Thursday, May 22, 2008

Very sad news...From The Tennessean

Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter killed by car in driveway

Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.

Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said.


When my niece passed away, I shared with my brother a Steven Curtis Chapman song, With Hope. Sadly, it once again seems appropriate in this case.

1 Thess. 4:13-14 / Heb. 6:9, 10:23

This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears I see the Father's smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so ...

We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

Monday, May 19, 2008

Let the countdown to summer begin! I have survived the last major professional test. The only major snafu was a power outage -- not something you really want to happen when you are beginning the broadcast portion of the program. But we worked through it and the rest of the program went well.

The keynote speaker was very interesting, and now I'm planning to buy her book so I can get it read before the movie comes out. I also managed to get a picture with her despite the number of people who were also getting pictures and autographs. She was very kind and gracious. I finally was able to crash at 1 a.m. but woke up the next morning with a migraine. So much for the topomax. I guess it at least held off the headache for the day of the event...

Anyway, this week we have all of the end of school events. So I'm volunteering at the reading carnival today. However, on Thursday, I'm taking that day for myself and going to see the Indiana Jones movie in the afternoon. I can't even begin to tell you what a sense of relief I felt Saturday once the event was over. The pressure I have been under for the past several months has been ridiculous -- and I only work part time! It is a very good thing that I truly enjoy my job or I would probably be ready to quit. Now I can enjoy my kids' activities for the next few days and not worry about work.

Friday, May 16, 2008

I am one of these strange people who really doesn't mind going to my OB/GYN. I've been going to this Dr. C for 10 years. He's delivered all four kids and removed a tumor, so we've been through quite a bit.

For all those years, he's practiced in a small building with two exam rooms with the same two nurses. I'm usually pretty good about going to see him on time, especially since I've been pregnant most of that time, but I've been pretty busy lately. Today, I finally made it in to see him in his new office -- a women's health center. He now practices with multiple doctors in a well decorated office that includes a lab and is attached to a spa.

It was very overwhelming. Sadly, the two nurses whom I had known for years had both retired, but at least one that had come on board during the time I had been with Dr. C was still around so there was at least one familiar face. She seemed to like the new atmosphere. I just hope it makes everything easier on Dr. C.

I know the day will come when I will have to find a new doctor because the man is significantly older than me, so chances are I will outlive him. I'm not looking forward to that day. As I said, he and I have been through a lot. He has many quirks, but I'm used to him. When I've changed other health providers, it hasn't gone well. And this is one health provider you don't want to mess with.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

D had an interesting exchange this evening with Anna. She copped quite the attitude. When he asked her if she would use the same tone of voice with her teacher, she said no because he would send her to the principal's office. I guess we're not as menacing or as intimidating as the principal.

In other news, unless something changes, I will be visiting a new city later this year. I will have the opportunity to travel to Boston. Hopefully, I will have a chance to see a little bit of the city even though I will be there on business. Despite the stress I've endured these past few months, I manage to get a few perks now and then.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

D makes fun of me often because I can be very pessimistic, but there are days like today when people are so incredibly ungrateful and disappointing that it's very hard to be positive and optimistic. That's about all I can say about that.

Monday, May 12, 2008

I have taken a big leap. I will be weaning myself off the daily migraine medicine. This means I must become more self-disciplined when it comes to getting adequate sleep -- definitely more than six hours sleep at night. My goal is to be in bed by 11 p.m. I think the meds work to a certain degree, but there are times when it doesn't override my triggers. And really, what's the point in taking something that's not going to off-set the cause of your problem? Why must I sacrifice carbonated beverages, suffer memory loss and struggle for words (a definite problem in my line of work) for a medication that doesn't always work? Plus, it's causing an entirely different issue right now that is about to drive me insane!

I'm optimistic that the headaches will not be as bad as they were when I made the decision to go on the daily medication. At that time, I had not had a full night sleep in over a year. That alone was probably my main problem. However, at that same time, I was just coming off a stressful time of year personally and professionally and had chosen to tackle a room redesign. There probably wasn't adequate ventilation. So paint fumes, stress, sleep deprivation -- I think that should add up to a rash of headaches for a migraine sufferer.

Coca-cola here I come!

As for Mother's Day, it was very nice. D let me celebrate the entire weekend. The kids picked out very nice presents, and Jackson even chose another blender for me since the one he got me for my birthday kept getting broken. As he pointed out, this one has a lot of buttons. The boys all wore ties to church -- it was their idea. Actually, Spencer didn't have much of a choice, but he didn't seem to mind. And I took a nap. It was wonderful.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

I don't really have much to write about. I'm just trying to make it through the week. I wasn't even able to get excited about the severe weather in the metro this evening. The emergency warning started blaring over Spongebob, and after the second interruption I decided to send Jack to the other room to watch so I could see what was going on. By then, the storm was already east of us.

Mother's Day is this weekend. D asked what I wanted to do, and I don't even care. My first thought was to take a nap. I'll probably still do that. I'll probably ask for a gift card to buy paint, request homemade pizza (even though I'll make the dough - D can handle the rest) and then take a nap.

But seriously, I'm just trying to make it through this week -- actually tomorrow. After that, I've just got some projects to wrap up at work before our major event next weekend which will end with me getting to stay in a hotel room ALL BY MYSELF. What could be better than that? Except having my husband join me. Unfortunately, he has a prior commitment.

For now, I'm going to try to shut my brain down.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

I look back on my younger years, and it amazes me that the kind of guys I thought were perfect for me were so not. I don't think they could have handled my mood swings or logic, and I don't think I could have handled their confidence or lack there of.

God had a perfect plan, and 13 years ago He put that plan into action when D and I met. Thirteen months later, we married. Today we celebrated our twelfth anniversary.

For the first ten years, we made a dedicated effort to set aside a weekend to focus on each other and our marriage. However, for the past couple of years, we unfortunately have not had the time because of the demands of children's activities and work. But as a friend reminded me not too long ago, this is just a season, and I know that we will be able to find a way to have those weekends again.

For now, I will continue to try to let D know how much I love him and value him -- even when we are too busy to exchange more than a few words. He is my best friend, and I can't imagine being married to anyone else.

Happy Anniversary.

Friday, May 2, 2008

This week has sucked the life right out of me. I'm sitting here trying to get up enough energy to make a dessert, go grocery shopping, figure out when I'm going to do some of the work I was suppose to do yesterday but couldn't because I was putting out another fire, and spend time with my children since I've been gone most of the week.

On the other hand, I'm also trying to manage my time so I'm still able to celebrate my anniversary with my husband this weekend. That means I will most likely be working after the kids go to bed tonight. Fortunately, I crashed at 10:30 last night which is very early for me. So I should be able to get in a few good hours tonight, and be able to focus on D tomorrow -- after Anna's soccer game.