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Adieu April: Another Month Has Gone By

April 29, 2022 by Lauren 24 Comments

another month has gone bySpring has sprung and here in Texas that means it’s getting hot and muggy already.  School activities are ramping up into high gear as the days on the instructional calendar tick away. 

Another month has gone by.  It happens all the time, but these days I am very aware that the months turn into years.

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One more school year with my Allie at home and then she will step out into new adventures without us.  It’s hard to believe.

 

Physical therapy appointments and exercises filled the first part of my month.  Unfortunately it only exacerbated my sciatic pain.  I received a second sedated epidural injection on the 19th and wait impatiently to see if it offers me any additional relief.  In between I worked a little, banquet dress shopped for Allie (she has 4 to attend), and got to hear her choirs perform their UIL show twice!  We also watched a digital premiere for Baylor University with Allie (her current first choice for college) and started planning some in-person visits!

 

Easter Treats

 

Another month has gone byOur church held a special Maundy Thursday service during Holy Week and we attended Easter service Saturday night with Chuck’s parents so we could drive out to spend Easter day with my parents, my PawPaw and my sisters’ families.  There was food (of course),  confetti eggs, an egg hunt and cooking with Aunt Kristen (a holiday favorite for the kids).  And on Good Friday Shelby had an egg hunt with Best Buddies.

 

Allie Rose and a whole slew of her smart friends were inducted into the National Honor Society in a ceremony that left much to be desired.  But an honor for her none the less.  Then the next night she starred as Giselle in a one act play of Enchanted.  I am more than a little biased, but I think she’s the perfect princess!  Watch a short clip https://www.facebook.com/1363398330/videos/298641175786727/

 

Updates on the Hubs

 

Chuck still had a few doctor’s appointments sprinkled in there.  He is trying to eat a little more by mouth so he can eventually evict the feeding tube, but swallowing still hurts a lot.  He also has some lymphatic swelling getting in the way of his throat.  So we have applied for insurance coverage on a new device to help with this.  We are having fun with how good it looks.  My sisters deemed it his luchador outfit (think Nacho Libre).  The wrestler names they have suggested:  El Detallista – The Retailer (he works for WalMart) or El Sobreviviente – The Survivor.  I think I like the later!

 

April Entertainment

 

I did not mention any books in my round up last month.  That’s because I’ve been struggling to get through one for the last 6 weeks.  I’m not sure why except that I’m still taking medication for my sciatica that makes me sleepy.  And most of my reading time is in bed at night.  First Women:  The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower seemed like a perfect book for Women’s History Month, but now that month has come and gone.  I loved Brower’s The Residence:  Inside the Private World of the White House (highly recommend), and this one is full of interesting stories and details.  But it jumps around so much from one administration to another and back again that I get whip lash.  I’m still going to finish it; hopefully before another month has gone by.  I have trouble quitting on books – whip lash and all.

 

We talked my sister Kristen into going to see Uncharted with us.  A surprisingly clean movie – which is hard to find these days.  And it was fun.  A very Indiana Jones-like escape.  And we tried a couple of new shows on broadcast TV.  Good Sam might be a new favorite, although not without issues.  We haven’t watched a medical drama since ER but this one has an interesting twist.  And The Thing About Pam was good if you like true crime.  We tried Only Murders in the Building after hearing good things but the language was a little much for us.

 

One particularly sedentary day hubby and I watched two movies.  I didn’t like either one, for very different reasons.  Free State of Jones, although a good historic story, was so gory.  We followed it up with The Fighting Temptations for something lighter.  It was lighter, but not compelling at all!  We then landed on a documentary on Hulu.  Captive Audience:  A Real American Horror Story shows promise.  At least the first episode grabbed us.

 

Before May Becomes Another Month that Has Gone By

 

On the day this post goes live, Allie’s show choir puts on their annual Jazz Show.  It’s always a highlight.  Her solo and her general outlook is Accentuate the Positive!  I hope you can as well today.  I’d love to hear from you in the comments.  Let me know what captured your attention.  And as always, I thank you, I love you and I hope May treats you well!

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

Grace and Truth’s own Tammy Kennington put so many of my feelings into words.  I don’t live in a state of dispair, but have definitely felt it these last few years.  She expressed it – and prayed for it – better than I could.  Read Two Prayers to Help Overcome Bitterness When You Struggle With Sorrow.

 

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

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Monthly Muster for March 2022

April 1, 2022 by Lauren 19 Comments

March 2022There’s been some March 2022 madness around here.  And it has very little to do with basketball. Because of pain pills there is about a week of it I don’t really remember!  But let’s get into it anyway.

