Wordless Wednesday-Worries

For more Wordless Wednesday check this out.

Dallas is Home!!!

Dallas is home!!!  Praise God for His healing power.  Once again I would like to thank everyone who prayed and thought about Dallas.  It's truly a miracle.  

Fish and Chips

Here is a wonderful recipe from Ina Garten for Fish and Chips. I tried it with great success last night.
I apologize for the blurry scan and the hair that seemed to be on my scanner plate! Ha Hopefully
when you enbiggen them you can read the instructions.

Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

Rebecca St. James

Matt Redman

American Idol-Hallelejah

Jason Castro sang "Hallelejah" on American Idol the other night.  It was written by Leonard Cohen and sang best by Jeff Buckley.  I couldn't embed the Buckley version. Here is Rufus Wainwright singing it. Someone made a video with the Thornbirds movie.


This is the Jeff Buckley version:

Dallas Update

Dallas was moved to a regular hospital room.  He has all tubes out, neck brace off, and is eating jello and popsicles, and drinking juice.  He should be going home Sunday.  God is great and so are doctors and nurses.  

Emotions

This post is about emotions.  I am an emotional person.  For one thing I'm a female.  For another I'm left-handed which supposedly means I'm using that part of my brain.  I confess I don't understand all that right brain/left brain stuff but I'm definitely over in that emotional department.  But I also will tell you that I'm an a very optimistic, up-beat person who can smile at the drop of a hat.  So I'm telling you all that to say this:  Don't some things in the world just get you down like extreme poverty and drug wars and blood money for diamonds and suffering children and women, and sex slavery corrupting children.  All these things are horrible and tear your heart inside out.  But then there are the little things too.  I hate to even mention these things but my husband had gone to bed and we have a cat that lives in our house (rules) and I went into the bedroom to get some pjs.  As soon I as came out of the bedroom, there was my kitty waiting outside the door.  And I don't know why but that touches my heart to think of an animal loving you and wanting to be near you.  And then I think about the dogs that haved died or had to be put to sleep that a few bloggers have written about.  I guess I must be a little overly emotional right now.  I don't know how to express the sadness but I know I can't dwell on it.  I know life is not fair and that life is hard, much harder for some people and that makes me sad too.  I try to do my best to make the world (my world) a better place but then I can turn right around and get cranky that somebody behind me in the bank drive thru is getting very close to my car with their huge truck with a clutch looking like they are going to ram me every time we move forward.  I guess you just have to lighten up to get through life.  Let me tell you something else silly.  In my brand new bathroom (I should just be glad I have one, huh?) the sink drain turned out to be painted with plastic like coating over brass and guess what?  I was scrubbing around the rim of the drain and off comes great pieces of the plastic revealing brass.  I can't fix it so I tear some more of it off.  I don't think anything can be done without some major repair so I have decided that it is the way I wanted it anyway.  Is that crazy?  I look at it now and think "Flintstone" because I have slate floors and a slate countertop and I look in to the sink and see "rustic" sink drain.  Ha ha.  I honestly can do it.  I can make myself like it.   Oh well, enough of this nutso post.  I pretty much ran the gamut there, didn't I?

*Edit*  If you want the best laugh ever, visit Peter at Holties House.

Thankful Thursday

I joined Thankful Thursday this week because I can truly be thankful that the baby Dallas is recovering so completely from his near drowning.  They removed the oxygen tubes and he still has one in his nose but he is coming out of the sedation and recognizing everyone.  His uncle Jason was playing with a stuffed animal with him and he was grabbing and pushing it.  He probably has to lay still since he has a few things connected to him but he is following his mom and dad with his eyes around the bed.  They are expecting to move him to a regular room tomorrow and hopefully just a few more days in the hospital.  I thank God that he still does miracles and I thank you for your prayers.  It was a wonderful thing to have people all over the world caring about a little boy.  Awesome is all I can say.  


Join Julie at Another Chance Ranch for more Thankful Thursday participants.

Dallas

Here is the family of Dallas. He is the little boy in the red shirt.  He has three sisters.

Isn't he a doll?  They all are!  Tomorrow morning they will be taking the oxygen tubes

out and the first eight hours are the most critical.  Please be praying for that.  

