My 5 day Thanksgiving journey

So, beginning around 8pm Tuesday night and ending 11pm Sunday night my journey covered 1400miles. It's a great thing to be thankful for -- a reliable car. With the addition of an oil change a headlight change and a break light change the journey was a complete success. Yeah God.. and special shout out to the charge nurse that let me sneak out for the lights from Advance auto before they closed prior to the trip. Ah the joys of being single -- is flexibility to attempt to get so much in during one trip. This could become my thanks list. Thanks to God for the great memories and the protection on the road. Thanks to everyone who prayed. Thanks to family and friends who gave me warm beds for free and a special thanks to my family for the three --- count them, because I know you are jealous ---- THREE THANKSGIVING MEALS. (Aunt Sue, Uncle Lynn, Teri, Rachel & Reatha you all rock as cooks and as meal planners-- I got ham, smoked chicken, turkey, pork and smoked duck during my meals and unbelievably the only dish repeated was the mashed potatoes -- a must for thanksgiving. I got several new ideas for vegetables --thanks again.)

The best part was being together and creating memories.
I got to play games including twister and spoons in Virginia. Check out my previous blog.
In Philadelphia I learned a few tricks in Happy Feet, the game boy addition, with my youngest nephew Walker, as well as learned how creative my oldest nephew is. Stay away from Justin's personally illustrated encyclopedia of the weird -or one of those monsters will get you. And learn that I am a bad driver especially of remote control cars per my middle nephew Josh. And of SUVs in city traffic, per my brother who swears a man jumped back on the curved sidewalk as I reverted into Boston type driving while getting through a mess of Black Friday traffic.
In Harrisburg I learned how to make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. Mine was the mini sized house. (It suited me) While I think I succeeded at making a dog, my house left a lot to be desired, as did the adjourning dog house. I also got a chance to see cousins I haven't had much time with in ages. I got to check out missions trip pictures -- go Ryan and Jen. Get a ride in my cousin's Saturn -- and be reminded that it gets 38 miles per gal compared to my 20-21 miles per gal SUV. Thankfully he didn't give me the math on the amount of money I lost during that trip in my vehicle. A peek at his fill up at the pump cost vs mine was enough. :P Be teased with Heather's announcement -- o yeah its her birthday -- thats right. Happy Birthday Heather! Next year -- the big 30. Are we getting old....? Naah especially when you decide to revisit 27 a few times. Heather I highly recommend it. :)

On the road I learned how well my Mom is doing recovering from hip replacement surgery. Go Mom. I am so proud of you. I got to harrass dad about his projects and plans for retirement. I got to chat and just be with grandma.

Then back in the burg I got a chance to visit old ones from Alethia. God's blessing on you in your continued mission to reach the campuses. Thanks for the kind words and thoughts. And a chance to change clothes. Pick up gifts to be held til Christmas for me and for others. Return with a cool wagon from my brother to my sister. And I got to open my "Merry Birthday, Happy Christmas" present from Reatha, Rachel Mom & Dad -- a food dehydrator. (PS I am running my first load of apples I started this morning with it. I was so excited to try it. Thanks again guys.)

During my 6 hour return drive that turned into 7. I got caught up to speed on my soap opera -- Grey's Anatomy. Yeah. Got a chance to chat with Marissa, Aunt Debbie, Janelle, Charity, Lindsay& Rachel. Some for hours others for a few minutes. It was great. Thanks for all my chatty friends and family that kept me awake on the way back. And another thanks to God for not allowing that tractor trailer to catch fire on my side of 81 near Wytheville. In fact I saw traffic backed up for about 15 miles at a dead stop as they had both lanes clased to deal with it. And today learned there was a multi-car pile up as a result of the truck on the on ramp behind that truck. Thanks God for making my way safe, rain free and for the most part (besides the Staunton through Roanoke/VA tech region of 81) speedy home.

