HIGH SPEED, BABY!!!!

Well, despite everything that we tried, we have never been able to get DSL at 927 Hathcock Drive. So, in desperation, we decided to try Verizon High-Speed Wireless. WOW- it is WONDERFUL. I knew that come Fall my online teaching load was going to increase tremendously, so I dreaded the thought of having to get to work early, stay late, or go to the church building to handle the correspondence. While we are not thrilled to have to pay additional money, we are pleased, so far, with the results.
Tomorrow we leave for Nashville. We are almost packed. Addi has been with us today, and she is counting the hours. We pray that we have a safe trip and that our kids have a good time.
MaMa is still doing better, and that is wonderful. She is getting good therapy. We talked to the therapist on Monday and she said that she had actually got her onto her feet. She also implied that it was going to be a long road to see if they could get her mobile. Their goal is to get her where she can get to the bathroom. That, of course, will help the nurses. They were very puzzled about her hands, as we have been. I had not noticed, but her fingernails are bruised and black- she also has one nail that is completely gone. We don't know if this happened while she was thrashing about or what. She has had such a hard time. Kim and Paul took the kids on Sunday, and that was a dose of good medicine for her.
David and I went to Decatur to the Penney's Outlet yesterday. We had a good day and picked up a few good bargains. We stopped at the Cullman Wal-Mart coming home and they had some great buys. We bought men's dress pants for $3.00 a pair. David bought a few pair to work toward getting in and we bought Daniel 3 pairs.
I am at the 44 pound mark. Did any of you see the new show about thinking yourself thin? David has been making fun of me because I have tried to "incorporate" some of the ideas into my WW program. One of his main points is to eat slow and chew your food. He said you need to put the fork down between each bite. Now, I have always been a really fast eater. Too fast. I have slowed up the past few days, and I can tell a difference. I have read that it takes the stomach about 20 minutes to tell the brain it is full. The second show will be on Sunday night. Who knows- maybe this guy is onto something.
I better run. Have a great evening and I will post after Lads.

Sunday Morning

It has been over a week since I blogged, so I will write a brief post this morning.
This is Spring Break week! It is also Lads to Leaders week! Two great events. The only thing is, when I get back on Sunday I will be tired to face a new week that will involve test materials, etc. But, I will not let that thought keep me from having a good week.
Addi and Levi are seemingly over the flu, but now Hannah has a temp. We hope her problem might just be a cold or virus.
MaMa is doing some better. She is more responsive and is taking therapy. They still have her in the unit with PaPa, which kind of surprised us since she has so much medical stuff going on and since she is bed bound. I hope they keep her there as we like the nurses.
We had a "Transplant" shower for Mary last night. A few of us managed to pull together a party very quickly (Thanks Becky for the use of your home)and we "showered" Mary with pajamas, gowns, and panties. We actually kept it a surprise. We love Mary and we pray that the transplant comes soon. We didn't plan a real big event, but it was nice. We felt bad because Mary is not going to get to go to Nashville, so we tried to cheer her up. I think it worked!
I am still working on the weight stuff. This last week involved a lot of meals at the building, and they were all wonderful. I still managed a small loss on Thursday, but have added some to the loss since then. I have moved into a new range of numbers, meaning I loose one of my daily points. This week will also be a challenge with Lads, traveling, good food, etc. I also will not weigh this week as we will be gone, so that works into the mental part of eating. I am going to try to be good- so if you see me with something I don't need- shame me.
I cleaned out my closet yesterday. It was much needed. I had a bunch of old, ratty clothes that needed to be taken out. My closet was so full that the good stuff was getting wrinkled. I just did the racks, not the floor stuff or the shelves. I filled 3 LARGE trash bags (33 gallon size) and really could have added some to it. It looks better and now I can see my stuff.
I hope this is a great week in your world!

