De Ann's Clan

Monday, December 24, 2018

Christmas Eve Musings

I just woke up.  It is Christmas Eve and I have a migraine.  My body hurts from head to toe.  But that is nothing new.  In fact, I asked Kyath if it was supposed to snow just yesterday.  I could feel it.  I couldn't move my hands very well.  He looked it up.  The weather app said it was a 60% chance of snow today and a 20% chance of snow tomorrow.  Yeah right.  I should have been a weather girl.    People would be tuning in because of my dead on accuracy.  Need a weather update? Just ask me.




As I lay in bed realizing that it had snowed, I began thanking my heavenly father for letting it snow when my family was safe in bed. The snow plows cleared the roads in the background as I wondered, what if my children were out driving when it started to snow? Would my children be safe from harm?




I prayed further, "Thank Thee for protecting my family from heartache that others have endured. Thank Thee for keeping us from losing a child. Thank Thee for making sure all of our pregnancies went full-term and resulted in live births.  Thank Thee for helping my children to make wise choices that kept them from making mistakes that would lead them down the wrong paths. I have a good husband. My brothers and sister and their spouses are all good people and have been good influences on my family."


I pondered further, "And I am grateful we have a home. We have transportation (Even if one is dead and the other has the window stuck open with no heat). Our family has water that is fit for drinking without needing to go through purification before we drink it. We have heat and electricity. There is plenty of food. "


Finally, I prayed in gratitude for my physical aliments. "Thank Thee that I have been able to work full-time despite being exhausted and in pain most of the time. I have learned to work despite the constant migraines. I have grown so used to how I feel, that I can barely remember what it was like before." God has strengthened me in my trials. He has made me see my trials for what they are, growing opportunities.

Friday, December 21, 2018

Ready or Not

It has grown increasingly harder to drudge through life's obstacles. I look at all that is going on and just snicker when someone complains that their life is so hard. Really? Your life is hard because someone hurt your feelings? You are depressed because everything isn't going your way? Try feeling like a complete failure and wondering where to go from here.

Having a disagreement with someone is not the end of life itself. Losing money isn't the end either. What about struggling as a parent? Just what exactly is the end all? I will tell you a secret. When you hit what you think is rock bottom, things can always get worse.  That is the most important time to thank the Lord for what he has done for you. He has stepped in and kept your life from erupting. Recognize his love and intervention in your part.

Depending on the day, I teeter between seeing the hilarity in my situation and wanting to stay in bed until it is over.

1. Mail woman refuses to deliver our mail because she is scared of dogs.  We received a letter from the post office and put up a fence.  They never sent another letter, but they ordered us to move our mailbox out to the street. I have been trying to straighten it out through the proper channels. So far, I haven't gotten anywhere.  We had to rent a PO box to get our mail. We forwarded our mail, and yet we are not getting our packages. Kyath bought 7 home hubs for the yellow pod classrooms. I was really excited for them. They were all sent back. I am not sure is we will get them sent back to us or not.

2. Our neighbor came over to our house with the shotgun telling us he was going to shoot our dog.  He was furious because Serious escaped and was in his yard.  Don went off on him and told him to act normal.  We called the cops.  They surrounded the neighbor with their weapons. He talked to three different families in the neighborhood and has them mad at us.  Tell me how this is our fault?  They are mad that we called the cops.  Some how they think it is normal to approach a neighbor with a gun and threaten their animal. So far nothing has come of the police report. He told the police he had his shotgun because he had been robbed a couple of months ago.

We hired a lawyer to send his grandfather a letter. The owner needs to be held accountable for letting the people live there that he does.  We should not have to put up with the crazy people he has put in there over the years.  Huber received the letter and called our lawyer yelling for an hour.  It is crazy how protective you get as a parent.  I have no problem with the fact that we hired an attorney to teach their family that they need to reign it in. There are laws that need to be followed. If his tenants decide not to follow laws, we have no choice but to enforce them through legal means.

3. I had a bump grow on my eyebrow.  I just saw a dermatologist three months ago for my toe fungus on my big toe and to have a mole taken off of my cheek.  The bump had grown rather fast.  The doctor cut off the bump and had it tested.  It came back as Basal Cell bla bla bla.  I really shocked me. I don't know if it was because it was cancer, or because it was on my face and would leave a scar.  It just changed everything. I finally had the Mals surgery and all of the cancerous cells were removed.

I have had a bump on my back since my car accident in August of 2012. I asked the doctor if she could get that removed as well.  I figured if my chances have increased for cancer, I should get it tested as well.  I scheduled the surgery, but realized too late that the two surgeries would be within a day of each other.  The bump did not come out whole and they had to dig for the pieces.  The numbing agent didn't go deep enough to dull the pain, so it was excruciating.  I told Don it was not worth it to have the back one removed. It hurt way too much.  My favorite part was when they denied me pain medication because they have moved away from giving pain killers.  I just want to thank all the druggies out there that made it so I have had to heal this past week without pain killers.  You suck rocks.

I have a scar that goes from the corner of my left eye to above my eyebrow.  The scar is pretty puffy.  I still have a black eye.  I couldn't open my eye for a couple of days.  My right eye suffered from fatigue because I was only using one eye.  I really hated how hard it was to see.  My glasses didnt fit over my gauze, do I really had limited vision.

4. I found a game system for Porter for his birthday/Christmas.  I was so excited because it was a deal and I had research a great deal to find it.  I bought it and received and e-mail that the order went through. It turned out that it was a scammer that took my money. They won't answer my emails and their web page is down. I talked to the bank and they said they would investigate it. I will probably get my money back. I will not, however, get the money back before Christmas and Porter's birthday. There is nothing I can really do. So I need to talk to Porter and help him prepare to be disappointed. It really sucks knowing that Porter isn't going to like Christmas.

5. Some of my children struggle with anxiety.  I mean they really struggle. I don't want to give details here because it is way too personal for them, but it is a real issue that has involved counseling and medication.

6. Our main car for transportation died. We were driving out to Christian's Homecoming and the engine made a sickening sound the whole way there and back.  Debbie and Ken followed us home to make sure we didn't die on the way home.  It is officially dead.  We have parked it ever since and used the truck and green car to get around.  The green car, however, has a window stuck open and no heat. 
Did I mention these are just my December issues? Yeah.  This, my friends, is just a December list.  Stay strong friends.  We can do this!