Couch Looks Inviting

     Mom and Dad Smith's apartment complex had a fire. The building right next to them is destroyed, but their's was safe. Thank You God! Got me thinking though... How horrible for all those Seniors and handicapped folks that only have social security or disability for income, with probably no renter's insurance of any kind. No way to replace their belongings or get another place to live. Many with no where to go. Several lost pets in the fire (possibly their only companion in their old age). Paints a desperate and oh so sad picture. On the plus side: there were no casualties and only a few minor injuries. A miracle in itself considering that it happened at 11:30 pm. Sooo keeping these Dear People in my prayers. Sending lots of positive thoughts and energy that direction.
     Dad Smith is recovering well from his knee replacement surgery. The physical stuff is going well, but we are concerned re his mental health. He's just not himself anymore and is confused a lot. His sense of humor and quick wit is sorely missing. Joey is at the hospital several hours each day. Sometimes they play checkers, but most times it's just to sit and watch tv together while Daddy snoozes between therapy sessions. I would love to spend more time with Daddy too, but I'm thinking that with my immune system dealing with the chemo-therapy right now it probably wouldn't be too smart to be hanging out at a hospital. Even though it is in the re-hab unit; the germs are there. Why push it?
     Experienced a minimum amount of side-effects this week when I started the shots. Just seem to be tired all the time. We'll see how it goes and I'll keep ya'll posted.
     Think we have buyers for some more of our bigger items. YES!! Don't know what we would have done without Craigslist.... it's amazing! Need to use what energy I can find to get the rest of our stuff gone through to get ready for the next yard sale. We made about $300 at the last one (not counting our big ticket items). Not bad for "stuff". Kept what was left to throw in with the next sale. So much to do and all I want to do is curl up on the couch (which is for sale too if anyone is interested...lol) and read a book. I'm really looking forward to getting things moved into the 5er I'll know just what I have left over to get rid of. Planning on moving it into town by mid July to start loading it up. Fun, Fun, Fun....!

What I'm Reading:
"Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins (ok, so I still haven't really gotten a serious start on this one cuz I got sidetracked by a "new to me" murder mystery series, but I'll try to get back to this soon. ok so it just might sit on my kindle awhile longer while I explore my new fav author: Ms Evans)

What I Just Read:
"Artifacts - A Faye Longchamp Mystery" by Mary Anna Evans (#1 of 7 archaeology student sleuth series set in Florida. Good murder mystery with lots of colorful characters and twists along the way. good read. will defiantly read more from this series.)
"Relics - A Faye Longchamp Mystery" by Mary Anna Evans (#2 of 7 Ms Evans has me hooked! I love the way she paints pictures with words, develops great characters and spins a yarn well. I"ll be moving onto the next book in the series soon. These books do tend to build on each other, but I think they could be read out of sequence without much problem.)

What's On My Needles:
Just finished another hat for the Baptist Seaman's Mission. Think I'll do some pretty chemo hats next for the ladies. The colors and patterns I've been using for the men's hats are Sooooo boring! At this rate I shouldn't have any problem reaching my hat a week or 52 hats for charity in 2012 goal.

Quote For The Day:
"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." Marcel Proust

"The Mad Hatter:  Have I gone mad?
Alice: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are!"

Full Days

     Lot's of medical stuff going on. Joey's Daddy had knee replacement surgery Tuesday. Pretty big deal with him being 89 years old, but he came through it like a real trooper. That man's strength is amazing. It sure made for a long day for Joey. He was up by 3:30am  to pick Mom and Daddy Smith up by 5:30 to take them to the hospital for his scheduled surgery of 8:30. As it turned out, they weren't able to do the surgery until about 2pm ish. Then Joey stayed there with his Daddy through the night to make sure everything went ok. He's been at the hospital with him the greatest part of every day since. The way he honors his parents is just one of the many reasons I love that man. Daddy Smith is recovering well and is being moved to skilled nursing area of the hospital later today. God is Good!
     I had another appointment with my Rheumatoligist Tuesday. She gave me another steroid shot in my left hip bursa. Feels so much better now, but man o man those needles hurt like the devil going in! The last time I was in to see her she had given me a pile of information to read about some of the more aggressive treatments that are available for Rheumatoid Arthritis. The one that we decided on is called Methotrexate. It is actually a drug that is used for chemo-therapy, but has shown itself to be very effective for RA. I start giving myself the injections Saturday. We'll see how that all goes and I'll keep everyone posted. We were scared that it would be horribly expensive, but with insurance (thank you God) my co-pay was only $2.92. Two Dollars and Ninety Two Cents.... !!! Now That I can deal with, huh? Amazing!
     She ordered an ultra sound of my hands and wrists for Wednesday and I'll get the results on my next follow-up appointment. They managed to pull 6 vials of blood out of my cruddy veins. They need to do some more protein splitting and develop a base line for my liver function. The chemo type meds they are giving me can have an adverse affect on my liver so need to keep a close eye on it. They'll do a retake on my next visit. She also renewed my script for more physical therapy...yippy, skippy...
     Planning Lasagna feed for Father's Day. All the kids will be home with us. Not an easy feat with the weird work schedules they all have.

