Friday, March 26, 2010

Off to the lake until Tuesday.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Prayer please.

It has been real touchy lately, for our friend, the one who had open heart surgery a few weeks ago. I spent a couple hours with her on Monday, while her husband was at the doctors. She is very tired and doesn't really feel well~~just not doing well. She had another heart attack on Tuesday. Apparently there is nothing more they can do surgically, they will treat her condition with medicines. Two of the arteries they replaced are plugged again. She will come home tomorrow. At this point I ask for prayer for her and her family. Her daughter is a missionary in Indonesia and she will be coming in on Tuesday.
She is a strong Christian and in the past has been very active teaching Bible Studies and ministering to other, now it is time to minister to her and her family.
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I spent part of my day driving a friend from church around and about, delivering Easter Lilies to shut-ins. She is such a blessing to these people, and I feel privileged to be able to drive her to their houses.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Nice Day

It was in the mid 70's yesterday, and right now it is 74. Yesterday and today Dan decided to work on his Studebaker. He put in the passenger seat today, so now 2 people can ride in his car. Yes, it is drivable and it is insured. In this picture he is doing some adjusting work where the pedals are.



The kitties are not allowed in the bedrooms, however, they still like to give gifts. This was outside my door when I got up this morning. I suspect it was a "gift" from Chloe. At least it isn't a real mouse.
More then one of the kitties made their way outside. Jonah looked both ways and at me as he hid behind the bushes. I let him play a little outside, with Chloe yesterday. It was so nice I didn't want to stay inside, nor do I today.
My purple iris's are blooming. Some are done already.

A friend of mine, at church, is "helping" me to sign up for quilting classes. Bless her, it is something I have wanted to do since the mid 1970's and just haven't quite gotten there yet. So, while sorting through some of my mom's things we have come across some nice fabrics. However, since they have been in storage for sometime I am in the process of washing what I want (to get the musty smell out). I have sold some at yard sales in the past, so what I don't keep will go there. We have, also, found a wealth of sewing supplies, so I am in the process of organizing what I am going to keep. I have not sewn all month, and am wanting to finish some dresses for my granddaughter, do some mending and do some sewing for myself. When the weather is sunny here, I have much more energy and have the gumption to sort. When it is just gray and dull I seem to be listless. Rain, I love, it is just those dull, gray, cold days the central valley is known for.

Today, Keith found out what the insurance will pay him for his bike. They totaled it, so he gets a pay off. I feel bad for him, he so was into his motorcycle. I am grateful that he is alright, and not banged up to bad. God is good.

Have a Blessed day!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Prayer

For those who read this, I am asking for prayer for my son Keith. He has a motorcycle, which he got last spring. He layed it over this afternoon, going around a corner, I don't know all the details as of yet. He is pretty beat up, no broken bones he says. As I type this he is on his way to the doctors so I don't know exactly the extent of everything. He is driving himself to the doctors. He is pretty shaken up. Pray for his physical well being as well as his mental state. What's done is done, I pray nothing more serious will show up at the doctors. Also, for his sake (& mine) pray no one takes the bike and that it is still fixable. He really likes his bike. It is still in the mountains where the accident occurred. Apparently there was a couple that are camping up there somewhere that helped him. They were a God send, God Bless them.

I have a Bible Study tonight, and my husband is going to call me with Keith gets back to him. Until then my stomach will be in knots, as it will be for several days to come. Tomorrow is Friday, if he isn't so stiff he can't move, hopefully he will be able to take care of the insurance, etc.
It is really the pits that we are 4 hours away and waiting, well that stinks.
Doesn't matter how old your kids are, the anxious feelings never go away when they are hurting. You still want to take the pain away.

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Update

Just got off the phone with him. He is bruised up and going to be very sore. If he is still in pain in a week, the doc. said he may need some physical therapy. He is on his way to the bike and will call AAA to pick up the bike (tow) and take it home. The bike is not ride able at this time. God is good, he is ok.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Asked prayer

A dear friend of ours had triple by-pass surgery on Monday. I am asking for prayer for her recovery from her surgery. We went to visit with her today, after church. Her twin sister was there, we missed her husband. She is still in a lot of pain from the surgery. God willing, we pray her healing goes well and there are no complications. Her name is Marge, and she just turned 80 last month.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Amazing!

Since my last post, both my husband and I have had a birthday. I am still coming to grips that I am in my 60's. What is that suppose to feel like? I have no answer. I read somewhere that "It isn't how old you are, it's how you are old." We are experiencing that and more. The gym we went to has closed, so we need to walk more.

The kids are all grown and living on their own, God is gracious. We are enjoying our "empty nest" and are reinvesting in each other, not that we didn't before. We do miss our children very much and wish they lived closer, but that is not in God's plans at this time. We look forward to visits when they can, and I am planning on going to S. Korea sometime this year to visit with my youngest. My niece is planning on coming for a visit from Ohio, and my oldest and her children are coming out from Colorado, also. We will have the picnic basket and boat in order by then.

