A WOW trip already!

This is a WOW trip already! We stopped an had a fun visit with Trish and Raynie this morning. Raynie was going through her book of animals with us showing us how they all ‘speak.’ What a dolly! Then we came on and stopped in St. Louis to see our niece, Peggy, and caught 3 of her kids at home. Peggy’s husband, Mike, passed away a year ago last August with colon cancer and we were in Houston with my treatments so we couldn’t come to his service. We hadn’t seen them since a year ago last July, so it was really good to see them. I got a picture of Don with Samuel and Michael, but I’ll put it on tomorrow night. They are both 6’4" or taller and so handsome; that’ll be tomorrow night’s treat if I can get online.

Tonight’s picture is Molly and Peggy with me. Molly is their ‘baby’ daughter; I imagine she is 15. Aren’t they beautiful! It’s hard to believe Peggy has these grown kids! Thank you, God for this special visit!

We’ve made it on to Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and will spend the night. Tomorrow morning we’ll head out for Gina’s house. We won’t be in any rush since she has a school field trip to help with in the morning. So, we’re going to sleep in and mosey on to their house tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks for keeping up with us. I thank God that so many people care.

Almost ready to go!

The picture tonight is my sister, Ruthie. I couldn’t resist putting her on here because we’re headed to see her the day after Thanksgiving. Woohoo! We’re all packed except for what we put in at the last minute in the morning. We’re going to leave at 6, so we’re getting up at 5. We can take turns driving and sleeping if we get sleepy along the way.

We’ll eat breakfast on the way to give us a break. Then we’ll stop at Tricia’s in OKC and catch some hugs from her and Raynie. (The other kids will all be gone to school, so we’ll miss them this time.) Trish has some stuff to send to Gretta and she left some stuff here when they were here, so we’re trading ‘stuff.’ We’ll be on our way and make it to St. Louis tomorrow evening to catch a quick visit with our niece, Peggy. Maybe we’ll catch some of her 4 kids. We’ll head onward and spend the night sometime after St. Louis. Wednesday morning we’ll head to Gina’s and get there sometime in the afternoon. We’ll stay there until Saturday afternoon, when we’ll head for Gretta’s. We’ll stay at Gretta’s for Thanksgiving and then head to Ruthie’s on the Friday after TG and stay there until Monday or Tuesday when we’ll head for home. We’re so excited about this trip because we’ll get to spend a little time at Gina’s, Gretta’s, and Ruthie’s.

I will post as often as I can, but I’m not sure I’ll have Internet access everywhere. I may have access, but not be able to post pictures. Hang tough with me. I’ll take pictures and post them after we get home if I can’t post them along the way. If you don’t see a new post, don’t worry. Just know that we’re on the move and having a great time visiting. I feel great these days. I have no complaints, whatsoever. (Well, my back always hurts, but that has nothing to do with the cancer; it has everything to do with my back’s issues. At 60 I can expect to hurt somewhere, right? With a couple of ‘snags’ in my back, I just know to take the best care of it that I can and keep up the walking and jiggling; those are the best things for it and they both help with my breast cancer recovery, too. I’m blessed that exercise for one is also good for the other.)

I thank God that we are healthy to make this trip! I’ve got to jiggle, take a bath and wash and roll my hair, then I’m READY! Woohoo!

The packing has begun.

So, I’m out of pictures of something interesting, so here’s how I look tonight after church and almost ready for bed. I’ve got about a half hour of exercises to do while I watch TV, then I’m ready to crash again. I’ve been packing lamps, etc. to take to Gretta. We have way too much stuff in this house and her house is new and she has space available.

Wow, today was a gorgeous day, again. I thought we were done with great days, but it was wonderful for walking. Don had a men’s meeting at church, so I walked by myself. I walked up to the hospital and visited Dorothy and David and stopped by the nursing home to visit some folks there who are special. David is doing a little better all the time, but his progress is slow. It’s amazing that Dorothy can stay there with him, sleeping on a cot. She’s had back surgery and a broken wrist in the last few months, not to mention that she’s up in her 80’s! She’s amazing!

We’re both excited about this trip. It’s going to be so good to spend some days with Gina and her family, Gretta and her family, and then top it off with a visit with Ruthie and her family and all the friends we knew when we lived there. It seems like a really long time since we’ve made this trip, so I thank God for the ability to make it. We’ll stop on the way and see Trish and Raynie; all the rest of her kids are in school. She has some things to send to Gretta. Then we’ll see Gina’s 3 kids and Gretta’s 2, so we’re going to get a good grandkid fix! Thank you, God!

'Our' sweet Blake.

The pictures tonight are of “our sweet Blake.” Blake is Ruthie’s littlest grandson and he will be 2 in January. We’re so excited to be seeing him and his big brothers, Phil and Alex, the weekend after Thanksgiving. I asked Ruthie for a current picture so I wouldn’t be too shocked when I see him, and she sent these. I can’t believe what a big boy he is; they sure don’t stay babies for long! I’m sure glad she sent these pictures; I would have been floored to see him this big. His brothers call us Aunt Grammy and Uncle Poppy because we lived there when Phillip was born and he was sure our grandbaby fix. We treasure the memories of time we get to spend with them. Their Daddy, John, is full time with the Tennessee Army National Guard and when I was in Tijuana having hypothermia treatments he supported me by telling me to imagine him and the whole Tennessee Army Guard there to get me through it. One of the best compliments I ever got was when someone at their wedding said Deanna (Blake’s mommy) looked like ME. I think we were both smiling big like Blake is in the second picture, so I guess Blake looks like me, too? HA! Anyway he’s enjoying God’s brisk fall weather like his Aunt Grammy does. Thanks, Ruthie, for sharing these pictures. I can hardly wait to see all of your family and our friends in Springville!

Today was really cold here with big wind, but I made it through my walk. I dressed for it and did just fine. I even wore ear muffs and I was sure glad I did!

We visited David and Dorothy a little while ago and made up a cot for her to sleep right next to him. She really doesn’t want to leave his side, and I’m so glad that she is able to stay there with him. He’s doing a lot better. He doesn’t feel good by any means, but he was talking and laughing and yesterday he didn’t feel like saying anything more than was absolutely necessary and he didn’t have the breath to laugh. I’m so glad to see him going in the right direction! I thank God for a local hospital and doctors to take care of us when we crash around here!

