For my dad

Below is a copy of what I said about my dad at his memorial service last Wednesday:

There are about a million things I could tell you about my dad.

• How he loved to do the YMCA
• How he listened to the sound track to Top Gun and Urban Cowboy on every long car trip
• How before a long car trip he would pray and then quote one of the last lines from Back to the Future-"roads, where we're going, we don't need roads"
• How he loved quoting from the movie Bring It On-"These are not spirit fingers-these are spirit fingers!"
• How he helped us both with our math homework and displayed an unbelievable amount of patience when we would inevitably become frustrated and start crying
• How he had many "dad-isms" like:  "Physics tells why"; "Life is a series of proportional challenges"; and "Nothing good happens after midnight."
• How we could count on him to sing "Today is your birthday" each time one of us turned a year older
  
• How he danced to the CSI theme song-a full choreographed number he would do every time we watched together
• How he loved a good organ solo
• How we called him "White Shadow" or "Tomato Man" based on how he looked when we went to the beach
• How he schooled us all playing four-square at Thanksgiving
• How he told us that eating our vegetables would put hair on our chests-'cause that is what every little girl really wants.
• How he really was "High on Life"

But the Lord brought a sweet memory to my mind on Thursday night, just hours after hearing of Dad's death, and I think it paints a picture of what I love and will remember most about my dad.

Last year, I signed up to participate in the Rodeo Run 10K.  I'm not really a runner, so this was a pretty big deal for me.  I trained for 6 weeks and was running close to 6 miles by the day of the race. My husband Sean came downtown with me and was there to cheer me on at the starting line. I began the race with much enthusiasm and a decent pace.  By the time I got close to mile 2, though, my burst of adrenaline had worn off and I realized that I still had 4 long miles to go.   So to look up to see my dad and my sister standing on the sidewalk with handmade signs gave me a much needed boost.  My dad has always been a cheerleader to both of us girls-whether it was coming to every drill team performance or volleyball game, or supporting us as we pursued our careers in the liberal arts, where at times support was financial as well as emotional.  Dad's encouraging spirit is a trait I have seen manifest itself in my sister, Lindsay-and so it really shouldn't have surprised me to see them both there, early on a Saturday morning, screaming their lungs out.

I didn't see any of my family again until I approached Minute Maid Park and the end of the race.  My dad was strategically standing on the corner that marked the beginning of the last .2 miles of the race.  He waved his sign and shouted "Way to go, Katie" as I rounded the corner.  Right before the finish I saw my sister and husband, and after crossing the line, I waded through the crowds to find my family and thank them for their support.  When I found Sean and Lindsay, I noticed that dad hadn't made it back to them.  I asked where he was, and Lindsay informed me that he had called and said that he was having so much fun cheering for people that he was going to stay at the corner and cheer for the rest of the participants.

Remembering this now, I feel so blessed to have had a dad:

• who sacrificed so much for his family-including sleep on a Saturday morning
• who took joy in every moment of life-even standing on a street corner downtown
• and who encouraged others to run well and finish strong-both that day at the Rodeo Run and every day in their relationships with Christ and the race toward eternal life with Him

Reading in March

Books read in March
12.  Monsters of Men-Ness (Book 3 of the Chaos Walking Trilogy)
13.  Prom and Prejudice-Eulberg
14.  What Happened on Fox Street-Springstubb
15.  The Complete History of Why I Hate Her-Jacobson
16.  The Pioneer Woman:  Black Heels to Tractor Wheels-Drummond
17.  Sworn to Protect-Mills
18.  The World According to Humphrey-Birney (audio)
19.  Pursuit of Justice-Mills

I'll probably finish #20 today, making it my first book for April!

Random Musings

• I got allergy shots today.  After my mandatory 20 minute wait to make sure I didn't have an allergic reaction, I went to have the nurse check the shot sites.  Should it concern me that after checking them she asked if I had my Epi-Pen with me?
• This is the first night I have not had rehearsal on a Monday since mid-January.  I celebrated by watching old episodes of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team on Netflix.
• My dog gets very excited about riding in the car.
• Unbeknownst to me, I left my work badge at the public library today.  A sweet librarian called me and let me know they had it.
• My friend Lauren has some of the cutest children on the planet.  Seriously.  They are awesome.She is awesome.
• Twinkles the Pink Pony is currently wearing a tutu. 

 

Reading in February

February was a weird month and clearly, I didn't make much time for reading.  Between Willy Wonka rehearsals, work and helping to take care of a friend in the hospital, my stack of books to read fell by the wayside.  The good news is that I've already finished two books in the first six days of March, so I'm hoping to catch up and get back on track with my goal.

