A Little of This and That - and Updates

A couple of weekends ago Chuck and Sharaya drove from Seattle down to Santa Clara, CA to join in the Super bowl festivities. The day before the game they went to the Fan Experience at a convention center with all things Super bowl related: food, activities, displays. They enjoyed that but said it was very crowded. 

The next day, even though they didn't have tickets to the actual game they found an Irish pub that was flying the 12's flag and spent the day there. 

They got there before it opened and there were enough people waiting outside that the owner let them all in early. By the time the game started that afternoon they said it was so loud you couldn't even hear the TVs, and the place was packed and people were crazy... and they had the BEST time! They were so glad they went! (I didn't go because I wouldn't be able to handle that much noise for that many hours.)

Diana and Oliver were dressed in their green to represent the Seahawks! 

And this was me watching from home without my hubby. I think it's the first big game we haven't seen together. But I was wearing my fuzzy socks, and had some hot tea and fun snacks. And we won! So I had fun!

Let's see, what else? Oh, Chuck bought a new car recently. New-to-us but still, new! It's a 2022 Hundai Tucson and he really likes it. I say 'his' car (we each have a car) but it's actually our family/retirement car. He wanted to get something newer that would last us through our golden years. We'll pay it off before he retires and we expect this will be the last car we ever buy.  

It's a little strange to be planning for the last years of your life. I'm still close with friends from high school and we were texting this morning about retirement and Medicare and mentioning how it's crazy that we're at that age now. Life really goes by so fast.

We had a few days of sunshine so for lunch one day I walked around our parking lot at work. And saw these little daffodils, they made me smile! It's a little early for them here but we've had some nice weather this winter. The plants are so confused.

Well, I think that's about all from here. Oh wait, updates! 

• Beth's foot is completely healed from where she stepped on the nail.
• It looks like hair is growing in the area where she had the cortisone shot for the alopecia so we made another appointment for next month.
• I was able to cancel the biopsy and schedule a third mammo. I asked if we could do it in Bellevue (about 20-30 minutes east of us) because I was told they have a machine where you can take pics while seated. And she curiously said, "Well, we have one of those machines here too." I don't know why the lady in Seattle didn't tell me that! But we now have a new appointment scheduled for Seattle.
• Chuck is going to physical therapy a couple times a week and his back is doing much better.

Okay now I think I've covered everything. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Two Miracles

 NASA has been posting pictures of the Carina Nebula, have you seen it? Usually it's posted like this, showing mountains and valleys: It's just phenomenal.

 

 But they recently posted it this way and it took my breath away! Do you see the face?

 

 

I showed it to a friend of ours and the first words he said were, "It's the face of God!!" Okay good. I wondered if I was the only one seeing this! It's like His mouth is open, the beard, the light emanating from it... I can't stop looking at it. But sometimes I also see a lion. Maybe the... Lion of Judah? The heavens declare His glory!

 

Then --

 

Sharaya, Chuck and I loaded our cars with stuff and took them over to Sharaya's new place. After we unloaded, she needed to get a few items out of storage so I closed the windows in my car and rode over with Chuck. We loaded both their cars, then I rode back with her. We pull up in front of her place to find I had left my car unlocked, the key in the ignition and the engine running!! It sat there for 45 minutes or more and was still there when we returned! Talk about God's protection!

Day To Day

 Go over to Rebecca Jo's blog to read more things to be thankful for
 
I'm thankful for snow!
We've had a lot of it the last few days

I'm thankful for a good car that does well in the snow

I'm thankful for hot chocolate on a cold day

For marshmallows in that hot chocolate!

For a clean refrigerator (Finally got it done!)

For a soft blanket to curl up with on the couch
For the hope of new employees
I'm thankful for my boss and co-workers
I'm extremely thankful for the end of a very long day

I'm thankful for friends and family who check in to read about my day and what's going on in my life

I'm thankful for all of you!!

Shopping, Work and It's Ours!

 

 Link up at Knit By God's Hand

I got to spend a couple of hours at the mall this week. There are so many new stores I'd never seen before! Do you have these where you live?

