I read a precious email this morning that included all of the following plus a few things like 'send it within 60 seconds to all your address book.' I never do that stuff, but here is the part I gleaned from it and want to share. Thanks so much to Linda and Tom Rose for sharing it with me. I love them and you and thank God for all of us and the bonds we share.


I AM CLAIMING THIS FOR ME AND YOU

Three things will happen to you this coming week:

(1) You will find favour with someone you don't expect;
(2) You will be too relevant to be ignored;
(3) You will encounter God and you will never remain the same, Amen.

My prayer for you today: The eyes beholding this message shall not behold evil, the hands that will share this message to others shall not labor in vain, the mouth saying Amen to this prayer shall laugh forever. Remain in God's love as you share this prayer. Have a lovely journey of life! Trust in the Lord with all your heart and He will never fail you because He is Awesome!

If you truly need a blessing (I do!), continue reading:

Heavenly Father,most Gracious and Loving God, I pray to you that you abundantly bless my family and me. I know that you recognize, that a family is more than just a mother, father, sister, brother, husband and wife, but all who believe and trust in you. Father, I send up a prayer request for blessings for not only the person who sent this to me, but for me and all who read this. I believe that the power of joined prayer by those who believe and trust in you is more powerful than anything, and I thank you in advance for your blessings. Father God, deliver the person reading this right now from debt and debt burdens. Release your Godly wisdom that I may be a good steward over all that You have given me, Father, for I know how wonderful and mighty you are and how if we obey you and walk In your word and have the faith of amustard seed that you will pour out blessings. I thank you now for the recent blessings I have received and for the blessings yet to come because I know you are not done with me. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen

Share this with others and, you will cause a multitude of people to pray to God for each other. Then watch the power of God work in your life. Remain Blessed!!!Peace and Blessings...

All you Itazuke people should be so jealous because Judy and Aki and Don and I are having such a great reunion! No kidding. It’s really a joy to be here and having this time together.

The pictures on the blog today are Aki and I in one and Don and Judy in the other. We were eating out at a barbeque place last night.

Last night I stayed up until 1 reading and answering emails and writing the blog. I guess I was a little afraid to go to bed, thinking it would hurt. I got so tired that I didn’t feel anymore, so I went to bed and had no problem sleeping. Then this morning they let me sleep until I woke up. (Don thinks that’s the funniest expression, but it means a lot to me. There’s a big difference in sleeping until I wake up and sleeping until he or the alarm wakes me!) Then I got up and had breakfast and took a bath and went back to bed! I couldn’t have a bath yesterday, so I was so glad to get one today. Going back to bed was a joy, too! Then I took a nap even after that. I think Don was catching up on his emails and Judy had some errands she was running. It was just a great lazy day for me.

I kept bleeding through my Band-Aid today, so that I was washing blood out of all my pajamas and gowns all morning. I finally figured out that I needed a bigger Band-Aid and that solved that problem. It was just enough blood to have me doing hand laundry all morning. I am still very sore and tender, but otherwise I’m feeling fine and doing well.

The doctor took me off all my herbs and vitamins in case the Oncologist thinks some of it might interfere with the treatments he plans for me. She didn’t want any delay in my treatment because I have to wait a couple of weeks to get something out of my system. So, those of you who know that I usually take a fist full of herbs and vitamins will know what a joy it is for me to eat with no capsules! Of course I could choose to do that all the time, but I really believe all those pills keep me in pretty good health; they just couldn’t fight the cancer. They may have fought it off for a decade, or they may give me the strength to fight it. I’m thinking the doctor will let me go back to most of them. I’m still drinking the Essiac Tea. Ick, but it is supposed to be good for my immune system and will be important to continue when I start the chemo.

Thanks for checking on me. I count you all as blessings in my life. God bless.

I will do my best to not let this be so long, but I feel overwhelmed today and feel like writing the book that I often threaten! The day started out so wonderfully with the birth of Summer Rayne. Thank you, Trish, for doing the blog entry this morning! Can you all believe this mom of SIX, takes time to make a blog entry when she delivered a baby at home (naturally, with a midwife) less than 12 hours before this entry??? Wow! My breath is taken, again. What a special year this has been to have two precious baby girls born into our family when we thought we were all done with new grandkids. God is so good and He sure knows how to bless abundantly! It all reminds me of the great support we have and how wrapped we are in abundance and love.

I know you all want to know the details of the findings with my tests today. We do, too, but there is still so much that we don’t know. That’s okay. We know some things:

1) I do NOT have inflammatory breast cancer.
2) The node under my arm tested positive for cancer.
3) The biopsy of the mass was worse than a nasty root canal, but it wasn’t anything like natural childbirth, so I survived it, and when we get the details of the analysis of the biopsy we will know specifically what kind of cancer I have and how to best treat it.
4) We are in the right place. I’ve never felt more welcome and comfortable in such a situation.
5) I am married to a saint. What wonderful support Don is.
6) I am so richly blessed to have my best friend from 7th grade here to absolutely hold my hand through this and all of you who are reading this to hold my hand in thought and prayers. Thank you for walking the walk with me.
7) I have scheduled a cat scan and a bone scan for Friday.
8) We don’t know when we’re going home; we’ll let you know as we learn.

