I wish I was skilled at html. I'm not a fan of the page layouts, the few that exist, but I was in need of a change...so here is what we are left with. If I knew more html I would just recreate my entire background - back to the basics with a few personal color touches.
I thought I was in a blogging mood, but I guess that has passed and now Heroes is on. This season is pretty wicked.
By the way, my grandfather is doing better. I mean, anything could happen, but he is out of CICU and in a regular room. He's breathing on his own and has been sitting up most of the day. Just... continue to keep him in your prayers.
You'll hear from me soon.
Love God.
Love people.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Phish Food
It's freezing outside and yet.. It's most definitely an ice cream night.
We left the Falls on Tuesday morning after my grandfather was determined critically stable. We wanted to beat the ice storm so that I could get back to work and Bri could get back to school, but my dad stayed for a few extra days.
My grandfather was taken off the ventilator/breathing machine today and everything was looking up. He was talking and four hours later, they had to put him back on the machine. Without it, they said it would put too much pressure on his heart and he wouldn't make it. He wasn't happy and my grandmother is just torn up. She had stopped crying when I called, but she sounds different. Tuesday morning I found out she was there when he flatlined. She said it was the hardest thing to watch. My dad is doing better but he said he has a bad feeling...
There's nothing more to write for now... He's alive, that I can praise God for, and I can pray for His will above ours. A prayer I'm also sending up for a friend's husband who has lost his job. This economy sucks. I know everyone knows that, but it had to be said yet again.
I'm off to read a newsletter from soldiers in Iraq, then a bit of The Alchemist and finally, sleep :)
Goodnight all. Find peace in this world by surrounding yourself with the ones you love, cherish your time together.
Love God, love people.
We left the Falls on Tuesday morning after my grandfather was determined critically stable. We wanted to beat the ice storm so that I could get back to work and Bri could get back to school, but my dad stayed for a few extra days.
My grandfather was taken off the ventilator/breathing machine today and everything was looking up. He was talking and four hours later, they had to put him back on the machine. Without it, they said it would put too much pressure on his heart and he wouldn't make it. He wasn't happy and my grandmother is just torn up. She had stopped crying when I called, but she sounds different. Tuesday morning I found out she was there when he flatlined. She said it was the hardest thing to watch. My dad is doing better but he said he has a bad feeling...
There's nothing more to write for now... He's alive, that I can praise God for, and I can pray for His will above ours. A prayer I'm also sending up for a friend's husband who has lost his job. This economy sucks. I know everyone knows that, but it had to be said yet again.
I'm off to read a newsletter from soldiers in Iraq, then a bit of The Alchemist and finally, sleep :)
Goodnight all. Find peace in this world by surrounding yourself with the ones you love, cherish your time together.
Love God, love people.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Winter storm - hitting hearts and homes
I'm sitting in my grandparents den on the computer they never use.. and the house is silent. My grandmother is making minimal noise in the kitchen as she takes her medicine and worries over the "get well" plants that are, ironically, dying.
Typically, she would be reading a romance or best-seller novel on the couch, half-dozing, while my grandfather sits in his chair watching the late show -- also half-dozing. But tonight, my precious grandfather is in intensive care and we are all playing a waiting game. First it was, the first 24 hours will tell all.. now the doctor is saying the first 48 hours. I hate waiting. I've never been a patient person.
Early this morning he woke up with a stomach pain, caused by only God knows what. By 4am he was short of breath and by 8:30 my grandma was calling the ambulance. He had congestive heart failure and they lost him in the emergency room. They actually asked my grandmother if she wanted them to revive him. 4 minutes passed. He lived again. Not long after he was transferred from ER to ICU...
The call came at lunch. I rushed away from work, packed a huge bag - not thinking, just chunking things in - and began frantically calling my roommate. Without asking questions, she left work and came home because I called her crying saying I needed to get to Ft Worth to meet my sister and I needed her to drive me. I filled her in on the rest as we drove to meet Bri. Upon arriving in the falls, we found the family in icu. No change, no talking.. He's been asleep since we've been here but he's not in pain.
It's hard to see a man that you have always imagined as strong and reliable, suddenly fighting for his life, hooked up to machines. He's been sick off and on for four years, but if he could have hid it from you he would have. And to some extent he did with the strength of his exterior and the jokes extended to excuse his old age. But the reality is setting in - with bursts of tears and "he scared me" from my grandmother, to her telling him he has to keep going, to all of us trying to pretend that all is well.
I really hate this. And I think this town might be toxic..
Typically, she would be reading a romance or best-seller novel on the couch, half-dozing, while my grandfather sits in his chair watching the late show -- also half-dozing. But tonight, my precious grandfather is in intensive care and we are all playing a waiting game. First it was, the first 24 hours will tell all.. now the doctor is saying the first 48 hours. I hate waiting. I've never been a patient person.