Dallas News

I just talked to Dallas' mom and dad.  He is doing better today.  They gave him a blood transfusion to help his blood gases.  They were better immediately.  He is still on oxygen a little and they are hoping to remove that tomorrow morning so his throat doesn't get infected.  He's breathing much better, still fighting pneumonia.  They are 99% sure his brain will be undamaged.  He is still sedated but very much wants to get up.  Maybe after the tubes are out tomorrow he can.  Thank you for your prayers.  His mom said she had just learned how to swim last year.  So she had several scary events going on for her at the same time.  Jump in deep water, rescue your child, pull him out and yourself, administer CPR to your own child.  She said she thought he was gone when she got to him, so he is doing so much better now.  

Update on Dallas

Dallas is still on oxygen at about 35% now and doing better.  He is still being sedated to keep him from pulling out tubes but he responds when someone comes into the room and tries to roll over and get up.  They of course don't want him to do this.  They will still be watching his brain activity and for swelling for the next three to five days but the scans are good.  He did have a bowel movement which is a good sign that organs are functioning properly and they could start him on pediasure (or whatever it's called) in an IV drip.  He had a slight fever so they started him on some powerful antibiotics and his cultures from his lungs have just been growing yeast which is good because the pool water was old from not being open.  They want his lung valve to stay open so it can dry so some drug helps with this.  Just pray that he doesn't get pneumonia and gets off the oxygen soon so he can move more.  He has some edema from the drugs that regulate his blood pressure so hopefully they will be able to decrease this soon.  All in all he is doing miraculously well and we thank you for your continued prayers.  Also pray for all the doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and technicians that work with him.  

Prayer Request

I would like to ask for your prayers and thoughts for my nephew's little boy, Dallas.  He fell into a swimming pool last night and he is in intensive care.  His mom preformed CPR and they life-flighted him to the hospital.  They have him heavily sedated to prevent him from pulling out his tubes and are running CT tests.  He is going to be two years in June.  The latest I've heard is he did open his eyes about 1 hour ago and reach out his arm to his mom.  That's good.  His oxygen was on about 50% and they decreased it to 40%.  They are drying out his lungs.  Please pray that his brain doesn't swell and anything other good thing that you can think of to pray.  Also his two eight year old twin sisters saw this happen, please pray for their counseling.  I will update when I hear anymore this afternoon.  Thank you.  

UPDATE:

I just talked to his uncle who was at the hospital.  It is about 8 pm.  They said his brain CT looked good and they hope to get him off the oxygen tomorrow.  So keep praying please.  He still needs to be watched for 72 hours for brain swelling.  Thank you for the prayers and I thank God for hearing and answering them.  

Friday Freedom

I visited New York City in the summer of 1973.


This is picture of the Statue in Paris in 1886.

Here is a link about the Statue's history.

Wordless Wednesday-I will call him Red

Check out more Wordless Wednesday HERE.

Would you like a slice of lemon and a little bacteria on the side?

I saw this on the news a few weeks ago and again last night on our local news.
It makes you think twice before asking for that slice of lemon at a restaurant.
I wonder if it's the same with limes? :D Because our immune systems are
potentially lower in the winter perhaps we should do without the lemon. They
found the lemons you buy at the supermarket to be without bacteria. You
just need to wash them first, use clean knifes, and clean hands. Duh?

Fun Monday-What's Your Line?

This week's Fun Monday hostess with the mostest is Mariposa.

Her wish is our command.  Please explain the meaning of your

blog's name or the origin of it or how you came up with it.  Well,

she didn't exactly use those words....and also name your favorite/

most common food.  

God Put a Smile upon my Face.  He did.  It just seemed so natural

for me.  I have had people wonder why I smile at them.  I have tried

not smiling before but by golly it always pops out unexpectedly.  People

might think I'm flirting but I'm not and I smile equally at women and

men.  So I discovered this song by Coldplay.  It is the best ever.  

My favorite/most common meal:  Tequila Lime Chicken

I wouldn't say this was my most common meal but one of

my favorites.  Anything with chicken would be my favorite.

I am posting the recipe from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa.

She is awesome.

