Update on Dad: First Knee Surgery

Dad's surgery went well yesterday. This is the update I received via text message from my mom yesterday:

"Greg is out of surgery and in recovery. He will be in a lot of pain. There is a lot of damage to his cartilage. They did a lot of clean up to his knee. They also took off extra bone. He will need a knee replacement at some point. As soon as six months, or it could be years. It will depend on him. Recovery and pain will be a factor in that decision. He might come home tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers."

Since that time I learned that dad said that he "was in the most pain he could ever remember." They have him on a lot of pain meds but the pain is still extreme.

Today Dad text messaged me and said he was on his way home. I asked him how the pain was and he replied "Ouch! Tolerable."

Thank you for your continued prayers. We greatly appreciate your support. God is doing great things. We will trust in Him.

My New Mommymobile

I started to title this post "Until You are Smashed...I Will Love You". But then I started thinking about how bad that would be if Brandon or someone else I love died in a car accident in the near future. So instead we shall just call this post "True Love is Hard to Find". (Or feel free to make up something else in your mind as equally as cheezy.)

When my van got smashed back in September I was sad because, well, I liked my van. We had a connection and things just worked for us. After driving a rental car for over a month and then driving Dad’s truck for a few days we finally got our check from the insurance company.

We found a van that seemed to be a great deal on Craig’s List and bought it. I tried to love this van as I did my last.

 Not trying to replace the feelings for the old one. No, those would stay forever but rather making room for the new within my heart. But, the more I spent time with this new vehicle I saw its true character come out. It was ugly. I have hope for this vehicle in someone else’s life but our lives just did not mesh well. The relationship just could not be saved; especially after my new true love entered the picture. The van I am now driving brings out the best in me. We just get each other. I have hopes that we will have even stronger bonds that my first sweet van.

The blinker has a beautiful tone, the ride is smooth, the gadgets work, there is space for the back seat to be functional, I can haul stuff in the back, the mileage is low, and the heater is hot and the AC is cold. The gas is…well let’s just not go there. I don’t care what car you have, if it takes gas your budget is toast.

I hope to sport this mommymobile for quite some time. That is, of course, if I can avoid those other cars on the road that don’t play nice.

In other breaking news:

2002 KIA SADONA FOR SALE

BEAUTIFUL VAN

LOW MILEAGE

I'M SURE IT WILL BE GREAT FOR YOUR FAMILY! :)

P.S. I sincerly apologize to those of you who recieve this by email and are commanded to commit. Commit people! Commit to our blog! Obviously I didn't write that sentence and as soon as I can get the person who did to tell me how change it I will stop commanding you to commit and will kindly ask you to comment. But feel free to commit too, if you wanna. :)

My Experience with Toilet Repair

The toilet has been broken in Brandon and I’s bathroom for some time now. Not all the way broken, just broken enough to only flush occasionally. The problem was that it took hours to fill the tank so many times it didn’t have the necessary means to flush. Anyhow, after talking it over with my dad it was concluded that the float thingy part needed to be replaced. A job that was certainly simple enough for this housewife. Why wait for someone else to do the job that needs done when you can most likely figure it out? Well, I now have the answer to that.

It all started as a simple “I can do this attitude”. I made the purchase with confidence. Only $9.99 and my problems would be solved! Upon coming home I placed the new part on the back of the toilet and let it set for a few days. No one took the bait and fixed the toilet so I took a few deep breaths, gave myself a pep talk and proceeded to get the camera. (An important tool in toilet fixing.) I would photograph my time and give all other women out there with broken toilets easy to follow picture instructions on the simplicity of toilet repair. This in turn would give them the needed boost in confidence to fix the toilets in their own homes.

It didn’t take long for me to ditch the picture of each step idea. Have you ever tried to take pictures without a tripod of yourself doing repairs? It’s not easy especially when your hands are wet. I thought just a few pictures would suffice when showing my success. One of the first steps in toilet repair is to empty the tank. Of course flushing the toilet and turning off the water accomplishes most of this but then you have to sponge out the rest with a bucket and a rag. I know this is probably a plumbing impossibility but I just kept thinking backwash. What if some of the soiled toilet water had backwashed into the tank?! Blah! Anyways, after emptying the non-backwashed tank you remove this thingy-ma-jig, screw on that dilly whopper, and ta da the new part is in! It took me longer than it might have taken a professional for the above technical steps but keep in mind this was my first dance with toilet repair and I did accomplished the job. Well, that part of the job.  

Now, of course the toilet needs water in order to run. And that is where I found the answer to my question stated at the beginning of this post. “Why wait for someone else to do the job that needs done when you can most likely figure it out?” BECAUSE YOU MOST LIKELY CANNOT FIGURE IT OUT AND INSTEAD OF HAVING A TOILET THAT IS ONLY BROKEN PART OF THE WAY NOW YOU HAVE A TOILET THAT IS BROKEN THE WHOLE WAY!

So the apparent last step in toilet repair is to post a sign on the toilet stating “TOILET NOT FUNCTIONING AT ALL PLEASE HOLD IT UNITL A LATER DATE. Thanks, Mngt wanna-be.” Now call your daddy with all bargaining chips on the table. “Hey Dad, I will make you a yummy hot meal if you come fix my toilet.”

And that my friend is my official review and encouragement to all people in need of toilet repair. :)