Life is a journey and this cancer thing is just a side trip in the journey. We did the alternative experience to the best of our ability. I am throwing myself to the feet of mainstream medicine, now and I offer them the opportunity to throw everything they have at this cancer. I am strong. I have nothing wrong with me except this cancer. Many people my age have many health issues which would complicate healing. I am short and stubby, but that won’t hold me back a bit. I have the support and prayers of so many wonderful people and best of all I am in God’s hand. As the doctor told me today, this is only cancer; it is not my life. I should go ahead and live my life; this cancer can be treated.

I am overwhelmed and speechless at the thought of coming to this point in life and having Judy, a best friend from the age of 12, welcome me into her home, drive me to the clinic and sit with Don and I all day, and then take us out to dinner with her husband! Then I got online to check my email tonight and got an email and picture from the first boyfriend I ever had in life! (We went to kindergarten together and he brought a box of valentine candy to me at my house; can you believe we still keep in touch?) I know some people live in the same town where they lived all their lives and know people they’ve known all their lives, but I was a military kid and it took 14 schools to get me through 12 grades. It’s awesome to me to know anyone for my whole life and these people are such treasures to me. All of you who read this mean so much to me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support, love and prayers.

Hang tough with me. I’ll keep you informed as we go along this journey. Judy and I have taken pictures and we’ll get them on the blog soon. I thank God for YOU, for all our family and for the hope that we have for beating this cancer. To God be all the glory!

Newsflash!!

Hello everyone! A quick message from the former blogmaster. The baby didn't wait for mom after all Summer Rayne came early this morning amidst thunderstorms weighing 7lbs 4oz. Here she is with her other grandma, who is doing double duty filling in for grammy! Gotta love Grandmas!

Tricia

PS - Sorry it's sideways... can't seem to figure that out....

Last night before the big day at MD Anderson. It's wonderful to be here at Judy and Aki's home. Judy made curry rice for dinner and I was in heaven. It made me miss Ruthie and Jim because they would have loved it. Phil, too; he loves EVERYTHING and he sure recognizes something special like curry rice!

We have had a good visit and we're going to bed early so we can get up early in the morning and be ready to start early at MD Anderson. Judy is going with Don and I, so we have great support. I promise to get on the blog and make a report tomorrow night. Maybe we'll even have some pictures by then, but don't hold your breath about pictures. We're having too much fun to stop and figure out some new process.

I haven't heard from Trish, so I know that means her baby is still growing inside her. She'll let us know as soon as anything new develops.

God's timing is good for all of us. We're working on patience! This will be grandbaby #15 for us; you'd think it would be like an old hat by now, but it's just as special as every one has been before.

Thanks for checking on us. Tomorrow will be news of what the plan of attack is. Thanks for your love and prayers.

We had a safe trip to Houston and give thanks! Both Doris’ boys and their wives came for dinner with their new sons.

Included in the pictures today is one of Don and I with Colter, Gregg’s son. The other picture is Heather, Brett’s wife, with Doris and they are holding both babies. Colter is only a month old, but Luke is 3 months old. They’ll likely both be long, tall guys like their dads; they have long legs already! Luke started out smaller, but they’re about the same size now. They’re so cute!

It was a fun visit after a long drive. I’m ready for bed!
Thanks for checking on us. God took care of us and we arrived with no problems.

I don't have pictures to share today; just no time for pictures! It's amazing how much there is to do at the last minute before we make a trip. I think it's all done and we're ready to go except for my bath.

We are still dry in the basement; we haven't had another drop of rain. Our friend, Joan, has a garage door opener and she'll check the basement for us if it rains. If the basement gets wet, our neighbor will either vac and pump it dry or get someone to do it for us. They are great friends!

We had a fellowship breakfast at church this morning and then our regular Sunday lunch group ate at the Mexican restaurant for lunch. We were busy doing lots of running around and seeing people, but it was a fun day.

Our plan is to leave early in the morning and have breakfast in Lawton. We'll check with Trish then and if she has signs of labor we'll go north to OKC. If she sees no sign of labor, then we'll go south to Houston. She thinks the baby won't come before the 15th, so, likely we'll be going all the way to Houston tomorrow. We'll get to visit some with Doris tomorrow night and Monday morning; then we'll go to Judy's house Monday night. My appointment at MD Anderson starts at 8 a.m. on Monday, but it'll be that night before I know anything to write. I'll keep you posted as I know anything to tell.

Thanks for your love and prayers! God is great! I'll get pictures on the blog as soon as I get a chance to take some.

Okay, the basement is officially pronounced DRY! We put up the hose, vac, and pump and we 'sealed' the escape hatch. We left everything pushed to the high side, so someone can easily manage the water if it comes while we're gone, but we think it's safe down there. Whew! Praise God. He refreshed our ground and taught us that we can live with it.

