*200* And A Give-Away!!!

WooHoo ~~~ YaY ~~~ I have finally hit my 200th post and am finally taking the time to give something away.

I LOVE a giveaway because I LOVE to win!!!

During the past couple of months while hubby has been ill I have thought long and hard regarding the blessings in my life. I suppose we all tend to take things for granted until you think you might lose it all.

I admit I wasn't concerned about losing 'things' but I quite frankly was concerned about losing my hubby. There were MANY nights I came home from the hospital and pled with God to walk me through the fears I was facing.

One of the things I realized I was Most grateful for was 'Jaynie'. You may ask: Who is Jaynie? Well, I am about to tell you.

Have you ever had a 'great pumpkin', rosebud, or bessie? I bet you have and didn't even know it.

This is what my 'Great Pumpkin' looked like...

One year way back in the late 70's I owned an orange pinto (my first car). On halloween I dressed it up like a pumpkin and my friend from work dressed up like Snoopy (huge snoopy head and all). We drove all over the streets of LosAngeles and had a big sign on the back of my car that said: "The Great Pumpin". Those were the days when it was ok to be silly on the streets of LA. From that point forward that car was called the great pumpkin.

Now this is Jaynie...

Why do we name our cars? I think it's because we spend so much time with/in them that they begin to reflect some of our personality.

Let me tell you about Jaynie...

First off Jaynie was the name I chose for a girl if we ever had children. Since we didn't have children and we adopted only boys I never had the opportunity to use the name I loved...so... Jaynie became my cars nickname!!


She is 13 years old...yep a teen-ager! She has been with us for most of those 13 years though we did not get her brand new. (I suppose you can say we adopted her also)


She has this many miles on her:

99770

She has been faithful, loyal and reliable. I must say that during this past couple of months while hubby was in the hospital and even now that he is home but continues to be quite ill, I sure am glad for the reliable part. I am also thankful that she is paid for!!!!

Oh...in the background of her picture you can see the red pick-up, well that belongs to Uncle Bumco (ie: Hubby)...He is also 13 (I know we have to keep them separated) and has this many miles on him:

204098 ~~~ Just in case you couldn't read it!!!

He is also reliable, faithful, loyal and paid for. Oh and even though we are not big on bumper stickers and such he displays an important campaign in our lives: Donate Life!!! We ARE donors and Hubby is a recepiant!! Another Grateful, God-filled story I am always happy to share.




In honor of my 200th post I am giving away a little 'auto' package to one person. Please leave a comment either here or on my facebook and tell me if you have ever named one of your cars. I bet each of us has at some point in our lives. I'd love to hear Your Story.

Drawing will be later this week!!!

Considering Reliable Autos with Great Joy,
Cindy

HaPpY !!!

Welcome to my blog tonight!

I have so many thoughts swirling around in my little brain

but think that I will just share some shots

from yesterdays surprise party!!

Son #1 put together a small family party

for my birthday

I was so happy that I had spent so much time

on Saturday cleaning and completing some

necessary projects!!

And...I had washed the breakfast and lunch dishes

Unfortunately, He forgot to inform my

hubby that everybody was coming for lunch ~~~

Oooo...I didn't need to eat Any Dinner:)

Most of my day was delightfully spent

holding and playing with kiddos

like our beautiful little Katie Bel

I was even able to talk Mark into

allowing me to take a quick photo

I must say he was EXHAUSTED

by the time everybody left

Left: My sister and I with our grandkiddos who were at the party
Right: Some of the guy folk!!



Must take time for silliness in our family


This was the greatest part of the day
Just taking a little nap
outside with my KBel



Though this photo was taken on Saturday night
It just shows what beautiful sunsets we have in AZ


Thank you to son #1 for putting together such a fun party

Thank you to all of you who sent birthday wishes via F/B
I Loved Every One Of Them!!!



Stay tuned for my next post!

Post #200

A Giveaway

And I will talk about the
Great Pumpkins, Bessie's and Rosebuds
in our lives!!

Can you guess what they are?????
If you guess correctly before I post
I will have 2 prizes!

