Good day. Exercise, met Gloria at the gym, she invited us to her church: Pleasant Grove Church. 10am. Are we ready?
About to watch a movie, once Steven and Gimli get back from their walk.
Praying about our role here, meeting friends and all that. When we pray, we see it happen.
Meanwhile, we dance. Exciting to be social again. And the weather is turning warm for a bit. I have B Complex for mosquito bites :)
Papa has done some great things for us. I'm awkward about this last zinger. It's a great zinger and a first timer for us. We'd like to know that it is a permanent zinger for a while, as we don't have confirmation on it. Everything changed this year, and it's just not clear as to how much it's changed.
While we are enjoying being stunned, our kids have no clue. As they should be adding to the family good stuff, they are not, and have never had a mind to do so.
I guess that's weird for me because in my childhood family. We all wanted something successful in our lives. With a dad who insisted we do it without higher education. Steven's family did and they actually got it, no one left out. Even the negative happenings didn't affect the family good stuff, because they were launched. Steven having self-launched painfully alone. It took him 27 years, but he launched himself.
So though we were never launched, but rather surprised by instant poverty, we still managed to overcome those huge hurdles. Our kids did not. Wanting to be great at something they like happened, but the payment for their efforts was not important. Yes, they want more than they have, but are nauseated by getting rewarded by the cash they need to survive well. It doesn't last.
So here we are, able to help them in a year's time or less, but how to do that when they don't care about income? That's the dilemma. If we gave our son a down payment toward living space that would be his, will he actually do his part to keep the space?
And with daughter, if we funded her massage school, would she get through the course or quit in an angry fit of rules, rules, rules.
Or should we just leave it as a surprise for after we are gone and just not see what they do with it?
Jesus, wisdom, please.
Last night, I had coffee before dinner. It was 8pm before we ate our 7pm dinner. Good thing we had dinner at 3pm :)
Steven is outside warding off bugs with a safe spray. Again. Hopefully, it works as it says.
Have the eldest in mind, after our missions info Sunday service. During. I'd rather focus on Jesus. When I talk to her, my mind is mad at her for deserting God and the work he's had in her family. There are so many lessons to learn. I pray she takes them to heart as I do. Humans deeply secreting sin is a very serious matter. I'm sorry, Jesus, that this happens. Because of Your blood, it doesn't have to.
Later... Since last night, when we saw a guy wearing a hat similar to Steven's, we realized that it went missing somewhere between here and Washington. Steven insisted that he saw it last in his van. Took that apart today. Nope. When I was looking for it last night, I thought I should look behind this pillow, then got distracted with other places to look. Today, I looked and there it was. Was that Holy Spirit helping me? Sigh. I need to tune in better to how God helps me and be clear enough about these events enough to write them down. I kept seeing that pillow in my head. Ticker tape? Sometimes I get these repeat things in my head. Listen better to my gut? Hmmm... I hope to learn more about how God works with us to find things and to discern what He's up to and is calling me to help with. Partner in.
Steven is napping now. I did a bit of language studies today; enough to cover the day. Trying to back off treating Sunday like any other day. It's a day of rest with God.
A bit antsy today. That's a call to talk to Papa. To thank Him for everything in some detail.
Tonight is the masked ball :) Steven's napping and we're fed until 6pm, when we will eat whatever. It'll be fun.
Talked with bro's widow a long time today. Glad we connected. She had a hard week and had to face some hard truths. I also filled her in on more family drama that I just learned. Now she knows why I was so frank with my words the morning after family news. She says she wishes the family were more honest about what they will help her with, instead of offering , then reneging, while blaming her for asking? Bad memory plus dementia in the family. The eldest siblings are most prone since we are just a few years younger than mom. The eldest is there now. How do we know? Math. Mom started forgetting to turn off Middle bro's stove in about 2002. She died last year. That's 21 years ago. The eldest is 22 years younger than mom. Then there's that last phone call. Ut oh...
Widow lady keeps eldest bro company. He's okay, just two years behind the eldest. Since he's not full of himself, he'll be okay, but he monopolizes conversations for 3 hours or more.
Meanwhile, Widow lady may or may not end up with landlord man. He loves her. Sigh. Too soon, too soon.
God knows the end from the beginning. I'm just watching Him work some of it out. What a privilege :)
I look forward to getting started with Randy Clark's book/workbook with Steven. We both want to be better prepared for come what may. We had another one of those encounter days yesterday. Time to get knowledgeable about that stuff :)
Steven is mowing the lawn and getting his next week's to-do ready. It's not raining, so daswhy.
I got my copy of the Randy Clarke Workbook. This is our way of belonging to the conference in Bethel this week. We'll go through it together, because we can. Not having found like-minded folks here as yet, we stick closely to our Bethel family. They'd like more of a connection, but the reason we are here also keeps us from being worker bees for Bethel here.
Came back from the chiropractor today. Such a good deal to do it this way. Still, would like a massage now and then. But that requires a listening ear to her stressful life, which doesn't help me relax. Kinda at cross purposes here. That's humanity.
Walked around Nugget, found my ceylon cinnamon caps and also a promotion table for manuka honey skin care, which is just a good thing for me right now. Hits on my problem spots; Steven's too. Happy to use manuka without the sugar load, just through the skin. She's very mixed in race, from NM, knowing that she is also European.
Also ran into a German traveler trying to pic out calcium. She saw my frame and declared, "You look strong. What do you take?" She was intense. Love my world of humans :) Special present for today :)
We still talk about the RV that is right for us. The longer we vacillate and explore the options, the more they present themselves. Or God presents them. Steven is leaning hard on the tallest one we can find with a high top that isn't a climber. Yeah, I get it. I like the climber, but I'm not metallic on top. The versatility is great. The fall isn't :) It means we get to sit up there and enjoy the scenery, even use the camera to enjoy it, or even paint :) I think I like painting from a postcard, too. I'm saving pics online to possibly paint. Such beauty :)
Tomorrow is our masked ball. Saviing my feet for the occasion, trying to massage them with a good cream. Maybe the manuka cream will help? I didn't think to replace The Rub when we were there. Ack.
Later... Thinking of things to do this year, that we can actually do... energy efficient stuff and some of it is reimbursable, according to a neighbor who did it.
Other to-do's?
1. Replace the running board lights on the Subaru.
2. Personalize this house. Hang pics, paintings, etc. It's nice to not have so many personal pics in frames. My wall of peeps is more in focus in their 8x10 prints.
3. Get the door curtain on the master patio door. The comforter there is tacky, but insulates.
4. Get the Breville toaster recommended. Maybe not. It's really big and heavy, too.
Later... Texting with family. Yikes. I liked being able to take the phone off the hook. I can turn this thing off...
Reality quagmire alert... Mom died without an executor of her will. That means probate. How exactly does that work?
So the merry widow is frustrated. She wants the offspring to solve her dilemma, but none of us can do that for her. Legally, mom's estate goes to probate. Don't know how these things work when one doesn't prepare for the end properly. Steven's dad had an estate with no will. It took Amy 2 years to run probate, traveling from back east to the west coast. Wasn't friendly, but I'm sure her ex hubby lawyer helped.
