MONDAY

It's almost over.. but Monday was lovely.. rain is gone for now, and it was just beautiful outdoors. The children could play outside. Wendell and I both took walks down to the stream behind their house. I videotaped some of our walk. Isaac is a good guide.

This evening we had the honor of taking the family to the Olive Garden- a treat none of us gets to enjoy much or very often. Our waiter was wonderful and we enjoyed a fabulous meal fit for a king.

I climbed the stairs tonite and Isaac showed me his room. He's very proud of it and he made a point of showing me his collections of baseball cards.

Essie had some eye problems this morning- some drainage.. and a nasty cough. I wonder about allergies for her. She stayed home from school today. Isaac did go, and we picked him up afterward. The day went buzzing by so fast..
Essie wants to plan a party for my birthday. We'll see.

More tomorrow..

SABBATH DAY JOURNEY

We have arrived safely at the Valentines. We were able to begin the drive across the state at 11:30pm last evening. It was a beautiful drive- Wendell and I agreed that we'd probably never seen so little traffic on an interstate. We had the highway to ourselves until we reached I-81 and headed north. It was still enjoyable.
With several stops along the way, and one for breakfast.. we arrived at Valentines around 7am.
We are enjoying the children and it's been a good day. Wendell and I took naps for about 3 hours this morning.. and have been visiting thereafter.
Tonite is Speedie Chicken salads and Cheese Pizza.. yummy!
It is rainy today-can't be outside, but look forward to this later on in the week.
Have a great day and I'll connect tomorrow perhaps.

THIS IS THE DAY...

This is the day I've been waiting for.. my last day of gainful employment before vacation.. a whole week of it ! WooHoo!! Though the allergy problem persists, it's about a tenth less than last night. Sleeping was really hard and I didn't do much of it. So I'll be tired tonite..
And when I get home tonite.. Wendell says we are leaving and taking a nice long leisurely ride to NY to meet our newest grandson, Elijah.. and of course, see the others too.. Isaac, Esther and Gaylie. It's exciting to think about it..
I'm packed now and I think I'm ready.
Gotta get gas on my way home or on our way through Butler tonite.

I will be blogging as I'm able using Valentine's computer.. but I plan to be quite busy while I'm visiting..
Pray for us if you would please. I'll blog tomorrow if there is a chance.

ALLERGY

Well, it's allergy season beginning.. I've got a good dose of it. Rats! Just when I was going to make my trip to NY.. I have to deal with sneezing, burning red swollen eyes..drippy too.. and the cough and nasal congestion..
Anyone else have allergies? I was fine till I went outside earlier today- and the guy where I was parked at the library was mowing grass. Oh, did it smell good.. but OH.. am I paying for it.
So I'm taking Dimetapp and Afrin nasal spray and just trying to breathe. UGH. I have no clue how to sleep with all this drippy and a C-PAP.. should be interesting.
Any ideas how to get through all this by Sabbath?

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME

It's been exactly one year since I began this blog.. I decided to check out some statistics for my time spent with this online journal. It had been about a week before I put my ticker on the blog, but I've decided to go ahead and use what read on it this morning to make my calculations.

10,270 hits for the year
855.8 hits for the month
28.5 hits per day

In looking at these stats, I wonder to myself..Just how does one get .5 hits? Was that someone who opened my blog and changed their mind without reading it? And the .8 for the month? I can't explain that either.. maybe someone who almost read the blog?

HONORING PARENTS

How do you honor your parents?

Listen, my child, to what your father teaches you. Don't neglect your mother's teaching. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and clothe you with honor.
Proverbs 1:8-9 NLT
Sensible children bring joy to their father; foolish children despise their mother.
Proverbs 15:20 NLT

Honor your parents

Once upon a time, there was a young family—a father, mother, and their young son.
Living with them was the father's dad. Grandpa was old and shaky and very feeble.
He dripped everything, especially when he ate.
He slobbered everything and made a terrible mess. It was embarrassing to the family, especially when company came over.
So they put the old man off to one side, away from the table.
They gave him an earthen bowl to eat out of. But he broke that.
In fact, he continued to slobber and make a mess.
Finally, his daughter-in-law spoke out harshly to him and moved him to a far corner of the room, far from the dinner table.
He was given a wooden trough to eat out of.
At mealtime he would look wistfully at the family, wishing that he could eat with them. But that was not to be.
One day the daughter-in-law found her son fiddling with some pieces of wood as he tried to put them together. She asked him what he was doing.
His answer: "I'm making a trough for you and Daddy that I can give you when I grow up." With these words, judgment was brought to the daughter-in-law, and she shared it with her husband.
They brought their dad back to the table. He didn't stop slobbering or shaking, but it didn't matter anymore. They were finally honoring their father.

adapted from 1001 Great Stories and Quotes by R. Kent Hughes, Tyndale House Publishers (1998), p 160

35 AND CLOUDY

It's 35 degrees and cloudy this morning, but the promise of the weather prognosticator is for sunshine and nearly 60 degrees. We shall see. I'm not complaining.. no, not me... I'm lovin' it.
We had rain yesterday..little chance of precip.

