Marc and Matthew

Are visiting this weekend and we went up on Petit Jean Mountain today and to the petting zoo up there, we also went to the paper mill and learned how paper is made.

A fun day.

Tomorrow I am taking Mom to SVI north for her third and final epidural.

sleep

Just got mama home from the sleep study, the technician said that she will be getting her results in about a week.

Mama said it was about a normal night for her, boy am I sleepy. She really doesn't sleep much. Now I'm about to head home and go to bed.

Have a great day, love y'all, annabanana

more on mama

her back is really giving her fits this morning. Thankfully, she has her third and final injection on 3/4/08. She is going for a sleep study this Thursday night.

Really looking forward to getting her better!

Up to about 45 feet on the running. Trying to take it fairly slow. Race for the cure, here I come!

cows gotta eat.....

Even when your house burns down and the only clothes you have left in the world is your Sunday best suit that you are wearing, still the cows have gotta eat.

Too fantastic!

Tornadoes may flirt with us, but fire destroys us.

Yesterday, 2/28/08, My in-laws house burned. It is gutted, it is a total loss.

Thankfully Joey's parents weren't at home, but his brother and our niece-in-law and the babies were there.

Brenda was about to give the boys a bath and was in the bathroom when Terry(my brother-in-law that has PKU) broke down the bathroom door and told Brenda they had to get out that the house was on fire.

So with the boys safely in the car, Brenda and Terry got buckets and ran back into the house, trying to put the fire out. After the second flare up, Terry grabbed Brenda by the arm and said "We gotta get outta here"

The fire chief of Jerusalem, who is a Volunteer himself, told my mother-in-law that they were lucky no one was inside, she told him about Terry and Brenda and the kids and he said it's a miracle that they got out. He should be out today to determine the cause, either the flue to their wood burning stove, or electrical.

There were firemen and women from Jerusalem, Appleton, and Saint Vincent on scene. And where was I you may ask???? Sleeping soundly as the firetrucks with sirens blaring went past my house and stopped less than 30 yards from my front door.

All this started a noon, and Joey got home and woke me at 2:30. That is the second fire I've slept through, I'll tell you about the other one later.

There is a blessing in all this, no one was seriously injured. Although the fire was hot enough in Pop and Alma Jean's bedroom that it blew out the windows and knocked one of the firemen off his ladder, but; he wasn't seriously injured, thankfully.

For now, Pop, Alma Jean and Terry are staying in Pam and Terry Mcghee's camper. Pam is Joey's sister. They have no homeowners insurence of any kind, and can of course can use whatever household items anyone can spare. They are going Friday to look through some of the stuff that was donated for the tornado victims for everyday clothing, Joey and I got them some underwear and socks and sleepwear last night. Marilyn Hawkins who owns the store in Jerusalem sent them some toiletries. Our nephew Jason and his wife the aforementioned Brenda gave them $400. Calls have been pouring in for them. Joey and I stopped at Pop's brother's Oscar and we told them They called their sister in Texas and so on.

I can't think of anything else to say, except please pray for them.

Love y'all, annabanana

I am not a runner.....

but I really want to run the race for the cure, it is a 5k, so yesterday I was watching the noon time news and saw a story about how the dioces here are telling the catholics to not participate in anything to do with the Susan G.Komen foundation, because supposedly they support planned parenthood?!?

So, no offense to my catholic friends, but if they can't do it, you bet I'm going to. So yesterday I streched, and got out of breath doing it, not very strenuous mind you, I get winded walking across the room. I started out walking, and broke into a VERY slow, VERY short jog, about 30 feet, then walked some more.

Not much by anyones standards, but that was 30 feet more than I do any other day.

Pray for me, it took me 2 hours to get back to normal respirations!

Love yall, annabanana

The birth of a quilt.

Our quilting group has decided to do another round robin challenge. Each member makes a center medallion block and then it gets passed from one member to the next to have a border put on it. So this is my block, I started out with the Mariner's Compass, and decided it looked to plain, so I added the pinwheel blocks all around. I have told the others that I do not want to see it untill it is finished and I included a scrapbook, because I want them to have pics taken and included in the scrapbook with some journaling about how they felt working on my quilt.

I am really looking forward to getting my quilt back!

pics

2 of one of the chicken houses on our road, and 1 of the house a coworker of mine moved out of the night before the second tornado came through and moved the house 15 feet clear of its foundation. The trailer, a neighbor was inside when the first tornado came through and knocked the back end off of its blocks. Now, there is what I call the merry band of nieghbors have come out to her place and moved the trailer out of the way and are building her a new house. They have told her it will be done on 2/22. I'll post pics of the new house another day.

Corrie Ten Boom

The tornados reminded me of her, and how she was thankful for fleas. Read the book, it is amazing. It is called The Hiding Place.

If in the midst of a concentration camp, during the halocost she can be thankful for fleas, then I can be thankful for tornados.

Love you all, annabanana

Tornados

I have learned to REALLY dislike tornados. After having 2 within 5 miles of my home in the last 3 weeks, I really do not like them.

The first one came within 1/4 mile of us, it destroyed several homes, a 100+ year old church and more chicken houses than you can shake a stick at.

The second one was about 5 miles away, it was on the ground for 100 miles, cutting a 3/4 mile wide path of destruction. I am amazed at the destruction and saddened by the loss of life caused by both of these tornados

I see the devastation every day from both of these storms as I drive home from Morrilton, and I am amazed and I am thankful.

These tornados reinforced my belief that I am blessed. It all could have been so much worse.

So, I am trying to look at tornados as a blessing.

I'll add pictures another day, to give you all an idea of what I mean.

I'm puny this month...

I have been fighting off a sinus infection for about a month now and finally on Saturday night gave up the fight. I've been miserable ever since. As if that were not enough, on Sunday morning at about 5 am I think I miscarried. I am not certain as I had no idea I might have been pg.

Anyway that is how my month is going. How is Y'all's?

Love ya, annabanana

Another Mama update....

This morning we are going to Saint Vincent North to have an epidural steroid injection done. She can have up to 3 of these in a year, and if after the end of the third one she is no better, then we will be talking surgery. I think that we are just delaying the inevitable, because the steroids won't fix the problem, merely cover the pain for a short time.

BTW my phone died about 2 weeks ago, so y'all please e mail me your numbers, so I can get them in my new phone. Thanks