Such good company!

Tonight's picture is one Don took Saturday, when we checked in and were making the rounds in this unit. Of course, I love the whirlpool tub. I'll get good use in there!

Steve and Mary arrived last night at about 9:20. They had to slide part of the way, but they arrived, safely. We thank God for that. I'm so glad they came early because we got an extra day with them. We had a great time today. It's COLD, but we still went out hunting birds. The birds are too smart to get out, though. We did see a yellow rumped warbler. A Carolina wren came and ate crumbs Steve put out on their patio! We're playing cards, working Ruthie's puzzle and watching football. Woohoo!

Here come Steve and Mary!

Tonight's picture is one that Don took yesterday of our bed, here, at Big Cedar. They have bears and deer and all manner of wild animals everywhere. Notice the bears on the roll pillow and the bears in the coverlet on the bed. This is a way comfortable bed, too! We really like it here, especially since we have the WIFI in the unit!

We have a prediction for a winter storm, so Steve and Mary are on their way instead of waiting until in the morning to come! Woohoo! I'll be glad for them to get here early, plus I'm really glad for them to get ahead of the storm. She has a smart phone and has sent me two messages that all is well. I love these new gadgets that keep us so well connected! (I'm so glad she has one and knows how to use it! Ha! I'd be up a tree if I had one!)

I thank God for good friends and their safe traveling. What a treat for us to have them join us here. This will be the third time they've joined us at Big Cedar, I think. Steve and I have the same birthday, so we always celebrate our birthday when we get together; we pay no attention to the date. We enjoy celebrating, whatever the day!

Supper time at Big Cedar!

Tonight's picture is one Don took of me fixing supper tonight. We're so glad to be checked in and settled, here. It's really a treat place. Coal Miner's Daughter is on TV, and I've never seen it, so I'm watching it over my shoulder and will go watch it right as soon as I get this posted.

We were so pleased to learn that they now have WIFI in the units! It's free to us because we have an account with ATT. I spend a lot of time mad at ATT, so I'm liking them lots better since we get WIFI access through them! I'll be happier to cut them some slack with all the jacking they do with our account. It's a real drag when we don't have WIFI in our unit, so this is a wonderful surprise. We got pictures of a great sunset off our balcony today and neat pictures of the bed in our bedroom and the whirlpool tub. Ah; this will be a nice week! I'll post those pictures later. Really, every week has been nice. This place is packed to the hilt, though, so I wasn't looking forward to traveling all over just to post to the blog and check email. This is a really nice surprise. The 'cookie lady' has already come and given us cookies, which I'll freeze for spring break and decaf for Don's breakfast. It's so cool when she comes every night; it's a specialty of this place. We were able to check in just shortly after noon, so that was a nice surprise, too.

God is great and we sure thank Him for the abundant blessings in our lives.

Barely awake enough to make it to the car.

Tonight's picture is one I took of Kyle as he left for home last Sunday. I think it's typical for a 13 year old to wake up with difficulty. In his defense, though, he slept on the couch in the living room, so he had to be the last one to bed. I was in there at nearly midnight rushing to type my blog and journal, and he never complained. He totally slept through breakfast, and he was very sleepy as he left. He was still kind enough to give me a smile for the camera, though. We are still enjoying the memories of their visit and we thank God for them and their safe travels!

We're packed and ready to check out of here after breakfast. We're going this week to Big Cedar, which is the most booked resort in all of Bluegreen. We like to go there, but this year we've only booked this one week there because it takes fewer points to do it the way we're doing it (using hot weeks and booking 10 days before we go). So, going out to Big Cedar is a treat. We always have someone join us when we go there. Steve and Mary have joined us twice, I think and they are coming next week. We absolutely love time with them. We hike and hunt birds if it's not too cold. But, it may be too cold and if it is, then we'll love playing cards. We'll go get checked in tomorrow and Steve and Mary will come Monday. So, off we go!

