HUNTING FOR A MISSING FRIENDI have recently written about my

HUNTING FOR A MISSING FRIEND

I have recently written about my Australian friend, Les, who has Parkinson's. Recently, none of his friends, including me, had heard from him, and I began getting e-mails from the others expressing concern and wondering if anyone had received any word of him or knew where he was. The most recent e-mail, which one of them got last week, was mostly indecipherable.

Yesterday, one of the friends, a lady named Mary, wrote me and said she was going to try to call Australia, particularly his doctor's office, to see if he could be located. As the day progressed, we also heard that another friend, Peter, from the UK, had tried calling Les's house and gotten no answer. Mary and I corresponded over the course of the day and she reported in as she also was unsuccessful in reaching Les's clinic over time.

At last, she reached a person at Les's old doctor's office and was referred to a new doctor, who referred her to a Brisbane hospital. There she learned that Les is in ICU and she wasn't given any more information, which was as she expected. She did ask if she could leave a message and she was told that he probably wasn't conscious. It certainly doesn't sound good, but we are trying to stay positive.

I told Mary, who is unemployed, as is her husband, that I would pay for the calls to Australia. I am still determined to do so, if she will let me. I will see what she does on that. For various reasons, I feel unable to call, myself. I am hoping that other friends will perhaps be able to check in and see how he is doing and let the rest of us know from time to time.

Many prayers are going up for Les. If you are a praying person, I know yours would be welcome, too.

*****

I learned today that my grandsons in Bend, Michael, 9 1/2, and Alex, 7 1/2, are flying with their other grandmother, Merre, to Florida. I am so glad last night's thunderstorms cleared up, although I saw a forecast last evening for rain in Miami today. (I'm not sure where they will be landing, though.) More prayers, this time for traveling mercies, from me.

NEWLYWED REPAIRSReceived

NEWLYWED REPAIRS

Received from my friend, Jackie:

Newlywed Repairs

A man came home from the office and found his new bride
sobbing convulsively. "I feel terrible," she told him. "I
was pressing your suit and I burned a big hole in the seat
of your trousers."

"Oh, just forget it," consoled her husband. "Remember that
I've got an extra pair of pants for that suit."

"Yes, I know. And it's lucky you have!" said the woman,
drying her eyes. "I was able to use a piece from them to
patch the hole!"

Received from Thomas Ellsworth.

In case you can't tell, my theme today is engagement/marriage. I always enjoy hearing how couples have met. It occurred to me that perhaps readers might like to hear how my late husband Steve and I met, 40 years ago now. (I know that perhaps it always seems like I live in the past, but isn't that what elderly people do?) ;-)

I lived in southwest Portland, Oregon at the time, and I was a devout Mormon. I had not long before returned from a freshman semester at Brigham Young University, no doubt the most famous LDS university, thanks to my parents being unable to afford to keep me there. I was needed to come home and work. One of my main recreational activities at that time was going to Mormon young adult events, kind of killing time until I could afford to go back to college, as both my parents and I were determined that a college graduation should be in my future.

I went to a young adult "fireside" -- Sunday evening meeting with a special speaker -- at the LDS church in the town of Woodburn, Oregon, but I was somewhat early because I held some special position (I can't remember what now), and I sat in a short row of other young people that I recall being the last row of just a few. In the row ahead of me sat a nice-looking, red-headed young man, who turned around and smiled at me. I liked that. After the regular fireside, we lined up for refreshments, and in an uncharacteristically daring move, I cut in front of the handsome red-head. He laughed and said, "You cut in front of me!" I just laughed and said something inspiring and clever (ha ha) along the lines of, "I know."

So that was how Steve and I met. We saw each other later at young adult dances and danced together. At one of them, he suggested we go for a walk, and we held hands, which I thought felt very nice, and found a bench, where we sat and talked. Among the things he said was the comment that, when he was married, he would put more priority on having nice clothes than on food. I agreed. (Boy, were we a couple of dummies!)

I can't remember the exact nature of our dating the first couple of months, but after about 2 months, I felt that he was getting too serious (remember, I planned to go back to college) and I broke off our dating relationship. But he sent me a letter, which I still have someplace, where he talked about things that meant a lot to him, and one of them was pearls. He said, "Sue, you are a pearl." I was impressed and touched.

Not long after that, I saw him at a church dance and I tried to avoid him as I was shaking, but he wouldn't allow that and went out of his way to say "hi." Then he asked me to dance. I still was shaking. I told him that I had felt like someone put a knife in my heart. He said, "You put it there, Sue."

Not long after, Steve took me out to the farm where I now live to meet his parents. He called his mother on the way out from Portland, knowing it would panic her out. It did. I had a nice time meeting his folks and walking around the farm, although I was suffering from a cold that day. We went back to his apartment and just enjoyed being together. Sometime that evening, he got down on his knees and asked me to marry him. I said, "Yes."

Those who know Steve will probably think this sounds pretty typical of him, but later on, he told me that his thought process during the day at the farm had been to notice that I had bad breath because of my cold, plus that I was flat-chested, but he figured that this was probably the worst it would get, so why not marry me? LOL! He also later denied that he had asked me to marry him, and especially that he had gotten down on his knees; he insisted that I had asked him as we were riding along in the car and he had figured, "Why not?" He was not convinced by the fact that I had told my sister, Jo, about it that night when I got home, and she corroborated my version. I guess his pride wouldn't let him admit it. LOL!

We met in September of 1967 and married in the Oakland, California Mormon Temple in June of 1968, so it was a relatively quick courtship. (Steve was just a month short of the required year's membership in the Mormon Church to be married in the temple but he was allowed to do so despite that.) Anyway, now you know the story of how Steve and I got together. I leave it to your own judgment to decide who you think was telling the truth about the proposal.

*****

Somewhat along these lines, I watched "27 Dresses" Saturday afternoon. It stars Katherine Heigl, who I have enjoyed on "Grey's Anatomy." I liked the movie quite well -- at least, it was a distraction from my concerns of the moment. The story is about Heigl's character, the perpetual bridesmaid, who is in love with her boss but he doesn't seem to know she's alive other than as a great assistant, and she also is super at helping her friends put together their weddings in addition to being a bridesmaid at the events. All is going along as usual until her younger sister comes to New York and meets her boss and the two fall in love, with Heigl's character of course being required to put together the perfect wedding. Complicating things was Heigl's meeting a commitment phobic man who turns out to be someone he hadn't admitted to be, resulting in unanticipated difficulties for her. As you can see by the fact that I didn't remember these characters' names, I may not have been all that into the movie, but it was all right. I will probably give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5 on Blockbuster.