Tomorrow is our fellowship meal after church and I’ve got my food made. It feels good to be prepared. I’m going to go jiggle, take a bath and go to bed early. Don is staying up to watch football and I’m treating myself to going to bed early; I aim to do that a lot, and mostly NEVER really get it done. I keep finding something that has to be done. Tonight I’m going to really do it.

Happy red shirt day!

This picture Don took before I left this morning for the second funeral I’ve attended this week. You can see that my arm is swollen and the right sleeve was bunched up. My other black blazer wouldn’t go on because the sleeve was so tight. It’s a reality that I’ll have to manage the rest of my life. I’m happy to trade it for breast cancer!

Happy red shirt day (support our troops)! It’s been a busy day for us. I took Dorothy to a funeral with me this morning. A friend’s sister died and we went. David wasn’t feeling well then. Later Dorothy called and said they thought they needed to take David to the hospital. We took him and he has pneumonia, again! Bless his heart. Due to all our running around we ended up eating lunch and supper out, so I feel stuffed. We’ll go in a bit and take Dorothy home. We hate to leave her at home alone, but she insists she will be all right. We’ll just have to leave her to God. No better than she can see, we sure hate to leave her alone. She did get a closed circuit TV this week that enables her to read pill bottle labels and can labels, etc. It’s a wonderful tool. I know how good it feels to be at home, too, so we’ll reluctantly take her home in a while. We came on home to get some odds and ends done.

Today it turned cold here. I think it was in the 50’s but the wind was blowing at 40 and 50 mph, so it felt really cold. I had to cut my walk short to go to the hospital with Dorothy and David, but I was freezing, anyway. Tomorrow I’ll have to bundle up; I’m going to have to be tough to walk through the winter. I can do it. I thank God that I can walk, so I’m not going to wimp out on Him just because it’s cold.

Happy face.

Tonight’s picture is my happy face! The cleaning lady came today and sparkled up the house. I got all the laundry done yesterday, so it feels good to have things ready for a minute. Now, I get to get things all in a row for taxes. ICK. There’s always something hanging over my head. I’ve got to get taxes in order before we take off on trips or Don will stew about it the whole time we’re gone. I don’t want him to have cancer, so the best thing to do is get this stuff done. I’m so grateful for the cleaning lady. She’s not Angela, but she gets the job done and I thank God for her.

Another thing I shared with the ladies that came straight from our retreat was this: “The Hebrew word for forgive actually means to drop it.” That’s very graphic to me and makes it so easy to comprehend The chaplain who did our opening session said that ‘Resentment and retaliation diminish you.” It doesn’t harm the person in your aim at all; but it diminishes YOU! That’s pretty graphic, too! It settles it for me. Forgive and forget resentment and retaliation; I love that motto. Someone with cancer doesn’t need ANYTHING to further diminish them; they are absolutely aiming to build clean and healthy cells. Don’t wait until you have cancer to realize that we are ALL about building clean and healthy cells. None of us want to give up any life by diminishing our own selves just for the ‘joy’ of holding something against someone. Besides, who of us wants to even aim any resentment or retaliation at anyone, no matter how evil they may have been to us; that would be stooping to their level! Interesting, huh? Maybe that is all about the concept of turning the other cheek.

Another thing I got from the retreat, that I forgot to share at the salad supper was this one: “A cure is one thing, but healing is even MORE.” Lots of people think that the doctors would like to take all the credit or MD Anderson would like to take all the credit. I think they see themselves as tools that God uses. That’s how I see it. I thank God for them. I thank Him for the cure and for the healing. I pray that I will do my part to maintain the healing that He has given me. That means I’ve got to get the tax stuff ready so that it doesn’t diminish me or Don! It would be stupid on my part to have a healing and then let taxes eat away at us. Duh!

75 days of vitamins and herbs packaged!

This picture is me with my last daisy and the current rebloomers. I’m so enjoying them. God’s abundance amazes me. These flowers get so little attention, but they keep producing and delighting me! I don’t look so delighted in this picture; I’m tired after throwing and packaging herbs and vitamins all day.

Today I finished up 75 days of herbs and vitamins for me. I did Don’s before we went to Houston; now I’ve got half of mine done. I’ll do the other 75 days when we get back from our Thanksgiving trip. This gets me enough to get me through that trip and another several weeks. I’m working to have enough done to get us through our Branson trip in the winter. I thank God that I have this many done and only have one more ‘batch’ to do. Then I can relax about all that for several months!

Another thing from the retreat that I shared last night was the concept of the presence of an ‘altar’ transforming ordinary space into something special. An altar is anything you have displayed. So, like if you have a picture of a loved one on the wall, then that space becomes very special space. Likewise, if you keep a memento of a trip displayed somewhere in your home, then that space takes on whatever was special about that trip. Man, did that ever validate my clutter habit! HA! Really, it did make me want to de-clutter and keep only the things that have special meaning.

Another thing we discussed at the retreat and I repeated last night is that someone else’s perspective can add so much to one’s understanding. It’s why support groups are so good and why discussion classes are so helpful in any kind of class. It’s good to have someone else’s opinion on something because they have a different perspective and their view can help one to expand their understanding of a topic. It sure helped us when we were talking with other cancer patients and caregivers!

God’s plan for people is so great. He put us in families; what a blessing! He made us social so that we group with people of like interests. We can and do help each other; what a happy way to live. I thank Him for families and friends.

Thanks! And more thanks!

I’ve had trouble with the computer all day. I finally had to restore the system with the F10 key. I didn’t destroy everything, and it does seem to be working. You could tell from last night’s picture that I was pretty rattled; it was the technical stuff. Today has been a struggle, but I feel like I’m sort of on top of it all. Some things are working; some are not, but we didn‘t have to buy a computer today. I really thought it was over and we’d be shopping today. So, I’m thanking God for His help. I couldn’t have done it without His help!

