Cool result

Proverbs is one of my favorite books of the Bible, right behind Psalms and ahead of Isaiah and the epistles of Paul. This one is so complimentary I regard it as a goal to strive for rather than a level achieved. nice



You are Proverbs.


Which book of the Bible are you?
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Captain Jack??

Yep, did another test from a blog. Did two more even ~ but these results are ridiculous!




You're Captain Jack Sparrow: smart, savvy, a demon with the eyeliner and the best damn pirate we've ever seen. And only a litte crazy. Savvy?

Which POTC character are you?

this quiz was made by alanna

but where's the rum???

Your Linguistic Profile:

40% General American English

35% Yankee

25% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

uh huh. I've lived in the south most of my life and I'm only 25% dixie dialect? I guess this is a little bit better than the test that was 85% sure I was a true Michiganer (never even been there)

FWIW, the expert linguist/dramatist who taught elocution in my college said my accent is primarily 'English standard' with mild dipthong surprises courtesy of Texas & Virginia.

Okay, time to get back to making dinner now....

~ Harlequin ~

Right after posting, I went blog surfing again and found this Who would you be in 1400 test mentioned. The lady got 'prioress' but seemed surprised to receive a high rating for monk as well. (That made sense to me, monk is an almost gender equivalent of prioress). My daughter received similar results.

I expected to get the same thing, but apparantly I am ::

The Harlequin

You are a mystery, a jack-of-all-trades. You have the king's ear, but also listen to murmurings of the common folk. You believe in the value of force (knight) and also literature. Truly you are the puzzlement of the age.

0% on Cardinal
95% on Monk
85% on Lady
56% on Knight

odd test!

The results on this test seem to bear out the idea that I am sometimes hard to classify:

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (60%) moderately high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic. Orderliness (46%) medium which suggests you are moderately organized, hard working, and reliable while still remaining flexible, efficient, and fun. Extraversion (53%) medium which suggests you are moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting.

Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Makes that ole Donald O'Conner song from Singing in the Rain run through my memory...

"Make 'em laugh. Make 'em laugh. Don't you know that the world wants to laugh..."

Two tests

Wandering the backrooms of blogspot, I encountered Karen's blog and found a link to a test for Catholics. I'm not a Catholic but a more-eucumenical-than-most independent.

Only reason I took it (as opposed to just showing to my Mom who is a Catholic) is that I've been reading/watching/listening to more Catholic teachings inthe past few years and wondered how much had 'rubbed' off.

I came up as Evangelical Catholic.

--------------------------------------------
You are a Protestant convert, or have been affected by evangelical Protestantism in some way. You love Scripture and incorporate into your daily life. You have a clear vision of Catholic morals and doctrines, and you make great effort to adhere to them. However, your interpretation of Scripture may not be in line with Catholic teaching, and you may not accept legitimate plurality in doctrinal expression. You might want to read the Fathers of the Church and Papal encyclicals to deepen your Catholicism.

Evangelical Catholic 95%
Radical Catholic 71%
Traditional Catholic 62%
New Catholic 57%
Neo-Conservative Catholic 50%
Liberal Catholic 26%
Lukewarm Catholic 5%
----------------------------------------------

Mom came up as an Evangelical Catholic too, but by a much lower margin.


According to many Baptists & Evangelical protestants I have talked to, I am very much a moderate in my worldview. The more bigoted 'liberals' online would brand me as extremely right-wing, but then they seem overly ready to apply that label in any case.


In this test

I scored as Classical Humanist.

You think that persons are ontologically good but morally bad. You are traditional and orthodoxy is very important to you. You are most likely Catholic, or else your religion is ancient, with a long continuous tradition. You have a good sense of humor and like to take things easy. You aren't a very exciting person, but are dependable. You think that people need to cultivate the virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. You think that the study of science is good, but don't often keep up with the products of technological progress. You believe that the study of history has great application to understanding current events. You think that people can govern themselves most of the time, and that government needs to be mainly small; however, you do not expect too much of government. Your favorite philosophers are Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Marcus Aurelius, Augustine of Hippo, and Thomas Aquinas.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

At one time I admired all of these folks. Now I admire some of their sentiments but do not agree with others. Actually my favorite philosophers right now are the Apostle Paul, C.S. Lewis (he was more than a logician), G.K. Chesterton, and...Terry Pratchett. [Hey, I had to say something shocking or you'd get bored!] Actually, what I mean by this is that I find my views on many things are similar to Pratchett's, except when they disagree entirely. (After all, philosophy is a simply a well thought-out point of view that affects how you view other things in your life.) As Terry isn't a Christian, this happens often but less often than with many writers...or maybe it just seems that way because of the amusing way he expresses himself. Guess I'll work that out later. My opinions do change over time.

I was reading Plato's Timeaus last week (Becka's latest book report came from it, so I wanted to refresh my own memory). I surprised myself by disagreeing wholeheartedly with everything Socrates said. I should reread The Republic soon and see how much my viewpoint has changed about that one.