What else can I say? It's not much, but enough for her to sail forward for a year, I think. I suggested she just eat it, instead of getting mad at the family that mom didn't trust. The other thing was that we all cared for mom at our own expense for the most part, since she retired at the turn of the century. This gal didn't. In fact, she awaited a windfall that didn't happen. Now she awaits other windfalls that aren't happening because of court delays. Not fun. Meanwhile she lives rent-free in kind of an ideal situation, but anything can happen.
Love you, my brother. See you later.
It's 6am and I've been up for a while now. Maybe because I didn't journal yesterday before retiring. It was late. The movie ended late. But I did that before.
Ah, I dreamed last night and it wasn't so nice. So I pray for that scenario's possible reality in my life. There is unfinished business but Jesus covers us and knows what to do. Amen, thank You, Jesus :)
Meanwhile, it's Wednesday and a rest day, as Steven has called it. I'll do the gym and he will rest.
A good reason to have Gimli with him at nightj is that Gimli is like an alarm clock for most things. Steven needs that.
Plans? Yeah. The rest of the week is rest time for Saturday's event.
Jana had a vitamin suggestion for me yesterday. She's full of helpful info on the fly. I mentioned the mosquito thing. B Complex. Got it. I had just replenished my vitamin supply. That one isn't in it.
How am I doing? On this discovery day, I don't know yet the answer to a question. I hear my hubby coughing from his space in the house. I'd like to do something fun, but he's tired today. Have to pay attention to that. If he says he needs to rest, then he will need to rest.
I'm looking at our various memories lining the top of the kitchen cupboards. This house reminds me that I can see into all but one room from my recliner. Ha. It's not smaller than our first house, for sure. It's actually just right for us, plus probably one more. I can't imagine our old friends stuffed into this square foot type house with their four kids, too, for years :) The only thing that ended that house was their split. They all survived it well, and it happened after nearly 40 years. That's a weird thing to think about, now that we are quickly on the way to 50 years. They were older than us, by far.
But back to this house. There are neighbors that have much bigger places. I wonder if we had gotten something the next size up. We tried that, but at the time, it was a buyer's market. Being in a hotel for 2 months was a lot of expense. But we got in with the interest rate low and as we get older, we won't be having to size down again. I think it was the sizing down from 2400 sq ft that makes it a bit of a push. But sitting in that previous space, where we lived nearly always on the first floor, we knew we could do this for sure. It was just hard to say goodbye to all that new stuff we stuffed into it :)
Then there's the reality check that happened this year. Still no regrets. Most of the time. We actually have more wall space here with tall walls. It's not a little thing to be tall and have tall walls. That's why we'll probably go with a tall wall van :)
Here's a thought to write down...
I collect neat travel pics of France and put them on my own group website. For me, I don't need to go to France. Steven can't go anyway. We both get terribly travel sick. And we had done so much traveling over many years when we were younger that we can actually imagine that a pic is a place we've experienced. Fantastic images minus the travel sickness that lingers. Even when we reached camp 14 hours later, travel sickness didn't stabilize for me for 2 whole weeks. That's about 2 to 4 thousand feet up in altitude and feeling exhausted. In my 20's. We had a good run, until he did the military 5 year thing, at which point, we stopped traveling. So these 30 some years later, we are content to look at other people's pics. They are mostly from young travelers like ourselves. Older folks don't do that. Younger folks love to save memories. Older people tend to complain about their next health adventure on the road. Ugh. I feel privileged to be on the adventure with the young folks who are so kind and smiley.
In my 60's, it was the ER drive to Seattle from Vancouver, BC. I just didn't trust the health care system there. I'd rather drive all the way home and do surgery while being travel sick than be away from my trusted places that I went through great pains to place in my life.
Daughter wants us to take a train to see her, but she moved away from a decent hospital, so that isn't happening. Sigh. When we age, we need to be less adventurous. And frankly,
We are here, just 2 1/2 hours from our beloved believers gang. If we need to travel from there back here, it's 2 hours' drive. Bethel is our Israel destination local to us. They are global and people travel from all over the globe to fellowship and train at this great place. It's why we are this close and not closer. We are in proximity to an airlift, if needed. Meanwhile, Bill prays for a great hospital in Redding. I know this scenario well.
Being older is such a blessing to us. A new experience for us, with older rock and rollers (not us; they remind us of his brother) dancing the early evening away. We learned to dance for our old age. I'm glad we are here and that we know better than to spend everything on travel. Speaking of which...
I'm sorry for the offspring of those folks who are just not mindful of their kids. Unless they just have a lot to spare. I'm happy that we get to bless our kids and we won't be here for the thank you. It's something we didn't have ourselves. Didn't prepare them well for college because Steven was in college when they were growing up and he wasn't done until they were grown. So sad. It taught us that we can do better than that. Every generation should do better than the last. We have these sorrows in common. Double whammy on the family inheritance. Poetry!
So us hanging out with really well off individuals and people with many grandkids who dance with them on the dance floor on Friday nights is a thing. Do they realize that if they just stay put, their families will do so much better? Nothing like hitting the brakes on your family. It's at that realization of inheritance's benefit that you get that family is so important. I think my dad got that in his old age when he realized that his mom gave him a boost. He tried, but the way he was in personality wouldn't work to be living with any of us. His inheritance went to that folly and he died broke, leaving what he had left inadvertently to one son of six offspring.
I'm happy that cameras are so well made now. It really is like being there :)
Love this community of peoples who come from all kinds of places. The one thing we have in common is the planning of aging stage. It brings us all together. Our younger families don't get this like we all do. They don't understand aging at all. Daughter refuses to enter the lodge area because of the old folks. For us, it's home. Our son would love this life. Maybe he'll do it later. He has no idea that we live like this. But he is just starting to get on his feet in his 40's and he did it with Jesus. Jesus just knows what to do.
What to do on a rest day...
Explore Bethel's book store. I wanted to check out something I saw advertised on FB recently.
Update: Found it :) Got it and another one from Randy Clark on healing. He's at Bethel right now, this week. I found that if I know where his heart is in detail, I do these conferences better. There is so much to read at their bookstore. One of those things we have time now to do together. That's been a renewed share with us. I used to read to Steven as he worked on the car, before kids.
As Steven reclaims his place in Jesus as knowing Him in 3rd grade, but just carnal for a while, then being married and going off for 27 years on his own adventure and now having returned from it and assuming that third grade beginning again, I wonder about the growth aspect. Maybe being detained spiritually is just part of being a worker bee in the secular world. He's more open, but also very babyish (narrow) about his perspective of our place in Jesus on Earth. I don't see the growth that should be there over the years, but Jesus knows where he's coming from. The book I got today for us to read next places me in the beginnings of my art, painting, where Steven has been since he was young. We'll let a spiritual artist take us to a different level at the same starting point. It can happen :) I love the idea of growing spiritually as a full time activity. No distractions anymore. He reminds me so much of his eldest brother, kind of just sticking to one subject in life, his secular work. Maybe we need to do some housecleaning. Maybe our fun stuff is too worldly and takes up space. I don't know.
A leader recently said not to do these journaling things online. But this is private and not on social media. I hope he's doing it somewhere :) I don't have anyone to process with. Steven doesn't get this. He is grateful for his continuing miraculous life and doesn't go past the one subject, even whispering it as the answer to every question in our books. I wonder if that isn't what happened to his brother. If you refuse to grow, does your dialogue just stop in its tracks on that one favorite subject? Like if you make a face often enough, it'll freeze that way?