And last I learned... It was nice to sleep in my own bed again. Thank you Lord for warm and comfortable and quiet beds. Hope your holidays were as blessed as mine. See some pictures below



I am thankful for a warm, quiet home. Unlike this poor family of birds who built a nest on a diesel sign at a Sheet's store. Destined to deal with loud noises, horrible fumes and not a nice worm in site. Destined to feed off the trash of others.


Ever heard of what goes around comes around? It came back around on me as my nephew Justin returned my earlier bunny ears approach to pictures

And you thought you were hungry? This 5 yr old put us all to shame...


Both in the eating catagory as well as the push ups -- one-handed variety mind you...


My sad, first attempt at gingerbread houses. But the dog is cute. :)


Chillin with the mother to be.

Check out the web album for further thanksgiving pictures posted.

There is a time for everything....

A time to laugh....
Over the last few days I have caught up on time playing Games. I learned a fun one -- "boxers or briefs"-- a great one to play with friends you already know. And the old classic "twister" and"spoons" were on the agenda. Twister is an interesting game with two friends that are 6 feet or close to it and I am only five feet. I held my own for a couple spins but fell over repeatedly, but not before doing and impressive swing of my foot over the body and head of another player to get the last remaining circle (mind you this guy is 6 foot tall). The laughing alone almost wiped me out on that move.

In spoons, I held out with only getting "s" in spoons with seven players until the final face off with my speedy friend Lindsay who entered that final face off with "spoo" I thought it would be an easy win. She had slacked off during the game-- probably as intentional bait. She whips me each time I've played her. But this time I figured it was a no brainer. Luck had to be on my side at least once in four rounds, boy was I mistaken. She whipped me with 4 straight rounds of getting a set of four cards first and grabbing the spoon therefore winning the spoon finale.

I also got to watch Nicia play basketball in the local league. She played hard and dribbled well. She is so fast and has improved in her dribbling skills by leaps and bounds from last year. Go green!!

I had a blast playing Thanksgiving through. Although I did burn the gravy -- sorry guys. I'll practice more for next year. Thanksgiving meal was delicious. Thanks for hosting and inviting me to come be a part of it with you Whitcomb family!

--- 3 States traveled through 3 more states to go tomorrow. I can't wait to see my nephews and family. Mom's doing so well working hard to recover from surgery. And I am hand delivering a copy of some home videos of her new grandson.
Here are few shots of the day






A game of spoons... (Nicia's running around blinding everyone with the camera. Guess who is not winning)


A game of twister after I fell out...
Nicia's cheering squad for her basketball game.


Dad listening to the guys impromptu jam session.



And you thought your babysitter looked a bit hairy....

Ahh good old Virginia....

I arrived around 2am safely despite the drissling rain in Virginia. Thanks for any prayers for safe driving. I have just finished baking apple/ cranberries, a blackberry, and a blueberry pie. And gathered stuff for greenbean casserole. I will be spending thanksgiving day with the x-in laws here in the burg. Its good to see them. Then Friday I am on to Pennsylvania with the pies... to see my nephews. I can't wait to see them and my sister in law and brother and parents. Then on to spend the day with the extended family/cousins. I gotta run and catch up with old family now.

Happy Thanksgiving.

This week I have decided to drive the east coast. I will stop briefly in Harrisonburg, Va. Waynesboro, Pa, just outside Philadephia, PA, Harrisburg, Pa, back to Waynesboro before heading back for a brief break in Harrisonburg, VA and then a drive back to North Carolina. If I don't have a chance to say hi this holiday- sorry. Next holdiay I am not traveling so far. But can't wait to see and hang with everyone I can along the way. I miss you all. Pray for cheap gas along the way and God's angels to protect all sides of the vehicle and me.

