Gitz Bits 2010: Week 14

Friday, April 2, 2010

Shortly after noon on Good Friday, I was thinking of my friends at church. Then the thunder boomed and the rain began to pour. My thought in that moment: As it thunders and rains from a darkened sky, it feels like the full weight of The Passion on display.

I may not be able to leave the house, but on that ominous and rainy Good Friday afternoon, I felt like I’d been to church.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Well, Riley got one step closer to being a groomed dog on Saturday. He’s still pretty shaggy and raggedy, but at least his back matches the length of hair around his face.

Last week’s cut made him look like a wiener dog. This week’s cut got him to the Maltese version of a Cocker Spaniel. Imagine how nice it will feel for him to actually look like HIMSELF again someday. :)

Sunday, April 4, 2010

See that blur of a whirling dervish? That would be our Benny Boy. My friends Scott and Meg, along with their kids Taylor and Ben, brought over Chinese food for lunch on Easter Sunday. [Now that’s a new tradition I could get used to pretty easily.] :) The kids thought it was crazy I had never played a Wii before, so they brought over their game system and schooled me as best they could.

Let’s just say Ben did more of these victory dances than I did… although Scott and I DID beat Taylor and Ben in bowling! It’s obviously not a stretch to assume that Scott kind of carried me on that one. :)

Monday, April 5, 2010

Shortly after my announcement that I was throwing away Riley’s cheese for fear of another accidental ingestion and reaction on my part, the little stinker’s fan club sent him a care package.

My friend Shannon and her girls, Hannah and Eliana, felt Riley might be in withdraw from his daily cheese supply and picked out some options that could be replacements. He’s quite enjoyed sampling the goods.

And then begging for more 30 seconds later. :)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

And because they are my sweet girls, Hannah and El made me this beautifully painted rock-butterfly to include in Riley’s care package as well. I have been moving him around from place to place, but have decided he may enjoy his home in the plant most of all.

It’s the closest thing to nature we have around here, so we’re trying to make Mr. Butterfly [aka “Rocky”] as comfortable as possible. :)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Sometimes I think it is nothing short of a miracle that this pup hasn’t been squished to death in his sleep. On this day, I was laying on the couch and couldn’t figure out for the life of me where he had gone.

Well, while I was laying on that brown pillow, propped up against those two ivory striped pillows, Riley had gotten on top of them and slid right down in between them. While I laid against the pillows with the full pressure of my weight, he managed to burrow in between them and stick his nose out for air.

To say that I thought he was cute when I saw him peek out may be the understatement of my life.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

S.c.r.u.m.p.t.i.o.u.s.

Seriously, little Mr. Noah Lee was just a tiny bundle of happy in my world. His mom, Amanda, is a friend of mine from St. Stephen’s who I haven’t seen in ages. And thanks to good old Facebook, we have gotten back in touch. Just in time for me to take advantage of her maternity leave and have them over for a visit.

She was so kind to take the time, and because Noah was a preemie, he was still really tiny at 6 weeks old. Which means I could hold him longer than I can most babies. I wish he was old enough to remember how happy he made me on this day, just by being in the world.

Thanks for once again sharing my week with me! Click on the button below if you want to go to Jessica’s site and check out the other participants showing off their weekly photos as well:

Brought to You by the Letter Y

So, Susie was over tonight [Sunday] to watch the two hour Brothers and Sisters movie event. Otherwise known as: two hours of a television show for which they needed a marketing angle. I’m happy to report it was worth the hype. And that next week’s episode looks just as good. :)

The point here is that this movie event started at 8:00, and while Susie was here in time to begin the show, we didn’t actually start watching until 9:40. The only excuse I can give you for this is that Susie is chatty.

Not me, of course. It was all Susie. :)

We originally had this bright idea that while she was here, she would write a guest post for you all today. But then “she” got chatty. And “she” may have even paused the show to chat. And when she left here after midnight, we realized that our deadline for posting had passed, and she needed to get her tush home to sleep so she could get up bright and early for work. Since I have the luxury of sleeping in I told her she could save her guest posting skills for another day.

