NEW HOBBY

Okay, enough of the dark, brooding posts for today. I need to take a break from myself and I'm sure you do too!!

I love antiques and I especially love antiques that have a personal connection to them. My husband collects Colorado Milk Bottles and "go-withs". These are advertising tools that the dairies put out like matchbooks, calendars, ash trays, cake servers, milk picks, etc. The bottles themselves, are the old style glass and embossed, with the dairy's name, delivered by the Milk Man; a by-gone piece of our American History. Our house is OVER RUN with the stuff and I am looking forward to the day (retirement) where he can have his own little Colorado Milk Museum, tucked away in the basement or some other place where it isn't always surrounding me! I mean the man is a serious collector!

I have my Pink Glass Depressionware that I love to collect. I haven't been at it too long but all the pieces I have found are functional and I use them regularly!


I have also found a few serving pieces that I enjoy using whenever I set the table.


This piece is one of my favorites, it hails from Occupied Japan!



Antiques are used as decoration in our home as well. I have gradually collected specific items that I feel add character and interest in our home-1940's radio, antique typewriter, treadle sewing machine, hand crank phone and so on.

The antique STANDARD treadle sewing machine sits in our bedroom and displays some of my most precious old photos!

I got an exceptionally good deal on this old KELLOGG crank phone from E-Bay!

I've always wanted an old radio from days gone by! This one was collecting dust in an old flea market/ antique store and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the price! It was made *1942 and I envisioned families sitting around it getting news of the war going on in the European and Pacific theaters. The service card was found in a 1943 issue of LIFE magazine listing the casualties amongst my great grandmothers belongings. One of her sons, my great Uncle AZ was killed in 1942 in the Solomon Islands.


I still would like an antique secretary as well as an old Victrola Record Player but all in due time...

My latest hobby happened by accident. This past summer Dave and his brothers were in the labor intensive process of going through their parents home. My mother-in-Law passed away in 2006 and Dave's dad passed away this past June 16th. The very next day my Mom was diagnosed with cancer and so we were back home in St Louis, each involved in our own tasks. My time was spent with my folks and at the hospital and Dave's involved sorting through a lifetime of childhood memories. Neither of us envied the other to say the least!

Dave is a photographer and so we got his dad's old Brownie camera but the thing that really captivated me was the old View-Master! Remember those bright & shiny, red toys whose reels could transport you to far off, magical places when we were children? Well this one is from the 1946-1955 era, is made of black bakelite and originally sold for $2.00 a piece! I don't know if it belonged to Dave's Mom or his Dad or if there were any extra reels down in the basement. Dave's Mom would always tell me to let her know if there was anything I would eventually want from them after they were gone but honestly, I didn't even know it existed! They were hoarders and pack rats with much of there stuff having been boxed up and stored in the basement, so I never saw it! Dave's Mom was notorious to save the original boxes that stuff came in; she also would write the date of purchase and the amount paid for it. I suspect since this has neither, that it belonged to Dave's dad and was purchased prior to their marriage in 1951!

The old View-Master, its original box as well as 3 reels that were inside the box-Hoover Dam, Bryce Canyon & Utah/Arizona.

While I've been cruising E-Bay I decided to collect the old View-Master reels from our vacation spots!

At least this hobby doesn't take up tons of space!

WHAT'S NEW?

In one sense I feel like there's nothing new going on but I know that's not really true. My Mom was released from the hospital last Wednesday and it was good to hear her voice. The tests were inconclusive so they're wondering if it was a gas/constipation issue. Since my Mom is living with a colostomy, this is a big deal since normal body functions that we take for granted, have been "rerouted". She called ME last night which always make my heart soar! Although I must admit that when I saw their number on caller ID my first thought was that it was Pop calling me about another health crisis with my Mom. She had her chemo yesterday after her appointment with the Oncologist. Her latest scans showed the lymph nodes now clear which is good news. She will also have to be taking a previous drug because there are spots once again on her liver. She pretty much told me,
"If this doesn't work, they're out of options, I'll need a miracle".
I have been praying for a miracle since June 17th whether it be through Divine Intervention, surgery or medicine.