Early this morning he woke up with a stomach pain, caused by only God knows what. By 4am he was short of breath and by 8:30 my grandma was calling the ambulance. He had congestive heart failure and they lost him in the emergency room. They actually asked my grandmother if she wanted them to revive him. 4 minutes passed. He lived again. Not long after he was transferred from ER to ICU...
The call came at lunch. I rushed away from work, packed a huge bag - not thinking, just chunking things in - and began frantically calling my roommate. Without asking questions, she left work and came home because I called her crying saying I needed to get to Ft Worth to meet my sister and I needed her to drive me. I filled her in on the rest as we drove to meet Bri. Upon arriving in the falls, we found the family in icu. No change, no talking.. He's been asleep since we've been here but he's not in pain.
It's hard to see a man that you have always imagined as strong and reliable, suddenly fighting for his life, hooked up to machines. He's been sick off and on for four years, but if he could have hid it from you he would have. And to some extent he did with the strength of his exterior and the jokes extended to excuse his old age. But the reality is setting in - with bursts of tears and "he scared me" from my grandmother, to her telling him he has to keep going, to all of us trying to pretend that all is well.
I really hate this. And I think this town might be toxic..
Sunday, January 25, 2009
I am second
I'm busy. It's true, really. I want to blog but there hardly seems to be time. So tonight I've decided to post a story that I did not write, but it happened just down the road from me. On a cold night and in a cold nation, this will warm your soul...
Written by:
Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated
High school football is big in America, but I suppose there is no place where it is bigger than in Texas. Friday nights there are legend.
The fans scream; the stands are packed; cheerleaders with pom-poms jump and sway to the beat of the school bandand everybody joins in the chants and stomps their feet on the metal stands until you are sure they will collapse.
This is the frenzy of Texas high school football.
But there is one football team in Texas that is a little different. When they play on Friday night, their stands are empty, no band, no cheerleaders, no mass of parents or townsfolk wearing the school colors and waving banners and flags. They take the field without anyone cheering them on. When they score a touchdown, which rarely happens, there is no wild celebration behind them… All of it seems hollow and muffled in contrast to the tidal wave of roars and drums and chants that come from the opposing side.
They are the Tornadoes of the Gainesville State School, a fenced, maximum-security facility. The young men who go to Gainesville State are there because they have made some major mistakes in their lives. But the players who are on the team are there because they have worked hard and have earned enough good behavior points that gives them the privilege to leave the facility and play football on Friday nights—always an away game for them—always a home game for their opponents—and almost always a loss. They don’t have a weight program or training equipment or high-paid coaches and assistants. They don’t have a large pool of players to draw from. The school has 275 boys, but many are too old or too young or can’t or don’t meet the “criteria” to play. And they don’t have the support of a town and a mass of parents and family and reporters and bands and cheerleaders.
That is, until November 7th. Something changed. They played Grapevine Faith Christian School.
A few days before the game, the Gainesville coach, Mark Williams received a call from Faith Christian coach, Kris Hogan, asking him if it would be okay if Faith formed a “spirit” line for his team when they ran on the field. Mark said, “Sure, that would be a real encouragement to the kids.” He thought that the line would consist of a couple of the JV cheerleaders, but when they took the field, there were a hundred people in it and it stretched to the 40-yard line, filled with Faith Christian parents, fans and varsity cheerleaders, complete with a banner at the end for them to burst through that read “Go Tornadoes!”. And then, those parents and fans sat in the stands behind the Gainesville players and when the Tornadoes broke the huddle and went up to the line they could hear people cheering for them, by name. When they got a first down, “their” fans erupted.
You see, coach Hogan had sent an email out to the Faith Christian parents and students asking them to consider doing something kind for these young men, many who didn’t know what it meant to have a mom and dad who cared, many who felt the world was against them, not for them. Hogan asked that they simply send a message that these boys were “just as valuable as any other person on earth.”
So half of the Faith Christian fans were now sitting on the visitor’s side of the field, cheering for the Gainesville team, and in some cases, against their own sons. –Cheering for a team decked out in mismatched old uniforms and helmets. –Cheering for boys who wouldn’t go home that night and have a smiling dad slap him on the back and feel his mom put her arms around him and say “I’m so proud of you son!” –Cheering for the underdog.
This was a Friday night like no other for the Tornadoes. In the locker room, the players were confused. “Why are they cheerin’ for us, coach?” “Because, men, they want to encourage you. They want you to know that they care about you…that you have value.”
Coach Williams said the boys were stunned. For many of these kids, it may have been the first time that anyone had shown them, so visibly, unconditional love.
They were down 33 to nothing at the half. Williams encouraged his team to set a goal for the second half: to score a touchdown against this vastly superior team. And when the boys from the State School took the field again, with their fans cheering them on, everything started to click. And they did score. Not once but twice.