THE BIG "C"Just a few notes today, as my arm is quite sore,

THE BIG "C"

Just a few notes today, as my arm is quite sore, plus I don't have a whole lot to say. Perhaps tomorrow I will feel like getting back to more like normal blogging.

As I have contemplated my one family member's diagnosis of thyroid cancer, I have been thinking about how another family member has suffered from skin cancer, and I was in fact visiting her and her family at the time that she had it removed. To my expressions of concern, she kind of laughed and said that there was a lot of cancer in her family and everyone was always fine. Thus I relaxed and had somewhat forgotten about it, although it has come to mind from time to time mixed with feelings of concern. She didn't have chemo or have to be away from her children for any length of time. I do hope it won't recur for her. I believe that arrangements will come together for the family member with the thyroid cancer, and that her children will be cared for when needed.

I have been receiving very helpful and supportive e-mails from my friends online. One of the ones I liked the best came from my Australian friend, Lynne, who said:

'The Australina cancer council ran an ad campaign a few years ago with a slogan that's very relevant here:

"Cancer is a word, not a sentence"'

I think that is such an excellent thought! These Aussies are really on the ball!

TEMPORARY LOSS OF BLOGGING EQUILIBRIUMI am not

TEMPORARY LOSS OF BLOGGING EQUILIBRIUM

I am not sure how much I will be blogging in the next few days. Today, for sure, I feel off-balance and uninspired, mainly because my heart is someplace else. Last night, I learned that a beloved family member most likely has cancer of the thyroid. (As I am not sure how far this little family wants the news publicized, I am not naming names until I have permission to do so.) The results of her biopsy came back as highly suspicious and the mass was deemed likely cancerous. Whether benign or cancerous, she will have surgery for its removal and, if it is malignant, she will have radiation treatments, which will mean being away from her little ones 3 or 4 days at a time.

I let a number of my Christian friends know about this situation and I received promises of prayers as well as encouraging news. One friend told me last night that her cousin had the same experience and only needed radiation once after her surgery, thus minimal time was spent away from her family. Another friend told me today that her daughter-in-law also had the same thing happen to her and just successfully gave birth to a new baby girl. Above all, I know God answers prayers and that He is in control.

*****

I thought the above picture was appropriate today. If you cannot read the writing on it, it says: "A person cannot see the rainbow without first seeing the storm . . . "

BARACK OBAMA STORY?I received the

BARACK OBAMA STORY?

I received the following from a good friend the other day. I am guessing that she and I disagree politically! LOL! She may have meant it as a joke, however.

"RICHARD EARL FOR PRESIDENT!

From the mouths of babes...

Barack Obama, the Presidential Democratic Party candidate, is for banning all guns in America. He is considered by those who have dealt with him as a bit more than just a little self-righteous.

At a recent rural elementary school assembly in East Texas, he asked the audience for total quiet. Then, in the silence, he started to slowly clap his hands once every few seconds, holding the audience in total silence.

Then he said into the microphone, "Children, every time I clap my hands together, a child in America dies from gun violence."

Then, little Richard Earl, with a proud East Texas drawl, pierced the quiet and said: "'Well, dumb-*ss, stop clapping!"

I immediately looked this piece up on Snopes, but I couldn't find it. I tried every set of key words I could and still no luck. So I wrote to Snopes and received an answer a few days later, saying that it was on Snopes and to look under "What's New" or the hottest 25 rumors. Finally, I located it, and I also saw the problem: The Snopes version doesn't include the reference to "Richard Earl", which was what I had thought would surely be an easy couple of words with which to search in Snopes' search engine.

The genesis of this story is quite interesting, and another reason that it was hard to find. It begins with Bono, of U2, segways into Hillary Clinton, and ends with Barack Obama.

The Bono story from Snopes is as follows:

"[Collected via e-mail, 2006]

Bono, whilst playing a gig in Glasgow, got the whole crowd to be silent and then began slowly clapping his hands. He got the crowd to clap along for a while, the stadium quiet except for the rhythmic clapping...

After a short period Bono spoke, saying that everytime he clapped his hands a child in Africa died...

Suddenly, from the front row of the venue a voice broke out in thick Scottish brogue, ending the silence as it echoed across the crowd, the voice cried out to Bono "Well stop ****ing doing it then!!"


[(South Australia) Sunday Mail, 2006]

IRISH supergroup U2, due to play in Adelaide next month, recently held a concert in Glasgow, Scotland.

Halfway through the concert, lead singer Bono stood in a spotlight on stage and asked the audience of 30,000 for complete silence.

Gradually the auditorium fell quiet.

Then Bono began slowly clapping.

The audience was spellbound. Was this the beginning of a song? Did he want everyone to clap with him?

He took the microphone and said: "Everytime I clap my hands a child dies in Africa."

The spell of silence was broken when a wag in the front row shouted: "Well, stop clapping."

I was unable to copy and paste the "Update" on the Snopes Bono article, where -- down the page -- it refers to Hillary Clinton and then Barack Obama, but it is easily found by following the link in this sentence.

I guess any political figure is vulnerable to jokes such as these, but they have a way of turning my sympathies even farther towards my chosen candidate.

*****

I was able to change my bedding the other night for the first time since injuring my arm. (There was a time when even pulling the covers up at night was impossible with the right arm; it just hurt too much.) As usual, I had my helper, Silver, who attacked the sheets as I put them on. Here he is with the top sheet, which he has just bunched up:



My Flickr friend Cynthia (Philosopher Queen) commented on what a darling expression he has on his face here. I have to agree -- I think he looks awfully cute.

8 NON-BORING THINGS ABOUT MEFirst, I don't know if these will

8 NON-BORING THINGS ABOUT ME

First, I don't know if these will fit the definition of "non-boring" -- as my friend Lynne says (from whose blog I got the meme), we are egotistical beings and may find things about ourselves non-boring that others find boring. ;-) Second, I don't know if I will be able to come up with 8! While I was trying to nap, I thought of a number of possibilities, but the memories may escape me as I attempt to write them here.

1. I was born with jet-black hair, which fell out at a year old and turned blonde. As I approached adulthood, it became the light brown that it is now, despite various incarnations as blonde and dark again, depending on my and/or my late husband Steve's preferences and the aid of Miss Clairol.

2. When I was a young girl, possibly 3 or 4, my maternal grandfather, who had trained as a psychologist, had taken me to his office, where he gave me a test in which he had me repeat numbers in sequence and then took me elsewhere for a while. He brought me back and asked me to repeat the numbers he had given me, only backwards, which I was able to do without difficulty. He thought I was a genius! LOL! (However, if I was such a genius, I should be able to remember the numbers now, as well as where he and I went during the time we were away from the office. LOL!)

