Kimberly Stuart's Blog, page 2

Take Courage

Meet Karley.

Karley is Thea’s best friend. They are two peas of the very same pod. They giggle about things no one else understands. They talk at each other for hours, hardly pausing to take a breath and seeming to understand each other, even though they talk at the same time. Their goodbyes last for about ten minutes and involve lots of dramatic sighing and hugs that make their older siblings go crazy.

About two weeks ago, Karley was airlifted out of our children’s hospital to Iowa City, where a team of specialists greeted her to help her fight for her life. Karley is infected with E. coli, which caused her kidneys to fail, her lungs to fill with fluid, and her pancreas to become infected.

We have no idea where she ingested the bacteria. No one else has gotten sick.

You know the kinds of prayers that are mostly tears? The ones that come not from your brain, all prettily packaged and well formed, but that come from the tender undersides of your heart, the spots that make it hurt to breathe, that wince at the touch? Those are the prayers we have prayed for Karley. All of us, an army of us, hundreds of us, scattered across the world. And also just two of us, Thea and I, on the couch in the early morning hours, crying together, watching the light change in the backyard trees. Throughout the day, when we can’t concentrate, can think of nothing else. At night before bed, asking God to give Karley rest, to heal every broken spot, to do what no one expects and to do it fast.

To have mercy.

Maybe you’ve been to this place. Maybe you’ve prayed these kinds of prayers in the last few weeks or months. The emotional whiplash is so startling, isn’t it? My thoughts loop on how Karley looked the days before she got sick, how our kids were all laughing and getting crazy together after swim lessons, how she was full of spunk and joy and seven-year-old-ness. The swift tumble down that hill is just too fast for me to digest. My legs and arms and face are all scraped up from the speed of the fall.

Yesterday we got the chance to visit Karley.

We posed with stuffed kidneys.

The two little girls colored and watched Tangled.

The big kids went swimming and burned off some restlessness while the moms talked about things like hemoglobin and insulin but also the Fourth of July and meal planning and life outside the hospital. It was so, so good.

The hug goodbye wasn’t nearly as raucous as it usually is but somehow it was sweeter.

Karley’s mom and dad, the intrepid Kim and Scott, and her beautiful sisters, Holly and Paige, thanked us for coming. It was all I could do not to break into the ugly cry. Didn’t they know that we were the ones who got the gift? That an afternoon with them was the one thing we all wanted and they gave it to us?

Karley is getting better. She is on her way back to the Karley we knew for the years before these long days. And we are learning things around here. We are learning again about the mystery and power of prayer, that God is serious when He calls us to it and that He hears every broken, sob-choked one. We are learning again that He is faithful and good and utterly trustworthy. We are learning that life is full of all sorts of tension, that it is broken and devastating, that it can bring us to our knees and make us forget how to sleep, how to eat. But life is also beautiful enough to make our chests hurt with joy, to lift our heads out of the mundane and to feel deeply, achingly the presence of a God who loves us.

We are learning things around here. If you are too, please hear me: You are not alone. This life gig is hard and complicated and relentless in its movement forward. You aren’t alone. Take courage. Know you are loved with a relentless, unflinching love. Take courage. The last page is yet to be written.

Love to you all, dear ones.

I’m Almost As Cool As My Website

Look at this website! It’s new! It’s super cool! It makes me look HIP!

Not to be confused with hip-py. I will tell you right here and now that I had a boyfriend in high school that told me I had “child-bearing hips.” The romance seemed to lose all its spark after that comment. Those of you with hips of all sizes know what I mean.

(Liz’s hips don’t look very child-bearing here, but she is really pretty. I’m worried about enough room for her liver and pancreas, actually, but I’m hoping the ex-boyfriend from high school Googles me today and this photo comes up. Wouldn’t that be THE BEST?!)

But this website! I really love it. It has been a long process getting this ready, mostly because I’m slow. I know, I know. Child-bearing hips AND slow. I’m not very fun at dinner parties.

A great team of people at Ten25 helped me out. Cooper, Maggie, Michael-all delightful people. They’re very talented and organized, and our meetings were always more fun than the word “meeting” should imply. Maggie and I were the only girls, unless you count the lovely and flatulent Kona. (Kona is a dog. If Kona were a woman, I wouldn’t have mentioned it. OK, I would have mentioned it. But only one time.)                             

