Prayers offered for Mrs. Edwards...

...the wife of Senator John Edwards (D-NC), who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. All politics aside, I think it's good that her husband is going to be available to her as she battles this. It looks to be a rather invasive type of breast cancer. May God bless her with strength for the journey.

Another update on our situation...

If you recall, I have been praying for some practical things. As always, God is so merciful and generous with us, and I know the saints are faithful in their prayers as well.

I did get some (not all) of the dental work done, but I didn't like the dentist's style (recommended by a friend), and now I'm having problems on one side so I have to go back. Only I don't want to go back to him and I'm not sure about the protocol. So it's back to St. Elisabeth of Hungary for her prayers there.

On the "good news" front, our old green van was really getting to be an issue, so I was praying for a replacement...and then my husband's uncle called. Waaaay back in January 2002, when I was pregnant with Edyn, my husband and son were riding in our '91 Toyotal 4-Runner when a lady blew through a red light and t-boned them. Our truck was totalled...and we had four payments left on it, which was so darn frustrating. Zooey & DH were spared any injury, thankfully, but only by the Grace of God, IMHO: DH saw the runaway SUV at the last possible second and took his foot off the gas so the full brunt of the impact was on his door, rather than on the back seat where Zooey was.

Anyway, my husband's uncle, who had always admired the 4-Runner, bought it for salvage which we thought was just strange at the time. But he and our Toyota mechanic are old National Guard buddies, so they took the thing apart, realized the frame wasn't really damaged, bent or twisted like the insurance guy thought it was and basically rebuilt the thing, replacing the damaged quarter panel, door, tire and axle. It took them almost 3 years of tinkering and salvaging parts, and they just got it done. They also painted it and added running boards. Now Uncle has discovered that it hurts his back to drive it, so he can't keep it. He is selling it back to us for the cost of parts and title, and the monthly payments are extremely reasonable. Plus the vehicle itself is in much better shape and so much safer than the old green van. I'm thrilled to be done with that thing. We didn't use it much and the kids were only in it when absolutely necessary, but I'm still glad to have a much safer option. Thank you, St. Frances of Rome for praying with me on that one!

Our basement foundation has been secured well enough to get us through the winter (thanks to my father-in-law for his work, St. Barbara, St. Thomas the Apostle, and St. Gregory the Great for their prayers), but that will need to be addressed next year, I am sure. The furnace and the water heater are still holding on (thanks to St. Marcus and St. John Nepomucere respectively). We don't have a solution to the exterior house paint or the windows, but now the weather is cold enough, I guess we'll have to wait on those as well. My husband has a few freelance projects to work on...I'm still coming up empty. I'm grateful to have been able to cut back on my medication a little, though, and save some money on the prescription. I hope to be completely off of it by the first of the year.

And that's the latest from us!

--Sparki