Nona Life

Hubs is Home!

2010-01-18T22:31:00.000-06:00

Yes, after 9 long days and 8 nights my hubby returned home safely late last Friday night. PTL! (For those who might not know - PTL stands for Praise the Lord!) It was a long time away both at home and abroad. After almost 30 years of marriage and almost 5 years of dating before that - it's just no fun without my other half. We're more than used to his traveling for business over the last 26 years; his Platinum status with American Airlines is his traveling badge and reward. We and our family have the privilege of traveling free several times a year from hubs advantage miles. His travel normally consists of 1 - 3 nights away a few times a month within the US. This was the only the 2nd time he's traveled overseas for business. God has given us great trust in each other and more importantly we have trust in Him - He who brought us together and keeps us together. 34 & 1/2 years is long time, but it's not always been easy. Our motto is, "Stay & Pray" because life is hard, but the Lord is our strength and "A Cord of Three is not easily broken." Ecclesiastes 4.12.

On Saturday & Sunday we pledged to only spend time together & with the Lord. We worshiped together at church on Sunday morning and then hosted our Life Group that evening.

This morning hubs had oral surgery where he never had a permanent tooth. He's had 3 bridges and needed a replacement again, so his dentist recommended a dental implant instead because they can last up to 50 years. The only real drawback is the cost which is not covered at all under medical / dental insurance and the cost is normally between $6-8K which is pretty steep; however, a bridge typically cost $2-3K and lasts 8 - 10 years; dental insurance covers 50%. So, the long-term costs are about the same, but the implant occurs only once and acts just like a real tooth without all the precautions required of a bridge. Great news is that once the oral surgeon began the surgery this morning he realized that hubs did not require the bone graft that he was expecting; therefore hubs only had a tissue graft today and was able to have the actual dental implant today instead of 4 months later that was going to happen after the bone graft healing. The cost isn't any less, but the healing is much less and the time period will be much less. So, PTL - YAY God!

After resting all day today, the hubs is very antsy and more than ready to go back to work. Doctor says he should rest 2 days, but could go to work if he feels up to it... so we'll see how tomorrow goes.

Tonight we're praising the Lord for His goodness in our lives! I pray you find the goodness He provides for you even in the storms of life.

Terrific Tuesday

2010-01-12T17:02:00.001-06:00

Today started off rough... a migraine woke me up just before 5AM, so I took a prescription that normally causes me to sleep for an hour then relieves the headache pain. This morning, the med caused me to oversleep until 9:45, even sleeping through my alarm that must have played music for an hour from 6 - 7AM; therefore, I missed my 8AM dental appointment. I guess I was really tired and just needed some good sleep... can't believe the dogs let me sleep that long!

Then the best thing happened! A dear friend called me at home. She has 2 daughters who went to school with my sons in elementary school. Dinah and I were really good friends back then; we were on the PTF Board together and went shopping and out to lunch regularly. Dinah and I kept in touch for awhile then as our kids went on to different high schools and college - we lost touch for the most part. Dinah and her oldest daughter, Kristen (who was in Jordan's grade) did come to Ryan & Reggye's wedding 4 years ago so that was the last time we saw each other. Dinah's girls are friends with me on FaceBook so I have known that she has been going through breast cancer. I am ashamed that I haven't called Dinah or even sent a card since she's been battling cancer... of course, I have all sorts of excuses but honestly they're just excuses. Dinah called to visit and to talk about church; she and Rick have been attending a very large church that is close to their home but they're just not comfortable with the music and the impersonalness of such a large church. I've invited them to our church and to our LifeGroup; don't know if they'll actually come but I hope they'll at least visit.

Dinah and I mostly visited about our family lives... catching up on the last 13 years, as much as you can on a 3 hour telephone conversation. With all that she's going through, Dinah is upbeat and still concerned for other people in her life. Dinah begins chemo this coming Monday. I pray that she'll not be sick and the chemo will do exactly what it's supposed to do so she can begin radiation at the appropriate time.

Visiting with Dinah today really lifted my spirit from feeling lonely while Jim is away across the world. Lord, I pray you protect her through these cancer treatments and return her to complete health. She has so much love and encouragement to share with others; bless her and protect her. Thank you for her daughters who are both there for her. Kristen is there to lift her spirit with funniness and Natalie who is the sweetest angel who encourages her so well. Thank you Lord for Dinah's life and her friendship. Bless Dinah, her husband Rick and their daughters.

Bless and protect my hubby; give him good rest this evening. Please keep him safe and healthy. Bring him home soon. Thank you for so many blessings in my life!

Super Saturday & Sunday

2010-01-10T19:27:00.001-06:00

Cold, sunny and beautiful days! Never thought I'd say 30 degrees feels warm, but yesterday & today's highs in the 30's felt great even though it was only 9 degrees early Saturday morning. Having my young friend, Erin stay with me for several days was such a blessing for me and my puppies. After staying home for 2 days during the coldest days, Erin & I ventured out yesterday for lunch at a new hamburger place and then shopped for hours looking for snow boots for Erin to take back to Russia.

