Christian Photographers Community

Hi friends,

It's a beautiful day today in Nashville. I was outside getting in groceries that I was too tired to bring in yesterday.

My son who sings country music in Houston has lost over 100 lbs in Weight Watchers, so that magazine wrote an article about him. I received the magazine a friend sent today. I was very proud of him.

Y'all have a good day.

Much love to everyone.

Ruth Ann

Congratulations to your son, Ruth Ann!  Losing that much weight will likely change his life in good ways!  Glad you have the WW magazine with the article about him.

It was nice here, too, except for the wind!

Tomorrow is the Health Fair, and I'm hoping our Zeal booth will bring us a good number of contacts.  We went out and set things up today.

They're still playing basketball!    K-State!      Hope they win!

Ruth Ann...
...well done to your son, that is 7 stone...
...please also tell your son from me, from an ( overweight and next week 67 year old lady ) who needs to lose at least 2 to 3 stone...he certainly has a whole lot of determination, which paid off, he succeeded...

Well no sign of snow as yet but we are due it in the south over this weekend before it warms up again...I am assuming, this will be the last we see of " The Beast from the East " as it has now been named...

Hi Everyone and Happy St. Patrick's Day.  We are having rain today and just heard a clap of thunder.  There is a big St. Patrick's Day parade planned for downtown Augusta this morning.  Hopefully the rain won't dampen the spirits of the parade (probably not a word that should be used in this context on this day as expect there will be plenty of spirits consumed as there are numerous places to do that on the main street of Augusta).   

Pat and I both had a good day yesterday.  However, today I don't seem to have any energy so plan on just staying in and resting.  I have fixed Pat's breakfast and mine and need to grind up some more cheddar cheese and that will probably be it for today.  I will miss my weekly meeting this morning but they will survive without me. 

Ruth Ann, what a wonderful achievement for your son and nice that his achievement was recognized by the magazine article.  I used the Weight Watcher's for men diet plan several years ago and lost the weight I wanted to lose.  I should do it again but just not motivated at this time. 

Janet, I expect by the time you read this your work at the Health Fair will be over.  I sure hope you had good results.  I watched the K-State game yesterday and they looked good and did win, as I am sure you know.  There was a real upset last evening when Virginia, the number one team and expected to win the Championship, lost to a number 16 team, the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus.  This was the first time that has ever happened in the history of the tournament.  I did watch that game as it came on late. This is the team that will now play Kansas State tomorrow.   

Jackie, maybe you will be fortunate and the snow will miss your area entirely as although from what you said it doesn't sound likely that you won't get the snow. 

Larry Hanna...
...no, we are getting our snow now...all over snow flurries but not settling yet, tomorrow is meant to be the main day...

I saw these jokes and thought they were funny so wanted to share them:

St. Patrick's Day Jokes

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Q. Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day?
A. Regular rocks are too heavy.

Q. Why can't you borrow money from a leprechaun?
A. Because they're always a little short.

Q. How can you tell if an Irishman is having a good time?
A. He's Dublin over with laughter!

Q. How did the Irish Jig get started?
A. Too much to drink and not enough restrooms!

larry Hanna...
...re, your last Saint Patrick's Day joke, think we can all recognise this at some point, I know I can, and I have...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3XLzYU7H8o

Happy Saint Patrick's day everyone. Keith and I did our regular Walmart grocery run this morning after breakfast. We like to go early. After getting all the groceries put away I took Freckles for a walk in the mall. It his been rainy and cold here so the mall was a nice warm friendly walk. We stopped and visited with people that we know in the various shops and the vendors in the mall walkway.

I  had 3 people come to my Tai chi class on Friday that was so much better than Tuesday when no one showed up and I  had waited for a it to see if anyone would come before I left. I will be taking the instructors certification class over the 15th and 16TH OF April. It is a all day class both days of just doing and perfecting Tai Chi. I may be 78 years old but one is never too oldd to learn something and I have been doing Tai chi  for several years 4 here and 5 in California.

