I hate hospitals

Ok I have been talking about our friend Hilary pretty much all week.Today Jim is off work and home from England and we are finally able to go visit her. I would not go.I spend too much of my week in the hospital, and even though southern general is not my hospital, I had a bad experience there when i slipped on an escalator, and i have no desire to ever return.
Is all that Hilary's fault, no way at all. She deserves a million people there to pass this two weeks with her, especially since the Virgin phone company is restricting her calls. The whole thing makes me crazy to even think about, and it was a short trip believe me.
SO Jim is off to the hospital and I am sure he is embarrassed of me. I will accept that, I made my choice. I will gladly attend any homecoming celebration the club decides to do.I am pretty sure I would go if JIm were admitted,(we shall see).
I never dreamt in my life i would come to see dialysis as a part-time job,  but that is exactly what it is. It is coming up to the holidays, and it looks like Santa can't find me new kidney in AB+ blood type. Itis so frustrating,not just for me, but for the members of my family who can't or won't consider being tested. Oh well, such is life, as they say.
ok, the pity party is over --time for a nap here at the zoo.
Blessings, and sorry Hilary.

the evils of the phone company Part 1

Thought you mind find an email I just sent to Virgin Mobile UK interesting reading:
"This message is from Hilary Smith's husband as Hilary is currently in hospital having had a brain operation two days ago. She has, in these two days, used her mobile a lot as it is her only link to family & friends. You have charged her £55 and locked her account. She has called you a couple of times, as have I. You advised that she cannot use her phone again till 16th December despite her requests to upgrade her package to let her keep in contact with the outside world. I can't believe you have unwilling to assist a long term customer in a time of terrible ordeal even, as she is simply asking to be able to pay for more access in the short term. I would like to see Mr Branson's reaction the treatment you have subjected Hilary to. I wonder, do you have the courage to let him see this email?
Please do something now."
I'll post any response.
This is the lady we were all praying for on Monday, and the soulless virgin sees her only as a number. i am furious
Blessings to everyone and Virgin you will lose accounts over this if not dealt with soon.

A real Miracle for Thanksgiving

For those of you who haven't read Sundays blog, my friend Hilary was facing brain surgery Monday. They needed to know if the tumor was benign or malignant. I asked everyone i know I know all over the world via the internet chat room, PALTALK. Yes the very one i gripe about every day. In addition, Hilary, Seve and the kids had many many work friends and rugby reals and just friends rooting for them.
I myself asked God to help them through whatever lay ahead. Oh Brenda of such little faith. Hilary was operated on in southern general hospital,  and it is neither benign nor malignant. What Hilary has is a brain abscess. We are walking on air in Paisley. A few weeks of antibiotics, and she will be hole again. I could just dance , if only I could dance.
I did not dare to hope for so good an outcome, so I thank God he is better than I am. He just touched her little head and made things better. She will soon be home with her little family again. Of course it goes without saying we must have a party. For all of you who prayed, or send positive thoughts, or just thought of Hilary fondly, we thank you. How ironic Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. I know what i am thankful for. How about you?
If i hug you wheni see you, don't be frightened. I am only sorry i didn't do this before Hilary was ill. But I won't miss the chance again, and i am gonna be mushy till after Christmas.
Please be mushy too--risk telling those who( you assume) know exactly how you feel, and be thankful. My Dad managed to die never once saying I love you. Please Dads and Moms don't be like him.Let's start learning from others mistakes, not just repeating them.
And Gordon i forgive you, whatever your post meant.
Blessings.

Hilary and Seve

Despite all the rumours my brother started as a child, yes i do have friends. And no, they are not all imaginary. Most of the people reading this will not be Scottish and that doesn't matter. I am requesting prayer for the Smith family. They are friends of ours form the rugby club in Paisley.
Hilary, it seems, has a brain tumor. She is young and pretty and has kids. Their family has been a real spark of fresh air to the club and to us in particular. They are going to take her to Southern General hospital. Jim says it is the best hospital for what she has. 
I am asking for you believers to circle this family in prayer, and to keep a hedge around them. I know God is everywhere so he doesn't mind where you are praying from at all. I believe God is still in the healing business or I would not be here. all i know is no one deserves this.I would say more but i frankly do not know more. I will try to post updates and tell you as i learn, but thanks in advance for the prayers.
blessings

