Psalm Sunday: Psalm 46

Posted on September 29, 2007 by Barbara Harper

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

This is one of my favorite Psalms. I remember one time trying to envision what it would be like verses 2-3 might be like — perhaps an earthquake, literally seeing mountains fall into the sea. Even then God is a refuge for us, God is with us, God will help us. And since He is with us, helping us, being a refuge for us even in a terror-filled situation like that, can’t we trust Him for whatever it is we’re going through?

Even when the heathen rage (v.6) we’re don’t need to be troubled: ultimately He will be exalted among the heathen (v. 10).

The NASB translates the “Be still” of verse 10 as “cease striving.” That so struck me: part of my problem in any trial is that striving in spirit with the fact that I don’t want this to happen, I don’t want to deal with it, I can’t see any good reason God would allow it, what am I going to do about it, how will I cope, what about all the repercussions and possibilities….just cease striving! Rest. Know that He is God. He has everything under control. He knows what He is doing. He is our very present help and our refuge.

For more meditations or to add your own, see our Psalm Sunday hostess, Erica at Butterfly Kisses.

Cooking style…and a few recipes

Posted on September 29, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Susan recently asked a few questions about cooking styles, and I thought this might be fun to explore. Feel free to answer these questions also, either here or on your own blog.

So what kind of cook are you? Meat-and-potatoes? Gourmet? Or somewhere in between?

More “meat and potatoes” than gourmet, though my family likes a lot of casseroles, too. My husband and I have commented that the more “gourmet” a meal is at a restaurant or banquet, the more the salad looks like someone went out into the back yard and picked weeds. 🙂

What’s your favorite cookbook/cooking magazine?

Some of my favorite cookbooks are ones put together by churches or groups — real tried and true recipes from people I know. I’ve worn out my 1979 edition of the Betty Crocker cookbook. I’ve thought about replacing it, but I don’t know if the newer versions would have the recipes I most use. I guess I could cut them out of the old one, though. I also loved Better Homes and Gardens Complete Step By Step Cookbook. It was a lifesaver those early years — had pictures and explanations for the basic steps for several techniques and procedures.

I love Taste of Home magazine and it’s spin-offs: Cooking for 2 (I started getting this when my older kids started being away so much with youth group and work and then college. My husband and I found ourselves alone for dinner except for Jesse, who doesn’t eat much at one sitting, and I had forgotten how to cook for just two or three) and Simple and Delicious (used to be called Quick Cooking — I liked that better).

What is usually in your pantry, your staple ingredients that you can’t do without?

Well, all the usuals: flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, baking soda and powder, vanilla, cinnamon and other baking spices, oregano, basil, minced onion, garlic powder, chili powder, Pam spray, tomato sauce, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, ramen noodles, tomato and other soups, canned green beans, Veg-all, canned spaghetti and meatballs (I often have that for a quick lunch if we don’t have any left-overs that I like), canned chili, tuna, “lite” canned peaches and pears, oatmeal, cream of wheat, granola bars, Corn Chex (my cereal) and Reese’s Peanut Butter cereal (Jim’s), decaf tea bags, coffee, boxed mac and cheese, Rice-a-roni (I could do without the last two, but they do come in handy for quick side dishes). In the frig: milk, OJ, apple juice, margarine, cinnamon butter, Miracle Whip, honey mustard, sliced ham, various cheeses (we’re a cheesy family 😀 ), ranch dressing (Jesse lives on this stuff — uses it on most everything, even scrambled eggs), Catalina, Thousand Island, and Italian salad dressings, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, eggs, fruits and veggies, hot dogs. In the freezer: ground turkey, chicken, frozen corn, Hot Pocket subs (kids like those for Saturday lunches or Sunday evenings), ice cream, hash browns.

What is your favorite type of dish to cook: main dish, sides, breads, desserts?

It kind of depends on the day and event, but probably mostly desserts.

Do you have a signature recipe, one that everyone knows you for?

