Monday, November 11, 2013

Ponders honor our military men, women, and their families..

 

38 comments:

  1. Good Morning Ponders,
    This is the day that we honor our Veterans and thank them for their service.

    Froggy has two doctor appointments this morning at hospital a block from our apartment. It's not raining so I will push her over in the wheelchair. She has been a little discouraged about getting better lately.

    How is everyone today? Still waiting to hear from our Eva. I know that she will write when she gets back home.

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  2. Our vets have been in my heart all day. I'm one deeply grateful woman.

    Hope Froggy's appointments went well today. Hope you get well, soon!

    Love to all. It's going to be our first hard freeze tonight. I'm eating leftover chili then snuggling up under the quilt.

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  3. Hi Surfie,
    We have many in our family who were in the military. And I see stories of our military on the Internet and on the news. We do thank them, but now they need to come home. We can't fight in every country in the world.

    Seems like summer came and went so fast. I remember bringing home snapdragons on the bus and planting them in our courtyard garden. So many pretty flowers all summer. It was a flower that Froggy wanted.

    We had a nice day, cool, but nice. No rain. So I pushed Froggy in the wheelchair the one block to the hospital for her checkup. They x-rayed her leg. Seems slow to heal. Doctor doesn't want her to put much weight on it yet. Will go back again in six weeks.

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  4. Good Morning Ponders. Yesterday was another emotional day, seeing all the stories of our best and finest and what they have suffered. Wog, I agree with you in that it is time to bring ours home.

    Froggy, Paget, Eva and little Nathaniel prayers continue for all of you.

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    1. Good Morning Deer Gloria,
      Always nice to start the day with your message. There is no way our troops can come home now. The "great and wonderful" o can only think about his "affordable-what-a-joke" healthcare. The one that almost no one is signing up for!

      I'm on my way to work at Salvation Army. Doctor told Froggy yesterday not to put much weight on her broken leg. So I'll stop trying to get her to walk. Though we can do some leg exercises while she sits.

      I'll be back at Pond this evening.

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  5. I waited till after Vetrans Day to post this. Nov. 9th is the anniversary of Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass. McClatchy published a few different articles on this horrific WW2 event. Something to think about.

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/search_results?q=Kristallnacht

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  6. Well, at least it's NCIS night.

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  7. Not only is this NCIS night ... it's also 11-12-13!

    Hope Froggy's leg starts healing faster. Maybe keeping off it and doing more exercises will help the process along. Get well soon deer Frog!

    It's supposed to get down to 25 tonight. I'm simmering a cut-up chicken with veggies and herbs. Will probably only have time tonight for a little chicken soup ... but tomorrow night I'm making chicken & dumplings!

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    1. Surfie, you always make me hungry. You better write that cookbook..

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  8. Gloria, thanks for the reminder and link to Kristallnacht. I can't keep up with everything, and this is important to remember.

    NCIS! Love the new shows.

    Still no word from Eva.

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  9. Wednesday, I think.

    I'm up at 6:30am. Make sandwich for Froggy's lunch, get dressed, and run for the bus. Working at Salvation Army today and tomorrow. Doesn't sound like much, but the 18 hours a weeks is helping us a lot.

    I need to spend time every evening to help Froggy with some leg exercises. Doctor doesn't want her to walk too much, not to put full weight on leg yet.

    Did you see news? Painting by Francis Bacon sold at Christie's auction for $142 million. What a strange world we live in.

    Missed NCIS last night. Fell asleep, and woke up five minutes after the show was over.

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  10. Hello Deer Ponders! I'm back. I thought I'd be able to write from Georgia, but was kept hopping (get it?) from the beginning. At the end of each day, I sat down at my Dad's computer & just stared at it.4 days ago, I picked up a cold from the 3 year old. I've completely lost my voice, too.

    Of course, I wasn't allowed in the NICU once I got sick, but before I was banned, I sat in there every day with my niece. There were so many machines! I was on edge the entire time with all of the beeping. Nikki has to pump milk every two hours. You who are mothers know this is work when there is no baby to nurse. She's stockpiling quite a bit and finds it easier to do at the hospital while looking at the baby.

    Her schedule ran everything. I'd get to her house at 8am & get little Isaac ready for pre-school while she got herself ready. Then, we'd take him to school. He's there from 9-1. We'd go to St. Mary's Hospital from there. St. Mary's has a long history in my family & Nikki, herself was born there 30 years ago.

