A Story

A man and a woman had a beautiful son. It was such a surprise pregnancy (they got pregnant right after the wedding) but very much adored nonetheless. They decided they wanted a huge family and tried very unsuccessfully to have more children. Five years and just as many miscarriages later, they decided to adopt.

Immediately they were drawn to this image of a little Haitian boy who desperately needed a family. After a few quick minutes of prayer (the woman new immediately that this was to be their son) they called the agency and the process was started.

Now this was a long process, a two year process from beginning to end(I know this is not really long but they were told by the agency it would be a nine month wait until they could bring their son home) with lots of twists and turns. They were initially told that he was an only child orphaned by his parents at a young age. In reality he had an older sister and their mother was still in the picture, just not capable of feeding and clothing them. After much consideration ( I think it was actually about five minutes) they decided they needed to bring home his sister as well.

Two years ago this past Saturday this man and woman brought their new children home. They have and will always celebrate this day with a dinner out and a lovely celebration. It is always the children's choice where they go eat. This year they chose Coco's. And the man and woman were mystified since neither of the children had ever eaten there before. But that is what they wanted so they loaded up the car on Saturday and went to Coco's.

Halfway through their meal the man got up and found their waitress. He explained to her that it was their Second Adoption Birthday celebration and could she please bring out some pie after dinner. For some reason the waitress started to cry. She apologized for the outburst but continued on. She is 18, unwed and 14 weeks pregnant. She cannot keep her child because she is in school. She wants to give her child the life it deserves, a life she and the baby's father cannot give it at this time. She wants to place this baby with a Christian couple but doesn't know how to go about this.

The man and woman sat and talked to her for quite some time and shared with her a couple they know who has been waiting for a child for a very long time. She gives the man and woman her name and phone number and they leave the restaurant, briefly pausing to think about adding this baby to their family too.

I came home Saturday night to a message on our machine from our neighbor. It was too late to call so I waited until Sunday morning. When she relayed the above story to me my heart almost burst. I couldn't stop shaking as I wrote down this brave young woman's name and number. I woke Mr. Sparky up (which he was not too pleased with as he had just gone to bed a few hours earlier) and we prayed and called our pastor and prayed some more and then I called her. And we talked for 10 minutes about our situations.

We are taking her to lunch this Friday at 1:00. Friday seems a million years away. I fear I will die before the day comes from anticipation. I sat in the completed nursery that has been waiting for a baby for so very long. Thinking of the possibility that in six months it will be filled with a child, our child.

Thank you Lord for this opportunity. Please keep my heart and emotions in check.

14 Days

14 days until my very cool (hopefully) unveiling of the project I mentioned awhile back. I am fully aware that this may flop and not take off, but God is in control and if He wants this to be a good thing, than who am I to stand in His way, huh?

So yeah. 14 days. I've got a lot of work to do!

Also, I'm off for 9.5 days as of tomorrow at noon!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

It's finally snowing here. We are in the midst of a huge and nasty winter storm. Betcha didn't think it snows in Arizona did ya?

It has been really cold here. Sunday night the sky was clear and the wind was howling and it must have been 11 degrees with wind chill. Guess what I did that night.

I drove myself to the hospital.

With only one eye functioning.

I had a horrific migraine, one I haven't had in nearly 10 years. I get them every now and then, but this was pure torture. It started at bible study and progressed to the point that I couldn't drive home. So my friends dropped me off and I promptly ran to puke. And then I couldn't stop. I coulnd't keep anything down, let alone any pain meds so I had no other choice but to drive the half mile (thank goodness it is only half a mile to the hospital!) with one eye covered with a damp washcloth while I drove 15 miles and hour.

Being at the hospital alone is pretty crappy. But I got the meds I needed, thankfully there was no wait and I waltzed right in and everyone was very nice.That is one of the down sides to having your spouse work 45 miles away. He can't just drop everything and take you to the hospital.

But I'm good now. Thankfully. I also managed to miss 3.5 days of work due to a wicked cold and then the migraine. I"m grateful next week is Christmas and I won't have to work at all!

