"Lis, lis, lis"

I complain about the DUMBEST stuff.

The baby woke up fifty times last night!  

I ordered my taco salad thirty minutes ago! 

The floor is dirty and I JUST vacuumed!

The taco salad one was seriously ridiculous.  On my way home with the food, I went over what I wish I had said to the owner about 20 times.   "Excuse me ma'am, you really ought to apologize when my to-go salad comes 40 minutes after I ordered it."  "I've seen six - SIX - people get their food that ordered after me."  "How long does it take to make a stinkin' taco salad?!"  "I will NOT be coming back here."  

Micah was staring at me in his little mirror from the back seat, looking slightly amused.  It wasn't until I got home that I realized how ridiculous I sounded.  I was nursing Micah and flipping through Facebook when I read an update from my friend Sonja.  Sonja and I met in 2005 when I was first stationed in San Diego.  She was a Reservist and, quite frankly, a ray of sunshine in our all-male office.  She was kind and cheerful and worked more than any other Reservist I knew.  She spent tons of her own time and money to manage a Coast Guard program that educated children about the importance of keeping the ocean clean.  We would go from school to school teaching kids about recycling.  Somehow, she got me to dress up in a dolphin costume.  I remember one kid running up to me, grabbing my dolphin head and saying "I see you in there."  (Yea, scary!)  One day, when we were driving our unit's F250 between a bunch of cones during an emergency vehicle operator course, she said "I have the perfect guy for you." Oh boy.  She tried to set us up a handful of times.  We finally went on a date a few months later.

Sonja and I

Fast forward ten years.  I married the guy.  She married Jesse, and they now have two beautiful kids with a third on the way.  Presley is Sonja's second child and first daughter.  She was born with a very rare skin condition called Congenital Melanocytic Nevus.  A large pigment based mole covered her lower right leg and foot when she was born and needed to be surgically removed to reduce the risk of it becoming malignant.  The process of removing the nevus involved numerous surgeries including inserting tissue expanders into her upper thigh to grow new skin, then cutting out the nevus and tucking her lower leg into the newly expanded skin.

A few months ago, when Presley's lower leg had been tucked into her thigh for the second time to try to grow new skin over her leg, her foot became infected.  By the time the doctors realized what had happened, it was too late.  Presley's foot was amputated the next day.  Presley is 18 months old, has undergone 16 surgeries, and is now waiting for her first prosthetic.   She wants to walk and is still trying to understand why she can't; yet she is also one of the happiest little girls I've met.

Presley (aka ladybug)

Still smiling!

There are other stories like this.  Just last week, I met a little boy from Hawaii with a defective heart who had a stroke when he was just six.  He's now living with the heart of a 27 year old.  His favorite animal is the dolphin.  My friend, who happens to be a dolphin trainer at Sea World, was so happy to offer him and his family one-on-one time with Sandy the dolphin.  (Thank you Jarrell!) Even though the little boy had a hard time expressing his excitement verbally, you could see the glow in his eyes.

Then I think about the 27-year-old who donated the heart...  And I think about my friend Katie who died of cancer when she was 31.  And my husband who lost his father when he was young.  And my cousin who took her own life after battling depression so deep that no one but her will ever understand.  And a 9-year old girl in Kenya who was caned when she refused to marry a 78 year old man.  The list goes on... just look at the news.

I am SO lucky.  Why them, God?  Why me?  I have NOTHING to complain about.  Nothing.

Micah woke up fifty times last night.  (More like four times.)  He. Woke. Up.  He's alive!  

I had to wait for a taco salad.  It was fresh.  It was delicious.  It was easily affordable to me.  It was big enough to feed four and I ate it all!     

The floor is dirty.  MY floor, in MY kitchen, in MY house, that protects the things I love most! 

Lis, lis lis.

On October 17, several of Sonja's sweet friends are holding a fundraiser to help offset the tremendous medical expenses that Sonja and Jesse have accrued.  It's called the Ladybug Benefit.  I created two pieces of art that will be auctioned off along with a whole bunch of other stuff!  If you are in San Diego and want an invitation, please let me know!  If you aren't and are interested in reading more about Presley's journey, giving a donation, or simply praying for this family, check out their gofundme page!  And when you hear me complain about dumb stuff (because it's going to happen), listen for a bit.  (Everyone needs to blow off steam sometimes, especially new moms.)  BUT if I carry on too long, please gently remind me that happiness comes when we stop complaining about troubles we have and offer thanks for troubles we don't have!

Auction items!