Getting Better Every Day

I'm feeling sooooo much better. Was able to sleep most of the night in our bed without coughing. Woke up around 2:00 with heartburn from the chicken and dumplings I had for supper, so I headed for the couch again.

Praise the Lord for the rain we got today! It was wonderful, but we still need more to get us out of this drought situation.

Was pretty busy this morning, then some in our department met at Red Lobster to celebrate a coworker's birthday. It is so nice to be able to get away for an hour and really get to know one another. One of the engineer's just got his pilot's license and bought a single engine Cessna. He's been flying to Birmingham on the weekends to see his parents. It was pretty cool listening to him talk about his training and how he was able to buy a plane so soon. He lives in a travel trailer. He was going to buy a house, but decided to buy a plane instead. He's single, young and really doesn't need much more than a travel trailer to sleep in, since he travels a lot on weekends. We decided at the end of the meal that we are going to do this once a month whether we're celebrating a birthday or not. We got wet running to our car. That hasn't happened in a long time!

Talked to Mama. She is doing better. Was able to eat quite a bit last night and this morning. She is beginning to get her strength back.

Took Daddy to the doctor. No, he didn't get his bloodwork done, so it was a wasted trip. We have to go back in a month after he gets his bloodwork. One good thing - he was able to get some pain pills for his arm. He's really been having a time with it. The doctor said he would try to get a physical therapist from Home Health Care to go to Daddy's apartment and work with him. That would be great. I told him I just couldn't take off several times a week to take him for therapy. I'm running out of vacation. He offered to give me a letter for FMLA. I told him I get 40 hours for family sick leave, but that's all I am allowed. Then, I have to take vacation. I told him I was taking the vacation first and would use the 40 hours when I ran out of vacation if Daddy or Mama got really sick. He didn't understand that I was only allowed 40 hours per year. And that's not 40 hours per person. It 40 hours total. Then, it goes against my sick leave and subtracts that many hours from my next year's allowable hours if I go over 80 total sick leave/FMLA hours. Because of the Meniere's Disease attacks last year and 40 hours FMLA for Daddy, I went over 23 hours which subtracted from this year's total. It's complicated, but it's not beneficial for me to go over. Those sick hours cost me a bonus the last three years. My boss told me he could have shown me as an exceptional employee, but couldn't because of my sick time. That's the reason I have shown vacation for times that I have been sick so that I wouldn't use many sick hours. The past two weeks since I got pneumonia, I've had to show 36 hours sick. Not good; not good at all.

After the doctor's office, we went to Walgreens to get his prescriptions filled and Daddy walked around in the store picking up things he needed. He really wanted a pocket knife, so we asked the lady cashier and she said she didn't think they carried them. We got his prescriptions and paid for the other stuff he picked up and started out. I remembered he needed me to add minutes to his phone, so I gave him the keys to go sit in the car while I paid for it. The cashier was the one we talked to as we came in the door and she reached in her purse and pulled out a small pocket knife and told me to give it to Daddy. She said she had her son's collection at home and didn't need this one. Her son had died 5 years ago and nobody else wanted his knives, so she had them. I blessed her and carried it to Daddy. He was so appreciative. It was just the size he was looking for. I took him home and carried in his stuff and then left to go home. Tabitha had called while I was in the doctor's office and asked if I would carry the kids to church.

I went home, kissed Vance, brushed my teeth and headed to Chadand Tabitha's to pick up the kids. Hope was so cute. She had her Dora doll with her and made Trent put a seatbelt on her to "keep her safe." She is very concerned that you wear your seatbelt. That's a good thing. The seatbelt is what kept Vance from getting hurt yesterday. She was upset that PawPaw had wrecked his truck. She kept asking if he was okay.

We had a great service tonight. I sang without once coughing or getting out of breath. God is good.

Vance called to let me know he was going to bed. I told him I had to drop the kids off and I'd be home. Took them by Burger King and got them some food and then took them home. I hung around and talked and didn't get home until 10:00. Vance was sound asleep.

Now, it's time for me to go to bed. I'm getting back to normal cause I'm staying up later. I really need to make myself go to bed before 11:00 every night and quit staying up till after midnight. That's probably one reason I got so sick. Your body needs sleep to heal itself and I just wasn't giving it time to heal.

So, I'm off to bed. Goodnight and God bless.......................