Sharing Happenings in Our Lives

Graduation Day! for Patrick

2011-05-14T21:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, our younger son, Patrick, graduated from Texas Wesleyan University. It has been a long road for him (and for us,too) but, we are so very proud of him and all that he has accomplished while going to college and managing the college loan money the way he did. Interesting fact about his graduation: He was one of two graduating seniors who majored in Religion and the other student just happens to be his girlfriend, Melissa. Here they are together after the ceremony yesterday evening. The next picture is of me, Jim, Patrick, Mom, and James.

Believe it or not, 40 year class reunion!!!

2010-06-09T03:09:00.003-05:00

I'm working slowly but surely to put together some "memorabilia" for our class reunion this weekend. I'll share a little of it now: Above is a pencil/pen drawing made by our 6th grade art teacher of the school where we were for 6 or 7 years (depending on whether or not you went to Kindergarten) This picture drew some attention from a former student of mine who now drives by the building in Fort Worth on his way to work each day. He stirred up some interest in the year that it was first built. I went to Meadowbrook Elementary from 1958 to 1964.

This is just one example...more later...

Old is being brought down for the New

2010-02-09T01:02:00.001-06:00

I found this on my facebook page tonight. It makes me feel old because that was a NEW building whenever I lived down there on campus during my 4 years of college!
Just thought I 'd pass on the video...

Celebrating with Lynda & Cole

2009-06-10T09:41:00.004-05:00

We ate at Dunraven's to celebrate Lynda and Cole's 34th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to them both! (on June 8)

On Tuesday, we rode the aerial tramway and spent most of the morning atop the mountain where it was. I waited while everyone else trekked to the top of the mountain. Jim and Lynda somehow got lost and had to do a lot of backtracking--not an easy task at that altitude!

Here We Are in Denver...

2009-06-07T13:55:00.005-05:00

We arrived here at Estes Park last night, June 6, 2009. We went to Kaily 's (our niece) graduation party for about 45 minutes yesterday afternoon. That was in Denver which is where we flew in to at about noon. After having to wait almost an hour for our "reserved" rental mini-van, we drove first to downtown to the Capitol Hill People's Fair. It was mostly just different kinds of foods and various arts and crafts. That is what all of the pictures are from.

Pictures from the Vatican

2009-02-16T08:15:00.000-06:00

First Port of Call - Rome, Italy

2008-12-28T20:56:00.011-06:00

Rome was the first stop on our Mediterranean Cruise. We joined a group of 4 other couples for a private tour of Rome. The driver acted as our guide except for the times that he could not enter the different places but had to remain with the car. We rode in a mini-van: Peter and Charlene, Bill and Allie, Mark and Debbie, James and Martha, and Jim and I. The ruins of the Coliseum was the first big stop and at that moment there was a loud crash of thunder. From inside the coliseum the thunder reverberated and the building acted as a megaphone magnifying the thunder. During the time that we were there a heavy rainstorm caused us to need the umbrellas that we brought. We had about 30-45 minutes to walk around inside the ruins and take pictures.

After the Pantheon and the Trevey Fountain, our driver, Gilberto, took us to a typical family restaurant for lunch. We skipped the octopus and a few of the other odd looking dishes but we did enjoy most of the others that the owner/operator had on display. All in all it was very good!

The afternoon was spent touring The Vatican with our own guide who communicated with us via a headset that each of us wore and the microphone that she wore. Without her we would have been lost. But as it was we had a very good afternoon. A treasure of the world, The Vatican houses many statues, paintings, tapestries, and mosaics. The barrel-shaped ceilings of the exhibit halls is absolutely awe-inspiring and I was very glad that we had such a great guide for the tour.

My Grandmother

2008-11-18T20:01:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I spent the day with my grandmother. I had gone over to her apartment to help her try to get her phone to ring (as opposed to just vibrating). But I even though I was able to figure out that it was in Silent Mode, I couldn't figure out how to get it out of the Silent Mode! So we decided to come over to my house. Maybe James will show up and help us figure it out. We stopped and picked up Taco Bueno for lunch and then came home to eat it.

Nannie particularly likes the dogs and thinks they are very smart. Of course, they are! And she was most impressed with them going and getting in their kennel whenever I said we had to go and that I wanted them to go get in their bed! They are always very much in favor of going to bed (because they get to have a treat!).

Next we drove over to Wyndell (my uncle, Nannie's youngest son)'s house to see if he could fix the phone. He couldn't do it either. After a short visit with Frieda (my aunt, Nannie's daughter-in-law, we left and stopped by the phone store to get it fixed and sure enough when I took it in the girl I asked just punched a couple of buttons and oila! it was fixed!

So then before I took her back to her home, we stopped in Minyards to get some table salt, and some biscuits that she needed to make the dressing that she's planning to bring to my house next week for Thanksgiving. She was able to really move quickly as long as she had the walker in front of her. As we checked out she managed to get them to try to guess how old she is and when they found out she was 105 they could not believe it! Of course then they have the usual question: "what have you done to keep yourself looking so good?"

Her answer is that she has worked hard all of her life. She enjoyed the attention that they gave her and then we left again and went back to her apartment. I thought she did pretty well considering that she wasn't really planning to leave for the day. Hopefully she didn't get too tired from all of that getting up and going out anf about.

I think that we may do it again sometime soon. We'll see!

Closer and closer...

2008-11-18T06:17:00.002-06:00

This morning finds the actual day of our embarkation sneaking up on us and we have about a week and a half before it will be off to Barcelona where we will get on board the Norwegian Jade. There we will find our "mini-suite" that will be our home away from home for the next 3 weeks as we travel first to the Eastern Mediterranean and then to the Western Mediterranean (actually North western Africa (Morocco) and islands beyond that).

While I'm very excited about our trip the most important thing right now is that my mom is having out-patient surgery on Wednesday of this week. I will be her care giver or as I think of it her "watcher outer" and will be staying over at her house at least until the weekend and until she can move around better on her own. She will have the carcinoma that they found from the spot on her right leg (between her knee and her ankle) removed and a small skin graft will be made over it. So she will then be sent home with instructions to not move that leg and it will be in a splint in order to remind her of that!

I'm planning to take our dogs, Buffy and Willow over to her house with me because Jim will be in Washington, DC, during that time. Rather than make James be responsible for the dogs all that time we're gone plus this week and, because I know that Mother will enjoy the two of them sitting in her lap, etc., they are going with me. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday (just a check up to make sure my stimulators are doing what they should be and will be for the rest of the year while I'm off on the other side of the world).

My brother, Scott, lives with my mom, but works odd hours--from about 3:30 in the am until 2:00 or so in the afternoon. So he's really not a lot of help when it comes to her getting some help. My brother Clay will be there at the hospital too so he can help a little bit that day as much as he can because he, just as Scott does, has to go to work. So, it fell to the "retired" family member (that would be me) to be there the most.

That reminds me of my grandmother with whom I spent the day yesterday. But that's another story...:)

Keep us on your prayer list, please!

Just 26 days until we depart for the Mediterranean!

2008-11-02T19:39:00.004-06:00

We are so excited! We got a call from the travel agency and they said that the cruise line was happy to offer us an upgrade free of charge! And so we accepted...of course! Instead of an inside stateroom on deck 5, we will be dwelling in a mini-suite with a balcony on deck 11! That's incredible!

We've never even been inside a room with a balcony so as you can imagine...we are looking forward to it! They had tried to upgrade us earlier last month but said they couldn't give us the same room for both cruises --our 21 day cruise is actually two cruises---the first is a 12 day trip to the eastern Mediterranean. Jim is probably most excited about this part of the trip...When we land in Alexandria, Egypt, we will be there for two days--so we'll be taking a private small group tour (12 couples) from there to Cairo with an overnight in a 4star hotel in Cairo. We can't wait to see those great pyramids and the sphinx!

And then at the end of the 12 days we go back to Barcelona but this time we head west and go to Morocco--Casablanca and Agdir, and then the Canary Islands, a Portuguese island and then to Malaga, Spain before the 9 days bring us back again to Barcelona--- and then we will spend two nights in Paris, France before coming home to Arlington!

We will arrive here on Dec. 23, hopefully ready as we can be for a very happy and merry Christmas!

Then Jim will still be on vacation when we get back---I think he'll have to be back at the office on about the 6th or 7th of January!

A New Vehicle for us!

2008-10-13T16:50:00.006-05:00

Finally, something new and different! We picked up our new car (new to us- it does have 12,000 miles on it) but it is a nice one. We came home with a Cadillac SRX Crossover...as you can see from the pictures it is very similar to a station wagon...We drove it this weekend to Lake Elliott which is near Texarkana on the Red River Army Depot. Once we got there all we did was relax and play Bocce Ball, cards, and we ate three main meals there. Lynda, Cole, Dennis, and June went with us. It was a nice weekend.

