What a week...

Ahh, what a few weeks it's been. Lots of mundane daily things that I'm learning never to take for granted. 

Ruthie is doing well - not much new to report. She's working on cutting those top teeth still, and we can see another top as well as both bottom teeth coming up/down. So far we're still part of the "teeth are lies" club. She's *almost* sitting supported but she still has a tendency to get excited and fling herself back....or just be done with sitting up and fling herself back....you get the picture.

Jay is still waiting on his hire date at Cryovac. He does have a permanent job there, and latest rumor is his hire date will be the 28th....that remains to be seen. We're super excited about it (and in true Gina fashion, I'm very anxious for it to be here so they can't suddenly take it away) - it will bring a lot of great changes to the Miller household. We hope to fix up the house this summer - both bathrooms will be completely redone, as well as the kitchen flooring and a lot of things outdoors. Did I mention I hate the summer heat? Oh well....it will be worth it to get out of this place and finally move closer to church and a house that's not on concrete blocks. Yeah, I said it.

My sister had to go to the ER last Tuesday morning with shortness of breath, fever, and pain. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and later, sepsis, and lost her battle with cancer on Saturday. She fought hard for two years and lived past the 6-months they gave her when she was originally diagnosed. While it was not the cancer that ended up taking her, she was just too weak to fight anymore. She is walking the streets of heaven with my grandfather, and hopefully her dream idol - Elvis....and I know she's having the time of her life. No more pain, no more pills, no more chemo....no more worries. We had her funeral service today and laid her to rest. 

I've been thinking a lot lately of some highlights I've been wanting to say/write. (Yes, now would be the time for you to say, "Oh, crap, she's about to unload." Yep - I am.) Some are just me-thinks, and some are suggestions that no one will follow, but that's okay. My blog, my thoughts. =)

1) Just because people say they're going to do something, doesn't mean at all that they're actually going to do it. I understand that things come up (I do!) but with particular people, in the end, it's all about them.

2) In concordance with #1, I've learned a lot lately about who my TRUE friends are. If you only want to talk to me when something "interesting" or catastrophic is going on, then you are not my friend.  If you hijack every conversation with your own agenda when you "called to talk about you," you are not my friend. If you promise me you are going to do something or be somewhere, you dang well better follow through with it. If something comes up (see #1), I get that (again, I DO) - you could at least tell me. Don't just leave me hanging. You don't like it when it's done to you, so don't do it to me. Don't think I don't remember that next time you ask me to do something for you.

3) Don't be fake to me. If you have something to say, say it. I obviously do and I don't have a problem when you do it, too. No guarantee that we won't get into some kind of argument, but at least have the balls to be honest.

4) If you're coming through a receiving line (is that what they call it for funerals, too?), it's polite to greet EVERYONE, not just the one person you came to see. That is SO rude. I was "walked by" three times by the same person who came to greet my brothers, and they never even looked my way (and I was standing RIGHT THERE - in the line!) The topic of conversation for Jay & I the entire ride home, blatantly rude and justification as one of the main reasons we no longer go to that church. Dude, we went to school together for YEARS - it's okay to at least acknowledge my presence, too.

5) Our main pastor and another came to the service and that meant so much to us. We may not be able to get to church as often as we'd like to, but they have proven that they care about us and take the time to show up for us in situations like this - consistently.