Let us take our journey...Genesis 33:12

create your own personalized map of the USA

I've visited 29 states (56%). I'm not sure New York and New Jersey really count, since JFK is all I've seen of New York. My time in NJ was spent on a tarmac while waiting for the NY weather to clear. The same for Minnesota...all I've seen of it is the airport. It looks like a Northern States tour and an East Coast excursion are in order. Of course, we need to visit Alaska and Hawaii also. Where have you been?

Look to the hand...Psalm 123:2

Sacagawea lost her first tooth this morning. She has seen her brothers pull out their own teeth so often that she thought nothing of just yanking it out herself. I knew it was pretty loose, but I didn't know it was ready yet. She brought it to me, quite proud that she had pulled it herself. As you can see, her bottom right tooth is just about ready to come out also.

She had another orthodontist appointment the week before last. The orthodontist was impressed with the wonderful spacing that she has. He said in another six months or so we'll see about a quad-helix for her.

I wrote the date and information about the tooth on our calendar. Someday I'll gather all of our past wall calendars and fill out the kids' baby books. Someday...

The arm that has no strength...Job 26:2

"Do you want these shots in one arm or both arms?"

I opted for just one arm. I figured it would be nice to have at least one arm that didn't hurt.

Last week I went for the first medical appointment that I'd had in a long time. Since I was a new patient, I had a lot of forms to fill out about a lot of stuff, including the date of my last tetanus shot. ????? I know I had one before I went off to college, and I vaguely remember getting one at some point after that, but I have no firm recollection of which decade that may have happened. I sifted through my file folders, but I couldn't find any reference to a tetanus shot.

The nurse gave me a list of dates for the Public Health shot clinics. Today was the day. I asked if they gave flu shots also. They did. I'm sore. I suspect that the soreness is mostly from the tetanus, but since they were in the same arm, I'm really not sure.

The point of this post? The next time I have to fill out a form that asks when my last tetanus shot was I can just check my blog...or I could, as the nurse suggested, just write that info on the back of my license so it will always be handy.

Oh, and for the blog-record (and my mother), I went in last Friday morning for a big ol' blood draw. Cholesterol, TSH, and liver levels are all fine. Cholesterol was improved over my last set of tests 3 years ago.

Since this post is all about me, I'll include a photo from my birthday last month (after The Man's and before S's). Here are S & Sacagawea roasting veggie-dogs in the wood stove. They like roasting them on a fire outside, but I thought it was too cold or something, so we did it inside.

Glory to God in the highest...Luke 2:14

The Man and M decided to participate in the Christmas program that the church up in the city puts on every year. They both sang bass in the choir Friday and Saturday nights. Those of you that know them might even be able to pick them out in this blurry picture. Some of my readers may even be able to pick out a few other folks that they know.
They had a very good time and I enjoyed hearing the entire songs rather than just the bass parts they have been singing around the house the past few weeks.

I just cleaned off the camera and came across the picture I took several weeks ago. Here is a photo of M on the unicycle. Most of the pictures have M either hanging on to the post or with one or both feet on the ground. His record distance is about 6 feet.


We discovered on Saturday that M is even taller than I am when I'm wearing my shoes with heels.

"I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1

A time to be born, and a time to die...Ecclesiastes 3:2

There is a new nephew in the family! The Man's step-sister had her baby last Friday. Even though he arrived a few days past his expected due date, I don't think anyone minds now. He is here, and from what I've heard, he is absolutely perfect. Here are some pictures of the little sweetie. Look at those cheeks! Congratulations to all!

Births are, more often than not, eagerly anticipated months in advance. The Man has had at least one lady show up in the ER with "stomach pains" who had no idea up until 5 minutes before the birth that she was going to be a mom. Those cases are the very rare exception. Names considered, nurseries readied, and perhaps an induction or c-section scheduled to give an idea of the anticipated date of birth. That is the way it is supposed to be. Anticipation.

On the other hand, death is rarely "anticipated." Sometimes it is expected, but it often catches us off guard.

I always thought of wise old Solomon as quite a cynic. "A time to be born, and a time to die." The 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes, as well as starting out rather depressing, also gives hope. Verses 11 and onward give a glimpse of what is beyond: What is beyond our current comprehension and what we can look forward to with joy.

Saturday afternoon we received the news that my cousin had died. He had surgery earlier this year for his esophageal cancer. He was 39 and leaves behind his wife, two children, parents, brothers, and many other relatives and friends. It had been a few years since I had seen him, but as children, we got to visit every few months. When we visited my grandparents, my brothers and I used to walk up to our cousins' house and play basketball—mostly H-O-R-S-E. I almost always lost, but it was fun. And then there was the time they dropped a log on my head...