Fire Alarms at 1 a.m. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-12T20:05:00.001-05:00

The very first night of our stay we were awakened at about 1:00 am to the sound of people running up and down the hallwayand slamming doors outside our room and what we finally recognized as the fire alarm. Jim said that when he first woke up he heard people yelling, "EVACUATE THE BUILDING!" Both of us finally threw on the first thing we could find---I put my t-shirt and pants on over my pajamas, stuck my feet into my shoes, grabbed my walking stick and my purse (although later on it didn't really have the right stuff in it!), and we walked quickly next door and banged on the Hardisons and the Parishes doors. Lynda and Cole came out but Dennis stuck his head out his door, said for us to go on and they'd catch up. We were not in the main building but in an "add-on" part, on the third floor, and so we headed for the stairwell...Once we got down to the bottom floor we first ended up in a kind of "boiler room" --- the exit door was padlocked! So we backtracked a little and went a different way. Eventually, we ended up in the inner courtyard where the pool was. From there we could see the lobby and the front door of the hotel. As we came out those doors we headed across the street and then toward the curb on the opposite side of the street where we sat down and waited. Probably in about ten minutes or so, Dennis and June finally caught up with us. Still no firemen though. After what seemed like forever, the fire trucks could be heard arriving and then the firefighters in their gear were streaming into the lobby of the hotel. There had been no smoke or fire but someone pointed out that it smelled like rubber burning near the elevator. It turned out that the elevator was the reason for the late night "fire drill." It served to remind us of those things that we all did not do when the actual time came to "evacuate." Jim and I both said that from now on we will make sure the stuff we need is together instead of spread all over the area, before we go to bede each night!

A Very Busy Day

2008-07-29T02:22:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow will be a very busy day for me. Beginning at about 9:00 I have an appt. for a haircut. Then I need to run downtown to take care of a possible mixup with the ticket I got for running a red light back in April. I've taken Comedy Defensive Driving and sent in the certificate but after a 25 min. wait on the "busy" agents who must have been talking for a very long time with each person who called, I don't think they have my certificate. The deadline is Aug.4 and I finished my course on June 30. (Wish me luck!)

Then at 11:30 I am meeting two retired friends and one other friend who continues to teach for lunch at BRAVO in the Highlands. After lunch I have a doctor's appt. with the doctor who will be taking care of my colonoscopy. (this is the appt to schedule it...)

On Thursday morning I have an appt with the nurse practioner at my gp's office. She's checking my ears for me to see if we need to flush them out.

Then I need to get with Janet W. in order to let her use some of my storaoge type stuff for toting her scrapbooking supplies to Weatherford with us this weekend.

James is meeting with his store manager and one of the regional big bosses--he has been working all night to straighten the store up for the guy so I hope he's impressed!

I've also got to start packing up my stuff for this weekend. We'll be off to the Covered Bridge Inn in Weatherford ( actually not in weatherford but in the country to the south of Weatherford.

2008-06-27T15:49:00.005-05:00

Can't believe it but don't have any great shots of Carolyn and her family from a couple of weeks ago when Marylee and I visited them...I'll close with those...You have better pics...send 'em my way! please, Marylee or Carolyn!

Last night we celebrated Patrick's birthday ( and my mom's birthday too, actually) . James was off work, so he came too, and we all had dinner at Mijo's. (Mijo's is a favorite place of ours that we used to eat at once and sometimes twice a week. But it had, believe it or not, been 4 weeks since we have eaten out!)

That's as a result of our new "diet" and exercise program that Jim and I are now involved in. We had fallen into the habit of almost always eating out and that had added a little more of the dreaded "belly fat" to each of us! But now we are eating much healthier and enjoying a better fit of our clothes, so that is terrific! The diet is the same one that we sort of followed back last year before we left on the first cruise (Western Caribbean). That was very successful for as long as we stuck to it but this time we have the added exercise plan that we did not have the first time. It includes "interval walking" every other day...and then a total body workout on the opposite days. We need to get with it though with the exercising...kind of not quite in the habit of doing that yet.

James is working hard at his job---training for assistant manager---still paying us back for the money we've loaned him and walking the straight path as far as we can tell.

Patrick is back after a week in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where he was the program coordinator (both curriculum and worship services with the senior high students each night) for their mission trip this summer. In a couple of weeks he'll be serving as the dean of the camp at Glen Lake for the senior high summer camp in Glen Rose. Other than that he's struggling with trying to stick to the 'part-time' schedule that he is paid on at the church. He really needs another job but he doesn't want to give up the church job and he really needs a degree to get one of the full time positions that are available every once in a while.

I'm really enjoying the scrapbooking hobby--too bad I don't get paid to do my own stuff...but I really enjoy it! Our friends the Parishes just returned from a trip to Colorado and the Hardisons will be returning from a Caribbean cruise on Sunday. Makes me wish I could go now too...but our next cruise will be after Jim finishes the job he's assigned to right now...He has already booked us for a TWENTY-ONE DAY Meditterranean Cruise embarking from Barcelona, Spain and stopping in Rome, Athens, Ephesus, Cairo, Malta, and back to Barcelona, then to Morocco, Canary Islands, Portugal, and Spain with two nights in Paris on the way back home....It is going to be so very exciting!

CTMH layouts continued

2008-04-20T21:35:00.011-05:00

And these are the pages that you inspired me to put together, Carolyn!

This one makes me think of John Travolta for some reason or other! :o)

scrapbook layouts for CTMH

2008-04-20T21:06:00.002-05:00

ok so do you remember this picture from a couple of months ago? This layout just seemed too pretty to put boys' pics so I decided to add some of the first pictures of me and pictures with my mom and dad and also my 105 year olod grandmother who is about 45 in this picture. Here is the finished product:

Just a few words and a bunch of pics

2008-04-20T17:47:00.003-05:00

First word: frustrating -- that is the feeling I keep being filled with while we attempt to help James get his life back...

Second word: love -- the very feeling I keep coming back with, not only for James but for Jim and Patrick who I feel so proud of and so much love for both!

Third word: distress -- I really am concerned about Jim and his feelings about the loss of his mom. It could have been so much better if he and his brother were on better terms..(aside to that--how can I help my two sons maintain a healthy relationship with each other)

Change of subject: Here are those pictures that I've done most recently after we did the fi rst scrapbook using Close to my Heart materials and supplies...As you can see, I got started on some pages of pictures of my childhood and I really have enjoyed working with these pictures.

Having Fun Looking Through Old Pictures

2008-03-24T17:33:00.003-05:00

Since I was looking for one particular picture to use on a layout about a birthday celebration five years ago, I have had the most fun for the last couple of days sorting through old pictures and trying to get them into boxes by their date taken (which sadly is missing on most- - let this be a lesson to everyone - - label your pictures!)

Today I read Carolyn's blog and that made me want to find another picture that I remembered...So, I even went over to mother's house to pull her old pics out and finally I found it and a lot more--that's it right up here..>>>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^So, even though I didn't have any girls to take pictures of playing "dress up" I did find pics of me doing that very thing! I will enjoy putting these into scrapbook form...thanks for the idea, C!

Random Thoughts Re: our lives

2008-03-13T15:32:00.003-05:00

Today is such a beautiful day with a temperature in the mid 70s at 6:00 pm. This kind of weather makes all of us wish for the warmer weather of spring time and the pear trees are already all covered with blooms! Our yard is sprouting several spots of dandelions (which I'm sure our neighbors are not thrilled with since our weeds tend to encroach on to their weedless and regularly sprayed yards!) I'm thinking about calling our yard guy and asking him to come and cut the yard, but I'm also wondering if I have him do that, will it cause the weeds to spread even more? What do you think?

I just spent the afternoon with my grandmother. Even though I'm retired I tend to just stay home most of the day unless I have something like lunch to go out for or the tutoring that I'm doing at my old school each week -- 2 half days and 1 full day. My grandmother fell over her walker one night two weeks ago and is recovering from that. She said today that she is very sore and thinks she broke a couple of ribs. Amazing, considering that she is 104 and will be 105 next month.

One more story about my grandmother...she is a democrat through and through and even though she had fallen two weeks ago and was very uncomfortable, she managed to GO TO THE POLLING PLACE (!) and vote last week! She told me that the people at the school where she went to vote were really hopping trying to make sure that she was ok once she got through the door. Bobby, her friend ala Driving Miss Daisy, is one of the most unbelieveable saint-like people. He takes care of her by taking her places like SAM"S and the doctor's appointments that she has occasionally. She insists that he drive her car, and he does similar things for others who live in the apartment (Sr. active living) complex where she lives alone. Ah, but , I digress..more about Bobby another time... back to the election ... I was sharing a joke that Patrick made with my grandmother = Last Tuesday night, Patrick and I met Jim at a restaurant and then Jim left in his car to go vote and Patrick and I came back to the house. At 7:00, Patrick and I walked over to the rec.center in the park that attaches to our neighborhood. The center had served as a polling place for 4 precincts and the place was very crowded. We were directed to the gym and found people standing around a person who served as a signpost by holding a paper with the precinct number on it. We found our number and stood with our group. I looked around and didn't see anyone that I knew! Usually I always see someone having lived here and taught in this area of town for over 26 years! But...no one! When I voiced that to Patrick he came back at me with a funny observation: "Well, Mom, all your friends are REPUBLICANS!" Ha! That must be true of the neighborhoods nearby for sure (even though when we left after staying an hour amid the confusion, I saw two friends from church and three friends who live next door...) but I can report that I was a part of TX history this year after that primary election. Jim has always teased my grandmother about being a democrat with three children who vote republican but I don't think that she realized that Jim and I lean to the left most of the time...so she was a little surprised at the funny from Patrick.

New Computer!