Books read in February
8.  Moon Over Manifest-Vanderpool
9.  The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet-Dionne
10.  The Ask and The Answer-Ness (Book 2 of the Chaos Walking Trilogy)
11.  Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness-Bure

I haven't been blogging, but I have been reading!

As one (or more) friend said to me recently, "Now that you work part time, I expect you to update that blog more often, woman!"

I am hesitant to make too many promises, but I will come on at least once a month to post about my reading.  Last year, I set a goal for myself to read 100 books in 2010 and I did it!  My personal rules for the challenge were that the books would be "chapter" books (not picture books), but they could be children's, young adult, or adult, fiction or non-fiction, print and audio.

Side note:  I love picture books.  They are a valid form of literature.  It is a wee bit (okay, a large bit) annoying to me when I tell people about my awesome accomplishment and they joke about how it was probably all picture books.  Well it wasn't picture books, but if I chose to read 100 picture books, that would still be pretty impressive.

This year, I have upped my goal by 10% (is this right, math people?) to 110 in 2011. The same "rules" apply, though I'm going to have to step it up this month, since I only read 7 books in January.  My list includes title and author, and denotes if I listened to it on CD.  An * denotes a book that I found particularly outstanding.

Books read in January

1.  *The Lost Hero-Riordan
2.  Work Hard. Be Nice. How two inspired teachers created the most promising schools in America-Mathews
3.  Artemis Fowl-Colfer
4.  *Redeeming Love-Rivers
5.  *The Knife of Never Letting Go-Ness
6.  Incarceron-Catherine Fisher (audio)
7.  Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters-Standiford

I actually really enjoyed all of the books I read in January.  I thought about writing a brief summary of each, but that really stressed me out and made me feel like suddenly my reading was part of a school assignment.  I will say though, that should you choose to read book #5, DO NOT, whatever you do, get attached to the dog.  I only wish someone had told me this before I read the book.  You're welcome.

If you want to know more about any of the books I read, just ask!  And if you have any books that you think I should read, leave me a comment and let me know.

There's no place like home . . .

Praise the Lord, my dad is getting to leave the hospital!

He spent the night at the hospital being monitored for atrial fibrilation and waiting for the doctor to come see him.

We believe it is no coincidence at all that the on-call doctor was one of the experts in cardiac electrophysiology, and are praising God for His provision.

Starting tomorrow the doctor will begin exploring the causes behind my dad's atrial fibrilation and working to find the best treatment plan for it.  Dad does not have to go to the hospital for every episode any more, but can expect to have continual bouts of atrial fibrilation for some time.  The doctor spent a ton of time talking with my parents, making sure they were educated on atrial fibrilation, explaining it in "engineering" terms (which was awesome for my dad, the mechanical engineer), and assuring them that, while there may not be one permanent fix, that they were in the best hands possible.

One of the best parts about hearing this news today was hearing the relief in my mom's voice.  She has been so strong for my dad through the past 6 weeks, but last night was a struggle for her.

So while my dad's physical heart issues are far from being resolved, we trust that his journey is now in the right hands.

And friends, I would be remiss if I didn't say how it fills me with hope to know that, as a believer in the Almighty God, I know that no matter what happens to my physical body-even my physical heart, my soul and my spiritual heart have been saved and healed for eternity by Him!

Prayers for my dad . . .

As many of you know my dad had a pacemaker "installed" about 6 weeks ago to take care of an extremely low (30 bpm) heart rate.  The pacemaker appeared to be successful in alleviating my dad's heart issues; however, about a week and a half ago he started experiencing SVTs (supra ventricular tachycardia).  His cardiologist was able to prescribe medication that corrected the problem, but this past Monday he began experiencing atrial fibrillation and was admitted to the hospital.  He was given a different medication along with heparin (there was concern about blood clots) and monitored to see if the medication would correct the issue, or if he would need cardioversion (electric shock to the heart).  Thankfully, the medicine regulated his heart and he was able to come home last Thursday, feeling much, much better.

Well, the healing was short lived as I just received a call from my mom saying that they were headed to Willowbrook Methodist's ER to be admitted and be seen by a new cardiologist-part of a group of specialists at the medical center that dad was supposed to see for a 2nd opinion this coming Wednesday.

My family would really appreciate your prayers for the following:

• That the new cardiologist would quickly detect the real issue and know the proper treatment
• That dad would stay positive and be encouraged as this experience has been very hard on him and made him feel discouraged and old
• That we would all be free of anxiety and would trust in the Lord's perfect plan
• That the Lord would be glorified whatever the outcome

Thank you all!