A better picture, PLEASE!

This is a picture I got a couple of weeks ago.  I looked at the picture I posted last night and thought I'd better post something looking alive or you all would worry about me.  Actually, that picture I posted was the best one I got out of about 8 I took yesterday.  Yesterday was a hard day; the kids got the best of me and I was bushed.  The game last night boosted me.  Today was a good day and it was Friday!  We're watching the Thunder beat the Jazz, so I'm feeling good tonight.  I probably look rather weathered, but I'm good.  My contacts were bothering me all day and jumped out as soon as I got home, so I'm wearing glasses to let my eyes rest. The best rest will come when I go to bed!

Phil called me last night to tell me that Ruthie had fallen and he couldn't get her up, so they'd called the ambulance.  She had a bump the size of an ostrich egg on her head and couldn't figure out why she fell, so they took her to the hospital and admitted her.  I just talked to her and they had just come in from the hospital.  They checked her over good and are still waiting for some test results.  They observed her over night, though, and felt like she could go home if she'll take it easy.  I thank God that she didn't break anything.  She's sore, but nothing is broken!  They checked her carotid arteries and they are good.  They did a cat scan of her head and there is no bleeding or swelling within the brain.  Everything is checking out good; she's just going to have to be really careful.  This aging thing is tricky, tricky, tricky!  She and Phil manage to take care of each other, but I believe God is helping, too.  I thank Him and ask Him to keep up the great work!

Have a great weekend!

Only Thursday? One more day!

Is it only Thursday?  Only one more day and then this week is done and the weekend belongs to Lee and I.  At least I get to sleep in on Saturday!  This week has gone well, but I'm ready for it to be done.  I'm only scheduled to teach on Thursday next week, so maybe I'll get to restore some energy.  I do love subbing and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to do it, but I'm tired.  Tonight is high school games, though, so Lee and I are looking forward to cheering on the teams.  I'm sure glad we've got some kids who are willing to give it 100% and then some on the court; it's refreshing to me!

Tomorrow night the Thunder plays, so we'll enjoy watching that right here from our living room.  Ah, it's nice to have the house livable!  I thank God for the health to enjoy it.

A part of Thanksgiving!

This is a picture Lee took of Peyton swinging at the park on Thanksgiving day.  This park and lake are just a couple of blocks from our house and I can remember when we used to come here every Thanksgiving and the first thing the kids wanted to do was go to the park!  It's still the thing this generation of kids wants to do.  The park is special and represents lots of precious memories.  This is also a great walking place for those of us who are walkers.

Our girls were ahead in the game last night but let it get away from them.  The guys came back with a vengeance and beat their guys easily.  Both games were fun to watch.  I am so proud of our teams.  I love having the players in class and really love watching them on the court.  I am blessed!

We took one van to the car wash and cleaned it out to sell.  The ad for it comes out in our paper today.  Hope I find a good home for it.  I love this van, but I don't need two vans with Lee's truck!  We need space in the garage more than we need this van.

Tonight is dinner at church and then Bible study.  Lots of people buy the paper after church, so maybe we'll get some calls on the van when we get home.

Last of this year's re-bloomers.

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This is the last of this year's re-bloomers, but I was glad to have a few of these and a few yellow ones.  Last year there were none; this year there were precious few.  They really need some rain, as do our farmers!  I thank God for the precious few, though!

I'm done with the testing and I'll be teaching Freshman and Sophomore English for the rest of the week.  The Freshmen are studying Romeo and Juliet and the Sophomores are studying To Kill a Mockingbird.  I'm enjoying To Kill a Mockingbird more than Romeo and Juliet, although the kids make it all fun.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to work this much so that I can take the winter off.  Lee is studying up on The Big Island. Woo hoo!  We're really blessed to have this opportunity!

There are high school basketball games in Hobart tonight, so we're leaving in a few minutes to cheer for our great players.  I love it!  Sometimes the kids struggle with academics but they can shine in athletics.  I love getting to see them in both areas!

Grammy sure delights in granddaughters, too!

