Angels Among Us

The other day I ran into a friend who is a cousin to the mother of baby Kylie.  We chitchatted for a while about the ongoing situation with the baby who, that day, was scheduled for her THIRD surgery.  The second surgery to “repair the fix” did not produce the results they had hoped for so this third surgery was to put a mechanical valve in.  This means she will have to be on blood thinners the rest of her life and get more surgeries to replace the valve as she grows.  It was an option they were hoping to avoid.  What was supposed to be a 2-3 week trip is going on week seven now and all their resources are drained, from financial to emotional.  The dad, Nick, ran out of paid leave weeks ago and Krista, the mom, is surviving on leave donations.  If she runs out of leave she loses her health insurance and, for obvious reasons, that just can’t happen.  So, her cousin mentioned possibly doing some kind of fundraiser to help come up with some money for them. 

I got back to my desk and wondered if there was something I could do.  Eventually I decided to get permission from my boss to ask my office for leave donations on Krista’s behalf.  Krista works for General  Services which is located on the 7^th floor of the State Office Building.  I work for Grants & Contracts and the Grants part of my office is also located on the 7^th floor of the SOB, although the contracts side, of which I am a part of, is located in the AOB.  I knew from my days at DGS that you get to know the other floor occupants from the hallways, elevators & bathrooms and I also knew if people can put a face to a plea for help they are more inclined to give.  So I obtained permission and wrote my plea to my office asking for leave donations for Krista if anyone was up for it.

The next morning I got an email from a gal over there asking me if financial donations would be appropriate.   She said if so, she and her husband would like to contribute.  So I told her yes, that would very much be appreciated and told her she could drop her donation off at DGS with Krista’s cousin.  A little while later Krista texted me that this woman, who Krista didn't even recognize by name, had dropped off a check for $800.  Krista was so astounded at her generosity it made her cry.

None of us know why things like this are allowed to happen to innocent babies.  Three open heart surgeries in the span of two months would be difficult on anyone, let alone a now 6-month old baby.  We can all imagine the horror of watching your baby suffer that way, and we can all appreciate the toll it has taken on the parents as well.  The sheer length of this family’s ordeal would be enough to make anyone snap.   They stay with the baby round the clock, taking turns sleeping in a waiting room.  They have little privacy and no sense of being settled. They worry about their 10 year old daughter in Juneau they haven’t seen in almost two months.  Meals are out of a hospital cafeteria, and probably bad coffee out of a machine.  It has not been easy.

What I know for sure is even though we can’t understand why suffering is allowed to happen, it is a chance to know and experience grace, tender mercies we've done nothing to earn.  It is a chance to see angels walking among us, like this generous coworker.  It is a time when we can all see and experience the best of human kind and to see God’s love and mercy through the actions of others. 

Happy Easter

This picture is taken by Pat Costello.  I absolutely love it.  The super low tide had stranded all the starfish and he was there at just the right moment.  Pat is ALWAYS there at just the right moment, he takes some amazing photos.  I am thankful for people who share their talents.

Prayer Request for baby Kylie

This baby is the daughter of some friends of mine.  She was born in October with three holes in her heart that was detected soon after she was born.  Last week she had heart surgery to repair these defects and she is not responding as hoped.  I don’t know all the details but a second surgery is a possibility.  If you are the praying kind, please say a prayer for this little girl.  And for her parents who have so much on their plates at the moment.  It really puts things in perspective to see this helpless little babe, so vulnerable and precious.....so in need of a miracle. 

UPDATE:  Kylie does need to have another surgery to fix the repair on her heart valve.  As luck would have it the lead surgeon is stuck in Texas with weather issues so the surgery will happen as soon as he returns.  All kinds of prayers needed.

Breaking Up is Easy To Do........

Alaska Airlines is officially on my MAJOR pet peeve list.  I hear people complaining about them all the time and I had no doubt they operate like an company with a monopoly.  In many places in Alaska we have no other airline to rely on.  For the most part I take their gouging without putting too much thought into it.  What’s the point?  Besides, we don’t travel that often.

But recently something happened that changed my complacency.  A friend of mine (and spouse)  have to travel to Seattle to have open heart surgery performed on their  5 month old baby.  They are going through some tough times as one might imagine, both with leave usage from their jobs and travel expenses.  As anyone with major medical issues know, it all adds up fast.  I donated  some leave to her  and then Chris mentioned donating miles.  What a great idea, I thought.  He has miles he almost lost recently because he doesn’t have much activity on his account so we volunteered to donate 25,000 miles for their travel.  They were thrilled to have the miles, they have to buy opened ended tickets because their return depends on how well the baby is doing so air miles were definitely needed.  Imagine my surprise to learn it costs a lot of money to donate miles!!  $10 for every  1000 miles, to be exact, and then a $25 fee for processing.  So the cost of donating 25,000 miles came to $275.  For miles that I earned, that were MINE!! (Well, actually they were Chris’ but still……)  One might think the $25 processing fee would suffice…..why they have to charge for transferring miles from one account to another is beyond me.  It just goes to show their loyalty and appreciation for their patrons.  And how they really do gouge you at every turn.

So in conclusion…….BOO, HISS AK  Airlines.  You are no friend of mine.

Veterinary Trauma

Yesterday the vet was due to arrive at the house for shots.  In preparation for this traumatic event, I had shut all the bedroom doors so no one could find refuge under a bed or in a closet.  The only doors left open were to the office (where the litter box is) and a bathroom (where they can safely hide under the sink).  Things did not go smoothly…the vet knocked softly at the door which started Oscar thinking we were under attack and he had best alert the entire city and borough.  He is such a drama queen.  It is over with as soon as knocking people enter, but it certainly set the tone for the cats.  Thinking their world as they know it just imploded, they both went scurrying down the hallway at breakneck speed.  I wasn’t worried though, because I knew where I could find them. 