They got the fitness room up and running today, so we were back to the treadmill. We'll come back here for the week after Big Cedar. We like it here, too! We got a post office box in Hollister, so that Joan can forward our first class mail to us, easier. It was tricky moving from one place to another each week! So if you need to mail us something, our address is:

PO Box 1706
Hollister, MO 65673

And they were off!

Tonight's picture is one I took as the kids piled into the Suburban. Water? Check! Sunglasses? Check! It's amazing we didn't find a thing that they left, so they got home with all they brought, I hope! (This is Elise and Gina in the picture.)

Today they were still painting in the fitness room, so Don and I walked around the outside of the resort grounds. It was tolerable to walk in the cold and interesting; so glad the wind wasn't blowing like it does in Oklahoma, or we'd have frozen! I thank God for the opportunity to walk inside or outside; it's a great privilege that many people our age don't have, so PTL!

Otherwise, all is relaxing here! I thank God for that, too. I just talked to David and Dorothy and he gets to go home in the morning if he still is feeling better like he is now. PTL!!!

Good sports!

Gina and "company" got up early to head home on Sunday, so they weren't too excited about me taking pictures. Elise and Sharon were good sports, though! We're so grateful for their stopping to spend a night with us. They got here around 5:30 on Saturday, so we had time for a good visit with them. Then they made it home, safely, so we give thanks! Sharon was fighting a sinus infection, so she introduced me to Vicks tissues. Man, those things are STRONG! Have you smelled them?

Today we went over to the fitness room and it was closed; they were painting. Hopefully, it will be up and running tomorrow. We should have walked around outside, but we were just lazy today. I guess it's okay to take a day off here and there. RIF: Reading Is Fun! Relaxing is great, too. It's great not to have a heavy duty agenda!

I called home to check in today and learned that David and Dorothy spent the night at the hospital last night. David has an infection, so they'll keep him for a few days. I hope they can get him out of there quickly before he gets some bug on top of this. Man, COPD is sure bad stuff! Please keep them in your prayers, and I'll keep you updated about them. (Dorothy is okay; she just stayed in the hospital with David. She is having a terrible time with pain in her leg and hip, though.)

Another fork trick.

Don forgot to bring his extending fork, but we've had fun with the huge forks in our units. When we were at Horseshoe Bend we set the table with a huge serving fork at Phil's place for one meal. That was funny! So, when Gina and the kids were here, we set the table at breakfast with the huge serving fork at Ethan's place. He said, "This is a ginormous fork!" And, I love his expression! He's a real clown, so he was the perfect one for this fork. Gina's a great sport, too!

I mentioned yesterday that I was sweating like a pig and my good friend, Vereal Barton corrected me! Pigs don't sweat! Horses sweat and pigs wallow to get cool; they are unable to sweat. Maybe I've been upgraded? I sweat like a horse. Ha! My good friend from high school (Charlie Clark) says that girls (that's a complement!) don't sweat, but they glow. Well, whatever, I come home from the fitness center glowing like a horse, I guess. I guess I'll never make much of a country girl. I never felt like a city girl, but I must lean in that direction. I thank God that I can sweat. It would be a huge mess if I had to roll in some mud to get cool! 'Glowing' is messy enough! Thanks, Vereal! You sure know how to make me think of you often!

Reliving the visit.

Today's picture is Don getting a hug from Ethan as they were leaving yesterday. It was so fun to get to visit and play cards with this bunch!

Today we got back to our work out at the fitness center. So, I'm sweating like a pig, but very content. We like these workout sessions and appreciate this place for having a pretty good fitness center. Next week we'll go to Big Cedar and they have a great fitness center. They won't have Internet in the room, but I think I can get dial up in the room. We'll see how that works. I'm just grateful to have great places to spend the winter and even more grateful for family visits while we're here. God sure blesses us abundantly!