Here is another opportunity to go forward. With all these new things, books, experiences, I get very excited and get to learn new things. I don't miss out. I don't want Steven to miss out as we are doing these things together.
Later...
Steven naps. But we did things today:
Out to breakfast at Four sisters. Yum attack! Got the call he was expecting as we awaited our food. All is well. Another idea came to mind after they chatted :) A way to deal with things at 70.
Costco, ouch my feet.
Home to browse and think about things we've been putting off. Like a scooter for me. Or that podiatrist and PT referral for my back and shoulders. I suppose I should do these things while I can, before April.
Looked at RVs. Found another solution RV. How about a cushy traveling van with the added hidden popup? It's higher than the other kind we were looking at, when the thing is collapsed. Anyone looking inside can see that it's just a van. No longer than any other car on a driveway here...
Now, for sitting on our hands for a while...
This is a new day for us. Thank You, Papa.
Later... As we started to watch a lame movie found on Paramount, the eldest called. Poor crazy gal actually told me I was losing my mind. Sigh. Because I was fidgeting with my uncomfortable braces on the FaceTime. She taunted just like she did when we were young. Only I'm too far for her to beat up. Her hubby's hands have been full for years... Now she's losing it so much. I was reminded of mom's last days. She saw Jesus and enjoyed His company while her daughter did her mean thing (ignoring what she asked for and shouting orders). I assured her that end of life things are unpredictable and in the end, we are all responsible for making arrangements.
Other things have come up just today as we had our mystery solved to our advantage. There is a bit of mom cash coming to help pay for her final resting place that she insisted getting. I thought that was done, but it isn't.
Why the sudden contact? It was her birthday and I initiated a sibling chat to say happy birthday. The other siblings also said happy birthday. I somehow knew she would be in contact now. And she was. She didn't know how to do this. My brother's widow has called her for help with hubby's bonds. She wanted to tell me she wasn't ready. I assured her that nobody wants to deal with it. The eldest's answer is always no. It's all about her. I assured her that it was really all about our brother who died. Their long relationship. We are all a mess. It's not just her, but to her, it is and always has been. I assured her that the widow is in the worst spot. He was sick for 4 long years. She doesn't care about that. But she has talked with the stepmother, who is wicked and I gave her a clue. I wish she was nice, but she's not. She's been riding her, especially since he died. So mean.
So here we are. Humanity all ugly spread about. Jesus died for us because we just can't do right without Him. Thank You for Your great sacrifice. And for Your healing that happens when asked :) And sometimes eventually because we just don't know to ask.
Freshly showered after a week and a day---my hair is so dry, I hate to wash it. Then I remember my Emm, who had such dry hair, but also had liver trouble. Hmmm...
Made my online order of things I'm running out of, but can't get locally. Am trying new things for diabetes control. I think I'm okay because of the keto diet of low carbs.
Gimli goes in for a wash and squeeze today. I'm caught up with my gym routine, yay. Getting used to the new routine is a thing. I think it's helping to visualize my going in before I do on the scheduled day.
Dentist this week. They are trying to get my tooth project over with. My teeth aren't there yet. I wonder if it's because I don't use the electric toothbrush anymore. I like the new toothbrushes.
Today is fresh veggies day. Off to the health food salad bar with my own dressing in tow.
The donut shop experience stopped my digestion abruptly. Bad oil. That was last Friday. Four days later, I'm almost normal again.
Tomorrow is mystery #2 solve day.
Daughter had a nice bday and her bday twin appreciated the birthday wishes especially this year. She's learning social call from her siblings. When you just don't know what else to do, you look directly around you. Joe is teaching her, too. I've noticed her learning from me these last few years. Not her fault. She really tries. Can't be getting older and isolating even more.
Will be washing floors today, while Steven is out with doggy. He loves to just do stuff, but he's kinda hygiene-challenged like his mom. He'll say he did something when in fact, he hasn't because he didn't see the need. So that's where I come in. My mom washed carpeting and floors every Saturday. His mom waited for the washer to overflow to get the kitchen and just vacuumed the rugs when they seemed dirty. Otherwise, she brought in the dirt and horse leavings with her encrusted boots. Ew.
Later...
Ended up running Gimli to the groomer with Steven and he ran errands, mostly by himself. My feet wore out after doing the Nugget circuit. We hunted down portable salt things to bring our own salt. We got salads and used oil and vinegar. No sweet stuff added to our salads. Boo. That makes a difference for me. Parmesan crackers were good.
A friend has her 50th anniversary this year. The kids are planning something. I knew her right up until her youngest was born. He's about the same age as my daughter. Interesting family. We just seem to reconnect anyway. Our son sang in the choir her husband organized. I have a pic... Our common friend is estranged from both of us. Widowhood can do that, I guess.
Movie night. A bit late, but I've been able to do that lately, and still get to bed on time and wake up on time :)
Today we celebrate two birthdays in the family, so happy birthday! We celebrate birthdays with a breakfast at the lodge. In this case, it was for these peeps. One is grateful for the life of doggy that is still here :) I like that :)
Had my card fixed at the office. Don't put it in the same place as the phone, please. Okay, then... Our fav waitress celebrates her hubby's new job and we also celebrate our son's new company owner that will also boost his salary with profit sharing, yay.
So many things to be thankful for :)
Steven is off to the hardware store for legal bug stuff to put on the lawn. Saw a run of turkeys this morning by the lodge :)
Today would be a good day for a bike ride, I think. Wet weather and mosquitoes... I have bites this year that are not fun. Glad to have my meds for the reaction on hand.
Later... Just came home from the gym. Used the upper body seated weight machine with zero added weight. That worked out. Also used bands for upper body muscles. Also stretched on the table. Used my car cushion for sitting stuff. So much more comfy. The heart machine seat is bad. I think things are wearing out. Been here more than 2 years now. I feel the difference. It was enough and feels like another cup of coffee in the afternoon.
All the stuff I've been listening to on health all point to some kind of exercise, minus anything that bugs diabetes and therefore the feet. Steven's massaging my feet every night now.
I told Steven something that occurred to me of late. Surgery needs us to have muscle to ease the cutting and healing. At our ages, we easily lose muscle that can come back, but we need it to be there anytime these days. I love our gym. Only a few people there in the early evenings. The older folks tend to be asleep when we go, and we've noticed the gym being busy anytime from 6am to about 6pm. We can also use the dance room to dance. Not tonight. Steven can do one thing, but not the two. He already walks for an hour or more with Gimli in the mornings. I'm asleep at that time.
Orchestrating our exercise isn't too bad. Glad we took dance lessons for a year because we dodge each other in the kitchen every day. Easy to get out of the way in a pinch.
We missed one dance signup which is a shame. I had it taped on the breakfast bar, but we missed it anyway. Being February 23, we thought we had time... Oops.
Good Sunday service with my heart trending the same way as Bethel's heart. Even their wanting to bring us closer into the fold is great. I don't know if that's what we will do, at our age and at our place in health... They are looking for mobile folks and ones that can do more than we can at this point. Something to face, maybe something that can be understood and comprehended by Bethel folks.
Today is a playoff that we will view with daughter together from across the continent. Thankful that she's reached her next birthday across the country.
RV hunting resumes. Steven thinks maybe a vanagon will work because it fits in the garage. Wisdom of the builders of these communities. They make just enough room for a small RV to hide; a tent trailer or a van conversion that isn't higher than 7 feet. Voila.
