The Phantom of the Gas Station

Yesterday on our way home from the airport with Nathan, I noticed I was running a little low on gas; I pulled into a station but before I could even get out of the car to start the pumping process, I glanced in my side mirror and noticed something.

Something startling!

Something alarming!

Something scary!

I am here to tell you with absolutely no equivocation that in that very moment in history I, Rebecca Campbell Smith, caught a rare glimpse of the legendary and secretive Phantom of the Gas Station!

It was an amazing moment. A stunning moment. And also life altering. I mean, how many of you have been privileged to lay eyes on such a rare phenomenon?

I yelled for Sarah to hurry up and look too, so that I could have corroboration on this fabulous sighting. She is now prepared to back me up concerning this event in a court of law, should that become necessary.

As we continued to watch this amazing scene unfold, the Phantom’s visage suddenly came into view.

And then? And then! The Phantom! He spotted us!

He saw that we were watching him! And he made a Phantom-esque face at us!

And we squealed like girls! (Well, we are girls.)

And then to our great relief, the Phantom smiled. And suddenly we realized that it was not the famed Phantom after all. It was just Nathan.

Good ol’ Nathan.

The (cute and beloved) Phantom of the Gas Station.

From the Comments Section . . .

Lizz said, Oh my oh my! I REALLY wish I could go to your church! Looks like such a great place and a great pastor! I like a pastor that has a sense of humor! He seemed like he hadn't even been so horribly sick just days before! What a guy. He reminds me of my daddy...CA-RAZY!!! :)

Lizz, it’s funny you should mention that it seemed like Steve hadn’t been horribly sick a couple days earlier. When he was practicing that song and dance number on Saturday night with the “hippo,” he was so terribly out of breath during rehearsal that it was downright disconcerting! All that “output” plus very little food for several days really sapped his strength.

By Sunday night, after a little more rest and a couple more meals under his belt, he managed to (thankfully) make it through the routine with just a wee bit of breathlessness.

And I agree that is certainly a pastor with a sense of humor! :-)

Ann asked, “Is it tree decorating night with pancakes? I know Nathan is a little late coming home so you may have done it without him this year.”

Ann, you have a good memory and you’re absolutely right! Last night was, indeed, tree decorating night, preceded by pancake making. Even though it put the decorating pretty near Christmas, we wanted to wait for Nathan to get home before we did it. I’ll post pictures soon.

Camera Talk

Note: According to my shipping tracking info, the camera is supposed to arrive before 7 pm tomorrow. It’ll probably take me thirty minutes to get up enough courage to turn it on!

I’m so intimidated! And also so excited!

Marysienka said, “Congrats on the new camera!!!! You'll have sooo much fun :) What kind of lenses do you get with it?

That’s a question that sort of makes me nervous to answer since I truly don’t have any idea what I’m talking about. Just so that I don’t goof up entirely trying to describe it all, I’ll just copy and paste the info from the order and see if that makes any sense to you camera pro’s out there.

1) Nikon Nikkor 55-200mm Zoom Lens features VR Image Stabilization, f/4-5.6G, IF-ED, AF-S, DX

2) 18-55mm VR Lens

I’m still not quite sure if I’m going to keep both of those lenses or return one of them and get a 35 mm or 50 mm “fixed” lens in its place. (Or maybe the term is “prime” lens and not fixed lens? As I said, I have a lot to learn!)

Rachel said, “You are going to love your DSLR. I have the Pentax Dx and I love it. The most wonderful thing about a DSLR, I think, (other than the quality of the pictures) is that you turn it on, click the shutter button and the thing actually takes the picture immediately. No "blink blink blink I just have to charge the flash please wait" (and by then your subjects have moved or completely left the photo shoot area! LOL).

Rachel, I cannot begin to tell you how many hundreds of times I have had that very thing happen to me and have muttered to myself, “At some point in my life, I am going to acquire the knowledge and the camera to take pictures without this delay always happening!” Drives. Me. Crazy.

Of course, once I gain some additional knowledge about the technical side of photography, I think I’ll be able to make my beloved, purse-riding “point and shoot” camera be a little more user friendly in that regard, as well.

Anonymous said, “Becky, I really don't mean this to be snarky, and worry about how to phrase it so that it conveys my heart in the question. There are a number of things that our family needs and wants just now. Should I develop a blog and then ask people to give me money so that I can get those things?