You live, you read, you choose a philosophical view....and then you change your mind. heh

Small Treats

This has been an interesting week!

I think I mentioned my delighted surprise to be seeing and hearing things I'd been missing for years. This trend continues on cable and elsewhere. Sherlock Holmes (with Jeremy Brett) is as good as I remembered, for one.

A friend sent me some really, really old songs I'd mentioned enjoying as a kid. He looked them up for us as a favor, avering what we wanted was cheap enough if you knew where to look. Evidently he DOES know where to look. Thanks again!

and now its gotten even better!

Got a catalogue today listing some Christian cds for sale that I actively sought to buy for years. I did google searches. I called companies. I put my name on a list for backorders. At length I gave up my practical efforts, but I kept praying about it when it occured to me.

and now a catalogue with ALL of them is sitting on the hallway table, on sale no less!

:D

Breathing Space

About time I gave an update, eh?

Tom has officially reached that next stage of better. We've had medical appts every week to every other week now so long it had become a way of life ~ but now we get a real break.

He only has that last procedure to reverse a temporary measure he lives with for now, and then...he should be done! Gotta hope, because we've heard this before. Still, he's looking good as far as his doctors are concerned. He is moving much better, and since he was wide open for the major surgery there are no more mysteries about whats been plaguing him for so many years. They don't think he will grow back any of that nonsense, but they will check directly when 'replugging' him.

But thats later.

Now we can focus, at last, on normal living for a couple of months. Our son has outgrown his shoes again. My daughter and I have projects in hand. Tom has been able to clear to the woods again and is tinkering with some improvements around the house. We are enjoying having cable back as they finally added the Christian channels and improved the programmable filter. Its been great to see Poirot, new documentaries, and funny animal clips. The only downside is that this also cuts into the time I used to spend online. Seems like everybody in the family (except my son) spends more time online than I do lately. Ah well, " every silver lining has a touch of grey" as Jerry G would say...or sing.

There's been plenty of good news in our circle. One of Tom's friends is back, found a good job, and got married recently. My favorite group of people in the entire northwest finally caught a break. Myst V is out and I found the collectors edition at CompUSA for ten dollars off (essentially a free upgrade). Looks like the authorities have caught the bad'un they were looking for in our area. Been hearing and seeing favorites I thought were lost forever on an almost daily basis. etc etc Basically, we've tons of blessings to thank God for these days.

but what about...?

Yes, I know. There's been great cause for sadness. There are many collections for the victims in our area too. There's a lot of stupidity being tried on right now too. I pray about it often. We'll have to get involved again one of these days. I don't think we could stand not to help, eventually.

But right now we are really enjoying the breathing space God has seen fit to grant us. :)

Fun stuff we have found::

penguin wallpaper and game

fantastic photos for wallpaper

best traditional clothes patterns we know about

Lehrer funny teaching songs for free

A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Overcrowd

I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it - there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "A Study in Scarlet" in the character of Sherlock Holmes.

The March 2005 National Geographic issue focused on recent research into how the mind works. Seemed like many scientists would agree with Sherlock on many important points. Apparantly the more we use our brains in any particular way, the more our brain optimizes to those functions. Sounds reasonable, right? But the studies also found that those who spent many hours on any form of minutia had the relevant lobes expand to the detriment of adjoining areas.

"An MRI study published in 2000 by scientists at University College, London, showed that in London taxi drivers the rear portion of the hippocampus was enlarged compared with those of control subjects, confounding the long-held notion that the adult human brain cannot grow. But the bonus in brain tissue may not have come free of charge. On average, the front portion of the hippocampus was smaller than normal in the taxi drivers, suggesting that the effort to build an increasingly detailed mental map of the city had recruited neighboring regions to the cause."

I found that a bit worrisome, but referenced in the same article ["bigger brain"] a similar study from Germany on people learning to juggle indicated the brain can change conformation back if you change your habits. (In this case, the studied folks stopped juggling.)

Wired's May 2005 article "Dome Improvement" has got me thinking again because of the counterclaim by that surveyor/professor that intelligence in the general population is rising. Practical experience suggests otherwise, as do other standardized tests. Careful analysis make it clear that its largely visual intelligence he's referencing. That would seem to go with the National Geographic study. People's visual abilities may be increasing at the expense of other forms of knowledge processing.

Another article discussed a widespread perception that there are fewer and fewer new gamers who enjoy puzzle/reflective paths.

And my point is?

Everything we do has a cost. Our brains may not be efficiently used, but our time & capacity for any particular activity is not infinite. We micro-focus at the expense of other studies, and even capacity for study. I have found, in practice, that trying to learn D'ni (Myst's make believe language) cut into my ability to keep French, Spanish, & other real languages relatively usable. (Calling myself fluent would be seriously pushing it.) I felt bad at one point for letting so much of popular culture slide beyond me. Well ~ better those ephemerals than anything else I could name! Knowing every major movie plot takes up memory. Learning Klingon takes up language capacity. At some point wisdom suggests dropping most non-essential extras into our mind's recycle bin & defragging the little grey cells!

