The hits just keep on coming . . .

Just when you think things are going to settle down, think again! I know, I live it!

Monday, my children went to their Grandmother's house because we decided that she would enjoy DirectTV. She loves the Western channel and TCM, so we knew that would be a nice thing for her to have. My sons arrive and she's on a rampage to get out of the house. I'm telling you, this woman can't stand to be in her home for very long. She wants to go out to eat at McD's all the time and talk to all the people. It's rather disconserting because this particiular McD's is the 2nd busiest in our state and there are A LOT of transients that come in there. Hitchhikers abound in this particular restaurant and she tells them everything! We have even heard her telling perfect strangers exactly where she lives! Very frightening. Anyway, they tell her, "No, Grandma. We need to wait until after the TV guy gets here and finishes installing everything. We have to be here for him." He arrives and she again wants to leave the house, NOW! They tell her again that they have to wait until he finishes. My boys tell me she was just rushing around and wanting to leave RIGHT NOW! She was angry and having kind of a temper tantrum.

During all this, I return a phone call to my oldest son. We are talking and I hear him say, "Are you all right, Grandma?" in a very frantic tone. Then I hear him telling his younger brother not to move her. Oh, man. I'm trying to find out what happened and my son comes back on the line and says, "Mom, Grandma fell. We shouldn't move her, right?" Right! I tell him to call 911 immediately and not to move her. The EMT's arrived in 2 minutes, which was really amazing. They stabilize her and my son goes by ambulance to the nearest hospital - 30 minutes away - while my youngest stays and get the TV installer to finish up. X-rays are done and guess what? Yep - you got it - she broke her hip!

I guess what happened is she was just determined to go to McD's and so was going out to the truck to get her stuff in there. She was rushing around and turned around too quickly, tripped and fell in the gravel driveway. Remember, she's 85. She shouldn't be rushing anywhere. She wouldn't listen to my son's about the fact that they had to wait - she wanted to go NOW! I'm telling you, I have my tickets for Crazytown and I'm going to use them if someone doesn't stop me!

So - she is in the hospital - had her surgery on Tuesday (yesterday) and called my hubby today and wants to come home NOW!! Do you see a pattern here? *SIGH* However, she will be going to a rehabilitation facility after the hospital. She needs therapy and will need help with taking care of herself. The fact that I'm disabled from back and knee issues and my hubby just had open heart surgery a little over a year ago, does not make us candidates to take care of her. We could never bathe her or pick her up if she fell. Plus, we have no place for her here. Her home has stairs and one bedroom, so that's out, too. I know she's going to have a fit when she's told she will be going there. Frankly, I don't plan on being there when she's told. She will stay there at least 2 weeks and then we will see how she's doing. We are just taking this one day at a time, basically.

I don't think this would be so hard on us if we hadn't been through so much in the past 4 years. My cancer & 2 surgeries and radiation; hubby's cancer & surgery; hubby's open heart sugery; father-in-law going into the VA extended living center; packing up their home; moving her things to the smaller place; plus all the other little things we all have to deal with on a daily basis. We are just exhausted - depleted - physically, mentally and emotionally. It seems like we get through one thing only to be dealing with some major life-altering situation.

I know that God is in control. In fact, I couldn't have gotten through all these things without Him, but I feel so tired! I know that the Lord "has plans for my life" (Jeremiah 29:11); I know all these things, but right now, I'm just tired. My hubby feels the same way. He looks so very tired. He's not sleeping well and all this has been very hard on him. I feel very concerned about what this is doing to him, too.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated. I know I've share here before that my mother-in-law has nothing but scorn for the Lord and those who believe in Him. This is hard. She always tells me how much she appreciates all I do for her - that I take wonderful care of her - that I'm good to her. Where does she think I get the love to do all this? From Jesus! He gives me the love and care to share with her, even when my flesh doesn't feel like it. I wonder if she will ever understand that? Probably not.

Thanks for letting me share all this with you. We will go on - we will take care of her - we will do what we need to do for her. We will, with God's strength, do what He calls us to do in all areas of our lives. Just pray that we will be refreshed by the Lord so we can go on. We are so terribly exhausted.

God bless you - Julie

It's Out!!

The new Summer issue of "The Old Schoolhouse" is out and on the newsstands - with my article in it! I was so excited to see it! I had picked up my mail before going to physical therapy and had to take it in to show all the therapists! LOL

Here's what the front cover of the magazine looks like:

I'm so happy with how it came out, although, I was shocked at how large a picture they put in of my hubby and I! LOL

Mainly, I hoping that my article will encourage others who have gone through illness or other hardships while homeschooling. I give the Lord all the credit for getting us through the hard times. Believe me when I tell you, without Jesus by my side, I couldn't have done it. That's the truth, plain and simple. Jesus gives me my strength and my confidence that I can make it through each and every trial that comes my way.

I have also updated my website and hope that you will visit me. Please sign the guest book while you're there, too! I'd love to hear from you!

www.JulieDanielson.com

Until next time, God bless you - Julie

Graduation - Part II

Here's the Graduate! Cody wore his tux to the Graduation and looked quite handsome, in my humble opinion.