He will be missed, but I rejoice that there is something better waiting for us.
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20

Ecclesiastes 3

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Eight years old...II Kings 22:1

Happy 8th Birthday, S!

8 years ago this morning I woke up with a familiar feeling. I had felt the same way 4 days previously on Tuesday, The Man's birthday. I was sure you, S, would share a birthday with your daddy, but it turns out I had a case of the stomach flu...The Man had it too, so we were pretty sure it wasn't labor. I laid around for a few days surviving on nothing but Saltines and Gatorade. By Friday morning I was feeling better and went to my last visit with the midwife at Kaiser. We had switched to Kaiser insurance after J was born, so we were somewhat limited in our hospital/provider choices.

The midwife said everything looked great, except for my weight loss due to the special diet I'd been on that week. She even mentioned that she would be in the hospital that night, so I was welcome to come on in and have the baby. We still weren't sure which hospital we wanted to use. We had 2 Kaiser hospitals about the same distance from our home. One had a brand new L & D with great rooms. The other wasn't as nice, but it had my really nice midwife. And then there was the fact that they were both quite a distance from our home.

In rush hour traffic, it could take up to 45 minutes to get to either hospital from our house. Since we only had one vehicle at that time that The Man used to get to classes 20 minutes from our house, it could take about an hour to get to a hospital if he happened to be away from home when I went into labor. We decided it would be a good idea to be prepared in case we didn't wish to try to rush off to a hospital.

After my appointment with the midwife on Friday morning, I wandered all over the Kaiser complex trying to find the right person to give me the right forms to get J's hospital and ambulance bills paid from an out-of-state visit the prior month. The ambulance company was getting understandably cranky and Kaiser was not paying the bills or mailing me the forms. When that was taken care of we drove to Wal-Mart where I once again did some walk :: ouch :: ing to get some things we :: ouch :: needed.

We finally arrived back home and I rested the remainder of the day. I was still pretty weak from my recent illness. When I woke up early on Saturday morning, I was sure I was having a relapse. It was the same queasy feeling. I tried to relax and go back to sleep. It didn't work.

After an hour or so I figured out that I was actually in labor. I woke The Man up and informed him of the developments. He got up and decided that yes, I was probably in labor. He made a few phone calls and took M & J to some friends that lived around the corner from us. It was only a five minute drive...

During those five minutes I discovered that my contractions were a lot more comfortable if I pushed through them. The Man wasn't thrilled when he arrived back home less than 10 minutes later to find me pushing. "It's too soon! You're not ready!"

Yes, I was. We quickly decided that a homebirth was preferable to a carbirth somewhere along the 10 freeway. Less than an hour later you arrived. The Man went and got the big boys to meet their new little brother. A few hours later I sent them off to Sabbath School and Church while you and I stayed in bed and rested. I am glad he called between Sabbath School and Church to check up on us. I was in the middle of a crisis. I couldn't find where Daddy had put the diapers, and you were in need of your first diaper change.

Here you are, just a few days old (Notice the empty Gatorade bottle). Daddy put you in the bouncy seat on the kitchen floor. J is sitting there "reading" to you from a board book. This morning, eight years later, you and J were sitting in the rocking chair together as he was really reading to you from one of the new books you got for your birthday.
You were 7 weeks old for your first Christmas. All of you enjoyed wearing Great-Grandpa's Santa hats.
S asked for a banana cake with whipped topping and fruit for his birthday this morning. We had it for breakfast. "It was yummy," says S.

He got a tool box of his very own with lots of tools. He made a mailbox to put Mommy and Daddy's cards in, so The Man creatively wrapped each tool (including a box of Curious George band-aids) and put them in the mailbox. He loved all the gifts he received.
***************'
Ahem...Yes, this post WAS written on November 6. Today is December 6. What can I say? As usual, it has been a b-u-s-y month. More on that later.
I love you, S...even though I was late publishing your birthday post! Happy 8 1/12 birthday!

A very aged man...2 Samuel 19:32

Happy Birthday to The Man!

I won't say how old he is, but he is veeeerrrrry old. This is the one day during the year that I get to tease him about his age. Tomorrow he will back to his young, never-going-to-grow-up self.

I made a blackberry pie and an apricot pie for him last night. His mother said she would bring an apple cake, so that should get us through the weekend of festivities. My birthday is tomorrow (which is why he suddenly becomes "not old" again tomorrow).

This year is a lot different than last year since Grandpa isn't with us anymore. He would have turned 100 on Sunday.