The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places.Ernest Hemingway

A FREAKIN' MIRACLE!!

7/20/2021

MIRACLES ARE A TELLING IN SMALL LETTERS OF THE SAME STORY WHICH IS WRITTEN ACROSS THE WHOLE WORLD IN LETTERS TOO LARGE FOR SOME OF US TO SEE.
C. S. Lewis

Lately I have been in a kind of turmoil. I had my latest PET scan. When we went to the oncologist to get the results, she said, "Janene, I'm afraid some sparklies (what I call the cancer tumors) showed up on the film. We have to do a biopsy to see what kind of cancer you have this time." Ok. Do-able.

I got a biopsy and it came back. . . wait for it . . . benign!!!!!!! For some reason the film showed a false positive due to having the COVID shot. I've heard of others getting the same kind of results from the vaccinations. Whew!! My miracle had happened. I was so sure that this was it and I was done for. As I have mentioned before, my previous oncologist had informed me that if I got cancer one more time within the five years of the last one, he gave me approximately one year to live. MY question is, does the one year start from the time of the discovery of a new diagnosis? Or what if I had had it months before finding out? That would leave me with much less time. Lots of things were going through my head and I started making a list of stuff I wanted to get done while I could. I'm still going to do what is on the list . . . just to be on the safe side. You know . . . getting all my ducks in a row.

The first time I was told that I had breast cancer, I went into shock and didn't speak to anyone but Hubby and Jenna for two weeks because I was afraid I would burst out crying and wouldn't be able to stop. The second time I was told I had a different form of breast cancer, it was "Crap! Now I have to go through that again." This time when I was told I had to have biopsy, it was kinda like "meh". Whatever happens happens. Well, I dodged the bullet. I won the lottery. I had another miracle.

Other than that scare, life is going quite well. My darling daughter and her wonderful fiance, Joe, came out to my house and put in an amazing rock garden for me. The man-hours they put in was astounding. Jenna also re-landscaped the hillside at The Woodbridge Building. She is always so busy helping people and never complains. Right now, Joe has a brother in another state who had a massive stroke and has all kinds of crazy serious health issues going on. Jenna and Joe got on the first plane and went to be by his side. Things have stalled as far as his recovery, so they returned home as there was nothing they could do there. So Jenna started a Go Fund Me for the brother's family and raised over $21,000 dollars in a few weeks. She's quite a girl.

Jenna and I have been going to help the son of my late sister, Sandy (dang . . . I sure do miss her). The whole family has helped financially and given support to Rob, but Jenna is the one who took the reins and make arrangements to sell his extra car and also his house. It's way too big for just him, and he's not sure how to handle these tasks. I am in awe of my beautiful daughter.

I'm still watching politics on TV but it's not much fun without Sandy to vent with. So I will close with my usual message since it looks like some of the crazies in Washington are are trying hard to destroy America for some reason. What a shame.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY.

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SADDEST OF TIMES . . .

5/1/2021

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A SISTER IS WORTH A THOUSAND FRIENDS
Unknown

The other day I spent a long time writing my feelings about this sad time my family is going through. I really laid it all out there. Then, when I went to post it, POOF!, it was gone from my computer. Sigh.

I was recently thinking about the last six months or so. In October 2020, I had broke my SECOND leg in two years. What fun. Even though it was an icky time to go through, I was not sad or terribly unhappy. Grumpy, maybe, but not feeling blue. Now I am.

This is about our sister Sandy, (also known as Number Two since she was Number Two out of four sisters) or Puppet Master, because she was always telling me what to do and how to do it, and God help me, I usually did it! What a manipulator. Anyway, she has been in ill health for about three years straight. She had decided that she was going to remake herself and be the best she could be. Hip and knee replacements. Lasik surgery. Hearing aids. Extreme loss of weight. Then she began to go through some set-backs. She had a stroke and then had a little memory loss and was unbalanced.
The falling started. Her son would have to call 911 for help.

But she always bounced back. She was always cheerful and funny. And we talked almost every day. Politics was our huge addiction and we followed everything on TV. When something major would happen (which was all the time) one of us would call the other and the first thing out of our mouths was, "Yup. Saw it. I can't believe that, can you?"

During this time of the virus, Sandy's son, Rob, would bring her to see me. We would meet at my rental building because it has handicapped restrooms and that was convenient for her. She loved coming there because she said it had such happy vibes. She would bring me things to add to the decor. One item is the sign I have hanging over my desk. IF YOU CAN BE ANTHING . . . BE KIND.

