Scrumptious Word Morsels

Weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces, and measuring 38.5 inches…

I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a merry Christmas. I refuse to say “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings”, because, according to my secular calendar, today is still known as Christmas. On the other hand, if you celebrated Hanukkah earlier this month, happy Hanukkah/Chanukah/Hannukah/et al. If you be celebratin’ Kwanzaa tomorrow, have a trippin’ Kwanzaa fo’ shizzle.

I’ll leave you with this awesome light show set to “Wizards in Winter” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

In light of my previous entry, I’ve got a bone to pick with nearly every American English dictionary in existence. For the love of everything that is bright and shiny, the holiday we celebrate toady is “Mothers’ Day”, in honor of all mothers. If we wanted to honor one mother (Mother Teresa, perhaps?), it would be “Mother’s Day” (or, more accurately, “Mother Teresa’s Day”). Plural subjects require a plural possessive, people.

Now, I was already thoroughly disgusted by this blatant misuse of my dear language, but then I stumbled across this recent article. Just like the singular possessive version of the holiday that celebrates mothers everywhere, having two mothers is also in strict violation of all natural and created laws governing mankind (or is that “womankind”?). Oddly enough, the author of the article never mentions how she and her “partner” came to be mothers in the first place.

Note: Intrepid readers and stalkers of mine who frequent this site will remember that I wrote “Mother’s Day” back in 2004. This was most likely an unfortunate lapse of judgment, and the responsible parties have been flogged.

This entry is going to be neither eloquent nor well-planned, but I just wanted to tell you all that Anna came home from the hospital today! She got home a little after noon and slept until about 5 this evening, and that’s after having slept for 12 hours last night! We’re still concerned that she’s getting dehydrated, but I’m going to see to it that she drinks plenty of Gatorade. She’s currently on steroids and a few other things to treat the inflammation and pain, but she has an appointment with the doctor in a week, so we’ll find out more about her long-term medications then.

Well, God gets the glory for this one, and you guys all get a big “thank you!” for your thoughts and kind words. Thanks again.

First of all, I want to thank you all for your prayers!

Anna had a colonoscopy today, and the doctors were finally able to determine what has been causing all of her pain and discomfort. They diagnosed her with a disease called “ulcerative colitis”, which is basically sores (ulcers) along her large intestine (mainly her colon). She’ll be taking steroids for the next 2-3 weeks to make the inflammation go down, and then she’ll have to take medicine for the rest of her life to keep things under control.

If everything goes well, Anna will get to come home within a few days. I’m writing this entry from the hospital, and I can tell you that her condition improved drastically today. She’s laughing and talking now, and she even went for a walk around the halls tonight! They took her off the IV sometime this afternoon, and she ate some Jell-O and a popsicle earlier without throwing them back up again. Everyone we know has been so nice, and her room is starting to look like a flower shop/toy store with all the stuffed animals.

Thanks again for your continued thoughts and prayers. My family and I appreciate your support so much!

Watching my sister lying in a hospital bed is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in the past few years. The worst part is that the doctors don’t even know what’s wrong with her. They keep taking blood tests and interpreting the results, but they haven’t been able to come up with a definitive diagnosis yet.

My parents took my sister to Northwest Medical Center last night at about 9:00 pm, but she had to be transferred to TMC in an ambulance. She was running a high fever and vomiting, and she also had some sharp stomach pain and other stomach-related issues. I went and visited this morning for a couple hours, and I just got home now after being there for another few hours tonight.

I felt so helpless as I watched this little 12-year-old girl, hooked up to an IV and struggling to swallow pills. I hope the doctors can figure out what’s wrong with her soon, but in the meantime, keep Anna in your prayers. Intellectually, I know the Lord is going to work this out according to His will, but that just isn’t meshing emotionally right now.

I’m thankful for everything God has made, like this sunset from yesterday.

I ate an enormous amount of food yesterday, but I don’t feel any fatter. Yet. It’s probably because I burned so many calories playing Taboo after dinner. I hereby warn everyone that my family is cutthroat when it comes to games. We’re very competitive, and blood will be drawn before the night is over.

Having said that, I was a well-oiled synonym machine last night, because my teammates guessed the most words when I was giving clues. If you ever want to challenge me in a word game, by all means, bring it on. Boggle, Scrabble, Taboo—whatever. The buy-in is $60, and we’ll be sure to keep it fast and furious.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. We have much to be thankful for, and it’s great to give thanks to God for all the blessings he’s poured out on us.