for him. Does he have arthritis in his back from where he had the accident? I dont mean that the accident caused arthritis-but I know that when its already there-and then you get hurt-bones and joints that get damaged-are attacked even more visciously-does that make sense?

I bet I could be greedy, if I wanted to-but its never been my nature, really. I dont feel very deserving of everything you do for me, thats for sure. Im appreciative, but dont feel deserving. I TRY and plant what you give me, and make you proud-some make it and do awesome-others not so much. Im doing my best to get into a wonderful garden of flowers and such, just like you. I dont have the time to be in there every day-wish I did....BUT...One day, maybe I will have a tropical oasis of beauty and harmony just like you! Your pics are always so beautiful and truly-it reminds me of how I imagine heaven-beautiful and peaceful!!! I think if you put a gazebo out there in the middle of all of it-I could come visit and never leave the gazebo and be a happy camper!!!

On my way to town, there is this modular home sales place-and the whole front of their property are the biggest and most beautiful elephant ears I have ever seen!~! Those elephant ears HAVE To be 5-6 feet tall and they are the length of the property!!! Its just GORGEOUS!!! Thats how I want it to look on the north side of my property as your coming up my driveway-I want to see something like that. I may stop one day and take a pic and send it to you-its that gorgeous! The huge leafs on the elephant ear plants-look like they are as wide as me-thats how big they are!!! Never have seen them that big!! I know they must leave them there-because every year they bloom and just look awesome!!!

Thats really awesome that your daughter doesnt lie to you. I have always been like that too-just the other day, a couple of the workers at the motel asked me NOT to tell the owner that there was a problem in one of the rooms (the health dept was coming out-time for them to renew their license etc) and I figured I wouldnt see John-so it wasnt like I would be lying...anyway-My dad and John came into the room while I was cleaning it-and asked me point blank and I told them the truth and altho they were upset (not with me) I couldnt lie. I HATE being lied to-and I WONT lie to someone else-EVEN if it may hurt someones feelings or make them angry. I dont go out of my way to hurt someones feelings, but IF I am asked-for instance-does this look good on me-and I dont think it does-I will say, I dont think thats your color OR its a little tight-stuff like that. No one EVER does that for me. IF I ask how I look or something along those lines-my family ALWAYS says good-they dont ever say anything negative and it irritates me!!! LOL. Anyway-got off the subject there. I will keep her in my prayers.

Yeah-now I am scared of the laundry room. I have had people tell me that they find snakes in their dryer or the washer-in the baskets etc-and now I am freaked out because I always try and keep the door shut and even the washer and dryer doors shut-but they can slither their way into small areas. YIKES!!! Im afraid of Mike capping the pipe-what IF its hiding under the shelf or behind the washer or something and it cant get into its pipe and wants to hang out by my stuff? I would have a heart attack and if it stays by the door-there is no other way out of there-the windows are too small for me to jump out of - AND IF I started screaming-no one would hear me unless my windows were open in the house....Im TRYING to MAKE MYSELF get used to the fact there are snakes out here and just get on with it-but I cant. Im still so scared of them, that I get light headed when I see one, like I am going to pass out or something!!!

I will see if someone will take a pic of me and Renee tomorrow when Im done at the salon and will send it via my phone, because I dont know how to get it from my phone OR my camera to the computer unless Stephanie does it for me and I wont see her for a bit. I hope you guys dont get too much rain. Love ya and be safe!

