O is for OOPS!

OOPS! It is already the new year. I didn’t get through the entire alphabet before the end of 2022.

OH WELL! Sometimes there are just more important fish to fry–dealing with a brain tumor being one of those fish.

OPTIMISM: Many people have told me that my Optimistic nature has gotten through this Ordeal.  I would say in my thinking, Optimism is just trust in God that it is all going to be Okay. If you want to read about it from “the Other side/the Optimistic side,” here is the link to my Caring Bridge site, where the whole Ordeal is journaled.

Www.caringbridge.org/itsgonnabeo-kpudil

ON OR OFF: I love how this little space heater is always smiling at me. I love the saying, “If someone needs a smile, give them one of yours. They are always free.”

OTTERVILLE: I worked at Otterville School for ten years, and I still have many good friends from there, as well as some outstanding students whom I keep in touch with, which warms my heart. There is one friend I am so happy I will always know and love from Otterville RV-I: Mary M. I miss her now that we don’t spend every day together at work, and we live 1700+ miles apart, but she’s one of those few who when we get together, it’s always as if we saw each other just yesterday.  Love you, friend!💗

Pic from Otterville Facebook page

At my first book signing!

ON to a New Year!

Photo by Djordje Vezilic on Pexels.com

OFFER up myself as a living sacrifice.

Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:1-2

N is for Nativity

N is for Nativity. Tis the season. I always admire those who participate in live Nativities at this time of year. It is not as cold here as in Missouri, but this week is not supposed to get that warm, either. I am thankful for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Photo by Jessica Lewis Creative on Pexels.com

N is for Nederland. I spent a year on exchange to the Netherlands right out of high school, and that experience has influenced so much of my life. I am still in touch with my host brothers and always enjoy hearing from extended family who keep in touch through social media, too. I met one of my closest friends, Barb, while we were both exchange students in NL. It is ironic that although I was the one who lived on a Dutch Dairy Farm in the NL, she actually married a Nederlandse Melk Boer in upstate NY! When we talk or get together, we just pick up like it hasn’t been a day since we’ve seen one another.

These are my klompen house shoes! (Which Barb insists are called “slippers” hahaha)

N is for Nurse Nona. (double Ns!) Nona is a sweet nurse on Night shift whom I really connected with when I moved to the regular part of the hospital during my stay in T-ICU after brain surgery. I thought I gave her Craig’s phone number to forward our picture together, but he never got it, and now I don’t have a way to get in touch with her… I didn’t have my phone with me in the hospital at the time.

I had a lot of good nurses, I must admit! This is Courtney, whom I thought has beautiful curly hair!

N is for Not-a-dog: Perro will have his own place in a couple of letters on “P,” but it’s a little bit funny that we have a cat named “Dog” in Spanish. I was teaching Intro to Spanish when we first adopted him.

N is for Never Again. Never say Never, but I hope to Never have to have brain surgery again…

From: meow lovers on Internet

N is for Now. Live for Now. Find the beauty in Now. Your Now may not be a comfortable place to be, but just keep going, the Next Now may be full of blessings and happiness that you Never anticipated would be yours… Keep on Keepin’ on!

“Just Keep Swimming!”

(Photo by Kevin Burnell on Pexels.com)

N is for Nothing. Nothing shall separate us from His love.

…For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

M is for Miscellaneous

M is also for Merry Christmas!🎄

Miscellaneous is such an interesting, boring word. The word itself has interesting things in it: an arguably silent letter, double letters, five syllables= mis-cel-la-ne-ous, a little suffix that means “like.” But its meaning is rather blah, vague, can mean a lot of things, like the word “nice.”  Haha. It’s a >nice< word.🙄 But since I have missed a few weeks writing due to ah! Brain surgery! –I wanted to put a few >miscellaneous< pictures out of the last few weeks…

Snuggling Wilson

Beautiful Jewelina Ballerina

Sleeping Perro and Camzi Jam

Reading with Lincoln and Boo

Sister-love at Thanksgiving

Pre-shave

Half-shaved head pre-surgery

Lincoln’s Birthday

Lucy Lou always had such a crush on Perro.