Steven's napping. Did the gym today. Haven't remembered to do that. Had to tell Gimli to "leave it" so Steven can nap in peace. He's up once a night for him as it is. A nap isn't too much to ask.
How am I doing today? Listened to a talk about dementia from Dr Berg. Symptoms. Yikes. I get those when I don't get enough sleep. That doesn't count. Steven's slowness and having trouble finding words is something. I have to hit the brakes when he talks. Just wait.
Forgetting to remind baby sis to eat lately. Oops. Doing French here and there. Trying to stay present is a thing. Easy for me to fade.
Started doing the taxes today. Lost track of time, but feel like I got something done. This year required an all new spreadsheet because of the restart.
As I ponder our new location and status quo (whatever that means), I think about our dotage being the first time we are comfortably cared for, amidst relatives who have always been in this position. It's new for us. We've been like Lawnmower Man, clueless to this lifestyle and suddenly surrounded by it and those who were here long before us as we clunked down awkwardly in their midst.
Suddenly, we can help our desperate kids, while their cousins flourished these last 20 years of their adulthood. Weird to think that we were thrown to the wolves and survived so sparsely, until now. With our son, well, he suffered brain damage that affects his life. He doesn't want that disability status and the pills that comes with it. Good for him. He lives in a rental truck and has had that status for many years now. His job now has come after so many years of bad jobs, but he didn't seek retraining. His brain won't go there, nor did he believe he could pass any classes. Sigh.
Our daughter is high strung and would love to do massage school that costs serious money nowadays. It was once $800, but Obama laws made it so it was $23k. Many people hide in their livelihoods. Daughter won't hide. She's just frustrated by his naive laws. Son was affected by them as well. A crack mechanic with beyond normal skills, only college for him can fix it. Both can't do that. No brains for it. Therefore, the rich get richer, like the cousins; like Steven's siblings. White privilege life. When your white father decides to disown you in order to become rich, well, even a white guy can't get ahead. Look what it took for this white guy to not make it and to catch up. His health is affected. But the girls are happy and chatty having always been given everything on a silver platter.
Hard not to remember how we got here. You really have to push forward and not be afraid of the man who is your boss. Unless you have that paid for degree, of course. Paper talks.
Anyway, we enter this realm of living, our fault for moving to where people like his siblings would live. The difference is there is no dream place to go because we must stick close to the hospital who is trained painstakingly in his case.
I guess I don't mind. I'm tired. It's been really hard. Have the grandkids and enjoy yourselves, folks. I wonder how you did it while you saw what was happening to your bro? They're just glad he made it in middle age. Finally.
We didn't waste it. We learned lots of lessons, like this life is fragile. You are at the mercy of your parents. Then your parents are at your mercy. May we do them well anyway.
My kids are at our mercy. It would be fun to see them comfortable. That's what Nancy did for her kids. She saw to their comfort and they were so much happier in their own place. Nancy faded to the background, and maybe it didn't turn out as she wished, but she lived a very long life and got to see them succeed. That was nice.
So daughter needs to be certified.
So will need to prove he won't quit life again. It's easy to live in a van, but the outlaws there make it stressful. Would love to see him get his own place in the country. Maybe that will be next.
Alarm clock worked today and I was up and ready to go to the chiropractor and also check out a new donut place that was just the best. Took home half my breakfast sandwich. Who needs that much croissant? Can't believe we got croissants at this donut shop :) They gave us an extra donut that was yummy.
Got a mystery solved. All is well. Then our son called for emergency funds that we actually had to bless him with. Yay. His new schedule has kicked in after a 3 month transfer of ownership ordeal was resolved and he gets an up in pay starting in February. Awesome :) Funny when kids end up using skills that they got from home to make a decent living...
Next mystery to solve is coming up as well. We're all on a new adventure, it seems, at the same time :) Was biting my tongue to express my gratitude about it all at the BS group. Kinda silly for one couple who inherited and are flush as heck :) Love it when families bless kids, hence we get to do that for our kids. Being saved means we don't resist the enthusiasm to bless people, or be good to people, no matter what.
Smelled up the house with homemade diabetic/keto crackers. Mmmm... the smell is ahmazing. Almost cooled... These are great. That reminds me, I need to look up an electric grater for cheese. Steven's hands need a rest. We did discover that our mini food processor is just the right size for grating hard cheese like mozzarella and cheddar blocks. It never occurred to me to grate cheese to make a cheese ball. Duh :)
Listened to SugarMD a bit tonight. His snack recipe. Have to remember to get goat yogurt.
How am I doing? Happy today. Not preoccupied with at least one mystery that has good results. Adding to my grocery list for snacks. Steven loves his football season but needs help in the snack area. Who doesn't at our age?
One thing to remember is that along with this keto quality food thing is that fasting is a thing for it and to be careful with carbs anyway for diabetes control. I'm wearing my mosquito net, which is surprisingly hot. Steven's been down for 2 hours now.
How's caregiving for me? I'm okay. We have about 2 months to our April heart appointment and they will decide to do a third heart surgery/intervention/non-invasive or not. His tests last year cautioned him ready for this next appointment. He seems okay, except for that annoying set of new symptoms. Seems like these major fixes last 4 to 6 years. So pleasantly surprised at how much we are able to do on medicare. Just stick to the insurance that covers the great hospitals in the area. Pay close attention and you're fine. And that supplement is helpful as well. Tricky that it only supplements those procedures covered by Medicare. So far, it's reasonable in its limitations. Meanwhile, Steven got an advert for cremation services that he had to share, a bit awkwardly. Who wants to be thinking about that?
Had a cheap date at the Greek place. Tues and Thurs are 2 gyros for 1. Cheapest meal we've had in forever :)
Heard from my brother's widow, who is going forward her way, contacting me her way, etc. Just a time for me to listen. No problem if I remember that fact.
SS court date set for on Magda's bday. Ola's court date set for the end of the month. May we all be justified :)
I tend to process with Ola, but she tends to half listen. Easy to notice, at least I process sometime. Usually here.
French is so slow for me, but I do learn. MCT Wellness restarted this morning, after listening to Dr. Gundry go on about it. Forgot I had it here. Weaning onto it and will work up to 1 scoop from 1 tsp. So glad it's not coconut based.
Steven's newest bass learning book came today, yay. My new long sleeved tops will be here soon as well. Funny that he smirks when a package is at the door. "Most likely yours, since I didn't order anything," which is always wrong. My tops will come and I'm increasing my wardrobe with my new weight. Haven't been this small in decades. I still love my loose clothing.
Washing throw rugs for tonight. Gimli bugs me for attention while Steven manages the floors.
Hebrew letters being learned as they say to learn them; writing them out a hundred times. I'm past that now, but I appreciate writing things out. Flash cards work that way for me. It's not so much the oral repetition as it is the writing things out slowly.
Our situation is changing by next week sometime. Talked about putting off the RV, but Steven really wants to move that forward. What about hoteling it in Redding? Now, the rates are low. They go up with conferences happening. We do the conferences at half speed for full price to be with Gimli. Still have to know where to camp. While we can, we can actually hotel it.
Almost time for our BS to begin.
