Middle of the Road Less Traveled

Step2 Gather & Grille Playhouse Giveaway!

2011-10-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Outdoor Playhouse Giveaway at Shining 2 Save

Step2 Gather & Grille Playhouse {Review & Giveaway}

I'd love to send this to my step sister, for her daughter!

What a Roller Coaster! Wheeeeee!

2011-10-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had this gut wrenching experience with my father at death's door, (see previous post). Definitely a low point.

Then today, I go over to his house, walk into the front room, and he's sitting up, speaking with a very strong voice, and gesturing, while participating in an online study group. I look down and see that his feet and ankles, which have been elephant sized for the past couple of months, (a crippling side effect of the steroids they give him to keep the tumor in check), are now skinny!

He hasn't been able to wear shoes, or even walk for more than a numb shuffle about the house, for ages. But now, his shoes are actually loose on his feet! He felt so good, he came out to lunch with us, leaving his wheelchair and walker behind, using only a cane.

While we sat eating, he actually started talking about ideas and dreams that he and his wife had, before he got sick. I'm hesitant to get my hopes up too high, but there's no denying a marked and rapid improvement in his condition and demeanor.

What or Whom do we have to thank for this miracle? I'm going to play it safe, and thank God!

His sister, who just came into town, is an Episcopal chaplain, and carries holy oil. She had blessed him with it last night, and prayed for his healing.

He's also taking at least two supplements, that are supposed to be mighty good stuff for immune function. The doctors are tweaking his medications, lowering the steroid dose, adding lasix. And then there are the dreams. He dreamed he died and was saying goodbye to us all. Then he woke up, and wondered what it meant, if perhaps he was "done dying now".

I certainly hope so.

What If This Was Your Last Goodbye?

2011-10-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

Seriously. What would you say to someone you love?

Well, that you love them, of course. But, sometimes there are other important things that need saying.

My father has a brain tumor. He's been in various stages of getting ill and getting better. But this week was really difficult. He became convinced that he'd be leaving us soon. So, he called his brothers and sisters, and me, (his only child), to try to "get complete".

I don't have to tell you what a hard phone call that was! And, of course, I went over there as fast as I could. Because, whether or not his hunch is accurate, he was experiencing this, as if it were true, and that's big stuff. We cried with each other, talked a while, and hugged. But I left there feeling incomplete.

We are a pretty expressive family. So, I don't think anyone ever, truly, walks around feeling unloved. But somehow, when faced with the possibility of not getting another chance, to say what needs said, I found myself in some serious turmoil about it. I lost lots of sleep over it.

Then today, it was planned, that my step mom and I, (who share October birthdays), had a joint birthday celebration at their house. We planned it to coincide with a visit from two of my Dad's sisters.

My Step-mom cooked lunch, and my Mom bought us both cakes (Yeah, we all get along great.), and I had done all the gift shopping. I know my Step-mom's tastes fairly well, and made choices I thought my Dad would have made for her. He seemed pleased with the choices yesterday, but today he seemed to have forgotten that he'd ever seen them before. He still liked them.

It was a great party. Dad held up great. He enjoyed it more than he thought he would, and said he could even taste the food. Yay!

When I was going to say goodbye, he got teary again, and told me that he couldn't have asked for a better daughter, and that he was proud of me, and what a great job I'd done of parenting my kids.

He tried to say it was all my Mom's credit, that I learned it all from her. But I told him, no, that I had learned a whole lot from him. Just being the kind of person that he is, was such an incredible example to follow, because he was so noble. His honesty, and integrity where always so evident, in all his interactions with others. Even when he made mistakes, it was so clear, that he was trying very hard to do the right thing.

I told him that his being that kind of person, made navigating my life a lot easier. Because, it made bad choices unthinkable, and made my mistakes easier to admit. My Dad was always a really good man.

Even now, as he faces the possibility of death, he does it so unselfishly. He's trying so hard to learn whatever lessons are to be learned from it, and to do whatever he can for all those around him.

It was a very good, and tearful conversation. He said he would sleep well tonight, because of what I had told him. (I was crying pretty hard at this point.) Then, there was the chaos of my kids, my Mom, my husband, my aunts, all hugging and gathering all our stuff, and putting it in the car to leave.

It was hard to say goodbye. But as I was leaving, I realized that I really did feel complete. I guess we figured it out, (at least for the two of us), what needed to be said.

I don't want that to be my last goodbye. But, if it is, it was a really good one.

Chocolate Giveaway

2011-10-20T20:00:00.001-07:00

Need I say more?