I got this picture of Gracie when we stopped by their house on Saturday.  She's in the 4th grade and was just chosen as "Pick of the Litter" for the 3rd or 4th time.  Nobody is real sure, but I choose her as "Pick of the Litter" all the time.  She is a real joy and I thank God for her.  I'm not so sure exactly what "Pick of the Litter" means, but to me it means special in every way.  If I were her teacher I'd sure be pleased to have her!

I helped with testing this morning and then finished out the day subbing for the English teacher who lost her baby last week.  I'll probably be subbing for her the rest of the week, but if they can find another sub, then I'll be out of luck because I'm still helping with testing in the morning.  Once that is done I'm available for the week, so we'll see what happens.  That's the joy of subbing:  I have to be flexible, but I can always say, "No," so it's a deal I can like.  Someone asked me today if I liked subbing.  I really do.  If I didn't like it, I wouldn't do it because the pay isn't worth it.  The kids are worth it, though.  I'm so hooked on them!

Tonight we watch a Thunder game and tomorrow night and Thursday night we have home Hobart High School basketball.  We'll love all that basketball!  Our kids are really fun to watch.  I'm so proud of the way they play with all their hearts and then a little more!

Grandpas sure delight in their granddaughters!

This pic is one I got last week when we visited Lee's son in the City.  This is Lee, with Katie, the granddaughter who had her gal bladder removed last month.  We were sure happy to see her doing so well; she's no stranger to pain, but she's way over quota with it and we pray that she can be very healthy for the rest of her life!

Today is rest day!  We are so tired from this past busy week, so we're taking an off afternoon!  I'm going to the nursing home to sing in a minute and then the rest of the afternoon is reserved for a nap!  I can hardly wait!  I thank God for the busy and wonderful week we've had, but I sure thank him for this afternoon of rest, too.  I hope all of you are getting a chance at rest and are thankful for it!

Safely home after more celebrating.

Tonight's pic is one I got while we were relaxing Thursday afternoon after a huge dinner.  Lisa, Lee's daughter, is in the recliner checking her phone messages and her husband, Rick, is watching the game.  It was wonderful to have them share Thanksgiving with us and spend the night!  They were our first overnight guests since we got the house in order.  Behind Rick, you can see Peyton's head; she's over at the table having some grapes, I think.

Today we saw Peyton again as well as lots of Lee's family.  We went to his niece's house and her sister and two of Lee's daughters and their families were there.  It was a great crowd and delicious food.  Oh, my!  We have so much for which to give thanks!  God's blessings are so abundant!  On our way there we stopped by Tricia's house and got to see her and Rob and Gracie, but all the other kids were gone somewhere.  It was still a good visit.  We're grateful for a safe trip and we're glad to be home.  We've got to stop eating this much!!!

Two happy people!

This is a picture I got of Lee yesterday with his granddaughter, Peyton.  You can tell by the big smiles how happy they were to see each other!  Peyton is 8 and is Bryce's big sister (Bryce was the lump of sugar in my lap in yesterday's pic.)  Today Lisa and Rick left and we got the house back into receiving shape.  Maybe someone else will come to see us!  Tomorrow we're going to OKC to do some more celebrating, so we'll see some more family.  It is great to celebrate the blessings of family!

This time last year was so bleak for me and the sadness is easy to remember.  A good friend passed away on Thanksgiving day last year and my heart aches for his wife's pain this year as she has to be so reminded.  The teacher I had hoped to finish the year for when she had her baby lost her baby Friday, so she is having a sorrowful Thanksgiving, but she is being a marvelous example for all of us.  She posted on facebook:

 Romans 15 13  " Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the holy spirit."

I am amazed at the strength of some folks and thank God for blessing me with them in my life.  Life is not always easy, but we have so many blessings.  I believe we have to count the blessings and thank God for giving us a part in His plan even if it's not easy.  I really love it when we can smile and I thank God for those precious times.