Probably Veggie Pizza (an appetizer or munchie, not really a meal pizza) or Pudding Chip cookies or Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies. I bring these most often to pot-lucks or get-togethers. I’ve posted the Pudding Chip recipe before, but it is buried at the end of a longer post, so I’ll put it and the other two at the end.

What’s your favorite appliance or gadget that you couldn’t get along without?

Probably my microwave. I depend on it a lot. I’m also partial to my little hand mixer and Salad Shooter.

And finally, what is your husband’s favorite recipe that you fix? You know, the one that says “I love you – this is especially for you!”

I just asked him. 🙂 He said spaghetti, homemade lasagna, and hamburger stroganoff. Over all he’s pretty easy to please. He likes a lot of things and is just as happy with tuna sandwiches and soup (last night’s meal) as something fancier. Sometimes I feel like I am cheating or wimping out or failing my family when I just throw together sandwiches for dinner, and I’m surprised when they walk in and say, “Oh, sandwiches! Good!” I do know that, though he appreciates my efforts at fancy or specialized meals, he’d rather have something simple and good than something that’s going to leave me stressed and frazzled and wiped out.

Here are those recipes:

Pudding Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 pkg. (4 serving size) instant vanilla pudding
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 pkg (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine butter, sugars, pudding mix, and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs. Mix flour with baking soda. and gradually add flour mixture. Stir in chips. Drop from teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes (mine usually take 10-12 minutes). I used to add chocolate chunks or miniature Hershey’s kisses just for something different, but I haven’t been able to find those lately.

Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I kind of adapted this when I was trying to find a recipe that came close to the peanut butter cookies at the Great American Cookie Company place at the mall. This is basically a peanut butter cookie recipe, but it’s not mashed down with a fork and it has peanut butter chips added. Because I love chocolate and peanut butter together, I also added chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. margarine, softened
1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. or more semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup or more peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 375. Mix flour and baking soda. Beat margarine and peanut butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until well-blended. On low speed or by hand gradually add flour mixture. Beat just until blended. Add chips and mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until browned. Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute before removing to cool completely.

Veggie Pizza

2 8-oz. packages refrigerated crescent rolls
2 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 c. mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1 tsp. dill weed
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. minced onion
1 1/2 c. each fresh chopped cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots
1 1/2 c. grated mild cheddar cheese

Roll out crescents rolls onto a 15 x 10 inch baking sheet; seal seams. Bake 15 minutes at 375 or until browned. Cool. Mix cream cheese, mayo or Miracle Whip, dill, garlic powder, onion. Spread over crust; sprinkle with vegetables and cheese and press down slightly. Refrigerate for two hours before serving. Cut into small squares.

The vegetables listed are my favorites to use, but others could be substituted or added, such as sprouts, celery, radishes, peas, etc.

Smiling

Posted on September 29, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Janeen at Our Story passed on to me the “You make me smile” award.

Update: Heidi at God’s Grace In Practice also passed this on to me.

Thanks so much! I’m glad to know I make people smile.

The person who originated the award said:

The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell,and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with.

I wanted to create something special for the top ten people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives that they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement.Although there are MANY people I want to give this award to at this very moment, I am going to choose ten bloggers:

Please grab your badge and wear it(with a smile) proudly, and pass it on because you inspire and encourage me, thank you.”

Here a some bloggers who make me smile:

Linda at 2nd cup of coffee
Diane at A Watered Garden
Susan at By Grace
Katrina at Callapidder Days
Susanne at Living to tell the story
Laura at My Quotidian Mysteries
Cindy at Notes in the Key of Life
Jewel at Down in my little valley
Laurel at Laurel Wreath
Cindy at Yapping Cat Studio

Personality type quiz

Posted on September 28, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Saw this at Janeen’s, and she’s right — it is eerily accurate!

You Are An ISTJ

The Duty FulfillerYou are responsible, reliable, and hardworking – you get the job done.You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings.

Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you.

Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy.

In love, you are loyal and honest. If you commit yourself to someone, then you’re fully committed.