I hope everyone is having a grand meal for St Patrick's day, we are going to have Filet Mignon for supper instead of the traditional Corned beef, Which is always good, but too salty anymore. I don't cook with salt because Keith has Hypertension and I usally have to drink  a lot of water to get the sodium out of my system.

I'm back home, tired out but happy.  We had lots of interest in the Zeal, and have 48 names and numbers to contact.  We were not allowed to sell anything at the Health Fair, only to share information.
I figure if we get 15% of the people to agree to try Zeal for a month, we did great!  I would have been home much earlier, but stayed for the Pioneer Electric meeting.  There is always hope you may win a prize, but that didn't happen. 

I know for sure I got one customer today, so will be contacting her on Monday!    We never had a chance to sit down at all, from about 7 to 11:30, and by then I was ready to eat the food we'd been smelling for over an hour!  They served brisket, mashed potatoes green beans, salad, and chocolate or white cake, coffee or tea.  Really good!

Darrel showed up in time to help us take things down and haul it to the cars,
and stayed for lunch.  I sure do appreciate that man! 

Larry, I did see the end of the K-State game, was happy they won.  Hope they can win again!  We shall see.

Abby is coming home tonight.  She got a new job and had to work until 3, but Jeff called and invited us to lunch tomorrow at their house, so we get to see her!  Goody!!

Cute jokes, Larry!  Speaking of the wearing o' the green, we wanted to wear green today, and that's the one color I do not have in my closet!  But I found a blouse and a necklace that were Beth's, green was her favorite color, so I had something green to wear after all.  I have never been fond of wearing green.  Maybe it's time to expand my horizons!?!

I'm going to try to take a little nap now.  Not enough sleep last night,
and I was up at 4:15 AM. :sleepy

Hi Everyone.  It looks like it is going to be a very nice Sunday here in South Carolina with sun and getting up to about 75 degrees this afternoon.  I am ready for Sunday School and Church.  I have emptied the dish washer and in a few minutes will fix Pat's breakfast and my own.  Beyond Church and getting something out for lunch my only plan for the rest of the day is to watch some more of the basketball games.  I saw some really good ones yesterday as a number of the games were very close.  It was evening before I started feeling better yesterday and got up feeling OK this morning. However, I was able to finish up and file our income taxes yesterday.   

Jackie, from what you said today is the day you get the big snow storm.  I hope you don't get snowed in.  Your area is probably like ours in that your local government doesn't have the equipment to deal with snow as seldom needed. 

Marilyn, I also like to shop at Walmart early in the morning as can usually get a riding cart and get my shopping done quickly.  Nice you have a good place to walk inside when needed.  It sounds like your class will grow as more people become aware of it.  The class you will be taking sounds very intensive and all day is a long time to be in class.  We did not have the corn beef and cabbage yesterday as Pat wanted an onion to cook with it and we are out of them.  Instead we had some chili that was in the freezer (thawed out of course), fresh vegetables and dip and some delicious chocolate cream pie. 

Janet, glad your Health Fair went so well and you ended up with contacts.  If I recall you have been the winner of those prizes in the past.  That sounds like it was a good meal they served.  Is Abby on spring break from school?  I don't have anything in my wardrobe that is green either and I am part Irish.   Shame on me.  They were able to have the nice St. Pat's day parade in Augusta yesterday as the rain had stopped by the time the parade began. 

Larry, your saying you are part Irish reminded me that I am, too!  I had sort of forgotten about that!  Your chili supper sounded good to me!  Glad you are feeling better again.

Since we get out of church so early, and haven't formed the habit of going to small groups or Sunday School after church, I had time to make a salad to take to Diane's.  They were asking people to please take the left over food from the big dinner yesterday, so I got some green beans, since there were a lot of those left, and will take those as well.  And we still have time to drive the 40 miles and be there when they get home from church!

Weather prediction is that we have good chances of rain today and tomorrow, and possibly even some snow!!    Bring it on!!  This poor parched ground is crying for moisture!

Gotta run!