Her original thought for today’s [Y] post, however, was going to be y’all. As in:

Y’all… we’re too busy watching a show to write a blog post right now.

So, I thought I would take that concept and run with it.

Y’all… I have held two newborn babies within the past week. Two. And, dear God, they were ridiculously cute. And sweet. And cuddly. And they smelled good. You’ll see one in tomorrow’s Gitz Bits and the other in next week’s edition. But I’m going to post them both right here, right now, because they are too sweet not to share twice:

Scrumptious Little Noah - 6 weeks

Smiley Little Joshua - 5 weeks

Y’all… I finally finished cutting Riley’s hair. It was done over the course of two weeks, in multiple stages. He may have gotten a bit tired of sitting through it, and he may have gotten feisty with me. He may have been annoyed because the hair on his legs was so matted he basically had doggy dreadlocks, which may or may not have made him want to bite at my hands.

Y’all… he definitely got in trouble for it. And I may have snapped a photo.

Y’all… that is going to be my favorite picture of Riley until the day I die.

Y’all… I’m going to end this with some very exciting news. Today, at around 4:30 or so, my friend Alece is going to be walking through my door. My mom is picking her up from the airport and bringing her here to stay for the week!

Y’all… it’s really happening. This friend I made while she was running her Thrive Africa mission, this friend who I never imagined getting to see in person as most of her life is spent on another continent, this friend just so happened to have a wedding to attend. In Iowa. Only a few hours from me. And now I get to hang out with her for the whole week!

Y’all… I’m so lucky to have started this blog. And to have made such good friends. I am so blessed to get to spend my days with you. Y’all are the best!

Don’t forget to hit me up with some [Z] suggestions in the comment section!

Flashback Friday: My Mom is MacGyver

On Tuesday, Ed left one of his endearing, smart-aleck comments after I explained that, since I’m not exactly a cooking savant, my blessed palm earned it’s rightful place in my kitchen:

“If I see a picture of Riley praying before he eats that would confirm that you are not exaggerating about your cooking skills.”

I assure you, there is no exaggerating here. Now my mother… she is what we like to refer to as the MacGyver of the kitchen. I can look in a cupboard and see nothing of consequence. She can look in that same cupboard and come up with a casserole, side dish and dessert.

She has a gift.

I do not.

There is one evening that flashes into our memories from time to time, one that proves my mom is a genius cook under pressure… and that we’re a pretty good team in a crisis. I was still in high school and the only child left at home, so on this random week night we were pretty laid back. Dad had come in from doing chores, mom had a couple of chicken breasts on the grill and we were just having a simple salad with it. Nothing fancy… and as we were just about to pick up silverware and dive in…

Mom jumped up and exclaimed, “Don’t touch a thing!!!!”

It was 6:30, and she had just remembered we had company coming to eat at 7:00. Seriously. We were in sweatpants, with nothing prepared, and it dawned on her that she and Dad had invited friends of theirs over to celebrate a belated birthday.

I’m not naming names. Because I don’t think they ever knew the difference.

We hopped up… I lit candles around the house, set a nice table and threw something together as a centerpiece. Dad ran to take a shower while Mom took those un-touched chicken breasts and managed to throw together a casserole, a side dish and a salad.

I ran to the “gift closet” and wrapped up a Yankee candle as a present while Dad got out the supplies for drinks. We all ran to change clothes, and come 7:00 we opened the door to guests while trying not to look like the wide-eyed crazy people we were.

Her MacGyver skills totally saved the night.

And it is a memory I will never be able to look back on without smiling and chuckling and wondering what kind of evening we could have thrown together if we would have had a full hour to prepare. :)

I’m not exaggerating about the insanity of that night, or my lack of cooking skills. And to prove it, Ed, here is a photo of Riley saying grace before devouring a Cheerio. He learned early on to pray before eating, even if it’s something I didn’t cook.