He helped me through the devotion tonight, too. It went just fine, I think. The ladies were very attentive and seemed to appreciate the lesson. I’ll tell you one thing I shared from the retreat. At the retreat they had a Thanksgiving tree. It was a cone shaped basket with the point up like a tree. They had little pieces of colored construction paper with a holes punched in one corner and curly ribbon to tie the papers onto the tree. Before you tied them onto the tree you were supposed to write something for which you were giving thanks. I thought that was such a great idea! I made a THANKS box since I don’t have space for a tree. I’m going to fill it with things for which I’m thankful and keep it all year. On days that are good I will put things into the box. On bad days I’ll go read what’s in the box. That ought to fix up any bad day! Actually, I think I can put something in there everyday, and I'll be ashamed if I can't!

The picture tonight is me before I left for the salad supper with my THANKS box. I had things in it that I’d written today at the funeral. Sit down and look around and write all the things for which you are thankful; you’ll need lots of papers and time! When we got home from Houston, it felt so good to be home. We had a WONDERFUL visit with Doris and Jerry and their family and friends, and a WONDERFUL time at the retreat, but home is always so sweet! I was telling Don, “I love our kitchen! I love my island! I love my cup and my knives!” (How wacky is THAT? Knives!?) Everything I touched felt like home and it was so good! None of those things are so special, but they are OURS. I’m so grateful that the burglar didn’t destroy our home; I pray for him because I know he was lost in some way. I thank God for the concept of ours, the concept of home, the concept of belonging, the concept of prayer. I’m so sorry for someone who was here and didn’t belong. Maybe he doesn’t belong anywhere and that would be sad! Thank you God for family and friends and the opportunity to spend time with them.

Here’s a story from the retreat: A couple died and when they got to heaven St. Peter met them at the pearly gates. He asked how they were and they were so thrilled to be there they began confessing what they thought were their sins. St. Peter kept saying, “Oh, no, that’s not a sin; no that’s okay; no that’s not a sin; goodness, you must have WORRIED yourselves to death!”

Desktop is paralyzed.

Oh, brother. The desktop has been near death all day. We shut it down last night because storms were predicted for the night. When we started it up this morning there was a warning about a virus, but even when I did what it said to do the computer still wouldn't do anything. It wouldn't even shut down. I finally unplugged it and when I started it again it worked fine. Then it started it again tonight and it's been three hours that it's been paralyzed. I'm thinking tomorrow may be the day we get a new computer. I'm just happy that THIS one is working!

The picture is one Don took of me today. We walked today and I walked up a sweat, which made my hair go all frizzy. That's how it feels now when it's really curly, so I rolled it, again. I'm hooked. The hot curlers are back. I'll only roll it when it's too frizzy. I'm getting better with the curlers and it works really quickly. These curls are pretty cool, even when they're frizzy. The rolled curls don't fall out like they used to; used to when I'd sweat, the curl would fall out, but not anymore! I'm learning to cope with it. I thank God for it. Mostly I thank God for living to experience any kind of hair and all the things in life that are way more important!

Walking is such an inspiration.

This is today’s picture with another iris arrangement and the last daisy of the year. I didn’t roll my hair or do anything but brush it today. I’m learning. Maybe it will be worth rolling it when I wash it. We’ll see. I think when I go to Branson and swim everyday I’ll forget rolling it. We’ll see.

Today was full of church and mixing. The Future Teachers of America have a great lunch every year to raise funds and today was the day. It’s always fun because it seems like the whole town comes for it and the food is delicious. David and Dorothy and our neighbors, Bill and Olya ate with us. It was fun. After lunch we went out to Dorothy and David's and helped them rearrange the furniture in their living room. Man, I was so ready for a nap when we got home, but it was time to walk. I had to really push myself, but I did it. Whew. By the time I got back it was time to get supper and then get back to church.

I’m cooking some food for this week. A good friend passed away after several years of Alzheimer’s and I’m fixing a pasta salad for the meal after her funeral. Another friend’s sister passed away and her funeral will be Friday. I’ll probably cook for that family meal, too. We’ve been down that road and the meal for the family is really a good time for the church to provide, so I enjoy participating. I thank God that I am able! Then I’m fixing a salad for Tuesday night’s ladies salad supper, too. (I have to get my thoughts together for that devotion, too. I’m about ready; I just need to get it down on paper so if my chemo brain takes over I can fall back on some notes.)

Today’s walk was really good. Of course Don stayed home and watched football. My friend, Deb, who would normally walk with me was home nursing her husband , who had knee surgery Friday. So, it was just me and God. God’s a great walking buddy and He provided such a beautiful day. We can cover a lot of territory in an hour! I’ve done everything but jiggle today; that’s the easiest of my exercises; I just have to lay there with my arms out and let the machine jiggle me for 15 minutes. It’s just hard to find the 15 minutes!

Find 15 minutes to do something good for your back; I challenge you! Most of us have achy backs; just sitting or laying down or walking will help; give it 15 minutes and see if you don’t feel better!

Pardon me for being so vain!

I am in such a state of baffle. I washed my hair today and tried blow drying it. NO WAY. I was never skilled at blowing dry straight hair, but these curls are way ahead of me! So I blew it dry and rolled it with hot curlers. I used to be good at that; not anymore. It took me forever to do and the curlers fell out about as fast as I got them ‘clipped.’ That was okay because this hair really was ‘uncurling’ and it responded quickly. I was so slow that it took what seemed like forever. I don’t like it much. It looks okay, but it feels floppy like my old hair did, so I worry that it’s falling flat and wonder if I should tease it and spray it. GAG. I don’t want to go THERE! I didn’t even like the rolling thing, or the drying. I’m so good at lazy, anymore!

What really has me baffled is the color! This hair looks blonde or brownish. The curly hair seems to be grayer. I have done NOTHING to the color. I think straightening it (with the rollers!?) highlights the color that is there better than the tight curls do. The color is okay, but it’s not worth all that effort. I’ll see what happens when I sleep on it and walk and sweat. I’m thinking the curls will just get tighter and tighter as the days pass and I‘ll look like the little gray haired lady with a perm in a few days. It’ll be interesting. I just shake my head when I look in the mirror and wonder who this is in my bathroom, now! It looks a lot like me, but I had gotten used to the little old lady with the perm look. Hmmm; I sure liked being lazy. I know I am not going to go back to hot curlers every day of life, again! Mascara is one thing, but curlers? I don’t think so! Gretta will advise me when I get there; I’ll bet Judy and Dana will, too. I think Ruthie will stick with me for the easy curls, but I’m not betting; she’s the one who taught me the curler thing a hundred years ago. Go ahead, I’m braced for it.