Missing our Lucy Lou: she left us for the Rainbow 🌈 Bridge last Tuesday night; it’s been a little lonesome and surreal for us since.

A rare moment last spring when she let me hold her without complaint.

Lucybabe and Perro were snuggle buddies.

“Where’s my Lucy?!”

Mom: I ❤️ LOVE MY MOM! She’s always been a great example to me of a spiritual wife, mother, and grandmother. She is always thinking of others, in kindness and in generosity.  Not- to-mention we have fun sewing together!

Marriage- I am blessed with a good one, an extraordinary one even. When Craig and I first started talking about marriage,  I told him,  “I’ve waited a long time for you; and I don’t just want a ‘good’ marriage; I want an extraordinary one! I want us to expect from ourselves 100% all the time. Not that we’ll be able to give 100% all the time,  but if I’m aiming for 100%, and you’re aiming for 100%, then at all times we will end up with at least one hundred percent! Three weeks ago, when I was just coming out of the hospital, I told him, “Thank you for giving 200% right now, because I can only do about 9%….”

This was a selfie on our trip to Iowa in early November.

Many thanks–for all the prayers, well wishes, positive thoughts, cards, gifts, phone calls, emojis, verses–so many good things coming my way! Many people have commented on my faith and positive attitude, but truly, I’ve had a lot help in that department, and the hard work has all been God’s work. (And of course, it wasn’t hard for Him!)

Cozy non-slip socks!

Flowers and comfortable home of Kat!

A reminder plaque!

Prayer Buddies

Beautiful beaded cross

It reminds me of Greyson.

Camzi Bubbles caught a lot of delirious slobber, can you tell?!

Miracle-yes, even so. Amen and amen. I am humbled that God would deem me worthy of a miracle, but I feel so blessed in so many ways, healing well is one of many. In 2016, I had a surgery and was off work for six weeks, then only went back on half-days for a week because I felt weak, still had a lot of pain, etc. Here I am, three weeks out from Brain surgery (!) and I feel better now than I did six weeks after an oophorectomy. Thank You Lord.

“For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are all answered ‘Yes.’ So through Him we say our ‘Amen’ to the glory of God.”  2 Corinthians 1:20

“Please accept my blessing, because God has been gracious to me, and because I have enough.” Genesis 33:11

L is for Love

Love God, Love Craig, Love Kitties

Love this man–fun and funny!

Lucy Lou

So petite and always sits like a lady

Listen to God’s voice

Photo by Kat Smith on Pexels.com

"My sheep hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me." John 10:27

Like–Facebook has a reinforcement factor. Sometimes it reminds me of Pavlov’s dogs how much I enjoy a “Like 👍🏼”

Learn–as a teacher, I never want to quit learning and I always like to help others learn!

Lounge— love to do this with kitties all around

Is there room for me?

Let God work His miracle in me.

“…This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.” John 9:3

Many people, upon hearing how I found out about this mass in my head that I am about to have removed, tell me how fortunate it was/that God used the wreck to show me something important. Wow. My prayer is that He uses it to show His glory as well.

K is for Kitties!

Kitty to the 6th power!

Craig tells me, “You need this!” Hahaha. Need is relative; but I am getting it!

Kimberly- my little sister, who is actually three(?) inches taller than me, also helps us out by taking care of SIX Kitties! (Thank you, Kim!)

Oh my heart! They are so precious!

Kathy-time! Nothin’ like a true friend to help you out when you need it!

Hard to believe we’ve known each other for 33+years! (We can’t possibly be that old!!🤣)

knick knack knock knife know- – as a word person, I think of all the words that start with silent “k”

klime kling klock klap klack kringe krinkle kringle–and all the words that start with “kl/kr”

Klaus (Sinter) Dec 5 –another “kl” word I Know. He is Nederland’s version of Santa, and usually leaves a poem with hints about what a gift might be. Poetry in another language is challenging; but perhaps I can express something in English, more a hope or wish or prayer of what I’d like for a gift:

A Sinterklaus Gift

Dec 5th is the date

Not leaving it up to fate

Asking God for full healing and health

Knowing the true value of real wealth

Seven days after surgery

Not yet knowing if that the gift will be

But praying to be home and resting up

Kitties in my lap and coffee in my cup

Whatever will be is up to the Lord

I will be waiting in faith for His promise and word.