Yes, it's lovely that folks have given you well over $600 (depending on lenses, maybe over $1000) so that you can have a camera, but . . . honestly, I struggle with the way that you ask for such things. And yes, folks made 'donations' over the cost of the CDs, but . . .

Our family sure won't be receiving a fancy camera just in time for the holidays. I dunno . . . it just rubs me the wrong way to hear you basically ASK us to give you gifts.

Again, I don't mean it to be snarky. Lucky you - you have a new camera.
I guess I'd feel better if your plugs for gifts for yourself were actually gifts for OTHERS.”

Anonymous, thank you for taking the time to write and graciously express your reservations about the camera.

While I certainly can’t say I know exactly what you’re facing right now, I will say that at various times in my life (as a child AND as an adult), I have had Christmases where there was barely enough money to pay the bills, let alone buy Christmas presents; it’s a frustrating and scary place to be. I’m truly sorry things are difficult for you and your family right now.

Since you asked honest (gracious) questions, I feel like you deserve honest (gracious) answers:

1) Steve and I could not agree with you more about the importance of giving gifts to others. We have given away (completely free) over a thousand of our “Like A Blanket” CD’s (mentioned on the blog) to cancer kids, pediatric hospitals and to families facing stressful situations of various kinds.

We LOVE to give and even in the past few days, have given gifts to people who are struggling. Giving is a privilege and it is also a joy. In fact, the ten (or so) people who donated toward the camera purchase have told me what great joy they got out of being able to help with this project.

2) I think the fact that what I purchased was a camera and not some other item is also important to this conversation.

I have some readers who have been following our family’s story for almost eight years; I’ve gotten to meet some of them in person and have developed e-mail relationships with others. After so many years, I feel like so many of my blog readers are honorary Smith family members.

I think that part of the reason people have read this blog for so many years is because of the pictures and--as it turns out--most of the pictures I take are for the blog! So I guess I felt okay getting a little extra help with a “blog related purchase,” since it’s my readers who will be the ones to enjoy the results of the camera.

Now if I had asked for a new wardrobe or a vacation to the Bahamas—THAT would be another issue altogether. :-)

(And on that same subject, I already had some money saved up for the camera; the camera’s cost was only partially covered by my blog readers.)

_________________________________________

Before I close, here’s a picture of Snowy, faithfully guarding Steve and Sarah during a “post decorating the tree “ sofa snooze. Good thing our family has such a faithful and ferocious watch dog on duty!

Monday.

At 8 am I am leaving with . . .

To go to . . .

Photo Credit

To pick up . . .

Who will stay for . . .

days!

Hooray!

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from Smitty’s Christmas Variety Show that we had at our church last night. It featured children, a dancing hippo, Elvis, a bicycle built for two, rednecks, videos, fun music and sacred music.

It was lots and lots of fun.

Steve (as Smitty) opened the night with this song. (He’s not only a ham—he’s pure pork!)

Sarah was in charge of running media for the show and also participated in a music/drama number.

Before I close, let me mention that Snowy seems to be feeling much better. He’s really loving the chicken/broth/rice mixture his vet told me to try with him. I’m not sure if I will be consigned to cooking chicken and rice for my dog for the rest of my days, or not!

I’m going to call the vet today to report in and ask what we’re supposed to do with his food and meds, now that he seems to be turning a corner.

So thankful to see our little doggy with a smile back on his face and taking an interest in the world again.

Well, Well, Well . . .

What in the world does that title mean? Well, it means that things are going pretty well here!

Steve

Steve ate, showered dress and is off to the church to make up for all the time he lost due to lying in bed moanin' and groanin'. (And sprinting back and forth to the bathroom.) He's still eating very carefully so as not to upset the delicate balance of recovery but all in all, he's doing well.

So that's the first well in the "well, well, well."

Snowy

Even though Snowy did throw up the lovingly prepared chicken and rice I made for him last night, today he ate fairly well (a bit more chicken and rice) and has actually drunk about half the water in his bowl! He's still not real energetic but seems to have a little more of a sparkle in his eyes than he’s had for the past few days.

I'm hoping that he's turned a corner. If he'll just keep eating and drinking (and keeping it down), I'll be one happy doggy mama. (Of course, eating and drinking won’t magically dissolve his kidney stones that are continuing to grow but at least the momentary crisis seems to have passed.)

