I'm Coming Back

I promise. January 5th will see activity every day on the ole bloggy. I'll try to catch you up on things of the past and present and future. No ghosts involved.

Talk About Jesus

Dear friend(s) in faithful attendance of this outpouring of my brain waves,

It is in times such as these that I wish I blogged more. So much is happening and the whole purpose of this blog is to capture life and to give us a way to remember life. Trouble is, I have no time to blog.

In the interest of being able to remember what it was that so consumed me, I will make a list of what I am doing (in no particular order):

All the technical support for the company (we have several million machines/customers)
All the customer support
Most of the sales
Dealing with resellers. 'Nough said.
Train our intern
Wife
Mommy
Manage Princess' Periodic Paralysis (makes me tired to think where we are headed...)
Manage my Periodic Paralysis (very consuming in the fall/winter)
Disciple two single women
Friend
And last, but not least, being called to The Anchor (preliminary name). I can't talk about this now, but it's ministry. It's consuming. It's overwhelming. It's ... it's God calling our family to be poured out like a drink offering. We have been in the praying stage for months (years?) and are now moving into the preliminary formation stages ... still praying like crazy. Want to know what in the world I am talking about? This is it in a nutshell. Listen to the youtube and ask me questions. I love to talk about this and we are thrilled and scared to death at the same time.

Puppy Love

My mom's dog, Samson and our poodle, Dixie.

Strep Throat

Princess has strep throat. It was a take-away gift from Thanksgiving. :) She's pretty miserable, but started antibiotics today.

King and I are not feeling on top of our game either. I hope we are not getting sick...

Busy

Suffice it to say, it's been busy. There is a lot going on and don't you wish I would blog about it? Me, too. Sorry to say, there is so little time.

I'm doing laundry, running errands, answering support tickets, emails, phone calls and we just had Princess' birthday party yesterday. whew.

I will try to blog over the holidays from my in-law's house.

And when I get home? Yes, thankyouverymuch. I'm decorating for Christmas! We always decorate as soon as we get home from our Thanksgiving trip. Can't wait!

Dear Jesus, Please Come Quickly!

Extremist Hindu groups offered money, food and alcohol to mobs to kill Christians and destroy their homes, according to Christian aid workers in the eastern state of Orissa.

The allegations follow the British Government’s refusal to prevent members of two radical groups linked to the worst antiChristian violence in India since Partition entering Britain.


The US-based head of a Christian organisation that runs several orphanages in Orissa – one of India’s poorest regions – claims that Christian leaders are being targeted by Hindu militants and carry a price on their heads. “The going price to kill a pastor is $250 (£170),” Faiz Rahman, the chairman of Good News India, said.

A spokesman for the All-India Christian Council said: “People are being offered rewards to kill, and to destroy churches and Christian properties. They are being offered foreign liquor, chicken, mutton and weapons. They are given petrol and kerosene.”


Ram Madhav, a spokesman for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the largest hardline Hindu group, denied the claims. “The accusation is absolutely false,” he said.

Orissa has suffered a series of murders and arson attacks in recent months, with at least 67 Christians killed, according to the Roman Catholic Church. Several thousand homes have been razed and hundreds of places of worship destroyed, and crops are now wasting in the fields.
In recent weeks the violence has subsided but at least 11,000 Christian refugees remain in camps in Kandhamal, the district worst affected. “They are too scared to go home. They know that if they return to their villages they will be forced to convert to Hinduism,” Father Manoj, who is based at the Archbishop’s office in Bhubaneshwar, the state capital, said.

The violence was triggered in August by the murder of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, a senior figure in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a hardline Hindu group, who had campaigned against the alleged forced conversions of poor Hindus by foreign-backed Christian missionaries.
Maoist militants claimed responsibility for the killing, but the VHP blamed Christians and called for revenge. This week extremists said that if Mr Lakshmanananda’s killers were not caught by December 15 they would begin a day of violence on December 25.

A group of Catholic bishops from Orissa believe that the attacks have a sinister objective.

In a letter to the state’s chief minister they wrote: “This conflict is a calculated and preplanned masterplan to wipe out Christianity from Kandhamal in order to realise the hidden agenda . . . of establishing a Hindu nation.”

This month Lord Malloch-Brown, Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, turned down a plea for members of the RSS and the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the VHP, to be barred from entering Britain.

“Neither organisation is proscribed in the United Kingdom or in India, nor do the Indian Government classify either as a terrorist organisation,” Lord Malloch-Brown said, in reply to a question from Lord Patten of Barnes. There have been calls from members of India’s ruling government coalition for the RSS and Bajrang Dal to be banned but analysts say the Government is unlikely to act for fear of alienating Hindu voters in the run-up to general elections in the spring.

