Flee, fly, flu

Noah has the flu. He took ill on Saturday night, with a fever and stuffy nose. Since he was feverish, and I wanted to rule out strep throat, I took him to the doctor today, and that's where I was told he had the flu. At times like this, I feel that I should have been able to diagnose his ailment, and skip the hassle and co-pay of going to the doctor. Nevertheless, I really cannot know what is wrong with him, and I've found that my "gut" feelings are sometimes off, so I just have to take the safest route. That'll be $30.00 please.

For those who are praying for my brother, please continue. He is going through some very painful days, but still feels God continually tending to his wounds. (He has even been an encouragement to others at this time.) My mom is there with him, sleeping over, and I call and stop in often. I know Steve's friends are there for him too. It still feels like a strange nightmare, but it's finally setting in now, the reality that I won't see my sister-in-law for possibly 40 years. Since the last 20 years went by so fast, perhaps the next 20-40 will too, and it will seem like no time when I say, "Hello, Kajaun! There you are!" and rejoice with her in Heaven.

Becka's play, the Crucible, is this weekend - I can't wait to see her in it! David's parents, Josh, Ben, and I are going down to see her. I know she'll knock our socks off. She's a talented girl. Besides seeing my own little girl in such a big role, Elizabeth Proctor, I'm looking forward to the whole story on stage. I've only seen half the movie, so I never knew how it ended.

Noah's Twinkle Recital

Noah had his Twinkle recital on the 29th, and did very well. It was in our home, and 17 of us were in the "audience." I arrranged the living room to hold everyone: Nanny, Papaw, Grandpa, Grandma Brenda, Robin, David, Sarah, Becka, Josh, Ben, plus our neighbors and friends down the street, Larissa and Tom, their four kids, and me.

Noah's suzuki cello teacher, Miss Barb, came and accompanied him. She had him enter the living room with an intro, and he introduced each Twinkle and bowed after he did each on. (There were 6 altogether.) He played an encore, Scotland's Burning, with his teacher, in unison and in a round, and then wanted to do another, Hot Cross Buns. I was glad to see him want to add that last one, as it showed he liked performing.

It was an easy crowd - we crowed over him. After he was done, Sarah asked Miss Barb if she could play something, and she did. It was amazing - quick and complex. She's part of a quartet, and her mother was a symphony cellist. When do you get a chance to have professional cellist play in your own home?

After the recital, everyone headed out to the dining room for the coffee, tea, and the desserts I had out. My mother-in-law chatted away with Barb, as they are both sopranos and belonged to the same music club for years. Before I knew it, Mom was playing Sarah's harp.

Here we are afterwards: Barb (right), Noah, and me. We three make up a team, as I have to spend a lot of time with Noah in practice. That's part of the suzuki program. I have to take notes, and learn much of what Noah learns, though he's much better than me because he plays 10x as much.



















His next recital will be a big one, at a local music hall. It's the area's Suzuki Association Recital, and all the strings will be there. The cello piece Noah and the other little boy, Silas, will play is Go Tell Aunt Rhody. Barb's older students will join them for it. He's very excited, and picking the song up quickly.

I get my very first big college assignment, a case study, back today. I'm nervous and excited. My next assignment, a critique on an essay, is a bit daunting, but David encouraged me, "Honey, the first time we try anything, it's scary, but you'll know how to do it after this."

Our kitty, Sylvia, has a new home now. It was so cold out I had to bring her in. But two of us, David and Becka, are allergic to her, so I put her in the paper for $50, to weed out people looking for free cats to sell to labs. I hope the guy who took her is happy with her. She'll be his only pet.

Cookie Bars and my case study

I handed in my case study yesterday. It was about mental health in the post-war years. An hour before class, I changed the thesis statement, which really started out as a question, into more of a statement. Later, however, I realized that it might have been a bad idea to fool with what my husband thought was clever: taking the reader along on a journey of questioning, trying to decide what was right. At the end, after looking into each side of the issue, I gently closed with what I thought was the right answer.

I think I changed the paper because of my prof's first comment on my rough draft. He said the thesis statement was a bit fuzzy. Well, nothing to be done for it now. I hope I get at least a C.

