Straight from Marty

*you can comment anonymous and not sign up for account. Please feel free to write back to Marty, he is asking if anyone has responded.

Marty is a man of few words, he is not a talkative guy, he is very humble and not one to boast. He is also not one to share his problems or troubles with anyone. So this will be a first, I hope I can get him to cooperate.

What is your favorite childhood memory? Christmas time growing up. His favorite Christmas song is Little Drummer boy. It reminds him of laying in bed with his dad when he was a boy. His dad would leave the radio on really low and that song would play.

Is there a scripture that is helping you get through this time? James 1:12 ¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.


How does he feel having to rely on you for so much? I definitely feel that, I am blessed. Sometimes I feel bad.


How do you think the kids are dealing with it? I think that the kids are handling as much as they can handle right now. I don't think they quite understand the level of sickness that I have and what it might mean.


Why don't you want anyone to know? I just don't want anyone to pity me. I am afraid of people pitying me.


How do you feel about the system in place for transplants? It is broken. But, how do you fix it?


How tired do you really get? So tired it hurts to move sometimes. Tired of being sick and getting nauseous. Tired of carrying the extra weight around. To the point when my hemoglobin is low it hurts to walk.(normally Marty weighs about 140 pounds, right now he is 220)


What do you think life will be like after your transplant? I can only go on the hope of people that have already been transplanted. They say that you are sick for so long that you are used to it. You lose track of the end goal and you forget what it is like to be healthy. So far we have only heard good things about post transplant life.


What keeps you going? My kids and Julie. I want to see them grow up and I want to grow old with Julie.


Describe Conner? he is a young man who is willing to do anything to help anyone. He tries his hardest whether it be the easy way or the hard way.


Describe Elizabeth? She marches to the beat of her own drum. She is strong willed but very smart.


What your favorite thing to do? Spend time with my family, play the bass and look up new chords to learn.


What do you think of your wife's blogging? I guess it is good for her to have a hobby. We are two different people, I am very quiet and you are very talkative. The way you express yourself is through your blog.


Anything you would like to say to my blog readers? No!


So there you have it, about half way through he was done. He said, that I knew most of the answers and was just making questions up.Thank you to those who submitted questions.

Movies I love

*Tomorrow will be my interview with Marty, still time to send in questions. I have some really great ones that people gave me already.


I love this time of year, all of the great movies play everyday on television. Yesterday, I watched so many classics on TMC. I love TMC and Robert Osbourne, I love old movies and the grandeur that goes with them. But I also love many of the classics of today and especially when they have memorable lines. My newest favorite is Elf, I bought it for 3.99 at Target yesterday. My favorite line from that movie is "Candy,Candy Canes,Candy Corns and Syrup. Those are the four main Elf food groups." or "Oooo, he's a angry elf."

Today I watched my favorite movie for quoting, Father of the Bride. I used to walk around quoting that movie constantly in high school. My favorite memory is that my Dad took me to see that movie with him when it came out. I ended up dancing to "The Way You Look Tonight" with him at my wedding because of it. I still crack up when I watch that movie. Martin Short played Hank( must be said Haank) so well and really stole the movie. My favorite line is "He is aaa genius and we need his mahind" or "the chipper shicken". I haven't ever watched that movie with E yet. That is on the must do list.

Right now we are sitting watching A Boy Named Charlie Brown. My kids love all the Peanuts movies, even more than Disney movies. If you know my family that is practically a crime.

So tell me, what are your favorite movies?

Black Friday and food hangover

I went out at 4 am, I am nuts! This is the earliest that we have ever gone out but we wanted a tv from Target. I got it, but it had been dropped and didn't work. So I ended up taking it back. The best deal of the day was towels for a buck fifty! We mostly got a lot of necessities and stuff for regular everyday use.

We just got done eating leftovers and now we are going to watch Elf. I love that movie, my favorite quote is " The four main Elf food groups are candy,candy canes, candy corn and maple syrup." Conner has Chase over to spend the night and hang out.

"I sound frail and brittle"

So Marty read some of my blog today, not my idea but he clicked on my bookmark. He says he sounds frail,brittle and on his last leg. I told him it might be hard for him to read, but it is the truth. He is not frail and I don't think that I make him sound that way.

 He has been talking more lately about his condition and listening a little more. He really doesn't like to talk about it at all or read about it, hear about it either. So, I decided that this weekend I will interview him for my blog.
That way he can have a voice in this and get his side of the story out there too. So anybody have any questions? you can email, Facebook or message me in any form you like. I think it might be nice for you to hear from him.

