A Day At The Beach

I was very blessed with the chance to get away this past weekend to spend some time with Lee. For the first time since I was 15, I got to go to the beach. Lee took me to a beautiful beach that's pictured above called Atlantic Beach. This particular beach is in eastern North Carolina. The weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot. It wasn't too cold. If you got a little too hot, you went into the water to cool down. When you got to cold, you got out of the water and laid out on the beach to improve your tan.

It was so wonderful being at the beach. The only bad thing that came out of that was my very very foolish mistake of taking my ipod down to the water with me the last time I stuck my feet in the water. I was being my creative little self.....listening to music and kinda dancing in the sand and waves. I must have made the wrong move and dropped my ipod into the ocean. I quickly scooped it back up and it was still working when I laid it out on my blanket to dry. Sadly, That was a short lived glimmer of hope. My ipod died sometime between Friday and this morning when I tried to use it on my flight back to Memphis. (If anyone has any idea of how to bring my ipod back to life, please let me know. I'd love to have it back to functioning again.)

I really need to have more days at the beach more often. I love the beach. It's so freeing and I felt at peace for the first time in a couple of months just standing there letting the water just rush over my feet when it felt like it and just soaking in all the beauty (and people watching) that I could while I remained nameless except to one person on that beach. It was wonderful. I really need to make an effort to go to the beach more often.

Hiding in plane sight

When you move, you generally get a new address. That was the case for me when I moved here to being my work with St. Luke. As I began to settle in, I had to give out my address to a few different people and companies in order to establish myself as a resident here. Somehow, my address never made it into the church directory. I believe that's because I'm not a member of St. Luke. However, there's something satisfying and sad about that.

It's sad that no one has my address because I can't get awesome mail. For example, my youth can't send me their graduation announcements because they just don't have my address. One of them got creative and sent me his announcement via the church office. My other youth just asked me for my address since she couldn't find it anywhere.

It's also sad because Google doesn't even have my address. You can't go to Google maps, punch in my address, and find out where I live or get directions to my apartment. That makes it really difficult for people who are coming to visit me. I have to give them my complex's address and directions to my apartment after they're on the complex grounds.

The reason why it's satisfying is because no one can find me. I can't have my youth just drive to my apartment in the middle of the night, stick a bunch a flamingos in my every so tiny lawn, and drive away. I feel like I'm hiding in plane sight that way too. It's almost like I have control over who knows where I live. There can't be any surprise visitors. I almost have the convenience of living in a gated community without actually having a gate and code to allow people in.

Maybe, it's wrong of me to think of my lack of address disbursement as something to be proud of. It's almost a security blanket for me.  Oh well.......

Friends!!!!!!!!

As I said in the posting before this, my friends Suzanne and Aliyah came up for a visit. This was the first time that I've gotten to see them and just hang out with them since my graduation from Wilson almost a year ago. I was very excited to have them here and for them to meet Ross. They are also the first friends of mine to come visit me in Memphis (Yes, my parents and Lee have been to visit.....but they're different than college friends.).

First, I have to tell you all about Aliyah's love and reaction to Ross. I really think that Aliyah fell in love with Ross as soon as she met him.....cone of shame and all! She loved running him in the street (when no cars were coming of course!) and just spoiling him with all her attention. Hearing the story of Aliyah trying to crate Ross before going out to see a movie was priceless. She tried to trick Ross into going into his crate....being all sweet and playful to do so. I later showed her how to crate him and not have any problems.  Suzanne also enjoyed Ross because of his little quirkes. Suzanne did make the comment that Ross is the perfect dog for me......because he's basically me in dog form and well.....a boy! They got to see Ross without his cone of shame and how much cutter he is without the cone. I think that both of them loved Ross just a little bit more once he was allowed to loose the cone.

We did a lot of things together while they were here. Suzanne and Aliyah made me dinner Monday night which was just wonderful! Who knew that eggs, spinach, and pasta would make a wonderful dish! It was also a very nice change of pace to not have to worry about what to make for dinner.....or figure out if I had the engery to make what I was actually hungry for.  We took a trip to the Memphis Zoo on Tuesday to show Aliyah what a "real" zoo is like. For those of you who don't know Aliyah, Aliyah grew up in Trindad and is convinced that the zoo she went to growing up wasn't a real zoo. She thinks that the guniea pig exhibit was used to feed the snake exhibit. She'd also never seen a polar bear in person.....or any bear for that matter. I will put the pictures from the Memphis Zoo up when I get them from Aliyah and do an entire posting about my first trip to the Memphis Zoo. There's a lot to be said about that visit. They also came to St. Luke last night to meet some of my members and be a part of the Confirmation class. It was awesome, wonderful, and slightly scarey to have that happen. It literally was my past merging with my present and forseeable future. That's a huge deal! If that doesn't go well, then you're kinda left at a loss as to where to go from there. In my case, it was wonderful merger and something that I'll remember for many years to come.