MD Anderson people called me last night and today to make sure we know the way and know to bring money. Ha! I spent much of the afternoon talking to the insurance company. I got the distinct idea that I needed to be educated. So, I'm laden with policy, highlighter, notes, checkbook and plastic. Besides that God is in my heart, and Don is holding my hand, so I'm braced.

Trish says she thinks the baby is going to wait until we get home. Well, maybe. Anyway, she said they can do it without us right there, and I'm sure that's true. They make childbirth such a fun thing. I just hate to miss anything. God knows how this big picture will look when it's done, so we trust Him.

Today's pictures are so cool. One is of an awesome sunset that Ruthie sent me from Springville, Tennessee; besides that they have AWESOME birds!!! The birds were our favorite thing when we lived there; I probably missed all the great sunsets!

One is of Ruthie and I in our kitchen when she and Phil were here back in the spring. It's a treasure to me to remind me of them being here!

The last one is of our friend, Steve Crawford, who we knew from working together years ago when we lived in Oklahoma City. He does magic shows all over the country for a living and he was doing a session with kids at the library in Hobart today. It was so cool. I was a kid today; I know I enjoyed it as much as the kids did, plus I got to see Steve in his realm! We had lunch with him before the session at the library, and I got to stay and watch while Don mowed the grass. (We could have watched the grass grow this last week if we hadn't been so busy in the basement! That grass loves water!)

Life is good. God is GREAT! Thanks for your prayers and support!

Nearly dry, but lots of rain around us.

God knows what we need and He knows the plan. He sure has us baffled! We had a spell of dry in the basement today, but then it started seeping, again. It continues to barely seep, so we give thanks. Then a huge rain storm came, but we just got the very edge of it. It came from the north, which is so uncommon. It was hard to tell where it was going. It looked like it was coming straight for us, but when it got here we had rain pouring down but sunshine at the same time. I tried to get a picture of the rainbow, but got soaked! Where our trees are beside the driveway, the driveway never got wet even though it was pouring rain. We were just shaking our heads in dismay and giving thanks that it didn't last long. The basement is still seeping. If we can just go a couple more days without rain, maybe it will be dry. Don hasn't even gotten a whole vac full of water today, so we are so grateful. He just came up from the basement and told me that the seeping has stopped and the basement is dry. He shut off the 3 fans for the first time in 3 weeks! Praise God! If we get rain tonight and it starts seeping again tomorrow, we'll resume the fans, vac and pump.

Someone called me from MD Anderson today to confirm my appointment on Tuesday. She said they try to put things together quickly for folks who are from out of state, so maybe they won't send me home before they begin treatment. We'll have to wait and see. I'm packed to stay if they think I should.

The pictures on the blog today are the sunset we had after the storm came through, which is, of course the western sky, and then a shot of the sky to the south of us. I think that's where the rain storm went after it left us. Usually our weather comes from the south and goes northeast from here. When it comes from the north we have no clue what to expect.

Whew! We're relieved and still counting blessings. God is great!

Things might be getting back to normal around here! We are so hoping so! The cows are back up by the fence, so THEY think it's normal! I went out to take their picture and on the way back noticed a mushroom growing on our old knarly tree. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, so I had to snap the picture and share it with you. Notice to the right the robin's nest that fell when we had that big awful rain and wind a couple of weeks ago. I like it to be there. The sedum has been blooming (yellow). It is so thriving with the rain. It does well in our normally dry weather, but it's doing so well with the moisture! Notice the windmill weeds that blew in and got caught in it. We hate those. They blow all over and pile up between the house and the fence on the side of the yard way up over my head! It's so hard to pick them up because they are so light. It's like picking up feathers. We've just ignored them this year with all the water problems. They never stacked up, so I don't know if they blew somewhere else or if they just didn't blow the same as usual. Anyway, when I get back from Houston I'll cut the blooms off the sedum and rake it all up together, I hope. Behind the tree is the path of stones that I put through the flower bed for the postman.

The cookout at the preacher's house went great; no rain! What a blessing!

I had some extra time to cut off a pair of jeans for capris today and even gave myself a haircut. I figure they will throw chemo at me in Houston, so I'll beat the chemo to my hair. Ha! It came back curly, and I really don't know what to do with it, so I keep cutting it. I expect it'll be gone before too long, so it's not a big issue. The last time I didn't lose it all, but I only had about 1/10 the chemo that I'll likely get this time. That reminds me; I'd better go pack my hats! I really don't think they'll give me any treatments in Houston this time; this will just be a diagnostic trip.

This is our 4th day with only a trace of rain one of those days. The basement is still seeping, but Don has only pumped out 2 full vacs and part of another today! If it doesn't rain tonight, I'm dreaming that it might go dry tomorrow! We're ready for DRY! God is good; He will give us what we need in abundance. I love all He gives us and find it all awesome and give Him praise and glory. Thanks for checking on us!

3rd day with nearly no rain!

