Low Key Days are Good

I didn't do much yesterday, I wasn't feeling well. But I'm doing much better today! Part of my problem I'm sure was being so disturbed about the outcome of the election. I admit I needed some time to come to terms with it and have had to frequently remind myself that God is in control and that everything will work out well.

For the sake of posterity here are the results...

My morning brightened when I got a chance to skype message with Jimmy...

I spend a lot of time thinking about and praying for Jimmy. He was scheduled to have a procedure on his arm yesterday. I thought it was going to be surgery, but in the end they just cleaned out his wound to make sure there was no infection. They'll be cleaing it out once more this week and then hopefull doing the bone graft on Friday. I pray it all goes well. He's been through a lot already. When we were at Camp Lejeune Jimmy gave me some of the pictures which I thought were really interesting and want to share. (I'll spare you the really gross ones that show the actual injury. )

Jimmy Gornyecz is a buddy of Nick's. He's from Michigan originally. Right now he's in Virginia where he is getting treatment for his arm. He was injured in a vehicle roll-over that ended in a 30 foot drop into a drainage canal. Jimmy's right arm was shattered in the accident. Another buddy, Zach Nelson who was up in the gun turret broke his back in the accident.

When we first got news we were told it was an IED explosion but later learned that it was a roll-over due to a large rock that was in the road. There is some speculation that it was put there by insurgents because the road had been clear previously. Jimmy's vehicle had a mine roller attached (long bars with wheels at the end that extend out in front of the vehicle to trigger explosives hidden in the roadways). The mine roller went up over the rock, sheared off and disabled the steering of the vehicle which went forward up over the mine roller and then tipped to the side and rolled into a 30 ft deep drainage canal.

The picture below was taken shortly after the accident. The black band on Jimmy's arm is a tourniquet. His injury was so bad he was in danger of bleeding out. Every time I see this picture I just marvel that he can be smiling and giving a thumbs up. Below are pictures he shared with me of his "hardware" that is reconstructing his arm.

 

I'm sure this guy is going to have all kinds of fun trying to go through air ports!

Jimmy called yesterday afternoon to say the procedure to wash out his wound went well and things are still on for Friday. He is planning to be with us at our house for Thanksgiving this year. I really hope what they do on Friday doesn't change that! Jimmy has become an adopted part of our family and it wouldn't seem the same if he weren't here.

Today I hit a small milestone in my  Bible reading plan. YouVersion has a reading plan that will have me completing reading the Bible in just one year. Today was day 215. I know, not overly exciting for you, but it was a small victories day for me. I finally got a good night sleep last night (thanks to my wonderful hubby stopping at the store on the way home to pick me up some sleeping pills.) I don't know why but I've had a lot of trouble sleeping more than three hours in a row lately. But today I feel great and I have conquered some cleaning and laundry.

I also finally figured out the dishcloth knitting pattern I've been trying to perfect. It only took me four tries in the end.

 

Then I wasted some time taking pictures of the dogs who have appropriated the blue chair in the dining room as their own sleeping space. Gizmo rarely sits still so I had to take advantage of him in his "studdly" pose.

 

The girls, especially Lexi, couldn't be bothered to pose for pictures. Napping was way too important.

 

And now the day has slipped away from me again and it is time to make dinner. I'm thinking tater-tot hotdish would be nice tonight. I made fish last night and it was a disaster. It tasted extremely fishy, or as Natalie likes to say (and in this case I agree with her) it tasted like licking the inside of a fish tank. Blech, I can still taste it. It was very disappointing.

 

Tiffany is leaving tonight to spend some time with friends at Carroll and Jim has a church meeting so I guess it will be another quiet night at home for me and Natalie. Maybe we'll have to watch a movie or something. Richard accidentally left his DVDs behind when he went back to New Ulm. He said we could watch them, I think tonight I'll take him up on that. He has a very extensive collection...

 

Oooh, oooh, he has Mask of Zorro and Men in Black, which one to choose? Maybe we'll have to watch both! Just as long as it's not something that gives me nightmares. :)

 

 

Photo of the Day:

 

 

Scripture Verse of the Day:

 

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Rom. 12:12

Election Day and Other Things

Today is the day most Americans have been waiting for...the end to the barage of political ads. Yikes! It is SO annoying. There has got to be something we can do about this as American citizens. By sometime tonight we should know who won this "too-close-to-call" election. I can tell you right now I voted for Mitt Romney. I didn't vote for Obama last time either. Honestly, I have issues with both guys, but the socialistic tendencies of Obama scare the bejeebers out of me. I am flabbergasted when talking to Obama supporters who have absolutely no idea what he really stands for. We certainly live in a day and age when you are taking serious chances if you don't do your own research.