It never gets easier

 Holidays never get easier, time and healing happen but the holidays are still hard. I have been hearing that from so many people today. Friends missing their daughter and sister, aching for her to be with them. Friends missing parents, wishing for more time. I truly think death is the hardest part of life and grief goes along with that. Most of this blog has been about grief and different stages of grieving.

Most of 2006, I spent writing about losing my my grandparents and the aftermath of their deaths. Then our finding out that Marty was sick and the grief that followed that. I started reading Di's blog during the loss of her father and the grief that followed.

My Grandparents all loved holidays and we had such great times together. Now I just try to carry on the traditions they set forth and remember them in them.

Our family motto

 I am a worrier, from a family of worrier's. I like to worry about everything, sometimes to the point of obsessing on things. Oh, you have a problem....I will worry about it for you. More often than not I drive Marty and my friends crazy with my worrying. The past few years things have been changing and my worry has subsided substantially. Even facing tough times lately I haven't been worried.


When I do catch myself worrying, I always go to this verse in the bible. It is a family favorite and our motto. It really helps put things into perspective.












^6:25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?
 ²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. worry about it for you. That is me, princess of the worriers and I drive my husband and friends nuts. I have gotten better over time and don't worry as much anymore. It takes too much time and really gets you nowhere. For the most part things always work out eventually.

Our family has a favorite verse in the bible, it has gotten us through many tough times including the one we currently face.

Matthew 6:

Elizabeth birth story

A few months back I wrote out Conner's birth story with the promise of writing Elizabeth's eventually. Warning, this could contain TMI that you might not want to read. You have been warned.

I found out that I was pregnant with Elizabeth in August of 1999, two months after losing a baby. It was quite a emotional time for me. We had just moved here to Visalia, we were getting back on our feet and things were crazy. After losing the baby we decided to try again and not wait, was this smart? no, we weren't really thinking with our brains. It was more of a emotional decision, that I am very glad we made. It was a very emotional pregnancy, filled with fear and anxiety well past three months.

Overall, it was a better pregnancy than Conner, not filled with constant morning sickness or horrible heartburn. I just didn't like the smell of meat and craved cold Sunkist( they had to be Sunkist) oranges sliced. I worked and had these horrible near black out spells after standing too long. The room would grow dim and my head would feel fuzzy. I had the pleasure of being seen by a wonderful Nurse Midwife here in our city. She was very supportive and understood that I was a emotional wreck. She also lobbied for me to get my tubes tied even though I was only twenty three. I had a sinking uterus that laid on my bladder causing all sorts of problems.

I was pregnant until 39 weeks, four more weeks than I went with Conner. I seriously do not know how people carry babies past 40 weeks. I think of when Andrea was pregnant with Tate, I WOULD HAVE DIED! So Rita gave me the option of induction and picked the date for me to go in. I went in for the day, got Cyotec placed. I laid there and laid there, to no avail so they sent me home. We went out to eat before picking up Conner and went home. Went home and things really started moving along, I started to labor and be the evening went back to the hospital.

 It was a very painful labor, much more painful than my labor with Conner. I spent most of the night standing and sitting in the bath tub. I loved having options that didn't force me to stay in bed like with Conner. Marty and my mom were great coaches as before. Marty really understood how to get in my face and calm me down, he really was a great partner. I was able to stay drug free and off the iv for the whole night. By 8:00 in the morning they discovered that Elizabeth was posterior and not turning. Rita talked me into getting a epidural, she said sometimes those will help a baby flip and drop.

So at 8:30 they came in and set me up, they got the epidural placed and laid me down by 8:45. By 9:00 I was ready to push, she flipped that fast! By 9:30 she was born, crying and screaming just like she is today! It was a wonderful birth that changed my life. I became very passionate about labor and delivery and learned things don't have to be one way. I felt healed by the experience and empowered, it really was a beautiful event.

Three years later, I was able to get a job at the hospital working as a doula. It was a wonderful way to help other women in their birthing experience. I loved being there and helping others learn, it doesn't have to be horrible and miserable. I loved my time there and still look forward to returning to the field someday.

My daughter has a issue and this is where is started

Elizabeth is terrified of vomiting, absolutely terrified. If there is a mention of vomit, she leaves the room, if Conner vomits she won't come out of her room for the whole day. Tonight we went out to eat for Conner's birthday with my dad and she wanted to leave when the food came. She said " I am tired, I am ready to go home." and the it hit me. She was scared, scared that Conner would over eat. Why you ask? because of something that happened in 2006. I titled the post "Father's day hysteria", it was my Dad's first fathers day without his dad and we had him come visit. We took him to Tahoe Joe's in Fresno and what ensued is of epic proportions. Enough to scar Elizabeth for life. If you click on the title it will lead you to that post.