It's hard not to be excited about receiving, but I tend to avoid that. I don't receive well. I inadvertently practiced receiving at the dentist office yesterday. Would you like aromatherapy? Yes, thank you. What scent? People love lavender. Ew, not me. Peppermint will be nice, thank you.
Weird to receive, but that's eternity, full of receiving and giving. Thanks, Papa.
Up past the alarm that didn't sound today, I had thoughts of our son living with an old teacher's widow. It might work out. Seems like it should, but that's what I thought when he came last. He wouldn't work nor would he leave. His girlfriend was the same in attitude. I don't want this 80 year old gal to have to deal with him. He's still not shown me that he can be trusted to keep working after moving in. She knows him, too.
Later...
Had a good study. A linear one, but people like that here. Good for Steven to do something new. Good for me to need to let him. The vine and the branches.
Need to sign off for the night.
Thank You, Jesus. It's all about You.
Aligners have to stay in for another week, as of today. Oh well. Today is tooth cleaning day. Warm winter day here. Love it. Also an exercise day. Chewing on my chewy now. No given time for increase of those. It's a constant learning experience for my dentist. I like chewing longer, she's against it. Today, she's for it. She doesn't trust me when I say these aligners are in for 22 hours a day. Hate the weekly reminders to do it all these months long. Yes, dear, I am doing what you said. Too much like being with the siblings who insist I was something I wasn't. I'm sure talking to stoner bro convinces them. Hey, he's been stoned since age 12. He constantly brings up early teen stuff. The only thing little sis reminds me of is one occasion where I was hungry and took food. Malnutrition does that. Still dealing with the after effects. She knew that experience too, but didn't steal food. She was #5 and I was #2.
Not looking forward to today's cleaning with mean round gal. Ugh. I know there's a shortage since Covid19, and it's hard for my dentist to tolerate her as well.
Glad to be okay to do a birthday thing with daughter just before the day turns.
I forgot why I'm writing today. Sigh.
Tomorrow is BS night. Steven is ready for it. I was reminded that Smith Wigglesworth didn't take up his ministry until he was retired. I think my husband is doing that now. Makes me cooperate with stepping back. I'm ahead of him in so many ways because ministry was my life for these last 48 years. His was airplanes. It's okay to let him do what he likes with our group. College man style. I pray he can internalize what he's teaching as well. We've both been spirit-filled since the 80's. That's 40 something years... Time flies.
Later...
Dentist went so well, I wonder what's been up with little round gal since 2022? Maybe she went to retread school.
Steven is out fetching keto ice cream for tonight. We have two days before the solved mystery meat is in. Then we have the kind of known mystery meat for next week.
RV quest is slowing up for us. Seems that things are a bit different than we thought, for the better. Maybe we can wait. I think we forge forward because of our unknown near future. If that surprises us in any way, that will also make a difference with our future plans. This year brings with it end planning and differing insurance. We are happy to go forward. He's a good guy. He planned so much without me. It's good to know what's going on :)
Today, we checked out the Paris Baguette franchise near to us. Impressed by the decor, not impressed by anything else, really. Sigh. It's disappointing to find that you can make these goods at home and better. Too much bread. A smithering of spread of anything. Never had an apple tart so scant of apple. Almost couldn't taste it for lack of it at all.
But we tried. I dressed up French Style, which I kind of had pieces of. something stripped black and white vertically, and I was in good company. Will return for a coffee cake one day, but for takeout. It's huge for the forty bucks it'll cost. Steven would rather have BR. I can make a keto version of anything in there, but I was kindly reminded of things I've forgotten all about, like the rainbow cake. Again, so much bread for a basic egg sandwich. Cheese cake that was mostly cake.
Cake. Yeah. Just what I can't have. Brought home the cheesecake. Can pick at it, I guess. New York cheese cake is so much better. And instant cheeseless cheesecake is the best.
I thought about a french steak. Same as here, but with a wine sauce. Yeah, I can do that.
Found out a day early what this month's extra is and it's nice. In time to gift daughter for her birthday. Yay. It makes Steven redo the budget for this month in his own abstract way. It's okay, when I do it, it makes sense only to me, apparently. We are different, like our art work in class :) Sometimes people notice that.
My breakfast counter has taped on its edges the upcoming events we look forward to enjoying, one in April. The others in February. I think we're done for this month. How did that happen? Oh, yeah, the masked ball is coming up.
Listening to diabetes talks on YouTube and making sure I know what to do and take. I felt funny this morning, a bit dizzy, too. All these morning carb too meals need to be verified as okay, and I'm saying before 11am. Plus I take one diabetic supplement.
RV videos are fun. Steven won't be doing a custom RV. Looks like we'll find something that he can stand in. Can't break the bank. Fun to look. Others experimented with them and move on to their next RV. We'll take the previous one, sir, thankyouverymuch.
Meat day for us. Bison in the sink, defrosting the rest of the way. Mmmmm... when we eat out too much, it's because we're not getting the right foods.
Fun dressing up today. A muslim gal was dolled up in French attire today. We are such a diverse people :)
The gym last night was good for us, for me, since it's the only exercise I get, other than a 10 minute block walk in the evening, shrouded in my bug net. Feel good about the bug net. Even if they're in the house, I can just grab the bug net and not be bothered. I need to look up this biting mini moth looking bug.
Later... didn't find the bug. Don't know what to say.
Bison burgers tonight, badly done, thanks, Steven. Dealing with his brain these days isn't fun. Bad breakfast followed by bad dinner. Yuck. I'm hungry. Need protein. Didn't get much today, except for in the milk that had a lot of natural sugar. Good grief. Give me goat kefir, anyday.
He's put on notice. But he doesn't learn, so this beautiful meat is bleah. No wonder he doesn't want to eat it. My mom loves my cooking. He does, too, but he doesn't retain memory for doing anything newer than 20 years old.
Frustrated, anyone? Yeah. I'll be fine after I eat. I made veggies to go with the meat and sat down away from the cook. Nobody asked him. He's like a four year old who just does whatever and whenever.
Yay, for sleep! And we got to bed at 12:30am last night because we were shopping for an RV.
And we found a Freyda (Ford) similar to a vanagon camper, plus a Honda Element with a pop top. What? All this because of the CCR's here. It's okay, but we had to majorly adjust our wishes to avoid trouble. We don't want to get mad at the rule makers. They did warn us. We just didn't double check first.
Another football game to watch (for me to learn French) for Steven and daughter. Another subscription to join to get it that may or may not work... Anything to avoid high football viewing costs. Ridiculous.
Meanwhile we hunt leisurely.
Just went through the CCR's for our place of residence. Looks like we can only have something up to a ton (2000 lbs) on the driveway, unless it's a handicapped van and you have the sticker. Hmmm...
Now, I will see how much a vanagan weighs...
between 1800 and 2000 pounds. But that doesn't seem likely to belong here. There are other vans in driveways that are shorter in length that meet the 18 feet maximum length. Sometimes they are covered, sometimes not. I guess we're back to that 18 foot length, but not the ford at all. Too heavy. Steven thinks we'll be ready to get something in June.
So, June, eh? What shall we get? Will have to rent storage. Shouldn't be a problem. Can still stealth van out there, just not park in the neighborhood. He really wants to be able to stand up straight. Hmmm... Can we find something that will do that? For parking storage, we will have more options. There is one particular van we both like that isn't sold just yet. No popping up. No jack needed. Saw that creative up video :)
Saw also a history of SF, since its not too far away. Makes me not want to visit family there. Stay away from one district in particular central to the city. The rest is better. I guess it's okay. We can park on the street in a neighborhood without being noticed, since we are visiting a friend.
