A Good Day

Today has been a good day.  Slept in till about 8:00 this morning and then got up and got ready for church.  We decided to go to Sunday School and the worship service at First Baptist Church in Hondo.  We have attended three different churches in the area and this is the one that feels most like home.  So we decided if we were going to give it a fair chance we needed to attend Sunday School and see if we can connect with some people.

One of the first people to greet us was Alan.  He is the man we met that Saturday we were out checking out when the service was.  He shook Ron's hand and then while shaking mine he said "that's the last handshake you get from me, I give the ladies hugs"  and that is just what he did and then he turned to Ron and said he gives the guys hugs too!  We both laughed and made us think of Gerald - we so miss his big hugs!!!   Sunday School was pretty good.  We laughed a lot, shared prayer requests and studied God's word from II Corinthians 1:1-11.  We talked about how we receive and give compassion to others and how it looks compared to how Jesus shares compassion with us.  What a great reminder to be open to sharing with others when they are struggling whether it be in words or deeds or a listening ear.

We then went into the Worship service.  It was such a great time of worship in music.  We so enjoy the music - all aspects of it, the blending of voices as we sing hymns and praise chorus'  The sermon was good.  It is refreshing to hear a pastor preaching from the Bible, using scripture and stories to share what has been laid on his heart.  (That has not been the case at all the churches we have visited here in Texas).  The sermon was on choices.  We make choices/decisions all the time.  And the question he asked at the end of the service: "Are the choices/decisions I make a reflection of God's teachings?"  Makes me stop and think and evaluate how I react and do things.

After church we stopped at the Lions Club fundraiser and picked up BBQ'd chicken for lunch.    The lunch was a fundraiser for the club.  It was held at the Hondo City Park #1.  You drove through the park, paid your money ($7 per plate) and then drove a little further and were handed the dinner in a to-go pack.  And then we drove home and ate lunch.  It was pretty tasty.  Though I think Ron is getting tired of beans and coleslaw, neither of which is his favorite.  Now on the other hand I really like coleslaw and beans.  I did give Ron half my chicken since he gave me his beans and slaw.

We both took naps later in the day.  All in all it was a great day and now we are rested to start back at work tomorrow.

Have a great day!!!

Screams

Screams...I have been told, more than once, don't scream like that...but isn't a scream supposed to get someone's attention.  So if you hear me scream, you will know something is up...good or bad.  let me share a few of my screams:

When I was 10 or 11 my mom took me to the horse races.  She let me pick one $2 horse for each race.  There were 10 races - $20.  The deal was I could keep any money I won on the races and I didn't have to pay her back.  So I chose my horses.  I don't know how y'all choose your horses when you are at the races but I have always chosen by the colors they are wearing and/or their name (kinda how I choose my wine).  It was the last race and I had not won once so I was pretty frustrated.  But I chose my horse.  He or she, not sure which, was a brown, shiny thing wearing a deep purple.  I love purple, it is my favorite color.  The one thing that I would love to have  is an amethyst ring, but I digress.  Back to the races.   It was time to start the race.  My horse was in the middle of the pack.  Didn't come out leading but wasn't in last place.  And then has he/she made the last corner, he/she took off.  I started jumping up/down and yelling "go! go! go!" and the closer he/she got to being the winner the louder I yelled.  And then he/she beat out the other horses.  I screamed "I won, I won, I won!!!!"  (and I promptly peed my pants - please no teasing, just sharing all the wonderful details).  I was screaming so loud, we were outside ya know, my mom told me to "quiet down, people are looking."  "I don't care, I won, I won!"  You would have thought I won a million dollars, I didn't.  I won $45!  I was so excited.

Another time was when I was in the hospital, I was 18 years old, newly married and having my 4th eye surgery.  I remembered the shots they always gave before you go into surgery.  I was dreading it (I hate shots....I had 124 shots in 23 days when I was 10 years old...shots are no fun!  I started crying the closer it got time for the nurse to come in and give me my shot, ya know, the one that dries your mouth out before you go into surgery.  The closer it got to the time I was to go in, the louder my cries got.  And then this red haired nurse who was wearing this blue sweater came into my room.   She stood at the foot of my bed and yelled over my screams/cries "shut up!  You are not sick!  You can take the shot or go into surgery without it!."  And then she walked away.  I did take the darn shot and I don't think it even hurt that bad.  

I think the most memorable scream was when I was working for the Coalition for Child Advocacy in Bellingham.  It was January 1990.  Background: I have been writing to Oprah, Phil Donahue and Sally Jesse Raphael since 1985.  My letters were always the same:  you talk about child abuse and how bad the parents are who abuse their children BUT you never give those parents any resources to stop that abuse.  In the Fall of 1986 I, along with another friend and a Parents Anonymous (PA)facilitator traveled to St. Louis and appeared on the Sally Jesse Raphael. (That's another post in itself.)  We had a great trip but not too fun on the show.  So now fast forward to January 1990.  I was at my desk and my boss, Lynda, was at the computer just to the right of my desk, about 6 -8' from me.  I got paged to a phone call.  I answered it and Karen, from PA Seattle office, saying that the Oprah Winfrey show had called and they were trying to locate me to see if I wanted to be on her show.  I screamed so loud that Lynda spun her chair around and pointed her finger at me and said "IF you scream like that again you are fired!"  And then she turned around and went back to work.  I did go on the Oprah show (again that will be a different post).  I have never forgotten Lynda's response nor have I ever screamed that loud again.  And Lynda and I now joke about that scream!!!