I struggle with balance in regards to my Mom's health. I totally believe that God can and does intervene and perform miracles every day. I also know that God has counted the very numbers of the hairs on our head and that He has numbered our days. I don't believe that God makes people get cancer or that He causes children to die,

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

I know that He could intervene and all the pain of this world would disappear. I also know that sometimes He chooses not to. Jesus didn't say we wouldn't have troubles in this world but rather it's a question of WHEN...

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

I have said before that for me there has to be purpose in pain and suffering. If there isn't, then God is cruel and I don't believe that is a part of His character. James and Peter spoke about purpose in pain and suffering,

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1Peter 1:6-7

So I continue to trust in a God whose thoughts are higher than my thoughts and whose ways are not my own...

NO MANUAL

I wish that there was some sort of manual for us to know how to respond to life! I know that we are all different and will react to things uniquely but that doesn't stop me from feeling lost. Thank the Lord for giving me 2 anchors, Himself and Dave! Dave and I have had some of the deepest and most meaningful conversations in these last 8 months than ever before in the many years of our marriage.

While I was in St Louis I sat with my Mom and Pop while she was getting her chemo treatment. Due to her weakness from lack of eating and being all doped up, she needed a little help getting in and out of St Mary's hospital. I've never seen my Mom in a wheelchair and so that hit me hard. The day I was scheduled to fly back to Texas I went and had breakfast at their house then accompanied them back to St Mary's for some blood work.

In the time since I've been back, one week now, Mom has fallen again and burnt herself when she fell against the ceramic heater in their living room. She was admitted to the hospital on Monday for severe pain which kept her from receiving her chemo this week. They have run tests and now we are waiting for the results. Her pain is being managed but they don't know specifically what is causing it. We are all pretty much helpless here.

Hearing my mother cry is absolutely horrible. No one can understand just how DEEPLY this affects me. My worst childhood memory involves my Mother crying. I am 7 years old and she is completely overwhelmed because she has lost her job. I was raised by her with virtually no financial support from my father so as the sole bread-winner of our family, this was devastating for her. Your parents are your security and your stability as a child, when they break down like that, it shakes you to your core! At 7 I felt utterly helpless-I remember thinking of how I had to be strong for her. That's a lot to put on yourself when you're that young! I am now 50 and feel the same exact way as I did when I was 7, utterly helpless! As I pray about this I feel like God is having me address this horrible memory from my childhood. The only difference is that I am no longer a child and now I have Him beside me...

I have been strong since we first got the diagnosis of my Mom's cancer. My strength comes from God through the Holy Spirit. I haven't truly broken down in front of her or Pop as well as my kids. There have only been a handful of people that I have felt comfortable "losing it" with! Having said that, while I was visiting with my Mom, sitting on the floor with my head on her knee, I just lost it. The child inside of me wanted her to desperately make my world right once again. I hadn't realized how I needed HER comfort until that moment.

I could sure use that manual....

GIRLIES BIRTHDAY IN ST LOUIS!

I went home to St Louis recently to celebrate my grand-daughters Kit-Kat and Sweet Tart's birthdays and to visit with my folks. God was gracious in giving me a window of opportunity to fly there and back home to Texas in between ice storms and snowstorms. I've been going back for the last 8 years, since Kit-Kat was born and this was the first time weather was a concern.

I was totally unprepared for seeing my Mom since the last time I saw her was at Thanksgiving. She is very weak, has lost 70 pounds and is in a lot of pain. When she saw me just sat there and cried. I hugged her but it broke my heart to see her this way. After only being there 45 minutes I volunteered to run an errand for Pop which gave me the opportunity to cry my eyes out with Dave over the phone. After I returned I visited for a while and then left so I could hook up with Dave's brother Perry and his wife Peggy for dinner to celebrate Perry's birthday. I felt guilty because I was relieved to be going, I guess I just needed some time to process it all in. Pop told me later that she got up some time in the middle of the night Thursday and fell. He had a difficult time getting her back up but we are fortunate that she didn't break anything or gash her head on the coffee table having barely missed it.