I've visited with the hubs 2 - 3 times a day on Skype. He's doing okay, but is very tired and therefore he's a bit grumpy. The work days start late there and meals are much later. He's an early morning guy and needs to eat on a regular schedule and go to bed early. The 9pm dinners and going to bed after midnight is taking a toll on him. This morning when he called me on Skype he had a nice surprise - he'd purchased a camera that he has connected to his older laptop, so I can see him when we visit. He's been able to see me because I have a newer iMac with a built-in camera; now it's nice to see his face when we visit. ;=)

Today's worship was great! I missed having hubs with me though. The strange customs and personal rules and regulations where he is are wearing on him. I pray that the Lord will give him supernatural wisdom concerning all the meetings that he's having and that he'll have boldness to speak freely with his superiors regarding his concerns.

This afternoon after church was my niece's 10th birthday party. She's growing up so fast!

So back at home, the puppies and I are snuggled in watching a Hallmark movie waiting on hubs to call when he wakes up. I'm praying for his rest to get caught up and that he'll be in a better mood.

Hubby Lands Safely on the Other Side of the World

2010-01-08T13:35:00.002-06:00

The hubs is safely on land after a 16 hr flight. He says it was a nice flight; especially since he got upgraded from business class (like our normal 1st class) to 1st class. He had a cocoon bed with his personal tv & internet connections and a 3 page menu for 4 meals. He says he actually slept 6-7 hours. When he landed it was 8pm there and 10am here. He's supposed to call me on Skype before he goes to bed. I thought he would have already called me; he must be out sight seeing or perhaps is having a late evening meeting.

Many people are praying for him and for me while he's away. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better than I thought I would be - prayer is amazing because we serve & honor an amazing God! I also have a young friend visiting & staying with me for a few days which is a nice distraction.

Well, I need to get back to putting those Christmas decorations away. It's a nice day to stay inside - it was 15 degrees this morning at 7am when I let the dogs out. Make it a good day... let the warmth of the Lord's Light shine in and through you today!

Afternoon Additional Post:
We finally visited on Skype! Hubs is fine... we had a nice 15 minute visit. Our puppies kept looking for him when they'd hear his voice... it was cute & sad. Now hubby is going to try and get some sleep. He doesn't feel sleepy since he slept well for 6 - 7 hours on the plane and then was on the cellphone for a board meeting here in Dallas for an hour & half, so he feels like he's still still on Dallas time. I'm praying that he can get some good rest; I think he will because he always goes right to sleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow. Tomorrow he and the other 3 from the company will travel to a neighboring country for some sight seeing, so they have a fairly light day and will be able to get to bed early for their 1st business meeting on Sunday. Yes, business on Sunday - it's the 1st business day in that country. Friday is their holy day and Saturday is their day off, so next Thursday will be the last day of the work week and the hubs last meeting day. He leaves early next Friday morning (our Thursday evening). Of course it'll take almost 24 hours to get home after a 16 hour flight to Chicago with several hours on a layover there and then a 2 & 1/2 hour flight home; he's scheduled to land just before 10pm one week from today. I pray the time will be spent in God's will there on the other side of the world and here at home!

Just said goodbye to my hubby - he's off to the dark other side of the world

2010-01-07T10:36:00.000-06:00

He's actually only on his way to the airport where he'll take a flight to Chicago and is scheduled to fly out of Chicago this evening to a dark foreign country. He & the chairman of the company he works for are flying together to meet with representatives of an extremely wealthy important family to discuss a possible business association. I am not happy about this possible business association, nor am I happy about this trip. It is just not in my comfort zone! However, I am trusting the Lord with the love of my life and trusting in the wisdom that He has given to my hubby. I believe God will bless my hubby with supernatural wisdom and discernment and that hubs will make wise decisions. I also trust God for hubs protection and good health and that He will return my hubby back home to his family safely on time, or even earlier than expected. I'm praying for safety and good health for me here at home as well since it's just going to be me and our 2 puppies for 9 days & 8 nights.

Hubs has been gone this long before and even longer than this trip several times. He was gone 11 days in February of 2008 while crisscrossing Central Europe on a business trip. That was an exciting trip for him and he enjoyed seeing all the beautiful architecture. Hubs also went on 2 very long Boy Scout backpacking trips in the New Mexico mountains with our sons in the 90's. On those trips, they were gone about 2 weeks, of which we had absolutely no communication for 11 days because the cell phones didn't work in remote locations back then. It was exciting for them, but worrisome for me because of the possible weather & wild animal threats. During each of those trips, one son was with their dad and one son was home with me. Having the one son home with me was a good distraction from thinking about the other half of our family hiking through the wilderness.

This time is different because hubs is going to a very foreign area of the world that is glitzy, yet still very backward with completely different views about the world and life and has completely different beliefs. I must concentrate on God and His will and His desires and His plans for my hubby and for our life together. I know the Lord has great and wonderful plans for us! I know He wants to use us for His purposes, so I'm trying to keep my mind on the good things He has in store for us after my hubby returns.

