Shoes.....

Shoes are a necessity if dining out (No shirt, No shoes, No service), if walking on most surfaces, if wearing a new dress outside your own home. The type of shoes traditionally worn by a group of people establish cultural ties such as wooden shoes and moccasins. Shoes have been used as a reference point in popular movies such as "Forrest Gump" ("Those look like comfortable shoes") and "The Man with One Red Shoe".

I've been thinking about shoes a lot lately. Can you tell?

I have my Grandma Hazel to blame. My mom, dad, and grandma came from Oklahoma for a visit last weekend. They arrived on Thursday and left Tuesday morning. While here, Grandma wanted to find shoes to match some spring dresses for church. They needed to have a heel but not much of a heel. They needed to be "springy" but not open toed. They needed to have a strap around the ankle. They couldn't be made of a material that might get dirty. And they needed to be about $25. My mother warned me, but I took the plunge and told her that I would take she and grandma shoe shopping. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!

I truly love my grandma. And I totally understand the delima of not being able to find just the right shoe. (Most women understand this problem.) We shopped and shopped and just couldn't find the right shoe [see requirements above].

Now, I'm going to digress for a moment....
My grandfather passed away in November and grandma is still grieving as expected. The whole family felt that getting away and seeing the sights of Colorado as well as visiting me was just what she needed. And I felt that finding the perfect shoe would help in so many ways.

About halfway through the shoe shopping experience, I noticed that grandma wasn't feeling well. She didn't feel well the rest of the night and didn't feel like going to church the next morning. Mom was worried about her due to the fact that her doctors in Oklahoma are concerned about her heart. She had bypass surgery in 1998 and had many complications due to that.

Mom and dad decided to cut their trip short and start home on Sunday afternoon. I suggested taking grandma to Urgent Care to check on things before getting on the road. Grandma didn't hesitate. This was the first time I really became concerned about her. The Urgent Care staff was amazing. After an EKG, grandma was whisked to the hospital via ambulance. The staff was concerned that she was having a heart attack. As mom and I were following the ambulance, we talked about the foolishness of encouraging her to travel and expecting that everything would be okay. I started blaming myself for pushing her into shoe shopping.

Five nitroglycerin tablets, eight doses of morphine, and a CT scan later, a cardiologist was called in. It was 6:30 pm on Sunday night. He ordered an arteriogram to see if damage had been done to the heart and to repair what needed to be repaired. Grandma was wheeled into the operating room at 7:30 pm. As she rolled away from us, I noticed the stack of her clothes topped by her shoes underneath the bed. We entered the ICU waiting room. Mom started to cry, and my mind felt numb as all I could think of was that we didn't find the shoes grandma wanted.

The nurse brought grandma's clothes to us in the waiting room. One shoe was missing. We noticed but had bigger concerns.

Thirty minutes later the surgeon came out to talk to mom and dad. She assured them that there was nothing wrong with grandma's heart. She even took mom and dad to see the computer images taken from the procedure to prove that there was no damage. Even though grandma's EKG looked concerning, this was normal for her and was of no concern. Grandma has gall stones and this is more than likely the cause of the pain.

Troy and I were not present when the surgeon talked to mom and dad, so we were thrilled to hear the news when we returned to the waiting room. I went to grandma's ICU room before we left for the night. On the walk there, mom told me that earlier, when she walked in, they had grandma's other shoe tied to the rail above her head. I started laughing. How fitting.

God has a purpose in everything and He is in control. I thank Him for bring my grandmother all the way to Colorado to find out that she does not have heart problems and can possibly stop taking some of her medication. I thank Him for the staff in the Urgent Care and the hospital for being so attentive to grandma.

Troy and I make a trip home every holiday season (either Thanksgiving or Christmas). I'm hoping that I can take grandma on a little holiday trip............SHOE SHOPPING!!!!

The New and Improved Dining Room

As most of you know, two years ago, Troy and I bought a foreclosed property. Our beloved house had been abandoned for over a year and a half and hadn't been winterized, so needless to say, we had multiple burst pipes. In fact one of the most memorable things about the buying process was our realtor, Greg Eckler, standing in the middle of the empty dining room, trying to stop the flow of water gushing from the baseboard as the inspector turned on the main water valve.

In the process of repairing the leaks, Troy and his dad had to tear out the sheet rock and some of the ceiling of the dining room. Soon after moving in, Troy and I were blessed to find our very own "Bob the Builder" who repaired the sheet rock and ceiling in the dining room as well as other wall and ceiling repair in other parts of our house.

I love having a dining room. And almost since the moment we moved in, I've been thinking about what I wanted to do to make it truly my dining room and not the stark white square room with the huge window. Troy and I started talking about it and with a little nudging, I finally talked Troy into putting in some effort on making the room our own. We finally finished it this week. I love it.

These "before" pictures weren't actually taken as "before" pictures. I was taking pictures of the Christmas decorations:

So, here's the New and Improved Dining Room: (These are definitely taken as "after" pictures.)

"Hello, George" and "Dude.........."

I've written before about my innocent fetish with phrases and odd comments.....remember "I like Rain." Anyway, lately, my co-worker friend Balbi has started saying "Hello, George" as a substitute for more colorful language. Also, there's a beer commercial that stops me in my tracks every time it airs..........the "Dude..." guy. I don't know why this commercial intrigues me...it just does.

Last weekend, Troy and I went on a little bit of a spending spree. We've needed new furniture in the family room for quite some time. Anytime we have more than one other person over, we run out of comfortable seating. We found a burgundy leather recliner love seat and couch at Lazyboy that we loved, so we bought it. "Hello, George!"

But before we decided to buy it, we went to the HUGE American Furniture Warehouse to check out less expensive furniture. While there, we were frustrated by the antics of the drivers in the parking lot. "Dude.........."

On Sunday, we shopped for wall decor and an area rug at (1) Home Depot (2) Linens-n-Things (3) Kohls (4) Target. "Hello, George!"

We found an area rug at Target that I really liked in the Target lighting but didn't so much like in the family room when we got home. To this Troy replied, "Dude....."

I know I'm kind of rambling but I've been reminded several times that I haven't updated my blog. I only have one thing to say....."Hello, Dude!"