An Update

Taylor and I left the hospital yesterday to come back home. Boy did it feel good to drive up my driveway. 

Mom is doing better today. I called Dad just a little while ago and he gave me an update. She had a pretty rough night last night with nausea and vomiting, apparently from the pain medication. They changed her to a different medication and she is feeling much better. As far as the pain, she is still suffering quite a bit but the surgeon said that this is just going to be the status quo for the next few days, possibly weeks. 

We are still praying for a speedy recovery and would appreciate any prayers on her behalf. I will be going back, probably tomorrow, but I have some things that need to be done around the farm. I really wish I had one of those teleportation machines...a clone would come in handy too. Taylor and Kyle have been an invaluable asset to us and I feel so bad that they are giving up spring-break time to help out with family and farm. I owe them big-time. 

Mom

I am going to attempt to blog from my iPod, so please excuse any horrid misspellings.
Many people are unaware of what is going on with my dear mother and I am getting asked a lot of questions.

Mom had extensive neck surgery yesterday. The discs in her neck were so degenerated and arthritic that her spinal chord was being pinched and her mobility was being compromised. She had already lost the use of her right arm. So the miracle of modern medicine stepped in. The surgeon said that when he got in there that even her ligaments were calcified and he had to use a drill where a scalple would have been used. Four of her vertebre were removed and cadaver bones were inserted along with a titanium cage and some of hercown stem cells to help her body generate it's own bone!! He said it is the same concept that was used on Tiger Woods knee, very cutting-edge.
She will have a significant recovery period with the next few days being the worst as far as pain goes. I am trying to keep my dad from wearing himself out more than anything because I sure don't want to have to take care of both of them.
They are both sleeping and snoring right now. I feel as if I have two sleeping infants in the room and am keeping the room quiet and flinching with every noise in the hall or nurse entering the room. And, since I feel so completely vulnerable posting this without my dictionary/thesaurus on my MacBook, I shall cease pecking my ipod to death. Please continue your prayers for my sweet mother and God bless you all.

Something New

Well, look who showed up today!! I have been waiting for this since last spring and finally, a new baby. My heart is just about to burst, almost to the point where I may have to loosen my bra. Rain, the new mother, began showing signs of labor this morning. I had about a go-zillion things I had to do at the shop so I went on to work and periodically came back to check on her. 

About 3:00 she started very actively laboring, I mean screaming and everything. I sat there staring at her backside for what seemed like an hour and nothing was happening. So, I decided to leave her alone and go back to work for a while. Rodney happened to come home for a minute and went out to check on her and it was happening. He called me and said, "you've almost got a baby down here." Well, my heart jumped into my throat and I ran, yes ran, to the car and sped to the house. When I got to the shed, there stood Rodney cleaning off a freshly born tiny little baby goat. The sight of this is one I'm sure I will always remember. 

Then, there was another surprise. While we were tending to the first little baby, another one was born!!! Oh, I wish I could put into words my joy over this. I haven't been able to concentrate on anything else since. Right now I want to go back out there and check on them. 

I may have to roll out a sleeping bag and sleep in the shed tonight. They are both boys, by the way and I'm considering naming them Harry and Lloyd. This might not be a good idea since I really don't want to have "dumb" goats, but I just like those names for some reason. If anybody has any other suggestions for names, I would love to hear them. For now, I think I'll go loosen my bra and try to keep my head on. 

Thank you Lord for the spring time! The weather has been so gray and rainy and cold for what has seemed like forever, that the sunshine feels like a drug, and am I ever high on it. As I sit here typing this, the sun is coming through my window and my skin is soaking it up like a thirsty sponge. I took these pictures before the latest episode of icky weather. The weather was so beautiful for a few days that when the cold rain returned, it was a complete shock and left me wondering what the heck God could be thinking about...it seemed like some sort of practical joke. Thank goodness it was a short lived joke and the sun is back now. 

It really is amazing how the weather can affect a persons whole outlook on life. The sun actually returned yesterday, the same day I lost Jerico. I think God knew I needed some cheering up and I was so thankful for his kind gesture. Nobody knows my heart like God and he knows what I need and he knew I needed some sunshine. I've been working in the shop all day finishing a set of cabinets for a job we are working on. So, I got to be out in the glorious day, doing something I completely love to do...aren't you jealous?? I hope that all of the people that may read this will find some sunshine in their lives. I pray that you may find yourself doing something that you love, and I hope that you will know from where all these blessings come. 

Jerico

I was awakened this morning at around 4:00 a.m. to a noise in the living room. Rodney and I got up to see what was going on and found Jerico in the middle of a massive seizure. He stayed in this state for about 5 minutes and did not recover. We figured it caused too much stress on his heart or possibly his brain. I can't believe I'm even writing this right now. The confusing thing is that I am eerily calm about the whole thing. When Rodney and I caught our breath after such a brutal episode, we put on a pot of coffee and I sat down with my bible and opened my journal. The new journal I have has scriptures at the bottom of the pages and I was astounded at the verse staring me in the face. It simply stated; Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Isaiah 43: 18-19. God is clearly doing a new thing for me. I'm not sure why this new thing included loosing another dog. Rodney hugged me and said that from now on, he would be my dog. He said if I wanted to go walking that he would go with me. It is too soon for me to speculate on what God could be doing in my life but it is clear that I'm not in control. The thought of this comforts me. I know for sure that I am going to be content with what I've been given and that I won't be running out to get another dog, especially since Rodney kindly offered up his services to be my dog. I am calling this whole series of unfortunate events finished and will look for the new thing that is awaiting me. God is good. 