Okay well today - it's very cold and it's only going to get colder for several days, so since I despise cold weather, I will be staying home inside where it's warm and I plan to make the best of these days by getting all the Christmas decorations put away. I know that sounds simple, but we have A LOT of Christmas decorations and each has to be packed carefully before being put away in storage. And then I'll have all the regular decor to put back in the appropriate places. This is a really big job!

So, I'm going to lather up my hands with lotion and have prayer time then tackle all the Christmas decorations. Stay warm and get your decorations packed away too.

Wonderful Wednesday & Today's Mission

2010-01-06T10:27:00.000-06:00

Well, it is cold today and it's going to get a whole lot colder tonight, but it's a wonderful Wednesday and I'm going to try my best for today not to be a weepy Wednesday. I need some encouragement from the Lord to keep it all together because my hubby leaves this evening for a long business trip out of the country; to a country that I'm not happy about him going to, but I'm trusting in the Lord's physical, mental and spiritual protection. And secretively wishing that a major snow storm causes the trip to be cancelled... no really, I praying for God's will to be done.

I have an important mission today: Find the hubs original gold wedding band!
He cannot wear the one I gave him for our 25 Anniversary (almost 5 yrs ago) where he is going on a 10 day business trip. The new(er) wedding band has Song of Solomon 6.3 written all the way around the outside of the ring in Hebrew. I can't write, read or type Hebrew, but the in English the scripture reads, "I am my beloved and my beloved is mine." It's a beautiful white gold & yellow gold band. We've talked about him not wearing it on this trip for months now and wearing his original simple gold band instead. I just assumed that hubby knew where his original ring was because he's very organized and remembers everything very well, but I was mistaken. Yesterday, this trip suddenly got moved up a day because he has to fly to Chicago and leave the country from there and Chicago is expecting a big snow storm early Thursday morning, so hubs is flying up to Chicago this evening (Wednesday) instead of Thursday afternoon. This all meant that hubs had to pack last night instead of tonight. I frantically remembered the ring situation late last night after we had gone to bed, so in the dark I asked him if he'd exchanged his rings to which he answered, "No not yet, I'll do that in the morning." So I replied, "Why don't you take off your ring now, so in the morning you'll notice it missing and you'll be sure to remember to get the old ring." Hubs said, "Well, I guess that's a good idea, but I haven't slept without my ring on in almost 30 years." But he did take it off and he placed it on his bedside chest then said, "Uuggg... this feels like I'm missing a finger." That was sad and sweet at the same time. This morning he tried to locate his original ring and was unsuccessful, so he's wearing a nice silver ring that we purchased before our 1st trip to Russia. We minister to orphans and their caretakers in a small village about 5 hours away from Moscow, so we don't wear any flashy expensive jewelry there. Today I'm going to try and find the hubs original ring myself... Will it be in the safe (where he already looked), in one of 2 chest of drawers top drawers (old furniture now in exercise room, or new furniture in our master bedroom), in our closet chest of drawers top drawer, in his velet in the closet, in one of his bathroom vanity drawers, or in one of my 4 jewelry boxes? That is the question and I will try to find the answer ;=}

To be continued......

Terrific Tuesday - a Beautiful Sunny Day

2010-01-05T17:01:00.004-06:00

Today is a beautifully sunny, chilly day. The weather report says today is the last day our temperature will be above freezing for several upcoming days. An Arctic Blast is on it's way across 2/3 of the country. So, we better get those errands done and fill up the gas tanks today.

This morning was interrupted at 8 AM with a phone call from my ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat Dr) allergy tech; she informed me that there had been a cancellation and asked if I could come in early at 10 AM for allergy testing instead of at 1 PM as previously scheduled. I was enjoying a cup of tea with my wet hair still up in a towel, but responded, "Yes, of course!" Who wouldn't want to get things done 3 hours early? So, what I found out is this - if it grows &/or molds in North Texas, I am allergic to it! And I currently have some major red, inflamed reactions on both upper arms. Uggghhhhhh.... this is not fun; not fun at all ;={ Good new is that the CT Scan revealed no sinus structural problems, so surgery is not needed to combat my recurring sinus infections. The doctor says, Allergy Immunotherapy is the recommended treatment for me, so I'm researching the new Sublingual Immunotherapy that is used daily at home instead of weekly injections at the doctor's office. Of course, there's always a catch. Sublingual Treatment is very expensive and it hasn't yet been approved as a home treatment for allergies here in the US (even though it is widely used across Europe & Canada), so this form of allergy treatment is not normally covered by medical insurance. The doctor's office is contacting my personal insurance company to learn what sort of coverage I will have if I choose the sublingual immunotherapy. So, in the meantime I'm off to the drugstore for some cortisone cream hoping to get these quarter sized red welps to settle down a bit... yes, I'm already taking 2 Benadryl tablets every 4 hours.

Make today, January 5, 2010 a good day for yourself and for those God has placed in your life; after all, it's a brand new year - let's make it a good one.

