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Wayne drove up to Arkansas Sunday morning after working 12 hours on Saturday. He took a short nap in the afternoon. The plan was to wait until Monday morning to drive home but after looking at the weather report we decided to leave as soon as Rusty got in. That was at 8pm. So we chatted for a few minutes with Rusty, I looked at his incision and asked him a few questions, then we took off. We told them that we were going to stop in Oklahoma to spend the night. Wayne drove to Eufaula and then let me take it over after filling up with gas. I drove the rest of the way in, arriving just before 2am. It was an uneventful trip...we were able to stay ahead of the storm...not the cold...just the storm. When I called to Arkansas yesterday mom said that there was a sheet of ice and she is really glad we left when we did...so am I.

Now I am busy, busy, busy. I have five purses to finish. I got them cut out yesterday and started ironing and sewing. I need to have them done by tomorrow so they can be mailed out. The house is in dire need of a thorough cleaning...after all I have kids and grandkids coming for the holidays. I still am trying to track down my Christmas tree which was not given back to us. I have a message in but I will have to try calling again it looks like. When I get it I need to put it up and decorate it. I did get my Christmas letter written but I need to mail them and cards out. And I am still going through the mail that was received while I was gone and catching up on bills and balancing the checkbook and going through the recordings of my shows and too many more to remember. Wish me luck...our first set of grandkids arrive either Sunday or Monday (I can't wait)

:)

In Arkansas

I am in Arkansas at my in-laws home right now. Luckily we have this tiny Eee PC so I can use the internet (they have high speed although not FIOS) to keep up with what is going on in the world. My brother-in-law had surgery on his neck to remove a large spot of melanoma. He had outpatient surgery on Monday morning. The surgery went well. They removed the cancer with 1 cm margins and took some lymph nodes to check them for metastasis.

The YM and YW just showed up to sing a few Christmas carols to us...so nice...back to the story.

Last evening he came down with the stomach flu although he appears to feel slightly better tonight. Anyway, they decided to put a drain in his neck so I am caring for that (with his help). The good news is that his pathology report came back CLEAR with LYMPH NODES NEGATIVE...woo hoo!!

So right now we are staying close to home until he is feeling better. I will probably be here until Tuesday or Wednesday.

Last weekend I was in Wichita. The boys best friend got married. That was an experience. The wedding was at 5pm. At 4pm Michael (he shaved off his goatee...yeah) was in the shower. When he got out at around 4:10 or 4:15 he started looking for his clothes to wear to the wedding. I didn't remember seeing the garment bag in the trunk but I went back out to check and sure enough they had left it in Michael's closet. It was either wear jeans and a T-shirt to the wedding or make a "quick" trip to Wal-Mart to pick up pants and a white shirt. We got to Wal-Mart at 4:30 and back to Diane's house at 4:50 and to the wedding at 5:10...amazing when I look back at it. Daniel showered while Michael and I shopped. The wedding was nice but we were too late to get a seat so I hung out with Stephanie at the back...but that was ok. The boys talked with Josh McKnight a lot and we got to congratulate Ryan and Emerald. I got to speak with a lot of my friends from Wichita that were there. It was a good trip and really nice to see Ty and Diane and the grandkids.

Time Flies

We spent last week  in Arkansas at Wayne's moms house. It was good and quiet but kinda boring (don't tell her that :)) The boys spent the week at home and I felt kinda guilty that they didn't get a Thanksgiving dinner BUT they didn't even mention it when we returned home so I guess they didn't care all that much. I missed my computer (even though they have one out in the family room AND we brought our little "eee PC") because I felt like if I spent as much time online as I usually do then 'mom' would think I was ignoring her. It is fun going to her house but I come home always thinking that my house is not nearly clean enough and that I don't put nearly enough thought into my cooking. It usually doesn't take me long to get over it though.

I have been pretty much running non stop since I got home. It took me the rest of Sunday (we just missed getting home in time for church so we skipped) catching up on the mail, e-mail, and mainly bills. Yesterday I went to our stake center to set up my Christmas tree and iron tablecloths. Our stake puts on a nativity display every year and it is this weekend. I have helped most the years I have lived here to set up but have never went. I am going to be gone this weekend so once again I am going to miss it. I hear that it is a really good one and that A LOT of people, members and non-members alike, attend every year. So far what I have seen it is amazing. So if you live in the Fort Worth area it is at the Colleyville stake center Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. 

Today I had an opthomologist appointment. He says I am completely healed and that my left eye meets surgery requirements so any time I am ready to have it done to schedule the surgery. I think I probably will have it done in January or February. After that I went to work on my bedroom and closet (guilty about cleanliness...haven't gotten over mom's house yet :)) It took awhile but I got it done. I feel so much better now that it is clean. Also today, my friend Sarah, cut my hair. It looks so much better. I also gave her the bags for the nursing covers that I have sewn and she gave me a piece of fabric for making a pocket on a nursing cover...I got that finished. Our newest covers are pink with brown dots...they are SOOOO cute. We have made some of them one layer instead of two for something different. We also sold another one (it was zebra print with blue satin) and got paid for it!!