Many of you are concerned, as I am, for my brother-in-law, Phil, who has recently suffered a stroke.  He is at home and taking it as easy as possible.  They are running lots of tests to do their best to determine what is at the root of his problem so that they can prevent another stroke.  Please keep him and Ruthie in your prayers because they are looking at some lifestyle changes to say the least.  Hopefully, a cause and a remedy can be determined.  In the mean time he still feels tingly and numbness in his left side and his energy level is way down.  He is alive, alert, mobile, content and praising God for his life, though.  Thank you for your love and concern.  My sister, Ruthie, has MS and is in need of a knee replacement, so she is struggling, too.  However, she's as tough as they come and she's stepped up to the plate during this crisis to be strong.  Ruthie has been my leader all my life and Phil stepped in when I was 12; lucky me!  I thank God for the blessings they've been in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This pic is for you, Ruthie!  You said to hug this baby for you and here's the hug.  It was so cool to have him fall asleep in my arms.  This is Lee's youngest grandson, Bryce, and he and his mom and dad and one of his sisters came to visit today.  We have another of Lee's daughters here, as well, but alas, the kids get the press!  It's been a great day for us and we are thankful for so much.  For starters we're thankful for family; we're also thankful for their safe travels!  Bryce and his family are gone.  Lisa and Rick are staying the night.  Lee and I have a lot to eat next week!  It'll be good in my lunches at school, I guess.  I'll post pics of Lisa and Rick, soon.  We thank God for our abundant blessings and for yours, too!

Happy birthday, Gabe!

Eighteen years ago today it was not Thanksgiving eve; it was the day Gabe was born.  Wow; time sure flies! Today it is Thanksgiving eve and still Gabe's birthday; he's on my list of thanks to God!  What a blessing he is in my life.  Thank you, Gabe, and thank you, God!

Lee and I are about ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  The house is pretty livable.  I still have a lot of fine tuning to do, but it's ready enough to clean and have company!  We're thankful that two of his daughters are coming to join us.  We have the food all ready except for what has to be done at the last minute.  Tonight we'll watch the Thunder play ball on TV.  The last two nights we watched Hobart's kids play ball and they sure put on a great show.  The high school girls just lost by a couple of points last night in a barn burner.  Then the boys got even when they won their game by about 12 points after it was a really close game all night.  I am so impressed with our kids!  I thank God for the opportunity to see these kids in a setting other than the classroom.  The classroom is fun, but I really, really love watching them play basketball!

Happy Thanksgiving eve; I hope your Thanksgiving will last for every day and not just tomorrow.  Mine will.

More basketball tonight!

The high school teams (girls and boys) are playing at home tonight and we'll leave in a couple of hours for that.  I helped with testing this morning and then subbed for the freshman English teacher this afternoon.  They are a handful, but many of them played ball last night, so we had lots for which to be thankful.  This is the class I hope to finish out the year teaching when the teacher has her baby.

This pic posted tonight is Lee's son James and his wife, Cathy.  James had his gal bladder removed the first week in October and he's recovered really well.  His daughter had the same surgery the same day and she, too, is doing very well.  I'll post a picture I got of her soon.  It was fun to visit them Sunday.  Cathy's mother has had open heart surgery since James had his gal bladder removed and she, too, is recovering very well.  She's staying with James and Cathy until she is fully recovered and it was sure fun to meet her and visit.  We have lots of great family for which we give thanks!  James is the one who took apart all Lee's electronics when we moved his things here.  Because of his great job I was able to put it all back in working order.  I love James!

No more school this week, so I'm off until Monday, when I will help with testing, again.  Lee did lots of my prep for Thursday's dinner today, so my work tomorrow has already had a boost.  Lucky me!  We're so pleased to have a couple of his daughters coming and hope maybe Davy and Susan and their family will be able to stop by on there way to or from Susan's parents' house.

Holy canasta!

I'm HOOKED!  The kids I teach are right in the middle of basketball season and I love basketball.  I learned that they had games tonight, so I went at 4:30 and just got home.  The junior high girls played and then the junior high boys.  Then the 9th grade girls played.  All of them lost but they all  hustled hard and played giving it their all; I was so proud.  Then the 9th grade boys played and we nearly raised the roof screaming for them!  They led most of the game and then got about 6 points behind in the last quarter.  But, they rallied and  claimed the game after all and won it 44 to 42.  I must never miss another game!  This was too much fun and it's really so important for me to see the kids in all their elements if at all possible.  I loved every moment of watching them play.  I thank God for a bunch of home games and kids that play with all their hearts!  Tomorrow night the high school girls and boys play, so I'll be there.  It was a great date for Lee and I!  We sat with Dorothy and another lady from church.  What a great night.

