Where Did the Weekend Go?

Somehow it's already Monday...and a holiday for many of you working folks as well! :)

Thursday-Sunday of this last week was mainly spent focusing on three things:

1) Granny was zipped to the ER via ambulance on Thursday morning and admitted early Thursday afternoon for stomach/intestinal issues. For a while on Thursday, we weren't sure how exactly things might turn out, but this lil lady is the poster woman for RESILIENCY and by mid-day Friday we were pretty sure she was heading out of the woods. Now as she's 101, I'm well aware that we've been incredibly blessed by the many, many years that we've had Granny continue to be present in our lives. In all honesty, I moved to Louisiana believing that she probably wouldn't be here by the time I made it back to Oregon...and she proved me wrong, and when she broke her leg on her visit to Louisiana and had to undergo surgery, I thought she'd never make a full recovery and she proved me wrong. Each day past her recovery of breaking both legs and yet returning to walk by her 100th birthday, I've just focused on being fortunate that she's still here while being mindful of the fact that she's not going to live forever. It'll be difficult to see her eventually pass but I just can't believe how fortunate we've been and I know Poppa's up there waiting for her, as in awe of her resiliency as the rest of us!

Most of Thursday and Friday I spent hanging out and sputtering with Granny at the hospital, and then I visited Saturday evening and Sunday morning until her discharge. Dad had asked me to keep him and my siblings posted on her status, so I texted out updates as they arrived, and generally spent time catching up with many of my extended relatives (and my brother) who also were frequent visitors. With all the attention and constant social visits, I told Granny not to get any ideas about being in the hospital! :) The staff all loved her and we all were incredibly impressed by the care and treatment she received at St. Vincent's---absolutely amazing! And the one piece of good news is the experience finally got Granny to agree to relocating to the local area!

2) This weekend was scheduled to be a Book Club Beach Trip weekend, but due to scheduling and illness only three of the other gals were going to be able to attend besides my cousin and I. With all the concern about Granny and other concerns going on in my cousin's life, it was difficult for the two of us to decide what to do. I felt like I needed a bit of time with my gals and ocean views in order to be restored for my own reasons, so my gal T and I drove over to the coast late Friday evening and I came back home on Saturday afternoon. While a quick trip, it was still nice to spend time with three great gals and to wake up to gorgeous ocean views! And as bonus, we didn't even have to talk about the book at all! (Plus T and I ate at the Pelican Pub, where I finally had a great tasting meal from their menu! I always feel a little let down by their food combos & I actually don't like regular beers on tap, but the vegetable sandwich was amazing!)

3) Yesterday turned into an incredibly productive Sunday:
--I went to church where a sermon was delivered that felt like God finally providing some answers to some of my needed direction: "Have you fully lived up to the skills, abilities, and talents that God gave you?" and "you're never too young or too old to do so." This is an internal battle I've always wrestled with, honestly. I've been fortunate to be blessed by God with great abilities, including intellectual capacities, but I've always wanted to just be "average" and to be able to focus on a simple life instead of potentially having to fulfill what He had granted me. I love my job, I'm reaching new goals physically, but I've been wondering if God wanted more from me....and this Sunday message sort of provided some answers that yes, yes, He probably does. So for now I'm baby stepping forward about pre-reqs and waiting to see if He opens that door and what He might eventually reveal. For the first time in my life I'm actually not overly excited about going back to school. I love to learn, I love wrangling new concepts and issues, but I've already got 3 years of undergrad and 3 years of grad school under my belt. So we'll see whether this leads into a new direction or not! It doesn't go unrecognized though that sometimes God leads us to things we might not be too excited about :) And if I'm misreading the signs, then He'll open my eyes to something else I'm sure.

--After church, I went to see Granny until we wheeled her out of the hospital about noon. Next came errands for groceries, grass seed, firelogs, & to fill the gas can to hopefully get the mower to work next time it's dry enough (ha!)....and then 2.5 hours spent in the yard: raking up the next round of leaves, including using them as cover for the raised beds. I dug out an old rosebush that had gone wild, picked up the rest of the vines I hadn't had room for in the yard debris cans, raked the ground and put down seed on two areas to attempt to reseed, and picked up & swept the patio. Tall D brought the dogs back (he'd had them for the weekend), cut the final boards needed for my other sign project, and then sat & chatted for a bit.

--My parents got new Iphones so I used one of the 5's new features and Facetimed with my dad for a bit. Late in the evening there was also an update phone call about Granny's discharge information to my aunt.

--And then an evening spent grading my online course and researching medical profession options.

A long weekend of ups and downs with just one run fit in on Friday. Hoping to get another work-out in today, finish grading my in-person classes, and then maybe get some reading for fun completed! I have a potential housemate coming to see the place this week so we'll see how that turns out---lots of unknowns still but I'm feeling like I just have to keep trusting! Oh and this morning I found half of another LARGE rat left in the garage, so those chickens might be put up on craigslist!

Hope y'all have had a great long weekend! Here's to our veterans and an entire month of thankfulness!