Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil 4:6-7



Wednesday, October 19, 2011

(10/18)...streaming



Today is the first day of the St. Jude Novena -- surely you have a hopeless cause. Don't we all? I love this Pray More Novenas website -- just enter your email address and they send you a reminder with the novena prayers every day. All you have to do is pray.

Even I can do that.


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I think I am beginning to sound like an old lady with a daily update on my ailments, but it is an ever-changing saga! I am still recovering from surgery. I went to the doctor the other day to make sure my "cold" wasn't strep throat (it wasn't) and he "took a look at my leg" and noticed a hard knot in the vein that the surgeon closed. He didn't really say too much, but his concern alarmed me and got me wondering as to whether it was normal and I called the surgeon's nurse. It's apparently not terrifically abnormal, but they wouldn't say it was normal either. To help resolve it, I have to peel the compression hose off four times a day and sit with a wet, hot washcloth on the spot for 15 minutes. Sure, that's doable, right? At least I have to sit down for 15 minutes four times a day.


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Speaking of compression hose, have you ever worn them? They.are.so.awful. Fortunately I only have to wear them until I see the surgeon for follow-up next week. Prior to my surgery I had to have a short physical to make certain my body was sound for surgery. I went to the hospital and saw a doctor who does only pre-surgery physicals. I think he must be frustrated by his position because he questioned my surgeon's decision to operate on my leg a number of times. He asked me if I had already tried compression hose as an alternative to surgery. I politely replied that I had, but I really wanted to say, "Look pal, did you ever put on compression hose? I'm 49 years old and I don't want to wear compression hose for the rest of my life." Frankly, if I had one year to live I wouldn't wear compression hose for the rest of my life. They are awful, uncomfortable, hot, and binding. My poor grandma is 95 and wears them because she had bypass surgery twenty-plus years ago. Hers are so tight that she has to put them on with rubber gloves. Really looking forward to that day...


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I can't wait until Halloween is over, or as my husband calls it "the culture of death" holiday. I remember Halloween fondly from when I was a kid, but I don't remember all this death and darkness. It was fun when I was younger, dressing up in fun costumes and trick-or-treating, and I feel badly for all the little kids growing up in this culture. This culture that embraces CSI and other graphic "death" media, and that, of course, encompasses abortion -- a woman's-choice-for-death-culture. This love of all that is Halloween in our culture is either a result of abortion acceptance or abortion acceptance is a result of the culture, I can't decide which. Death is just no big deal any more. We see it all around. 

My little trick-or-treater is going to be a fairy this year -- a sweet pink-and-green-dancing-with-wings fairy. We're embracing sweet and cute and innocent.


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This weekend is my frosh's Homecoming Dance. He says he is going, but as is typical in today's culture -- I am told, he has not actually spoken to his date, asked her in a message on FB and has only messaged her or texted her with my phone since. I tried to force him to call her -- on the phone -- but Doug backed me off saying "it's the way they do things today." I still disagree with it being right. Noah (the frosh) informed me last night that he and his "date" might be riding with another boy and his date in a limo. Doug and I agree that a limo to freshman year Homecoming is way over the top, but I have been told that girls today spend as much on a Homecoming dress as I did on my wedding dress. And considering that my wedding was the first time I rode in a limo (for fun and not a funeral) I guess that is how much life has changed. "Over the top" is my motto here. I truly don't want to know what young people do for the wedding these days. I am planning to call the date's mother and the limo's mother -- I do think I have a right and responsibility there. Right?

(Apparently in my effort to be sarcastic, I was just confusing. I plan to call the mother of my son's date, and the mother of his friend who hired the limo driver. I did not hire the limo driver.)



18 comments:

  1. I had to laugh when you said you wouldn't wear compression hose if you only had a year to live!

    I can't stand the whole FB invite and event issue. My kids tell me there's a party because there was an invite on FB. Ugh. And a limo for homecoming is definitely over the top! We've never done that. If it were my kid, I'd say we're not paying for it because it's completely unnecessary. I guess parents allow it because they don't want to drive. I hate all the driving, but I hate the excess more.

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  2. I'm with you on Halloween being icky these days. I'm also with you on kids & communication. :) I've not had to wear compression hose (thankfully), but I hope you recover from your surgery soon! I had a surgery a few weeks ago and was surprised by how long it took me to feel normal again!

