Goodbye, Grandma

No matter how long you would have been here, it would never have been long enough. I can't imagine what life is going to be like without you. You were my friend, my confidante, my inspiration, my teacher, my advisor. I'm going to miss you more that you will ever know. I have dreaded this day for years, and as much as I am hurting, I know that you are with Grandpa celebrating your return home. It is also a comfort to know that our last words to each other were "I love you." I know how physically difficult it was for you to say those words, but somehow you were able to gather the strength to say them well enough to be understood, but even if I couldn't understand them, I would have known. I'm going to miss you so much. I don't know how to say goodbye forever.

I can't wait!

Finally, the new season of Amazing Race starts tonight. It has been too long.

I do believe in miracles

One thing I haven't written about was my step-father's mother, Mimi (not to be confused with my cousin Mimi).

Mimi hasn't been doing well. She fell at her nursing home and hit her head which caused internal bleeding. I think the official diagnosis was a head contusion. Even though surgery was performed, she showed no signs of improvement. In fact, as the days passed, her condition deteriorated to the point that hospice was called and preliminary funeral arrangements were made. Her family decided to move her to a nursing home in Lacombe under the care of hospice to live out the rest of her days.

Last Saturday, as my husband called our church, Aldersgare Methodist Church, to update them on my grandmother's condition, he also added Mimi to our church's prayer list. Aldersgate has a wonderful care team whose job is to continually pray for those in need.

Last night, my stepdad told me that Mimi has made a miraculous recovery. She is sitting up and holding conversations with people. She is even better than before she fell. Her condition has improved 180 degrees and hospice has been cancelled.

It is in times of difficulty that I find my strength in my faith. I may not understand how or why God chooses to do these things, but I find peace and comfort in knowing that he will always answer prayers. We are blessed.

An interesting conversation with Georgie

So the other day, as I was typing up something on the computer, my 5 year-old, Georgie starts up a conversation with me. It went something like this:


Georgie: Mommy, are we going to church today?
Me: Uh, yeah, probably.
Georgie: Jacob (my 7 year-old) is not going to be happy.
Me: What?
Georgie: Watch this. HEY, JACOB, WE'RE GOING TO CHURCH TODAY!!!
Jacob (from far off at the back of the house): Ah, man! I don't want to go to church! I just want to stay here and play football! DAAAAAAADDDDDYYYYY!

While Jacob continued to yell in the background, Georgie turned to me and said, "See, I told ya."

5 years ago yesterday

I can't believe that it has been 5 years since our daughter Georgie made her entrance into the world. Of course, even as I write this, I must admit that I can't remember life without her. She has the most infectious love of life and the best sense of humor. These last 5 years have been unbelievably special and I look forward to watching her develop and grow even more. We are truly blessed. Happy Birthday, Georgie.

Click To Play

Not what we hoped

Grandma had her surgery yesterday and, as the title states, it did not go as we had hoped. We knew that she had a colonic obstruction, but we didn't know what we causing it. The CAT scan revealed very little and since she has diverticulits, the doctors assumed that it was scar tissue. Unfortunately, when the surgeon opened the abdomen, he found that, although she had a hysterectomy when she was 50, they didn't remove her ovaries and they are now riddled with tumors. It looks like she has Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Now we have to meet with the oncologist to discuss any possible treatment and her prognosis.

I Say a Little Prayer for You

Today is the day that my family has been waiting for - Grandma has her much needed surgery. To say that the experience at Northshore has been frustrating is an huge understatment. Sometimes I really question the knowledge of so-called "medical professionals." I will have to leave it at that because to get into it here will only cause my heartburn to return and my blood pressure to spike.

So please, if anyone reads this today, say a quick prayer for my Grandma. Thanks.

Life in the ICU

This week has been bittersweet.

Bitter because I have spent much of it sitting in the ICU waiting room while my grandma underwent tests after having a seizure Monday morning. Luckily she was already in the hospital when her blood pressure spiked, causing the seizure. Initially she was there because of severe dehydration from some mysterious cause. After much frustration, the hospital finally did the correct tests and found that she has an obstruction in her colon. This is actually good news because it means that she did not have another stroke and, hopefully, she can be treated and sent home soon.

The sweet part of the week came as family gathered to await the news of grandma's health and for the occasional visit. It got to visit with cousins that I haven't seen in a while and with my Uncle Clayton that I haven't seen in two long years. It made me realize how much I miss not seeing my family on a regular basis like we did when I was younger.

There are nine of us grand kids and, as Jim describes it, we have a very "social sense of humor" -meaning that when we get together, our senses of humor take on a very quirky, cliquish edge. Even our parents think it's weird and offbeat (except Uncle Clayton - I think that is where we all developed it. Maybe it's God sense of humor showing itself). Even in situations that are depressing or serious, if three or more of the "kids" get together, we will find something to laugh about. And grandma in ICU was no different.