So. I'm definitely going to be stressing logic studies for the children, though they have already had more than most. Logical systems allow you to retain information far more efficiently ~ another point an old Sherlock story pointed out. It was established in an earlier tale that Sherlock knew from the sort of mud a person had on their clothes which part of the city they had been in. How did he do it? Had he memorized every street in London? Sherlock replied that he had studied the geography of the land, and the knew the major areas of commerce...and deduced their effects. Elementary.

Wonder if that would help those taxicab drivers?

(written last May. Finally finished!)

Labors and rest in Him

This has been a wild week and a weird labor day weekend.

Katrina's damage had us praying/worrying about friends for most of the week and crying with another acquaintance who lost several members of her extended clan. Felt inside the missing friends were probably okay but how can you truly relax until you know for sure? Thankfully they were able to send word this weekend. In other news, Cyan has just announced major cutbacks, though it sounds like they can save the company for now. I feel peace about this too. I am convinced God has something good in mind, as rough as it seems right now. Two neighbors were buried. Recognized the names, but we didnt know them well. We heard some very anti-Christian noises kicked off by Robertson's comments and by ill-tempered folks who apparantly don't like Bush's nominee. Some Christian broadcasters have had alot to say about the ugly noises made as well. Hard not to notice where things seem to be going but still the internal calm and sense of victory in Jesus reigns in our hearts.

Tom has had some tough evenings lately, and more trouble sleeping, but as near as we can tell its because he's reaching a new level of healing.

Honestly, things have been strangely peaceful at our house given all thats going on. The kids have gone swimming at Water Country. Tom and I saw his folks midweek. (Found myself led to pray a lot that day without knowing why, though I've had plenty of reason to pray all week!) Its enough to make me feel a little guilty. So many people have suffered lately. But its not that we don't have plenty to worry and and stress over, just seems like we've had more grace to rest in God's hands.

I've definitely felt God's grace over us this weekend. Its been pretty blessed for my immediate family. We've seen penguin documentaries and favorite mystery shows I haven't seen in forever. My duckling a la orange came out extremely well. etc etc

Gotta wonder what next week will have for us all.

Diotrephes & the spirit of the Age

We know that in these last days many will fall under the influence of the spirit of the Age, which is antichrist, but ~ do you know it when you see it?

I've been noticing scriptures that speak to this issue and will probably have a book worth's soon. Figured I'd share a piece of it.


This reflection comes from the epistles of John:

7 For many deceivers have entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver, and an antichrist.
8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
9 Whoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

2 John 1 :7-9 WB 1833

Here is one of the first ways to tell one who believes from one who pretends to believe. They don't really believe Christ, the sinless son of God, came in the flesh and made atonement for us by his sacrifice. You'll meet many who have decided that much or all of scripture is allegorical. Others say that Christ was a child of God and/or a prophet, but not more so than many other spiritual leaders.

The allegorization comes most often from those who have been succesfuly indoctrinated with the repeated claims that scriptural accounts of our Genesis, the exodus, the fall of Jericho, and other events are not born out by 'scientific study.' Therefore, they accept the secularist, humanistic, atheistic accounts for these events and the evolution-based psychology as a rule for personal living rather than scripture. Some even denounce believers who dare to base their worldview on the Bible alone as ignorant extremists, which is what THEY mean by 'fundamentalist.'

BUT

the support for NOT taking the Bible literally comes from biased research & selective studies.

For some decades most, if not all, funding from public sources has been only to those who accept an evolutionary framework for their research. Supposedly this is because their case is long since proven. Never mind that many of these 'proofs'~ cited in law-changing cases like Scopes ~ were in time shown to be frauds. Ever heard of Piltdown? Nebraska man? Those were some of the 'proofs' that instituted evolution in public classrooms. I'm serious.

& Has anyone ever told you that such famous skeletons as the "Lucy" standing ape had pieces so small and flattened you could have formed them into any shape you wished?

The historic studies haven't been much better. As a lay historian, let me give you an example. The official chronology is the reason that Jericho is called a non-event in spite of the existence of a layer of damage completely consistent with the Biblical account. Good archeological method says that when an account matches evidence but not your timing, then your scale must be the thing out of whack, but this is often not the approach used when the subject is the Biblical account.

The chronological framework for ancient times is extremely shaky before the institution of Anno Domini. Few methods of dating objects or even deciding the relative reigns of ancient kings (the old dating method) are beyond criticism. Even dendrochronology (though better than most of the carbon-dating methods of the 20th C) isn't as solid as most have been lead to believe. It is not certain trees grow exactly the same sorts of rings every year under all conditions.

