Live In Joy

Every day of our life we experience both joy and sorrow.  Each day good things happen; beauty, pleasure, fulfillment, and maybe even excitement.  But every day of our life also holds disappointment, challenges, struggles, and perhaps even losses for us or our loved ones.

James 1:2 - “When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy” (NLT).  This is not easy for me.  Often I find, like Kay Warren says, "When trouble comes my way, my first thoughts aren’t usually about experiencing great joy.  My typical reaction is more along the lines of fear, panic, worry, and even hopelessness.  At the very least, I reserve the right to gripe and moan about my troubles."
When circumstances weigh you down, commit them to God and ask Him to help you trust Him, no matter what happens.  Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Joy comes from knowing God is in control of our lives.

Sunday 6/3 - I missed having my partner in crime (prayer) to sit with at Church.  When I got home, I had an early lunch, put on work clothes and headed outside.  I recruited Joe to help before he went to his 1:00 card game.  We tied up two trees that needed straightening out (hope no one thinks to do that to me) and trimmed some little branches off some tall trees.  Then I had Joe help me move the big stuff in the crawl space and under the deck that will become the sunroom.  Now the workers can do what they need to do.  We sorted through the stuff and  decided on what can be pitched.


I continued working hunched over in these two spaces for a few more hours.  Seen above, the crawl space all neat and clean.  The stuff stored under here had to be moved to this side wall, out of the way of where the heat ducts will be put in.  I also removed the heater and fan and sprayed more mold inhibitor around the former toilet leak.  And then I swept all the areas that had dirt, leaves, acorns and chipmunk poop, and sprayed other joists and floor boards that looked suspicious of mold growth.  Our industrial size de-humidifier is coming.


Once I had all the stuff out from under the porch (seen above) I raked all the leaves and acorns out from there also.  Bikes and kayaks had been moved to under the porch on the dinning side (seen left) as were some of the larger boards we wanted to keep.  Smaller lumber was stored in the garage, which is now looking quite messy.

Finally finished, I went to the barn to check on Amiga.  Jan, Cheryl and Judy were there so I chatted with them for a bit.  I rode Amiga bareback to see how she was doing, and was so disappointed that she was worse than when I had ridden her Friday.  I was feeling discouraged.  But when I got a message that Courtney had the energy to shower and shave, that brightened me back up.  Let the little things give you joy.

Monday 6/4 - I ran to the barn to move Amiga from the round pen into the pony pen, that was temporarily being used by Cash until the farrier got there.  Then I went to the gym for Ballroom Aerobics and a weight lifting session.  On the way home I set up chairs and blanket in preparation for Mirror Lake Blast.  

I grabbed a lunch for the road and hurried to Patty's to take her a few cards to deliver to Courtney.  From there I headed into town.  On impulse, I bought this dogwood (1/2 price because it was somewhat stressed) to replace one that did not survive transplanting.  The lady at Lowe's also showed me how to check just under the bark of trees that were questionably alive.  






I got groceries unloaded and cold stuff put away.  Then I checked my three questionable trees.  Two were definitely dead and the third close to it.  So I planted this new tree in place of one of the dead ones.




Aunt Patty arrived at Courtney and Mike's about 4:15.  Daniel had the guest room (where he had been staying) ready for her.

Aunt Patty gave Courtney a pedicure (what joy) and they all had fun laughing at the list of delirium quotes Mike, Patty and Britney divulged. 

Patty reported that Courtney had had a good day.  She said Courtney hadn’t thrown up for like a day and a half, and that she had been taking sips of water every so often (15 mins).  She had a little bit of apple juice later in the evening, and then felt a little sick, but she also said she felt hungry.

Once Joe got home from golf and I got done in the yard, we headed to Mirror Lake Blast. 

Shirley and her daughter Kris joined us.  The band was so-so until some of us gave them some song requests and then there was dancing after the second break.

Tuesday 6/5 - Coming back from walking the dog, one of the cats (it is getting difficult to tell them apart now that Monita is almost Stevie's size) was watching for us.