Thanks, Mail Carrier | Halloween Treats from The Swiss Colony {Review & Giveaway}

Change Your Smoke Detector Battery (Smoke Detector w/batteries Giveaway)

2011-10-20T19:17:00.001-07:00

This giveaway from Thanks, Mail Carrier is wonderful, because it's reminding us all what we should be remembering, and that is, to change the batteries in our smoke detectors twice a year, when we change our clocks for daylight savings time. It's a hassle, I know, but you're already hassling with the clocks, right? And this is one step that could save your family's life!

Plus, if you follow her links and join the Energizer Bunny Brigade, you'll find the sweepstakes to win $5,000. Now that's some serious cash!

Thanks, Mail Carrier | The Energizer Bunny Brigade and the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery campaign {Smoke Alarm & Batteries Giveaway}

essentia Natural Memory Foam Pillow Giveaway

2011-10-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Check out this contest to win a natural memory foam pillow, at Thanks, Mail Carrier

. I'm not talking about synthetic latex here. I'm talking about 1oo% natural latex from rubber trees! (I had no idea there was such a thing) Frankly, the idea of that being the thing I'm breathing in all night rather than synthetics has real appeal for me. I went to the company's website and now I'm wanting the mattress too!

Thanks, Mail Carrier | Essentia Natural Memory Foam {Classic Pillow Review & Giveaway}

Balloon Time Giveaway

2011-10-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Check out this review and giveaway at Thanks, Mail Carrier.

I can just imagine my daughter arriving at her birthday party, to a room filled with balloons to dance around in!

Thanks, Mail Carrier | Balloon Time Helium Balloon Kits {Review & Giveaway}

$25 Gift Card from Thanks, Mail Carrier

2011-10-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

$25 Gift Card Giveaway from Thanks, Mail Carrier led me to another great sweepstakes that Crizal USA is doing. Just click this link for the whole story:

Thanks, Mail Carrier | Combat the Enemies of Clear Vision with Captain Crizal {$25 Visa Gift Card Giveaway}

Bird of Paradise Bouquet Giveaway

2011-10-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

My family lived in Hawaii when I was little and these flowers remind me so much of that time. My mother loves them!

WIN a gorgeous Birds of Paradise Bouquet from Avas Flowers for tropical beauty at home! http://bit.ly/q5eX56 @thxmailcarrier #giveaway #win

Serta Perfect Sleeper Giveaway

2011-09-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

Who couldn't use a better nights sleep?

Serta Perfect Sleeper Giveaway@

Born 2 Impress Blog Giveaways

Digital Photoframe Giveaway

2011-09-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

Check out this giveaway at The Freebie Junkie

7000+ Facebook Fan GIVEAWAY: 7-Inch LCD Digital Photo Frame ~ The Freebie Junkie

Solar Flashlight Giveaway

2011-09-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Solar Flashlight Giveaway from Problem Solvers @ Emily Reviews

Problem Solvers Ready Light Solar Flashlight Review | Emily Reviews

The New Normal

2011-09-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in months. The biggest news is that my father was diagnosed with brain cancer. He's always been very healthy, and his doctors always gave him the big thumbs up at every check up, to keep doing whatever he was doing, (which for him was daily exercise, stretching, vegetarian diet, spouted grains, no vices.) So, this diagnoses came to us as quite a shock.

They put him on steroids and that shrank the tumor and eased his pain, but when the biopsy came back, they used words that caused a chill in my core.

I'm a true believer in Jesus Christ, and I do believe He can heal anyone, anytime, even thousands of years beyond his time here on earth. But when something like this happens, words like the doctors used, served to challenge my faith......at least for a few days.

But thankfully, I've done a good job of reading bible stories to my daughter nearly every night. Because that week, after reading her some stories from the New Testament, where Jesus heals the sick, and raises people from the dead, my daughter comes up with the brilliant plan, that we should pray, and ask Jesus to come and heal her Grandad!

Well, I thought that was a spectacular idea. So, we set about to do that immediately. Now, don't misunderstand. I have been praying to God every day of my life since about 1989, and you can bet I was beating down God's door, ever since my Dad went to the hospital. But, something about the simple faith of a child, made me stop and wonder about the nature of my previous prayers.

Something about the pleas I was making to God, seemed different somehow. In those prayers, I was a lowly, insignificant human, praying to a distant God, who I knew had allowed lots of people die from cancer. This time, I was thinking of Jesus, the Jesus of the New Testament, who clearly did care, in a personal way about those who asked for his help. He always told them it was by their faith, that they were healed.

In one instance, a woman believes so strongly that if she can only touch his robe, as he passes her in the street, that she will be healed. She reaches out, and without any conscious act of will on his part, he says, "I felt the power go out from me." and asks who has touched him, even though there were many there touching and jostling about him in the street. She admits it was her, and he tells her that her faith has healed her.