My first post

Once again being a cheater and copying Di, boy she has some good ideas. She recently posted her very first blog and I thought that was a great idea. I originally started blogging on myspace and then moved to blogger in 2006. I copied all of my blogs from there to here. I hope you enjoy reading this blast from the past.

Click on the title of this post to read it!

One week left, I can do it

Friday means another day closer to the end of NaBloPoMo. The first part was rough posting from my phone but now I am getting into the swing of things. Next week I should be back on my game and getting this blog cleaned up.What a mess it has become since I was computerless. I have tagging, title fixing and numerous other things to do.

I have felt great this week. I have felt such peace and comfort, blessed to have so much support. I am thankful for all the people who pray for us and support us. We are very blessed and I know it, I can feel people holding us up in prayer and support. I am especially thankful to a small group of friends who listen to me daily prattle on about life. I chatter alot, email a lot, facebook a lot and it can be annoying. But, it helps me greatly to have a outlet. My husband isn't much of a talker and really does not want to talk about what is going on. Having friends like Andrea,Caroline, Di, Stacy and Sam who listen to me drone on really does help.My amazing prayer group of twelve women from all over the country, who God put in my life at the exact right time. Plus all of my wonderful Facebook friends to boot, even though spending time on the computer is not healthy it is a way for me to not feel stuck at home. It is hard to leave Marty and the house most days and by using the computer I feel like things are not flying past me.

So, from the bottom of my heart to all of you, Thank you. For listening,calling,emailing and texting me. You might not realize it but it helps me so much. I love you all dearly for it.

Doing something fun!

Tonight I am going to see New Moon at 12:01. Last year our bowling partner and friend Tammy gave me the book Twilight. I am not into Sci-Fi or Horror, so I thought I would hate the book. I started reading it and it dragged for awhile. Then I was hooked, it is a interesting story, nothing new or original for the most part but a really intriguing story. I know some people might not like the whole idea of Vampires because I know that I really don't. But this is different, it has some really good points and some really bad points. It is just fiction though and I don't buy into anything from it.

After I read the books, I found out several close friends read the books and loved them too. I talked with one and we decided to go out to the midnight showing of New Moon. It was actually my least favorite book in the series, mainly because it deals with a broken heart. If you were a teenage girl once, you could throughly relate to this story. I am not so sure that it is really for teenagers as much as adults.

So tonight, I am going to do something fun and different. I don't get the chance to do many girl's nights out anymore and this is a real treat. Marty is staying home to watch the kids for me and encouraged me to go. What a nice guy! I am really excited about the next movie since it was my favorite book in the whole series.

I totally forgot where I was headed with that last post

I was inspired by a jewelry commercial to write the last post. It is a Jared commercial where the boyfriend is taking the girlfriend to the places where all the firsts happened. So I started thinking about all of our first and decided to write them down.

The night we got engaged, Marty took me to Sizzler for dinner. That is a long standing joke with us nowdays but hey, we were 18yrs. old. Then he took me to the Huntington Beach pier and we walked down about halfway. He sat me down on a bench and gave me a card, he told me to open it and read it. I read it and at the very end it  said "Will you marry me?" when I looked up he was down on one knee. It was very sweet and romantic, I remember walking back to the car talking about the future. What a wonderful memory to have and hold on to.

The story of us

I have been blogging for many years and never told the story of Marty and I. So it is time to write down once and for all. First, I will fill you in on where I was at when we met and where I came from. Then the story of that day when we fell in love.

 I was a girl of many crushes, my first crush was in elementary school and the list went on. I had a phone boyfriend by the age of 12. My first real boyfriend was from 12 until I was 15. I then made a decision to not date anymore. I decided to enjoy high school and just be myself, I still did have boys that I liked but I didn't seek out relationships. I figured it was like being lost in a forest and eventually I would be found. I spent much of my senior year with unrequited love for my good friend. I spent all of my time trying to wait for him to like me back.

 During these years, I knew Marty. We weren't friends, but had many friends in common and rode the bus together during our junior high years. I remember walking near him, sitting next to him in a car ride one time and being at a after prom party with him. I really thought he was snobby because he didn't talk to me.