The RSS has been outlawed temporarily three times; the first in 1948, after a former member assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.

Horse Crazy

For the horse crazy Princess ... riding lessons. The only better present than riding lessons would be the horse itself.

Enjoy, sweet Princess.

Pray for my Friend

My sweet friend, Aimster, could use your prayers today. The Lord knows all about it, so just lay her at His feet today.

Thinking of and praying for you, Aimster.

Happy Birthday, Princess

TJ brought you a special little cake.

Take and Retake

Princess,

This blog is to chronicle our lives. I am not a scribe, but this blog was started simply to chronicle what happens in life. I wanted a way to show pictures and write about what happens, so that if I go to heaven ahead of you and Daddy that you can sit down and re-read this blog to remember our life together.

Many times I write of the mundane. Often I write of my deep thoughts. Sometimes I can't write my thoughts at all. Those are some of the ones you most need to know, but this public forum doesn't lend itself to total vulnerability and honestly. With the way our life flies by, I'm thankful to have even this public forum to write about life.

Today is picture retake day. We are retaking your picture because the first pictures were taken while in an episode. Bless your heart, the picture shows a pretty girl with a pale face and dark circles under her eyes ... eyes that are droopy with exhaustion.

So, we set those pictures aside.

Today you have class pictures made and at the same time can have individual pictures retaken. Joy! We did all we could to help your body avoid episodes. You were supposed to go to the nurse's office at 9:15 to take your slow release potassium. It's 11:10 and you just called me. Exhausted. In an episode. Having just taken your picture retakes.

Sigh.

The pictures will look similar to the first, I expect. I console myself with the knowledge that 4th grade pictures will be accurately documented. It's been a tough time of Periodic Paralysis for you. The tough knowledge is that the hard times haven't even begun for you, yet. It will be another few years before Periodic Paralysis will fully unleash itself on your sweet body.

Please know that Daddy and I love you and are proud of you. Picture retakes are so insignificant. You are full of laughter and wittiness. Your sense of humor is so fun. And! I am so excited for your birthday celebration soon! You are going to flip out over your present. It's almost the very best thing you could wish for. Almost. The very best thing is related to what you are getting.

Just know that we love you. Jesus goes before you, behind you and guards you on each side.

Persevering Ants

Princess,

Thank you for sharing with me this amazing demonstration of perseverance! Watching these ants with their seemingly serious job of leaf-piece transportation was a marvel. You were so excited when you came into my office. You waited patiently while I returned a couple of business calls and then we set out to observe as you said, "A tremendous example of perseverance". You were right! Remember the north wind that was blowing? You said, "the leaf pieces are acting like sails" as our little ant fell down with his leaf. Undeterred, he picked up the gargantuan leaf and kept walking down his path. Oh, the determination and busy-ness!

On and on the ants marched in their line. Sometimes an ant got disoriented, but quickly he got back on track. I love the relational aspect of these ants. Remember above, how they followed the leader and stayed together?

Remember that they started at the top of this picture by the fenced in garden and continued their path along the rock path you are standing on? They continued all across the grassy area in this picture and went past me, over the wall to the creek where we lost sight of them. Where in the world were they going? I was astounded at the distance they traveled and the weight of their burden.

They were so persistent that they wore the grass away and a little "ant highway" was revealed.


I loved this example of two ants helping each other with this leaf piece. Oh, how I would love to have eavesdropped on their conversation!

No episodes again

Although Mommy got slammed with paralysis today, Princess made it through another day with no paralysis episodes. Woo-hoo!

3 days

Princess has made it three days at school with no episodes. (and a cheer went up from the crowd)

She is taking a maintenance dose of potassium mid morning, just before her potassium typically drops. In doing this, we are preventing an episode. This is so exciting because she was missing 2 hours of school per day previously.

Same Kind of Different As Me

This is the read aloud book that I have been reading to Princess. Well, it's such a good book that King joined the read aloud club. I had such a good time reading the book to them. We finished it yesterday and have had such sweet conversations about the lessons in Denver and Ron's lives.

Love unconditionally.
Believe the unbelievable.
Character matters.
Love never fails.
Every ending is another new beginning.
Mr. Ballantine characters are everywhere. Loving them is a verb, an action.
Be loyal.
Friendship is forever.
Don't catch and release.
Persevere.
Riches are counted on a heavenly scale.
Glorifying God is the ultimate purpose.
Grief stinks.
Pray for God's Perfect Will.
Fighting the good fight means taking a licking now and again.
Running the race means you'll get a stitch in your side and maybe throw up from the intensity of the race.
Perseverance is pain with payout.