3. When I was in the 4th grade, my mother gave birth to my youngest sister, Kathy, and not long after that, she almost died of a bleeding ulcer. Thus, at the age of 10, I was put into the position of almost raising my younger siblings, Frank, who was 2 1/2 years younger than me, Jo, who was 4 years younger than me, and baby Kathy. My father was a school teacher and thus occupied elsewhere during the days; we had help from church ladies at first but that didn't last too very long. So part of my childhood consisted of raising my siblings. I remain close to Kathy, in particular.

4. One summer when I was in late grade school, my family was living in Eugene, Oregon while my dad went to summer school at the University of Oregon. A family from our church lived in an old house not far away, and one day when I was going to their house to play, I saw a couple of the younger boys coming across the roof and trying to go down a ladder that went up to it at the back. One of the boys fell and when I got to him, I found that he had a deep, triangle-shaped cut just above the area between his eyes. I told the other boy to hurry and get his mother, and she came immediately, thank goodness. He was rushed to the hospital. I don't recall the treatment, but he recovered all right. My mother told me later that the mother had said I saved her son's life by my quick action.

5. I have always been a very shy and timid person. I don't know if that was because of my natural temperament or due to aspects of my upbringing; perhaps both. I grew up in a church where getting up in front of the congregation to speak was expected, even of teenagers. I would quake in my boots and do an abysmal job when asked to do so. Imagine my panic when I was asked to participate in a regional church-wide speech contest. I was given some good fear-reducing tips by my speech instructor, though, and so I became determined to do a superior job. As it happens, I got up in front of the audience at the competition and I became suddenly confident, competent, and interesting. There weren't ribbons for first, second or third place, but I was one of the few who received a ribbon for the highest honor, being judged as "superior."

6. Not long after that, I was asked to play a lead in a play that someone from our church had written for the teenagers to perform. I was a prosecuting attorney. Once more, I had to battle my shyness and timidity, but I worked hard at memorizing my part (which was tremendously long, I felt). When the day came that us teens put on the play in our church's Sacrament Meeting, (equivalent to most Christian churches' worship services), I once again came out of my shell and I was able to portray a forceful prosecuting attorney. People looked at me in amazement when it was over with, but when they came up to me to tell me what a good job I had done, I became my shy, timid self all over again, and they went away disappointed. LOL!

7. Probably my last high school age accomplishment was to say yes when I was invited to sing a hymn, "I Know that my Redeemer Lives," with four other girls in a quintet. I had been told since early childhood by my mother that I couldn't sing, so this was a brave acceptance on my part. However, as we practiced, I memorized my alto part, as well as realized I could listen to the alto piano notes and follow them, so by the time we sang the song (once again in Sacrament Meeting), I was quite confident and did an excellent job singing it using my technique. It was the closing song for the meeting and when I got down to where my mother was sitting, I found her crying, and I asked her why. She said, "I didn't know you could sing." I just walked away, feeling disgusted. LOL! (Teenagers!)

8. Somehow I am only thinking of incidents where I went against my natural shyness grain. My last one is also the same. When Steve and I had had our 3 boys and were living out here in the country, he had been trained as an airplane pilot and tried working as one but through a series of events out of his control, he wound up without a job. He became interested in manufacturing food dehydrators and grain grinders and I also joined him in this endeavor, as it was a matter of survival for our family. I learned to use the whole grains we ground and the food we dehydrated. I'm not sure it was my idea to start teaching other people how to use the whole grain flours and dehydrated foods, but I could see that this was needed and so I dove in wholeheartedly. I was involved in displaying our products and giving out samples at the county fair at least one year, and coming up with a slogan and design for our booth that earned us a ribbon. (I can't remember what kind of ribbon it was exactly; perhaps honorable mention, but I was happy enough with that.) I continued with these endeavors until our business, Harvest Mills, was sold, in the late 1970's.

As I said, I'm not sure how non-boring these aspects of my life are. However, they're the best I can come up with! (Just don't ask me to do public speaking or demonstrating food processing machines again -- I think I did enough of that to last a lifetime! LOL!) But at least I did come up with 8. ;-)

THE CITY GIRL GOES TO THE COUNTRYJust

THE CITY GIRL GOES TO THE COUNTRY

Just recently, on nephew Nick's web site, which he created for the family, we got into a discussion of country topics, such as garden crops, and especially an over-sized radish Nick had grown and was wondering in a joking way how to prepare and eat. This reminded me of a time, many years before, when Nick was a boy, how his parents -- my now late husband Steve's brother Norman and sister-in-law Janice -- had invited Steve and I (a "city girl") to dinner at their place, where they had a lovely garden. While we were there, Steve and Norman went out to the garden and came back with a large, long white vegetable that they tried to tell me was a carrot.

I could tell by the looks on their faces, especially Steve's eager, boyish one, that they dearly wanted me to fall for this tale. I didn't. I recognized that it was probably a parsnip. I said, "That's no carrot." Steve and Norm's faces fell -- they were highly disappointed. Janice and I just chuckled.

As I explained on the family site, I had already distinguished myself in my citified ignorance of country facts, especially about animal reproduction, which is likely why Steve and Norm felt that I would fall for the "carrot" story.

This is where the entry turns PG13, for those who care. Earlier -- I believe not long after Steve and I were married, when we lived in Portland and came out to the country to visit his folks, who lived in the house I occupy now -- on a drive out here, Steve made a comment about a farmer whose place we passed having his cows and his bull separated by a fence. I said, "Is that for when the bull is in heat?" Steve laughed and said, "Honey, the bull is always in heat." Then he explained to me that particular essential difference between cows and bulls. He found my farm faux pas too good to keep, and so told Norman and Janice what I had said.

Later, after we had moved to the mobile home that now is the office for my business, we had chickens, including roosters that had been raised from chicks by a banty hen we had been given (possibly by Norman and Janice). We had one particularly mean rooster and one day when I was outside, I saw him viciously attacking the banty hen. I panicked and ran into the house and called Janice, telling her that a rooster was trying to kill my little hen! She chuckled and explained to me that the rooster was mating with the hen and it was nothing to worry about -- it looked worse than it was.

Still, later, when Steve was butchering some of the grown chickens for me to clean (yuck!) and freeze, I think that mean rooster was one of the first to go, because he had also attacked very young son Jeff, just missing his eye. (I had no idea how to clean chickens at first and had to ask Steve's mom, Lola, and even though I followed her directions successfully, I don't think I was able to very easily eat the chicken meat. That was our last experience raising chickens!)

I have long ago made peace with the fact that I am not a country girl at heart. I love living out here, among beautiful farmland, but the maintenance of the place, with all the weeds and blackberry vines that crop up, is a bear. I am happy to laugh, though, about my early adjustments in attempting to live a country life (I did pick and can and freeze vegetables and fruit quite competently, although my canned peaches were never as pretty as Steve's mother's). ;-)

I just hope that I am now no longer as ignorant of the facts of farming life -- even if I, myself, don't truly live it -- as I once was. LOL!