Trip to the dentist

Yesterday, Taylor and I had a fun filled trip to the dentist. Taylor had to have all four of her wisdom teeth extracted. We were both a little nervous about it, especially when they called us back to the room and made us wait surrounded by machines and all sorts of cold, iron, torture devices. 

We thought seriously about calming ourselves with the Nitrous Oxide despite the warning label stating "avoid inhalation"! psshhh!!!, what else are you supposed to do with the stuff?? Blow dry your hair with it?

Then there was the thought of using the anesthetics in these syringes. But we decided to just take some more pictures and keep making each other laugh, without the gas. 

Then the doctor came in and uncovered THIS!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!! It was at this point that I very seriously considered grabbing poor Taylor and making a run for it. 

Yep, let's get the heck out of here baby. But we decided that the doctor was right and that the teeth needed to come out, especially since Taylor had been battling headaches and shooting pains for about a month. Probably best that we go ahead and let them go. 

About 20 minutes later, Taylor didn't care about much anything. It was at this point that all my nurturing, motherly instincts flew out the window and I became a giggling teenager, pointing and laughing hysterically and taking pictures of my inebriated buddy. 

Like any typical drunk, she was loud, laughing and making no sense whatsoever. Partly because her mouth was full of gauze, and then partly because she, almost assuredly, inhaled that nitrous oxide!! 

Apparently, her "lips were in the way" which became a source of great frustration since she "couldn't feel her tongue".  She asked me about 50 times "Mom, how did I get here?" and "How long was I out?" and, I must admit, none of these questions were easily translated. The recovery area was in a hallway with nurses and patients walking past and we got lots of smiles and odd looks. All in all, the day was successful and Taylor is doing very well with recovery now that she is sober. 

Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...and yes, I took a picture of mine. It was just so darn pretty glistening in the morning sun, I couldn't bear to gobble it down without pausing to admire it. If you aren't an avid eater of breakfast, I hope that you can change your mind about it a bit. Your metabolism will get a big big boost and your whole day will be more productive. Seriously. 

This morning, I made one of my favorite breakfasts. I cooked an egg in my little pan in just a bit of olive oil. Then, when the egg is placed on my pretty plate (it is vital to happiness that you eat your food off of a pretty plate), I sprinkle it with cheese so it will melt and be scrumptious. Next I toss a hand full of spinach into the pan and wilt it just a little, this goes on top of the cheese. Then I add a generous helping of rotell tomatoes, sprinkle it with a little garlic salt and some pepper and voila!! A lovely breakfast for Jenni. I get a nice helping of protein from the egg, omega 3's from the olive oil, iron and calcium in the spinach, and lycopene in the tomatoes. All that aside, it is completely YUMMY! That beautiful breakfast is now in my tummy and will nourish me for the better part of this morning. Somehow I feel like I can take on anything the day will bring with the knowledge that I enjoyed such an exquisite breakfast. So, if you scarfed down some cold cereal with sugar in it, or ate (gasp) some horrid fast food biscuit-type product, or even worse, skipped breakfast all together, I hope you will consider being nicer to your body. It only took me about 5 minutes to create such a masterpiece and it's benefits will be unequaled. So, go on and make yourself and egg!!

Lazy weekend

The title of this blog may be misleading for the dogs were the only souls around here that had a "lazy weekend". All of us humans were very busy. Rodney and I had farm work to do on Saturday. Very poopy, backbreaking, sweaty, stinky farm work. I also had to try and dig my way through a mountain of laundry. Kyle has been cheering non-stop for our Warriors while they were at regionals (which they won by the way) and didn't get home until this afternoon. Taylor had an "upward bound" event to go to in Little Rock on Saturday. She had to leave the house at 5:30 am and did this on her own. I woke up to find a post-it on the kitchen faucet telling me that she was on her way to Little Rock and to call her when I woke up. I was so darn proud of her (and so relieved that I was able to sleep in a bit). 

The dogs on the other hand, well just take a look for yourselves. Can dogs be considered couch potatoes? Well, these guys were this weekend. At one point I thought about giving them the remote control and fixing them a plate of nachos. Momma was even too busy to take them for their walk. I thought this would make them more rambunctious but, nope.  

Jerico could barely even open his eyes to get his picture made. I'm starting to feel that he is becoming more and more a member of the family. We are still having some serious issues when it comes to the cats. He chases the cats outside, he barks at Rodney's kitty inside and once he becomes fixated on them, it is quite a chore to break his train of thought. I've spoken with the lady from whom I adopted him and she suggested a training collar. I ordered one from her and it should be here tomorrow. This collar is supposed to be painless and really work wonders in training dogs to obey. Jerico also has a bit of a separation anxiety issue. There are times when I can leave him and he is completely fine and other times when he freaks. I've got a little less trim around my front door and no longer have mini blinds in my front window. I'm being patient and understanding with him. I can only imagine what he has been through and other than the cat thing and the separation thing, his completely wonderful. I really feel like we can work through these issues. This is just one of those things that you just can't quit on. I'm committed to helping him through his problems and I feel like in the process, we will both become stronger.