Today Tiffany and I voted first thing in the morning. There was a pretty good line outside the polling place but people were friendly and there were no problems that I could see. It did bother me a little that no one asked for an ID. I know it's not mandatory...yet, but it is disconcerting to know anyone could have walked in there knowing my name and address and voted in my place. That's all it took, stating my name and address. No wonder this country has an issue with voter fraud.

When we got home Tiffany showed me her new name badge for work that includes the title that came with her promotion. I'm so proud of that girl!

It's cold and cloudy outside today. They are predicting snow for later tonight but unless things really cool off I doubt we'll see any.

 

Shortly after returning home from voting I went online and was happy to get good news from Nick!...

Have I mentioned how happy I am to have him back in the United States so we can do all these normal things? God is good!

While sitting at the computer I randomly noticed that both Christmas cactuses are now sporting buds...

It is so to be home.

Because of all the election hype I've been watching all the posts news stories on facebook and Fox News today and then this came up...

At first I laughed, but then I thought, "Hey! I've got all that yarn sitting around, including the colors they are looking for, so why not?" So there you have it. Maybe tomorrow I'll dig out my scraps and make a few squares to send to Los Angeles.

In the meantime since it has started to sleet outside, I'm gonna serve comfort food for dinner (chicken and gravy with glazed carrots) and then settle in for the election results.

While I've been sitting here the dogs have been playing like crazy at my feet. I thought I'd share a little of their silliness to close out this post. Have a nice night!

 

Photo of the Day:

Not willing to let Natalie out of their sight...

Scripture Verse of the Day:

 

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all

godliness and holiness."

1 Tim. 2:1-2

Trip to NC Day 7, 8, 9 - Traveling and Recovery

November 3-5, 2012

The last three days have been a blur. Because we knew it was going to be a long trip we decided to get started fairly early, with our goal being to leave the hotel by 8:00 a.m. We didn't quite make that but it was close.

 

This is the part I hate the most. I have way too many pictures like this with us waving good-bye to our boys. It was hard this time too but knowing we will see him again in just a few weeks for Thanksgiving was a real comfort. I only cried a little. :)

 

We said farewell to the Inns of the Corps for the last time...

 

I had one last inner giggle at the "Welcome Aboard Camp Lejeune" sign...

 

 

And we hit the road...

 

 

Richard and Tanya fell alseep almost immediately. In their defense, Tanya wasn't feeling well. We think she may have gotten a slight case of food poisoning, maybe at Cracker Barrel, and Richard had worked hard the night before on his homework. He completed a week's worth of biology AND math in one evening. They earned a rest.

 

Natalie held out for a while...

 

...but eventually she succumbed to the call of sleep too...

 

The trip was long but largely uneventful. It was interesting to see the cotton fields. We missed them last time because it was dark when we went through the area.

 

 

Before we knew it we were in Virginia.

 

 

I didn't remember the trees being so colorful the last time, but it may have been dark and was probably raining then.

 

 

 

When we got to West Virginia I was really curious to see what had happened with the snow in the mountains.

 

 

Even at the highest elevations the roads were clear and there were just remnants left of the blizzard caused by hurricane Sandy.

 

I passed the time working on my knitting projects; a pair of slippers for Jimmy's sister which I finished somewhere in Virginia I think, ...

 

 

...and a holiday dishcloth pattern that I've been trying to perfect. Maybe third time's the charm on this one...

 

We crossed into Ohio at about 3:15. The GPS said it was about 3 more hours to ONU.

 

The weather was steadily getting colder and at some point it started to sprinkle on and off.

 

 

 We made it safely to ONU at about 6:45 p.m. and dropped off Tanya.

 

Then it was only about seven more hours to go (sigh) I still feel exhausted just thinking about it. It is amazing how tiring just sitting can be. We were all getting pretty sick of it but Jim was a champ. Other than the one hour which I drove between a rest stop and arriving at ONU, Jim drove the entire 20+ hour trip without once complaining.

 

By the time we reached Ohio I was pretty much done and napped off and on the rest of the trip so if you like the pictures you are out of luck for the rest of this trip. I personally never sleep really well when in a car but it does help to pass the time. Around two-something in the morning we pulled into Brian's farm in Hustisford to pick up Richard's truck and Natalie's car and they drove from there. That was when the wildlife fun started. Before arriving at the farm we saw two bucks, one on either side of the road. During rutting season bucks are very unpredictable but fortunately they both turned away. It got our adrenaline going though! We also saw a skunk meandering down the middle of the road. It didn't seem particularly concerned when we zipped past, at least not that we know of. After leaving Brian's we saw TWO more skunks crossing the road. I'm pretty sure I've never seen that many skunks (alive) outside of a zoo. Ever.