I got to work on Tuesday and was immediately greeted with, "Both large coffee makers are broken." Thankfully the company sent out a repair man right away and he fixed them both!

(I have no idea how this could even happen!)

Chuck and I took a walk on the Burke-Gilman Trail on Monday. The weather was beautiful and spending time with him is always one of my favorite things!

I asked Beth to check the mail today and she brought in the title to my car!! We paid it off last month and now it's official!

Mine, all mine!

Do you shop at your local mall very often?
Are you a 'always have a car payment' kind of person?

"It Doesn't Define Her" - What Exactly Does That Mean?

Many years ago someone complimented me on how we had raised Beth and said that "You can tell you didn't let Down Syndrome define her." I said thank you but I've always wondered what exactly that means. Even before she said it, I've thought about that phrase over the years and tried to figure out what exactly people mean by it.

And please know my heart here, I'm being genuine. I just want to think out loud for a few minutes so feel free to interject at anytime. :)

Sometimes I think Down Syndrome does define Beth. It causes low muscle tone and slower reflexes and for that reason, Beth isn't able to drive a car.

She never learned to balance a bike and never rode again after we took off the training wheels. (We took them off once but she struggled for such a long time, we put them back on and she eventually got so big for the bike that they broke. And they didn't make training wheels any bigger.)

Having Down Syndrome causes her tongue to be larger than normal and that affects her speech. And when she got old enough to realize people couldn't understand her she became withdrawn and shy.

Would she be shy if she didn't have Down Syndrome? I don't think so because when she was young, about 7, 8, 9 years old she was outgoing and friendly, even to strangers.

In the dictionary the word 'define' has this definition:
-To be what characterizes something
-To describe precisely
-To mark the limits of
-To outline clearly

A few posts back I wrote about the day both Beth and Sharaya were born. To be honest, it was really hard to not mention Beth having Down Syndrome. I kept going there, and then would delete what I had just written because I really wanted it to just be about her birth and not her diagnosis. But it was really hard.

So is Beth defined by Down Syndrome?

-- Or --

Does the term "It doesn't define her" mean that she has hobbies? Like she goes swimming or horseback riding? That having Down Syndrome doesn't stop her from doing the things she likes? Is that what it means?

Is it that she tries new things that people think she isn't able to do? That people think having Down Syndrome would limit her abilities? But I think the phrase "Down Syndrome doesn't limit me" would apply better. (Apply better. Is that a real term?)

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this? What do you think it means?

Tis The Season!

I was cleaning out some papers and found some old lists (I'm always making lists) and one of the things on the list was 'Update Blog' and that reminded me, "Oh my gosh, the blog!! When was the last time I even posted?!"

So here I am, asking forgiveness for being away so long. I'll fill you in on what's been happening around here.

Allie turned 7. Sharaya had her party at the Pacific Science Center and it was so much fun! She's really into space and astronauts so it was the perfect venue. The kids got to check out the museum and there was a host who even did science experiments with the kids. 

Here she's making the ice cream that they ate with the cake!

 

We finally refinanced our home. We started the process back in the summer months and it became such a circus that the appraisal company returned all our money. But the process is finally over and now we can work on putting a new roof on our house.

I bought a new car. It's a long story as to why, but I've been driving a 1993 Town and Country that I bought off a little old lady who drove it once a week to church. Honest! The radio didn't work, the gas gauge didn't work, see those little square patches by the windshield? It's tape holding the weatherstripping down. This poor car was old and tired.

 

 Now I drive this. It's a 2011 Hyundai and not only does the radio work, but so do the seat warmers!! This car has so many amenities compared to what I've had, I'm still in shock every time I drive it.

Last night we had our first snow of the season and I was so excited I actually stayed up until 3am just watching it snow. I'd go out and take a few pictures, then come back in and watch it some more. It's such a magical thing and so quiet and peaceful. I love watching it fall more than actually playing in it. Maybe it's just my age. :)

 

I hope you all are having a great December so far!