This morning our power went off for about 30 minutes just as I was setting breakfast on the table. I was so grateful that I had it cooked before it went off and it occurred to me that we're so blessed to have electricity all the time. Just a hundred years ago (and less!) nobody had electricity or water in their homes! When I was born, we didn't have a car. We did have electricity and hot running water in the house, but we didn't own a TV until I was 9. Then we went back to Japan and, by the time I was 14 and we were back in the states, and I had never developed the habit or appreciation for watching TV. My grandparents had only an out house, although they did have a tub in the house and running hot and cold water. Not having electricity this morning reminded me that we live in such abundance that we take for granted. I thank God for, not only life, but a very good life.

Cold!

Tonight's picture is Don giving Elise a hug this morning before they left to go home. We had a wonderful visit. I'll post more pictures this week. We sure thank God for their visit and their safe trip.

It's cold here, today. It seemed cold when we went to church and after church when we went to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries. I've stayed busy today, but I can't get warm. It's like I'm chilled to the bone. I'm headed to take a nice warm bath; that will do it! Just think 100 years ago they didn't have running hot water and we think times are tough! (I thank God for hot water in the house, too!)

Nearly forgot, again!

Wow! We're having so much fun with Gina and the kids. I started to bed and remembered I hadn't done the blog! I haven't even taken any pictures! YIKES! So, I'll take pictures in the morning before they leave. The picture I put on here is of Gina and Don last September when we were at their house and she was taking us through their greenhouse. So, in the next few days when I put on a picture of Don, you'll see how much weight he's lost!

They got here in great time and we had supper and have played cards and talked since then. I sure thank God for their safe trip and pray that he will keep them safe tomorrow, too.

Sorry I almost missed this post!

Happy New Year!

Tonight's picture is one Don took of me as I get his burger into a skillet for supper tonight. That's a treat for him. I think his favorite meal is a hamburger and we've found low carb tortillas that we put his burger onto, so, with mustard, lettuce, pickle and onion, he feels like he's having a hamburger sandwich and he doesn't ruin his diet. So, that's our new year's eve celebration dinner. We're easy! Tomorrow Gina and the kids are coming, so that will be a great way to start the year! I pray they travel safely!

We woke up this morning to a call from the resort telling us we were under a tornado warning and we should either come down to the first floor or tune into channel 10 to keep updated. We had thunder and hard rain, but the tornadoes went around us. I thanked God! It reminded me of last year when we were in Maui and were awakened by the tsunami alarm and the loud speaker saying we should prepare to evacuate or tune into some channel for information. We did evacuate and the tsunami never happened. Those are rude awakenings, but I rejoice that we are safe.

Yesterday, I hope I didn't concern you because I had a tough day. Tough days happen. It's life. I have to be honest on this blog, though, so I tell it like it is. Surviving breast cancer is wonderful, but as long as we live there will be tough challenges. I guess it builds character and strength. I hope so. I thank God for believing I can overcome the tough stuff and giving me life.

No sugar added rocky road ice cream. I need it!

This is the picture Don took of me yesterday when I got home from getting groceries. Gina and the kids will be here Saturday night, so I wanted noodles and spaghetti sauce and bread to feed them. Orange juice is a good start for breakfast and a red onion will keep Don happy. The great thing was I found no sugar added rocky road ice cream! I sure needed that! I've been here two weeks and couldn't find any until yesterday.

Today has been a hairy day. I keep getting difficult news from folks I love. This blog is not the place to go over any of it, but it's been hard for me. So, I will have ice cream and work my way through it. Life is not always easy, so it's comforting for me to know that God IS right here with us. I count on that. I thank Him that I don't have to know all the answers and thank Him for taking care of all the details.

Today was nice and warm, so Don and I walked over to the Tanger outlet mall and all through it. We went to all the places we thought we might find a bargain. There were bargains, but we didn't want any of them, so we didn't come lugging anything home that would have been an excess!

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

The picture tonight is one I took last July when we went to Omaha for Jessie's tournament. Jessie is on the far left and her dad, Jeff, is the second from the right. The coaches were having an after that game session with the girls. Today is Jeff's birthday and the celebration tonight will be around OSU's game; hope they get a win! That will be a present for Jeff; notice his OSU orange glasses! God gave us a great trip to Omaha and saved our life when we totaled the car on the way home. We have so many blessings to count!