Until this morning.  I had decided that since we weren't going to church this morning I would do some major cleaning in the motor home.  With me being  sick for over two weeks and then Ron sick most of this past week things have sorta not been done around here.  So I got the laundry going and started cleaning in the motor home.  I did the living room, we did the bedroom and then Ron was doing the dishes and I was cleaning off the table and benches in the dining area.  I had cleaned off the table and done the left bench and then moved to the right bench.  I picked up some papers that were on the bench and then I SCREAMED!  There was a dead mouse on the bench.  I also moved real fast.  I pushed Ron out of the way so I could get into the living room.  And then he yelled at me "don't scream like that."  And then he calmly picked up the darn mouse with a plastic bag and put it in the trash.  And then we both just laughed.  Guess I need to go to Hondo and get some mouse bait...don't like those things hanging around my home.

And that is how I came to be thinkin about my screamin skills.

Me from A to Z

I saw this meme on  FabGrandma and  decided I wanted to play along. More About Me A to Z! 

A. Age: 53

B. Bed size: Queen.  We removed the little foam pad that was in the RV and put our regular queen mattress and a temperpedic topper on our bed.

C. Chore you dislike: cleaning the bathroom

D. Dogs: used to have one and we miss Charlie Brown.  Tried to talk Ron into getting another one a couple of weeks ago but he said no. :(

E.  Essential start to your day: Quiet time with the Lord

F. Favorite color: Purple

G. Gold or silver: Either or

H. Height: 5′7"

I. Instruments you play(ed): clarinet

J. Job title: Office Manager, but the best title is Wife, Mom & Grammy

K. Kids: Jamie 33, Suzanne 27, Opal 3, Brandon 31, Danalyn 28, Max 12, Christopher 3, and Treyson due on 5/27

L. Live: In a 37' class A motorhome, currently in D'Hanis, TX.

M. Mom’s name: Margaret Jean, went by Peggy

N. Nicknames: Ali, Sweetheart, Grammy

O. Overnight hospital stays: several: 9 eye surgeries, appendectomy, gallbladder, total hysterectomy, 4x for emotional issues ~ glad to say I am now truly healed from the emotional and physical abuse from my childhood.  If you have questions I am happy to share.

P. Pet peeves: people who don't use their signals when turning, people chewing gum with their mouths open and smacking while eating

Q. Quote from a movie: ummm...can't think of any that come to mind
R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: 2 biological sisters and many siblings in the Lord, 2 besties ~ one on the east coast and one on the west coast

T. Time you wake up: On work days 6 to 7 a.m., days off - sleep in when I can

U. Underwear: Definitely!!!

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Haven't really found any I don't like

W. What makes you run late:I try not to be late.

X. X-rays you’ve had: too many to count.

Y. Yummy food you make:Chicken Gumbo, Butta Soup & spaghetti

Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: Elephants and monkeys...love all the babies.

Hope you liked hearing more about me.  Feel free to copy and input your own answers.

Eye Appointment

Had an eye appointment this afternoon.  I walked out in sticker shock ~ $302 for glasses...need the polycarbonite safety lenses, progressive bifocals and photo~grays = yep $302.  Can't believe they cost so much BUT am thankful I had the money in the bank to cover the cost.  Plus the $50 for the eye exam.

The eye exam was filled with lots of hmmms...try this...now this....need to recheck this....found out I have astigmatism (sp) and double cataracts...yep...two on the same eye with the same lens.  Now that wouldn't be too bad if I had two eyes but since one of my beautiful eyes is as fake as they make them (prosthetic) that leaves one eye.  Immediately my anxiety started to climb...my biggest fear is coming to fruition...having problems with my one and only eye.  And it is just not a cataract it is a double cataract with the lens clouding over from two different locations.  The doctor recommended an eye surgeon in Kerrville, about an hour and a half from here.  Now more fun to deal with (yes that is sarcastic tones coming from me).  So tomorrow I will call him and see if I can talk with him on the phone before making an appointment.

So feeling a little in shock I picked out new glasses...sure hope they look okay on me...do you know how hard it is to pick out glasses that you can't see without your prescription glasses on.  They are kinda square with a light purply/pink tint to the frames.  And the photo grays are gray in color instead of brown...thought gray would look better with the purply/pink color.  Sure hope so.  The glasses should be ready in 7 to 10 days.  I will have hubby take my picture with the glasses when they arrive.  And I had to pick them out without hubby's input ~ he is laying on the couch not feeling too well.  He woke with a sore throat this morning and barely made it through the day.  Don't know if he is going to work or not tomorrow.  I gave him some Tylenol and the bottle of Vicks and a clean pair of socks.  Sure hope that Vicks works tonight.

After sticker shock I decided to do a little retail therapy...found a couple of tank tops, a light blue and a purple one for me and then a couple of pocket t-shirts for Ron.    Would have loved to do more shopping but the heart just wasn't in it.  Maybe another day.

Stopped at Sonics and picked up some burgers and cheese poppers for dinner.  Not the healthiest but it was quick and easy.    And feeling frustrated and in shock after my appointment quick and easy was what I needed.

Am going to try not to worry too much.  Will call the doctor tomorrow.  This is when I wish I was home in Blaine with my eye surgeon who I know and trust.  Guess it is just time once again that I trust the Lord that He is in control in all this and that the doctors I am being directed too are the right ones for me.