Wednesday July 8 2015   PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!

So much to be thankful for.  I am so thankful that I am home.  I am so thankful that I was at the house when Dave got so sick.  I thank God that Dave agreed to go to the hospital when I couldn’t even get him to agree to go to urgent care.  I am so thankful I remembered to tell the nurse to look at his legs.  I am so thankful for antibiotics.  I am so thankful for modern medicine and clean surroundings.  I am so thankful for blood tests that can check for diseases.  I am so thankful Dave is being treated for his illness.  I am so thankful that people go to medical school to learn as much as they do to help out in such situations.  I have all of the above to be thankful for and I am so blessed by God.  PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!

Dave is a doing a little better in how he feels overall but his leg is still very infected, red and swollen.  And it is extremely painful.  It is difficult for him to walk on it.  And…he didn’t get to come home from the hospital today.  His primary hospital physician is concerned that it may be MRSA.  (MRSA IS AN INFECTION THAT IS RESISTANT TO ANTIBIOTICS).  Dave was seen by an infectious disease control specialist today.  He didn’t determine for certain if it is MRSA but they are giving him an antibiotic that has a broader spectrum and may cover some of the MRSA bacterial staph infections.  He was being treated with a new bag hookup to his IV line when I left this evening.  Hopefully this will start the process of reversing the infection in the leg.

Dave was able to talk coherently tonight and hold an actual conversation.  With the severe pain combined with the pain medication he has been sort of fuzzy.  It was good to see him acting and feeling more like himself.  We are praying for a full recovery.  Please pray with us.

I am just about finished with the unpacking of personal items.  That’s a good feeling.  Now I can concentrate on working on photography when I am not needed at the hospital.  I will have a great release of pressure when all my work is signed, sealed, and delivered!  We have several different groups of people coming to visit in the next two months and I want all my work out of the way as soon as possible.

I am back at the gym now.  Yesterday was my first day.  I think today was a little harder than yesterday.  It is tough getting back into a regular routine when nothing “regular” is taking place around me.  I think I forgot what “regular” is.  I know my routine is extremely different but I am working on correcting part of that.  I actually don’t think I want to go back to what was my norm.  I will find a new normal.  With Dave retired now I think our new normal should just evolve without force or manipulation to make it work for the best for both of us.  What worked for me when I was home alone each day working in my home studio and home office, and Dave was working away from home may be not be what will work best now.  I don’t think I would have understood all that had I not been gone all these months.  I am seeing things from a different perspective and from new and different experiences.  It really helped that I visited in homes where couples were retired.  It was interesting and informative listening to all the wisdom and advice and suggestions that each person gave me.  I received so many different ideas and views.  It was also interesting and VERY INFORMATIVE to watch and listen to the couples interact who lived with each other day in and day out.  Very informative indeed.  I loved it.  And then I have my cousin Joyce who is a single lady.  Out of everyplace I visited I think she is enjoying her retirement to the highest degree.  Each of us chooses what brings us the most fulfillment and joy.  I learned that that special joy and fulfillment is different for each place I visited as well as for each separate individual in that home.  It was a beautiful thing to observe.

Right now for me, it will be to finish what I started, close my business down with a good feeling in my heart that I fulfilled all commitments and then walk away into my new “normal”.  Any good advice and wisdom out there?  I still have plenty of room for some “red letter wisdom”.  Just go to Contact Tab and send me an email.

Early night tonight.  It is not quite 8:00 p.m.  Maybe if I start getting ready for bed when I finish this blog and poem I’ll be shut eye by 9:00.

MY NEW NORMAL

By Kathleen Martens

July 8, 2015

Where is the normal I left behind?

Is it even what I want to find?

Do I try to do as before?

Or perhaps seek new doors?

What once was perfect for me to do

No longer entices like the new.

My dream is to continually explore

New ideas I’m searching for.

Untraveled roads loom ahead

Lots to do before I am dead.

People to meet, places to see

And in my thoughts ever free.

My new normal will be as I choose,

Partnered with God, I’ll never lose.

For what I desire to accomplish each day

Is to forever walk in God’s way.

Then my new normal will be God’s plan

For with Him I will forever stand.

His design for me is perfect always

For He is beside me all of my days.