Author: ObtainingMercy

Just a Quick Note…

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Hallelujah Diet, Isaac Update, Prayer Request

…to say that we are experiencing technical difficulties here at our house.

My computer is dead, and a friend from church is working on her.  We believe she is going to make it, but I'll be losing almost everything.  I am working on a borrowed computer now, thanks to another kind friend! ; )

If you are expecting an email from me, you probably need to send me one instead.  Anything that was pending in my inbox is now gone, and I have lost all my email addresses.

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Update on prayer requests:

  • My grandmother is in the hospital, and although she is doing a little better, is still not doing well.
  • My uncle had surgery yesterday.  He was not in a full coma, but was incoherent due to drug usage, apparently.  I have not heard how the surgery went.  I believe they were repairing or removing the spleen.
  • My friend Gail is back in the hospital, and is in severe pain.  They suspect there may be some other medical issue besides the Hodgkins lymphoma.

I appreciate SO much your continued prayers for these dear folks.

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Doug is fully recovered from his cold, but Isaac is continuing to cough and run a low-grade fever.  Since it has been continuing for 2 weeks, we will be seeing the pediatrician today.  I'm praying they can pinpoint the cause of the fever, and I am sincerely praying that his lungs are clear.  I have been working very hard to do his treatments and chest PT in hopes that he would not develop pneumonia.

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I visited my doctor last week, and am happy to report that I have lost a grand total of 35 pounds!!!  Yay for me!!! : )  We were also able to decrease my thyroid medication, which is a blessing!

I guess that is all I have to report for today.  Thank you for visiting my blog and keeping up with us.  We certainly appreciate your thoughts and prayers for our loved ones.

Blessings to you,

Alesha

I Had a Happier Post Planned…

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Prayer Request

…but instead I'm asking prayer today for 3 serious needs:

  1. My precious, sweet friend Gail has been diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma.
  2. My (maternal) uncle is in a coma in the hospital and not expected to live.
  3. My (paternal) grandmother is very low in the nursing home, and my dad feels she won't be with us much longer.

Could you please hold these dear folk up to the Lord in prayer today?  And could you pray especially for my mom and dad as they face these losses?

Thank you, my faithful prayer warriors.

Blessings to you this weekend.

Alesha

P.S.  Something to make you smile, though…

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Happy Labor Day!

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Florida Weather, Food and Drink, Holiday, Isaac Update, What's Happening

I always enjoy this holiday so much…like having one more day of calm before the whirlwind of school and the holidays begins in earnest.  Because even though is was still in the low 90's here over the weekend, my mind is already turning to autumn. 

We don't actually have very much of an "autumn" here, but it is nice to have an occasional day of less-than-sweltering temperatures.

I also just LOVE autumn decor.  I used to wait until after Hall*ween to put out my pretty fall leaves and such.  Now I don't wait that long, because I want to have longer to enjoy my favorite decorations.

Doug and Isaac have been sick with icky colds since the middle of last week.  I was quite busy, doing things I don't usually do, because of that.  It was nice, though.  I enjoyed doing the weekly shopping and was able to visit with my grandmother who is in a local nursing home right now.

I also had the joy of attending the 90th birthday party of a sweet lady from our church.  It was such a nice time of fellowship and celebration.  I wanted to share Mrs. Ruby's secrets for living to be 90.  She had three of them:

  1. Drink a Coke every day.
  2. Take a BC powder every day.
  3. Eat cracklin' cornbread whenever you can.

And I have to add that evidently having a really great sense of humor doesn't hurt, either!!! : ) 

(Here's a recipe for those who are curious:  Paula Deen's Jalapeno Cracklin' Cornbread.)

Well, I need to finish up here.  I still have a couple of "to-do" items left on my list.

Are you working on a project today too?  I'd love to hear what you accomplished today! : )

It’s Complicated…

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Food and Drink, Hallelujah Diet, Recipe

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It's decaf…

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It's non-dairy…

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It's non-fat and sugar-free…

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It's tedious…

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But it's worth it for my cup o' java every morning!

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6 oz. water

3 level T. freshly ground decaf coffee

1/2 c. rice milk

1/2 T. agave nectar

a few drops each, vanilla and almond extract

: )

Alesha

Were You Wondering About Us? :)

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Florida Weather, Isaac Update, What's Happening

We are doing fine here in sunny/rainy Florida.  (You know, we have them each in turn: the sun and the rain; and then we have them together: sun showers – one of my favorite kinds of rain.) 🙂

Isaac is doing well, although since Friday, he has not slept one night through.  He had been sleeping so soundly every night for almost a month; but suddenly he is finished with that.  I guess it was just too boring for him!  So now he is waking up a couple of times each night, or either he never goes back to sleep after he first wakes.  He does sometimes nap between 6-8 a.m., but then stays awake the rest of the day. 

So, obviously, Doug and I are t-i-r-e-d!  I feel like we are burning our candle at both ends, and the wick is just about completely consumed.  It's a good tired, I guess. 

We are making it to all the church services (twice on Sunday and again on Wednesday night.)  I'm also managing choir practice on Sunday evening and Wednesday evening, and special music practice on some Sunday nights after the service.  It's a lot, but I am enjoying it.

