I have decided that the best definition of luxury doesn't involve fancy furniture, satin sheets, expensive cars or big houses.  True luxury, at least to me, is having the ability to sleep when you are sleepy, to wake up when you are not and to have the freedom to do the things you love to do more often than you have to do the things that must be done. 

March 9, 2006

At this moment, a friend and co-worker of mine is sitting in the hospital in Oklahoma City waiting for her husband to be wheeled into surgery for a kidney and pancreas transplant.  She called me last night and they were trying not to get their hopes up because they knew it might not happen.  They have already had one opportunity that fell through.  But this morning she told me his surgery is scheduled at 10:00 today.  Countdown: 5-1/2 hours.

He has been on dialysis several times a week for some time now.  This has been hanging over their head for years and they have been living each moment of each day with the knowledge that he might die very young, leaving her to raise their two children alone.  My friend amazes me...the way she handles this on top of all the other demands of life.  I admire and respect her greatly.

This transplant will give them a chance to enjoy their life together.  They won't have to walk through each day with a shadow hovering over them.  If you are a person who prays, please pray that the transplant operation happens as planned, that it goes very well and is without complications and that he won't have any major problems with rejection.  Pray that the kidney will begin to function efficiently and that he will recover quickly.  Please pray for this special couple, that God will bless them through the frightening and uncertain days, that He will carry them through this critical time and that they will have many more happy, healthy years together. 

They have been waiting for this for a long time.  It didn't seem like this moment would ever arrive.  Everything hangs in the balance for them...right here...right now.  Please pray for them.  It's all on the line.

March 10, 2006

I have good news today! 

The transplant went well...very well!  It was a double kidney and pancreas transplant and though the surgery was long (11:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.), it was very successful!!!! It's such a wonderful miracle!!  Though it won't be easy, there is a reason to fight because they finally have a chance to live without the cloud of doom hanging over them. 

A smaller miracle:  my lilac bush has teeny little leaves all over it!  New life.  In an Oklahoma City hospital.  In my back yard.  I have much to be thankful for.

March 25, 2006

I haven't been very good at keeping up with things lately.  My house needs a good spring cleaning, my office needs to be organized, I need to get my taxes done, the carpets need cleaning, the floor needs mopping, I have beads I want to play with, weeds are already growing like crazy in my yard...you get the picture.  And this doesn't even include all the insanity of work.  Plus Maddie has been very sick and I'm worried and fearful of the outcome.  Life March-es on (pardon the pun).

It is officially spring here, even though we had a very interesting late snow on Thursday.  We got 2 to 3 inches during the early morning hours, but it was slushy on the roads and not really slick.  By 1:00 in the afternoon, it was all gone!  I have seen many robins and the bunnies are out and about.  The Redbud's are budding, the Bradford Pear trees are covered with beautiful white flowers, Dogwood's are blooming and some trees are starting to get a slight greenish haze about them.  But the best indication I have had that spring has come was the rabbit nest I found.  Well, Maddie found it first, but I quickly figured out something that drew her rapt attention the way this particular spot in the ground did must be more than it appeared.  So with her safely inside, I lifted up some dead grass by the fence where she had been poking her nose so insistently and saw these adorable tiny baby bunnies in a nest!  They didn't have their eyes open and their teeny ears were only about an inch long.  They looked so soft and sweet, I had to resist touching them.  In fact, I quickly put the grass back over the top of the nest and I haven't gone back.  I don't want to disturb them, nor do I want the mother to be fearful to return to them.

It was fun to see them...such tiny innocent creatures.  I guess you could say they are the "harebingers" of spring...pardon yet ANOTHER PUN!!!  On that note, I'll close before another pun comes to mind and I drive you away permanently!!      

March 27, 2006

Today my heart is broken.  My sweet little Schnauzer, Maddie, who has been a faithful companion and total joy, is gone at 12-1/2 years of age.  She was diagnosed with kidney disease last August and over the last couple of weeks, it progressed rapidly.  She went from her normal of weight of 19 lbs. to only 13 lbs. and she refused to eat in spite of the need for nourishment.  While I am ever thankful that I got to be her "mom," I will miss her terribly and can't imagine life without her paddling along behind me every where I go.  She was content when she could be with me and I was content when she was with me.  She was the best of the best.  I don't know what I will do without her.