Today I had a good day at school, too.  I helped with the testing for the first half of the day and then subbed for the home ec. teacher after lunch.  I'm having more and more fun.  I'm really enjoying all the different classes.  Lucky me!

Happy birthday, Deanna!

Today is my niece, Deanna's, birthday, so I hope it was awesome for you, Deanna!  Lee and I took the day off to go visiting some of the family.  We had two tables we'd used at the garage sale that we were taking to his son.  That's two more things out of the garage and we had a wonderful visit with them.  We stopped by and spent some time visiting with Trish and Rob and we caught the two oldest and two youngest kids.  We missed Sadie and Mason, but 4 out of 6 isn't bad!  I got pictures of some of them, so I'll be posting them in the next few days.  The picture I posted is Lee and I before we left the house this morning.  We stopped and visited for a while with Lee's brother Dan, and his wife, Sandy.  Those are all good times.  Lee hopes we can keep up such visiting every 2 or 3 weeks.  That would be nice, so I hope we can make it work, too.  Thankfully, he can see to drive in the dark!

I thank God for a safe trip and for precious time with awesome family!  Tomorrow is coming up quickly and I'm helping at school with testing, so I've got to go get into bed.  My weekend was short but wonderful and I thank and praise God for it!

There he goes!

The last time we were in OKC and visited with Trish and the kids I got this picture of Mason scurrying up this tree.  Gracie ran and climbed up another one and posed for a picture, but Mase doesn't slow down for a picture!  I got him in action, but you can't see him very well.  Before long he was way up in the top of that tree and I couldn't even see him, let along get a picture.  I thank God that none of Tricia's kids have ever fallen and broken a bone!  They are awesome climbers!  I doubt if they fall much, but the probably have great, strong bones from her great breast milk in their early years.

We're hoping to see them tomorrow when we go to the City.  We're taking tables to Lee's son and going by to see his brother, too.  It's just a quick trip, but it will be nice to see some family that we haven't seen in a while and we won't see over Thanksgiving.

I got my cleaning done today.  It'll be good to have some company; we haven't had any in a while and this house is made for lots of people.  Hope I remember how to cook!  I'm trusting it to be like riding a bicycle; hope I never forget!

It was a breeze!

Sure enough, today was really a breeze.  I was amazed at how some kids who usually give me lots of challenges were dream kids.  I guess it has to do with what the teacher normally lets them pull!  They were perfect kids today!

It's going to be nice to have the weekend at home.  I've got some last minute cleaning I'd like to do before the holidays.  A couple of Lee's kids will be here for Thanksgiving, so we're looking forward to having our first guests since we got the house in pretty good shape.  Lee wants to go to OKC this weekend, so I'm pulling for Sunday so I can get my cleaning done tomorrow.  We'll see how the weekend develops.  I'm so grateful for a week of work, topped off with a perfect day!  They asked me to help with testing next week, so I'll work Monday and Tuesday of next week.  I'll work the Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving with the testing, too.  It's good to get experience in different areas and it's good to have the work!  I am grateful to have the work now, so I can take time off to go to Hawaii!  Woo hoo!

One more school day this week!

There's one more school day and I'm subbing in Junior English and remedial reading.  I talked to that English  teacher today and she said she's planned reading for them, so it should be an easy day for me.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow, but all I really have to do is make it through the day.  I'm grateful for the work.  I really do enjoy working with the kids, no matter what the subject.  I'm just more competent to help them in English than the others.

Today I got home early enough to go out and dig the biggest monster weeds that were in my flower bed.  There are a ton more to dig, but I enjoyed getting those.  Saturday is supposed to be nice, again, so maybe I can get lots more that day.  I sure hope so. I took about a 50 pound bag out to the dumpster, so that much is gone!

I've done my power plating and Nubaxing, so I'm ready to go to bed early.  Ahhhh.  I thank God for strength and the opportunity to recuperate!

Great news!