 

On the last day of February, I woke up and could barely walk.  I had been experiencing something different from my normal low level back pain for a couple of weeks and already had an appointment scheduled with a doctor in two days.  So I threw some Tylenol and Ibuprofen at it and limped through work.  That night I bedded down in our guest room so as not to disturb my husband (who is still undergoing cancer treatments) if I couldn’t sleep.

 

I was able to get off to sleep, but then woke up at 2:30am in the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life.  A 15 on a 1-10 scale.  I tried calling my husband but his phone was on silent.  My teenager answered her phone and went to wake Chuck up and I proceeded to wail for the next hour – begging him to take me to the ER.  I finally took one of his Hydrocodone and was able to get back to sleep.  Upon waking two hours later I was easier, but we decided to take me to the Orthopedic Urgent Care.

 

When you sob through X-rays, staff move quickly.  They gave me an anti-inflammatory shot and prescribed a muscle relaxer, a pain med and sent me for an MRI.  This got me through the night until I could get to my scheduled doctor’s appointment the next day.  Diagnosis?  Severe disc bulge at L4 and L5 sitting right on top of my sciatic nerve.  They scheduled me for a sedated epidural injection just a few days later.

 

March 2022 for Allie

 

In the middle of all this, my daughter Allie attended LIVE weekend (our church’s version of DNow) and helped lead worship for the main congregation.  She competed in choir Solo and Ensemble contest, scoring a Superior rating and advancing to the state competition!  Then she traveled with the school choir to Disney.

 

March 2022While at Disney, Allie found out she was selected for her school’s PALS program.  She was then home a few days before traveling to Austin with the youth from our church for a mission trip.  Quite a busy few days for our songbird.  The rest of the month has been filled with rehearsals for choir UIL and a one act play plus try-outs for musical theater.  Spoiler alert:  She got in!  Oh, and she squeezed in a little kayaking with friends and family.

 

March 2022 for the Rest of Us

 

March 2022Our Shelby got to attend the North Texas Best Buddies Formal.  She loved getting all dressed up and spending time with friends – especially the music and dancing.  She also got some special time with both sets of grandparents as they spelled me and Chuck during treatment.  In addition to some good old fashioned spoiling, she even went to Sea Life Aquarium a couple of times.  A definite highlight for her.

 

After receiving partial relief from my injection, I drove 450 miles with my sweet friend Karen (Chuck was not feeling up to it) for a wedding.  And then I missed said wedding.  Let’s just say that Apple maps is not always reliable navigation!  But we made it for the reception – and had a good story to tell.  I enjoyed the trip none the less with some shopping and windshield time with my friend.

 

My husband Chuck finished up his cancer treatments on March 23rd – my 5 year cancer free date – and we low key celebrated both as best we could.  We now wait a few weeks for scans which will tell us if he is also cancer free.  In the meantime, his body works to recover from the damage done.  We appreciate your prayers covering it all.

 

March 2022 Entertainment

 

The hubs and I watched more TV than usual during our convalescence.  I readied myself for several weeks of basketball with both Baylor Men’s and Women’s teams in the tournament, but our March Madness turned into March Sadness as both teams lost in the second round of play.  We will Sic ‘Em next year.

 

With a temporary Netflix subscription, Chuck and I binged Northern Rescue, a family drama that we enjoyed.  Then we moved onto Designated Survivor.  We missed this political drama when it was on broadcast TV and thoroughly enjoyed the first two seasons.  We quickly realized that it must have been canceled and picked up by Netflix for the third, which we gave up on.  In the first three episodes we heard horrible language, saw nudity and finally a graphic sex scene that broke the camel’s back.  Although we felt invested in these characters, we could not wade through all that to see their stories to completion.

 

We tried a few other things on the streaming platform and got so discouraged that I finally searched “Christian” to see what it pulled up.  From there we watched The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (don’t let the weird title scare you off), Blue Miracle (based on a true story) and A Week Away.  The last one is a musical using Christian music from my teenage and college years with cameos by Steven Curtis Chapman and Amy Grant!  I liken it to High School Musical at summer camp.  Cheesy?  Yes.  Fun?  Also yes.  We also watched Loving, about the couple that helped break the interracial marriage barrier and Audible, an Oscar nominated documentary short.

 

We ventured to the theater for Dog and The Lost City.  The first was ok, but since it starred a dog it kept Shelby’s attention.  The second was laugh out loud funny.  In my opinion, this world needs more romantic comedies.

 

Well, I hope you find some time with those you love next month and maybe laugh out loud too.  I thank you, I love you and I hope April treats you well!

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

If you follow along with me on Wednesdays, you know that praying scripture has become an important discipline for me.  Amanda from instaencouragements.com gives us 5 Essential Prayer Requests for Believers that come straight from the Word!

 

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

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About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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