Today

God wants us to move
through this day
with a quiet heart,
an inward asurance that
He is in control,
and a peaceful certainty
that our lives
are in His hands.

Update

Dad is better, but not well enough to come home. He will be placed in the same nursing home my Grandmother was in. It is a really nice one. He is mad at Mom because she is 'putting' him there. He said he would just walk home. My brother Wayne lives next door to my parents, and is keeping a real good eye on her.

The nursing home stay is to try to help him regain his strength, but we all know it could be that he ends up staying there.

That won't be easy on him,

.. .................or Mom,

.. ........................or us kids.

Dad

Monday evening my baby sister called, I cheerfully greeted her with ,"Hi Becky, how are you?" Really didn't care for her response, "Not so good, considering."

"Considering what?"

"We put Dad in the hospital tonight."

It seems he has gotten a nasty virus that has settled in his lungs and has left him very weak. The ER doctor wanted to send him home. Mom called their Dr, who then read the ER Dr the riot act and then some!!!!! The nurses are giving Dad regular treatments to try and clear out his lungs, and he is on oxygen.

Mom says she has given the situation to the Lord. Dad does have prostrate cancer and Alzheimer's. And he is 84. So, I guess Mom is handling it quite well.

I do ask for prayer for the family. Thanks.

Christmas with a Capital C

Here (hear) is a new Christmas song that is now on my favorite list. (Be warned, I am basically a kid--this a kid song by a kid group) you probably will have to copy and paste cuz this kid can't always make things work the way I want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAckfn8yiAQ

TIME

Time--I was so sure I had enough. And I probably had more than enough, but thieves came and stold some. My plans for great Christmas gifts are reduced to plans, unfulfilled. Unfinished....

But is it Christmas. The time of celebration of Christ's coming to earth as our Savior. We will still have a great time. Decorations are up, not as many as years past, but they are pretty and make us smile. Cards are coming in the mail, some with newsletters, some with photos to keep us updated and smiling. Visitors are coming, some with treats. All with smiles and good visits leaving us smiling and feeling great. Packages come, surprises await us. Smiles, good feelings, and love.

This the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24

Yeah for Son-in-laws

This evening my son-in-law decided that enough was enough. He came loaded with tools and determination to rid my blog of problems. Oh no, not my blog, my sink. He dismantled various joints and ran snakes and bend coat hangers in the pluged pipes. Lots of black, stinking, thick gunk drained out. Unfortunately, he ended up wearing some of it.

But the drain is open. Water descends. Susie & Dwight smile. And how in the world do you thank and repay a young man like our Tim? Can not even begin to imagine. He sure does not fit the stereotype of in-law-kids.

THANKS TIM. You are a terrific.

More $$$$$$

Well, the sink is still clogged. Three failed attempts with very strong drain opener. The last one should have been left at the store. All it did was smell up the house with horrid fumes, had a pan of vanilla water simmering on the stove all evening and asked Aaron to take the kids home early. Yuck!!

I tried running the dishwasher, which runs into the same pipe and it was fine. So the blockage is above. It has a spot where I can remove part of the pipe, but I don't want to do it alone, but since everyone is quite busy when I am free and I am busy when they are free I guess it is time to call in the 'pros'. My checkbook hates that idea.

God is good, all the time, even when we have such frustrations. Things could be worse....we could have no water, or all the pipes could have a problem. Right now it is wash into buckets and dump the buckets. I can handle that for awhile.

Good News, Bad News

Dwight made some calls yesterday and found a registered Maytag repair place. They said that some of the parts of the frig carried a 10 year warranty and we would only pay labor if it was one of them. It wasn't. But it was a part that Maytag has had problems with and the new and improved replaced was right in the truck. So for $180 we are cold again (in the frig). Just in time, as the weather here took an Ohio turn and was heading for 50 when I left for work. We did have to throw some more food away, but we do have some in the newly cleaned and rearranged frig. I changed some of the shelving around and let Dwight put in the frig stuff so he can get to it easier for him. We are thankful to our Great God for the repair, it is alot less than even the least expensive refrigerator that wouldn't have been as nice as the one we have.

BAD NEWS--As I was finishing a comment on my sister's new blog (which it wouldn't let me post) Dwight called from the kitchen that both sides of the sink were plugged.
And after a half hour of work they are still plugged. With foul, dark, yucky water from the pans he was washing. Of course this old house has weird drains. And, of course I have NO Draino in the house. And I am not about to go out at this hour, in this neighborhood to get any, tomorrow will have to do. Hope I can wake myself early enough to do so. My alarm clock quit working Sunday and Dwight sleeps thru his. Boy is getting older interesting. And I have a cold, poor me. They have the heat turned heat down in Jo Ann's and twice last week I got really chilled. And now...

But God is good, I still have a job, contrary to rumors and the latest news; see: http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20081205/FREE/812059947/1090/RSS0.

It is Advent, and we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We wonder at the fulfilment of the prophecies. This a time I love to get out my Thompson Chain Reference Bible and reread them all. And the Christmas music. So many styles. So many artists. Our satellite has a CD holiday station and we listen for awhile every night.

Thankful for bitter cold?!?!?!?

Altho it is no secret that I am a lover of snow, bitter cold is not my list of favorites. I really don't like being cold. When we lived in Leetonia and heated with a wood burner during the day I heated at night with an electric blanket and lots of extra blankets.

But Saturday morning I was thankful it was cold, and that it is still cold. You see, I found my refrigerator had died. Like some people, it was only blowing hot air. I quickly found some boxes and loaded up meat and such from the freezer and took it to the garage/shop. While I was at work Dwight tried to find a repair person. Seems they like answer machines on Saturday. All but one gave their hours Monday thur Friday. That one stated that their rate is $92 an hour plus parts. Ouch!

I was prepared to go to Home Depot and pick one out Saturday after work but Dwight thinks we should wait till he talks with a breathing person. I am sure it is the compressor--after all it wasn't blowing cold air! Seems that when we had the compressor replaced on our frig in Leetonia 15-20 years ago it cost about $100.

Tomorrow will be the deciding day. In the mean time - meat is in the garage and a foam cooler is sitting outside the back door and the refrig sits empty. OH--and I have made three trips to the trash can with everything that spoiled or would spoil.

Some people say that they have a black cloud over them--I am tempted to look over my shoulder for mine. I am thankful that I didn't buy alot of the things I had considered at Sam's club--fresh ground beef, frozen fish, a double pack of Velveeta, and other things. Normally I would have, but I must now acknowledge that God was keeping my hands off all that food that probably would have been lost.

But the SNOW is beautiful, soft and light. Could use a little more.