We had 5 cakes for the reception (which turned out to be way too much, but who knew?) and this was the one that was so special. They turned a photo of the Graduates into sugar and put on top of the cake. Isn't that amazing? Such a beautiful cake and the centerpiece of the food area.



Here I am trying to gain my composure. I had been okay until I looked at my son and he had tears streaming down his face. That did me in. I had to stand there for a few minutes and then I could speak again. My hubby was no help. If you look closely, you'll see the tears in his eyes, too.

Here we are handing him his diploma and his tassel. I got a beautiful diploma made and all the Graduates received a tassel. It was a very special moment.

Cody performed at the Graduation. Here he is with my other son, Shane, on the left and Cody's best friend, Eric, on the right. They did two songs and Cody sang for one of them.

Cody picking out his solo here.

Another pickin' picture. :o)

Here's the proud parents all smiles before the Graduation. I really like this picture of my hubby and me. I plan on printing it out and framing it. I think my hubby is such a handsome guy!

Here's Cody and his best friend, Eric, who happens to be the son of . . . .

my best friend, Kym. Here we are after the Graduation. I was so happy that she was there to share in my joy as I graduated my last child. She was a huge part of my homeschooling adventure. I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful friend.


Here's the family after the Graduation. That's me, Cody, my husband's Mother, my hubby, and my oldest son, Shane. We had a hard time getting pictures of Grandma as she kept talking about cake and wanted to get to the reception hall! LOL

I hope you enjoyed seeing these pictures. The Graduation was a lot of work to put together, but it came out so beautifully and it was definitely worth all the work.

My homeschool journey is now at an end, however, I am going to still be a part of the homeschool community. It was the greatest thing I ever did or will ever do. As I said as I spoke at the Graduation, "I always said that I would be a success if, when my children are adults, they both loved the Lord, Jesus Christ, and followed Him with all their hearts. I can honestly say that as I stand here today, I am success." Homeschooling gave me the opportunity to have the Lord in our lives every day and allowed my children to get to know Him on a very intimate basis. I'm very thankful for the past 10 years of homeschooling. It made our family better and made us all closer to the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for leading us to homeschooling.

God bless you - Julie

Graduation - Part I

As promised, here are the graduation photos from my son's homeschool Graduation. This first photo is the church sanctuary. We had to set up the morning of the Graduation as they had a function in the church the night before. All hands were on deck at 9:00 that morning. We had to move more chairs into the sanctuary to accommodate all the guests that were coming. We also had to move things from the stage area.

Thank goodness for my friend, Rose (shown here pointing), who was so organized about getting the sanctuary done. She wrote down where all the chairs came from and how many there were so we could return things to their proper place after the Graduation. She really was my right hand buddy throughout the Graduation preparation!

Here's Cody getting his mike all set up for that night when he played his mandolin and sang. His friend, Josh, who was also graduating is an old pro at setting things up electronically as he's been doing it for his youth group for years.

Here's a picture of the reception hall after it was decorated. The class colors were Royal Blue and Gold. We were very blessed to find those colors at the local party store and found some really nice things. I bought two air tanks so we could fill the balloons for the reception. Hint: If you do this, get some of the gel to put in the balloons before the air (I got mine from Oriental Trading) as this will keep the balloons flying high for days and days! We wanted them to stay nice for the reception that night.

Here's another shot of the reception room. One of the lades made gold table runners from beautiful, gold fabric. They really set the tables off nicely and gave them that extra touch.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the Graduation prep pictures. Stay tuned to see the pictures from the Graduation.

God bless you - Julie

Just a quick note

I finally got all my pictures uploaded to my computer and wanted to share this one photo real quick with you. This is the graduation class of 2009 for our homeschool group. Aren't they a handsome, good looking group? More importantly, everyone of them knows and loves the Lord. More pictures as soon as I can!

God bless you - Julie

Just getting something off my chest. . .

Okay, I hope this doesn't sound petty or mean, but I have to share what my mil did today with my clothes. I have been SO behind in my laundry because I've been helping pack up her house and get things done over there (without her, I might add). Finally, today, I was able to take some time and get some laundry started. I had one load in the washer and another in the dryer and then went off to my physical therapy appointment. While I was gone, my mil evidently had a complete fit because she wanted to do some laundry - NOW. So, out went my clothes into a basket from the dryer and the other load into the dryer. Then that load ended up in the basket on top of the other load of clothes. I get home and find all these clothes jammed into a laundry basket and her clothes still in the washer - HOURS later. Mind you - she had 6 things - yes, SIX things - in the washer; 4 pair of underwear, a bra and a pair of pants. I had to redo most of my clothes because they were so horribly wrinkled. I was NOT happy. I was further unhappy to find that this urgent load of laundry was still sitting in the washer. I took a deep breath and explained to my family that they must not let her do this again. She will have to check with me before using my washer and dryer. Period. I don't want to sound mean or cruel, but this so disrupts my life and I was so upset about the state of our clothes and having to redo so many of them. Some were so wrinkled, I'm going to have to iron them. Listen, people, I don't do ironing. I did enough at our dry-cleaners/laundromat to last me 10 lifetimes. Plus, every time we pull out a load from the dryer, she goes on and on about how I've stuffed too many clothes in the washer. I have an extra large washer, which she isn't used to, so she's comparing my loads to a normal size washer. It's a dramatic scene every time and we're all a little tired of it. *huge sigh*

