I'm in Love with a Can of Spray Paint

Hey Yall! Frannycakes is tired. She has been busy trying to get everything together for Julianne's apartment. She has been trying to make everything be perfect for Julianne's apartment. She seems to have a different idea of what will be perfect from Julianne. I need an apartment to decorate just like I want it. Cause I have some fabulous ideas. Me and my best friend, spray paint, have been having a great time together. I had found a Pennsylvania House night stand at the Goodwill. I painted it a creamy white. And it looks great! I also painted my grandmother's chest of drawers the same white. I changed the knobs to clear glass ones. Very, very pretty if I must say so myself. Today, Julianne and I went to the Goodwill in Auburn and found a big wicker chest and a small wicker shelf for the bathroom. I sprayed the wicker chest with a pink spray paint. The wicker shelf was painted a sea blue. They both turned out really nice too. We painted 3 of my shutters that I bought several months ago the creamy white. These will be put together and serve as Julianne's new headboard. So the bedroom is coming together. Not in the same color scheme or fabric that I have in mind, but is will be very pretty.

We are going to Orono tomorrow so I can finish painting. I am really looking forward to that. Yeah.....

After all this painting and decorating and moving, I am going to crash. Then I am going to put my house back together. And after that? I am going to paint and redecorate Julianne's room just the way I want to!

Tootles!

Scottie Update

Hey Yall. I got this update tonight from Scott and wanted to share it with you. Thank you for all of your prayers.

8/25/08 PM
We had a stable day today. Vent is at 60% and oxygen at 98%. He is running a little fever but manageable so far. They are going to start going down on the nitrous oxide very slowly, probably from 20 to around 18. They want to get him off of that machine before the ventilator. They did remove one of the chest tubes from his right side today. He seems to be okay with that change. The swelling has gone up but it is just excess air and will go away with time,no danger to him. Everyone we talk to doctors and nurses say we will just see baby steps, not big overnight changes and that it is going to take a long time. Of course no definition of a long time. He has a new nurse tonight who is very helpful with explanations and she will be with him for 3 nights. The good news is no back sliding so far.
We continue to pray for stability, healing of his lungs, and for him to react positive to the changes they make.
God Bless,
Scott and Beth

Scottie Update

Hey Yall. I got this update a few minutes ago and wanted to share it with you. Thank you for all your prayers!

8/23/08 PM
Scottie has been stable all day. His numbers look good oxygen levels 98-100, They have cut the ventilator to 65% and are holding. Temperature is normal.
This has been the longest he has been stable in quite awhile. THANKS BE TO GOD. We are praying for another night with no calls and for him to stay stable. Hopefully they will take some x-rays tomorrow and see at least a little improvement but the nurse says that x-rays will lag behind vitals as far as showing improvement. We hope this is a sign of the miracle we have been waiting on.
On another sad note we have met many people with loved ones in similar conditions to Scotties. One of these is Rachael who is only 17 years old. She came in the hospital the day before Scottie. She was hit by a car as a pedestrian(sounds familiar). When we left tonight she was not doing well like Scottie yesterday. I would ask that you all say an extra prayer for God to start healing Rachael's lungs as well. Also pray for God to comfort her family and keep them strong.
Rest well and we look forward to hopefully more good news tomorrow God Willing.
God Bless,

Scott and Beth

Scottie Update

Hey yall. This is the update that I received tonight from Scott.


8/22/08 9:45 pm
Wow, what a roller coater ride. The good news is he is stable tonight with good oxygen levels etc. The other news is for him to have these numbers they have all machines at 100%. They are going to try and lower the percentage and hopefully his numbers will hold. If so that gives him them some wiggle room if his numbers drop. We continue to pray for healing and a miracle for his lungs. We still believe that God has not let him make it this far to just let go now. Scottie is amazing, every time he has a bout he comes back strong. Thanks for your prayers and support and now we will pray for no phone calls tonight and a restful night for all.

God Bless,

Scott and Beth


Please continue to pray for this family.

