Back, With a Spring In My Step

okay, maybe not a spring in my step yet, but with the potential of a spring. it has been an interesting year. a good one, too. but for the last couple years i have been more and more limited in what i can do because of arthritis in my left hip and right knee. when my orthopedic doctor looked at my x-rays he just shook his head. long story short, on tuesday march 6th i had a total hip replacement. and does it sound weird to say it has been a wonderful experience?  God is awesome. He has blessed me so amazingly...i can't begin to thank Him enough for His goodness.

 my daughter erin brought these beauties to me in the hospital and gave me a day at home, cleaning, working in my flower beds and cooking us dinner.

my many blessings include my husband and family, my dear friends, my church family and a terrific doctor and medical staff. everyone has been wonderful and has taken such good care of me. they've given up days to be with me, cooked and cleaned, run errands and....most importantly...prayed. 

 the andersons stopped in to see me and brought these beautiful carnations. i teach piano and voice to three of their six children and just love them. 

i feel great and have had very little pain. i could not ask for more. and on top of that, we've had the most glorious weather. i could go outside and bask in the sunlight every day. 
those that know me well, know of my love for flowers and have kept me surrounded with beauty. all the flowers in the photos have been from family and friends. 

 my sister jan brought this gorgeous basket to me in the hospital and then spent a day with me later at home, helping out and cooking us a delicious dinner.

my dear friends, goldie, ronda, and lois sent me these stunning lilies and iris. oh, they smell so good!

bill and birgitt, a special couple from church, sent these beautiful tulips.

my mom gave me a day, baking a cake and an apple pie, bringing soup...yum...and doing all those extra things a wonderful mom does. she's amazing.  my daughter andrea gave me a day before my surgery to spring clean my bedroom, which was a long overdue, huge job. i was so grateful. she also brought me home from the hospital and spent the rest of the day helping out, making lasagna for dinner.

four families in my church provided us with meals which were so abundant in amount that they translated into at least eight meals.

my cup truly runneth over. thank you, everyone!

i'm hoping that i will now be able to do more and be a little bit more like the old deb and get some things done. there are a lot of projects around here that have been put off for some time.

oh, and there's that wedding in july that i will now be able to walk and not hobble down the aisle for.

Go With the Flow

 Intended schedule for Valentine's Day:

*get up, finish washing dishes i didn't get finished yesterday.
*get ingredients together and chop walnuts for surprise black walnut cake for
  husband (one of his favorites)
*shower and go to doctor's appointment
*get back by lunchtime and bake cake
*have cake beautifully presented and waiting for hubby when he gets home
  from work.
*go out to dinner. 
*come back for dessert.

Actual schedule for Valentine's Day:

*sleep in a little because didn't sleep well because of hubby's moaning and 
 coughing and my own aches and pains.
*get up and call daughter for help because sick husband's doctor's 
  appointment is at same time as mine but in the opposite direction and he's 
  too sick to drive himself. 
*shower quickly and go to doctor's appointment.
*stop at grocery store for soup etc. for lunch.
*stop at pharmacy on way home for hubby's prescription.
*wait for said prescription because of course it's not ready.
*get home and eat a quick late lunch.
*run grandkids' valentines to their house because i of course forgot to mail
 them in time.
*get back home and hubby asks if i'd run to the ac&t for a bottle of coke.
*purchase said coke plus chocolate eclair for husband for valentine's day.
*sit in parking lot and talk on phone to help out some people i love. (not
 complaining)
* get back home and get on computer to send important email. 
*still on computer chuckling to myself as i write this and about to head 
  downstairs to fix supper.

Ain't love grand?  

...you make my heart sing.

On Beauty

In the last few years I have grown more aware of a need for beauty in our lives. As I experience His creation I think, God could have created a functional world with just our survival needs being met.  But He did so much more than that.  He gave us incredible beauty. And He instilled in us a desire and need for it. We need a protective structure to live in, but we also want our home to be a beautiful sanctuary.  There is a lot of ugliness in our world. We need to balance it with loveliness when we can. Not for the sake of having "things", but to remind us of the wonder of His provision.  We have become a society of fast foods, plastic and busy-ness.  Don't get me wrong...my husband and I often eat on paper plates in front of the TV. And when our four children were still living at home we were on the go a lot. But I feel more and more that we need to sometimes take the time to pull out that "good china" that sits in our china cupboards, use those precious hand stitched linens that grandma made,  and leisurely converse with friends and family...surrounded with beauty.  As we go through our daily activities we need to be able to rest our eyes for a moment on that wonderful photo we snapped on the day trip we took with the kids that was so much fun.  Or catch a whiff of the fresh flowers on the table as we pass by. Or pause, just to enjoy the beauty of a vignette we created with some of our favorite things.

One recent evening, after a long day, I had a glass of a special gingerale my sister shared with me. I was in shorts and tee shirt with my bare feet propped up. But I drank it out of a gorgeous etched glass goblet.  I felt like a queen.  ;)