This story is, for me, the most amazing and hopeful story in the bible. If a person can, through their own faith, reach out to God, though this conduit of His Son Jesus, without the Son's conscious will, then it seems to me, that the physical presence of his body is irrelevant, and that it's possible to do the same thing, though our faith, even today.

Well, I'd already had this revelation in the past, but for some reason, I was still in a more habitual state of holding God way out there, in my mind. My daughter's prayer made it so much more immediate, and brought this idea, back into my mind, and enabled me to pray in a new way.

No longer on a tentative static filled line to God, I was asking Jesus himself, who's loving character was revealed to me in the New Testament, and who lives our hearts today, to be the conduit, to reach out to my dad, with my faith in His power to heal, and touch him, and heal him completely.

Then, I hugged my daughter, and turned out the light, and went to bed, feeling truly hope filled, for the first time, since all this occurred.

The next day, I went to see my Dad. I was astonished to see him leap out of his chair to greet me and hug me!

I must say, that previous to this, his physical and cognitive decline was so rapid, as to cause me to think that the 4 months the doctors had estimated he had left, were a poor estimation. It looked more like weeks, to me. He had not slept more than an hour or two for the past month. His body functions were shutting down. He was in bed nearly all the time, and he ate almost nothing, and the little he did eat was only to ease his wife's worries, not from any appetite. Also his skin was nearly lobster red and peeling, as if he'd been sunburned, all over his entire body. (We are still not sure what caused this symptom, but it was severe.)

I was there for several hours. During the course of that time, I watched his color, thinking and clarity of speech improve dramatically. By the end of my visit, my Dad was standing in the kitchen, raising his hands in the air, singing an old hymn about "Billows of Love", and he and I began a gentle waltz around the kitchen.

He then sat down and ate a giant plate of beans, brown rice, and broccoli. I was witnessing a miracle.

Later, I checked my messages. At 9am he had called to say that he had really slept for the first time, since all this started. He'd had a dream in which a traffic director was standing in front of "Hell Hospital" and "Suzanne's House", and directed him to go to the latter, and he did. He said he felt like he'd turned a corner in his recovery.

That all happened last Thursday, and I am happy to report that he is increasingly better. He got 6 hour stretches of sleep the past two days and he is feeling so much better! He is getting back to doing some of his online work, and is today, ready to get out and do some errands. He wants to go shopping at Costco and then get a hair cut. He has been given a wheelchair, so he doesn't tire himself out too much.

My son and I are going to pick him up now. I'm so excited!

Zoobie Blanket Pet Giveaway at Tammie Lee Tips

2011-09-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

Tammilee Tips: Win It Wednesday - Zoobies Blanket Pet

Motivation

2011-06-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

We had some visitors come to the house, old friends we hadn't seen in ages. So, I had a deadline to get the house clean. Really clean. Okay, my version of really clean. As in, I actually plug in the vacuum cleaner, put the brush thingy on the hose, and go after the baseboards. I drag the chemicals out of the deeper recesses of the upper cabinets, and kill things in the bathroom and kitchen. I expended more physical energy, than I have in a very long time.

It helps to look at my space through someone else's eyes. I usually don't have the energy to work that hard. Normally, I look around and simply hit the mental delete button, and voila! I only see my computer, or the bedtime book, or the t.v. show someone else turned on.

So, I burned some calories doing all that for a couple of days. Yay! Lost 5 pounds!

Then company arrived. We feasted. I ate mostly good, healthy things. But, I ate a lot of them. Yes. I did have a small piece of cake. Guess what. I gained 4 pounds back. :(

YoYo MaMa

Now for the stuff that really matters:

We got to visit with wonderful friends. One of them has a rare blood disease. Every day she is here, is an added blessing, because we could have lost her years ago. My mom went and stayed at the hospital with her, through the worst of it. They were already good friends, but now they are close.

I'm so glad she was well enough to travel, and wear her hot pink lipstick. She brings us together with other friends from the past, and stories are told of ex-husbands, careers, kids, and grandkids. Photo albums are brought out, then the cameras. We make more memories.

We should stir up old friendships more often.

Swimming

2011-06-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

We got invited to a neighbor's house to swim today. It was our first time in the water this year. My daughter seems to have forgotten all her swim lessons, but her fearless spirit is unquenchable. Keeping her in the shallow end and alive, was a serious workout!