You know what? I’m thanking God for any hair! I’m thanking Him for the ability to raise my arms and use the curlers even if I am stale at it. I thank Him for the ability to walk and sweat! I’m thanking Him for the time and energy to mess with the dryer and curlers today I know that my life is so rich because of all He gives me, and hair with curls is such a treat. I must be silly to even get out the curlers! I just feel like I should be doing SOMETHING with it; I never had it so easy and I sure like the easy.

Oh! By the way, those are irises blooming in my yard, here on November 9th! I couldn’t have been any more thrilled if I’d found money in my flower bed! I so enjoy these rebloomers!

Home, again! Thank you, God.

This is a picture Don took yesterday by some more pretty flowers at Camp Allen. I don’t know what they are, but I loved them! I forgot to take my jacket, so I had my sweat shirt that I use when I walk and the great blanket/jacket that Trish gave me for Christmas last year. That blanket/jacket lives in the car and I wear it when Don freezes me with the AC. The sweat shirt I’ve cut out the neck and cut off the cuffs and the bottom, so it’s perfect to keep me warm, but not smother me and then when I start sweating I take it off and tie it around my waist. The two of them kept me plenty warm at the chuck-wagon dinner last night.

We made it home fine. We got here just around 7, I think. We’ve got the car all unloaded and I have a load of laundry going. Don just came in to say goodnight; he’s had his shower. I’m headed to my bath before he gets to sleep. We’re both exhausted, but revived. The retreat was absolutely awesome! We’re blessed to get home before it was too late. We’ve got time to take a bath and get to bed. We’ve got breakfast planned at the Kozy Diner in the morning at 8:30. It’ll be good to see everyone. It’s good to be home!

I thank God for home, for safe traveling, for health, for family and friends. Wow; we are so blessed!

Happy Birthday, Ruthie!

Don took this picture this evening as we were getting ready to go to our chuck-wagon dinner. I love the flowers around here. This was a potted hibiscus near one of the entrances to the convention center.

The chuck-wagon dinner was perfect! The food was good and the weather was perfect for it! We had such a good time sitting around talking to each other. This retreat has been so wonderful. I think it has been good for Don and I know it’s been good for me. I see other cancer survivors from time to time, but it’s been so nice to visit time and again with people who ‘get it.’ That’s kind of how we’ve put it since we’ve been here. People who don’t have cancer have been very supportive, but they have no way of really understanding. Once you have cancer you are always on the lookout for it to appear again. It’s very common that it will, too. Whatever makes our bodies a comfort zone for it in the first place, we have to face that it’s still a comfort zone. Then common side effects of chemo and radiation are CANCER!

I don’t do caffeine or sugar and I avoid processed foods and white flour; I do all that to make my body less inviting to cancer. I exercise like a nut to build up my immunity and bone density, plus I take 5 cancer fighting supplements and others to build my immunity. Plus, I do my best to avoid stress. A thing I’ve concluded is that type A personalities naturally attract cancer. Ugh. I can’t change into a B personality, so I just have to do my best. My family has been so good to help me de-stress. My friends do their best to help me, too. They all do it out of love. This group of people didn’t know me, let alone love me, but we can all sure talk! It’s been so nice to not have to prepare or clean up after meals! The woods have been so beautiful! The surroundings are just awesome. The staff has been so much fun, too. WOW; I’ve learned so much. I surely thank God for the opportunity to attend this retreat.

I am doing the devotional for our ladies salad supper at church next Tuesday night. I had a million things I wanted to say, but I got my devotional from a session we had this morning. I can hardly wait for Tuesday night to share what I’ve learned! I’ll share more with you after Tuesday, too; I don’t want to give away my lesson before then.

I thank God for my big sister, Ruthie! I would have never lived to have cancer if it had not been for Ruthie pulling me out of many snares and teaching me so much. Besides that she gave me a wonderful brother-in-law and niece and nephew and their great families! Ruthie, here is your birthday present. This is a joke the chaplain told today. This couple were blessed to die at the same time and they showed up at the pearly gates. St. Peter asked them if they’d sinned and they began to confess what they considered to be their sins. St. Peter kept saying, "Oh, that’s not a sin; finally He said, good grief, you must have worried yourselves to death!"

Happy Birthday, Gretta!

Happy Birthday, Gretta! Today she is 36, so we can still talk about her number! I talked to her this morning on our way out here. It’s a good thing because we have no cell phone reception out here! I hope we’ve met our quota on emergencies and nobody will need us, but if they do they can reach us by land line Camp Allen’s phone number is 936-825-7175. Tomorrow is my sister, Ruthie’s birthday. I’m looking forward to seeing both of them before the end of this month; we’re going to Gretta’s for Thanksgiving and will come by Ruthie’s house on the way home. We’re planning to go to Gina’s house on the way to Gretta’s. This is a big travel month for us! I am so thankful that we are able to travel this year. This time last year I was bald as an onion and couldn’t get out amongst people. I cleaned all the pictures off my computer before we left the house (stored them on an external hard drive) to free up space on the laptop in hopes that it would work better, so I borrowed this picture from the Magic Foundation. We’re really proud of her work with them.

I gave a lady a shot today to help her get her white blood cell count up. It was a $7,000 shot! Her caregiver’s brother died this morning, so she came without her; I guess I’m her caregiver, now! Of the 14 patients here, 4 are breast cancer survivors. One is an ovarian cancer survivor. One is is living with lung, bone and liver cancer (!), and the rest are all Leukemia survivors. Most of them have had stem cell transplants. They have some way bigger stories to tell than I do. I see, again, that I am so blessed. We all feel that we are! We all thank God that MD Anderson is here and that we can come here for our treatments; we all feel that God is the source of our healing and MD Anderson is the tool. It’s been so good and we expect tomorrow will be, too. We thank God for the opportunity to have this experience.

Looky here, looky here, looky here!

We really are at the retreat and have high speed access right in our room! Our room is homey and the camp is gorgeous! We have a hand quilted quilt hanging on the wall in this room! Don and I have already taken a hike on one of the trails, here. We start with lunch at noon. We're just getting everything settled into our room and I'm working to see if the laptop works. The laptop is limping, but it sure helps to have high speed internet access!

