Born August 4 at 1:09 in the afternoon.
Oh, my goodness, what a week!
Sunday, Dan and I seemed to get a lot of stuff done: I final edited the next Hidden America book, we gardened, we put feeders on our bees, cared for puppies and did normal animal chores, cleaned house, just a whirlwind. Monday, I decided it would be a similar day, had this wonderful list of stuff to do. Up overhead, God was smiling to Himself; “Oh, you had plans? I have a better idea.” I was in the garden picking veggies when Dan came down.
“Honey, stop whatever your’re doing. Alana says she thinks it’s time.” Hee Hah!
I tore up to the house, washed up, grabbed my purse and took my granddaughter to the hospital, where staff duly checked her in, and three hours later, she gave birth to a beautiful little girl. She had some issues at first, and they had to put Penelope, the little one, on a CPAP, gastric tube, EEG, EKG, O2 sensor-goodness, she looked like there was all wires and mechanics and no baby in there. It only lasted a bit over an hour, then she recovered and mommy welcomed her back.
As the birth coach, I did much handholding, baby watching while in the NICU (mom being too weak to stand long enough to be there) and then stayed the night. We came home on Tuesday. Thank you to all who have prayed, thought about and otherwise sent us good wishes. Baby Penelope Eloise and mom and big sister are all home and all safe. Our newest CBW (cutest baby in our world) is 7 lbs 5 ounces at birth, 20 inches long, lots of hair and chubby-cheeked cute.
And on to other news: I am putting the final touches on a book about anger and grief; it will go to publication shortly. I’m adding a cover reveal. The steps to dealing with grief include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Some folks never get to acceptance; they get stuck being mad at God for not fixing the problem, be it death, divorce, loss of a job. They decide that since He is all-powerful, He ought to have done something. This book deals with the leftover anger from traumatic events.
And on to this week’s special, a totally different topic than anger. For the next week, you can giggle at the stories, try out the recipes and reminisce a little as you read my newest cookbook on sale:
99 cents August 10-17 Kitchen Memories
Leave the stress of the world behind and rest a while. Remember when kitchens smelled wonderful, food tasted good, and people still shared recipes over a cup of coffee and fresh muffins? Join me as I share some of the memories, stories and especially recipes as I walk to visit kin in the Appalachians. You might want to stay. You might want to make a pot of hot soup and homemade cheese biscuits. Come and smell the bread baking, the soup simmering, the pie cooling on the rack, and fall in love with friendly country gossip. And do it while it’s on sale!
That’s a wrap! Blessings and peace to all!