Thursday, May 24, 2007

All's Well that Ends

The mare is bred. School is out for the summer. Yippee. We went to the end of the year program at Grace Christian School. Got my hair cut this afternoon. Ali got groceries. I am sitting with an ice pack; just took a pill and I'm breathing from the belly. All is good. It is amazing how God brings a day to an end and hope abounds. So many evenings I have allowed regret and anxiety to rob me of that end of the day peace that comes from jobs well done, or maybe just done, or perhaps at least written down on a list.

My primary prayer for my life is that I would learn to establish reasonable goals for each day and then discipline myself to accomplish them. I know God desires for me to walk strong in His calling on my life. In the past I have quickly filled my "hope I can" list with way more than I could ever realistically accomplish. I shied away from important tasks when they seemed overwhelming. By ignoring paperwork, phone calls, and appointments that needed to be made, I created enough home grown stress to keep my anxiety meter running way up in the red. Ok, I gotta save and come back later; fatigue is consuming my conscious mind. I do want to come back to this thougth though.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Oh yea, my shoulder is doing OK. I am not doing much, a few chores in the am, a few phone calls and other personal business, a big nap, then supper time. I was outside a good bit this evening simply because it was so nice. I rode with Drew up to the new farm and watched him water the cows. I sat in the car with a pillow under my arm. I am being served by incredible friends. My laundry is caught up, dinner has been wonderful; even my kitchen floor has been scrubbed. Luke and Katie have been helping with the horses and barn work. So...I am doing OK. I am praying for a miracle healing, or at least the patience to wait out a traditional recovery, six to eight weeks. I know I am not out of God's gentle care. I am grateful for His protection at the time of the fall and the kind Dr. at the hospital. He is so Good.
Now, I am going to sleep.

Rebreed Tomorrow


New semen coming in the morning. Yippee! Erin, the vet, was here today; after examination and a conversation with the stallion owner, it seemed like the re breed was eminent. A few hitches on the west coast side were ironed out, the semen was collected, and off to FedEx the syringes were on their way east. Hopefully there will be no inclement weather in our way. The magic package should be here by 10 A. M. Erin left a small syringe of ovulation booster to be given if the collection was successful; it was, Katie administered the injection with a little help from our Luke, and the deed was done. I believe we have done all we can do to give Zulu the best chance to conceive. I can just pray that it takes, so that in eleven months and eleven days from tomorrow we should have a sweet black and white baby horse.


Next Wednesday the 30th Allen and Stacey should have their new son, and Bev and I will have our new grandson. That is exciting. The induction is scheduled to begin at 6:30 or so. I imagine the baby should be here by noon. I am hoping to try and get down to Pittsburgh before then. Bev is taking them down the night before so they do not have to leave so early, like in the middle of the night to get there. Of course I have an appointment in Kittanning with the orthopedic surgeon about my collar bone at 8:15, so being in the city by noon should not be a problem, if I can go straight from the Dr's. OK, think I am rambling. Fatigue, medication, and an achy shoulder are urging me to dreamland.


Our God is an Awesome God. He is the author and originator of all life, human and equine. I am excited and energised praising Him for little Kaleb Kimmel. Thank you Jesus for making me a grandma.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Collarbones

I broke mine today, this evening really. Riding my horse, and having a grand time of it. Galloping across a green meadow, loving life. I lost my balance and off i went. I knew it was not good. I am typing with my left hand only, my right shoulder and side propped up with pillows. My right arm lies helpless across my chest. The xrays were fairly graphic, the bone snapped in two with several splinters broken off too. BUT, God was very good it could have been much worse. The treatment is Vicadin and a sling. Which reminds me, its time.

And I will yet praise Him.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Dishwasher II
Still not working properly. After running the entire cycle, a hard hazy scum is left on the dishes. The glasses do not even appear to have been cleaned. Again this morning I called the good people at Lowes and was asked if I had well water. Yes, I answered with a 5000$ purifying system on it. Oh, they say, well let me talk to the head guy. I wait. You know you bought the Cadillac of dishwashers so it is probably not the fault of the dishwasher. I am instructed to phone the manufacturer to see if any other appliances similar to mine have experienced similar problems. I should ask them what they suggest. I balked trying to control my rage. Why should I spend 500$ on a dishwasher, pay to have it installed, incorrectly, then pay my own plumber to fix the technician's mistake, now I have to telephone KitchenAide to see what they think I should do.

I used to use a local shop for all my appliance purchasing and repair. They were forced out of business by the mega stores, like Lowes. Now, I am forced to pay more for inferior service. How like the world this is. It makes grandiose promises as to its ability to satisfy and provide us with entertainment, excitement, and a brave new world. What we end up with is an empty meaningless, and costly substitute for the pure and simple Love of Jesus. Best of all it is free. He does not charge us twice for an inferior product.