AOL WELCOMES YOUI have a

AOL WELCOMES YOU


I have a free AOL account, which I was talked into keeping when I went to cancel and go with my Yahoo account. AOL welcomes me with 4 or 5 varying welcome screens that cycle through so that if I see a headline that interests me, I can click on the link and read the article or information. A couple of those articles have particularly interested me in the last few days.

Although I don't plan to fly in the near future, I did a fair amount of that in early January, especially in and out of Salt Lake City, so a story about a pilot there who told passengers he was too upset to fly and canceled the flight on June 20th interested me. This pilot was with United, however, while I had flown Delta, and he was headed for Denver.

In his announcement, he said that perhaps some passengers had witnessed an incident with some of his colleagues as he was leaving the gate to board the plane, and it was this which had upset him so badly. In the article I read on AOL, (and this information isn't included in the USA Today link above), it said that pilots -- who are required to wear their hats when on duty -- had been instructed by the union to leave their heads bare in protest of United cutbacks due to the bankruptcy. Apparently, this pilot was wearing his hat, which his colleagues at the gate didn't appreciate.

As a business owner, I understand that perhaps United had no option but to declare bankruptcy, but I can see where the pilots would be concerned about their own financial survival. Interesting.

The other article, which I saw yesterday, was about the 20 most hated foods. I was most surprised to find that #20 was blueberries. I love love love blueberries (unless I happen to eat one that is older and tastes moldy -- ewwww!)

Foods included (and I didn't write down the numbers they were in the order of dislike; I was a bit skeptical as I wondered where AOL got their information from) mushrooms, cilantro, and mayonnaise, all of which I like a lot. Where I agreed was in brussels sprouts and oysters. I have to confess that I've never tasted oysters but any slimy seafood that is swallowed whole, raw, definitely does not appeal to me! ;-)

I think that some of the AOL welcome screen information indulges in scaremongering, especially regarding health issues, and I once more get a bit suspicious of where they are getting their information from when I see prescription drugs sponsoring the pages, but I think I have learned some things from them. They sure do get some lame comments about their articles, though. LOL!

DREAMS AND McDREAMYThis

DREAMS AND McDREAMY

This morning, in the early morning hours, I had a strange dream which I can't remember -- all I know was that it featured Michelle Pfeiffer. LOL! In mentioning this to online friends, one of them said she had recently dreamed about her apartment complex's maintenance man, while another friend said she had dreamed today while napping about a total mishmash of things, including the same former religion that I used to be. Dreams are so funny! Do you have any that you would share?

As for McDreamy -- Patrick Dempsey -- he was on "Live with Regis and Kelly" this morning but I didn't watch it because Regis and Kelly have been getting on my nerves lately. I get the impression that Regis doesn't like Kelly very well but that could be entirely my imagination. I'd rather watch Bobby Flay on "Boy Meets Grill." LOL!

*****

I've been hearing a lot of gloom and doom these days. If what is being said is true, I am more concerned for my children and grandchildren than I am for myself. Yesterday, I saw a quote several places that originated from NASA scientist James Hansen, where he told Congress that if we don't roll back pollutants in the atmosphere to 1988 levels, in a couple of decades, "We're toast . . ." Scary!

I believe that God will provide ways for us to solve these problems, but people -- especially big industrialists -- will have to co-operate with those that are given the wisdom to guide us.

*****

I received kind of a funny e-mail from the IRS today. It gave me the option of having my stimulus check deposited in my bank account if I filled out a form they included and sent it back. Hello! I received my stimulus check yesterday! Hmmm, I wonder if it really was from the IRS?!

Speaking of funny e-mails, one came through from my friend Jackie the other day showing what was purported to be the diamond-encrusted Mercedes of an oil-rich Arab. Something told me to check it out on Snopes and sure enough, that wasn't true. (If you want to look, just do a search under "diamond Mercedes.") I sent the information to Jackie and she wrote back to thank me, saying she wondered if it was possible to believe anything that she received any more. I told her that she was one of the ones who had taught me to check out everything online. ;-) (Son J.D. is another one, and also my old on- and offline friend, Linda.)

AN EXCITING PHONE CALLI was just napping (and it was a good

AN EXCITING PHONE CALL

I was just napping (and it was a good nap, too) when my sleep was interrupted by a phone call. The caller ID said Kroger, who I know owns the Fred Meyer stores, so I answered the phone rather than screening the call.

The lady on the other end of the line identified herself as from Kroger and said she had just received my e-mail about Rachel and what a good and kind job she did last Wednesday in checking out my groceries while I was in pain from my physical therapy. The lady (sorry, I didn't get her name, maybe Cindy?) said she had called to thank me for my comment and that she was just about to call the Canby Fred Meyer store's manager and tell him or her what I had said about Rachel.

I felt a little shy about that but mostly excited! I don't that often have an opportunity to do something nice for someone else, and I am really happy that Rachel will be getting this well-deserved pat on the back! I don't know if she is working there today or not but I imagine she will get the news sometime soon.

Needless to say, the call woke me up and I can't get back to sleep now. That's okay -- I suppose Silver (who was on my lap at the time) will forgive me. ;-) I am just feeling really happy.

CRAZY STUFFI have

CRAZY STUFF

I have been saving some items, mainly in the back of my mind, for commenting on later, and later is here. ;-) Some of them are pretty wacky.

First of all, there is the pregnancy pact being reported from Gloucester, Massachusetts. Girls in high school are trying to get pregnant en masse. I saw a blurb on the NW Newschannel yesterday quoting a source at the Gloucester High School as saying this was false, but the source I link to in this paragraph (Time Magazine online) says the girls kept going back to the school nurse for pregnancy tests until they came back positive, at which time the girls were giving each other high fives. Perhaps movies like "Juno" are partly to blame, but some in Gloucester have attributed it to broken homes and loneliness.

Next, there is a fellow ex-Mormon who has a very popular blog. I am not going to name her here, as I feel that ex-Mormons should stick together; however, her humor gets pretty way out sometimes. After an appearance on the Today show where she was on with Kathie Lee Gifford, she wrote that Kathie Lee was coming onto her. I know that she didn't intend for this to be taken seriously, but I wonder what Kathie Lee thought of that. It certainly does go under the category of "crazy", in my book.

Then there are dreams I have been lately, which have featured a man who was involved in probably the very worst mistake of my life, and people close to him. I hate these dreams! I don't know why I'm having them but they are just crazy!