Well, we did learn that in all the camping styles we've experienced, the van is the best option. The Ford bubble top is great. Lots of other kinds of bubble tops out there. I'm happy to not have to pop up anything.
Steven says he can install a hydraulic lift kit on the sportsmobile. Or else, we just enjoy the newer hightop vans that can actually fit in a driveway. But they want them to be a maximum of 8 feet tall, with a handicap sticker. As it happens (ahem), an upcoming possible heart surgery may happen this summer, and maybe we can get that sticker. Don't want to think about it in those terms.
Haven't commented on our art classes. How do I feel about taking them for the first time in my life at this age?
I seem to be random about them. I try to follow the teacher's suggestions as much as possible. It's hard in this classroom situation with so many many distracted aging ADD students. Steven decided to pay more attention to the teacher in this last class and he says he learned some things, but the gal next to him got snared by the gal across from her about the bike club and that gal talked non-stop to her. She was too intimidated to not just let her time be consumed by that gal. Ugh. Plus the ADD gal told her the rules off the bike club and she was way off. Annoying.
So back to the painting experience... I try to follow the teacher, but when I copy her technique, mine comes out like the finger painting of a child. As I process through the time, I fix it pretty well. But like all my creative processes, I get better with time. Not just class time. This bugs me. I guess I can grow some patience with my way of doing things, but teachers in my past never did. Sigh.
The fact is that Unni likes both of our work and suggests that we teach this class together. Not likely. No work in retirement, says we.
And speaking of such things, we found a couple on YouTube who live part time abroad and change locations and go home, too. They have their cheaper house in the US and rent abroad for 4 months and really get to know the area. No need to drastically change everything. Why would we do that, since our families are here? Something to gnaw at. Steven liked it. As his health needs change, we can sometimes float a boat across some pond.
And speaking of health, these heart fixes last about 5 years and change. Because he's a survivor, we don't know what's next, but it would be nice to get out. Leave Gimli with daughter, who'd rather cross the pond on her end, which would cost us... Hmmmm... My favorite thing? A Bethel conference for a week or two, where we can camp on site with Gimli right there. We can take turns being with him. I wonder if that's possible.
I rolled in bed for a while. I may have slept, but now, I'm up, these 3 hours later.
I looked up the teaching for the bible study coming up on Google. Steven likes this one. He can teach.
Looking at all the different kinds of vans we can get. It seems that only the Sportsmobile will pass for a van in our driveway. One on an older Ford Econoline. We know those. Left ours with a needy guy in Maui. Our son longs to have it now. Maybe it will be for sale one day.
Being specific isn't a strong point in the intercession for my kids. It occurs to me that my son needs a place to live. His workplace needs to work out their paperwork so he'll be paid for his work. It was sold and the paperwork is in limbo.
Sooner needs healing. Jesus, grant me faith to heal his little body.
When I think of my little brother and our mom, I think of them together. We celebrate them together in Heaven. Her little boy, herself without an inkling of a bad memory of him, both in glory, is a great thing.
We got a boost a couple of days ago, but there was no notice. It came a week early. Only I didn't know about it. I have these things written down now. I just checked it.
Yesterday was such a long day for us. I figured out that we can do three things in a day, with rest in between. Otherwise, we are just too pooped out. Tonight, I'm up because I had a half glass of white wine this afternoon. Won't do that again. Paint n Sip is good without it. I was fuzzy through the thing and I'd rather not be.
We've got some terrific artists here. This place is really special, plus being in Cali, with sunshine all the time, there is little loss of Vitamin C. Cheery people are fun.
Later...
Up at 9am, with the alarm, yay. Vacuumed my bedroom, until the battery died, after the dust bin filled up once. Lotta dust here. Have a few days to bible study hosting, so will tackle things daily from here on. Need to just make a habit out of that.
Thought of a chore list for Steven last night, as we came in from a long day, then a dog walk. He wasn't thrilled to be busy today. I said we can start again on Monday. He snorted at that? Why, I asked. Because I said it. He likes to keep busy, managing all I used to manage, but it's on his fancy-to-do list only. Excuuuuse, me :) Whatever makes you adjust to your official, new 2024 schedool, dear.
Letting him do things I've always done is a good thing, but makes me lazy. Letting him do a bible study is new for him and he interrupts me to interject things that are my area of expertise. Hmmm, that takes some adjusting, too. Just not on the same page, when your life is filled with learning all things God and his is learning all things airplanes. Still is. I guess he's challenged by our BS peeps to do more. Then men have here; not the women. Sigh for that inequality. Sigh for the men barging in on the women who do.
Almost that time of revelation of the year for us. For getting a stealth type van for actually going places pretty much local. With Gimli, who just likes to be with us. Not really up on trusting others to see that he doesn't run off. Mom let him out the front door, like our old dog, who always came back. But she chased him loudly and freaked him out. He did come back, though :)
Getting used to the idea that I'm only 17 years younger than my godmother, and am looking just like her already :) She'll be mid 80's soon. What a concept.
Long Friday for us:
Chiropractor
Breakfast at Mimosa's
Paint n Sip (white wine!)
Rest (napping)
Dance
Better get to my nap. Steven's been at it for a while.
I might have met a gal with something in common, and we're the same age :) She even looks like my daughter :) She talked with Steven about her one week old trike and the gal across from her belongs to the bike club here. She sat on the other side of Steven so I craned around to interject comments about the bike. Like the two sided spring seat that accommodates these slanted storm-proof streets. Maybe we'll meet at the next Paint n Sip :) She's on foreign language websites learning Spanish. And it was her idea for the trike. Her dad is Spanish and her mom is French-speaking from Maine. They didn't want to teach their children to speak a foreign language so English was it, like me. I hope she's saved. Probably is. Too happy to be anything else. Not Jewish, I checked, since she looks like Amber.
Daughter invited us to a movie via phone share tonight. Nope. I declined. Need to dance tonight. We skipped last week. I'll stretch before we leave. Right hip is funky in this almost rain weather.
How am I doing? Sleeping, dreaming, too. Loving the interaction we are getting in more this week and since New Years Eve.
Just have to keep it going. Since we've both been looking at camper vans for the driveway, we've had something in common besides getting to the finish line this month.
We'll be praying for Sooner's recovery in the meantime.
Had a good conversation with daughter yesterday. She blurted out things on her mind that she's not wrong about, but that she just hasn't said for many years because she assumes I wouldn't be with her on it. Well, she's my flesh and blood and she grew up learning these things from me. The problem is that she doesn't remember well at this time.
Thanks, Papa, for putting up with the human race who loves You. Help us to put up with one another like You do.
Keeping it simple, so we can journey in peace. Not getting in another's race car we don't want to be on because we can't do that, especially at our age.
I'm looking like my godmother these days. No wonder mom got us mixed up :) My DNA leans toward the Jewish/Portuguese side. The eldest's is more Northern European like Dad. She looks like dad's family. I look specifically like mom's maternal side. Marty too. There's an entire family of Simmons who looks just like him. I miss him.
Enjoyed my eggs benedict with short ribs this morning and our mexican waiter, who just reminds me of where I come from. His voice is a bit high and his accent is definitely mexican. No potato. Nice smile. Not Colombian, but like the folks I grew up with.
