Part 2...

I am literally starting to wonder if my SOLE purpose for existing is so people can look at me and think, "PHEW! Am I glad I don't have HER life!"

So I was cruising along, basking in the warmth of the glow from the good report my mom got after her heart cath this morning. Since Gma was staying with me while dad stayed at the hospital with mom, I had called in and told my work I wouldn't be very available. I was concentrating on ONLY having to homeschool (and care for two old ladies). We were SO far ahead of schedule!  The kids were doing GREAT!  Gma was folding laundry with wild abandon.  I didn't even notice Auntie Marge slip away from the kitchen table. All of a sudden I heard a THUD!  I jumped up to investigate and as I walked down the hallway I could see Auntie Marge's head sticking out of her doorway.  She was lying on the ground.  I took ONE look at her and I KNEW something was wrong with her right leg. It was just at an odd angle AND it was completely lame. She couldn't move her foot AT ALL.

This day has SO many more twists and turns that I will skip all the details of how I got her into the chair, arranged an adult to supervise the boys staying home with Gma, notified my parents and John, cancelled the rest of our school day, etc... I had to CARRY her to the car because she could not use that leg AT ALL.  She is VERY light; however, she was dead weight, and she kept slipping out of my arms.  At one point, I almost passed out.

I kept thinking this CANNOT be happening!  This canNOT be happening!  They discharged my mom from Waukesha Memorial at about noon, and she and dad headed straight for Hartford Hospital to check on Auntie Marge. Really???  Two ER visits in two days???  What kinda crazy family does that???  We do apparently.

Soooooooo Auntie Marge is having surgery to repair her broken hip/femur tomorrow at 1 p.m. (PLEASE pray for her.  She is VERY scared as she has never had a surgery before.... 89 years she made it without ever having surgery!) But now we get to the part where I was finally reduced to tears.

John met us in Hartford after work, and we ate at Culver's.  Then he took two kiddos home, and I took two to do the Walmart shopping. We finished our shopping without a hitch (I had my mode of payment with me this time) and got in the car.  We turned right onto Hwy 60 from the Walmart parking lot.  We traveled.. idk... about 100 feet??? and reached the place where the streetlights stop, and I was INSTANTLY and COMPLETELY disoriented.  I couldn't see the road AT ALL.  I had NO headlights!  Panic mode kicked in, and I held back my tears.  I called John, and we problem solved.  We decided (with hazards on) I would return to Walmart (they have an automotive shop) and see if they could help me.  I will NOT lie. Last summer's almost unsolvable taillight issue was haunting my soul, and at that point the tears were JUST under the surface.

I got to Walmart and started incoherently babbling to the automotive guy. He walked into the shop and voila! I had lights.  I was like "WHAT???"  He reported, "You have brights (I didn't think of that)... which means it isn't electrical. I'm guessing your low beam bulbs just burned out."  Apparently I am just SO lucky that BOTH bulbs burnt out at the SAME time.  WHATEVER!  that was it... I holed up in the waiting room and let the tears start....  Whose life is LIKE this????  I tell you I couldn't MAKE this stuff up!  Fact TRULY is stranger than fiction!

Have you seen Evan Almighty???  God (Morgan Freeman) tells Evan that everything He does, He does because He loves Evan.  At one point, Evan's family has walked out on him.  The whole city thinks he's nuts (he is building a boat in his subdivision just like Noah built the ark)... Evan says, "I know, I know, everything You do You do because You love me."  His lawn sprinkler comes on timer and squirts him in the face, and he SCREAMS, "Could you love me a little less!?!?!?"  Let's just say right now I can relate to that scene.

But I gotta bring it around to something inspirational... and really and truly the tears were just tears of exhaustion... I'm not despondent over here.   I'm just DEPLETED.  Here's the verse I'm clinging to:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

Tune in tomorrow for another episode of Calamity Jami  Will she plummet off a cliff? Be struck by a rogue wind turbine? Or just lose her pants in the middle of the hospital waiting room? Only God knows and only time will tell.

Peace out my faithful readers.  And don't forget to say, "PHEW! Am I glad I don't have HER life!"