For you, love is something that happens naturally. And you don’t need romantic gestures to feel loved.

At work, you remember details well and are happy to take on any responsibility.

You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer.

How you see yourself: Decisive, stable, and dependable

When other people don’t get you, they see you as: Boring, conservative, and egotistical

What’s Your Personality Type?

Show and Tell Friday: Fall decorations

Posted on September 28, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.“

Last week I showed a couple of fall door decorations. This week I put out most of the rest of my fall decorations. I don’t do a whole lot with fall decorating, partly because it’s a busy time of year, and partly because with all the pink I have around here, fall colors don’t really “go” very well. But I put a few out anyway because I love to bring the season in. None of these things was a major expense — they’ve just accumulated, a few dollars here and there over the years.

This is yet another door decoration. We don’t use this door, but it does face the driveway and we see it coming and going.

I don’t remember where I got these little bows, but they used to go on the double doors that I showed last week. Now one is on the mantle and one is on a window.

I took several shots of this with and without flash and couldn’t get it any clearer, but this is a little scarecrow, a couple of small bales of hay, and a stuffed pumpkin on the mantle in the family room.

By the way, that clock is in the shape of Idaho. My husband is from there and his pastor did woodworking for a hobby and made this for us. Maybe someday I’ll showcase that for a show and tell. 🙂

I usually only put a couple of little things on the windowsill, but I decided to group several things there this time. I like it.

Here’s a closer view of the left side…

…and the right side.

Close-ups:

A little Thomas Kinkade house.

I didn’t really set out to have a scarecrow theme, but that’s just what caught my eye over the years.

I love this figurine, the flurry of leaves and the label that says “Joy.”

I also love the little strand of leaves behind it — I love the fact that they’re fall colors, but muted and pinkish so they go with the rest of the room. I’d love to find more like that but haven’t been able to yet.

You can visit Kelli’s to see more show-and-tells or link to your own.

Have a great weekend!

Update: someone asked for more details about the figureine above with the little girls tossing leaves. It is from the Vintage Virtues collection by Kathy Killip for Demdaco.

Every possibility

Posted on September 27, 2007 by Barbara Harper

One of the ways my brain works is to run through almost every possible contingency related to a situation. That’s helpful, for instance, in traveling. Well, maybe not so helpful in that I tend to overpack based on all those possibilities, but it’s rare that I am without an item I need, and if I do forget something, it’s imprinted on my brain for next time.

That tendency is also helpful in our ladies ministry at church when, for instance, I noticed that in a college student gift bag we had assembled, the pointed ends of some loose pens were aimed right at some pudding cups. I could just imagine the recipient discovering a oozing pudding cup punctured by the pens during the jostling the gift bag would have taken en route. So I rearranged the package, also retrieving the soft Little Debbie snack cakes from underneath a heavier item and putting them on top.

When my children were little I had this amazing ability to foresee ways in which they could get hurt doing something. That could lend itself to obsessive over-protectiveness (and I’m sure my husband thought I probably did lean that way sometimes), but I think, kept in balance, it saved us all from a number of emergency room visits.

This tendency can cause problems, though, when it degenerates into excessive anxiety-producing “what if” thoughts. Sometimes what-if questions, like fear, can be helpful: for instance, if we’re crossing a busy street and fearful of being hit by a vehicle, we’ll watch the traffic lights, cross at the crosswalk, and be alert to where other vehicles are and what they’re doing. That fear goes too far, though, when it’s paralyzing, when we can’t even step into a clear street because a car might come upon us sooner than we think we can react.

And I have to confess I have made myself miserable, scared myself to death, and been nearly paralyzed at times by the multiplicity of what-if thoughts that my mind can produce. I have to “take every thought captive” (II Corinthians 10:5) and remind myself to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Yesterday as I was facing a situation that tends me make me anxious and nervous, I had been asking the Lord for peace and calmness when one of those stray what-if thoughts assaulted me. Normally I would think, “Oh no! I hadn’t thought of that!” And that little thought would run its course to its logical conclusion and perhaps trigger other what-if thoughts in the process before I could wrestle it down and give it to the Lord to take care of.