Football Game

There's nothing like watching your Red Raiders with a snuggly little poodle. Go Tech!

She did it!

Princess made it an entire day at school with no episodes. This is like a first since early September.

"How?", you ask. Slow release potassium, my friend. She takes 2 slow release in the morning. Every day around 10:00, she has an episode. So, this morning I went up to school and gave her 2 slow release potassium tablets. It helped her make it through the day, plus 4-H after school.

Woo-hoo!!

Lincoln Logs

You never outgrow Lincoln Logs and they never wear out!

Visit Rocks in my Dryer for more toy tips.

Choice

Sometimes life defies description.

I think lonliness is one of the worst human emotions.

I also think it's one of the most productive emotions because it thrusts us one of two directions: into the arms of God or away from Him.

I miss the days of childhood when the greatest decisions were whether to ride my bike or not. Whether to swing on the swings or slide on the slide.

As an adult, I still swing on the swing of life and slide down difficult circumstances. I find that my response to the swing and slide are choices: I can cry with fear or squeal with delight. Delight takes an effort, but the Psalmist says, "I will give thanks to the Lord for His righteousness and I will sing praise to the Lord Most High." I am not giving thanks to the Lord for my circumstances, but for Who He is and because He is worthy.

Texas Tech vs Texas

Mack Brown's face defines how our UT friends felt on Saturday...

We were a little more excited!

Happy Birthday to me

I am spending time with family and friends and will be back in a couple of days.

Orissa, India

PLEASE PRAY! This is a request for prayer for YWAM (Youth With a Mission) missionaries and their churches in Orissa , India . The request came from Mabel Hurst, an associate of HCJB Global. Please read and make this a matter of urgent prayer.

Dear beloved sponsors and friends of Good News India,

We have never seen anything like this. We knew that Orissa was the most resistant and hostile State in India as far as The Gospel is concerned. And we brushed off the continuous threats and harassment we faced as we went about His work. But none of our staff imagined that they would see this kind of carnage....

And it seems to be totally under the radar of theWestern Media ....

Let me explain.... A militant Hindu priest and 4 of his attendants, who were zealously going around the villages of Orissa and 'reconverting' people back to Hinduism, were gunned down by unknown assailants in Central Orissa last weekend. Immediately the Christians were blamed.. The cry rose up...'Kill the Christians!' And the horror began....

In the past 4 days, we have first hand witness to hundreds of churches being blown up or burned and many, many dozens of Christian tribals have been slaughtered. For no other reason than they bear the name of Christ. Night and day I have been in touch with our Good News India Directors spread across 14 Dream Centers in Orissa... they are right in the middle of all this chaos.

In Tihidi, just after the police came to offer protection, a group of 70 blood-thirsty militants came to kill our staff and destroy the home. They were not allowed to get in, but they did a lot of damage to our Dream Center by throwing rocks and bricks and smashing our gate, etc. They have promised to come back and 'finish the job.' Our kids and staff are locked inside and have stayed that way with doors and windows shut for the past 3 days. It has been a time of desperately calling on the Lord in prayer. More police have come to offer protection.

In Kalahandi, the police and some local sympathizers got to our dream center and gave our staff and kids about 3 minutes notice to vacate. No one had time to even grab a change of clothes or any personal belonging. As they fled, the blood thirsty mob came to kill everyone in the building. We would have had a mass funeral there, but for His grace.

In Phulbani, the mob came looking for Christian homes and missions. The local Hindu people, our neighbors turned them away by saying that there were no Christians in this area. So they left.. We had favor. The same thing happened in Balasore. All our dream centers are under lock down with the kids and staff huddled inside and police outside.. The fanatics are circling outside waiting for a chance to kill. Others were not so fortunate.

In a nearby Catholic orphanage, the mob allowed the kids to leave and locked up a Priest and a computer teacher in house and burned them to death. Many believers have been killed and hacked into pieces and left on the road.... even women and children. At another orphanage run by another organization, when this began, the Director and his wife jumped on their motorbike and simply fled, leaving all the children and staff behind. Every one of our GNI directors that I have spoken to said: 'We stay with our kids.... we live together or die together, but we will never abandon what God has called us to do.'

More than 5000 Christian families have had their homes burned or destroyed. They have fled into the jungles and are living in great fear waiting for the authorities to bring about peace. But so far, no peace is foreseen. This will continue for another 10 days.... supposedly the 14 day mourning period for the slain Hindu priest. Many more Christians will die and their houses destroyed. Many more churches will be smashed down. The Federal government is trying to restore order and perhaps things will calm down.

