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!

STAN'S PROGRESSMy niece, who goes by Mrs. Darling online, has

STAN'S PROGRESS

My niece, who goes by Mrs. Darling online, has posted a new entry on her blog about how her dad, my brother-in-law Stan, is doing after being in the hospital for a number of days. I really enjoyed this entry because it gives such a great picture of both her and her dad's personalities.

She doesn't say what his prognosis is but it sounds like it could be fairly good. He will be in the hospital for a while longer. It is a relief to get the news as not only I but many of my friends on my various chat lists have been praying for him and the family. I hadn't known what to expect; it is a relief to hear that recovery is a probability, although he certainly has some complicated problems in his innards.

God has the situation in His hands, that is for sure.

THE AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER

THE AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER

An amateur photographer was invited to dinner with friends,
and he took along a few pictures to show to them. The
hostess looked at the photos and commented, "These are very
good! You must have a good camera."

The photographer didn't make any comment, but as he was
leaving to go home, he said, "That was a really delicious
meal! You must have some very good pots."

Received from Thomas Ellsworth.

The above joke came to me from my friend Jackie. I had to gulp and hope I hadn't said something similar to my photographer friends, although a camera's quality can make a big difference. LOL!

*****

There was a blurb running across the bottom of the Northwest Cable News channel yesterday, saying that the Mormon Church (which I was born and raised in) was celebrating the 30th anniversary of the "revelation" which gave the Mormon priesthood -- which is held only by men -- to blacks.

I did a search on Google about this subject as I was curious as to how the event was going to be celebrated. I found an interesting article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the subject (which you can access by clicking on the link in the first part of this sentence). It covers both positive and negative aspects of the LDS Church's handling of the blacks in the past and a current example of a black convert.

Until the time of the "revelation", individuals with any black blood in them at all were unable to attend the Mormon temple ceremonies. I have a good friend who went through these ceremonies quite a few times (they are done in proxy for people who are dead), only learning a few weeks before her mother died that her father had been partly black. According to Mormon doctrine, she shouldn't have gone through the temple ceremonies before the change in beliefs, but of course she had no way of knowing that.

I have written my LDS friend Fran in Utah to ask what the Mormon Church is doing to celebrate this anniversary, but I haven't heard from her yet.

I still believe that the "revelation" was one of convenience, as so many of them seem to have been, because at the time, college football teams were threatening to boycott BYU's team due to the church's stand on the blacks not being able to hold the priesthood.

Brigham Young and other early church leaders had said that blacks would never hold the Mormon priesthood, and Young had gotten even pithier than that, with very strong statements about what he would do to a mixed-race couple. Perhaps his adament anti-black thoughts reflected the thought of a majority of whites during his time; I don't know.

I am truly glad that those times have changed, to the extent that we have a black candidate for President of the U.S. But that is going onto a different subject. I do think that black individuals who are interested in the LDS church should do some research to see what the LDS church once believed about them. If they can live with those old beliefs, then fine. I'm not sure I would be able to if I were in their shoes.

*****

There is still no word on my brother-in-law Stan's condition. I have quite a few members of several lists praying for him. I am hoping and praying that he will have a good quality of life for a long while, despite what I have read on his daughter's blog about the possibility that he could have kidney failure.

*****

I am about ready to eat lunch, take another Vicodin, and then nap. (The neighbors' dogs are out and barking, which may make napping difficult, but maybe they will be back in the house by the time I try to get to sleep.) The Vicodin may get me through the barking if it continues. ;-) The arm got some exercise, taking the recycling out today, so has been sorer than the Vicodin could readily handle this morning, but that should change this afternoon.

I am really hoping that an evaluation of my arm will show that it is getting better on its own, and that it will just take time. I can guarantee that I am going to be more careful in what I insist that this 60-year-old body does!

RUMOR HAS ITLast night I

RUMOR HAS IT

Last night I watched a movie that just had 3 stars out of 5 as a Blockbuster Online rating, which should have warned me that perhaps it wasn't the best. However, sometimes I ignore the ratings because it can depend on personal taste and there have been movies I have liked real well that weren't rated overly highly on Blockbuster. So I gave "Rumor Has It" a try.

I liked the actors in the movie, particularly Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, and Shirley MacLaine. The movie came out in 2005, and I noticed a few aspects of the movie that dated it, although I can't recall exactly what they were now. I thought the plot itself was stupid, especially the references to the much earlier movie, "The Graduate," which I've always hated. I don't recommend "Rumor Has It" very highly.