So, we're watching football tonight. I did a little shopping today. It was enough to make me tired after walking laps in the hall here and then doing the stairs twice. (They have an elevator, but I use it as little as possible.)

I'll get a good jacuzzi bath right quick, before the game starts. I love these baths!

God gave us another break.

This is a picture Don took of me in the kitchen in this unit. The kitchen is where I always spend a lot of time. Today I was way thirsty after shopping.

God gave us a break on the weather; it was in the 40's today and not windy, so that wasn't bad at all. I got a few Christmas bags for next year, but didn't find anything else. I'm getting better and better at ignoring the bargains. I finally learned that it's not a bargain if I don't need it.

I'm sleepy, already, so I guess the shopping on top of our walking the halls and stairs are doing a job on me. I'll have a nice jacuzzi bath and hit the hay!

Slow around here.

Tonight's picture is one Don took of me at the table, here in our unit. There isn't much happening today. I love it when it's slow and easy like this!

It's very cold outside, but we don't have snow. We walked the hall this morning for 40 minutes, then we walked down the stairs 4 floors and back. Then later they called to tell me we had mail, so I walked down all 5 floors to pick up our mail and then back. So, we're getting some exercise. It's too cold to hike, but Thursday may be a warmer day and maybe we'll go walking in the woods. I'm thinking tomorrow I may go do a little shopping. It was nice to take it easy today. Don worked on the computer all morning, so I read my book. Then this afternoon I caught up on my emails and computer stuff. It's nice to not have any projects to do around the house, like throw herbs or cleaning, etc.

I spent much of today on the phone with people we love at home. A dear friend of Don's dad's passed away yesterday. She was 94 and left her husband who will be 98 on his next birthday. What a precious couple! We thank God for their love and their example in our lives. They have been blessed, and her death to a heart attack was simple. She had fallen 3 weeks ago and hospitalized for 2 weeks and they had moved her to the nursing home last week. She lived only a week there. God was kind to bring her home with no further complications. Certainly she will be missed and remembered by lots.

Nice fireplace.

Tonight's picture is one Don took of me last night, standing beside our 'fireplace' in this unit. It's pretty novel. It actually does put out heat and it has a flame that is adjustable; it's really not a flame, but it sure looks like one. The camera doesn't do it justice, but we're enjoying it.

Today we went shopping at Wal-Mart after church and that was a dumb thing. I had on heals, which I only wear to church. So I walked a blister onto one of my feet. I'm sure glad I don't have to wear those shoes, again, anytime soon. A blister is a nasty thing, especially for someone who walks everyday. Ugh. Maybe my tennis shoes won't hit on that blister, plus I have a supply of band-aids and a cushion I can put in that shoe to raise my foot up to where the blister won't get so much traffic. I just hate it when I do really dumb things like that!

It was cold here today, and we had a few little snow flurries, but we thanked God that we didn't have to struggle through snow. If we get snow, here, they usually do a really good job of clearing the roads, but we have no experience with snow, so we lay really low if it snows. Much of the east has snow, so we pray our kids and friends who are in snow are safe!

Merry Christmas!

Tonight's picture is one Don took of me in front of the tree in the lobby. This tree is really pretty awesome. They have life sized trumpets on that tree! Flip flops; that's the wonder of being inside, since we aren't in Hawaii. :)

We had a nice quiet day. I got to sleep late and that was a treat for me. We had brunch and skipped lunch. We are going with the KISS method; that is keep it super simple. Someone else did all the decorating and we're eating simply. It works for Don's diet and food is a small issue for me, anymore.

There are very few people in this resort right now, I think. We rarely see anyone or hear anyone. This is exactly like we like it. I thank God that we can have these great getaways. We look forward to Gina and the kids coming next week for a visit and we'll enjoy hearing about all their travels and visits! I wish everyone were on Skype. We Skyped with Trish and her family today and that was fun. I Skype with Bob Clark and Judy Izumi pretty often. Dana and Terri, do you Skype?