I started this blog post while thinking about Courtney and watching for construction workers.  I had been waiting on windows, door, and dehumidifier deliveries, which didn't come, but the load of lumber for the sunroom did.  I was feeling joy at the thought of this project finally getting started.

I greeted the builders and showed them where the sunroom would be going and they decided where to put the lumber.  Shortly after they had gotten everything unloaded, the heat and duct man came.  I showed and told him the design plan and he noted what materials would be needed to run two heat ducts under the sunroom floor. 

A little later Steve dropped by and we chatted about some design difficulties - floor height and adding a screen door with the new exterior door that was coming.  

Meanwhile, in Nashville, Patty was taking Courtney to two different doctor appointments. 

I got some household chores done, mostly in the kitchen and with the pets, before I was off to my 2-7 work shift.

A closer look at the kitty in the window, it's Stevie.

We were busy enough at the pool that time went quickly.  Joe and Patty came around 6:00 and we got the up-date on Courtney.  The two doctor appointments had been in the same complex and were right near the hospital.  The first appointment was to touch base with the surgery team that would later be removing the gall bladder.  The doctor she saw also removed the abdominal drain.  The second appointment was with the GI doctor for an evaluation. They scheduled her for a CT scan to determine Courtney's healing progress. 

I was too tired when I got home at 7:30 to accomplish anything else before going to bed.  I hit the hay early to read, but that didn't last long.

Wednesday 6/6 -  D-Day, thankyou WWII Vets.  It was actually demo day at our house.  All the deck boards had to come up so 3/4" plywood could be installed to make ready for the underlayment of cement-based backer board and then the tile that would be going on top of that.  

Carole picked me up for Lady's Club.  When we got there (quite early) we were recruited to sell 50/50 tickets.  I enjoyed meeting so many ladies in the process.  Ticket sales brought in a little over $700.00, so we did well.  When I got home from Lady's Club, the workers (Travis and Phil) were taking a lunch break.

I spent my afternoon working outside, and also conversed with Travis and Phil about a few things involving the sunroom.  Later I helped direct them through the house with the windows.  I had to lock both cats up while all the doors were open.  

Once released, the cats were quick to come out on the back porch to investigate the new windows.  

I weeded in front, tied up some branches on the Redbud that were bending way down over the flowers, and started spreading mulch. 

The guys packed up and left and I soon finished in the yard for the day.

I made a quick trip to the barn to check on Amiga.  She was no better or worse.  Jan and Karen were there and we discussed possibilities for treating Amiga.  I had the vet scheduled to come Tuesday.

It was a quiet evening at home, with Joe off playing cards.  Courtney had gotten her CT Scan but it was also reported that her feeding tube had become clogged, so Mike was going to try recommended flush instructions.

Bob Ross got to 

all three of them.

Thursday 6/7 - I was up too early and then took a little nap on the couch at 6am.  I do this more mornings than I wish.   The workers arrived at 8:30, just as I was leaving for work.  Daniel, who was home with Courtney, sent this photo later in the day.  Notice her feeding tube was still not hooked up because it was clogged.

Work went fast because I stayed busy with lots of customers.  Before I left I got news of Courtney.  The good news was that her CT scan showed that the stent can be removed.  So she is scheduled for her stent removal on June 12 at 8 am.  It will be an outpatient procedure done in the clinic area or it could be an overnight stay if they feel they need to monitor her better.  However, try as Mike did, Courtney's feeding tube remained clogged, so that issue needed resolving. 

Work on the sunroom was progressing.  The frames for the windows were nearing completion and the electricity had been run for outlets and ceiling fan, and the outside light was given it's own switch.  Here is a look at the day's progress.

Joe and I got ready for a night out and the workers packed up and left just before we did.  Then Stevie got loose when I opened the door to take this photo, but I quickly caught her.

We rode with Brian, Andy, and Rita, to the Carriage house where we all enjoyed dinner and an evening of entertainment by the "Rat Pack" impersonators of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Joey Bishop (video).  Wikipedia - "The Rat Pack is a term used by the media to refer to an informal group of entertainers centered on the Las Vegas casino scene" back in the early 50's.  Terry Henderson, seen in the photo, does karaoke at Reds, and was the main guy we came to hear sing.  They all put on a good show.