This is the look of our back flower bed after 20 days of rain and 3 days of some sunshine. The lavender is doing great, as is the ground cover and redbud! I'm pleased with them. I should be harvesting that lavender and cutting the woody parts out, but I haven't had time for that.























This is a shot of my little volunteer crepe myrtle. It gets to stay because it's white. The others, except for the parent of this one are a magenta color. I liked the white, so when this one came up I let it stay long enough to check it's color. Since it was white, it got to stay. Notice behind it is the Japanese Magnolia and it's blooming, again. It thinks it's spring, I guess, with all this rain. If you click on the picture you'll see the pink blooms.



















This is the front flower bed with the daisies blooming and the echinacea in full bloom. I'm wondering if the butterflies got flooded or confused by the rains, too? I'm happy to have the echinacea this long, but I'm surprised.

Today I defrosted our freezer, did laundry and I'm resting. I had a migraine and didn't realize it for the longest; just thought I was falling apart after yesterday. DUH. Migraines do that: disable my ability to reason and think. It wasn't painful and I didn't recognize the aura until the pain hit and then I put together the pieces. I don't get many anymore, so I forget how they work. I'm okay, now; I even felt like going out and getting these pictures.

This is our 3rd day with nearly no rain. Last night we had a little shower after I did the blog, but it didn't even register in our rain gauge. Don only pumped out 5 vacs today, so it's definitely slowing. WHEW! Maybe tomorrow will be down to 3 if it doesn't rain tonight! Tomorrow is the 4th and the preacher invites the church over to his place for a cookout every year. Their yard and our yard join, but he has all the work. It'll be fun; I hope it doesn't rain. Since it's church night, he'll have it from 4 - 6.

Blessings are abundant; I've lost count, but I keep giving thanks!

Busy day; no pictures.

You'll have to pardon me for not taking time to take pictures today. It's been super busy. We've got the car all packed to go when Trish calls to tell us the baby is on the way. I need to get another bag ready in case we have to go to Houston from there, but I have everything ready to go be a grammy.

I wanted to leave the house in good shape, so I changed the sheets on our bed and also Sadie's from when she was here a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't changed it, so I was behind on that. Now it feels better to be caught up. I dusted everywhere and did the hard floors and Don did the vacuuming. Whew! That's a big day. I'll be glad when we get settled in and get someone to do the cleaning. That's on my list of first things to do when we get home for a while. I don't want to hire someone and then leave, but I'm definitely going to get some help.

I also went and got my mammogram films from the mammogram last November. They have to go to Houston with me. I also talked to the insurance company to see what kind of approvals we need from them, etc. So, that detail is behind me.

We went to the Mexican restaurant for dinner with Dorothy and David and our friend Charlene, who was in the wreck last year when we were on our way to Tijunana. She's amazing and it was a fun dinner.

Now, we're going to watch Extreme Makeover. They have a guy on with a prosthesis (leg), and I want to see that. Charlene lost her leg in that accident and she's doing wonderfully well.

Frank is doing well today. Things are falling into place. If we can just have this baby before we go that will be MY plan. I've learned that God's plan is so superior to mine, so I have to be patient and see what date He has in store for this birth.

Today we have had NO RAIN for the second day in a row! We still have water seeping into the basement, but it has slowed tremendously. Don has only gotten 7 or 8 vacs full in the basement today. Whew. Bless his heart; he did that and the upstairs, too. He said the upstairs vac was simple after the basement job he's had! God love him!

Thanks for keeping an eye on our doings. I'm sorry I just didn't have the energy to take pictures today. Maybe soon we'll have baby pictures to share! God is GREAT and we thank Him for richly blessing us. I'm anxious to get into that clean bed!

Oh! I should tell you that I let Jethro free yesterday; he's in the backyard gulping down mosquitos for us, I hope! Also, I learned today that tarantulas cross the road when they are mating, and they are not dangerous to humans.

Such a day!

Oh, man. Today has been so full and so full of thanks to our Father! We played cards last night at Jo Ann and Frank’s house. Then this morning the phone rang as we were eating breakfast and it was Jo Ann. She had just arrived at the ER with Frank having symptoms of a heart attack! Their daughter, Kristy was here for the weekend, and we thanked God for that! Jo Ann is recovering from knee replacement surgery on June 4th, so it was a big deal to play cards last night; today was a little much. Anyway, after some tests they determined that Frank had a problem with one of the stents in his heart, so they sent him by helicopter to Lawton. We followed, as did Dorothy and David. Our preacher came as soon after church as he could and he stayed the whole afternoon. He is the BEST! After cleaning out the 100% blocked stent, they put in a new one for Frank and he was doing great when we left. Jo Ann and Kristy are spending the night. Their other daughter, Staci, met them there with clothes they needed from home. She’ll go back and bring them home on Tuesday. Today’s pictures on the blog are Jo Ann and the girls, (Kristy on the left and Staci on the right) and our all time favorite preacher and neighbor, Bill. Frank is the one in the great gown.