They don't have a fitness room here, and it was cold, so we didn't want to walk over to the mall. So, we walked laps in the hall. It was great. Two years ago we were here and I walked by myself because Don wasn't into walking. It was great to have his company today!

Merry Christmas to all!

Borrowed: "A Gift for Everyone"

Tonight's picture is one Don took of me crashed on our bed in this condo. Maybe 62 is too old to be moving around like we used to do all the time? I'll be fine tomorrow! A good night's sleep is a wonderful thing!

My good friend, Travis Wiginton, writes a devotional from time to time and tonight I'm borrowing a bit of his writing. His wife, La Moyne, types them for him and sends notes, as well, so it's always so good to hear from them! I was so touched by what they sent, so I will close with it. When I grew up I was a picky eater and I left lots on the table when it came to food. I outgrew that and became greedy when it came to food, so I'm doing my best to quit eating too much. However, I think we leave so much 'on the table,' when it comes to God's blessings and that's a mistake. The things we like best about traveling and hiking is seeing all the different things that God has made. Coming through all the tough things in my life, I know that God was always holding me in His arms, but He does that ALL the time! We are so blessed!

This is what Travis wrote:

"There was a gift for each of us left under the tree of life almost 2000 years ago by Him whose birthday we are celebrating.

It was made possible:
~ by the incarnation (the real meaning of Christmas)
~ by the crucifixion (the real meaning of Good Friday)
~ by the resurrection (the real meaning of Easter).

This gift is withheld from no one.
~Some have left the packages unclaimed.
~Some have accepted the gift and carry it around....
but have failed to remove the wrappings and look inside to discover the hidden splendor.

The packages are all alike - wrapped up in Jesus Christ who is
~"the Way
~the Truth
~the Life".

In each package is written "All that the Father has is thine, take and live"!"

Love reading!

So, this is the bed in the extra bedroom; it's a great place to read, and Don caught me reading. I love reading and it's part of my plan for relaxing. These beds are very comfortable! We didn't even put on our memory foam topper, which we bring with us.

We're packed to leave in the morning. We'll settle in at the next place for a week and then we'll come back to this condo for another week. Then we'll go out to Big Cedar for a week.

We've enjoyed working out ever since we left home, but we're not sure if the Colonnade has a work out room. We'll see. If they don't then we'll walk over to the Tanger Mall for exercise; it's very close.

It's almost Christmas! We thank God for sending His son! Hope you are enjoying Christmas where you are!

"Ruthie's bed."

Actually, this is not RUTHIE's bed, but it is the bed I so wanted her to come sleep in when we were in the Arkansas boonies: Horseshoe Bend. I was really impressed with the antiques: sleigh bed, wicker chairs, etc. Well, Ruthie DID come and she also loved the furnishings, but she reminded me that antique beds weren't queen size! These are replicas, but they are very good! We did love staying there and it was even better when Ruthie and Phil came to share it with us. I'm not so into pictures without people in them, but by the time Ruthie and Phil got there we were too busy puzzling to get pictures of them in the bedroom. Besides, this is a family friendly blog. :) This place represents fun memories for us.

We booked another week at the place where we are, now. This WIFI right in the unit works really well for us. They have a fitness room within walking distance, so that works well for us, too. So, this week we leave and go another place (The Colonnade) for a week and then we'll be back here for the week after that. We're pleased with that change in the plans. We had two weeks scheduled at the Colonnade, but they are closing the first of January, so we can do our second week there in March. We were glad to be able to pick up another week here, where we find it so comfortable. I need to get a picture of their beds; they have awesome beds! We didn't even have to put our memory foam top on the bed!

I thank God for great sleep; a wonderful bed and whirlpool tubs. Hot water and good heat are also wonderful and I give thanks for them, too!

Note: I did the consultation for the permanent make up today. I'll decide and report to you!

Short on pictures!

