Finding Roses Among the Thorns

At the greenhouse this afternoon. . .after picking out the gifts for their grandmothers

J did such a good job keeping up with T and M today.

At the 4-H sheep exhibit, where she found the "cute little babies."

Trying out the horse-back thing. . .

Mia. . .Tori's "Big Sis" for the day!

The Fantastic Four at the Festival . . . They always have such a great time together.

At the M/D Banquet. . .She sat down on this bench outside of Mamaw Teina and Big Paw's church and asked, "Mom, will you take a picture of me?" I happily obliged.

Two of our craft projects on Friday morning. . . Thanks M and R for the adorable puppet kits!

J.J. and Dad had lots of fun at the camp/discovery center. . .archery, canoeing, and other outdoor sports/activities filled their day.

Kind of a "painful" title, huh? Well this has been one painful, thorny week! So much, in fact, on Friday I really had to take a "mental and physical stress" day from work. Where shall I began the list of thorns? I guess from the beginning, so here they are in chronological order. . .

1. Monday. . .My dad's "magic" touch just wasn't potent enough to help us out. So we called out a repairman from one of the best companies in our area; he didn't have the magic touch either. We discovered that the water in our basement fried both the hot water heater and our heat/air unit. So, the repairman called the estimate guy to come out.
2. Tuesday. . .Let's just say that most of our income tax refund is going toward a new heat/air unit.
3. Wednesday. . .Aunt Sarah is back at the care facility for rehab and physical therapy for at least six weeks.
4. Thursday. . .Nope, our home owner's insurance doesn't cover any of our damage. That figures. . . AND my insulin pump quit working. . .Meaning calls to Mini Med and my doctor's office to get a temporary sent and a back-up plan for getting insulin in my system (meaning at least one shot every 2 hrs with a ole' fashioned needle!)
5. Friday. . .Well, wasn't so bad except for feeling crummy with higher blood sugar levels. At least I was home, and I had to be to sign for the UPS package containing my loner pump.

Yes, this was my (our) week. But, we did find those beautiful "roses" at different points in the week:

1. Tuesday. . .The heat and air company are working us in next week, so we should be up and running by next weekend. Chris had an epiphany that our second large hot water heater that serves the new part of the house had been set up from the beginning to serve the whole house. All he had to do was turn a switch. Hey, it's a blessing that we had the income tax money. . . Still makes me sick, though.
2. Thursday. . .Chris had the day off to spend with J during his class field trip to the 4-H Camp/Discovery in Crossville. My pump issue, well, just sped up the process for my brand new state-of-the-art insulin pump that has the continuous glucose monitoring system. I should be up and running with it by early summer!
3. Friday. . .Tori took the day off from school to wait with me for my loner pump. We had a good time just relaxing and doing some crafts together. At 2:00 p.m., I had a insulin pump once again, and by the way, feeling much better! Yesterday evening, Tori and I went to my mom's church for a Mother/Daughter Banquet; J.J. went to spend the night at Joseph's; and Chris, well, he had to conduct the first of two graduation ceremonies at RSCC.

Today has been a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, and the kids and I spent it with our friends. Since the dads were at work, the Whaley and Jones families headed to the Polk Salad Festival at the park, and then, went out for lunch. In the afternoon, the kids and I headed out to the local greenhouse to buy flowers for all the grandmothers, and then, made special deliveries for Mother's Day. We visited Aunt Sarah, too. . .It's just going to take some time and prayers directed her way to get her back on track to go home.

I hope that our share of the delivery of thorns is over for awhile. I am really ready to enjoy the beauty and abundance of those rose buds! But, I guess you can't have one without the other. . .

Hoping that your Mother's Day and beyond is a beautiful bouquet. . .minus the thorns!
Much love,
Cindy