Beginning when I was 39 years old and had a 4 year old, 9 year old and 13 year old, I had two back-to-back heart attacks even though I was perfectly healthy. When this occurred in 1999, WebMD didn’t even list my heart condition as a possibility for such human beings. Fortunately, that has changed.

But, there is still much to be done for Prinzmetal Angina, which affects 139,000 Americans. Prinzmetal (named after the researcher who discovered the phenomenon) has a 50% death rate and when diagnosed (only by the divine intervention of God), I was told I could have a heart attack every 10 to 15 years from that point forward. We still don’t know much about why my coronary arteries like to spasm out of the blue and cause blood clots and their resulting heart attacks.

I seem to like to have my heart attacks in pairs and I hate being late, so a little over 14 years later, I had heart attacks # 3 and # 4.

Those of you who regularly read the Word of the Week (WOW) are probably thinking, “Did she forget that she already gave us a new word on Monday?” Actually, no. It just occurs to me that so many of you enjoy the WOW blog post on Monday that perhaps I should start a new feature discussing a single word and its ramifications for our world. Lofty aspiration, hunh? Yeah, it scares me, too, but here goes nothin’!

I chose “absolute” for today, because it’s a word that is not used as frequently as it once was. Even with advanced technology and increased knowledge from research, there are few absolutes in our world. One hundred years ago, most people in the U.S. went to church on Sunday, cheating in school was virtually unheard of, and most people were virgins on their wedding night. (Yes, I went there.) Today none of that is something we can take for granted, along with a lot of other things that used to be absolute.

Book Club Update: I read the first page of Jon Acuff’s Start and burst out laughing for a full minute. I don’t do that often. Have you started laughing yet? If not, go here to, of course, Start! 

Compassion Counseling Center Update: We now have 9 clients, but I would love for us to have even more clients, so please keep praying that we will find the people who need our help. We have dealt with abuse, self-injury, relationship difficulties, and new school adjustment issues just to name a few. We are also about to offer our first group for premarital counseling!

Good morning, Word Lovers! Last week’s WOW was crepitate. Merriam-Webster says that the definition of crepitate is to make a crackling sound. If that’s the case, then my joints crepitate all the time. (This WOW may become a new regular in my vocabulary!)

This week’s WOW is solatium. Here are my guesses for it:

Happy New Year!

Good morning, MIP readers! I hope you are having a fantastic Friday!

Today I reveal the two posts you found the most interesting in 2014. Both were generated for the same reason–my brother was diagnosed with one horrific case of esophageal cancer. They “book-ended” the time I spent last year traversing back and forth to his home and the hospital near his home. So, # 2 was my announcement, yet again, that I needed to put writing a blog on hold to take care of him. This post was difficult to write for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which was that I felt compelled to protect my brother’s privacy at this point in my life. Later on my eldest brother told me that the “affected brother” was sad that I had stopped writing on his account. But, I knew something that my brother didn’t–that MIP readers are very “faithful fans” and would come back to my blog when I had the time to write again. One more time, here is “Another Kind of WOW.

Unfortunately, the reason why I was able to return to writing was because my brother made the courageous decision to end treatment and just let nature take its course. He passed away 8 days later, after telling me he was “trying to do this quickly.” I knew exactly why he said that. He never wanted anyone to suffer on his account. And thus, because he hated me giving up the blog, I wrote, for him, “Why I Stopped Writing.” 

Kleenex, anyone??? Thanks for coming back here to read both the fun and not so fun events of my life. I am grateful for each one of you.

Monday’s Post: A Normal Kind of WOW…

You Might Also Like: YOUR Top 10 of MIP 2014: 4 & 3; YOUR Top 10 of MIP 2014: 6 & 5; and YOUR Top 10 of MIP 2014: 8 & 7

Happy New Year!

We have now officially passed the 2nd anniversary of the inaugural MIP post, which just happened to be about inaugurations, because I like irony. It amuses me.

A LOT has happened in 2 short years in this “neck of the woods.” For instance, we just purchased a part of another neck of the woods…literally.

Personally, I am a bit surprised that I’m still writing this blog. How about you? Let’s pause to ponder and appreciate that little fact. (If you seriously think I’m going to pause and reflect about anything having to do with this crazy blog, then we need to have a talk about how well you know me.) Nah…let’s just get to today’s blog post business. You’re really here to learn what your fourth and third favorite MIP posts were last year. Without further adieu…!

If you don’t find # 4 odd, you may want to consider coming to my favorite counseling center.

Book Club Update: Have you ordered your copy of Start? No? Go here to get your copy now!

Compassion Counseling Center Update: We have reached the 200 mark on “Likes” on our Facebook page! We could still use some more clients, though, so that all of our counselors-in-training have the needed hours to graduate on time. Please continue to pray that hurting people in our area will find us quickly! Thanks!

Last week’s WOW was deracinate. The Merriam-Webster Online definition is: uproot or to remove or separate from a native environment or culture; especially to remove the racial or ethnic characteristics or influences from something. The hubby had a pretty close guess for this one! How is it that everyone in my family is smarter than me??? Oh. Wait. It’s my family.

Today’s WOW is crepitate. I feel like I should know this word, but it has escaped my brain (probably from that face plant a few weeks ago!). So here are my guesses for crepitate:

Book Club Announcement: Go here to learn the title of the February MIP Book Club Selection!

Good morning, Book Lovers! It’s a beautiful cool morning in central Texas and such mornings are definitely “my cup of tea” in January. I hope you are warm, comfortable and that your life is filled with “Sonshine” even if the sun is not shining where you are. And the “Son” and his ever-spreading “shine” is what I want to discuss today.