I was very busy yesterday. I think I was trying to distract myself from thinking about Steve and Kajaun. I shopped, cooked, cleaned, and organized photos on my laptop.

For dinner, we had cheddar-garlic burgers. I sprinkled about 2/3 tsp garlic powder (California style, course ground ) and about 1/2 c shredded cheddar into 1.66 lbs of 80/20 hamburger, and cooked them on the gas grill. My neighbors probably think I'm daffy, but I really like grilled food all year long. There's something fun about grilled burgers in February. Note: be careful with the garlic powder - I've ruined burgers by using too much. Start with 1/2 t to 1.5 lbs, and adjust from there. It's like cutting hair - you can always trim more.

I found this recipe online and made it for dessert:

Apple Spice Cookie Bars
http://goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/2008/09/apple-spice-cookie-bars.html

David and I had them with ice cream while we had a date-night-in. It was delicious! They were vey good! ( I had two for breakfast. *blush*)

Sadly, I fell asleep 1/3 into the movie we rented, Bottle Shock, because I had little sleep in me from the night before. I don't even know if David finished it. I only know that I got up, chased Noah up to bed, and then got into my own bed. I let Noah curl up with me, since David wouldn't be coming up anytime soon. He was so happy to get to sleep in our bed, he made one of those dramatic statements that little kids often do: "I love your bed - it's the softest and the warmest - you're the best mom ever!"

I woke up an hour later, to Sarah chattering on her cell with a friend. This is normally OK because I don't go to sleep before 11. I carried Noah to his bed, and was soon back in my own.

I had a dream towards morning, that I was going to be very late for class on Monday. I think it was an anxiety dream.

sad day

We buried our dear Kajaunie today. It was really hard. I had to remind myself through the day that she was with the Lord, and happier than ever. My brother played a song on the keyboard that he had written for her years ago, a love song, and his friend sang it.


After the service, we drove an hour up to Tower City, to a cemetary in the moutains, that Kajaun liked to visit. Some of her relatives are buried there. After some scripture was read, and a prayer said, Kajaun's big sister released a white dove. It flew high, circled a couple times and flew off over the mountain. It was a lovely reminder of Kajaun's flight into Heaven.




















Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
~Isaiah 51:11

Dancing with Jesus

My brother called late yesterday morning and told me that Kajaun was dancing with Jesus.

I miss you, Sister, and look forward to seeing you again someday.

The last thing I said to her was, "Goodnight, Sleeping Beauty. I love you." And she was barely able to mouth, "Love you," but it was not needed. I knew it.

On the edge of eternity

This is K, with Cosmo, in September, before she went into the ICU for septicemia.

My mom called me yesterday, and said she was not doing well. I showered and got right over to see her. A nurse had been there all night, as K was having difficulty breathing. But she was calm when I got there. She's on morphine for discomfort. Her whole family was there. My brother has been continually by her side. Soon, many of our family was there too. My mom, dad, Sarah, and my little sister, Robin. I brought Josh and Ben in later in the day. Rebekah is coming on the train today. It'll take her almost 12 hours to get here.

My mom, K's mom, and Sarah are spending the night. I'm really glad, as Steve won't be alone if something happens.

Another nurse came around noon, and after assessing K, said she was "very close." We knew the Lord could heal her that very day, but we don't have our heads in the sand either. God knows what's best for K, and we are all trusting Him.

K seems to be on the very edge of eternity. This very night, she could be in the presence of her Lord and Maker, and all the Christians who have gone before her. Moses, Isaiah, David, Paul, Peter, John, and later believers such as Keith Green. Her father and step-father await her. I am excited for her! I am heart broken to see her go this soon, but I do want to see her relieved of her diseased body, the shell that holds her sweet spirit.

Martin Luther King, Jr

Tonight, I read, for the first time, Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. It was an assignment from my professor. I was moved by that speech, and imagined what it must have been like to be black at that time, especially in the South. What an awful thing to live in a world of double standards, different bathrooms, drinking fountains, places to sit on a bus. To live in fear of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and have a crime pinned on you, just because you were black. How foreign that is to us now. I am so thankful for the civil rights movement. It was, as Dr. King pointed out, a hundred years in coming, but his dream has come true.