Good Things All Around

Today is a half day at school, so I have to go get the kids very soon, but I want to try and do a little catch up here first. It seems so hard to keep this up to date! First of all, I have to say that I am so thankful for good friends/ward members who always seem so willing to help me out. As you know, Monday did not go quite as planned, and instead of being in the hospital on Tuesday we were home. So I made some phone calls and told people not to worry about picking up my kids, bringing dinner, taking my kids to music, cub scouts, etc. Well, everyone said they were all ready planning on it, so they would just do it as planned. So nice! And since I had cleared out all appointments for the day, except Bryce's Speech therapy, I decided that I would try and tackle the house cleaning that needed so much attention. Well, little did I know there were plans in the making for that as well. My friend Shelli from the ward called and asked if she could come over about 9. I told her that Bryce had his therapy at 9 and she said OK, I'll just see what I can do. So about 8:45, there was a knock on my door. I opened it and there stood Shelli with an arm full of cleaning supplies. She said that she and a few others were planning on coming in while I was in the hospital and cleaning for us as a surprise. (That would have been so awesome to come home to.) But, since I was home, I would just need to point her in the right direction and go on with what I needed to do and they would take care of it from there. I cried! Literally I began to cry...typically I don't cry when others are around...but this made me cry. I had been feeling so overwhelmed and not sure how or if I would get everything done. Once I got over the embarrassment of having people cleaning my nasty house, I was so full of thankfulness and excitement that I might have a clean house that day after all! So Bryce and I went on in and did therapy while Shelli, Laurie, and Julia cleaned bathrooms, bedrooms, floors, and everything in between. They worked until they had to leave to pick up their own children and then apologized for not getting everything done. They did an amazing job and left me very little to finish up. It was so wonderful! I quickly finished the vacuuming and had time to shampoo the carpets in the front room and boys room which I have been wanting to do since Christmas time last year! Thanks so much girls for finally making that possible. We are still enjoying the clean house! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Tuesday evening I began a program called Thin Within. It's a weight loss program that a lady in our stake is doing. She is not charging for it and her focus is really on finding the inner person. I told John after Thursday's meeting that it felt like a weight loss class and a good relief society lesson on rolled up in one! And since I could use some of each of those, it might just work out fine! We'll see how it goes. With life the way it is right now, I realize that my weight loss may be slower than normal, but I'm OK with that as long as it does not continue to go up. I need more energy and by eating well and losing a little weight I know it will help a lot. The one hour of social each week won't do me any harm either I am sure!

Tonight the boys have a birthday party to go to and we have also been invited to a potluck, so we will have to see how that all fits together. Next week should be a busy one. We will be spending a good part of Tuesday at the wheelchair clinic trying to get a new chair picked out for Bryce. We are even going to be looking into power chairs. Should be really interesting. Then Wednesday is John's birthday, and Thursday is the new date scheduled for Bryce's surgery. I also have parent/teacher conferences that day. They are scheduled for 7:15, 7:30, and 7:45 AM. We will then have to leave right away for the hospital since we are supposed to be there by 9AM for check in. Whew, it makes me tired just thinking about it! If all goes well, my Mom is going to be able to come out to help out while we are at the hospital this time. I am so glad!