Meantime many more people have developed well-reasoned doubts about the fairy tale of the steady progress of mankind we all grew up with. There are huge, ancient monuments all over the world that tell of civilizations and times of which we know little or nothing. For all our 'progress' we'd be hard pressed to recreate any of them full-sized. There are ancient stone cities underwater in various parts of the world. One former harbor is now way up in a mountain range in South America. All of this supports the idea that we have had catastrophic changes and lost more information in them than we have retained over the millenia. Add in the records of catastrophic flooding on more than one occasion, (some may well have been from meltwater behind glacial ice dams that caused the sea to rise globally by some meters) and you have a scenario that easily accounts for many instances of suddenly drowned flora & fauna becoming fossils under floodwater/sediment pressure. It could easily explain the creation of large canyons as huge amounts of water flowed down overland from glacial sheets. It would also explain why these canyons aren't everywhere. If they were formed by slow, gentle, natural forces, they should be.

Official academia is well aware of the effect that would be produced if they allowed the official dates and theories to fall (on which so many built their names & credentials.) Secularist humanism has become a religious belief system that holds positions of power and acknowledges no rivals for the ultimate revelation of truth ~ but its wrong just the same. It has depended on political authority and indoctrination to maintain itself for too long now.

Once the real truth is finally acknowledged, the Bible's version of history will become more plausible, but so will other belief systems that mentioned these catastrophes. I support the scientists who are trying to show the plausibility of Genesis but I hope they remain aware that this will only convince those to follow Christ whose hearts were open to the idea in the first place.

But for those who accept the Bible as truth, the quest is to follow God's will for our lives. It is important that we test every spirit, and leader, by God's word to see whether their walk reflects Christ or his opposition in this world.

4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;
6 Who have borne testimony of thy charity before the church: whom if thou shalt bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou wilt do well:
7 Because for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing from the Gentiles.
8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow-helpers to the truth.

3 John 1:4-8 WB 1833

Implicit in these verses is positive evidence of a Christian walk. Here we see the good fruit of believers. God's children seek to walk in truth and love (charity) to each others and toward strangers. Their efforts for Christ do not focus on gaining wealth or position from non-believers (the world). Christians trust their God to provide what they need and put them where He wants them. The attitude is one of service and humility towards your fellows, as Christ said to his apostles when they asked

which of them should be accounted the greatest.
25 And he said to them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them, are called benefactors.
26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
27 For which is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at table? but I am among you as he that serveth.

Luke 22:24b-27 WB 1833

This compares sharply with what someone influenced by the spirit of antichrist will be like.

9 I wrote to the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the pre-eminence among them, receiveth us not.
10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content with that, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

3 John 1 :9-11 WB 1833

Will you look at this guy??? He joined the church only to take over the local body 'to gain pre-eminence.' He sounds ambitious. As a matter of fact, he probably only made a profession of faith in order to forward his desires, seeing an opening for his ambitions. New groups are usually fairly open (trusting) and not organized into any formal hierarchy. If they are not devoted to democratic principles this makes them easier to take over.

Once Diotrephes had gained the leadership position he desired, he set his aims yet higher. Now you see him striving against, even slandering, the apostles whose word he supposedly was following in becoming a follower of Christ. It gets better. Those who oppose this goal he has thrown out. Those who come from the apostles he refuses to receive. He won't let them speak to the church and shows no hospitality toward them. Those who oppose him in any manner he seeks to excommunicate from the body of Christ in his community. He even ignores a letter from John, an apostle chosen by Christ himself!

Quite a snake, eh?

but despite what must have been some considerable personal charm, not everything is going his way, even locally. John himself tells us that some in the area are trying to show hospitality & act as Christians to their brethren & sisters in faith ~ beyond this fellow's influence. He praises Gaius for being one those who refused to turn on his fellows to please Diotrephes.

Diotrephes made divisions, sought to rule, & once established, sought to punish (as far as he was able) those who opposed his goals. He was not above using lies to turn others against each other, to cause people to do his bidding.

This letter also tells you of the end of Diotrephes ambitions within the larger church. John plans to come in person and appoint a new leader of the real church in the area.

"For whoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

Luke 14: 11 WB 1833

Cruising at a slower pace

For the past few weeks we've been 'living from appointment to appointment,' as Tom put it.

One of the big happy thingys this month was a very nice visit with Tom's sister who came from where her family is stationed in England. She said she tried to come right after the surgery but couldnt get an opening until the week she came. She also reassurred us that life in the UK has remained generally peaceful, despite the weather & man-made shocks since she's been there.

The daily routine plus adjustment periods for each 'step down' of equipment, medicine, and treatments has eaten most of every day. Found little time for the net and less for doing much else.

Not to say that there has been no time for fun at all. Mom has continued to take the children over to Busch Gardens & Water Country on good weather days. I went out with my children to see March of the Penguins and the new Willy Wonka. Both movies were a bit better than I was expecting. I'll definitely be on the lookout for the penguin movie on dvd later

Finally said a limited amount about some of the garbage thats been directed at us as a warning to others who might be impacted similarly. That upset a few people, but it was high time I did. I begin to think I have been quieter than has been beneficial to the public good.