Keep–safe in the care of my Lord!

J is for Jesus

Jesus-the number one “J”.

Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels.com

Joyce–my older sister, named after our dad’s mom, our Gma Joyce. I miss my grandma. Sometimes I see glimpses of her in my father, especially in his hands.

Gma Joyce

Joyce, my sister

Jamboree-Camzi’s second name: Chamomile Jamboree, because everywhere she goes, there’s a part-ee!

Jewelina Ballerina- a beautiful baby girl, with ballerina toes

Joy–she travels with me on top of my rearview mirror, and reminds me to have joy in all things. She was flung to the dash in our wreck last June, and I swiped her up to go with me to the ER as I was gingerly exiting the crunched car.

Photo by Goda Morgan on Pexels.com

Just (don’t) Jump–I like Van Halen’s song “Jump”, the energy and the memories, but at present, I am NOT jumping, because any exertion makes my head throb!

Juggle–I don’t know how to literally juggle–balls, knives, fruit, or otherwise–but I feel like I do a decent Job (J) juggling the every day items that Life may throw my way. Lord help me.

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” I Corinthians 10:12

I IS For Ice Cream!

Ice cream- I love ice cream. Shouldn’t it be its own food group?? Perhaps a frivolous life goal could be to make an ice cream that was seriously a complete food source, so I could do as I’ve dreamed, and live off ice cream! Ha. Ice cream dreams. (And obviously, there’s not enough ice cream in my life, because I don’t have a pic of my own; I had to borrow this yummy one from pexels!)

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

Interesting – Roswell, NM is swarming with Intrigue (‘i’), in the form of green aliens. This one is in front of the McDonald’s on Main, which was playing my favorite radio station over the Intercom (‘i’) = The Message on Sirius XM Radio!

This guy was actually metallic, not green…

Inspired – The rainbow in the clouds on this day, reminding us of God’s promises.

Look for it!

Ingredients- I am loving the Internet (another “I” word!) for the Immense (‘i’) amount of recipes easily available to us. And of course the magic Ingredient in all my recipes….. (not really, it’s just funny.)

Can you guess what this recipe is for?

If I actually cooked at my house, this would be true, hahaha.

In rest-Perro knows how to lounge out and rest, even amidst the mess! He is stretched out on my hip (which shows that I, too, am familiar with this concept!).

We call this pose, “Super-Perro!!”

Indwelling-Walking by faith, may the Spirit of the Lord lead me, and help me see what I need to see.

2 Corinthians 5:7

H is for Heart

Heart: I know I am surrounded by a lot of people who are full of Heart. Many are praying for me. Friends are showing they care in numerous ways. I am also counting on finding a surgeon who is full of Heart. Perhaps it is one way I will know they are the right person for the job.

Thanks to Jessie, for her generous heart! She sent Craig and me these prayer buddies. They have tags that say, “Miracle”💕

I found this website–quilting AND blessing people with hearts? Yes! I love reading the stories of how the hearts >find< just the right person at just the moment they need some encouragement. ❤️

Happy: Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in a local authors’ meet-n-greet at the library. It was my first chance to introduce my book personally to strangers. But the best part was that our Missouri friends, Jeff and Mary, surprised us by coming to NM (!) for the weekend to attend my first book signing event IN PERSON! Wow! Happy -Happy!

Holy Spirit: do you feel Spirit-led? How does that manifest in your life? I have been studying more and more about the Holy Spirit and I am realizing that I’ve not used/I’ve misused this resource/Source for all my life, and the limits are truly mine…

HUMANITY is what limits me. And “self-control” is a misnomer. How have I missed it before, that for a Christian, “self-control” is a Spirit-led attempt. That if I have the reigns in it, it is a faulty endeavor. It’s no wonder I’ve felt defeated in this. Ugh. It kind of makes me sick. God Help me, I want to have Spirit-led self-control! It is one of the fruits of the Spirit, after all!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.…  Galatians 5:22-23

(NIV)

Help: I have had the opportunity to help different people in different ways, and it is always rewarding to get my mind off myself and focus on somebody else. Maybe this is one way I am/have allowed the Spirit to lead me–when a need arises, I want God to use me to ease another’s burden. Whether that’s in the form of paperwork, a ride, an encouraging word, reading together, taking a walk, offering a meal, whatever it is, I want to Help. And I hope my people know that I’m available to Help. To God’s glory!

