Black Friday

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Mine was okay. Wednesday was better actually. My daughter and I made a turkey and mashed potatoes and corn casserole and cranberry salad and pumpkin pies. Actually she did most of the making and I did the dishes. She had a girlfriend from college over for lunch and then we watched an old movie together. It was a nice day. Yesterday was the family dinner with the inlaws at a hall which I'd arranged. But I had forgotten to arrange for heat to be turned up ahead of us arriving and so the complaining began promptly. For at least 4 hours I watched as one after another tried to turn the heat up although I repeatedly explained it had to be done by computer by a trained person. And when the trained person arrived after my calling him and disrupting his dinner, he couldn't get it to work perhaps due to all the tampering others had been doing. So for 4 hours I listened to complaining and whining and even insulting about how this hall rental had been handled. Thanks so much. It cost them nothing. They didn't have to clean it. They just had to show up and eat. Today we found out that a repairman had to be called and there will be expense to fix this thermostat situation. The food was good. But somehow I lost track of Thanksgiving in the midst of all the whining and complaining. How sad is that?

So now today is Black Friday. I have relatives who planned to be at the stores by 5AM. The newsman said there were 50,000 people in the mall between midnight and 2AM. There were people camping in tents in the parking lot at Best Buy last night in November in Iowa where the temps were in the 20s. Why? What does all the grabbing, fighting, commercialism have to do with the coming of Christmas? The coming of Christ? The radio today was playing a lot of Christmas carols, while people are out fighting to save a buck or two. On TV a lady said she plans to spend $1500 on Christmas this year so she had to go fight the crowds to make such a little amount spread far enough. "Little amount?" The next story on the nightly news was about the face of hunger in America. It showed a lady who tries to feed a family of 2 adults and 4 kids on $150 a month for groceries from her unemployment. The kids only get to eat breakfast a couple days a week. She cried because she couldn't afford to buy a box of cereal for them. She eats her lunch at a soup kitchen many days of the week. And then the bright spot was the story about the 8-yr-old girl who asked Santa for a kidney and a friend of the family gave her one of hers. I know it is called black Friday because that is when the retailers hope to get into the black for the year. But I find it blackly depressing as it points out the skewed priorities of some people and the vast disparities in people's circumstances. So, did I go shopping? Kinda, not really. My husband needed to pick up something at Best Buy for our business so we went closer to noon. I let him out and I went to Barnes and Noble to use the restroom and then bought a couple books I've been wanting to read and did get a gift for my sister-in-law to give to her granddaughter. Then we ate lunch and came home. It was very good to get home away from the crowds. I hope we can put the "thanks" back in Thanksgiving and keep "Christ" in Christmas.

A Note of Thanksgiving

I have been feeling very guilty about being so slack in updating my blog. I have no good excuse at all. I have just ignored you, my dear friends, for 3 months plus. On Saturday I went to see the movie Julie and Julia with my daughter. We were both disappointed in the movie itself, but in the movie Julie faithfully updates her blog every single day even if she is ill or fighting with her husband or having a bad day or whatever. Every single day!! So that really laid the guilt trip on me. So here I am. First of all, I will give you a brief update on my condition. As you may remember, on July 22nd I went to the hospital for a total knee replacement. When I woke up, I was told I still needed it but the surgeon had only scoped it and would do the total knee later. So on Sept. 9th I went back to the same hospital and that time I did receive a new knee joint. As it turned out, when the anesthesiologist put the femoral block in to numb the leg, he actually paralyzed the quad muscle in the leg. 11 weeks later I still have to lift that leg by pulling on my pant leg or putting a towel sling under my foot. Anyway, after many sessions of physical therapy, it became obvious to the therapists and myself that the joint is also not hooked up correctly. It seems the knee cap is on the outside of my leg, not center, and the joint grinds and pops and slides around in there and hurts and is unstable. So when I went back and pointed this out to the surgeon, he said well maybe he'd have to go in again with the scope and see if he could push it into place. Well, my thinking is, he had two chances so why should I give him a third one? So I am waiting to get into Mayo for a second opinion on Dec. 8th. I am so hoping and praying that the doctor there can somehow put it together without another surgery. In the meantime, I am still walking with a walker, still not sleeping well, still unable to do a lot of things for myself and for my home. And I have now been off work 11 weeks, so the sick leave is flying by. But since I am basically house bound, I have no excuse for not updating my blog on a daily basis. Please forgive me and please keep me in your prayers.

NOW, ON TO MY NOTE OF THANKSGIVING!I have so very much to be thankful for!
1,2. I have several friends who have been struggling with cancer all summer. I am thankful they are still here and I am thankful my knee isn't something life-threatening.
3. I am thankful that my daughter is living at home and going to community college so she is here to help me with the cooking and house and grocery shopping and all the stuff I can't do.
4. I am thankful our crops are finally all out of the field.
5,6,7. I am thankful that even though our well and furnace both had major problems this fall, we were able to afford to get them fixed/replaced and I am thankful for water and heat.
8. I am thankful for sick leave so I still get a paycheck.
9. I am thankful God sent a substitute nurse who ran out of severance pay from her hospital job the same week I had my surgery and she can sub for me as long as I need her to.
10. I am thankful for the new king sized bed my husband finally bought us.
11. I am thankful for having the cupboards and freezers full of food.
12. I am thankful for a nice house (it's not big, it's not fancy, but it's nice enough for me).
13,14. I am thankful for health insurance and for health care workers.
15. I am thankful that almost everything I need is all on one level of my house since I can't do stairs now.
16. I am thankful for my new rolling walker with a seat and basket so I can go to the store some now too.
17. I am thankful for good friends who care about me and call and send cards and bring food and most of all pray for me.
18. I am thankful for southern gospel music.
19. I am thankful for women's Bible study and the camaraderie of sisters in Christ who share in our joys and tribulations and share hugs.
20. I am thankful for my church family.
21. I am thankful for older Christians who are mentors and encouragers and who pray for me.
22,23. I am thankful for good books to read and jigsaw puzzles to put together.
24,25,26. I'm thankful for sunshine and sunrises and sunsets.
27. I'm thankful we haven't had any snowstorms yet.
28. I'm thankful for a car that runs.
29. I'm thankful for clothes to wear.
30. I'm thankful for animals who love us unconditionally.
31. I'm thankful for all five of my senses and that they work so I can so fully enjoy the world around me.
32,33,34. I am thankful for my kids and my husband and my siblings.
35. I am very thankful that my nephew at Ft. Hood only heard the gunfire and wasn't injured.
36. I am thankful for missionaries who put their very lives on the line on a daily basis to help where they are needed.
37. I am thankful for our military who does the same.
38,39,40. I am thankful for indoor plumbing and modern appliances and technology.
41. I am thankful for pain relievers.
42,43,44,45. I am thankful for forgiveness and salvation and eternal life and God's grace.
46. I am thankful for democracy.
47. I am thankful for the 152 religious leaders who weren't afraid to draft and sign the Manhattan Declaration and stand up for Christian values.
48. I am thankful we still have enough religious freedom that they can do that without being shot for their beliefs.
49,50,51. I am thankful for mountains and oceans and miles of corn fields and wheat fields.

Oh, I could go on and on. You thought I already did, didn't you? But there are so many many things to be thankful for. God has blessed me abundantly and continues to bless me so far above what I deserve. I am thankful we have a holiday dedicated to giving thanks so we actually stop and take time to be thankful. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you also take the time to make a list of your blessings. God bless you!