A thankful heart: day 16

Today I am thankful that nightmares can remain just that, a nightmare, and not a reality. A couple of days ago I had a dream that I had an ultrasound and there was no heartbeat - which was the only part of the dream that felt real. The rest of it was so nonsensical that I was conscious of the fact that I was dreaming, but when I got the ultrasound results I had to start convincing myself that I was dreaming and that it wasn't really happening. In my dream I had taken my brother to Barnes & Noble in Tulsa to buy work pants - you can see how that doesn't make sense. While we were there I got an ultrasound - yes, in Barnes & Noble, and they sent the results off to Cincinnati and a woman at a call center called me 3 hours later with the results and she was very nonchalant about it, like she couldn't even grasp the gravity of the words she was speaking. Total nonsense. I immediately began to try to be rational and convince myself that none of it was true. People don't buy clothes at Barnes & Noble and they certainly don't get ultrasounds there, either. Then my alarm went off and thank goodness that nightmare went back into the darkness. As Gandalf would say, "Go back to the shadow!" :)

First OSU football game

We took Jakob to his first OSU football game on the 10th when they whooped West Virginia. Sorry, Geno Smith.

We had to walk about 10 blocks from where we parked to the stadium and this old pregnant lady was out of breath about half way there. In usual fashion, the campus was blanketed in a sea of orange, black and white clad tailgaters with tents, grills, lawn chairs, tv's, radios and drinks. Jakob said he'd never seen anything like that at a sporting event before. Kicker had a decked out trailer and some cars set up on the north side of the stadium. D and Jakob put in some ear plugs and ventured into the trailer. When they came out they were laughing and said it boomed so much that their insides shook.

There was a military flyover during the National Anthem and they rolled out this beautiful, giant flag. I was misty eyed. Made me proud to be an American. OSU made a very nice tribute to our nation's Veteran's.

We're ready for "Pistols firing!"

And here comes Bullet!!!

After the game we stopped back by some friends' tailgate for a little celebration and Jakob got to meet Stan Clark, the owner of Eskimo Joe's (and Mexico Joe's and Joseppi's) and he was nice enough to pose for a quick pic. Jakob loves their cheese fries. Of course, we do too, but Jakob REALLY, REALLY loves them. :)

 

Turkey shoot

A couple of weeks ago D and Jakob went to our local FFA Turkey Shoot. Jakob had a grand time! In one round he was in a shoot-off with one of his friends and he won! He was absolutely beaming! He came home with two turkeys, one of which we donated the police department's Thanksgiving food drive and the other one we'll have next Thursday. :)

A thankful heart: day 15

Today, I'm thankful for encouraging words. As humans on this here planet earth, we're going to endure tough times and trials. Thankfully, we don't have to trudge through without help and encouragement from our loved ones. I am thankful for the people who have supported and encouraged me during my life's storms and I'm thankful for the opportunities when I've been able to help someone else. Sometimes all it takes is a hug, or the lending of an ear or a helping hand to get someone through a struggle. And don't forget, if you know someone who's always offering encouragement and support to others, that person needs your support in return. It's a difficult road to always be the one others lean on. I challenge everyone to encourage someone today! :)

Life with a volunteer fireman

As I said the other day, life got in the way of blogging and I fell behind. Se la vie. Here's what happened:

On Friday, Jakob was riding the bus to the football game in Warner and Jimmy was traveling with the team, so we were going to have a date night with Josh and Shawna. My plan was to blog that night when we got home.

I was starving and we knew it would be at least another hour before we ate, so on our way to Josh and Shawna's we stopped at the gas station for tea and iced sugar cookies. Hey, I'm pregnant and they taste good, indulge me. Just as D got back to the car, his fire pager went off. EMS and fire personnel were needed for a crash east of town. I drove us down to the station, he jumped out and a few minutes later Josh and some other firemen showed up and off they went. The page didn't say what the severity of the injuries was, just that they needed emergency personnel to respond to check out the occupants. In a small town where you know almost everyone, you always worry when there's a crash. After I saw two ambulances and two deputies running hot through town, I knew that the accident was serious. I ate two of my cookies then headed home and fell asleep in the recliner. Again, I'm pregnant, eating and sleeping are the only two things I manage to accomplish on a daily basis. D texted me and said they'd be a little bit, but the injuries weren't life threatening. About half an hour later he said they were done and he and Josh were headed back. So, I jumped in the car to go meet them.

But, alas, there were other forces at work. When I had gotten home I had seen something north of our house that just didn't look right. I had stopped in the driveway and watched it for about 5 minutes. At first I thought it was a small fire and I almost called D to tell him, but the longer I looked at it, I decided that it was the headlights of two vehicles in a pasture. Boy, was I wrong. When I went back out to the car, the pasture north of us was ablaze. I got in to go see how far north it was so I'd have good directions for the guys and called D. They responded to the fire and I went over to hang with Shawna. By the time they finished, it was 9pm and the only thing open in town was Subway, which we didn't want, so we went to Texas Roadhouse in Stillwater. Thankfully, they're open late :)

By the time we got home it was almost midnight and I was beat, so no blog. The next morning I didn't get up until almost 10 and then I had to rush around so we could head to Stillwater for the OSU football game. I thought, "I'll blog when we get home." Well, you know that didn't happen. When we got back the boys had to go to another fire south of town. Jakob, Shawna and I waited for a little bit then went down to the Mexican restaurant to eat before they closed. The boys weren't gone too long and we ordered some dinner for them, too. After dinner, they went back to the station to clean up the trucks and we headed home. I was going to have to get up at 5am the next morning so I went straight to bed, no blogging.

The fire pager went off again just before midnight and D was gone for about an hour on a rekindle. On Sunday morning, we were out the door by 6am and picked Mom up at 6:30 and headed to OKC for the AQHA World Show. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is life with a volunteer fireman. When the pager calls, he goes. I'm thankful when he comes home safe and I'm thankful that he's able to help those in need. I hate it when he's been out fighting fire for so long that he looks like he could collapse at any second and I hate it when he only gets an hour or two of sleep and still has to get up for his "regular" job. I'm thankful that there are people who are willing to make the sacrifices required to be a volunteer firefighter; a job they don't get paid for. Without them most of us who live in the sticks would have to standby helplessly and watch our homes and livelihoods go up in flames or see our loved ones suffer while they waited for EMS personnel to arrive from another town. We are lucky to have a group of local men who are willing to stop whatever they're doing and respond to those in need. So, the next time you see a volunteer fireman, let them know that you appreciate them. I sure do love mine.

A thankful heart: days 13 & 14

I am thankful for good memories. No matter what the situation was, I still have good memories from my childhood, like Rocky and I turning on the horse walker and hanging upside down from the lead ropes as it spun us around, or using the broom as a microphone while I swept the barn alley or waiting for the bus to pick us up and dancing beside the mailbox to keep warm while we made up our own song, "Come on, Kenny, come on!" (Kenny was our bus driver lol)

I'm also thankful for my husbands alarm. I was so tired last night that I forgot to set mine. Thankfully, he was also working a day shift and his alarm goes off 15 minutes after mine. It was a hurried morning, but I made it to work on time!

A thankful heart: day 12

Today I'm thankful for health insurance with prenatal coverage. Thank the good Lord, I've always had good benefits and I hope that I always do.