2008-03-09T21:15:00.002-05:00

Friday afternoon when I got back home after meeting with some teacher friends at Starbucks Jim arrived at home just a few minutes before me. He said there was a surprise in the scrapbooking room for our anniversary. Much to my surprise, there were four big boxes sitting in the floor of the room: a new Compaq desktop computer, along with a new printer and an adapter to get that computer onto our home network so that I can check in to the internet.

We had talked a little bit earlier about getting this setup so that we could share the laptop (after we take it in to be fixed before it's warranty runs out...So, now I'm in the process of learning an updated version of the Windows Vista.

I set most of it up myself having more than a little bit of trouble with the wireless adapter to hook me up to the internet. Other than that, it was not a difficult thing to do and I was successfully making changes to the setup of the current programs.

I'm hoping to be able to use this c omputer to access the Heritage Makers site and making a few books . This week I should have lots of time to do that and Ihope to be able t0 finish some other projects. Jim is off to Minnesota and Iowa for the week. It will be a long week for both of us!

I'll add more to this tomorrow...

Latest News

2008-02-24T21:06:00.003-06:00

This past week I think that I had a pretty successful doctor's visit ... I met with my new neurologist (remember that my Dr. Stewart retired--or at least he's trying to retire--seems like he still has a bunch of patients). But anyhow, I met with Dr. Thomas the week before and at the time she was so busy with patients, phone calls, and office stuff that she really didn't give me any help at all. Actually, I left her office that day worse off than I was when I got there. So a week later, her office was not nearly as crowded (just one other fellow DBSer who also was in the same boat that I was! ) Thus, she had a lot more time to devote to talking with me and getting to know me and the way that I react to programming. She told me that she and Dr. Stewart did not do things the same way. I told her that that was ok as long as I didn't go home in worse shape than I was at that moment!

She managed to get me back to the way I was before I went in there and maybe, just maybe, I'm a little bit better. It's difficult to tell...

My friends at school are in the process of choosing another new principal for next year. I most likely will not tutor again next year. The extra little bit of money is great but next year, I'm not sure exactly who will be there. One of my old team members is moving to Waco and the other two (who've been longer there than the 17 years that I was there are sure to retire as soon as they can...)

Right now I'm watching the OSCARS always one of my favorite things to do. I feel like it's much earlier than usual...It's still February!

More later...

New Movement Disorder Specialist

2008-02-15T21:58:00.003-06:00

Well, my first appointment with my new MDS didn't go as well as I had hoped. Not that she (the doctor) wasn't very pleasant and seems to be very compassionate with her patients, She was all that and some more.

It was strange because after we talked a few minutes she took out her remote device that she uses to program the neurostimlators and after checking the side that controls my right side she was just getting to my left side when the phone rang and she had to go take the call. She was gone about ten minutes and then when she returned she said that the remote registered that I was already turned "off" when she tried to check it.. She even showed me the screen where it said zero voltage...

Anyway, then she "set it at a "low" setting and I began to have an obvious tremor. She suggested we should wait in the waiting room a few minutes and she would check me again. During that time I took my meds and Jim and I watched as the tremor became more and more prounounced on the left side.

When we had arrived earlier I was surprised to see that my friend, Lark, was there...she had the appointment right before mine. In all the waiting that we were doing we decided that Jim would go back to work since he had an appointment at 1 pm, and that Lark would drive me back by JIm's office when we finished getting me "tweaked." The plan was to go eat lunch and then return once more to check with the dr,. one more time. We did that and then she set the settings at the place where they were last set..(on July 31, 2007). We decided not to wait anymore (especially since Jim had parked my car on the street downtown and was feeding the meter until I could get back to it. ) Dr. Thomas told me to call if I needed to and I should return to her office next week if my settings were not right.

Well, now I'm waiting for her assistant to call me and put me on the schedule for next week. And the left side of me is shaking at the end of each dosage of medicine. Curling toes, too! and a little bit of numbness in my feet and arms.

So, even though we didn't exactly communicate the best I did like the new doctor--- (I can reember thinking at times that Dr. Stewart was not hearing me (figuratively not literally!) and that I couldn't figure out how to tell him what he needed to know Sometimes it 's difficult to come up with the words to describe how I feel .

I'll have to come up with something though --- this tremor bit is a lot too m

Prayer Requests...

2008-01-31T22:50:00.001-06:00

As far as me and my family---continue to pray for James ( I haven't talked to him since Christmas Eve), for my grandmother that she continues to enjoy the quality of life that many never achieve, for my mom that she also continues the healing process (broken hip in November) and begins to get back to her old self, for Patrick that when he gets to the end of this semester he has done well at school and the job at Meadowbrook UMC will begin to grow ( He has decided , I think, to focus on the area of Christian Education)..., and for Jim, that he and the drama team are successful in their effort to entertain those who attend their presentation on FEB. 15-16. It is called MISSION: POSSIBLE. It has a stewardship theme, and for those who remember, is a sequel to the mystery dinner theatre that the drama team put on in 2004 called "MURDER, MAYHEM, AND MARSHMALLOW SALAD." I would appreciate any prayers for me and for my new neurologist who I will be meeting with in 3 weeks.

Squeaky Clean Cell Phone :o(

2008-01-28T08:11:00.000-06:00

Probably shouldn't admit this but I just washed my cell phone! Somehow or other it got mixed up in the laundry and the next thing I knew I was picking it up from inside the washing machine! Now I'm in the market for a phone but at the moment it doesn't have to be immediately because we are the owners of one "extra" phone and it works when I pulled out my SiM card and moved it into the old RAZOR phone that Jim had lost and then replaced with an iphone, and then a few weeks later he found his old RAZOR phone. Patrick had dropped his and thought it was broken, so he was using Jim's old one that I now have because Patrick's phone works now! Did you follow that? I'm not sure I did! LOL

I'm actually hoping that my new clean one that still has water in it will dry out and begin working again! Keep your fingers crossed!

Scrapbooking Retreat

2008-01-23T17:19:00.000-06:00

I returned Sunday evening from a terrific weekend spent with fellow scrapbookers. We were staying and working at the Covered Bridge Inn in Weatherford, Texas...a wonderful spot specifically set up for scrapbooking with 5' tables for each of 20 people who were there. That's an aerial view of the place to the right here. This weekend there was actually 21 of us...Six of them were there with me and my friend, Michelle had 3 with her. Luckily we were able to fill up Michelle's extra spots and go this past weekend. The picture to the right here is of the bedroom that Michelle and I both slept in...and bumped our heads too! OUCH! You can't walk standing up next to the heads of the beds!

The food was delicious as it has been in the past. My favorite this weekend was the Poppy Seed Chicken. The desserts are the very best thing of all! This is the dining hall.

This is the crop room. It is furnished with rolling chairs, a big screen tv, many sizzex machines and other goodies such as every kind of punch you can imagine. There are windows on both sides of this section of the retreat.

All of the bedrooms are upstairs. This is the huge sitting room available to guests and not pictured here is the massage room. ( I highly recommend it!)

As of right now, Pat is booked up for most of 2008 and even some of 2009. We are hoping to schedule a time to go next in August... (C.D. how about this time -- do you want to go this weekend? should be Aug. 1-3 cost remains at $180. but includes more of the traditional "make N takes, door prizes, etc. from the scrapbook store owner who is sponsoring that particular weekend... I've seen some of her stuff...it's nice! Deposit of $100 is due to get your name on the list.)

At the end of this are some of my group who went , as well as a picture of Michelle...(they were all first timers--my third visit and Michelle's 4th or 5th, I think!)

And last of all are the two stacks of supplies that I took with me...I packed well but it was still a lot of stuff to take with me! Next time, I plan to try for less.

Scrappin' Weekend Ahead

2008-01-16T07:31:00.000-06:00

I am getting packed up and ready for a scrapbooking weekend at the Covered Bridge Inn in Weatherford. It is my favorite place to go with friends who also like to record and remember the past and the present by scrapbooking. The Inn is owned and operated by my friend Pat F. -- a fellow teacher retiree and church member.

Part of the reason that I enjoy it so much is the chance to see so many other people's ideas for their scrapbooks and the pages that they come up with. I have learned all I know about the "how-to" of scrapbooking from watching others chronicle their life in this way.

This weekend my plan is to begin putting together the book for the latest cruise that we took to the Southern Caribbean and if I tire of that and want to try something different I'm also taking the pictures and other memorabilia from our trip to California in 2001.

Losing a Friend

2008-01-09T22:19:00.000-06:00

Today I found out that one of my favorite people among the Parkinson's Community died over the weekend. Ray Farkas was a super person as evidently many others felt that way too. His daughter posted a blogspot in his name and asked for contributions of "stories" that involved her dad and his career and life. I posted this:

I'm so sorry to hear the news about Ray! I, too, am one of the lucky people who have two holes drilled in my head along with all the other hardware necessary for the Deep Brain Stimulation. It was about six months after I had my brain surgery that I read something that Ray had written on the DBS group site on Yahoo. He was "singing" the praises of his surgeon, Chris Kalhorn, but he was also writing about his connections to his friend, Dr. Manjit Sanghera, a neuro-physicist in Dallas. When I realized that he was referring to one of the doctors who had been a part of the team who changed my life, I sent him an email telling him a little bit of my life as a PWP (Person with Parkinsons) and congratulating him on his successful surgery.

