carbon monoxide

I want to share an email I got a while back from my friend Sarah. You might have heard about the tragedy she describes here on the news...I think I heard it on the Today Show - little did I know that happened to my friend's family.

Then just a week or so ago, it almost happened to my family - to my brother. He had a carbon monoxide leak in his apartment. He hadn't been feeling well, and wanted to sleep all the time when he was home (and for those of you who know my brother - that isn't TOO abnormal!). The detector went off, the fire engines showed up, he was evacuated from his apartment, and relocated (with his cat!).

Our family story ended as just that...a story. Sarah's story doesn't end as well. Please read the following and protect your family - do it today! And remember this family in your prayers. This Christmas will be especially hard for them.

Dear Friends,

As some of you already know, our family suffered an immeasurable loss over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The reason I am sharing this with you is because it was preventable.

My dear friend Parker Lofgren who I've known since high school, (we skied together and went to each others Junior Proms), became part of my family when his dad married my cousin Mary. Parker, his wife Caroline and their two children Owen (10) and Sophie (8) died from massive Carbon Monoxide Poisoning at a vacation home that they were staying at in Aspen over Thanksgiving. The authorities believe the poisoning came from a malfunction of the gas water heater and snow melt system. There were not any carbon monoxide detectors in the home, so there was no warning.

Please, if you have any gas appliances (water heater, furnace, oven) or combustible (fireplace, oil furnace) units in your home, make sure you have a
carbon monoxide detector for each floor of your home. Carbon Monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas so a detector is the only way to alert yourself.

There are no words to describe our family's loss. Sharing with you the importance of carbon monoxide detectors and the warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning seems like the only thing I can do. I have attached an article with more information on Parker and his family as well as the facts about carbon monoxide poisoning for you. If you can not "click" on the links below, copy and paste them into your browser.

http://www.momlogic.com/2008/12/family_dies_of_carbon_monoxide.php

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_11103516

What are you thankful for

Being that this is the week of Thanksgiving, and all the Bloggers are doing it - I guess I'll jump on the 'what are you thankful' for bandwagon.

I'll admit that some days I feel more grateful than others. Some days I am grateful to have a job that I love, doing something that I am passionate about...other days I really am tired, and just need a day off.

Some days I am grateful for a wonderful husband; one who is amazing in so many ways, and who loves me in a fairy-tale way...other days, I wish he would remember to get milk at the store.

Some days I am grateful for a home to live in, one that I've decorated with heart (and blood, sweat and tears!)...other days I don't understand what moron would put the switch for the light so far behind the door that you can't reach it.

Some days I am grateful for our family - that we get together on holidays....other days I don't want to do the Thanksgiving thing at all - I want to stay in my pjs and order a pizza.

Some days I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to fight to bring Anya into our home - our family...other days I am exhausted with the process, mad at the system that keeps her hostage, and angry at myself for not being able to find the energy to keep on top of the paperwork.

What about you?

so grateful

Seriously, I don't know what I did to be blessed with so many great friends. I can be pretty scarcastic - I never have time to get together for coffee and chat, I am horrible at calling people...yet, God has blessed my life with some pretty incredible pals.

...and family! No matter what crazy thing I get myself into - my family is always right by my side. Literally - if I volunteer for something, that means you get me, my hubby, my mom - and maybe my brother. I've never heard them complain - and are always happy to help me. I tease them that they are the "hired help", but I've never paid them. They let me get in my pre-event "mood" (which sometimes isn't pretty), and they love me anyway.

I just want to say for the record - thanks to all of you who stopped by to see me at the mall this weekend. It's always nice to look up and see a friendly face or 2! Thanks for supporting me and my business - and for being my biggest fans. LOVE YOU GUYS!

About the weekend - part-2

So, Friday night, my hubby and I went to a favorite restaurant. To my surprise, some friends met us there - making for a great night. Thanks Davis's and clan for a fun night!




The festivities went into Saturday night - we decided to check out a new restaurant in town (Villa Macri) and as soon as I sat down, my cell phone rang. It was one of my dearest friends, Kathy - she said "did you just walk into Villa Macri? I think you walked right by our table!" What a nice surprise!


Needless to say with all this excitement this past weekend, I am wore out. I am older now, ya know! I think I need a good old-fashioned nap!

[afterthought - do you notice a pattern here? Food, eating, more food and eating...gee, I wonder why I feel like a blow-up version of myself today!]

About the weekend - part-1

My birthday was this past weekend. Generally on my BDay weekend, I invite friends over to our house for a cookout - they don't know it is for my bday - and I like it that way. It's always THE way I want to spend that day...serving my friends, and allowing them to have a great time...and we always have a memorable time! (in photo to left Brian and Vicki)

This year, we kicked off our cookout with a time of prayer. We prayed for little Jessie, the adoption, oppressed regions in the world, and so many other things I can't begin to remember them all...a full hour of non-stop prayer - IT WAS SOOO COOL!

I think the BEST part of the evening was when my brother's butt went flying through the seat of one of the chairs we have (well, had) on the deck. In his defense, the wicker on the chairs was old, and that was probably the reason...but don't think that I didn't have a TON of fun teasing him about it!