The next day, our annual tradition is to take the girlies to Miss Aimee Bee's Tea Room to celebrate their special day. It was wonderful to see how much they love doing this but I really missed my Mom not being there this year. She really wanted to go but she just didn't have the strength to do so. (The girlies waiting to order brunch.)

(Ladies day out!)

(Sweet Tart enjoys her Hot Chocolate.)
(Kit-Kat with her Puff Pancake!)
(Gigi and her girlies!)

We finished running errands afterwards and relaxed that evening altogether. The next day, the day of the party I went out and visited my folks for several hours. My Mom was heart broken that she wasn't able to go to the party. She had been planning on doing so until the last few weeks when she stopped eating and became so weak. Pop had left to run errands and my step-sister Yvonne was there when I got there. Vonnie herself is a 5 year colon cancer survivor and she has great advice, insight and has been wonderful support for Pop. I used to think about how I'm my Mom's only child and how I have no siblings to relate to. I have never been so wrong in my whole life. Thank God for Vonnie because I am physically unable to help out right now but she is there for them! She and I had a good visit while my Mom was sleeping and she encouraged and comforted me, blessing me tremendously.

(Birthday Girlies all dolled up for their party!)
(Twizzler is getting SO big, he's ALL boy!)
(THE definition of cuteness!)

(Sweet Tart blows out her 5 candles!)
(Kit-Kat blows out her 7 candles!)
To be continued...

SINCE I LAST BLOGGED

Since I last blogged...

I received an award from E-Mom, our lovely Marriage Monday Hostess:


• First, thank and link back to the person who gave you this award
• Second, share 7 things about yourself
• Third, award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
• Then, contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won this award

I can do the first 2 things and if I get the chance I'll pass out this award to 15 of my favorite bloggers!

SEVEN RANDOM THINGS
1) I studied Classical Ballet for 10 years and my heart's desire was to be a ballerina!
2) Westerns are my favorite kind of movie!

3) I have currently lost 15 pounds on the new Anti-Inflammatory diet the Homeopathic Doctor has me on!!

4) I had my spleen removed almost 6 years ago.

5) Although I live in Texas, I have never been to Mexico!

6) I am claustrophobic and have a fear of drowning! The worst possible way for me to die: buried alive or trapped underwater in a car! shivers.....

7) I collect pink glass depressionware! I love it, it's so beautiful! My pieces are also functional, I use them a lot!

I have been doing some writing over at the Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf blog. I belong to a group of amazing Christian ladies where we first took part in sending a scarf literally around the world, then an apron and now this year a Bible. In this years adventure with the Bible we shared our testimony, favorite Bible verses which were highlighted in the small Bible and now I have sent it on to the next "sister". If you are interested in reading my testimony, here are the links, in order:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:


We are in the midst of yucky weather and I am trying to fly out to St Louis for "Kit-Kat" & "Sweet Tart's" birthday party this Saturday! I am also hoping to get a lot of good visitation in with my mom. Currently, my flight is now delayed until 12:30AM!!!! Arrival time in St Louis, 2:10 Thursday morning!

Last year taking the girlies out for their annual birthday luncheon with jennifer and my Mom.

On top of me stressing about the weather and flight delays, our electric company decided to do rolling blackouts which ended up knocking out our furnace. We haven't had it 2 years yet and apparently the culprit was a switch that needed to be reset. Try as I might, I couldn't find a diagram on it anywhere! Not even online, that is in between no power and then when I had power, I had NO internet! GEEZ! Dave found something on it at work and tried to talk me through it. Well, our system wasn't cooperating at all. He came home early and between us we actually found the miniscule, hidden reset button! It's up to 62 degrees inside now!

So, I'll be out of pocket for a few days and if I get a chance I'll come a callin' but I can;'t make any promises. I intend to be quite busy loving up my sweet mamma and those Missouri grandbabies!!