Musical Monday

It has come in conversation several times in the last week about my eclectic taste in music, and while I have favorite genre's I probably have songs I really like in every genre.

There is pretty much 1 qualifier for music I like, it moves me; physically, or emotionally, or both.

When I listen to the radio in the car I will flip between about 9 regular stations in order to find a favorite, that allows for quite the interesting range of songs I will crank when they play.I get some looks for my choices, but the ears what the ears want :)

So, to prove my point, I figured I would document the songs I paused on while in the car this last week, not just the best song of 9 choices but the songs I just couldn't help but sing along to. A Lori 'mix tape' if you will.
(I linked youtube versions so you could hear if you are not familiar with....not condoning video content :)

Cruise - Florida Georgia Line ft.   Nelly
Pay Phone - Maroon 5
Black Bird - Sarah Mclachlan
Rag Doll - Aerosmith
Mirrors - Justin Timberlake
1994 - Jason Aldean
I'm With You - Avril Lavigne
Two Princes - Spin Doctors
Little Bit of Everything - Keith Urban
Roar - Katy Perry
Hurts So Good - John Cougar Mellencamp
I Will Wait - Mumford & Sons
Wake Me Up - Avicii
Boys 'Round Here - Blake Shelton ft. Pistol Annies
Life is a Highway - Tom Cochrane
Your Love is My Drug - Ke$ha
This Is What It Feels Like - Armin Van Buuren ft. Trevor Guthrie
Faith - George Michael
I Go Blind - Hootie & The Blowfish 
Trouble - Taylor Swift
Always - Bon Jovi
Some Nights - Fun

Musical Mondays

I am truly blessed to hear, and understand when, God is speaking to me.

I still find it a little hilarious though when he decides to speak to me through some 'unorthodox' songs on the radio, granted it is just parts of the song out of context, but still! I LOVE that he reaches out through my mundane every day with these messages!

Here's some of my latest 'mix-tape' from God :)
(video of song linked to each title, for reference in case you've never heard of these songs)

Let Me Love You
(from God's perspective)
I can see the pain behind your eyes
It's been there for quite a while
I just wanna be the one to remind you what it is to smile
I would like to show you what true love can really do...
 
Girl let me love you
And I will love you
Until you learn to love yourself
Girl let me love you
I know your trouble
Don't be afraid, girl let me help

Crazy Girl
(from God's perspective)
Crazy, girl, don't you know that I love you?
And I wouldn't dream of goin' nowhere
Silly woman, come here, let me hold you
Have I told you lately?
I love you like crazy, girl 

Shameless  - I used a cover version, not fond of the 2 well known versions :)
(from my perspective)
And I'm changing,
Swore I'd never compromise,
Oh, but you convinced me otherwise.
I'll do anything you need.

I have never let anything have this much control over me.
I've worked too hard to call my life my own.
And I've made myself a world, and it's worked so perfectly,
But it sure won't now, I can't refuse,
I've never had so much to lose.
Ohh I'm shameless...

I'm shameless.
I don't have the power now,
And I don't want it anyhow,
So I gotta let it go.

Wanted
(from God's perspective)
Put aside the math and the logic of it
You gotta know you're wanted too...

I wanna make you feel wanted
And I wanna call you mine
Wanna hold your hand forever
And never let you forget it
Yeah, I, I wanna make you feel wanted

Anyone can tell you you're pretty, yeah
And you get that all the time, I know you do
But your beauty's deeper than the make-up
And I wanna show you what I see tonight
  

Christmas Questionnaire

Haven't done one of these in awhile....

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. I prefer the look of wrapped packages, especially glittery bows and swirls of ribbon, but I'm not that great at the 'perfect wrap', particularily on odd shaped packages, so I often default to a bag.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial - when I have one.

