November 21, 2007 - Wednesday
The past couple of days have been a bit up and down for us here, mostly due to some major draw-backs with Mum's surgery.
She called yesterday at 11am (as instructed) to make sure that everything was set for the surgery and to check that they were
ready for her to head into the hospital. However, when she called they said that they had no beds available in the hospital
and that "everything is put on hold for the moment". They told her that they would call her when they knew more, but said they
had a sneaking suspicion that the surgery would be cancelled. Just to be sure, they told her not to eat anything after
midnight, and to call at 9am the next day.
So, she called at 9am this morning and was told that the beds are still full and that the surgery was cancelled. There was no
information on when it might be rescheduled, no help on what kind of time frame to expect it, just that it was cancelled. Even
though we knew this was a possibility, it has still been hard to deal with. It's one thing to have your surgery rescheduled,
and something completely different to have it cancelled without knowing anything.
For Mum it's tough because she has been nervous about having surgery anyway, so to gear up for it and then find out that it was
all for nothing is rough. For us it is hard because we are here mainly for the purpose of helping to take care of her while she
recovers. So if she's not recovering, or is going to be recovering after we've gone back to the US, our reason for being here
becomes obselete. Of course, we are happy to see Steve's parents and spend time with them, but we really were hoping to be able
to help and do something useful too.
 This morning after finding out the news (or lack thereof...) Steve suggested we take Mum and Dad out for a treat, to try to cheer
them up and to distract from worrying about the surgery. We went to a place called Nellie Crumb, which is a bakery and restaurant
in the next village over, Wareham. It's a very picturesque and quaint village, and the bakery has really great food. We got
to have traditional "english breakfast"...which was actually very good. I've had some bad experiences with previous english
breakfasts. This one had a slice of toast, a fried egg, bacon and a fried tomato (replaces the need for ketchup). It was
delicious and cheered us all up.
"The Village of Wareham"
Flowershop on Main Road in Wareham
 The other thing that has helped today is that the rain finally stopped! The sun was shining this morning and lifted all of our
spirits. It even allowed Steve and I to take a walk at lunchtime. We walked past one of Steve's old schools, Corfe Hills, which
was fun to see. Later in the afternoon Steve also took me for my first driving lesson! It was quite the experience...mostly
because his car is a manual transmission, not because I was driving on the other side of the road. I think I did pretty well...
for the most part. I didn't hit anything, though apparently came pretty close to a parked car at one point. It was hard for me
to figure out where the left side of the car actually was, as when I'm driving in the USA I can clearly see it! I seemed to do
okay with keeping the car running, and only made it do that jerking hopping thing that manuals transmissions do one time. It
helped that the car is a diesel, so it's really hard to stall it! Steve offered to let me drive home, but I'm not quite
comfortable with the car yet. I know I could navigate the roads okay and manage the traffic, I just don't feel in control of
the car and am still getting used to shifting with my left hand and not my right. Hopefully with another lesson or two I will
be well on my way to feeling confident in a manual transmission car AND on the left side of the road.
By the time we got home from driving the clouds were coming in again and lo and behold, the rain started up not long after. It
really poured hard too! We even got four very close lighning strikes...which made me feel more like I was in North Carolina than
in Britain. Luckily the power didn't go out though, as that would have thrown a major kink in my dinner plans. The stove is
gas, so that would have been okay, but it would have been tricky to cook in the dark.
Throughout the day, despite the morning starting off poorly with the bad news we received, it seemed like Christine was doing
pretty well and feeling steadily better about things. I can really sense the prayers of our friends and family, mainly because
of the lack of worry I am experiencing...which is very uncharacteristic of me. I tend to worry more than I should. So thank
you for your prayers, God really is working in this situation...I am not completely sure how at the moment, but I know that His
plans are always the best!
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