Dorothy and David update.

Dorothy and David are our really good friends, who really struggle with their health. I shouldn't say that because they don't STRUGGLE, but they enjoy every moment that they can even though they face many challenges. I was so pleased to be able to take this picture of them playing cards last night! David has very advanced COPD and he feels like he is drowning all the time. Often he gets an infection and it's so difficult for him. I admire this man so much. I've seen him through lots of really tough times and I know that there are no easy time for him, but I have never heard him be the least bit impatient or unkind. I seek to follow his example. Dorothy has macular degeneration and really can see so little. I'm amazed that she can still play cards, but she's a champ! She also has a bad back and suffers a lot with that, sometimes barely walking. They are an amazing couple, and we treasure them in our lives. It was sure a delight to finally get to put together a canasta game last night.

Speaking of bad back. I am doing very well with doing my exercises and working on all the equipment I have. I got the pain level down to 4 one day, but it's usually around 5 or 6. I've ordered another piece of equipment that is supposed to help. I hope to have it in the next couple of weeks. Man, if I can get a computer that works right and something to help get my pain level down to 2 or 3 I'll be in such good shape!

The sun shined today, so we were so happy to be warm. A cold front is coming and we're going to put the quilt back on the bed for a few days, I think. Maybe we'll get some much needed rain, though! We have so many fires when it's dry like this and the poor farmers really suffer. I thank God that we haven't had more fires, and thank Him that we haven't had tornadoes!

Canasta, again!

This is a picture that Don took of Diana and I tonight before we got started playing canasta. It was so good to see her and really fun to play. We hadn't played since we left for Branson for the winter! Frank and Jo Ann came but had to leave right after they got here because there were wild fires out near their home. They called later to tell us that the fire is contained, but it was scary. The winds are gusting up to 50 miles an hour here today, and it's so dry that fires are a real danger. One whole town, not too far from us was evacuated! Anyway, we give thanks that we haven't had a fire close to Hobart and that the one out by Jo Ann and Frank was contained before getting anyone's home.

Diana is married to a guy I went to school with in Japan. She and I got to be great friends on the Internet before they retired in Alaska. They moved to Texas, first, and then they moved here a few years ago. They are remodeling one house and restoring a great old home. They are amazing. Her husband, Bob, is doing security work at a launch site in Kazakhstan, so we miss him. I feel like I went to school with Diana! I guess you could say we went to different schools together? :)

It's back to warm; whew!

Tonight's picture is a family shot I got of Doris and Jerry with their younger son, Brett, his wife, Heather, and their two Boys, Logan, who will be 2 next month and Luke, who just turned 4 this month. They are the most fun boys! Logan is so much like Brett was when he was that age; it feels like we've stepped back in time when we see him! And look how tall Brett grew to be! I thought Jerry was tall, but Brett is a tower above Jerry!

The last few days in Houston were so nice and warm. I nearly froze coming back to the 50's. In fact it was 40 something this morning, but it got into the 80's before the day was done. I loved being outside and deadheading the irises! The irises are struggling this year because we've had so little rain. I'm going to cut a bouquet tomorrow, though. We'll praise God with them when the folks come to play canasta!

I'm plugging along with this old laptop, but I'll be so glad when the repaired one returns or the netbook arrives. I thank God that I don't have to live with this one; now, I remember why I needed to replace this one so badly! It doesn't work very well! It sure gets me through while the other one is gone, though, so I give thanks for it.

The pact.

Colter is all boy and can rip and tear with the best of them, but he is also as gentle as any almost 4 year old can be. He really loves Ava and he dearly loves to lean his head against hers. He's always liked to feel his mommy's hair (or anyone else's!), but he loved me even when I had no hair! He's just that kind of kid. But, it's so sweet when he leans on Ava's head. Ava loves it, too. She can be just about to wrinkle up that face and whimper, but when he leans into her she gets a look of peace on her face. I couldn't resist leaning in and joining in on whatever pact it was that we made. I think it was that, no matter what, we're all hanging as one. I'm not sure what the words are, but I know what the spirit is. It's precious to me.