How exciting to get a phone call from him later on inviting me to be interviewed for part of his new film, “It Ain’t Television, It’s Brain Surgery.” Such a unique man and he was just as you’ve all described…easily making all of us feel at ease while he sort of “primed the pump” and got us talking about our life since our surgeries. I must be on camera for less than 60 seconds but Ray always made me feel like an important contributor to the film.

The next summer I was in Washington, DC, with my husband and Ray came to the hotel where we were staying to meet my husband and visit for a short while. When he came bounding in with a huge smile on his face and a large box in hand, he loudly greeted us and said, “Here’s something for you and your first grade students! “ It was a game similar to the old game of OPERATION but this game was called BRAIN SURGEON. It’s a game for small children with a rather silly looking character that speaks electronically. He pushed on the lighted red nose of the clown and it began yelling out “encouragements" and “gently ribbing” the players of the game. I loved it! I think Ray said he had two games like it (given to him by clever friends) and so he thought I would enjoy sharing it with my kids at school. He was right and that game was a big favorite for the next three years in my classroom on rainy or cold days. I retired from teaching last year with 25 years behind me--the last four years possible only because I can proudly claim to be “a DBSer.” That wheelchair that I was often teaching from, pre-DBS, was rolled into the attic and I haven’t needed it since that life-changing operation. I’m happy to be a member of the hole-in-the-head gang and enjoy singing the praises of my doctors ,just as Ray enjoyed sharing his experiences with prospective patients and others who just can’t seem to get past that idea of having a couple of holes drilled in their head.

I enjoyed Ray’s sense of humor and his love of life. I hope that I can be a great “encourager” and “demonstrator” for other PWP just as Ray was to so many people. I will always remember Ray’s enthusiasm and his positive attitude. I was blessed by my encounters with Ray. May I be for others what Ray was for many…a positive, enthusiastic well wisher!

Now that I think about it, it probably seems a little bit unusual to be able to refer to someone as a friend that I've only actually seen and talked with about 4 times but that's just the way Ray was...he made you feel as if you were HIS friend and he was...you can read more about him and even look at some of his films online at http://www.offcentertv.com

To all old friends...thanks for being there when you are needed!

New Chairs!

2008-01-04T17:20:00.000-06:00

Today we went shopping for two new chairs that Jim wanted to add to the living room set up that we now have. He has put his recliner out in the garage (and it looks like it will go home with Patrick). We ended up after we left the first store with a new area rug (8' x 10') to "define the seating area" as quoted by Jim. I think he's most likely been watching too much HG stuff on TV.

The store that we went to was in Irving (north of DFW airport). The name of it is THE DUMP. They are only open on Friday-Sunday and today was extra crowded because they were having a clearance sale. EVERYTHING MUST GO!
We couldn't find any matching chairs there so we grabbed the rug and paid for it (that was the major problem there ...we must have stood in line for an hour--and we were at the head of the line !)

Lunch at Schlotsky's and we stopped at Stacy's in Grapevine. You know the place where "if you're not shopping at Stacy's then you're burning money!" Nice store--we narrowed our choice down to three different recliners (smaller than the humongous version that I was expecting). Then we compared to the rug that we had out in the car and actually found one in the store--taking pictures and running across the store to compare to the chairs...Jim was reluctant to give up his first choice but it really didn't go with the rug. Our mind was made up by the salesman when he looked up the list from the warehouse and told us that they didn't have one of the chairs but they did have two of the other one. So, that's the one we have and tomorrow Patrick's truck will be put to use driving out to Grapevine and picking up the two chairs.

Remember the rug pictured above and just imagine Jim's favorite chair on it...ready? Here's the chair:

The colors match but the patterns are much too busy! He agreed that it was too much and so here is the picture of the chairs we are picking up tomorrow...

Christmas week away from home...

2007-12-29T16:01:00.000-06:00

We spent this year's Christmas Day at the airport and on our way to Las Vegas, NV. Jim's mother moved there several years ago and this would be Jim's second trip to see her there and my first. We also took Patrick with us since Jim took James with him the first time that he went to visit her.

Las Vegas was much different than I remembered. The only other time I had been there was the year that we drove to Southern California via the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam at Las Vegas. Then, the only place that we stopped was at the Circus, Circus Hotel and Casino --- mostly because that is one of the few that had something for the children to see.

Now Las Vegas has gone from a place for adults---to a place that adults can take their children---to mostly a place for adults again. The buildings are tremendous, unusual, and continuing to be built there in that dry desert town that truly is a busy and a tourist filled place. After we landed at the airport and got checked into our hotel we drove to Jim's mom's apartment. Actually, she had moved and we had the first address as opposed to the current one. When we finally found the correct place, Bruce (Jim's nephew) answered the door and we picked up both of them and went out to get something for dinner. We ended up at the a huge casino: The Orleans, and ate at TGIFriday's.

Have Retired, Will Travel

2007-12-21T07:50:00.000-06:00

We have returned (it's actually been since Sunday night) from our cruise to the Southern Caribbean. We are happy to say that we didn't get seasick even once on this one...Evcn though we chose this particular week because it was AFTER the hurricane season, it seems that this was one of those years that don't fit the norm. Hurricane Olga or what later became Tropical Storm Olga was let loose in the Caribbean and even though we weren't actually in it we certainly felt it! Especially the rolling waves and the one time that we were awakened by the sound of everything all over the ship falling off the shelves and tables at 4 am. The ship was listing! For about 10 minutes we were laying in our bed thinking about whether or not we should get up and get dressed in case we are called to the life boats. And then we were thinking but trying not to think of movies we've seen like "The Poseidon Adventure" and "Titanic." When the ship slowly righted itself we went back to sleep---hard to believe, but we did!

The picture above was taken in St. Thomas at the top of the cable car ride up the mountainside right near the dock.

The next afternoon we (and everyone else on board) received a letter from the

captain explaining what had occurred the night before and apologizing for it. He said that the ship was never in any danger...

Anyway, we did have a good time. Each morning we were docked at a new port (except for the last day when we were at sea all day then.) So, we slept at night with the ship rocking and rolling because as we began the waves were described as being rough and then by the end of the week they were "very rough." We were not such wonderful sailors that we didn't feel just a little bit blah so on the nights when the show was only at 10:30 we usually were already in bed and asleep because once we returned to our room after eating those nights we usually just watched a movie and went to bed. The two shows that we saw were at 8:30 and very enjoyable. I don't know how those dancers can move around on the stage with it moving at the same time!

)ur ship the Carnival Destiny...

More about the ports of call later...

Decorated but not quite ready...

2007-12-19T09:21:00.000-06:00

These are pictures of the inside of the house...since we had our Christmas parties before we left for our cruise to the Southern Caribbean (pictures of that to come)...

More Party Pictures...Smile!

2007-12-08T23:52:00.001-06:00

Party pictures...we held the Sunday School Class party at our house this year. Following a delcious meal prepared by various members we held the annual gift exchange...

Seeds of Faith Sunday School Class Christmas Party

2007-12-08T08:05:00.000-06:00

Here are those pictures of last week's gathering at our house...

Just Three more Days until Embarkation Day!

2007-12-06T21:56:00.000-06:00

It's again, hard to believe it but we are just a few days away from our cruise in the Southern Caribbean. We will be flying out of DFW and flying to San Juan , Puerto Rico. From there we will make stops at these ports: St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, and then a full day at sea before we return to San Juan and home via Miami. I am looking forward to a lot of just sitting around....taking in the sunlight and fresh air (but not with out sunscreen slathered on liberally!)...enjoying the shows and maybe even a little dancing so that we can use some of our just learned and soon to be forgotten skills of ballroom dancing!

We have decorated for Christmas and already had two parties...one with our Sunday school class and one with our Bunko group...will finish this tomorrow morning and post a few pics of the decorations...bedtime now!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.................................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..................

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T22:49:00.000-06:00

A very happy thanksgiving to everyone! Tomorrow is the big turkey day. We will be having Thanksgiving dinner at about 12:30 or 1:00 pm. We surely hope that all of our family can be here together; however, we are not sure of the whereabouts of James. So, I will simply say that I hope that he expresses his thanks to those who have helped him including his family members. It would be nice to see him.

This Thanksgiving I am most thankful for a wonderful husband who keeps such good care of me. I love him very much and am very glad to be spending this part of my life with him. I'm also glad to be able to help out my mother since she broke her hip and had a partial hip replacement. She is getting better each day. I am so very glad we were able to help by asking her to come and stay with us for a while. A special thanks for my grandmother, mom's mom, for the terrific life that she has lived and for her healthful living at age 104.

For a son that continues to serve others and a blessing on his chosen work with the young adults and youth of Meadowbrook UMC. For many friends -- friends that we can share our life with-- the ups and the downs of our own lives, as well as those of our friends.

Another month halfway gone!

2007-11-13T18:40:00.000-06:00

The reason that no one could read the last entry is because I had accidentally published the title before I was ready to write...essentially a false alarm...sorry!!!

But now I have more news regarding Mother and her recovery from the broken hip. She was in the rehab center until today. She has come here to stay with us for a while. So, we have relocated all of the HOBBY stuff in the front bedroom and Mother had a hospital bed delivered here last Friday. The front bedroom is now a guest room again with a semi-permanent guest---Mother. She will be here with us for a while before going home since even though Scott lives there too, he works nights and that might make things difficult for Mother.

All of the hobby stuff has been moved upstairs if it is a scrapbooking item and to the computer room if it is a stained glass item. And I actually have a lot more room to work up there with a desk in the central room and the tables in one of the bedrooms. In fact, there are also two closets in that room so that makes for a lot more room for storage.

