Baba

This is a picture I took of Baba and his best friend Andy before leaving for his surgery. They were having a chat, waiting for the women on the driveway in the front porch.

Home again

Baba is healing but he is back in the hospital and having some fluid drained but they say its not uncommon. Also, I'm very sad because yesterday Grandma Violet passed away. She will be missed but we are glad that she is at peace now. The drama seems to always continue.

As the title suggests - I 'm home!! I missed home. I missed my hubby and my house and my animals and my church and my friends! I miss Baba and Nani too and wish I could be there at the same time. Depending on how this hospital stay goes, I may go again soon.

I have some pictures that I took when I drove out to the beach after leaving the hospital one day while I was in Corpus Christi. I will post those soon.

Thanks for all the prayers.

Hospitals

Here's the thing about hospitals... They are not fun. When I was a kid, being at the hospital in Houston was kinda fun. I got to race down the halls in wheel chairs. I had an all-access backstage pass to the room the nurses hung out in, you know, with the little fridge with the juice cups. Everyone knew me and my Dad and we ate hospital food daily. It was way better than school food. It was more fun too. I could explore our floor, others, even walk under the street all the way to Texas Children's and get my Dad and I lunch at McDonald's. It was sometimes boring, but mostly like a little mini adventure.

Now I am old- er and the hospital that I am hanging out in is in Corpus Christi and it is not fun or adventurous. Its stinky and kinda boring. I'm really glad that I am here to take care of Baba. He's taken care of me my whole life and its an honor to care for him now. Also because Nani needs help. That part is great... but the hospital food isn't what I remember and now I look a little silly wheeling up and down the halls in a wheel chair. I also don't get quite as excited about free juice.

I think that God teaches us in all different ways. I also think that He likes to surprise me with the lesson. Whatever it is that I think I'm going to learn from a certain situation or time in my life is almost never right - it ends up being something completely different and better and more important than what I expected. And the experience and lesson is always humbling. I think that is the point.

Update

Its a busy week. First - Baba's surgery was a sucess. He's awake and feeling good, all things considered. They did not remove his sense of humor - he's cracking jokes already. Its been a long few days but God is good and has taken care of Baba, Nani and me wonderfully. I'm so thankful for his faithfulness and love. He really does answer prayers.

Its Friday and he's still in ICU. He is doing well but for his blood pressure being a little low. As soon as it gets up higher on its own, without the help of drugs, he'll be put in a regular room. He is demanding his phone and Nani and I are holding steadfast and not letting him have it yet. I know that as soon as he gets it he'll be on it all the time and not rest.

I did also have a recipe of the week - I just hadnt posted yet. And its good. I can take no credit for the creation of it, but its really really good. Its from the new Weight Watchers cookbook - its skinless boneless chicken thighs brushed with a dijon mustard and orange juice mixture then pressed into a mixture of whole wheat cracker crumbs, scallions, and orange zest. You bake it for 15 minutes on each side and Voila! Super yummy chicken. If you are interested in the recipe then post a comment and I will email the whole thing to you.

Euro Pics

My friend Angela pointed out that there are not many pics on here and none of me. That got me looking at our Foy-Europe-07' pics. We really did have a supreme time. So I'm posting a few from Paris, the last stop on our trip.

We really like escargot.

Jay and I at the Eiffel Tower... View of the Siene River from the 2nd level.

Recipe of the Weak

I did not weigh this week. That is bad. But I did start my medicine for the PCOS and also had a stomach virus. Things don't seem to want to slow down! I am back on the proverbial "horse" and am counting food again and losing some weight. I think this medicine will help because when you eat fatty, bad things, it makes your tummy hurt. That is great! I hate having a hurty tummy so maybe I will avoid those foods. We'll see about that.

I really do want to do a recipe of the week, so I am going to cook this weekend. I'm going to try something out of my Weight Watchers recipe book and will let everyone know how that goes. So far this week it has been soup broth, crackers and Gatorade. Not anything to write home about.

I'm mostly focused on getting ready to be gone. The house, washing clothes, and mostly work all are in the works and I'm trying to get all that in line. My prayer is that the surgery goes well and that everyone remains calm and that Baba recovers quickly and calmly. If you like to pray then please pray these things too.

The Photo Trade

So I have been looking at Jen's Becoming a Foodie blog and her associated photography blog and found this photo exchange. I have wanted to get more in to photography for forever... I've tried to take a class but havent found any. So I take pictures that I think are pretty and "artsy", and thats it. The photo exchange is where they give an assignment and you take a picure and send it to your assigned partner... you can also see the submittals on the website link to the left.

I almost didnt sign up because... well because. I am so far from a pro its not funny. Also I have a crappy camera by most standards. But I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained. So we'll see how this goes.

Misti is coming in today from San Antonio - we're having a mini girl weekend. Very spur of the moment. Our plan is to lay around tomorrow in the back yard, get some sun, and play in the baby pool. Very W.T. of us but that never has held us back in the past. We're sad that Amanda can't be here so in a fit of inspiration I painted a beach mat that I had bought at Big Lots last week in her likeness. Its hilarious, but this way it is like she is here with us. Ashley took this picture last night when she got it home. We took down one of my photos to make room on the wall. I know what you're thinking, I got a little carried away with one of her (ahem) attributes. If you must know, I drastically overdrew one side, so had to balance the other, hence the busty outcome. Hee hee.