Today is not am ordinary day

Today's prompt was to write about an ordinary day. But today is not on of those days. Today is a sad anniversary. 18 years ago, three soldiers came to my door in dress greens. I was a good army wire and I knew they weren't there for a good reason. I made up any and every excuse in the book to not let them in. They finally wore down my defenses and talked to me. My husband had been killed in a rock slide in Egypt. He died trying to save his fellow soldiers' lives by alerting them and pushing some of them out of the way of the rocks. For a long time I have understood that God has a master plan and there was a good reason for him to give his life. My faith in God has been my strongest support during the darkest times.
I never expected to ever see that plan or even glimpse at part of that plan. But my God is just and good and he knew I needed that help.
Last summer the Gulf of Mexico was a scene of a terrible disaster. An oil well was damaged and leaking oil into the environment. It was the largest oil spill in history.
One of my friends was on the team that capped that oil well. He had been the soldier that escorted Bobby's body home to the states. He had been one of the men that 18 years ago that was saved in the rockslide.
What an illuminating gift that was! It really has giving me so much peace.
The girls are grown now, both are in college. My oldest has even made me a grandma. My sweet little grandson will be a year old tomorrow.

Some of my favorites:

This year I have an incredible favorite to add too my life. My grandson Robby (who will turn one on Friday). He is such a blessing to our lives.
A second favorite are my children. All three of them are growing up into wonderful adults. All three are so bright and curious.
My third favorite person in my life is my husband. He puts up with so much with me.
My favorite people numbers 6-86 are my students. I love all them for the bright stars they are.
My puppy is also one of my favorites. My children swear that my chi-weenie is higher on the list. She snuggles with me and doesn't talk back to me. She also listens to me when no one else does!
As for favorite things, I really adore my iPhone. It is so very cool. It is a close call with my nook! My ereader is so incredible! I love being able to carry entire library around with me.
My favorite computer application is google reader. I love reading everyones' blogs even when my reader says I have 700 to read. Lol, enough from me. Time to get reading!

Blogging for Scrapbookers

Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers is going through its second run. The great thing about Shimelle's classes is that once you subscribe to them, you are subscribed forever! :)I really enjoy her prompts. They make you think. Which is sometimes a difficulty in my life.
My intentions for this class are:
-to engage my readers and maybe inform them once in awhile. I have a couple of different projects in the works that I am very excited about
-I would like to do more art journaling and post it on my blog
-make new friends by reading their blogs
-document my life a bit more than I am currently with my scrapbooking
-document my sewing projects a bit more. My purse turned out really cute.
I don't share everything online, but probably everyone thinks I do. I have a few things that I am going through that I don't want everyone to know. I am having some parenting issues but we won't discuss them here.
On other fronts, my grandson Robby will be turning 1 year on Friday. I am so excited. We are having a party for him on Sunday at the Pavillion in our subdivision. Kelsey is an incredible mother even with her tendency to turn the boy into an Oompa Loopa. He loves sweet potatoes and too much of them turned him orange. We had to have an intervention.
Kelsey is making straight As in college right now! Tim is also doing incredibly well in high school. Holly is enjoying her first year of college. She is still a bit up in the air about her major but that is what freshman year is all about. Kelsey started out with education as her major and has switched to nursing. Tim thinks he wants to be an engineer, but I am sure that will change before he graduates from high school. I am still debating on what I want to do when I grow up. But I am not too keen on growing up anytime soon.
I think I would like to try to complete a scrapbook with the prompts from this class but scrapping time is at a premium for me right now.
Last week I did the blood draw for my kidney transplant. I am waiting to see if I am healthy enough to donate my kidney. I am hoping that my iron levels were high enough. I have a tendency towards anemia. My reports usually say that I have young and immature red blood cells. But really, did they need a blood test to say that I was immature? Geez, anyone who knows me could tell you that! I don't think my weight will be a problem even though I personally would like to lose about 20 pounds. I wonder how much a kidney weighs... I know that my head weighs 8 pounds (thank you, Jerry McGuire!) .
Thanks for the comments and the visits! I appreciate them all!!

Second Step in Becoming a Living Donor

I went to the Methodist Transplant Center today for my blood work. These blood tests have several reasons. One to make sure I don't have cancer or any disease that would harm. Second to type my blood for compatiblity. I don't know exactly how long it will take to find out if I passed, but I figure it will take about a week or so. There were a lot of people in the waiting room who seemed to be fairly ill. There was even a little girl with a surgical mask on that really reinforced my resolve to donate. Even if I am not a match for my friend, they will look for someone that can use my kidney and my friend will get one. It would really be neat to be able to see many people benifiting from new kidneys. Praying for my bloodwork to be acceptable. Also praying for the tragedy in Japan. A friend of mine was in Japan and is hopefully on her way home now. I'm not in a place for discussing that yet...

International Fake Journal Month

I am going to join the International Fake Journal Month this year. I will be using this blog to record it. If you are interested in joining check out this Offical International Fake Journal Blog for all the details. Most of the journals are art journals, so I will be challenging myself to create art entries and write in character. I am very excited to try this.

First Step

Well, actually the first step was telling Suzy, so my second step was calling the transplant hospital. There was a bit of confusion because the computer wouldn't save my information. I made it through the inital screening. Nothing really exciting, simple medical history. On Monday, during Spring Break, I will go for the blood tests.

On Becoming a Live Kidney Donor…

Suzy and I have been best friends since our youngest children we in Mother’s Day Out at church. I would guess that most people would say that I am the outspoken one of the pair. (Even by myself, I am considered to be a loud mouth!) We have enjoyed going to Lisa Welchel’s Momtime (2x) and Women of Faith. I think we spend most of our time laughing together.

Suzy recently became ill with kidney failure. All attempts to save her kidneys so far have failed. Suzy is only a little bit older than me and I don’t think long term kidney dialysis would be much of a life. My Grandfather Ben went through his last years with kidney failure and it was so upsetting for me to watch. A transplant is the only cure for kidney failure. Her children are too young to donate and her parents are too old. Her husband isn’t a good candidate. My blood type is O positive which is also Suzy’s. So, I thought I would offer mine.

I want to do this not only for Suzy but also for the memory of my grandfather. My grandfather Ben was a wonderful person who I really looked up too. He drove a city bus in Louisville, KY until he retired. For a special treat, I would sometimes ride with him all over town. He was my step-grandfather but he cared more for me than my biological grandmother (his wife). He died when I was young so the memories are all that I have now. I want to honor his memory and our friendship by becoming Suzy’s donor.

Even if I am not a perfect match for Suzy, we can still get a donor for her with my donation. The transplant centers are now forming transplant chains. The center will match my kidney with someone who is the best match, then their donor will give their kidney to their best match, and the chain will continue until everyone has a compatible kidney. The largest transplant chain was completed here in San Antonio with 17 people getting a new kidney.

Kidney donations are the most common donations from living donors. Most people have two kidneys and can live a healthy life with just one. Live donor kidney transplants have a 97.9% patient survival rate. That is a little over 3% increase over transplants with cadaver kidneys.

My next step is testing. The transplant center will test my blood for compatibility and general good health. I have to have a colonoscopy to insure everything is working correctly. I am just beginning this journey which is going to be very incredible. I feel like I am standing at the edge of something monumental. Stay tuned.
(stats from the National Kidney Foundation, kidney.org)