What I'm Reading:
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins (gotta see what all the buzz is about...lol)

What I Just Read:
"This is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes" by Marilyn Berger (The story of one person making a HUGE difference in Africa esp Mother Teresa's clinic in Ethiopia. This man is truly an inspiration. We, as Americans are SO blessed. There is a place at the back of the book that tells where people can send donations where the entire amount of gift goes to help his work unlike so many "nonprofit" charities.)

"Messages" by John Michael Hileman (Christian fiction, good read, page turner, adventure story)

"To Love Anew" (Sydney Cove Series #1) by Bonnie Leon (Interesting historical Christian fiction set in early 1800's London and then Australia with focus on the prison system. Good read. More focus on story instead of romance. My interest in history is higher than vicarious romance :-) )

What's On My Needles:
Still knitting hats for the Baptist Seaman's Charity. Using up yarn AND doing some good.

Quotes of The Day:
"Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul." Democritus

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat." Mother Teresa

Thanks for stopping by
Be Blessed!

It's Really Real

Sold my Pfaff Serger yesterday, so now I know it's really real!

Funny how a person holds onto things. I just had to have ___ (fill in the blank) years ago for ___ (whatever reasons, again fill in the blank), but now I've found it just doesn't fit into my life/space/dream. Many of the items that are finding their way onto Craigslist were "have to have" items at one time. Used for the intended purpose then just left to sit and collect dust. Going through my cupboards for the upcoming yard sale is showing me just how many things fit that description. When I look at them with my "get real" glasses on I can see that they are of little or no purpose any longer. If I don't need it, love it, use it, then I have to lose it. We don't have room in our new home for anything that doesn't fit that criteria. Yet I find myself clinging to some things that have fulfilled or outlived their purpose many years ago. Am I hanging onto unrealized potential or dreams of what could have beens? No matter. There's always a shop somewhere that will have a replacement "whatever", if I should find I need one down the road. For now though; the cash in our pockets means a whole lot more than paying storage for useless stuff.

What I'm Reading Now:

"This Is a Soul - The Mission of Rick Hodes" by Marilyn Berger

The story of Dr. Rick Hodes and the wonderful work he's done at Mother Teresa's clinic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but more importantly his living example of altruism. Another inspiring instance of how one person can make a difference.

What I Just Finished Reading:

"Wild Goose Chase" by Terri Thayer

Simplistic murder mystery. (Nancy Drew grows up to be a quilter). I won't bother with this author again. Too bad, because the premise sounded great. Just not enough meat on the bones for me though.

"Letters of a Woman Homesteader" by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

Pioneer diary format through old letters. Interesting insight into the difficulties of such a life. 

Quote(s) for the Day:

"A useless life is an early death."

"All things are only transitory."

"knowing is not enough, we must apply

willing is not enough, we must do.."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It Pays to Shop Around

     As "D-Day" (as in Departure from this lifestyle) fast approaches, I find that there is a ton of stuff to do to get ready for this new life we are moving towards. One of the biggies for us was to obtain some quality, comprehensive insurance for the RV before we hit the road full-time with it. I got on the internet and started scouting the market. I read blogs of other rv'ers and lots of reviews and comparison articles. What I found was that there are a multitude of companies out there offering a huge range of prices for basically the same amount of coverage. Then I kept reading about one that seemed to stand out for the full-time lifestyle. The Good Sam Club offers an insurance coverage thru GMAC Insurance that seems to be everything we need. In fact they proceeded to amaze me with WAY more coverage on the 5-th wheel AND truck then what we currently have with Progressive with a savings of $640.00 per year. I can think of a lot of things I'd rather spend that much money on then stinky ole insurance that hopefully we will never need.