On Valentine's Day, Sandy called me. Now, she is the type to call her siblings on Easter, Christmas, New Year's, all holidays and wish us the best. But this call was different. She sounded awful.

She asked me if I had experienced extreme nausea when I went through my radiation treatments. I told her no, but I was sure that her doctor could give her something for it. She was hesitant to call the doc because it was Sunday. But I knew something really different was happening to her. I told her to please hang up, call her doc and tell her that she was coming to the hospital by ambulance. Sandy said she thought maybe she might do that.

The last words I said to her were "Please keep me posted, okay?" I wish it had been, "I love you."

I didn't hear anything from her or Rob all night. The next morning Rob called me and when I questioned what they had found out, he simply said, "Well . . . " . That's when I begged him not to say what I knew was the truth. She was gone.

Sister Judy, brother Ken, and I went with Rob to the funeral home to make final decisions. We were asked if we would like to see her one last time before cremation. I chose not to. Rob told me later she looked beautiful and Judy said she had a smile on her face. When she passed, she must have seen her beloved husband, Ed, who has been gone over 25 years. That would explain the smile.

So you see why I am sad. I constantly want to call her and tell her little things. But I can't. So, I will save it all to converse with her when we meet again. Then we will both be smiling.

So, I will end this with a simple "I love you, Karen, Judy, Ken, and Evan." Nuff said!

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FLOWERS TO SHOW KAREN. . .

4/25/2021

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So here you go, Sis. Fall, winter, and spring! NOTE: All three times I was putting the flowers out, the wind was blowing like a son of a gun. I think that would have been a good place for a wind farm!

Signing off for now.

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ELECTION'S OVER & I BROKE MY LEG

11/14/2020

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I DON'T HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM RIGHT NOW...SORRY.

A major election is over (thank God) and maybe now I can wean myself off the cable news channels.

Let's see, for the last eight months I have been concentrating on The Woodbridge Building, keeping it rented and all to cover the bills. I have had five weddings, lots of birthday parties, graduations, baby and wedding showers, and an assortment of other events. A few weeks ago, some workmen were doing some digging in my little town and accidently cut the gas lines, so the gas company rented it for their headquarters so they could work through the day and night. It gave them a place to work on their computers, use the bathrooms, and have a place to eat, and was located conveniently right next to the worksite. I had about twenty utility trucks in the parking lot.

That has been my saving grace to go into my office there, turn on the stereo, do bookwork, or clean and clear my mind. It's my happy place, don't ya know?

A bit of news for you all. I tripped on a curb and fell on October 17th, and, well . . . I broke my left leg! Crap! Almost two years to the date since I broke my right femur. Can you believe that? My femur snapped into even before I hit the ground. Hubby had just dropped my off so I wouldn't have to walk across the parking lot (don't tell anyone, but we were going into a casino), For some reason, I stubbed my left foot right into a parking lot curb and fell. As soon as I hit the ground, I started screaming for him to stop and come back, that I had broke my leg, again. He slammed on the breaks and got out. He had the most sick look on his face, like "Here we go again!!!!!". Management from the casino came out and got a bunch of info from us before the EMTs came and loaded my on a rack and put me on a stretcher. Please take note of the term "rack" because I will get back to that later.
Incredibly enough, I was not in horrible, screaming-my-head off pain. I just laid there and let them run me up to the local hospital. (Did I mention that said casino was a two hour drive from my home, and was in another state altogether?)

Okay, now I'm in the emergency room. They cut my clothes off and slipped my arms into a hospital gown to cover my front up. I had to ask them for a catheter, since I had learned from past experience, there was going to be little getting up and goin' on my own. They acted puzzled that I had even mentioned getting one, but they obliged. Hmmm Then the ER doctor came in, chatted, then informed me that there was no surgeon (Saturday) on duty. I would have to wait until the next morning. This is like six PM now. Okaaaay. Ewwww.