We ask for your prayers. Only the hand of God can calm this storm. None of us know the meaning of persecution. But now our kids and staff know what that means. So many of our kids coming from Hindu backgrounds are confused and totally bewildered at what is happening around them. So many of their guardians have fled into the jungles and are unable to come and get them during these trying times. Through all this, I am more determined than ever to continue with our goal: the transformation of a community by transforming its children. Orissa will be saved... that is our heart's cry. If we can take these thousands of throw-away children and help them to become disciples of Jesus, they will transform an entire region. It is a long term goal, but it is strategic thinking in terms of the Great Commission. What can you do?

First, please uphold all this in fervent prayer.

Second, pass this e-mail on to as many friends as you can. We must get the word out and increase our prayer base for this is spiritual warfare at its most basic meaning. We are literally fighting the devil in order to live for His Kingdom. The next 10 days are crucial. We pray for peace and calm to pervade across Orissa. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please pass it on and help us to get as many people to partner with us on this cutting edge effort to fulfill His mandate: Go and make disciples of all nations.... Prayer works!

Blessings, Chip & Sandy Wanner Col 2:2 MBI Team Facilitators to YWAM frontlines

Paralysis

It's been a couple of days of paralysis episodes. It's been a record day for Princess. She went to the nurse 3 times today and had a record dosing of potassium.

Does God Exist and Is the Bible Accurate? Part 1

I have many posts on this subject. I should name them part 1, 2, 3, etc. Maybe I will.

One of the honest questions to ask when pondering eternity is, "Does God exist?" Great question. The answer is yes. Definitively. How can I say that? For several reasons, but one is:

Prophecy.

The God of the Bible is the only god who has predicted the future accurately and with specificity. If someone predicts something in the future with specificity and then it comes true? I have one word for you, Listen.

The bible asserts that all scripture in the Old and New Testaments are God-breathed. Meaning, the words come from the Big Guy himself. Let's prove that assertion. We would have to do that by proving that what He says is True. So, let's look at only one of the over 300 prophecies in the Bible. This is about the Messiah to come:

Psalm 22: 15-17 "15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." This prophecy is about the Messiah, hundreds of years before crucifixion was invented!

Matthew 27:32-36 fulfills the prophecy of Psalm 22:15-17. "32As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS."

In the Psalm prophecy the Messiah (with fulfillment in parenthesis):

1. strength would be dried up (Simon from Cyrene was forced to carry the cross for the exhausted Jesus Christ)


2. so thirsty that tongue sticks to the roof of mouth (offered Jesus wine with gall)


3. dying (Matthew 27:50, "Jesus cried out with a loud voice and gave up His spirit)


4. can count all his bones (when they crudified him, the divided up Jesus' clothes by casting lots)


5. clothing divided up and lots cast for clothing (this was repeated word for word in Matthew 27:35)

In the above prophecy example from Psalm 22, the future of the Messiah was foretold that he would have his hands and feet pierced (way before crucifixion was invented), be thirsty, strength gone, be gloated over and the kicker, have all his clothes divided up and lots cast for the clothing.

In the New Testament in Matthew, Jesus Christ was crucified, thirsty, too exhausted to carry his cross, a crowd mocked him and his clothes were divided up and lots cast for them.

So, if the God of the bible exists, there must be proof. We have to take the purported words of the God of the Bible and test them with history. Proof. The above example shows that history tells of a Jewish man being crucified, mocked, etc just as it was forehold hundred of years before.
There are only two results when looking into whether the God of the Bible is True: either God is a fake and his words will be fake and without support or God is True and His words will be supported with historical fact. You must decided whether you will believe the facts or disbelieve. What if today is your last day on earth and you disbelieve? When you walk out of here to over there (eternity), what if the God of the Bible is on the other side?

Dixie: Before and After

We bought Dixie from a "breeder" who was supposedly a very respectable woman. Not. She may have been at one time, but she lied to us before, during and after our visit to pick up Dixie. I asked lots of different questions. "Dixie is perfectly healthy, Honey", I was always assured. Dixie, I found out later, was a puppy mill mama. She had lived in a cage her whole life, churning out puppies. I knew nothing about poodles besides what I had researched. This lady had been raising and showing for years. I believed her. Took her advice. When Dixie did not eat for 9 out of the first 12 days with us, I called the breeder. "Oh, honey, she's just manipulating you", the breeder said. (Insert angry eyebrows)

I took Dixie to the vet and her teeth were so rotten that one of them actually fell out during the cleaning process. The initial evaluation after we brought her home was that she was going to need hundreds of dollars of surgeries to get her even close to healthy. I hate being lied to.