It happened when Patrick and Brandon, who are 22 and 26 year old brothers, went into grandma's room to visit. As they were leaving, grandma, in her hospital daze, told Patrick, "Do what needs to be done." After thinking about this for a short time, Patrick, now back in the waiting room, turned to Brandon and asked if he heard grandma correctly. After telling us what grandma said, I asked if she kissed his cheek when she said it. We came to the conclusion that she meant either (1) water her plants or (2) settle the family vendetta. I'm sure you've all heard tales of how vengeful those Nova Scotians are. I mean it's practically legendary.

Well, at least we lightened the mood for a little while.

A new direction

It has been a long time since I have written. Even though I still love the political world, writing about it become somewhat repetitive. That being said, I decided to take this blog in a new direction.

I decided to turn this into a daily life blog. A place where I can write about the goings on in my family, my observations about life and anything else that I want to write about. So feel free to stop in whenever you want or leave a comment or two. This will be a nice way to stay in touch with family and friends that are now scattered around the country.

WHO DAT?

Who dat? Who dat say you gonna beat dem Saints?

New Orleans 42 Dallas 17

Oh, yeah, baby!

Whew!

Last weekend we opened It's a Wonderful Life. I must admit that I was extremely nervous - not because of the actors, but because of the technical aspects. As of Thursday, we had some major problems with set changes and lights. However, by Friday, a lot of the problems had been fixed and/or minimized.

Today, our review came out and I am beyond excited that we were able to pull this off as well as we apparently did in such a short period of time.

And, if I can be a little self-indulgent, I will admit that I am most excited by the review I got.

Heading the cast are Ginny Award-winning actor David Jacobs (George Bailey) and Dana Deris Fatic (Mary Hatch/Bailey) whose onstage chemistry significantly clicks.

Fatic is wonderful as George's girlfriend and ultimately his wife. Fatic gives Mary Bailey a sweet innocence. She provides her with Donna Reed qualities that significantly enhance the character's believability.

Well, if I can't toot my horn on my own blog, where can I?

Did you, did you..

Did you vote?

I am most interested to find out how the voters of New Orleans will vote on Amendment 7 (I believe that's the number). That amendment is to consolidate the number of tax assessors from 7 down to 1. Unfotunately, corruption is so rampant and so many benefit from it, I will not be surprised to see it voted down. Very frustrating.

Time to catch up

I have no idea how many people still check in here. I'm sure that it is not many at all. But, if you are one of the few, I thought that I would catch you up on what is happening here. As you might have guessed, I have taken a break from blogging about politics. There just comes a point where you feel like a broken record. I wonder if broken records ever get tired of repeating the same thing over and over, spinning around and around and not getting anywhere. That is how I felt. It is most frustrating.
A few months ago, I decided that it was time for me to get back to having fun. For me, that has always been the theatre. I was part of the cast of a little known musical called "Children of Eden." Last week I auditioned for "It's a Wonderful Life." I was most excited about this because it is my favorite movie of all times. And, Monday, I found out that I was cast as Mary, the loving wife of George Bailey. Even more exciting is that my little boy Jacob is going to play one of my sons. I can't wait to really get started with rehearsals.

We also have some exciting news on the homestead - the FEMA trailer that has graced our yard for the past 8 months is being picked up. It was a total waste of our tax dollars. I think that my aunt and grandmother used it for all of 2 weeks. It took so long for them to get it, that by the time they did, it was too late to be of much use. On the upside, we get to keep all of the wood from the mile-long ramp. We are turning it into a playhouse for the kids.

So now you are caught up on the happenings here. I think that I am going to use this blog space to write about what is going on in life.

And to those of you that have checked in regularly, thank you for being patient.

How cool is this

This is interesting. It seems our little town has gotten some attention from Fox news. And the really great part is that they mention our local community theatre. Where I am currently part of the cast of Children of Eden.

In fact, here is a picture of me dancing.

As Tuesday approaches...

This Tuesday marks the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As the date approaches, there is a marked increase in the number of Katrina "specials." What surprises me about all of this is my own reaction to it. I find that I am starting to relive all of the emotions that I felt in those days following the storm. The fear, panic and despair can be overwhelming at times and I have to remind myself that we are getting through it.

I grew up in this area and always faced the possibility of hurricanes with a sense of excitement. Not anymore. Now the possibility of another storm fills me with shear terror. And now were are staring down the barrel of another disaster with Ernesto. I don't want to wish this storm on anyone, but, please God, don't send it here. Life is just now return to some semblance of normal for us and we were the lucky ones. Please spare the Gulf Coast.

I don't want to remember Katrina by evacuating for Ernesto.

In case you were wondering

I haven't dropped off the face of the planet again. No, I've been bitten by the redecorating bug. Actually, it bit me months ago, but I have finally found the time to work on my own house instead of my different family members' houses.

I am in the process of redecorating my master bedroom and bath. A project that should only have taken a couple of days is taking much longer thanks to the "do-it-yourself"ers that used to own our house. You know the kind of people I am talking about. Nothing was done correctly. For example, instead of removing all the wallpaper that once lined the bathroom, they only took off the top layer of paper and spackled over the paper backing. Of course, I didn't realize this until the paint that I applied started to cause the paper backing to bubble and peal. Not fun.

