Birthday Luncheon

After Bible Study, one of the small groups that I used to be part of (I was moved in September to another group) met for lunch to celebrate birthdays of 3 of the ladies ... Shannon, Vicki and Marilyn. It was a fun lunch with 10 of us.

Darla's previous owners came to visit her this afternoon. She was excited to see them but was a bit confused when they left. I don't think she knew if she should stay or go with them.

Thank you for praying for Jon. He's feeling much better. He's not in such terrible pain like he was.

A Busy Day

Days that go from one thing to the other are so tiring. We began our day with a meeting with Jessie's case worker from 10:00 - 11:15.  After Vicki talked to Jessie for a few minutes, Rachel took Jessie to the pool - FINALLY.  It's been 3 weeks since she was able to swim because of the weather!

When Vicki left I had to go to the bank for Jessie and Lois, Walgreen's for Jessie, I had lunch with a friend then met Rachel and Jessie at the kids shoe store near us. My darling daughter has a 2 1/2 size foot, but because it's wide, she wears a 3 or 3 1/2. You can't find an adult pair of shoes in that size, so we have to get hers at a children's shoe store. There was only 1 pair in her size in a dress shoe. Perfect!

Of course, since we were right next to Menchie's and Jessie knew it, she made a bee-line right to the store. So, Jess and I had a small cup of ice cream before they went home and I went to the post office.
We were home for about a half hour when I took both girls up to the alterations store to have her new pair of pants shortened for the "prom".  Finally. We arrived home - to stay - at 4:00 p.m.

I took a short 45 minute nap before I made dinner, and now I'm doing paperwork. Jon worked, had his hair cut, went to Walmart for a new watch then home. Please pray for him, as you think of him. He's having a very bad arthritis flare up, most likely due to the weather. He's in a lot of pain in all his joints. Thank you.

Getting Ready For Night to Shine

After Angie took Jessie to the Library and Darla and I had a "walking lesson", the 4 of us went to Penney's to get Jessie an outfit for a special night. Our church is hosting a Night To Shine, sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation for special needs adults. I hesitate to have her go, but almost all of her aides will be there participating in the function, as well as Brent will be going. She's not crazy about the idea either, but I want to give it a try.

She got a nice pair of black dress pants, a pretty pink, grey and black top and a black necklace. Only the pants have to be altered, as they're about 12 inches too long! I do hope she'll get out of the van that night.

The weather here has been the pits. Rain most every day and warmer weather. Not good if you have arthritis. Jon's been feeling pretty awful the past couple of days. It's almost been like spring days. We're going to be upset when we get our next snow, that's for sure. Jessie's sure that camping is in a couple weeks!

An Icy Day

Poor Jess. This is the second Tuesday in a row that the roads were not good and she couldn't go to the pool. Last week is was snow. Today our roads were a sheet of ice. A huge truck didn't make it down the street this morning and ended up in the ditch. It took them about 4 hours of hard work to get it out, but they did! I'm thankful that Jon didn't have to go to work.

I spent most of the day doing laundry and paperwork. Jessie was on her iPad and playing with her cards and beads. Jon watched tv. Both Jon and I didn't feel very well either. I think it's the weather. Jessie even asked for tylenol for a headache and she never does that. Although she certainly didn't act sick.

I Just Have To Share This

Jessie was on her iPad on the floor, I was on the couch reading. She was listening to a YouTube video with a mom and child some where there were animals. The mom kept asking the small child what kind of animal they were looking at ... here's how it went ...

Mother: What kind of animal is this?

Child: mumbles something.

Mother: What kind of animal is this?

Child: mumbles some kind of animal.

Sound ... a rooster crowing

Mother: What kind of animal is this?

Jessie ... CHICKEN NUGGETS !!!!!!!

I'm Exhausted

If I just knew when to stop, or pace myself better, I'd probably not be so tired. I had an agenda and I wanted to do as much as I could. I did laundry, cleaned up the laundry room and washed the floor, finished justifying my check book (woo hoo!), wrote out checks, finished the winter village, removed decorations from the kitchen tree ready for the snowmen, folded clothes and put them away from a couple days ago, collected garbage for tomorrow's pick up, made some appointments, did computer work, and continued putting away Christmas decorations. I'm ready to sit down and read. I hope that tomorrow will be a continuation of today. Other than taking Darla to school and have the trainer work with both of us, I'm free again. However, we've got 3-6" of predicted snow, then freezing rain then rain for tomorrow. If it happens, I'm staying home.