That's our second well.

Sarah

I know that some of you were concerned yesterday when I wrote that Sarah wasn't feeling well and that I had e-mailed her oncologist. Let me just reassure you that the symptoms she was exhibiting were more connected with possible late effects worries rather than relapse worries.

I so appreciate your prayers and concern for her.

And that was the third well in our "Well, well, well" line up.

Lastly?

Camera

(photo courtesy of “"Let’s Go Digital”)

I actually got up the nerve last night to hit the "buy" button on the computer and finalize my camera purchase. (Nikon D5000). That's a scary, fun, fulfilling, intimidating, exciting, amazing thing to do! It should be delivered between the 22nd and the 24th. Hooray!

We’re having our Christmas program (actually called, “Smitty’s Christmas Variety Show”) tomorrow night at church and Monday morning Nathan is flying in. Our tree is not up and cards aren’t sent and gifts aren’t wrapped so I guess I’d better transform myself into Busy Becky Mode rather than Blogging Becky Mode.

(Much to Snowy’s chagrin. He much prefers my Blogging Becky Mode because it gives him someone to hang out with while he snoozes.)

Two Steps Forward. One Step Back.

When I called the vet's office earlier today the lady who answered said, "We're definitely going to want to see Snowy today; I'll have the vet call you back."

When she called, we talked for a while and she expressed her concern again about Snowy not eating or drinking, especially with the way his liver panel had looked earlier in the week. However, instead of telling me to bring him in, she suggested that I cook him some chicken and rice, flavored with a little broth; she wanted to see if it was a matter of him just not liking the (canned) food, or of him being unable to tolerate any food in general.

Well, let me just report that he scarfed down that chicken and rice and even lapped up some of the broth. "Yay! One step forward!"

I took him with me to pick up Sarah from school and get a few groceries and when we got home he started drinking water for the first time in forever. (I imagine the sodium in the broth made him thirsty.) Once again I said, "One step forward."

However, ten minutes ago I walked into Nathan's room and Snowy was on the floor in the corner, throwing up everything he had just eaten. (Last night when he threw up, he had the good manners to do it on the back deck. Not this time!)

I was not precisely in the mood to get down and clean up dog vomit (especially since I had been feeling queasy earlier in the day) but I did it. And survived it.

And now I imagine this means I'm going to have to call the vet again in the morning to let her knew he wasn't able to keep that food down either.

Are we on Plan C here? Or is it Plan W? I've kind of lost track.

In other news . . .

There were a couple questions left a couple days ago that I forgot to answer; I don't remember who exactly they came from.

Question 1: How did Sarah do that style when her hair was piled up?

Answer 1: I asked Sarah and she said that she just used a banana clip in the back and left it "sort of messy." (Hmmm. When I leave my hair "sort of messy", it never looks that good!)

Question 2: What camera/lens did you decide to get?

Answer 2: I'm getting the Nikon D5000 but haven't made a final choice on the lenses yet. Who knew the subject could be so complicated? I'm grateful to Mike, Michaela and Pam (and others) for giving me great advice on the subject and patiently answering my endless questions.

Question 3: Is Sarah home schooled?

Question 3: I home schooled Sarah during the first part of 8th grade since we were in transition. Ever since halfway through her 8th grade year, though, she's been in our local (very small and excellent) public school. She loves it and is doing great.

Thankfully, Sarah was feeling better when she got home from school although I did e-mail her oncologist to keep him in the loop.

And now I'm off to cook up some chicken and rice soup for my other patient, Steve.

Are we having fun yet?

All Sorts of Stuff

Stuff 1:

Happy, happy day!

As of this very moment, thanks to the incredible generosity of my dear Smithellaneous friends, I have in my possession enough funds to purchase a DSLR camera! (The funds came from a combination of people buying our books and CD's, in addition to a few people sending in designated camera/Christmas gifts.)

I have been avidly, frantically and earnestly reading stuff online, e-mailing friends, asking advice on FB and staring at numbers and features and pros and cons till my little brain’s about to burst.

But I am so very excited to have this dream of many years finally coming true. I hope to order today or tomorrow and will maybe even have the camera in time for Christmas.

Hurray and hurrah! Thanks to all of you who have invested not only your encouragement but your gifts into this dream; I will think of you each time I shoot a photo.