Wow - God is sooooo Good!

2010-01-04T11:34:00.002-06:00

After much time in prayer this morning for many, many things. God has answered a long, tiresome prayer request! YAY God!!! Yes, Your mercies are new every morning; I praise You Holy Name! Thank you for lifting the load my hubby has carried at work for so long. This is a great way to start the new year and a fabulous way for the hubs to start his new official position in his career. Thank you Father - God!

Now Lord, please be in every conversation and plan for this (possible) upcoming trip to You know where. I trust in You completely with my hubs - the love of my life; You are his Provider, his Protector and his Salvation.

God is good. Draw near to Him and He will show His Presence and His Faithfulness to you!

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-04T10:35:00.005-06:00

Wow, it's been over 2 years since I last blogged. I was so into it when I was a new Nona then I guess I lost interest because I got too busy with other things. Well, it's a new year, a new decade and time to get things together. Now that I've been married almost 30 years, perhaps I can share some of the lessons that God has taught me... after all, I am married to a 50 year old man now ;=} Yes, my handsome hubby turned 50 years old a week & a half ago and he's even more handsome now than he was 34 & 1/2 years ago when I first fell in love with him. More importantly, he is more of who God wants him to be and it is my honor to be his wife. We had a great time with family and friends on Dec 30 at my hubs Surprise 50th Birthday Party! I call him hubs, hubby, love of my life etc, so my blog won't show up in any business internet searches because my hubby has an important position at a big public company and when it comes to business, he likes to keep our personal life - well personal.

So, what did I learn from the whole Surprise Party thing? As for me, I'm not into keeping much personal - I'm pretty much an open book and putting on 2 surprise parties for the love of my life was fun, exciting and extremely challenging since I'm terrible at keeping secrets... I do not have a poker face! I felt like I was cheating on my man - I've never kept secrets from him so it was churning my insides to be making so many plans without him. Personally, I am glad it's all over... although we did have a great time.

Today is the 1st Monday of 2010. I slept late (got up at 8AM because I'm trying to catch up on sleep lost while planning & organizing the parties) then I spent much time in prayer and writing a Happy 2010 New Year letter to myself and God. It's not really a New Year's Resolution thing, it's a new beginning encouragement and challenge for myself to get all the relationships in my life right this year. I don't really have any problems in my relationships; I just want to get them where they should be - where God wants them to be. First and foremost is my relationship with my Lord & Savior; I desire to grow deeper in love with Him this year than ever before. Next is my relationship with my hubby and our relationship together with our Lord, our prayer relationship together with the Lord and our financial relationship together with the Lord. We've been blessed to have a great understanding and desire to give lavishly towards His Kingdom - we have no problem there. Our need is to actively take better care of the provision that God provides for us; in other words not just coast but to plan better, to be active and proactive for our retirement and be able to still be active in going on mission trips more than just 2 weeks a year. I don't really know what that will look like... several 2 week trips a year or even months at a time or even moving somewhere the Lord leads us to. I do know that when my hubby and I are ministering together we are closer to each other and closer to the Lord than any other time in our 34 & 1/2 years of life together. So, it's our desire to go into ministry together someday when the time is right.

Well, it's after 11AM and at my house Christmas decorations need to be put away. It's a new year, a new decade... what will we do with the time we're given? Seek the Lord in every aspect of my life is how I desire to spend everyday He gives me.

Fabulous Friday!!!

2007-11-02T14:03:00.000-06:00

It's another beautiful autumn day! P has come over the day while her mother helps her other grandmother pack up and clean out her apartment because she's moving in with R & R and P for a while to save some money for a down payment on a home of her own. This was my son's idea; he's a good, helpful and supportive man. I pray that it will all work out well.

Last night we attended a Real Estate Function that was held at the new House of Blues in downtown Dallas. This annual function has been held at the Gaylord Texan for the last couple of years and has been rather dressy. Last night's attire was Downtown Blues Chic which was everything from dressy jeans and sparkly blouses with jeans jackets to evening dresses with sequins and men's jeans, cowboy boots and dress shirts to suits and everything in between. The function is to honor real estate men and women who are giving back to our community and raises money for community needs. The main entertainment was Aaron Neville and the Neville Brothers. It was fun and really loud! We had a great table... 2nd row, center because the company that my husband works for was a Platinum Sponsor. We had a table of 10 with 6 of young men who work for my husband along with wives of 2 of the men who are married. The other 4 men are still single. They're all such nice young men, well mannered, and well spoken. They were all so respectful towards my husband and me. It was strange being the oldest at the table and my husband being the leader representing the company with some of the younger talented employees. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were always the youngest couple at these sort of functions and sitting with the older, wiser and more experienced mentors of Jim's. Even though it was odd feeling, it showed me a different side of Jim and his career that I hadn't really focused on before... Time has marched on and Jim now the older, wiser and more experienced leader who is mentoring 18 young professionals in the world of commercial real estate. I am very proud of him and so happy to be married to such a wonderful man.

