It's Tuesday..5:30am.. 23 degrees and calm. The latest weather advisory says we shall have freezing rain, sleet, and an ice storm beginning around 5pm tonite. Driving will be hazardous. I remember why I don't like winter and why I long so often for spring to return. Come to think of it, it isn't even officially winter yet. Oh, for joy.
Office today.. pray for my patients for no problems or events. Pray for me too for the ultimate in skill as I infuse them. I start later today- 10:30, but I'll be heading into the office around 9am to get the needed preparations completed for the day.

Last evening was extraordinary. JJ and Keith took us for our annual Christmas gift.. a visit to Heinz Hall and the presentation of 'the Messiah' with the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Mendelsohn Choir. It was so beautiful and the most wonderful place to be. Of course, there were a couple of things that were bothersome.. like the lady (I use the term loosely) who stormed in behind our seats.. cursing and swearing and throwing her cane on the floor at least four times.. really making a spectacle of herself. She finally moved on. She wasn't happy with her seat apparently. And, oh, yes, the woman who sat in front of us who obviously just came from a meal of pure garlic. Oh! It was rank! Neither of these two incidents ruined the program, however. It was grand!
Thanks Keith and JJ !!

This afternoon I was able to step outside. My first thought was "Aslan is on the move!" I guess you have to be a Lion,Witch, and the Wardrobe fan to gather the significance.. The snow is melting away and sounded like the rushing of a stream in the woods. I may have to get the movie out and watch it today.

We missed church today. We were both up early and dressed.. and then decided that my aching body wasn't going to make it. Even with the strong medication taken early on, it was bad till nearly noon. I'm much better now, though I still have pain, it's not as bad.

Okay.. the cat is out of the bag.. and smiling. Our news is that Wendell is going to have a really great birthday this coming year when the Valentines welcome #5 to their home. The new arrival is due on Wendell's birthday in August.

Lots of birds outside looking for birdseed. I need to refill the feeders, but it's snowed and it's icy.. so they'll have to wait.

We had about an inch of snow from yesterday to today. That wasn't too bad, but the rain/sleet etc.. caused a layer of ice to form under the 1" of snow, and it took time to get it off this morning. I did it, but it was rough.

Early Christmas Gift

I'm glowing! I got an early Christmas gift and I am so blessed! Can you guess what my gift is?

What a wonderful day today was. We finally made it to the YMCA and since I lost Wendell's free for a week pass, I simply made our membership a family thing. Now we have access (I believe) to the entire place and with no time limits as my individual pass gave me. Wendell stayed in the deep end of the pool for a full 40 minutes and he says he never stopped moving for a moment. He loved it! I took the last 10 minutes to sit in the whirlpool.. I love that part. It just warms me up totally and massages my back in the right places.
Wendell had labs to have done this afternoon, and then lunch.. and then the pool.. afterward, we went to the thrift store for a while, and then to the grocery. We didn't go all the places we wanted, but we did go a lot of places.
It's the most Wendell has been out and about for some time. He did use the Rollator at the Y. We had our own 'special needs' locker room- private. I was able to help him get undressed and dressed after. The locker room is right across the hall from the pool. We got an elevator key and that made life easier too. It would be hard to do stairs with the Rollator.. well... he just wouldn't have made it at all.
It was a very fine day and we are both looking forward to Friday when we will hit the pool once again.

Christmas Cookie Rules
1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.
2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.
3. If a friend comes over while you are making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend's first cookie is calories free Rule #1) yours is also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone, and being the friend that you are makes your cookie calorie free.
4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.
5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.
6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have 3 and green ones have 5 - one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!
7. Cookies eaten while watching Miracle on 34th Street have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.
8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.
9. Any cookies consumed from someone else's plate has no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!
And finally...
10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It's a rule!

It's office day.. pray for us if you would.. pray over my patients for no 'events'. and for me, that my skills would be the best today.
It seems warmer today... it's 35 degrees..rain is in the forecast. I could have told that before I looked at the forecast for the day. I'm sore and had some trouble sleeping.
I went to the Y yesterday, but Wendell has a bad cold and though he really wanted to go with me, he finally decided just to lay down and sleep a while. It's probably for the best.
I'm having my coffee. It is simply delicious!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOEL !

IT'S NOEL'S
BIRTHDAY !!!

Christmas:celebrate or not?

Around this time every year, I am reminded that our Christmas (or Christ Mass) is not really a Christian holiday (holy day). It's a time when I get to thinking that perhaps our 'traditions' need to be culled.

Tonite I read a blog about Christmas- should Christians be a part of it? The answer is an overwhelming NO!

Now, I don't even consider Christmas as a holy day or a day remotely related to the church. Nowhere in scripture are we ever commanded or suggested to celebrate the birth of our savior. We are, however, commanded to celebrate his death and resurrection.- Communion, or the Lord's Supper, celebrates the Lord's death until He returns.