Boo! This is a picture Don took tonight for me to send to a lady who does permanent make up, so it's me up really close. I don't want to look painted, but I mostly don't want to have to do the painting every day! So, I'm still contemplating this. Ha! I look at this picture and think I need to have some tucks taken here and there! I don't really care about those wrinkles, though. I do need some color, and I need it every day. If Gretta reads this she'll call me and come right through the phone to keep me from doing it. She doesn't read this, though, so I'm safe. I'm hoping they'll do it subtly enough that she won't even notice it. I told her I was thinking of it once and she said, "Mom! Don't you DARE do that!" She has a bracelet tattooed on her wrist and another couple of really pretty ones on her thigh or hip or something . . . I think a rose or a dragon fly? And she thinks I shouldn't have my face done? I think I can make this decision. Judy or Linda, I sure wish you were here to hold my hand, though! Ha, Judy, you talked me into going back to mascara and now I'm so hooked! Linda, you talked me into eye brows and I'm hooked on those, too. So even though neither of you are here in body, I'm taking you with me in spirit if I do it!

I thank God for the opportunity to care what I look like! I thank Him for giving me a chance to live several more years after a breast cancer diagnosis. I thank Him for letting me feel good enough to care if I look alive or not.

Today was busy. I'm doing lots of research on this permanent make up thing. It's not like placing an Avon order; this is permanent, so I've got to be sure!

Christmas is closing in on us!

Only 5 more days! Don took this picture of me last night, standing out on the screened in porch of our unit. You can see the lights on the bushes out by the little pond behind us. We think it's pretty cool. I love Christmas lights when they belong to someone else; we donated all we had to the nursing home several years ago, so we don't do lights anymore. I don't jump rope anymore. I've just outgrown some things and jumping rope and hanging Christmas lights are two of them.

I am so grateful to be alive to celebrate every single day. Christmas is a wonderful season, but Don and I have learned over the years that celebrating is good every day. We're glad to celebrate early or late, whether it's for Christmas, birthdays or anniversaries. Those are all great occasions, but we think it's most important to celebrate every day. Family reunions (any sort of reunion) have to be celebrated whenever we can arrange to be at the same place, but doing all that arranging sometimes adds a lot of stress. We make all those that we can, but in general we do our best to celebrate all the time. We have seen too many examples of lives being cut short, so we take no day lightly.

God has blessed us all so much. We thank Him every day, but I believe our thanks is best shown by the way we live and show our thanks because our vocabularies are too limited to adequately express our gratitude and His generosity.

Survivor night.

Don is enjoying football; I'm posting the blog early to be sure I don't forget to do it, tonight. tonight is the 3 hour finale of Survivor. Survivor is one TV show that I enjoy watching, so I'll be consumed with it tonight.

This picture is one Don took of me to show you this condo. The laptop is on a table sort of between the kitchen and dining area and the living room. That red chair to my left is a recliner where Don sits to watch TV. Off the living room is a nice screened in patio that looks off over a little pond. They have all the shrubs all lit up with Christmas lights, so it's very picturesque.

Today we enjoyed going to church where we have gone so many times when we stay in Branson. We saw lots of people who are familiar to us and that was a blessing to us. It is cold, but not freezing cold. I was comfortable in slacks and a blazer; some weeks will require a coat and gloves and I'll still be freezing. I thank God that the wind doesn't blow here like it does at home. This kind of cold isn't bad when it's still. Wind makes it terrible, but it feels rather nice as it is.

At church this morning, one of the mover and shaker sort of people appeared looking like I did 3 years ago: bald and pale! I went up and visited with him after church and he was all smiles and so glad to be here. He's just finished his chemo and his hair is starting to return. Oh, man! Been there and done that! Thank God for his survival and mine!

Pomelo.