Of course, then my darling husband had to go ape on the other chair. He said he was 'helping, just in case someone else tried to sit on that chair" He didn't want anyone to get embarrassed...but, I think he just had a good time punching holes in the chairs!

Then came the cook-out portion of our night. We all ate, and ate, and ate some more!

Joan, Kim, Steve and Kris pigging out.

Nathan and Mica playing horse shoes.

My brother (Dan) with his gal-pal Whitney

The Moms (my mom and Marty's Mom)

Little Miss Sarah - acting silly! She is stinkin' adorable!

Getting Your Hands Dirty

I love gardening. It is the one thing I do that doesn't involve a computer. It relaxes me - let's me be alone with my thoughts. Some of my best God-talks have happened as I was pulling weeds.

I haven't had time to indulge in this hobby this year...until Tuesday of this week. I actually marked out the day to get some yard work done. I had the day planned, with a trip to my favorite greenhouses. Well, the weather was HORRIBLE on Tuesday. So, I got up - ran to the corner greenhouse, got some (overpriced) things and at least got a start on grooming our 3+ acres.

One of my big goals this year is to have a nice entryway. We're working on getting the front step fixed - so I wanted to have some really nice pots to greet guests...especially since our home will be the location for the wedding of one of my pals this summer :)

Here is what I came up with - in the driving rain on Tuesday. I think it turned out nice! I think I will need to mark out another day to plant some petunias around the house...but for now, this is a good start.

Update on my Mom

I keep forgetting to post an update on my Mom - thanks to so many of you for emailing and asking how she is doing.

The good news is that she is fine. She will be going back to work next week. Honestly - she hasn't really shipped a beat...just waiting for the Dr. to release her to go back to work. You would never know she just had another heart attack!

She is in the process of fighting with the insurance company to get them to pay for Cardiac Rehab. The only place in our area that has CR is at the hospital that happens to be the closest to her house. Well, for some odd reason, the insurance won't cover Cardiac Rahab at that hospital. They want her to drive like an hour away! Insurance makes me so mad! So - please pray that the insurance company becomes logical, and agrees to pay for her Cardiac Rehab.

cars and toothbrushes

A friend sent me a copy of an email devotion today. I want to pass it along...how many times has this happened to you?

Do you pray in your car? How about in the shower? Or while you are brushing your teeth? These are all moments in my day when I have learned to take advantage of the time I have to pray. This lesson was brought home to me in a whole new way one day as I was out driving around. It was one of those days when I had a long list of errands and many parking lots and highways to navigate. As I drove, I noticed a silver sedan ahead of me, which made me think of a friend of mine who drives one of those kinds of cars and was going through a tough time. As I looked at the car, I felt like God was telling me that my friend really needed my prayers that day. And so I prayed, and made a mental note to call her and check in with her as soon as I got home.

Just a few minutes later, I saw another similar silver sedan, and so I prayed again. Moments later, another one. This continued on throughout the day. By the end of the day, I was just laughing at how God had arranged for me to notice so many of these silver sedans—so many that I couldn’t not pray for my friend all day. I was reminded that day in a powerful way that: 1) God loves each of us enough to bring reminders to others to pray for us, and 2) God wants us to pray for our brothers and sisters. If we are obedient, He will send us reminders to help us lest we forget in all the busyness of our lives. Saying, “Oh, I meant to pray but I forgot” will be a thing of the past if we rely on Him to help us remember. As my silver car example proves, He can provide us with some pretty creative reminders.

I know one woman who knew she needed to pray for her brother who was going through a tough time. So she decided to pray for him every time she brushed her teeth. Even after her brother’s hard time was behind him, she still found herself praying for him while she brushed her teeth, and was grateful that, through this commitment to prayer, she had formed a habit. So, she continued to pray for her brother and still does to this day.

No matter where or when or what God uses to prompt us to pray, we know that it is vital to pray. God uses cars, and toothbrushes and anything else that is needed to help us remember to intercede for those people who desperately need our prayers. As a recipient of some of those prayers through the years, I am grateful for a creative, involved, active, loving God who will use whatever He can to remind us to lift up each other in prayer.

Mom had a heart attack...

Thursday night as I was driving home from work, I was very excited that I had 4 days off. Well – maybe not ‘off’ but 4 days with no appointments. Time to relax, catch up n laundry – maybe start working on the yard – I thought maybe I might even catch on up some filing! I can’t remember the last time I had 4 whole days with nothing to do.

So, on Friday, did some laundry, and shopped for some gifts, and we ate nachos and popcorn for dinner (I am a gourmet). As I was drifting off to sleep, was thinking about all that I wanted to do on Saturday. Sleeping in was pretty high on the list.

At 3:30am, the phone rang (which can never be good). My first thought was there was a tornado, and my brother was calling to tell us to get in the basement. It was St Joe Regional Hospital. My Mom had another heart attack.

My Mom is in her mid-60’s, and this is her 2nd heart attack. The last one was only about 18 months ago. Heart disease runs in out family, so (imo) this is nothing to take too lightly, or brush off by saying ‘whew, she’s going to be OK’.

Mom is doing well, is still in ICU – but we think she will be moved to a regular room today. Her Dr. said she will need to stay in the hospital for 4-5 days.