Crappy Diem

I am like a roller coaster today. Laundry.Sleep in chair.Burn eggs dry.  Rest. Iron a shirt. TV.Run dishwasher.play computer games.Run washer.Think about food it is quarter to two.Shrug. Not hungry. Eat anyway your diabetic. Nothing looks good.That is how my mind is working today. I cannot get the flow of my words to start. 
I want to talk about why Bachman, Cain, and Perry are not the solution to America's woes. I want to see who might run against Obama in his party, if any. I want to share some quotes from our founding Fathers about liberty and tyranny. I was gonna put the snake flag,saying" don't tread on me" on my profile pic.Coulda. shoulda woulda. Now i am going for a nap. I will try again tomorrow.
Or not. Blessings

Santa Jesus

OK i am feeling well enough to type, (it's my turn to Hoover), and I am gonna tackle this seasonal topic. Santa is a cultural myth we perpetuate for children because we don't want them to think they can be that greedy every day. It is not required, and people like my Dad who had a sparse Christmas growing up turned out ok.
Santa is not real, but he is real if you believe in him. A sign of maturity is when you acknowledge Santa is Mom and Dad. You can ask Santa for anything, no limits in asking, but it is not automatic you will get a compound bow at age 10.It doesn't mean never, it means no, now. To some children who never hear the word NO let me assure you it exists. Believe it or not some parents say NO and still love you. A NO can be a  good answer although it seems harsh at the time.
Jesus is real. He wants to be our best friend. He wants to be a part in every aspect of our lives. He cares in every situation from  new job to new car to new socks. But he is also God. He is not a friend or a plaything we call on when bored. Trust me, there was nothing boring about the cross. He was tortured beaten and abused whilst being sinless himself. He took on the sin of all humanity, despising the shame, because he wanted to reconcile us to the Father. Not for any other reason, he was reconciled to God, and indeed was God. They chose a simple woman from Nazareth to bring Jesus into the world, and she is a part of the Christmas story as well. She was also a part of Gods plan for reconciliation from Adams sin. God didn't have to provide Jesus, but he knew no human could ever be sinless, despite good intentions. This includes Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela,and President Lincoln himself. 
This Christmas please look at some of your traditions and practices, because Christmas morning can be so much more than ten minutes of ripping paper. You can make memories and traditions that your grandkids will pass on one day, both old ones and new ones. Throw out what doesn't work anymore, like the lights that don't work and yet we keep them. Maybe in the midst of the holiday, you can work as a family to help another family have a better Christmas. Maybe a single parent in your village needs you to take their kids to a movie so they can get a nap or caught up on some laundry? I don't want to say because you have such great imaginations your selves. Many old people would like a visit and they usually have cookies!!!!!!!!!!(oops biscuits for our UK friends).
I am not saying no to the Santa kids love, but it is not Santa's traditional birthday. The world would be a lot poorer for no Jesus in it, than no St Nick. Just sayin'
Blessings.

RAH the saga goes on

Ok I know you are all as sick to death of my knee by now as I am. Earlier this summer, on a bright sunny day, I fell at the PR Football Club and starting my marathon of pain.The latest adventure is a trip to RAH to see an ortho consultant. Neither of us is from Scotland so we had the battle of the accents, but one language he excels at is pain. He got more range of motion from my knee than i had in months. No I did not cuss, punch or cry but I did pray for it to stop.
When he was finished with his exam, the verdict was the x-ray and manual exam did not tell him enough, so he asked me if I would do an MRI. I said "sure" with my biggest smile, while inside my head was screaming, "NO NONONONONO,well ok."
MRI combines two things I am not good at, one is confinement and the other is sitting still. The doctor would have been surprised if he knew what it took to make me go to the exam at all. Imagine how relieved I was when i found out the exam would take two weeks to schedule. I am sure I am busy on that day, whatever day the eventually pick.
One of the biggest problems in my health care is getting me to show up. No one is more surprised than me to see me approaching two years of dialysis. In the beginning I cut out a bit and once i just decided to stop going altogether, but other than those blips i am steady as a rock in my attendance.
Another worry is with this infection my blood sugar levels are extremely high. The scale goes from one to ten, and I am 18. So far the nurses either didnt notice or...
I am scared spitless.
SO we shall see what unfolds.
Blessings.