 

We all arrived home safely at around three in the morning. We only grabbed the essentials out of the vehicle and then we all hit the beds.

 

Richard and I were up a few hours later to go to church but Jim and Natalie needed more rest. Later in the day Jim went to work to assess the damage that occurred in his absence and I unpacked the suburban and started putting things away. Sunday evening Natalie and I drove to Watertown to pick up Lexi and Libby, who were happy to see us...LOTS of wiggling rear ends. Apparently they were pretty well behaved. The only thing they got into was a packet of Chris's muscle powder. Now we may have some buff doxies. Maybe they will be better able to stand up to Gizmo's attitude attacks.

 

 

After dropping off Natalie and the dogs I headed out to my friend Gina's to pick up Gizmo as well. It is a bit of a drive out there, almost an hour but I was proud of myself for finding it in the dark.

 

Now everyone is safely back home, I am slowly, and I mean SLOWLY getting back into the swing of things. I can't seem to get organized.

 

Monday night we had a family dinner of sorts. I went to Pick-n-Save and got "gourmet" burgers, bacon and cheddar, italian pizza and plain. They were HUGE and delicious.

 

 

Someone seems to have picked up the bad habit of begging while we were gone, hmmm...... (get used to disappointment Gizmo!)

 

A family dinner with Phil and Tiffany was a perfect way to end our fall vacation!

 

Photo of the Day:

 

 

Scripture Verse of the Day:

"My son, preserve sound judgement and discernment...then you will go on your way in safety..."

Prov. 3:21,23

 

 

 

 

 

Trip to NC Day 6 - Time with Nick

November 2, 2012

Our first full day with Nick was also our last day at the cabin. We had to have everything packed up and the place cleaned by 10:00 a.m. but we took time out for Nick to make his signature "awesomelettes."

 

While we got everything packed and loaded Jimmy went to get us checked out at the office. We picked him up on the way, I think he was worried for a minute that we weren't going to stop! Ya gotta admit that he has nice legs, I think if we'd actually left him there someone would have stopped eventually...

After leaving the cabins we went to the hotel but were told we had to wait until 3:00 to check in. That gave us a few hours to kill. We started by going to the exchange to do our souvenier shopping and Nick tried to get his military ID and his car registration renewed. The machines were down so he was unsuccessful at first. After shopping Nick and Tanya went to try renewing his IDs again and the rest of us went back to the beach. Natalie and Jimmy got some great pictures...

 

 

The beach excursion turned out to be worth it in several ways. For one thing Jim helped me pick up another big bagful of great rocks. Then he went back to the car and I went back to the beach for a few more rocks and to find Jimmy and Natalie. I found something else too...

 

That little guy was sitting right next to a rock that I picked up. I didn't see him until he flipped over and started wiggling his little legs. I admit it scared the dickens out of me and I may have let out just one tiny scream. Then I just couldn't get over how cute he was! I flagged Natalie and Jimmy down and we we got some great pics...

Jimmy got really brave and touched it...Natalie and I were a little more jumpy even though it was really kind of a tiny little thing.

 

 

By the time we were done fooling with the poor little crab we got the phone call that Nick and Tanya had been successful renewing Nick's IDs and we all decided to meet at Cracker Barrel for lunch. That was good timing because it was getting really windy and cold on the beach. When we got to Cracker Barrel we saw Nick was having a little trouble with the Camaro. It was running rough and he wasn't sure why...

 

 

This has been an ongoing issue with the car and one of the reasons Tanya will never call herself a fan of the Camaro. :)

 

While Nick puzzled over the car Jimmy and Natalie cleaned the beach from their feet...

 

Natalie didn't want me taking a picture of her doing it though, hee hee...

 

The rest of us formed a support group of onlookers for Nick's efforts with his car...

 It was determined that a small exhaust leak was causing uneven pressure and the rough idle. They decided to try to fix it later and we went in and had a really yummy lunch.

 

After lunch Jimmy and Natalie had a quick game of checkers. Jimmy neglected to tell Natalie that he was something of an expert at the game until it was well underway, but Natalie is not a quitter.

 

Everyone had lots of input and advice for her but Jimmy was ultimately victorious anyway...

 

 

After lunch we headed back to the hotel and I took some pictures that I will never have need to take again...

 

At the hotel I also took the opportunity to get pictures of the coin that was given to Jimmy and Zach by the Commandant of the Marine Corp (the guy highest up the ladder!) This is a very special honor!

 

I am so proud of my sons and Zach, Jimmy and all the other guys for the willingness with which they do what they do. Every one of them is/was ready to put his life on the line for the Corp. These are a very special group of men and I consider it an honor to think of them as my "sons"!

Photo of the Day:

Scripture Verse of the Day:

 

The LORD will indeed give what is good..."

Ps. 85:12