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I know. 3 posts in two days is a bit unusual...but I've kinda been squirreled away in my office the last couple of days working on school stuff. No, blogging isn't school stuff. It's just my version of, "I'm so tired of sitting at this desk, may I please escape?"

So, here we go. If you aren't tired of me and would like to either receive or continue to receive new posts directly to your inbox so you don't actually have to come to the blog, then, click that little box to the side that says "Subscribe Here" and enter your email address. You will receive an email requesting you to confirm your subscription. So if you really want to receive the posts as email, you then must confirm the subscription by clicking on the link in that email. That's it. Then you get to find me in your inbox instead of actually having to remember where that link was...

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Friends With Tractors

We live in a really rural area. We are 30 minutes from just about any shopping or dining experience you could want, but it's really rural around my house. It's lovely. It's quiet, except in the spring and summer when the frogs are singing and scaring the bejabbers out of you in the dark when you're in your garden and you really should already be in the house. There's nothing quite like a frog hopping out from under a tomato plant that you're staking in the near dark to scare you. But I digress.

So, this really rural area. We moved out here about four years ago and love being out here. Other than the occasional machine gun noise from AP Hill's training area, you really just enjoy the beauty of nature. Our neighbors we actually know and appreciate. The kids get to play in the yard without concern. Chris rides his bike a mile down the road to work at a local day lily farm. It's idyllic. We love it!

And then it snowed. And snowed. And snowed. We have 12 1/2 inches out there...and it never snows around here. (Btw, they were calling for 4-6...kinda missed that forecast!) So we thought, hmmm...when it snows and you live in a subdivision at the bottom of a hill, you kinda just stay put for days on end because you are the last one to get plowed and you drive a 15 passenger van that does not do well in snow...it's like a box on wheels. But not out here. We may live nowhere near civilization (a Food Lion and a McDonalds do not count as civilization!), but our driveway is clear, our van is dug out, our road is plowed, and we are enjoying this lovely white stuff 'cause we got friends with tractors!

Baby It's Cold Outside

It snowed today. Actually, it's still snowing and, yes, it's after 1 in the morning, so technically, I guess this is the second day of snow. :) This is the second major snowstorm to hit our lovely state that generally receives very little snow. But we have somewhere in the vicinity of a foot out there.

You see, I don't want to go out there and measure the snow to find out how much we have. It's cold! I mean, it's REALLY cold out there...and I have no desire to even open the door. Does this mean I'm old? I mean, I know I have a birthday approaching, but I used to love to go out and play in this stuff. But instead, I just want a book and a blanket or a movie and my knitting and a blanket. Yes, there is a redundant theme here called "blanket". Something is wrong when you wear a long sleeve tshirt, a fleece sweatshirt, a jacket, and you're still cold...and you are INSIDE! :)

The thought of going North to Cincinnati in a few weeks is enough to make me want to moan and curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb. Being cold is painful. I was working at my desk this afternoon (ok, yesterday afternoon) when I did the blonde thing and slammed my finger in the drawer. And I just stood there holding my finger and not moving because it hurt so badly. You'd have thought that I had just amputated it it hurt so much. But a cold limb being shut in a drawer is just...unmercifully painful.

So here I sit at my desk, in the warmest room in the house (because I finally ran out of things to put in the oven so now the kitchen is cold), and I have to leave my cozy niche to walk upstairs to the Arctic Circle so I can change from my layers of almost warm clothes into something that's been in a room that is anything but warm. Does this sound appealing to any of you, because seriously, I'd rather type out idiotic blog entries than to voluntarily subject myself to torture. I'm really not masochistic. But I am tired. So what's worse? Freezing or not sleeping? Ugh. Tough choice! :)

Emily Grace Sachno

Chelsea called Monday afternoon to let me know that Chloe had pneumonia. Chelsea then called me Monday evening to let me know that it was a good time to pick up Chloe since the consensus was that Chelsea had finally gone into labor. So, off Andrew and I went to Charlottesville to pick up one sick baby while we awaited the arrival of her sister.