    Time seems to be rushing forward at a remarkable rate. I'm still busy with Physical Therapy 3 days a week and the recovery from it. We have Granddaughters over as much as we can, and we try to do as much as we can for Joey's parents. Time is slipping away from us though. When all this started the big day seemed to be so far out in the future, but now we realize that it's coming up fast. Only 2 months until we will need to be completely out of this house and into our trailer with a few precious treasures stowed away in a Small storage unit here in Corpus.

     My current mission is to find an rv park nearby that we can move the trailer to so that we can start getting it ready that has 50 amp hook-ups at a reasonable rate. A/C has become a necessity as we are dealing with 90+ temps daily now. It's nice to have the free parking out at the in-laws in the country, but their power outlet that we use there doesn't let us use the A/C and fans just aren't cutting it anymore. Heat is one of the things that affects Joey's migraines so we have to always take that into consideration.We'd like to be into the trailer a bit before we have to be out of the house so we have time to finish selling off the "left-overs" and clean.

     This is all SO huge! No regrets, but this is kind of scary, esp with all the health issues we both deal with. Joey's headaches have been much more frequent lately, leaving him completely incapacitated at times. The disease is progressing, and is showing us that time is steadily marching on. If we want to do these things, time is of the essence.

     Still weeding through all the belongings/trash/treasures that all seemed to be so important to me at one time. Amazing how our priorities can change in such a short period of time. While dealing with such profound health problems, we have seen that the quality of this limited time we are allotted on this earth is our true priority. Carpe Diem!

What I'm Reading:

• "The Search Committee" by Tim Owens (Christian fiction book about a church that has formed a committee to find a new Pastor. The story leads the reader through the lives of the people that appear to be searching for more than just a leader for their church. So far, so good. free on kindle)

Just Finished Reading:

• "Wrecked" by Elle Casey (a huge disappointment, but of course I had to finish reading it...lol. Blue Lagoon just about sums it up. Hormonal teenagers shipwrecked on an island... need I say more? free on kindle)
• "Montana Morning" by Sharon Flesch (Middle aged widow in Montana that finds her true calling. Some romance, but the true essence was the realization that time is too short to be living your life according to what you believe others want you to be/do. Pretty good read. free on kindle)
• "Ruby" by Lauraine Snelling (Story of overcoming obstacles, I'm seeing a theme here, set in South Dakota Pioneer times. Think I'll follow this Christian writer further. Nice story telling. free on kindle)

Quotes of the Day:

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." J.R.R. Tolkien, the Lord of the Rings

"A day dawns, quite like other days; in it, a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime faces us." Maltbie Babcock

About the Same

     It's been forever PLUS several days since I've blogged. Seems like I don't write because I don't feel that I have anything profound to say. After having read several other blogs on a regular basis I'm starting to realize there are a whole lot of other folks out there that don't have much to say, but darn if it isn't interesting to see how other people live their lives. Social Networks have become the new soap operas of yesteryear (with maybe a little bit more reality...lol). Guess I'll just write what comes to mind and try to keep ya'll fairly current with our goings on.
     We haven't been out to the trailer near as much as we'd like to, but seems like every weekend something comes up. I have one more month of Physical Therapy, then we won't have to just plan on weekends. Have a lot of stuff to do there (and esp here) to get ready for the "big move". Would like to get all the drawers and cupboards at the trailer wiped out and put the non slip shelf liner in there before we get too carried away with stowing our gear. Need to cover the shelf for the coat closet (used to be the laundry room until we removed the W/D) with contact paper and re-install it along with the clothes rod. Probably will add some hooks and such, but will wait until I see just what is going to go in that closet. Still deciding about window coverings. The shades are really stiff and hard to use. Had a thought about using beeswax on the cords to see if that helps. Even with the night shades pulled there is still a lot of light that gets in during sunny days. Need to find a way of totally blacking out at least the bedroom for Joey when he has his headache days. Will post pictures of how this all works out.
     As for what's going on here at the house: Still trying to figure out how 2 people can accumulate so much "stuff" in only 7 years...HA. Amazing how it piles up. I need to figure out what causes this so I can stop it from taking over our trailer. It seems to be some type of insidious disease, a virus perhaps? All I know is I need to find a vaccination for the future, cuz once these boxes of items are gone I don't want the vacuum to be filled with more of the same. Have several items on Craigslist (there will be many more) and planning on at least 2 yard sales before this is over. Final "out" date is planned for the end of July when our lease is up here. By then we should have a good idea of where Mom and Dad Smith's health and living issues are at.
     That's about all I've got for now, but I'll try to keep things posted more frequently.
Thanks for stopping by... Be Blessed!