Today they called me to teach algebra, geometry and calculus, again.  I use the term teach, loosely; I just held the fort and the kids did all the work.  I loved the day with them, though.  It wasn't nearly as tiring as yesterday with recesses and standing on my feet all day to actually teach music notes!  After school the 9th and 10th grade English teacher came and asked me if I'd consider teaching long term for her after her baby is born April 15th!  Woohoo!  That's right up my alley!  I'd love to have that job, so I sure hope they call me for it!  It was a compliment that she wanted me to do it, too.  I had those 9th graders last year when I taught quite a bit of English in middle school, so many of those kids are 'my kids!'  I've taught enough at the high school that I'm getting attached to the sophomores, too.  It's a nice thing to look forward to next spring.

The secretary also came and asked me to sub for the other English teacher at the high school this Friday, too.  I may have tomorrow off, but I'll be teaching Friday and more in my league than I've been the last few days!

Now, here's the really great news!  Bob Dwyer called last night to ask us to house sit in Hawaii in January and February!  Now, THAT's great news!  I was able to get tickets using our frequent flyer miles, so that's great news, too!  Frequent flyer miles are trick to use, so I was very pleased to accomplish it!  We'll get to spend about 7 weeks in Hawaii!  I had some time already booked for that time in Branson, but I was able to rearrange it all and put one time up for rent online.  It becomes tricky scheduling to get it all worked out, but I'll get it worked out.  A trip to Hawaii will be so awesome.  Lee has been to Hawaii, but always as a tourist.  It's really fun to go when you can just live there for a spell, so this will be a treat for him and a treat for me to get to share it with him.

I thank God for the way so many things seem to be falling into place.  He blesses me so abundantly!

She lives, but they're wearing her thin!

Today I subbed for the band teacher.  That means I spent 4 hours with the elementary kids and 2 outdoor recesses.  They just wear me flat out!  It was a nice sunshiny day, but it was brisk.  The worst thing is that there is no place to sit, so I stand the whole time.  That's hard on an old lady.  It would help if I knew the playground rules, too, but nobody tells me that stuff, so I just wander around.  It's not my comfort zone.  I'd much rather be taking a brisk walk or picking up pecans.  I like going somewhere or doing something; standing still is so tiring!

I'm blessed to have a job and a home to fall into when the day is done.  It's wonderful to have someone here who cares about me.  I am super blessed and I'm going to bed as soon as possible!  I thank God that I had energy to get something done yesterday!

Another day of algebra.

I survived another day of algebra.  I really feel sorry for the kids; they need help and I am none.  I'm living proof that you can survive algebra, though.  That's all I'm good for as far as they are concerned.  I guess the administration is glad to have someone to hold the fort in the classroom.  I'm having fun; I just hate it for the kids that I'm of no help to them.

I got home from school and washed two loads of clothes while I swept and mopped all the hard floors.  I don't even remember the last time I did that.  This is the first time since Lee and I married, though.  We haven't had the floors free of boxed until now.  Actually, I still have 4 boxes I just mopped around in the dining room.  Searchlight did come and get all the stuff out of the garage today, though!  Lee put the blue van inside and I drove the white one in when I came home.  Hooray!  They are out there basking in the warmth right now!  If I teach tomorrow I won't have to scrape the windshield!  It was icy this morning on the rear window, but it was nice when I came home.  I've got to love Oklahoma weather.  I thank God for warm days that overtake the cold ones!

I'm wondering how teachers ever get anything done at home!  I'm worn out and ready for bed, but there's a Thunder game on, so I'm going to go enjoy them and then go to bed.  God blesses me with so much and I sure thank Him for restoring me over a good night's sleep.

Happy Veterans' Day!

I wore red today to celebrate Veterans' Day.  I love coming from a military family.  My Dad took us to Japan twice.  My brother was in the Air Force and was able to get stationed at the same base where we were in Japan the second time.  My sister met her husband in Japan that second time when we were there.  I feel so blessed to have had the military brat experience.  I think it's one of the best things that ever happened in my life and helped to train me very well for life.  I thank all the veterans and honor them every day and especially today.