Speaking of Irish - we walked to our friend's house yesterday just to view the surprise mini parade of relatives and friends celebrating Pat's birthday.  A kilted bagpipe player had been hired to head the parade.  It was so much fun to watch Pat's face of surprise & she shed a few tears too.  There was more cake - we didn't stay for all that and finished our mile and half walk heading back.  Today, the weather has changed and it is overcast, and chilly so all went so perfectly yesterday. 

we are expecting our oldest son and DIL this afternoon and it will be the last time we see them in Arizona.  They will retreat to the mountain in Colorado.

Hi Everyone.  I awoke to rain this morning and the weatherman is saying we may be in for some stormy weather soon.  I had a nice day yesterday.  Our Sunday School class has now donated $10,000 toward a needed new church bus.  We were $30 short and we agree to add the other $30 from our Sunshine Fund.  I enjoyed the afternoon and evening of basketball.  There were some good close games and some that were not close at all.  My agenda is clear for today.  I just discovered that our new Ring doorbell has been off line the last few day.  I am going to have to wait until Scott is here unless I can figure out how to remove it from the bracket that holds it.  I am not sure I am strong enough but probably just not doing something correctly.  I will see if I can find a video to show how to remove it.

Janet, we hadn't attended Sunday School for a few years before we moved but have really enjoyed the learning and the fellowship of the class we joined.  I found it gave me an opportunity to get to know a number of people and to contribute something besides money to the Church.  I watched the Kansas State basketball game last evening and wasn't sure they were going to be able to win.  It was certainly a hard fought game and the outcome was in doubt throughout. 

Carol, that was quite a birthday party.  I bet you had a nice visit with your son and DIL yesterday afternoon.  Will they make the mountain home their main residence or that it just a temporary thing until they can find a home closer to you all? 

I have no idea whether the following story is true but it is a very touching story. It is a little long but I found it worthwhile and I agree with the beginning that having a tissue handy is probably a good idea. 

The Folded Napkin Story
"By A Truck Stop Owner" 
                         
If this doesn't light your fire, your wood is wet!

I try not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie.

He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Downs Syndrome. I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade.

The ones who concerned me were the mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded 'truck stop germ'; the pairs of white-shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truck stop waitress wants to be flirted with. I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely watched him for the first few weeks...

I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot.

After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and peppershaker was exactly in its place, not a breadcrumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table.

Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. He would hover in the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then he would scurry to the empty table and carefully bus dishes and glasses onto his cart and meticulously wipe the table up with a practiced flourish of his rag.

If he thought a customer was watching, his brow would pucker with added concentration. He took pride in doing his job exactly right, and you had to love how hard he tried to please each and every person he met.

Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived on their Social Security benefits in public housing two miles from the truck stop Their social worker, who stopped to check on him every so often, admitted they had fallen between the cracks. Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home. That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work.

He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a new valve or something put in his heart. His social worker said that people with Downs Syndrome often have heart problems at an early age so this wasn't unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.

A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery, and doing fine.

Frannie, the head waitress, let out a war hoop and did a little dance in the aisle when she heard the good news.

Bell Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at the sight of this 50-year-old grandmother of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table.

Frannie blushed, smoothed her apron and shot Bell Ringer a withering look.

He grinned. 'OK, Frannie , what was that all about?' he asked..

'We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay.'

'I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?'

Frannie quickly told Bell Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery then sighed: 'Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK,' she said. 'But I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is.' Bell Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables. Since I hadn't had time to round up a busboy to replace Stevie and really didn't want to replace him, the girls were busing their own tables that day until we decided what to do.

After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand and a funny look on her face.

'What's up?' I asked.

'I didn't get that table where Bell Ringer and his friends were sitting cleared off after they left, and Pony Pete and Tony Tipper were sitting there when I got back to clean it off,' she said. 'This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup.'

She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed 'Something For Stevie'.