Our hard wood was delivered today so it can become acclimated to our home before it gets installed next week. Now I need to start looking at carpet for the staircase and the upstairs.

We're going to a conference tonight, tomorrow morning and Sunday morning at our church. The conference is entitled, "Gospel & Life Conference" and there'll be 2 guest speakers -- Dr. Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Theology Seminary and Dr. David Allen a Christian physiologist and author from the Bahamas. The theme is "Discipleship ~ Shrinking the Distance Between Me and the One I Follow." We're looking forward to attending.

Well, Miss P is waking up from her nap, so I need to go get her and enjoy some more playtime before her daddy comes to pick her up in about 2 hours.

God is great and greatly to be praised!!!

Weepy Wednesday

2007-10-31T11:23:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's been quite a while since I last blogged... sorta got out of the blogging flow 'cuz I've been feeling down off and on for a few weeks. I've been contemplating what to do with the 2nd half of my life and just don't have a clear picture of what, how, where, or when. I do know the why... because I want to follow my Lord and walk in His will for my life. I guess that's why I'm struggling with the next step -- I want it to be right. I'm just finding that difficult to figure out right now. Lots of paths are swirling in my head... going back to work (and if so, where?), going on the mission field, staying at home to be available for my family, something else??? What is it Lord that You want from me, what do you want with me?

In the meantime, I've been cleaning and organizing our home because I feel the Lord telling me, 'Get your house in order.' Doing that is easier now than ever because our oldest son, his wife and daughter have settled into their own beautiful home and we have a lot of empty space since we cleared out a lot of old stuff when they moved in with us last April. Our younger son really doesn't stay here much and is planning to move out sometime this month or next. So, we'll be empty nesters again.

We built our home 15 years ago so its now at the repair and renovation stage. We scheduled to have new hardwood floors installed the end of next week in the family room and master bedroom, but have just received an estimate for the A/C & Heater repairs we need to have done soon, so we're reconsidering the timing for new wood floors downstairs and new carpet upstairs. My husband and I both want to complete all the updates on our home soon so we can host visiting missionaries and other Christian workers passing through. We would love to host a Life Group again. It has always been an honor to open our home and spend time in worship, studying the Word, breaking bread and fellowshipping with fellow Christians.

I'm missing my hubby, Jim -- he has been in California this week on a business pleasure trip. He is actually playing golf at Pebble Beach which has been a lifelong dream of his. I'm so happy that he's been blessed with this trip and can't wait for him to be home tonight to tell me all about it and to show me his photos. He was away at a men's retreat last weekend where he was a speaker sharing about Studying the Word. Studying the Word is a passion of his and when he shares his passion it makes me so proud to be his wife and I feel so blessed to be married to him.

Another passion of Jim's is music. He is so gifted in playing the guitar and singing! God gave him a real talent for music; his mother recognized it when he was just 18 months old. Jim's mother was the organist at the church we grew up in and says that she could play one note on the piano and he would sing, 'Jesus loves me' in that key and with perfect pitch and then again in a different key... over and over, in whatever key she would play for the first note. Jim doesn't get to practice as much as he would like to, but when he does it is a blessing for so many, especially for me when he sings for me and sings over me.

This reminds me of my second trip to Russia... I had a crown fall out during dinner on our first night. It was painful and scary because we had to find a dentist. Our Russian friends and co-labors in Christ said they would find a good dentist for me and told me not to worry, but I was worried and scared! (You know, the whole growing up in the 1960's propaganda stuff about the USSR being so evil... it all came rushing back into my brain!!!) Well, Jim takes his guitar with us to Russia to lead worship with the kids at the orphanage, so he pulled it out and began to play and sing over me. He must have done so for more than an hour before I finally fell asleep, which must have been so tiring because it was our first night there and we hadn't laid down horizontally for close to 30 hours. I'll never forget how unselfish he was to sing me to sleep when he was so exhausted himself. That's just the way he is and it's amazing to share life with him!

Okay, I'm feeling better now. :)
God is so good! And so good all the time!!! Praise His Holy Name!

Thankful Thursday!

2007-10-11T15:53:00.000-05:00

This Thursday, I am thankful for...

My Lord & Savior who is the Truth and Light in this dark world

My Father, God -- Abba who is the Creator and my Creator, who blesses me abundantly

The Holy Spirit who comforts me, who gives me wisdom and discernement

Cooler Autumn temperatures

33 minutes on the Gazelle during fabulous prayertime yesterday

Being able to walk today after that much exercise yesterday (even though it is uncomfortable)

Fabulous Friday!!!

