Sorry, been sick

I just wanted to let everyone know, that I have been sick this past week and while better, I can't seem to do more than read and comment. While I did miss time with my family and Church services this weekend as well as did not get to enjoy the snow with the children, I have been catching up with old friends this week. The Lord truly knows exactly what we need when we need it. I have been so blessed this past week in spite of being sick and worse for wear.

This coming weekend shall be a busy one for us. Tonight we are having a bonfire to burn all the extra brush from around the house and few items from our garage that were in dire need of throwing away. I've always enjoyed sitting around camp fires in the cool of the night. We had planned on this last Friday for Western Christmas Eve since the boys were up visiting with a break from college and work but me being sick it just didn't work. So the plan is for tonight barring rain or lots of wind ...

Then tomorrow we get to head to my husband's hometown for a funeral. His aunt died from complications of a stroke earlier this week. It will be like a family reunion of sorts as there will be family members there that I haven't even met yet. That side of the family doesn't really get together much for anything - they just keep in touch via the phone tree and grape vine. More than likely we will spend all day there visiting with family and not be able to make it to Church in the evening. I'm just going to let the Lord lead us. You just never know who God will set in your path or when.

Sunday will be fairly busy as well. First there will be Church services followed by Church school as normal. After Church school, the children will be decorating the Nativity tree in the courtyard :) This shall be so much fun to watch! Immediately after we will head to the other side of the state from where we will be Saturday to visit my grandparents. We cannot go around them while sick as they are both in frail health. I feel like such a bad granddaughter. I don't do nearly enough for them that I should. I have cousins that live just as far away as I do and they manage to do more than I do... granted they have one or two children apiece but still, what excuse is that? It's not.

And though Monday is not a part of the weekend it is still full. I will be visiting my father. He should be in his new place of care by then. We've been careful not to make plans to go visit as we don't know at what time they are going to move him. They have been supposed to be moving him for the past week but something always comes and they don't. For those that do not know, he had a simple hernia surgery in October. The surgeon made a mistake and did not make sure he had stopped bleeding all the way since he was on blood thinners. This led to another surgery in which the intestines were ripped (not fault of that surgeon - as he had to get to the pocket of blood and he could not see all of the adhesions on the intestines further in. Of course that turned out to not be the last surgery. In the past 3 months he has been home 1 week and 2 or 3 days. He can't eat, his tummy gets badly distended when they put the nutrient dense liquid in his g-tube (a tube right into the stomach/small intestine area). He's lost a ton of weight and looks so tiny and fragile. He feels so bad for all of this but it's not his fault. The past couple of years has been bad on him. He had a heart attack, he had kidney cancer, he had a bleeding ulcer they couldn't find, now this. All I want is for my father to get better. He does not deserve this in the least. He's still so young with so much more to teach his grandchildren.

Just got a call - Daddy's being moved in just a little while to the physical therapy rehab center!! This is good news! He's closer to me now which means I can visit more often than once a week :) I feel such a great peace with this move. Please pray for him. His name is Ray and he is not Orthodox. I've been praying that through this somehow he will find his way to the One True Faith ... my mom, too.

Ok, much to do today! I need to do a little cleaning up and then crafts with Mary for her Nativity gifts she wants to give everyone. Tamara is with Terry at work and they will be home right after lunch today and I want all of the mundane stuff and the presents finished before they get home so that we can have some family time to play some games and maybe later watch a movie with popcorn before going out to light the bonfire.

Have a fun, safe time ringing in the civil New Year!