Thank you Mr. Pharmacist for a good dose of embarrasement

He wanted to go inside, I said no - the parking lot is full and the drive through is empty.

I am thanking my lucky stars we didn't go inside. It was bad enough at the drive through.

The pharmacist was elderly and apparently had a hearing problem. I wasn't driving and couldn't make eye contact due to Mr. Sparky's head being in the way. However. The way the drive through is situated you can see directly to the massive line of waiting people inside.

As Mr. Sparky was taking the medication out of the drawer the pharmacist, in his loudest voice possible, started explaining how to use the medication.

Pharmacist - "There are only five applicators in the packet so she'll have to reuse one or two to make it through the whole seven days."

Mr. Sparky - "Ok"

Pharmacist - "Now, make sure she doesn't place the applicator all the way into the VAGINA. Ok? SHE REALLY SHOULD NOT PLACE THE APPLICATOR ALL THE WAY INTO THE VAGINA, OK? NOT ALL THE WAY INTO THE VAGINA AT ALL.*

Mr. Sparky - "Ok"**

I was dying the whole time watching everyone in line stare out the window at us because the pharmacist was using the loud speaker to explain this to us. No joke. I will never be able to go to that pharmacy again. And it is the only one in town.

* - Pharmacists emphasis, not mine.
** - Mr. Sparky tried to say OK, but it didn't really come out that way. It was more of an okayohmygoodnessgetmeoutofhere ok. All the while he turned shades of red I have never seen before.

And he wanted to go inside!

This is why you should always listen to your wife.

Amen.

It's amazing what can happen when you say the right words **UPDATED

Thanksgiving was great. The days since then have been a bottomless pit of total suckage. But we will persevere. I'm committed to this marriage and come hell or high water I will not get divorced. But I really don't want to be married right at this exact moment.

On a lighter note. Yesterday I called to make an appointment with my OBGYN due to some...irregularities. And found the RN I see had finally jumped ship and moved to my old OBGYN's office. So I called there and left a message at 11:45 a.m.

I never heard back. Today has been all sorts of horrible topped with an additional helping of, wow this really sucks. This is where I share perhaps just a bit too much, but I don't' care and really, neither do you. You know you're going to read it no matter how much I share. It's what we do.

I got my period last Tuesday right on schedule. Except it was different. and short. and lighter than normal. It lasted all of a day and a half and there was no ... ahem...extra stuff. I will leave it at that. Then the cramping started and hasn't really stopped since then. This morning it feels as if my ovaries are trying to escape to the tropics and are digging out with a dull spoon alternated by a sharp knife.

On top of that I've felt like I was going to start again. You know how you have that feeling? Yeah, I was sitting at my desk this morning and suddenly had to run to bathroom because suddenly I was a tad wet. But alas there was no red and all white, which I don't do. I just don't, it's not a thing my body seems to find enjoyable to produce. So I called my dear nurse friend who is also dealing with infertility but has a beautiful 1 year old and told her what was up. She said it was probably three things - I'm pregnant, have a cyst or am getting ready to ovulate.

I don't think it's the first one, not too sure about the second and the third is ridiculous. Because I don't really think I've been truly ovulating this whole time. At least not strongly enough to do any good. So the whole wetness is weirding me out and making me run to the bathroom every fifteen minutes, because my GOODNESS, no one should ever have to feel like this unless they are peeing themselves.

So I call the doctor's office back and tell them I need to see my RN and she says I can't get in for at least two weeks and say HA! Well not really, but I reeled off about us trying to get pregnant, weird period, horrible cramping. And you know what? I have a two o'clock appointment today. Amen to being pushy.

So I will let you know what happens and whether or not they give me good drugs because I HURT folks. Would anyone like some under-performing ovaries? I've got two I'm giving away!

**I am not pregnant, which I already knew. I do not have a cyst, yea! I did...and here's the shocker...just ovulate. Really didn't see that one coming. But that is not what is causing my cramps and wacky cycle. You ready for this? STRESS. Stress is causing me to have a bacterial infection which is causing the cramps which could have caused the wonky period. When I called Mr. Sparky to tell him his response was? Where did you get that from in a lovely accusatory tone. Counseling will be so fun tonight.