Still Here...

Not only are we still at home, GG is still here on this earth. Well, sort of. She's not really conscious but she hasn't moved on either. My heart aches for her five kids, all of whom have been by her bedside for days now. I was there for a few hours last Thursday night and it was hard for me to watch. I can't imagine how they must feel! Anyway, I'll keep y'all posted but for now there is no news... literally.

...Not so much

Well it's been a week since I last posted and I see how much everyone missed me and my regular posts... (sniff). Anyway, Plumberboy's grandmother is in the very last stages of the dying process as I type this so I'm going to be out of pocket for a while. There will be lots of family around and eventually a funeral, etc plus we'll have to catch up on all the stuff we're shrugging off at this time.

GG (as we like to call her) is one of my favorite people. She was diagnosed with a 13 cm cancerous mass on her liver eleven months ago. To put it in perspective, it took up more than half of her liver and any mass over 5 cm on the liver is considered inoperable. In other words, you need a liver transplant to fight a mass of that size. We only found out about the liver mass after a hospitalization for some neck pain that was the result of her breaking her neck a few weeks before. She is a tough old broad to say the least. GG always treated me like blood family, maybe even better, and we loved to talk politics, etc. In fact, I was just up there early last week laying on her bed, watching Fox News and talking with her about the upcoming Democratic convention. She was very lucid until just the past few days and sat up to have a beer only two nights ago. Seriously, most of us "young folk" would have been dead in a matter of weeks with a liver mass of that size... we certainly wouldn't have been able to hold our liquor. She's an amazing woman and she really, really loves her family. We'll miss her a ton but we're ready for her to go home to wait for us there. Thanks GG for all the memories and thank you Jesus for opening The Lifegate so that all may go in.

Good Good Friday to you!

Not going to post anything political today... promise! In fact, I'll go one step further and post about the most bipartisan event ever in human history.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Genesis 50:20

For God so loved the whole world, He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Click here for a VeggieTales version of the Easter story.

Better late than never?

My apologies to my friend Stacie for waiting until the end of the day to put off uploading an embarassing picture of myself to wish her a Happy 30th Birthday! Would you believe Blogger was down? ;)

Here's the birthday girl exactly 14 years ago... not quite 16 anymore! (But I must honestly say she's one of those annoying people who ages well...)

Here's a goofy picture of the two of us from high school (per our usual). I'm sad that my old pics aren't better organized, making it very hard to put my hands on them at any given time, because I really do have some doozies of us from back in the day. Doesn't she look like a Disney princess in this picture (that's infinitely better than a squished up Barbie head!):

And now my real present to Stacie on this, her birthday:

You see, Stacie's real passion in life is not Auburn football, it's not flicking plastic things at me in a JC Penney warehouse (well, maybe it's a tie)... it's taking really bad pictures of me. In my quest for embarassing Stacie photos to post here today, I realized that there aren't really any embarassing photos of her because she was entirely too busy taking embarassing pictures of me. She stands about 6 inches shorter than me so she loved asking (read: making) me dress up in her clothes, then taking pictures of the resulting high-water pants and cropped-on-me tops. Usually she proceeded to tease my hair out or encourage me to put on some really wacky makeup and THEN SHE WOULD TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH so that said embarassing moment was forever a part of recorded history. And if you don't think that particular photo was all that bad, find Stacie and ask her to show you one from her own personal stash. (Note to self: Take extreme measures to keep Stacie from acquiring computer scanner.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STACIE!

PS: Feel free to leave your birthday wishes for her in the comments section.

Neither Planned, Nor Parenthood... Discuss amongst yourselves.

Hi all... I'm blogging on the road so please excuse the brevity of this post. I just didn't want to wait to post this article about a Planned Parenthood expose. I hope this organization succesfully exposes Planned Parenthood for the heartless money-grubbers they are (notice how virtually all abortion-alternative clinics are free while Planned Parenthood, an alleged nonprofit, has revenues of $900 million+ from 2005-2006.) It was ironic that I found that article on the very same night that I was wondering how Jeremiah Wright can publicly call out "white America" for treating people as "less than human" and accuse them of genocide when he's vigorously supporting a pro-choice candidate while there are abortion statistics like this (pay special attention to "Who Has Abortions?") Go figure.

UPDATE: Per my sister's comment, here is a direct link to Randy Alcorn's extensive blog post about the recent Planned Parenthood phone calls. Hopefully you'll take the time to listen to the actual call AND read all about Margaret Sanger. I have some notes somewhere in a box in my garage about good ole Margaret Sanger. You can read more about "eugenics" here and see Margaret Sanger honored as an important eugenics leader here. I'll have to present more research to y'all when I have the time (still out of town.)

Happy Birthday Randee!

Cute and/or embarassing pic to be uploaded once I return home. But I couldn't wait until then to publicly wish her a HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY!