On our way home tonight we saw 14 tarantulas crossing the road! They are pretty hairy looking, but they aren’t supposed to be dangerous. I guess it’s dangerous to get out on the highway and take their picture, but there was NO traffic, so I did. We think they’re cool. They have some saying around here, like if the tarantulas are crossing the road it means a storm is coming. We were talking about that and Don said, it means the tarantulas are crossing the road is all. That reminds me; it hasn’t rained at all today!!! We are sooooo grateful! (Don pumped out 13 vacs full today after 19 yesterday, so the ground saturation is dropping. Whew! That was still over 200 gallons today.)

Today we are thanking God for saving Frank, for good doctors, for helicopters and pilots, for good friends and hospitals, for a break from the rain, safe traveling etc., etc., etc.! We even thank Him for the cool wildlife we got to see today. Besides the tarantulas we saw a snake, a couple of rabbits and 3 turtles! I gave thanks that I got to get a picture of the tarantula! Take a minute and join us in thanks! God is great!

ANOTHER frog/toad; meet Jarvis!

I know some of you think I’m crazy and the others are sure of it. Crazy isn’t all that bad, though. If I weren’t crazy then the reality of flooding and cancer might get me down. I prefer crazy and enjoying it the best I can.

Last night we took a break and went out to play cards with our canasta group. It was a wonderful night. We came home and ‘dipped’ out the basement again before we went to bed, so that we came to a total of 320 gallons we ‘dipped’ yesterday, besides what the sump pump took out without our help. Today has been another big day, but we’re going to escape to play cards, again, tonight. We need the break! I imagine we’ll pump out about as much today as we did yesterday. We got some rain today, but not so much; just enough to keep us going steady on the seeping.

While we were out last night I got this picture of a great sunset even during our stormy weather. We love it!

















When we got home there was ANOTHER frog or toad in the basement. I thought it was Jethro, but I checked his markings against Jethro and they are different. I’ll put both pictures on the blog so you can see what you think. Jarvis is the newest one; he’s the one with one leg out like he’s on the move. Now, Ruthie won’t want to come to my basement if she knows Jethro and Jarvis are down there. Likely I will find them and set them out in the yard. There is a wealth of mosquitoes out in the yard for them! Gabe must have gotten his love of creatures from me; this is fun!


























God blesses even with varmints. I’m so blessed; I get the toads/frogs instead of the snakes in the basement. God is good!

Two new best friends.

We got .7 of an inch of rain last night, so it's coming in hot and heavy in the basement, again. Yesterday we pumped out 48 gallons, so we were relaxing. Today it's a little after 4 and we've pumped over 240 already. We're going to take off and play some cards tonight and act like we don't have water in the basement. Ha! We'll come back and pump some more before we go to bed.

Pictured are our two new best friends, the shop vac and the sump pump. We thank God for them, as well as the friends from whom we bought them! Have a great weekend and count the blessings!

Rain, rain, rain.

Today has been throw herbs day. I’m exhausted from it. That sounds so innocent, but this picture shows just a few of the little cups of herbs and vitamins. I throw two of these cups per day for Don and three per day for me. Then I dump these into a packet of vitamins we order from Dr. Williams and top the packet with an empty packet. Today I ‘threw’ enough for 62 days for each of us, but I’ve only gotten half of Don’s packaged. I’ll finish tomorrow, and then we’ll have two months done.

Don had the basement nearly dry, but it was still seeping. Then it rained another .4 inch this morning. We are just shaking our heads. I think this is 14 days in a row that it’s rained here. That hasn’t happened since 1937, but they are expecting more for the next few days. The seeping had slowed so much that Don only pumped out 32 gallons yesterday, but today it picked up and he pumped out 48 gallons. Here is a picture of the water when it first started seeping. I can’t believe I was standing there with a camera, but it’s a memory! It’ll be a happy day when we look at that floor and it’s dry!

Actually every day is a happy day. We are blessed to have a basement and the ability to keep up with this water. Lots of people have lost their homes and furnishing; some even their lives in all this flooding. We haven’t had any loss of life in our town, but it’ll be tough for the farmers to recover from the loss of their wheat. The community is keeping their chins up, though. We know it could be worse, so we give thanks for whatever God sends.

Look around and count the blessings; they are abundant and we give thanks. God is good.

Coming up daisies!

How cool is this? My daisies started opening today. They are right beside the Echinacea and I pictured them the other day when they were just in tight buds, but I forgot to point out that they were near opening. You probably just thought it was another shot of the Echinacea. Anyway, today they are opening and that thrills me. I love the daisies!

This morning was so cool. Don was downstairs vacuuming up the water and he stopped and came up and said, “Come look; I want to show you something.” I said, “Should I bring the camera?” He said, “If you want.” That was my clue that it was worthy of the camera, since he didn’t say, “No.” I got down there and he told me to look behind a little seat we have down there holding the sump pump. It was a little toad! That wouldn’t mean much to most people, but this is Gabe’s Grammy. Gabe found that way cool desert toad when we took him to the reserve. Then when he was here the toad got away, so I thought sure it was Gabe’s toad, Jerry. I got several pictures of him and then I did my best to catch him, but Gabe is way better at catching toads than I am. Alas, he got away. He’s still in the basement unless he can jump up to that escape hatch where he must have entered. That’s about 6 feet off the ground, so I don’t expect he can make that jump. I hope he doesn’t starve down there, but I don’t know what he’ll eat. I’m keeping an eye out for him; maybe he’ll get weak and I can get him.

