HEATHER:10 DAYS AND COUNTING

Today makes the 10th day Heather has been in the hospital. She is adjusting to things the best that she can. I haven't seen her since Wednesday, but I call daily to check in on her. I wish that I could see her EVERYDAY, but sometimes daily life has other plans. With work, dinner, laundry, bath time and then bedtime; it's hard to get away sometimes. Plus, she has so many others visiting her that I think she would rather rest than see someone else walk in the door. So instead, I call in the afternoon on my lunch break and then again in the evenings. She sounds really good, almost like her old self. But there is always pain in her voice. I pray that this eases up in time. I can't even imagine what she must be going thru. I am trying to keep her blog posted as to her progress, but here lately she has been doing a pretty good job of doing her own postings. And boy am I thankful. Heck, ya'll know how hard it is to do one blog, just imagine doing 2. I'm kidding really. If helping Heather out on her blog is the only thing I can do for her right now, then that's what I will do. Please keep her in your thoughts.

BRIANNA HAS A FIELD DAY

Today Brianna participated in Field Day at school. The kids went on a trip to the Pavillion in Greenville for the activities. They spent the day playing on the playground, blowing bubbles and having a picnic lunch. They also took a train ride around the park. Brianna said she had a lot of fun.

A PLAYDATE WITH CARSON

We asked Carson to come spend the afternoon with us. Our original plans was to go to the Greenville Zoo, have a picnic lunch, and play at the park. However, the weather didn't look so good so we went to GattiTown instead. Carson had never been there. The kids had fun there. We were going to try to go to the Zoo after GattiTown but on the way it started to pour down rain. We came back to the house so the kids could just play inside.

MARCH FOR BABIES

Saturday I walked with Shirl and Kerrie in the March For Babies. It was a 6 mile walk starting at Greenville Tech and thru downtown Greenville. Let's just say the walk started off with a "BANG", that had me asking if anyone had any tissue so I could clean myself. Just joking of course:) It was a nice day for a walk, but after 3 miles I was ready to call quits. But somehow I persevered. Me, Kerrie and her dog, Jackson barely made it. Shirl, on the other hand, probably could have walked 6 more miles. It was for a good cause and we had fun! But I sure am paying for it today. All I can say is "Thank God for Tylenol."

A QUICK UPDATE ON HEATHER

Heather is improving with everyday. I saw her at the hospital last night and managed to get a smile or 2 out of her. I just spoke to her tonight. She sounds alot better. They stopped the morphine drip today so she's a little bit more aware than she has been. They have started physical therapy, but today was hard on her. I told her that I wanted to help keep her blog up to date for her, because I know that if she had a computer there with her in that hospital right now, she would be steady blogging. She said Elizabeth and the other girls were just discussing that earlier. So I'm off to her blog now.

FOR HEATHER & HER FAMILY

Please know that I am praying for Heather. I really love her like a sister and you all are just like a second family to me. Heck, I basically grew up at your house. Just please know that if there is ANYTHING that I can do, please let me know. My family sends you all nothing but well wishes. I love ya'll.

THE PASSING OF A GOOD FRIEND

Sharon Mills passed away Wednesday after going into heart failure and being placed on a ventilator. For those of you that know her, you know the loss of a truly good friend. For those of you that don't know her, I will write later to tell you all about her as she was truly one of a kind. All I can say right at this time is that I'm so sad and my heart is very broken. I will pray for her family, especially her son, that they have strength to get them thru this difficult time.

