SICK CHILD AND 1ST LAWN PARTY OF THE YEAR

I took Jessie to the doctor last week. Her tonsils have been swollen for the last 3 months, she has been doing a lot of mouth breathing, and she snores so bad at night that Cassidy doesn't like to sleep in the same room with her. The doctor suggested that she have her tonsils removed. We has a tentative surgery date in Grand Forks on June 2nd to have them removed. Jessie was also diagnosed as an asthmatic last summer. I want to take her to a pediatrician and get her asthma under control before we go ahead with the surgery. So, I may have to cancel the surgery date and wait until her asthma is under control. The poor little girl coughs constantly, her nose is always running, I have had to give her a lot of nebulizer treatments lately, and sometimes she coughs so hard she throws up.

Last night was a long night. Jessie's asthma flared up and I was up until 3:30 am trying to make her as comfortable as possible. She feel back asleep around 4. Tomorrow I am calling the clinic to see when I can get her in. I feel so bad for her and feel like the shittiest parent in the world.

Saturday evening I hosted my first lawn party of the season. It was a beautiful evening/night for it. Ten of my friends where here with all of their children. I think there was 12 children in all. Everyone brought something to throw on the grill and one friend brought a huge grill so we had two to cook on. We had enough food to feed a small army of 1,000 people. One of my friends grilled peppers and onions with an awesome glaze and also made these really good mushrooms with chives. I am going to have him make those at every lawn party from now on. I was hoping the neighbors would make it over, however, the weather was so nice they had to spend the time seeding farmland, and they also had family from out of town visiting. Hopefully they will be able to make it next time. I feel bad they missed out on some great food this time around. The bonfire burned out at about 5:30 am, and those who stayed that late, left.

It's raining today, so I am thinking of inviting friends over for supper and to watch some Jeff Dunham. It should be a good time.

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY, ERIS PIERCE!

Because of my horrid day on Monday, I forgot all about Eris's birthday party at Rainy and Jason's house in Devils Lake. Rainy called yesterday morning to ask if we got the invitation and if we were still coming. I thanked her for calling and told her we would be there.

It was a cute My Little Pony themed birthday party. Eris got a lot of cool gifts, including a real pink leather Harley Davidson jacket. Jason cooked for everyone on the grill, we gorged on chocolate ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, and the adults had a great time conversing on the deck while the kids played in the back yard.

With how shitty things have been for me lately, it was nice to spend a little time away from home, having fun with close friends. I think I need to do that with my friends...MY REAL FRIENDS...more often. However, I know it's difficult since a lot of us live so far away from each other now.

Eris opening up gifts.

Eris's My Little Pony cake.


Some of the kids.

Jason's pregnant belly.

Would you believe he said he was looking for his lighter?!?

Tawny and Ryan.

Denae, Bradley, and Katie Hillebrand.

The expression says it all!!!

Jason and Rainy were definitely made for each other!

SUBWAY...EAT BUGS

I had the worst day ever.

I was sleeping in when my phone rang. The phone call started my day on a really bad note. I called Brandie so I could vent, and she came over to talk and hang out. While she was here, we decided to take the girls and her youngest son to a park in Rugby to get away, and out of the house.

Before getting to the park, we stopped at Subway and picked up lunch for the kids. I got halfway through my sub when I looked down and saw a big black bug in my sandwich. Damn near made me puke. On our way back to York, I stopped at Subway and got my money back.

We got home and decided to clean out and wash our vehicles. I got sunburn pretty good on my face, chest, shoulders, and the back of my neck because we were cleaning and washing for a good three hours.

I came inside and started making supper for everyone. Potatoes were boiling on the stove, Jessie and Brandie's youngest son were playing in the toy room, the three older kids were outside. Brandie and I took the opportunity to go outside and have a cigarette since the kids were occupied. No sooner had we gone outside, Brandie's son ran through the living room and locked the dead bolt on the door...locking us outside!

We broke into the house, cleaned up the mess from the boiling stove, fed the kids, I gave my girls a bath, then Brandie and her kids went home, I put my girls to bed.....now I am trying to wind down.

I can only hope that my day goes better tomorrow, but I don't see that happening. How was your day?

COMPASSION

I read a paragraph off of a friends Facebook page today. As I was reading, I felt my heart open up and thought how wonderful the world could be if everyone was compassionate. Compassion can be a hard thing for some people, and easy for others. For myself, I realized as I was reading, this is what made a very select few of my friends the four greatest friends I will ever have, and I am very proud of those four friends. I am posting it on my blog to share with all of you. Some of you may like it. Some of you may not. To me, it definitely means something.


"Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it. As busy, active, relevant ministers, we want to earn our bread by making a real contribution. This means first and foremost doing something to show that our presence makes a difference. And so we ignore our greatest gift, which is our ability to enter into solidarity with those who suffer. Those who can sit in silence with their fellowman, not knowing what to say but knowing that they should be there, can bring new life in a dying heart. Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in gratitude, to shed tears in grief and to let a sigh of distress arise straight from the heart can break through paralyzing boundaries and witness the birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken."

- Henri Nouwen


The next time you come across someone who is lonely, hurt, or in need, try thinking of what you can do to help that person. It may not take much at all. A smile and kind word could make the biggest difference at that moment. Let's try to stop the fighting, outcasting, and judging of others. It is time to live in peace and unity as one.

ELTON JOHN & BILLY JOEL: FACE 2 FACE 2009

Cole and I got to Fargo just in time to eat and catch the Ron White comedy show at 8 o'clock. The show was really funny. He had a guy open for him that was Latino, and he put on a really good act too.

Before the Elton John & Billy Joel concert on Saturday, I called an old friend, Jesse Masterson, and he met us at Starbucks. We sat there enjoying coffee and sharing stories for about an hour, and then we all decided to go hit the mall together. We had a lot of fun running around. Before we knew it, it was 5 o'clock, so Cole and I had to leave to get ready for the concert.

We got to the Fargodome about an hour and a half before the show started. The place was already swarming with people. We found our seats and then we went and bought tour T-shirts.

The concert started a little bit late, but it was definitely worth the wait! Elton John and Billy Joel came out and played a set of about six songs together. Then Billy left the stage and Elton played for an hour. When Elton was done, he left the stage and Billy came back and played for an hour. When Billy finished, Elton came back on stage and they played together again for about another half hour or so. All together, the concert went on for three and a half hours. They had the best light show of any concert I have been to and it has been the BEST concert I have seen so far. I will go see their concert if they perform again together.

If anyone reading this has tickets to see this concert, or has been contemplating about going, I say DEFINITELY GO! It is one hell of a show! You will not walk away disappointed.

TA-TA

Cole just called. He is west of Devils Lake so he will be here in about half and hour, and my fun weekend is about to begin.

Check back in a few days for pictures of the Ron White show and Elton John & Billy Joel.

I hope everyone has a super weekend!!