We worked in the garage today and got the very last of everything ready for Searchlight to come and pick up all that is left (enough to have a whole other sale, but I am so done with sales; it's time to donate!).  It looks so much better out there tonight.  I'll love putting the vans in there tomorrow.  I'm not sure Lee's truck will ever fit in there (too long), but it's never lived inside, so I guess it won't be the end of the world.  I've reminded myself so much of Don's Dad.  When we first moved into this house we put his car in the driveway and filled up the garage with our stuff.  He could not rest with his car in the driveway!  We finally cleared out enough space to put his car inside and he was okay.  I've been nearly as restless as he was about leaving the cars outside . . . I wonder if I'm getting Alzheimer's???!!!  I think not, but if I could just be as kind and wise as Don's dad was, I'd be so pleased.  Maybe I'm going in the right direction if I know to get my car in the garage.

I've been blessed to have many precious people to influence me in my life.  Today I'm especially grateful for the Veterans I've know and especially for their service to our country!

Cousins are our first best friends!

Someone has said that our cousins are our first best friends and I think this is so true.  I know it's true for me.  I love seeing it among young cousins I know.  These two pictured are my great nephews and they are such good friends!  This is Colter on the left and Luke on the right; they absolutely light up when they see each other.  It's such a treat to watch them, which we got to do when we were in Houston.

Today I got lots accomplished around the house.  I hope we'll get the garage cleared out on Monday and be able to get the cars in there.  That will be nice for cold mornings.

It was warm today and very windy.  I think the high was 83, which is awesome for November 10!  We picked up a ton of pecans at our friends' home; they are out of town so the pecan are ours for the picking.  I have pecan stains on my fingers and thumbs, now.  DUH; that was pretty dumb of me to do!  I knew better than to pick those shells off the green ones.  UGH.  So, my hands look like they belong to an auto mechanic.  I'll go see if I can find a remedy.  I'm sure thankful for the pecans, though!  Bob and Di are great to share with us and God is awesome to provide great pecans; lucky me to get to be the beneficiary!  Now, to go figure out what to do with my hands!

Nothing better than pie!

That's sure what I think!  I enjoy the sugar free pie I make so much.  I'm thankful for a nice treat from time to time.  (I do my best to have a piece every day!)  This picture is one I took of Ava when she was doing her best to devour a piece of homemade lemon meringue pie that Doris had made when we were there.  Ava really didn't want to slow down for a picture.  Her mom had to nearly break her own wrist to give it to her at an angle so that I could get a shot of her face.  Ava was really serious about that pie and me taking a picture seemed totally uncalled for to her!  Thanks Stephanie, for helping me to get this shot!

Lee and I picked up pecans at our friend's house today, so I had pecans to put on our sugar free pie tonight. Yum!  We'll have pie to last a few days and that's a good thing!

They didn't call me to teach today so we nearly got the garage cleaned.  We've got everything boxed up and ready for Searchlight to pick up on Monday.  They are a local group who run a thrift store, so we're donating what's left in the garage to them.  I've got a few things out there that I want to keep, so I've got to put them somewhere.  I'm slowly getting things ready for living here.  I thank God that we've been able to stay mostly healthy through all of this.  Lee's gout is much better and I sure thank God for that!

The Thunder is playing tonight, so I'm off to watch that game.  Thunder up!

Another day subbing.

This is a picture I got of Raynie when we were in OKC a couple of weeks ago.  She looks like a little business woman, doesn't she?  That's her proud mommy smiling in the background.  I am thankful for both Raynie and her mommy in my life.

I'm posting Raynie's picture because mine was so rugged!  I'm crashing after a day of teaching Botany, Zoology, Biology and Art.    I use the term teaching, loosely!  I was only babysitting because I know little about any of those subjects!  I thought I was there to keep anyone from killing anyone else and to keep them from starting fires.  But, in my planning period they asked me to take the art class and, no kidding, the kids were doing wood burning and the place smelled like a fire!  I truly had to be sure they didn't start a real fire, so I may quit joking about that.  Then in the next hour a smart mouthed kid asked me what I'd do if he didn't quit talking and I told him I'd have to beat him up and it would really make him look bad since he's a lot bigger than me.  Thankfully, he  smiled and quit talking.  I thanked him later for not making me kill him and got another smile out of him.  So, it turns out that we were close to a fire in the classroom and I was the one threatening to do the killing.  It sounds hairy, but it was really a good day.  I smiled most of the day and the kids did, too.  I'd like every day to be as fun as today was and most are.  They haven't called me to sub tomorrow, but I need to get up and get ready at 6 in case they call me at the last minute.  If they don't I'll be up in time to get a running start on the day.