Stuff 2:

I told Sarah this morning, “Well, he threw up last night.”

She looked at me thoughtfully, pondered for a moment and said, “Who?”

I had to laugh because I had sort of forgotten we had TWO thrower-uppers around here who go by the name of “he.”

Steve did great last night, apart from being unable to sleep till 4 am. Unfortunately, the “he” who threw up was Snowy. Also, he has not had even one little sip of water in the past 24-hours; his bowl has stayed the same level and we’ve all been watching him carefully to try to catch him in the act. You all provided some wonderful drinking advice which I tried, but he is completely disinterested in his water bowl. And frankly, that really worries me. He also hasn’t eaten since throwing up last night about 9 pm.

Sigh.

It looks like yet another phone call to the vet is on the agenda and I have no doubt that she’ll want us to bring Snowy in. (So nice that we can help her make her BMW payment this month. We’re nice like that!)

In the meantime, Snowy is (of course), settled snugly in beside me and snoozing to his heart’s content. He is such a dear and peaceful companion to spend time with.

Stuff 3:

Sarah left for school this morning with a few physical issues and not feeling well. (Nothing of the contagious sort.) I guess I will stretch my worry abilities a little further and put her on my worry list as well.

Stuff 4:

To give us all a wee little break from the talk of sick family members, here is a video of a song that Debbie, Randy, Steve and I sang at church when they were in town a few weeks ago. I just absolutely love singing harmony with people I love. Nothin’ better!

And Yet Another Short Report On My Two Fellas.

Fella #1

Thankfully, all the voluminous output from Steve’s body has ceased; however, he’s still sleeping a lot, eating very little and actually lost five pounds overnight!  (I’m just a wee bit jealous because it generally takes me at least 4 1/2 years to lose five pounds.) 

My nursing tasks yesterday consisted of bringing him water and making him a poached egg on an English muffin.  Hmmm.  I’m getting pretty good pay for not much work; I’ll have to see if I can hang on to this gig a little longer!

 

Fella #2

As far as I can tell, I think Snowy is doing better.  He ate with a really good appetite last night although this morning, he took one or two bites (after acting extremely hungry), and then walked away from his dish looking confused.  Or was it bemused?

The thing I’m most concerned about is that he’s drinking very little water, and lots of water is supposed to be our secret weapon for combating these quickly growing kidney stones.   I’ll keep an eye on him today and especially keep track of his water consumption.   I really don’t know why he’s suddenly started to ignore his water bowl when he was drinking in fine camel-esque fashion just a day or two ago.

And just so you know?

I really and truly do promise that I will start writing about other subjects than Snowy soon; right now, however, my Mama Heart is just Snowy-focused.

And he’s just so stinkin’ cute.  I told him to gaze out the window with a thoughtful, pondering expression on his face and look what he did?  Is he the quintessential thoughtful, pondering fella, or what?

 

He’s a bit embarrassed in this picture because he doesn’t want anyone to see just how badly his mother spoils him and tucks him in and fusses over him; it’s just not good for his masculine self esteem for all that coddling to be seen by the general public. So please, for Snowy’s mental well being, just forget you ever saw this picture. 

He and Sarah hung out a few minutes before school this morning. 

 

And when it was finally time to take her to school, he got so very happily excited--as this video will show.  Please try to overlook my annoying “excited doggy voice” that I am exhibiting; it’s just that the more excited my voice gets, the more excited Snowy gets. (Even though he may or may not have any idea what I’m talking about.)

Short Report on Snowy and Steve

I did finally call the vet about Snowy not eating; she told me to drop by and pick up (yet another) kind of food, as well as a med that will stimulate his appetite. (So now we're having to track FOUR doggy medicines.)

She said if things hadn't changed significantly by tomorrow to call back and she'd see if he needed to be hospitalized again.

He has nibbled around this morning's food a little bit since then but still isn't drinking much. Other than that though, he seems to feel contented and happy. So . . . we'll see.

Steve continues to lie in bed and moan, not to mention groan. I'll lead music at church tonight and someone else is stepping in at the last minute to teach. Snowy can get in bed with Steve and nurse him back to health because, after all, Snowy truly does have the heart of the world's most compassionate nurse!

Snowy's still not eating.

To cheer myself up, I watched this video. Snowy could have been such a star in this song. (Since he does a lot of singing and talking already.) :-)