I do think Christmas is a civic holiday. I may be wrong about that.. I'm sure someone will correct me. It needs another name.. I have to admit that calling this season "Christ mass" leaves me a bit unnerved.
I suppose it's relationship (or lack of) to scripture, and the fact that it's a man made holiday in that direction that makes one stop and think. There are 10 civic holidays celebrated in these United States..
New Years Day
Martin Luther King birthday
Washington birthday
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Independence Day
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving
Christmas

Most of the traditional items or symbols of Christmas are pagan in origin. I'm not a pagan, and I don't worship the symbols either. Wendell and I have wedding bands we exchanged at our marriage ceremony.. a pagan tradition..sometimes with supernatural claims to it, but again, we aren't pagan and these rings have our own significance to us.

We do have a beautiful tree.. faux pine.. We don't worship it, nor do we worship under it. We don't even consider it a fertility symbol..
For me, it brings inside some of the earlier part of the season when there wasn't snow ... it's pleasing to the eye, not garish or outlandish... just pretty.. and makes me smile. It's an emotional thing I suppose.. but never have I ever considered worship with it.. or that it should be included in worship in the church.

Giving gifts? That's rooted in the Roman festivals.. and the gifts weren't biggies.. twigs and rabbit's feet, jewelry, and statues of gods... I don't celebrate the Roman festival rites.. But, I do love to give gifts. I do so monthly to my grandchildren in the form of 'Treat of the Month'.. and the children look forward to it. I give the little treats .. just because.
Granted, at birthdays and Christmas season, the gifts are a little larger.. but I don't overdo the budget.. indeed, I make a savings for just this project.
For me, giving gifts is a pleasure. I likely get as much pleasure giving as in receiving.. Another emotional thing.. but at this time of year with 'seasonal affect disorder' all around me and including me, it's a blessing..

Santa? Never. I've never let my children believe in this deceiver.

Singing Christmas carols? yes.. I enjoy them and other music too..

Hanging of the greens? Only if someone gives them to me.. no big deal here.

Mistletoe.. a druid rite.. I don't participate

Stockings? Oh, yeah.. many a wonderful memory is had of hanging my biggest sock on the door.. (we had no fireplace then).. and in the morning my folks would have placed all sorts of nuts, candies, and a big orange or apple in the toe! Yeah.. I love this

Roasted boar's head? You must be kidding... not me

Nativity scene? No.. I don't really see Christmas as related to it. That doesn't mean I don't believe Christ wasn't born in a stable and placed in a manger.. but I don't really associate it with Christmas.. No nativity here.

Christ's birthday? Afraid not.. theologians agree his birth was mid summer, not Dec 25th.. but that date was the date of a pagan god's birth.. I don't associate that date with the pagan belief.. It's a date.. like Thanksgiving- the last Thursday in November.. or Veteran's Day.. November 11.


Here is a blog with the discussion of why we as Christians should not celebrate this 'holy day'. This man has a very easy to read blog, and is direct and to the point.

And another one from a former RP pastor..

What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you celebrate Christmas and what are your traditions surrounding it?

Not quite enough snow to make a snowman, but it's out there.. 1" and more predicted.. 1-2" more by this evening. I listened to the advisories.. it said slippery road conditions will make driving hazardous.. I don't like that kind of driving.
I checked out my car this morning.. there's a good inch of new snow on it. That's not so bad, but the ice under it causes me some degree of distress.. I can't get it off, and the law says I can't drive with it on. So I'm working on it one small section at a time. By the time I get it off, there should be another inch to clear off.. aaackkkk!!!! Is it any wonder why I don't like winter weather? It's 20 degrees right now and the forecast is for 23.. maybe.
The wind is blowing and that makes it difficult to clean off the car too.. Question? Why is it that the Z's cars have so little snow on them, and mine is covered? I cleared the snow off last evening hoping for less today.. but I got MORE!
I'm trying not to complain, but where is spring?

PEARL HARBOR DAY

per Wikipedia:

The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, as it was called by the Imperial General Headquarters was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941, later resulting in the United States becoming militarily involved in WW2. It was intended as a preventive action to keep the US Pacific Fleet from influencing the war Japan was planning to wage in Southeast Asia against Britain, the Netherlands , and the United States. The attack consisted of two aerial attack waves totaling 353 aircraft, launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers.

The attack sank four US Navy battleships (two of which were raised and returned to service late in the war) and damaged four more. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers , and one minelayer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded. The power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not hit. Japanese losses were minimal, at 29 aircraft and five midget submarines with 65 servicemen killed or wounded.

It's snowing.. there is accumulation.. though at this hour, it's not a lot.. about a half inch.. but it's there and I've had 3 advisories so far this evening warning of slippery roads and the possible accumulation of 2-5" of the white stuff by tomorrow afternoon.. ugh..
I'm cozy and warm inside.. don't have any desire to go outside and frizzle my toes.

