Some days...

...You have to look hard, really hard, for the good that is sure to be found in them. Some days it just seems a little harder to try and overcome the obstacles you find placed before you. Some days staying in bed seems like the thing to do. Today has been one of those days.

Ash isn't having such a great day. Rounds brought much concern and we decided on shooting films this morning instead of waiting until tomorrow. I could feel the confidence of our team shifting. "We'll just have to watch her closely and see what happens." Not words I want to hear because I fear that it will lead to a location change for us. The x- showed the re-collapse of her upper right lung which may explain her higher respiration rate today. The good I found hiding behind this obstacle is that they are allowing me to administer breathing treatments and CPT here in our room today in hopes of popping it back open. Two hours ago I thought for sure they would move us back to the pediatric floor. So far we are safe and she is working hard on coughing and movements trying to clear that lung. This collapse may also be behind her requirment for that last little bit of oxygen support. Please pray for resolution of this issue over night for us. I am giving CPT every 4 hours and breathing treatments every 12. I would love for them to see her breathing more comfortably during rounds tomorrow.

This morning I received a call from Dave informing me that someone had taken a corner to quickly on our neighborhood street and had planted their car inside the front of our Explorer. Not good. On top of that the man responsible does not carry insurance even though he produced a fake verification to the police in order to avoid a ticket for no insurance. Our car has been cracked in half. The front end literally has a crack right down the middle. The entire front end is torn off and the radiator was split in half. Thats just what we can see from looking at it ourselves. Sometime this week the insurance and the mechanic will inform us of what the real damage is. So where in the world do I find good in this circumstance? Well, its good that my children had already been taken to school and they were not sitting in the vehicle waiting to leave. They are safe and that is good. On the lighter side of things, I was thinking just this weekend how dirty the car was and now I suppose that once it is returned to us(who knows when that will be) it should be shiny clean. Thats good. At least I think so. In the meantime Dave will ride his motorcycle, my mom will drive his car, and I live in Omaha at a hospital so I have no need for a car. See how things have a way of working out. With Ashley's latest set back I am preparing my heart not to anticipate going home so now we have no need of the Explorer this weekend and Blake and Dave will just catch a ride with someone to the baseball tournament in Dallas. It will be just fine.

And finally the good I have found in being forced to make our comments private from now on is that I have heard from several of you who have never left comments for us before. Thats so great! You can now write your words to our family and sign you name and know that it will be kept confidential. This must be really appealing because I have never had so many comments to read through and my heart is feeling very encouraged by you on this difficult day. So thanks!

P.S. Last night in the entry I had to remove about Blake I shared what the "perfect" gift he gave to Allie was. You would really have to KNOW our Allie well to know this about her, but she is out to conquer all the cranes in the world. Do you know what I mean? Those quarter gobbling machines that sit out front of the stores and in restaurants? She LOVES to feed them quarters and come out with a handful of junk to show for it. It is a passion of hers! Blake purchased her a miniature version and stuffed it full of surprises. Now she can practice her skills anytime of day for free! It was the perfect gift for his sister.