Sometimes I Write

Dun Dun Dun…Somewhere in a mountain city far away, Supermom enters BORDERS to purchase a gift for her artistic superboy. She is talking on her cell to her Superfriend Angi when she spots evil lurking in the 2006 calendar aisle! There on the shelf right next to Strawberry Shortcake and her little friends in the kid’s calendars is – GASP – a Playboy calendar, accompanied by a few other scantily clad supermodels on display. “I can’t believe this!” She exclaims to her superfriend. “Who in their right mind would do such a thing?” Anger flares in Supermom’s eyes as she looks around the store for a manager on duty. “I gotta go, justice must be done!” she tells her friend as she holsters her cell. The multi-pierced guy at the information desk summons a female manager, who loses her smile quickly when Supermom calmly but firmly tells her how inappropriate the calendar placement is. The manager replies, “I’ll let the general manager know, but I can’t do anything about it right now, you can see how busy we are”. “Thank you” said Supermom, then quickly proceeded to the mile long check out line. But before she is greeted by a jolly check out girl, the female manager reappears with a regained smile on her face. She happily tells Supermom, “I told the general manager and he just moved the calendars. Thank you for bringing it to our attention, Supermom!” Calmness and pride fill Supermom’s mind. She leaves BORDERS knowing the right thing was done, and she’ll do her best to conquer evil (and general stupidity) wherever she goes.

Yes, this was a true story, though embellished just a bit for dramatic effect. Thank God we have Supermoms and Superfriends around to stand up and protect the innocence of children everywhere. We must do our best to make a difference in the little ways as well as the big ones. Wouldn’t you agree?

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That’s Pete’s big problem. UGH!! He was retested for his food allergies, most of them are still there. His symptoms are not improving because he has a yeast problem. We’re back to square one, but we have some new answers and a new hope so I guess that’s good. Dr. Brian had me order something called Threelac to combat the yeast, then we go back in a few weeks to reevaluate. Here’s the fun part…the foods Pete has to avoid completely are:

All Nuts, Wheat Flour, White Flour, Barley, Oats, All Dairy, All Soy, and Sesame

Do you know what that means? He’s back to Fruits, Veggies, and Meats. My poor son can’t have two of his favorite foods in the world – Cereal and Crackers. But, he LOVES dried fruit so I’ll spoil him with that instead.

Dr. Brian Martin is the man who is helping us, and evidently he’s an expert on yeast. His website is www.candidadoctor.com if you or someone you know has yeast issues, this is a good place for information. I’ll be an expert by the end of the weekend!

Thanks for the prayers – please keep them up!

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So a few months ago I got the bright idea to start a mommy blog. My thinking was that it would be a good place to encourage other moms and share funny stories only a parent can appreciate. I was (again) overly optimistic and I have since realized that I don’t have the time or the energy to keep up with two blogs. So while MY Journey continues…SUPERMOM must end. I’m still a supermom, and I still want to encourage other moms, it will just have to be here instead.

I’m determined to get caught up on my blog reading this weekend. There’s been a lot of change at our house over the past few weeks, and we’re just getting settled a little. I’ll say more about that in my next post.

Please pray for Petey. I’ve posted about his allergy problems in the past, especially related to food, and after several months of improvement, he’s slipped back into the old Petey again. He’s scratching so much and so hard that he makes himself bleed. We have an appointment in the morning to get him checked out and hopefully retested. There has got to be an answer out there somewhere. We need to find it so my little guy can get some relief. He’ll be 2 on the 29th, and he’s had this condition almost since birth. He has a happy disposition most of the time despite his constantly irritated skin, but lately he’s been crabby and not sleeping well. Just pray for some answers and relief. Thank you!

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One year ago today I began this little journey. What a year it has been. For those of you who have been here since the beginning, have you seen my growth? 🙂 Oh well, I sure have. It’s amazing what God can do in 365 days. The year has held deep pain and overwhelming joy, pride and anger, excitement and new beginnings, and so much more. I’ve tried to keep my blog about whatever I want to talk about and not limit it to one subject, though I hope struggle and faith have been the central themes, since that’s been my life.

