Sacrifices

I am learning this week about sacrifice. I thought I knew what it was, but I really didn't. As we are going through the process of adopting, I realize that there are many sacrifices that will have to be made. Lifestyle, freedom, sleep, time, travel, extra money--these are all sacrifices I have thought about, and am willing to make. One thing I did not expect to sacrifice was my job. I once had this situation all worked out. It would go like this: when we got the call that our time had come to adopt a baby, I was going to take a month off, and then come back to work only part-time. The baby would go to Mothers Day Out 2 or 3 days a week. My manager was in agreement and seemed to be fine with this idea. Today I found out differently. While SHE was fine with this situation, our DIRECTOR was not. She told me that if I were to only come back to work part-time, then they would have to post a position for a full-time therapist to replace me, thus leaving me without a job. I felt very betrayed. I have been there 5 years and have really been loyal to them, why couldn't they be loyal to me? I could not understand why they wouldn't allow me this one thing. Now that the shock has worn off, I'm left wondering why have to look for a new (part-time) job.

I have also learned (the hard way) that no matter how hard you plan, God may see it differently. You would think I would know this by now (hello...having a baby--did I not learn anything?), but I forgot it. I should know His plan is better than mine in the end, although it won't be easy getting there.

The last time I was forced to quit a job that I loved (I got laid off), it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm sure this will be too, even if I can't see it right now. But it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Life has been crazy!

I looked at this today and saw that I had not posted since December!

There are so many things going on in our life lately. In January, our 7-year dog Bailey started having seizures. He had one on a Saturday, then another one 12 days later, and then another one the morning after that. Our vet said we could treat it, or find out the cause. Epilepsy was not as likely because he is an older dog, so that meant it could be a tumor. I had a feeling there was something going on, so we went to the neurologist for an MRI. On Feb 2, he was diagnosed with an agressive, fast-growing brain tumor. We were devastated. Our dogs are a part of our family and mean so much to us. The neurologist told us that without treatment he only had 4-6 weeks to live. We labored over and prayed about the decision to have surgery and radiation. We did not want him to suffer, but so far he had no neurological problems, except the seizures, which were now controlled with medication. We also met with an oncologist, who was very encouraging. He said that because of the location of the tumor (in the front of his brain, close to the surface), the surgeon felt she could get most of it. Then he could have radiation and prolong his life by 2-3 years, maybe longer. And they said his quality of life would still be good, which was our main concern. As we were trying to decide, we took the dogs camping. Bailey had such a great time, you would not have known anything was wrong with him! This really helped us to decide to have the surgery. We wanted him to have more of his life to live and enjoy. So, on Feb 26, Bailey had surgery to remove the tumor. The surgeon was very pleased at how much she was able to get (all of it except the margins that were attached to brain matter), and at how well he did during and after the surgery. The day we brought him home, she said he was doing "fabulous." Here are some pics of what he looked like when we brought him home just 5 days later:

Also, they sent home with us an "art project" that he made while he was in the hospital. They said he got so hungry, that he was trying to eat anything in sight, so here is the pic:

See how evenly spaced the holes are? He is so talented! :)

He is still doing great! Since he is supposed to be on bedrest (yeah right, how do you keep a dog on bedrest?), we sent our 1 1/2 year old dog Rolo to Grandma Donna's house until Bailey gets his staples out. This weekend he seems more like his old self (even before the tumor) and feeling good. I am still making him rest, but I am allowing him more freedom in the backyard. He will start radiation 3 times a week for 7 weeks (20 sessions) after we meet with the oncologist on March 16. We really are so blessed and feel this was the right decision for him.

Most of you know of our unsuccessful journey trying to have a baby and how hard it has been. Several months ago, we made the decision to adopt a child though Child Protective Services. So as all of the medical issues with Bailey were starting, we also began our 11 weeks of parenting classes we needed to become licensed as a foster-adoptive home. We are doing what is called Legal-risk Adoption. This is mainly for infants and small toddlers. It means that they would only place a child in our home that met our criteria only if they were 99% sure they were going to terminate the parental rights. So it could be the following situations: a baby is born and the mother leaves it at the hospital, a mother drops off her baby somewhere because she does not want it, a mother has a baby in the hospital and tests positive for alcohol or drugs, and other situations similar to these. There is alot of paperwork, assessments and homework that has to be done, but we are so excited about it! After the first class, I felt sure this was what God wanted us to do.

We'll keep you updated on Bailey and the adoption process along the way.

Ok, NOW it's snowing!!!

Yes it is!! And it is a beautiful sight. I love the way the snow crunches under your feet when you walk on the grass!

It's snowing!! Okay, maybe it's just sleeting....

