Preview of coming attractions...

I'm in the midst of preparing for Thanksgiving with my family/friends (I'm cooking--I'm so excited!) and have had NO time to sit down and de-muddle all the thoughts running in circles in my head. Rest assured, there are thoughts there...and some, even, that seem worth sharing.

God's shown me some really interesting things the past couple of weeks and I've enjoyed just standing back and watching as He's peeled some of the outer layers off some of the mysteries of life and allowed me to see that "real" life lurks just below the surface of what we often accept at face value--and we miss so much by doing that.

More later... :-)

Happy ?? Feet...

...it just ain't penguin!! ;-)

And THESE are the infamous blue booties, waiting to be draped in suede or covered in paint, glitter, shells, or macaroni!!

Well, I survived...

My feet are in that half-still-numb-from-anesthesia, half-painful state, I can barely keep my eyes open (and won't for very long!) and I'm still freezing, but I'm safely home and lying on my couch--and grateful to be here!

I'm sure I'll have plenty of time in the next couple of days to share all the thoughts that have been running through my head the last couple of days, but for now, I just wanted to say "thanks" to all of you who have prayed for me and encouraged me as I was preparing for surgery. I appreciate it...more than I can express in the few words I can manage to type right now. :-)

Stay tuned for more...

Racing against time...

...but I'm going to win!

For those of you unfamiliar with my feet (that would be most, if not all, of you I'm relatively certain!), this is their story--the abbreviated edition.

The bottom line is...I have to have surgery. On both feet. Relatively soon. It's minor surgery, at least, if anything involving incisions and chipping and drilling into bones can be called "minor"! I am NOT looking forward to this. My doctor told me that in the "best case scenario", I should take off work for three weeks to fully recuperate (NOT an option!), but he will allow me to return to work after at least three days, wearing those silly boot things.

The OTHER bottom line thing is...I'm going to Mississippi in December to do Katrina relief work (funny/not-so-funny sidebar here: I was at a meeting tonight and shared with some people that I was going to do Katrina relief work in December and one woman looked at me in disbelief and said "STILL? I can't believe it's taking so long." Obviously, SHE has not been to the Gulfport/Biloxi/Pass Christian war zone.)

At any rate, I'm in a race again time here. I need to have the surgery done before I go to Mississippi, because I'm probably going to be on my feet most of the day (I'll be cooking at God's Katrina Kitchen, helping prepare meals for the relief workers/residents of the area who still have no cooking facilities). If I don't have it done immediately, I won't have enough recovery time before the trip.

So, I'm having surgery Tuesday. It's done in the doctor's office, but he brings in an anesthetist and they put me OUT. I'm probably dreading that more than anything...I asked if I could just have a local and he told me that wasn't an option (I asked for that when I had my gallbladder removed, too--same answer!)

Good thing the fashion statement for this fall is...ANYTHING worn with foam boots, eh?! Should be fun trying to drive wearing those things. Can't wait. The GOOD thing is, post-recovery/post-foam boots, I'll be able to wear all of my shoes, instead of just the two pairs that don't cause excruciating pain every time I put them on (think Steve Martin's "Cruel Shoes" story).