Fridays Fave Five

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It’s been a whirlwind week. Here are five favorite parts of it:

1. Progress for my little grandson in the NICU. I’m going to have to come up with a nickname for him! I hope you don’t mind hearing about him every week, because that’s likely to continue. 🙂 He is still having episodes of his heart rate dropping and forgetting to breathe, but not as many as last week. They’ve been lowering his oxygen and yesterday removed his nasal cannula completely. They’ve been lowering the temperature in his incubator to see if he can regulate his own body temperature. His weight has been up and down but he has gained 8 ounces since birth 3 weeks ago. He can wear clothes now! And they may start trying to feed him a little by mouth next week to see how he does. Plus he gets cuter every day, in my unbiased opinion. 🙂 It’s really cute to see him smiling in his sleep and sometimes even when he is awake. We know that’s probably just a reflex right now, but we’ll take it as a sign that he is happy. Please do keep praying – they say the journey with preemies is one of ups and downs rather than steady progress. Thanks so much for your care and concern and prayers so far!

2. Baby gifts. Our church usually does a baby shower for expectant moms, but my grandson came the week before his. Since his mom was still recovering and going to the hospital to be with him as much as possible, what the church decided to do was go ahead and gather presents for him, in case they needed them soon, and then some time in the future they’ll have a brunch and maybe a diaper shower or something. We brought home some of the presents that had accumulated so far and my son and daughter-in-law came over one evening and opened them here. It was fun to see them, and we so appreciate people’s thoughtfulness.

3. BBQ burgers. I love grilling season. 🙂 My husband tried the sous vide for them this time so he could do some thicker burgers than he could with just the grill.

4. A new hose. Sometimes it’s the little things. 🙂 With planting flower beds and pots a few weeks ago, we’re watering more, and rediscovered that one garden hose was in bad shape, spraying from several places besides the opening. I kept forgetting about it completely when I was at stores where they sold such things, and finally got one this week, along with a nozzle that I can change from a shower for the plants to a stronger stream when rinsing pollen and dust off the porch.

5. Dusting. Not one of my favorite activities per se, but I do like the results. It had really piled up with all the busy-ness of the last few weeks, to the point where I was embarrassed. When the house is unkempt, I feel unkempt, and it was a good feeling to tackle that this week.

Just yesterday I didn’t think I’d have five “faves” to share today, until I started jotting some down last night. That’s one blessing of doing this weekly: what we think of as an average, “not much happening” kind of week turns out to be a very blessed one when we stop to think about it, and that in turn reminds us to thank the Lord for those blessings.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are five favorite parts of the last week:

1. Stability. My little grandson in the NICU was having a lot of trouble earlier this week with apnea and bradycardia (episodes of breathing rate and heart rate slowing down). They put him on a CPAP machine, and the episodes are infrequent now. They have no way to predict how long he’ll be on it: they say some preemie babies have these episodes almost until their original due date, while others don’t. Otherwise he is doing well.

2. A finished internship. My youngest had to complete an internship for his associate’s degree this semester. He had to get a certain number of hours in, and I was concerned because he did not find an internship until a few weeks into the semester. But he got it finished and turned in all the paperwork yesterday. That is such a relief!

3. Lesser storms than predicted. Much of the country has experienced severe weather this week. We had thunderstorms one night with predictions of hail and a tornado warning, but thankfully none materialized in our area. My heart goes out to many who lost loved ones or property.

4. Ibuprofen and Icy Hot patches. I did something to my lower back earlier this week – I am not sure what. But those two products made it bearable and enabled me to function. It’s almost completely back to normal now.

5. Good food. Two favorites: Jim made teriyaki chicken on Sunday, and yesterday I made one of my favorite things for lunch, a grilled cheese sandwich with leftover meat loaf. Yum!

Hope you’ve had a great week as well!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are five favorite parts of the last week:

It’s been another good but busy week. Here are some of its highlights:

1. Improvement for my little grandson in the NICU. He is gaining weight and had his first bath this week. 🙂 His heart rate still drops from time to time, but not as much as at first.

2. NICU support. Though the NICU probably wouldn’t be any parents’ preferred first stop for their child, the staff there have been very supportive and informative, plus it has been nice to have nurses at hand to ask questions and guide them through how to bathe and change him, etc. I remember with my firstborn that even though my youngest sister had been born when I was 17, and I had been the chief babysitter for her and for some other of my mom’s friends, I felt surprisingly nervous and unsure about taking care of my own baby. It would have been nice to have someone at hand to ask some of those new parent questions.

3. Preemie clothes. He should be able to start wearing them soon. They are so cute! All of my babies were over 9 lbs., so all these teeny tiny things seem even smaller to me.

4. Delivered meals. The ladies at church are preparing meals for my son and daughter-in-law, a great help as they are spending time at the hospital and she is still recovering.

