A couple of scares

Boy, when it rains, it pours. We have had a couple of things happen here that have our family going "WHOA!" Nothing serious, but serious enough.

First, last week Mike asked Dr. Hooker, Gracy's doctor, if it would be okay for her to go swimming. Since we were told not to let her run for ANY reason, we thought we should check. Dr. Hooker said she thought that would be great exercise for her without putting any undo stress on her front paw. Sunday afternoon, Mike took the dogs down to the lake behind our house. He threw the buoy out into the lake for the first time and Gracy swam out to get it. When she got back to the bank, she could hardly walk. She had trouble getting out of the water and could hardly use her back legs. (As a side note, because she is favoring her front paw, she is having to compensate with her back legs, which are have been giving her trouble for a while.) Mike had to carry her some of the way back to the house. Ever since, she has really been favoring her back leg too. Mike checked her out really carefully and thinks Gracy strained or pulled a muscle. Now, the poor girl is limping on her front right paw and her back left leg. Other than that, she seems okay. She is eating good and is still interacting with the family okay. In fact, last night she was rolling around on the living room floor scratching her back and making funny noises. Mike and I are still watching her for signs of major discomfort and pain.

Second, about 2 p.m. today, as I was getting ready to leave to pick up Nathan I got a call from the kids' school. Will accidentally sat on a pencil and got the lead stuck in the palm of his hand. Mrs. Klink, a Guidance clerk, said she had tried to get the lead out with some tweezers but it was too deep. She put some peroxide and a band-aid on it to keep it from bothering Will. Mom called me as I was getting in the car and volunteered to pick up Nathan for me. When I picked up the kids, Alecia, Gracie's mom, told me to bring Gracie by her office. So, my three and I went to the Methodist Minor Medical Clinic to see if they could help. (I had already spoken to Will's doctor's office and they suggested taking him to the Emergency room.) Dr. Politi was able to get a couple of small pieces out but said the rest just turned to a consistency like chalk dust when he tried to retrieve it. He gave Will a topical ointment to deaden the area but Will still felt pain. So, Dr. Politi gave him some Lidocaine. Will started crying really hard because it hurt really bad. My heart still aches over it. We were given a prescription for an antibiotic to help ward off infection and told to watch for signs of possible infection. Will seems to be doing okay. He says it hurts occasionally so we are keeping it bandaged and covered in Neosporin.

Third, we have been trying to get our cabin listed with Fireside Chalet and Cabins to get some rental income. We have had a few set backs but hope to start renting it in the next few days. While we are working on this, we got the standard "Foreclosure" letter from a lawyer's office notifying us that foreclosure proceedings are pending if we don't start paying what we owe. Joy of joys (hear the sarcasm dripping from my keyboard...) We also got a letter from the new Property Owners' Association saying we owe our home owners dues for the last four months and for four months of cable, since we did not have a rental company taking them out for us. Fun, fun, fun..... (sarcasm again).

Can we go to bed, wake up the next morning and everything be right again? It sure would be nice. On a positive note, the Redemption revival was AWESOME!!! The Spirit of God moved in a remarkable way this past weekend. Lives were touched and changed. Saturday morning, we prayed "pockets of prayer" about the city and surrounding area; community leaders; against poverty, drugs, violence, apathy, racism, and any other "isms" that are here; we prayed for God to move in a mighty and miraculous way; to move mountains that stood in our way; and that Memphis would not be known for her past kings (cotton, BB, Elvis, and Dr. Martin Luther, Jr.) but for the King of Kings. Priscilla gave awesome messages and the music was uplifting and powerful. Her brother, Anthony Evans sang with some of his friends. Beverly Crawford also sang and danced. It was an awesome event.