Today has been cold in Oklahoma, for spring. it's 53 out there right now. My irises are standing firm in spite of cold and nearly no rain. God is so good to give me tough flowers! There aren't as many out there as usual, but there are a few standing together in a 'no matter what, we're strong' pact. I've been a weenie and didn't get much done today. Cold hinders me because I have to carry around a warm buddy all the time, so that means I only have one hand for working. We're playing cards here Friday night, so I've got to get with the program tomorrow and make the house presentable. How's that for procrastination? That's my next best talent, next to sleeping (procrastinating).

My little cheerleader.

This picture is Ava, when she was here visiting Sunday afternoon. She already knew that my report would be good and she was leading the cheers!

They even got us in early, today, and Don is considering going home today! Everything went well. There were no snags and my doctor thinks I look great. I can't ask for more! I don't have to see her until January. Praise God! Doris and Jerry both had plans for this morning, so we beat them home and they aren't here to tell goodbye. We don't want to leave a note and leave, so we're still pondering what to do. I'll go get everything packed that I can, and be ready to go if Don decides that is the thing to do. Thanks for your prayers and concern. Thanks to God for leading the recovery! PTL!

More precious family!

This picture was taken this evening in Doris' back yard: Don, holding Logan, who will be 2 next month, and me holding Luke, who just turned 4 this month. These guys are so much fun!

We've been visiting today with Doris and Jerry and then tonight Brett and Heather came over with Luke and Logan, so it's been a great family day. Tomorrow is the check up day and we have to get up at 5:30 to get to the medical center at 7:30. I hope we'll be through by early afternoon. As soon as I get back to the house I'll post tomorrow's blog and report of the check up.

I thank God for a safe trip down here and lots a great visiting on the way and since we've been here. What a blessing! I thank Him ahead for my health and recovery, too. I know I am in good hands!

Looky here!

This picture is Stephanie, holding 6 weeks old Ava, Colter, who will be 4 in June, and Gregg. They spent the afternoon with us today after church. It was so much fun. Ava and Colter and I made a 3 way pact. I'll explain that more another time.

Tomorrow Brett and Heather and their boys are coming to catch up with us. We saw them at church today, but that was too brief. They had a big Easter day with Heather's family today, so it was a big day for everyone.

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful extended family besides our close family. We're reveling in the fun of this visit!

Arrived in Houston!

This is the picture Don got today when we were having lunch with Terri. Terri is my baby sister, because we like it that way. She always wanted a big sister and I always wanted a baby sister. We went to the same school in Japan, but at different times. We never knew each other until we met at a reunion in Orlando about 12 or 15 years ago. Then when I volunteered to plan our reunion in Branson she and her mom helped tremendously! They did the decorations and helped me do everything once we got there. Her mom was everyone's Mom and she treated me so special. We went down (She lived in Texas) to help her move into a retirement home and then another time to help her move into a bigger place. She introduced me to the staff as her other daughter. So, Terri is my baby sister because we want it to be that way. Anyway, it was great to get to see her for lunch today!

We made it fine the rest of the way to Doris and Jerry's house and we've had a good visit. I spent the first 2 hours getting online and finally gave up on the tech help. Jerry got me online by plugging in the Ethernet cord. It's working, so I'm happy.

I thank God for our safe trip and wonderful family, blood and acquired! God blesses us so richly. We celebrate at Easter, especially, but He is always giving us so much!

Spoke too soon.

I did get the blog done on this computer last night, but then it crashed! There was nothing I could do on it. It was running, but I couldn't even shut it down. This morning it was the same, so I stripped it and restored it. That means I lost the pics I downloaded off the camera last night, so I'm glad I got that one on the blog last night.

Tonight's picture is a clump of irises and Don's best cherry tree. There are lots of cherries on there, so I hope they produce and he can beat the birds to them. If you click on the picture, it might show all the cherries. The irises are kind of scrappy this year because we've had such a drought. They smell so good when I'm laying out on the deck to collect sun!

We leave in the morning for Houston and my MD Anderson check up. I wanted to get this computer working so I could use it while we're in Houston, so cross your fingers with me. I can use Doris and Jerry's if this one won't work, so I'll still post, but I like to use my own if I can; it helps to get to save my pics on my computer since I don't have a card in my camera. I can take a precious few and then have to download them to make space for more. On the way we'll meet our good friend, Terri (my self proclaimed baby sister), for lunch. She's about 30 miles from the interstate, so it works to meet her for lunch. We're excited to see her!