Scottie Update

Hey yall. I just got a new update from Scott. Things are not going well right now. Please, please, please, pray for Scottie. This is so critical right now. They have their family there now as well as their priest and some friends.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2008 03:56 PM, CDT
8/22/08 3:40 pm
I know that I usually send this out in the evening but I feel compelled to do so now. We were called to the hospital at 7:00 am this morning. Scottie had another sinking spell. He is stable at this time. The doctors and Scottie are doing all that they can do. He is a real fighter and fights back each time. His lungs are really sick. They now have 4 tubes in the right chest cavity and 3 in the left to help with fluids and air outside his lungs. We have all been praying hard and need all of you to do the same. He is resting in God's hands we know and we continue to pray for God to restore his lungs to the way he made them. We will go to visit him again at 4:30 and I will have a good report later.
God Bless & Keep The Prayers Going.


Scott & Beth


Thank you.

Scottie Update

8/21/08
Dear Friends,
A better day today Scottie wise. Weather is terrible. They put the 3rd tube in his chest about 12:30 am. It went well and it drained all of the air out of his chest cavity. His oxygen level went from 84 to 176 which is the highest it has been yet. He stayed pretty stable all day had a high temp problem which is ok now. Drew fluids to check for infection and have him on antibiotics. Did not get to talk to doctors today but his respiratory therapist was very thrilled. Maybe we are turning a corner but we do remember we are on God's time and Bubba time. We are very thankful for the turn around today and look forward to better days ahead. We are praying he will stay stable through the night with no phone calls in the middle of the night like the last 2 nights.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support.



God Bless,

Scott and Beth

Scottie Update

Hey Yall. I got this update this morning and wanted to share it with you. Please remember this family in your prayers.

8/20/08
Scottie had a bit of an episode about 12:30 am but was stable when we visited him this morning and early afternoon. Later in the afternoon his oxygen level dropped off. They did X-rays and found that he had an air pocket outside his lung in the chest cavity. They had put in a second chest tube at 12:30 am. They are not sure where the air came from. He was stable when we left tonight. They are going to just leave him alone for now since he is stable.
Scottie is a real fighter and seems to bounce back after each episode. We know that God has him in his hands and that the two of them will work this out. Keep praying for the healing of his lungs and strength to keep fighting.
I couldn't help but think with the storm off of the coast here that Scottie is in his own storm. But Jesus has his hand out just like he did for Peter, and Scottie is holding on while Jesus holds him up.
God Bless Everyone,


Love in Christ


Scott and Beth


Thank you for your prayers....

A Lucky Day!

Hey Yall! Today I decided to stop by the Goodwill to see if I could find a couple of things that we have been looking to get for Julianne's apartment. Due to the fact that our children have lived in about a thousand different apartments (Jamie himself probably lived in 750 different ones), I refuse to buy new things for these new abodes. The first Goodwill I went to I came up empty handed. I almost headed home, but at the last minute decided to go to the other one. When I got there, I headed back to the furniture. I immediately saw this cute tray table that was painted yellow. The price was $3.99. Yep, it was in my price range! Into the buggy you go! Then, I turned and looked over at the pictures they had leaning against the wall. Oh my gosh! There was a water color print of some churches in Charleston, SC. The print was numbered and signed and beautifully framed and matted. It measured 22x18. And it was in good shape. And the price? $6.99!!!!! We lived in Georgetown, SC which is about an hour north of Charleston. My son Jamie graduated from the College of Charleston. So this is a print that I love! I am so glad that I decided to go on to the second store! You just never know!

I will take some pictures of the yellow tray table and post them tomorrow. Tootles!

Update

Hey Yall. This was Scottie's update that came yesterday. I forgot to post it. I will be posting another later today when I get it.

Hello Friends,

Today was an uneventful day. Thanks Be To God. Scottie continues to be stable as they are not messing with him to much. He is still off of his blood pressure medicine which is a good baby step. He continues to fight hard but still on Bubba Time.