Tornado Tourney

Are any other SEC schools more experienced in handling tornadoes than Mississippi State (in Starkville MS) and the University of Alabama (in Tuscaloosa AL, the unofficial tornado capital of the world)? Let's play ball!

PS: I agree with the announcer--Thank the Good Lord above it wasn't much worse!

Take the time to read...

Look, I'll just say it...no need to mince words in my opinion. You're crazy if you plan to vote for Barack Obama (if given the chance) but don't research for yourself about his self-proclaimed spiritual adviser and church minister, Jeremiah Wright Jr. I promise I'm not trying to fan the flames of controversy. I'm just honestly afraid of where our country is headed if we elect someone even remotely connected to this man as President of the United States. And you see, Obama is not just remotely connected to this guy. He wrote a book based on one of this guy's sermons and Obama prayed with him minutes before officially announcing his candidacy for president. It's only March and I'm sure more info will come out before the general election in November (a big reason the so-called "superdelegates" will in all likelihood nix this Obama nomination) but I figure it's never to early to dissiminate such vitally important info, in my humble opinion. Please take the time to read.

Fox News Article (obviously not Obama fans... okay, I'll give you that)

Washington Post Article (don't know what their agenda is but I do know all the pseudo-intellectuals read this particular post... the rest of us read the NY Post!)

Rolling Stone Article (are you kidding me?!? You're a hopeless Obamaniac if you think Rolling Stone has any sort of pro-Republican agenda!)

Feel free to your leave your comments. I'll feel free to not hold my breath waiting.

Blogger's Block

Wow... it's been a while since I clicked "New Post" on my dashboard. Actually, that's not entirely true. I pushed it just this morning but I was interrupted by Crabman, per his usual. So it's more accurate to state it's been a while since I clicked "Publish." Here's to hoping I get that far with this one. Well, I've had a bit of blogger's block lately... mostly because I'm tired, per my usual, and we've had tons of things going on, per Plumberboy's usual. Soccer season is kicking off, school is in full effect (anxiously awaiting spring break, although it begins with an out-of-town trip to see the kids' eye doc... FUN!), we're still working on the house, plus the weather is beautiful so it seems shameful to sit inside in the afternoons. One thing I haven't been busy with is typing. I had a most splendid respite from transcription work recently and I barely got on my desktop computer (where I do all my transcription work) at all. Don't get me wrong, I lurve my laptop and wireless internet but I loathe those itty bitty so-called keyboards. They are a cruel, carpal-tunnel joke and no self-respecting transcriptionist types on those things. And I'm seriously too lazy to get up and go all the way to my desktop just to blog. There's one other contributing factor in my lack of postings: there's so much to say that I don't even know where to begin! I find myself unable to remember whether I actually blogged about something or just thought about blogging it. So my apologies in advance for any deja vu moments. My mind is mush... hence the lazy, link-light list format below. (My sister's not the only one that can alliterate!)

Speaking of Deja Vu: We recently watched Deja Vu with Denzel Washington and while it was somewhat entertaining, it was even more unrealistic than those God-like computers on 24. Fascinating Messiah theme throughout the movie though (just like the Pirates movies... did anyone else pick up on that?!?!) Hopefully I can check out my Blockbuster quiche (as we call it here in our house... you probably know it as the queque) to remind me what other movies we've watched recently so I can give my thumbs up or thumbs down accordingly.

Meredith: Haven't talked to the Dallas bunch as of this post but I believe Meredith had a cardiologist appointment today. I will update as info arrives. We expect nothing but good news as she has really done well so far.

Ricky Bobby: Still holding his own in fantasy NASCAR. And still really into US Presidents. I'm wondering how a Presidents-themed birthday party would work...

Crabman: Good thing he's cute because he's getting on my nerves lately. He is so sweet and wonderful and all that (truly all that) but he's teething and NEEDIER than a refugee in quicksand. He gets up throughout the night and doesn't nap much during the day. Sometimes he's downright irrational from all of the above. I think we're over the hump now but this new phase still isn't conducive to blogging. I'm also thinking about his birthday party plans since it's quickly approaching...

Plumberboy: Slammed at work and slammed at home. He started painting our brick last weekend despite protests from his Yankee relatives. Apparently there is a congenital Yankee aversion to painted brick (but no so much in The South--obviously!) Lucky for me Plumberboy has renounced his Yankeeness and actually likes the painted brick. He's also coaching soccer, teaching Sunday school, and trying to spearhead a local plumber's association. Glad to see he puts the H in ADHD to good use.

House: See above. I'd post pictures as we go along but you know good and well I'm way too paranoid to post pictures of my residence on the world wide web. Duh. :) Which brings me to...