This week I also agreed to be the first grade tutor up at Ditto. I plan to work half days, probably three to four days a week. I am working with only 11 students so for the most part I can work with individuals or pairs of students in 25-30 min. time segments. The students are the ones that need the most help.

We've decided to go ahead and begin decorating for the holiday season...We will be having our Sunday School class Christmas party on November 30. So it looks like we will be decorated for Christmas while we celebrate Thanksgiving!!

Waiting right now for Dancing With the Stars: the results...MY FAVORITE SHOW!

A New Month!

2007-11-03T07:11:00.000-05:00

Report of Friday's hospital experience

2007-10-20T09:14:00.000-05:00

The word from my mom is that she has been transferred to the Health South Rehabilitation Center on W. Lancaster as of last night. I believe that she is in room 3113 A but I'm not sure of it...She called last night to tell me of her whereabouts...she sounds pretty good following her partial hip replacement on Tuesday. I’m not sure yet of how long she will need to stay at the rehab center but I’m very glad she will have access to daily therapy etc. for a while.

Jim made it through his gall bladder removal yesterday. We had to stay at the hospital a lot longer than we had expected but he did get to have a laparoscopic surgery which I assume means his return to normalcy will be faster.

When he was called back to the surgery center at 6:15 am or so he had stepped into the restroom for a sec. I told the nurse that and as we waited, she asked me if I knew her charge nurse, Sue Sudan. I said yes that she was a friend from church. She said that she hoped that Jim had a good sense of humor because although Sue wasn't working that day, she had decorated his room the night before. My response was that he usually did have a good sense of humor so as we got to the room just before she opened the door she turned to Jim and relayed the greeting from Sue that she couldn't be there but had decorated his room. There were pictures of food (from the magazines) cut out and taped up on each wall of the room, on his tray table, and on the pillow of the bed..
We all had a good laugh and Jim said he was just glad that there were no pictures of cups of coffee ---that's what he wanted most.
The reaction of the nurses who had not already been "IN" on the joke was especially funny. They would enter the room and then their mouths would drop open and they would say, "Who did this?" and "How mean?"
The operation itself took about an hour and a half and the doctor, (Paul Stiefel, Mary Hightower's son and Jim's across the street neighbor as he grew up on Martel Ave. and a fellow classmate of mine from elementary school at Meadowbrook to high school at EHHS.) said that his gall bladder was rather "beat-up" and that Jim had most likely been suffering a lot more attacks than he had thought. He said that he had had to sort of "chisel"out the gall bladder so the expectation is that the pain that Jim had been experiencing was caused by the gall stones and the removal of his gall bladder would mean that he could go forth with no more pain in the abdomen area.
They wouldn't let him go home until he "peed" and that was why we didn't leave until about 4:30 pm or so. Patrick even volunteered to “pee” in Jim’s place as we sat there from 10:45 on and waited. I told the nurses that it would most likely be a while since Jim is the “King of Not Stopping to Go to the Restroom” when we are driving on vacation. We all enjoyed the nurse that spent most of the day with us and decided that she was definitely a “perky” person. Congratulations were in order at about 4:15 or so and we got home just in time to receive the meal that our Sunday School Class had prepared. Jim says that he is very sore this morning at the incision sites... I'm sure that he will be getting steadily better. He will be taking some time off from work next week and plans to return to work the following week.
So. that's more than you really wanted to know, I'm sure but I wanted to write it all down so that I can relate it to others too...
Several sad notes: We are both saddened to hear of McKay Brown’s death. She is a long time friend from our Sunday School class at Meadowbrook and will be missed I’m sure by all who knew her Also saw in the paper that John Woodard’s family will be celebrating his dad’s life this afternoon with a memorial service at Handley UMC in FW. .
Thanks again for your prayers and your concerns...I'm hoping that both Mother and Jim will get well quickly because I'm not as good a nurse-caregiver as they are and am thanking God that at least I'm already retired and don't have to worry about school at the same time as trying taking care of them.

A very eventful week...

2007-10-17T22:49:00.000-05:00

Friday of last week I had my first day of subbing...only planning to sub for first grade and only when needed badly. I subbed in Sondra's class and enjoyed a nice day since her class was very attentive and very good. They worked hard that day and I must have too because I was very tired. That evening our Sunday School Class met for a party and dinner at the Nelle's house. At least I won the booby prize for losing the most during the night.

Next day I went to watch a little girl from last year's class play soccer. Her team had a game and she had sent me a copy of the schedule with an invitation to come so I went out and enjoyed the beautiful weather that day. Jim spent most of the day working on his newer aquarium of reef fish and animals....he's still got a lot to do on it.

This week is only half over and already I'm just about worn out! First of all, we got to see THE LION KING at the State Fair Music Hall Sunday night. It was absolutely awesome and incredible! We agreed as we drove home that night that both of us could see it again and again. The costumes were great as were the puppets and masks that each character wore. The music was good (written by Elton John and Tim Rice).

Next big thing that happened: When we got home late that Sunday night we had a message on the answering machine from my mom...asking us to call when we can. Normally I would wait since it was after 10:30 pm but something told me I should call so I did. She had fallen earlier that day (about 3:00 pm right before the Cowboy game started) and she said that she felt like she'd probably really goofed this time). She was trying to "dust" the shelves above the TV and standing on a small white plastic stool...The stool didn't tip but she says she guesses that she stepped off it wrong...lost her balance, and sat down hard on the floor. The carpet is so worn there that she said the floor was really hard and that Scott told her to sit there a minute to make sure she was ok before getting up...

Well, I don't know how she did it but, she sat and watched the cowboys get beat and eventually went to bed which was where she was when I called. I asked her if she thought she had broken something...she said she didn't think so and that she and Scott thought she had "sprained " a muscle and that she'd most likely be sore.

Next morning, Jim and I went to the hospital so that he could get all the pre-op stuff taken care of for his scheduled surgery this coming Friday--he's having his gall bladder removed Friday at 7:00 am. When we got back home at about 10:00 I called Mother only to find out that she had called Clay and also her mother and her mother's friend and driver to come over and help her...she didn't think she could get up from bed etc. So, I waited until they called again in the next 30 min. and then grabbed some books and magazines and my laptop and drove to the hospital to meet them at the ER at Baylor All Saints in FW. I just beat them there and then Bobby and my grandmother arrived with my mother in their car. Clay drove up too just ahead of me and they had to get help to get her out of the car and into a wheelchair. Now we were having to sit and wait...she was in a lot of pain by now and they gave her some pain meds to try to help. Following xrays we finally got the word at about 2 or 2:30 that she had definitely broken her hip and "who was her orthopedic surgeon?" We called her brother to find out who had put my grandmother (mother's mother) back together back last November when she broke her hip and then we called that Dr. to come and talk with us about mom.

She ended up having a partial hip replacement yesterday (Tues. afternoon). I had spent Monday night with her at the hospital (trying to sleep on two straight back chairs pushed together--believe it or not I did sleep some that night) so I drove back to the house and changed clothes and took a shower and then went back to be there during her surgery. Cindy Woelke, Lynn Rambo, and Jane Maxwell (all from our old church and mother's now church ...as well as Patrick's place of employment) came and sat with Scott and Clay and me in the waiting room. Jim Chandler, the new pastor at MUMC, came by the night before to pray with us and had also called yesterday morning and prayed with mom on the phone. (He refers to mother as "Patrick's grandmother" because mom hasn't been to church except to the musical in August, and he doesn't know of her history at the church: having been the church secretary for 27 years before retiring.)

This afternoon, I went up there to see her for a while...had to wrap up in a blanket it was so cold in her room with the fan blowing right where I was sitting. She was working with a physical therapist and she was glad to be sitting up on the side of the bed for a couple of min. before getting dizzy and having to lay down again. The doctors and nurses expect her to be there for 5 or 6 days and then to rehab for a while before she can go back home. In fact, she may come here for a while if she has to between rehab and home.

I'm very lucky to be retired and not have to worry about planning for a sub, etc. but I suspect that I won't have much time to spend up at school volunteering or subbing since Mother's going to need more help for a while. Now hopefully, Jim's surgery on Friday will be successful and not last as long. He's expecting to be home sometime after noon time and is planning to stay home next week to recover. Funny story about that is that we both grew up at church and at school (and Jim even lived across the street) with his surgeon, and we are both pleasantly surprised at what a great guy he's evidently turned out to be! Many people have told us of their own experiences with him and all that has been said has been very positive. So as you are getting up on Friday morning ...please say a little prayer for him and for his recovery. It goes without saying that I am happy to be on the other side of the hospital bed in both cases...hopefully I can manage to keep care of them both as well as they took care of me when I've had my numerous surgeries (which actually Mother has me beat in that area--after going through her entire medical history from 9:30 pm until midnight with the doctor who is coordinating her case at the hospital and then the nurse on duty and lucky enough to get mother as her patient. They were very thorough and I'm glad of that!)

Thursday (tomorrow) I have a baby shower to attend for one of our former team members (she's teaching second grade now)...and then there's always the trip over to the hospital in FW and hopefully nothing else!