I've got the two tables we borrowed from the church for the garage sale cleared.  There are still lots more tables out there, but I'm working my way to a clean garage for the cars.  I thank God for a garage and for abundance in my life in every way.  Little by little I'm getting closer to a settled life.  God is so great!

Long night and day.

I survived, but I didn't even offer to take Lee's picture.  He can hardly be still with his gout bothering him.  He was awake half the night, with it but it was better this morning.  Now, it's firing up, again.  This aging thing is just not pretty!

I subbed today for the algebra/geometry/calculus teacher.  We didn't have any fires in the classroom and nobody killed anyone, so I guess it went well.  I'd rather teach something about which I know something, but the pay is the same.  I loved seeing the kids.  This is the first time I've been to the high school this year, so I got to see a bunch of kids who were 8th graders last year.  That part was fun!

Lee stayed home and held the fort while the garage door repair man came and repaired our door.  It came crashing down last night when the spring broke.  If it's not one thing, then it's another, but it could be worse things.  I thank God that it's not worse things.  I praise God as our King and look to Him to pull us through the next four years.  There is a lesson in this;  (election results) I hope we don't miss it!

Happy birthday, Ruthie!

This is a picture I got of Ruthie when I was there back in May, I think.  She's been my big sister all my life and I count it as a huge blessing!  She taught me lots of what I know and I continue to learn from her.  She is hanging really tough through Phil's recovery.  They spent the day testing him yesterday and he seems to be holding his own.  I count him as another blessing; he's been in my life since I was 12, so that's most of my life!  Thank you for your prayers for them; so far, so good.  They are hanging really tough.  I thank God for Ruthie in my life and I thank Him and her for bringing Phil into my life, too.  He is the rest of Ruthie and they sure bless me.

We had another kind of easy day.  I've just been putzing around cleaning up here and there and putting things together.  The spring on the garage door broke today, so I guess it's a good thing we didn't have the cars in there yet.  It's still full of garage sale stuff!  The guy will come and fix it tomorrow, I hope.  I'm subbing tomorrow.  I won't be teaching because I'm subbing for the algebra/geometry teacher.  I might foul out if I had to count to ten, so I only promised to keep the peace.  A dear friend at church passed away Sunday morning, and I'm subbing for his niece so she can go to his funeral.  It's probably better that I don't go.  It's hard when it's someone so close!  His wife will understand that I'm not there.

I actually sat down a bit to watch the Thunder play ball tonight.  Thankfully they are winning!

Happy birthday to my baby, Jilly!

Well, she turned 40 today, but she'll always be my baby.  I got this picture of her when we were there about 3 weeks ago.  Bless her heart; she my be my baby, but she's a gorilla whenever she has to be.  She takes care of business!  Happy birthday, Jilly!  (I know it's confusing, but Jilly is also Gretta; her name is Gretta Jill and I always called her Jilly when I was cheering her on the basketball court.  She was a great player and the name stuck!  :)

We had a quiet day around the house today.  I'm working gently to get the garage sale stuff packed to donate.  There is no big rush.  I want to get the cars into the garage, but there's no big rush.  I'm ready to take it a little easy.  I get a little done here and there and that's good enough.

I thank God for a time to relax and not be so rushed.  It seems like we've been in a rush since we got married.  I cooked chicken today and that was nice.  We've been just eating whatever we could throw onto the table or TV tray when the table was packed.  It's nice to cook a real meal.

I changed our sheets; it will be nice to have a cool, clean bed to fall into tonight.  Ah; we are blessed.

Grandpas are so awesome!

This picture is my brother-in-law, Jerry, playing a game with two of his grandson, Logan and Luke.  This week I'm reminded how awesome grandpas are!  Our friend in Hawaii built a crate to ship the doll house he built for his daughters over 30 years ago to his granddaughter in Vancouver.  He's spent the last month remodeling it for her and then built the crate that he used for shipping into a playhouse for her and her brothers!  Don't you know the memories of that remodel and building will always be a treasure to those grandchildren!  Like Jerry playing games with Logan and Luke; he also played football with them; memories they will all cherish forever.  Kids love it when grandparents make them feel special.  Lee's granddaughter is getting married on the day of my family reunion and we'll miss the reunion but we won't miss the wedding.  Priorities are important and sometimes they are hard to keep straight.  We'll make the reunion next year if at all possible, but I pray that this will be her only wedding day and it's important that her grandpa be there.