I am not telling my own family (siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles) about my upcoming minor toenail surgery. My youngest sister acted like having had my right big toenail removed last summer was a punishment from God, and I don't need that kind of reaction again. (I wonder what she would think of the fact that it has grown back in beautifully and is what I consider a blessing from God.) I think this kind of negative and unkind belief, which really seems out-of-character for my sister, is pure wackiness.

So there you have my wacky items for the day. I imagine I will come up with more over time. Feel free to add your own.

*****

I have been eating Manwich sloppy joes off and on over the last 5 days or so, and I took this picture of what -- to me -- is the perfect Manwich meal:



I don't care for the taste of the Manwich with the hamburger meat alone, but I find it to be delicious when topped with a slice of Tillamook cheddar cheese. And paired with sliced tomatoes (the non-salmonella variety), it becomes a lovely meal!

*****

As for the cartoons above, I am glad that my cats who stay downstairs at night don't try to wake me up for food during the night or early in the morning. They are very well-behaved.

I love the Maxine! LOL! Patrick Dempsey, you've really made it big now that you are in a cartoon with her! Hee hee!

A BIG CONCERNI am very concerned tonight for a long-time

A BIG CONCERN

I am very concerned tonight for a long-time online friend who is suffering from Parkinson's disease. In letters I have received from him lately, he has talked about supposed recent events that are surprising, fantastic, and I feel have not happened. I was thinking that he might be having mini-strokes, as he is in his 70's, but then I did a Google search today under "symptoms of advanced Parkinson's" and this is what I found:

"Ask the Experts about Psychiatry/Mental Health for Advanced Practice Nurses
from Medscape Nurses

Managing the Psychological Symptoms of Patients With Parkinson's Disease?
Question
I am interested in knowing more about patients experiencing delusional and psychotic symptoms while being treated for Parkinson's disease. Antipsychotic medications affect dopamine levels and sometimes cause the symptoms of Parkinson's to worsen. I would like to know what approaches to treatment have been effective in managing these patients' symptoms.

Response from Maren S. Mayhew, MS, ANP, GNP
Nurse practitioner, specializing in geriatrics.

As we have improved the treatment of Parkinson's disease, patients are living longer and developing the psychotic symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease. Risk factors for developing psychosis include dementia, sleep disturbances, and nighttime use of long-acting dopamine agonists."

I had no idea. As the title says, I am very concerned about my friend. I don't know of anything to do other than to write to him as I usually do when I hear from him (today I didn't) and to pray for him. I get concerned and discouraged about my medical difficulties at times but situations like this friend's make me put them into better perspective.

THE GIRL IN THE CAFE

THE GIRL IN THE CAFE

I'm not sure where I saw the HBO movie, "The Girl in the Cafe" recommended, but I ordered it from Blockbuster on my one movie at a time program and watched it last night. I couldn't remember what it was about, and reading the description on the jacket of the DVD didn't help any, but I was game to see if I would like it or not.

The movie starts out in England -- London, I presume -- and features Bill Nighy as rather high-up civil servant Lawrence. Nighy is one of those people who I know I have seen in movies before but more as a character actor than the lead. His Lawrence is rather shy and, maybe partly as a result of that but also due to his devotion to his work, a confirmed bachelor.

He meets a much younger woman, Gina, played by Kelly MacDonald, in a cafe, and he dates her briefly before inviting her to accompany him to the 2005 G8 Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland. Lawrence has been telling her what the G8 Summit will entail, especially the Millenium Development Goals to eliminate poverty and AIDS, and when there, her outspokenness about them with world leaders, especially Lawrence's boss and the British Prime Minister, get both of them into a lot of trouble. The ending, however, was quite gratifying and brought tears to my eyes.

I did a little research after reading more about the movie in the Blockbuster description. I discovered that the 2005 G8 Summit was held in July of 2005, while this movie aired on HBO on June 25, 2005. Very interesting timing. Also, the U.K. hosted the Summit.

I have a little trouble understanding English accents and I didn't check to see if this film was close-captioned, but I did get most of what was happening. If you have a chance to rent it, I would recommend that you do so. I don't see a rating listed but I would call it PG13 as there is one scene of partial nudity and a couple of bad words. It did win the Emmy in 2006 for Best Made for Television Movie.

*****

The following joke comes from Ralph Milton's Christian E-zine, "Rumors", out of last week's June 15, 2008 edition.

"Bottom of the Barrel – Since we are now in the time of year when clergy and congregations begin to play musical pulpits, I thought this hoary old clunker might be useful.

The all-male pick-a-preacher committee had the job of deciding if the latest applicant had what it takes to be their minister. They didn’t quite know how to proceed, because this candidate was a woman.
“Let’s take her fishing,” suggested one of the committee members.
Out they went, early in the morning, the five men and the minister. Soon they were busy casting for trout, when the line of one of the men got snagged on a floating log. His tugging wouldn’t dislodge it.
So the lady minister stepped out of the boat, walked across the surface of the water, unhooked the snag, and walked back into the boat.
“Hmmmph” muttered one of the men. “Just like a woman. Can’t swim!”

Love it!

*****

I think it's time I thanked my friend Lynne again for the Ziggy in this entry and all the other ones that I have posted.

I really like the Maxine, too! There is more than a germ of truth to it! LOL!

MMMMM . . . STRAWBERRIES!

MMMMM . . . STRAWBERRIES!

My daughter-in-law Kris came over yesterday and installed non-slip material on my front steps, plus left me a jar of strawberries from her and son J.D.'s garden. I didn't hear her due to being upstairs next to the air conditioner, but I came down later and found that she had been here. The front steps now look like this:



Great job, Kris, and will make it so that no one will slip on the slippery steps, especially in winter, and sue me!

The strawberries were lovely. I nibbled on them all day and then in the evening I cut the last of them up and ate them with Equal and 1% milk (a diabetic's treat). Here are a couple of shots of the berries.





Somewhat earlier, son Jeff had come down and done away with a bunch of thistles out by my garage. Online friend Andree commented yesterday that she wondered what kind of thistles they were, so I found one in a different area of my place and took this picture of it:



I do not like them, the stickery things!

Thank you to both Kris and Jeff for their assistance yesterday!!

*****

Someone else that I had meant to mention, who was a big help to me on Wednesday, was a cashier named Rachel at the Fred Meyer store in Canby. I was quite sore when I went through her line because of my earlier physical therapy and I had a lot of items in my cart. She was very cheerful, friendly and still professional. She said this was her first job of the day; that she would be shopping and then going to her second. We talked about working and how it was like the old commercial where the baker said it was "time to make the donuts." I was much happier for having been through her line, and after I got home, a bit later in the day, I found on the receipt that Fred Meyer had a web site and I went there. I found a place in which to make comments and I did so, thanking the store and Rachel for the good service that day. I have never done that before but I felt it was very much deserved. I gave them the information for getting back to me but in my comment I said it wasn't really necessary. I think I would have been embarrassed, actually. But if you see Rachel at the Canby Fred Meyer, tell her "hi" for me. :-)

*****

I tried to start reading Stephen Colbert's "I am America (and so can you!)" a couple of days ago. Colbert is clever but I am afraid I don't share his sense of humor. I am ready to give the book away. J.D. and Kris, do you want it?