This time, though, almost immediately the thought came, “Well, that’s just one more thing to trust the Lord for.” It wonderfully short-circuited that little thought before it took off.

I think it was Hudson Taylor who said “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” When faced with a problem too big for us, a responsibility too heavy for us, a need too great for us, we can look for God’s intervention and help. And so with those tormenting little what-if thoughts, whatever the “what-if” is, even if it should come to pass, God is here, He knows about it, He allowed it for a reason and can bring good out of it, He can take care of it and provide the resources, wisdom, and grace to deal with it. And I can trust Him for all the possibilities.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul. Psalm 94:19, NASB

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Making small fonts readable

Posted on September 26, 2007 by Barbara Harper

There are some blogs which have a font that is small in size, or the coloring of the text against the background makes it hard to read. I just recently read that you can make the print size bigger on a web site you’re reading by pressing Control and the key with the + and = on it. It’s helped me immensely!

That may be old news to more technologically savvy people out there, but it was new to me. 🙂

WFMW can be found most Wednesdays at Rocks In My Dryer.

The first WFMW of the month is usually a themed one, and Shannon has put a twist on the theme for next week: it will be Backwards Day. We’re to ask for specific tips in whatever area we have a question about or need help with instead of giving one. Should be interesting!

What do you love about your home?

Posted on September 25, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Karla’s Cottage is a blog new to me. I saw a link to it from ArtsyMama’s, telling about a “What do you love about your home?” party that Karla would be hosting today to celebrate being published in Romantic Country magazine. I loved perusing Karla’s lovely decorating featured on her blog, and looking around at just a few of the party entries, I’ve found a couple of new blogs to subscribe to already and have been inspired by the beauty and creativeness.

The link to the party post is here, and anyone who participates or comments is eligible for a drawing.

I have to admit there is a lot I don’t love about my home. When we found we would be moving here for my husband’s job, we made a whirlwind trip to look at houses and interview at Christian schools for my sons. This house was really the only one that had the space we needed. But after we got here, there were a few problems we hadn’t noticed when we first looked at the house. Plus we knew we wanted to change a lot of the wallpaper, paint, and carpeting, but that just takes time — both time to work on it plus time to spread out each project to be able to handle it financially. So there are things I have chafed about while trying to remind myself to be content with such things as I had. Over the past 9 1/2 years we’ve lived here, we’ve redone the living room, kitchen, family room (still a work in progress), one bathroom, and one of the boys’ bedrooms. There are still a few problems with the layout that we can’t change without mega-bucks and time and frustration, so it’s still my hope to move some day. But as far as the basic “look” inside goes, I am enjoying it a lot more and feel more at home in it.

This is our living room from different viewpoints:

If I had it to do over again, I think I’d mostly paint the walls and maybe have a rosy border along the top. But I do love the muted tones and colors, the roses on the wallpaper, in the pattern of the sofa and curtain fabric, and in the accessories. Overall it is a cozy room that I love to be in.

Here is the kitchen from the doorway between it and the living room:

I should have straightened that picture, eh?

This is the dining area:

This is taken from the far corner of the dining area showing the other side of the room:

As you can see, this room has a little bit more of a “country” feel to it. The previous owners had peach and blue wallpaper in this room with pink and blue diamond patterns on the floor. I don’t know why. It drove me crazy. 🙂 I was so glad when we could get rid of the peachy stuff. Again, if I were doing this over I think I’d stay with just the pink and white stripe all the way up — I think that would be a little less “busy.” But overall I do enjoy the look of it. This area is the one that is till the most problematic with the layout, kind of small and crowded with not enough cabinet space or room to have guests. We thought it looked cozy at first — the previous owners were retirees. But we weren’t thinking about having growing boys and their friends over through the years and family coming in from out of town, etc. But we’ve learned to make do.

