Mr. B.

I get to have lunch with my main squeeze today.  That always makes me smile.

New Day

Live with purpose.

Laugh a lot.

Love unconditionally.

I'm going to fold some laundry, make the beds, swim with my family and then scrapbook.  And that makes me smile.

Numb

I think about her a lot.  She meant so much to me.

I know the right words will come at the right time.

For now - - I let our Lord carry me through this storm.

Thank you all so much for lifting me up and thinking about me.  I've felt it all.

Please, please, please keep John, Jacob and Jackson in your prayers.  A wife and a mommy aren't there anymore.  I'll never understand why.  I try so hard to make sense of something that doesn't make sense.

In His time.

Yoda - - I love you, friend.  I love you more than words can say.  My soul always hummed after spending time with you.  Thank you for choosing me.

Grieving

Thank you all SO much for your prayers, phone calls and outpouring of support.

I'm not trying to ignore anyone.  I've received the expressions of love from you and I value them more than you can ever imagine.  I'm sure you understand that my heart is heavy and absolutely broken.  Thank you for your patience as my friends and I navigate our way through personal unchartered waters.  I know that my Father in Heaven will guide me.  He's already provided me with incredible peace and strength that only He is capable of.

Please continue to pray for John and the boys.  Lots of broken hearts tonight.

Heaven became just that much more of a beautiful place today.

I love you all and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your friendships.

My heart is broken.

Shannon passed away this morning.

I am at a total loss.  Please pray for John (her husband) and her two sweet boys, Jacob and Jackson.

I'm sure you can imagine how overwhelmed we all are.  I will post more information later.  Thank you for the texts, e-mails, love and hugs.  You all are awesome.

Rough Times

I don't want to go into too much detail.  The details don't really matter.  What matters is my good buddy, Shannon, is very sick.  She was admitted to the hospital yesterday with multiple blood clots in her lungs.  We found out today that she still has clots in her legs.  All of this is, quite frankly, a surprise to everyone.  She's been sick for quite some time with the upper respiratory crud.  She spent last night in the hospital in the unit that is one below ICU.  She wanted her husband to stay at home with the boys so I offered to stay with her.  It was a long night.  I would do it for her again in a heartbeat.

I was shocked.  Shocked and heart-broken as to how bad she really is.  This is no small thing.  It's quite serious.   The doctor came by the room after I left this morning.  (Her husband relieved me after he got the kids to school.)  They moved her to ICU.  She had a procedure done this afternoon that is supposed to stop the clots in her legs from moving up.  I don't completely understand how it works.  And I don't know what it means for the clots in her lungs.  She is also battling a very low platelet and white blood cell count.  She's in a bad way and it's very scary.

What can you do?  Please, please, PLEASE pray for her.  Pray for peace for her family and for healing for her.  I know that God has a plan through all of this.  It does not make it any easier to wait.  The unknown is frightening.  I know that she is more scared as a mother than anything else.  She has two very special children at home that really need her.  So please - - Pray for Shannon.

Bourne Love

I just downloaded the movie scores for each Bourne movie.  It's cranked up.  Let the house cleaning commence.  (How is it that I never got these before today?  What is wrong with me?)

Well, I did it.

Today, I submitted my first scrapbook page for publication.  Why do I hate telling you that?  Because the chance that it will be picked up and published is slim.  I fear rejection.  I don't like it.  I don't want to think that I'm not good enough.  The business is competitive.  Lots of women are scrapbooking.  And there are lots of very talented women out there.  But my husband - - my amazing, supportive husband - - urged me to go for it.  He told me he's seen stuff in those magazines I look through.  He said my stuff is every bit as good as anything he's seen in those magazines.  I know - - awwwww.  It was sweet of him.  But he meant it.  He really, really meant it.  So - - I went for it.  I may have to submit a few more thousand times.  But I won't know until I try.  So, here goes.  I'm going to give this the best that I have and see where it takes me.

Here's to the first attempt!

Weekend in Review

My niece and her friend spent the weekend with us.  Long story.  Lots of drama.  But I'm hoping she is returning to her college home a little refreshed and relaxed.  She is such a sweet girl.  It KILLED me for her to call me in tears on Friday asking for a place to crash for the weekend.

We finally saw SALT this weekend.  Fantastic movie.  Kind of confusing.  For me.  I think SALT is the female version of Jason Bourne.  It was left wide open for a sequel.  Awesome.  We watched *part* of The Bourne Identity last night.  It was a CIA night I guess.  I love me some Jason Bourne.

The toilet in our bathroom broke.  So Mr. B has spent today buying a new one and installing it.  Good times.

I scrapbooked a page.  Just one.  It's for a contest and I think it turned out quite nice.  I'm happy with it.  Go look at my creative blog when you get a chance.  I'd love to hear your feedback.

Two birthday parties yesterday and one today.  That should pretty much wrap up our weekend.

I tracked my Kindle.  It shipped on Friday.  It is "on time" and scheduled to be delivered on Monday.  Woo hoo!  Just in time for the Labor Day holiday.  The brown man doesn't show up around here until 6:30 or later in the evenings.  It figures, huh?

Okay, time to prep for that last party.  I expect an early bedtime for all of us tonight.

All About Bobby

Wednesday - I went by and checked his PO Box for mail.  Junk.  Junk, junk, junk.  I did a lot of tearing up and shredding.  Well, I did nab a good coupon.  But the rest was crap.

I anticipate much of the same when I check today.

Baby Bro - rest assured, I will let you know when your items arrive.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmkay?

Big dork.

Hi. It's me. B.

How are you my lovlies?  Miss me?  I miss me.

Okay.  Not really.  I've enjoyed the solitude.  But time to start doing something productive with the time.

I started going to bed quite a bit earlier.  The alarm goes off at 7:00 in the morning.  I know, some of you are already at work at 7:00.  Blah, blah, blah.  It's early for me.  Okay?  I usually set the coffee maker the night before and so the dark roasted bean juice is ready to greet me as I stumble out of bed.  I forgot to set it last night.  Oh well.  Such is life.  I didn't have to wait long.

I cleaned like a maniac on Monday.  The place has "sort of" gone by the wayside since and could use some sprucing up.  Nothing major.  Sweeping, picking up, usual kitchen duties.  It shouldn't take long.

I've discovered something quite odd.  I really think I'm allergic to mornings.  Laugh if you will.  But - - I sneeze every morning about three times.  Every morning.  Not right away.  Usually about an hour after I get up.  Like - - now.  Oh.  God bless me.  *wipes screen off*  I wasn't quite ready.  Then my nose runs like crazy.  I blow it.  And then *voila*  I'm able to proceed with my day.  It's weird.  I'm like a cat or something.

My scrap space is a mess.  I've got to get that under control.  My plan is to work on a page or two after my real work is done around here.  I have a haircut this morning.  Other than that - - my day is wide open.  I like that.  No rushing.  No significant plans.  Just kind of a chillaxing day.  Right on.

The kids are doing well in school.  We've gotten three birthday party invitations this week.  Three.  First week of school.  FANTASTIC.  (Did any of you catch my article in the paper?  *giggle*  I whaled on birthday parties pretty hard.)  Anyway, the parties are this weekend.  Two of them at the bowling alley, which I'm actually pretty okay with.  But the other one is at Gatti's.  Kill me now.  I HATE going there.  I really, really, REALLY hate Gatti's.  It's dirty.  The food sucks.  You have to pay to get in.  It's just - - blech.  Oh, what we will endure for our children.

Well, time to get this day of mine started.

(By the way, I just sneezed two more times.  That makes five times this morning.  Two extras.  What could that mean?)

Need tissues.  Later.