*****

I am blogging earlier than usual today because it is a working weekend. Right now, I need to go make the donuts. ;-)

THISTLES ARE GONE!My

THISTLES ARE GONE!

My middle son Jeff came down a little bit ago and made short work of the thistles out by the garage, which is appreciated more than I can tell you. I had used shears and cut the ones I had taken out but he brought a hoe and wore a glove and was able to take the rest out by the roots.

He and I are discussing landscaping services, and who to contact to get bids. I need to figure out exactly what I want done and when so that I will be able to make my wishes known. It is going to take a bit of thought. Perhaps I can contemplate it while I work this weekend, although I hate to take my mind too much off my work so that I don't make mistakes.

*****

DIL Kris (oldest son J.D.'s wife) will be here soon to put non-slip material on my front steps. I am looking forward to that! They have been getting terribly slippery and even dangerous in the rain.

*****

I heard from all of my kids today; youngest son Tony wrote and let me know that he has succeeded in getting Majesty's therapeutic horse biscuits into some Costco stores. I am very happy for him as he has worked so hard at this.

I also learned that his boys, my grandsons Michael, 9 1/2, and Alex, 7 1/2, aren't in Florida yet and won't be leaving for another 10 days. I don't know how long they will be gone. They will be staying with their other grandparents.

*****

I have a notice saying that Blogger will be down at 3:00 p.m., PDT, but only for about 10 minutes for maintenance.

A note: It has been "delayed." I don't know till when. I shouldn't have even mentioned it. ;-)

COUSINSI came from a

COUSINS

I came from a large family on my dad's side. He had 9 siblings, although only 5 were alive when I was growing up. I had (and have) quite a few cousins on that side of the family. My memories of them are among the best of my childhood.

My cousin Charlie, my late Uncle Cyril's son, and I hadn't been in touch for years until after his mom, my Aunt Betty, died a number of years ago. She had suffered from severe osteoporosis for about 10 years that kept her bedridden; if she coughed, she could break a rib. I wrote to her occasionally during that time and Charlie found my letters and notified me after she died. He was very sweet in what he said about my writing to his mother.

Charlie and his wife Jeanette have a daughter, Suzanne, who was named after me. (I think that is so very nice!) Here is a picture he just e-mailed me of him and Suzanne and her children. (We exchange grandkid pics every once in a while via e-mail.)



I believe Suzanne lives in Texas or someplace in the South, while Charlie and Jeanette live in Orem, Utah, if I'm remembering correctly. This picture was taken at the airport although which one is a good question. It's from a recent visit, anyway.

I don't have a lot of memories about Charlie from when I was young although I know he was older and I do recall him pushing me down outside our grandparents' house at one point. LOL! We were quite young then. My next memories are as a young adult, and that I liked him a lot at that point.

As it happens, I heard from another cousin just a couple of days ago, my Uncle Linc's oldest daughter, Cheryl, (pronounced with a "ch" rather than an "sh"). She is, I believe, 4 years older than I am and we were close growing up. In fact, she taught me to read when I was still kindergarten age while we were playing school at her house. Here is a picture of her as a young adult (in the middle), taken in the mid-1960's at Lake Roosevelt, Washington, where my dad was a park ranger and she and her family were visiting. I had thought this was also me in the picture, on the left, but now I'm doubting that -- I just don't know.



I sent her a copy of this picture and another one with our other cousin, Janeane, who is my late Uncle Junius's daughter. She mentioned in the note I received from her how much she liked getting the pictures and how that was back when we were skinny. LOL! Oh, so true.

She wants to be updated on my family and how I'm doing, so I will definitely write to her before long. She did mention that Uncle Linc keeps them informed as much as he can. Cheryl and her family live in Washington, not nearly as far away as Uncle Linc is in his home in Logan, Utah; you'd think we could get together and maybe someday we will.

*****

I had physical therapy yesterday and, once again, it made me fairly sore. Sleeping last night was a bit iffy because of that, although I remember dreaming (but not what about). Today is laundry day, which will be fairly strenuous to the arm, too, but I will try to be careful. I was told that cutting the thistles is an absolute no-no unless there is a way to do it left-handed. (Maybe I can find some left-handed clippers.) Typing is pretty much okay as long as I watch my posture, which has long been a challenge for me -- I remember my mom criticizing me for slumping when I was a girl, although perhaps her critical nature may have been one reason I slumped. I'm definitely working on better posture.

I won't have more physical therapy for a couple of weeks. It will be nice to have next week off. I have a couple of new exercises to build up the reps on in the meantime.

*****

I am conversing with my cat Stevie through the office door right now. She sometimes comes upstairs and "talks" to me this way. Other than that, she mainly visits me in the loo. Each of my cats finds their own way to communicate with me -- I love my little furry people.

A BIKER AND HIS BABE

A BIKER AND HIS BABE



















Love this photo! Today would have been Steve's and my 40th wedding anniversary. I like to think we might have been like the above biker couple before too much longer. ;-)

MORE ABOUT SKEEZIXI mentioned in my

MORE ABOUT SKEEZIX

I mentioned in my Father's Day post about my dad that he had been unnamed and just called Skeezix for the first 6 months of his life. My son J.D. said he had a theory about why, and when I asked him what it was, this was his response:

"During the early 1920s, there was a comic strip called Gasoline Alley. It was mostly just a funny gag strip about cars. The newspaper publisher decided that he wanted a wider audience, though, so he asked the strip's writer (Frank King) to do something to attract women readers. To do this, King deposited a baby on the doorstep of the main character, Walt Wallet.

Walt was a bachelor and had not experience with babies. The strip gradually shifted its focus from cars to the relationship between Walt and Skeezix. The characters aged in real time. (They still do. The strip is still going.) So, readers got to see Skeezix grow up.

Skeezix means "motherless calf", but I don't think that's why your father got that nickname. I think he got that nickname because Gasoline Alley was hugely popular at the time of his birth, and Skeezix must have seemed like a fun nickname to give a boy. Sort of like how some kids might have been nicknamed Calvin when Calvin and Hobbes was at its height.

Anyhow -- that's my theory! :)

--j.d."