They took me to a room and dumped my into a bed. Yes, dumped! For some reason, I realized that I was kinda laying on a tilt, with my right side lower than my left. Whatever. They gave me a pain pill, a single glass of water and let me be. Sometime in the middle of the night (I wasn't able to sleep because of the pain now) when it occurred to me that I was laying on a steel rod which ran across my lower back. Reaching around, I realized that the EMTs had not taken myeoff the "rack", and I was velcroed to it by wide straps around each of my legs. Since I was kinda hanging there, the straps were cutting into my legs. The steel bar was crushing against my backside. I kept thinking that if it was cutting off the circulation back there, I might end up with some dead skin. I know, gross thought.

In the middle of the night, two young people who worked there, came in to check on me. I begged them for more water and then asked what they could do about the rack. Neither one knew anything about it. I also had to ask them to please cover my feet because they were freezing and bring me more water. Then they left. GRRR About eight AM, two more workers came in and I insisted that they get me off that darn thing. One girl commented that EMTs always took that contraption when they left. Well, between the two of them, they unlashed me and lifted me and my completely broken-in-two-pieces leg up and pulled it out from under me. I remember hollering "Oh Jesus!!" several times, but they got the job done. After wearing that thing for fourteen hours, I was finally free. I had the most horrific huge bruise on the inside on my left leg.

Then, some good news. They decided to take me into surgery around 10:30. All I wanted was for them to knock me out and shove that titanium rod in my leg and get it over with! Fortunately, the surgeon did a wonderful job, glued the deep incisions shut (last time I had big staples), and put me in my room bed while I was still knocked out, so I wouldn't have to feel the pain of being transferred again.. This is Sunday.

Sunday through Monday morning, I am doing fine. The pain pills are keeping me from hurting too much. I still had to keep asking for water. Then, as I am laying there, I realize that I have been wearing the same hospital gown for almost three days. And no one has offered to bring me a pan of water to wash my face and hands. No sponge baths, either. The gown smelled. When I asked, they got me fresh one. Then physical therapy wanted to see if I could walk down the hall with a walker. I asked for a bathrobe, since my whole backside was showing. They dug around until they finally found me another gown and just put it on me backwards.

Don't get me wrong, most of these people were very friendly. However, Hubby and I both noticed that, other than the surgical team, they all looked like they were seventeen years old. Two of them told me that they had just graduated. Anyway, the last day, a nurse named Amanda came in and took charge. Without asking, she grabbed a pair of hospital socks and put them on my freezing feet. Ya think? She was very thorough and helpful, but by that time, it was early evening, and they were discharging me.

I am doing much better now and will begin therapy soon.

So my tip to you, Dear Peeps, is this. If you decide to go to the casino, don't trip over the curb. It's not fun.

I will check back with you all soon.

NOTE: To sister Karen, I did put fall flowers quite a while ago on Mother and Dad's grave, and took a picture, but I can't locate my camera right now. Will publish it later. Come to think of it, I'll be needing to change them out for winter/Christmas flowers very soon.

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I'M STILL AROUND

7/13/2020

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LIFE IS A CRAPSHOOT, ISN'T IT?

4/5/2020

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A BETTER WORLD SHALL EMERGE BASED ON FAITH AND UNDERSTANDING.
Douglas MacArthur

Well, a few things have occurred since last I posted. Ya think???? This Coronavirus thingy is something that I never dreamed would happen during my lifetime. This is big stuff, People. Dang. Hope you are all hunkered down in your homes, with plenty of food and things to do during this hiatus of living. It is do-able, remember that. This too shall pass. We may not like what's going on, but we are tough, we are Americans, and we can do this.

I have always joked that I don't have a lot of everything, but I do have a little of everything. What?, you ask. Well, I'll tell ya.

There has been a shortage of face masks to wear if you dare to venture out. I had none . . . I thought. Then, I was cleaning a shelf in my laundry room and I noticed a box marked 3M. Looked in it and was amazed to see several new N95 masks left over from Hubby's years as a bridge contractor. He used them for protection whenever they sandblasted things. Then I looked in my personal tool box and discovered a new package of a dust masks that I had picked up on my of my scrounging trips to Stuff Etc. Whoo hoo. THEN, I remembered that I had a stack of blue surgical masks that I had saved whenever I went to the oncologist's office. They had me put one on each time they drew blood. I kept them and took them home to use when I was out mowing the yard and the pollen was flying around. When Hubby saw the surgical masks, he said, "Hey, we've got a new box of those up in the cupboard where we keep all the aspirin and medications." Wowser!!! I . . . am . . . a . . . rich . . . woman. And lucky!!!! What a find.

I am so tickled to find these things. Can't believe that I actually can look around this house and fine something of importance!