Kona is flatulent but she is also regal.

And these people really did a great job of not panicking when I made them nervous. For example, during the video shoot.

Here were the stats of those in attendance:

1. Me, age 40, filter/internal censor starting a downward and speedy spiral of fraying. That is to say, I say too much. It’s a thing.

2. Cooper (left), age way less than 40. Owner and big cheese at Ten 25. He also wears dapper shoes and loves his wife. Points all around.

3. Taylor (right), age way less than 40, very sweet and very capable, but left the company shortly after we shot my video. I’ll let you connect the dots on that one. (Hint: I LEAVE DESTRUCTION IN MY WAKE.)

 

There’s a point in the video where I spoof Fifty Shades of Grey. I want you to know that doing that kind of thing in front of males who are young and wearing argyle socks is a dignity checked. I absolutely checked and I absolutely have no dignity left. I think it has something to do with my hips.

So poke around this fancy new site, check things out, let me know if there are kinks and what you think. But can you be a little less honest than the high school boyfriend? Maybe something like, “Kim! I love your website! Don’t change a thing!” Or “Have you lost weight? I think you’ve lost weight. The website definitely implies a losing of weight. And a gaining of wisdom!” Try those out. I’d really appreciate it.

Happy weekend, everyone!

 

 

Winner, Winner, Organized Chicken Dinner!

Thanks, everyone, for entering and for reading and for admitting you all need you some Jan. I have to say, your entry emails were hilarious. I even received some photos of the most challenging of your spaces,  just to emphasize how badly Jan was needed. 




Photo by Slate.com


This was not one of those photos, but doesn't it just make you want to throw away everything you've purchased since

Giveaway! YOU. WANT. THIS.

YOU GUYS.



I'm so excited for you. Because I'm about to change your lives. We have just skidded into the end of the school year around here, and this giveaway is going to perk up that part of you that is secretly groaning with that news.



Oh, just admit it.



Even if you love your children, and let's assume you do love your children, they are messy. And they smell earthy after four

Field Day

Today is field day at our elementary school.



So I feel this is the time you should know these two things about me:



One: In first grade, I jumped the farthest in the long jump competition. I jumped six feet. I can feel through the Interweb your respect for me. And let's face it: I deserve it.



Two: For years, I was the record holder at my junior high for longest SHOT PUT THROW.



Did

Foxy Lady

I used to have lots of interests. I used to be well-rounded and interesting at parties. I used to be nuanced.



OK, that's not true. I was never nuanced. And I've never been much for parties.



But I DID used to have a life that did not revolve around wildlife. Remember Chuckles? And Da Poss? Well, they have cousins. Or step-cousins. Or rival gang members. And now they are living under our

New York, New York 2016

Marc and I went to New York a couple of weeks ago. 




I have security clearance to talk about this now because we are no longer out of town and you can't come rob our house. When you live with a conspiracy theorist, you have rules.



But he's a very cute conspiracy theorist, so I play along.




Here are the highlights. And you don't even have to come over for dinner and watch the slideshow

Show Choir: No, we're not kidding.

We are in show choir season around here.



You heard me. Show choir season. Kind of like lacrosse season or volleyball season only with lots of sparkles and jazz hands.





I used to be in show choir, before the turn of the century.



I loved it. We sang, we danced, we ratted our hair, we all used the same startling color of lipstick. It was pretty much amazing.





Now my daughter is

Travel Products for The Savvy Among Us

Guys! Marc and I are going on a trip! Without the children! I'm so excited and also COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY EXHAUSTED from getting ready to keep my children alive from a distance. I want you to know that when I itemize all the duties I would have been doing while gone, it is clear that I should be making roughly $560,000 a year after taxes. I am amazing. I know this because I am needing to

Prince

Let's talk about Prince.



He was a genius.



Also, the hair. 



(Please note: This is Prince's most recent passport photo. MY most recent passport photo was taken when I was pregnant. I'm so happy I get to use it for a decade!)



But Prince. And the high heels.



And the fact that for awhile he was "the artist formerly known as Prince." 




Is it too soon to make fun of that? Yes? Too