2007-10-05T13:03:00.000-05:00

Praise the Lord, our younger son, J passed his Real Estate Exam today! He has taken it a couple of times before and missed passing it by 1 question each time. We knew he could pass the exam, what we're most proud of him for is just sticking to it until he passed. Now, hopefully he can get the job that was offered to him a year ago as a junior realtor listing property for a particular broker in the DFW area. J has had a several rough years since graduating high school after his junior year, then going off to college a year early. J has great potential and many God-given talents but he just hasn't funneled his passion into any one thing yet... he's been spreading his passion and his attention around too much. We're praying that J will seek God for His plan for his life because when we each find God's plan for our lives then it all starts to fall into place easily and correctly. God has seen J and us through some really rough times -- and we are so very thankful that He has blessed us with an ongoing good relationship with our son because sometimes troubled times can put a wedge in relationships. Our God has been so good to us!!! We will never stop praising His Name!
Our housekeeper has been here today and she's been able to clean the upstairs pretty well since R,R & P have mostly moved out. They still have a couple of loads of boxes and loose ends to get moved over to their new home... it'll probably get done this weekend. Then next Friday, the housekeeper will be able to do a thorough cleaning of all the blinds, the shutters, the baseboards, cabinets, etc. Then we'll be ready to start renovating the upstairs bathrooms with new fixtures and new floors and get new carpet for the whole 2nd floor.
My right shoulder has been hurting off and on for several months and has hurt the worst ever this week. After visiting my doctor on Wednesday and taking the Rx's he prescribed for 2 days now, it is starting to feel some better. But it still hurts. God is good and faithful -- He will heal me. Praise His Holy Name!!!

Thankful Thursday!

2007-10-04T13:18:00.001-05:00

Our kids, R and R along with our Precious P moved into their new beautiful home this past weekend! The 5 1/2 months that they lived with us were joyous and challenging. We will miss seeing them everyday (though not the 2 big dogs so much).
Two wives / mothers living in the same home is certainly a challenge. The two husbands / fathers wasn't a big deal -- I guess because it was a natural father / son relationship and a really good father / son relationship with mutual respect to top it off. The wives / mothers relationship was a daughter-in-love / mother-in-law relationship that is still relatively new -- only 2 years old, so we had a lot of new stuff to deal with... mainly a mothering mother, that's me - Nona and a brand new mother - R who basically raised herself while her single mother worked 2 and 3 jobs in order to provide shelter, food and clothing. R's mother did the best she could with what she had and R loves her very much, but she has never known what it's like to have a mothering mother. This mother / Nona likes everything in its place and orderly while my daughter-in-love likes to pickup right before company comes. I want all dishes to be immediately placed into the dishwasher, not accumulating on the countertop or in the sink to be placed into the dishwasher when someone (?) gets around to it after they are pilled sky high. We eat dinner at the kitchen table most of the time and only occasionally eat in front of the TV while R & R mostly eat in front of the TV. My children were bathed at least every other day while R only bathes P once or twice a week. Six weeks of a runny nose would have never happened before seeing the pediatrician, but R only took P to the pediatrician 1 time that wasn't a scheduled checkup and that was for a cut finger that wouldn't stop bleeding that occurred while clipping P's fingernails.
All of the above mentioned items had to be discussed, respected and accepted. Time and space was encouraged and practiced because my God-fearing husband looked to our Heavenly Father for guidance and shared that guidance with us along with constant encouragement for peace and acceptance. Praise God, we made it through and even came through better than we started. We had wonderful family dinners (mostly at the table), numerous car trips running countless errands, inspiring Bible Study and prayer times. We shared tears, laughter and happiness. I pray that she has known me and will always know me as an encourager, a mentor, a loving mother and grandmother.
Thank you Lord for being our guide, getting us all safely and securely through this recent adventure!
Please bless R, R and P's new home with Your Holy Presence, Your Truth, Your Holy Spirit, Your Protection, Your Guidance, and the Peace and Security that only comes from You. AMEN!

Thankful Thursday!

2007-09-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

She's a Big Girl now! P's Grand Celebration in honor of her first birthday was this past Sunday afternoon. 56 guests wished her a very Happy 1st Birthday. She was a gracious hostess, pleasant, happy and a bit sleepy for her 3 hour party. Thankfully her molars started coming in the next day with fever and fussiness.

Thank you Lord for...

1+ year with our precious P

Our kids' new home is just about complete
(they may be closing tomorrow)

Health & Strength

Family & Friends

Blessings beyond measure!

I was Thankful for Thursday Yesterday!

2007-09-21T08:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my Thankful Thursday and it flew by like hawk diving down for prey. Thankfully every important task was completed safely and well. I enjoyed a Dining Divas luncheon right in the middle of all the errands. Jim came home 3 hours earlier than expected so he was able to complete some tasks at home before joining us in Ft. Worth for my Mother's Birthday Dinner. There were 17 of us there to celebrate, almost the whole family. My Mother was blessed and so were all the rest of us.

Thank you Lord for ...
My Mother
My Family
P's Birthday and her Birthday Week of Celebrations
And most of all -- Your love and forgiveness and Gift of Salvation

P was officially 1 year old yesterday!