**Bec-I had to laugh at the opposum story...your not gonna believe this-WHEN I still lived in town, before I ever had Jonathan.....I had seen something in my house with a big thick tail-it would run into my pan cabinet or behind the fridge and the only thing I could think was a rat because of the tail. I told Mike about it and he told me that he had seen it and it was a big mouse-and so he set up those glue traps.....My dad was over one weekend and he backed Mike up and said it was JUST A MOUSE... (I figured it had to be a BIG OL' RAT from the size of that tail!!!!) Ok-so about a week later-I woke up in the middle of the night and went into the kitchen to get a drink. From my bedroom, you had to walk THROUGH the kitchen to turn the kitchen light on-so I am walking through the kitchen IN THE DARK and I hear something HISSING AT ME????!!! Holy CRAP! I had NO IDEA what it was, but I was scared crapless....I turn the light on-and there is a baby opposum (about the size of two hands-so not a brand new baby) and he was IN MY DISH STRAINER by my sink!!!! Now-the ONLY way I can get BACK INTO MY ROOM IS TO WALK BY HIM AGAIN!!! I didnt want to scream for fear of waking up our kids...but the way it was hissing at me-I COULDNT get by him without taking the chance he was going to lunge at me!! I screamed like a Little girl (LOL) and Mike came running in-and then went and got his air gun/BB gun and shot it about 8 times before it went down! Then he cleaned up his mess he made-and when I woke up the next morning-I thought I had been dreaming until I looked in the trash can and saw the dishes I had thrown away since it got opposum blood on them!!! We would have preferred to just put it back outside-but it was so mean and nasty-ANYWAY-Mike had then told me that him and my dad had seen it one day and chased it out of the house-it was in our bedroom-anyway-it came in through the crawl space UNDER the house-and we were remodeling then-so it got in through this tiny little hole in the corner of the floor that they left there for wiring that had to be run!!!! I was SO MAD that they KNEW IT WAS A OPPOSUM and didnt tell me!!!!

I never heard of anyone having to have their c-pap for the scope. Maybe they were confusing your pre-admission conversation with your scope? Maybe they werent on the same page as you? I was told NO ibuprofen or anything like that a week BEFORE MY SURGERY AND to bring my c-pap machine with me to the hospital WHEN I had my surgery, but NOTHING about the scope-nothing like that at all. Maybe you should call them and verify that they were speaking of the same procedure-that way, IF THEY WERE MISTAKEN, than you wont miss your pills that help you with your pain, you know? I hope that it works out. I continue to pray for you to have strength and peace of mind.

I WISH you would get my mail!!! I know Monday was a holiday-but for crying out loud!!! LOL... Maybe you will get it today-I hope. love ya and keep your chin up.....Not long now-and you will be on the bench sitting between the Jan Cs....WOOOOOO HOOOOOO....baby circle dance-bustin a move for Bec...yay, yay, yay and YAY!!!!

**Sugar-the donut WILL help... Also-Im not sure if you have ever seen these and I have a couple of them-but they are material filled with either rice or corn, something like that-and you can heat them in the microwave and use them like a heating pad? Well, I have a couple that are about a foot and a half long-and I heat it up and use it across the small of my back when I am driving. I sit on the donut-which helps with my tailbone-I actually can sit down and it feels like my tailbone snags on another pc of bone-OMG!!!! I hear ya girl-2 yrs out and IT STILL HURTS LIKE HELL! So-I sit on the donut and I use the other behind the small of my back and when we traveled-I would take it into Flying J or wherever we stopped to get gas-and pop it in their microwave for 2-5 minutes and it would be good for 30-45 minutes in the car on my back. It helped out a bunch!!! I wish I would see you before you left-I would bring it to you. Megan goes to MSSU on Tues and Thurs-would you like to meet her somewhere and take it with you? let me know-Im MORE than happy to loan you one-I have two here.

I dont think I would have them dip me in the water IF there was a shark there-I would if I dont see something that would eat me alive. Is the water there really clear? I know your gonna have fun and I am praying for good weather for you. I dont want it to rain the whole time there!!!

I have been to Fudruckers-in fact, we have one in Joplin-its a hamburger joint-right? You pretty much build your own fabulous burger and they have awesome shakes too-but nothing exciting like holding an alligator-thats for sure!!!

Have fun and Be careful and let me know if you want me to send one of those with Meg for ya. Love ya!!

**Sheila-was so glad to see you back!! I know that had to be a long day back to work-but I bet they were glad to have you back, werent they?

It sounded awesome that you got to have the place to yourself!!! LOL...That doesnt happen here all that much either-and I cherish the time when it is peaceful! Take care and love ya.

**Lori-WHERE ARE YOU?

**Renee-WHERE ARE YOU?

**Bev-WHERE ARE YOU?

**Lana-WHERE ARE YOU?

**Jeanine-WHERE ARE YOU?

**Andrew-WHERE ARE YOU?

**Brenda-WHERE ARE YOU?

**Bev B-WHERE ARE YOU?

**Deb D-WHERE ARE YOU?

COME OUT, COME OUT wherever you are!!!! Let us know your okay-okay? We love you guys and worry when you disappear for a long period of time!!!! Well, I am getting off here and making some lunch for Jon and I....As always, your all in my thoughts and prayers...Love, Janet