Week recap

This past week has not been the sweetest. We've had lots of challenges and trials and I wonder honestly how or when they're going to end. Comforting words of wisdom in ward conference this Sunday helped refocus and gain additional hope that somehow all will be well.

It started or continued if you will, with Ella's upset stomach which she had to struggle with for almost two weeks. Two weeks of diahreea, cramping, and poor eating. She was sick of being sick and worried that she wouldn't get well.

Then mom got this really strange allergic reaction in both of her eyes that caused a lot of swelling, redness, itching, pain, and non-stop tearing. Poor thing, she was miserable. First, we went to the minute clinic at CVS thinking that maybe she had a bad case of pink eye. But the sympthoms were too severe. The PA there told us that she needed to be seen in a doctor's office. We went in at the clinic and after waiting for more than two hours to get in, mom was given an allergy shot (epinephrine, benadryl, and something else), prescribed steroids, antibiotics, and another medication to help with the swelling and itching. Luckily, the meds are working and she's now recovering well. (This was quite an experience as I got to see the other side of the world, where the less fortunate take their sick. My empathy for human suffering increased ten fold seeing these people. Them and us were blessed though, with a very good and caring doctor, a man who I could swear might have healed thousands in the rural Africa and was now on a mission to bring relief in my neck of the woods, or so I'd like to think. Ha-ha! (I needed the humor!!) He was in fact from Africa.)

Now playback to Monday when I got some not so encouraging news about my employment. Due to the fact that Hrishi's leaving the company was a hard blow to the executives, they were for a while considering whether I should be able to continue working for them or not... I felt pretty terrible about this and did a lot of soul and mind searching. I felt hurt as I have always stood as my own professional and proved myself over and over again as a top performer in the eight years I had worked for them. Fortunately, because of the wonderful boss that I have, Julie, things are looking up and they might be able to finalize a telecommuting arrangement for me, after all. As it was explained to me later in the week, their concern was around Hrishi's going to work for a competitor (which is truly not the case but of course, they reserve the right to believe and assess the situation in the manner they think most appropriate.) Hrishi, my parents, and sweet Ella have been extremely supportive through all this. Ella's prayers for mommy "not to be kicked out" from work, were absolutely precious and very effective, I am certain. (The funniest thing she did on Saturday: she saw my work headset on the counter, picked it up, put it on, and said "Hello, this is Julie!" (Julie is my boss' name, the nice one! :-))

Aside from these, we're now waiting to see if the buyers are going to walk or not from the house. While we had an offer signed and finalized last week, after the general inspection, they decided they wanted to do another inspection, a structural one, today. Hrishi had one of his friends in the ward, who is a civil engineer, come over yesterday after church and take a look, so we would be prepared for whatever news today would bring. He pointed out some cracks and movement at the foundation but indicated these were all so common here in TX due to the temperature changes and the soil composition. Today we will find out for sure how severe these are, and whether our buyers will walk out or not. Regardless, we will have to make whatever repairs are needed and deal with the aftermath... I've been praying hard that whatever the outcome, we will somehow figure things out and be able to move on with our lives in Houston and buy a home there. When you take all the facts and stack them together, that possibility is looking slim but with HIM all things are possible, so I will not worry anymore.

On the bright side, Ella's finally over her sickness, has started eating well and is back in school. This blessing alone outweighs all the other trials.

On the fitness front which seems to always somehow help me find and keep my balance and sanity, I started P90X, my Valentine's Day present.

I did the Ab Ripper X workout on Saturday before I took mom to the doctor, then I did the Chest and Back workout and boy, they are TOUGH! I expected them to be, but the good news is that I was able to pass with flying colors, doing a minimum of 12 to 15 reps for each exercise. Wahoo!! (It feels great to overcome fears, do hard things, and know that you are getting stronger. The sweat and pain are nothing compared to THAT feeling!)

This should be a great training regime as I'm ramping up for this crazy event I signed up for, "We are Alpha", in our new home town, Sugar Land on April 7th.)

Yes, every mortal has a limit but we'll be there to push it further. :) (But I do think they could have picked a different less "ferocious" face for this poster!)
I spoke with one of the trainers at the gym who saw the training workouts and said this event will be a lot tougher than last year's. I say, let it be, we're stronger this year than we were last year.