Lots of things have happened. Unfortunately, a few people had to cancel their events planned at The Woodbridge Building, but most are being optimistic and scheduling a date later in the Spring and Summer months. When you can only have five or less people together at one time, that doesn't make for much of a party. I had one little gal ask to have her wedding there (the wedding dinner had already been planned to be held there). The really cool library where they were going to exchange their wedding vows told them they weren't allowing any events until this mess gets over. So they wanted to do it at my building and then have their dinner right after. Of course, they had to cancel this Plan B and the sweet couple ended up getting married with just their parents in attendance (Plan C), since they had already arranged to move to Colorado and needed to get going. Couldn't postpone it with that happening! That would have been my third wedding in my little building. I do have another one scheduled this fall. How fun! I look forward to that one.

My friend, the caterer, and I had our Dine Before Dance 2020 Prom dinner all planned. What a great menu Sheryl had planned (fancy, too). and we had gathered our good linens, and black cloth table napkins, china and glasses and were experimenting with the table settings, and then it all went to crap! No Prom since there is no more school. We were so looking forward to a great night for the prom goers. Darn! I am really feeling it for kids who will be missing out on Prom and graduation. Those are some of those really important events in a person's life. Our Alec will be having his graduation party sometime in the future. We will definitely make sure of that.

I stocked up on plenty of food several weeks ago. Thank goodness I have a freezer. The only thing I had to get since is a bag of potatoes and a gallon of milk. I made sure I had plenty of medications, detergent, and even make up, hair spray, and stuff you don't normally think about. Here's a small example of stuff I have on stand-by.

NOTE: PICTURE IS AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS POST. IT WON'T MOVE DOWN WHERE I WANT IT. SIGH

As for trying to keep busy, I admit that I have planted my fanny in my chair and watched waaayyy too much TV. Unfortunately, I have gained about seven pounds doing this. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I did go out and rake up twigs and dead leaves, which took two days. I have cleaned The Woodbridge Building thoroughly, and even cleaned my oven! That's right! For the last two years, I would think to myself every time I opened the door, "I sure need to clean this oven.". Well, it's done. I looked on YouTube to watch tutorials about the best way to clean an oven and oven racks. The oven racks worked like a charm, but was a bunch of work. I put them in the bathtub, sprayed them with vinegar, waited ten minutes, then covered them with hot hot water. Let them soak and then wiped with a cloth and steel wool to get rid of baked on crud. However, the bathtub was a son of a gun to clean afterward. Yuk!

The oven got a coating of baking soda and water paste that I let sit overnight. The next morning, I sprayed it all with vinegar and waited. Then wiped everything out. Not too bad. Just time consuming. I ended up by putting one of those silicone oven sheets in the bottom of the stove to protect the floor of the oven. Ahhhh, I've accomplished something I wanted to do for a long time.

A few days ago I went and changed out the flowers from Mother and Dad's grave at the cemetery. Below is the picture of the change, that I always post, so sisters Karen and Sandy can see. They live far enough away, that they aren't in the area very often. I went with a variety of pink roses. Mom always liked pink.

Now I will give you the latest report on the tumbling, stumbling Paul sisters. Yup, it happened again. Sister Judy fell and broke her leg. Yipes. She was dog-sitting her daughter's blind and deaf dog, and was carrying it outside at 1 AM for it to go potty, slipped on her deck and landed with legs going separate directions! Can you imagine . . . middle of the night, in very cold weather, in your nightgown???? Fortunately, a neighbor's bedroom window was on the right side of her house and heard Judy calling for help. A true miracle. It could have turned out really horrible. After having to go to the University of Iowa hospital to get fixed up, she is now in a local nursing home for a few weeks, for rehab. However, no one can go visit her because of the virus. But she is staying cheerful and strong. I had to send her a snarky get well card, telling her, "Please stop being such a copy cat! I get breast cancer, you get breast cancer. I break my leg, you break your leg." She had better pray that I keep in good health if she is gonna repeat everything that I do. hahahaha P.S. she has decided to get one of those Great Call button alarm necklaces that I have. To all you older . . . I mean, more mature women and men, it's the latest fashion statement must-have. Really, consider it. It could save your life.