This is our bedroom, which we haven’t redone yet. I hope you’ll overlook the pile of books there — I’ve finished them and need to send some to my mother-in-law, who reads as much or more than I do!

One thing I just love about this bedroom is the carpet with its bouquets of flowers:

When we do redo this room, I don’t know if I can let myself take this up, even though it’s discolored and worn in places.

This is our most recent project, the upstairs bathroom. We needed to replace the broken tile with a shower surround and ended up taking down the old wallpaper and painting (I say we — husband and two of three sons did):

I figured the menfolk needed a break from all the pink and florals, so this room is blue, tan, and beige with lighthouse accents. I just love the color of this paint. I wish I could remember the name of it so I could tell you!

One of my sisters made this:

I think those are all the rooms I’ll show — some are still a work in progress. 🙂 But I also wanted to show just a few of the little touches I love that help personalize a house and make it at home. Some of these have been gifts, some have been collected over the years, some have been made. Most I’ve mentioned in previous posts, so I’ll just show a representative photo with a link to the rest if you’re interested.

One of my most recent prints is this one, which my husband bought for me, the story of which I told about here :

This hangs in our family room (still a work in progress, which also has blue, tan, and beige colors). But abundantly more than the colors, I love the representation of the Good Shepherd finding His lost sheep.

I love pink roses and showed several of them here. Here are a couple of my favorites:

I also loved heart-shaped things. One of my favorites:

I found when we moved here I had several small houses: here are a couple of favorites:

Finally, I have been collecting Boyd’s Bears figurines for years. Most of them were given to me by my husband and my mom. Since my mom passed away almost two years ago, the ones she gave me are a special remembrance of her love. I posted some of my collection here, and then some from a division of Boyd’s figurines called Dollstones here. Here are a couple of favorites from those:

Thanks so much for coming by to visit. Enjoy the rest of Karla’s party, and always feel free to stop by any time!

(P.S. If you stop by for the party I’d love for you to leave a comment and let me know you were here. 🙂 )

Good reads and fun contests

Posted on September 24, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Anyone who has been a Christian for any thing length of time has struggled with some hard questions. Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer beautifully deals with some of these in Why I Believe.

Jeana at Days To Come has an excellent post on not making children share. I never thought of it in the way she presents it, but she’s right. Teaching children to respect other people’s property is as important as teaching sharing.

Karla at Karla’s Cottage is hosting a “What do you love about your home?” party on Tuesday, September 25.

Turkeyfeathers, one of my favorite craft sites, is sponsoring a Finish What You Have challenge.

Make Mine Pink has a short article conveying that the revived Victoria magazine will stay true to its roots. I am so glad!

There are several great give-aways going on. Deena at A Peek at My Bookshelf usually has a few book give-aways going on: here’s a round up of what she currently has going on. You can win a pink or blue ladies’ tool set at Multi-Tasking Moms. The 5 Minutes For Mom site has a whole round-up of give-aways and contests and bloggy happenings. And Shannon of Rocks In My Dryer and Works For Me Wednesday fame has started a new blog just for Bloggy Giveaways.

A late night drive…

Posted on September 24, 2007 by Barbara Harper

…amidst the deserted downtown streets, alone with my husband…

A romantic tête-à-tête? Returning from a date?

No — a trip to the ER. What fun!

Sometime in the last few years I’ve started having what they call SVTs — supraventricular tachycardia. My heart will suddenly start beating around 200 times a minute. When trying to describe it to my sister she asked if it wasn’t just a panic attack. No, it’s different — it presents distinctly on the EKG.

They say it is an electrical problem of the heart with signals going awry. In many cases, mine thankfully one of them, it’s not associated with any worse heart conditions (though they do check enzymes to make sure I haven’t had a heart attack when it happens). It’s happened enough to require an ER trip I think maybe 6 or so times in the last 8 years. The last time it happened was a year ago last April.