Butterfly Life --My Choice For Workout Place

2007-10-09T18:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, well, I've made my choice for a workout place. I did choose the nearest place. I can walk up the street to the storefront and can get there within 20 min. I think... This afternoon (after joining this morning) I went up for my first workout. At 3:15 I met with one of the women that works there and she got me started on the circuit machines. She weighed me and took my measurements and then we went through the circuit once with her showing me each set up and then I did the next circuit by myself. I am starting at the lowest level with the weights and the smallest number of repetitions. It's amazing but I already can "feel" the soreness that I'm sure I will be experiencing big time by the end of this week. The workout room had only one other person in it during the time that I was there. I was there for about one hour but I expect to be able to do it in about 30 -45 min. if I drive there, and in about an hour if I walk up there. The walking up there will most likely occur once it gets a little cooler weatherwise.

So, I'm exercising regularly now...hooray and hopefully I can lose the weight that I've put back on since I lost that weight last year prior to the first cruise we took. I'm sure that I will begin to feel better once I lose some of this weight.

Time for EXERCISE

2007-10-03T08:10:00.001-05:00

If you have driven around here in Arlington and perhaps in your town, you have seen the logo that I have placed on the left here. That is what I am trying to make a decision about. Should I go to the Curves nearest me and sign up for a great workout? or should I go to the newer and similar place (it's even closer to the house!) and sign up with the Butterfly Life program?

I'm leaning toward the Butterfly mostly because it is so easy to get to and is also in a brand new facility . Also I have found a yoga class that is offered at this same place and that is one of the kinds of exercise that I'm interested in. So, the next step is to get myself motivated and get out of the house and go sign up!

Maybe tomorrow!!! :o)

A long week...

2007-09-27T22:33:00.000-05:00

This has been a longer week than usual mostly because Jim is in Washington DC for the whole week. I've been busy the whole time but it has certainly been a tiring week. On Monday I went up to the old schoolhouse and helped my former team members assess their students with the assessment tool that they are using. It was great to get to be working with the students again--at least the one-on-one work was fun. Such smart children too! That night I had handbell choir from 7 to 8...

Tuesday--back to school for part of the day to continue the same--->that evening I had a meeting at church from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. It's amazing how a change in routine can just make one so tired!

Wednesday--again to school ...although this time I left for a lunch date with a couple of friends from church, then went back to finish up Melissa's class. Sherry has a few word lists to finish so I told her I'd finish those on Friday morning.

Thursday (today) I visited with a rep from the Heritage Makers about their product (making storybooks written by you or me or anyone else.) They have put together a pretty neat website and will "publish" books for all the scrapbookers who like to journal more and more. Then this afternoon Patrick and I went to eat at Mijo's.

Tomorrow I finish with the assessment help and the next time I go up there will probably be as a sub for Sondra on the 12th.

Over and out!

Cheryl

Fear of Heights

2007-09-16T05:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I confirmed that one of those old fears that I had as a child still hangs on out there! FEAR OF HEIGHTS!! When I was growing up and would ride in the car with my family, we rarely drove anywhere other than in the area between Fort Worth and Hillsboro. There were a few times when we got to take a vacation and one of those vacations that I will always remember was to the GRAND CANYON.

There was something about viewing the Grand Canyon from the edges of it that absolutely scared me to pieces! I can remember getting mad at my two younger brothers for getting too close or what I thought was too close to the edge.

And then there was the simple drive to Arlington to swim with the family at Lucas Park. On the way home my dad drove us west on Arkansas and rather than going home the way we came down Spur 303, he drove us across the dam of Lake Arlington. I was in the floorboard praying silently that we'd make it across and not fall into the hole in the lake that was visible to anyone who didn't ride across hiding her eyes in the floorboard of the back seat! I was truly scared and didn't appreciate that trip route home. Well....

...as you can read from the sign, yesterday those fears were again brought out when Jim and I drove to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado. The scenic views were breathtaking but it was all I could do to keep from crawling over the back seat of the car and getting down in the floorboard with my eyes tightly closed. At first, it wasn't too bad, but at about Mile 8 of 19 I was looking away from the window with tears streaming down my face.

Luckily the digital cameras of today can take pictures (although not always great ones) without the camera owner having to look through the view finder!

It's about at that spot that the paved road becomes a dirt road and it seemed that each hairpin curve our vehicle was just about to spin out as we turned around each corner. Luckily for us and for all of the other hundreds or maybe thousands of visitors to that famous mountaintop, we arrived at the top safely and then later descended to the base of the mountain without anyone getting hurt. I thank God for keeping us safe and giving us the chance to make that trip even though it scared me to pieces!

It's no wonder that the composer (whose name escapes me at the moment) of "America the Beautiful" was inspired to write that beautiful patriotic hymn when she visited the summit of that mountain! It is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to see the pictures that Jim took yesterday. My pictures are not quite as sharp as I'd hoped- a little blurry. But as you can see here -- some turned out ok.

We are blessed to be able to travel and take in the views that others have shared with us...

Thank you, God, for bringing us safely back to our hotel. I know that I will most likely always have that fear of heights at times. Help me, God, to be a lot less nervous so that whoever is with me doesn't end up with a crick in the neck as Jim did yesterday due to my own fears making him uptight too! Thank you, too, God, that Jim is the safe and self-confident driver that he is---getting us both to the top and back-- without letting my fears infect him.

The views from the top were awesome!!

Almost Finished!

2007-09-09T06:19:00.000-05:00

Here we have the final project...at least, everything except the window treatments (probably will be shutters). I'm thinking about making cookies tomorrow so that I can try out my new oven!

The next picture is of our backsplash that is on the wall under the ventahood and above the new cooktop. We especially like it because we designed it ourselves along with the help of one of the women who work at the Arizona Tile store/warehouse where we picked out our granite for the countertop and the tile for the backsplash. The cooktop is a Jenn-aire and it has 5 burners (and means we need new pots and pans because they have to be flat-bottomed.)

Our cabinets were all sanded and stained and look terrific! How nice to have what seems like a brand-new kitchen!

Here you can see the corner of the cooktop and the corner of the sink. It is a black sink and even though the salesman at Home Depot tried to dissuade us from getting a black cast acrylic, I 'm very glad we did---we love it!

Coming up next is the ceiling fan that is in the breakfast room. We hadn't even thought of getting a new one...but the peach colored one just would not have worked in our new dark, rich red walled kitchen and breakfast room.

More cruising...

2007-08-31T20:12:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it but we are going to try for one more cruise this year! Jim found one that was on sale and very inexpensive so he signed up. We'll be flying to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to embark on a seven day tour of the Southern Caribbean.

The dates will be December 9-16 so we will essentially be giving each other a cruise for our Christmas. Actually, perhaps this should be Jim's birthday cruise. We were in Alaska on my 55th birthday and it looks like we'll be in the Southern Caribbean on the Carnival Destiny for his 55th birthday!

Just for Lydia...and...oh yes...anyone else who likes to look at "OLD" pics

2007-08-26T19:49:00.000-05:00

Here you go, Lydia...these pictures are just for you (and, of course, for anyone else who enjoys seeing "OLD" pictures--Ha!)

For those who don't recognize the happy couple, that's my roomie and her boyfriend/husband of 30+ years.

The date on the back of this one says Nov. 17, 1972. It was taken up in our dorm room--- maybe even that night day that Alan proposed to your mom!? (I didn't realize that he had proposed so soon. It's amazing how much one can find out on the internet. :o) )

The date on this one was Jan 11, 1973. It was the spring semester and we were back in Nacogdoches early. Most likely we were there to beat the bad weather. We really took advantage of the snow days and enjoyed more than our share of snowball fights. I think that’s what C. was expecting in this picture –a snowball thrown at her.

And here’s the orange ’69 camaro…at least that’s the color I remember.

That same semester but at the end of the semester. This picture was taken in the front section of the cafeteria where all the vending machines were.

I’m thinking that this is your mom and dad’s first anniversary of dating each other. They are so much in love!

The final picture is taken on a bridge somewhere in East Texas. We took a day trip to Lake Livingston with Chuck …the date was March 22, 1974.

So, how’s that for a little bit of history? I love it!

And a very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, my old friend!

Retirement Feelings--Now That School Begins Tomorrow

2007-08-26T13:12:00.000-05:00

Now that school begins tomorrow I can tell a little more about how it really feels to be retired...It feels absolutely terrific! I can attest to the fact that the loss of the stress that I dealt with now for the last three years or so is a big plus! I have been able to cut back on my meds now that the stress is lowered...what a great thing this retirement is!

Remembering that I had planned to do a lot more traveling, Jim and I are planning a trip to Denver and on to the Boulder area for the second weekend of September. Hopefully we will be able to visit family members in Colorado then. And as we have already proven that we love to cruise this year we're hoping to get one more cruise in before the end of the year--one to San Juan, Puerto Rico and the islands around that island. Hopefully, it will soon be among our list of places we've been...

And then there's also a quick trip to Las Vegas to see Jim's mom. We plan to take Patrick along with us then too. It will most likely be sometime after October 12, 2007, which is the date that Jim has scheduled his gall bladder surgery. The sonogram that he had to have shows "medium" gall stones and one very small kidney stone. After visiting with the surgeon (who just happens to be someone we've known forever --grew up across the street from Jim and went to our church), we both feel good about the process--keeping our fingers crossed that he will make it to that day without any further difficulties.

And now, the pictures at the first of this post-- are pictures of our kitchen and breakfast room. The painters came and scraped the popcorn stuff off the ceiling and pulled the paper off the walls in order to get ready to paint and texture tomorrow.