I looked it up and pomelo is the correct spelling. It's a fruit that I really enjoy and I can never get it at home. For some reason they have it around here. It's native to southeast Asia, but someone must ship it into here from California or who knows where. It's like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit. It's sweet. You don't need to sugar it. You just peel off the cover and then peel the segments and eat it. It's laborious, but it's worth it. This is a picture Don took of me with my pomelo when we first checked into the last condo in the boonies of Arkansas. I brought it with me from Lake Ozark; I never saw any in those boonies! I haven't seen any here, yet, but I usually find one before we leave.

We are enjoying this condo. We worked out at the fitness room this morning and we've been relaxing all day. Don has watched lots of football today and I took a good soak in the whirlpool tub. I love it when they have those and here I am with the time to soak! God is so good to me!

I have a quiche cooking that will last me all week for breakfast. We found a kind of bread that Don can have on his low carb diet, so that's a good treat for him, too. He's doing really well. It will be 8 weeks tomorrow and he's lost 20 pounds! He's starting to look skinny, but he won't quit until he's lost another 20 pounds and everyone will think he's sick. (That's not his goal, but it's my blunt way of stating it. I see the horror on people's faces and I field their questions about his health!) The last time he lost down so low Trish said, "Dad used to always be a big guy and now he's just a tall guy." He'll quit when he gets down to 200. Then we'll stick with our lifestyle change so that we never have to diet again!

Correct Link to Ann's picture.

The link I posted first didn't work; it would if you scrolled down through a bunch of posts, but it wasn't right. I believe this one will be right. I replaced the other one, but I wanted to do it, again, because when I post some folks get it in their email and might never go back to see the correction. So, here is the correction:

http://josnews.blogspot.com/2008/02/happy-red-shirt-day-ann.html

Celebrate a precious life.

Tonight's picture is one Don took of Ruthie and Phil and I before they left for home yesterday. We so enjoyed time with them! We took this picture because there was a shelf in their unit with all Japanese things on it! Ruthie and I spent 6 years in Japan and she met Phil there, so Japan is special to us!

We left Horseshoe Bend this morning and 'moved' to Branson. We are in a very nice condo, and settled, so we're looking forward to this week. The best thing is that we have WIFI right in the unit. That will be very convenient!

The sad thing was that when I checked my email I had a note from a good friends husband that she had passed away in her sleep on Sunday and her funeral was in Texas yesterday. If you've read the blog long, you will recall Ann Nelson sometimes posted comments. One time I put a picture of her on the blog in her red shirt because she joined me in wearing red on Fridays to support the troops. Ann's husband, Jim, went to Itazuke to school before I was there, but we met at the reunions. Then, when I did my treatments at MD Anderson, Ann was there for treatments as well. We grew closer and closer over the years and I considered her one of my best friends. She was a great encouragement to me and I thank God for the influence she had on my life. I celebrate her life and that I got to share some of it with her. I won't forget her. I hope you have people in your life that mean as much to you and that you will celebrate them, as well. I attempted to put a link to the picture I posted of Ann in her red shirt. I hope it works.

http://josnews.blogspot.com/2008/02/happy-red-shirt-day-ann.html

Late, but finished the puzzle!

Every now and then we work a puzzle that is fun all they way, but usually, it was more like it was with this puzzle. There were many times that we threatened to take this puzzle to the dumpster. Many times there were comments like, "This puzzle is so frustrating!" Then, so many times we said, "I just don't think that piece is here." Another common comment was, "I don't think there are enough pieces here to fill in all these spaces." It felt so good to be DONE with it! I lost count of how many pieces we recovered from the floor along the way. It was a fun time, though. We got down to the last two holes that needed to be filled and I counted, "There must be 7 more pieces." Sure enough, I counted and the last pieces, that looked like they did not belong at all, were 7 pieces. We twisted them every direction until, indeed, they did fit and completed the puzzle. It's amazing how the mind works. We're looking for a piece that we know should be green and when we finally find the right one, it's brown or orange! It definitely is a lesson to me that things are not what they seem and certainly I make poor judgments, even when I am rested and paying close attention.