A Kinder, Gentler Post

Well, I've decided my blog posts must have become depressing as my comments have soared to a big, fat zero. I will try to "lighten" up.
Speaking of "lightning" up- I hit the 40 pound mark this week. I am cautiously optimistic. Truly, the "diet" or whatever you want to call it has not been bad. I still have my moments of weakness, but so far I have been able to, as Dr. King said,"Overcome". I jokingly told someone that I knew that Bible scholars have tried for centuries to figure out what Paul's thorn in the flesh was- I am thinking cellulite. What else besides added weight causes one to be so burdened? You guys know I am kidding- but cellulite is a flesh thing.
My blood pressure tonight was 105/55. It has always run low, but I think it has dropped with the weight loss. I think when it gets too low that you die, so I am going to have to monitor that. Again, just kidding.
The snow was very pretty this morning. Bandit played and romped like a kid on a ski slope. He was so funny. Fortunately, according to our area weather men, there were not any travel problems(except for the 20 some odd accidents and the one fatality in downtown B'ham). Seriously, the weekend guy made the statement that there had not been any road problems, and this statement came immediately after the news story about all of the skidding and so forth on the interstate. They showed footage from their weather cameras of some of the accidents and I don't think those drivers heard the news that the roads were clear and there were no travel problems. Give me a break weather people.
Well, tomorrow starts our spring revival. I look forward to a busy week, but a good week we hope.
My sweet Addi has the flu. If I could have it for her, I would. She is such a sweetheart. They started her on Tamiflu and Kim thinks she might already be perkier. I hope the rest of the family is spared the dreaded flu virus.
I hope you all have a great week.

Saturday Evening Post (Isn't that a magazine or something???)

Well, it looks like I have become a Saturday poster. Things here are up and down, for certain. PaPa is back at the nursing home after being at UAB for almost a week. He had some pulmonary issues, but seems to have improved. He was really sick for a couple of days. His issues seem to be increasing, but so far he has managed to bounce back. When he was admitted last Saturday, he was having a really hard time breathing. They brought him in through the ER, which everyone knows what the ER at UAB is like on a Saturday (not to mention the flu, etc.- there were 2 separate car accidents that killed two 16 year old boys- not a fun place to be in the waiting room) so it was a number of hours before they got him to a room. Once he was in and settled they let me and David in (Billy and Mary had been there, but they had already left) to see PaPa. I went to his bedside and called his name, and for a minute, just a minute, he knew me. Even David said- He knows you! It was brief, but his eyes were so blue and sweet, and I knew that beneath the Alzheimer’s there was still our PaPa.
MaMa has had a terrible week. They moved her back to the Psychiatric unit (which is like being transferred from one hospital to another), but we had our thoughts as to whether she was really well enough to be transferred (as did her Psychiatrist, it seems). Anyway- they moved her on Tuesday, I think it was, and then in the middle of the night on Thursday night they moved her back (did not even call us). She was having trouble breathing, and she is swollen terribly. Anyway, they are looking at possible heart issues at this point. She is much calmer, but pitiful. The psychiatrist called David yesterday and pretty much told him that he felt it was a medical issue at this point, and that he would recommend that there be a consideration of putting a DNR on her chart. That alone let me know that he felt that her problems were serious. He more or less said that at this point the physical therapist did not seem hopeful about her future mobility, and with her medical problems they were hesitant to sedate her for any future treatments. We are in the dark as to what is really going on with her physical condition. Her hands are almost in a fetal position, at this point. She is much clearer mentally, and she is no longer yelling and screaming. David said yesterday that he tried to get her to move her feet and hands and she could hardly budge them. Please pray for her. The decline has certainly been swift, to say the least. I would never have dreamed that PaPa would be in better condition physically than MaMa. Old age is not always graceful.
On a happier note- I have now lost 37 pounds and praying to reach the 40 pound mark this next week. David is also doing very well. We went to Lloyds tonight, and we split a meal. Funny thing- when we left we were both full despite it being half a meal. It was still a generous portion. Today I stacked up some jeans and shirts that were too big. Now don't get excited- these same clothes have been packed away before. I am going to try my hardest to make these changes life-long. I think Weight Watchers will help with that. I needed some accountability- when you go and weigh each week, you keep that goal in mind. I have also developed a love for the new microwave vegetables (I am not a big veggie lover, but I like most all of these), and I have really keyed-in on whole grain cereals in the morning. Just pray for me that I will be able to press forth. The stress and strain of the past few months are the types of situations that I think trigger my eating (then again, so does happiness- so go figure).