The Busiest Week EVER!

So I have decided to group a couple of those up and coming posts into just two posts. I’m combining Austin in Tucson, Health and Service, into one post and the Blind date, Eat n’ Meet into another. The Full Time in the Fall will get it's own post one of these days. Here I go explaining the busiest weekend EVER! Also known as the first week of June 2011…

On the Wednesday June 1, two days before my dad was getting here from Austin, Texas, I found out a really close family friend was in the ICU, she is really like family! I even lived with her when I moved back to Tucson for a few months if that helps ya to know how close she is to us. She is like an Aunt. When I talked to her daughter, she let me know what was going on. My friend had two blood clots in her brain and they wanted her in ICU to try and find out where they came from. It was too late in the evening for me to go and visit her then, so I planned on doing it the next day.

So, Thursday came. I went and did the general orientation class that is now required for pima community college that morning, so I could start registering for my classes and get school on a roll (YAY, I’m going to college. I’ll talk more about it in a bit), I went to work at 10 and then called my friend to see how she was doing. I was able to go and visit her in the ICU later that afternoon after getting off of work early. Her Attending MD was there and gave us the rundown of what he wanted to do. Some lab work, more Cat Scans, etc.

She looked ok, but I knew she was worried about what to do with her house, her animals, and how to help her daughter to not be so worried about what was happening. Let alone the big worries, of “could it be cancer?”, “did they catch it in time so there won’t be a stroke?”, and the being mortal realization of “is it my time to die?” We were able to talk and I know it was comfort to her to know that I would be there to help out and be there for her and her family if they needed me. I called and let our Bishop know what was happening and he got the Elders to go and give her a blessing the next day.

That next day was Friday. I went to work, took an hour lunch and visited my friend at the hospital because she wanted me there when she told her daughter they found something on the Cat Scan. I only had the hour to visit and had to leave while, thankfully, the Thoracic Surgeon was the one telling her daughter what they found and what they were going to do. I then went back to work and waited for my brother in law to drop off my dad. Patrick went and picked him up from the airport with the babes. Kara and I were both working so Patrick dropped him off at the salon and he hung out with me until I was ready to close shop. He and I then went and picked Kara up from work and went to dinner at Juliobertos (which by the way is some taaaasteey Mexican fast food) for dinner.

It was really nice to all be together again. I’ve just realized the three of us hadn’t been together since I was 14 and Kara was 18. It was the summer before I started high school. Kara and I stayed in Lima with our dad and other family. That makes 15 years since we have all three been together in the same place at the same time. Kinda surreal to think it was that long.

Saturday came around and I spent time with the family (Patrick was working, so it was only our dad, Kara, me and the kids). We went to a farmers market that morning. We got to explore and talk to people and try some local jams and salsa. I taught Cake it was not ok to double dip where strangers will also be dipping. Hahaha. I bought some amazing fresh tomatoes that the kiddos and I got to eat in the car on our way to the next adventure which was to tour the house of a famous artist from Tucson.

I am HIGHLY recommending the Ted DeGrazia’s, Gallery of the Sun! It was freaking amazing!!! Mr. DeGrazia was a very talented man! It will be a place that I will go again, just the next time without a three and a four year old. (They really did ok, they were just bored quickly and we couldn’t spend as much time looking at his pieces as I would have liked.) Ted DeGrazia built the house/art gallery. It is not only an art gallery, but a historical site. It is free to the public, but donations are accepted. Just go and wander, it’s totally worth it.

Next came the Splash Park and lunch. We were all so hot we went back to Kara’s, so we grabbed our swimming suits and headed to the pool. I really do love swimming! It was nice to cool off and play with the kids in the pool. Dinner came eventually and finally resting and relaxation. I didn’t go and visit my friend on Saturday, but I talked to her and told her I would visit on Sunday.

Now onto Sunday, I slept in! I got ready for church, headed over to spend time with dad and Kara before I went to church and then went to Sacrament meeting. After the sacrament, Jakob and I went to visit my friend in the hospital. She was looking so good! Surgery was scheduled for Monday. My friend ended up being in the hospital for 13 days, having major surgery and waiting for her body to regulate the blood thinning meds.

While they were looking for the source of the blood clots, they found she had a pericardial cyst resting on her heart and lungs. When she had it removed; it ended up being the size of a small grapefruit. We both have marveled at the way the Lord works. If she wouldn’t have had the migraines that got her to go to the ER, they would never have found the blood clots. If they wouldn’t have been looking for the source of the clots, they would never have found the cyst that could have ended her life prematurely. Sweet mercies of the Lord sometimes bring us pain and discomfort, but the experiences allow us to have a longer, much happier life.

Anywho, with dad we also went to the San Xavier Mission and looked around, took some pictures, went to the lake and fed ducks and got a good chat in with dad while I made dinner (side note: the best version of chicken enchiladas I have made thus far!). Kara and the family went to the pool while dinner was being made. We ended Sunday night with Dad, Kara, Jakob who was being super annoying in the background, and I watching Searching for Bobby Fischer, and a cool show called Cracking the Myan Code.

Monday… it’s all a little hazy now and it’s only been two weeks. I blame the lack of sleep on the bad memory because I don’t remember what we did on Monday! haha! I do know that my friend came out of surgery that evening doing great and was only in ICU overnight. Ooh ooh, I remember Tuesday! Let’s jump there. Tuesday morning Kara had to work, so before dad left, I took him to BoBo’s Café (a ROCKIN mom and pop yummy, Yummy, YUMMY restaurant) for breakfast. We got to chat some more and then off we went to my job. I had to go in early because the manager was sick and wouldn’t be able to open shop, so dad headed there with me again and we hung out until I had to take him to the airport at 11.

This same week I learned of the death of a former co worker (he was actually who Kara and I stayed with the first month I moved here back in 2001). I cut the hair of the cutest 87 year old little man, whose wife is in my ward and whose hair I also do, while he was in a rehab healing from a broken hip. Within 4 days of that haircut, he had passed away. I don’t know really how to explain this week, other than to say, it was the busiest week EVER! And was a week where I learned to trust the Lord! I was humbled, I was prayerful, I saw miracles, I learned the need to be prepared for anything, I found peace and an increase of love, I felt frustration and fear, but I also gained a stronger testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Of the Plan of Salvation and the eternal principle of Families Can Be Together Forever!

This experience with my friend especially has taught me about the tender mercies of the Lord. It has shown me that the Lord will help us to accomplish all things when we are truly in the service of our fellow men. It has also allowed me to think of my own mortality and the realization that life truly is short and that I have to get out there and start LIVING more. It taught me that family is everything and that no family is perfect, but that I am thankful for mine. It showed me that friendships are worth cultivating and growing because there is a chance to experience Christ like love for others through service.

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

The End.