The response on caringbridge.org is unbelievable as well as the e-mails we receive each day. We are very blessed to have so many caring,loving, and praying friends. You are all a big inspiration to us. I know I say this a lot but Thanks so much for being there for us.

The Lord says that his time is not our time and so we will wait patiently for him to do his work. We know that he is there with Scottie and also with us.

Continue to pray and we love each and every one of you and are sure feeling your love with us.

God Bless You and Yours,

Scott and Beth


Thank you for all the prayers. They are needed and appreciated by all. Especially Frannycakes.

Hey yall! This morning I woke up to rain. I love doing that. It just begs you to stay in bed. And I am usually more than willing to oblige. So around 9 I finally rose and headed downstairs. After a few cups of coffee and watching Matt, I got busy. I got my shower and then started vacuuming. I must not be doing it right cause it takes me forever. Or maybe because I had to talk to Chris every 5 minutes. He was busy getting loose ends tied up for school tomorrow. He went to buy his books. $985.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I immediately started to feel sick. He sounded sick. Dick will be ill. Will these chill'uns ever get out of school? Then he had to go get a parking permit. I believe it was $270.00. I need to stop now cause I'm feeling sick again.

The temps dropped this afternoon. I have closed all the windows and doors. I have on my long pajama bottoms, t-shirt, socks and sweat shirt jacket. Plus, I have a blanket over me. Where's a good hot flash when you need one?

Don't forget to pray for Scottie and his family. They need your help.

Tootles!

Living Green

Hey Yall! Frannycakes is always trying to her best to do what she can for the environment. We recycle. We use energy efficient light bulbs. We drive energy efficient cars. We rarely run the air conditioner.

So today I will start a new energy saving, living green, habit. Not to brag or anything like. It is a sacrifice that I am willing to make. I will begin taking a nap every afternoon. To conserve energy, you know.




I challenge you too to live green.......Tootles.

Update

Hey Yall. Please keep up your prayers for Scottie and his family. Below is an update I got this morning.


8/17/08
A better day today. When we left a 9:00pm there had been no issues today. They are just leaving him alone for now not messing with the NOM machine so he has been stable since about 10:00 last night. The surgery is off until his lungs are better. His lungs are worse than they had thought. They are giving him antibiotics to fight off infection. They will heal in time. The doctor says it could be 3 days, weeks, or months. He is young and strong so that is in his favor. My dad has always called him Bubba and he is a tad bit lazy so we say he going to heal on Bubba time. Since God's time is not our time and we are on Bubba time this could take a while.

Thanks again for your support, e-mails, phone calls and prayers, keep them coming.

God Bless.

Scott



Thanks again. Really.

Hey Yall! Nothing much happening in Maine today. The weather was wonderful. Cool and clear. I can't complain about that. I am sure I can find something to complain about if you will just give me time!

Dick took me to brunch this morning. We went to our favorite "brunch place" and had a wonderful breakfast. We are never disappointed when we eat there. And it is nice to get to go out for breakfast! We stopped by the Walmart and Dick wanted me to get him an iced coffee. As I was ordering, I looked up at the menu and remembered that they now have a Coffee Coolatta. Oh. My. Goodness. Now I lurve the Tropicana Orange Coolatta. But this ranks right up there with it. It tastes like a chocolate milkshake. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Yep....it is my new "fall" drink.

And fall is creeping in the door up here. I am seeing more and more red leaves in the trees. Our back yard has some leaves on the ground right now. Fall is so pretty around here and I am looking forward to the beautiful colors again. Anybody want to come visit?

Frannycakes is slowly but surely getting into one foul mood. Horrible. So I am gonna close my computer up after I say "Tootles" and hit the sack. It always helps.

That's all here folks. I will send an update on Scottie tomorrow morning. Don't forget to say a prayer for him and his family. Frannycakes thanks you so much! Tootles.

Update

Hey Yall. I appreciate all the prayers you have given for Scottie and his family. They are very much appreciated. This is the update from his dad Scott.