The ugly, small, sharp & weak package object lession

Last night as I ran from my house to my car in the nippy air I paused. (Actually I was waiting for my dog to come bounding up behind me). But God used that moment. I just stood and looked at the stars. The beauty of bright stars on a crispy winter night while listening to the creaking bare limbed trees wrestlessly swaying in the night breezes struck me. God has created all this for my enjoyment. I need to take more time to stop and acknowledge and absorb the wonder in his creation. To realize that those stars have existed years before my existance was even considered; for me to enjoy them. Even if only for a second, in the cold of the night, to see them and thank God for their beauty. Their brightness at times put on by their death just acknowledge God's cycles of life. At the death of something is not the end of its usefullness. And as I looked down to look at what my feet were crunching I saw another aspect of life and death. As the trees loose their leaves they also blow seed packets from my maples. They are sharp and have been annoying me for the last few weeks as I run around barefooted. But God gave them that protection to give them a defense mechanism to survive its predators and have a chance of penitrating the ground to create another tree. The fact that something of such strength and beauty develops from such an ugly, small, painfully sharp, and weak package struck me. God does love to bring beauty from the ashes and strength from the weak. Thank you God for that soft spot in your heart to still desire and long to change those parts of my life that are weak and sharp and ugly. I can't wait to see what you will develop of strength out of those areas. Your beauty astounds me. Your love and mercies are new every morning.

Counting the Moments…

I have observed recently that counting is a integral part or parenting.
It begins from the moments of planning to have a child. Counting the days each month for the highest chances to become pregnant. Waiting each month to find out if you might be pregnant. How many days, weeks or months must we wait? And then the day comes. Your confirmed pregnancy! The celebration begins. You begin to count again. Did we call or email everyone who would want to know? You know you missed some, but how can you remember everyone? And then in the back of your mind you also have to begin to count money. Are you spending too much, because now you have a child to save for? Its not only you. You begin to count the days and then the weeks of pregnancy. Then you may get a chance to hear and count your babies heartbeat during your check up. Is it too fast or too slow? “No”, the doctor says, “It’s just fine, it is meant to be fast”. Then the months of pregnancy are counted. The counting begins to pick up. How many diapers must I have to be prepared? How much is this going to cost? How many bibs do we need or socks? How many nasal suctions does one child need? (none if you ask my sister, who still refuses to suction her infants nose).

And then the time may come for an ultrasound check. How many fingers, how many toes? Does my child have each arm and leg intact? How many chambers in the heart 1,2,3,4 and do each beat as they should? And if I must know –is it a boy or a girl or two or three? The counting increases. Have we gone far enough in the pregnancy for our child to be safe? How much is the birth going to cost? How many weeks until I can see my toes again? How many more weeks must my back ache and my balance be off? How many degrees is it outside? Can it be any hotter around here? Can it be much longer till this child comes? Birth classes are counted. Breathing is taught –in and out—can it be that hard? Hold you breath how long? Is it breath and then exhale or inhale and then exhale. How many seconds between the two?

Time begins to change… This child must come out now! I can’t go a moment or a day longer more. How many moments, hours must I wait in this waiting room to see my OB/GYN.? How many times do I have to get up to pee? How many hours did I get to sleep before I must awake to pee again? Only to be told by the doctor, “Everything is fine” “Come back and see me next week”. 'What! another week?' your body screams, 'and no change!'. 'You have got to be kidding me!', and 'Why are you smiling? -You nasty, nasty doctor. Examine me again! You must be wrong. Something has to be happening with all this pain'. Each moment drags by as time slows down. How can each day be so long? The contractions begin. Are they true or false (Braxton hicks). Do they come regularly or slowly? Does it count if two are close, but the next two are far apart?

