Baby, it's cold outside!

Let's hope we don't end up like Jack, here, eh?

Wow, what a morning! We were barley out the door before the school bus came this morning! Which actually turned out to be a good thing, considering it's 13 degrees outside!! But oh no, we can do better than that here in the Midwest! Tomorrow's high? SIX!! With a low of FOUR!! AND wind chill from -10 to -20!! I've been reading warnings about how your furnace will have trouble keeping up with the cold surrounding your house...looks like I'm crankin' this baby up to 80 degrees tonight! Haha! There's a vent under our couch in the living room and if you sit on the floor in front of it it SUPER warm. Maybe I'll just make a fort for us all to sleep in in that spot tonight! I'm fairly certain they will cancel school for tomorrow, so we can just stay up in our couch tent and watch movies, eat snacks and (if you're me) read a book! Maybe we'll have a Gilligan's Island marathon!

I know a lot of people don't appreciate good old fashion slap-stick comedy anymore. But in this house, Gilligan is comedy gold!! I grew up on this show! When I was a kids we used to sit and watch together all the time. We used to record it onto video tapes along with some good ole Looney Tunes. I don't have the tapes anymore, but I could still tell you exactly which episodes and which cartoons were on them. Almost in order. Today, I have the entire series on DVD and my kids love them as much as I did as a kid. Actually, that sounds like a fun night to me, HAHA! I hope everyone will agree...we're gonna make the best of this frigid weather heading our way!

This time of year thinking of my childhood makes me both happy and sad. In a couple of weeks, it will be the 3rd anniversary of the day my Dad passed away. Dad loved to laugh, and he loved to make people laugh. His death was rather sudden, he had been in and out of the hospital the month before, but it was for something we thought he would recover from. He had blockages in his arteries, and we were all sure they would get in there and fix them. I'm the oldest of 3 in my family, so I felt the responsibility of taking care of him was on me. I took him to all of his appointments and whatever else needed to be done. Then because of the blockages, his memory started getting bad. Once when we were at a doctor appointment, he was sure we were at a horse race. He kept asking me where his brother was, and I'm sure he didn't even realize who I was. He would get this glazed look in his eyes, eyes that I realize now, look just like mine. He ended up needing to go into a nursing home. Then one day, I dropped him off there after taking him to an appointment. And (little did I know) I would say the last words I would ever say to him. Which were "Goodbye, Dad. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." Then he looked up at me and said "Bye, Janna. I love you, too."

He was taken to the hospital that night. In the days that passed, he had 2 heart attacks and coded twice. After the second one, I had to make the hardest decision I've ever made in my life. To take him off of life support. He had been down too long the 2nd time and there wasn't any brain activity. As I said before, I'm a Christian, and I believe God lets things happen for a reason. My job is to trust him. Dad and I have had the conversation a few times over the years about what I should do if this situation ever came up. He told me "If I'm gone and the only thing keeping me here is a machine, let me go Home." Even knowing his wishes and that whatever happened was God's will, saying the words cut through me like a knife. The very next day, my daughter accepted Jesus. So, at least one good thing came from it all. I still miss him every day and I'm sure none of us will ever laugh the way we did when he was here. I've made it a goal of mine to try and make my kids laugh every day, at least once, the way he did.

WOW! Where did that come from?! I did not intend on getting so emotional or sharing that today! It's crazy how a comedy TV show from the 60s can stir up so much emotion for me. But that's how special it is to me. I know it's just a silly show, but to me, it's family. I often wish Bob Denver were still around so that I could tell him how much it meant to me to have such great memories with my family, that he "and the rest" of them gave me.

I don't live to far from my Mom (about 25 minutes) but days like today, I wish we were neighbors. The only thing that would make a Gilligan's island family night better would be if my momma were watching with us! Man, I've really got myself psyched up for fun evening tonight, I really hope we all get on the same page! Haha! Well, this seems like a good place to stop for today. Stay weird and stay warm, friends!

I'll leave you with this today....enjoy! :)

Rest in peace:

Jim Backus: 2/25/1913 - 7/3/1989

Alan Hale Jr.: 3/8/1921 - 1/2/1990

Natalie Schafer: 11/5/1900 - 4/10/1991

Bob Denver: 1/9/1935 - 9/2/2005

Russell Johnson: 11/10/1924 - 1/16/2014

Larry Montgomery (my dad): 4/22/1945 - 2/17/2016