I'm going to put on a picture of Charlotte and I at the Cracker Barrel on Monday. Then, I'll go get some pictures of the camp and I'll post, again, tonight! I'm so pleased already! I've learned that there are only 14 couples here for this retreat, so it's going to be very intimate. I'm so pleased that we could come. Thanks for looking and hanging with us! God blesses us all so much; praise!

So much for a day off from posting! I couldn't wait to tell you I'm online already and the retreat is wonderful! You might find information about where we are located at www.campallen.org.

Woohoo! Great report and 'promotion!'

This picture is too precious. Colter has a fetish for running his fingers through hair. He likes to suck two fingers on his left hand and run the fingers of his other hand through your hair. Don got this picture Sunday as he was sitting in my lap. You can see him sucking his two fingers and running his fingers through my hair. He is such a precious little guy; he took one look at me and knew there was a goldmine in that hair!

Today was a wonderful day! We saw the doctor and she was very pleased with my blood tests and her examination of me. She ‘promoted me’ so that I only have to come back in 4 months, now, instead of every 3 months. We’re very pleased with that!

After our appointment we got to go check in another couple to their apartment in the same complex where we were when we stayed here. That was such a blessing for us! It was nostalgic for us in that it brought back lots of memories, but it made us soooooooo grateful to be able to be HOME and TRAVELING! And this couple was so appreciative of the apartment they were getting! They were staying in a little motel room, and he was feeling so rugged with all the chemo he’s had in the last couple of days. When he walked into their apartment he just sat down in a chair, put his head into his hands and cried. He was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanked God for a miracle! It was such a joy to be a part of relief for them. I thank God for the opportunity to be on the giving end of this experience.

Then tonight we went out to eat to celebrate our great day. It had been such a sweet visit!

Tomorrow morning we leave early for the retreat. I don’t expect that I’ll have internet access at the retreat, so I’m going to take Wednesday and Thursday off from posting. Don’t think something is wrong. We’re just hibernating at the retreat for survivors and caregivers. We’ll be home late Friday night and I’ll post then. Take a break from us for a couple of days, but y’all come back! We love you.

Sisters in the breast cancer journey.

Ronetta and I are sisters in the Lord and also sisters in this breast cancer journey. We met on breastcancerstories.com and she has been a great support to me through cyberspace; yesterday we got to meet. A lady who was nearby took our picture and asked if she got it right. I told her it was us, so it was right. She said that maybe she didn't get the shot we wanted and I asked her if she could shoot it so that I was the tall, slender one. Obviously, she couldn't. Ronnetta is the age of our youngest daughter, Gretta, so I could be her mother, and our cancers are in the breast but different. She's an amazing woman, though. She has been such an inspiration to me with her attitude, so I wanted so much to meet her in person. She has 3 daughters; 8, 6 and almost 2 and she has worked through her whole journey. She has a wonderful husband, Gerald, and a great support system of family and friends. I feel like I know them all through her stories, and it was such a joy to meet her. I thank God for her in my life.


Today I got to meet with another friend, Charlotte. Charlotte lives in an outlying town and she and her daughter, Delpha, drove in to meet me for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. Delpha made my 'reunion' outfit that you may recall seeing me wear at both Don's reunion and mine. It's my dress up outfit that I love so much. Charlotte was at Itazuke, but we weren't there together. We met at and Overseas Brats function and we've become close and travel together whenever possible. When I was having surgery, she was having surgery for a blockage, so we've done some patching together this year. Delpha got pictures of us today, so I'll post those soon.


This trip has been a fun one for seeing people! Tomorrow we are going to do my appointments at the hospital and then check a couple into the apartments where we stayed when we 'lived' here for surgery and radiation. Doris went to the apartments today and cleaned two and checked one couple into theirs, but this other couple was tied up in treatments and couldn't make it to check into their apartment. Doris has to keep Luke tomorrow, so we get to check this couple into their apartment. I think that'll be fun, and we can do it since we're going to be down there, anyway. I thank God, again, for blessing us with the apartment while we were here. I thank Him for making it available to this couple, too and I pray for their recovery. This apartment ministry is a tremendous thing and I'm glad to have even a tiny little part in it.

Old home week with great nephews.

Here I am in my hayday with Luke, on the left, and Colter, on the right. Luke had a little bowl of fish he was sharing with Colt and I. They are such precious guys; how blessed are we to get to see them every three months!

Today was a wonderful day. We saw lots of good people who have been wonderful to us at church. Then we had a great reunion here at the house over lunch. After the kids left I went out to Starbucks and met my support group: Ronnetta is a wonderful gal who I met through breastcancerstories.com and we've emailed back and forth over the months. We finally got to meet today. I'll put a picture of the two of us on the blog soon. It was so sweet to get to meet her in person.

After a quick walk this afternoon we went back to church and then had dinner out with a wonderful group. I thank God for friends and family all over who have been so supportive. Ronnetta and I agreed that one of the richest blessings of this breast cancer experience is the love and support we've had and we thank God for that tender blessing.

Good trip to Houston.

Our trip today was perfect. We met Terri along the way for lunch and the picture tonight is one Don took of us. You can tell we were having a great time. God blesses us to have such good friends!

We arrived here after 6 hours on the road including our lunch stop with Terri and a breakfast stop this morning in Lawton, so we think today went really well. We visited a while and then Doris walked with me while Don and Jerry watched football. After dinner I went to set up the laptop and it wouldn't cooperate. Jerry and I worked on it for a while and it's just not going to happen. More technical challenges! We didn't come here to be technically challenged! So, I gave up on our laptop and moved to Jerry's desktop. I'll get this post on and then maybe I can figure out the laptop connection tomorrow. If not, I'll use this desktop, again.

I'm blessed to have options! The trip was great and we are settled. Tonight we get an extra hour of sleep! Woohoo! I couldn't ask for more. Tomorrow we get to see Brett and Heather and Gregg and Stephanie, and the big delights: Luke and Colt! I'll get pictures and share them soon!

Thank you, God for our safe trip and Terri's too!

Ready to go.