3. When do you put up the tree? When the tree goes up it goes up no sooner than the first weekend in December.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually New Year's Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? Love.it. For my own sake I have to not allow it in my house until Dec. 1st. They keep selling it earlier and earlier each year though! So hard to not buy for most of November.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My cabbage patch doll. I waited so long for one, I even got a fake one that just didn't do.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Technically. This porcelain nativity tealight holder.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Believe it or not, hubby! I've mentioned we don't do gifts for our families, other than kids, and even hubby and I have agreed on a large gift together for many years. Sean just tends to have very little wants, he's a minimalist and what he does spend money on he buys as he wants through the year (like books), or on concerts as they come up - typically not around Christmas time.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My neice Brooklynn, she's pretty creative and now that she likes scrapbooking, this year's present was a cinch! ;)

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? It's a funny story actually. It was the year my sisters got married and mom had bought one of them a toaster oven for a wedding present, but they received another one as well, so mom knew we wanted one and offered it to us as a Christmas present later that year. Mom and dad also happened to move that year, for the first time in 12 years, and it took some looking before mom could find the toaster oven, but she finally did, wrapped it up and gave it to me at our gathering. I unwrapped the box and when I opened it, on top was a lovely Christmas stationary. I love stationary so it didn't register, but as I got deeper into the box (which did have a toaster oven on the side) it was a bunch of miscellaneous items thrown in, some even left over from my grandma's old belongings who had passed away 6 years earlier. A box o' crap. :) It was really quite hilarious. Mom never did find that toaster oven, can't even remember what I did end up getting instead.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Both, and I hand them out in person too, a combo of all 3.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Some people say it isn't a Christmas movie but I've watched it at Christmas just about every year since I was a kid....Sound of Music.  I love that movie. Wizard of Oz, second favorite (and yes, it's a Christmas movie for same reason :)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Well, since I intentionally only shop for 5 each year, and occasionally, as the season unfolds, add another gift or two to the list, I don't feel the need to start early. Also, since those 5 gifts are for children, whose tastes can change as fast as they can, I typically don't start until December.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I know of. I have given old gifts away years later but not as a gift.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? We call them papanate (?) or pfefferneuse cookies. Christmas isn't Christmas until I have at least one.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Either, it mostly depends on the colour coordination of the ornaments.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Little Town of Bethlehem by Amy Grant.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel. Boxing day in Steinbach every year.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? All nine ;)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Depends how long I've had to stare at gifts under a tree. Since we haven't had a tree for years, I've been able to wait until Christmas day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The song Domino the Donkey, PUH-lease! If I never hear that song again it's too soon.

23. What I love most about Christmas? Family. Family. Family.

Three Things Thursday

Three things I'm trying to be thankful for:

1.The snow falling today (after +30 C weather this last weekend). My hubby loves the first snow fall, the earlier, the better. Like by his birthday, guess what, his birthday is Monday. And so I will try to be happy with him because I'm thankful for a happy hubby.

2. A very busy week - 6 out of 7 evenings full - while I'm trying to fight a hovering cold. Every single one of these evenings is spent with people I am so blessed to have in my life though, co-workers, ladies small group, the leaders at Recovery, every brave person who walks through our doors at Recovery, and my families. I'm very thankful I am surrounded by such awesome people in my life!

3.Lack of sleep. While I can't be thankful for that, the reasons are blessings; quality time with hubby that we prefer over sleep, staying up late to hear how hubby's school is going when he gets home at 10:30 pm, getting up early to go to the early Church service to watch the baptisms of lives we've seen transform over the last year. All that is totally worth it. If only my cold wasn't also keeping us up the other nights when we otherwise could sleep :( But, hey! At least when I sleep I can sleep soundly, safely, sheltered, and by the side of the one I love most. <3 br="br">

Three Things Thursday

Three super powers I wish I had!
(this was also another The Choice bachelor question, but after a geeky girl's dream - comic book movie overload this last year - can't help but think about how I might be able to attain this kind of mutation)

1. Telepath would be pretty cool. Not only could I know when people are telling the truth but I could control the minds of criminals...of course to stop them!

2. Shape shifter would also be pretty awesome. Fun for practical jokes, I could look like any gorgeous woman I wanted, and they  heal very quickly! Being the klutz I am, that will come in handy! Then after I trip embarrassingly I could hide in the form of a couch while my injury quickly heals :)

3. Since I'm a big fan of storms but often not exactly content with weather in general (usually too cold or too hot or too windy, etc.) I'd like the psionic power of Storm from X-Men, ability to control all weather in a certain radius. Now that would be sweet!