Stay tuned:)

Considering Birthday's With Great Joy,
Cindy

Filling In The Spaces

This past couple of days having hubby home has left me with time to catch my breath and fill in some spaces formerly occupied with hospital visits. Of course I now spend full days at work so I really only have evenings and one of those was taken up by a wonderful FPU class. Last night was my first night to actually cook dinner for the family:) Hubs wanted homemade burgers so that is exactly what he got!! I am a great barbeque-r!!

Today was hubby's first venture outside. Off to his PCP for follow-up and labs. After two hours away, he was glad to get home and rest! What a beautiful morning to sit out back and soak in some sunshine. I made him lunch and we visited a little.

Today we also have our sweet Katie Bel who is pretending to be sleeping right now but she is really crying so off I go to get her...be back shortly!

OK ~ So I am back and so is she:

Laying on my lap snoozing away:)

That didn't last either ~ Little Fussy today so we

went and dosed off in papa's black chair for a couple hours:)

Yesterday the office staff surprised me with an early birthday party. Balloons, cards, flowers, veggies, fruit and brownies for lunch, YummY. I must admit I truly was surprised since I totally forgot my birthday was this week. I think my mind has been elsewhere!! It was a very nice distraction:)

Also yesterday, a great friend came by the house with two boxes filled with meat. It seems the Pastor from our old church heard that hubby needed protein so he sent our friend over with Lots of it!!! A very generous and unexpected act of kindness!

Over the past 40 days I did an experiment!

I ate ONLY Fast Food, uuhh just to see what would happen, NOT!

I ate only fast food because my only free time was spent driving back and forth to the hospital and well I gained more than 20 pounds.

So now I need to experiment by eating only healthy food and

NO fast food. Let's see if I can lose 70 pounds:)

Kids just came in from work!

Time to get ready for dinner

(which is being delivered by one of my dear blog friends LeeBird)

Love to you all

And thank you so much for all of your prayers!!!

Considering Filling in the Spaces

With Joy,

Cindy

Home Is Where My Hubby Is!!!

Yes!!! He is home! After 40 days and nights hubby is home!

We have a Very Long recovery process ahead of us. He still has severe pneumonia and will be taking Voriconazole for many, many months. (ID Dr. called Apothecary Shoppe to order the script and found out that it is $3000.00 per month after our insurance runs out 11/30/2010 ~ God has more miracles in mind). He has lost lots of weight and will need to attempt to 'bulk' up by eating lots of protein. He is still a sick puppy, but he's mine and he's home.

Here is our conversation as we drove away from the hospital:

Cindy: What are you thinking?

Mark: I'm just trying to take it all in!

Cindy: I know, there were many nights I left here and wasn't sure if this day would come.

Mark: I know, I try not to think about that.

Both: Sigh - tear-filled eyes!!

A sweet, sweet moment shared more internally than outwardly,

Yet after nearly 30 years of marriage,

We both knew the heart of the other,

We both realize that our God still has plans for our lives together.

That's all I have for tonight. Home earlier than normal but Home and Tired.

Praying we sleep well tonight and begin the new normal tomorrow!

Thank you for faithful prayers, please keep praying, we have a long way to go!

Considering Being Home With Joy,

Cindy

Almost Home:)

These past 40 days have been the most stress-filled, lonely, and rewarding days of my life.

But tomorrow this portion of our journey comes to an end and a new one begins.


A dear friend reminded me today that good things happen at the end of 40 days and friends that is exactly what I have been praying for as have you. Not just good things but GOD things.


Monday hubby will venture home and begin the rehabilitation process with home health nurses. My thoughts tonight focus on watching him relax, sitting in his black chair with remote in hand attached to Nothing but his family. Prayerfully 24 hours from now that is exactly what I will be doing, watching him At Home:)


Tomorrow I will proudly walk out of BDMC saying: Yes that is my hubby!! Strong, feisty, stubborn and a fighter, determined to live and not die, my hubby, my hero. Yep, that's my man.


I know the road ahead will not be easy nor was the road behind. At least tonight there is hope and rejoicing. Tonight there is thanksgiving and praise to my Jesus, my King, my God. Tonight there is going to be either sweet rest or restless excitement. Tonight there is Joy.