Tonight’s picture is of Raynie waving. She is such a sweetie; she’s a tough one, too. Notice the bruise on her forehead and the scratch on her cheek, but you can see the happy in her eyes! She’s such a sweetie. You know, she was born with a cleft palate, so they weren’t sure if she’d have speech issues or not. Just in case, they taught her to sign, and although she is learning to talk, she signs very well. It amazes me and it is so sweet that she can do it and communicate so well with it. This wave is so precious. I guess she talks with her eyes a lot, too. She’s a precious little girl and has recovered totally from her surgery back in the summer. She eats anything she wants and can even suck from a straw (which she couldn’t do before her surgery). We miss all the kids when they are gone, so we sure thank God for lots of pictures. We’re blessed with the kids and blessed again with the pictures!



All our ‘stuff’ is on the bed ready for me to pack. I’ll go do that and then we’re ready to go in the morning. We’ll get up at 5 and leave at 6. We like to get off early so that we get there before it’s dark. We’re good to go in the dark in the morning. There’s nobody on that road but us in the morning. If we get a late start, there will be oodles of people on the road in Houston after dark!



I’ll do my best to post to the blog while we’re gone, but I may not be able to when we are at the retreat. I’ll let you know if we have to take a couple of days off from posting. I’ll also let you know on Tuesday evening how my appointments go. I expect no issues; I expect this to be totally boring. I wonder if they’ll recognize me with all this hair. I didn’t have this much hair when they met me and I’ve NEVER had curls like this.



I finished packaging all of Don’s herbs and vitamins, so he’s good through March! WHEW. I have enough to get me through until I get home next week and another week or so, but I’ve got to get busy and get mine done through March when we get home. I’ve done all my exercises today, so I’m ready except for putting things into the suitcase. I’m headed to do that. Then I’m going to power plate before bed. The power plate is a great machine that is for full body vibration. That’s very good for building bone density and many other things. It feels so good to an achy back, so I’m ready to have a session. I thank God that Don and I can be on the same page for the equipment and supplements that we feel are helpful. It’s a blessing to me to have the power plate and the jiggler. The jiggler is packed already in the suitcase to go with us! Keep an eye on us and I’ll keep you posted. Hugs to you!

Windmill weeds up to my shoulders, again.

The picture tonight is me in the midst of our newest ‘collection’ of windmill weeds. I’m holding one up so you can better see their size.

Today was another awesome weather day. I love it when it’s brisk enough to walk with a sweat shirt and shorts, but it gets hot enough that I have to shed the sweat shirt about half way through the walk. It feels like Colorado memories to me. I remember thinking it was so funny that people there wear jackets and shorts. After a couple of days I caught on because it’s cool in the mornings, and a jacket is needed, but in just a little while it warms up enough that the jacket ends up tied around the waist. The locals call that mud season, I think. Don and I were there for a week and loved it; a foot of snow sliding off the roof to wake us up in the morning at it was all melted by noon. We spent a week in Colorado one spring; maybe we can do that again this spring! Anyway, our walk was tremendous today.

I’ve got all my other exercises done, but I’m still working on getting those herbs packaged. I did get all the laundry done today. Tomorrow we’ll get all packed for our trip to Houston and I’ve got to get these herbs and vitamins packaged! When we get home I’ve got to throw and package mine. It’s a big chore, but it sure feels good when I’ve got it done through March. Tomorrow we’re getting up early to vote.

Today I received a rough draft of our memory book from the Vegas reunion and I spent some time working to get the names right in it. That was fun. I was glad to get it in time to do it here, so I didn’t have to take it and do it in the car on the way. I’ve got it all ready to go out in tomorrow’s mail. I had to call some folks to make sure I had some of the names right, so it was kind of like a bonus reunion!

I thank God so much for the ability to walk and exercise! This time last year I couldn’t wear shoes with toes because my toes were so tender. My big toenails are almost back to regular, now! They’re very short, so the end of my toes are pretty tough. Last year I couldn’t thread a needle, and could hardly use one, but this year I can sew and even thread my own needles. I’m so grateful that the peripheral neuropathy disappeared! This time last year I was bald and didn’t have a hair on me anywhere, but this year I’m a peach all over and have a head full of curls. What a difference a year makes! I thank God for giving me another year to live and enjoy feeling better and better. I thank you for hanging with me through all this!

Today’s walk brought a fun incident. It was gorgeous here, so I started out with my sweat shirt on, but after a while tied it around my waist. (See the picture.) Don and I were walking up a street and I had done all my exercises with the cane, so we were holding hands and I was ‘twirling’ my cane. I do that because it further exercises my arm. A lady drove by and turned around a came back and stopped to say, “I just had to come back and tell you what I thought when I saw you! I thought you were a cheerleader out walking until I passed; I just wanted you to know you’ve got it whipped!” It made my day. I figure people must think I’m some kind of idiot, but she just thought I was a cheerleader skipping classes. Bless her heart, she’s a few decades behind times because cheerleaders all have long straight hair these days. But, she was kind and I love her even if she hasn’t seen a cheerleader in years! She probably meant majorette, but it doesn’t make any difference. She meant active teenager, so that took 45 years off me and made me feel like skipping home.

I think there is a lesson in there. They say you should always tell people when you love them. They say to not let friends get away without letting them know how much you care about them. I think it’s also a good idea to say something nice to total strangers. You just might make their day. I thank God that that lady stopped to tell me I looked like someone young and active at her first glance. He finds ways to encourage me. I thank God for you on my side in life, too. Thank you for checking in on me.

Speaking of active, I’ve got exercises yet to do, so I’d better get with the program, as Daddy would say. I hope you feel young and active; if not, come walk with me!

Football weather.

Tonight’s picture is one taken when we were in Vegas the Friday of the reunion. Good memories! I should have taken the camera with us tonight, but I forgot to take it. We went to Lawton to watch Bruce play in a football game. It was perfect football game weather; I thank God for that. I took my coat with a hood, a scarf and gloves and a blanket. With all that and no wind I did just great. The boys played great and won 20 - 0. I should have taken the camera, but I wasn’t on the ball. Davy and Susan were there, but Erica stayed home to work on a project. She’s a senior this year, so I guess most everything she has to do is pretty important. We missed her, but it was great to see everyone else.