'Pony Pete asked me what that was all about,' she said, 'so I told him about Stevie and his Mom and everything, and Pete looked at Tony and Tony looked at Pete, and they ended up giving me this.' She handed me another paper napkin that had 'Something For Stevie' scrawled on its outside. Two $50 bills were tucked within its folds. Frannie looked at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head and said simply: 'Truckers!!'

That was three months ago. Today is Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work.

His placement worker said he's been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, and it didn't matter at all that it was a holiday. He called ten times in the past week, making sure we knew he was coming, fearful that we had forgotten him or that his job was in jeopardy.

I arranged to have his mother bring him to work. I then met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back.

Stevie was thinner and paler, but couldn't stop grinning as he pushed through the doors and headed for the back room where his apron and busing cart were waiting

'Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast,' I said. I took him and his mother by their arms. 'Work can wait for a minute. To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me!'
I led them toward a large corner booth at the rear of the room.

I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning truckers empty and join the procession. We stopped in front of the big table Its surface was covered with coffee cups, saucers and dinner plates, all sitting slightly crooked on dozens of folded paper napkins 'First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess,' I said. I tried to sound stern.

Stevie looked at me, and then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins. It had 'Something for Stevie' printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table.

Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed or scrawled on it. I turned to his mother. 'There's more than $10,000 in cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems.. 'Happy Thanksgiving.'

Well, it got real noisy about that time, with everybody hollering and shouting, and there were a few tears, as well.

But you know what's funny?
While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table.....

Best worker I ever hired.

Plant a seed and watch it grow..

Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.

Thanks, Larry.  I enjoyed reading that heart-warming story again.  It's always good to be reminded that there are lots of loving, giving people in the world.  We hear too much about the other kind,
and sometimes lose sight of the many good deeds done quietly every day.

We watched the Kansas State game last evening, and you're right--it was a cliff hanger!  Whew!  And there were so many deliberate fouls which weren't called, penalties I didn't understand, etc.  The rules seem to be very different from my high school days.  But our team won!!!

We have been to the gym, I've showered and dressed and am ready to start contacting people who showed an interest in Zeal at our booth on Saturday.
I have prayed over this, and feel it is a God thing.

A friend of many years who also comes to the gym asked me last week if I could use a box of canvasses for painting.  YES!!  So we went by and picked them up this morning.  What a blessing!

Carol, how much longer will you and Don stay in Arizona?  We need to decide when we can go to Florida and visit grandson Mark.

Time to go to work here!

We had a nice meal out with son & DIL - we will see them in Colorado whenever we decide to take off.  First, there is a small roof repair that will be finished in one day and after that, we have 3 separate times of work on the ceiling where the water dropped through - all to be determined by that handyman.  We picked grapefruit for DIL's office people. 

Middle son just called - there is 6 in of heavy wet snow on the ground at our house.  Great news for that dry area.  Still very low water for the Colorado river though.  This will be a tough summer fall season. 

I just looked out the window and the bags of grapefruit are being picked up - hooray.  Too bad I am out of bags.

Larry:  Great that your group has a bus - you can think of some fun trips. 

Janet:  Go to Florida before it gets too hot and muggy. We cannot leave until all is finished and I have a cousin & wife coming for a visit too.  We have enough caffeine in our diet- I know it is a habit.   

Fotobirder:  Did you find a new home?  It has been some time since you mentioned needing a different place - how are you faring these days?   

Hi Everyone.  We kept getting severe storm warning after midnight.  Fortunately, where I live we only had one big lightning strike and loud clap of thunder and moderate rain for a couple of hours and none of the 40-50 MPH wind that was expected.  However, the storm did hit over in Augusta and at least one business was damaged and more than one employee was taken to the hospital for treatment.  I did not sleep well last night with only a couple of hour after I went to bed and then a couple before I got up late this morning.  We are going to see 78 degree temperatures this afternoon. 