At some point in the near future I hope to share with you some of the moments God walked me through over the past 40 days, how close we came to losing hubby, how broken my heart was, yet tonight I just thank you for your prayers. You cannot imagine how much I needed them during this season, how much I appreciate your faithfulness, and how much I love you all.


I will update tomorrow when we are HOME:)


Considering A Homecoming with Super Duper Great Joy,
Cindy

40 Days/40 Nights

What is the first thing you think about when someone says 40 Days/40 Nights?

Me too ~ Noah ~ An Ark ~ Animals

The thought doesn't automatically conger up warm fuzzies.

The thought of spending 40 days and 40 nights in a boat

with many animals is not refreshing to me.

Or what about 40 days in the wilderness?

Fasting and praying.

No food, no friends, no fun!

Nope 40 days and 40 nights doesn't always

equal excitement.

Yet tonight I think 40 is just Perfect!!!

I think 40 is Hope!!

I think 40 is Promising!!

I think 40 is absolutely Wonderful!!

Monday will be the 40th day of hubby's hospital stay.

It will Also be the day I get to bring him HOME!!!!!!

40 days and 40 nights

Yes, I think it is Just Exactly What the

Great Doctor Ordered!!!

Considering '40' With GREAT JOY!!!

Cindy

Not So Fast...

Well Fuhey!!!

So we had hoped to get Mark home tomorrow but it doesn't look like that will happen.
The new AntiFungal medication they put him on is causing all kinds of raucous with his blood pressure medications.

Tonight's pressure was 170/110. His face was quite red and when the ID doc came in he was quite hesitant to discharge tomorrow and instead is opting for next week.

Otherwise, his labs still looked good today, the surgeon approves of discharge as does the pulmonologist. We will speak with the internal medicine doctor and ID doc again tomorrow.

Hubby is disappointed as am I however the bright side is now I can really concentrate on cleaning the whole house on Saturday (care to join me?).

I want to thank my sister for bringing me a Sprite and a donut, cleaning my kitchen and scrubbing my shower.

I want to thank my mom for loving on our precious baby Katie Bel so I could do laundry and scrub the boy's bathroom (YUCK!!!) Three boys, need I say more!?!?

I want to thank my brother for stopping by and bringing Spencer who drew me a wonderful picture on myself holding little Katie.

I would also like to thank Wells Fargo, Capital One and Chase Bank for sending me bills in mail today, as I was quite unsure of what I was going to do with my paycheck tomorrow. LOL :)

I also want to thank all of you who chose to ignore the individual who hijacked my computer last night and posted some ridiculous rantings! I had a long talk with her and I don't think it will ever happen again!!!!!!!!!

One last note: I haven't had ice cream in 4 days and guess what? I haven't been ill for 4 nights! Do you think God is really trying to tell me something? Well, I believe I got the message so...... Sorry Dairy Queen, though I Love your Yummies...they don't love my Tummy and I must say Bye-Bye!!!!

Considering Life With Joy,
Cindy

Got Your Cleaning Supplies????

Do you have your cleaning supplies ready???

WHY???

Because Mark is getting ready to come HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With cautious optimism we are expecting hubby to come home in the next few days.

He finally has a complete diagnosis of Legionella (bacteria), Pseudomonas (bacteria) AND Aspergillus (MOLD) growing in his lungs. Now that we have the real culprit we can administer the correct course of treatment and get this guy home.

Don't get me wrong, I realize he has a Very LONG road of recovery ahead but it will be So nice to have him home and be able to begin the process of healing together.

As you can see he is Very Frail

Additional medications will be added to his already long list, protein, protein, protein will be the menu of necessity in order to put some meat on his very frail body, lots of water to maintain kidney health and regular blood tests to watch his kidney function. Taking antibiotics and anti-fungal medications is counter active to taking anti-rejection meds. A vicious cycle that must be monitored closely in order to save his kidney AND save his life!!!

So now, in my spare time, I begin the process of cleaning a house that has been well occupied in my absence yet un-cleaned in, well shall we say, a Very Long Time.