2007-09-18T17:09:00.000-05:00

It was a grand day! P woke up earlier than normal so her Dada & Papa were able to tell her "Happy Birthday" and love on her. She could care less, she just wanted her breakfast. The day will filled with errands... P & her mom with her other grandmother and me by myself (scurring around for a last minute care package to Russia). Dada came home early from work and so did Papa. Papa cooked P her very first full big people meal... Grilled Yummy Chicken, Baked Sweet Potatoes & Steamed Fresh Green Beans. After the Birthday Girl finished her dinner -- she had her first bite of cake. It was quite a surprise for her since she's never had any real sugar. At first she didn't really care for it, but she went back for more and found out that the cake part (without icing) was pretty good. After 15 minutes video taping & taking photos of cake comedy, Miss P opened a few little presents. She really got the hang of taking items out of the gift bags, but didn't want to put her new gifts away to open another gift. After her mother hid each new gift she would turn her attention to a new gift. I think she'll have the hang of it by Sunday for her big Grand Celebration. After gift time, Miss P went happily off to bed. It was a grand day!

Thank you Lord for Grand Days!!!

It's almost the "Big ONE" Birthday!

2007-09-16T17:44:00.000-05:00

God is so good and He has blessed us with many, many blessings. One of our greatest blessings is family and enjoying family celebrations. Tomorrow we will have a quiet family dinner and birthday cake for P and then we'll have a great big celebration next Sunday with the whole extended family and very close friends.

Splendid Sunday!

2007-09-16T17:24:00.000-05:00

Praise the Lord, sings my soul! It’s a beautiful day; we enjoyed worship service at church and another great day at home with family. As promised, I’ve posted a few more of my favorite photos of our precious P taken yesterday by P’s other grandmother. One day until “P’s Big ONE Birthday.”

Thank you Lord for blessing us with this Precious child one year ago. Father, please bless her with good health, with happiness, and may she come to know you and love you and accept you as her very own personal Savior at a very early age. May she serve you with great joy all her days. Amen and amen!

Super Saturday

2007-09-15T20:48:00.000-05:00

Wow! What a day... we took 1st Birthday Photos of P today. Her other grandmother is a wonderful photographer and she has a professional camera, so we sat up several baby props and took photos of P in several different outfits in several different settings. Posted is one of my favorites of the ones I took with my little digital camera while P's other grandmother was taking the better photos. I'll post a few of the really good ones in a few days.

After photo time, P's daddy, our oldest son and I powerwashed the front door and front porch area then the back patio to get ready for P's 1st Birthday Party coming up in a week.

It has been a super Saturday!

Thankful Thursday!

2007-09-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you Lord that...

Our kids, P's parents arrived home safe and sound last night from their vacation in Mexico. They had a wonderful time, but were so happy to be home and with P again. Her mother said, "Oh, my goodness! P's looks so different -- she looks older and more mature." P preceeded to show off standing up on her own, right in the middle of the room for her Mama & Dada. Of course, they were both amazed.

P had a great time with her other grandmother and came home healthy and happy.

Our other son, J was working from home yesterday so I was able to have a nice visit with him.

Jim has stayed in town all this week! It's so nice to have him here with us.

My whole family is healthy and happy. PTL!

Cooler temperatures... sitting out on our new back patio reading my Bible and Bible study.

For serving my Lord.

Having His grace and forgiveness every day because I mess up so often, but through Jesus there is always a 'do over' and 'try it again.'

Thank you Lord for so many blessings, more than I can ever count.

You are so amazing and awesome!

Where Did This Week Go?

2007-09-12T15:44:00.000-05:00

Wow! This week is flying by with beautiful days and cooler temperatures. We took our P to church with us on Sunday morning because her parents are still in Mexico on vacation. P was happy to play with 3 little friends in Sunday school, but ready to come home for lunch and a long Sunday nap. Her other grandmother came to get her around 4pm and took her to stay with her for 3 days until P’s parents come back home.

Tuesday morning began our Women’s Ministry Tuesday Morning Bible Study. We had almost 100 women there to study, “Going Beyond Yourself” by Beth Moore. It’s a study on the Fruit of the Spirit. It’s been quite a while since I was in a Beth Moore study and I’m so excited to be taking part in this one.

Our kids will be home this evening. We’re looking forward to seeing them and I know they’ll be happy to be back home to P.

Well, I’m off to enjoy the beautiful day while the lawn men plant the remaining bushes and decorative grass.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday! God is good – all the time!

God is so Good!!!

2007-09-08T17:08:00.000-05:00

Yeah! Thank you Lord for good health… my good health and my precious P’s good health. We both felt well enough to make the 1 hour trip to attend my niece’s Grandparents Day Luncheon. My niece was so happy and so cute – 2nd graders are just the best! The 4 hour excursion was well worth it. I forgot my camera at home after taking photos of P’s parents leaving early Friday morning for Mexico, but my sister took photos with her camera. As soon as she emails me a couple of pics, I’ll post them.