I apologize to anyone who missed my post yesterday! I have to have the computer over here at the rec center to post, and they close it at 8 p.m. I fixed our dinner last night and then we watched Survivor before I realized I had to be up here to post by 8. Survivor was over at 8, so I just didn't get here in time. I hoped you would all realize that I was busy having fun with Ruthie and Phil and just lost my scheduling attempt and never made it back over here.

We worked on the puzzle until a little after 11 to get it finished before Phil and Ruthie left this morning. It was sure wonderful to have them! Bless their hearts, they are easy to feed and entertain. We didn't make any attempt at entertaining; being together is all it takes to entertain all of us. Don and Phil are a couple of comedians, and Ruthie and I are an easy audience. We feed off each other's laughter, so we always have a great visit. We enjoy lots of memories from over the years with our family; Phil and Don have both been members of our family so long that we all enjoy the memories. I thank God for memories to treasure and time we can spend reliving them! I thank you faithful readers for patience with me when I miss a day of posting. I hope you feel my love coming through this blog.

They're here!

Puzzle time! Tonight's picture is one of Ruthie and I working a puzzle. You can see that it's great fun. It's so good to have them visit with us! I thank God for their health and their safe trip! It's sure a blessing to us!

They got here around lunch time and Don and Phil sat at the dining room table and solved all the country's issues until I put supper on the table. In the meantime, Ruthie and I got a good start on the puzzle. It was a great afternoon. Ruthie and I came over here to do the blog, but we're going back to the puzzle. Woo hoo! Thanks for keeping up with us. Find some time to relax; come and join us if you can!

Ruthie and Phil will be here tomorrow!

This picture Don took Saturday. This room is off the living area and has two of these wicker chairs and a table that seats 6. You can see the lake and the beach out the window behind me. I guess this place is hopping in the summer. There are hardly any people here, now, though. We're so excited that Ruthie and Phil are joining us tomorrow, though! They've had snow, so I was afraid they wouldn't get to make it. We have no snow, though, so I expect the roads will get better as they come west from Tennessee. I know that lots of Tennessee is kind of standing still right now, but I pray the roads are clear enough for them to travel safely tomorrow! I sure thank God that they are healthy enough to travel! This time last year Ruthie was so suffering with her back after her surgery, so I sure thank God for her progress!

We are enjoying relaxing here. I'm enjoying reading after we work out. It's down right cozy here. :) We've found that we are pretty hooked on the Internet, now that it's so hard to access!

ICE Platinum Rewards

This picture is one I asked Don to take to show the little smocked dress that is hanging on the wall opposite the reading area that I posted yesterday. This resort really has some interesting touches. It is decorated with antiques and the furniture is mostly antiques, too. It's pretty cool. Ruthie and Phil are thinking of joining us for a few days because we're only about 5 hours from them. I sure hope they come; I think she'll enjoy sleeping in the antique sleigh bed in the second bedroom. I'd like for them to see this place because it may be available, again, through ICE and they are close enough to come pretty easily.

Now, about ICE. International Cruise and Excursion is the company we call ICE. We have a lifetime membership with them and we can add 80 friends and family to our account at no extra charge. If you'd like to be on our account you can have access to very reasonable (some downright cheap; we got this week and last week in 2 bedroom units for $99 per week; some weeks are only $49!) resort weeks and cruises. They also have hotel rooms, but they don't look so reasonable to me. We've never done a cruise, so I don't know so much about them. I booked one once, but we canceled it because of the expense to get to the port! Anyway, if you'd like me to add your to our account, please send me an email with your mailing address and your phone number. I can add you to our account and assign a username and password to you. I'll send it with instructions of how to use it.

Donna, Rene was talking about dreaming of going to the Bahamas and I thought, she should look at these ICE cruises. I don't know a good deal when I see one, but you all have done these before, so they might work well for you. since you aren't so far from a port. Just let me know the information I need to add them to our account. We have a lot left before we fill up our 80 places!

I thank God for the opportunities we have through ICE to get away. The thing I like best is that we can share it with people. The more people who use it, the better value we feel like we are getting for our membership fee.