I also noticed what great exercise swimming is, for my tummy, and my shoulders. I have been having a lot of pain in my shoulders for the past year or so, even doing some damage to my left rotator cuff. A physical therapist showed me some exercises, to strengthen my shoulders, but I haven't been consistent with it. The swimming seemed to work all those same areas, but was a lot more fun than repetitive exercises!

Energy!

2011-06-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've always heard people say that exercise gives you more energy. Well, from the slug's perspective the answer to that statement is, "Yeah, right." (rolleyes)

Well, I hereby, humbly apologize for every dismissive roll of my eyes. I was wrong. Exercise does, in fact, give me more energy! Last night, after two days of marathon, vigorous housecleaning and hauling supplies all around the warehouse club, and home, I had so much energy, I had a hard time getting to sleep. I ended up getting out of bed, and going to do my Tai Chi'Chuan short form, in the living room, after everyone had gone to sleep.

For those who are unfamiliar with this martial art form, here's a YouTube video of Professor Cheng-Man Ch'ing, who's Yang Style Short Form, I learned years ago in Santa Fe, NM, and Boulder Colorado from some of the Professor's students.

YouTube - Chen Manching's Yang Form

I hadn't done my form in ages, so I was incredibly weak and stiff, but it felt really good to be at it again! I don't remember the whole sequence, but I do the best I can. It did the job of centering my mind and I was able to get to sleep, after that.

Dividends? So soon?

2011-06-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I can truthfully say that I have been making better choices for a full two days. I did not go on a "Last Hurrah" binge, of eating everything I want. (Well, I guess that's what I've been doing for the past two years, truthfully.)

Still, I went to restaurants. I ordered the food I usually get. I just got a to-go box, and only ate half of it, saving the other half for the next day. Or, splitting something with another person. I decided to choose water with lemon, instead of tea. When I order tea, I usually put numerous packets of sugar in it. (I still put some sugar in the lemon water, just less than I would have with tea.) Baby steps. I won't use fake sugar. Won't.

I channeled my agitation into housework, and got more done, than I have since I moved in 7 years ago! I'm talking bleach and a toothbrush! We have company coming this Sunday. So, that helps. I did a bunch of heavy lifting when I did the warehouse club run this evening, and broke a sweat then too.

So, I go to weigh in tonight. I'm only 165 pounds. Huh? I weighed at the same time of night. How did I lose that much in one day?

I'm going to make another better choice now, and get to bed at 11:30pm, instead of 2:00am, like I was tending to do.

A Line in the Sand

2011-06-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about making changes in my diet and starting to exercise for some time. Years, actually.

My parents were both diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and I had gestational diabetes with my last pregnancy. It was awful. I don't want to go there again.

A wonderful woman I know, decided to lose 75 pounds and start a weight loss blog, and invited friends to join her. Well, since I'd had a suspicious episode of high blood sugar after eating some delicious Indian food this week. I decided that there's no time like the present.

And so it begins. I dragged the family scale out of the garage. I weigh 170 pounds. I'm 5'9", so I'm sure there's a way to calculate how much I should weigh, but I'm going to skip all that, and just recall that I felt great when I weighed 130 pounds. So I'm going to set a goal of 40 pounds.

I'm not going to set a time frame, just a destination. I'm not going to talk about dieting or count calories. I'm just going to decide to make better choices, and find one or two things, to improve upon each day.

2011-05-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Just discovered these and it looks very intriguing! This Texas heat really gets to me and I end up having to change bras multiple times a day, because of it. Now I'm thinking I could get these and either feel better with one, or change the liners, which might be a lot easier when I'm out.

[url]http://hotflashhoney.com/the-original-pambra39s-bra-line39.html[/url]

They also have tummy bands, which might really help my aunt this summer.

[url]http://www.hotflashhoney.com/the-orginal-pambra39s-tummy-liners-pkg-o393.html[/url]

Here's a link to a giveaway!

[url]http://www.motherofpearlitis.com/2011/05/pambras-original-bra-liner-review.html?showComment=1306811476488#c1078720848715197095[/url]

Also, the story behind the lady who invented these, and her financial backer, is really moving.

[url]http://pambras.com/about-us/[/url]

2011-04-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

Want to Win $500? Tell Us YOUR Creepy or Funny Bug Story... | 5 Minutes For Mom

2011-04-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

Cool T-shirts!

Giveaway:

soft tees like a well-read book {Out of Print Clothing} + giveaway | In The Know Mom

2011-04-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

Tangled Doll and Vanity giveaway!

Mama to 4 Blessings - Our Homeschool Blog: DISNEY'S TANGLED RAPUNZEL DOLL WITH ENCHANTED VANITY (TOLLYTOTS) REVIEW & GIVEAWAY