Mind you, many people are talking in those circles, and many are upset with things that have gone on in the past couple of years. Covert warfare by slander had become the example of some of the leadership, greatly influencing community to take that form of retribution when angered about anything, but now the 'cold war' mentality is developing hot spots. Somebody or several somebodies has been targeting Myst-related fan sites over the last eight months, maybe more. My own Myst site was attacked just before Christmas (at the same time as Ryan Warzecha's & a couple of others.) It might have been coincidence that someone targeted several Myst-related servers at one time, but the problem has definitely been on the increase since then. Any number of Myst fan sites have had 'technical' &/or 'server' trouble since then, usually in waves. Seemed to hit a peak this month when several major Myst fan webboards were shut down at once, according to posts on the Lyst. Not all these sites have the same philosophy regarding Cyan, Uru, & Ubi. None of the sites were kept down long. IMO These attacks are as futile as they are senseless.

Perhaps someone wishes to stop discussions at certain critical times. Perhaps the one behind it all is the same someone who has made 'begging to bully' their regular modus operandi. (I'm helpless *sniff* you gotta insult/beat up so-and-so for me *boohoo* Remember all the bad stuff I said about them that made this sound like a noble thing to you? If you don't support me in this you aren't my *cry* ffrriieennddd.. and you know how I feel about those who aren't my ffrrriieendd... *more crocodile tears & gnashing of teeth*) It is also possible that it began with a random act of stupidity from an outsider and has been escalating as those affected war against those they think are responsible for their own reverses (and others react just as they did.) D'no

but I will be very surprised if someone doesnt find out, eventually, who is behind all this. Wouldn't surprise me if it was the same people behind the attacks on the original Lyst & fan communities.

Biting off more than...

Tom has his own blog now, but is still unable to sit at the computer long enough to share his latest parable, so I'm doing the honors.

'I had a friend with some of the silliest cats you ever saw. They were well-fed, never looked like they had been much harmed by anyone, but they were fearful, greedy, and would turn mean fast..especially if there were any good foods around that could be stolen.

One afternoon my friend and his father returned from an excellent day of fishing and crabbing, and set all the buckets and crates of (mostly live) seafood on the porch while they got set up to process their catch.

First the neighbor's dog took to nosing up to the containers. He was called away over and over but kept trying to catch something anyway. Finally someone got annoyed enough to flip a live crab at him (to encourage his departure). The crab landed on his rump, and took a good hard grip and.... yyyyyyyyyeeeeeooooooowwwwww!!!!!!! The pup howled, hopped, and skipped about in circles trying to shake his dinner. When that didnt do it he finally yelped his way over to one of the people to get help, and thereafter, took off running

Meantime one of the parent cats (all their cats were related) had captured a live mullet and was attempting to eat it whole. The problem was that the fish was way too big for one meal, and was still alive! If anyone, or any other creature got anywhere close the cat would growl, hiss, and choke itself on the fighting fish. They thought it was going to choke to death for sure.

Seeing this cat with a huge fish hanging out of its mouth encouraged the others to try for something just as good, or better.

One cat mewed, got a bait fish, and went away happy.

One pawed surreptiously into one of the buckets and caught a fish hook.

The last one went for the biggest thing moving in the crates

It caught, or rather was caught by, a rather substantial blue crab who definitely liked the idea of eating cat for dinner. That also made for some interesting noises! Mr Crab wasn't the least intimidated by all the hisses, yowls, and clawings that had served Ms. Kitty so well in the past. Catching the dancing dervish pair proved no easy feat, and Ms Kitty was rather bruised by the time she was rescued.


Eventually we were able to help the ambitious felines. The one with the hook needed to go to the vet. One didnt eat anything much for nearly a day because it couldn't eat the fish in its mouth and wouldn't drop it until its prize was thoroughly rotten

Only one cat had a good day. The one that was happy with the little bait fish.

Its best not to be like the greedy kitties... or that thieving dog.'

How Did It Go?

If you are reading this then I am assuming you would like more detail about what we’ve been up against this last month or so, in the wake of Tom’s surgery at the end of June. I didn’t have access to the internet in Richmond while staying in the Hospitality House, and I’ve not had much time for the net since then, either.
As a matter of fact, I’m not online now, in case the nurse wants to call and remind us of her next visit. But I’ll go online tonight and leave this for you to see.

Guess I’ll skim over the missing days since the last post.

June 29th, we are in Richmond at the HH. Tom’s prep begins that afternoon. He doesn’t do well with it and is in pain all day & night. Neither of us get much sleep.

June 30th At 5am, we sign into the surgical area, but they don’t take Tom to the back for another 40 minutes (We’re early.) 6:12am-9am: Tom is checked, rechecked, given an IV, pain meds, & had a few tests done. They are concerned but decide to go ahead, as his condition is serious and unlikely to improve without surgery.

9:30 am – 7:15pm A long, llllooonngg day of waiting. MCV has a neat system involving pagers & internal phones which allow the doctors & anesthesiologists to call me every so often and say how things are going. Thus I get phone calls every hour or two saying Tom’s condition is very good, all things considered. His surgery is much more complicated than even they had expected and it will be at least an hour or two more, if Tom continues to hold in there the way he is presently.