Chelsea then labored for a very long time, but finally, Tuesday evening at 6:18, Emily Grace arrived. So what was a Nana to do? Well, of course we drove back to Charlottesville last night to visit the newest addition to our clan.

While we are rather tired today, we are thrilled that Chelsea and Emily are both doing well and should be able to head home tomorrow. Which means that tomorrow, I have to return my oldest granddaughter, but then, I get to see my newest one as well... :)

To Sleep...Or Maybe Not

William is at a sleep study with Billy tonight, and Chelsea is at the hospital in labor. It's a very odd night... Someone in Richmond is awake watching my son sleep. Chelsea is awake awaiting the painful arrival of my new beloved grandchild. I should be asleep but here I sit at my computer.

I received an email this week regarding my last post. She said how encouraging it was, for which I am so very glad. I sometimes wonder if anyone actually reads this blog, but is that why I do this? No, I do it because if people want to know how things are really going in the Coleman home, they can without my having to verbalize the situation which always makes me cry.

But this week, I have been listening to Steven Curtis Chapman a lot. His previous CD had a song on it called, "Broken" and it talks about how if we would all "remove our masks, even just for a day, we'd see that we're all broken." So is it wrong of me to cry? No, I really don't think so. But it makes others feel uncomfortable and I feel responsible for that. They have no idea what to say, and crying means we're broken and need to be fixed. But there is no fix for this situation except for a miracle or Christ returning like NOW. ;)

Yes, I should be asleep. I have Chloe and she will be up awfully early in the morning, and I will be tired. But, for tonight, I would really like to take off my mask, have a good cry, and just be broken for a time. So, while some of my children are sleeping, and while some of my children are laboring, I can take off the mask of normalcy and cry and ask the Lord to please just lift this burden for a little while, but if He should choose not to, to please provide the strength to continue carrying it.

And tomorrow, when everyone awakens, I will be tired, but I'll be tired with the knowledge that the Lord sees what is behind that mask and has promised me that He loves me anyway and that He understands the burden and will give me the strength to continue...even if I wear the mask that says, "Everything is just fine..."

Extraordinary Measures

Billy and I seldom go see a movie in a theater, but tonight we did. I really wanted to see Extraordinary Measures, a movie about a dad who works tirelessly to find a cure for the disease that is stealing his children.

A few months ago, someone asked me how far I was willing to go for Will. I honestly had no idea how to answer that question. What was he looking for? A financial number? An emotional limit? How do you even process that question? It's really haunted me. How far do I go? How does a parent not go to whatever extent is humanly possible to help a sick child? Not all of us are called to quit our jobs and open new biotech companies to find cures for genetic diseases that insidiously steal the lives of our children. We aren't all Harvard Business School graduates or research scientists. But I am a mom with a brain who can research and learn and look for people who have answers.

We don't have the income that this family obviously did. But we do have a sovereign Lord who has blessed us with wonderful medical insurance, a church and friends who have unbelievably loved and supported us and held us up when I really didn't have the strength to continue, and doctors who continue to help Will to the best of their ability.

Is it easy? Nope. Some days it takes Herculean effort to just get out of bed in the morning. Meeting the medical expenses takes upwards of $1,200 per month. But it has been such a gift to see how the Lord has opened the doors and sustained us throughout the last two years...and to know that no matter what is required of us in the next two years, no matter how hard it is to continue to find answers for Will's health issues, that He holds those doors and our family in His very capable hands. Because He is the one who went to Extraordinary Measures.

Mixed Emotions

Last Monday night, I broke down and submitted Will's name to Make-A-Wish Foundation. Because mito falls under muscular dystrophy and Will's current situation qualifies as life threatening, he qualifies for a wish. I knew it would be no problem getting him approved, but somehow submitting his name makes all of this seem...more real. There is something about receiving the call that explains, "Your son has been approved for a wish. We would like to ask you a few questions about his interests so we can refer that to the volunteers who will handle his case." Gulp. On the one hand you are thrilled that he gets to basically dream up something incredibly cool to look forward to through the coming months, but on the other hand you really don't want him to have to experience what he has to experience in order to qualify for this cool dream.