God's Blessing

Within the past year we have faced some difficult hurtles. Challenges that keep us on our toes and wishing for a reprieve. In spite of all this I have seen a steady stream of blessings coming to me. Of course I know that everything is a Blessing from our Heavenly Father. I think the blessings that have most affected me within this past year have been the friends that God has given me. There are 5 women in my life right now who are amazing and each of them blesses my life in a different way. Each of them fills a different need in my life.

I will start with Amy. I knew Amy back in high school. We weren't really friends.....I only knew her because she dated my brother. I liked her, but we traveled in different circles. We had different friends....and to be honest I NEVER spent much time with my brother. We didn't see or talk to each other in years, not until we started talking on FB. Not only do we enjoy each others company, our kids play together and we are Neighbors. Right around the corner. Close enough to walk or ride bikes (well....if I could ride my bike). Amy is the friend I turn to first. Good, bad, happy or sad.....she gets the call or text right after Hubby (and sometimes Mom....Hi Mom!!). She is my shoulder, my cheer section and sometimes my conscience. I will ask her opinion on everything. Nothing is off limits.

Next is MA. She was my best friend from 8th grade through High school. We were inseparable. Either we were at my house or we were at her house. Always. It was like we were joined at the hip. She was the sister I never had. Things happened and we lost touch. I NEVER stopped thinking about her. I thought about contacting her family to find out about her. But after all those years it was awkward. I knew it was wrong that we weren't still connected at the hip. But making that first step toward contacting a friend is hard. So I started talking to her brother and EVENTUALLY we found each other on Facebook. Again....Facebook gave me back an awesome friend. MA is THE funniest person I have ever known. It is impossible for me to be in a bad mood with her around. She makes me laugh and makes me happy. Seriously, her just being in the same room fills me with joy. It may sound weird, but it is true.

My third amazing friend is Valerie. She is another one of my brother's ex girlfriends....and another friend I found through facebook. I loved Val when she dated my brother. She was one of those bubbly people. And so darn cute! Now Val is a beautiful Christian woman who lets me vent and lets me be her shoulder too. We could talk for hours and feel like we haven't had enough time together.

The next two friends are new friends. I met one in the fall and the other one last week. But I still consider them to be great friends that I couldn't live without. They both were sent to me from God.
I met both Lorraine and Lori through my MOPS group. OK, not really....at least not directly. You see, after I started going to MOPS I decided to try out that church. I needed a new church, desperately. But that's a different post. My very first Sunday I felt overwhelmed and lost. I was trying to get my boys into the correct Sunday school classrooms and was unsure about what I would do for the next hour. I met Lorraine in the hallway. She basically grabbed me up and said "you're coming with me" . She hasn't been able to get rid of me yet! One day her daughters soccer team was playing my sons soccer team and we had the chance to talk. Really talk. We both have a similar situation with our oldest sons. Just knowing someone who understands how I feel and has been through similar things was like a weight lifted off of me. Finally, someone got it. She "got" me.

My most recent friend is Lori. God crossed our paths at a MOPS play date. While all the other moms were chatting in the other room and the kids playing around them....we took our boys out to her garage to bounce in the bounce house. I don't remember who started talking first but it doesn't even matter. All that matters is that we clicked. In a big way. We clicked about many things but mostly we clicked when it came to our faith. And we both wanted and needed a close friend to share our growing faith. Today R and I went back for a play date. Only this time it wasn't the whole MOPS group. It was just us and our boys. And it was perfect. We talked for hours. It felt like I had known Lori for years. I'm comfortable around her. We both can open up and share. How great is that?!? We made plans to meet every week, so the boys can play and we can spend time together with God. Bibles open, prayers being said and hearts being filled.
It doesn't get much better than that!

Believe me when I say that I pray thanks to the Lord everyday. I thank him for my family, friends and everything God does for us. And I always, always say extra prayers for these special friends. Because I love them....and I need them.

Bad Denise

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. I haven't been a very good blog reader either. Sorry. I really don't have a good excuse. Unless being a mom, wife and patient count.
Do they count?
OK......just so you can stop wondering this is what has been going on in my life.