I thank God for the patience (maybe it's a hard head?) to deal with these computer issues. I need to communicate with folks and this is the best way for me. What a blessing to be alive and well 3 years after chemo, surgery and radiation and 4 years after diagnosis. Just think, 3 years ago, I was just finishing and coming home from radiation treatments. My hair was beginning to return, but it wasn't long enough to show that it was curly; what an interesting 3 years it has been!

Baffled.

This picture is one Don took in the fitness room at the Four Seasons when we were in Lake Ozark, back the first week we left home for the winter. It was beautiful looking over Lake Ozark as we walked on the treadmills. I had Don take this picture so you could get an idea of how nice it was to work out there. That day I had forgotten to put the card back into the camera, so this picture was stuck on the camera until I could get home and unload it with the cable.

So, today we went out to take pictures of the irises today and the camera said, 'card full.' I looked and there was NO card! I left the card in the laptop which I just shipped off to Texas! Ugh. So, I downloaded all the pictures on the camera and hope I can use it to get a few pictures until the repaired laptop comes home. I have another card, but, of course, I can't find it! Maybe I'll find it tomorrow.

I downloaded Firefox to this computer today and that's refreshing because I'm used to it. I've been afraid to put anything on here because this computer is so limited. It refuses to download a flash, so there are many things I can't do. But I can do many, so I give thanks for it to get us by in the gap left by the other one being repaired. It seems like I'm stumbling around in a daze because I'm always looking for something or trying to figure out something. Ugh! My back is doing well at about a level 5 of pain as long as I can do all my treatments, so I thank God for that, too, and, I'd better go hang!

Check out this World Series Ring!

2008 Philadelphia Phillies World Series ring; can you believe it? I never thought I'd be that close to such a ring. That thing is HUGE and HEAVY and Loaded with diamonds! It belongs, to the father of the groom, who is a scout for the Phillies. Wow. That's all I can say. He was so gracious to let us pass it around and take pictures! He's a really nice guy in every other way, too.

Today has been hairy around here. The repair people gave me another assignment to save the laptop's life, so I worked at it all day, but it has some fatal issue, I'm sure. Of course I can't get the repair people on the phone, but I'm convinced. It's history and I expect to ship it back to them tomorrow. Ugh. They can fix it while we're gone to Houston, I hope! Technology is sure a pain, but it is also a wonder.

It was cold here today and cloudy, so we didn't get sun. I've been sitting at the computer all day with warmed corn buddies! I just thank God we didn't have the wind we've had lately and the tornadoes that so much of the country has had! My irises are in full bloom. I'll have to get pictures soon or they're going to get away from me this year! That would be a shame!

Clowning.

Tonight's picture is one Don took of Doris and I clowning around as we were getting ready to put together a fruit sculpture for the reception table. This was in the kitchen of the sweet couple who let us stay with them all weekend. We had a wonderful time taking the weekend off together and sharing it with lots of family. We get to see Doris and Jerry this weekend, when we go stay at their house when I go for my check up at MD Anderson. God is good to give us great, great family! We have lots of family on our agenda through June. Woo hoo! We have the family reunion in Lebanon, Tennessee and then a week in Gatlinburg with a bunch of us.

I'm still struggling with the repaired laptop, but I'm doing the blog on it tonight, so that's a good thing. It sometimes freezes. I've got to call the repair people and see what's up with that! I had my files 14% restored with Carbonite, and then the computer froze and I had to start all over with the restoration. I'm just so glad for Carbonite, so I can keep my files!

The enchanting statement:

Hannah is our great niece, and she married Trevor. In the ceremony the preacher, who was a friend of Trevor's, said that one time Trevor told him that he thought marriage would be like falling in love with the same person over and over, again. I had never thought of it that way and I think it is such an enchanting way to think of marriage. I'm most impressed that a young newly wed has thought of it that way. Hannah is an attorney (she is a public defender in Saint Louis, if I'm not mistaken), and Trevor is an anesthesiologist with one year left of residency. They are SO much fun! It's a relief to me to know that two people with such serious careers can be such warm, loving, and happy, fun loving people. We are also so pleased that they've found each other! Tonight's picture is one of them in the cake cutting ceremony. This was the cake for the ceremony; they had a couple of yummy looking cakes that they served to everyone. Don and I don't do sugar, so we just admired the cakes from afar. :)

