Ready for Something Different

I don't think I will ever take good health for granted again. I'm so ready to go back to one doctor and two dentist visits a year.  I'm getting ready for my next oral surgery, and I hope this implant will be a keeper. My bicycle accident was over a year ago, and I never thought I would still be working on replacing the teeth I lost.  Losing my front teeth has really shaken up my psyche. I just don't recognize the old lady in the mirror.

I'm just so ready to move on from this accident.  I guess I have more to learn from it -- that's why it is hanging around. I recently completed the bible study by Beth Moore, called Breaking Free.  It really changed how I think and feel about God.  I don't want to lose the peace I have found.  I'm glad that I have that peace because our world has been shaken:

My mom was diagnosed with secondary leukemia. This is her second bout with cancer and this time it just feels so much more life threatening. Some days I am so overwhelmed with worry about all the things I really have no control over.  That's when it is time to pull out my list of what I know to be true.  I do think that the Truth does set you free.  It is amazing to me how many ways you can apply the principles of truth and grace.  -- I think that is another post.

So I guess I'm ready for something besides medical issues, but I don't see that happening in the next 6 months so I'm just looking to learn whatever I can, hopefully with humility.  I keep waiting for a different season to start -- kind of like waiting for Spring, but instead, I think I'm going to have to make time for something different.  I still not sure how that is going to happen.

Nate's Meme

The instructions:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The questions and my answers:
1. What is your first name? Nathan
2. What is your favorite food? cinnamon
3. What high school did you go to? Master's Academy
4. What is your favorite color? Forest Green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Jessica Alba
6. Favorite drink? Diet Pepsi
7. Dream vacation? Istanbul
8. Favorite dessert? Reese's Peanut Butter Sundae
9. What you wanted to be when you grow up? Dad
10. What do you love most in life? Jesus
11. One Word to describe you? Tenacious
12. Your flickr name? nate55oh

Weekend Trip

We just had a great weekend trip with the family. Our kids are getting to the age where we can take them places and we have fun all together. Late on Friday night, we drove to DC and we stayed in a great hotel. N got a great deal at a 5 star hotel. They gave the kids little backpacks with toys, a cup, and some candy. We took the cup to the bar the next afternoon, and they filled it with Shirley Temples. G didn't like it, but C sucked the cup dry and then pulled the lid off to eat the cherries. We drove to see baby X and brought lunch to the happy parents. Everyone is doing well. We had dinner at our favorite restaurant and went to bed early. Sunday morning we got up before dawn and took the metro to the Mall. N ran 10 miles in the Cherry Blossom Festival Race. He finished feeling better than he did when he ran the 7 miles (quarter marathon). He has learned so much about training in the past 3 months. It is exciting for me to watch him figure out this body challenge, especially when we feel so body challenged as we hit our mid 30's. We all arrived home tired and content. It was such a great weekend.

I've been reading Breaking Free by Beth Moore. I am learning so much, and it has been so good. It is interesting that the more progress I seem to make with the book and the more I feel closer to the Lord, the more I also battle thoughts of being a complete failure. I even picked a fight with N one night for really no reason. Once I talked to N about it (after the fight), and he wondered if it was a spiritual attack, the thoughts have not been nearly so difficult to manage. They've simply disappeared. I keep thinking thoughts that I know to be true. Keeping thoughts in line is just an on-going battle. Hence the title of this blog ...

Congratulations to Beth

My sister, Beth, is now officially a RN!!!!

Way to go!!!

Happy Family Time

I have been thinking of the times that I spent with my family as a kid, and what I enjoyed doing as well as what are some new things that I would like to do with my kids. I'm talking about memory makers: I have lots of memories of my family all being in the kitchen cooking, whether it was dinner or a Christmas Eve banquet. I have memories of wrestling with my brother and Dad. Happy Memories. Does anyone want to share some of their favorite memories with either their grandparents, parents, children or grand children?

Regrets

My grandma passed away this past Monday, and I leave tomorrow to go to the funeral. She was in her 80s, and she wasn't sick as far as I know. I wasn't expecting her to die, and I am trying to let myself grieve her passing. I wasn't particularly close to her, but I feel like that there was unfinished business. It is little things like she never met my son because we live so far apart, and I meant to send some pictures that I haven't sent yet. As everyone is, she could be kind or cruel. There were misunderstandings in the family, not between her and me, but among others. I regret that she died without those relationships being mended. Is it odd to regret what you have no control over?