Catching up ... just not coffee-ed up!

Has it really been 2 weeks since I posted here? Ouch! 
Life has thrown us come curve balls ... and we are still trying to steady ourselves in it all ... 
But, I am sorry to those that read here - for not posting more these last few days. 

We started and finished the dialysis training over in Paris, the week of the 17th. Thursday was the 1/2 day of training, where we did the dialysis exchange in front of the nurses, with little to no help or encouragement from them. We passed! Thank you Lord! 

Friday, 12/21, the nurses came to the house. First shipment of supplies were delivered and the room was complete. We passed the test here at the house as well! Again, Thank you Lord! 
Lisa and Glenda said that we were doing good. Left us the number to call them at if we needed anything, and left us alone for Christmas weekend. 
2 more exchanges on Friday - alone. We did fine. Made a couple of small mistakes - but then, we learn from those mistakes. Just as long as the mistakes are not endangering Rick's life and health - we are ok. 

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Friday afternoon Rick and I made a mad run to Wal-mart's. Picked up the groceries and supplies we needed to make beef stew and squash/onion cornbread - so that Mandy could take it to work with her on Saturday. 

I enjoyed cooking for her so much! 
She has been working long and hard hours this holiday season. We haven't been able to see her much since Thanksgiving. She still tries to stop most mornings and grab a cup of coffee - and leave a hug or two. :-)  Hopefully once the holiday rush is over we will be able to spend some quality and quantity time together ... I would like that. 

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Saturday morning we finished packing and loading the car down with our stuff and all the dialysis supplies that we might need for a few days. And we drove out to the Graham area. It was past time to see my son!!! =) 
How sweet it was to hug and kiss those grandkids!!!
How precious it was to be hugged by my daughter in love ... and by my son!!! 
Oh how much I have missed them!!! 

We spent Saturday afternoon getting the car unloaded, handing out little things to the grandkids, getting the dialysis "room" set up for the visit, and taking over Joshua and Dessie's bedroom =). 

We were blessed to spend 5 glorious nights with them!!! 
We played UNO with them and the grandkids - I don't think I have ever laughed so hard as we did that night. Joshua and I both had tears because of the laughter. Kyla was hilarious! She gave her daddy looks that were priceless!!! LOL 

The hardest thing was to pack and load everything Thursday morning. No, the hardest thing was to try and hold it all together and not fall completely apart at the thought of driving away from my son. Sigh. The tears came - both to him and to me. Tears of love and joy ... tears of already missing one another. 

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Another check up in with the Dialysis Center on Thursday afternoon. Another "test" to make sure we had not picked up any bad habits over the holiday. We passed - again. And again, Thank you Lord!!! 

Dr. Greenwell came and talked with us. Changed Rick's blood pressure medication a little, and his diabetes meds. Both his blood pressure and blood sugar are running too high. But neither are a surprise as the dialysis is just starting, and we are still in the adjusting stage of it all. 

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To the house again ... unloaded ... unpacked ... trying to get everything settled back in ... clean ... organized ... caught up ... 

Yep ... I'm SSSTTTRRREEESSSEEEDDD!!! Sigh ... 
Trying to convince my mind to just breathe in and breathe out ... 
Telling myself over and over to Trust in Jesus ... and Call on Jesus!!! 

Please continue to pray for us ... 

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