5. New blooms. My brand new hibiscus plant that we just bought and planted lost all its blooms and its leaves look shriveled after an unexpected late frost, but it is putting out new blooms this week.

Bonus: I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention Easter. That seems like so long ago now! 🙂 But we enjoyed a meaningful church service and then time with family over Easter dinner. Though we think of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and its meaning for us often throughout the year, it is a special blessing to have this focus on it.

Hope you’ve had a great week!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are five favorite parts of the last week:

It has been quite the week here! My #1 favorite below will likely be the favorite part of this year!

1. The birth of my first grandson. Though he is very premature, and we would’ve liked for him to have waited a little while til his body was more ready to meet the world, it has been nice to be able to see him and touch him. Everything is going well so far, though he will probably be in the NICU for a couple of months yet. My latest update is here.

2. An in-house dinner date. My youngest was out last Friday night, so I called my husband and he brought home take-out from Red Lobster. Good stuff.

3. Working on a project together. My husband and I went together last Saturday to pick out plants to replace some bushes he took out as well as some for hanging pots and for a row in front of the rose bushes. Then we came home and worked on the hanging pots together, then he planted the rest. Often we have to “divide and conquer” to get things done, so it was fun to do this together.

4. Replacement bush. Some of you may remember a “fave five” from several weeks ago where I mentioned finally getting rid of a bush by the front door that I never liked. We replaced it with a hibiscus and added another planter. I like it much better! I was going to take a before and after picture, but we had some unexpected frost this week that is making the hibiscus look a little shriveled. I hope it can bounce back.

5. Pizza from a place that I love but my husband doesn’t care for. I was craving it on the way back from the hospital earlier today and sprang for one. 🙂

Hope you have a great weekend and a wonderful time reflecting on the meaning of this Easter season, that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3-4.)

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are five favorite parts of the last week:

1. Safe travels for my son and daughter-in-law as they went to OK to visit her mom and attend a couple of baby showers folks were throwing for them. They had a little accident when someone scraped their car passing in a parking lot, but thankfully it wasn’t major and didn’t jolt the car enough to hurt anyone.

2. Baby things. It has been fun perusing my daughter-in-law’s baby registries and seeing all the cute things. I am looking forward to seeing what they got for their showers! I enjoyed receiving a video from my son showing us their new stroller/car seat combo – it was fun to see how excited he was about it. 🙂

3. Nice temperatures. When I’ve been out and about this week, the weather has been sunny and the temperatures a little on the cool side but not so much as to need a sweater – my favorite.

4. New schedule working out well. We had to cut back my mother-in-law’s caregiver’s hours so as to manage my mother-in-law’s finances better, and also because there was not enough for the caregiver to do to justify paying for 9 hours a day. That means those hours the caregiver is no longer working fall to me. I’m having to watch the clock a bit to try to get my errands done while she’s here, and in some ways I feel a little more tied down, but I’ve been surprised at how nice it feels to have the house to myself more.

5. Losing 6 lbs. over the last few months. Woot! I’ve just been changing one thing at a time (beginning exercising regularly, cutting back on sweets), and there are many more measures I need to take, but it has been encouraging to see some results just from what I have done so far.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

I’m a little late to the party – it has been a busy week! Here are some of my favorite parts of it:

1. Springy days. The weather has been just perfect this week, not too hot or too cold. It’s been rainy and windy today, but I accept that it’s gotta do that some times. 🙂

2. Longer days – or more sunlight to the day, at least. It’s rejuvenating.

3. A productive week. I won’t bore with with the to-do list, but I got some things done I needed to and some things I wanted to. Some weeks I’m not sure where the time goes, but I don’t seem to have much to show for them, so it is nice to get some things accomplished.

4. Timely arrivals. I had ordered something for Jim’s mom’s weekday caregiver’s birthday and paid a little extra for it to get here today. By mid-afternoon I realized that “today” might not mean before she left at 5. I prayed it would get here before she left but was mentally preparing myself that I’d just have to give it to her Monday after her birthday. But it came today at 4!

5. Forty years of being a Christian. It just hit me last night that this year is the 40th year since I believed on Jesus Christ as my Savior. Unfortunately I didn’t write down the exact day and I don’t remember what time of year it was, but I do know how old I was. What a blessing to have known Him and His forgiveness, love, and care for so long. My testimony is here. I encourage you, if you don’t know Him, or you’re not sure, take time to find out more about it. This link explains more about becoming a Christian.

“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” I John 5:12

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Here are some of my favorite moments from this week:

1. An Irish Tenors concert! We first saw them on a PBS special years ago and have been listening to their music ever since. I was surprised to see in Sunday’s paper that they were going to be in town, in the beautiful Tennessee Theatre to boot. Tickets were a little pricy, but Jim found a Groupon deal to get them half price. His mom’s weekday caregiver was willing to come Saturday night, so everything worked out nicely. All in all it was a wonderful evening.

