Way too crazy for my own good

This last week, I spent the whole week in Virginia taking two of the girls from our branch to EFY, for my readers who aren't familiar with my church, it's a youth camp called Especially For Youth. The girls loved it. While they were at their camp, I went to Williamsburg with one of the girls' moms. I got to go help her drive up there and back, and we had a blast. I'm sorry, but I didn't really have time to post. Honestly, I'm just exhausted by the end of every day, so all I've had energy to do at night is some online seminary training or preparing my lessons. Seminary starts Friday! CRAZY! I'm in the process of thinking of an answer to Julie's Hump Day, and I may post one tomorrow, but at this point in time, there are no promises about my blog. I truly love blogging, but I just don't know that I can stay awake at the computer long enough to post it.

Memories

My friend Katie has this on her blog, and I thought it looked fun, so I'm playing along.

So here's how it works...
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

So there you have it! Post away! Oh,and if you don't "know" me well enough to have a memory, feel free to use anything you've read here. A favorite post you've read, etc. that way everyone can play!

Another tribute to McKenna and others

This post is coming a day late, and it may be a dollar short, but I really had to decide whether or not to write something on this topic. After having some extra special experiences because of my niece, McKenna, I wasn't sure whether or not to write this post.

Julie's Hump Day Hmm topic yesterday was: share your thoughts about a case of some medical or other situation that deviated from the "norm." What do you think about the drive to fix? Do all conditions and situations need fixing? Or do we societally need to consider our need to control, master and manage, and instead spend some time, sometimes, learning how to deal? Or...are those mutually exclusive?

I think that there are times when we have medical conditions that, if fixed, would greatly improve the quality of life for the person with the condition. My dad had a triple bypass for his heart, and right now, he's in the hospital having chemo treatment number three because of lymphoma. It can be fixed, and he is old enough to make the choice for himself.

However, I think that the world needs people like McKenna, too. Her spirit was so pure. McKenna was able to teach me things, without ever speaking to me, that I could not have learned from a person who walks and talks and makes mistakes. McKenna taught me the true meaning of love. Sometimes we think of love in terms of what we can do for other people or what they can do for us. "If you love me, you'll" is a phrase commonly heard in society. And the sad thing is that people believe it. In reality, love is a feeling we feel for others, and so we do things that we think will make them happy because, in loving, we want other people to be happy. Whenever I walked into my sister's house, I could automatically feel McKenna's love. If I was sad or heartsick about something, I just needed to go sit by McKenna and all of a sudden I KNEW I was loved and calm just filled me from the inside out. Those talents, I believe, were given to McKenna in place of other talents that other people have. It might have been beautiful if we could have fixed her, but in reality, we would have given up so much more, and since she couldn't choose herself, we can't know what she would have given up, maybe grudgingly, to be able to do things that most other children can do.

I love McKenna, and I'm so glad that she's happy now. And now that she's rid of her earthly body, she still has all of the beautiful talents that she gained here, but her spirit is now free to run, jump and dance. She now gets the best of both worlds.

In the end, a boy with autism, or a girl like McKenna both have the talents they have, and they are who they are partly because of the other problems they have. Some of us have problems that don't show so well on the outside, but those problems make us who we are too. Would we give up the knowledge we gain through experience just to get rid of the problems? I wouldn't.

Fire!

I was calmly sitting on my bed, retrieving my email from my overflowing inbox when I smelled something. It sort of smelled like something was burning, but Jackie was right next to me on the bed, and I thought I heard Ben playing with toys in their bedroom. However, I decided to be prudent and investigate.

This is what I found.

Well, it's not exactly what I found. I thought about taking a picture while the nipple was still burning, but then I thought, "The fire is contained right now, but what if I can't find the baking soda after I have taken the picture, and the fire gets out of control." Instead, I went and found the baking soda and put the fire out before searching for the camera and taking a picture. Ben had put the nipple in the toaster oven and turned it on. I don't know how he managed to do that, but this is the result. I guess I have to find a different place for the toaster oven.

Home for Sale

Residential Home for Sale!!! Beautiful corner lot. 2.39 acres. 4 Bedroom, 3 Bathroom Home. 3 Bedrooms on ground floor. Open living room, dining room, kitchen. Jetted bathtub in master bath. High, vaulted ceilings, and beautiful view of back yard. Fenced in backyard adjacent to the deck great for pets or children! Big closets, including walk-in closet in three of four bedrooms.

I am not going to advertise the price on here, but if anyone I know personally is curious, feel free to email me, and I'll send you the internet link. Here are some pictures.

This is the living room. The fireplace is beautiful

This is the cooking area of the kitchen. Notice the sink on the bar and the double sink next to the dishwasher? All the appliances are new within the last year.

This is the nursery. We loved what we did with it, and this is one room we're truly sorry to leave.

Here's our master bath room. I love the yellow! We never have to have the lights on in here when there is any hint of sun in the sky.

Here is our Master Bed room. Look how much room there is on both sides of that king sized bed!

Soul Food

Yesterday, I went back to my house for the first time in days. One of my friends (who just moved into a new house and doesn't have a washer/dryer hookup yet) came over to my house to do her laundry. While I waited for her, I sat down to my piano, and I realized just how much I missed playing. I put my fingers on the keys and started playing a piece that fills the room with emotion. Within the first two measures, all the anxiety and stress that has been building for weeks just drained out through my fingers. Suddenly, with the loud part, I felt the anger flow out. I didn't know that I had any anger in me. Today, even though I'm so tired from not sleeping well, I feel a lot better. I guess that I need to make a point of going home and playing, so I can have an outlet for the worst emotions. Then, my soul feels better.

This post is part of Julie's Hump Day Hmmm