I must go help Sheldon finish the chores.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Tired, tired, tired...
My hair is even tired, I think. The good news is my dishwasher is fixed. I think. My new dishwasher bought from the large, impersonal, mega-hardware; Lowes now works. It was installed by the good people Lowes hires to do their installations and remodeling. It ran one load and quit draining. Oh boy. After numerous phone calls and conversations with my husband we called our regular plumber, also a personal friend. He worked on it for maybe two hours, lying on the floor watching it run and drain. Finally he unkinked a hose that the Lowes guy kinked when he installed my new dishwasher last Friday. I paid to have installed, and now I will pay to have the installation fixed. Oh well.

As far as the episode yesterday with the missing credit cards and check, I am trying to come to terms with the disappointment. By considering my sin before God and how I disappoint Him over and over I can forgive and try to keep the whole mess in a perspective that points me to my Savior and away from own self. And who knows maybe I will find the stuff.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

I took Allen and Stacey to Pittsburgh for a Dr's appointment at the OB clinic. Everything was good with the baby. The DR even has her content to wait maybe two more weeks to have the baby. Kaleb Daniel Kimmel. The whole trip seemed pretty OK. We had some laughs; they are both fun to be with. I found myself letting my guard down and yakking family gossip. Nothing malicious mind you. Stacey invited me into the room when they were doing the non-stress test, a monitoring of the baby's movements and any possible contractions. You can hear the heartbeat and him sloshing around in utero. We stopped for lunch on the way home and they thanked me over and over. I have to admit I was pretty whooped when I got home around 2:30. I napped till around five and then went to the barn to feed the horses. It felt good to walk into the barn and inhale that familiar smell. Anyone who loves horses knows the musky odor of hay and horse and manure. It is almost like a calming drug.

Later after dinner Drew asked me for a check I had in my car that belonged to him. I remember sliding in inside an envelope thinking, "better not push my luck." My traveling companions have been known to have sticky fingers. Digging through my bag and later rifling under the seats in the car, I began to feel a little sick. Back inside and into my purse. I am pretty sure there was a new credit card, a replacement for an expiring one in a side zipper. Truthfully, either the check or the credit card could have been misplaced by me. I looked in my barn office where I keep some financial stuff, for the cards (there were two of the same) not there either. Hummm. I hope I am forgetful, not stupid. And now maybe a bit brokenhearted.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Why I no blog. Hmm. Not so sure. I have a few excuses, no real ligit reasons. Well, maybe a few well constructed reasons. I have jello between my ears. Not in my ears mind you, that would be ear wax. The Jello resides deep within the gray matter. Solidified by fatigue the Jello is rendered uneatable by prolonged lace of stimulation, of perhaps it is an over abundance of stimulation. My recent days have been lacking too many naps and overflowing with way more activities than my norm of one event per week. There have been times in the last few weeks when I was subjected to as many as three events in one single day. Can you imagine? One like myself with such limited event-functionality, forced to take part and even perhaps initiate up to three events a day? Wow.

Whine, whine, whine. that is what I would tell someone else. SUCK IT UP for Pete's sake.

In one week I went to Ohio, twice, once for an overnight; once with my dad. For a funeral of a close friend. Earlier that week the vet was here twice, once to inseminate my black Paint mare. The semen was supposed to come on Tuesday of that week, but was lost in a tornado in Tennessee, so it came a day late. Multiple phone calls were involved in locating the package, and then rescuing it from the inclement weather and getting it to Pittsburgh and then to my home, at by the way 12:30am. Also, that Saturday I hosted a baby shower for my upcoming grandson, Kaleb Daniel Kimmel. He would be Allen and his girlfriend Stacey's baby. We had almost 30 ladies at Benjamin's Restaurant for lunch. Multiple phone calls were required to pull off that event. God, however is in the process of doing a great work in Allen's heart. He got to see his new son in a four dimensional sonogram last Thursday. They were in West Penn Hospital. I was privilege to get to spend some time with the (three) of them, one inutero, that same Thursday. My friend JS was with me as I had an appointment of my own at Magee Woman's hospital with an endocrinologist. Hyperthyroidism. You know, fatigue, nervousness, rapid heartbeat, sleeplessness. Minor health issues added to a myriad of other minor health issues; fortunately some of them doubled up. So I got to be twice as tired, have twice as much trouble sleeping, and had to take extra meds for anxiety. Complaining aren't I .

However, let it be in known it all things, at all times our God reigns supreme. He alone is almighty. He is in control from the smallest to the greatest detail of every second of my life. Despite all the craziness, my joy has been made full. I was able with help of a few close friends pull of the baby shower of the century. I was given the physical strength and the financial ability to spend much good time with dear friends during the time immediately following the loss of their father. I did get my horse bred, though the insemination did not "take" we are trying again this week. More to come later.