My one lunch break was at the Chick Filet in the hospital’s food court. There I happened to overhear one of the assistant surgeons (doctor student) talking to a colleague about the case while in line. I recognized him from that morning, but I don’t think he had seen me sitting in the corner of Tom’s room. He pretty much says the same thing I’d been told on the phone, but his version is much more detailed. I don’t mind as it was reassurring to hear him talk about how brilliant the lead surgeon is (by name), how well “the tough Scot” is doing, how they’ve established a rotation to keep people from getting too tired, how fascinating, complicated, & unusual this case is, how he hated to leave it but it looked like it was going to run into the evening before they could wrap up. (He had an afternoon appointment he couldn’t break.)

Tom’s vitals held rock steady throughout the whole business, which I regarded as a blessing from God in itself. He’s had trouble with anesthesia in much shorter procedures. I know you guys were praying. You made a BBIIGG difference, believe it.

At 7:15-ish Tom’s doctor tells me that the surgery is a success. They have cleared the scarring tissue, the deep abcess, the fistula, & more. His situation was bad but they believe they got it all. Its clear he’s had a building problem for many, many years. They’ll have to do a follow-up to undo some of the care they had to do today (bypasses to let his system heal) & make sure nothing grew back that shouldn’t, but they don’t really expect it will. In the long term, he may better than I’ve ever known him to be. Best guess is that some of this trouble has been building for decades, possible since his teen years.

At the end, they decided to wake him up very slowly, given how long he’d been under. I waited awhile longer, but at last the day & previous evenings with short & interrupted sleep took their toll on me. I was told he was fine but not to come to ICU (where he was sent) until afternoon.

So I went back to the hospitality house, thanked God, prayed, and feeling His grace upon me, slept like a log until noon, nearly. This was just as well as the doctor had suggested I not arrive until afternoon after they had finished the tests and adjustments.

July 1st

I found that Tom had his own room in ICU, which was cool. He had the best room in the ward actually, and the quietest, though he was in no shape to make full use of its amenities. They were obviously taking wonderful care of him, but…

Nothing can prepare you for seeing your beloved in ICU.

Nothing.

At his side there was a beeping, blinking Christmas tree of boxes, bottles, and IV bags. The automated air bed moved him around gently, like an oversized doll. On the other side a large machine kept track of his vitals and tended his breathing, supplementing as needed.

He wasn’t really awake, though he responded to his name and would try to squeeze my hand now and then.

The doctors and nurses, who checked on him every few minutes, said he was doing great! (considering) Making steady progress.

I stayed with him all afternoon and talked to him, though I knew he wouldn’t remember. They’d already told me he wouldn’t, because of the sedative/anesthetic chosen. He was unconcious so he wouldn’t be distressed by all the stuff attached to him, easing his recovery. Yes, he’d been awake that morning. Everything was on schedule, though he’d probably be in ICU a few days.

July 2nd -6th

Tom got steadily better as the days went by, despite small reverses. At one point they were very worried about his kidneys, but he recovered full functionality on his own very soon. Slowly, day by day, the collection of medical hardware thinned. Large machines were turned down and then off, one by one. Finally he was left with an oxygen line, some basic sensors & an IV with a couple of bags attached. By this time he was able to look at the card & bear I’d been allowed to bring with me, though regular conversations weren’t yet possible. Tom knew who he was. Tom knew who I was. He knew he’d had surgery & was getting better. That was it.



During this period they had to unplug the electronically-controlled sink across from him. It would keep running and running the whole time he remained under, unless they unplugged it. Worked fine after Tom woke up on the last day. The nurses muttered about quirky electronics. One of the doctors speculated about whether electronic sensors in too close a proximity might not trigger each other. Me, I think Tom just wanted a nice hot bath.



July 7th- 9th

Tom’s first day in a regular room was way too exciting. His first nurse left his rails down while caring for him, then startled him later by simply reaching for what she wanted to check without announcing she was back in the room, which caused him to fall out of bed. When I arrived, the doctor there had just put him back together, set his oxygen at a higher rate, and they were watching to make sure he wouldn’t have to be shipped back to ICU!

Those rails (and other settings on the ICU bed) proved a continuing issue for a couple of days, as they were a bit tricky to set properly. Most of the nurses on that floor weren’t familiar with the new ICU beds. Despite my geeky leanings, I couldn’t help but so much. I hadnt seen everything the nurses had done & I sure didn’t want to guess incorrectly.

Thankfully, by the evening of the 8th, Tom was well enough to move to a regular bed. Just the same, the doctors ordered ‘sitters’ who sat with him round the clock for the next few days. I also stayed each day, and gave the day shift decent breaks while I was there.

I could not stay with Tom at night, but I stayed close by at Hospitality House & swapped stories with the other patients & families at the facility. There was a small library I could borrow books from. The kitchen wasn’t well supplied, but there was often muffins & doughnuts for the mornings and cake at night. Sometimes I took the shuttles & escorts, but on nicer days I walked over the 7+ blocks to the main hospital. By now, I had settled into a sort of routine. Eat breakfast. Walk or ride over. Stay with Tom until early evening, grab a sandwich & head back. Enjoy cake, books, & sometimes a nice conversation. Wash, rinse, repeat.