I got Don’s herbs and vitamins done from last night and was able to get another set of 75 thrown today, but I’ll have to package them tomorrow. Tomorrow is also laundry day to get everything clean so we can pack to go to Houston on Saturday.

This trip to Houston is going to be fun. We’ll see our friend (my 'adopted' little sister, Terri) on the way to Houston. She’s going to meet us in Fairfield for lunch. Then we’ll get into Doris and Jerry’s on Saturday night. The time changes that night; I think we lose and hour, so we’ll be ready to go to bed early. We should see both her boys and their families at church on Sunday, so that’ll be fun! Monday another friend is going to meet us for lunch in Houston. Then Tuesday is my appointments with MD Anderson. I don’t expect any problems; I’m not aware of anything suspicious. Then Wednesday through Friday we’re going to a patient/caregiver retreat hosted by the Wellness Center at MD Anderson. It is in Navasota, TX, so we’ll be about an hour north of Houston. We’ll leave there after lunch on Friday, heading for home. We’ll make it home late Friday night. So, we’ll be gone a week, get some really good visiting done and a good retreat, too.

All is well here. I continue to feel great. Thanks for keeping up with us. We love you and thank God for you and that you care!

Tough kids.

The picture tonight is one of Grace and Mason hanging from the monkey bars. Mason is all over that thing and Grace is too. Grace just amazes us! She’s no bigger than a minute, but she is so incredibly strong. Don lifts her up to the bars and she takes off and goes the whole way over to the other side and then comes back, backwards to the very beginning! She goes the whole way giggling, too! There were a couple of other little girls at the park and Don would put them up there and they’d drop right down. They just couldn’t do it. I guess they haven’t had the practice that Grace has had. She’s a tough one! We’re really proud of her and Mason; they are both sweet as can be but tough as nails!

Today was cooler, but we still got to walk and enjoyed it. My day was all turned around because I had to ’throw herbs’ today. That’s always a hard couple of days when I have to do that. It’s hard because I have to get all the containers out and then all the herbs and vitamins. Then I have to COUNT them all out and counting is difficult for me, anymore. Then I have to package them. It’s all hard on my back, I guess because of the position of me sitting and holding my arms out over the containers, etc. Anyway, instead of getting my exercises all done as early as possible, I left them for breaks from time to time to get away from the herbs. It worked okay. I still have jiggling to go, but that’s very relaxing and I’ll do it after my bath. I’ve got all of Don’s herbs thrown for 75 days and about half of them packaged. My goal is to get done with his tonight before my bath, so I’m headed back to that task.

I thank God that we have these supplements available to us and that we’ve had the time to research and study them so that we know what to take. I also thank God that Don and I AGREE to take them. It’s a big financial commitment and a big commitment in time and energy to put them all together. We really believe that taking them for the last 16 years has made us both healthier than we would have been if we hadn’t taken them. We really believe that they are helping me to recover better than I would have if I hadn’t taken them all these years. We believe that my immune system was strong and able to take the onslaught of chemo and radiation better than I could have if I hadn’t been taking them before and since. I didn’t take them during because the doctors advised me not to take them as they might interfere with the chemo and radiation. So, these days of ’throwing herbs’ are difficult for me, but we believe it’s worth it. I trust God to take care of me, but I also believe that He expects me to do what I know is good to do, just as I believe I must do the exercises. Someone said that God provides food for all the birds, but He doesn’t throw it into their nests. In the same way, I believe I have to do all I can do to assure my recovery. We believe that God is making my recovery possible, and we are doing all we can to work with Him.

Mason, thinking.

This is Mason, in thought; I wonder what he was thinking. Maybe he’s remembering the jelly beans that were in that jar in his hands. He’d graciously shared them with Grace. Grace took this picture of Mason when they were here last week.

Today was another great day, but WAY windy here! When we got home from church the wind had blown windmill weeds back up against our back door. There was no time to get them today because the wind was blowing too hard. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I walked by myself and it was blowing so hard that it was hard to stand up, let alone walk! It was cool, though. One of our elder’s mentioned in class this morning that times when we are alone are so great for worshiping. I so agree. When I walk with all that wind it makes me feel like I’m being swept along by God. I loved it. Thankfully, it wasn’t bitter cold, so it was nice to be walking with shorts and a sweat shirt. Man, I sure thank God for the ability to walk, for the wind, and for times I can be alone with just Him.

Today was the day some of us from church do a devotional at the nursing home. That is really a good time for me, too. It’s so sweet to me to see people who really struggle to be productive because their mental ability is so confused, but they still find joy in singing songs of praise. These people in the nursing home need and give love and I’m grateful to be in their loop with them.

Recalling last week when Trish came with Sadie, Mason, Grace and Raynie, I sure give thanks for that time and their safe trip. We missed Rob and Nate and Gabe, but I give thanks that the boys are growing up and maturing as they should and that Rob is a wonderful dad who would stay home with them and encourage Trish to come home for a visit with us. God is great to give us wonderful families.

Precious memories.

This picture is of Mason hugging Raynie when they were here and we were over at Exploration Station. Mason always amazes me at how tough he is but how gentle and sweet he can be. Raynie is lucky to have such a great big brother. She has two other big brothers, but they are so much older they’ll be off and gone to college when she still needs a protector. Nate is 16 and Gabe will be 14 next month. Mason is 8, so he’ll be around for Raynie for a while. I think it’s a good thing for girls to have a big brother. I always had one; he was 8 years older than me, and he was a big comfort to me through the years. (I overlooked all the times he scared me to death, I guess, believing he’d use that skill to protect me if needed.) We sure miss the kids, but we treasure the memories of the times they’re here. Having pictures sure helps. Check out Mason’s shoes: one brown one and one blue one! He’s such a hoot. On our way home from Vegas we found those shoes on sale, so I bought him two pairs, one blue and one brown. He likes to wear them mixed! They’d laugh at me if I did that! If I do, I’m going to act like I did it on purpose to be cute like Mason!

Last night was fun playing cards. We celebrated Floyd’s birthday that’s coming up on November 1 when we’ll be on our way to Houston. He’ll be 83. The women took compassion on him and let the guys win one out of three games. We thought that was the least we could do.