The granite countertops and the tile backsplash are next...maybe I'll put a picture up tomorrow...

For now,

Cheryl

Remodeling Time

2007-08-12T20:53:00.000-05:00

This weekend we spent Friday afternoon and part of Saturday and Sunday making decisions regarding our soon to be newly remodeled kitchen. Having already chosen the slab for the granite countertop, we have also chosen a new cooktop

and a new oven

and a new microwave (which I don't have a picture of...Maybe I'll e inspired to do some cooking!). With all of this new stuff it's going to seem like a new house...

Finished product (we hope!)

2007-08-07T09:05:00.000-05:00

The reason that I say (we hope!) is that yesterday after taking Jim's car in to the shop earlier that morning -- and that's another story...but anyway, I discovered that the floor around the aquarium was soaking wet! Something about the way that Jim had set up the aquarium caused it to shut down and then overflow below the aquarium so that the 25 gallons of salt water that I had rushed to the pet store to buy at the last minute the day before (ties to story about the car) was soaking into the carpet around the aquarium! I immediately called Jim and said HELP! He tried to tell me what valve to turn...I wasn't strong enough to turn it...and then he told me where to stop the siphon. Finally I began trying to get the water up with the old shop vac that we had...

Jim got home and began working on the tank at about 3:45 or so...Now it just so happens that Monday nights are our dance lessons night. I suggested to Jim that we would have to miss, but he was not inclined to do so for fear of never being able to catch up. So as a result at 5:25 we were dashing off to the pet store to buy the salt water we needed to fill up the aquarium again. Then we left the store and drove over to UTA for the dance lessons. We were only about 30 minutes late so we essentially missed the review part of the lessons.

When we got home following the lessons we stopped at Colter's to eat and came home so that Jim could put the water into the tank. Of course, all of this makes it sound much simpler than it is...Finally, again, we have a beautiful tank. Pictures below:

OKLAHOMA!

2007-08-05T00:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning we got up at 4:45 and left about 5:05 for a quick trip to Oklahoma and back. Believe it or not, we drove to Hunter, OK, which is just east of Enid, Oklahoma (almost to Kansas) to pick up an aquarium full of live rock and coral as well as a bunch of fish, invertebrates, and other stuff that were in the aquarium of the mayor of Hunter, OK. He had advertised online the sale of his aquarium and all the reef fish and live rock that were in it as well as the lights that help the live rock grow and Jim bought it from him today.

We did not buy the aquarium itself because Jim is going to put all of the stuff into the one we have now. Ours is actually bigger than the one that he had and so the stuff will easily fit into it. We got home at about 5:45 pm after our drive with one tiny stopover at Robson Ranch near Denton. We are hoping to go up there in October for a tour and a weekend stay so we just stopped a moment to see where it is.

So now all of the stuff for the set up is in buckets of salt water that we brought back as well as the water we took out of our tank in order to get it all ready. Jim took out all of the gravel/rock that was at the bottom of the tank and replaced it with the living sand from the reef tank. Finally he was so exhausted he couldn't do anythng else so we made sure that the air was pumped into each place where there were fish (about 4 or 5 different large containers sitting in the game room. That is what is shown in the picture above...the tank being readied and set up--IN PROGRESS.

Suddenly, August!

2007-07-28T19:33:00.000-05:00

Don't know why I chose to begin this with that particular headline...It doesn't really go with this picture of 3 lovely ladies! It's hard to believe that it is almost the end of August and soon most of the educators will be going back to work and to school. But, not me! Nope, I have officially retired and am very glad of it!

I'm going to get involved in some kind of exercise program even if means that I have to go upstairs (where there is not much air conditioning taking place) and pull out the DANCE, DANCE REVOLUTION xbox game.

Today I received a copy of a direct deposit that the school district made for this month. They should not be paying me anything this month (since they paid me for the rest of the year at the end of May), but I received a deposit notification slip for $.03!!!!!I could not believe that they bothered to find an evidently "missing" three cents and go to the trouble and expense to have it mailed to me.

mid-July already? wow!

2007-07-17T07:19:00.001-05:00

Here we are-- Lark and I got a chance to meet Mrs. Muhammed Ali, Lonnie Ali, at the YOPN conference. She was there to kick off a new program for caregivers of those of us with Parkinson's and the search for the cure of PD. It's difficult for me to imagine that he (Muhammed Ali) has had PD now for over 20 years but he has! She was a very inspirational speaker!

Since I've returned home I have begun enjoying my time to myself. I spent a little time shopping and adding to my scrapbooking supplies. I also added to my Jim Shore collection by adding the Palm tree, camel, and drummer boy to the nativity scene that we bought when we first saw it back in 2003 in Fredericksburg. Jim has left this morning for Washington D.C. and will be back on Friday. Today I'm planning on lunching with the bunch from school at Mercado Juarez. It's a "goodbye" party for Margie Anderson--her husband got a job in Phoenix, Arizona, so she is moving there.

I'm continuing to work on my scrapbook from our Caribbean Tour at Spring Break. Just finished (or almost finished) my Retirement reception book. I'll see about posting it to this site...

More later...

On My Way to Chicago!

2007-07-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning I will meet Lark at the airport to catch our plane to Chicago and the Young Onset Parkinson Network Conference. The meetings will be held Friday and Saturday right there near the airport at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare. This is my last event for the time being...Hooray! I'm ready to stay home now for a while.

Unfortunately, James is expected in court on Monday morning and he still doesn't have a lawyer lined up. Please pray that all will turn out for the best for him and his girlfriend Ashley. A special prayer that Jim and I will be able to show him our love for him and that he makes decisions that will be best.

Patrick begins his week as co-dean of senior high camp down at Glen Lake on Sunday. For him we pray that the campers and the volunteers will enjoy a week of inspiration and experience a closeness to God while having fun and meeting new friends.

Mother's sodium level was too low...at least that 's what her doctor thinks is what caused her to pass out last week while eating out on her birthday.

More after Chicago...

Home! It's great to be back!

2007-06-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics of our flight in a small plane (seats a total of 10 counting the pilot) over and around the summit of Mt. McKinley! You can see June, the pilot, and Lynda (l to r) in this one ...Jim was in front of Lynda, Cole was behind June, Dennis and I had the next row and the final row was filled by a man and his daughter.

The pilot told us that we were very lucky that most of the time the peak is covered with clouds and fog...It was a gorgeous day.)

Finally, we had to come back to our senses! We are at home again after 2 and 1/2 weeks of cruising, flying, shopping, and in general, having a superb time in Alaska! It is so very different up there. Probably the weirdest thing for all of us was the fact that it was light almost all the time outside...None of us could even imagine what it must be like in the winter time when it is the opposite of what it is now and is dark most of the time!

More to come...

I have other great pictures of this part of our trip to Alaska...

This morning we left Seattle right before noon and got back to the heat of Texas at 5:45 pm. I can hear the washing machine running and the Rangers on the TV in the other room--so it must be home. Jim will be home tomorrow and Friday and then start up again at work on Monday.
I'm happy to be home. Next week we'll be off to Nashville...

We had a wonderful time with our buddies, Lynda, Cole, June, and Dennis. We were blessed by their presence for this DREAM TRIP to Alaska and we are already thinking about our next trip together (even though we are sure it will be a while to save up the time and money to go to our next locale: either Hawaii or Panama Canal.) We have become big fans of HollandAmerica Cruise Lines. It was our favorite even though the Carnival cruise does have much better entertainment and that wonderful dessert of which we all actually may have overdosed on--Warm Chocolate melting cake.

Having a great time in Alaska...

2007-06-04T05:10:00.000-05:00

This morning we disembarked in Seward, Alaska from our first of two cruises in Alaska. Here we are in a picture taken during an excursion in Skagway last week. Tomorrow we are renting an SUV and driving around Anchorage. On Tuesday morning we get up in Talkeetna and fly in a small 6 passenger plane over Mt. McKinley and to Denali National Park.

We are truly enjoying the gorgeous scenery here in Alaska! The first cruise was on a Holland America Cruise ship, the ms Ryndam....On Wednesday we will be on the Carnival Spirit until the 13 of June...then we should arrive back at home on the 14th of July.

more later....Cheryl

Just one day!

2007-05-25T01:15:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not it has finally gotten here! I can now say that I have only one day of school ahead of me...I'm still working hard trying to get all of the mounds of paperwork at the end of school finished so that I can leave town with all done and not have to worry about not getting things done...of course, as Jim says, What will they do to you if iyou don't finish? Fire you? I don't think so...

I am so looking forward to our Alaskan Voyage...Just hope I can get enough warm clothes into the suitcase. I think that we are going to take the lap top...perhaps we can keep in touch while we're off.

More tomorrow...

12 days of actual children in the classroom!

2007-05-09T22:58:00.000-05:00

Whoa! As much as I want to be to the end of this business called "WORK" I actually need just a little more time to finish up and wind up everything...and 12 days does not seem liike enough! Luckily, I do have the two weekends before the 2 6th and I'll most likely be up there at the school taking my own personal stuff out of the room so that I can leave the place on the 2 6th!

Today I think my laptop actually has finally gotten so sick that it quit even trying to come on...I 've got to hurry and take it in to be fixed ...it's under warranty...hooray ...hopefully I will not have a problem with it...it has only lasted one year,....something about me and the amount of time that I use it? Can't imagine but...