Pat and I plan on going over to Dairy Queen for lunch, which will be our main meal of the day, as this is free cone day.  I will also run into Walmart to get a couple of things Pat needs to make the corned beef.  I want to finish up an audiobook that has only a little over an hour to go.  Yesterday I got notice from the library that a John Grisham Book that I have had on hold for quite awhile was checkout to me so will start listening to it later today as well. The new reading lamp that Pat needed came yesterday and I was able to assemble it.  I also got my Ring doorbell assembled.  Today we are to get the Rollator but think I will leave that for Scott to put together tomorrow evening.  I did order a new laptop for Pat's sister and it should come tomorrow.  Rather than having it sent directly to her I am having it shipped to me so I can get everything up to date on it as she knows little about using a computer.  I hope to have it ready and will ship it off to her before the end of the week.   

Janet, I think I had read that story before but somethings are nice to reread.  It seems to me the refs are allowing the basketball players to palm the ball as well as letting some very definite fouls go while calling some just touch fouls.  However, I do not know the guidelines the refs have to follow and am not there to see things like they do.  I hope your contact calls went well yesterday. 

Carol, nice to see that you went out to eat with your son and DIL rather than you having to cook.  We generally do the same when we have guests other than overnight guests when we will fix them breakfast.  Glad to see you got some good snow in the Denver area.  So far we seem to be getting plenty of rain.  Our Church has an old bus that is falling apart and is probably not safe to be driven.  Thus the need for a new bus.  I understand that bus will not be purchased until the $50,000 needed has been raised as the Church doesn't need to take on anymore debt. 

It is too quiet in here! 

Weather is so different in Tucson.  We have very cool, almost cold mornings of nearly a frost and now the record-setter will be 90 degrees tomorrow.  Last night on the news, they showed the auto-drive vehicle that hit a woman while going 40 mph and she died.  there was a person sitting i the driver's seat and now there will be an investigation on just what went wrong.  It was the Uber company (like a taxi).

I have packed and set out 11 medium sacks of grapefruit and all have been picked up - it looks like we can get a few more bags and then that it is for the prolific little tree.  The best part is meeting people - who stop walking, riding bikes and golf carts, and a big suburban pulled up yesterday - her name is Carol and she was so excited about getting six free grapefruit.  Made my day.  Plus phone calls from family --what could be better? Our good friend's daughter is visiting her and she came over with a relative to visit too.  My sewing ideas are not getting enough time so all will be carted back home. 

Larry:  I hope Pat's sister can navigate the new laptop.  Sad and scary about the office being damaged and someone hurt by the storm. 

We have been to the gym, I have put my daily pills in the pill strips for the next three weeks (they fly past so quickly!) and now am ready to get busy contacting people about Zeal, as soon as I finish this post!

Today is the day the housecleaner comes.  I'm so thankful for her help!  I always give her a nice tip because she gets so much done in only two hours!

Our granddaughter Abby came up last evening to visit.  She's on Spring Break now, but is only home for four days as she just started a new job and has to work Friday and Saturday.  She is working at a horticulture business. Since she grew up in her parents' greenhouse, helping with every aspect of that, she surely didn't need to be trained much!  She said they seem to only need a warm body to check people out, as when she tries to help a customer, one of the other employees always comes and takes over.  But it pays better and she gets more hours than working at a church or baby sitting.

Abby is raising support for a missions trip to Los Angeles this summer! I was surprised by the location, but it is sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ,
and sounds like it will be a really good experience for her.  They not only can work at a job while there; they are required to work!  She will start her job search right away, using the suggestions she was given.  She had really good references from a CRU person there at K-State, and they are even allowing her to miss the final two weeks of the mission because she has to be back on her campus for training for the RA position she got.  TMI?

I'm so very pleased that Abby is drawing closer to the Lord while in college,
when so many of our kids are pulled away by professors and other kids who don't know the Lord.  She really wants to learn how to be a better witness for Him.  Of course, Grandma gave her support for the trip. 

Carol, there was frost on everything around here this morning!  At least there is enough moisture in the air for frost to form!  That's an improvement.  Still drooling over your grapefruit!    I'm wondering if the person in the driver's seat of the Uber car was the passenger?  Or the owner?  Sounds as if those self-driving cars need a lot more tweaking!  So senseless for someone to lose her life in that way.