I'm so thankful for their visit. For the first time in a while, I felt free. Allow me to explain. Suzanne and Aliyah knew me before I became (for lack of better term) a youth pastor. They know my back story. They remember certain events in my life that shaped me into who I am today. I don't have to watch what I say around them because they know where I'm coming from. I can make references to past events and they get it. Without knowing all of that, I can't make the same references and share as much as I can with them. Also, I don't have to be filtered with them. I don't have to watch my words with Suzanne and Aliyah because my words are representing St. Luke. My words are represnting me and my journey. Since I haven't made as many friends here yet as I would like to have by now, I'm constantly the youth pastor. I meet new people via my members and I'm introduced as Karen the youth pastor.While there isn't anything wrong with that, there's more to me than just being a youth pastor. I'm a twenty something too. It was wonderful not to be the youth pastor and to just be Karen......and have the title of youth pastor be my job and not my identity.

I'm very anxious to have Suzanne and Aliyah back. I'm so thankful for their visit and a chance to share my life here with some of my closest friends from college.

The Suzanne!

So.......as most of my members know, my friends Suzanne and Aliyah have come to visit. We've done a lot since their arrival on Sunday afternoon. This is one of the funniest pictures that's been taken during their visit. I already miss them and they haven't even been gone for a hour yet.

You must come back very soon, Suzanne and Aliyah, because I really enjoy having you here and reminding me of my Wilson days. I love you both very VERY much and can't wait until our next get together!

The Ross Report

It all started on Tuesday last week. Ross was having some digestive issues. He'd constantly have to go to the bathroom and didn't have much of an appetite. He'd be bad one day and the next day he's be fine. That was until Thursday. Thursday, the flood gates opened. He couldn't keep anything down. This prompted a trip to the vet to find out what was going on with Ross. After the vet examed Ross, she decided that she wanted to take some x rays to make sure that there wasn't anything in Ross' stomach that wasn't suppose to be there. After a few x rays and me getting very nervous, she came back and told me that there was something in there and that Ross needed to have surgery the next morning.  I was to take him home with me that night and not give him anything.....no food and no water. He needed to be back the next morning by 7:30 so they could have him on the operating table at 8 am sharp.

After staying up all night to watch the Royal Wedding with my friend, Jodi, I drove Ross to the vet and was meet there by my other friend and member, Ruth. I asked her to come with me when I dropped him off because I knew that it would be too hard on me to do it alone. I did all of the paperwork that needed to be done and took off Ross' colar because they asked me to. I felt really bad about taking his colar home with me but I knew that I would feel a little better having a piece of him with me at home.  I said my goodbyes to Ross and they took him back to prep him for surgery.

To my surprise, they brought Ross out to see me while trying on his cone that he'd have to wear for the next two weeks. They updated me telling me that they repeated the x ray from the day before and there was still something in there. Ross still needed surgery.

They took Ross back again and I went home. I couldn't sit in the vet's office all day waiting to hear something. That would just be too hard on me. Just as I walked in the door of my apartment, my cell phone rang. It was the vet. She said that after looking at that morning's x ray that whatever was in Ross' stomach had moved. She suggested shooting him up with dye and taking x rays for the next several hours to see if there would be a chance for whatever this thing was to pass on it's own. I agreed thinking that that was a much better option that cutting Ross open.

Around noon, I got another phone call from the vet. The dye just sat in Ross' stomach for hours and didn't really move. She said the he needed surgery. I gave her permission to operate on Ross. She told me that I would get a phone call when he was out of surgery and awake. That phone call came around 2:30 Friday afternoon. She said that there wasn't anything in there and that his intestines weren't acting the way that they should have been acting. She said that sometimes they have to open dogs up to "let the evil spirits out" and that the dogs would be fine after that. The vet went on to say that I could come out and see him around 4:30 but I should call first to make sure she was around so she could explain everything to me when I got there.

 Ross was happy to see me when I got there. He looked really confused as to what was going on.....as you can tell by the picture above.

 This is the only picture of his incision that I could get. It's pretty big for a dog like him but at least it took care of what needed to be taken care of. The vet, after kindly letting me take these pictures, showed me the x rays they took before hand and told me about the kind of care that Ross would need once he came home. I asked all the questions that I could think of so I could be as informed as possible. The one question I did ask was what could have caused all of this. She said that she definately thinks that he ate something that he shouldn't have. Whatever it was called all of his digestive system to play the evacuation game in hopes of getting it out. That did the trick but his body didn't know when to stop. This caused his stomach and intestines to become irritated as well as inflamed causing them to basically stop working. Providing he had a good night that night and a good morning, he'd be allowed to come home the next day.

