Hodging My Bets for a Thousand

Another batch of fun questions on this gorgeous spring day in Maryland!

Thanks, Joyce!  Whoever wants to play, please join us. Click here and have a party, virtually speaking. 

1. March is National Women's History Month. In that vein, who are three women who've been influential in your life? How so? 

          -My mom. She taught me just about everything and modeled compassion, creativity, and devotion to God and family. 

          - My paternal grandmother.  She had a soft spot in her heart for me, and made one-on-one time for me (a middle child--need I say more) rather than send me off to play with my sisters. We played with baby dolls in a pull-behind trailer that was permanently parked in her back yard. She sewed and sang, and had an infectious sense of humor. She even remembered me (but not my sisters) when she was old with Alzheimer's. 

           - A woman named Nan Connor. She always welcomed me into her home on the spur of the moment, which was how I rolled in my teens in a fit of hormonal drama--you know, when you can't tell your own mom stuff, and you're hatin' life, feeling ugly, and you just need someone to talk to who will accept you warts and all, but will lift you up and make you feel loved?  She would always open the door to me and say, "Well, would you looky here, darlin'! Come on in! I was just having a cup of coffee with Jesus! Tell us what's going on with you, honey." It was always "us" because Jesus was as real in her kitchen as if He had been in the flesh.

2. In what ways do you think women have it easier than men? 

             Why do I feel like I could get in trouble answering this question, no matter what I say?  The first things I think of are rather base...like we don't typically worry about getting kicked in the groin, we don't usually have to fight lust 24/7, we don't have to hold back our tears when we're hurt .  And some of us have never had to worry about providing financially for our families. I also think that we're less handicapped when it comes to finding lost objects. Somehow we can just "see" things that clearly ARE or are not there. Ahem. My boys call it "woman's radar," but my girl and I call it eyesight.

3. What do you need most right now: faith, love, hope, or peace? 

Right now I have an abundance of all four, and I feel extremely blessed. But the one that I ask for most often is peace.

4. Do you have a collection? If so, what do you collect and why? 

Yes, indeed I do. It's fabric! I collect it and use it for quilting. Or because it's pretty. Or because it's a great price and I'm sure I'll find the perfect project for it, or because it's Saturday...

5. Plaids, checks, polka dots, stripes...your favorite?  

Polka dots in small doses.  Such a happy print, but too much of it can make the eyes go buggy.

6. In what ways are you the same as your childhood self? 

Social, competitive, love school, fond of animals, chatty, creative, inclined to sing, afraid of math and snakes

7. You're a contestant on the TV game show Jeopardy. What category will you ace?  

Alex, I'll take Once A Pun a Time.  I think I could figure out a play on words for 200 ,400, 600, 800, and 1000.

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

A miracle happened in Sophia's life. (If you've read previous posts, you'll recall she is the 14 month old daughter of a dear friend of ours. She has brain cancer, diagnosed last summer.) On Feb 14th, after having 2 great months at home being happy and playful and starting to talk, however, she suddenly fell into a coma and remained unresponsive for two weeks. Then they took her off tubes, to just hold her, saying their goodbyes, thinking she would pass in their arms. But no, she hung on, breathing on her own, responding to pain stimuli by twitching or opening one eye. 

That was  until Sunday. That morning, her daddy prayed over her, and as he did, Sophia stretched out and  

opened both eyes! Her daddy ran and shook Lauren awake and she got to witness her baby's eyes open for the first time since Valentine's Day!  It was such a hopeful, joyful moment to read about, I wept and then of course told everybody I knew about it! The baby still is very lethargic, and for the most part, asleep (deeply) but her parents are calling her the strongest person they know. They will not give up .They believe (and so do I) that God will heal her. 

Keys to Failure and Success in the Hodgepodge

Yes, it's true! I've been quite the MIA blogger, but I think I'm back. At least for the Hodgepodge today! I hope I still have SOME readers and commenters left in cyberspace. 