Tomorrow I am going to go help tie a quilt for a humanitarian project. That should be fun. We also have tithing settlement in the evening but Wayne will already be in bed so that one I am doing alone.

Thursday I have enrichment meeting in the evening. Sometime before I leave I would like to fit in some more Christmas shopping. I am almost done but not quite. I also need to get a gift for the wedding. I would also like to start decorating the house for Christmas.

Friday I am planning on going to the cannery in the morning. Then we will leave to drive up to Kansas for Emerald and Ryan's wedding which is Saturday. Friday evening we will play "Pepper" with Kelly and her family and Steph and whoever else wants to go over to Diane's house. On Sunday I need to get back to Arkansas to Wayne's moms house. I think the boys will probably have to drop me off but there might be another way if it works out...we shall see. On Monday Rusty has surgery on his melanoma. He has a very large spot on his neck and the surgeon is taking that off plus a few lymph nodes to have them tested to see if it has spread. If anyone needs prayers, he does. He is Wayne's brother. I will stay that whole week in Arkansas to help out as needed. If all goes well then Wayne will come pick me up the following weekend.

Sometime I also need to write our Christmas letter and maybe print it out so that I can address them and mail them out in Arkansas but that might have to wait until I return as I already have  a lot on my plate this week.

Thanksgiving time of year

My friend, Lois, has spent all week listing things she is thankful for...10 a day. It has made me wonder if I could come up with enough things to be thankful for in 2 or 3 days let alone a week or two!! It is a great idea, Lois, but I don't want to steal it from you. I just want everyone to know that I am very thankful for my life this year. I am happy.

This past week, on Tuesday, I went to play soccer as usual. Unfortunately I did a VERY stupid thing along the way. AND to make it worse...I wasn't even there yet...I was still walking there. Sooo, I was dribbling the soccer ball and had made it to the school where soccer is held. It is kind of hilly by the school (not because Texas is hilly...at least not where I live at) but they had built up the ground going up to the school so there is a gentle or not so gentle slope going down the side. So I was trying to keep the ball from rolling down the hill and into the fence and tripped over it. I was holding onto a sack (with nursing covers and bags for the nursing covers in it) and a water bottle in my right hand so when I fell I caught myself with my left hand. There was immediate pain but what hurt so badly was my ganglion cyst. I ignored it and played (OK...not really played...only 2 others showed up and it was almost dark so we just decided on when and where to play next week) and then came back home. By the time I got home it was really swollen between by wrist and my knuckles. I have never gotten hurt so bad that I swelled like that. So I took 4 ibuprofen, wrapped it in an elastic bandage, put ice on it, and tried to keep it elevated (typical RICE treatment as I learned in PA school). I kept it wrapped for 36 hours and decided I had enough of that. It has been unwrapped ever since. It is just really bruised now and still very tender. Interestingly enough the cyst is gone. I guess the pressure from the fall made it burst...much better (maybe???) than surgery. Also...I know it is not broken. I suspected it wasn't but when I took Michael in to see the PA on Thursday I had him take a look at it just to make sure he agreed with my diagnosis. I have tried to take a picture but they don't seem to do it justice. OK...I downloaded the pictures...here is the best one:

On Friday night I went to see "Twilight". I took the boys. It was "women's night out" with my church but I hadn't told them I was going...plus I thought the boys might think it kind of strange to be sitting with all these women. Unfortunately we got lost...well let me back up. We left an hour before the show started because I hadn't been to this theater before. But I had the address PLUS had looked it up online at their website so I thought that I knew how to get there. Yeah. So we were driving up and down this street that the map said it was on but it wasn't there. Finally about 20 minutes before it started I stopped in at a Dominos pizza because hey...the delivery drivers should know where everything is. So the guy said he knew where it was but started telling me how to get there and all of a sudden says that he knows how to get there but can't tell me how to get there!! How frustrating. So he goes back to ask someone else to help me. There is a lady sitting there waiting for pizza and she says she can tell us how to get there and she does and we find it but by this time it is 5 minutes before it starts...a 7:05 show...so the theater is packed. And I hadn't asked my girlfriends to save us seats so there was NOWHERE to sit except in the front. So...Michael, Daniel, and I sat in the second or third row back on the right side (not even in the middle). Not a very good place...let me tell you. And afterwards Sarah said she would have saved us seats. BUMMER. But...the movie was good. I didn't like it as well as the book but that is probably because I've read all of them and know what is going to happen. But I might go see it again but arrive early enough to get better seats. Daniel on the other hand LOVED it. He hasn't read the book so I thought he would be lost but he liked it better than either Michael or I. So I would say it is worth going to see whether you have read the book or not. I will probably get the DVD when it comes out also.

Ashley again

I got some 5 year old pictures of Ashley...she is looking so grown up.

Ashley

Not only is today Veteran's Day but it is also ASHLEY'S 5th birthday!! Happy Birthday ...I LOVE YOU Ashley!! Some pictures through the years:

newborn 9 months

2 years 3 years

this one is my favorite 4 years

Grandkids!!

Julie posted some halloween pictures of her little ones which I downloaded and will post some of them here.