He’s not Jerry, though. I compared his picture to the picture we have of Jerry in Gabe’s hand. They have different markings. I sure thought it was the same toad, though; tan with red spots. God is so creative to make all those little tiny differences! I’m naming this one Jethro. If I catch him, I’m taking him to Gabe. Trish will probably make us let him go, but we can enjoy him for a while. Maybe there is room for him in one of Gabe’s wild animal habitats. (In the pictures, Jerry is the one in Gabe’s hand and Jethro is the one on our basement floor. If I had caught him he would be in a box, NOT in my hand. No doubt that’s why I couldn’t catch him: I would have had to touch him!)

Okay, so you know how little it takes to entertain me. Besides all that fun we got to walk today for the first time in 2 weeks. It did rain again, but not much. Don only pumped 32 gallons out of the basement today, so it’s slowing a bunch. Whew! More rain is in the forecast, though. God is so good. He doesn’t fool with skimpy; He does everything in abundance. Rain in abundance is so much better than drought in abundance. We’ve learned to deal with the challenges of it and the crops are doing great with it. We’ve learned; isn’t that cool? It’s hard to teach old dogs tricks, but God can do it! PTL!

New treasures that God gives!

You aren’t going to believe the pictures on the blog today! We live on the edge of town, so that is one picture. It’s the wheat field catty corner from our house. We have houses on every side of us, but out through that corner from our driveway is a wheat field. Often there is a bunch of black cattle up by that fence. So, while we are in town we are right on the edge.

The next picture is a little FAWN that is living down the street (6 houses from us). The wonderful guy who lives there is a farmer and he found this little fawn, evidently deserted by its mother, so he brought it home and they are bottle feeding it! He is in a little pen in their back yard. He scratched his nose up before he figured out that he can’t get out of the pen, but other than those scratches he is so beautiful! I think he’s really cool, so, of course I had to have a picture of him for the blog!

The next picture is one of Gabe’s friends, I’m sure. I was out pulling up weeds and made a trip to the dumpster with the weeds. On my way back I saw this little pile of mud and was wondering how it got there when I saw it’s TAIL! It turned out to be a little wee turtle full of mud. I still don’t know how he got there, but he waited for me to take his picture. I know that Gabe would love to capture him, but I settled for taking his picture. A turtle in camo!

When we woke up this morning it was raining, but it’s been dry and sunny all afternoon. Praise God! We have rain all around us and more predicted, so we don’t expect it to be dry for long. The basement is still seeping, but it has slowed down a lot. We thank God for the break and for the equipment and ability to keep it under control! God is great and good to us!

MD Anderson appointment is July 10.

Check on the growth in our yard and garden. They love the rain! We are grateful for it, too. We hear of the droughts in so much of the rest of the country, and the fires in California and are reminded that this rain is such a blessing! Normally, we would be in a drought and worried about fires in the local farm fields that could put us at risk since we are right across the street from a farm. With all the rain we’ve had, no fire could survive around here!

The pictures on the blog are: the redbud in the back flower bed with a big bunch of lavender at the base; the second and third volunteer petunias with the first one; and the daisies almost ready to bloom beside the Echinacea that the butterflies haven’t found yet. I have to hurry out there because the mosquitoes will win; soon I’ve got to get out the spray and go spend the day in the yard before the weeds get out of hand, again. I’ve got to get the garlic and do a bunch of pruning, too.

We actually got a bit of a break today. It did rain, but only .2 inch and it didn’t make the water coming into the basement increase; it just kept it from maybe stopping. Don only pumped out 100 gallons today, so that’s really good.

Oh! The call from MD Anderson came today; we have an appointment there at 8a.m. on July 10th. We’ll probably go there on the 9th. Tricia’s baby is due right about that time, so we’ll stay here as late as possible unless the baby comes early. If the baby comes early, then we’ll go as early as possible to have a chance to visit a bit with Don’s sister, Doris, and her two new grandsons. We’ll make more concrete plans as the time gets closer, but it all depends on Tricia’s baby at this point.

We are so blessed! Our 15th grandbaby is on the way; we have a yard full of flowers and thick grass, no threat of fires, and the strength to deal with the leaky basement. PTL! Ruthie said it rained all day in Springville today, too! God is good! Thanks for checking in on the blog. I love you all.

Wet week coming.

This isn't the greatest picture, but it's the best I could do with the height and time I have. Anyway, it shows you that my magnolia is blooming, and I'm happy with it. It has about 7 blooms on it, so it's responding well to the rains! The grass is growing so that we could probably sit and watch it if we weren't busy vacuuming and pumping water out of the basement.