Co-ed murder arrests (I'm not a fan of the whole "co-ed" term but nonetheless that's what Greta van Susteren uses so far be it from me to stray...): Glad they caught the guys in both the AU and the UNC case but I'm not sure I'm any more relieved. I think both of those cases illustrate the randomness of many violent crimes, more so than most people want to acknowledge. Thus, I'm checking around to see how much this would cost me. (Probably one husband. And maybe a father. Not that the dog would eat them--they would just disown me out of protest. But I digress..) The Nevada co-ed was killed by a serial rapist turned murderer who walked past an apartment and saw her through an unlocked sliding glass door. For goodness sake, lock your doors. I mean seriously, how hard is it to lock your doors? It takes just a second--the flick of your fingers--and you've in all likelihood done enough to deter a dangerous criminal. God forbid they aren't deterred, you've at least slowed them down and given yourself some sort of heads-up when they make a racket breaking in. And lastly: Ladies, you are always a target. You can try to ignore this and think of more pleasant things but it won't change that harsh reality. Please act accordingly.

Politics: Wow... this is a really good political season and I've enjoyed it more than most. I'm hoping to delve deeper into my political thoughts during the summer because the current time constraints don't allow such talk. All this despite the fact that no one reading this blog cares about my thoughts. Which seriously is fine and all but DANG, I thought I could at least get some good dialogue going! I know it's going on at other blogs but no luck here...guess I'm no Geraldine Ferraro or Samantha Power. Rowr! Would y'all rather discuss the Love Gov?

Me: Still tired. But quite possibly over my blogger's block now. See you again soon?

Meredith Update 3/10/08

Hi y'all... I just got off the phone with our Dallas crew and Meredith, et al are home from the hospital! They were literally walking through the door while I was on the phone with my mother-in-law. This is amazing as her surgery was Friday, the 7th, and the doctors originally anticipated a 4 to 7-day hospital stay afterwards but now she is home on Monday, the 10th! She had an echocardiogram as well as a chest x-ray this morning and all looked good. I believe she has an appointment with her cardiologist on Thursday so hopefully I'll have more to report afterwards. Thanks everyone for your concerns and obviously your prayers as this process has gone miraculously well!

Meredith Update 03/09/08

Hey y'all... sorry for no update yesterday. Blogger was acting funny and I just didn't get on the computer much yesterday. Anyway, good news on the Meredith front. She's in a regular room and MAY even get out tomorrow...that just seems amazing to me! Well, there's so much to do on this gorgeous day (can you believe we had snow yesterday?!?!) but I'll post any big info here regarding Meredith when I get it. Enjoy your Sunday!

Meredith Update 3/7/08 Part 2

Meredith is still in the ICU but off the ventilator and doing good! She is recovering quite nicely and may not be in the ICU for long. If you want a specific prayer request, please pray for the rest of Meredith's family. She is the youngest of five kids (the oldest are only 7-year-old twins!) and they have all been sick. Her youngest sister was the only one who had managed to stay healthy but now she is running a fever. Obviously Meredith needs a healthy environment to come home too and Plumberboy's mom needs to stay healthy, too! Never a dull moment...

Thanks for your concern and prayers. Hopefully I'll have even more good news tomorrow.

Meredith Update 3/7/08

Hey y'all... the first report is a good one! Meredith is out of surgery and from what I understand, everything went as planned. She's in ICU until at least tomorrow and is currently on a ventilator but this is all standard procedure. I'll keep posting updates here as I get them.

Rememba me?

I know, it's a been a long time. It's a busy season of life and about to get busier (soccer season starts soon!) but I wanted to post a few things.

First, Meredith's surgery started about 9:30 AM central time, which means she should be right smack-dab in the middle of her surgery as I type. I'll post an update here when I know something later this afternoon. I'm home all day because Crabman is less than 100% today. I think it's teething and I'm starting to understand the 19th century theory of teething as an official cause of death! (If you don't take Dr. Greene's word for it, you can read a real medical journal report covering the topic here.) Of course Crabman could also be on the verge of a raging flu outbreak so I decided to just stay home for a "lazy day." After a field trip to the planetarium yesterday, I need it too! I didn't sleep very well Wednesday night and you can check out Greta van Susteren for more details. I'm hoping for some "good" news on that front later today (using the term "good" loosely...)

Lastly, I have an update regarding Ricky "Ladies Man" Bobby. His teacher informed me yesterday that him and Grace have been caught holding hands and rubbing noses (eskimo kisses) in the hall over the past week. She laughed and laughed about it and informed me they are her first ever 1st grade "couple." Hip-hip-hooray. This is probably one of the first times Ricky Bobby's behavior cannot be directly attributed to me in some way and in fact I am quite shocked that my offspring is behaving this way. But Plumberboy has assured me that, for once, this is all him. Ugh Ha.

Well that's it for now but I do hope to have some Meredith info in the next couple of hours. Thanks in advance for your prayers for peace, comfort, and God's healing hand on the surgeons! We all appreciate it...

Not to be confused with Sanjaya...

...is this girl from Nepal. She has much better hair. And she should most definitely not be confused with Jesus Christ, either. Thank you God for not retiring!