"911, what's your emergency?"

the phone rings late wednesday night and it's dad: "mom had an episode and i called 911" he said.  "she seemed ok by the time the paramedics got here. i'm going into Rice soon.  i'll keep you posted."

"ok dad" i said. i'll be awake for awhile so call even if you just want to talk.

dad calls later, around 11pm, and said she's ok.  i say great, but if anything changes call anytime even if its the middle of the night.  about 1am, the phone rings again; dad says she's on her way to st cloud hospital heart center.  they saw something at Rice that indicated further examination by a heart doctor.  long story short: an angiogram thursday morning warrents a stent in the lower right coronary artery, which was 90% blocked.  so that explains all those symptoms.  the good news, of course is no heart attack or heart damage occurred.  in fact, her heart is strong and healthy.  good news indeed.

thursday morning after doing a quick load of laundry, i pack up some knitting projects, make a few phone calls and i head up to st cloud to hang out with ma & pa.  5 hours of interstate driving is a nice time to blast a new cd and enjoy the day.  an hour visit with mom and its another drive to the lake for a good nights sleep in the guest room. back to st cloud to visit on friday, the lake friday night, then back to st cloud to take her home saturday morning... whew... so much driving!

a whirlwind week, and now with 3 days recovery time almost over... it's back to the business of everyday living...

in the still quiet place...

shhhhh...   listen.... do you hear it?  all is quiet in the Eldredge house now

This morning I sat surrounded by baskets of clean laundry to fold, fb & email open on my laptop, just Ruby and me, savoring the silence after a week of "holiday-like" fun with extended family and friends.

What a pleasure it was to have family gathered together for no particular reason.  It was the kind of week we usually enjoy during Christmas, Graduation or Wedding celebrations.  A week of minimal chores, maximum play time, good food, craft time and just plain hanging out.  What fun to have one of those weeks for no particular reason other than a Midwest visit from far off sister Lois.

ok, so not EVERYONE was here, but just getting the "johnson 5" together is a holiday for me.  How blessed are the three Johnson girls, with parents that drive 6 hours to join in the family fun, parents who take us all out for breakfasts and dinners, teach us the finer arts of lefsa making and carpentry, and who love all three of us and our extended families unconditionally. Blessed indeed.

After a quiet morning, an afternoon of running fun but needed errands, which included new shoes(!) it's time to switch another load from the washer to the dryer and attack the laundry waiting to be folded... and slip back into the normalcy of life at the Eldredge house.

note to Emma: burned my thumb and finger making lefsa this weekend  ;-) 

Paper Cut

who knew trying on blue jeans was so dangerous?!?  by the way Emma, it still hurts. 

that is all... time for bed....

what's a mother to do... when it's not her kids?

today a video shows up in my fb feed that made my heart cry out for the kids involved.  what's a mother to do?  if they were my kids, i'd want to know.  don't get me wrong... i wasn't exactly miss perfect in my high school days.  that's probably why i feel so heartbroken for those kids.  from the perspective of a middle aged woman, i see them crying out for attention and love.  they need more than just "things" in their life to feel worthy of living.  how does one reach out to them with the ever-lasting love of Jesus Christ?

will have to pray about what response i can make.

on another note: the chill in the air has made a perfect day for tidying up the home front while keeping the home fire burning...

random note for emma: no new injuries to report ;)

another random post for the day... a picture of dad and me taken at 8am, right before leaving the warmth of the truck and heading out to our hunting spot for opening day duck season.  we owned the camo!

this is a fine place to sign off for the day   :)

why a blog?

1. emma says an "injury of the day" blog is needed - none to report today

2. lois says a photo/craft project blog is needed - also none to report today

3. sometimes i have something to say about nothing and to no one in particular - today's creation of a blog is the successful attempt to avoid working on boy scouts, ignition and housework.  but that only works for so long... now i must start on the house work to avoid writing anything worthy of reading on my blog.  it's a vicious circle.