And the fans went wild.
Coach Williams was asked what the bus ride was like on the way home and he laughed and said that they were all asleep—their bellies were full. That’s becuz after the game, the parents brought a whole bunch of food over to the guys: hamburgers, fries, candy, sodas…and included in the meal sack was a Bible and a personal letter of encouragement from a Faith Christian player. But then, he said, they formed a line for us out to the bus. And the parents patted them on the back and said, “Nice game” and “Look forward to seeing you guys next time.”
As they left the field that night, Coach Williams grabbed Coach Hogan and said to him: “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.”
Follow their example; love God and love His people.
Written by:
Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated
High school football is big in America, but I suppose there is no place where it is bigger than in Texas. Friday nights there are legend.
The fans scream; the stands are packed; cheerleaders with pom-poms jump and sway to the beat of the school bandand everybody joins in the chants and stomps their feet on the metal stands until you are sure they will collapse.
This is the frenzy of Texas high school football.
But there is one football team in Texas that is a little different. When they play on Friday night, their stands are empty, no band, no cheerleaders, no mass of parents or townsfolk wearing the school colors and waving banners and flags. They take the field without anyone cheering them on. When they score a touchdown, which rarely happens, there is no wild celebration behind them… All of it seems hollow and muffled in contrast to the tidal wave of roars and drums and chants that come from the opposing side.
They are the Tornadoes of the Gainesville State School, a fenced, maximum-security facility. The young men who go to Gainesville State are there because they have made some major mistakes in their lives. But the players who are on the team are there because they have worked hard and have earned enough good behavior points that gives them the privilege to leave the facility and play football on Friday nights—always an away game for them—always a home game for their opponents—and almost always a loss. They don’t have a weight program or training equipment or high-paid coaches and assistants. They don’t have a large pool of players to draw from. The school has 275 boys, but many are too old or too young or can’t or don’t meet the “criteria” to play. And they don’t have the support of a town and a mass of parents and family and reporters and bands and cheerleaders.
That is, until November 7th. Something changed. They played Grapevine Faith Christian School.
A few days before the game, the Gainesville coach, Mark Williams received a call from Faith Christian coach, Kris Hogan, asking him if it would be okay if Faith formed a “spirit” line for his team when they ran on the field. Mark said, “Sure, that would be a real encouragement to the kids.” He thought that the line would consist of a couple of the JV cheerleaders, but when they took the field, there were a hundred people in it and it stretched to the 40-yard line, filled with Faith Christian parents, fans and varsity cheerleaders, complete with a banner at the end for them to burst through that read “Go Tornadoes!”. And then, those parents and fans sat in the stands behind the Gainesville players and when the Tornadoes broke the huddle and went up to the line they could hear people cheering for them, by name. When they got a first down, “their” fans erupted.
You see, coach Hogan had sent an email out to the Faith Christian parents and students asking them to consider doing something kind for these young men, many who didn’t know what it meant to have a mom and dad who cared, many who felt the world was against them, not for them. Hogan asked that they simply send a message that these boys were “just as valuable as any other person on earth.”
So half of the Faith Christian fans were now sitting on the visitor’s side of the field, cheering for the Gainesville team, and in some cases, against their own sons. –Cheering for a team decked out in mismatched old uniforms and helmets. –Cheering for boys who wouldn’t go home that night and have a smiling dad slap him on the back and feel his mom put her arms around him and say “I’m so proud of you son!” –Cheering for the underdog.
This was a Friday night like no other for the Tornadoes. In the locker room, the players were confused. “Why are they cheerin’ for us, coach?” “Because, men, they want to encourage you. They want you to know that they care about you…that you have value.”
Coach Williams said the boys were stunned. For many of these kids, it may have been the first time that anyone had shown them, so visibly, unconditional love.
They were down 33 to nothing at the half. Williams encouraged his team to set a goal for the second half: to score a touchdown against this vastly superior team. And when the boys from the State School took the field again, with their fans cheering them on, everything started to click. And they did score. Not once but twice.
And the fans went wild.
Coach Williams was asked what the bus ride was like on the way home and he laughed and said that they were all asleep—their bellies were full. That’s becuz after the game, the parents brought a whole bunch of food over to the guys: hamburgers, fries, candy, sodas…and included in the meal sack was a Bible and a personal letter of encouragement from a Faith Christian player. But then, he said, they formed a line for us out to the bus. And the parents patted them on the back and said, “Nice game” and “Look forward to seeing you guys next time.”
As they left the field that night, Coach Williams grabbed Coach Hogan and said to him: “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.”
Follow their example; love God and love His people.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
2009
Welcome to the new year...
Midnight was rung in with friends and toasted with champagne.
Work is back in full-swing with police training videos underway, a museum exhibit
looming, an untouched history project for the golf course, and so much more...
Here's to the year ahead.