Went for a short walk to this nearby attraction: the huge NM state bird (roadrunner) is made completely of trash–a fine example of upcycled art, so big you can see it from the freeway! (And isn’t that NM sky beautiful!)

Hope: There are lots of things to ‘hope’ for. Here is a thought to sign off with:

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

G is for Good

Good Life –Overall, Life is Good, God is Great, Blessings are Bountiful, and there are lots of reasons to smile.

Every week I try to send Craig’s mom a funny monkey picture. Several exist now in my gallery! Hahaha

Good Man — I love Craig. He makes me laugh. He loves me despite all my shortcomings and imperfections. He has a big heart, and is a hard worker. He’s a good listener, and he helps me be a better person.

Good Kitties – They bring us smiles every day. Some want to be in the pictures more than others.

Lucy and Perro posing for the picture while Wilson tries to get Mom’s attention in background

Perro and Wilson lounging; Wilson’s feeling a bit mischievous

Good Food — I am very blessed to enjoy good food every day. And have access to innumerable recipes to try, too

Isn’t the Internet wonderful for looking up new things you want to try to cook?

Good Parents -God blessed me with outstanding parental units. I get to enjoy them every day now that we are in NM. They helped us work out the money to quickly get a new vehicle. (We paid them back; it was a matter of timing, to buy a used vehicle before it was snatched up by someone else!) Have you ever held several thousands of dollars in your hands at once? It was a momentary indulgence, before we moved it from one bank account to the other. I thought it was picture worthy!

Good Wheels — I love our new vehicle! Definitely an upgrade from the Toyota, which we really loved. It’s a white Suburban.

Good Ideas– sharing sewing ideas at the Gallery last Saturday–this new technique is one we will try. To make a “piping” look on a binding of a quilt. And it’s amazingly fast and simple–which I need!

Good Fun– Quilting with Mom is fun. This was a very organic piece that took me many hours to put together because there was no plan. I just kept adding fabrics until it looked right, then I bordered it in apples!

Good Work — I love reading online with kids through my Outschool classes. I get to choose the books; they learn to love their own reading voices and learn about Life through the characters we read.

Good God — Despite the struggles of life, I feel blessed, protected, cared for, comforted, and empowered. Thank You, God!

For it is not your strength, but it is God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose for His good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish in the midst of a morally crooked and spiritually perverse generation, among whom you are seen as bright lights, stars shining out clearly in the world of darkness… Philippians 2:13-15

F is for Flying Friends

We made some new Flying Friends at the Oshkosh Airshow the last week of July. We camped next to a couple from Canada who were great “neighbors” for the week, and helped orient us to the whole experience of Oshkosh.

There were tons of Friendly people there, always ready to help you find your way to a particular event or location, and many of them had a golf cart in which they’d offer us a ride! Whew, that was nice because it was an awful lot of walking!

My Favorite was probably the skywriting.

The Fireworks display on Saturday night was also spectacular.

Although Craig spent a lot of time Featuring the Helicycle personal helicopters,

This clip is the company owner, Keith Southerland, flying his own ship in a demo flight. He did a demo flight of the Helicycle each day of the show!

I was able to spend some leisure time, on the phone with Faraway Friends, catching many up on my latest news, and the reason why the clouds were speaking to me for the entire trip.

“It’s gonna be okay.”

You can Find that whole story here:

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/itsgonnabeo-kpudil

(This will also explain the enigma of “E is for Eternity” post.) Thank you in advance for your prayers and well wishes. Family and Friends are the best!

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is only fitting, because your faith is increasing abundantly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another grows ever greater.

2 Thessalonians 1:3