Office today, though my anticipated time will not be starting infusions, but scheduling for the next 2 weeks and making sure the meds are all there for Kathy in my absence... and that the schedule won't be unbearable.
It can get that way. For example, this week we had 14 infusions to do.. no way we could both do them.. not enough room in the office to accommodate all those people. On days like that, I juggle the schedule and come in on Wednesday afternoon and work with the PA instead of the doctor. It works as long as I can move enough people around. I wanted to do 7 yesterday, but one didn't show.. so he'll come today making 8 patients..not too bad, but sort of a limit.

Tomorrow I'm off..and Wendell and I will be doing some running around for last minute items for our upcoming journey to see baby Elijah. Lots of things to remember.
I better get one of my infamous lists started.

I still have one hospital day this week- Saturday. Wendell may need the car, so he can take me to work if that is the case. He'll be doing that this morning too. It's nice to have someone to drop me off wherever I'm going.
Healthwise, he's been doing okay. My back seems to be settling some.. but I'm still going to the pain clinic in April. Yesterday my PCP ordered me Lidoderm patches .. they work great for sore backs.

My day is about to begin.. coffee is on.. Have a most wonderful day....Pray for us please..and for me also.
Pray for traveling mercy this coming weekend.. and next as we come home.

FREAKY MORPHS

THE WEST ASIAN

OLD LADY BLAIR

EAST ASIAN..I can almost believe this one

AFRO-CARIBBEAN

WENDY MORPHS

This was the picture I started with.. really nice..

Cartoon Wendy

Older Wendy

East Asian Wendy

Baby Wendy

Afro Caribbean Wendy

HEY..IT'S ME !!

THANKS JEREMY

I had fun with the transformer site posted on Jeremy's blog.. I liked this one..

BELATED BIRTHDAYS..

Belated birthday wishes go out to my family..
sorry for the delay..
and hope the days were special for each of you.

March 20: Rosie Kummer
March 22: Mike Riggleman
March 25: Nicole Pingley

311 DAYS TO GO

Yesterday was a spectacular day.. 75 degrees and sunny ! I was limited only by my back which has been giving me distress for the past 2 weeks. I've been hoping it would just 'get better'.. but it looks like it's here for a while. I did make an appointment with the hospital's Pain Management Center- they assure me they can help. So many more choices these days. In the mean time, I'll be laying low, using pain patches, and Tylenol, of course.
I didn't go to work yesterday because of the pain, but will try to do so today.
Retirement can't arrive soon enough- 311 days to go! WOOHOO !!!
Though I didn't go into work, I was not idle all day..no no.. I can't stand the thought of wasting a beautiful day laying around groaning about my aching back. So, though it took me most of the day, I managed to clean out one shelf of the linen closet and produced one trash bag of stuff we never use and never will. One of the things that made me laugh was a huge bag of 'brush rollers' for hair.. Now, I haven't used those since ...hmmmm.. maybe the late '70's?? Time to dump them. In the back of that shelf were bottles of half used shampoos, and all kinds of hair supplies - all half used and mostly dried out.. I dumped them too.. interesting shelf. It had boxes of meds that were long outdated.. I found one that expired in 2001 ! YIKE! .. dumped.
I changed the sheets on the bed last night too and have the comforters ready to be laundered. I'm so slow at these things.. but after 2 hours, I had it done. As I said, it is taking me 5 times as long to do simple tasks..but if I take my time, I can get some things accomplished.

We had baked chicken, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and carrots for supper last night. I had a couple biscuits frozen.. I heated them up to complete the meal. Wendell said it was pretty good.. he's not a chicken fan.
He did the dishes without anyone suggesting it yesterday. Atta Boy Wendell !! It is hard for me to bend over the dishwasher to load/unload it. I had planned to wash them, but when I went to the kitchen, I was surprised to hear the machine humming away.