1. February ended with an extra 24 hours in 2016. What did you do with your bonus day?

Funny you should ask. Leap Day was a comedy of errors for me.   I overslept by an hour and a half, washed my face, put on a smidge of makeup to look human, used my hubby's Old Spice deodorant because mine was totally out; put on jeans and a clean top; had just time for 1/2 cup of coffee as I rushed to get my son to school 40 minutes late. I didn't even feed the dog or let him out, poor guy! Thankfully his bladder is a 50 gallon drum. 

Swung through Dunkins for more coffee, then naturally I needed to get home to the potty myself. Got back home only to realize I was locked out of the house! In my haste, I  had grabbed the fob that only has my car key! Texted my hubby to say I'd maybe go hang out with my friend Renee'  till he came home. (Renee is  spontaneous like that, but still 1/2 hour away). He has been working short days since heart surgery. But he replied, "If you're going that far, may as well come here for my key." 

By this time, I was  not only eager to pee, but I was getting hungry. So I drove to Wawa (convenience store) to get scrambled eggs and use their restroom. Some careless driver almost T-boned me at the light as I turned off the main highway, but alas I made it to Wawa's ladies' room. Sweet relief, yes....until I reached for toilet paper. There was none. Not one square! Good thing I had Kleenex in my purse. 

Drove to hubby's office to pick up his key. (He was a good sport about it in the parking lot. He grinned, kissed me, and asked if I could stop and pick up sweetened condensed milk because he wanted to make rice pudding. Of course, that was the least I could do--while picking up deodorant, too. He also suggested I stop and get three spare keys made at Home Depot.)  Needed cash out of the ATM to make change for my tutoring client that night,  but lo and behold, my ATM card was missing. What??? I got home with the milk but not the deodorant. Oy vey! And when I arrived home, I noticed someone had moved my recycling bin. And there was recyling strewn all over my yard and the neighbor's.  At this point I wasn't laughing....

So after I let my dog out (who by this time was barking wildly to go out and pee), I played Tidy Heidi. After a brief interlude to catch my breath, it was time to get my son from school and go to work--which is the same route and distance as I'd gone that morning. 

 2. What's something in your life that's grown by leaps and bounds in recent days, weeks, months, or years? I'm giving you lots of room to come up with an answer here, so no fair passing on this one.

Hands down, it's my appreciation for my husband. His work ethic, his energy, his financial watchcare, his handy skills, his fatherly heart. Heart surgery changed our perspective, made us stop taking each other for granted. When he couldn't do much for himself, and I cared for him, we both grew in appreciation for the other. Now his stamina is low (but improving) and we're realized just how efficient he was.

3. Do you read reviews about a film before deciding if you'll see it? Did you watch The Oscars this year, and if so your thoughts on the program? How many of the Best Picture nominees had you seen prior to the broadcast? (Spotlight, The Martian, The Big Short, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, Room, and Brooklyn) If you watched The Oscars who gets your award for 'best dressed'?

I honestly don't pay a whole lot of attention to what's going on in the movies unless I hear a lot about one from trusted sources. I don't tend to read reviews. I missed the Oscars this year. We watched The Martian, and Revenant (both at home). Didn't think I'd like either, but Martian was funny and Revenant was so intense I couldn't leave the couch for a second. 

4. When did you last have overnight houseguests? Give us your top three tips on being a good houseguest.

Early January.  My husband's brother came in from Ohio for the surgery.  Top three tips for being a good houseguest?      1) give as much advance notice of your arrival as possible    2) take the host out for a meal or pay to order in to give the cook a break    3) don't stay more than 3 days in a row unless  it's your BFF that you only see every other year, or a family member begging you to stay longer

5. March 2nd is Peanut Butter Lover's Day. Will you be celebrating? If so, would you prefer a home made peanut butter cookie, a Reese's peanut butter cup, an old fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or shall I just hand you a jar and a tablespoon?

I wouldn't say no to any of those suggestions! Hmmmm. I have to think hard about my choice. Today, in the moment, I could chow down on a PB cookie. Whenever you mention peanut butter cookies, I ALWAYS think of my friend Bonnie who is now a full-time missionary (married with kids) in Africa. Peanut butter cookies are her favorite and I made them for her as our last snack together, and sent leftovers with her. 