It’s been a joy sharing my ups and downs with you, my old and new friends. Thanks again to the one who got me started, and to the ones who keep coming back to read to my wisdom and ramblings. hehehe

MY Journey continues…

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O.k. So I thought I’d have plenty of time to blog on Thanksgiving. Did I mention that sometimes I tend to be overly optimistic? 🙂 It was an interesting day. Football was about the only thing that went as planned, and there was much mourning at the Nowell house when the Broncos beat the Cowboys. (So, I exaggerate too – we like the Broncos)

I got into it with a 7 1/2 foot tall Christmas tree…and lost. We inherited a beautiful pre-lit tree a few years ago. It was so nice not having to spend hours stringing the lights just right. Last year Benny spent 3 hours getting all the lights to work right, and this year we spent almost five (yes hours) doing the same. We never could get ALL of the lights to work and had dark splotches all over the tree. After much stress and a few choice words for the guy who invented circuit lights, we decided to cut the lights off the tree and buy new ones this year. The poor kids were very disappointed we didn’t get to decorate the tree as planned. It’ll happen…just as soon as we get all of these dumb lights off…

We had a great visit with Benny’s family in Buena Vista over the weekend. I was also able to spend several hours with Linda. That’s always a priority when I’m there. She accompanied me to the emergency room in Salida on Saturday. Zoe was running and tripped, and she fell hard on a rock in grandmas yard and split her chin open. It was deep and wide enough that we thought she might need stitches. Dermabond saved the day instead. One of the disadvantages of living out in the boonies is having to drive 30 minutes to the emergency room. The advantage was that there was nobody else there when we arrived. Zoe was the only patient and the nurses were absolutely wonderful with her. The doctor could use a refresher course on bedside manners with a child, but all ended well. My pretty little girl won’t even have a scar.

On Sunday we gave a Dry Bones update report to the church there, which is part of our support team. I love to watch Benny speak about Dry Bones. His passion and heart for the ministry is so obvious and he’s very good at conveying them both. They sent us home with alteast 30 blankets they had collected for the streetkids. It was awesome. One of my favorite things about Benny’s report was watching his mom. You could see the pride on her face. I hope Benny saw it too. She told him she was proud of him when he was done speaking. I love that for him!

Pool night was a little wierd for me last week. I only knew about 3 people, not including our teammates. A girl came up to me a gave me a big hug, then stepped back and said, “Oh, you’re not Joyce!” I said, “No I’m not, but thanks for the hug anyway.” Cheeto was standing there and said, “That’s Niki, you’ve never met her???” Maybe he assumes since he knows me, everyone else should too. I also met “Twist” that night. He had the shakes really bad. (a sign of heroin addiction) He asked me if we could start serving supper early because he was really hungry. He also asked if we brought any clothes with us. I told him there is a guy who comes down on Thursday’s pretty often with clothes and shoes. The guy (Chris) showed up a few minutes later and I introduced him to Twist. Since I had been home with my family all day wrestling a Christmas tree, I didn’t wear my make-up, and I just twisted my hair up in a clip. I was wearing my jeans and a Dry Bones t-shirt under my jacket. I had never met Chris and his wife before, and they thought I was a street kid! Chris offered me a sweater, and his wife, who had brought gingerbread and licorice with her told me to eat as much as I wanted because there was plenty. It really caught me off guard. They also gave each of my kids a stuffed animal and offered them clothes too. Pete was wearing his blanket sleeper pajamas – the kind with the feet built into them – under his coat. That’s when it hit me that they thought my children were children of the street kids. I didn’t know whether to be offended, or proud. Afterall, Zoe and Max both were sitting down on the sidewalk talking with a few of our street friends like they’d known them forever. When Nikki, Matt and I started serving the meal, Chris’s wife noticed me standing there but didn’t say anything, so when the line died down I introduced myself to her and pointed out the rest of my family, telling her the children were mine. I think she was a bit relieved to know they wouldn’t be spending the night out in the cold. Does this mean I’m not visible enough in the ministry? I don’t think so…my role is just very different than the rest of the team. I’m thankful for the opportunity to participate in pool night occasionally.

I received my first Christmas card in the mail this weekend! My friend Vicki is on the ball!! (Over achiever!:)) I guess I’d better get mine started. Let me see, where is that list?…

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