Father's Day Weekend 2010

Last weekend JB, the Rowdy Girls Daddy, was on a fun trip, so CB, their Momma, packed up the RG's and the black and white dogs and came for a visit. And the Fabulous Aunt Kaki also packed up and came for a visit.  Good times were had by all!  

On Friday, before Aunt Kaki arrived, we spent some time at a nearby park with the unique Fort Imagination Playground. Roo loved the pretend airplane and claimed she was flying high in the air.  The pilot's seat was hers almost the entire time we were at the playground.  

Em claimed the jump seat on the back.  She was fairly certain that the tail was a mini slide. 

Soon Em grabbed Grandpa to climb the "castle" otherwise known as the fort.

She enjoyed the slide. Again, and again, and again, and agai..............

Forward.                      and   drawkcaB. 

Roo sat with Grandpa all through Sunday morning church.  About three minutes before the preacher finished his sermon, she gathered her blanket and looked at Grandpa and very determinedly said "And all the people said, AMEN!"  We never wonder when she is at her limit.

Grandpa surprised us with tickets for a matinee performance of Toy Story 3. It was totally awesome and left the adults crying sentimentally.  Click on the link if you have a pre-school child who loves the
Toy Story characters.

The girls had fun with doll and character friends.

Emme made a new friend she calls Emmyjoy, but that's not her real name.  

Last, and maybe best of all were wild spins in Dubbie's barber chair with Grandpa driving, Em riding in the seat, and Ruby riding the footrest.  Marmee is the photographer. 

Love you, girls!

Blogging Slump

It bloggles my mind, all the business. It's summer, for cryin' out loud! Here is why I haven't blogged recently:
A wedding--for which I played with a pianist
Thirteen students coming for lessons
Guest Bible study teachers for Sozo class
Sozo ministry on two days
Pilates session once a week
Body Flow five times a week
Father's Day--shopping, lunch
Two Rowdy Girls
Two McGirls
One Muffin
VBS at church
A check up with the oral surgeon out of town
Soaking prayer once a week
Keeping my herbs alive
Laundry
Searching web sites for cool things to do in DC

That's most of it.  The other reason is that it's very hot and all I want to do is eat cold watermelon.

Two Years into Eternity

He entered heaven two years ago today.  

But he lived life in the Kingdom every day. 

I hope you are relaxing, praising the Lord in song, and fishing in the River of Life. 

Miss you, Dear Dubbie. 

Abigail

Since she was a small child we have observed as she grew in wisdom, stature (she's really tall!) and in favor with God and with mankind.  Now she is ready to soar, to fly like the Abilene High Eagle that she is, to leave her nest at home and with her extended family (us) and become who God calls her to be.

Today, along with 524 other graduates she is no longer a high school student, but is a college freshman with a world ahead of her.

There were so many people attending that we sat on the top row of the collesium and were happy that we found a seat.  Many people did not.  You can see people standing at the railing in front of the second level and behind the first level seating.  The parking lot was a giant mess with no police traffic detail anywhere, and many of the graduates, and most of their families and friends were stuck in the lot for an hour or more after the ceremony ended.  

But I, also an AHS graduate, stayed until the school song was sung one last time, and until the drum line, begged by the audience, gave them  THE BEAT.   

Congratulations, Abigail!

I get around

Three years ago today we were celebrating this wedding.  Happy Anniversary, Joy & Mike!  Muffin is spending the night with them in their new house tonight, crashing their anniversary. (Not really)  He is on business nearby and took some of their previously stored wedding gifts to them.

While recovering from dental surgery 13 days ago I was able to go down the street to an open house for this cutie pie.  She is the granddaughter of one of my very best friends, who went to heaven when she was only 40 years old.  Her daughters are all grown up and have children who are almost as cute as my grandchildren.  Here they are:

Mazie, on the left

                Ava in the center                                             Clara on the right.

I wrote an article about the girl on the left, Jenny.  She is performing on a piano team. Big concert coming up.  I rehearsed with one of the pianists yesterday. Hopefully the article will run in the local newspaper in a couple of days. 

Muffin and I were here, in Minneapolis, MN, over the weekend at a conference for Suzuki music teachers.  Good friends, good speakers, good exhibits, good music, and good sessions!  More about this in a later post. 

