Warn out and wondering

Do you ever have those days when you wonder what your purpose is? I have had a few of those lately. I think they come more when I am not feeling well. There seems, some days, to never be enough time to do all I want to get done. Then, sometimes, when my body isn’t able to do much of anything, I give up a little on myself. Does that make sense?

The past few days, my body hasn’t been cooperating, and I have wondered where my energy has gone. Then, I review my past several weeks and realize all the times I have spoken at different events- girls camps, youth conferences, relief societies. Hmm. It’s no wonder my body is on strike. Still, since you rarely see the influence you have on others, I hope I have done some good in the world.

I just received an email from a woman who was at one of my Time Out talks. She just read my book and emailed to thank me for sharing my story and helping her through some painful times. It’s those kind words that help me see that my little efforts are helping some one- even if it’s just one someone. So, I’ll rest a bit, and then my body will kick back into gear. I’ll be up and at’em again soon.

Thanks for being part of my self talk this morning. Grin.

Free At Last!

Yesterday was liberation day from the cone of shame. Nadine is free!
We went for our first walk with Nadine doing her job as guide, and she did very well. It sure is nice to be moving again. She was so anxious to be out the door once her guide harness was on. Now, you can all get up off your knees and eat once more. The two weeks of fasting and praying have come to an end! Grin.

Check out this program

Recently, I have been listening to some fabulous podcasts, and wanted to share the source. It is a program on the Mormon Channel called “Conversations”. I’ve learned great truths from the apostles who are interviewed, and I marvel how they teach truth while answering the questions of the interviewer.

Yesterday, I listened to an interview of Elder and Sister Bednar, and had to start taking notes as they spoke. Elder Bednar has such a grasp on the doctrine of Christ and boldly shares it. I love how he teaches that as we act in accordance to true principles, we will receive power from the Holy Ghost. Now, this is nothing new, but as he teaches it, I feel the Spirit teach me how to apply it.

Another podcast that is absolutely amazing is that of Gary serran. He shares his experience about a car crash, losing his wife and children, and how the atonement of Christ has helped him through this and more. His attitude is incredible.

I really appreciate this program and hope it might be helpful to you. Let me know which episodes mean the most to you. Oh, check out how the apostles all speak so lovingly about their wives. So cool!

The Cone of Shame? What will the other dogs say?

Poor pooch still has a cone head. The vet says he thinks she’s been finding a way to lick the surgery site even with the cone. She is probably bending it or something, but the wound isn’t healing. So, another week of bucket headness. I also get to play my skills at being Florence Nightingale. I have to treat the wound and wrap it twice a day. Hopefully, she’ll heal.

In other news, yesterday I had a liberating moment that I wanted to share. We’ve had a bunk bed that has needed to be taken apart and my husband hasn’t had time to do it. So, I decided I would. I got a wrench and went to work. I felt like quite the handyman. Eat your heart out Bob the Builder. Watch out for the blind lady with the wrench!

Poor Little Bucket Head Dog

It may have looked like a crime scene from CSI, but the blood all over my house had a perfectly reasonable explanation. You see, dear Nadine and I were playing with one of her toys, and, like she loves to do, she took it and ran outside. Soon, I heard a terrible screech like she was in pain. Nadine then came to find me in the living room and she was whimpering and holding up her paw. When I touched it, I found her paw was dripping blood.
“She’s bleeding, Mommy!” my eight-year-old son freaked out.
It was then that Lucy, my pug, thought I was in need of rescue, and chased Nadine away from me. After shutting Lucy in another room, I again tried to examine the wound, but couldn’t tell where all the blood was coming from. Benji cried and thought Nadine was going to die and I held him and reassured him that Nadine would be alright. While holding my son, I wrapped the paw in a cloth and applied pressure.
After calling several neighbors to come and be my eyes, I finally got a hold of Emily- always great in an emergency. She could see a deep cut between the pads of Nadine’s paw. She and my son also combed the lawn to see what Nadine may have stepped on. Their best guess was a tent stake sticking out of the grass.
“Kris, you have big pock-a-dots of blood all through your house.” She informed me.
Well, the blood on the carpet would have to wait. Off we went to the vet, and Nadine ended up needing to go under anesthesia in order to get stitches. It was so hard to leave her there.
The rest of the day was spent scrubbing the house. There was even blood on the walls and on the kitchen and laundry room floors. I’m so glad Lucy decided to chase Nadine through the house! Thank heavens that a friend came over with some carpet cleaning equipment and extracted the blood from the carpet.
Several hours later, we picked up my injured guide doggie, and brought her home with her paw all bandaged. She was attired with a lovely plastic cone around her head. It was pretty pathetic, my poor bucket head dog. She would need to wear the bucket to make sure she couldn’t reach her paw and lick or bite the stitches.
She was in a lot of pain the first night and it was so sad to see her suffer. Each day she is getting better, and I can tell she is tired of being in the cone of shame.
She and I have had a rough week. I’ve been her guide dog around the house, because she runs into things with her bucket. It’s even hard for her to come up stairs due to her catching the edge of the cone on each step. She tries to be playful, but I can tell she’s not been herself.
Tomorrow I take her back to the vet, and I sure hope everything has healed fine. It’s time to free her from her bucket, and get back to real life. I also hope that she picks up the guiding again quickly. We’ve got things to do and places to go. Cute little Nadine has been a trouper!