We are having so much rain! Incredible amounts of it! and all here at the end of school...not sure if we'll have the field day stuff or not...

more later,

Cheryl

Yikes! Only 15 days until the last day of school!

2007-05-07T01:17:00.000-05:00

Not that that is bad ...but I hope I have done everything I need to do to be able to finish up and be done with the school district when I leave there on Saturday the 26th (especially since we leave that evening for Seattle and then on to Vancouver to load on to the Holland America Line HMS Rynham and Alaska!)

I'm feeling very pressed for time...and that's affecting my sleep pattern..

2007-04-29T05:17:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it but I'm just 20 days away from my last day of school....ever!!!!!!!! This has just been one of the worst possible weeks when it comes to looking back on the days of teaching. Without the support and the love from Jim and also from my teammates I do not imagine that I would have been able to make it through all of the crumminess. I'd rather not even discuss it so let me just pass on it and hope that it will not rear up any more this month of May.

Jim, Dennis, June, Lynda, Cole, and I just watched one of the yuckiest movies I've ever seen: SNAKES ON A PLANE!!! I can not believe we actually sat through the whole thing...talk about an unreal story. Probably most funny of all was the fact that we all yelled out, screamed, and jumped and hid our faces throughout most of the story.

I have friends in NYC this weekend for the annual UNITY WALK, I'm proud of them and their efforts to raise money for the purpose of finding a cure for the PD. Way to go, Becci, Judy, and Annie! Looking forward to seeing you in July at the YOPN in Chicago.

What else? Just looking forward to my Retirement Reception which will be at the school on Thursday, May 17th. I came up with quite a list of people who I enjoyed teaching and/or teaching with these past 25 years. Now I'm hoping that at least half of them will find the time to come on over to Ditto to gather the "old friends" for some great celebrating that day!

the pictures at the end of the last post...

2007-04-14T11:50:00.000-05:00

...are of the latest weather related loss that we have had happen to us... It certainly seems that trees are often lost from our yard. We have one half of a tree left now in the back yard and Jim is trying to find someone who can take this one out of the pool for us...Wish us luck!

What a Day!

2007-04-14T07:10:00.000-05:00

Here is a little bit about yesterday and what we did...I did not go to work as I was supposed to be at the Texas Institute for Surgery at 11:00 am to be ready for the replacement of my stimulator at noon. So we woke up and got ready to go by 10:15 am. When we arrived we filled out the paperwork (not much) and then we waited and waited . Luckily we were expecting to be late because Dr. Desaloms had told us yesterday that he had a major brain surgery to earlier that day. We had not yet been taken back until about 2:15 or so.

My friend, Lark, came over and sat with us in the waiting room and then in the small room where I went to wait until taken to the operating room. Lark and I enjoyed laughing and talking together. Then after about an hour of surgery time (of which I remember nothing) I woke up to the nurse telling me that she was going to "turn me on." They finally let us leave there at about 4:45 or so and we stopped by the Sonic next door to get a smoothie which sounded so good for my throat which was so sore. That was really the only symptom from the surgery that was bothersome...and that was due to a tube that they put down my throat during surgery. The actual spot where the stimulator is is sore and heavy feeling.

When we got home we had very little time to get ready for the arrival of the Sunday School Bunko group. While we were trying to get ready (Jim was cooking up the chicken sauce for the main dish (snow on the mountain) the bad weather siren started going off...The next thing we knew it was over but when I walked in the living room and looked out the windows we had a pool with a tree in it...one of the big pear trees left in the back yard had been broken off and thrown into the pool...Not a fun prospect. People began arriving soon after that...

After eating...I went to sleep while the bunko players began the game...I woke up when Jim woke me up to get up off the bed to get into the covers ...again...no pain but just a very dry sore throat. Didn't wake up until 6 this morning...Now I'm waiting to go get a haircut at 10 after missing my appt last week.

Here you can see a picture of the tree/

just hoping that yesterday is not a clue about the way things will go on Friday...

2007-04-12T00:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was not a good day for me! First of all, when I was outside at afternoon recess I noticed that the diamond solitaire from my wedding ring was missing! I was just sick...:( The playground is not at all the place to lose a diamond...much sand, gravel and even some grass out there... none of which make it easy to spot something small. I had the first graders out there searching for me but no one found it and then we searched inside too...but there was really no way for me to know when it fell out...I hadn't bumped my hand on anything that I could remember.

AND THEN, adding more yucky stuff--my period began and is rather heavy--especially since it's been over a year that I've had one! I felt sure I was in menopause...this is not something I wanted to deal with this week especially since I'll be having surgery Friday to replace my stimulator battery.

If I was a supertstitious person I might be concerned since Friday is Friday the 13th...but not being superstitious, I'm expecting it to go well and probably be back at work by Tuesday...Can't be out too many days anymore since I'm buying one more year of service with the 50 state days of personal leave that I have left.

Woo-hoo! My remote actually does work!

2007-04-08T17:20:00.000-05:00

I know...it's most likely very odd to be cheering the slow death of the battery in the stimulator that is controlling my brain--the pacemaker like device that is a life-saver for me. With all that we have planned for ourselves for the next 3-4 months this is the best time to find out that the older battery (the one that has not been replaced yet) is getting low. My remote says so! Of course, it just so happens that Jim and I went to Dr, Stewart's office last Friday to get him to check on the setting of that battery because Daniel (at the Human Performance Lab) had said that it was lower than most. It was registering at a 3.6 back on March 22 when checked while going through the "tests" that they put me through at the HPL. Friday it registered at 3.2 and Dr. Stewart decided that I should go see Dr. Desaloms to set up a date for the exchange (new battery for old one). Dr. Desaloms' office wasn't open that day so I will be calling them tomorrow to set it all up...Last time we did this we were in on a Monday and by Wednesday morning we were in the hospital as an outpatient. I don't know if things can happen that fast this time but we shall see...

Back to the remote--I am happy to see that the remote is working as it is supposed to FLASH when the battery gets low...it is doing that now. Last time it didn't ever do that -- or maybe I just never checked it until it was completely gone but it is nice to know that it works this time.

Easter memories -- pictures of friends and their family

2007-04-07T07:42:00.000-05:00

Easter afternoon - 1986

2007-04-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

This is James and Patrick in 1986 - Easter attire - These outfits were one of my favorites that I remember that the boys wore. Turquoise is absolutely a beautiful color and aren't they cute? James has missing teeth on top and Patrick has his hair combed just right.

Yum! Another favorite from the cruise...

2007-03-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

Warm chocolate melting cake! It is a dessert to die for! So good that we all opted to order two desserts each after the first night so that we could try something new but still enjoy the wonderful taste of the chocolate dessert that was on the alternate menu each night after the first night! I don't usually care for cake but this cake served with vanilla ice cream was the most wonderful dessert that I think I've ever had! YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!

We've Been Bit By the Bug!

2007-03-31T14:58:00.000-05:00

What bug? The cruise bug! So, as of right now, we are off to Alaska! The last day of school is May 26 and that afternoon, we are on a flight that goes through San Jose to Seattle and then by train to Vancouver where we board a Holland America cruise ship for seven days to Seward. Upon arrival in Seward we have reservations for the train to Anchorage. Three days in and around Anchorage and then we go to Whittier to board the Carnival Spirit for a return cruise seven days back to Vancouver. Both cruises are through the inside passage. From Vancouver to Seattle and then back home on June 14! Woo hoo! Jim is calling it our Retirement Celebration trip...

Standing on the sandbar - YES! Snorkling in the Ocean - NO!

2007-03-25T23:46:00.000-05:00

The Stingray City visit was great fun...Much better than nearly drowning trying to snorkle while we were in Cozumel...just couldn't get the hang of it and was very glad to get back in the boat after a what seemed like endless minutes floundering around in the choppy waves that we were left off in...That salt water is pretty yucky (especially when you swallow it!). On top of all that, I couldn't see since I didn't have on my glasses...
This is a picture of the boat that we were on --that's Lynda and Cole in the picture with me! I was very proud that I wasn't getting Seasick! while riding in the "retro yacht" that we were in along with about 30 other people. Jim, of course, was absolutely in heaven...he knew the fish that he was coming face to face with--could call them all by name and had even had a bunch of them in our home aquarium in the past.

I know...I'll just "volunteer" to be a cruise goer...

2007-03-24T20:40:00.000-05:00

That seems like the best idea of all...Then I can go over to Grand Cayman Islands and hold another sea turtle like the one in the picture. I couldn't believe how heavy it was! We got to hold it at the Turtle Farm on the way from Hell to Stingray City...

The highlight of this day had to have been being in the ocean with the sting rays. Unbelievable! That sandbar was very crowded with people and with the sting rays...and the tour guides all had every out trying to "kiss" the sting rays for seven years of good luck...

Just 44 more days!

2007-03-24T08:34:00.000-05:00

I never really thought that I would be wanting to be retired from the classroom and the children that I've taught but now that I'm so close to it...I can't wait!
Plans? Nothing specific but I am looking forward to more opportunities to travel and maybe even time to get involved in "spreading the word and news for Parkinson's Disease and helping others to learn more about the disease that we now have to think about and live with.
SO, just 44 more days of rising and shining at school each day...who knows?? Maybe I'll be back at school in the fall as a volunteer...