Today has been rather hairy. I learned that the laptop had to be stripped, once again! I am now going through the process of loading everything back onto it. Right now, it's STUCK and doing nothing, so I had to use Don's old relic desktop to do the blog, again. I had hopes that my laptop might really be fixed, but I'm beginning to wonder, again. Ugh. I just thank God that I can still fumble with it. Mostly, tonight, I thank God for the life that Hannah and Trevor will have together and for their influence on me. I loved that concept of falling in love with the same person over and over, again. I thank God that I'm married to the kind of guy I can fall in love with over and over, again! I hope you found Trevor's remark about marriage enchanting, too! Thanks for waiting for it.

Home, safe and enchanted.

This picture was taken at the reception, after the wedding. We got home at a little after 3 this afternoon, so we had a safe trip and it was really a wonderful wedding. Tomorrow I will post a picture of the bride and groom; THEY were absolutely awesome. It was so wonderful to visit with family over such a wonderful occasion; much better than a funeral! The bride (our niece) was so beautiful, but she always is. The groom we don't know well, but every time we've ever spent with him really has impressed us. This time he made the whole event enchanting with one statement. I'll explain that tomorrow.

I'm so tired tonight. I've got to go right to bed. The 'repaired' computer was on our doorstep when we got home, but I've worked with it for 6 hours and it doesn't work. I'll go back to work on it tomorrow; the repair people will be open then, so I can call them and maybe they know some secrets for me.

Thanks for giving me a few days off. My little laptop wouldn't work at the hotel in OKC, so I didn't even take it with me to KS. It works here, but I guess it's hooked on this network? Anyway, thanks for coming back to check on us. We're fine.

Headed to wedding. Technologically challenged.

Tonight's picture is one of me a couple of years ago when we were walking in one of the burned forests on the big island. This was another of our favorite places and everything that was left was black. I needed to see this because it reminds me that we are whole and not burned or blackened, as we could easily have been in the wreck we had last July. I thank God for our safe travels.

Today has been a challenge because I can't get my printer to work and we've got to get our taxes printed (thankfully the tax people got them done today after we finally got all the forms we needed in the mail today). The printer works, but the old computers I'm using don't recognize it. Only about half the information prints and I don't think the IRS is going to go for that. So, we'll go to the library first thing in the morning and print the forms, sign them and head off to OKC for the night. Then we'll head to Kansas for our niece's wedding this weekend. I'll take my little laptop, but I doubt if it will work wherever we go. So, I'm taking the weekend off from posting to the blog. Don't worry and take a vacation from reading. I'll be back Monday with a current picture.

With treatments I was able to get my hip some better, again, today. I hope I can do okay away from my treatments with using a 10's unit. It will feel good to get the taxes in the mail tomorrow! Man, it's a crime that they put us through this every year! Don't let me get up on that soap box!

On my way to hang on the inversion table!

This picture Don took tonight when I got home from the ladies' salad supper at church tonight. You can tell I'm tired. I had to rush to get there on time, but I made it. Also, I wore shoes tonight to test and see if I can wear them this weekend for the wedding. Good thing I ran the test; they won't work. Now, I'm ready to hang on the inversion table, wash my face and go to bed. It hasn't been such a busy day, but it was busy enough I guess to wear me thin. I must give thanks, though! The computer is still running! I did spend about an hour with it this afternoon, hoping I could get it to do some things I'd like. It's not going to do any of them and I'm not going to push it. I'm so glad to have it alive and this is going on 72 hours. Until I wore the wrong shoes tonight my pain level was at a 4. I'm tossing these shoes and going to hang. Good night!

So far, so good!

Tonight's picture is one I took of Raynie and Gracie playing at the playground when we were in Branson for spring break. Don is in there, too! He was sneaking up on them and grabbing them. We all loved it! Notice how the trees to the left were just beginning to bloom.

I think today was the first day since we've been home from Branson that I didn't spend hours working on some computer. How nice that this little laptop is hanging in there for me! It has some issues, but it's working. Like, I can't do videos or some pictures, but so far I can get all the text. I can manage with this until the other one gets home.

