February 11

Everyday I'm amazed all over again at God's perfect timing and placement of people in my life. My time with Sally earlier this week was something I'd been looking forward to for awhile. She's been friends with mom for a long time, but I never really had an opportunity to spend one-on-one time together. She sent me a card every day or at least every other day the whole time I was in the hospital. With all that was happening, it meant so much to have a constant like that. Sally left Wednesday morning and Mrs. Lenny, my friend Molly from school's mom, met me in the afternoon to stay with me the rest of the week. I've been friends with Molly throughout school and would call her one of my best friends, but I hadn't met her parents until literally 2 days before I got sick. 

The relationships I've made while in Philly are going to make me sad to leave! Stella, one of the women at the hotel, takes such good care of me. She's one of the ladies that always makes sure that I have my morning coffee and coupons to breakfast. Today, she made a special delivery to my room while I was gone- waters, orange juice, bananas, and a beautiful cheese platter. And she wouldn't even accept a tip..I'm thinking hard about what I can do for her next week to thank her for all she's done. 

Herb is another person that has made my stay in Philly so comfortable. I love our morning conversations and listening to KLove Christian radio. We always talk about different songs and love when they share the morning inspirational story. This afternoon, he said "I don't get it...how are you so likable?" It was sweet and made me happy. I told him it was easier to be happy than miserable and that it's how I want to be perceived, for people to see God's light through me. I feel like that's happening because of his comment last week that he knew "something was different" about me when we talked about my faith.

I did more wheelchair skills and the wheelies were already better than earlier this week! I also got to be in the standing frame during group and Joey, the therapy dog I had worked with a couple months ago, joined our session. I reflected on the first time I saw her and could hardly hold my balance just sitting and leaning side to side. 

For this week's outing, we went to the mall. I went to chick-fil-a, the loft, and Starbucks, making it a very successful trip! I got to stay in the wheelchair I had used at the main hospital, which is so much lighter and easier to use. It felt good to be able to push myself around and shop the sales racks (although it was exhausting!) 

When I got back to the hotel, Mrs. Lenny and I went to a nail salon down the street and got manicures. I can't even remember the last time I got to do that. It was relaxing and the lady that did my nails was so nice. I was excited to get them done for my Valentine's date Saturday night! (Dusty and I have reservations at the Butcher's Station, an amazing restaurant at home). We then went to a nearby Irish pub for dinner. It was absolutely freezing, but I'm glad we ventured out because it turned out to be a really great evening. (And to top it off, TGIT, my favorite Thursday night shows, all came back on!)