Today is to be in the low 70's again. The weatherman says it will rain. I'll be at work,so it won't much matter.

Have a super day.. pray for us.. for me please.

Yesterday I also realized that the new med I'm taking didn't cause me nausea.. HOORAY!! Maybe I can continue to take it after all. I think it'll be okay. My body seems to be more accepting of it.

ANNABELLE BAPTISM

Today was the day Annabelle was baptised.
After the service, we took some pictures of the family..
Paul3, Amy with Annabelle, Paul2, Joyce, David and Daniel

Aunt JJ and Uncle Keith were there for this special day too !
Uncle John and Aunt Mandy were there, but I have no pictures to prove it..

A happy gramma

And Uncle Dieter seems pleased too..

David likes to hold Annabelle

Amy with Annabelle, David and Joyce

Grampa made faces..

Annabelle responded with big smiles

OH BABY

Elijah
I just wanted to share his nursery photo with everyone..
it's finally posted.. I'm saving you the hassle of going to the site.

COFFEE SEMINAR

Wendell and I went to a coffee seminar today. We learned about several coffee makers and how they brew.
My favorite was the one in the middle.. the carafe is insulated to keep the coffee at the right temperature for 5-8 hours. There is no element under the carafe. NICE! It's on sale at the moment. I can't afford it, but maybe my boss would spring for one in the office.
Nice job Keith.. moving right along...

LONG WINDY DAY

It's 61 degrees. It won't be that warm tomorrow.. more like in the high 40's.. that's March for ya. But spring is definitely here.. Lake Blair has filled and receded several times now. The daffodils are shooting up taller with their buds about to burst forth.. and there are buds on the trees where there will soon be green leaves. I have to remember we can have frost clear up till May 31st. It's spring. It's finally here.

One of the best parts of spring days is flying kites. I have purchased a number of these for the kids. Okay..okay.. for me. I can't help the fact that even if I'm a senior citizen, I still love flying kites- and so do the children. I have several Cinderellas and a few Spiderman and Superman.. and some really colorful ones with stripes and then one very patriotic one with stars and stripes and a big ol' eagle in the middle. Yep.. I'm ready.
I would have liked to have gone out today. (I keep forgetting that it's still Thursday, though it's 11PM)
Today was a beautiful windy day.. too windy though, and the rain came down too. I guess it wouldn't have been such a great day for kites.

I had such good plans for today. I got up super early, got myself ready, and went to the office. I had to cancel 2 of my afternoon patients, so I moved the 3rd one to morning.. I should have been home at 1pm. There are always glitches present when you least expect them and today was one of those days. The rep bought lunch and since I was done, I went to eat with everyone else. Then we had an inservice .. and I spent more time after with the rep just talking about problems I have had with my patients and their biologics. Nothing serious..just frustrations with schedules and dealing with insurance companies. The inservice was a good review of how the biologics work with patients with RA and associated auto immune disorders.
By the time I got out of the discussion, I still had my paperwork to do and plans for the next 3 weeks of office visits have to be in place before next Monday so that I can make a trip to NY the first week in April.
Then the clean up from the morning session.. and helping the office manager get set up for new authorizations for the next few weeks.. and talking to patients on the phone as I tried to finish up. There was so much going on..
I clocked out at about 4pm.. and got home a little after 4:30 after having to circumvent the sewer project in my township to get home. I suppose I'll be taking the 'long route' home for a few more months.

It was raining when I got home.. so much for my plans to spend the afternoon with the kids. Frustration and tiredness reigned. I'd had only 2 hours of sleep the night before and went strong all day till I got home finally and sat down with a much needed cup of coffee. Wendell so kindly went out for Long John Silverfish.. and we had that for supper. No, it's NOT on my diet, but I was too tired to care, and following 2-3 pieces of fish and a dollop of coleslaw, I headed for my bed.. and slept.

Friday I am gainfully employed at the hospital unless I get downsized. I don't think that will happen. Lately, I've been scheduled by myself, and it's been overwhelming. I do hope I'll have some help tonite. I put my name in for downsizing, but I doubt it will happen. Retirement will be so welcome.

Saturday I plan to go in the morning to be a part of the audience for Coffeemaster Keith as he does a Coffee Seminar at Starbucks in Cranberry. You should all come to one of those.. even if you don't like coffee.. he's a great instructor and you learn a lot about coffees and where they are grown.. not to mention what coffee tastes best with what delicacy he has chosen to go with it. I am definitely NOT a coffee snob and love my Folgers best of all.. but it's fun to taste other coffees and learn a little while I'm at it. And I love the taste- testing !
At the last seminar, he gave us samples of the coffees he discussed to take home with us. Fabulous!