And just one more picture. since daughter Jenna and I are know for always having a Plan B or even C, D, all the way to Z, here is my Plan B for the toilet paper shortage problem. I found these left-over Subway napkins to use in a pinch. Since then, I have always retrieved several Burger King napkins from the door pocket of my little truck. Eureka! Necessity is the mother of invention, wouldn't you say?

* * * * * * *

I wish you all good health and a safe future. Please use common sense, and we will all get through this miserable period in history.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS THE ENTIRE WORLD

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2020...SO FAR

2/20/2020

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LISTEN TO YOUR LIFE.    ALL MOMENTS ARE KEY MOMENTS.
      Frederick Buechner

Hi. I have been busy/lazy, but I decided to sit down and tap out a bit of a message this morning.

Lots has happened to our poor sister Sandy. She spent considerable time in the ICU at Iowa University Hospital! Extreme fluid retention, heart trouble, and now some things are going wacky with her kidneys. She is staying strong and tough, and witty . . . even charming the nurses while she was in such distress. Things are looking up, though, and she is finally home. Whew!

It's a brilliantly bright sunny day, but don't let that fool ya! It's bitter cold. Actually, winter has not been all that bad this year. A few days of brrrrrr, then fairly tolerable weather. My son and daughter-in-law just got back from a cruise to the Turks islands(?). They had a wonderful time and got out of their crazy cold Minnesota winter for a while.

Got out and about yesterday. Went shopping and had lunch with my Jenna. It was kinda an odd plan. You see, I was doing my hair yesterday about 8:00 AM and thought, ""Wonder if Jenna would like to go to lunch today…." About 15 minutes later, she texted me and asked what I was doing for the day. I think we were (once again) on the same thought plane. We had talked a bit and texted a bit over the previous days, but hadn't seen each other so it was kind of eerie that we were both in the mood to get together. Anyhoo, we went and had a nice time.

I also got my hair trimmed and styled yesterday. What a joke!!!! Seriously. I had a lovely, friendly young girl who enthusiastically tied into my raggedy shaggedy mop of hair. I told her that I just wanted a trim to clean up the ends. Well, in my experience, it always seems like the beautician encourages the customer (me) to yack on and on while they do their work so there is no awkward silence happening. This little gal began to tell me details about a wonderful thing that had happened to one of her relatives about eight years ago.. The relative had been in a lottery ticket pool at work and the group had won a boatload of money! (I remember seeing it on the news since they were a local bunch). After taxes, each one got several million dollars. She went on to tell me all the nice things that this relative had done for his family. It was so exciting to hear such a story. But, then as I watched in the mirror as she cut my hair, she became so engrossed in her tale, that she kept going over and over the same areas, trimming a bit shorter each time. I began to panic and wanted to shout, "STOP! You're cutting it too short!" Being the wimp that I am, I kept a smile on my face as she chatted on and on. The end of the story is this. I look like crap. Sigh. Oh well, it will grow back eventually. I just won't go out in public for a while. I'll house-arrest myself for about six months. (I've gotta be thankful for what I have left. After all, I have been bald twice since 2014, so any hair is a blessing)

I think I am getting Politicalitis Nervosis. In other words, I have been watching waaaaay too much politics on TV. My poor brain is turning to mush! I sure wish they wouldn't allow these potential candidates to campaign for so many months. Ridiculous. They keep saying the same darn thing over and over until I am sick of it all. Maybe they should limit the campaign period to three months or so. The longer it runs on, the more time both sides have to think up/dig up some lousy rumor (or fact) about one of their competitors. Yuck.

I have kept busy with my Woodbridge Building. It's been fun renting it out for all kinds of parties. Birthdays, bridal and baby showers, retirements, class reunions, lots of holiday events. Now, I am planning a really cool thing. A friend of mine who is a very popular caterer, and I are getting ready for a deluxe dinner experience for the local Prom kids. She has planned a fantastic menu, and we are using black tablecloths with white toppers and blingy table runners, nice china and glasses, with black chair covers and cloth napkins. We have really neat "tickets" that the kids will receive after they reserve their spot since we are limiting it to 36 people. So it's first come (reserve) first serve. It will be so cool for the kids to have a nice place to eat before they head off to the formal dance. It is getting harder and harder for a group of friends to find a restaurant that will seat that big a group together on Prom night. Wish us luck. It will be fun trying this type of function.

Well, I'm going to go get me a bottle of water. I need to shed a few pounds. I think the darn regular soda which I'm addicted to, has real sugar in it, and is piling on the weight. I drank diet soda for years, but Hubby won't let me have it anymore, because he swears that the aspartame in it caused my breast cancers.