I am enjoying my Beth Moore Bible Study, and it is helping me meet more of the new women at our church. I didn't go last week because our son came up from Santa Barbara to get somethings to furnish his new place. He had been renting a room from some friends and recently moved into a small studio apt. on his own. We helped him to furnish it and get kitchen things together, including a couple basic type cookbooks. His place has a tiny kitchen with no stove. They provided him with a burner (portable) and microwave. We purchased, for him, a toaster/convection oven. We were also able, through the generous donation from on of my husbands dear friends) give him a small couch and dining table. Those, along with his bed fill the place up, so he has told us. We went grocery shopping to get him some very basic items to stock his kitchen, plus some extra. He paid extra for food where he was before and only purchased his lunch stuff, but he did that when he lived at home.

The weather here has been gray and overcast much of the winter, with rain. There has been some sun, but not a lot. We are now caught up on rainfall, however, with 3 years of drought we are still behind.
I am posting these pictures, because I think they are just amazing: the rainbow I took after Thanksgiving. After rainstorms here we can have amazing rainbows, usually two and you can see them from end to end.


This one, taken the end of January. Usually we don't get amazing sunsets, but this one was quite colorful. Not as brilliant on film as seen by the naked eye. Still amazing.
God can make beautiful pictures and we can look at them and be so blessed by His handiwork!

God Bless

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Santa Barbara Trip, Jan. 2010

Some of the pictures from our trip to Santa Barbara. Pictures are of the beach clean up of yachts/boats destroyed by Januarys storm. Pictures taken at the Presidential Library. Note the picture of Reagan created out of 10,000 Jelly Belly's. And the Santa Barbara Mission and a couple of fun ones. Check out the massive root system on the fig tree. I took one picture at the mission and the larger one at the train station. The homeless have set up housekeeping between the roots of the tree for protection from the weather, at the train station. Picture 9, with the blue and butterfly is an acutal piece of the Berlin Wall that was presented to President and Mrs. Reagan.


Friday, February 12, 2010

Oh My!

Again, almost a month since my last post. I have started several times but something else always took me away, and when you share a computer it isn't always your turn when you have a thought to post.

Let me back up a bit. Our Christmas was good. Before Christmas my husbands sister and her husband stopped for a visit on their way from Vancouver, WA to San Diego and again in early Jan. on their way home. We had a good visit both times. Our youngest son was here for Christmas and we had a good visit. On the 1st of the year our oldest and her family were here for a few days. Always good to see them and our grandchildren. A week after they left both our boys were here for a few days, and Eric's girlfriend also (we get along well, very nice). So we had an open door for a few weeks. My husbands words after the boys left were "Well, I guess the holidays are finally over for us." I guess so, what could I say.

Toward the end of the month we went to Santa Barbara to visit with Keith and do some sight seeing. I posted a few pictures, of course afterwards I remembered~~ they post backwards from how you put on. So here goes.

The day we went home we went to the Santa Barbara Mission. We had gone in August when we were there, but not inside. This time we went inside. It was a nice visit, but very much like the others we have seen except for the personal touches, and that it is much larger then some of the other missions. Of course, not to mention that when you look out to the ocean the view is still fantastic. It is the oldest mission still in use in Calif. They have mass as well as it is used for "religious" conferences, etc.
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.The second day we were there we went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. That was amazing. I have not visited any and I wanted to see this after watching a special on TV about it. It is the only presidential library that has an actual retired Air Force One plane housed there.
It is the same plane that Reagan used during his presidency. He flew over 600,000 hours in this plane (don't remember the exact number ~~ though we told it). We did get a chance to go inside, though they allow no photography inside. The reason being is that (even though told not to) people will forget to turn the flash off on their camera's. As you know, flash photography can ruin artifacts, over time. To date, his is the only PL that has an actual sized replica of the oval office, nice. The first PL started with Hoover. There are 2 in Calif. the rest are either in the Midwest or back east somewhere.


The day we arrived, it was to early to check into our hotel room, so we went to the beach to see some of the sights. This is what we saw, clean up of some of the boats/yachts that were destroyed in the previous weeks storm. K posted some pictures on his Facebook the day after the storm that showed many beached vessels. If you click on any of the pictures you can see more detail.

So sad.

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Hit something and lost much of my post.
I am getting back into activities at church. I have recently joined the Thurs. eve Women's Bible study. We are doing a Beth Moore Bible Study, entitled 'Breaking Free.'
I am also going back to SS with my hubby. I kinda enjoyed having a little time to myself Sunday mornings, but my reason for not going (initially) is now going elsewhere. It was someone whose style I didn't enjoy, but that excused ended a long time ago. Besides, since we got a new pastor 2 years ago many new people have joined and I do not know them, so how else but by being a little more social and attending events, etc.
Today I am sorting some of my teacher stuff, getting ready for a yard sale I hope to have in March sometime. I will make fliers and take them to the office, or, my supervisor said to e-mail them and she will make copies to give to all the teaching staff in the Child Dev.
I also list my yard sales on Craig's list.
Later I will do a slide show of some of my pictures from my visit. Much to do today.
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God Bless and have a Great Day!