I thank God for the beautiful weather that we're having. It was windy today, but the sunshine was worth it. I love being able to get outside and get some real vitamin D! I have three different kinds of irises blooming. I started to cut some today, but that would mean bending over and my hip is still angry over such a thing. So, I'll just enjoy them in the yard. When we get home next week, I'll surely have to cut a bouquet of many colors! We should have lots in bloom next week! My pain level in my hip has been the best today that it's been in weeks! I'd say it's down to a level 4, so I sure give thanks for that!

Whew! I hope the 3rd time is the charm!

This is a picture Don took this very day of me sitting in front of the old laptop which I've stripped and restored THREE times. I sure hope it works this time, long enough to get me through until the other laptop is returned. I cropped out all the clutter around me in my computer nook. There are cd's and wires and papers everywhere! I can de-clutter a bit, now that I hope to be done working on this. Oh, how I hope this works!

I am headed to pay attention to all the treatments I need to do to get me into shape. I sure don't like this hobbling around, but I think I am a little better. Not enough to give it a better number, but leaning toward the 4 instead of the 6; that's a GOOD thing!

We went to the grocery store Friday, and there was a precious little lady in there who had to feel worse than I did. She was all bent over the buggy and hanging on for dear life. Her eyes were so red and she was not smiling, even to return a smile. Bless her heart; how do you help a total stranger? I would love to have helped her, but I'm afraid she would be offended if I offered. One of our doctors was in line in front of her and he asked if he could help her and she said, "No." If he had offered to help me, I would have said, "No," also. I think we are supposed to know each other well enough that we just know when each other needs help and we do it. We aren't that close to many people, but I think that's a mistake! God specifically says to love; if we do that, the rest will fall into place. We hardly know each other, let alone really love. If we love like He does, we'll be doing good, but we aren't so gracious! God help us to love like You do!

Still dreaming . . .

This picture was taken a couple of years ago at one of our favorite beaches in Hawaii. Sadly, it has burned! The water is still there, but the beautiful walk is all gone. Only stubble is left. I used to call it the Fairy Tale beach because the walk was so beautiful. Now, after the tsunami this year, I imagine a lot of the stubble was swept away. It will be interesting if we ever get to go back to see all that has changed.

And, so much is changing in Japan! Wow; have they ever had struggles over the last month! So, I give thanks for all the good things in my life. I really think my hip is a tad better today, so I'm so pleased at that! If I can get a tad better most days, then I'll be back to standard someday!

I've been up to my ears in the little laptop. I wiped it clean (system wise) and started over. I've had issues with it and tomorrow I'll call and get help to get the final touches done. I think it may work, though. I am the eternal dreamer and hard head. If it starts smoking I might give up, but no promises. :) Don is so patient, and I thank God for that!

Happy birthday, Tom!

Tonight's picture is two of our great friends; Linda and Tom Rose. Today is Tom's birthday, so I think he's older than me for a few months. Tom and Linda met us in Hawaii for a couple of trips (This picture was made on the last one.) and Tom surprised us with a visit here last spring. They also met us in Branson one time. I think it was about a year and a half ago that we went to visit them in Tennessee. I graduated with both of them, so we go back a long ways and they're so special.

Today is also our anniversary. We celebrate our anniversary every day, so we didn't make a big deal of it. Don kept asking if I wanted to go out to eat, etc. YIKES! We'll have to eat out next week when we go to Hannah's wedding, so there will be plenty of eating out to do. We can call that celebrating if he wants. I just call it eating. Eating out is not so good for us because they just don't fix things like we like it. I've gotten so picky, I guess. No sugar, no caffeine, etc. It's just easier to eat at home. I give thanks every day, though, to be able to spend my life with someone who thinks I'm good even with parts missing and others limping!

Speaking of limping. The wireless adapter came for the old laptop today. I finally got it to working with the help of some English speaking people from SBC! Then I downloaded AVAST! to protect us from viruses and it shut down. It starts up, but immediately shuts down. If it's too old to handle a virus protector then it's just too old. I guess I'll limp along with this computer and not have one of my own until the other one comes back home. I can do it.

Laptop is on it's way to repairville.