So, we declined the surgeries, except for the teeth cleaning. We loved Dixie, bathed her, learned how to groom her and changed her food. Turns out that Dixie was not manipulating me, but she couldn't eat the dried dog food because the darn breeder had let her teeth get so bad that her mouth was infected with rotten teeth. It hurt to eat! So, we started her on a soft diet. The picture of her on the floral pillow is how she looked after being bathed and groomed when she came to our family. It's sad to look at her condition, but she looked good compared to when we picked her up. She's brown because she's allergic to the grass and the breeder kept her in a cage ... outside in the grass. She kept her in a cage for 7 years. Seven. Dixie was so weak when she came to us that she couldn't jump on the couch. Her knees both dislocated with any exertion. That's what living in a cage will do for you, among other things. You'd think she would have a horrible disposition. Au contraire. Dixie loves all things created. Especially humans. New humans are the best. She's going to die of a heart attack one day over meeting a new human, I swear.


This is Dixie with Princess yesterday before the "lion cut". Dixie is all white now as she is an inside doggy. No more brown allergy legs for her. She is plump and strong and can jump very high and run like crazy.

She does the typical poodle "twirly-twirls" when she is excited. Twirly-twirls are poodle-love expressed by spinning in circles when very excited. Adorable and ... hilarious.

Here is Dixie with the "lion cut" from this weekend. This is what YouTube will do for you. I learned completely how to groom my poodle from YouTube. YouTube and a lot of practice.

POTUS/Barak Obama's Citizenship Authenticity

So, here's my real beef:

"The real outrage is that there's nothing in our system that provides that a candidate must provide that his qualifications are true and correct before he or she runs, and that safeguard should be put into our system by law," Philip J. Berg said.

Whether Obama is a legal citizen is a huge issue that needs to be resolved in the courts. My big concern is what Berg asserts: that no where in our system of law it is required of candidates to prove their qualifications.

What in the world???

This is what gives me peace...

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Rom 13:1

The October Surprise—Suit To Remove Barack Obama From The Ballot

After the introduction, this gets very, very interesting! Is Obama even eligible to be President??

Episodes

Princess and I are loving this weather change ... not so much. She has been in the nurse's office at least twice per day every day this week. I start each day paralyzed and sometimes it heads uphill after that and some days it goes downhill.

One of the hard parts of the low episodes is that it makes you so discouraged and overwhelmed. Last night, in an episode, Princess said, "I hate myself because I'm so stupid." Poor dear. The episodes impair one's cognitive function and really do make you feel like an absolute moron. We showed her the movie "A Beautiful Mind", the clearplay version and edited at that. We wanted her to see a true story of someone whose mind plays tricks on him and how he taught himself to ignore the lies of his mind. For those of us with PP, when our potassium drops, it can cause us to feel depressed, discouraged and to think untrue thoughts of ourselves and those around us. It's very sad. So, to assist Princess, we want her to be able to distinguish when she is having the feelings associated with a low episode and to speak the truth to herself and refute the lies. She is doing very well and watching the movie helped her.

Drycleaning At Home

Finding ways to cut costs has been a challenge. I have been using the Dryel product (that I can buy at Target) to dry clean my clothes. It works very well and saves money from the gasoline to and from the drycleaners as well as the drycleaner bill itself. Works for me! Visit Rocks In My Dyer for other tips.

I am so tired, I can barely hold my head up. It has been a good, but long day!

My shoes arrived! The boots are a bit short, so they have to go back. Alas. However, the bronze shoes are adorable!

Last night we went to an event. A couple sat next to us and we were catching up on our families. Our children were in 1st grade and kindergarten together. The dad asked me how Princess is doing, so I briefly explained that she was having Periodic Paralysis episodes and, thus, life looks a bit different this year. They are familiar with my Paralysis, so I mistakenly thought that was what he was asking about. I guess I was wrong. As I started saying this, he picked up a program on the table and started reading it. ... Like, totally disengaged from what I was saying. ??? I was answering his question, ferpete'sake. Anyway, it annoyed me some, but as I told King about it later, I have an easy annoyance for people who are non-authentic. Bugs me. It was a good reminder for myself to be intentional in conversations. I need to ask questions of people, not to be polite, but because I am truly interested in the answers. The gentleman is truly that, he's a gentleman and so I choose to forgive his rudeness, but I will remember being asked about my daughter's well being and then being ignored.

May I never do this myself.