By the way, I went in for another PET Scan a few weeks ago, and NO sparkles showed up on the film. Yay! So I'm pretty good for another five months...hopefully. I had it done on a Monday, and went to the oncologist on Tuesday for the report. I must admit that I was prepared for it to go either way. We all know that more chemo treatments would be do-able. After all, it wouldn't have been my first rodeo. Come to think of it, it wouldn't have been my second rodeo. Third. hmmmmm Anyhoo, all is good for now. I am not going to stew or worry about what may be ahead 'cause that is just a waste of good energy. Right?

      GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

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A NEW YEAR IS A'COMING

12/27/2019

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A DIAMOND IS MERELY A LUMP OF COAL THAT DID WELL UNDER PRESSURE.
Unknown

It's been about a month since I got a few minutes to tap out a post. sigh Tis the season to be busy.

How did everyone's Christmas go? I had so much fun this year. The original plan was to hold our immediate family celebration at The Woodbridge Building again. But there was a scheduling conflict with Dan's wife and work, so we opted to wait a few days and go to Jenna's house. Since I had always set up my Christmas tree by the fireplace in the family room which is on our lower level, but now I can't get up and down the stairs too well anymore, we nixed that idea. Then, the building was booked solid for about ten days in a row with other people having family get-togethers, so we couldn't even use our own place. Hahaha

Have you ever gone to a casino and they offer a freebie item if you play for a little bit...regularly? Well, Hubby and I have collected several items over the past year, which I wrap up in plain brown paper, and then we play a Christmas give-away game called "Crappy Holliday gifts". (actually, several of them are quite good, but I do NOT need a ton of extra stuff in my house. Remember, I am trying to get rid of a bunch of things I don't want or use.)

Uh...we ended up with approximately 36 items. I did sweeten the pot a bit, by slipping in a dining gift card, a 3-pound peanut butter cup package, a yard-long box of Snickers, and a few odds and ends that were a surprise for the kids. It was funny to see the men when they happened to get a package that contained a necklace or a purse. They would prance around the room, acting silly. There was some competition over the pink stand mixer. Abby ended up with it (after she batted her big blue eyes at whomever tried to "steal" it from her, and they gave up trying to snag it).

Dan and wife, Tammy, got here Friday and had to leave for Minnesota on Sunday morning. I was sooo glad that the weather was magnificant. In the 50's!!! Wow! Great for traveling.

I haven't had the time to post Mother and Dad's Christmas flowers so here goes, for sister Karen and sister Sandy, who live a distance away.

This year has flown by. I think that is what all old people say at this time of their lives. Speaking of old people, I want to report that everytime I look in the mirror, some old, wrinkled lady looks back at me. It is really startling when that happens! Anyhoo, 2020 is right around the corner. The days go so quickly and there never seems to be enough time to get everything done. I don't know how I ever ran a household and worked at the same time. hmmmm

Here are a few pictures of my loved ones.

I just wanted to thank them all for the marvelous gifts I received this year. I was especially surprised by something that Jenna and her Joe bought/did all the work on. They came in and redid my bathroom. It has not looked so good in 48 years. Yes, 48 years! A lot of time, effort and money went into it and I can't express my gratitude. They also splurged on me with other things.

However . . . the one special, unique present I received from Joe was . . . well, let's just say that there are absolutely no words that can even begin to express how I feel about it. SEE BELOW

I'll just close now. Have a happy, safe New Year.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AMEN!!!!

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NEWS ABOUT FRIENDS...OLD AND NEW

11/24/2019

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EVERY NEW FRIEND IS A NEW ADVENTURE . . . THE START OF MORE MEMORIES.
   Patrick Lindsay

I have something to say about old and new friends. First the "old".

I went to high school with a girl named Shari Peterson. She was a grade ahead of me. Very sweet gal. Well, she recently wrote a book. The View from 13F. It was not only a horrendous tale of a plane disaster that she went through, but also a biographical tale of her life. And what a life. I highly recommend this book. It is amazing. Shari expertly shared her experience about traveling on Flight 811 when a door blew off the plane that she was riding in while going to Australia for work. By sheer luck, she had changed seats right before the flight began, and that was one of the main reasons she is alive today. I am happy to recommend this book and am using it as my latest book review on this blog. Order it on Amazon. (Actually, I ordered my from Barnes and Noble and got it in a few days.) Either way.

