Monday, December 7, 2009

Brrrr. . .

We are under a blizzard watch until tomorrow. It has rained all day which means we are house-bound until our dirt roads can dry out again. I had to go to my NP this morning and by the time I returned, it was pretty dicey even driving back to the house. I was home by 10:30, so you can imagine what our roads look like now. It's bitter cold out there and the wind is really blowing hard. I'm sure we will have lots of snow in the morning.

I am not complaining about this weather at all. You see, I've been on the go for what seems like months now. We have so much going on all the time - mostly taking care of my husband's mother. We've had lots of doctor appointments lately and add the Thanksgiving and Christmas season on top of this and it's exhausting. Having this horrible weather allows me to actually have an excuse to stay home and relax. I mean, who can do anything of substance when it's so cold and our books, music and crocheting are calling out to us? Not me. It would be almost unheard of for me not to take advantage of this weather to relax, talk to the Lord, and just BE.

I think this whole thing started when I was a child. I can remember during a particularly hard snow storm that lasted for about a week, my mother and I sitting in the living room, embroidery (for me) and needlepoint (for her) in hand - making things, sipping hot chocolate and just enjoying the warm house in contrast to the cold snow outside our windows. If memory serves me right, we stayed in our jammies for that entire week. lol Now in my adulthood, I feel the tug of that memory when the weather turns cold and going out is an impossibility. I treasure these days at home with my family around me, all of us relaxing, listening to music and enjoying each other's company. I pray that my children will feel the tug of this memory when they get older and find the comfort and joy that I feel.

As I said, we've been doing a lot of doctor appointments lately. This is not unusual for my husband and I; we find as we get older our bodies are just basically falling apart. However, we've had several appointments for my youngest son that are rather concerning. My son has a bicuspid aortic valve that we found out about approximately 2 years ago. He sees his Cardiologist about twice a year just to be monitored. This time, our Cardiologist was concerned about something that I have been concerned about for the past 2 years - my son's high blood pressure. He felt that to be safe, my son should see a Nephrologist (a kidney specialist) to see if there is a problem with his kidneys. This is something I've been saying for a long time because my best friend's father is an internal medicine doctor and he said this when we first found out about my son's blood pressure. I'm just thankful that we will finally be looking into this - even if it's just to rule out a problem. Of course, they want to do lots of tests and so forth, so we've been on the go. Your prayers regarding this are greatly appreciated!

I finished my Christmas cards yesterday and got a box ready to mail. Of course, I wish now I would have mailed them when I was out today as I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to get out and mail them now. In any case, I'm glad they are done and ready. I did a newsletter this year, something I avoided last year, because we had so much news we wanted to share with our family and friends. It's been a very stressful year with many life changes for my husband and I. We are so thankful, though, that we have our Lord Jesus to walk through all these things with us - and of course - each other and our sons, as we travel these many twists and turns in our life.

I'm going to bed. It's getting colder and colder and I can hear the sleet hitting the skylights in our ceiling. My warm comforter is going to be very welcome tonight since the wind is so cold. I'll be snuggling up with a good book and my two doggies by my side. Yes, I'm one of those people that allows my dogs to sleep on my bed with me. My husband and I have done this for so many years now, I don't know if either of us could sleep without a fur body near by. :)

God bless you - Julie

Picture above is of our front yard after the big snow storm last February 2009.

6 comments:

  1. Julie,
    I loved your post! Thanks for visiting me...I am glad to be here on blogger too since this is my last year of school. I need to just keep looking ahead.

    I will keep your son in my prayers. I hope that there are no kidney problems but I am glad you are having him checked out. It is terrible when your kids are sick or have medical problems. So I know how concerned you are. You can count on my prayers.

    It isn't always easy to stay in and not run around so I am glad that even though you are in a blizzard that you can just take the time to relax and capture beautiful moments and memories. I always try to make those moments memorable for Brittany and I too.

    You have blessed me with your words today. Take care, stay warm and enjoy your quiet times. PS...I sleep with my pups too. Couldn't imagine not having them :)

    Blessings dear friend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm like you. I become a homebody with the weather gets 'frightful' (QUICK, what Christmas song contains that word!)
    It was 13 below this morning. Too cold for comfort!
    Merry CHRISTmas!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear julie,
    O those lovely memories of childhood!
    It's Burrrrr here too. We don't have much snow on the ground just a very coooooold front that rushed through Indiana in the last day.

    We have a good friend who had some serious kidney problems this year (due to too much Motrin) it's a very scary thing to have kidney problems. One big sign of it is a sweet fruity breath and dizziness. I will pray his doctor will be assertive with this if there is a problem. Keep us posted.
    Take care my sister,
    Blessings on your day.
    Katia

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Julie, Are you snowed in? I'll check in on you on FB to see how your doing.

    Love you,
    Joyce

    ReplyDelete
  5. . I treasure these days at home with my family around me, all of us relaxing, listening to music and enjoying each other's company.

    amen sis..I so connected with this post.

    I will be praying for all the health issues, please pray for my family also as we are dealing with many circumstances,,but I am praising God in this storm

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just want you to know that
    I really enjoy your site and
    would like to wish you a very
    Merry Christmas to you and your
    loved ones.

    Marjorie

    ReplyDelete

Please leave me a message! I love hearing what you have to say and look forward to your comments.