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  3. I'm sure that some kids around here get limos for homecoming, but MINE don't. My daughter is going to her own homecoming and the one at the public school (with a group of friends) and we'll be talking with the parent of the guy bringing her to that dance. She will wear the same dress and shoes to both dances, and she got that dress on sale for under $50.
    We just tell her that "the usual terms and conditions apply." That means that until we know the parents well, she doesn't get to go to a dance/someone's house/out with someone until we have spoken to all grownups in charge, understood the driving and curfew arrangements, and all of that.
    Continued prayers for your recovery~!

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  4. Hahahaha...Margaret, you are so bad! ;)
    I refused to let my daughter get a $42 French nail manicure...a $25 pedicure...and who know how much for a hair do...I can paint her nails just fine and brush her hair in several different styles. Yes, I'm done with both homecoming and Halloween...blech! (Our daughter's homecoming dance is the same night as your son's.)

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  5. Did you mean Limo driver's mother? Do they give that information out when renting a limo?

    I agree with you on it all.

    Only have to wear the hose after my c-sections in the hospital. It's the newest thing they added after the last C-section. I was not good at it though. I also had to laugh about the one year to live and not wearing them. You should have said it, those doctors need to be told that stuff sometimes. It's no skin off their backs to tell you to do something unreasonable.

    Halloween.....me too!!! I always hate how much emphasis is put on one day then afterward, no mention of it at all.

    This year, we have our All Saints party on that night, yay!! But have a party in the day to go to, that will go to a nursing home.

    My kiddos are going to be a
    Ninja
    Pop Singer--only because she gets to wear make up, she doesn't really even know any pop singers.

    Girl Pirate, because she has striped pants.

    A Tiger

    A Pumpkin--because she already is one and I got the costume last year the day after for $1

    Innocent enough?

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  6. What I don't like about the limo, Sara, is who is supervising these 15-year-old CHILDREN? I will probably be driving behind the limo, waiting outside the restaurant, and following them to the dance. (Yes, that's how much I trust teens these days -- teens w/o parental supervision).

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  7. Sheila, really -- you hit the nail on the head about feeling normal again. Even just a little minor surgery throws you for a loop. I am convinced it's the anesthesia. And I never recover "normally." Ever.

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  8. Oh, some people are such smart mouths. Some people. :-P

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  9. PS Not naming names. Just smart mouths.

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  10. Thank you for the reminder, Barb. We have lots of rules to go over.

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  11. I've only had to wear compression hose once -- after some surgery after Francie's birth. I was 23 and I felt like I was 103. Surgery, even the "simple same day procedure", is enough to age anyone!

    Halloween is really bad today. And I used to LOVE Halloween. We have no fewer than 6 (SIX!!) of those Halloween superstore monstrosities in a 7 mile stretch of highway near our home. One of them has a placard advertising their "specials" propped up on a hearse with a skeleton "driver" Just so NOT what I want my kids to see everyday on the bus ride home from school.

    Also, everything is over the top these days. Excess is the name of the game. Even in 7th grade the pressure from the parents (!!) for me to give my child a cell phone, computer, slutty clothes, etc is ridiculous.

    And no, you do not want to know weddings cost. We went to several this summer, including my brother's which was modest by most standards, and I was still floored by how much money they spent.

    Wow, it's a good thing I don't sound like a crotchety old lady or anything . . . ;-)

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  12. I hate to wish them more grown up than they already are, Cheryl, but right now they are just too big for their britches!

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  13. No, Jamie. It's the mother of my son's friend. She rented the limo!

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  14. Oh, Aimee, it's these young whipper snappers making us feel so dang old!

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  15. I am still praying you are feeling 100% very soon! I havent had the hose at home but had to use the mechanical ones in the hospital.

    I can't imagine on the dance much less weddings. My son's fiance asked me what our wedding budget was. Laughable nowadays! I wore my grandmother's gown, a borrowed veil, and my mother and I made the cake. A friend made the flowers. And it was beautiful. All of it. Probably under $1000.

    Cannot fathom the investment today. And maybe moreso it is the expectation and the general perception of what is normal. Makes you want to have them view a third world starvation video ahead of time. Only half kidding ; )

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  16. Well, you sure have a lot to offer up for your 'hopeless cause'. :-) Hope and pray your leg issues improve soon!

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  17. I love your new header photo, beautiufl!!

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I appreciate your comments -- sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself!