What a week!!

Sometimes it is good to just look back over the last little bit and see where you have been. I've just done that and it is exhausting...lol. Both of the girls have moved in the last couple of weeks. My computer quit working (I'm on Courtney's today). Courtney is pretty much settled. Carolyn just moved this past weekend and has to be ready for company this weekend, so we have some work to do there still. Hopefully we will accomplish that this afternoon. I spent the last couple of days in Canton where my brother was having surgery. (more on that later)

My last post was about my ever dying computer. I was so glad to have a voice mail yesterday telling me that it is fixed (better then ever) and the bill is only $90.00. That is a lot but not as much as a new one. I have complained for a long time that the battery was not right because it wouldn't hold a charge for more then 10 to 15 minutes but batteries are expensive and I hated to go there. Now after it totally died I find it was just a loose connection in the plug. Why didn't I have it checked sooner...I'm a Miller...stubborn...it had to totally stop working first.

My brother Rick just had surgery yesterday to clear a blocked carotid artery. He had been having warning signs for a while. Tiredness, numbness in face and arm, slow thinking, etc. But he's a Miller....it had to about get him before he got checked. By then he had already had 2 strokes and was in danger of more. The artery was 98% blocked. Thank God the surgery went well and they think he may come home this evening. But this was an Aw Ha moment for me. Number 1, I really need to get more serious about my weight loss. (I know, I go to weekly meetings and am serious but I mean REALLY serious.) Number 2, I need to remember not to neglect my body and the signs that something is wrong. I can do it for a computer if I wish but we only have one body and need to take better care of it. We Millers need to learn not to be so stubborn and self sufficient. I also learned that we stick together (even after all these years. There were about 30 to 35 people there waiting yesterday. Some came and went, most stayed all day. To some people we might not seem so close but let something happen to one of us and you have all of us to deal with.

While I was in Canton Courtney called to say Jay'von was sick with a stomach bug. Jay'v never gets sick and he wanted Nuna. He didn't understand what all this strange stuff was. After throwing up a couple of times he said "need to go doker later"...then he asked "what gonna happen me?" Of course I took my parents home from our trip, ran in the house for a couple of minutes and left again to drive another hour to Morgantown to spend the night with Courtney and Jay'v. After 1 more episode during the night he has now been sleeping good (along with his Mama who had a bad night the night before). Hopefully it is all done and we can proceed with our plans for the holiday weekend.

This has really been a rambling post. I know, I am good at those (like I said, I'm a Miller). But this kind of shows you where I've been the last few weeks. Our life is still crazy with Charlie working in Pittsburgh and only home on the weekends. We are hoping that is only for a couple of weeks yet.

This weekend is Labor Day and our Homecoming Sunday at Church. It is a very busy day but one we look forward to all year. I don't know if anyone reads this (since I still don't get comments) but if you do and you are in our area we would love to have you come spend the day with us. Rev. Terry Walker from Charleston, WV is our speaker for the day.

I think I have gone on long enough. I get my computer back today so should be on a more normal (lol) schedule after this.

Another computer bites the dust....

Yep, that's the story of my life. My crazy, old, slow, dinasaur Gateway that has worked forever (even with a broken screen) decided on Monday that it was tired of working. I finally took it in to the computer repair shop yesterday but as of today still haven't heard what they think the problem is.

I found it kind of funny that I blog about changing my routine a little to include blogging a little every day and my computer promptly dies...LOL. I am borrowing George's computer tonight to do this. Hopefully by next week when they will be staying in their new apartment in Morgantown I will have worked something out. I really have to have a computer... :0)

We started moving Carolyn and George's stuff today. We hope to have every thing loaded up tomorrow and drive it to Morgantown and unload on Saturday. Their apartment is very nice. They do have some interesting neighbors, though!!

I'll try to update as I get the chance and a computer!

HELLO, AGAIN!

Wow...it sure had been a long time since I updated here. Sorry!

I have decided to try something a little different with this blog. I am going to try to write a little something each day to kind of journal what is going on with us. I have decided to delete my facebook. I did this for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that I spent entirely to much time at it when I should have been doing more important things. There are good things on there but it is also addicting to a people person like me and I just couldn't leave it alone. I tried to set limits but would set down for a few minutes rest and before you know it I had been there an hour. Sooooo....no facebook for me. My blog will definitely benefit.

OK...so what is going on in our life right now. We are expecting our 3rd grandchild in March. Carolyn and George found out while they were spending a month in Bahrain and India (visiting his family for the first time in 5 years) that they are expecting their first child. They were very creative and told me via skype while his Mother was with them so we got the news at the same time. (although I already suspected...lol) She is suffering from some pretty bad "morning sickness" that lasts all day, so if you think of it pray for her as she will start teaching ESL at Fairmont State on Wednesday morning. She really doesn't want to get sick in the classroom.

We are pretty excited about this new addition and the votes are still out concerning the sex of the baby with probably a 50/50 for what it should be. "I" think a girl would be nice since we have 2 boys but there are those that differ with me. God will ultimately choose and we will love it and cherish it whatever it is. Babies are such a blessing from God.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
I read this in a blog this morning. It is from The Message Bible (which I don't read but this was good)
"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going to work and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for your is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without thinking. Instead,fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out.Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you" Romans 12:1-2

CONGRATULATIONS, CAROLYN!!!

YAY!!! This day is finally here. I'm sure Carolyn's was thinking that as she got up this morning. Carolyn graduated (Cum Laude) from WVU this morning with her Masters in Secondary Education/Foreign Studies (Spanish). She also has her ESL (English as Second Language) Certification.





This was a five year Masters Program. She worked hard and we are proud of her. During this last five years she has had quite a few changes in her life. I think she has moved three times. She got married about half way through to George Cheriyan. I have blogged before about George and the fact that he is Indian and was raised in the country of Bahrain. So not only did she get married but had to deal with all the mountains of paperwork that takes months (turning into years) to get his permanent residency. We can thank God that just a few weeks ago he got that letter that said "Welcome to the United States of America".




Carolyn has also worked for a cleaning service for the past few years. (Hence the dream about the missing yellow mop she posted about on FB) So if you put all that together she worked full time, went to school full time, took care of a home and husband (although he helped her a whole lot) and was still able to graduate Cum Laude.

Another thing Carolyn had to deal with these last few years was an as yet undiagnosed problem she has had since the summer before her second year. She studied in Costa Rica the first semester of her sophomore year and as she was getting ready to leave she had a problem with her ankle and leg swelling. She was diagnosed with cellulitis and it seemed to clear up some with treatment. While in Costa Rica it returned and was treated again there. She has had trouble with this ever since. She has been to all kinds of doctors and had all kinds of tests and nothing conclusive shows up. It seems to be stress related (and switches from leg to leg), but all the Doctors say that could not be an issue. But I, being her Mom, know for a fact that any time there is a stressful time in her life her leg swells. It got so bad last winter when they were dealing with the issues with immigration that George literally drove her to Morgantown and took her from class to class so she didn't have to walk around campus...(kudos, George).


So if you wonder why we are so proud of Carolyn for what she has accomplished the last five years, well, maybe this explains it. Congratulations, Carolyn! We love you and pray for God to provide a place for you to use your talent.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

I just want to take this time to say Happy Mothers Day to my Mom. I have a wonderful mother that has always been there for me. She was one of those stay at home mom's that are almost non existent now. Because of that I wanted the same thing for my kids. I did it, too. I didn't work until Courtney was in first grade and then it was at the school they attended. Now I am choosing to stay at home so Jay'von can have that same attention since Courtney isn't able to do it. All that because my Mom chose to stay home with her family.

I also want to pass along kudos to our daughter in law, Danielle and our daughter Courtney. They have given us 3 of the most intelligent, beautiful, well behaved grandchildren. You can't tell I'm prejudiced can you. Thanks, girls for being such great mothers.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!!

Sorry, I really wanted to post pictures of them all but it is getting late and I am tired. Maybe later because they are beautiful people.

Suprise!!

I got a call yesterday afternoon that rocked my little world. My daughter-in-law called to let me know that Charlie and I were going to IHC next week for our anniversary. My wonderful children had decided we should do this and had already made the arrangements. My first thought was unbelief, then that it wouldn't happen because Charlie wouldn't be able to take off work. But Danielle assured me that she had already called Charlie and he had cleared it with his company. Soooooo.....We are going to IHC for the very first time ever.

I posted this on facebook and was surprised at the response. I guess it is kind of strange to be a conservative holiness person in this area (especially since we lived in OH until 15 years ago) and never have attended IHC. But there is a very valid reason for that. For many years Charlie would be off most of the winter and would just be getting back to work in the spring when convention rolled around. Kind of hard to take 3 days off in the middle of week right then. But now he is rarely off in the winter. As bad as our winter was he didn't miss one day because of the weather. He did have a couple of days off in between jobs but really needed the break. So he wasn't complaining. But my husband doesn't like to take off work for anything. So I didn't even ask. But my daughter-in-law did. And he said yes! (I'm sure he would have for me, too, if I would have asked).

I guess sometimes we just need an extra push to do some things. We could have done this on our own but neither of us thought it was feasible this year. Charlie does have a lot of responsibility with his job and I have Jay'von all week. But they have all of that covered, so we get a much needed break and will get to spend time with some family and friends that we don't get to see enough of.

Thanks kids for giving that push. Hopefully we will come back spiritually and emotionally refreshed. We love you a lot!!

RANDOM!!

Well, Easter in over and in my book that means spring is now really officially here. The weather is beautiful and I am so glad to have the windows open and feel that spring breeze.

This is definitely an unusual Easter. For the first time ever all my kids had other plans and were not here for Easter. Chuck and Danielle spent Easter with her family in PA, Carolyn and George spent Easter in Martinsburg with friends and Courtney was at her house in Morgantown and didn't bring Jay'von until later in the day. We did get to spend time with them but not for church and dinner. I felt kind of "old" and strange. I'm sure some day when they all have families there will be other times this will happen on special occasions but this was the first.

We are a small family. Charlie's parents and aunts and uncles are all gone and he is an only child so aside from some distant cousins that he has never been close to he has no other family. So my family is now his family but my large family (there were 6 children in my family) now has families that are growing up and have plans of their own. We only had 3 children and so far 3 grandchildren so our family is still kind of small.

So this year I have learned that we really need to focus on the holiday and why we observe it and not so much on getting all of the chickens home to roost. We will all be together on Tuesday to celebrate Breanna's Birthday, though, so that will help.

Another thing that came to my mind was to reach out to someone who wouldn't have anyone to spend the day with. My Mom and Dad could have gone a couple of places but decided to spend it with us. We also invited a couple in our church that only has family out of town. They would usually go to Ohio for the holiday but since we were in revival that weekend they stayed home. We really enjoyed having Lonnie and Susan Mayle with us and would love to do it again even when our kids can be there. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

God is still God even in the disappointing times. I'm so glad that God helped me to focus on that and it was an enjoyable day even without the joy of children's laughter and all the Easter basket mess. Maybe next year will be different and we will have all that. Maybe not, but that will be OK because never again will it be the first time.



We dressed Jay'von up in his clothes for pics even though he wasn't there in time for church.



Carolyn helping Jay'v decorate an egg the week before Easter.


C.J. decorating an egg.



Breanna decorating one of her eggs.


We did have the kids over on Thursday (they were on spring break) to color eggs and give them their baskets from Neena. Carolyn even hid some in the yard and they got to hunt them. Jay'v couldn't quite figure it out but with some help he did find some. I had to put these on here so I at least had some Easter pics for 2010. (lol)