FOR SHA:
Sha had sickle cell; but she never used it as an excuse. She fought it and fought it until finally , at age 43 she was just too tired to fight anymore.
I really don't know what to say, as I am not very "good" at this type of thing. I have known Sha for about 8 years. And she has a very special place in my heart. My first impression of Sha was that she was CRAZY. When I first met Sharon Mills, I thought she was 20 years old. She would go out to that football game to watch the Jackets play every Friday night and I would joke with her because she had to have a new outfit to wear, COME ON NOW!! The whole GREER/BYRNES thing was always a big joke with us. This girl would say and do the funniest things. There are way too many examples to list so I will share this one with you. You all know we worked at the DMV together. Well there was this one time she called me out to her counter to help her with this guy that was trying to get his license back. He was suspended till like 2099 or something and we told him he couldn't get a license. He asked what he could do and Sha replied, "I guess you need to get a bicycle!" She would have us all rolling up in that place. And boy there were customers after customers that would complain about how rude she was. I'd say "Sha, you have to watch your body language." I say that because those eyes of hers would be stretched out of her head at those crazy customers and she would cross her arms and just turn her back on them. I don't want you to get the wrong impression; most of those people deserved it, probably. But on the other hand, there were customers I saw her wait on that she went over and above to help. On a personal level, I think that she could read people well---she knew if you were for real or not. If you weren't she just didn't bother. She had many friends. I used to hate going to the mall with her. I bet she would see someone she knew every 10 feet. Heck, it would take us forever just to walk thru the dang place. I spent a lot of time with Sha, not as much as I would have liked to, but every time we were together it was nothing but fun. Sha was honestly one of my closest friends and I will miss her. I will never forget Sharon Mills. No one could.

A PRAYER FOR SHA

Sharon Mills is a very close friend of mine. For years she has battled sickle cell and for the past year and a half she has had heart problems. She has been in and out of the hospital constantly in the past 2 years. She was placed in the hospital again last week because they thought she had food poisoning. Just after lunch today, she was placed on a ventilator. The hospital has called in the family and it doesn't look good. I know that there is power in prayer. Please say a prayer for her and her family. I know that she is tired of fighting, but I just can't imagine what my world and those that knew her would be like if Sha Mills wasn't in it. I love her and my heart is breaking.

SPENDING NANA'S MONEY

POLLEN PROBLEMS

So this is what Brianna has to deal with---POLLEN & ALLERGIES!!! I feel so sorry for her. I have never seen someone that has as many problems with allergies as this little girl. She goes thru so much this time of year. Everytime she goes outside, she comes in looking like this:

CORN ON THE COB & CHOPSTICKS

Brianna has just recently started eating corn. But only if its on a cob. So we had some last night for dinner. Except she didn't want to eat it because it wasn't on a stick. So she said that she had an idea! She ran to the utensil drawer and pulled out a chopstick. She stuck it in the corncob. I don't know how she came up with the idea, but it worked. Here are the pictures:

A DAY AT GREENVILLE ZOO

I took Brianna and Skylar, the little girl across the street, to the Greenville Zoo today. They have a new giraffe exhibit there. The girls really liked that. The cutest thing I thought was the lemurs. There was a little baby that had just been born a couple weeks ago. The baby was hanging on to its momma's belly and riding underneath her. It was really cute. Then there was a baby orangutan. It was climbing so far up the fence. The girls said it was trying to escape:) After the zoo, we made a quick trip to get ice cream and back home. I am now trying to get laundry done and nursing a migraine headache. Maybe I will be feeling better by tomorrow. I also wanted to give you guys a quick update on the TB thing. Brianna went for a second skin test on Friday. She will go back tomorrow for them to make sure it's ok. If so, then she won't have to take anymore of the preventative antibiotics. That's really good news. As for my mom, as of right now, she is still having to take the medicines. Hope you all have a good week.

THE BIGGEST JOKE I KNOW!!!

APRIL FOOL'S DAY WAS ALSO BRIAN'S BIRTHDAY. HE TURNED 40. BRIANNA AND I GAVE HIM A SMALL PARTY WITH BALLOONS AND A CARVEL ICE CREAM CAKE. I HAD MADE BAKED ZITI FOR DINNER THAT TO MY SURPRISE TURNED OUT PRETTY DARN GOOD. WHILE I WAS MAKING DINNER, BRIAN AND BRIANNA PLANTED THE GARDEN. IT CONSISTS OF TOMATOES, SQUASH, BELL PEPPERS, EGGPLANT, AND STRAWBERRIES. KEEPING WITH THE WHOLE "GARDEN" THEME, I GAVE HIM SOME NEW PRUNING SHEARS, GARDENING GLOVES, AND A BOOK ON GARDENING. I ALSO GAVE HIM A GIFT CARD TO LOWES. BRIANNA GAVE HIM SOME CRAFTSMEN TOOLS HE HAD ASKED FOR. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HE'S 40. WELL, THEN AGAIN, HE IS FALLING APART ON ME SO I GUESS HE IS STARTING TO SHOW HIS AGE:) BUT I NOT READY TO TRADE HIM IN ON A NEWER MODEL JUST YET:)