I visited with friends. Several friends. Old friends. It was awesome seeing each and every one of them.

R peed his pants in Walmart. Yeah, I thought we were over that too. Obviously not.

J has a bad cold. Bad. Poor J.

Poppop isn't doing very good. It isn't anything I can put my finger on....I cant say it is this or that. But he just isn't doing well. He is weak. He looks bad. I'm worried.

I have been to the dentist several times since the beginning of the month....with several more visits to come.

I found out that John Hopkins in MD has an entire department dedicated to Sjogrens. I wish I lived closer to Baltimore.

My husband is back to working full time. That is a huge blessing BUT he isn't in his normal position at work. He HATES what he is doing now. He HATES going to work and he HATES the thought of doing this for several more months.

I have had some good days and some bad days. Today is a bad day. I'm in pain. Apparently my body doesn't like when I am super busy.

hmmmmmm.....yeah, that's it. Boring, right?

I read this passage this morning and it stuck with me....

I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
Psalm 16:8-9

She is Awesome and so is her view!!

I'm at Amy's. Blogging. Cause she rocks!! She actually took a vacation day so that me and my boys could come play at her house on the river all day. Too bad it's cold out. Too cold to actually be outside to enjoy the river. But I am sitting here typing on my laptop and can see the River. ALL OF IT! Awesome! I want to live on the River. She is SO lucky!


Thanks for spending the day with us Amy and J.

I R smart

I'm either half brain dead or have too much on my mind. Either one is not good. Want to know what brilliant thing I did this morning? I spent over 5 minutes looking for my sweatpants. The sweatpants that I KNEW I had washed and folded yesterday. I looked through 2 baskets of folded laundry. I looked in the basement. I looked in my bedroom and the bathroom. And finally.....finally I found them.


I was WEARING them.

Yep....that's the kind of day I am having.

Please pray!

I just heard that one of the Robotics teams that my son's team competes against had a terrible bus accident. One student was killed and 17 others were injured. They are Team 3125 from the Hartford, CT area.
Please pray for the students, mentors and families.

Toothache

I went Wednesday for a root canal. The whole idea of having a root canal scared the crap out of me (not literally, thankfully!) but my Dentist is pretty cool and hands out Valium scripts to chickens like me. So I took my Valium and headed in there. He drilled on me for nearly 2 hours....YES! I said 2 hours people. THEN he told me that my nerve canal was too thin (apparently its the only part of me that is thin) and that I needed to see a specialist. What?!? Really? It took him nearly 2 hours to figure that out?!? So he filled the tooth in, told me he wasn't charging me and gave me the number of a specialist. When I got home one of my other teeth started hurting. That tooth also needs a root canal. Sjogrens is ruining my teeth. There is no way to avoid it. I use prescription toothpaste and everything but eventually the Sjogrens will win. Dentures are in my future....like it or not.
Ok, back to my toothache story. This other tooth hasn't stopped hurting. I called the dentist yesterday to boo hoo....his office called me prescriptions for an antibotic and vicodin. Even with the vidocin I am in pain. And I don't see the dentist until next Thursday.
So please...pray for me and my stupid teeth. Pray that I get some relief from this toothache. Please.
Me and my tooth appreciate it.

My new Love

Usually me and Hubby combine any money we get for Christmas and use it on bills, groceries, the kids or whatever. This year Hubby wanted to add some trains to his "collection". We are a train loving family so I was all for it. I love seeing him and the kids get all excited watching the trains. Hubby knew I have been wanting a Sony eReader for awhile but it wasn't in our budget. BUT after Christmas he told me to use my Christmas money to get one for myself. YAY! BestBuy had a great sale plus free shipping AND Hubby had a gift card so I could afford one. AWESOME! I even got a pink one. I puffy heart my new eReader. I joined our local library and can download and read ebooks FREE! How great is that?
So if you can't find me.....look on the couch, under my new blanket....I will be reading with a HUGE smile on my face.




Oh...and I have to give a big lovey dovey shout out to Amy who is working some serious magic turning books into pdf files for my new ereader. Amy I puffy heart you too!!!