Our Van - What A Headache

Diana reminded me today that I haven't updated the blog in a while. Things have been so busy lately, I've barely had time to think about it!

I got a letter in the mail today from a blogging friend. You know who you are! What a joy to open that mailbox and see an envelope with my name hand written on the front! So fun!! I couldn't wait to get in the house and open it!

Let's see, what else? We got our van back. It was found in another park & ride type of lot not too far from where we had left it. When Chuck and I pulled into the tow yard he noticed the slider door was open. "That's the way we found it" is what the guy at the tow yard told us. Whoever took it basically tore up the inside; opened the glove compartment and various little drawers and dumped everything out. They pulled the antenna off the inside front window (the one for our electric gauges, direction, temperature, etc.) dumped bins over, rolled down windows, just made a mess of things and then walked away from it.

I think I'm more angry at whoever runs the parking lot where it was found. It's one of these places where you park and pay. Our van was stolen on a Monday. Early Tuesday morning the attendant put a ticket on the windshield for non-payment. And they did again the next day and the next day... we got a total of 10 tickets!! Was the slider door open this whole time?? They could tell the van was trashed inside, why didn't they call after a day or two to report it?? Instead it sat in their lot for two weeks, the seats getting soaked from all the rain we've had... grrr!

BUT, we have it back. The guy at the tow yard said to make copies of all the tickets and send them in with a copy of the police report and we shouldn't have to pay them. Driving it home from the tow yard I was so thankful it was still running, no windows were broken and it wasn't stripped. But man, this has been a headache.

I don't think I've taken any pictures in the last couple of weeks. Well, except for the inside of the van. But no fun pictures. :)  Lately it seems I've been more busy than usual. Is your life like that too? Most of the time you're just going through the motions, one day looks like the next. And then all of the sudden you've got meetings and outings and appointments and... I'm in one of those phases. Almost every day there's something to do and someplace to be. Fridays and Saturdays have been my weekends lately. I'm purposely keeping them as quiet as possible!  

A Thief and a Phone Call

On October 26th, Chuck drove to the park & ride and rode the bus into work. When he got back that evening, the van was gone.

He called me, "Unless you or Diana moved the van, it's gone!" "What?!?"

Diana and I drove to the lot and waited with Chuck for the police. They told him this happens quite often and will probably be found in a few days. The thief will take it for a joy ride, then dump it somewhere. Someone will call 911 about a car parked in front of their house and it will end up being a stolen car.

I was in denial. "Chuck, maybe you really parked over there when you only think you parked over here." Now, this is a 15 year old van with nothing special about it. No fancy radio, no sun roof, it doesn't even have a CD player. Why would they want our van?

We talked to friends and they've all told us, "Ours was found the next day." Our car was returned within 48 hours." One lady even told me her car was returned right to her driveway!

But, it's been almost 2 weeks and we haven't heard a thing. We look for it every time we go out. Thankfully our insurance is paying for a rental car but we're ready to have our own car back.

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I came home from work the other day and Beth came upstairs. She sat at the kitchen table and told me that someone called her cell phone. She doesn't usually get calls so I asked her if she knew who it was. She got a big smile on her face and said, "It was N!!"

"Really Beth? He called you?! What did he say?"

"He wants us live somewhere else." Hmm, okay. I don't know if he just wishes our families lived closer or if he wants the two of them to live together. Either way, we talked about them hanging out together first, going out to eat, to the movies, getting to know each other better. She smiled a lot and I could tell she was a little embarrassed but she wants this so desperately. To have a real boyfriend.

Well, a couple nights ago her and I were in the living room when her phone rang. She went into the hall to answer it and all I heard was, "Okay. Yea. Okay." When she came back, her head was down. "Beth was that N?" She nodded. "What did he say?"

Head down, very quiet, "I don't wanna talk 'bout it."

"Beth, is everything okay?"

"I don't wanna talk 'bout it."

I asked her sisters if she's said anything to them about it but she hasn't. It's killing me but she won't talk about it. :(

Has It Only Been A Week??

What a crazy week.