Such a Picture of Her Life

As this picture is studied, it is a perfect picture of her life right now. From left to right:

• Dixe, the beloved 8 yr old tiny toy poodle
• rosy fabric boxes to hold her lincoln logs
• a watch to help her manage her Periodic Paralysis
• A bucket of Polly Pockets sticking out from under the bed
• The blue chair that Dixie uses to get up in bed with Princess at night
• The baby cradle that she slept in as a baby and that she uses for her 52 year old doll named April (The doll my mom got for Christmas when she was 10 years old)
• the white all-purpose table that houses her laptop and sewing projects
• a beautiful play stable full of horses from Gramma Bonnie
• her sewing machine
• two ride on horses, one is the robotic Butterscotch that she bought with her own money ($275!!) I just noticed that Butterscotch is sporting a "saddle blanket" that used to be Princess' great-grandmother's apron. :)
• and her very fun lincoln logs, a combination of King's childhood logs and her own collection

Shoe Love

I feel bad about leaving the grumpy Mama Bear post up for a day. I meant to post something fun a bit sooner. What is more fun than a bit of shoe love? So, let's talk shoes.

These precious shoes are now a part of my Shoe Love family. I didn't know how they would look in real life because they almost looked a little granny-ish from the website. Not granny shoes. They are so cute with slacks. I got them a week ago and love them so much ...
that I bought the bronze pair. They should arrive on Monday and I can't wait to see how the color turns out. Brown slacks, bronze shoes, pink sweater ... I'm just sayin'.

One of my triggers for my Periodic Paralysis episodes is getting too cold. Thus, it is important to keep my feet warm. And what better way than a supple pair of leather ankle boots?

Don't Mess With The Mama Bear

About the cardiology appt for Princess… I was very down after the appointment. Friend, it was like King and I weren’t even in the room. Nothing we said mattered. The doc was engaging as far as looking at us, but he kept talking about Anderson Tawil Syndrome. I said several times that we have tested negative for ALL the known mutations, including the known ATS. I told him in several different ways that Princess’s heart rhythm is normal until her K+ drops and then becomes irregular. After we get her K+ up and her strength returns, the heart rhythm returns to normal. This is what two different RN’s have observed multiple times at school plus what we have observed at home. He totally discounted this and in fact at one point said, “You know, I’ve been doing this a long time…”

What I am learning is that to graduate from medical school as a specialist, you must be arrogant. You must put zero credence in what anyone tells you and believe only what you can observe yourself. This skepticism goes for school nurse as well as the parents. This has been ABUNDANTLY clear over the past decade during my quest for answers for my Periodic Paralysis. It's maddening to encounter it again on Princess's behalf. No matter what we said, he assured us that fainting during an episode was a result of having her hair fixed and the pain receptors being excited, thus causing her autonomic system to blah, blah, blah. Now, how in the world can he ASSURE us of this? Based on a 45 second EKG done in his office a year after the episode in question? It didn’t matter what we said, he came back with “Her EKG is completely normal and all people with ATS consistently have irregular EKGs. She’s fine, but we’ll have her wear a holter monitor for 24 hours just to confirm this.”

She’s not fine. I mean, she is, but her heart is doing something peculiar during episodes and I want to know what is going on. Period. There. I’ve vented. The Mama Bear is roused. Let the specialists take note.

Key words: cardiologist specialist Periodic Paralysis illness daughter

Cardiologist Appt

I'm a bit bummed. The doctor was very nice. He did not, however, listen to us. He is testing Princess for a form of Periodic Paralysis that she does not have. Anyway, I wish I were not disappointed, but I am. I am not in the mood to write more about it, but I will fully explain the situation later after the dust has settled. She is wearing a 24-hour holter monitor.

Pediatric Cardiologist

This morning we go to the pediatric cardiologist specialist called an electrophysiologist. The appointment is at 9:30. Princess is a bit aprehensive.

During her Periodic Paralysis episodes, which are mild, her heart goes into an irregular rhythm. As soon as her potassium level is returned to normal, her irregular heart rhythm goes away and the regular rhythm returns.

This causes concern because she is having multiple Periodic Paralysis episodes per day. We closely watch her and are able to quickly catch the episodes and abort them; however, she is still experiencing several per day.

I will update when we know more later today. At least I hope we know something preliminary today.

Non-Stick Pasta

In the spirit of all things that "work", I am posting this for Works for Me Wednesdays at Rocks in My Dryer.

This is probably something you already know, but I discovered how to keep my pasta from sticking together ... non-stick spray oil. After cooking and draining the pasta, I sprayed the pasta with butter-flavored Crisco and tossed it to cover the pasta. It's low fat and low calorie! Works for me!

How Nerds Watch Football

This is how you watch college football ... nerd-style. Each fan has his/her own laptop. We may be nerds, but we have some seriously great surround sound and HD viewing of our beloved teams.

Go, Red Raiders! We will hit 'em, we will wreck 'em, hit 'em wreck 'em Texas Tech and the victory bells will ring out!

Monk Day

Princess is studying the Reformation period in school, thus, they are celebrating Monk Day this week. Here is the costume I made this weekend.

