Update on Dad!

Wow, it has been a whirlwind since I blogged Thursday morn from the OR waiting room. My dad was only in surgery for four hours and they successfully completed 5 bypasses. Amazing!

He had some panicky moments coming off the vent, but he did get off of that too...the same afternoon as surgery. Also amazing!

He had an unfortunate event with his catheter Friday afternoon and that has really been the most of his worries. I will spare you the details, but I witnessed it and it was not pretty.

After all that was resolved, he was up on the floor by Saturday afternoon. Saturday night was a rough night...he had some arrhythmia and ended back up on some IV medicine and was unable to sleep. When I saw him yesterday the IV port was still in his neck and he still had 2 chest tubes, but other than that, he was TUBE FREE! Pretty amazing...considering all the lines he had running before.

We are so thankful for the talents with which the Lord blesses physicians and nurses. I am guessing maybe he'll go home Tuesday. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.

A Heart Healthy Recipe

Who knew?!? The ICU waiting room is equipped with WIFI.

My dad went in for bypass surgery about an hour ago. He was in good spirits, joking around, and even mooned me purposefully from his hospital gown. He learned that from my grandpa apparently. Dear Lord!

My mom and sis are both waiting on me to type up a recipe for them, so since it is a heart healthy one, I will just post it here...typing it up will help ease my nerves and pass the time until the first update from the surgeon.

I got it from a good friend years ago when she hosted a cooking class at her home. Oh the things we did before we had kids!

Green Bean and Feta Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed (about 4 handfuls)
  
• 1 small purple onion, finely chopped
  
• 1 (6-ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Preparation:

1) Roast walnuts 5-10 minutes on 350 degrees. Set aside until just before serving.
2) Combine dressing ingredients (olive oil through pepper).
3) Add onion and cheese to dressing.
4) Arrange green beans in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and steam 15 minutes or until crisp-tender. Immediately plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process; drain and pat dry.
5) Add the green beans to the dressing mixture
5) Chill green bean/dressing mixture in fridge for about one hour.
6) Top with roasted walnuts before serving.

It is a super tasty chilled summer salad...one that I plan on bringing over to my dad's once he is home!

My mom tried it on Easter with asparagus and it was super tasty as well...although from the top of my memory I had left out several ingredients! Oops...here it is in its totality, Mom!

Lessons learned from the disappearance of an orange cat

Orangi, oh Orangi. Lily's beloved cat had disappeared once again. She is the petite adventurer while her brother, Blackie, is the big homebody. When she disappeared last Thursday, we figured she'd show back up by the next morning.

She never did.

Jerry and I pretty much had decided we had seen the last of that cat. Orangi had the habit of following anybody who happened to be walking by our house. With last week being Spring Break, we figured some kids had just ignored her tags and adopted her as their own.

Lily was not so quick to give up. She spoke daily of how she missed Orangi and prayed the sweetest prayers for her quick return. Jade even chimed in praying that Blackie would not get lost. I love to hear the earnest prayers of our daughters, but also felt the need to remind Lily that God is good, but doesn't always answer our prayers exactly the way we want Him to.

I was really feeling bad for Lily and decided I better make some Missing Cat- $ REWARD $ type signs in effort to get Orangi back home. I was just getting started on it this morning but ended up getting distracted with a welcome phone call from a friend. Rachelle's battery ended up dying, but my phone rang soon after...an unrecognized number.

I answered.

The woman spoke broken English, but I quickly figured out that she had our cat! It was a mistake, but I must have muttered, "you have our cat?!?" out loud, and then I had the girls' screams of joy as well as her lack of English to contend with while trying to figure out how and where to retrieve Orangi. I scribbled down the name of an apartment complex and her unit number and called Jerry to see if he could swing a lunch break to retrieve her with us.

After getting off the phone I was finally really able to notice the joy on Lily's face. Her confidence had never been shaken. She knew this day was coming. And most remarkably, she immediately asked me if she could pray to God to thank Him for keeping Orangi safe. My heart melted.

I am so thankful the Lord chose to answer the tender prayers of my 5 year old in this situation. Her confidence and faith has encouraged me.

Orangi seems to be in good shape...just super tired! She normally makes herself available for whatever schemes Lily has up her sleeve, but when Lily put her in the doll cradle and she actually fell asleep and stayed there...I knew she was zonked!



Lily wanted to be in a picture too...when I asked her what she was doing she explained she was making a heart with her arms...showing her love for Orangi. ;)


Nighty, night sweet Orangi....sleep well sweet kitten!


And I better get to sleep as well. My dad is undergoing a cardiac catheter very early in the morning about an hour away from here. I want to be there before they take him back. We are praying for a safe and productive procedure. Lily and Jade have been praying for the owies on Papa's heart....so sweet...and I know the Lord is listening to them!