St Pauls in London

Well another cleric has fallen. Instead of the government accepting responsibility for this mess. The people who work for God quit. They blinked first. If that is not an indictment on our society as a whole I do not know what is. Christians are to be ambassadors for the Jesus--to show love in an angry world, however at St Pauls they protect bricks and mortar. Somehow they forgot the church was inside us and the other thing are a building. One could cynically ask if it has something to do with decreased revenue when they shut the building down? that is too cynical even for me.
One is reminded of Jesus clearing the temple of the moneychangers and other businessman. He proclaimed his house a house of prayer, but they had made it into a den of thieves. The sins of the Father, visiting St Paul's. You would think they would be honored to offer shelter and comfort to people in distress as this economy has made our nation. What happened to the biblical concept of cities of refuge, or at the least, the church being the peoples sanctuary. What an opportunity to reach out as they clain they are tryng to do as a church. Wow what indeed would Jesus do. the protestors have opened a little city there, and the protesters are following the way whether they know it or not. If Jesus comes back tonight as he promised he would when he left, I think he would worry less about the "occupation" and more about those conspiring to make this protest needed. Does everyone agree with it? NO, but then in the UK not everyone agrees with the need for religion or buildings reserved for the church.
IN my native NY Mr Bloomberg made a critical error when he forgot to read the constitution of the nation NY occupies. What is happening is as american as the original tea party, not the numpty group that calls themselves that now to hide racial fears. Funny about that, until his fall from grace, it looked like they went out and got a token black man,(who frankly is about as politically astute as Sarah Palin). When will the repukes realize that America as a nation of voters will follow the man who shows he has a plan to end this poverty that no one on Wall street is warring against as long as they keep their jobs and high comfy bonuses whilst Americans are pushed out of their homes due to debt, debt forgiven their lenders in the bailouts?
In the bible, Yes that book again, in Chapter 18 of Matthew, verse 30ish, a man owed a great debt and was about to be thrown into prison. He pleaded for pity and his debt was forgiven. Another man comes along who owes the man with a great debt, and he owes him a pittance. When he tells the man he cannot repay him, the first man has him thrown into prison until every bit of that debt is repaid. Now no one is saying the man did not have the right to throw him in jail for his debt. The point is, the first man was forgiven a massive debt, as he deserved prison as well. But he could not show his debtor compassion that has been shown to him. This ancient parable reminds me of the current scandals in government especially the banking bail outs. We all are paying our debts, as well as the ones from Whitehall or Washington depending on your native land. IN response the banks refuse to give up the huge bonuses, saying it will drive good bankers out of banking. Well, if they were such good bankers would we have this ungodly mess? Why are we asking teachers and others who had contracted pension plans to tighten their belts as bankers carry on business as usual? Who is in charge here anyway? and there is an election which may surprise the status quo in Downing Street in London. Her is my fear. Does it matter if the Prime Minister is Labour, Conservative or Green party as long as they all advance the same man? Was Brown so different than Blair? Is Cameron so different than Clegg or Salmond? The main job of a politician once he is elected, is to prepare to be re-elected. He has little time left to even consider campaign promises as Cameron proved to the students who worked so hard to get him into number 10. (through Nick Clegg)Business as usual, no matter who occupies the Big House. So we all know tuition reform failed, and the list is eternal.
I think the promises of the current administration lasted as long as last nights fireworks, pretty to watch but  nothing of substance. Full of sound and fury signifying nothing, although these were  a celebration of a man who might have had a point after all.

A week away from the blog

First of all, I apologize for not writing anything for a week. I had an infection that took root all over from the knee injury early spring. I am now on Amoxicillin, 500mg three times a day.I am sucking down Benylin Mucous cough like water, and I finally get to see an ortho on Tuesday. To add insult to injury, when we arrived home last evening from the fireworks i nearly tripped over the curb, only the grace of God and my husbands strong grip kept me from going down face first again. It was funny, because at one point i realized there was nothing i could do to stop it, and just then, JIm saved the day.
I choose to believe it was his great love of me, and not that i was carrying the bottle of Absolut Vodka we had won from the raffle at the rugby club. I leave the conclusions to yourselves, just know we have a bad history with bottles of Vodka.
Everyone I love practically was at the fireworks. Even Amy made it, and i was glad, because once you see her, you see she is gonna be ok. She is one of the strongest women i know, and i know a bunch. My friend Sue is the same. She and I  were across the street neighbors during the worst period of my life, and now we are grown and old enough to be grandparents, we can look back on Gods faithfulness then to see better days are coming now.
Although we are related by marriage, another woman of strength is my friend Jean. She grew up in a huge family and has her head on straight and her priorities are positive. Everyone loves her, even those who are cousins by choice, if not by law.
Finally, my best friend from 45 years ago, Ellen. Life has thrown everything at her, and she still wants to be a minister when she grows up. She worked through things that would have put me in jail of a mental home, but she has a strong abiding faith. She has enough faith for both of us, and many times we needed it. We almost never speak anymore, but i know she loves me and the Christmas card is coming.
She is a grandma now and still working, but when we are retired i hope to bring her here to live half the year. We shall see, she may travel the world for awhile, she is that bold and brave.
Hope to speak to you all again soon.
Blessings.