My hubby arrived home safe and sound yesterday evening in time to take P and me out to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants. He was ready for Tex-Mex after being up north for the week. P and Papa got to hang out this morning while I went to church for a Women’s Ministry Fall Kick-off Luncheon. I volunteered to decorate one of the 15 tables with some of our Russian items and had to be there at 9am. We had a special guest speaker, Carrie McDonnall who has written a new book about her mission experiences in the Middle East. Her book title is "FACING TERROR" -The story of how love for the Muslim people cost an American couple the ultimate price. My favorite Bible teacher, Beth Moore wrote the forward for the book. Carrie has a compelling testimony and is still praising our Lord even after losing her husband and enduring years of physical pain and surgeries from her own injuries after they were attacked in Iraq while they were ministering there. Carrie’s testimony was very encouraging and uplifting; she was a huge blessing to the 120 of us today.

Dear Lord, please bless my sister, Carrie McDonnall and the new ministry, 'Carrie On' that you have given to her. Bless her with continued encouragement, with strength and health and with your joy and hope. Amen.

My hubby has started cooking our dinner so I need to go be his sous-chef; I mostly clean up around him (he's a great, but messy cook).

Have a blessed weekend!

Thankful Thursday!

2007-09-06T15:19:00.001-05:00

Today I'm thankful...

First of all for my Savior, His grace, and His fogiveness

I'm getting over a sore throat, fever & rash virus

To be spending the day with my precious "P"

That my hubby comes home tomorrow evening after a long week of business travel

That God has provided provision for our family & I'm able to be a stay-at-home Nona!

It was a long week

2007-09-06T12:01:00.001-05:00

Whew! Time flies by when there’s much to do and Nona gets sick. Last Friday, my daughter-in-love and I spray painted 2 sets of patio chairs & tables outside in the heat. Then our #2 Godson and his wife from northwest Arkansas came to stay with us for the weekend. We enjoyed having them here – they went to see our oldest son, daughter and granddaughter’s new home that is nearing completion, then they attended a college friend’s wedding in town and joined us at church on Sunday morning before heading off to another north Texas city to see a cousin before heading home. I came down with some sort of sore throat and fever virus that settled down in my chest and caused a rash on both my cheeks. I think the rash may have come from an overdose of vitamin c; it’s finally looking some and I’m feeling better today too. Thank you Lord!
My hubby left Tuesday morning on a 6am flight to Boston, then flew to Toronto on Wednesday morning for a Real Estate Conference. He is due home Friday night after our son & daughter leave on Friday morning for Mexico with friends to celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversaries. We get the honor of keeping our precious granddaughter, “P” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then her other grandmother will keep her Monday through Wednesday. We’ll be tending to the big dogs for the whole 6 days; usually it’s a pretty easy job, but we’re not letting them outside in the back yard until the new landscaping takes hold so we’ll be walking them both two times a day. Walking two 80+ lbs dogs that are not used to being walked on leashes isn’t as much fun as walking our little 14 pounder, Sydney. Oh, well it’s another Nona & Papa thing that we do because we love serving our family.

I’m keeping “P” today while her mother is getting a manicure & pedicure and running last minute errands getting ready for their Mexico trip. This will be our daughter-in-love’s first time to see the ocean up close (she and our son flew over the Atlantic on the way to Italy for their honeymoon in 2005).

“P” and I may be going to my niece’s Grandparents Day Luncheon tomorrow if she and I are feeling up the hour drive, hour luncheon and hour drive back home. My niece’s three grandparents all have prior commitments, so she invited me because, “You’re a grandmother, Aunt Susan.” Dear Lord, please help us to feel well and be able to attend.

Laundry is calling my name while “P” is taking a nap… Nona duties never cease!

Completing our Patio

2007-08-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

Well the patio workers completed their job late yesterday afternoon. It is amazing how much work was completed in just 2 days! The patio is big, beautiful and roomy -- just what we wanted.
Jim hasn’t seen the completed patio in the daylight yet; he came home around 10pm last night after a business dinner and left at 5:15 this morning for the airport to go look at properties on the west coast.

Today, my daughter-in-love, Reg and precious granddaughter, P are going to look for patio furniture since there are big end of summer sales right now. If we can’t find an incredible deal, then we’ll just spray paint our old patio furniture. We’ll need to get any painting completed before the new grass is delivered this weekend.

So, here we go patio furniture shopping.

Hope you have a great day!

1st Attempt at Blogging

2007-08-28T12:08:00.000-05:00

Here I am – here I go… into the world of blogging!

Nona Life. It seems I’ve been working on becoming a Nona all my life.

What is a Nona? Who is a Nona?
You can read About Me on the right and journey with me on my Nona Life Blog.

What does a Nona do?
Well, today I am attempting to set up my 1st ever Blog to a 2nd day of clanking stones and the vibrating of a compactor leveling machine while our new backyard patio is being installed. We’ve tried unsuccessfully for over 14 years to grow grass in our shady backyard, so we finally gave up on grass and decided to ‘grow’ a patio instead. It took us quite a while to decide between a wooden deck or hard surface patio. We decided that the stone patio would last longer with less maintenance. My puppy, Sydney is in her crate (she is crate trained and feels safe there) whining to get out and help take care of her backyard. I’ll spare the patio workers the pleasure of having an adorable red, 14 pound Australian Terrier jumping machine hopping around their ankles.

Well, I guess this enough for one day because I need to get back to being Nona.