Shhhhh. Don't tell anyone that we used the McCall's pattern "the grim reaper" for our Monk costume pattern. :)

sick

It's a weekend to be sick, evidently. I did accomplish something yesterday. I made Princess' costume for school this week. I'll post a picture later.

Photo Fun

Mary suggested finding the photo folder on the computer and selecting the 6th folder and the 6th picture.

Down memory lane. Here we are on the first day of preschool. I think she's attempting to hold 5 fingers up for Mommy's camera. See how her arm is sort-of rounded from the elbow to the wrist? She broke her arm around the time this picture was taken and the doctor assured me the arm would straighten. He was right, but it took a long time to straighten.

As I sit here, I realize that this was half of her lifetime ago. She will be 10 in 5 weeks. The time does fly. The old saying is certainly true, "The days are long, but the years are short!"

UPDATE: She's only three in this picture, not five! What was I thinking?

Pediatric Electrophysiologist

I am a blogging wonder today. This is my third post.

Our sweet pediatrician sent a referral to the pediatric cardiology group. By the next morning, they called to schedule her appointment. We have an appointment with a pediatric cardiology specialist called an electrophysiologist. Princess has her appointment on Wednesday morning.

She has been in the nurse's office almost every day for the past two weeks and sometimes twice per day. The nurse checked her heart beat today and sure enough, she heard that irregular pulse. It's like there is a regular rhythm to the irregularity. Weird.

This morning I was also having heart pain and King said it sounded like I have an extra beat or something. Bless his heart. He's not a cardiologist. I probably should have my heart checked as well. Princess first.

Date Night Redeemed

We had date lunch today. We ate outside on a patio and it is a beautiful day! Great conversation, good food ... good times.

And then we bumped into The Undertaker. I had heard that he lives in the 'hood, but I'm the worst person with famous people. I really don't care about anyone's wealth, fame or lack of one.

And, I'm so not the fan of wrestling or else I would be impressed to be in the same room with this guy. Having said that, I was impressed. His stats say that he is 6 feet 10 inches and 300 pounds. That sounds small compared to how I perceived him at lunch today. The dude is huge. His tatooes alone must have weighed 50 pounds.

Anyway, good times. And, we ate Mexican food this time. :)

Date Night (Burping mentioned)

Tuesday night was highly anticipated. Our babysitter arrived and we were out the door within minutes. We decided on our local Chinese food establishment for our nourishment as they have great service, it's quiet, not too expensive and the servers are attentive without interrupting. We had a myriad of fun topics to talk about over google eyes. Tuesday nights are a highlight of our week.

Not. Last. Night.

First, we were seated beside an older couple who had evidently arrived moments before us, so we were on the same service schedule (drinks, soup, egg roll, entree, etc). Second, this older, heavy man had a burping problem. Third, King and I quickly got off on a bummer of a conversation that needed to be talked about, but was unpleasant.

So, here we sat. We talked and (BURP!) and we talked some more (BURP!) and before long, King got this look on his face and started smiling. (BURP!!) I lost it, ya'll. I got the giggles so bad and seriously, we are sitting like 2 feet from their table. No one else was seated near our tables, so they heard our conversation and we heard their conversation, what little there was between burps. I headed to the powder room to extinguish the giggles. As soon as I sat down again at the table, BURP! (eyes rolling)

So, the nail in the coffin was the waiter. I think he must've been the patriarch or something. Toward the end of our meal, he started talking incessantly to us about centering yourself and all that matters is your happiness, and halloween is coming and the ghosts like beautiful weather, and ON and ON! He even talked about how the nose is centered on the face. (eyes rolling)

Ya'll. It was just a bummer of a date night. I can't wait for next Tuesday. And we are NOT eating Chinese food.

Organizing Stuffed Animals

We have an unbelievable quantity of beanie babies, Webkinz and all manner of stuffed creatures. Princess loves 'em. So, I bought a shoe organizer and matching hamper at Target to organize her collection. The small ones are cuddled together on the back of her bedroom door and the other guys are cuddled together in the large wicker basket in her closet. Stuff 'em in the pockets or squash 'em in the tall basket and she's done. Works for me! (Check out WFMW at Rocks in My Dryer).

Doctor's Office

I picked up Princess from school at noon because she was in another low episode and the nurse detected a strong heart murmur. She has never had a murmur before, so we went to the pedi this afternoon to check it out. During the low episode at school this morning, her heartrate stayed over 100 bpm and was irregular. At the pedi's office, her heartrate was regular, no heart murmur, blood pressure was fine. This very interesting and makes me hope we can get into the electrophysiologist soon.

