Hmmm, A weekend away

Well, we finally went away for the weekend. I really didn't want to go with a new baby and a 2 yr old who dosen't like being in the car for long because she wants to stop on the side of the road and pick flowers, but we got out and away. My niece leaves next week and we are trying to give her a better look at England and its beauty. I would figure that she should get her money's worth while she was here and see all that she can see, but she has no money and we paid for her ticket! ;-)

Friday night we left quite late, around 9pm, since we are procrastinating packers and went west! To the Cotswolds with the rolling hills and sheep surrounded by rock fences. The ride there was quite eventful since the English decide to work on their roads at night and they tend to send you on a 20 mile goose chase to get back to the road you were on. We did end up heading south towards London, took the next exit (a U-turn), got back on the highway, passed the original exit that was closed for construction, drove another 5 miles north then ended up on some road towards Northampton,(remember-we were headed WEST), turned onto some dark and winding road with the Tom-Tom blaring, "Turn around when possible!!", at every intersection, and ended up at our destination around 1:30am.
Mind you this should have been a 2 1/2 hr trip, but a pit stop to McDonalds and the fact that the security bollards at the front gate had malfunctioned, leaving us to park the van nearly a quarter of a mile away from our hotel room and foot it there, made for a long evening.

Saturday morning, bright and earlyish (11:30) had us up and headed for Bath. Chloe was fussy and Joy was in agreement with her. I requested to stay at the hotel and take the little ones to the park for most of the day, but Mr would have nothing of it! If he was tortured to go, then we'd have to suffer with him! Okay then- Plan B. How about doing things in the local area? Hmmm, let's debate this.Take an ALL DAY trip to Bath or see several sites without all of the driving and crowds. I thought everybody said "Yes", but I later found out that April wasn't truly paying attention and wanted to go to Bath. The shame of not listening was upon her.

We managed to hit Chedworth Roman Villa, where Chloe got some flower picking in and I sat in the van with Joy until I figured out that this group of tourists were on a leisurely stroll through the site. Apparently, there were the remains of Roman bathouses, mosaics and even a latrine!(They had to go to the toilet SOMEWHERE and when they had time to build things, they went in STYLE.)
I stumbled out of the van, went to use their toilets and ended up with a membership to the National Trust, which owns hundreds of historical properties and nature preserves. I did get to see some of what I paid for before I dragged those slow folks out of there! We had to get moving and use our membership!

Our next destination was Lodge Park, a hunting lodge built in the 17th century.I stayed in the van since this time, Chloe and Joy were asleep! The touristy folk went in for a 30 minute visit which actually took an hour and a half. Chloe woke up towards the end and I called for someone to take her out and pick flowers. When they were done touring the place, they were all ranting and raving about the grandeur of it all. "That's great", I said- "Now let's get moving!"

Last destination- Uffington White Horse,one of England's oldest chalk hill figures. This historical figure is dated at least 3000 years old. You have to walk a good half mile to get there from the car park, but it is worth seeing. Naturally, I stayed in the van and toured the car park while the touristy explorers traversed uphill through fields of sheep to reach their destination. Chloe picked flowers, the niece stumbled downhill several times, and the whole group enjoyed themselves wholeheartedly again.



After the long day of sightseeing, I wasn't going to cook, so we stopped and had fish and chips at Sainsbury's cafeteria- an upscale grocery store. Grabbed some diapers, water and cookies then headed back to our room for a night in. We made it there around 9 pm and were sweaty, dusty and ready for bed.

Sunday morning was a scramble to get out of the door (Is there a pattern to this?) and get to Blenhein Palace, Winston Churchill's birthplace. I actually got out of the van, but sadly didn't tour the house since I had two feisty little girls with me. Chloe, Joy and I, toured the gardens, had a picnic lunch on the lawn by the lake (Sounds posh, dosen't it?)and strolled the property looking for flowers. A long walk awaited us to get to the children's area, but ice cream made it worth the trip.
The other party had a blast and took oodles of pictures. The palace and grounds couldn't be enjoyed on one trip so I bought a family membership there too. So much to see, so little time!

We hit the road and made it home around 8pm-ish.
Thank the Lord that Monday was a day off for Mr and we all slept in to recover.
What a great weekend! How was yours?????

3 weeks already?