It's nice to have something to look forward to. It's all new this year :) So glad we got an almost 2 year head start.
Living in France... I don't think I could do that. Visit, maybe. Live there? Smokey restaurants and people sick of tourists. My French may be a plus for a visitor. Spiritually, I wonder where they're at.
Paying attention to the clock is annoying, but necessary. Thus, I sleep :) A bit light, but still, it happens.
Steven's asleep. On the phone with life insurance folks to convert term insurance with the company, but it's $1400 a month for no questions asked insurance. It's used for hospice patients and buys 100k of insurance. Maybe later... For now, we just see. And shop.
The other thing is dental insurance. Went with a well known company. Will cover glasses too. $25 copay. We can do that.
Disability folks are a mystery, since the caseworker is out this week. Her sub thinks all is a go for this month and we really don't know what's up.
Weird to live without knowing facts until they actually happen.
Shopping for a motorhome, and will probably pay what we paid for the last one these 31 years later. Grateful.
Steven is stepping up to teach and also now finding subject material. Exciting for me, since I didn't isolate what to do before he did, and it was kinda perfect :)
Fun to anticipate what's coming: The Unknown that is a great surprise :)
Later... Movie tonight was Disney's Hercules. I forget that these movies are for adults, too.
Steven attempted a lemon cake. Tasted like bread pudding. Tried to put homemade jam on it. But it was fermented... I think there's some strawberry compote in the freeze... It's okay; we're not really hungry these days. Plus, his lower legs are losing all that iron deposit on keto.
Did the gym today. That was great. I gave up my heart bike for a new old gal so she could pedal beside her hubby. Both came with walkers. I wonder what their story is :) Got on the other bike and was fine until Steven came. Also did some chest lifting. Muscles need to come back. Suddenly, I didn't have any leg muscle. I was warned on YouTube by retirees to do the gym or else... Good advice.
How am I doing? I'm good. We have a paint class on Friday :) We don't drink wine, but the class is fun. Maybe I'll have a bit, though I know I'll sleep :) Unni is a good teacher :)
Must read the daily Bethel fast :)
It's day 3 of the Bethel fast. We haven't done the fasting part, but I do have it on my mind and we listen to the short video daily (when we remember, otherwise, we catch up). We participate as we can. It's our people. I dream of living close by, but it's okay. Would be happy to find people here...
Thinking of mom today, of the absolute end to her health ailments that happened months ago. Her brain is good, her body is healed. While my sister visits her grave, I thank God for her new life in glory.
I couldn't fall asleep last night, until I got up for a half hour and yawned; my signal to try again. I think I was too warm last night. But I prayed and played some language games and was back in bed, rolling around, breathing routine done, tried to count backwards, but was too tired.
Today, I thought was a dental cleaning, but that isn't until next week. Tomorrow is my aligner check. Will I be done? Will see :)
Today, we fulfill the grocery list, first at the best natural store we have here. Then, we do other things. Need goat kefir to make the liver shake that will last. Extra blueberries, extra kale needed too. I just remembered not to use strawberries. Not good for a brain leak.
Two gals on the worship team yesterday: One like daughter, one like Elena. Could it be? Nothing is impossible with God.
This is where I go to state my daily thing during the day. It's time for transitions.
The alarm clock is working good for me. I don't always remember to set it and I almost wake up naturally at the right time now.
Good sleep last night. Maybe it's having the liver drink with goat kefir that is helping. Only had 1/4 serving yesterday. We are both supposed to be having 1 cup of kefir each. I've only done 1/2 serving, ever. I think it's time to up the game with this. It tastes really good, like cold broccoli soup. It reminds me that with this Vitamix blender, I can actually make cold broccoli soup, using frozen broccoli, which is another thing to be eating.
This year's discovery about nutrition:
Buy fresh veggies, freeze them to release more goodies, then put them in the blender. The taste is really good. Even kale in the liver drink has a better taste. Maybe that's the blueberries with it?
Good stuff, great stuff :)
Today is Sunday. The week begins with this rest day and Bethel TV. Yesterday, I got an invitation to actually attend Bethel in person :) That was nice.
Church was so good today. First Sunday, a week of fasting and praying with all of us at some point participating. Didn't know Kris had two kids struggling. Need to know we're not alone. Something to ponder. The best culture possible for kids, still, the struggle is on.
Dinner, tuna, cod liver and oil, a keto wafer, cinnamon, for dessert, extra sourdough slice with olive oil butter for dinner, mmmm... Satisfied. Grateful.
Thinking of what to do for the fast this week.
Teeth cleaning tomorrow, ugh. Don't care for the attitude of the hygienist. Almost done with the teeth.
Eyes on a campervan presently. It's got the popup that would be convenient for camping out downtown near the hospital. Steven wants the already up popup like we had in Hawaii. Not convenient for me, being the aide waiting on him at the hospital multilevel parking structure. Plus, I have Gimli with me on those long events. He doesn't want to have to jack it up with his titanium chest, but we have yet to know how heavy that is, or if it is hydraulic jack aided. Will find out :)
This particular van has the sportsmobile top, so it shouldn't be a piece of plywood for a bed up there, but it is. It's a van conversion with nice homemade cabinets that only rise to the bottom of the window, so sitting and cooking is a thing. I would raise it up for our altitudinal bodies. He thinks that's an idea. T'he van gets great mileage at 15mpg with a small V8. I think we're good. Easy to park on the driveway with being kinda stealth. Love the walk around with no question of headroom when parked.
Later... Just looked up the sportsmobile popup top. Doesn't look heavy to lift, but also comes with an auto lift top. The whole thing goes up. Mercedes uses sportsmobile popups in their van conversions. Good quality. Makes me like the one we're liking more. But Steven still likes the poptop better. More built ins and storage. Doesn't matter because we're in the market when we can do something about it. Meanwhile, the funds are partially inaccessible.
Today, we celebrate Dan's birthday and Steven's official new status. Yay.
And to begin the day, I had a slow start. I forgot to set the alarm for 8am. Steven woke me up he says at 8:05am. That's a lie. I was up and around a half hour later because I was searching for my new shirt that should have been washed by now. Nope. He watched me search for something as I looked.
He came in the room and woke me up late, admittedly, then left. He'd been out for over an hour walking Gimli. I must remember to set the clock in the morning for the next morning.
The shirt? Didn't find it anywhere. So where is it? He just nods and says it's not washed yet.
He's losing it. I don't need to be mad at him. He can't help being this way. Always a loner, never admitting it, his heart needs another operation as he's leaking a lot now. April? But his heart pills keep his BP very low which makes him move slowly and keeps him "high".
We'll leave in a bit. In time for my meds to kick in and then I can eat without the lemon/ginger morning drink. Nyah. Will take that before. When he wants to do something, it means now and I ignore my entire morning health routine that keeps me alive. And him, too. The lemon/ginger is for cleaning his liver that is not doing well. For me, well, it's diabetes and my liver that will be biopsied soon.
Can't eat out often for our health sake, also recommended, since only we can control the oil we intake.
Maybe I'm just thinking of Diane and her hubby, who having all the money in the world, ended up getting yanked from retirement and put into separate lockup homes. Parkinsons and advanced dementia controled by Sutter Health, which, apparently, sucks, according to their youngest son who is in the middle of this disaster. I have the neighbors praying, I hope. Brought it up at the meeting on Thursday. Nobody else prayed for them. I think people freeze here when they hear of another event like this one.