    We stay with Nathaniel for a couple of hours. He was progressing quite well until yesterday when he backslid a little. They took him off the ventilator last Thursday morning & had to put him back on yesterday. It's upsetting because he was breathing on his own so well. He's had a couple of blood transfusions (he only has 3 Tbls. of blood in his little body altogether) and lots of tests. His heart rate is strong. He has a slight murmur & a minor brain bleed. The docs say those are insignificant and due to the fact that his system is so immature. He just needs to "finish baking". Only the doctors and G-d can help that happen.

    I can't even describe the size of his diaper. The nurses let Nikki change it when she's there and I hold my breath and peek through my fingers. She is amazing & I am a weakling. When I see her fingers next to his body, I get a good sense of how micro he is & practically pass out.

    When we leave the hospital, I call my father & report. He has seen a couple of carefully chosen pictures, but is very afraid of falling in love & bonding when the chances of survival are still 50-50. Nikki & I run errands (grocery shop, etc.). Then if there's time, we have a quick lunch before picking Isaac up.

    We go home & Nikki commences pumping again while I play with Isaac. I try to give her time for a nap as well. Playing with a 3-year old all afternoon is more exhausting than I could have imagined. Sometimes, my niece's husband's twin 5 year-olds from his first marriage are dropped off & then I get to play with 3 boys. Are you getting a picture of my week?

    Dinner at 5:30pm, followed by teeth brushing, potty going, bath time, story picking (3 books a night), prayers, picking stuffed animal friends to sleep with, & then a hug & a kiss & light's out by 7pm. He waits until I've tiptoed out of the room & then this little voice calls out "Meeeeema!" Doesn't do any good to ignore him either.

    By this time Nikki is making dinner for herself & her husband. Sometimes I go get take-out, but I think they need time alone together, so I usually leave then. Her husband stops at the hospital after work, so he gets home around 8:30.

    Each day brought different needs & challenges but that was my basic timeline. At least I was another pair of hands. This is probably more info than anyone is interested in, but I wanted to give you all an idea of what was happening since I didn't get to write. Your thoughts & prayers kept me going believe me and my family appreciated it.

    In some ways, things will get a little easier. Nikki's "mommy circle" are starting up a food train so she'll have meals brought over. Her husband hired a college girl to help out in the afternoons 3 days a week.

    Gotta go or else I won't be able to take care of my husband now. Hope you aren't bored to tears. Love you all!!

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  11. Just in case any of the above doesn't make sense, it was originally a much longer post. Then I got a message that I had to limit it to 4,096 characters. I kept cutting and cutting until it was accepted. I was trying to make it all hang together, but I'll add more later. Of course, I don't want to drive you all crazy. I didn't get to really let you know how much your thoughts and prayers for baby Nathaniel were appreciated by my entire family. My dad is just knocked out by hearing that people he doesn't know and who I haven't even met, are praying. Nikki has whole grocery store staffs praying for her. Going shopping with her is an experience. It takes forever to pick up "a few things". I ended up doing most of it for her. Just part of what I was there for. Now, I really have to go.

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    1. Hi Eva, I've been away for a while, and somehow missed the news of your sweet baby nephew. Please know that I'm adding my prayers to the others. It's wonderful that you are able to be there with your family. I'm sure you are a wonderful help and comfort to your niece.

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  12. Deer pond friends,

    I also wanted to thank you again for keeping me in your prayers. (and thanks for the hug, Phooey!) With all that is going on with Eva's nephew, and others here, my problems seem very inconsequential.

    My eyes are better, and my attitude seems to have improved. That last part is important too!

    Wog, I know that you and Froggy have been through so much. I'm so glad Froggy is home. It sounds like she's improving every day!

    I love you all, and even when I'm not here, you are in my daily prayers.

    God bless you all.

    Paget

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    1. Don't ever think your eye problems are insignificant. Whatever makes your life more difficult is important. We're thinking about you and hoping those eyes of yours get even better. It's been a long time coming, I know.

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    2. Paget,
      Always glad to hear from you. We understand that you need to rest your eyes. Sounds like the eye drops are helping some. That must be a relief. We pray for you too. And our Phooey gives wonderful, healing hugs!

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  13. Things have taken a turn for the worse. I won't go into detail. I just ask for your prayers. G-d's will be done.