 The summer we graduated found us both spending time at my friends house. She was friends with Marty's friend Albert. So one day, they all came over to hang out with Jenny and I was there. I remember Marty coming into the room one way and I came in another. He looked at me and I looked at him, my heart was gone. There was something in that look that sealed my future, I now know it was God and his plan for us. A friend of his Jaron's dad was getting married and he needed a date. Albert actually asked me to go with him, so he could go with my sister Carrie.

 I agreed, even though I thought Marty had a girlfriend. In fact, I saw him with her twice and one time he kissed her on the cheek when I was sitting in the car! He says that was a goodbye kiss because he wasn't dating her anymore! okay, moving on from that now. We went to the wedding which was in a Christian church, I remember holding his hand and knowing we would be married someday. Once again, God at work.

 We broke up for a month because of a misunderstanding and untruth. We decided we couldn't be apart and that we needed to always be honest with one another from then on. We dated for three months and decided we wanted to get married. December 7th of 1994 we got engaged with the premise it would be a long engagement. We promised our parents we would wait two years and be married December of 1996. They wanted us to be sure and not jump into anything. Since we both came from broken homes, this was a good idea.

 We grew and blossomed in our relationship, eventually I was helping Marty care for his dad and Grandma. His dad was very sick and after his grandma died, we knew it wouldn't be long. So we moved the wedding up to the first date the Disneyland hotel had available. We went from having a year left to plan to having four months to plan. Everyone was wonderful and helped us get things together. In fact,my aunt Al picked my bridesmaid dresses out and my cousins always hassle me about them, I say, "Talk to your mother." because I agreed to them on short notice.

 We found a minister via Disney since we did not attend church at that time. We picked a religious service out of his book. It was a true covenant before God that we made and I am so glad with the words we said. It was a beautiful, windy, clear day in March and something we have fond memories of forever.

 It was our fairytale wedding and we have always been happy with how it turned out. Even though we were young and not clear on life, we made the right choice. I know that I married the person that I was supposed to. We have had many trials that most people our age have never faced. We have buried his Dad and faced many things our parents didn't until much later. We have struggled to make a life for ourselves. We are so proud of the fact those things brought us closer and made us stronger.

Many marriages would have crumbled under the stress. The best decision we ever made was to move away and make our own life. We decided to put Christ at the center of our marriage and allow his help to be our strength. We are blessed and we know it, we are blessed with love!

Some things about me

Di did this and I will shamelessly copy her! By the way be sure to check out her blog. The link is on my page.

I don't eat baked fruit pies. How un-American is that.
I don't drink milk.
I have only ever had three jobs.
I was voted "Most likely to cry at the movies" my senior year in high school.
I once rode on the Goodyear blimp.
My parents divorced when I was 13
I have small feet used to wear a five. Since I've had kids now its six and a half.
I am pigeon toed. My mom and sister are also.
I once got blood in my eye and mouth while labor coaching.
When I meet people, the first thing I notice is teeth.
I love old movies

I have a computer!

We got a new computer today. Unfortunately, we had to get a PC until we can buy a Mac. Oh well, at least it will be better than the phone. You won't find me complaining.
Came home, got ready to hop online and nothing. It took a hour on the phone to India to get me setup. Only to find out, my internet is slower than dialup. So back to the phone for now. At least there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hard to believe

Today Conner turns twelve. One year from today he will be a teenager. Everytime I look at him, I see our little buddy in his baby face. Just seems like yesterday I spent 36 hours in labor with him. Sad that time has gone by so fast. Marty and I get sad thinking how fast this has gone by.
He truly is the joy in this home. He makes us laugh constantly. Somedays I wish that I could record all the funny things he says. He is truly a crack up. He has a heart of gold that is so giving and kind. He is a hard worker with a work ethic that most adults lack. We are truly blessed!
Happy birthday Conner, we love you buddy!

Gramie's Famous Rigatoni

When I was a little girl, my Gramie would always make this for me. I would beg for it for birthdays and special occasions. The best rigatoni recipe in my book and something she never shared. Too good not to share.

Gramie's rigatoni
1lb stew meat
1lb sausage (1/2 sweet, 1/2 hot)
2 shakes dry parsley
1/2 onion
1 pkg dry spaghetti sauce mix
2 cans tomato paste(save one can to add 5 cans of water)
2 small cans of tomato sauce
1 can mushroom pieces
1 box of rigatoni noodles
Grated Romano cheese
Directions
Add small amount of oil to cover bottom of pan. Add meat,sausage,onion,parsley flakes. Simmer meat until liquid cooks down and meat browns. Add tomato paste,water,tomato sauce,spaghetti sauce mix. Simmer. Add mushroom pieces. Boil noodles,drain and cover with romano cheese and add to meat and sauce. Serve and you will surely enjoy.