I believe he makes some valid points. He sent me the above comic, showing Walt finding Skeezix on his doorstep. (Knowing my Grandpa Mac's sense of humor, and that of other family members, this may have also been a reason for the nickname.) I have a letter ready to go to my Uncle Linc, at 92 the only living sibling, (which I will send after I get a picture that I want to include), in which I am mentioning this and asking a bit more about it. I don't know if I will get an answer as he has difficulty seeing and writing but perhaps one of his DIL's or grandchildren could type out or write an answer for him.

*****

Just a quick note that there is another "down" event coming up in my future, as I will have minor surgery (toenail removal) on my left big toe in 3 weeks. The worst of that is soaking it in Epsom salts afterwards, which stings like h*ll! It must be done, however -- I will not take a picture of my toenail and make you look at it! LOL! At least my arm is quite a bit better! :-)

ABOUT STARSReferring somewhat to the

ABOUT STARS

Referring somewhat to the above Maxine, has anyone noticed how much more interesting the State Farm Insurance commercials have gotten? ;-) There is no question in my mind that the narrator is McDreamy himself, Patrick Dempsey. Of course, he's not one of the old time stars that Maxine mentions above; quite the opposite.

I have a good friend in New Jersey who is crazy about Jon Bon Jovi. She's not all that much younger than me. Now and again, she comes across stationery with pictures of him on it and sends them along to me. (She is a widow, as I am.) Then yesterday I saw a preview of "What Not to Wear" where a dental hygienist will be the subject of the makeover, and in the ad I saw, she was defending some of her old, outdated clothing by saying that it reminded her of Bon Jovi. LOL! That did make me feel old because my clothes from my youth, if I still had any of them, would remind me of the Beatles and Elvis Presley and Del Shannon. I never knew anything about Bon Jovi, nor was I into him, at any point before in my life. I did enjoy seeing him when he was a coach on American Idol (not this past year, but the one before) and I was able to clue my friend in so she could watch him. I can see why she likes him. He also has a football team called the Soul and she enjoys listening to their games.

Be gentle with your judgment; it's not easy to be old and lonely. ;-)

*****

Over the weekend, I was able to take some fun pictures of Silver and Socks. They like playing around the coffee table, which I have been keeping bare. Silver especially likes to get on it and then Socks will find ways to try to attack him from floor level. Here are a series of pictures of them doing that. They are on Flickr, so click to enlarge there. In the last two, that is pretty much necessary because I have notes indicating where Socks is located, as she's not easy to spot.







Socksie is so funny sometimes! I especially love her in that last picture! And Silver is so big!

*****

Just a remembrance: Today would have been Mom's 81st birthday.

FATHER'S DAY -- MY DAD

FATHER'S DAY -- MY DAD

This is a photo of my father, taken in the late 1980's, I believe. There is a funny story behind it. He had the hiccups the day of the portrait-taking (the same day as the portrait of Mom that I posted on Mother's Day) and nothing would stop them. I have a picture of Mom and Dad taken that same day and he has a small, wry smile on his face, no doubt as a result of the difficulty he was having holding still. My mother later expressed how irritated she has been at the time, but Dad probably didn't know my tried-and-true hiccup cure. (Drink 10 swallows of water without taking any breaths in between.) ;-)

My dad passed away in April, 1991 at the age of 66. In my steamer "treasure" trunk, I found a diary that my grandfather had kept of my dad's youngest years (my grandfather was 50 when Dad was born; Dad was the youngest of 10 children -- and yes, they were Mormons). My youngest sister Kathy had obtained it and made a copy of it for me for Mother's Day the year Dad died. I had never read through it. Actually, many of the things Dad was doing were typical of young children but Grandpa did write them up so that they sounded exceptionally cute.

My dad was named Stanford after 6 months of not having a name decided upon, other than being called "Skeezix." (I don't have this documented, but I remember my brother Frank saying this at Dad's funeral.) My Grandpa apparently decided on the name Stanford after that amount of time because he was attending Stanford University then. (Those were days well before women's liberation; my grandfather was the one who named all the children, which my grandmother privately resented, as my mother told me at one time much later on.)

When I was in grade school, my father taught junior high science and he would take my younger brother and sister and I to his classroom sometimes in the evenings so he could preview movies that he would show in his class. One particular favorite of mine showed microbes crawling to the tune of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King." As is so often the case with childhood experiences, that bit of classical music became a favorite of mine.

On one of my birthdays, perhaps 8th or 9th, I had a birthday party where my dad took my little friends on a hike with us. He had a great time and they did, too. He was a very pleasant and enjoyable person to be around.

I loved my father very dearly. I was saddened that the difference of religion that developed between us created a rift during the last few years of his life. Those things happen, though. There are aspects of life that have to be forgiven. It seems that, as the years pass, often a tolerance for human frailties grows and develops. Maybe it's kind of like learning to laugh at incurable hiccups during a portrait sitting.

JUNOI watched the movie "Juno" this evening, and while I have

JUNO

I watched the movie "Juno" this evening, and while I have reservations about teen motherhood (while at the same time understanding human nature and having compassion for young people), I was surprised to find that I liked the movie a lot. Young actress Ellen Page did a good job of portraying the title character, who became pregnant thanks to a classmate played by Michael Cera, and sought solutions, including locating adoptive wannabee parents played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. The ending turned out to be quite heartening and unexpected. The movie is rated PG13 and so is obviously for mature viewers; I would recommend it for such individuals.

MY PHOTO IS INCLUDED IN THE GUIDE!Some time ago, I mentioned

MY PHOTO IS INCLUDED IN THE GUIDE!

Some time ago, I mentioned that a photo I took of a sternwheeler out at Astoria, Oregon, going up the Columbia River past my motel, had been selected for possible inclusion in the Schmap Pacific Northwest Guide. I received this letter yesterday:

Hi Suzanne,

I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released second edition of our Schmap Northwest Guide:

Columbia River Maritime Museum
www.schmap.com/northwest/museums/p=126481/i=126481_2.jpg

If you like the guide and have a website, blog or personal page, then please also check out the customizable widgetized versions of our Schmap Northwest Guide, complete with your published photo:

www.schmap.com/guidewidgets/p=32752680N00/c=SG33031580

Thanks so much for letting us include your photo - please enjoy the guide!

Best regards,

Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the links to work to access my photo but I still feel very honored. :-)

A NEAT THOUGHTSave the Earth . . . it's

A NEAT THOUGHT

Save the Earth . . . it's the only planet with chocolate!!!

(From my friend Edith in Toronto.)

*****



The above photo was one I took at the Newport, Oregon Aquarium on October 19, 2005. I had a comment on it yesterday by a guy named Steve Worthington who makes bronze animals. They are very interesting, especially the turtles.

I have always loved turtles. I had quite a nice-sized one when I was a girl but my mother made me leave it outside, and I came home from school one day and found it dead, chewed up by a neighborhood dog. I was devastated! We obviously didn't know much about turtles at the time; it probably needed a fairly decent-sized aquarium.