Time flies when you neglect your blog! (This statement can also be applied to relatives you keep forgetting to call, closets you meant to clean, and good friends who made you two awesome meals, including some really good chocolate chip cookies, trekked over to ones house with their children, happily helped her husband photographer take photos of a tiny and partially disagreeable little girl, and hasn't received her pie dish back nor a pitifully late "Thank You" either.)Shari and Janice, you're real friends! Bless you both!
Joy was 3 weeks old when I started this post, but now she is 4 weeks old so should I retitle it?
We were all getting into a standard routine when suddenly school ended and now we are reshuffling and adjusting. My niece was the morning person and got everyone up and fed and out the door each morning. Then I would kick in on slow turbo with lunch and a snack while she corralled the little people. Later in the afternoon April would come in and get dinner started while I rested and Erica got everything else done. Then Mr would come home at a consistantly unregular time and do whatever he had to do. Sometimes he would fully interact with us!(Just kidding, but it seems that when he is on a mission to get something done, get outta his way- he will talk to you later.)
So everything was getting done somehow, except the garage, but we were surviving.

Oh, back to the babies- Chloe likes her little sister and wants to hold her-A LOT! Joy isn't Kosher with that so she fusses within a minute or two and mom goes to save her from her sister and the wrestling match ensues. Chloe, not wanting to give her up, grips harder and me, trying to talk Chloe out of her grip and pry her hands from around Joys body, all the while trying to keep the both of them from crashing on the carpet! My first inclination is to swat a leg, but I don't want to alarm Chloe into a baby choke/sleeper hold, so I have to use the "Ninja Art of Take and Distract"- as thus named by my son. Here it goes; Quickly grasp said object from offender while focusing offenders attention towards something pleasurable in another area.

Hmmm, I have tried this and it works, but should I use it often? NO, especially when said offender should listen to me in the first place. That's the problem- sibling rivalry. Wow, am I Dr. Phil today or what?
Now to find a solution without losing my mind or sending my 2 yr old to live with the Gypsies!
*************************************************************************
On a serious note, we are headed to the funeral of a dear church friend of ours. Keziah Smit was born in Zimbabwe and moved here after her family lost everything they owned because of a dictator who wanted the "whites" out of the country. The family came here and struggled for a while before getting on their feet. Keziah asked the church to pray for them during each struggle and the Lord blessed them all. She got a great job working for "Youth For Christ" and helped spread the gospel all over England. She was the brightest star you could have seen in any sky and she never met someone she couldn't talk to. Always bubbly, her joy for Jesus was contagious. She is now with the angels.
We will all miss her.

Survival 101

It has been a week and my life has not been at all the same. Everything about me has changed and frankly (yep, Frankly again), I don't like it! I'm an independent person and the fact that I have to depend on my family is really upsetting. I expected more from them. I really did. The fact is that I have made them so dependent on me that they are partially incapable of doing my job. I feed them 3 meals a day, snacks, and they get clean laundry and free transportation has made them well, LAZY. ALL of them.

After 20 years of servitude(marriage) and 5 children, I was home from the hospital after this MAJOR EMERGENCY SURGERY and I was hungry. Mind you, I'm supposed to REST and not walk the stairs! Most of the household was at school and someone who was to care for me was busy getting their checklist done. I asked for a sandwich since it was after lunchtime and my body was melting into one of those "Need food weakness spells". Someone said "Sure!" They commenced to gather their things and the 2 yr old, then walk right out of the door! OK then can you see where we are going with this? ( I do have to commend my Spring Chicken teenager. After she got wind of how I felt, she kicked in like Martha Stewart!)

There have been many other things like this happening which made me feel pretty unloved. On night 2 after arriving home I was so physically hurt and mentally neglected that I had a "God wrestling with Abram" session. I prayed, questioned, cried, shook my fists, prayed and cried some more. I know that the Lord has a reason and a season for this, but did I have to be the victim of this "hit and run"? My body, mind and spirit are breaking an it hurts something awful.
There is more to say, but I just can't say it all right now.

Pray for me.

A new beginning.......

Nope I am not talking about Star Wars either!
Since Mothers Day was my last post, I thought it was waay past time to update you. Hmmm, my condition worsened and my arms from the shoulder down to the tips of my fingers were effected. My arms were heavy, joints stiffened and it was extremely painful on most days to prepare foo or even use the mouse on my laptop. Tylenol was the drug of choice and I was beginning to have appointments weekly. The Docs here on base made me another appt with the rheumatologist who couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. Bless her heart, I'm probably one of the last people she wanted to see and we have an appt on the 24 at high noon!
I didn't make it. A little person made their arrival Sunday evening at 5:37 pm. 6 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches
My family is not the quiet type and this little girl came in this world with a bang, er an emergency c-section. From what I was told by the distressed Dr (he was really good- we just stressed him out!), little Miss was firmly held in place by the cord which was wrapped around her neck and then back around under her arms. There was also a muscular band that was keeping her from descending out!
It was meant to be like that and THANK THE LORD that she didn't descend because tragedy could have ensued for the both of us.
Prayers of friends and church members and mercy from the Lord above gave us a healthy outcome.
Thank you all!