8/16/08
The day started out very well with them cutting back on the nitrous oxide machine (nom). They tried to take him off and he did not like it so they put him back on. Tonight they had to clean out his lungs again and that is where the trouble started. His oxygen level dropped way off and he did not respond to the ventilator so they had to manually pump oxygen to his lungs. By the grace of GOD he stabilized after about an hour of this. The good news if any was that it only took an hour. We learned that they had to do this the other night and it took 2 hours to get him to stabilize. His lungs are in very bad shape and the doctor says they can heal it is just going to take a long time. They will continue to clean his lungs as needed to keep them clear of infection. Each time they do this there is a chance of his oxygen falling and they will have to repeat the procedure done tonight. The big plus is young and strong, plus GOD is on his side.

All we can do now is pray and wait for his lungs to heal. Thanks again for your continued prayers. There is no doubt in my mind that GOD is hearing them and will see us through this.

God Bless You All & pray that God will find a way.

Scott


Thank you so much.

Hey Yall! Frannycakes had a busy day today. Julianne informed us last Sunday that we had to have her moved out of her old apartment at school by 12:00 on Friday. After some thought, I decided that we would go on Thursday at lunch. She took half of a day off work and we headed up to school. We worked pretty steady bagging things to bring home and wash, things to move to the new apartment and things to throw away. We had to make three trips! Plus we had to clean her room and the bathroom. The same bathroom that she had not been in since school got out the first of June. The other girls had been using it and it was disgusting. It ranked right up there with some of the boys' bathrooms I have seen. But we cleaned it and got out of there.

We are going to paint the interior of Julianne's apartment. There is wallpaper up now. It is in a house that has been divided up into several different apartments. And the walls have wall paper on the. But we have gotten permission to paint it. And it will look better.

I picked up the daybed that I had purchased last Saturday at Pier 1. Guess what? I don't think it will fit in the living room area. So my plan was to hurry and finish moving then drive back to Augusta and try and return it. Well, you see, it is hanging out the back of the truck. Two very big boxes. And guess what happened? It started raining and the boxes got wet. Boogers. Julianne said she is going to try it in her room for her bed. If she ended up not wanting it, I think I can sell it on Craigslist. I got it half price, so I think it will sell fast. She said she thinks I am meant to have this bed.

I guess that is all my news. Thank you for keeping Scottie and his family in your prayers.

Update

Hey Yall. I just got an email with an update report from Scottie's Dad, Scott. I will share it with you.


8/14/08
Just wanted to give an update on Scottie. Today was a great breakthrough. They have taken him off of the nitrous oxide machine and his oxygen level has held on since 12:30pm today. This is good because they cannot perform the surgery as long as he was on that machine. He is still on the ventilator and hopefully if things go well tonight they will be able to start easing back on that. They have not rescheduled the surgery as of yet I will let everyone know when that will be.

We are so fortunate to have such great support from everyone. Your prayers are working so well. I would like to share with all of you a verse from a book that I purchased in the gift shop in the hospital, It is called One Minute Promises of Comfort by Steve Miller(not the singer).The scripture quoted was James 5:8 which says, "You also be patient, Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord." He talks about patience and says don't grow weary; don't give up. Don't think because an answer has not come that there is no answer. God has promised to watch and preserve you. BE PATIENT, AND LET HIM DO WHAT ONLY HE CAN DO.
The last line is very powerful to me and reminded to do just that.

Thanks again for your support and prayers and may God continue to bless each and everyone of your families.

Scott



Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to remember this family and young man.

Fran

Update

Hey Yall. Beth and Scott were finally able to talk with the Neuro-Surgeon yesterday. The news was not what they had hoped for. There has been spinal cord damage. His lungs are still very bruised. They had to reinflate one lung and do some other procedures on the other. Because he has been fighting the respirator, they have heavily sedated him. The nurses have told them to come in and talk to him even though he will not be able to show any response. His lung problems must improve before they are able to do surgury to prevent any further spinal damage.

I have not talked with Beth since their meeting with the surgeon. Elaine is relaying all the information to friends so she can concentrate on Scotty and her immediate family. Once again I am asking you to pray for Scotty and his family.