Monthly Miscellany Monday

Here's my monthly collection of ordinary happenings and moments I don't want to forget.
~ hubby and I were invited to go out for lunch after Church with my ministry director and her husband. it's always nice to be able to chat about something other than ministry for a change, an opportunity to get to know each other better and bond over things that don't have anything to do with 'work'.

~ so I got a whim after a friend of mine chopped off her hair that I'd like to try it shorter too, the shortest I'll have willingly had it since grade 4! It's actually longer in the front but much shorter in the back, and I'm enjoying a 'hair free' neck in this heat wave we'v had for the second half of July!

~ Muki arrived again the evening of the 17th, while his momma went to Paris with her daughter! Wow! Couldn't we all just come along? :) 

~ I was just thinking it was time to follow up on my tattoo design when I got a call that she still wasn't 'feeling' my design and created something 'inspired' by the elements I wanted, so I went down to check it out. it wasn't my style, although it was beautiful, so she recommended me to another artist. I had come prepared with additional 'inspiration' closer to my design idea than the drawings I first provided. I brought this picture and she loved it! can't wait!

~ I spent the 17th out in Altona and Steinbach. I of course had to do my 'day with the newborn', oh yeah, and my sister. JK! I love getting hours of one-on-one sister time while I get to cuddle a newborn. And then get to play with Teigon when Tami was busy with Paxton. Then I stopped in Steinbach on the way back so that I could see my sister Jodi's new house. Their first house they've owned since they sold mom and dad's back to them about five years ago.  It's a really nice place they will be able to stay in for a long time, lots of room for the kidlings!

~ we received the worst call of our lives (so far, but hopefully ever) on the night of the 21st to find out my mom had a heart attack. we still can hardly believe all that happened in a week, because exactly a week later she was home. she's recovered now very well and other than some possible side-effects of her new medication, she feels like her recovery from the surgery aspect is pretty much done! it hasn't even been a month yet!

~ mom's heart attack was good timing on many fronts, after Paxton was born but before my trip to California, thanks mom :) while preparing for my trip I had a little event called a birthday, but it went by without a lot of fanfare because the usual family celebration was supposed to be the weekend after mom's heart attack, but not knowing when she'd be out or up to we just cancelled. my birthday dinner with Sean was also postponed due to I wanted it at a down town restaurant and downtown at this time of summer is just a little too crowded for us. I did however get lots of love on FB and I even received a lovely journal! bought BEFORE my request :) Thanks Meg!

~ also during this week before my trip, Sean had an epiphany about a career change, he told me about it, I validated the idea, we prayed about it, we tested it out financially and with a few respected people's opinions, and then went for it! Sean will be attending Red River evening courses to take Applied Counselling! Yay! It will take awhile because we've decided to not go into debt for school, so he will remain working until he's done, which will take a little longer, but we feel this is exactly where God has led him.

~ luckily right before leaving for California I did get the long weekend Monday off, but as usual Sean didn't, so I got it to myself. I packed, prepared and then visited my friend in her new house for the afternoon. I brought her this belated gift for her June birthday, which she loved, because she's a dancer of course.

~ then Tuesday, bright and early...for me, at 6 am I was picked up to go to the airport. I took Gravol to help with flight queasiness I've been getting the last few times and it knocked me out so I slept through most of the three flights down to Santa Ana/Orange County where we landed at 4 pm. our days and evenings were jam packed with things to do so other than seeing palm trees and being in a heat wave, even for California, I essentially really could have been anywhere. I didn't get to see the ocean or anything 'tourist-y'. but that's ok, the things I experienced at the conference were more than worth it! I did get to see a few things for the first time ever, including the Grand Canyon on the flight back home...shortly before I fell asleep again!

~we arrived home just about 4 pm on Saturday the 11th, Sean met me there and I was soooo happy to see him and be in his arms again. we finally got to have my birthday dinner and of course a trip debrief meeting :) then we spent the evening watching The Skit Guys videos, laughing until it hurt!