Thank you for your service

Randall McGlaun

September 19, 1923- March 14, 1999

W. L. "Dub" Allen

December 16, 1919-June 13, 2008

The Tooth Story

I had dental surgery three days ago. Here's the backstory.  


Growing up I had no dental problems at all, except that a couple of teeth were "cosmetically misaligned", or crooked. And my permanent molars did not form enamel all the way into the crowns, leaving deep pits. These days kids get sealant and finish the enamel process without cavities.  I got fillings.  So, that was the end of the story. My wisdom teeth were so impacted that they never moved. Until 1974 when I noticed some swelling and pain. But, in a church service during that time a pastor had a word of knowledge, a supernatural source of information, that someone in the audience had a "problem in the jaw that God was healing".  I felt something moving in my lower jaws and had no further symptoms from the wisdom teeth. Future x-rays revealed that I had no upper wisdom teeth at all and that the lower ones were totally impacted and not going anywhere. 


Until late 2009.  I began to feel an odd sensation in the molar adjacent to the right lower wisdom tooth. Felt like a little sharp pain every 2-3 days.  My dentist check it, thought it had all the symptoms of a crack and felt that the old filling had caused the crack. Before Christmas he replaced the filling, but found no crack and no other evidence of a problem. After Christmas I began to notice some swelling in the gum area--no pain.  Then more swelling and a little pain.  Then it stopped. At my last dental check up a wisdom tooth had partially surfaced.  I saw a surgeon May 13 and the news was stunning:  Wisdom tooth had moved toward the molar, causing a cyst, molar damage, bone damage and loss, and possible infection. Surgery was scheduled for May 21 to remove both teeth and do a biopsy.  


I drove to Muffin's apartment Thursday evening and ate "my last meal"--at Fuddruckers, my choice. I began the rinsing routine earlier in the week to fight infection and filled a prescription of penicillin. Friday morning, after some intense prayer for my condition went down on Wednesday morning at Bible study, I asked for one more x-ray, fully expecting a miracle healing.  No change was obvious. I tried to not be disappointed. Surgery commenced. 


I have a low tolerance to pain meds and to anesthesia. I vaguely remember being told again and again to take deep breaths. I heard them tell Muffin that it surely didn't take much to accomplish what they intended. He also got the report that there was very little sign of infection (Yea, God!) and that the site of the biopsy would be the trickiest part to take care of. Back to his apartment for some recovery with ice packs and pain meds.  Best part of that was the soaking music on my ipod that I pre-loaded for such an occasion. Cool water-no straw-Gatorade-no straw-water with antioxidants added-no straw-lots of gauze-tea bags to bite. Finally at 1:00 I woke enough to say 'Take me home' and we started back to our house, 3 hours away. I don't remember anything until Muffin helped me out of the driveway. I tried to sit up and look around, but I was zapped. 


Yesterday was better. I was awake more and managed a few hours on half doses of pain meds. One of our daughters' dear friends was in town with her new baby, named for her grandmother who was one of my best friends and who went to heaven long before her girls graduated from high school.  I wanted to see this darling baby so badly.  The Open House for them was from 4-6 pm. At 3:30 I took half a pain pill and promptly went to sleep. At 5:30 Muffin woke me and I dressed more presentably and we went down the street for the last 30 minutes.  It was so totally worth it. 


Last night was the worst of the pain and today I feel more normal, although the swelling is at its peak. I ate some Kashi soaked in soy milk with mashed blueberries.  Yum!  So much better than pureed chicken soup.  Back to the apartment tonight. Check up at 7 a.m. tomorrow, then I get to drive the car home, recover some more, and hopefully transition to Tylenol.  


Bottom line is that I know the Holy Spirit did His own surgery in my mouth and jaws. I've been asked who removed my upper wisdom teeth, so there must be evidence of "surgery" there.  God did it! And the expectation for the site on Friday morning was grim--more infection, more bone loss, etc. I'm looking forward to the visit in the morning for a full report.  God is the best surgeon there is, although I really appreciate Dr. Dugan and his wonderful staff.

Pslm 81:10

I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.