December 9, 2012 - it's been a while

I happened to look at the stats for this blog this morning and I see that a few people are still checking in (probably just my family, but that's okay) so I figured I should post something.

Gretchen is doing amazingly well (though, by faith we are not surprised).  She still has memory issues but she is developing strategies for coping.  All of her therapy is "finished" (speech - which works on memory - will check back before the end of the year to see if she needs more) so that is one stresser off for the holidays.

Speaking of the holidays, we abandoned a tradition this year.  Usually we go to North Carolina and cut a tree for Christmas (for the most part they only have pines in Tennessee and Georgia but North Carolina has Frazier firs) but we decided that the stress of an all day trip plus the cost was just too much to do this year (plus, this is the weekend we would have done it and I am on-call so I can't be more than an hour away).  We found what appears to be a good Frazier and spent less and still had time to do some prep.  Still, I kind of miss crawling around in the dirt to cut the tree and then hauling it down the steep slope to the car.

Gretchen was able to sing a solo at church a few weeks ago and has two more scheduled before the first of the year.  Considering that no one was asking her to sing before the stroke I think this is great!  Singing causes a lot of stress which aggravates the memory but I think it is helpful in the long run.

Please continue to pray for Gretchen.  I know that she will make a full recovery but we are called to pray.

Also pray for my family.  My parents' house sold in record time (1 hour after listing) for full price.  Some suggested that they should have asked more but they got more than what they needed out of the house and didn't have to go through the stress of repeated showings with no offers (or really low offers).  Simply put, God pulled everything together at his time.  Now there is much to do out there but I can be no part of it.  There are still health issues to be concerned about (my dad had surgery to remove cancer - it was successful but he isn't up to a lot of work) so with the prep for moving next month they will need help.

Related to my parents moving and their health issues I am having struggles.  We want to go out there to help and see the house one last time but I only have a week of vacation available right now and with all the medical expenses we have I don't think it is responsible to plan a trip like that unless there is a genuine medical emergency.  Pray that I will have wisdom and that God will make it clear if we are supposed to go out there.

I will try to post at least weekly for a while since I expect to see much changing in the coming weeks...