What a month!

Three Things Thursday

Three things I've done to show generosity to others:
(I watched the Choice yesterday, corny dating show, but the celebrity bachelors asked a question to help elimate, and this was one of them, I thought, 'finally! a question that could actually determine something profound!).

1. During our honeymoon we had a really awesome waitress in the hotel restaurant, we had her every morning at breakfast, so our last breakfast there we tipped her just a little more than our entire bill.

2. We took a page from my dad's book and bought supper for a couple that prayed before they ate at the same restaurant as Sean and I were eating at several years ago.

3. Sean had a co-worker a few years ago who had an unauthorized collection directly from her bank account, leaving her with no money for two weeks, so we gave her a $100 gift card to Safeway.

We both dream of the day when we can constantly do random acts of kindness like this and more!

Three Things Thursday

Three things I have never seen before this week:
(sorry it's a little late....been crazy busy here in California!)
1. Salt Lake City Utah - flight connection, this is all I saw of it.

2. Dr. Henry Cloud in person! Author of Changes That Heal, Boundaries and many more.

3. The premier showing of the movie Home Run! 

Three Things Thursday

Three things, Lori's 'believe it or not' edition
(inspired by the 'fun facts' game we played at our leaders BBQ, I thought I'd use it here too).

1. I have fired a 9MM gun and hit my target at 15 ft (approx.) on the 3rd try. My husband fired an AK-47 originating from an undisclosed desert, war-torn country.


2. I had 7th row seats to the Rolling Stones here in Winnipeg in 1997.


3.I was in the line for the Mind Bender (West Edmonton Mall) rollercoaster the night it crashed off the rails and killed people, including my neighbor's babysitter.

July Photo Challenge - 31

My photo challenge for today, July 31st, looking down.

I thought I'd have a little fun with this one, end on a lighter note :)

Don't worry, I'm not really down, just looking down. I'm fine...see!

Yes, I know I'm corny and a little bit lame, lol.

July Photo Challenge - 30

My photo challenge for today, July 30th, something you are grateful for.

well, I'm MOST grateful for my mom's recovery and that she's still around, period. but I don't have a picture of that. but a secondary thing I've become SO grateful for over the last week is how much the people in my life have surrounded me with love and support. I got another reminder of that today on Facebook.

July Photo Challenge - 29

My photo challenge for today, July 29th, something you don't like.

the one thing that bugs me about our dog-sitting situation is he won't go to the bathroom in the yard, which means a 'just before bed' bathroom trip...don't like late at night walks where you have to get all decent again to walk outside, especially just for the purpose of picking up poop. : P

July Photo Challenge - 28

My photo challenge for today, July 28th, view from your front door.

July Photo Challenge - 27

My photo challenge for today, July 27th, mail.

the mail hasn't been too interesting lately, so instead I'm documenting the 'getting the mail' ritual. Cinder needs to check out the door everytime it's opened so when Sean opens it to get the mail he picks her up first because she needs to 'help.' she actually likes it and it keeps her from trying to escape, but as soon as the door is closed she's done helping!

Three Things Thursday

Three things I will wish for when blowing out my proverbial candles in a few days (to narrow it down, I'll keep it to things I actually know I can receive, not like 'more hours in a day' or 'world peace' type stuff :)

1. A birthday cake I don't have to make or buy. I am a sucker for birthday cake, especially when it's mine! It doesn't have to be this caliber but I wouldn't complain ;)
2.A new iPhone cover, I love the idea of having a little bitty pretty with me wherever I go. Pretty is a 'happy place' gateway. I clearly have been wanting a new one for a while, I have saved plenty to this Wishlist Pinterest board.

3.Or a pretty journal from the same Wishlist. The rule is I'm not allowed to buy one as long as I have a current one that hasn't been used (at least a few pages). But if I don't buy it there isn't a rule about that!

July Photo Challenge - 26

My photo challenge for today, July 26th, younger you.

my mom and myself almost exactly 35 years ago. thought a joyous hospital picture was fitting for this challenge considering my mom may still be in the hospital on my 35th birthday next week.