Last night's picture was one of me hanging straight down from the inversion table. Tonight's is a little different. Notice that I'm not hanging only from the hooks in my boots. I'm resting on the 'bed' of the inversion table. I could really lay like that for hours; it's not so tough on my ankles and feet and still gives a lot of relief to my back. The absolute hanging is so relieving to my back, though. I tend to go with the 'If a little will do a little good then a heap will do a heap of good' theory, so hanging is what I do most. Both are such good treatment for my back and hip, though. The hard thing is setting up to hang and then getting back up when I'm done. Nothing seems to be easy, anymore. But, I'm so grateful to own this table and have a place to keep it.

When we got home from Branson I could barely make it down the stairs and could only make it back up with one step at at a time and pulling banister, mostly. I can go down and up taking one step with each foot, now and only use the banister for balance. So, I think it's good, and I thank God for the improvement. I just have to keep doing this a couple of times a day or more. I'm a little scared about going to Kansas next week for our niece's wedding with no equipment. I'll be wearing a 10's unit; maybe that will get me through. Then the week after that I have to go to Houston for my MD Anderson check up. I sure hope the 10's unit will get me through! I could break down and use some Ibuprofen, I guess. I just don't want to depend on that stuff and wear out my kidneys!

I did this all on Don's computer. Woohoo!

Topsy Turvey?

Tonight's picture is one Don took of me hanging on the inversion table in our basement. The pad underneath it is because I flipped up one time without hooking onto the bar and crashed onto the concrete. (That was years ago, but I keep that pad there just in case!) When I speak of hanging on the inversion table, this is what it is. It does the MOST to help my back and hip! It is better if I let my arms hang, but I can't let the right one hang because of lymphedema. Everything seems to have a kink, anymore. Anyway, hanging upside down is very descriptive of my life these days!

The box came this afternoon for shipping my laptop to repair. So, this is my last post from this computer for a while. I thank God that I've been able to limp along with this one for a while and that my other little one is working. It won't be online until my adapter arrives Friday, but that's soon. Luckily we have Don's desktop, too. If you don't see a new post, you know I'm very limited these days!

Day at a time.

This picture is one my web cam took for me. I figured I'd better use it while I still have this computer. I hoped the ambulance (shipping box) would come pick up this computer today, but it didn't. So, I can be patient. I'm getting lots of practice at patience. I'm finding that patience works better than impatience, but it's not what comes easy!

Today was a beautiful day here. It was 34 when I got up, so I shivered at the thought for a while. Then I blew over to the nursing home for a devotional. That was good for me because there are people I love there and they remind me that I have so many blessings to count and a battered hip is still a working hip. When I got home it was warm enough to lay out in the sun and collect some Vitamin D. Oklahoma weather is mostly sunny, so I give thanks to be here!

By the way, with good treatments, which I can orchestrate right here at home, I'm keeping my pain level at 5. I can live with that. I think it will get better as I continue the exercises and keep up the treatments. I thank God that I have the equipment here. I also thank God that I am at home. Home is sweet!

Another escape.

Today's picture is one of the Road to the Sea beach on the Big Island. It is a once in a lifetime thing to see. It was absolutely gorgeous, but it took us a couple of hours in a 4 wheel drive jeep to get close to it. Then we had to walk the last mile. It was worth it to go, but I doubt we'll spend that time, again. Not to mention it was a ROUGH ride! Thanks to Davy and Susan who rented the jeep and had the patience to go there; great memories! I think this puts us into a very elite group of folks who have seen this because nobody has time to go clear out there! Thankfully, we took a lunch and plenty of water. This looks like a small place, but it's because there is nothing to which the eye can compare. Just the tall cliff part of the beach is about a city block long; I KNOW, because I was convinced there was a shortcut right at the cut in that cliff, so I walked over there. Yep, and had to walk all the way back because there was not shortcut. :)

So, I escaped to the Road to the Sea beach because I'm dreaming today! The reality is that it's been in the low 60's today, but the wind was blowing so hard it sounded like it was freezing! I got some headway made in my computer efforts. The old laptop is thriving, but it's wireless card is dead. So, I ordered a new wireless usb adapter for it. It may not get here any time soon, but I've done all I can do and have high hopes of it working one day and probably before this one is repaired. This one comes and goes. As soon as the box for shipping arrives it will GO! I can get by on Don's desktop until I get the wireless adapter for the old laptop. I've learned a lot in the last couple of weeks about computers. It's a bunch of stuff I never wanted to know. I think I've peaked out on my agitation level and I'm calming, again. I thank God for His patience with me and I thank Him for providing a patient husband and friends.