A friend and co-worker is on vacation so I'm filling in for her, doing her job as well as my own job. Working a lot more hours than usual. It's been busy, that's for sure but the biggest issue is my back. My co-workers chair is very different from mine and I've been using both of them this week. I think that's why I've been having muscle spasms in my lower back. Over the years I've learned to be so careful about what shoes I wear, how I move, to almost eliminate all back pain and this chair thing is the only thing I can think of that would be causing these spasms.  I'm glad she'll be gone only a couple more days!

Diana is dog sitting for a friend. We now have a boxer living at our house. She trimmed his nails this morning and cut one too close so he's been bleeding all over. She's tried a four/water paste on the nail and that's helped a lot. She also put one of her blankets on the couch and we're trying to keep him there. It's not working well though. As soon as he hops down, the nail starts bleeding again. Diana's shopping right now so he wants to be with me in our office area. I finally got the bleeding stopped again after he went outside to go potty. Ugh, dogs. I'm done with having pets. For 25 years we've had dogs, cats, guinea pigs, fish... I'm done with pets for a while. It may be selfish but I want a break from all the work that comes with having pets.

I was out mowing the lawn last weekend and hit a rock. The rock hit the back of my van and shattered the window. I just stood there in shock as I listened to the crackling of the window as it cracked into a million tiny pieces.

 

I called one place and gave them all the info: make and model, window tinting, wiper... they gave me a quote. I called a few days later to make the appointment and was told they gave me the wrong quote. It was actually going to be more than the original quote. Fine, it's still cheaper than the other places I called. We set up the appointment. The night before they were to come out, they call and say they don't have my particular glass in stock and they have to order it. It will take longer than expected and oh yea, the price will go up. No thank you. I now have an appointment for next weekend with a different company. In the meantime I'm driving around with white plastic duct taped to my car.

We got a call from Beth's doctor telling us the biopsy results are positive for Scarring Alopecia. Her doctor is sending off tissue samples for a second opinion and I should hear from them in a few days. The Nurses Assistant for the 'second opinion doctor' calls and tells me they don't have any appointments available until 2016. Oh. "But I thought our doctor was just sending tissue samples for your opinion?" The NA was just as confused as I was. I called our doctor back (and you know how it goes, they're with a patient or have gone home for the day and will be in touch... it's never quick and easy!) So a couple days later our NA calls and says, "Yes, take the 2016 appointment." But, but I thought you were just getting an opinion on the sample. "No, doctor T does want Beth seen by the 'second opinion doctor'". And while we wait, the alopecia continues to spread and Beth continues to lose her hair. Arrgh!

So, how was your week? :)

What We've Done... Or Haven't Done

I'm trying to remember what we've done since Easter.

Beth is still enjoying her new job. Well, same job, different location.

We bought a second car from some old friends. When I say old, I mean a couple in their 90s. V can't drive anymore and her van has just been sitting in the driveway for over a year. V's husband (also V) knew we were looking for a car (I've been sometimes walking back and forth to work lately - about a mile each way - if I wasn't able to get rides from Diana or co-workers) so Chuck and I bought their van. It's a 1993 and not much to look at but it gets me back and forth to work! I thank the Lord every time I drive it!

So in the last couple months we've gone from a 3 driver / one car family to a 3 driver / 3 car family. It's made a huge difference in our freedoms around here! :)

No new pictures to show you. We haven't really done much in the last couple of weeks. The weather has been gorgeous lately so we're trying to get outside more. Working in the yard, taking walks. I have Allie today so maybe we'll go do something outside... and I'll try to remember to take some pictures!

A Car Accident

Ryan was in a car accident this morning. He was on the freeway, driving home from a friends house and fell asleep at the wheel. He went off the side of an overpass and the car rolled a few times.

A friend of his was driving in the opposite direction and saw the cars react, then saw the dust and smoke. He called 911, but had no idea it was Ryan in the car.

Miraculously he came away with just bruises and scratches. He was at the hospital for most of the day and has no internal bleeding. No broken bones. The Lord was, without a doubt, with him in that car.

He's home now. Their car is totaled, but he is safe.