Friday 6/8 - I was not happy about taking an hour of my time to drive Joe to Bear Creek Golf Course, but did it.  Once home, Travis was here, with his son Jackson, who was down playing in the creek and had come to play with Maggie.  So I sent Maggie out back to join him, and supervised for awhile.







They got along great, had a ball together, and got quite wet and sandy/muddy.  Dogs and little boys go together like beer and popcorn.

While Maggie and Jackson played, I did go out front and finish spreading mulch around the corner of this bed.  I still need more mulch.

I had planned to hike so offered to take Jackson with Maggie and I.  I texted several photos back to his dad (Travis) who was busy installing our windows.

 

 

Both dog and boy got hot and tired coming up the 1/2 mile trek from the Seven Bridges trail back to our house.  Most of it was up hill and in the sun.  I let them take a rest in the shade, but I was in a hurry to get back because Travis had texted that a cat (Stevie I was sure) had gotten loose when they were bringing a window across (through the house as I had suggested they do) from one porch to the other.

The workers had made great progress while we were hiking.  I proceeded to spend at least 30 minutes looking for Stevie.  I eventually found her in the crawl space where I had noticed the door had not gotten closed when the electrician was here.

Maggie and Jackson had been back in the creek playing, but I could see that Maggie was getting tired so I told Jackson I was going to bring her around front to rest while I worked.  I moved my wheelbarrow from down back to in front and Jackson came running to say Maggie was stuck.

She was on the other side of the creek when I got there but soon came across.  But she seemed 'off' in some way.  I thought maybe she was just tired.  Well, Jackson wanted to keep 'hangin' with me and offered to help, so I gave him a job.  Weed pulling was not his thing but he did great at trimming back the daffodils.

I got good news from Joe that finally, exactly six weeks to the day, our SUV was done.  So Frank drove him to Tennessee Tech to get the SUV.  Joy!

Below, a photo of the day's progress.  The windows were all installed and ready for final framing.  More joy!

I was able to finish out in front without interruption, enjoying some alone time.  Walking the dog after dinner, I noticed her tail did not go up like usual.  It remained down and she had troubles squatting to poop.  She also did not want to get up on the bench which she usually does when I bring in the bird feeders.  I wondered if her tail and legs had been hurt, possibly Jackson had tried to pull her across the creek when he thought she was stuck on the other side?



Oh the joys and disappointments in life.

Earlier in the day Mike had taken Courtney to the ER to resolve the clogged feeding tube issue, since it had been clogged during a flush on Tuesday night.  At the time I went to bed, Courtney was being pumped with fluids by IV and waiting on the GI doctors to order nutrition either by PICC or a new feeding tube.

Saturday 6/9 - I messaged Courtney at 7:30 and she answered right away.  She was still in ER but had been moved to room C-46 which is a longer-term room that's quieter. 

Hobo investigating Joe when he was out sunning.  Maggie has gotten used to the cat and leaves her alone (I think that she's a girl).

I took some more photos of the sunroom, blogged, did laundry, and cleaned the kitchen, but never made it out into the yard to work.

The sunroom has two top sliding windows at the end and along the side there are two full length windows in the middle and two bottom crank out windows on each side.

I left for work early and first went to the barn to check on Amiga.  Jan was hanging an angel wreath on Bahim's stall door.  He had died overnight in his stall the night before.  It was so sad and we all felt so bad for Karen who has cared for her horse above and beyond what most would have done.  I think it was cancer that got him in the end.  Poor old boy.  He will be dearly missed.

Amiga walked well while bringing her in from the pasture so I rode her to see how she felt.  I was so glad, filled with joy actually, that she was not favoring her right leg hardly at all. We went all the way to the bean field.  I had to hustle when I got back to the barn so that I could get to work on time.

It was a fun, busy day at the pool, and my shift went fast.  Courtney had been moved into a room on the 9th floor.  She was getting lots of fluids by IV but still no nutrition.  Her spirits were good and I think she was actually getting a little bored.  She did have a visitor from work drop in to see her.

Maggie's tail and the stiffness in her back legs did not seem any better.