By the way, my patient husband is down to 193. It's a wonder the wind didn't blow him out of town today when he went outside. I'm really proud of him for getting rid of that extra weight. I think we'll be able to stay slim as we never want to go through this, again. It's challenging, though! I continue to struggle and need to loose another 15 pounds. He thinks he does, too. It'll be okay as long as we only struggle with this last 15 pounds and don't let a whole bunch pile on, again! 15 pounds is not a crime, unless it's on top of sever other 15 pounds!

Grace and the infamous puzzle.

I've worked all day on these computers. At least I've figured out how to load pictures onto Don's desktop, so I can do the blog when I ship off the laptop this week. I've gotten the old laptop to work, but I can't get the wireless card in it to work. There seems to be a problem with the network between the computers. Of course nobody will help me with it because we're dealing with ancient computers. So, I'll keep working with it. I thank God I don't have any trains to catch tomorrow. I also thank God for a gorgeous day today. It was 98 here, I think! We got to collect some Vitamin D today, so that was good for us.

Please pardon me for all the whining and complaining I've done since we've been home. This computer fiasco has been a trip I never wanted to take, and I haven't handled it very well. Things could be so much worse. It's not like we have a fatal disease or something. These are just complications and I need to relax and take them in stride and grow in character instead of let my character take a nose dive. I've learned that I need to get up every day and go straight to my treatments and not put them off until I have time. I have to treat them like a doctor's appointment and DO THEM, because they work unless I put them off and don't do them, and then I pay!

Sorry, no picture.

If there was a picture today it would be gruesome. The recovery discs came and I ran them, of course losing everything on my computer, again. So, then it started, but it has shut down probably a dozen times since then. I called the warranty people and they will admit, now, that this computer needs to be repaired and it's not just a software issue. That makes me see red. I've been struggling with this for WEEKS and, now, they, the pros see that it's not working. Ugh! So, I have no pictures. I haven't gotten to do any exercises or treatments today and my pain level is back up, so I'm not in a happy mood. I'm headed to some treatments and I hope a good night's sleep. I hope I can turn this around tomorrow. I thank God for believing there is a reason to keep me, so I'd better shape up and make Him proud. Thanks for reading. I'm so sorry I don't have a picture. There are lots of good things happening, like the day was gorgeous! I just happen to be in over my head in the stuff that's not beautiful. If I get this going, I think I'll be glad because I sure enjoy staying in touch with people, but this aspect of it is certainly a drag.

Plugging.

Tonight's picture is of Mason and Grace, who were big helpers in the completion of this puzzle. I never dreamed the blooms on this tree would be so very difficult. Every puzzle has a difficult portion, but this one was so very rude and made up so much of this puzzle. I'm just glad I had great company to get it done. Grace was so sweet; she wanted to glue it together and hang it on the wall at their house. She didn't push, so we didn't do it, but I won't forget that she wanted to do that. She has such a sweet heart! I mean, we all hated that puzzle at one time or another. We threatened to throw it into the trash! But sweet Gracie wanted to keep it. They wanted to have their picture made with it, too. They are such good kids! We thank God for lots of awesome grandkids!

Today we meant to play cards at our house tonight. But, one of our friends called sick with allergies, and she was afraid to be around David, who is pretty miserable with COPD and he doesn't need to be around someone who is coughing and sneezing even if they aren't contagious; it just doesn't feel smart. When I called to tell David and Dorothy, Dorothy said that was good because they didn't really feel like it, either. I was determined not to let my hip stop me, again, but I was relieved, too. I had some shopping to do for gifts I needed (we have the best gift shop right here in Hobart: The Sand Plum), so I took the extra time and got my shopping done. My hip is still better, but no better than it was. I got some orthodics in the mail that I'd ordered, so maybe they will help, too. We'll see. I can live with the level 5 that I hit yesterday, but I'll be so happy to get even better. It's wonderful to have friends who are concerned for each other and patient with each other, but it's just too bad that we're all crumbling! We give thanks every day for life and blessings!

I'm still waiting for my recovery discs, so really limping with the computer. At least I CAN use it, though! I have high hopes for recovery!