Larry, is your church having its regular Wednesday night activities this week?
Our bulletin said no Wed. night activities for this week.  I think that is because there is something going on almost every night during next week.

Hey!  Some of you need to come in and chat with Larry, Carol and I!  The more the merrier, you know!  We want to stay in touch with all of you!

Carol I could only read your post by highlighting it. I think maybe if you used bold or a different color like Janet has it would be much easier to read.  I have a cataract forming in my left eye and some Macular Degeneration in both eyes.

I've been trying to read through the Psalms, I've already read through Job this year. I decided it was time for me to go through the bible again. It has been a few years since I've done that.

I have received the  Power of Attorney  papers for Keith's signature and we need to go over them together. I've told him that I will not do anything with his finances until he can't make those decisions for himself.  He still needs to get a will done, as do I. I will be doing a POA for myself  with Gilbert as the attorney of record  for when I can  no longer make decisions for myself. One of these days I  either need to go to California during the week or he needs to come up here so I can get him on my checking and savings accounts.

All this legal paperwork  is so daunting and depressing for the reasons why  it has to be done  right now before Keith's dementia progresses  much further. It really gets to me emotionally, so please keep  us in your prayers.  Sunday at church  Keith told someone he didn't know where he was supposed to sit so she took his arm and helped him to his seat. I was unaware of this until she told me.

I am still having problems with typing on our forum, it is ok everywhere else, well sometimes similar problem occurs on S & Fs but, it is worse for me on here...My cursor freezes or goes on a go slow, then catches up with itself...

All this talk of power of attorney is a concern for me as not being married, the legal rights when the person I have lived with for 20 years, as our law stands, I would have very little rights...

Well we had another bout of snow from the Beast of the East, thankfully now it is heading back to where it came from Siberia, our snow now has almost gone but it makes us cut off as we have a very steep downward hill leading to our homes...

Our parkomes Extraordinary AGM meeting did go ahead yesterday evening, if it had of been the day before, I am sure for the second time it would have been cancelled due to the snow, we would have been trapped in where we are living...I never went but Richard did, he said it has now become serious, they are sending a letter off to a solicitor about tht machinery left on site and the uneven roads and so forth...

Tomorrow being my birthday, I will have a dilemma, whether to get myself ready for my monthly MS social gathering and meal, even though the pub-bar scene is not for me, or to stay at home twiddling my thumbs and the possibility of arguments with you know who..guess this is as good as it gets, I shan't have any better offers...he wont take me out for my birthday, he wont even take me to the theatre now, since the day I walked out over the swearing play, he wasn't very amused that I had wasted money...

Good morning!  Or evening maybe, in Jacqueline's case.   

I'm up really early, as I couldn't sleep since around 3 anyway.  I was pretty excited when I went to bed, but did sleep soundly for a few hours, so all is well.  I got one person signed up for Zeal yesterday and that really encouraged me.  We are enjoying so many improvements in our health that I do want to share it with others.  And if I hadn't gotten so busy and forgot my afternoon drink of it, I would have slept even better! 

We enjoyed having pizza with grandson Curtis yesterday and hearing about their two weeks in Florida.  He said the most enjoyable thing for him was watching his little girls interact with the Disney characters, and he showed us some little videos of that on his phone.  They made lots of good memories, for sure!

Today is my painting day again!  I got my stuff together last night, so after gym and shower, I'll be ready to go.  We all bring something for lunch, and it turns out to be a feast each time.  That's fun!  I made a confetti salad for this time.  In getting my palette ready, I discovered that quite a few of my old watercolors were so hard in the tubes they wouldn't squeeze out, so they went into the trash.

We have high hopes again for some rain!  We would welcome snow, as the moisture is so needed.

Marilyn, I'm so sorry that Keith is having those problems.  I have a few friends here who are dealing with similar situations, and it's heart-wrenching. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.  My thoughts won't help, except to remind me to pray--the prayer does help!