6. Why is failure important? Or isn't it? 

It's important. Reminds us we're human. Gives us a comparison to success. Keeps us humble. Helps us learn from our mistakes.

7. Share with us one fun thing on your March calendar.

On the second Friday of every month, I help another lady make a meal for 20-30 homeless and needy in a local community.  (Thankfully a third lady has come on board as well!) We've decided to turn our mealtime into a theme each month. On March 11th, we're going with a St. Patty's theme, and I'm excited to decorate (dollar store decorations, people) as well as make the salad. Which would YOU prefer, a totally green salad (Romaine, peas, broccoli, ) or a rainbow salad (greens, tomato, carrot, egg, red onion)? Pinterest is so much fun for theme planning, isn't it?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Two things: My daughter in Florida needs your prayers. She might have mono. 

Baby Sophia is still holding her own. She's been unhooked from tubes except food and air, and her parents have been given a room in the oncology unit, complete with two beds. They are able to snuggle right up to Sophia, who is still comatose but breathing on her own. They (and we) still pray for a miracle.

Sorrowing

Sophia's mother posted this today on Facebook. How heartbreaking. Please pray. 

Sophia has yet to wake up. She coughs but has no gag reflex. So on Sunday afternoon we will be extubating her. She can breathe on her own, her lungs and everything are working...But since the bleed injured the brain stem which controls gag...her gag reflex may never come back. Plus the tumor could be pressing on those nerves. 

Without a gag reflex she cannot control her secretions. They will be putting her on everything they can medically to keep her comfortable. Meds to keep her semi sedated and try to control her mouth secretions. 

Medically she is stable now and the doctors believe this is the best time to do it. Otherwise being on the tube longer presents a whole new host of problems.

Of course there is no magic ball to know what her body can do...But without a gag reflex it will likely be a matter of days until she passes...weeks at the most. 

It was not an easy decision...But given her injury she has no quality of life. Plus, the tumor is aggressive and fast growing and without chemo to slow it down she would probably pass soon one way or the other.
This way we can at least hold her. Talk to her, comfort her, soothe her...say goodbye without all the tubes and wires connected.

My arms ache to hold her again.

We are not giving up. We believe God can do a miracle still...But ultimately, though it's hard, our prayer over the past few days has been for His will to be done.

Fighting for her Life

I've been on a hiatus from my blog since New Year's Eve.  My husband pulled through open heart surgery wonderfully, by God's grace. That's a blog post in itself that I've tried to write but felt so overwhelmed, I avoided the blank screen.  I hope to find words soon.

Right now, though, the baby Sophia (14 months old tomorrow) for whom I made the quilt in the previous post, is now fighting for her life. The mother and her parents are dear friends of ours, so this is very personal to us.

Yesterday morning Sophia  was fine, babbling, saying "mama," playing with her feet. Her parents were able to celebrate Valentine's Day together with their little sweetie.

But by naptime she was unable to get comfortable, her mom thought it was nausea, so gave her Benadryl. She fell asleep, though would wake up agitated again. Suddenly she had trouble breathing, then she went limp in her mother's arms .  

The ambulance rushed her to Hopkins and did a CT scan. It showed a massive brain bleed. The blood was filling the cavity where her tumor used to be.  Her platelets were dangerously low. Doctors gave them three options:

1. administer platelets, which would only buy her time
2. do surgery to remove bone to release pressure on the brain
3. hold her and let her go

They  chose surgery. They said the doctors were frank in their discussion: no guarantees she'd survive surgery, and most likely if she did survive, the brain damage would be so severe than little Sophia would most certainly not be herself again.

She pulled through, but it's now a waiting game. Doctors have classified her as "fighting for her life." One doctor even admitted he was praying for her. In this politically correct world, it's rather telling when a medical professional says he's praying.

I ask for your prayers .She needs a miracle .