I am so proud of this old friend. I'm sorry that it was tragedy that encouraged her to become a writer, but her whole life seemed to be leading up to this moment. The trials and tribulations she endured for years prepared her for the sheer grit, determination, and smarts needed to survive Flight 811. And, it turns out, she is one fine author.

NOTE: Be prepared for my next book review. I am currently reading A Warning by Anonymous.

Now on to my new friends. I am delighted to know them, but I am also a bit worried. The three new ladies I have come to know and love are Ruth, Patsy, and Jane. They are women who live in the same nursing home as Hubby's Aunt Donna. The four of them have become close friends. And I adore them. But I am afraid I am getting a little too attached to them. You see, they are all over 90 years old. Hubby and I went to visit them Thursday evening, and Patsy told us that her roommate had passed away. How sad. Patsy couldn't recall her name, but remember . . . these gals are all in the home because of Alzheimer's Disease. They are wonderful to talk to, but there are those times when they repeat something over and over again. And forget a lot of things that have happened. Aunt Donna can't remember that her house, car, and all her personal things have been sold (unfortunately, she had designated her next door neighbor to be her Power of Attorney and he decided to liquify her assets without telling her or the family).

These four ladies are quite interesting. Ruth has 13 children. Patsy has three. I'm not sure how big Jane's family is because she is more reserved and quiet. The last two times we have visited the girls, they were all wearing my pink "Overcomer" breast cancer buttons that I had given them in October. Two of the ladies are breast cancer survivors themselves . . . Patsy and Ruth. They point out to me that they are wearing their "club" pins. Gotta love them! I took them each a bag of candy for a little treat. They were so tickled about that small gesture. I often wonder how often their own children come to see them. It's hard to find out, because they have a hard time remembering who has been there and who hasn't. I guess that is for the best, right? Aunt Donna has unfortunately lost her husband and all three of her children. I can't even imagine how that feels. All she has now is Hubby and me, sisters-in-law Nina and Zonna, and their husbands. Her grandchildren do not visit.

I guess what I am worried about is that we will get to the home one day and find out that one of them has left us. I think these people are really special. Their lives are so dreary and boring. I wish I cold do more for them. When their eyes light up when they seen us coming in the door, it almost breaks my heart.

   *

Anyhow, if you would like to read a very good book that tells the tale of a woman with a lot of grace and strength, and is told in a real page-turning way, read The View from 13F, by Shari Peterson. It is truly inspiring.

      GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY.

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HELLO AGAIN!

11/16/2019

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LIFE IS A SERIES OF NATURAL AND SPONTANEOUS CHANGES. DON'T RESIST THEM; THAT ONLY CREATES SORROW. LET REALITY BE REALITY. LET THINGS FLOW NATURALLY IN WHATEVER WAY THEY LIKE.
Lao Tzu

It has so long since I took the time to sit down at the computer. Life has gotten hectic. Everyone's life has gotten hectic. Right?

First off, dear sister Sandy had a small stroke, and had to be in three different hospitals. Three! I guess she was too troublesome in the first two, so they kicked her out. Kidding. The first one was where the ambulance took her. Then they sent her to the University of Iowa Hospital for more intensive care, and then shipped her to a hospital near me, for physical therapy. She is home now and doing well. But what a crappy deal. She worked so hard to have her knee and hip replaced so she could finally walk without a walker, and now she is back to one. Her balance is slightly off and she needs it to walk straight. Jeeze!!! But she is handling this situation like a real champ. She is staying upbeat and cheerful. Good job, Puppetmaster.

I got to take my vacay with partner-in-crime Nina. We took off and went for five days to Laughlin, Nevada for a bit of rest and recreation. We had an excellent time, but two and half days were sooooo windy. The jet stream. One day, we decided to go to the city bus stop and ride the whole route, so we could see what the residential areas looked like, and then would stop off at a series of casinos along the main street. We ventured out of our hotel and started down the sidewalk to the bus stop. The wind was blowing so hard toward us, that we were bending at a 45 degree angle to try to make headway. Halfway down the block, we had to stop. The wind would not let us go any further. When we turned to go back to our hotel to safety, of course the wind was blowing us from behind. Thank goodness no one else was foolish enough to be out and about, because when we turned, it pushed us just as fiercely. Since I limp and toddle along normally now, it must have looked hysterically funny to see me limping/running down the sidewalk. Whew! When we got inside, I was disgruntled to see that Nina's hair fell right back into place, and mine . . . well, mine looked like a fluffy dandelion. And it stayed that way. No amount of brushing would bring it down. And it was full of electricity. Oh well, who cares. I figured I'd never see those people ever again.