It took the vet about 10 minutes to get all set up and be ready for the first uncooperative feline.  I found Piper right where I knew he would be…under the sink in the bathroom.  Then it was Timmy’s turn.  I looked under the sink for him as well but nope…..he wasn’t there.  I looked in the bathtub.  I looked behind the shower curtain.  Okay, well that left only one other room.  The office doesn’t really have any hiding places but I looked in the bookshelves.  I looked in the desk drawers! Heck, I look at the ceiling and then I looked in the same places two or three different times.  I looked for bumps in the carpet.  I looked for holes in the wall!  I could not find this 10 pound, stark white cat with glowing eyes ANYWHERE.  The vet assured me this was not the first time this had happened and we rescheduled Timmy’s shot for another day.  Then Chris came home and we both looked high and low. In every room and cupboard, behind every door, up, down and sideways we looked.  He was gone.  I started getting really worried then although I knew he HAD to be there.  Finally a couple hours later, the missing little Timmers jumped up on my lap wanting reassurance from his scary afternoon in hiding. I still have no idea where he got to.  And this afternoon we get to do it all over again.  Hopefully I will have Oscar out in the garage and Timmy in a kennel before the vet arrives.

Spring in Juneau

Spring is on it’s way. …I can FEEL it!! I have a love/hate relationship with this time of the year….we haven’t had any snow in a while and the ground is becoming barer of any remains daily.   Temperatures have soared in the high 40’s and there have been a couple days you hardly needed a coat on.  YET….I live in Alaska and I know in my heart this is simply a fleeting reprieve from winter.  It is after all, only February.  There will be more snow even though it hardly seems possible at this juncture.  But my heart remains optimistic, ready to believe THIS could be the one winter that ends early.  This could be leading up to a summer for the record books, one reminiscent of the summer of 2005.  A girl can dream.

My friend Carole and her husband were returning home last  weekend, emptying the car of groceries etc., when the sounds of crying  got their attention.  They looked across the street to see a kitten running in their direction, soaked to the bone and very thin.  So, of course, kitty has a new home.  We went over to meet him last night and my heart absolutely melted.  He is a little Siamese Blue Point kitten (just like Piper) and just the cutest thing ever.  Very  playful, very loveable.  They already have two cats but “Moose” is ruling the roost already.  There is no doubt God knew what he was doing when he made kittens and puppies so irresistible.  They were not wanting additional animals but there was never any question they were taking him in. Why don’t I ever happen along kittens looking for a new home??  For all of Chris’ protesting that we don’t need any more animals, I know if we came upon a baby under those circumstances he would cave like a little girl. 

I know I needed to post a new blog entry but if I don’t have a topic in mind I really am stretched to find something to talk about.  My two sisters are together this week in Port Angeles and I’m missing it.  All I can think about is all the fun and adventures  they will be having and I’m missing out.  I really hate that feeling.  Next year  I won’t miss it!

So 'Happy Spring' to one and all, hope yours is for real and not a fantasy.

Life in 2012

I woke up this morning and it was zero degrees.  Yikes.  It has been in the single digits for a few days but usually warms up to double digits.  The sun has been shining and it is beautiful, nonetheless, zero is about my threshold for cold weather.  I lay in bed last night and nose was a block of ice.  Chris gave himself a haircut yesterday and when he got to bed last night he wore a hat!  It was a chilly one.

I have to document my husband’s coffee machines history for prosperity’s sake.  When we got married  we had one little percolator coffee brewing pot that my mom gave me for when she came to town.  When Chris’ belongings arrived it was replaced with a coffee maker he owned.  A couple years later it quit working and about that time Kmart  was going out of business so I snagged one there for really cheap.    Really cheap never satisfies Chris, and a few weeks later he bought a nicer, way more expensive one.  The Kmart machine was relegated to the garage.  Then the coffee presses came out and he needed one of those but he also wanted a tea kettle to heat the water.  A friend of ours gave him a tea kettle but that one wasn’t good enough so he went out and purchased a new tea kettle. The old  tea kettle went in the garage.  That kept him happy for a while, many a weekend morning  was spent listening to whistling of the tea kettle.  Then  I accidentally broke the coffee press so we had to immediately replace it, which wasn’t nearly as painful as being regaled with accounts of my “crime” being, over and over to anyone who would listen.  So imagine my surprise when I woke up one morning last week and this new contraption was sitting on my counter.  Yes, the old expensive coffee maker found a new home in the garage and a Keurig Coffee System replaced it.  My garage is getting over run with Chris’ rejects.  He sure is happy though, he bought a box of coffee capsules and he is keeping track on his I pad of the ones he really likes and the ones he doesn’t.  There are also capsules for tea and hot chocolate as well.

On another note, my dad just turned 92 years old.  I really can’t imagine what it would be like to have survived that much life.  He grew up in the South and has gone from what I imagine was a very segregated upbringing to seeing a black man in the White House.  I think of all the technological advancements that have happened just in the last 20 years, let along the 72 years preceding that.  He had a 62 year old marriage and a 40 year teaching career. He has always worked hard and has explored many passions.  He is really blessed to have two people in his life that really love and care about him and are physically present in his life.  He was a difficult man to have for a dad and we each bear some scars but I am really thankful that God has provided him with Bill and Glenda.  So Happy Birthday Dad……