Sabbath day is the day chosen for Annabelle's baptism. Another occasion for rejoicing. Annabelle was named for a cousin who was very much loved but has departed this life for one with our savior. I'm so pleased that our little Annabelle was named for such a wonderful Christian woman. I will look forward to telling her about her 'Aunt Annabelle' as she grows up. I'll have to make sure she has pictures of her- I have lots to share.

Wendell and I feel so overwhelmingly blessed with 9 beautiful grandchildren. Who would have even imagined that we'd have all these little ones ? I look forward to my retirement with the anticipation of spending many more hours with them all.

One more item.. Jane is now online, but unable to access various areas she once was able to visit freely. She can't get to her blog.. so you won't see updates for a while.. and I miss her on the AIM buddy list.. she can't seem to get on that either. I cringe at the thought of getting an new computer with Vista.. the firewalls are a bit much. If you can't go where you need to be, of what good is the fancy new program?

It's nearly midnite.. gotta get back to bed. Good night my blogger friends.. see you in the morning.

THINKING SPRING

It is 53 degrees this morning at 5:30am. I'm so happy to have spring here finally. There is still snow out there on the ground, but it's all fast disappearing. Happy Day! I have kites ready for the kids and hope to have them here one day very soon. It will be their treat of the month.
Today is office day and I am up and ready to hit the shower. There is a bit of paperwork to be done before I go.. and then I'll be heading to town.
Not much sleep last night. I've made the increase in one of the medications I've been taking, and it likely is the culprit. I feel wide awake this morning, but with only 2 hours of sleep plus yesterday's hour of nap time.
With that in mind, I think I'll hit the shower.
Have a wonderful day.. pray for us.

WELCOME SPRING !!!!

It's a simply beautiful day in the neighborhood. I've had a busy busy day.
I now am the proud owner of a new pair of tires on the front of my car. Yippee! I wanted to get these before we made the trip to NY in April.
Wendell has been having difficulty with his cell phone.. so .. I went with him and we both got new ones for a very reasonable price. Yippee again. Now if I can just figure out how to use it.. hehehe
If that wasn't enough.. I broke down and bought myself new shoes..2 pairs.. one was half off the regular price. I feel like I am walking on air. I had no idea how bad my shoes were till I put these ones on. I have orthotics, so I had the clerk help me select and fit the shoes correctly. WOW! I left my old worn out smelly sneakers there in the trash can.
I decided the day was too nice to waste.. and have made one walk out to the end of the driveway and back. It's so refreshing.. I could just lay down and take a nap. Lovely.
Jane has her new computer now, but hasnt' been able to access her blog, so it'll be a little while more while she figures out how to get on.
Gotta get busy again here.. have a great day..

CATCHING UP A BIT

Just a couple things here before I hit the sack...
Check out Wendy's blog.. .. picture of baby Elijah and Wendy and Cory. Very very nice ! I have some to share too.. but not for a day or so.. cute.
I have a hard time keeping up with my DOWNSIZING blog.. It's the one where I am watching my weight ...
(watching it fluctuate up and down more often than not).. but I'm trying. My appetite is not as good as it was, and perhaps that's not a bad thing.. and the nausea settles a little more each day. I guess I'm getting adjusted to the new meds. It's been rough. I think I'm hungry and when I try to eat, the nausea hits and I can't even consider a bite..
but after the nausea subsides, I can eat a little.
I am tolerating the new dose of Vytorin.. the last one left me with such pain in my arms I couldn't sleep on either side for weeks.. but this dosage seems a bit more comfortable. I've also started taking CoQ 10.. it's an enzyme.
I did some reading about the effects of Cholesterol lowering medications and found that they also eliminates the vital CoQ 10 in the body along with the nasty cholesterol. So.. this may have been the reason for my aching arms.. I'm taking 100mg /day now and so far, so good. I've been taking fish oil too.. and the doctor started me off with a prescription strength one called Omacor. I don't take the 4/day as needed, but only one as they tend to give me indigestion. I burp the stuff for hours if I take more than one. My insurance doesn't cover the Omacor so I'll be just getting it OTC.. still good.
I need to start eating more berries and fruits along with cereals.. I am lax about this.. but they are such a good source of vitamins and fiber.
It's late.. 1:30am.....and I need some rest now.
More blogging in the morning...