Guy's Big Bite Flank Steak Tacos

1 flank steak
3 tablespoons dried mexican oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Coarse sea salt
Black pepper
24 ounces beef stock
2 cups water
4 cloves mashed garlic
1 sweet onion
3 bay leaves
12 peppercorns
Rub oregano and cumin,salt and pepper on the flank steak. Place in bottom of slow cooker. Put,water,broth,onion,garlic,bay leaves and peppercorns in. Cook on low 5-6 hrs. Shred beef with a fork a long the grain.
Serve with tortillas and taco fixings.

Dump and run recipes: Crockpot Salsa Meat

Ingredients
3 lbs of stew meat
1 large jar of Pace picante (I use mild)
Directions
Put stew meat in bottom of crockpot and pour salsa over. Cook on low for 8 hrs. Makes great burrito filling.
Pulled pork sandwich meat(Conner's favorite)
3-4 pound pork roast( I usually get picnic cut)
2 bottles of bbq sauce
Salt&Pepper to taste
Garlic to taste
1 tbsp. brown sugar
Whole wheat buns
Directions
Put pork roast in slow cooker. Season and add enough water to cover. Cook on low 6hrs before adding bbq sauce. Cook on low another two hrs. Remove the roast and pull apart. Serve on whole wheat buns.

Kim's chicken and dumplins, slow cooker style.

Ingredients
4 boneless,skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
2(10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 onion, finely diced
2(10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough,torn into pieces.
Optional, bag of mixed veggies
Directions
1. Place chicken,butter,soup and onion,in a slow cooker, fill with enough water to cover
2. Cover and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving,place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center. If adding frozen veggies add at the same time.

Caroline's roast and gravy, Crockpot recipe

5lb beef roast( I use whatever is on sale.)
1 package Lipton onion soup mix
1 can family size cream of mushroom soup
Put roast in bottom of crockpot. Pour soup and soup mix over roast. Mix the two together. Cover and cook on low for 8hrs.
This makes the best gravy and is great w/ mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower.

Slow cooker stuffed chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breast (I buy thin cut)
8 ounces feta cheese(drained)
3 cups fresh,chopped spinach leaves
1/3 of a cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes,drained and chopped
1 teaspoon minced lemon zest
1 tsp. dried basil,oregano or mint
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Black pepper to taste
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes, including juice
1/2 cup black olives
I don't use the mint,sun dried tomatoes, or lemon. Just my own preference.
If using regular chicken breast, place between plastic wrap and pound to 1/4 inch thick.
Combine feta,spinach,tomatoes,zest,basil,garlic,pepper in a medium bowl. Lay chicken down smooth side down. Place 2 tablespoons of fet mixture on the wide end of breast.

Repeat the step with each chicken breast. Place seam side down in crockpot. Top with canned tomatoes. Cook 5 1/2 to 6 hours on LOW or 4 hrs on HIGH.
I serve with rice. The cookbook suggests polenta. Super yummy!
Taken from Rival Slow Cooker cookbook.

lazy Saturday post!

Slow day, just relaxing at home. Went to see our good friend Lola. Going to see our good friends kid's in a play tonight. Just a really quiet day. Next week I will be posting crockpot recipes everyday. So if you are in a slump, be sure to check them out.

Think of their family, not ours.

Today marks two years of waiting. Really short in comparision to the family who will live forever without their loved one. Pray not for us but for them. Our wait is short compared to theirs.

final word

My hubby and I are thankful he has a job period! Plus, the health insurance that pays 100 percent. We are blessed! Footnote: I would go get a job but I have to take care of Marty. I am not above working and would in a heartbeat. There is just no way it would work.

Wherein, I end my rant(I lied)

So it might be awhile of being computerless. It bugs me less and less each day. It's not a big deal in the scheme of things. It actually makes internet usage less and easier.

We aren't losing our home, many are. We aren't starving, many are. We aren't losing our car, many are. We are blessed!

Just wanted to shed light on the situation facing State Employees. This will go on until July of 2010. It's not over yet.

Part three of my rant

So we have battened down the hatches and riden this storm out. It has been tight. Especially with the unexpected moving expenses. But, we aren't complaining because we are fortunate!