Jacqueline, I have no idea what to say about your situation.  I cannot even imagine living for 20 years with a person who is not even considerate of you, when you have no legal obligation to stay in the situation.  I do understand that you are there for financial reasons, and I'm sorry.  I hope you can find help and advice from someone who knows how to help you.

Good morning, Larry!  I know you will likely be the next to pop in the door.
I wish you a beautiful and blessed day!

Hi, Carol!  I hope you have a lovely day, too! 

Time to go talk to Abba Father!

Janet...it is still morning here, well only just...11.38 am...
...I am posting an hour after your posting...

Hi Everyone. We have a bright and sunny morning but will have a cooler day getting only into the low to mid-50s.  The only thing on our schedule for today is dinner at the Church this evening and then spending time with Scott and Jennifer.  We did get the rollator yesterday and I will ask Scott to put it together this evening. He enjoys assembling things and I don't.  We did enjoy our lunch out at Dairy Queen yesterday and the ice cream cone was even better because it was free.  I guess a little of my Scottish background shows. 

Carol, it is always nice to make a new friend as the lady who stopped for the grapefruit.  That is quite a swing in temperature in a 24 hour period.  I will try to prepare some good instructions for Pat's sister in using the computer and navigating Windows 10.  If she gets stuck on something she can always pick up the phone and call me and I should be able to walk her through the situation. 

Janet, I put two weekly boxes for pills and it seems it is always time to refill them as I will have to do today.  It must be a big relief to Abby's parents and you all that she has chosen the Campus Crusade for Christ Organization on campus to be involved with and not the life style that it seems many young folks take when they get away from home.  It has been a long time since I heard that organization mentioned and am happy to see it is still an ongoing thing.  If you have said I have forgotten what the RA position is?  We are having our regular Wednesday night activities this week.  I am not sure about next week as the Newsletter won't be issued until late today.  I do know there will be services on Thursday and Friday in preparation for Easter Sunday.  Glad you have obtained a new person with the Zeal.  I find being around little ones and seeing the joy they get out of life is one of the best things I do.  Glad that Curtis could take his family to Florida and that they enjoyed Disney World. 

Marilyn, your mentioning reading through the Psalms reminds me I need to renew my practice of listening and reading the Psalms when I first lay down in the afternoon.  I am perhaps half through them.  I do hope Keith will cooperate with you and sign the papers needed.  Check with your bank as it may be possible for you just to send the signature cards to get Gilbert's signature and then you present them back to the bank so they know it is legitimate.  I know we did that one time in setting up an account when Pat wasn't with me. 

Jackie, Happy Birthday.  These years roll around quickly.  Have you tried using a different browser to write in this discussion. I have had to give up using the Chrome browser on both my desktop and laptop and it kept freezing up.  Do you have common law rights in your country?  You might want to check on that as I would think you would have rights if you outlive him.  I do hope you are up to getting out to be with other folks today. 

Larry, I am not familiar with the term Rollator.
Is that the same as a walker? (The ones with wheels?) I remember Jackie mentioning that before.

Yes, we are pleased that Abby is making good choices, and hope this continues throughout her life!  The RA is Resident Advisor, and as such, she will have her own apartment to live in (the RA position she got is in the students apartments building.  She will also have all meals, plus a small stipend.  Her duties will be to help other residents with questions and problems, etc.  Not sure what all, as she will have two weeks' training for that just before the Fall term begins.  She is really excited about the missions trip.  I thought San Diego a strange place, but they do one there every summer.  There will be 100 student missionaries, and several advisors who will give them training on-site before handing it off to them.

Jacqueline--   I almost forgot!  If it's too late, then have a happy day after your birthday tomorrow!!    Hope you go out to your meeting and have a great time!

Janet...
...bless your heart..no its not too late, it is today and I have not long gotten up, it is now 6.am...thank you for remembering...