Thank you Lord.

Cha Cha Cha Changes

I'm still having blogger issues as you can see. One day it will all come together. One day.

Diana leaves in about 2 weeks. She's going to Disney World for 4 days and then.... who knows? She's saved a good chunk of money, quit both of her jobs and is gonna travel. Maybe London, maybe Thailand, perhaps Africa.... she hasn't made up her mind yet. I'm just a little nervous not knowing where she'll be. She said she'll text me when she decides. :) She's so much more determined than I ever was. She says she gets nervous, but just faces it and achieves her goals. Amazing.

Sharaya and Ryan bought a new car. Their old car was on it's last legs and they were desperate for something better. This car is an automatic so now Sharaya can drive it. Ryan has been the sole driver for more than a year because their car was a stick shift and Sharaya didn't want to learn on such a poor vehicle. She could have burned the clutch pretty quickly. Their new car is a Ford Explorer.

Beth has a working interview on Thursday at Marshalls. Instead of sitting down to a traditional interview and answering questions about yourself (something Beth wouldn't be good at) she'll actually perform the duties and depending on how well she does, she'll be hired. Her interview is at 10:30 PST so if any of you are thinking about her around that time, please pray for her. She really wants to work.

Chuck filled out the Jury form telling them that she wouldn't be able to serve due to her having Down Syndrome. We received a post card in the mail today telling us that they have postponed her jury service date to give us time to get a note from her doctor.  Then we'll mail the docs to the courthouse. I may also include a copy of her WA State ID card.

Our church is going through some restructuring. Some of our departments are being eliminated and the work loads will be decreased. We're moving from a programmatic system to groups. We'll be creating multigenerational groups that build relationships and help disciple people into the church body. Right now we have about 2000 people on a Sunday and it's hard to make friends in a setting like that. With the groups, we'll become closer and be able to assist each other when the need arises. If someone in my group is moving, we'll be more likely to help rather than someone randomly calling the church office and asking if there is anyone willing to help.

I'm excited about the changes but that also means my job description will be changing. This week my boss asked me for a list of my duties and how long it takes me to do each task. Then he sent me an email saying not to worry, he just needs to know how much time I would have to work on the new database. If I haven't mentioned it before, we're getting a new database. Our 4th one in 6 years. To be honest I'm kind of excited. I absolutely love working with the database. I'm not skilled at creating new databases or reading a manual and figuring it out on my own, but when someone teaches me the basics, I can usually figure out the rest. I just love it.

Then Chuck sent me an email yesterday. He had just gotten out of a meeting where they were told they were going through a restructuring! There will be 47 jobs eliminated. Thank goodness his is not one of them. But it was close. There are about 200 employees in his group. Out of the 47 being eliminated, starting from the newest person hired and going up by seniority, he is number 53. And he's been there almost 17 years!

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meets at our church. One of the leaders stopped me the other day and said she was looking for speakers for one of the MOPS events. My name came to mind. Would I be willing to speak to the moms about special needs? She couldn't give me a topic or any ideas, she just felt I was to speak. I'm only aware of one MOPS mom that has a child with special needs. Never done anything like this before. I said yes. Gulp. I have until April to figure out what I'm going to talk about. I figure I'll open with Beth's birth. And then...... ?

Someone came into the church office yesterday and gave our receptionist a postcard. It's in invitation to a one day conference for people who want to start a ministry for people with special needs. Uh, yea! I'm just at the beginning stages but it consumes my thoughts. It's being hosted by Young Life. On the postcard was a picture of a large group of adults, some with special needs! I did some research and Young Life has a group called Capernaum. It's a Young Life group for, what looks like adults with special needs!! If it is (Young Life is usually just high school) I plan to talk to them when I go to the conference this week. This could be an answer to prayer for us. They meet just a mile from our house and it's biblically based. We love the group Beth is involved with now and she'll probably continue with them, but this will open an opportunity for her to make more friends both with special needs and those without, all worshiping the Lord and doing His work! I'm so excited about this and am hoping and praying it's for 'older' adults.