And then through the magic of labor, time speeds up and slows down on its own. The water breaks and the contractions become regular and there isn’t time enough. Do we have everything with us? Are the diapers packed? Do we have the breathing exercises memorized? Are we ready? A hint of a thought begins to float in your mind. And then, how much longer till we reach the hospital? How many cars could possibly be on the road at a time like this? How many cops are there out tonight? How many mph can this car go? Wait, how much time was there between that contraction and this one? Where is the watch? How can this be happing? Wait, how much is this going to cost? How long until we get there. Oh, there is the entrance. How many feet must I walk? How many steps can I take until the next contraction hits? How many wheelchairs does this hospital have and none are available right now? Where is the nurse? How much longer can this check in take. How many pages of information must they make us fill out? How much worse on a scale of 10 can this pain be? Finally the bed is reached. How many contractions until the baby is here? How many minutes between the contractions? How many centimeters dilated? How long can I take this pain- or- How many minutes until the anesthesiologist can make it with the epidural? How many breaths can I take? How many hours can this pain go on? How long until I hold my baby. The minutes of agony drag on like hours and the minutes of rest between contractions fly by like seconds….. And funny, how now, looking back, the memory begins to blur of those moments as if they occurred years ago. How does the magic of labor and time do that?

Time jumps back to reality as the child emerges. How many seconds until you hear a cry? Is the child okay? The seconds hang suspended like a grass blade in a spider web. As if no one noticed, the questions hangs, unanswered in the air. And then the cry is heard either struggling or screaming the sound echoes in the silence of the parents ears roaring back life and breath into your lungs. The pain no longer importantly takes every second of your thoughts. The image of your child alive breathes to life a vague acknowledgement in the back of your mind. Something big, monumental is happening. But then time speeds forward and you have yet to acknowledge it.
You get to hold the baby. Your first look. You may get to cut the cord. Then baby is whisked off for the staff to perform apgars test. How does your child score on activity, pulse, grimace, appearance and respiration? 0-10. Oh, let their first test score well. And then further to the nursery for footprints; their first shots, their first height, weight and head circumference measurements. Their first pediatric exam and their first baths. The first are far outnumbering us now. Their first pictures, the first phone calls to relatives and friends and their first starring role in home videos. All have been noted and stored as memories as that monumental thought grows. But no time for that .

Now the child needs fed. The nurse explains and steps away. The first attempts they all fail. Who’s to blame? – the child, the mother the nurse, experience or time. Ah, good old time is to blame. It’s been confirmed, for who could blame a soul?, now looking back. Each did their best and yet time had not past enough to make it smooth. And then the cries are counted. The tears from mother and child are counted. The head rubs and shoulder pats from father are counted. Ah, good old time is to blame. It’s been confirmed, for who could blame a soul?, now looking back. Each did their best and yet time had not past enough to make it smooth. What’s that thought that grows? No it can’t be true and yet it consumes every moment that ticks by. WE ARE NOW PARENTS. How can that be? How did nine months pass by so slowly and yet quickly.

We don’t know how to be parents. How could this have happened? The years are counted. Its official we can’t be old enough to be parents, and yet our parents had us when they were younger than we are. How did they do it? There aren’t enough moments in those years to have learned all we need to know. What does God the Maker of the Universe expect us to know about raising one of His children. Ah, yes, now we have it. The answers exist in the help of our Father. And the prayers are sent up quickly. Praise for the blessing of a healthy child and wails of fear and uncertainty for the help and knowledge for the next moments and days and years to come. And it is answered with peace that passes the understanding for the moment. Faith must carry the parents forward for now.

As the days pass more things are counted….
Numbers of fingers
Numbers of toes
Numbers of feedings.
Hours between feedings
Seconds and minutes until the child stops crying
Number of wet diapers
Number of dirty diapers.
How much money have we spent on diapers?
Time child sleeps
Time child is awake
Time parents are left to sleep and wishing for just a few more seconds, minutes or hours
Number of wet and dirty diapers again
Time till the feeding needs to occur
Time till the crying will stop
And then number of wet and dirty diapers again
Ounces or pounds of weight gained
Number of shots for immunizations
Dollars paid out to the hospital and doctor
Number of diapers to be bought at the store
Sizes for clothing to be worn for the moment or worn for the future.
Months in the future are counted out –will it be hot or cold for those future clothes
First smiles
First hair cuts
First teeth
First time the child bites someone
Number of steps tottered as they hold on to someone
Number of steps done on their own
First time they say da da
Number of times they say ma ma…..

I will add to the list as I have time to consider it further.