Last night it was cold here (37 I think!), but it warmed up nicely today. We walked for half our walk and then Don came home to watch football and I went back and did the last half by myself. It was such a gorgeous day that I couldn’t resist being outside. I really believe it’s good for me to walk, too, and it gives me a great opportunity to ‘raise lots of cane.’

I’ve got all my exercises done for today, so I’m going to catch up on some reading this evening. I think Don will be into football all night. I’ve got some reading to do that he has assigned to me. HA! He does lots of research and culls out what he thinks I need to read so that we can be on the same page. I appreciate him doing that, so I’d better get with the program, as Daddy would say. I thank God for a Daddy whose memory I can treasure. (I overlook his imperfections, too; he did mine!)

Happy Friday!

One more picture of the windmill weeds. This is our back yard before Don took the picture of me yesterday. We got all that out of there and only a tad has blown in since then. We hope it’ll blow right past us in the next big wind, but I‘m a dreamer.

The housekeeper came today, so the house is all ready for our card players tonight. I’m able to keep it up pretty well; she just does the floors and dusting. That’s a big relief to me and I am grateful for her.

We walked this morning and it was great! It would have been COLD if the wind were blowing, but it wasn’t, so it was just a brisk walk. I’ve got to go do the basement exercises right quick before the card players get here.

Everything is good here. I thank God for a beautiful fall and the health to enjoy it.

No pictures; well one!

I couldn't load any pictures to the blog tonight because of some technical issue. It has something to do with my quota of pictures; this is really Tricia's blog, so I may have to move or something. Anyway, I'll talk to her about it tomorrow and we'll come up with an answer. I have cool pictures of the windmill weeds, but no space to load them. We worked hard on them and got free to get in and out our back doors.

[[Okay. I went back and deleted some extra pictures I had previously loaded onto the blog and never used, so that gave me some space. That'll get us by until I can figure out what to do. I'll let you know if we need to change addresses or what. This picture is of me standing in the middle of our big pile of weeds by the back door. If you have time, click on the picture so you can see it big and you'll see how small each individual weed is. These buggers are hard to gather!]]]

It was pretty windy today, but Don even walked with me. I was so ready for a good bath after tackling the weeds and walking, plus all the other exercises. It feels good to have it all done even if I know I’ve got to do it all over again tomorrow.

I so thank God that I can get out there and help. I was able to help clear them last year, but I wasn’t as good at helping last year as I was today. You may remember the pictures from last year. We don’t get these weeds every year. It depends on what the farmers plant. This is our third year to be covered with them. Don thinks it’s like an oil spill and the farmers should be responsible for cleaning them up for us. He has such a sense of humor!

Oops! No water tonight!

This is a picture of Mason (8) and Grace (5), playing on the little merry go round at the park last Thursday. It was a warmer day than it was today! It was so fun to have them here. I’m so grateful for the digital camera so I could get lots of pictures to capture the memories of a quick visit..

Speaking of thanks! I got the printer working! I am really thankful for that; what a relief! I went to Wal-Mart to buy a new printer because a printer is usually cheaper than a cartridge. (I kept getting a message that the cartridge wasn’t right; well I’d refilled it about a dozen times and I think the printer caught onto me.) They didn’t have just a plain old printer; all they had were photo printers or color printers where I had to buy a black ink cartridge anyway. I thought if I was going to buy a cartridge I’d buy one for my printer. They had one for only $14.50, so I threw $14.50 at it. It still didn’t work until I uninstalled the printer and installed it back about 3 times. The last time seemed to do the trick. Man, this stuff is a test for patience. I thank God that I had enough patience and $14.50 to get it to working. I really need to print some things for us to get our taxes ready before we go to Branson for the winter. We won’t be able to do it all, but we can be mostly ready. Now, I really need to get the scanner working, but maybe I can get by without it.

I’ve gotten both computers working pretty well and the printer working, so I feel a big relief! I’m changing our sheets tomorrow and the cleaning lady is coming Friday. I’ve got banana pudding made and some mixed nuts for cards Friday night. I’m all set and it feels good. I also got a big batch of chili made and a pot of pinto beans. I feel secure to have some food stashed in the freezer.

Uh oh. We don’t have any WATER, though! On our way home from church we noticed a huge water leak and a team working on it. We had a few drips of water and now nothing but air. I hope we have water by morning! I thank God that there is a team working to get our water problem fixed!

I walked by myself today and it made me feel 8 feet tall because the wind was blowing at 35 mph. Don wouldn’t go, so I felt really big for my britches to go brave the wind by myself. I thank God that we live in an area where I can walk close to home and even bad weather isn’t that bad. Oh, man! You should see the windmill weeds (commonly called tickle weeds) that those winds blew up today! There is a huge mass at our back door that is about the size of our kitchen (maybe 14 x 17 feet) and up to my shoulder! There is another one on our deck about half that size. I had pictures of it on the blog last year; I’ll take more tomorrow. It’s wild! There’s no point in cleaning it up until the wind quits blowing; maybe it will switch directions and blow somewhere else!

Cold front coming! Chili time!

This is another picture someone took of us at my reunion in Vegas. We sure had a good time!

We had another beautiful day here, but a cold front is supposed to be coming in tonight. I imagine I’ll be walking by myself tomorrow. We’re supposed to have big wind and Don doesn’t like to walk in the big wind. It’ll be an adventure. Today was a great walk, though!

I got our laptop in better working shape, today. I’m pretty much down to getting the printer to work. I did a little work on it today, but I’ve got it unplugged hoping it will forget it’s problem and wake up refreshed when I plug it in tomorrow.

We’ve made plans to play cards at our house Friday night. Floyd’s birthday is November 1 and we’re leaving that day for Houston, so we’ll celebrate his birthday Friday night. That’ll be fun.

We took our neighbor, preacher and house watcher and his family out to dinner tonight. It was fun. They are such great neighbors. They stay busy, so it’s hard to catch them with free time. It was fun to go out to eat with them.

Since the cold front is coming in I’m making chili tomorrow and we’ll take it out to share with David and Dorothy. We like to do that, so it has become a ritual whenever I make a pot of chili. I’m looking forward to it. They are both doing pretty well. They’re coming to play cards Friday night. I thank God for their recoveries, AND mine!

We are blessed to have wonderful neighbors and friends and good health! God is so generous!