When I select books for the MIP Book Club, I try to do as much research as I can on the book before I select it. I thought this book was intriguing and would be good fodder for the Book Club, but as I started reading, I had a dreadful thought, “Maybe this book was a HUGE mistake for the MIP Book Club.” I seriously thought about selecting another book, but I decided to hang in there with The Rabbi Who Found Messiah and now, I’m glad I did.

Happy New Year!

If you like reading or re-reading the “favorite” or “popular” posts here, then today is your day for learning more about what all of you spent time reading at MIP. Number 6 on the list doesn’t surprise me at all. In fact every time some tragedy besets my family or me, that seems to be when most of you read MIP! Have no fear–I get it. In the information age that we live in today, it makes sense to me that you only have time to read truly unusual things and tragedies are unusual in my otherwise very routine life. Number 6 happens to be “Eulogy for a Brother,” which is a modified version of the eulogy I gave at my brother’s memorial service back in March 2014. If you missed the first “go-round,” go here to read it.

Number 5 is another post from the “resolution series” I wrote back a year ago.

Book Club: Did you know that some Jews do not agree with Zionism? I didn’t! If you, like me, didn’t know this, you might want to go here to read more about it.

Compassion Counseling Center: We opened; had a great Ribbon-Cutting and have now completed 4 counseling appointments with more scheduled for this week! It’s a start. Please pray that we will get to the point where we have about 24 appointments each week–that will give our counselors-in-training the hours they need to graduate on time.

Last week’s WOW was anodyne. No one seemed to know this one, but this is how Merriam-Webster defines it as: not likely to offend or upset anyone; serving to alleviate pain; not likely to offend or arouse tensions; or innocuous. My face plant last week was anything but an anodyne!

This week’s WOW is deracinate. Here are my guesses for the definition of deracinate:

deracinate: (dē-ˈra-sə-ˌnāt) 1. to decelerate 2. to remove the rack of an oven 3. to avoid Racine

I know many of you are expecting a post about your favorite posts of 2014, but something unusual happened on Wednesday night that I just can’t resist discussing.

First, let me say that we had a wonderful turnout for the Ribbon-Cutting ceremony for Compassion Counseling Center and we couldn’t be more pleased. Thanks to all who helped us launch this new endeavor. Now all we need are lots and lots of counseling appointments for our counselors-in-training so they can graduate on-time.

Unfortunately, I chose to trip over a cement curb in the parking lot and did a huge face plant in the parking lot afterwards and I now know, firsthand, what getting a black eye feels like. Only I could end a fabulous day this way.

Have no fear–I am fine. But, while I was in the ER awaiting the results of my first CAT scan, I had a lot of “free time” on my hands to come up with a few lessons learned. Gosh, I hope I learned some lessons from this stupidity.

1. As a member of the Board of Trustees for the church, I think I’m going to bring up better lighting in our parking lot at the next meeting and….painting the cement parking curbs hazard yellow.

2. Remind me to heed the thought in my head to wear jeans and tennies when cleaning up after a public event. (I was in high heal boots and I have never walked all that elegantly in heels.)

3. I now have something in common with Sylvester Stallone. (I look like the female version of Rocky after a fight.) Could I please get a paycheck like Sylvester Stallone?

4. I chose to protect the crock pot in my arms rather than my face, because it belonged to the Executive Director for Compassion. Remind me that replacing crock pots are cheaper than replacing my face.

5. Thanks to the CAT scan, I now know what it’s like to be inside a dryer. I totally get why they have pretty blossoming tree branches on the ceiling tile.

6. Remind me to bring Tums to my next CAT scan.

7. I know what black top taste likes now. I’m not impressed.

8. Scrapes under your nose hurt more than a gigantic knot on my forehead. Who knew?!?

9. Neosporin helps quell a stinging upper lip. Do they sell Neosporin in “vat-size”?

10. Band-aids should be curved. Can I get a paycheck from Johnson & Johnson for that idea????

11.  Before you get strapped to the oxygen level and blood pressure monitors, grab your cell phone and Kindle so you aren’t absolutely bored senseless while waiting forever for your CAT scan results.

12. Reading glasses should be curved.

13. My bright red reading glasses now match my new version of “eye shadow.” You know me–I like to “match.”

14. Is this God’s way of “knocking some sense into my head”? If so, He and I need to talk.

15. I’ve been praying for humility as I work on creating Compassion. Remind me to be more specific about the way I’d like God to do that next time.

16. I’ve heard, “Pride goeth before the fall.” I just didn’t know God meant that literally.

17. My “goose egg” matched my bright blue dress. See # 13.

18. My swollen chin is not amused by the expression, “taking it on the chin.”

19. I wonder if there’s a vendor for the blossoming tree ceiling tiles. Can you Google that?

20. I’m now really fond of “Jackie O” sunglasses. The bigger and the darker, the better.

21. I definitely have my master’s in Psychology. While in the ER, I was praying they wouldn’t report my injuries to the authorities since I look like Exhibit A in a domestic violence textbook.

22. It’s difficult to wear reading glasses and Jackie O sunglasses at the same time. Jackie O sunglasses should be curved.

23. I may have to reconsider the “Any day I’m not in the hospital is a good day.” mantra I’ve had for the past few years. How about “Any day I’m not in the ER it’s a good day.”????

24. I need to buy more of the tights I wore Wednesday. I bruised my left knee and yet, no run in the tights at all.

25. Do they make tights for faces?

Monday’s Post: WOW time

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