Just to be on the safe side.

Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

I'm Kind of Chatty

I have been so incredibly lucky to meet people, in all stages of my life, who end up being great influences and life-long friends. For me, I think my college experience was the best example of being surrounded by so many people with different qualities… all of whom helped me figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. I was surrounded by such diversity, and they somehow meshed together into this wacky unit that loved me through life.

I had the normal college experience of living in the dorm, going out with friends, testing my boundaries of being on my own. I had my brother who lived in town, so I could lean on him when I was missing home or needed help. I had my aunt who worked at the Catholic student center, and so many friends who I met through my involvement there. I had friends in my major classes, friends from the dorms… groups of people in all aspects of my college life who rounded out my experience.

By the time I was finishing school and my roommates were in grad school for Speech Pathology, I would sometimes laugh at the parties we’d have at the big house. We’d have friends from school, friends from church, a priest, the deacon and his wife, and even my roommates’ professors all in one room… eating, drinking, laughing… and it wouldn’t have been the same without any of them.

Carlin Hageman was always a hoot to have at a party. He attended St. Stephen’s, which is how I got to know him, but he was also in the Audiology department at the University and had taught my roommates. My favorite moment was probably when we were having a discussion about stupid human tricks and he pulled out his hidden talent of playing music with his eye.

Seriously. He could cup his hand over his eye and somehow create a tune.

I may have been drinking. Which may have made it funnier. But I still say it was a David Letterman-worthy stupid human trick.

Like all of those people, Carlin has remained a friend to me. And even though I haven’t been out and about or at church in quite a few years, it humbled me so much that when I was sick this summer and not blogging regularly, he noticed. And without me asking or even realizing he could help, he took it upon himself to help me anyway.

I can’t tell you the number of blog posts that have gone up on this site because Carlin called my friend Susie and offered to make things easier for me if I’d let him. He belongs to an organization called Sertoma [Service to Mankind] and they use their resources to help people function in the world when their bodies aren’t up to the job. Or, at least, that’s certainly what they did in my case. I, being me, almost refused the help when Susie called to tell me about it. I knew there were people in the world worse off than me that probably needed their help more. At the start of it, I really wasn’t sure it was going to be necessary anyway.

But the more we talked about it, the more I realized I was struggling to type because the laptop on my lap was too much pressure. And my hands haven’t been working as well as they used to. And the nerve issues in my arms and hands can get extreme if I don’t lay off the typing when necessary.

So, I gratefully said yes, and one of Carlin’s colleagues, Evette, came over to set up this amazing program on my computer called Dragon Naturally Speaking. I put in a bluetooth earpiece, open this program, start talking…

…and it does the typing.

This entire post? I haven’t been using my hands. Which is great, because they aren’t working very well today. Half of the posts you’ve read since the Cushing’s hit this summer? They have been because of this program. So, when you tell me it feels like I’m talking directly to you, it’s because I am. :)

Everyone say, “Thank you, Carlin!”

Because every time I sit at this computer and start rattling off my posts, I’m saying a thank you to Carlin and Evette for their incredible kindness and thoughtfulness.

Now, if we’re really lucky, maybe someday I’ll get him on video playing music with his eye…

Gitz Bits 2010: Week 13

Friday, March 26, 2010

This is Riley and I sitting in bed watching the UNI vs. Michigan State basketball game. We had the same computer/TV set up as the week before [not that I was feeling totally superstitious or anything!], but it sadly didn’t produce the same exciting end result.

As you can see from Riley’s expression, he was quite distressed about the final score. But I assured him there is always next year… :)

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Do you see a change in Riley from yesterday’s photo to today’s? To be clear, there is only one thing different… his face. It appears to have shrunk.