Anyway, we also looked up dates and got updated on other things we are beginning to forget. I'll be watching YouTube videos for ways to improve the memory. And keep my eyes up for it.
When these things clog up the brain, I need to remember to keep my eyes up.
Thank You, Papa, for all these blessings:
SCR
Protection and the ability to pray for my area
Knowing better is so vital :)
You. It was fun just having my eyes up last night.
For my new books this year: Messianic bible, The Real Faith, and the daily devotion by B. Johnson that is the sequel to the other one from years ago :) Steven didn't know we had that one.
For my wall of pics. My own family that is different and also great. I love that You chose the Hebrews and that I am one of them. I love that evangelism started with Adam and Eve. I love that it continued with Moses and on to David and Jesus. Messianic Jews are the best. I can see the royalty of it. They know how to treat everyone best. And their testimony is deeply rooted. And I'm this inside outer believer in Jesus that gets to know it :)
Thanks for new things this year. Help us keep our eyes up. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Oh well, I tried to sleep. Long day yesterday, plus I ate badly at dinner and didn't have enough protein yesterday.
It bugs me that one of our couples insists on controlling the study by deciding for us that we should study one thing through the year. Sigh. Bossy at work, bossy in retirement. Ack.
That said, today is Friday. Probably will try to dance tonight, after having gone to the chiropractor.
Steven expressed that he has a gift for resolving conflicts that began at work. He told stories tonight as we went through tonight's chapter in B. Johnson's book.
Praying for Diane to be released from the lockup ward and be taken off the meds that are making her brain not cooperate. Nice gal, just stressed with her sick hubby.
Gimli didn't seem to mind our being gone so long yesterday. But he was glad we came home and licked us a lot the rest of the day. Then we had our study...
How am I doing? Learning a lot about retired people who continue to work in their minds while they should be enjoying the recreation it brings.
I'm excited to see what our new lives will be like come the end of these months. Looking forward to company from LA and all that jazz.
Looking forward to getting a stealth RV for the driveway and hoping we'll remember to turn off the propane for that slant on the driveway.
Grateful that the fire wasn't serious enough to cause the neighboring houses damage. It was serious enough to send the couple to temporary housing while the inside insulation in the roof is completely changed and the garage is rebuilt. Yikes.
And tomorrow has to be back to routine :)
Steven's liver results came in tonight. He'll have more tests done. He's borderline liver density on the hard side and they found polyps. I've got him on Tudca in the mornings, just to thin his bile. All things come from having thick bile. I'm on Tudca 2x a day. Should have been on that all my adult life. Better late than sorry.
I feel weird at night sometimes. Like I'm suddenly fading out. Don't know what to say about that. It's a new thing.
Bible study tonight, will Bill teaching. We'll be doing a parable for the next BS in 2 weeks. Have to let folks know which one we'll do. Good times and thankful for having believers nearby to bounce our thoughts off of and to be alert to local prayer needs.
Spent the afternoon checking out two thrift stores in the next town. First one was new, and not so good. Second one was better. We just didn't need anything. Ola might like it. It reminded me of Savers in WA. Nice to remember not to be overspending on things we already have. Keep the house junk free :)
We have stuff to do this year. Have four posters up to remind us of things coming up, especially the pre-paid things.
Bad dinner at La Bou today. A loaf of french bread (they think it's a roll) for a sandwich of a bit of avocado, cream cheese and lettuce. Sheesh. Good mocha decaf though.
Neighbors had a garage fire just two doors down from us on the backside of a wooden fence. Yikes. We are all very closely situated in these garden houses. Electrical fire in the garage. People in their 70's don't need to be going into the attic to investigate...
Diane and Bob on prayer alert. Diane needs to be out of captivity now, in Jesus' name, Amen.
Except when I didn't sleep deeply?
Steven hit the big department store this afternoon. I didn't feel like going and he likes to hit the road alone at times. I stayed home and updated and refreshed myself on health. Mark Hyman is from the Mayo Clinic. He's good with keto along with Dr. Berg, the chiropractor turned researcher. Good to be refreshed.
From Dr. Berg came a decent liver cleanse drink for us. Steven's liver is a bit off now, so he'll have the full workup soon. Meanwhile, I read up on what it could be, since keto cleanses. Okay. While he was a Walmart, I had him fetch stainless steel thermoses to store extra water in the house and a couple for his van that only has plastics in it. I washed, filled and threw away our plastic extra water bottles today. It was mentioned to get rid of plastic leeching containers to clean liver. Ack. Now it's done. Toxic gas products in plastics. Maybe I thought I could avoid that fact. But it's time to finish the cleanse.
The doc doesn't think Steven's numbers are so off and it's unlikely a problem, just elevated good fat levels due to keto dieting. But we make sure and move forward.
So I was up a while last night (as exhausted as I was from the bug bite and no sleep), my brain whirling the information I've amassed about healing the liver, got up and researched a bit. I'm satisfied. Whatever his heart meds and condition have to do with this, he's on the best diet program there is. Except for those plastics that were the last things to go.
We're all set. Stainless steel in the cars for water.
Some stuff has been transferred to us, and we will add that to whatever else we get this year.
I'm seriously thinking about France again :) How much further our money will go there, getting something for the kids to have, but how far away it all is from the rest of the family... They'll just have to visit. I know they will.
Meanwhile, we enjoy new books and learn new things. Always a plus for a hobby.
Not only did I sleep, but I was up with the alarm at 8am, so we could try going to breakfast here before it ended. Made it before 10am, but just barely. Our favorite waitress was there. It's the first day of our community activities signup so we were there for that. First time :) Steven signed us up for the masked ball this month and we ran into our bible study friends, who don't dance because her guy doesn't like that. He'd like ballroom dancing, though. Maybe. Who knows? They were tired from golfing by 10:30am, so were there for the browse. I told her about my swollen eyeball so she wouldn't be afraid it was infectious. She did ask about meds for it. I told her I had them already, since bug bites seem to be a thing here. But it isn't an antibiotic... She checked me a few times. Good to have a retired nurse around :)
Here we are, making it to 2024 :) Steven is here nine years after his heart exploded. Every day is a gift. I'm here 12 years after my heart failure. Supposed to be around for the duration :)
Rose Parade for a bit today. A football game at 2pm, we are just discovering how the internet works with live TV, since we don't watch TV, as a rule. Things will change this year:
1. A year older seems to age me a lot this year.
2. Different finances and even a year of something more for an emergency.
3. A campervan that fits on the driveway easily so as to not annoy the neighbors. Others are doing this and it's working out :)
4. Older kids this year :) Adam's life is not settled yet, though he's working on it. His company changed hands and forgot to pay their people. Oops. That happened once in this house.
5. Bethel's new meeting house will be half done this year.
6. Daughter added a new dog to care for. How special is she :)
7. Jordan is a new mama.
8. My braces come off this year, and the rest of the fix will start soon :)
9. Gimli is a year older. He seems fine and should live a long time :)
10. No more parents this year. This means that either we gather as siblings or not.
11. Possible heart operation for Steven, and he'd rather be healed by Papa's faith.
12. New books read to change us forever. Glad to have the right books :)