Isaac seems to really enjoy being in the church building with all the people before and after the services.  He always has enjoyed noisy places.  I've read that the NICUs in the hospital are very noisy places, and that preemies get used to that level of noise.  They find it soothing.  Isaac's foster parents told us that when they first got him he cried all the time; but he would quiet down in his favorite places:  church and Cracker Barrel.  : )

People are getting to know him, which is nice.  Folks are asking me questions about him, which I much prefer to staring. : )  Some people have volunteered to watch him for us during a service, but there is much to be considered before we can do that.  He needs to be changed during almost every service, but there isn't an appropriate place for that yet.  When it's just him and Daddy, it's no big deal; but others will need to be trained to lift him.  They will also need to learn to recognize his seizures, as well as learn how to engage him so that he doesn't become overstimulated, noisy and obnoxious!  (although he does that last bit with us sometimes, too! lol!)

Daddy has decided to take a much needed day off of therapy today.  It does make quite a full week for him when he does all the church services and both days of therapy.  Each trip to therapy is 4 hours of driving.  The therapy is totally worth the drive time; but occasionally we just need a break. : )  Hopefully we'll be able to get Isaac's hair cut today.  He is getting a little "shaggy".  ; )

I guess that's it for today.  We're struggling right now with our diet, and have not been eating as well as we should be.  It really takes a toll on my energy levels when we don't stick to the eating plan.  That's my only excuse for not blogging as much as I should. : /  Every week, we are getting back on track a little more.  Lord willing, my energy levels will rise with each healthy habit we practice. 

I pray you have a great day, and can count each of God's blessings as He gives them.

Alesha

And The Winner Is…

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Uncategorized

Congrats to Jessica who dropped by my blog to visit for the first time, and promptly won the contest for the earrings! 

Thanks to everybody who played along, including those of you from Facebook.  Unfortunately, Facebook was having issues with my feed, and didn't post the blog until about 5 p.m. : (

Jessica, if you will email me your snail mail address by clicking the
"Email me" link on the right, I will get those pretty earrings out to
you first thing next week. : )

By the way, when readers ask me questions in the comments section, I do my best to reply to your comment with the answer.  So, if you check back here later, you will find my answers to you. 

OR you can subscribe to my comment feed by clicking "Follow me on my profile" over there on the right side column.  If you do that, you will see any comments that I leave on any blog on Typepad that I happen to visit.  Could be a bit more info than you really want, though. ; )

I'm going to do another giveaway soon, because I hate to see pretty jewelry just sitting in a box on my dresser!  My hubby says I am too generous for my own good…but it's so fun to give things away!!!  I just can't help myself once in a while.

Hope ya'll have a great weekend!

Alesha

“A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That…”

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Florida Weather, Household, What's Happening

"…A pot, a pan, a broom, a hat." 

(Free earrings to the first person to leave on comment on my blog, naming the origin of the above quote.) : D

Crystalpearlearrings

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I hope you all have had a good week.  I haven't blogged every day this week, because it would've been the same blog over and over! 

Yep, one of those ordinary, boring, nothing-exciting-happened weeks…for which I am extremely grateful!!!  

We do have a couple of tropical systems somewhere out in the Atlantic, but I really don't know much about them.  Any time someone starts to discuss them, I just put my fingers in my ears, and go "La la la la la la la la." ; )

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Neither Isaac nor I have felt very well this week, so we have laid low, taken it easy, and for Isaac, had lots of naps. 

His mystery fever was back for a couple of days this week.  <sigh>  We still don't have a clue…but are keeping a really close eye on him.  We can't just ignore it, of course…something must be causing the low-grade temps.

Here's a question for you medically-minded people out there, or for those with medically fragile kiddos:  Could the temperature in the house cause him to run a temp? 

Our house is small with one window until a/c, and we run 2 fans 24/7 to move the air into his room.  However, we are in Florida, and the temps get extremely high outside; and due to very little insulation, the room that the sun is shining on gets very hot.

Isaac's room is on the northwest side of the house, so it gets a full blast of afternoon and evening sun.  His room probably gets to 80* or better some afternoons. 

Could this cause his temp to go to 100*?  I know his brain doesn't regulate his temps very well, but I just don't know if it could cause that much of a rise in his temp.

Any input or ideas would be very much welcomed.

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I sold a pair of earrings last week!  It was very exciting, because they were bought by a person unknown to me.  Just someone who found my site and liked the jewelry, I guess.  I really hope they like it when it gets there.  I always want my customers to be very pleased and satisfied with their purchases.

My mom has blessed me the past 2 months by paying a friend to come and clean at my house for a couple of hours a month.  It has been such a blessing.  She does such a nice job, plus it is nice to fellowship with a friend while we're working.  We've worked out a plan for her to come an extra time each month:  I'm going to make jewelry for her and she's going to clean for me.  : ) : ) : )  I am so excited and pleased to be able to do that!

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I'm needing to be very careful with my back this week.  It is feeling very "fragile", so I am not doing much with Isaac or the house.  We just sort of put everything on "hold" if we can.  For those things that can't wait, my hubby works very hard to take care of them.

I've been enjoying some of those books that my mother-in-love mailed to us last month while I've been resting this week.  Isn't that so handy that she sent them? : ) 

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For any new Facebook friends who have wandered over here to my blog, feel free to check out the "All About Isaac" tab at the top of the page.  It has his adoption story there, and also a little bit about his medical condition.

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I guess that's it for this week.  I am hoping to resume my regular blogging schedule soon, but it's still summer, so we'll see! : D  I don't consider the summer finished until September starts…I'm just "old school" that way!

I pray that ya'll have a wonderful weekend, and that you are able to assemble with other Christians and worship the Lord together.  I know sometimes you just can't get to church; but if you can, I hope that you will.  If you cannot, I invite you again to watch our services online:  Landmark Baptist Church.

Blessings to you,

Alesha