Welcoming Seasons

First things first.

I'll give you two guesses as to where I am typing this from.

No! Not the spa!

No! Not shopping my heart out!

No! Not relaxing at a coffee shop while I write!

My next favorite place...

Yup! The hospital! With Shepherd...

Alright so when I say "favorite" I mean

Geeeeeshhh! Enough with the dramatics!!!

Enough with the hospital already!

I hate drama.

I bet you don't believe me.

But it's no joke.

It's why I didn't like junior high..or high school for that matter...or having friends that were girls.

That was then.

I clearly feel differently about the issue now. My best friends are ALL girls.

Well,except that one hot guy I live with.

Anyway.

I am here with unkept,unwashed______________ fill in the blank with hair,clothes,teeth,etc.

And Shep is here in his bed charming the nurses and doctors,while simultaneously trying to take their jobs.

He is trying to suction himself, using the buttons on his bed to pump himself up and down, figuring out how to plug and unplug all of his equipment independently and putting his blood pressure cuff on and off on demand.

He is a riot.

No lie.

Last time we were here, a nurses aid offered to try and find him Thomas the train videos in passing.

He then proceeded to ring the nurse call button on the remote unceasingly while signing"train".

Poor gal.

With him being so self sufficient in the medical realm, they have decided to keep him here to train all the young ones on the 5 Children's floor. With budget cuts and all, if all kids can take their own vitals, they could save some serious dough.

Or so I've heard.

THAT, and the fact that the pulmonary team has decided that Shepherd's history with infection(specifically his numbers in the bronch that was done in August) seem to show that he may have a bunch of nasty bacteria that's been hanging out doing damage for some time.

When they did his bronch they saw what looked like infection and treated him with oral antibiotics.

The head Doc came by this morning and said that the amount of bacteria that the August culture showed would usually slam any kid in the hospital and make him very sick.

Shepherd had no symptoms and no fever at all.

But they chose to give him oral antibiotics at the time.

She feels confident that oral antibiotics would not deal with this strong an infection.

This probably has something to do with the whole ear infection that landed him in the hospital a couple of weeks ago being so brutal,too.

SO, though he's feeling much better, they want to leave him here for a couple of days at least and get him a bunch of IV antibiotics in him, in hopes that he will finally kick these bugs for good.

Sigh.

So glad that we know this now.

Not so glad that my sister is due any day now with my niece and I am her unofficial duola.

And this timing seems,um,less than ideal.

But anything else would be too free of drama, don't you think?

Anyway, sitting here in the hospital makes me think of all of the things I wish I was home doing.

I LOVE the Fall. I LOVE this time of year. I love life lived slow,gracious,sweet,

savoring moments.

This has not been life recently and I am seeking God on ways to change this.

But some things can not be changed.

Like being in the hospital instead of outside having a picnic.

Yet,

Thank you God for having a hospital available.

Thanking you for using this place and these people to make my son well.

EVEN if, they don't let me sleep at night.

Thank You,Lord.

I'll spend these days grateful.

And planning on things like

making this Whiskey BBQ Chicken from Pioneer Woman,

when I get home.

I know,right?

I'm thinking I'll whip up some Pumpkin Spice Latte action.

Maybe use a recipe like this one.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

compliments of THIS blog

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
1 cup very strong coffee (4 tablespoons coffee grounds to 1 cup of hot water) I,Stephanie, use my espresso machine for espresso and steaming the milk

2 tablespoons vanilla

4 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon spice
2 heaping spoonfuls of pumpkin

Directions:

Pour all of the ingredients into a pot and heat over medium-high heat until the coffee is steaming hot, whisking with a wire whisk until the ingredients are incorporated and a little frothy. Pour into mugs and top with fresh whipped cream & cinnamon. Enjoy!

Note- If you are not a fan of the cinnamon texture, I am seeing in the comments and through Facebook that adding a cinnamon stick to the coffee mixture while heating it can be a great remedy to the cinnamon texture. This way you get all of the cinnamon taste, but none of the grit! This is just a base recipe that can be played with to your own tastes and preferences. It is meant to be personalized depending on how you like your latte! Thank you all for trying and sharing this recipe! The response has been overwhelming on this one!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Serving Size: 2

And I am thinking of taking up knitting again this fall.

I've never been really great at it but I do enjoy it in its most basic form.

I'm sure with a little focus, I could work up a dish rag or something.

Here's some inspiration

Found at THIS blog

So here we are and shall be for at least a couple of days.

Perhaps, I can make the time pass easier by this type of day dreaming.

And a trip by daddy and brothers to come hang out later today.

Until then,Mimi and I will continue to enjoy lovin' on our boy...without Pumpkin Spice Lattes.