But alas, the rest of him is still fluffy and untamed and unruly. Yes, my poor dog has to suffer the humiliation of an owner who has painful fingers, which means any haircuts [long overdue haircuts, at that] have to be performed in stages.

Which means his shape now creates the illusion of a Maltese version of a wiener dog. Or maybe some native group on a deserted island shrunk his head.

Either way, he’s a bit embarrassed. So go easy on his tender ego.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Palm Sunday arrived, and my sweet neighbor Laura was thoughtful enough to bring me a blessed palm to replace my old one. My Grandma Flo used to keep her palm tucked up in the sun visor of her car, she said as an extra blessing to keep her safe. I always did the same until my car found it’s new home with my nephew, Thomas.

So now I have it tucked behind the plaque in my kitchen. If any of you know me and my cooking skills, you know that this is the most logical place to hope for my safety.

Monday, March 29, 2010

*Shudder*

Sunday night was my dreaded cheese-ingesting incident from which I am still trying to recover, and by the time I took this photo on Monday night this bottle was my faithful companion. My friend Meg had to bring a new bottle of Benadryl with her when she came over on Easter, as the bottle you see here is now empty.

Oh, Benadryl bottle… your time with me here was short, but you served your purpose well. I couldn’t have managed breathing all week without you.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

This is a little canvas I have hanging by my fridge in the kitchen. That beautiful girl you see in the photo is Kaitlyn, my friend Kelly’s oldest daughter who passed away from cancer almost seven years ago. If you haven’t read about her, click on her name so you can learn about this great kid who we all miss.

She would have turned 18 on the 30th, which is so hard for us to imagine. The drawing attached to the canvas is the front of a thank you note she wrote to me when I had bought her a Bedazzler to decorate her do-rags.

I have no idea who she would have been at 18, getting ready to graduate high school. But I do know she was a cool 11 year old, and she is still missed.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

This was my first foray into the world of Alice.com, and I’ve decided it was a success! It’s this great site that has all the drugstore items you might need, but it also hunts down any coupons that might apply to the products for you.

AND… they have free shipping. So I get to save a few dollars, do a little shopping and not have to fret over high shipping costs. A win-win in my book.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Welcome to my latest iPod Touch obsession. There is this great app called Words With Friends that is basically an interactive scrabble game you can play with other iPhone users. I totally suck at it, but it keeps me entertained. :)

I didn’t play any April Fool’s tricks on the first, but I did use my friend Amie’s own name against her in the game… that’s as close as I get to hijinks, I guess!

Thanks for once again sharing my week with me! Click on the button below if you want to go to Jessica’s site and check out the other participants showing off their weekly photos as well:

Brought to You by the Letter X

Ok… it’s time for the dreaded letter [X]!!!! Before we get there, though…

Truth: I’ve been a bit uncharacteristically emotional the last few days. Not because it’s the holiday or anything – I actually had a lovely time with great friends who came over for lunch on Sunday, and their kids schooled me on the Wii. Literally. I’d never played before and they got a great laugh at how inept I am!

No one can run a Mario Cart into the wall like I can. :)

No, I just think there are those wisps of time when a person has to sit in the pain of it for a moment. Even me… the girl who hates sitting in anything but the joy. I miss outside. I miss going to church. I miss not seeing my friends’ kids play, and I want to visit their new homes and be a part of things. I’m struggling so much with this new view in the mirror and I’m struggling most because I have no patience for struggling!

I like being strong.

Seriously.

I know this will pass as soon as I get some rest… I really only get emotional when I’m exhausted, and that’s where last week’s allergic reaction and crazy amounts of Benadryl have left me. But sometimes, there are good reminders in the sad stuff, too.

That’s why [X] is going to stand for X-Marks-The-Spot.

You know how, on a treasure map, the trunk of gold and spoils is always marked with an X? Or how those signs in the mall that say “You Are Here” give you a red X to find your location?