You can click on the recipe to enlarge it or enbiggen it as Peter likes to say. :D

Vitruvian Men

Vitruvian Men
Originally uploaded by ianharrywebb

My oldest brother had a poster of the Vitruvian Man on his bedroom wall. He had a bedroom that was detached completely from our house. He was a very private person anyway and this certainly helped his privacy. He usually kept his room locked I think. Of course, curiosity would overcome me and I just had to see what was in his room. I would be sure he wasn't at home, probably at football practice or working, and then I would quickly enter his room and close the door. A small room but he had a desk. He liked to make models of The Mummy and The Creature from the Black Lagoon and Dracula. He painted them so nicely. I marveled at his work. He was such a mystery to me. He was five years older than me and I was the youngest of four children. I had two other older brothers. But he was the one that I was in awe of. He worked hard in school and made good grades. He did science experiments. He hunted and fished and played football. He was very quiet unless he got mad. My other brothers found that out often. He was the responsible one. Always.

Let Sleeping Lions Lie

Willowtree has a post today with a much closer picture

of the lion statue in Trafalgar Square, London. I love

this scene I took from a distance.



Speaking of sleeping lions, here lies an heroic lion.

The Swiss Guards' honor was put to the test in 1792, when--after trying to escape the French Revolution--King Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and their children were hauled back to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. A mob of working-class Parisians stormed the palace in search of aristocratic blood. More than 700 Swiss officers and soldiers died while defending the palace, without knowing that their royal employers--like Elvis--had left the building.

In the early 1800s, the Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen was hired to sculpt a monument to the fallen Swiss Guards. The sculpture was carved in a sandstone cliff above the city center, near Lucerne's Glacier Garden and the Panorama, and it has attracted countless visitors since its dedication in 1821.

Louvre {loov'-ruh} — a French palace and the national art museum of France.

Located in Paris, the Louvre is one of the largest palaces in the world and, as a former residence of the kings of France, one of the most illustrious. It exemplifies traditional French architecture since the Renaissance, and it houses a magnificent collection of ancient and Western art.

This is Canova-Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss

There was so much to see at the Louvre.  We could not

possibly have seen it all.  We just had to pick and choose

where we would go.  I don't remember and cannot find

what the name of this statue is.  Someone please tell

me in the comments if you know. 


Here is my daughter in a panoramic view of Lucerne.

The most beautiful city ever, I think.  

Friday Feast

I decided to participate in this week's Friday Feast.  

I borrowed (:D) this icon from Gattina. (thank you)

Appetizer

Have you ever played a practical joke on anyone?  If so,

what did you do and who was your victim?

This happened years ago and is the first practical joke I

can remember ever doing.  My mom's sister (my aunt) was

visiting and my mom was gone to work.  My aunt was fixing

her hair in my mom's bedroom and she asked me if we had

a small mirror so she could fix the back of her hair.  Well,

immediately I had a brainstorm!  Ah, I was so funny!  I ran

upstairs to my room and got a mirror for her.  Now this woman

had no sense of humor at all!  But who cares?  When you're 

eleven years old?  I didn't!  I gave her one of those little mirrors

on a stick that the dentist gives you to look in your mouth at

your teeth.  She didn't find it amusing at all but I fell on the 

floor laughing.  She just stared at me and told my mother 

later....

Soup

What do your salt and pepper shakers look like?

These aren't my main ones.  The main ones are ugly

Tupperware and a tall Cains Restaurant Blend pepper.

Salad

What is the next place you plan to visit on vacation

or business?

I don't really have plans yet but I would like to visit Canada

again next.  I would like to take a train trip.  

Main Course

What kind of lotion do you use to keep your hands from

getting too dry?

Aveda hand relief

Dessert

Make up a dessert, tell us its ingredients, and give it 

a name.

Raspberry Sorbet with snickerdoodles:

1 bag of frozen raspberries

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix in blender and pour into pyrex dish.

Freeze for 1 hour.

Serve with snickerdoodles.  Do you want the

recipe for snickerdoodles?  

Gattina's got more entries over here to check out.

Always Help Your Dad!

Just for laughs:

  An old Italian lived alone in New Jersey.  He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard.  His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison.

  The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

  Dear Vincent,

I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year.  I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot.  I know if you were here my troubles would be over.  I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.

Love, Dad

  A few days later he received a letter from his son.

  Dear Dad,

Don't dig up that garden.  That's where the bodies are buried.

Love, Vincent

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies.  They apologized to the old man and left.

  That same day the old man received another letter from his son:

  Dear Dad,

Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now.  That's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Love, Vincent

Laughter is the best medicine....this was found in our newspaper.