I'm really trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus with her - even though she tells me how I'm a fool for believing in my Savior - but some days, like today, it's really hard. There were other issues today, but my laundry being massacred was the real low point for me. I'm barely hanging on getting my necessary chores done for my family and to have to redo them just really brought me down. There will be much prayer and asking for strength and patience from my sweet Lord tonight and in the morning. Tomorrow is a new day and I will need a new attitude and new strength to go along with it.

Her house still is not completely packed up. Every day I say this will be the last day and we'll be done, but I've greatly underestimated the time it takes to pack dishes (yes, there are still MORE dishes to be packed) and so I think realistically, it's going to take us another 2-3 days to finish this all up. I can't tell you how happy I'll be to have it all done!

Thank you so much for your sweet comments in my last post. It's so good to know I have friends out there who understand and are praying for me and my family. We need it!

God bless you! Love, Julie

Total and Utter Exhaustion

Oh, dear friends, I can't tell you how exhausted I am - physically and mentally. Just ready to drop. I asked my hubby this morning, "Is it possible to die from being so tired?". I know this sounds dramatic, but it's exactly how I am feeling. What's happening, you ask, that I'm feeling this way? Let me enlighten you.

First we had my son's high school graduation that I was in charge of. I had done this before so I thought it would be a cake walk. Not so. I had a low budget, no supplies from years past, and a couple of parents who made it their mission to make my life very difficult. However, we got through this and the Graduation was absolutely gorgeous (pictures soon, I promise!). During all this, my step father-in-law was put into the VA nursing home and we found ourselves taking care of my mother-in-law who is 84 years old. So, the decision has been made to move her here to our home as soon as possible. This requires us to pack up her home and get things moved here. This is a woman who is a collector. A dish collector, to be exact. I have packed dishes, dishes and more dishes and, believe it or not, there are still some dishes left to pack! We don't want her to have to make the hard choice of what to keep or get rid of right now. She has enough emotional stress right now and her life is not what it was a month ago. We are letting her deal with all that first and maybe in the Fall, she will feel more capable of going through all these dishes and making decisions. I know how stressed out I am and it wasn't my husband who was put into a nursing home and it's not me who is having to leave my home. I am trying to make this as easy on her as possible, but it's making it harder on me because I'm bearing the stress of it all right now. However, this too shall pass and soon we can all take a break and rest (I hope!).

In the middle of all this, we moved the shed that she had in her backyard to our yard. She wanted me to take it and make an art studio out of it for myself! Oh, my! This is really a dream come true! The moving of the shed was really quite easy - I thought this would be the difficult part - but the hard part has been in the electrical wiring of it. We asked a friend of ours to do the wiring but he was trying to be nice and help out a guy from his church that is out of work and needs money and suggested we use this man. HUGE mistake! This man is so crooked that our bill ended up being 3 times what it should have been. He padded the bill so much, it's laughable that he even thought we would fall for it! He charged us for wire he didn't use and then charged us for two outlets that were all ready in the building! He also charged us over $100.00 more to rent the trench digger than it actually cost to rent from Home Depot! To top this off, he charged us for 25 hours of labor when he actually worked about 10 hours. He tore up the insulation in the building when he said he wouldn't, and the zinger of all zingers, the wiring doesn't even work! There is a short somewhere because when we plug something in to use it, it trips the breaker - so it doesn't even work!! Yes, he had a straight face when he handed us this bill - and he actually thought we would pay it! So now, we have this new problem to deal with. Our friend, who recommended him, is feeling horrible about this but it's not his fault. I do have to say, though, I am actually afraid of this man who did the electrical work. I'm usually not afraid of people, but I am of this man. I didn't feel good about him when I met him (never a good sign) but now I'm just downright afraid! Until this is resolved, I will be looking over my shoulder and sleeping with one eye open, believe me.

I'm hoping we will have the house completely packed up tomorrow. That will be such a relief. I will have a mess to deal with in my own home, but that's something easier for me to handle. I can take a break when I need to rest my back and knees and I won't feel the pressure to get it all done quickly. I can take my time. I've tried to stay seated as much as possible while packing things because of my knees and back, but it's not always possible, nor is it always the most comfortable position. I'm having to take pain meds more often right now just to get through the days and nights.

I feel like I've done nothing but complain in this post. I hope it hasn't come off that way. I just wanted to let you know where I've been and what's happening. Soon, I will have happier things to report and will also have lots and lots of pictures to share of the Graduation and other things.

Just keep me in your prayers! So much is happening, I feel the need to hide under the wings of the Lord and allow Him to shelter me and give me strength. He has done that and more! I'm so glad I have the Lord, Jesus, to run to. Honestly, I couldn't do all this without Him - and I don't have to! Praise God!

God bless you - Julie