But, despite all of the headache, the rooms look great. Now comes the fun decorating and accessorizing part. I have been accumulating things for months and I can't wait to see the rooms pulled together.

I will post pictures, in case anyone is curious. I must admit, I am proud of it so far.

Happy Birthday to Me

34 years ago today, my parents welcomed me into the world. Thanks, mom and dad.

I'm just glad to know the name

For the past few months, I have been struggling with a disorder. I knew the symptoms but had no idea my disorder had a name. And I felt so isolated and alone; surely, no one else was suffering from this. Over the last month or so, I have made a Herculean effort to overcome this malaise I was feeling to some moderate degree of success.

Well, I can wonder no more. Thanks to Jon Swift, I now know my condition is Conservative Fatigue Syndrome.

I'm just glad it has a name. And I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.

I wonder if they will find dinosaur SUVs

Further evidence that supports that, if global warming exists, it is caused by nature.

About 55 million years ago, the Arctic was downright tropical
Wed May 31 2006 11:39:53 ET

Scientists have found what might have been the ideal ancient vacation spot -- smack in the middle of the Arctic! First-of-its-kind core samples dug up from deep beneath the Arctic Ocean floor show that 55 million years ago an area near the North Pole was practically a subtropical paradise, three new studies show.

Developing...

Democrats continue their wishful thinking

In the latest attempt to persuade voters that Democrats will be the clear winners in the upcoming mid-term elections, the AP put out an article today listing the reasons why people will not vote for Republicans. And incorrect assumptions abound.

Republicans are three steps from a November shellacking _ each a grim possibility if habitually divided Democrats get their acts together.

First step: Voters must focus on the national landscape on Nov. 7 rather than local issues and personalities that usually dominate midterm elections.
That would sting Republicans, who trail badly in national polls.

Second step: Voters must be so angry at Washington and politics in general that an anti-incumbent, throw-the-bums-out mentality sweeps the nation.
That would wound Republicans, the majority party.

Third step: Americans must view the elections as a referendum on President Bush and the GOP-led Congress, siding with Democrats in a symbolic vote against the Iraq war, rising gas prices, economic insecurity and the nagging sense that the nation is on the wrong track.

That would destroy Republicans, sweeping them from power in one or both chambers and making Bush a lame duck.

Less than six months out, most Democratic and Republican strategists say the first two elements are in place for now _ a national, anti- incumbent mind-set _ and all signs point to the third.

Back to those three steps.

NATIONAL ELECTION: Among the two dozen Republican and Democratic strategists interviewed in the last two weeks, there was unanimity that the fall campaigns will be national in scope. Voters will give local issues less attention than normal, a bad sign for the GOP.
"If we keep it local we win; if they nationalize issues, they win," said Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, head of the GOP Senate committee, seemed resigned to a national campaign. "Obviously, we're going to do everything we can here at the Senate committee to minimize any aspect of that," she said.

Even though the article claims that 24 Republican and Democratic strategists were interviewed and ALL agreed that the national issues will be the focus, I'm not buying it. Everyone has heard Tip O'Neill's quote that "All politics are local politics." It was true in the past and nothing has changed. When most voters head into the ballot booth, they vote for "their" guy (or gal, as the case my be), especially if the opponent has nothing different or new to offer. Incumbents also have the advantage of the office. They can and do fill bills with pork for their districts. The more money you bring home, the better your chances of winning re-election. Case(s) in point, Ted Kennedy and Ted Stevens.

THROW THE BUMS OUT: More than 70 percent of Americans tell pollsters that the nation is on the wrong track. Larger percentages think corruption is a major problem in Washington. Incumbents have been roughed up already this year in Pennsylvania and Indiana, and in both cases Republicans suffered the worst.
If this shapes up to be an anti-incumbent midterm, "we'll lose some members" in Congress, said Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf, "but they have more incumbents."

While the polls are showing growing anger among Americans, I hope that the Democrats aren't relying on this as part of their strategy for reclaiming the House and Senate. Even though the mantra of the voting population might be "Throw the bums out," a lot of voters think that it is the other guy's problem. They lay the blame at the door of all the OTHER Representatives or Senators, while voting for their incumbent. Again, this leads back to what I said before - people tend to vote for the guy who already has the job.

ANTI-REPUBLICAN TIDE: Whether 2006 turns out to be an anti-incumbent or anti-GOP election "is the 15-seat question," said Democratic strategist Dane Strother, referring to the number of seats the Democrats need to win to seize control of the House.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., says GOP majorities are "clearly in jeopardy" because the political landscape is both anti-incumbent and anti-Republican.

All of these "reasons" are missing the point. If the Republicans lose control of Congress it is not because of the "anti-Republican" or "anti-incumbent" sentiment of Americans. It will be because they are not listening to what their constituents want. But in order for the Democrats to win a "landslide," they will have to overcome a lot of obstacles. Oh, I know they are looking at the 1994 mid-term elections as proof that it can happen, but they are forgetting a major detail. The Republicans in 1994 had the "Contract with America." They had ONE clear, concise message that resonated across the country. What is the current Democratic party's message. Well, that depends upon who you ask.