What should I say?

Blogging has been on my mind a lot... I visit my page at least once a day, but I can't seem to think of anything interesting to write about. So... I think I'll just write about things as they sort of pop into my head (at least for a few minutes).

I hope Tricky is able to go to sleep without me kneeling at her bedside. I feel bad for telling her I'll be right back when I know I will only return once she's asleep.

I dread meeting with a certain client tomorrow.

I hope Richard gets home from his bar meeting safely. He was elected President tonight!

The kids had their Happy Birthday Jesus party at school today. Anyone who knows me knows I can't stand that sentiment. Along with all the commercialism of the holiday season, making birthday cakes and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus seem to trivialize one of the holiest of holidays by making it seem like any other birthday. I just don't like it.

This year, we're doing our decorating in accordance with the teachings of our Church. We are celebrating Advent this year. We'll put up the tree on Christmas Eve day. It is truly making me feel the importance of the birth of Christ. I'll be in the Christmas spirit on Christmas Eve - for now, I'm in the Advent spirit.

That said, I'm mailing out 60 Christmas cards tomorrow. I hope...

Speaking of things I need to do -
Buy the items I chose to donate to the local battered women's shelter
Clean off my desk
Box up the presents for the relatives we won't see this Christmas and mail them before Saturday
Ask Nonnie what I can bring for Christmas Day dinner
Practice Dona Nobis Pacem with the kids
Print and frame pictures from Tricky's first 2 years
Finish printing calendars (Michele... the printing isn't working like I thought it would... sorry)
Mentally prepare for the office outing on Friday
Help Casey with her piano work
Finish the pile of laundry

I wonder how my father-in-law is doing today. I wonder how my mother-in-law is doing today. I never updated my blog with what has transpired with my husband's father. He has no brain stem injury. He is still on life support. The doctors are trying to figure out what is wrong - what is causing him to have no voluntary muscle control (and no reaction to stimulus). I mean, there is something going on other than the injuries directly sustained by his accident. Please pray for him, and for my mother-in-law, and for my husband and his three brothers.

Okay, I guess that's enough. I'm going to cozy up in bed and watch a movie on Netflix On Demand while awaiting my love's return home. (By the way, we watched Planet B-boy on Netflix last night. For a documentary about an international breakdancing competition, I was pleasantly surprised. I actually expected I'd fall asleep, but I had fun - and Richard had the funniest little boy grin on his face during the entire movie.)

Wordless Wednesday - At the Science Museum

Tricky's 2nd Birthday

My little Tricky turned 2 yesterday. Unfortunately, we received some very sad news about her grandfather so festivities were absent. I'm hopeful that we may celebrate her passage into little-girlhood within the next couple of days.

Until then... Happy Birthday little one!!!

My absence explained...

Two weeks ago today, my father-in-law("FIL") had one of those freak accidents you hear of from time to time. He was standing on a flat carport, cutting limbs from a tree. A particularly large limb he was cutting must have been under a lot of tension. When he cut that limb, it snapped and hit him in the face. A neighbor who was outside heard the crack and turned to see my FIL holding his hands to his face. Blood was everywhere. Then, probably because he was disoriented, my FIL fell headlong from the carport onto the concrete below. The neighbor, who is an EMT and his wife, a nurse, ran over to help my FIL.

He was taken to a local hospital but quickly transported to a larger, better-equipped facility. He had multiple skull fractures, including his eye sockets; according to a CT scan, he did have some brain damage, although they said it was only to the prefrontal cortex (meaning that he wouldn't lose any motor skills, but may lose the ability to schedule and coordinate things and may not be able to experience joy); and he had broken a few ribs completely through.

We drove the 12+ hours out to Louisiana that Thursday. We were here until the following Tuesday morning. Richard and I (along with his mom, his brothers, and their wives) saw my FIL in ICU at the hospital. At first, he was intubated and unresponsive, but soon he became very responsive (kicking, pulling out the ventilator tube), he also talked to us some, albeit just a couple of words at a time. Once we left on Tuesday, we heard that my FIL was becoming disoriented, not recognizing people, etc.

My family and I went on, as planned, to Florida for Thanksgiving and then returned home on Sunday. On Monday, my FIL had to be reintubated because his oxygen levels had dropped some. On Tuesday night, my MIL called and said that he had a seizure and the doctors believed he may have had a stroke. Then yesterday, Richard called me and told me that the doctors believe my FIL was brain dead.

We drove all night out to Louisiana again where we are now. Last night, the doctors ran a test and found he did have some brain activity, but it's very minimal. He'll never be able to breathe on his own - or function in any sort of way. Knowing what my FIL would have wanted, they will probably let him go within the next couple of days.

It's so sad...so surreal. He was fine two weeks ago and now, for all intents and purposes, he's gone.

Please pray for our family...