On July 4th I found that the shuttle service was reduced again, so after munching a couple of banana nut muffins, I walked over to see Tom. When he was awake we looked at the weather channel & train travel docs together. Early that evening a local broadcast shared a musical program done by the Air Force band. After 7, I asked for an escort ride back to the House & called home to tell them how Tom was doing. (You can’t use cell phones in the hospital.) Later, I saw fireworks from the balcony of the HH on July 4th & watched “Independence Day” downstairs with the other residents. They had dinner for us that night. Spaghetti & holiday-themed cupcakes. Not bad.


July 10th- 12th and homecoming ~

I was supposed to be able to stay with Tom until his release, but an office worker botched the paperwork. It was possible to fix it by pestering the ward nurses but both Tom & I thought I should go home instead and check on our household in person, get a few things for him, make sure his room was ready etc. So that’s what we did. I ran home & back a couple of times, bringing his best robe, get well cards, & a few goodies. Sadly, after the 11th, Mom had to do the driving. I just suddenly seemed to run out steam & health all at once. Mom got Tom home safely at the end of an exciting day (Her car developed a flat halfway there. Hurray for AAA!) On the 12th I found I had presents & a few cards. Best present was the Lord of the Rings elven brooch. That will look awesome on my cloaks! We decided to save having a cake until Tom could enjoy it with us.

Settling back in ~ now

Tom is now home, recovering slowly but steadily. Not surprising its taking awhile when you consider how long he has been suffering from this (over 20 years!) Right now, He still requires a fair amount of care & isn’t supposed to go anywhere until he sees the doctor on Aug 1st.
I was trained to change his bandages & I do, often.

He spends a lot of time reading and watching movies.



MCV assigned a nurse to check up on him every so often & lend a hand. Nice lady.

As for me, I’m hanging out with Tom, filing paperwork, & re-reading the first 5 Harry Potter books before taking my turn with the new release. Becka pre-ordered it & says its better than Phoenix. I already know who the Half-Blood Prince is, however, and was surprised. My guess wasn’t even close!



We finally chose a nice a cake for my birthday the other evening. Its been too busy to make special a Myst cake this year, so I ended up with this.
Tis a very tasty cake. The car model turned out to be the right year too! Very cool

After Tom was definitely better, Mom and our young'uns checked out Water Country, USA. Sounded like they had some fun.


Soon as the weather cooperates, they will probably be back there, or else at Busch Gardens

So that’s where things are at. Tom has a great deal of healing to do, but he is making steady progress day by day. Please keep him in your prayers when you think of it. Thank you very much for the wonderful prayer support you’ve given us! We can’t thank you enough!

Embarkation

Sometimes life is like a log flume ride... feels like you are cruising along, slick and quick, but knowing the whole time a great big drop is coming up on you ~ fast. You know that many, many people have easily survived what you are about to do. You know the worst thing is the fear as the bottom drops out from under you for just that little bit. Like as not, you'll be fine at the end, just a little bit showered by the experience.. and yet... and yet...

That analogy came to me last week as we continued our peregrinations around Busch Gardens (havent worked in Water Country, USA yet). We're greatly enjoying ourselves over there, taking our time and doing things as we always wanted to do them. Current policy is to ride anything we really like several times before we move on, then concentrate on a new section. We finally finished the France/ New France section (NOW I remember why I grew up with such a rosy view of our Northern neighbors.) Currently we are concentrating on the German-themed sections of the park: Rhine, Germany, & Oktoberfest. We spent a good chunk of one afternoon riding the 'Rhine' riverboats up and down area waterways. Becka got some great pictures that day. Since I last posted we've seen street performers, a circus show, the Oktoberfest scene, a fairy tale skit, enjoyed some excellent treats, and realized we're gaining endurance & dramatically improving our physical conditioning with every day spent like this. Can't help but be happy about that, but then we come home and deal with the upcoming changes a bit more. We talk over plans yet again, pray, and try not to worry too much.

Tom's surgery date is now quite solid. No more last minute paper surprises or cold bugs are likely to intervene. Tom is definitely holding better again because he's been put on mondo antibiotics. He's been able to do most of the little maintenance jobs & bigger yardwork concerns here that were bugging him.

Once again I am expecting to be gone entirely for at least a few days after the 29th. The hospital's "Hospitality House" is making room for me to remain near Tom for a week, with reservations for more. Tom, however, doesn't think I'll need to stay that long this time. He felt for me spending the week in that chair in Williamsburg. Here I would get a whole room nearby for free, but that's at least partially because I'd be so much further away from home. Mom will be here, of course, and we have plenty of backup, but I will most likely at least make trips home to make sure everyone is ok. You can't do everything on the phone.

The latest good news is that we've also been cleared to be covered financially for the whole procedure & stay. This help has considerable eased Tom's mind & mine. All he has to do is concentrate on getting better. Praise God!

so... I may be gone the whole week and too busy afterwards for awhile to say much or I may be available in a few days with happy news about how well he's doing. We'll see how things go.