But, to watch my husband with a end stage disease go to work everyday and not get his full wage. Now that makes me angry. We want to see the State get out of the mess. We pay our taxes, car registration and bills. We buy in state. We do our part, but taking more and more each month isn't fair.

Hey Gov, why is your wife not paying the fine for talking on her cell phone? Or for parking in a red zone? She did the crime and that money would help.

It's all the Governators fault!

"So why not just run out and buy a new computer?" , you say. Well, we want another Mac. They are pricey but worth it. We want to buy a new, not used as before.

Secondly, the Governor and his furloughs are why! At first, it was two days a month. Next, it was three. It has now become 25 percent of our income. So most of our discretionary funds are gone. We are lucky, compared to most of our friends. His co-workers are losing homes and having to file bankruptcy. A few with dual incomes at that.

We have done well with living within our means. We have been credit card free living since 1998 and don't want to start now.

"What is up with your titles?"

In July, my Mac died. The second one this year. Granted both of them were bought used and I surely abused them. Instead of running out and buying a replacement, we have waited. So as of late I have been using my cell phone to surf the web.

In some cases, it works great and in other cases it is not so great. Facebook has a great mobile site. Blogger and flickr allow you to SMS pictures and posts. But, it won't allow me to post a title with my blogs. So I am putting the title at the top for now and will go back and fix things later.

Also, I can only write five pages of texts. So my posts will be short and continued.

Seen and heard around our house.

E is currently crying because C is annoying her.

C is full of energy today. Anyone surprised?

E has a sore throat and slight fever.

C just said " I understand you don't like to hug me." upon me not hugging back because I was eating a bagel.
Am now trying to explain he should put that energy to his school work.

Oscar(the dog) making a mess while eating his food. Upon me exclaiming," you're making a piggy mess." looks back and spits his food all over the floor.

Life is a regular three ring circus, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

New home

Unfortunately we started experiencing problems in our neighborhood last year. It got so bad that we were forced to move recently. I am so embarrassed by what our neighborhood became for the most part I don't want to talk about it.

Fortunately we found a nice home to rent down the street. Three blocks make a huge difference. We love the peace and quiet of our new home. We didn't realize how much stress just dealing with bad neighbors could cause.

We have a beautiful view and very nice neighbors. Thankful to be done with the whole ordeal.

The Church Family that Saved Us

Recently at church a lady named Evelyn came up and introduced herself to me. Her and her husband have been praying for us. She wanted me to know that. I told them to pray Saturday nights for us. It is always the worst day of the week. So they have been and things have been better.

Two weeks ago, we started talking about Stanford and the transplant. She mentioned Dennis had been a patient at Stanford before. I asked them where they stayed? And the replied their daughter lived nearby. My heart sank, I was hoping to gain more info regarding housing. I was told not to worry by the people at Stanford and I never have.

As the conversation goes on they reveal their daughter knows who we are and has been praying for us.They assure me that she would love to help us out. I leave excited by the prospect and went home to tell everyone that would listen.

Fast forward to the next Sunday. Evelyn tells us that not only will Stacy help but her small group has adopted us and her mom's group has offered child care. WOW! Stacy is actually excited to help us. What a relief and worry lifted off our shoulders. A true miracle and proof that people do care. Now if the call would just come.


Just got off the phone with Stacy herself. She was reading my blog! Thanks for being willing to open your home to us and be a part of God's big plan!

Maybe all of you could comment and let Stacy know how much we appreciate this!

" and she laughed at me."

As we were preparing to go out of town last week, I decided to call Stanford. I knew we would have no cell service and would need to leave a contact number.

I called and got the receptionist. I explained my situation and asked to leave the number. That is when.......she chuckled! She chuckled! To say I was upset and mortified was a understatement. She explained it was not long enough and was not necessary. I hung up greatly disturbed.

So today I called to speak to the coordinator. I told her that we didn't know what to do and that we're upset. "It's a big deal to us. You may see this everyday and are immune to people's need." , I explained. She apologized and said she would speak with the offending party.

NaBloPoMo 09'

Ahhh, once again November is upon us and National Blog Posting Month is here. At first ,just Di and I committed but it appears Andrea will join us again. We are glad that the blogging trifecta remains unbroken.

Bear with me, in July our computer died. We have had no desire to cheap out and buy a pc. So I will be blogging from my phone. Good thing Di loves me enough to help me out. She signed into my blog and found my code for blogging via cell phone.

Marty and I are just returning from a retreat today. I have so much to share about the happenings around our home as of late. I will tell you all about the retreat tomorrow.