Please Remember My Friend

My good friend Mark Mills (the most talented man I know) is having surgery this morning to treat cancer. Mark comments here as “Warrior”. Please keep him in your prayers, especially today around 11:00. We already know he’ll be all right and that God is in charge - communal prayer is just icing on the cake.

He’s got a great attitude about this - some of the jokes flying around in emails amongst X-Alt members made me laugh so hard I almost got in trouble at work.

Of course, we pray that they will get all of the cancer (the prognosis is VERY good), but also, he’s going to have a rough recovery time. Please keep his wife Barbara in your thoughts as well - she’s got a rough road ahead of her.

God is good - all the time.

Menopause - The Musical Coming To Nashville in April

Menopause, The Musical is coming to Nashville in April.  My wife has already made me promise to buy her tickets.  Looks like fun, but this is one of those things where any men who attend get funny stares.

So, why don’t we get some blogger women to attend together?  Hmmmm?

And, I may still go.  It might be a funny date night.

I Did What?

I used to really ride Patrick Kennedy about his Ambien-induced accident a few years ago. Based on family history, I assumed he was driving drunk and had the Capitol Police cover up for him.

As of this morning, I can tell you I believe his story, 100%.

It all stated a few days ago when Southern Beal posted this cute but annoying post.  My wife overheard the irresistable song, and asked for the link.  I sent it to her, and she came to me later that day and asked me to make it her ringtone.

Now, I just don’t believe in paying that big “V” wireless company everytime I want to change ringtones, so a couple of years ago, I found a work-around which involves sending a message with a sound attachment to your phone.  With the big “V” company, you have to do it a certain way, or it won’t give you the option of making that sound your ringtone.

Anyway, I found a ringtone version of that oh-so-cutesy song, and last night I sent it to her phone.  I knew it would be a while, because I didn’t convert the sound file to a lower bitrate.

So I waited.  And waited.  And then it was time for bed.

I told Lintilla to put the phone by the bed, and if the file arrived before my Ambien kicked in, I’d take care of the technical parts.  I took my Ambien, and went to sleep.

This morning I called her to tell her I’d install the ringtone, and she answered saying that her co-worker really enjoyed her new ringtone.

“It’s installed?”, I asked.

“Of course it is, you did it.”

“Last night?”

“Yes.  I handed you the phone, and you made the song my ringtone.”

Folks, I have absolutely no recollection of doing this.  Not even a sleepy, hazy memory.  I do not remember it at all. 

I don’t know if you know what it’s like to have people tell you about things you did the night before that you don’t remember (no matter how drunk I got in my 20’s, I always remembered it).

This is freaky-deaky.

Praise The Lord!

Lintilla goes back to work Tuesday.  She’s restricted to light office duty, and she can’t do her normal job till March.  But, she’s still recovering well, and right on schedule. 

It’s a good thing, too, and not just for the money.  Lintilla has been going stir crazy, even resorting to watching various “judge” shows.  HGTV and Food Network?  Those are cool.  But, Judge BobJoeFrankWhatsHisName?  What joy can anyone possibly get from watching a faux authority figure dress down an idiot?  Don’t answer that.

Anyway, soon, our long nightmare will be over.  I am so happy for her.

Prayers For Warrior

Please pray for my friend Mark (who comments here as Warrior).  He got some awfully bad health news today (I don’t want to get more specific unless he says it’s OK).  Just know it’s pretty rough.

He’s had a pretty tough time healthwise for many, many years, but he’s made of sturdy stuff, and he has the prayers of many friends and loved ones to strengthen him.

But all your prayers and good thoughts are much appreciated.

Merry Christmas To All From Shoot The Moose!

I pray that each and every one of you receives joy and peace.

You know, I’ve always swore I’d never become one of ”those people”, the ones who, when asked what they want for Christmas, reply “I don’t want anything - I’ve got everything I need.”

Well, I’ve become one of those people.

This is a weird Christmas; because of the events of the last month, we’ve been unable to go to any parties, or shop for surprises (we’ve had to be together while we shop this year), or any of the other usual stuff at Christmas that stresses us out. 

And I swear, this Christmas, with minimal (but heartfelt) decorations, and a lot of time spent just at home with one another, appears to be turning out to be one of the best ever.

Lintilla’s prognosis is good; it sounds corny, but how could I want more? Jimmy Stewart once said that Frank Capra made you pay for your happy endings.  Well, had it not been for the end of November and early December, I’d be complaining and stressed out about this crazy Christmas.

Instead, I am filled with a joy that is hard to describe.

Yesterday, at church, we dressed the kids up as much as we could without things coming to blows (Trillian is much more cooperative), and went to “big church”, the traditional service.  The tween kids were to read passages in between verses of “The Friendly Beasts”, which the little kids were singing.  All of them were adorable.

Zaphod came to his podium (our church has the two-podium setup), and read his lines flawlessly.  I was so happy, because he’s balked at doing things like this before, and I was afraid he’s say something crazy or roll his eyes in front of the entire congregation.  But, he gave me a wonderful gift by just showing how articulate he is, and not showing out for his friends.

Later came Trillian’s turn.  She stepped up to her podium, and I swear, at that moment, the sun streamed through the stained glass and bathed the left side of her face. She literally looked angelic.  Her soft, sweet voice read the lines (the hardest of the bunch) beautifully.  I was struck to the point of tears.