July Photo Challenge - 25

My photo challenge for today, July 25th, home.

We are now in our 4th home but this is the first one that has instantly felt like it was where we belonged. Maybe because it finally had the space to accomodate us for the rest of our lives. Maybe because we had the money to furnish it with our own stuff rather than hand-me downs. Maybe it was the neighborhood and the neighbors. Maybe our fenced in back yard that was actually inhabitable.
Maybe all of the above.

We certainly do love having the freedom of getting our outdoor fix right in the privacy of our own backyard, I don't know if I've ever considered my yard as an extension of my home, not since I was a kid anyway. It's the place we gravitate to when we want to hang out to actually talk, whether just us two or with friends. 

Of course, having this guy there is what truly makes it home. Home is wherever he is.

July Photo Challenge - 24

My photo challenge for today, July 24th, artwork.

waiting room art. not my style but it is pretty and calm looking.

July Photo Challenge - 23

My photo challenge for today, July 23rd, animal.

my kitty has missed me over the last few days.

July Photo Challenge - 22

My photo challenge for today, July 22nd, something old.

this is no disrespect to my mom, calling her 'old' but in the light of this weekend's events, there is nothing that brings attention to the age of your parents like medical difficulties. 'massive heart attack' is about the scariest thing you can hear about your mom at only 63 years of age.

this is mom, uncomfortable but pain free and other than a few questions mostly at peace.

This is the whole story of my  mom's heart attack.

At about 3 pm on Saturday mom started to complain of neck and back pain, combined with some nausea, symptoms seeming familiar to a stomach issue my sister Jodi gets, so between the waves of symptoms and my mom’s high tolerance for pain she dismissed going to the emergency until it was finally too bad. When they got to the Steinbach hospital at about 8 pm they admitted her for tests, telling my dad to go home and they would call when he could pick her up or with an update. At just before 10 pm a nurse called dad to say mom was having a heart attack right then in the hospital. Blessing #1, can’t be in a better place having a heart attack than the hospital! We don’t want to think what would have happened had mom dismissed the pain and gone to sleep that night. They discovered it was due to a blood clot, they gave her medication to clear the blood clot, pain killers as well as medication to stabilize her erratic heart rate. During the clearing of the blood clot mom’s pain scale was at 9 out of 10. The pain was gone as soon as the clot was. Dad called us all at about 10 pm but couldn’t get a hold of any of us girls until closer to 10:30 pm. Only Jodi was able to go see mom in the hospital. Dad called to update us that they then determined she would be sent to St. Boniface hospital in Winnipeg on Sunday for a short ‘cleaning of the pipes’ surgery, we assumed that meant an angioplasty. Dad was under the impression it would be short and there would be no chance to visit her in Winnipeg so we were going to wait for word on Sunday when she’d be sent back to Steinbach and we could visit her.

Sunday we waited for word from Dad, he had Jodi call us about 11:45 am with the first update, mom was at St. B already and what Steinbach hospital had said before they left was that they concluded it was a massive heart attack, she would need to be in Winnipeg at least a few days and now it was likely she would need bypass surgery. Dad would call back after the St. B tests. Jodi called back about an hour and a half later to say what they saw in the arteries was much worse than they thought and that they were wanting us at the hospital asap because dad wanted all us girls there to help with the decision on which surgery to choose, they wanted to begin surgery asap. Sean and I got there first of course, mom was mostly in good spirits, pain free other than she wasn’t comfortable having laid in bed for so long already. She also had to keep her leg still as the tube inflating a balloon in her artery was through her leg, moving her leg could cut off the balloon so it had to be completely still, which was hard for mom to do. And her only concern was she couldn’t quite get her head around the surgery options, for a number of reasons she couldn’t recall all that the doctor had explained, it was a lot to take in.  Dad explained it to us and then we waited for my sisters to arrive from Steinbach and Altona.