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    1. Dearest Eva,
      We feel bad to hear about your little guy. Froggy and I and your Pond Family are sending prayers to you and your family. We are always here for you.

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  14. Prayers sent. God hold Nathaniel in His loving and healing hands.

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    1. Surfie, that is the perfect prayer for our little Nathaniel. He's in God's Hands.

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  15. Good Morning, Phooey
    Good Morning Everyone
    It's Thursday, and so far everything looks pretty good. I work today at Salvation Army. Froggy got up very early. We talked a while, and she's back in bed resting that leg.

    Phooey, saw on the news about Florida's newest sinkhole. Do you live near any of those places?
    Love and prayers to our Deer Ponders. Have a safe day.

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    1. Wog, these sinkholes can happen anywhere in Fl. Hopefully, I wont be like the poor soul that got swallowed while asleep in his bed.

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  16. Prayers worked again! The news is good today. Nathaniel had gone into septic shock and had an infection of an unknown variety. They stopped feeding him (he was getting his mother's milk dribbled into his tummy through a feeding tube) and had put him on a paralytic drug to keep him calm. That last part scared me to death. Nikki said she was glad I was no longer there because she knew I'd never recover from seeing him lying there so still. It took everything she had to keep from falling apart.

    Anyway, today they identified the infection and started giving him the proper antibiotics. He's responding very well. They lowered the ventilator level and will keep lowering it until they can remove it again. They plan on taking him off the paralytic drug tonight and he'll probably go back to being his feisty, wiggly self. Whew!!

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers. I know they worked.

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    1. You just made my day, Eva! Thanks be to God! I truly believe Nathaniel is gonna wind up being a strappy, healthy, gift to the world of a young man. Just like my cousin's son who weighed just a tad over a lb. at birth. Oh, happy day!

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    2. We love you Lord! Thank you!

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    3. Such wonderful news! Thank you God!

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  17. Good news about Nathaniel! We are truly blessed to live in an age in which medical miracles happen.
    Thank you Lord for this precious child who is crowned Your with loving kindness and tender mercies.
    The part about him having only 3 tablespoons of blood in his body really got to me.

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  18. Eva,
    What a blessing for Baby Nathaniel. We'll continue to send prayers and prayer-hugs.

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  19. Good Morning, It's Friday.. I'm just up to get the day started.

    Phooey, did you avoid any sinkholes yesterday? I've been looking at pictures. Quite an astounding phenomena. Actually I've seen small ones happen around San Diego, though I understand why they happen in Florida. In San Diego it usually takes out a road. And, of course, houses built too close to the California cliffs peel off into the ocean.

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  20. NEWS FROM THE NEWS: obamacare ????
    House OKs its own 'fix' to restore policies canceled by Obamacare

    BREAKING NEWS: A day after President Obama decreed insurance companies could renew millions of policies canceled under ObamaCare, the House passes its own 'fix,' 261-157 — which includes 39 Democrats who crossed over to support the measure.

    READ STORY ON FOX NEWS: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/15/house-charges-ahead-on-insurance-plan-vote-questions-legality-obama-fix/

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    1. I took this afternoon off work. Just got home from 3 estate sales (trunk full of goodies for $20). Haven't had time to read what the House is up to but will here in a bit.

      My knee-jerk reaction to either the House or Senate coming in with a "fix" is BAH!. It can't be fixed!

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    2. Surfie, I agree. I think that it is so screwed up, that it can't be fixed. But I have a heart-warmer about twins that a going to post. You can also find the babies on YouTube.

      I bet you can use the time off. Just have to do it some days. Some time just for you.

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    3. Surfie, BAH!, works better in social discourse rather than what my Navy lingo accomplishes.

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  21. Twins mimic life in the womb in amazing baby bath video

    They’re already born, but they might not know it yet. This video of a unique bath is offering an amazing look at what life must like for twins in the womb, with the babies cuddling and embracing as if they were still in their mom’s belly.

    The newborns cling to each other as they float in a basin full of water, with adult hands gently cradling and supporting their tiny bodies.

    Read article and See video: http://www.today.com/moms/twins-mimic-life-womb-amazing-baby-bath-video-2D11603427

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    1. Just Wow! Wog, thank you so very much! Beautiful!

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    2. Glad you enjoyed that video, Phooey. I loved it too. Really quite amazing. I'm glad the mom took pictures and posted them to the Internet. We need more feel-good heart-warming things in our lives.

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