Early Bird

Princess found this abandoned nest this weekend.

Early Bird

Oh, if you're a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you're a bird, be an early early bird-
But if you're a worm, sleep late.
by Shel Silverstein

The Challenge Has Begun!

I have begun my Abdominal Bootcamp. If you hear a scream about 5:30 a.m. CST tomorrow, you'll know that it is simply the little Queeny-weenie sitting up in bed.

We did a bit of organizing on Saturday

Remember my pantry, dishes and shelf paper project yesterday? Dixie was underfoot the whole time, so I had to take a picture of Mommy's Little Helper. Isn't she cute?

Princess finally put up her posters! I thought she did a great job. This collection so defines her.

While organizing and cleaning yesterday, we got out the cool weather accessories. Princess found my driving gloves. When she was 4 years old, Princess would put my gloves on her feet and pretend to be a chicken. Thus, I present to you ... Chicken Feet.

Mish Mash of Thoughts

Friday was a very busy day. Pardon my absence. Today King has gone dove hunting and Princess is at her sewing class.

What am I doing? I have a college football game blaring in the background and I am simultaneously: organizing the pantry, unloading the dishwasher, putting shelf paper in my kitchen cabinet shelves, loading the dishwasher and doing laundry.

Then it hit me ... thoughts of you, my dear reader. I thought I'd see what you are doing. Are you having a good weekend? I hope so. I live for the weekends. I purposely schedule restful weekends. As evidenced by my above paragraph, it's not that I do no work, but I at least do work on my schedule. That's so nice.

The past couple of months (maybe three?) there have been many emotional topics that King and I have been working through as a team. These decisions are ones that we made together and are remaking. I can't get specific, but suffice it to say that there are more than two and less than six big decisions that we are making right now. Sometimes we sleep well and sometimes, we wake. He woke up at 1:00 this morning and then came back to bed around 3:00. I woke at 4:00. We are pretty much 100% one in heart in our decisions together, but it's still hard to make emotional decisions. It takes a LOT of time, prayer and wisdom. Wisdom seems to come slowly for us ... especially me.

I don't know why I'm saying all of this except for the fact that what you read here is only a glimpse of what is going on with me. Sometimes there is so much on my heart that I cannot share. And when I sit down to blog, I'm stumped. Yesterday was one of those days. I truly was every busy and barely had time to catch my breath, but I also had a heavy heart and didn't know what to say to you. :) Today I know what to say: Go, Football!! Saturdays filled with college football are just very happy days. :)

Peel A Boiled Egg

Go check out Mom's Crafty Life for a totally new way to peel a boiled egg! After you watch it, come back and tell me if you tried it and if it worked. That video totally cracks me up!

WFMW: Kitchen Organization!

Works For Me Wednesdays is having a Kitchen Organization Theme! Woo-hoo! This is where I display my love of all things iron and curvy. Some things must sit out on the counter, therefore, I choose cute, curvy ironwork to organize my counter clutter!

I present to you, the fruit stand. Love it. Thank you very much, Mr. Costco. This allows my fruit to naturally ripen and reminds me to eat it all while on beautiful display. I would love to have skin as pretty as that peach sitting there. Mmmm, so soft.

Think Paul McCartney's song "Ebony and Ivory" while singing, "Onions and Pep-pers live together in perfect harmony, side by side on my counter, oh lord why don't we?"

If you have an aversion to paper goods, please skip to the next picture. At the palace, the King, Queen and Princess use a fair amount of paper goods for meals. This cute little organizer (Costco again!) makes it all so adorable.

I have this thing about plastic containers. They must be with their own kind, ya know? So, each size gets it's own square footage of the drawer and they "nest". Awwww. Nesting plasticware, so sweet. And organized. :)

Mexican Lasagne

BessedwithGrace hosts a kitchen carnival on Tuesdays. What a great way to get new recipes!

Mexican Lasagne
Serves 12

2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey
1 - 17 oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup salsa
1 - 15 oz can Mexican style diced tomatoes
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 - 16 oz carton cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp oregano
10 corn tortillas
1.5 C. shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese

Brown meat stirring to crumble. Drain excess fat.
Add corn, salsa tomatoes, and taco seasoning. Simmer 5 minutes.
Combine cottage cheese, eggs, and oregano, mixing thoroughly.
Place 5 tortillas in bottom of lightly greased 13x9x2 casserole, overlapping to fit.
Layer in order listed, 1/2 of meat mixture, cheese mixture, 5 tortillas, and rest of meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serves 12.

Enjoy!

Morning

Lamentations 3:22-24
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

Presenting The Sunday Morning Pancake

This gives a whole new meaning to the term "breakfast burrito".