What a difference a few days make!

When I last posted here, it was bitterly cold with subzero temperatures for quite a few days.  As I'm writing this at 3:15 pm, it's 62 degrees! 

This morning I attended the funeral of the husband of a dear friend; he had suffered from depression a long time, and last Monday he took his own life.  The funeral service was really beautiful; their two daughters had each written tributes to their father and read them, and the pastor had a sermon about how nothing can separate us from the love of God.  The manner of his death was not avoided, but he had been well loved and respected by many and the church was filled to capacity.

I've finished my Christmas shopping, everything is wrapped and under the tree.  On Christmas Day the whole family will be at the home of Paul's daughter Janette; we will have a feast and it will be a fun day.  On Christmas Eve we will be going to church; this is something I always like to do.  Our church has a puppet ministry and they usually perform on Christmas Eve and they are wonderful. 

So now I'm doing the laundry, and resting a bit, as after the funeral I did a little shopping and that always tires me completely.  I have an electric wheelchair, and we have a lift in our van, but I don't know how to operate it and so I seldom use it when I go shopping, but when I do - it makes everything so much more enjoyable.  I know Paul would drive me to the store and pick me up again later, but I always think I should still be able to get around without the scooter, and then I get very tired.

Still cold.....

This is the longest streak of sub-zero temperatures in Colorado's history.  It has really been cold!  But it hasn't kept me at home all the time; on Friday I went Christmas shopping, and yesterday I went to a ladies tea.  Today is church, and afterwards we're invited to the home of some friends to watch the Broncos play Tennessee here in Denver; the predicted temperature for this afternoon is 12 degrees.  At least that's 12 degrees above zero!  The good thing about all of this is that I'm retired and I no longer have to leave the house at 7 a.m., get in a cold car and head off to work.  Such a blessing to be able to stay home where it's warm!

Brrrrrrrrr

That's all I can say this morning.  It's cold outside!
The sky is blue, the sun is shining, but it's about -10 where we live. 
Fortunately, we are retired and we don't have to leave the house if we don't want to.
The house is nice and warm, thanks to a roaring fire in our fireplace (and of course a very good furnace).  And warm clothes. 

It will not warm up for a few more days and I'm hoping I won't get stir-crazy in the meantime.
On Saturday afternoon I'm going to a ladies tea - no matter how cold it is!
After all, during my working years, I always got out in this kind of weather.
And - I grew up in South Dakota where it gets REALLY cold.

Actually, this is unusual for this part of Colorado.  We have had winters here where I never once put on a pair of gloves.  And once this huge cold air mass moves away from us, it will be back to the pleasant Colorado winter.

Thanksgiving

This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day, and we have much to be thankful for. 
Most of all, I am thankful for my husband's successful heart surgery, and very thankful for the thing I mentioned in my last post -- that my granddaughter does not have cancer! 

Here are some pictures of her right before the CT scan.  She was very brave; of course she didn't know that the possibility was.

 

 

But then there are so many other things that rank right up there.  The fact that at the age of 78, I am still of sound mind (sometimes that may be questionable), that I have a loving family and a warm home and security.  There were so many years when it was hard to be thankful, because I had none of that.

Most of all, I give thanks to God from whom all blessing flow.

We are having a big Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday at my daughter's home.  Not only will our side of the family be there, but also my son-in-law's family will there, so it will be a houseful!  Fortunately they have a big house, with plenty of television sets because of course the men will want to watch the football games.  We women will be content to sit around the table and talk, and the children will be having fun doing what children do.  Everyone is bringing food, so it will be a feast.  I signed up to bring the pumpkin pies and the cranberry sauce.  We also bringing some folding tables and folding chairs and some extra silverware.  I know it will be a really nice Thanksgiving Day.

The last week in October, I took care of my grandchildren while their parents were in Hawaii.  On that Sunday, we first had Sunday School at home, then I took them to a nearby park.

Joey immediately made friends with some boys playing basketball.

 

No, this picture isn't upside down; Joey is the one who is upside down.

 

Carly took this picture of me in the park.

 

 

They love exploring things on the IPad.

 

This is a recent picture taken in their back yard.

 

Irrational Fear

This morning I was dealing with a lot of irrational fear.

I spent a lot of time praying about it.

I believe II Timothy 1:8 -- "God has not given us the spirit of fear...."

There was a legitimate reason for the fear.  This past Monday, my granddaughter had to have a CT scan to determine if she has cancer.  We were expecting the report today or tomorrow.

I did really well till this morning, then I started worrying and fearing.

This little girl stole my heart the minute she joined our family when she was fourteen months old.
She and I have a very close relationship.
I know that sometimes bad things happen to good people.
And sometimes cancer happens to children.

I tried very hard not to fear, but I was really having a struggle about it.

Finally, this afternoon I got the word -- no sign of cancer!

Praise God!  Answered prayer!
I can breathe again.

I'm still here

I haven't posted for a while -- it's just been a busy time.  Paul isn't cleared to drive yet, so I'm kept busy driving him to his various doctor and rehab visits.  We see the surgeon this Thursday and I'm sure after that visit, he'll be driving.  He is doing quite well, but he's getting impatient with how long it takes to get his strength back.  He forgets how major the surgery really was.

Speaking of the surgery, we got the statement from the hospital the other day.  The amount billed for 6 days in the hospital -- and this is only the hospital, not the bill for surgery, doctors or nurses  -- it was for $174,173.00, which comes to $29,000 per day.  Just for being in the hospital.  Fortunately we have very good insurance and our co-pay is really very manageable.  But what do people do without good insurance? 

That's why I don't understand why the Republicans are fighting against the new health care plan.  They don't even want to give it a chance.  There is so much good about it but they have to fight it just because they hate our president.  If the Republicans would have come up with a better plan, I could understand it, but they haven't, and they won't.  There are big problems with the rollout of the plan, especially with the computer programs needed to let people enroll.  But this is a massive program, with millions of lines of computer code, and anyone who is at all familiar with computer code knows how difficult it is to get such a complex system working correctly. 

We are enjoying some beautiful fall days, but the cooler weather is coming.  It seems impossible that Christmas is only a few weeks away.  This year has absolutely flown past. 

My task today is to re-arrange the living room to see if we have room for another recliner.  We have one recliner, but we both like to sit in it, so if we can make room, we'll get a second one.  The one we have is very big and manly, but I know they make more "lady-like" recliners and that's what I would be looking for.  But our house is small so this will be a challenge.  So now - I'm ready to start solving this problem....

Getting back to normal

Whatever normal is.

I came back home yesterday after babysitting my grandchildren for a week.  It was uneventful -- nobody broke a bone, nobody tried to break into the house, I didn't fall down the stairs -- we all survived.  Actually, it was a very special time with the children.

After I got home yesterday, my stepson who had been staying here, flew back home to Nashville.  I appreciated his help more than words can say.  The whole family was very helpful, and I am grateful.

But it's good to be home and just the two of us.  I did have to take Paul to the doctor today unexpectedly, for a chest x-ray, but fortunately he didn't have to be re-admitted to the hospital. 

Now I am trying to get the house back to normal and trying to catch up on some rest.  I'm not sure where the month of October went -- but here it is November already.  We're having some beautiful autumn weather, the leaves have been beautiful in their golden colors, and fortunately I'm not the one who does the leaf raking.  I think a couple of good strong winds should take care of the leaves on the ground!

Now for a cup of tea and some chocolate -- and a quiet evening.