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Lots of rain!

Quite the day for storms. Storm # 3 this week rolled in with lots of wind and bursts of rain. It rained most of the day. They are all lined up in the pacific. I listen to the news and how they "cry" at the outages, etc. that go on here, never quite prepared. I feel for those in S. Cal in the fire ravaged area with the mud slides, etc. going on. Calif. seriously needs the rain that is falling, unfortunately causing havoc for many.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

25 years ago today


25 years ago this is what I got. Two days later he was handed to me in a handmade Christmas stocking ~~all 9 lb. 13 1/2 oz. ready to go home. Santa can't top this!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

♥ Rainbows ♥

The colors aren't near as brilliant in the pictures as they were seen by the naked eye.
We had a brief rainshower yesterday and this was the aftermath. Doesn't God do amazing work!








Monday, November 23, 2009

Yesterday

Yesterday was our daughters 1 year anniversary. Happy anniversary Elizabeth and Ryan, we love you both very much. Friends say "Has it really been a year already?" Yeah, it has.
We still have the decorations we used then. A friends daughter is getting married in Dec. and I was going to offer the use of the decorations, but the church she is getting married in is decorated for Christmas.

It still seems a little odd not having kids at home, or even very close by~~ but life goes on. Really, we don't seem to have to much problem with the "empty nest" syndrome. Yes, we do miss our kids and grandkids a lot and wish they were closer, but that is not what is happening now and life goes on. We are looking forward to our sons being here for Thanksgiving and a visit with our older daughter and her family after Christmas. We will be meeting our oldest son's girlfriend for the first time as she will be a guest in our home for a couple days. Our girls will be spending Thanksgiving in CO. and Korea.

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Since my last post 4 more people we have known have passed away~~ 2 elderly ladies we have known for 10 years from our church family~~2 more family members, 1 my great aunt (89 years) and another cousin I didn't know very well. Three of the funerals were back to back to back~ a Thur., Fri. and Monday. I didn't attend Mon., we knew about the Thurs./Fri. and found out about the one on Monday at the Friday service.
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We have been going through some of my mothers things (she has been gone almost 4 years). I would like to clear out the storage and stop paying. We brought home some boxes to go through, then my husband brought home more, and it made it very hard to get a grip on things, way to many boxes at one time. If I had a housekeeper and cook it wouldn't be so bad. We have found things I didn't know were there, almost like a treasure hunt. Old photos from my dad's side of the family, which I like as I don't have many of my own. Papers from my dad's early days in the military, flight school certificates, etc. When WWII started my dad wasn't old enough to join the military so he moved from Grand Junction, CO. to work in the ship yards in San Francisco, and we found his badge with his photo ID in it! That is also when my grandparents left CO. and came to Calif. such as in "The Grapes of Wrath" for work. We have had to put some of the papers, photos, etc. away until a later date as they take more time to go through. I love the pictures! I recently purchased a film scanner, and I will be able to make copies of the pictures for other family members. I did that for my aunt and cousins funeral, then e-mailed the pictures on so they could be used at the service. We have my mom's china, that my dad got when he was stationed in Korea. Lots of other knick knacks that were my grandparents, momentos, some jewelery and there is still some big furniture pieces. My grandmother (dads mom) died the day before I turneded 13. My older brother and I spent most of the summer I was 10 1/2 with her (she was wheel chair bound and in ill health) helping her with her personal needs and around the house and cooking until they could hire a caregiver (my grandfather was in the hospital because of complications of his diabetes) and my brother did chores outside and what he could do~~fortunately is was a very small farm. We went through some of their momentos, she would tell me about them, where they came from what they ment to her and who she wanted them to go to. That was a special time and seeing some of her things has brought back many memories. That is why the photos are put away until later, so I can get other things done. I should add that my parents weren't far away and we were checked on regualary and aided as necessary. I have no complaints.
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It is that time of the year again, annual physical. I don't mind going to the doctors so much when I don't have to wait 30 min. or longer. I finally requested an appointment I have been putting off for sometime with a podiatrist. I decided it was time to find out just exactly what is causing the pain in my foot, and not keep guessing as to what I think it is. My guess was right, I have arthritis in my left foot, the 2nd joint on my big toe, in the middle of my foot. You'd have to look at a picture of foot bones to know where that is. Plus another condition (don't remember what it is called) where my feet are really stiff and hurt first thing in the morning, but get better after I walk for a few minutes. Apparently I am doing everything right, according to the doctor, when he asked what I was doing. A good pair of walking shoes and not a lot of fast walking on pavement/concrete help a lot, plus a couple aspirin for the pain. I will have x-rays and go back in sometime in January.
I can still wear heels, and fortunately I only wear heels occasionally. The elliptical I use at the gym really helps my foot, it mimics some of the physical therapy movements I had years ago with a bad sprain. I can't use the treadmill, that is so very painful. Fortunately it doesn't hurt all the time, and is easily managed. Most of the pain is caused by walking on ground that doesn't give.
I guess that is way to much information for now. I will say I am looking forward to getting this sorting done.
God Bless

Daily scripture