Dad explained this, the head of heart surgery at St. Boniface was the one consulting mom and dad (blessing #2) and he explained that mom’s artery that had caused the heart attack was 50-60% blocked up until Saturday and then with the blood clot that artery became 90% blocked causing the heart attack.  This is because this artery was the almost sole supply of blood to her heart, her main (middle) artery was 100% blocked and so blood flow was minimal. This main artery has likely been blocked for years, it sounds like she has probably already had a few small heart attacks that were missed because her high threshold for pain and not sharing the extent of her pain/tiredness with dad. She’s been experiencing a lot of tiredness lately. Blessing #3 is that they caught this first massive heart attack, in a hospital, so it wasn’t fatal like many heart attacks, and now they should be able to rectify the problem because they’ve caught it.

Her heart is now at 66% capacity, with at least those two arteries needing surgery, the third seemed clear. Our options were a stent on the 90% artery or bypass, and we could leave the 100% blocked artery alone or also have a bypass on that. The doctors told mom and dad that the stent life average from St.B is 10 years with it progressively working less over the years where as a bypass would be almost ‘good as new’ and add 20-30 years of life with not much deterioration. Their average failure rate of a stent was 1% chance and the failure rate on a bypass was 2-3% (failure meaning, deaths during surgery). That of course was the average at St. B, the best heart hospital in Winnipeg, and additionally the head cardiac surgeon factored in that mom is about 20 years younger than most women who face this surgery and much healthier having never smoked, did not have other unhealthy eating habits, and being significantly physically fit since her hip replacement surgery, her risk was much less and he recommended multiple bypass (didn’t want paperwork to limit to 2 in case they found the third artery was also significantly blocked upon opening mom up). Speaking of the hip surgery, she had EKGs to clear her for that surgery and as post op checkups but blocked arteries are not detected by that and only someone looking specifically for that would have found it. After dad explained all that he asked mom what she wanted and she wanted the double bypass, we all agreed.

The head surgeon then came back to hear the verdict and said he could try to get the surgery tonight if the OR was available or tomorrow morning, he would be the one doing it tonight but not tomorrow morning. Mom was her usual self and said, ‘whatever is best for you,’ but the rest of us said now would be optimal. Sure enough they were able to get the OR today before 5 pm she was prepped and wheeled to the OR with the head surgeon able to perform the surgery, blessing # 4! Not before one of Southland’s pastors was able to come out and pray over mom. She had a lot of peace about it all and that is a great testament to her faith and everyone’s prayers!

Just after 6 pm they came to say mom just went under because they had to wait for blood thinners to be countered against. The surgeon came in the waiting room at about 9:30 to let us know the surgery ended up being a triple bypass, that it all went as planned. He said the heart was pretty damaged from the heart attack, it had been pretty weak but there was already some improvement and he expected that to continue improving. They prepared us it would be about 45 minutes before we could see her and prepared us for how she would look.

Well, 45 minutes just about doubled by the time we actually got to see mom. She has a dedicated nurse in the cardiac recovery area, which is comforting. Because of a balloon in her chest helping her new arteries heal they have her heavily sedated to keep her still enough it doesn’t not deflate the balloon. She is so heavily sedated she can’t breathe on her own for now. They also have her on additional medication and plasma to counter act the fact she was on blood thinners before the surgery, making things slightly more difficult but it was expected and her recovery is ‘typical’ for her situation.  They are very careful not to use hopeful words, they still classify her as ‘sick’ which is about as descriptive as they’ll get, but they assure us with it is all ‘what was expected’ and it’s ‘normal’ for her specific situation.  The 24 hours after surgery is critical, but the surgeon said that is the case in all bypass surgeries.  We can begin to expect her to be more alert and recognize us hopefully tomorrow afternoon or evening.  She will likely be in this ward until Wednesday and then a different ward for a week after.  The nurse wasn’t sure how things are done on that ward, if she could be moved to Steinbach instead is not clear. We were able to see her and ask our questions but we all went home for the night as nothing will likely change before morning at the earliest and we need to catch up on our sleep as many of us couldn’t sleep last night.

Thank you again for all your prayers and care for my mom and our family during this time. Your prayers have been felt, and as you can see God had his hand in this throughout. Continued prayers for optimal recovery over the next few days especially, but also the weeks ahead, would be greatly appreciated!