I will update when we receive our marching orders:) In the meantime, I cannot express my gratitude to each of you for your continual prayer on behalf of hubby and our family. My heart so desires to reach out and hug each of you in person and allow my eyes to express my love for you. Until that time you have to know that I appreciate each comment and word of encouragement received during this very long (34) day hospital stay.

Considering Cleaning With Great Joy (Sort-of),

Cindy

Just For Tonight!

Just for tonight I wish I could wake up from this 30 day nightmare and make it all go away

Just for tonight I wish I had someone to hold me and tell me it is going to be okay.

Just for tonight I wish I didn't have to worry that in 53 short days we will no longer have medical insurance.

Just for tonight I wish I didn't know that we have racked up nearly $500.000.00 in medical bills this summer with no end in sight.

Just for tonight I wish that ice cream and Reese's peanut butter cups didn't have any calories and that my tummy didn't fight back when I ate them.

Just for tonight I wish that son #2 didn't have to change his life so much because of his daddy's illness.

Just for tonight I wish I could walk in my bedroom and see my hubby sitting there.

Just for tonight I wish we had answers instead of questions.

Just for tonight I wish I could have used my PTO for a real vacation at the beach (did you know how much I LOVE the beach?)

Just for tonight I wish that I would have been able to spend more time with my newest grandbaby before she got so big.

Just for tonight I wish life was fair.

Just for tonight I wish................

But since wishes are not reality and life really isn't fair sometimes I must accept my new normal and this life as it is.

The reality is that life has changed for all of us inside these walls, hubby has been hospitalized for 30 days, I don't have anyone here to hold me, there is a HUGE stack of medical bills on my desk, we will NOT have medical insurance 53 days from now, son #2 has had to change his daily life, I haven't had much time to hold my little K-bel or K-bug, PTO has been used for hospital trips instead of beach trips, there are still more questions than answers AND Ice Cream has Way too many calories...but I think I'll have some anyway.

Update: Mark is recovering ok from surgery, however, he has not been able to come off the oxygen mask therefore he is still in CVICU, still has cath and 2 chest tubes plus pic line. He weights only about 105 pounds and has no appetite, his WBC has gone up over 25. (which is Very high), his albumin remains at 1.6 (Very low), no protein stores, and though we are grateful he made it through surgery, he continues to be a Very sick man.

Update on me: HaHaHa - you only thought I'd tell you:)

I will leave you tonight with this song. One of my favorites and one

No matter what I face or what storm chases me, I WILL PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Considering It All Joy, Cindy

Prayer Seeking Update!

For 28 days I have prayed that I would not have to write this post.
However God has chosen a different course of treatment than what was in my heart.


Here is the latest update on Mark:


Thursday morning (day 29) I will again make the journey to the hospital and this time it will be to walk down to the second floor surgical area. The second lung biopsy came back with no clear results. This afternoon we met with 4 doctors from pulmonology, infectious disease, nephrology and cardiology, all were in agreement that open lung biopsy is necessary. This will be preformed tomorrow. At the same time the cardiologist will extract as much fluid as possible from around Mark's heart. It seems that he has congestive heart failure and 'while they are at it' it is just best to remove as much fluid as they can.


Unfortunately Mark has a 20% chance of mortality during the surgery and more than 50% chance of encountering major complications during/post surgery. However, because there are NO understood diagnoses of why his lungs are bleeding and why he has massive disease in his lungs the benefits still outweigh the risks.


To say I am concerned is an understatement YET I KNOW MY GOD!!!!!


Mark and I both have total faith that God is in control and the outcome, whatever it may be, is HIS plan. We continue to share our love and commitment for each other and stand side by side with hands raised in praise to our God who has loved us and walked with us for some 30+ years. His plan is our purpose!!!


So tonight, as I prepare my heart, I just seek His face and His peace during this season of our lives and I ask you to do the same. On our behalf as well as the thouands around our world who are facing challenges like this and worse.


I rest in our family motto: "Through It All, FAITH"


Considering It All Joy,
Cindy