Gratitude IMHO

As the year comes to a close, I want to have a positive outlook on life so being thankful is a huge way of thinking positive. There are many things I am thankful for but here are five that I'd like to share for this year..

1. Service Dogs

Paddy (left) and Gilda (right)

These dogs are not only cute and loving but they have a seriously big job to do too. Paddy is a 3-yr old grey standard poodle and she is a 'peanut dog'. Her job is to sniff out peanuts anywhere. She keeps her owner, 11-yr-old Nathan, safe because he is highly allergic to peanuts. She goes almost everywhere with him: school. church, playdates, vacations. You might think this is highly odd but let me tell you, I wish I had Paddy with me a few weeks ago. But I am getting ahead of myself (see #4 in this post)

(left) Anatoli-from Gilda's 2nd litter this past April and (right) Darth from her 3rd litter this past October

Gilda is a part lab/golden retriever and she is a breeder dog for the non-profit assistance dog organization, Canine Companions for Independence. All her puppies become assistance dogs all over the country. She is three years old and has had three litters of puppies for a total of 31 puppies to date. Our friends, Amos and Laura, care for Gilda and volunteer for CCI. We watch their puppy-cam and see the puppies grow up right before out eyes before they are given to the agency to start their training, placement and work. We are honored and privileged to know and love these dogs and I think the girls get more excited to see them than their human families! LOL!

2. Books

This is Emily's current To-Read stack.

I cannot do without my books. And I'm happy that my firstborn agrees with me. I didn't get to read as much as last year but I am thankful that I do have the time to squeeze in and do what relaxes me the most other than sleeping!

3. Movies and Family

Watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens with my extended family

When I was growing up, we would watch movies on the weekends at my aunt's house. My cousins especially love watching horror movies which to this day I abhor! And I'll tell you why. My cousin Andy scared me to death one late night when we were watching either Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street. But I do like action movies. When we were all in college, my siblings and cousins would all go see a movie on Thanksgiving or Christmas. So while our parents were cooking dinner, we all went out to see a movie. We saw the Star Wars trilogy, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible and even Mosquito Coast. That was over 20 years ago.

Now many of us are married with families of our own and when I heard that Star Wars Episode 7 was coming out,  I knew we had to see this all together as a family. We all bought tickets online back in October and came out two hrs before the show started to get seats for all 18 of us. This was an early 8:30am Saturday morning! It was a great movie and great fun to see it all together.

4. Kaiser Permanente

Hannah getting strapped in and transported by ambulance to Kaiser SC; settling in her new room in the PICU

Earlier this month, Hannah had a severe allergic reaction to eating a dumpling at a Chinese restaurant. Unbeknownst to anyone, it must have had some residual peanut something because she immediately had swollen lips, a stomachache and a tight throat. We already know she is allergic to peanuts but she always felt better after I gave her benedryl. It didn't work this time. After consulting with our friend Patrick (Paddy's owners dad), I took her into Kaiser's ER. They immediately zipped her right into a room and gave her an epi-pen, breathing treatment with albuteral and doses of benedryl, steroids and zantac through an IV. The swelling on her face decreased and I hoped she was on the road to recovery.

I was instructed to stay for 8 hours to make sure the allergen is out of her body and that she doesn't have another reaction. I brought a book and was ready to settle in. An hour later Hannah complained about being itchy all over her body. We noticed that her legs were getting red and hives were bubbling up. Then she vomited. So she got another epi-pen dosage, and another set of IV meds. She got over 100 ml of benedryl in her little body. So if you get two epi-pens it means she needed to stay overnight for observation. Since our Kaiser did not have a Pediatric ICU we were transported to Kaiser in SC by ambulance along with a doctor (we got the director of the PICU), a nurse and a respiratory specialist. The care she received from Kaiser was top notch. I am very thankful for all the doctors and nurses who cared for her.

5. The Power of Prayer

You'd think I would just freak out from this hospital visit for Hannah. But I didn't. I was calm throughout the whole time. How? I totally think that it was through prayer that I was so calm. Lots of people were praying for me and Hannah. Our request was even shared at the pulpit by one of our pastors at church on Sunday. I know that anything health or medical related I would worry about because it was something that was out of my control. I couldn't fix it. I knew that I had to depend on someone bigger than me or the doctors to help. Ask for prayer because it's literally the best gift anyone can give you. Prayer never hurts. It always helps.

Well 2015 has zipped by so quickly. I look forward to the new memories 2016 will bring!