Hi Everyone on a crisp 38 degree South Carolina morning and we are only headed up to around 60 late this afternoon.  My friend, who I usually take to coffee, is not going to go with me this morning.  I do have some business to attend to at the Credit Union and then pick up a prescription at Walmart before I go on down to coffee for a little while. 

Yesterday afternoon around 2 pm the new Acer laptop was delivered and I it took at least 3 hours to bring the Windows software up to date.  My major activities before and after I go out is to get the computer fixed up.  I have decided to keep the Acer and give Pat's sister the HP that I got two or three months ago.  Both are nice computer but the Acer has a HD screen and the keyboard has led lights that come on when you start typing. 

Scott went to dinner with us but Jennifer didn't so didn't attend.  He then came out to the house and while he he assembled the new Rollator for Pat and we tested putting it into the car.  We decided the best place to carry it is in the truck of the car.   

Janet, a Rollator is a walker that has brakes on it and a seat with a back rest.  This one has a built in cup holder that folds up when not in use and large 8 inch wheels.  It is well constructed and I think will serve Pat well.  I would never have guessed that RA stood for Resident Advisor.  I hope that job works out very well for her and it sounds like there are great advantages for her.  Having her own space and not having to pay for the room and board certainly will help with the college expenses. 

Jackie, it sounds like I jumped the gun on my Birthday Wish for you but guess it was the result of our different time zones.  So here is another Happy Birthday wish for you.   

Happy Birthday Jackie!  It is usually a beautiful time of the year in your UK.  Enjoy the flowers in bloom.

Yesterday, I drove to the VA and we spent a couple of hours there (really dislike going on Interstate 10 because it is jammed with so many trucks].  Further, we have to be so careful not to turn south to Nogales - it was so crowded with double trucks yesterday.  Don had several appointments and the last one went quickly when a vet left and gave Don his number. 

Sometimes, I just pick up the bible and read whatever opens first.  It is amazing.

Sorry about the very light print - I should have checked. 

The Uber driver had been seen on video checking his cell phone but he did look up prior to the casualty and I think they are giving him a pass.  The driver ,must sit in the driver's seat - so far.  I am waiting for them to invent a comfy vehicle where I could nap and set the drive to visit relatives in Seattle or Minnesota.    

Janet:  I remember campus crusade and youth for Christ.  Prayers for safety and a wonderful visit for Abbey. 

Larry:  the better picture on screen and lighted keys sound like a plus feature.  enjoy.  I need to visit Walmart pharmacy because the mail order is not working here. 





 

Larry Hanna - Carol...
...yes one would think the beginning of Spring would be a sight to wish for and see but, all the UK newspapers are predicting another bout of snow over our Easter Holidays...they are naming this as " The Beast from the North East..." we shall see what happens...

Good afternoon folks, It is a beautiful day here in North Eastern Ontario. 
John and I are heading out to the bush this afternoon to tap our maple trees.  He has the snow mobile ready to go and we will go as soon as he is home from the bus run.  Maple syrup season is short, and very labour intensive.  It wont be as big of a challenge this year as it would have been last year.

On top of this we are starting 2 hives of bees in May so we will have our own honey.  Honey is so expensive, and this will pay off in the long run. There will be no more buying sugar, we will use our own sweetener.  We will supply family as well.

Proverbs 24:13 - My son, eat thou honey, because [it is] good; and the honeycomb, [which is] sweet to thy taste:

Proverbs 16:24 - Pleasant words [are as] an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Have a great evening everyone!

We are home from a trip to see the doctor in Liberal, for me this time.  I'm happy to say I got a good report!!  Had lunch with Jeff, then stopped in Hugoton to tell Abby farewell as she left for college again, and a short chat with Diane.  Good day.

AND.....I have called 24 people to invite them to a meeting tonight to learn more about Zeal!!!  If six of them show up, I will be happy.  And should all of them come, I'll be ecstatic!   

It's been a beautiful day in our neighborhood, the only way it could be better is with rain!

I'm tired and need to rest a bit before that meeting, need to be at the top of my game for that!  See you tomorrow!