That's us on the plane.

It wasn't much of a payoff, but it looked pretty. A full screen!

Here's us posting with Forest Gump. Just another picture for our cardboard cut-out collection.
And below is us with the "pillow" guy.

We could not believe how cold it was out there. The ten days before we got there, it had been high 80's. We got sixties and fifties. We layered and layered our clothes.

* * *

A week ago we went to our friend, Camie's, memorial dinner. She passed away last August. Per her request, she chose to have a gathering of family and friends a few months after . . . I suppose to let her loved ones catch their breath and have time to deal with her death. Her family had had a caterer cook some of her most favorite recipes for the meal. The hall was decorated beautifully. There were about four hundred people there to honor and remember her. Everyone was asked to share some memory. I remembered that on Halloween in 1987, after our girls had went Trick-or-Treating, we took their bunny outfits and dressed up. Oh, boy! Then our hubbies insisted on taking us out to make the rounds at our friends' homes. We padded our chests with rolled up socks. I look kinda pointy, but Camie was always small to begin with, and the padding didn't do much for her. When we got back home, we found we had collected several canned vegatables and a lots of bottles of beer in our Trick-or-Treat bags. What a hoot!

I got to thinking that I had some photos of that night three decades ago. So I went looking. Hubby and I looked in the basement, and in drawers and boxes , everywhere, trying to find that picture of her and me. Four hours later, I discovered it . . . in the very last box I had . . . in the very last envelope in that very last box!

* * *

Remember back in like 2013, when I started writing on this blog, and I had to go have an MRI to see where my breast cancer was at? Remember when I declared that if I ever needed another MRI, I would go MIA (Missing In Action)? Remember when I reported how awful it went for me and I almost upchucked? Well, I did have to have another one done. I went last Wednesday to have my broken boob situation checked out. I must say, though, they have come quite a way concerning MRIs in the past years. This one only took half an hour, but I still got so overheated, I was racing against time to see if I would puke in the tube or not. SPOILER ALERT: I didn't.

So far, I don't know what the results are. They said they would call me Thursday, and today is Saturday. I haven't heard a peep. Oh, by the way, I had to get a new plastic surgeon, because the old one was toooo busy to see me. And when I saw the new guy, he warned me that the left breast may have to be replaced, too. I guess all the radiation I have had kinda cooked it or something. Anyway, it is too hard now. Jenna said it sounds like the implant became encapsulated(?), which can happen to any implant at any time. Anyhoo, it sounds like I'll have to go get me some new replacement boobs. yippee

In that case, I may not be using my arms for much for a while. I had better hurry to get the rest of my Christmas shopping done, or else it will be another year of handing my credit card to my darling daughter, and telling her what gifts to go buy for me. Last year was the time I stayed in all winter due to the broken leg and she did all my running. What a special daughter.

Hey, I remembered the other day that I forgot to post about October 25, 2011. Every year I talk about my miracle which happened that night when I quit my habit of chain-smoking . . . in an instant. That post was June 9, 2014, if you happen to go looking in the archives of this blog. Read it , if you haven't already. Miracles really do happen. I still think about that wonderful experience. I have had several smaller miracles happen in my life (for which I am eternally grateful), but that special one was such a huge, physical-type. God is good.

Another reason I haven't had much time to write in my office, is because my Woodbridge Building rental business is going so well. I am having a ball taking care of it, and the people who have their parties and events at the building seem to be enjoying it. I have had several repeat renters. One lady is on her fourth party. whoo hoo!

And I have also been extremely busy watching politics on TV. Crazy times we are living in, people. Crazy times.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY

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SADDEST OF TIMES . . .

FLOWERS TO SHOW KAREN. . .

ELECTION'S OVER & I BROKE MY LEG

I'M STILL AROUND

LIFE IS A CRAPSHOOT, ISN'T IT?

2020...SO FAR

A NEW YEAR IS A'COMING

NEWS ABOUT FRIENDS...OLD AND NEW

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