Mother's Day 2010

Well, it's that time of the year again and this year is possibly the hardest one for me. My mom is gone and I can feel it and it is lonely. I thank God for my Aunts and my sister, but no one could ever take the place of a mother. Tears are welling up in my eyes as I think of all the times since August 2nd that I have wanted to call her and just hear her voice. I want to know what she is doing, if she is actually going to cook today and what has Daddy been up to. Has she taken her medication or is she being the "Difficult Patient" she has always been. I want her to talk to Elise and make her feel better about herself (they just LOVED each other).
I want my mom back!
I know she is in heaven, suffering no more. Call me selfish, but I want her too.

"There is no heartache so deep as the loss of your mother."

Remember that and go and love your mother today.

My condition-An update

Seeing that I've left you hanging on the edge of what is wrong with me, I'm sure it's time for an update.
I have been back and forth to Cambridge, Addenbrookes, Spire Lea, and Lakenheath seeing doctors and being tested for so many things. I probably need a tranfusion myself after the many draws they have taken. I have faith that whatever it is, God can deal with it or move back to the states and hole ourselves up on a ranch somewhere, acting suspiciously till the feds come and see that we are doing nothing more than growing herbs and becoming nudists.(okay-you KNOW I'd never do that. People have known me for years and have never seen my skin except from the elbow or midcalf down!)
Okay now back to reality, so after seeing all of these drs, waiting for weeks for test results, being called on my PERSONAL cellphone by drs (one called me 3 times in ONE day, mind you. April says they call that stalking, I think I'm popular, ha ha),living with horrible joint and muscle pain and having to crawl to get around this house to get things done, I saw the rheumatologist ONE LAST TIME on Thursday.
(Did I tell you I put 300 miles on the van this week alone? Darryl had a hole in his heart plugged up on Wed -an ASD, they call it, and I had 2 appointments on that same day which had me driving from Lakenheath to Papworth, to Cambridge, back to Papworth, back through Cambridge, and then home. He ended up staying the night and I had to go and pick him up at lunchtime the next morning at Papworth, past Cambridge, back to Cambridge to get him lunch at McD's and then home. So you see where I'm coming from? Going round in circles! Ha, ha, ha!) Yes, I feel like I am losing it. He seems to be doing alright except for overdoing it the first 2 days, but he only has a half inch cut on his groin instead of having his chest cracked open, so he got away easy, THANK the Lord! If he is so hurt now, I could only imagine..............
Now back to me.... So the new diagnosis is UNIDENTIFIABLE! Can you believe that? Dr. Speed kept telling me she was sorry, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong with me except that something was wrong and they couldn't pinpoint it. Maybe it is pregnancy related and will go away after the baby is born. She couldn't guarantee that, but she was sorry and if my symptoms got worse then she is a phone call away.
Are you as frustrated as I am? I bet not! I just know I need to know something and I want to not feel pain and achiness all the time. I want to be normal again and hop out of bed in the morning to get breakfast started. I want to sit down and not have to adjust the pillows so my legs won't hurt. I want to be able to go to bed and not have to move and shift to be comfortable for 30 minutes then have some lightening pain shoot through my joints facilitating me having to reposition 3 pillows and recomfort myself again. I want to walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night without fear of falling and having to use any solid piece of furniture to support my LONG 15 foot journey to a 2 hour relief.
I WANT TO BE ME AGAIN!!
I pray for something to help me be patient and have peace right now. I pray for my family who has half a me, and a grumpy half of me to deal with. Even Mr needs prayer for his speedy recovery so I can get him back to work and not be angry that he is sitting around playing video games and watching movies(resting, they call it) while I am trying to get things done.(Is that selfish?)
Pray for my niece to make it here safely on Thursday morning so I can hand over the reigns to her.
And most of all, I pray for Chloe who is about to be knocked out of her pole position by a new short person in town. She and I have so much fun together that I can't imagine someone else coming between us.
Lord help me!

Hmmm, they think I might have......

Lupus.
So far I have a few things pointing to Lupus, but my symptoms are never withing the "guidelines". I have been to 6 Drs in 7 days and had my blood drawn at least 5 times within those 7 days, you can see that I ought to be too tired to type at 11pm. Well yes, I am pooped but thought that friends and family might want to know.(Also a touch of laziness and the thought of repeating so much information makes me feel nauseated.)

This means that I will be getting all of my services at Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge since the American hospital has kicked me out.

Now enough said, I am off to a shower and bed.
Keep us in your prayers!

Misty