I’ve had to go off all caffeine and can’t take decongestants. I take a beta-blocker which is supposed to help, and does, I think. There are measures I can take at home if it starts up, like inhaling and then acting as if I am going to blow air back out, but not letting any escape. That has warded it off a few times.

But last night after I put Jesse to bed around 10:30 and came back downstairs to get something to drink, it started up as I was getting ice out of the tray. I tried the blowing thing, I laid down with my feet above my heart (another recommendation), I went into the bathroom (bearing down as if having a BM can help). After about an hour of taking turns trying these measures, I gave up and we went in to the ER. It was 11:30 by this time, and my husband usually has to get up at 5 a.m. to get to where he needs to be at work. I hated that he was going to have to be up the next few hours. The first few times this happened I felt more panicky. Now it is mainly an annoyance.

One thing about it, though — when you get to the ER with a heart rate of 187, they take you right back with no waiting. I asked if I could use the restroom before they hooked me up to everything (I always have to go at the most inconvenient times!), but they said they’d rather I didn’t — they’d rather take care of the heart thing first. So even though I’d been walking around my own home using the bathroom at my own discretion and under my own power for the last hour, I acquiesced (sigh!) I know they have to be concerned about a patient passing out with a lack of oxygen to the brain when this kind of thing is going on.

One of the nurses was a guy who looked to be about 16 who held up the little hospital gown for me to get into. Nuh-uh, fella, I’m not changing right in front of you! I didn’t say that, but I stepped over to the corner where a chair was and I guess he got the message, because he laid it down and left the room. The my husband helped me change.

So they got me all hooked up to the EKG, an iv, and oxygen and asked a ton of questions and then injected the iv with adenosine, and I felt really, really, really miserable for about 10 seconds or so. The adenosine causes the heart to “pause,” as the doctor put it, long enough to get the signals straight and “reset” the electrical rhythm back right. Then they had to monitor me for a while and make sure everything was stable. Then they sent me home.

It’s almost become routine now.

There is a type of surgery they can do where they go up through a blood vessel in your groin through to your heart (like they do with a heart catheterization) and somehow “zap” the little area that’s causing problems. The first time this happened, I was sent for follow-up to a heart doctor who specializes in electrical problems of the heart, had an echo done, etc., and he told about that surgery. But he said if this wasn’t happening very often, I could just wait. So that’s we’ve opted to do. Really the zapping part of the heart thing doesn’t bother me as much as having to lie flat on my back for hours afterward, which would be extremely uncomfortable for me, and not being able to get to a restroom. I have this almost phobia about being able to get to a restroom, and my body just doesn’t cooperate with bedpans. But since I have these SVTs less than once a year and don’t have any corresponding problems, they say it fine to wait.

I do have a follow-up visit with my doctor this week.

One thing about going in the direction of the hospital, though, is that a Krispy Kreme is on the route. Only once that I can remember have I ever gone out of my way specifically to get a donut there. And since we go up to the hospital or the doctors in the area fairly infrequently, it’s kind of a treat to get a donut there on the way back. Well, we discovered on our way back that they were open 24 hours. And this one has a drive-through! My husband said it seemed kind of ironic to be getting donuts after coming from the cardiac unit of the ER, with my hospital bracelet still on. But I guess you could say we made a date of it after all. 🙂

I got to sleep about 2:30, got up at 5 as usual, but went back to bed after Jesse got off to school until lunchtime.

I was wrestling with the whys of it. It just seems so inconvenient and such a waste of time when this happens. It’s not like there was an immediate spiritual benefit like witnessing to someone at the hospital. But then I reminded myself that inconvenient is better than traumatic, and a problem that can be taken care of in a few hours is better than a week of the flu or a longer term worse illness. I really don’t have anything to complain about.

I was glad that it happened when my husband was here. It has happened a couple of times before when he was away, which had been one of my fears. The Lord worked everything out each time with a friend taking me in and the kids being old enough by them to be home alone. But my husband is an excellent caretaker. 🙂

So, life is back to “normal” (whatever that is), hopefully for a very long time to come.