Today we went over 2700 gallons that we've vacuumed and pumped out of the basement in the last 11 days, or however long it has been. That doesn't include what we've pumped out that we couldn't measure. It's a lot of water. I know this ground is so refreshed. It must be a bath that God knows we need. The mosquitoes are delighted. I'd rather have the bull snakes than the mosquitoes, but I didn't get to pick any of this. This is all God's idea, and I'm thanking Him for sending what we need instead of what we think we want.

Today was a relatively easy day. Don did all the work in the basement and I took a nap. We ate lunch after church at the Mexican restaurant. Jo Ann and Frank didn't stay as she was really tired from their trip to the city on Friday and Saturday. They were replacing electrical equipment that lightning destroyed a couple of weeks ago. David and Dorothy didn't stay for lunch because David is really struggling to breath with all this humidity; he didn't even make it to church. It's been a hard week for them. We went on to the restaurant and enjoyed ourselves even without our best buddies. The preacher and his family (our next door neighbors) just got back this week from their vacation to California and they sat at the booth next to us, so that was fun. We love them like they belong to us, so it's really good to have them home.

Did I tell you about Don falling in the basement one day last week? He had that big goose egg sized bump on his hip, but he managed with it really well. Finally, today the goose egg turned into a big huge bruise that spreads all over his hip and rear. I thought he was indestructible, but I guess he's not. He's really good with the water management job, though; good thing, because it looks like we've got plenty of more water coming. Even last night we had some rain; only 15/100, but it keeps going into the water table. I'm learning more about this than I ever wanted to know. God wants me to be so smart.

I cooked beans today to last a couple of weeks. I make a batch and put them in the freezer in smaller containers so that I don't have to cook beans all the time. I also brewed a batch of Essiac tea, so I'm done with that for the week. I've got a whole harvest of garlic out in the garden that I need to get, but the mosquitoes make me skittish of the garden and I'm procrastinating. There's always something to keep me busy. I guess I could dig it up and throw it away, but I think Mom won't let me do that.

God will give me direction. He takes care of us and blesses us beyond measure. Count with me! (Who would have thought us two old people could get 2700 gallons of water out of the basement? And, what if we'd been traveling somewhere? That sounds like 2700 + blessings to me. We're here to do it and ABLE, and we HAVE a basement! Maybe I sound like Pollyanna, but I'm thrilled!)

Back to the yard!

Today the water Don has pumped out has been down by about 1/3; we didn’t get any rain last night. If we don’t get any tonight maybe it’ll slow down even more tomorrow. Whew! We have hopes. He says he feels like he’s growing webs between his toes; he is starting to talk with a quack. The blisters on my hands from squeezing out diapers last week before we got the second shop vac are about healed, so we’re surviving this!

I even took time to go out and take some pictures before the mosquitoes carried me away for dinner tonight. The first one is a volunteer petunia. We get those every year and I’m always glad to see them. This is the first one. The second one is the little robin nest that blew out of the tree the first night we had those awful winds and the huge rain that flooded the town and started us in trouble in the basement. The last one is my Echinacea. I always love the Echinacea until the butterflies lay eggs on it and the worms scoff it down. For now, I’m enjoying it. Of course I could put some powder on it to keep the worms off, but I like the butterflies, so I let them have the Echinacea.

One thing I learned from all this water is that I don’t have to have a French manicure to live. I’ve worn one for the last 11 years. There was no way any manicure was surviving this water, and I like just a coat of clear polish just fine. As I live and breathe; another revelation! In the last year I’ve retired from make up and manicures! It took cancer and a flood to get through my vanity; what a crying shame, but I’m learning!

God is good and I give Him thanks for all our rich blessings!

Cool dudes!

I haven't had a chance to make more pictures, so you're looking at a collection of these cool dudes the day we went to the reunion. I look at these pictures and am so very proud of them. Garrett is in the yellow shirt and Gabe is in the orange shirt. Garrett will be 11 in December and Gabe will be 13 in November. They are both very caring and sensitive guys. They love each other as cousins and sure have a lot of fun together. I think back to cousins who were so much fun when we were kids and I'm pleased for these guys to have great time to spend with each other. It was funny listening to them as they played; they called each other 'Dude.'

I look back over the pictures on the blog and realize that I really have a wonderful collection of pictures of our family and friends. I'm so blessed to have not only the picture collection but the collection of family and friends! I am wealthy with meaningful relationships in my life. We've had great times in just the last few months and I treasure the pictures and memories.

The leak in the basement has slowed some, but we still are pumping out hundreds of gallons. We've lost count, but we're keeping track on paper as best we can. Lots is pumping out with the sump pump that we aren't even counting. We are so grateful that our leak is filtered through the ground and not flood water just rushing in with all the debri it carries! Lots of folks in town are dealing with flood waters, and I'm so sorry for them. Of course after the flood waters are gone, they are gone, whereas our leak keeps coming as long as the ground is saturated. We're working with it and getting the job done. We'll be glad to have a break tomorrow, and hope it comes for us! If we don't get more rain, maybe the leak will stop soon. We are both tired of this adventure, but thank God for the positives in it; we've learned so much and we've had the strength to endure it.