Saturday morning came and I was very excited to go get Ross. I hadn't heard from the vet so I knew that he had a good night. Once I arrived at the vet's, I recieved all of the food that Ross is suppose to eat for about the next week, medication for him to take several times a day, and directions for the care that he'd need so I wouldn't forget. Once I asked all the questions that I needed to and made sure that I understood everything, it was time to take Ross home!

Ross walked right into my apartment like he never left. He did his standard exploring and began to adjust to life in my apartment wearing the cone of shame. He wanted one thing and one thing only.....to eat.

So that's exactly what he did. I've never seen Ross eat so fast! I knew that he had to have been feeling better because of how quickly he ate his food.

For the rest of that night, we continued to follow the vet's orders including giving Ross the medication that he needed. However, one of the medications didn't sit right with him. Apparently, one of the antibodics that they gave Ross has a side effect of vomiting. This is one of the things that the vet told me to look out for because that might mean that there's something else wrong. I quickly called the vet's office and got the beeper number for the vet on call. The vet on call happened to be the same vet that operated on Ross the day before. I told her what was going on. She explained the side effect of that particular antibodic and told me not to give it to him anymore but that I should continue with the rest of the medication just like she perscribed.

Ross had a steller day yesterday including weathering another bout of severe weather for our area. He's always the calm one in a tornado warning.

Today, Ross is being a good little church dog. With all of the care that he'll need with feeding in the new few days, he's come into the office with me so I can make sure he gets what he needs while I work. He walks to my doof where I have a baby gate up so greet the members and people that walk by. He's also sat in my lap a few times and just stared out the window at the rain. He's also rested next to my desk almost as if he's keeping watch over me when it's really the other way around. We've also reached the last major hurdle to Ross' recovery. As of this morning, I can now confidently say that everything is back in working order. It's a huge relief for me!

Needless to say, Ross is on the mends. I'm so thankful that he's feeling better and couldn't be happier to see him acting like himself again!

Never thought I'd see the day

This news has made it all across the world by now.  The US killed and captured the body of Osama Bin Laden. That name became one burned into my mind as a 13 year old girl because of September 11, 2001. That was the day that the US changed forever. Pretty much from that day on, the US wanted to capture or kill Bin Laden for ordering the attacks on our country. I have two very different frames of mind about this long awaited goal.

On 9/11....I remember exactly where I was when I found out about it. I was in 8th grade at Northgate Middle/Senior High School in Pittsburgh, Pa. I was in my third period class computer class standing next to the printer waiting for a project of mine to print. Then, my principal came over the loud speaker announcing that our country was under attack. He didn't say where or any more details than that. I remember looking up at the clock to see what time it was........I can't remember now for the life of me what time it actually was. I knew though that I would always remember that while looking at that clock that the world that I lived in would completely change.  I later came to find out that New York was hit as well as the Pentagon and that a plane went down not too far away from Pittsburgh. My main concern was for my brother. At the time, my brother was a sophomore in college. He went to school in New Jersey and on any day could have taken the half a hour train ride to New York City. I had no idea if he was in the city that day or not. Since I didn't have a cell phone then, I couldn't find out if he was alright. I had to wait until I got home from school that day to find out that he was fine. He would later tell us how he could hear the towers of the World Trade Center fall about 10 seconds after he saw them fall on TV. For that reason....as well as several others, I wanted our soldiers to find this man and bring him to justice. Now that we have killed him, I feel a sense of relief because we don't have to worry about his man ordering anymore death in our direction.

On the other hand, I'm sad to find out that he had to go in that manner. He was a child of God just as much as I am. Whether he did good things or bad things in his life, doesn't change that he was a beloved child of God. For this reason, I'm sad to see one of the children of God passing in a violent way.

I know that there are many that are glad to hear that Bin Laden is gone. I know that this will be a topic of conversation for days, weeks, and years to come. I also know that there are people who are being like Doubting Thomas right now.....just waiting to see the proof that he's actually gone. We will all have that proof eventually. I also know that I will always remember what I was doing and where I was, just as I remember from 9/11, when I heard the news that Osama Bin Laden was dead. I had just walked back into my bedroom where the TV had been left on from storm coverage earlier in the day to see the breaking news box on the bottom of the screen announcing that Bin Laden was dead. That was roughly 13 hours ago......and the first thought I remember coming through my mind was that I never thought I'd see the day where we'd actually get him. I honestly thought that he would die of old age before we'd get him.....but now I can tell my children and grandchildren (I've told Ross but he doesn't seem to care.) that I remember the day that the US caught and killed Osama Bin Laden......the man that changed the world into the world that we currently live in.

Drop off

I know I haven't been writing for the past few days. There has been a lot of things going on with Ross. I'll write a full post soon about what has all taken place.