2. Stopping by the Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt afterwards. They have a dairy-free orange flavor that is really good. I hope they expand their dairy-free options!

3. Having the Will Galkin Evangelistic Team at our church this week. We weren’t able to go to all the services since we don’t have a caregiver for Jim’s mom in the evenings, but we did enjoy the ones we were able to go to.

4. Seeing a couple of young people from our old church in SC. One is my middle son’s age and is on the Galkin team. He’s probably my favorite person to hear sing. Then his sister was able to travel in to see him Sunday morning, and we got to visit with her a while, too.

5. Seeing Frozen with the family. I think we may be among the last people in the country to see it, but we enjoyed it. Now I finally know what that song is about that I keep seeing parodies of, LOL!

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Some weeks you have to really search for five favorite things: some weeks you have enough to do a couple of “fave fives!” Here are some highlights from my week:

1. Getting a haircut. Nothing radical, but I had either been unable or unmotivated to get to it for weeks and was way overdue. My hair cooperates much better at a certain length. And I was able to snip at a couple of areas I didn’t like as well and have it all turn out ok – that doesn’t always happen. 😀

2. Putting winter clothes away even though we’re still having some cold days. I do still have sweaters and jackets in the hall closet. 🙂 Those dark, heavier things that are so cozy in the fall and winter just seemed oppressive to me now. Love the look of my closet with springy colors! I used to work in a fabric store and loved the transformation when we got the store ready for spring and put away the wools and darker fabrics.

3. The first day of spring! I had thought, for some reason, that it was Sunday, so I was delightedly surprised when I went on Facebook and say people heralding the first day of spring yesterday.

4. Job offers for my youngest son. He’s about to finish up his associate’s degree in May. In one of his classes different groups are doing projects for businesses in town, and in a meeting the man they are working with, he told Jesse he’d like for him to send him his resume. Of course, that might not lead to anything, but it was encouraging! Then his school held a job fair this week, and Jesse visited booths and passed out resumes. One in particular seemed to hold some promise.

5. Getting rid of a bush I’ve always disliked that was right by the front door. I don’t know what variety it was, but it looked like a fir tree collapsed in on itself. I’ve never liked it and asked about getting it removed, but my husband wanted to keep it there. It’s been dying out (no, I didn’t help it along 🙂 ), and he finally removed it last Saturday. Now we get to decide what to replace it with!

Bonus: Not getting the snow that was forecast one day this week. Right now my weather apps are showing that we might get some next week – hopefully it will pass us by then, too.

Hope you’re having a great week!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. I’m so sorry I missed last week – it was just a whirlwind kind of week with not as much time at the computer. But I am glad to be back this week! Here are some of my “faves” from the last week or so.

1. Celebrating my husband’s birthday.

2. Spring break. Even though my youngest is in college and I’m not as directly involved in his schooling, and even though he only has a couple of early mornings this semester anyway, the week of spring break still has more of a relaxed feel to it for me (as well as for him!)

3. Springlike weather. It turned cold again the last couple of days, but the weather was just glorious there for a while.

4. The first daffodils are popping up in the neighborhood. While they’re not my favorite flowers overall, I do love that they’re a sure sign that spring is indeed coming!

5. A game night with the family playing carrom, new to us since Mittu’s birthday, and Settlers of Catan.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are some of mine:

1. The Olympic Skater’s Gala, when some of the figure skater’s perform something of an encore. I had actually forgotten about it and thought the skating was all done, so I was pleasantly surprised that there was one more event. It’s especially fun because there is no judging and therefore less pressure.

2. A cute little spring dish towel, bought with a gift card on my shopping excursion last week.

3. Getting these done:

I’ve been taking the multitude of loose recipes I had stacked up from many years of tearing them out of magazines and putting them in scrapbook-like notebooks, working on it in the evenings. I didn’t get at all fancy with it, because then it would have taken me twice as long. I still need to work on some of the inside labeling, but they are already easier to use. Plus since they are in page-protectors, they won’t get splattered.

4. Exercise DVDs – which is ironic for me to say, because I approach exercise with gritted teeth and grim determination, though I always feel better afterward and am glad I did it. But I’ve accumulated a few of them over the years, so I can vary the workouts and not get bored, plus they allow me to be able to exercise in my own home. My favorites are “The Biggest Loser Power Walk” and Leslie Sansone’s “Five Mega Miles,” because each is divided up into 15 minute segments which are supposed to cover a mile each, yet they also include some exercises for arms with weights or a stretch band, so I usually do a couple of segments a day. Having some variety is important for me.

5. Throw blankets. I know I have mentioned them before, but they’re just so cozy for cool evenings. I even use one on my bed at night over my bedspread, and it’s just enough. I don’t know what they’re made out of, but they have just the right degree of coziness – not too hot or cool.

Hope you’ve had a great week as well!