He

He was larger than life...

Even after his life was over.

He was a pillar of the community,

A judge that was fair and just.

He was a man that loved fully and faithfully

With no regard for the boundaries of this physical earth.

He was a believer.

One who shared his faith through his words and actions.

He was a family man

Whose family included more than those with blood ties.

He was a humanitarian

Who helped anyone in need by providing a warm smile, a firm hand squeeze, knowledgeable advice, or the items they lacked.

He loved to make other people smile

Even if it took corny jokes to induce those smiles.

He was an amazing man.

He was my Grandfather.

Play Bejeweled! But Don't Beat me!

What has kept me away from blogging?

• Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. There is a monster competition going on between my brothers and I. Well, it was initially just my brothers and I...now my mom is involved. And she keeps pulling ahead of me!


• Books. I haven't read a book in so long. Having young kids means that I read more "Hungry Caterpillar" than any adult books. But, when Jim had his surgery, I had some time in the waiting room to start a book. I read, "The Shack" by William Young. It was an amazing book with such insights and explanations that opened my eyes. It was wonderful. So wonderful, I think that book needs a post of its own. Totally excited by reading a book again, I jumped right in to another. I read a book about the Columbine tragedy. It was an interesting book that dispelled a lot of incorrect beliefs I had about what had happened. Then, I started the Twilight series. Ohhhh...I am enjoying them immensely. I am on the second book. Wish I had more time to read.


• Kids. Zane is flourishing. Sleeping pretty well at night and gaining weight finally! Tonight our scale said he was 12 pounds. Because he has gained so much weight, we had to go back to the GI doc to increase his Omeprazole for the stomach acid. He is much happier now that his meds have been adjusted. He will go for his four month check up next week. Cade is doing well, but seems to be having a little trouble with jealousy of his brother. Cade occasionally wants to "be the baby" and asks to be fed a bottle or pretends to have a pacifier. We are trying trying trying to potty train, but with little success. He is figuring it out, but...


• Work. I am bummed out that I am being kicked out of my store and having to move to Sun City. The store isn't bad--slow, but I will survive. I will just miss my coworkers and my customers who I have known for over 5 years. Change is tough. But, I will continue my one day a week work schedule which is great.
• Kim. Kim was here for a week visiting. What an awesome time we had drinking and just hanging out. We shopped and ate and went to the spa... We just generally had fun enjoying each other's company. Well, I enjoyed it anyway...you would have to ask Kim if she had fun. I hope so.

So, I have a new masthead up and a current blog. That's a start, isn't it?

If You Understood, You Would Understand...

That statement was spoken by my husband.

"If you understood, you would understand." After mocking him for several moments regarding this seemingly un-profound statement, I realized that although it sounded meaningless, it held great meaning.

Jim was referring to his post hernia surgery pain. He had two hernias repaired a week ago and has been suffering ever since. He has an incision above his belly button and one in the groin area. He says the incisions are not really what hurt, but the groin. As he said, it "feels like someone is using his groin for a punching bag." Any men reading this are probably wincing and sympathizing with Jim. As a female, I am trying to be compassionate and understanding, but I have different anatomy that doesn't allow me to understand 100% what he is feeling. I was picking on him for whining for a week and he said..."If you understood, you would understand."

But there are two sides to every story. Jim has been miserable the whole last week and so have I pretty much. On Monday and Tuesday Jim was basically helpless. So, I had THREE babies. It has been a rough week being a single parent (but thank goodness for the family support of both of our parents). I have been trying to contain my resentment but it bubbled forth a couple of times. I just kept thinking of my two c-sections. I had my abdomen cut open and a baby pulled out and my "recovery" period included no sleep and feeding a crying baby every two hours. Jim, on the other hand, had no cares other than himself. I was angry and hated that I was angry. In trying to explain this to Jim, all I could think to say was, "If you understood, you would understand."

Makes sense, right?