The best of…

Recently, my blogging daughter
received an award from another delightful blogger.

I received an honorable mention in her "acceptance" post.
(See point 7)
1] it is true
2] it brought a tear to my eye

How blessed I am.
TWO beautiful daughters
that bring out the BEST in me,
who are becoming better
than the BEST of me.

I would like to give both of them
this heartfelt award

because they are the
BEST part of my life.

Honorable mention to
my husband
who also brings out the BEST in me,
loves me in spite of the worst in me,
and inspires me to be better.

Falling

Out of the blue

This week
out of the blue
Taylor’s nerve
went back to sleep.

She is no longer in
extreme pain & discomfort.

(It is so nice to watch her enjoy
some normal activities (like driving!)
however, there are still some restrictions until July.)

On Wednesday,
out of the blue
the power went out
for three hours.

Just 5 minutes after
I put cupcakes in the oven.

(Fortunately for Gamma,
I was able to save them by baking them in
the oven for an hour while keeping the oven door shut,
and peeking at them through the window with a flashlight!)

Today, in church
out of the blue
the man sitting in front of us
turned around , looking at Taylor, said
”it’s like an angel is singing!”

I know for a FACT
he was not speaking to Evan,
or me!

(But I took it as a compliment anyway!
I am so proud of BOTH of my daughters.)

Ego Booster

Today, while I was at work
I received a phone call from home.
The voice on the end told me that the smoke detector has gone off.
I knew it was true, I could hear it in the background.
I also heard the dog barking.
I also heard the girls yelling at the dog to come back home.
He escaped through one of the many opened doors.

I was confident enough to believe it was a cooking induced alarm
so I talked my daughter through the rest of the house,
feeling each closed door, and then checking the room…
just to make sure.

I told her to also turn on all of the fans and open the rest of the windows,
and to call me in a few minutes if they did not stop.
That call came!
So, I grabbed work from my desk and told the office that I would finish my work at home.
(By the way… I LOVE where I work!!)

When I got home, I pulled up to a house
literally chirping with excitement.
I attempted to stop the alarms at the fuse box.
No luck.

I knew then, there was only one thing to do.
I pulled out the ladder, extended it, climbed
and had to quickly decide: smash or repair.

I opted for the latter.
I pulled the alarm off the ceiling and yanked out the battery.

Silence!
Relief!

What boosted my ego in this process?

The fact that my daughters,
in the midst of chaos  and possible danger
did not call 911.
They did not call dad.

They called mom!

I don’t like it when…

the calendar gets flipped a month ahead
and I start wishing a Happy Birthday
a month in advance!!

Healing

Just 10 days ago, I watch my daughter writhe in pain
as she continued to deal with complications following her surgery.
It was by far, the most painful weekend since the hospital.
(Physically for her, emotionally for me!)

Thankfully, that was the pinnacle.

She has had a very good week and a half…

Back to school full time,
playing and socializing with friends,
wishing she was back behind the wheel.

Now that she is feeling MUCH better,
driving herself here and there seems to be the last hurdle.

The nerve…

Taylor’s visit to the doctor was a good one.
Her x-ray revealed a back…
rods from just below her neck
all the way down,
and as straight as I have ever seen it!!
Oh, the wonders of modern medicine.

As for the nerve damage,
the doc is still expecting it to heal.
He says it is hard to predict.
It is one of those 6 days to 6 months things.
Last night, she was pain free and had a full night
of un-interrupted sleep for the first time in a month.
We hope this means that she turned the corner.

In order to describe the pain that Taylor has been in,
the doctor described it like this…
imagine taking a sledge hammer to your funny bone…
the nerve in her hip has gone through a similar trauma.
It is awake and needs time to calm down and heal.
In the mean time… Taylor suffers.
She is very good at suffering in silence,
so when she breaks down… I know it is extreme.

So, here’s hoping for another pain free night, and then another…
Once is chance.
Twice is a Coincidence.
Three times is a pattern.