Please remember us in your prayers, those who pray.



Here's hoping for a nice, relaxed river cruise after the flume drop in real life.

Fun!

We went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg this week & confirmed that we do indeed have season tickets, which they call 'passports.' The prize was even better than we imagined! It covers not only free admission, but free parking, free events, MUCH reduced costs for drinks, mild discounts on all other purchases & the option (which we accepted) to add the Water Country USA park next door all season for only 30 bucks! WOW! Even the distance/gas/traffic isnt too bad for us. (I worried needlessly, as it turned out, that this that might have changed since the last time we were able to visit.)

My kids had a great time taking in the rides & shows we managed to see the first day. Since we are to be there often we decided to concentrate on one or two areas a day & on getting our 'walkies.' So we mostly stayed in England/Scotland. We hung out with the Clydesdales, checked the shops, & rode the train. England's 'Haunted Lighthouse' was rather fun & made me think of the Darkfall adventures. (The actors, which included Christopher Lloyd, were American, so I wondered if Boakes' games accounted for their current location.) We did dash over at the end of the day to France so William could ride the Le Mans cars, as he has heard about them for years, but had never been able to ride them before. I am happy to report the reality lived up to his expectations. He went through the lines several times to get more turns.

Everyone was very tired the next day, and since we have plans this weekend relating to Father's Day, we won't be back until next week, most likely. Can't make our plans too solidly as the hospital may call Tom in anytime now. I keep an overnight bag ready.

Tom makes out he's not too curious about what we got him, but Mom thinks she caught him weighing the bag. lol Hope he likes what we chose for him. I think he will, especially the shirts: William found a 'wolf' shirt that looks like Pepper pouting & we also got a lion one (Says "Lion of Judah" on it). We also chose a video game & some movies for his recuperation period. (I thought he'd be through surgery by now, so I set them aside in layaway.)

so..Tom is still hurting & but also still able to putter around the house. We're enjoying time with each other this Father's Day. (Getting ready to take some fresh pictures of the kids for my Father-in-law. We'll see him tomorrow.) The weather has cooled just enough that we are totally looking forward to our next day out.

We are still in heavy prayer about some needed changes & for Tom's healing, but these have been good days this last week. May there be many more.

The calm before the...?

Tom still hasn't had his major surgery yet, though we've seen plenty of that hospital. By now I am learning my way around Richmond's downtown again. Last hold up was a surprisingly rough cold bug that has slowed up the whole family for the last couple of weeks. They put Tom on *very* strong antibiotics & gave it "a few days" ..so now we wait to be called again. Should be anytime. For awhile we we've been feeling the strain of these medical adventures but, now, somehow, the depression is lifting. We feel...comforted, cheered even. This is going to be over soon.

We have some good stuff to look forward on the side as well. My Mom won tickets to the closest amusement park so we'll definitely be taking the kids over one of these days. It says 'season tickets,' but we haven't been there yet to have this verified by the park. Soon!

Tom has used the extra time to take care of some maintenance issues in my car & his so we'll be able to do the local park & museum thing again. We live within an hour of colonial Williamsburg, revolutionery Yorktown, & Jamestown as well as a number of museums. Every park here has some history attached to it. Here fun & education are always hand in hand. I really like that about Virginia. 'Tis cool.

Not doing as much for Mysterium as I have some years ~ but what I have got is coming out wonderfully well. Hope they like it.

As for me..well, I finished Grim Fandango with my family a week or so ago (wonderful game!) Finally finished Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door too & decided to put Myst IV away. No time for it. Instead I've moved on game-wise to two GBA titles I never got around to finishing before ~ Zelda: Oracle of Ages & Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. They travel well, obviously, which is a big plus. Even better, I am already past where I was stuck in the first one. Yay!

& I'm reading David Copperfield because I couldn't properly appreciate Rebecca's book report on what I remembered of the story. Its rather good, even by modern standards. Now I am not sure I ever read this particular novel before. I read Bleak House in high school & became acquainted with Nicholas Nickleby not much later. All of Dickens' titles are so famous, they all sound familiar.

We've now seen Star Wars 3 & pretty much agreed with Rand's assessment of it. Obi Wan & Yoda were even more wonderful than before. Anakin's acting skills improved a lot & Padme's a little. Felt sorry for both characters, but even more sorry for Jedi Mace Windu & the kids. As theatricals go, it was done well, but the story was so very sad.

Madasgascar I saw only yesterday, when everybody finally felt well enough to sit in a movie theater. It was cute but the frenetic motion of the characters detracted from the overall charm. All the animals seemed to be on fast-forward. But, hey, I'd have gone just to see the penguins. Becka started a story with me on the way home about how the evil Emporer penguins elite troops came to be ncarcerated in the New York zoo in the first place. :D

So, anyway, we've necessarily been taking it easy & waiting for developments. I still don't have time to play online, so my other drafts for this blog etc, will just have to wait until later.