The marking is there to let us know where we are, or where we would like to be. It shows us what we want to know. Where our heart lies. It shows us the treasure.

I listened to a song by Selah recently that is a good reminder about how He has marked an X on each of us. Whether we remember to go to Him or not, he’s left an impression on our hearts. He knows our location. He knows where our heart lies. He knows we are His treasure. Because of that, we are never alone no matter how isolated we may be.

This line in the song was the reminder for me this Easter: I would never stake my life on any lesser thing than the cross of Christ where He gave His life to ease my suffering. If there’s one thing I know, you were never left alone… because you can always call on Jesus’ name.

Here’s the song One Thing I Know, in case you need to hear it today, too.

Because He has left an X to mark the spot on each of our hearts.

09 One Thing I Know by gitzengirl

Ok, [Y] should be much easier on the suggestion front! Throw them at me in the comment section :)

Pour Out

It’s easy for me to lose track of time, of days, of events.

While nothing about my days are consistent, I do find myself in a routine of managing the day… when to take my meds, what to take, figuring out if I need to rest or to move, deciding what I can do later based on what I’m trying to do in the moment. It’s different every day, but it’s my version of a daily routine.

And the world keeps going on outside my bubble. I watch the news in the evening and discover we had a warm weather day. I talk to a friend on the phone and hear about changes around town and activities that are starting for their kids. I ask about the next weekend’s plans and discover… it’s Easter. And discover, yet again, the date has gotten away from me.

Yes, I can definitely lose track.

In years past, Easter would never have escaped my attention because I would have been serving at my church. I would have been helping with liturgy planning, practicing music for the many Holy Week services, some years even sponsoring members to join our church in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation on Holy Saturday.

We’d plan for the washing of the feet on Thursday night. I would be overwhelmed by the sound of hammering nails during Good Friday services as we would sing “Were You There.” And, while some would complain about our three hour sunset services on Holy Saturday, I would often find the time going by too quickly as people would step into our baptismal font to be immersed in the waters of baptism. The three days leading up to Easter Sunday were what helped give that Sunday Mass its meaning.

I loved serving at all of it.

As I sat here thinking about it today, thinking of how being taken out of the routine can leave me not knowing which weekend Easter falls on, it occurred to me that Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday should be treated as days that could fall on any week of the year. I should be ready… in servant mode… so even if the day snuck up on me I would be ready to celebrate His resurrection.

I can be praising, honoring and preparing for that day every day. I can always find ways to serve. That was my focus this Lent, as I talked about being aware of acting as His hands and feet. Some days I did well… others, not so much. But one weekend, as I was joining in my friends’ church services online, I got a new perspective on how important it is to be a servant.

They were preaching on the story of Jesus’ first miracle, when He changed the water into wine at the wedding. The part of the story I never really thought about before is that the guests didn’t know about the miracle, but the SERVANTS did. They trusted this man who told them to fill their jugs with water, and they trusted when they were told to pour the liquid into the waiting cups of the guests.

They trusted Jesus. They served others as they were instructed to do. And they saw the miracle of something plain and bland turning into something colorful and rich. Jesus could have performed the miracle of turning water into wine, but no one would have known if there was no one to serve it to the people.

When we are servants, we see the miracles.

When we serve, the miracles are poured out to others.

We are water. We become wine in the moment we serve. We are unqualified, but He qualifies us if we step out in faith.

This man, this son of God who was sacrificed for our sins… who walked the long road with thorns on His head and a cross on His back… this man who humbled Himself to serve with His life as an offering for the sins we had yet to commit…

He did all of that so we could live.

He took the water of our lives and made us wine. He turned us from something bland into something colorful and rich.

And the only way the world will know about it is if we choose to be His servants. If we choose to pour out the miracle of His resurrection to those who are thirsty, waiting with their empty cups.

I will lose track of the days this year. I pray I don’t lose sight of my role as a servant. He sacrificed too much for me to not pay attention.