Thank You For Praying

My friend, Rox, took me for my EGD test this morning. There was no prep for this procedure, so it was simple. IV, mouth guard, nap, awake, breakfast, home. The doctor said all looked well, except there were white spots in the esophagus that could be acid reflux or a food allergy. He took a biopsy and I'll know in a week to 10 days.

Your prayers are appreciated. I didn't think I was nervous, but my BP was 200/96 the first time they took it. A tad bit off, if I do say so my unmedical self. It finally came down but knowing it was so high made me more nervous.

Rox treated me to breakfast then dropped me off at home. Rachel left, I put a load of clothes in the washer and stayed on the couch until Jon came home from work at 4:00 with dinner. After dinner I watched a "Scorpion" episode with Jon then spent the next several hours back on the couch on my iPad. A totally do-nothing day.

Jessie's Great Day

Rachel took Jessie to the Play Place and met Brent, his mom and his aide. If I didn't see the pictures, I wouldn't have believed that Jessie actually went into the bounce house or the large swing pictured above. I'm positive she wouldn't have done it if I were there, either. When they were finished there they met at McDonald's for lunch. Jessie was so excited when she got home. She had one of the best day's ever. She was VERY happy. Thank you, Rachel! And, thank you, Diane for finding this place and inviting Jessie to be part of it along with her best friend, Brent.

If you're wondering about the purplish color picture, it's a "dark room" with chalk walls. The participants can use chalk on all the walls and it glows. Pretty cool. She probably had chalk on her butt since she was bracing herself on the wall behind her.

Thank you to each of you who will be praying for me tomorrow morning for my EGD. It's appreciated.

From Yesterday

Jennifer took a picture of Jessie coloring - only she was sleeping!  I neglected to post it yesterday.

A Prayer Request

I have had burning in my throat for the past 3 weeks. Water even burns my throat. I am scheduled for a EGD on Friday morning. Prayers for a successful test and not a bad report would be appreciated.

Leaving The Old Ways Behind

When Lois and I had our own church service on Sunday morning, I read the Jesus Calling devotional by Sarah Young for that day. One particular sentence has stuck with me and has made me think about what I want to leave in the past. Here's part of the excerpt:

"Come to me with a teachable spirit, eager to be changed. A close walk with Me is a life of continual newness. Do not cling to old ways as you step into a new year. (bold mine) Instead, seek My Face with an open mind, knowing that your journey with Me involves being transformed by the renewing of your mind."

I've been thinking about what I don't want to carry over in to 2017. Things like judging people with what little facts I know. I didn't think I judged people, but looking back over the year, I realize that I have allowed my personal opinions to weave a web of judgement in my mind. I want my mind renewed in this area.

How about you?

What old way(s) do you want to leave behind as we begin a New Year?

Merry Christmas JoAnne and Happy New Year !!!

The last 2 days have been full but relaxing and fun. Yesterday we had breakfast with JoAnne and came back to the house to exchange presents. Then we visited for a couple hours before she left for her New Years celebrations. I had just enough time to rest a bit before Lois came at 4:15 p.m. She left about an hour ago. 

We had a nice, simple dinner then Jon, Lois and I played a couple games for several hours. Jon went to bed early because he had to work today. Jessie was happy in her corner of the family room with her YouTube and Apples to Apples cards. 

After games Lois and I watched 2 movies. For a change there were no fireworks in the neighborhood to alert us to the New Year arriving. We just wished each other a happy New Year then continued watching the movie. We went to bed around 2:30 a.m.  Not too late for me, but VERY late for Lois.

We were up by 8:15 a.m. because Jess got up and was a tad bit noisy. After breakfast Lois and I had our own "church service" then watched 2 more movies. (I can't remember the last time I watched 4 movies in 2 days!) When Jon got home from work and dinner was finished, we played several games of Boggle. An old but fun game.

I'm about ready to go upstairs and call it a day. My eyes are having trouble staying open. It was worth it, though. There are few New Years that we get to spend with Lois, since she lives in Haiti. I do remember that we celebrated Y2K together! We sat around playing games and waited to see if the lights would go off because of all the doomsday predictions. That was 17 years ago!!!! Do you remember Y2K?