As she stepped down and the little kids began singing again, I looked at the cross between the two podiums, and thought to myself:

Thank you.

I am living a life I certainly don’t deserve. and have been given the gift of an even better eternal one.

I want to say that I thank God for each and every one of you.  You really are a gift that few men ever receive. 

Blessed

Today has been the first time in a while that we’ve been able to just stop.  Lintilla came home from the hospital yesterday morning (FINALLY). We mostly spent today hanging around the house, watching a very disappointing football game, and goofy TLC programming, and having long talks - the kind we haven’t really had in a long time.  We’ve been in crisis mode for about three weeks, and the time we had for reflection today brought us to a single conclusion:

We are blessed.  Beyond measure.

How do you respond to the knowledge that someone would just drop everything, and come and get your kids when they can’t be in school, but can’t really be at the hospital?  What can you say when folks volunteer to help sit with your wife in her hospital room while you run much-needed errands?  Can a man not feel like George Bailey when people come out of the woodwork to bring dinner, or send flowers, or visit?

People who attend churches that believe in showing the love of Christ know this earthly form of blessed assurance: that loved ones, and people you don’t even know, will be there to catch you when you fall.  We are doubly blessed (with apologies to Meatloaf) in that we have two: we have a church family at Belle Meade UMC, and another at New Beginnings Fellowship.  We had four, count ‘em four pastors or church staff come to visit (multiple times).  And, we have a (very big) family in X-Alt.  Not to mention your thoughts and prayers (and visits, and flowers).

We are not totally out of the woods yet.  Lintilla still hurts, but she’s a tough bird, tougher than me, for sure.  We’re most likely going to have to cancel this year’s vacation - we’re using up all of Lintilla’s time.  She cannot be declared cancer-free until 5 years have passed.  The money is about to get VERY tight. 

But, the outlook is great.  The chances are now as good as they ever were that I’ll have Lintilla by my side for a long, long time. 

To feel the arms of Christ wrapped around you in rough times is a blessing indeed.  I cannot praise Him enough.  Nor can I thank you enough.  To all our friends and family, to BMUMC, to New Beginnings, to X-Alt, to all our blogging friends, to my very flexible employer and all the friends I have there, and to the all the folks we’ve never met who nevertheless prayed for us, we have unending gratitude.

It’s impossible to express the depth of joy and gratitude I feel for the love we’ve felt. I’m not doing it justice, I’m afraid.  All I can do is work that much harder to pass it along.  I have every intention of doing just that.

Some Great News Today

Hey guys, just a quick note to let y’all know where things stand.  The oncologist came by this morning and said that the pathology results are back, and that the spot where they removed the polyp was the only place that had any cancer!  This means that, basically, no further cancer treatment is needed.  Lintilla will have to see the oncologist for the next five years, and after that they can declare her cancer free!

Now, we just need a couple of bodily things to happen that haven’t yet, so she can get out of the hospital.  We’ll be here 1 extra day, as it is.  They’ve tried to let things happen naturally, but Lintilla is swelled up like a bowling ball, so they’ve decided to give her some medicine to get things moving.  Those of you who have had abdominal surgery know what I’m talking about. 

But we won’t dwell on that, I’ve asked people to pray that relief comes, and it will.  But for now, we will celebrate the good prognosis! 

Good Morning, Y’all

Lintilla made it through the surgery, and she’s a lot more “with it” this morning (well, she was, she’s napping now). The surgery was late; she didn’t get to her room till about 9:00 or 9:30 (I can’t remember). 

Ginger will be happy to know that Lintilla has a morphine pump with the little green light she can push when she’s in pain, which she is using as often as she can.   She also had a compress across her belly last night (which she doesn’t even remember). 

She is awfully happy to have some ice chips, she was soooo thirsty last night.  But, all I could do is give her one of the wet swabs to put on her lips and tongue last night.

Best news of all: the oncologist came early this morning and talked to her (I was a little sacked out).  They didn’t find the cancer anywhere else.  This is wonderful!  We’re not out of the woods yet, though; we have to wait and see what the pathologist says, before they decide on any other treatments.

However, he did not give her a tummy tuck, as she requested.

Yesterday was a very long day.  Trillian had been up all night with severe abdominal pains, and the doctor was afraid it was appendicitis.  We rushed her to Vanderbilt Children’s hospital. I stayed with Trillian while a friend from church took Lintilla to Centennial.  Thank God it wasn’t appendicitis;I won’t go into it here, but she did have something, and it needed to be fixed, but it was something that could be fixed pretty easily (although Trillian said it was “not pleasant”)

Anyway, by the time the doctors spoke with me at around 7:00 pm, after what seemed like a whole day scrambling over this or that, I’m afraid I lost it a little.  Then, I felt better, and was able to concentrate on taking care of Lintilla.  The kids stayed with the friend who already had Trillian - they’ll be out of school today and here later.  We’re hoping I can get them on a more normal schedule tomorrow.

Anyway, that’s where things stand, for now.

World AIDS Day

Today is World Aids Day.  Let us have the utmost compassion on those afflicted with this horrible disease, and do what we can to blunt their suffering, and search for a cure.