In all things - remember,
Love God, love people.
Midnight was rung in with friends and toasted with champagne.
Work is back in full-swing with police training videos underway, a museum exhibit
looming, an untouched history project for the golf course, and so much more...
Here's to the year ahead.
In all things - remember,
Love God, love people.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Pause. Reflect. Move forward.
Unless something changes overnight and I suddenly become a daily blogger, this will most likely be my last blog of 2008. It's been awhile..3 months and 3 days to be exact, but one of my dearest friends has suckered me in to updating :)
Staying true to my blog title, my life has remained ever-changing in the past three months and over the past year... I expect even more change to come with 2009.
A quick review of 2008:
Survived senioritis and graduated with a BA in Journalism, PR
Quit a job that I loved
Started my first salaried job with good benefits and fun co-workers - a jumping point
Became a true adult - which includes paying all my bills
Fell in love, fell out of love
Broke a few hearts, had my heart broken
Moved into a fabulous apartment in the DFW metroplex
Lost friends, made new friends
Discovered a great church community through my roommate
Attended the first wedding of a close friend and previous roommate
Had countless other friends get engaged
Became the proud owner of a Beta fish, Zeus, and a crazy cat, Mohawk
Saw Death Cab for Cutie live
Took a roadtrip across California
Lived in Waco while not attending school
Experienced life... so much so that I can't paraphrase all of it, but there is a glimpse.
I have a few "new years resolutions" or goals for 2009 that all center around the idea that to be able to succeed in life you must be ready at each moment for anything that life throws at you. So if I think I should better something about myself, then there is no time like the present.
So as the new year draws closer I'll take just a bit more time to reflect on this past year and move forward to the blessings that await.
Love God,
Love people.
Staying true to my blog title, my life has remained ever-changing in the past three months and over the past year... I expect even more change to come with 2009.
A quick review of 2008:
Survived senioritis and graduated with a BA in Journalism, PR
Quit a job that I loved
Started my first salaried job with good benefits and fun co-workers - a jumping point
Became a true adult - which includes paying all my bills
Fell in love, fell out of love
Broke a few hearts, had my heart broken
Moved into a fabulous apartment in the DFW metroplex
Lost friends, made new friends
Discovered a great church community through my roommate
Attended the first wedding of a close friend and previous roommate
Had countless other friends get engaged
Became the proud owner of a Beta fish, Zeus, and a crazy cat, Mohawk
Saw Death Cab for Cutie live
Took a roadtrip across California
Lived in Waco while not attending school
Experienced life... so much so that I can't paraphrase all of it, but there is a glimpse.
I have a few "new years resolutions" or goals for 2009 that all center around the idea that to be able to succeed in life you must be ready at each moment for anything that life throws at you. So if I think I should better something about myself, then there is no time like the present.
So as the new year draws closer I'll take just a bit more time to reflect on this past year and move forward to the blessings that await.
Love God,
Love people.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
late night movies...
For whatever reason it is 1 a.m. and I'm not tired... I am hungry though and there's nothing to eat, I really should have remembered to go to the store earlier.
So I'm watching "Something to Talk About" - I've never seen all of it so thought I should indulge tonight as I love Kyra Sedgwick and Julia Roberts. One thing I enjoy about movies is when they have that one line or one conversation that just sums the whole movie up. Here's the one for this movie...
Jamie: I'll say one thing, you southern women sure are easy to please.
Grace: I guess that's what comes from centuries of being bred to keep your expectations low.
While I am an easy going southern woman, I don't think it's about having kept low expectations. I think it's more about embracing life and learning to enjoy every moment. But then again..maybe there is a part of me that says if I care too much I might set myself up for a dissapointment and I'd rather not experience that. I mean if I am going to be completely honest. It is a small part though. The rest of it is just not wanting to miss out on anything. Maybe I'm talking in circles about many things :) Maybe it's time for sleep. Just think about it - if you are easy going then why and if not, then why not?
Goodnight all.
So I'm watching "Something to Talk About" - I've never seen all of it so thought I should indulge tonight as I love Kyra Sedgwick and Julia Roberts. One thing I enjoy about movies is when they have that one line or one conversation that just sums the whole movie up. Here's the one for this movie...
Jamie: I'll say one thing, you southern women sure are easy to please.
Grace: I guess that's what comes from centuries of being bred to keep your expectations low.
While I am an easy going southern woman, I don't think it's about having kept low expectations. I think it's more about embracing life and learning to enjoy every moment. But then again..maybe there is a part of me that says if I care too much I might set myself up for a dissapointment and I'd rather not experience that. I mean if I am going to be completely honest. It is a small part though. The rest of it is just not wanting to miss out on anything. Maybe I'm talking in circles about many things :) Maybe it's time for sleep. Just think about it - if you are easy going then why and if not, then why not?
Goodnight all.
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