Inside-Out Thinking

     As I was downsizing some kitchen cupboards yesterday, it dawned on me that so many of those "get organized, reduce clutter, get your s**t together" books might have it all wrong. The majority of them say to go through things item by item and make a decision... I like the Treasure (special, I Need this item), Transfer (donate or sell), or Trash (dump it) method, but maybe I need to rethink this. I'm beginning to envision a personalized version of a yard sale. An example is called for here. Visualize opening a cabinet or closet. Now you "Keep the Best and Get Rid of the Rest". Go shopping in your own closet. What would you buy if you were at a yard sale or store? What would you value? Pull that out, and toss everything else. One book I was reading came close to this by saying that you take everything out of a given space, and only put back what you absolutely love and know that you have a definite use for. Maybe a combination of these ideas would work. All I know for sure is that this house is full of stuff that is not going to fit into a 5th wheel trailer no matter how it's stacked. I'm not willing to pay a fortune for storage for anything extra that doesn't hold a lot of personal value. So many of the things that are taking up space in our home now have very little purpose in the best life that we want to live now. Carry overs and memories, hand-me-downs and things we just had to have then don't pertain to our current lifestyle or the one that we are creating at this time of our lives. So, in essence, the focus needs to be on our Treasures (the things we truly value in our lives), not on the Trash (clutter, the stuff that keeps us from living our best lives now).

What I'm Reading:

• Dante's "Inferno" - World Literature class.
• Reimagined: How amazing people design lives they love (and what they can teach you!) by Ian Breck   (Awesome read! helping to see what the best parts of my life are, and how to build on that. Probably influenced my thought processes for today's blog entry in relation to my "stuff".)

Just Finished Reading:

• Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif   (Wonderful coming of age story set in Vancouver Island, BC. Deals with bullying, death, abuse, relationships, life and love... wow! Highly recommend this one.)

Quote of the Day:

"Embrace your past and it's lessons, and allow it to propel and motivate your journey to a more wonderful life." Ian Breck

Climbing Out of The Rut

Physical Therapy has now become Attitude Adjustment. Having completed my first week of torture/therapy, I find myself having a minor epiphany. (Would that be an epiphanette?) I went into my session yesterday feeling sorry for myself, and thinking that the therapists were all focused on contriving new devises of torture to inflict on my diseased, aching body. Somewhere along the line I began to realize that they were on my side. They were there to encourage me to take back my broken body and reclaim my life. aHa! Inspiration struck like a bolt of (albeit dull) lightening.

I began to see patterns and habits. My best female friend once summed this up quite well when she said, "I'm not just living in a rut, I've started decorating!" When faced with major obstacles or painful situations in the past, I've had a tendency to lock myself away; crawl back into my lion cave to lick my wounds. Eventually I would come roaring back out, but not until I had spent a considerable amount of time closed in and shut off from everything and everyone. One of the bright spots here is that I'm seeing myself bounce back out of that kind of thinking faster these days.

My mantra after my bypass surgery was "if not now, then when?" I used this phrase to take me from a broken body before to recreate a new and a wonder filled life. Now I see that I am set at the precipice of a new chapter of this life, and once again my body is betraying me, holding me back... but only if I let it. I can become the victor or the victim. It's my choice. I can wallow in the pain and frustration and let all our dreams and plans be swallowed up in the infinite vat of self pity or I can come roaring back out of my Leo cave and claim all the good that God has gifted me. With my armor of gratitude securely in place I step into my future.

Yes, therapy is painful, but I can do this. I can stretch those tender muscles and exercise those aching joints until I have achieved the ability to step out of my comfort zone. One foot in front of the other as I become the person that I need to be to fulfill my potential. As the Phoenix rises from the ashes, so shall I rise up and grab hold of the golden ring that is placed before me. I may scream, groan and complain, but I will overcome this obstacle and move forward to claim the prize. My new mantra comes from building on past victories. "I've done it before, I can do it again" as I climb out of the oh so familiar rut.

"Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength."   August Wilson

"For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds saith the Lord," Jer 30:17