But it is supposed to turn into snow soon! It IS snowing in parts of Houston right now (my Mom's house), and that is exciting! Makes me want to drive there just to experience it. I absoultely LOVE snow!! My dream is to someday live where it snows at least once or twice a year and lasts more than 24 hrs. But right now, I will settle for some sleet that doesn't quite stick to the ground, I guess. Now I am not an expert on the difference between sleet and snow, but I could SWEAR I see some snowflakes mixed in with the sleet. Maybe it is just my wishful thinking. I am a little crazy about this, because I parked my car in the driveway so I could see it accumulate. And I keep checking outside to see if it is turning to snow.



I hope it keeps up tonight! It feels so much like Christmas with this weather.

Are you ready for some football????

On Monday we went to see the Texans play the Jaguars in our first Monday Night Football broadcast ever. We won and it was an exciting game! Hopefully our win will get us back on Monday Night Football next year too.

Dun, dun, dun, dun...can't you just hear the music?

Opening of the game

We had seats in the nosebleeds!

This is the ESPN booth.

Brent, Tommy, Ronnie (Shane's Dad), Shane and Tara

Another Half Marathon for me!

Tara and I drove to San Antonio this past weekend so we could run the Inaugural Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon. It's always an adventure when we travel....

We had procrastinated in getting a hotel room (well, Tara did--she is always in charge of those things because she is so good at it!). So all we could get was a La Quinta WAAAAY on the north side of town. After we went to Expo and picked up our packets, we decided to drive to our hotel to check in before dinner. It is a newer hotel, so the GPS did not have the exact address, but it had something close to it, so we headed in that general direction. We were pretty sure we were on the right road, just not exactly sure where the hotel was! About 15 minutes into our drive, at 5:45 pm, we saw a sign that said "Freeway closed at the next exit, expect delays." They were right about the delay, it was horrendous. It was a parking lot! Tara called the hotel, at 5:58 pm, to see how far away we were, and they said that "on a good day" we had to drive 15 more minutes to get there on this road! Tara asked me if I thought we should cancel the reservation, and I said, without hesitation, "YES!". So she did, with 2 minutes to spare (we had to cancel by 6 pm). So there we were, the night before an inaugural marathon/half marathon with 30,000 entrants, with nowhere to stay (it was absolutely crazy!!). Suprisingly, I was not worried at all. As I said, Tara is very good at this stuff. She went online and started calling hotels, and we got a MAJOR blessing. She found a Comfort Inn Downtown, 2 full beds, free breakfast, 2 blocks from the shuttle stop that would take us to the start line! Wow, she did great!!

I was not as prepared for this race as I should have been, and even though Tara could run this distance in her sleep, she was so awesome to stay with me and get me through it. I had a personal record of almost 1 minute, and it was so much fun running with her! We have some great pics, which I will share after I order them.

Check-out at our hotel was 12:30 (that was considered late check-out!), and we did not even get back to the hotel until 12:45! Thankfully, they gave us until 2 pm. We hurried upstairs, took showers, packed , and were out by 2 pm, amazingly! We went to lunch at our favorite Mexican food restaurant La Margherita in Market Square. Then we met up with a friend of Tara's that also ran the half marathon, much faster than we did. We finally hit the road around 5:30 pm, and got home about 9 pm that night. Ten minutes after Tara left my house, I was in bed asleep. I was exhausted!

I learned a few things from this experience:
1. Book a hotel WAY in advance in the area that you want.
2. I need to train more consistently during the week, so I will be able to do it my sleep too!
3. Running with someone was SOOOO much more fun than running it alone. I want to get FASTER so I can run with Tara in all the races we are in together.
4. Never drive home from another city the same day as the race. It was exhausting and it seemed like we would never get home!
5. Never check your bag with your hotel key, your entire wallet, AND your car keys. (We had a panicked moment when they could not find my bag, that was a little scary!)
6. MOST IMPORTANTLY, bring toilet paper, the porta pottys WILL NOT have any! (A gracious man was handing it out at the start line, I was so thankful!!)

Next races:
January- Aramco Houston Half Marathon
February- AT&T Austin Half Marathon
March- Seabrook Lucky Trails?
April- Angie's half crazy, Clear Lake
May- Heels and Hills, Irving, TX

Wow, I better get training!!

Bad blogger!!

Yes, ok, I know, I am a self-proclaimed bad blogger! It has been months since I have posted, and I am so sorry. Life is busy and there has been alot going on. I know that is no excuse, but that is mine!

To update you on what has happened recently, well, alot has been going on. In a nutshell, my sister-in-law gave birth to my new nephew Dylan (who I have not seen yet), I have been training for a half marathon (attempting to anyway), evacuated from Ike (oh, the chaos), coping with the stress of my job (which I just resinged from), joined a new Bible study group (still not sure about it...), and Shane has been working 60 hours a week (the money is nice, but I am lonely).

Did you catch all that?

More to come later!