We are disappointed that we haven't heard from MD Anderson, yet, but it's all part of God's plan. WE think we should go rushing right down there, but God isn't in that big a hurry. He wants the basement rinsed, I guess. Whatever He wants; I'm good with it. I'm just so glad He gives me rest at night and wonderful friends and family during my waking hours! Thank you for being here with us. I love you.

Reflections of a Grammy.

Okay, you can tell I haven't been out taking pictures; I've been in the basement pumping water! We got the most yesterday, but it has slowed a bit and we only got about 2/3 today what we got yesterday at this time. It was dry long enough outside for Don to get out and mow the grass today. It's been growing so fast with all the rain! I cut off the iris greens and raked them as much as I could quickly do, but it looks rather like a tornado went through the iris patch. They're hardy! I had to hurry because the mosquitoes were really after me and I hate that!

The pictures on the blog today represent fun time for me. The first one is little Elena. I was so proud to get a picture of her smiling! She smiles a lot, but just when I get the camera clicked, she drops the smile. So I got lucky with this one.

The second one is Sadie and Garrett feeding the prairie dogs at the reserve. We aren't supposed to do that, but everyone does, so they come up looking for you to feed them. It's too fun to not do it. I'm sure there is a good reason to not do it, but it didn't weigh stronger than the thrill of feeding them.

The last picture represents so many great memories. Gabe had seen a lizard on that rock and the three of them went chasing it. Look at Gabe's stance. He is such a hunter and he catches just about everything he chases. He missed that one, but I thought he was going to get him. The other two are great supporters. The three of them were so much fun to be with. It's a treasured memory for us to have had them with us for a few days.

MD Anderson Cancer Center hasn't called to make an appointment, yet. I promise I'll let you know the minute I know what we're doing. In the meantime we're counting the blessings. I was looking back over the blog, and am reminded of so many good friends and wonderful family. Plus I have all of you people who care in my life. Wow! That's a lot to count! Thank you, God!

No news, just more water.

The storms that I was running from when I wrote the entry for the blog last night brought us another 1.7 inches of rain. Our dry basement was covered except for one little corner this morning. It's been coming in as fast as Don could pump it out all day. He's pumped out over 500 gallons that he picked up with the wet vac and no telling how many he pumped out with just the sump pump alone. He's worn out. He slipped on that slippery floor this morning and fell flat on his back, so he'll be really stove up tomorrow. He hurt all day today, but we gave thanks that he didn't break a bone!

I worked all day getting herbs and vitamins packaged for the next month and getting them ordered for the next 6 months. That order will come in soon and I'll get busy packaging them so I'll be ready for whatever is in store for me at MD Anderson.

MD Anderson hasn't called me yet for an appointment time. I know you are all wondering about that because I've had no less than a half dozen people call to ask me if I'd heard today. Now that I'm in a hurry, they are in no hurry. I work until I go to bed, but they quit at 5; I guess they have to go home and work until they go to bed, huh? Anyway, patience is a virtue. God is driving this plan, so He knows how it all works and has the right timing in mind and in the works. I trust Him.

The pictures on the blog tonight are all from the reunion. The first is John, our nephew, being 'forked' by Uncle Phil. You haven't had the best laugh in the world until you've seen Uncle Phil 'fork' someone. Be ready if you eat with him! The next one is my cousin, Suzanne, holding Elena. Suzanne and I are a year apart and we were close always because we spent all the summers that I was in the states visiting around at our grandmother's and aunt's houses, making all the vacation Bible schools; between all the family we made about 7 vacation Bible schools, so that was most of the summer. She handed all her clothes down to me, so that was wonderful, too! Then we were roommates at Lipscomb, so she's more like a sister than a cousin to me. The kids always called her Aunt Suzy, so that's Aunt Suzy holding Elena. The last one is my sister, Ruthie, holding Elena. We're all so grateful that Elena is a feather because she's so easy to hold! Click on one of the pictures of Elena and notice that pretty little bib with roses on it; my precious friends, Tom and Linda ROSE sent that little bib and some other 'rosy' things that are still too big for her. Isn't that a precious little bib, though? (Thanks Linda and Tom; yes, that's the same Linda who writes on the blog a lot.)

It's not storming, yet, but we have a chance for storms and more rain tonight. What a weather year this has been. It beats tornadoes all over the place, though, so I'm giving thanks. I'm so thankful for the sump pump and the wet vac; they sure beat my little wet vac and diapers that we started out using to get up the water. I'm shutting down and unplugging the computer, so that I don't have to get up during the storm to do it; there have been so many folks losing appliances, computers, etc. with lightning strikes, so I'm doing the ounce of prevention thing in hopes of not getting hit.

Thanks for caring and checking on us. I promise to post every bit of news that we get and our plans as they develop. Right now we are just hanging loose, getting as ready as we can for whatever shoe falls next, and thanking God for taking care of us all the way.