I'm spending this afternoon shopping at my garage sale.  This is my last chance to keep anything that is out there.  I'm boxing the rest up to donate.  I took a break to come in here and get this blog posted.  It will be good to see the wide open garage again!

I thank God for grandpas:  I had two who were also awesome and I treasure the memories.  I thank Him also for grandchildren and even borrowed grandchildren!  When we were in Houston I needed to get some stairs into my daily exercise, so I made a few trips up to that game room you see in the picture on tonight's pose..  Logan went with me and he thought it was so cool that I was just going up and down the stairs.  We'd get down to the bottom and he'd say, "Let's do again!  It'll be cool!"  Bless his heart; a memory for ME to treasure!

I can sit again!

Not only can I sit, but I can NAP!  I'm going to do exactly that as soon as I go get my garage sale sign.  I don't want to leave it out for a month like lots of people do.  I'm going to go get the sign and come right back to a nice nap.  Yes!

The garages sale is done.  We are left with a lot of stuff, but I'll find a way to get rid of it.  I'm cleaning out the garage if it's the last thing I do.  Neither van sold, so I'm stuck with both of them, too.  I'll have to go on a particular mission to sell them.  It would have been a stroke of luck to happen to sell them at the garage sale!

I thank God for my friend Joan, who came and sat through the sale with me.  She is such a great friend and we enjoyed the time shared.  She was also a huge help!  The sale is behind me; now I just have to donate the rest or get rid of it somehow.  For now I'm going to go get the sign and then take a nap while Lee's watching football.

The picture on this post is one Stephanie got of Colter with Lee and I at Doris' house last Tuesday night.  Colter is 5 and a great kid!

Day one of garage sale is done!

Here is a picture that Gregg took of us with his wife, Stephanie and their son, Colter, and their daughter, Ava Tuesday night when we were in Houston.  What a fun visit it was; we sure thank Gregg and Stephanie for taking time out of their busy schedule to spend some time with us.

Today was a great garage sale day.  We got the piles gone and we're down to one layer of 'stuff.'  I sure hope that the rest of it finds someplace else to live tomorrow!  Joan came and spent the day helping me, so that was fun, too.  Lee helped a lot, but he got to come into the house and take some catnaps, too.  I'm going to bed, ASAP, to catch up on the sleep I missed last night.

I thank God for the use of all this 'stuff' in the past and ask that He help me to help it to find a new home tomorrow!  I also thank God that Phil was able to get an appointment with the neurologist for Monday!  It will be a good thing to have him with the specialist, and the sooner, the better!  He saw his regular doctor today and his is holding his own, but still feeling some numbness and not working his arms so well.  I thank God for his life and pray that we will be able to find a remedy to get Phil back to normal as soon as possible.

Fun guys in Houston!

This is Logan and Luke, two of Doris' grandsons.  They are taking their pick from here trick or treat treasures.  Luke was just a baby in arms when we first started my treatments in Houston.  He's playing flag football, now, and has a little brother coming up in his footsteps.  It was really fun to get to see them and spend some time playing with them.

Today has been a hard, hard, day.  We've worked to get the garage sale ready for tomorrow.  There are still some things that are not marked, but I'll get up early in the morning and get busy.  Surely I can be done by 8.  If I'm not then we'll go ahead and do the best we can.  I know I am never having another garage sale if I can help it.  They called me to teach today and I had to turn it down to do this sale.  I think I came out on the short end of that stick, but I so badly want to get this stuff out of the garage.  I think I'd be better off to just give it away!  Maybe I'll feel better after tomorrow if I have some money to show for it.  After Saturday I should have a clean garage and THAT will make me smile.

I thank God that I have 'stuff' to spare instead of NEEDING something.  I'm doing my best to keep this all in perspective.  I'm learning.  God is so, so generous and I am grateful.