*****

I am feeling quite a bit better today. I was sure yesterday that I had undone all the good work I had accomplished in the previous couple of days -- my arm was that sore! But the icing of the upper arm and shoulder along with the exercises have worked wonders. I was even able to get most of my work at the business done last night and this morning, with just a short stack to be filed tomorrow.

*****

Our weather is beautiful. It is sunny but there is a cooling breeze so it's not getting too hot. The afternoon should be perfect for Jeff to mow the lawn, as he plans to.

A BIG MISTAKEHmmm . . . I'm not going to be able to cut

A BIG MISTAKE

Hmmm . . . I'm not going to be able to cut thistles down every day. Talk about a setback. Just a note, so you understand if I'm suddenly quiet for a little bit.

PROGRESSThere is a saying

PROGRESS

There is a saying that Steve always used to quote: "If all else fails, read the directions." That applies, I believe, to my flyer from my physical therapist, which I have gradually been reading more and more thoroughly and finding out that I haven't been doing my exercises as often or as many reps as I should have. That's probably okay, though, because I have built up gradually to the number indicated.

Yesterday, folding laundry wasn't nearly as painful as it had been the week before. (I was glad to have my little helper, Socks, too, as shown below.)



The day was so beautiful when the sun came out in the afternoon yesterday that I went outside and picked up all sorts of small branches that had blown off the trees during the strong winds a few days ago, in anticipation of Jeff mowing, which he has just let me know he will do tomorrow. I also cut down a few thistles that are growing by the garage, which is separate from the house. I am doing that a very few at a time. I was given strict orders by my PT not to aggravate my arm.

One thing I was told, as well, and have noticed, is that raising my right arm up is very painful and is a no-no. I do it entirely with my left arm, and that has brought me a great deal of relief from pain.

I didn't work Wednesday night but will work over the weekend, as is necessary. Slow and steady is the answer, with frequent breaks.

It is such a relief to not be in pain all the time! I can't believe I waited so many weeks to tell my doctor what was going on and get the referral to physical therapy. I am glad now for my progress.

*****

With ID thieves out there, I get a bit on the panicky side when I don't get any mail, as was the case yesterday. I contacted my neighbor via e-mail to see if she had gotten any, but they have a post office box in town. Today there was mail, though, so I feel better.

J.D. ON TVMy 39-year-old (thus

J.D. ON TV

My 39-year-old (thus eldest) son, J.D., was on Portland, Oregon's KGW Channel 8's 6:00 news last evening, and above are pictures that I took of him being interviewed. He had said yesterday on the Twitterblog portion of his main blog yesterday that the interview had taken 90 minutes but the piece itself was 90 seconds. It was about tips he has for people on his very successful Get Rich Slowly blog, on how to do just that: Get rich slowly. He has not only talked the talk but walked the walk as he got completely out of debt in 3 years. This is impressive because he is a man that loves technologically-developed devices but he advises restraint in not buying every new gadget that comes on the market.

(BTW, although I have posted the above photos to Flickr, this time I uploaded them from my Windows database so clicking on them will just enlarge them, not take you to my Flickr site.)

I thought J.D. did a fine job on his interview and I was impressed and (very motherly, of course) proud.

*****

Today I am feeling less sore and ill in starting out the day, although I am more tired because I had quite a restless night last night. I have been having odd dreams the last couple of nights, too, although I can't remember them very well now. I delayed working until the weekend so that I can do the filing slowly and take lots of breaks; I am still doing laundry today and trying to go easy on the sore arm in the process, especially of folding clothes.

*****

I had a couple of family e-mails yesterday. One was from my youngest sister, Kathy, the new nurse, and she has started working graveyard shifts. She says it is quite an adjustment, which I know from when Steve worked nights. The other e-mail was from my Aunt Joan. She said that her daughter Mary's husband David has a blood clot from his ankle to his thigh and that prayers are needed for him. This has happened after ankle surgery. She didn't exactly say so, but she indicated that although she is Mormon, she feels that prayers from all faiths are very helpful. It sounds serious but my online friend Lynn said that her husband's cousin also had a bad blood clot and that medication cleared it up, so I am hopeful and will let my aunt know that.

TAKING IT EASYThank

TAKING IT EASY

Thank goodness that son Jeff is able to make the Costco trip for my business this week because I woke up incredibly sore and ill-feeling. Typing doesn't help.

I did want to share the teacup bouquet I bought yesterday to commemorate Mom's birthday on the 16th. It reminds me so much of her because she inherited her mother's teacup and saucer collection.



Of course, Socks was crazy about them and had to sniff and bite them. Here is a shot I took of her doing that. (I have to hold the camera in my left hand; it's too heavy for my right arm to support without a lot of pain.)



It's a wonder that I got the bouquet home in one piece because on the way back from Fred Meyer's, a lady pulled out in front of me on the highway (99E) and it took all of my braking power to stop without hitting her. Everything on the front seat went flying, but the bouquet had been on the floor and somehow managed not to be broken by the flying clipboard and other objects that had been on the seat but wound up on the floor as well.

I have gone no mail on a couple of lists and I am being very quiet on the remaining ones. My correspondence will likely be light. I may see you here tomorrow; I may not. Best wishes to you all.

THE VERDICTI have

THE VERDICT

I have tendinitis in my upper arm/shoulder area. The physical therapist used an ultrasound machine on me and gave me exercises to do, plus I am to ice the area every few hours and try not to use the arm in such a way as to bother it. I may go no mail on a number of my lists for the next few weeks in order to help the healing. I will likely also cut down somewhat on my correspondence. As for blogging, that probably needs to be shortened as well, but I won't eliminate that entirely, and I will definitely try to keep visiting blogs. Priorities! ;-)

PT IS SCHEDULEDI was able

PT IS SCHEDULED

I was able to call my HMO's nearest clinic this morning and schedule my physical therapy evaluation for tomorrow morning. I will be glad to get that done. I notice that my arm is fine -- unless I use it! LOL! The muscle where the pain is also seems to be a little bit swollen.

Physical therapy isn't a covered benefit under my health plan so I don't know what kind of cost to expect. I can look in my benefits handbook, I suppose, if I can find it.

I really want this arm to get better. I want to buy some Round Up spray and get going on spraying some weeds around the place. I don't know how long it will be before I can do that, though. Perhaps I should buy the Round Up tomorrow afternoon and do the spraying when we have a clear, calm day and deal with the damage to the muscle later. LOL!

The weather right now is quite pleasant. I hear about a lot of heat elsewhere in the country and in Canada. We are lucky but it's hard telling when that heat will come our way. I wish cool weather to those of you who are sweltering!