CHRISTMAS 2008

MY FRONT YARD..

It's one of 'those days'.. It's nearly noon, and though we've had breakfast, I'm not even close to getting dressed. I can do this. I'm retired .. sort of. I slept in.. loved it! It's 24 degrees and the snow is coming down fast. In 20 minutes we went from no snow to a light coating out there.
So I am not going out in this today. I was supposed to go in and have the PA check my lungs to give me a go-ahead for allergy shots, but I believe I now have a sinusitis which may or may not be a problem.. and I'm wheezing again, so I know it would be a wasted trip to Butler. I suppose a trip to the PCP is in my near future..or at least a call. I think antibiotics are in my future also.

Yesterday I ordered a pile of Christmas gifts ... they are already shipped. This morning I ordered several more and still I have a long list of small things we can afford. I got my pay check from the good doctor yesterday, and it's ear-marked for Christmas.
It'll be a little lean again, but everyone will be remembered. I love this kind of Christmas.. not so extravagant.. just shopping for certain items on kids lists, and enjoying it all.

Merry Christmas !

CHANGE...

We had to change our plans today.. Wendell's visit with the pulmonologist went very well.. he got a positive report and will make an appointment for a recheck in 6 months. When the doctor asked him if he was using his C-PAP, Wendell said 'yes..and I slept all night with it last night after I figured out that I'd been trying to wear it backwards all this time'..

I didn't get to go along this morning as planned. My Sonic Screamer decided to be mute this morning. Yes, I did set it, but it won't utter even a whisper, though I've tried changing batteries and resetting it. UGH! So I have 4 clocks set for morning, and I should awaken to at least one of them. Mandy says she'll check on me when she gets home tomorrow morning.

So I had a late start. While Wendell went to his appointment, I gathered clothes to be washed. We finally got going and started out with brunch.. a very balanced brunch, however. Even eating out we try to stay in the Zone.
The library was next and then I went to get my allergy shots. They wouldn't give them to me because I'd had so much wheezing for the past 2 weeks.. I need to see their PA in the office before I can resume the shots. So I'll be going back in on Friday.
Laundry came next and then groceries and a visit to the dollar store for some odds and ends.
We never got to the Y to start Wendell.. so we decided to wait till next Monday.
Mandy had supper ready when we got home.. pork roast.. delicious!

I'm weary from the days activity. Tomorrow is office day and hopefully it won't be a long one.
I have so much to put away right now.. and I just don't feel like doing it.

So that's my day.. it's been a really busy one.

I got a surprise when I woke up this morning.. John and Mandy had purchased a new Christmas tree complete with decorations and it was already erected in the living room. I flicked the light on and all the tree lit up! Very tasteful,, very lovely.. and very Mandy.


It's been a long day.. I'm heading for bed. We have so many things scheduled for tomorrow, I wonder if we'll get all of it done.. and then it's back to the office for more infusions on Thursday.
I get tired thinking of all week..
Darlene is still in the hospital and Donna has been wonderful helping me get the infusion program in order. We are making out pretty well... but we miss Darlene.

25 degrees and cloudy.. chilly. Hope tomorrow is better.. a tad warmer.

I see the World Net Daily has a lot of activity on the obscure birth certificate of our elected President.. that it's fake. You really should take a look at what's happening..

It's an office day for me again today. Yesterday, though there were only 4 patients, I spent nearly the whole day there. It is fine with me, but interrupted my pool schedule. I suppose God has other plans for us not including the start this week.

Wendell is seeing the Pulmonologist Wednesday morning, then laundry has to be done, and if there is time and either of us can still move, we'll hit the Y. Thursday I have office for the 3rd time this week, and then Wendell sees the thoracic surgeon for a check up again. Pray all is well with his doppler study he had done last week.

Darlene is ill. She's still in the hospital and looking at a surgery today. She has been my right hand in the office. Pray for a swift recovery for her if you would please. I miss her.

Time for a shower.. have a wonderful and blessed day, bloggers

Heaven

I'm reading a book by Randy Alcorn called Heaven. It's a wonderful book that describes what scripture says we will experience/live in Heaven. I urge anyone to read the book. It's given me new insight and encouragement in this world.

What is your concept of heaven?

"How happy are those who fear the Lord—all who follow his ways! You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How happy you will be! How rich your life!
Psalm 128:1-2 NLT

Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 NLT

He died for us so that we can live with him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of his return.
1 Thessalonians 5:10 NLT"

Made for another world
"Most of us find it very difficult to want "Heaven" at all—except in so far as "Heaven" means meeting again our friends who have died.
One reason for this difficulty is that we have not been trained: Our whole education tends to fix our minds on this world.
Another reason is that when the real want for Heaven is present in us, we not recognise it.
Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world.
There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
C.S. Lewis

from the The Quotable Lewis edited by Jerry Root and Wayne Martindale (Tyndale) pp 286-87