Thank you.

Hey Yall.......I don't have anything to report to you about Scotty and his condition. Please keep this family in your prayers.

The Frannycakes family had a very slow and low key day. Which was wonderful! We got up and I made breakfast. Yes, you heard right. I MADE BREAKFAST! It has been rumored that I don't make breakfast and I must now confess that it true that I didn't but I am getting better about it. I just have a hard time waking up in the morning. And I need several cups of coffee and a computer to look at to wake up. And if anybody talks to me.....well....you can call it ALL off! Just ask Dick if you don't believe me!

Julianne watched a season of The Sopranos on the TV in Dick's office. She officially stayed in her PJ's all day long. We all need to do that sometimes, don't we?

I washed 5 loads of clothes. They must be reproducing in our laundry basket upstairs. Honestly. How can Dick and I have so many dirty clothes?

I made the delicious brownies that we made for Mary Ann and Justin's party. Mmmmmmm Good! I cut half of the pan for the neighbors next door. They listened out for Julianne in case she needed anything during Dick's trip down south to meet me. I warned them that we were all nauseous from eating brownies over at our house and to eat them with care. Dick was so full that he had cereal for supper. CEREAL!!!! Now don't get me wrong....I love cereal for supper. But it must be against something in the Baptist Church, or papermaking book of rules that has caused him to be against cereal! I even offered to make him a sandwich with the leftover turkey from a turkey breast that I had cooked and he said he would rather have cereal. Of course a SANDWICH ranks right up there with cereal in offensiveness to him.

Dick mowed grass and made the yard look fabulous. I do love our yard to look fabulous. And it should. We pay Trugreen enough that they should come and mow it. I should point out that before they started coming and doing their stuff we hardly had any grass....just crappy weeds. It's a miracle what they do.

I guess that is all I have for now. I will talk to you later. Don't forget to pray for my friends and their son Scotty. Thank you.

I Need Your Help

Hey Yall. Frannycakes needs your help today.

Many, many years ago even though it feels like just yesterday, I had a group of friends who bonded together in a special way. One of the glues that bonded us was we all seemed to have our children at the same time. We lugged diaper bags and strollers and beach toys together because you really have to love each other to want to go places and be together that much! And we loved each others babies and they became a part of our hearts too. And today part of my heart is aching.

Beth and Scott's son Scotty was in an automobile accident early Saturday morning in Jacksonville, FL. He was thrown from the car and is in ICU in Jacksonville and on a ventilator because lungs are badly bruised. He also broke vertebra close to his neck. He moves arms and hands, but has no sensation below that at this time. He is sedated enough to keep him from fighting the ventilator, but has to keep conscious enough for evaluation. They are waiting to hear from the neuro-surgeon as to whether the trauma/bruising/swelling is keeping him from feeling the bottom half of his body or if there is spinal cord damage.

Scotty is serving in the Navy and is stationed at Mayport. I spoke to Beth last night. She sounded scared. She sounded heart broken. She sounded exhausted. So I am asking all of you who read this to do the most important thing you can do for her and her son Scotty and that is to pray for Scotty and Beth and Scott. Please do this for them.

John Edwards

John Edwards is the newest member of the "Can't Keep It In His Pants Club".

Fashion Friday

Hey Yall! I have been trying to make all of you happy by posting more often and still making this a very interesting and entertaining blog. So today's post will be Fashion Friday. It is an attempt to bring the latest and greatest in fashion and not break the bank.

This will be a great top to wear under t-shirts, blouses and with jackets. Or you can wear it as the model has just by itself. It is certainly hot enough to wear alone.



As you can see, with just the help of a pair of scissors you too can have this top. And what a deal too! You can get a 3 pack for around $6.00! Imagine the possibilities! I know you can hardly wait to get started!

Your welcome.

Don't Hate Me Cause I'm.......

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is a whopping 57 degrees outside!

Just thought you would want to know.....

Yep....I Married Into This Family........