Birthday celebration

Noooo, not mine, but my niece, April's , my sister Debbie's daughter. Her birthday was last Saturday, so Debbie and our sister Bev and I surprised April by showing up where she works...on Friday...and taking her out to lunch. She didn't have long and is trying to eat healthy, so we went to Subway. I loooooove Subway. She was absolutely surprised and we had a great time. She and Bev work at the same place though in different offices in Riverview Diagnostic Center in Lancaster. Well, Bev was running interference and I was running a little late (the story of my life *feeble grin*) so I asked Bev to go tell April we were on our way, only to find out that she couldn't go to lunch until 1:30 because so many people had taken off that day. We were going to be there a little before noon which is her regular lunchtime. Soooooooo, I decided that Debbie and I would just take a nice leisurely ride and take the long way to Lancaster by going out Clear Creek Road and so on. Many years ago, when I first came into the church, I worked in the Outreach Program and the bus route I worked on took these same roads every Sunday morning. It brought back alot of memories to drive along them once again. Well, Debbie doesn't really like to take drives along back roads (these were all paved though they were secondary roads) but, hey, I was driving and we had some time to kill. (She ended up going to sleep on me anyway...AFTER I so kindly stopped at a convenience store and bought her a snack to hold her over until lunch. She is a diabetic. She always has an excuse! LOL) Along the way, we passed two covered bridges and I took pictures. So as not to be redundant, you can view the one covered bridge a couple of posts down, k? *smile* Here is the other one:

Of course, once we arrived at our sister Bev's place of work, everyone would look at me, then look at Bev, then look at me, and say, "You two HAVE to be sisters, right?" Well, yeah......

What do you all think? Bev, Debbie and I do have a wonderful time together. After lunch with April, Debbie and I were on our way home and Debbie piped up and said, "Boy, Bev is really spry, isn't she?" I had just been thinking the same thing! I mean, Debbie has to cart her oxygen along with her and I have my walker as my walking companion and everyone kept telling us, "You two go on ahead. You need a headstart. We'll catch up." Heyyyyyyy......*feeble grin* But it's true. AND Bev is the oldest!!! But I have to admit that she does get around great! She is going to be 60 in July, so none of us is really old, even if we DID think our parents were really OLD at our age! Why is that??? *smile* I am 56 and Debbie is 58. I feel about 35 inside and then I stand up! Argh! LOL Well, I can laugh about it tonight anyway. Some days, it's not so easy to do so. *feeble grin*
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!!

A fave quote

"Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is.

The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."

A new web community!!!

Just what we need, hm? *smile* But this website is awesome! It is Everyones Apostolic. You have to be invited in order to join (thank you, Liz), so if you would like to join, let me know and I'll gladly invite you!

I'm kind of busy today, so that's about all I have time to post but I am determined to blog more faithfully because it is rather therapeutic for me, you know? Have a wonderful day everyone!!

The latest

Hi Everyone! So where to begin? Wellllllll.......I had the first set of injections in my lower back on June 5th. I didn't have any idea of how painful they might be, but let me tell ya, the dentist is more painful than the injections in my back were! Seriously! I was thrilled! *smile* As the medicine was going into my vein, a slow dull ache went down each leg, but it was not painful or even anything close to unbearable. Now.....did they help? Well, for the first 12 hours or so they did. I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I was able to just get up normally and walk normally......no pain....or hardly any pain. The next morning, Ed said that he heard me get up in the night and thought there was a different woman in the room with him! *grin* But, as I said, it didn't last. *sigh* I have had a couple of people tell me that sometimes it take until the third set of injections before you experience extended pain relief. It is so different for each person. So I go for a follow-up visit on July 8. My pain level has been pretty well up there since then but I try to keep moving and doing as much as I can.

For instance......a friend at church and I volunteered to decorate for this month's ladies' meeting but in the meantime she went to Florida. Well, I didn't want to ask someone to help me on such a short notice, so I commenced to doing the decorating myself. Ed helped me gather up things here at home that I was going to use and I went shopping for a few things that I needed. The men at church had set up the tables and chairs for me already and even put tablecloths on the tables! So when I went out the evening before our meeting to decorate, it probably took me about 2 1/2 hours, which included time for shopping. Well.......I overdid it a bit and paid the price the next day and ended up not being able to even go to the ladies' meeting! *sigh* But it looked really beautiful for the ladies who were able to go! *smile* And the ladies who cleaned up and took everything down, gathered all of my things up for me and Ed brought them home a couple of night's later and then it took me a week to get everything put away, as I did a little each day. *grin* Do you know what a change this is for a person (ME!) who used to be a whirlwind at getting things done? Now everything is a process which seems to be getting slower as time passes but, ohhhhh, am I learning patience, which is a good thing.

Ed and I are still teaching a bible study to Bill and Doug on Wed. evenings before church. When we first started, they both had difficulty finding the books of the Bible and so on, but you should see them now!! It is unbelievable how much they have learned in such a short time but they are so hungry for the Word and the things of God and now Bill's two brothers have been coming to church and one of them is going to join our Bible study Wed. evening! God is so good! And there are hungry people out there!

I took the picture above yesterday morning as we were getting ready to leave for church. There is a little butterfly on the handle of the plow, that WAS on the flower when I was ready to take the picture! *smile*

Daniel and Erin are doing great. She is about 3 1/2 months along now and hasn't had any morning sickness at all. We went to their church picnic yesterday after church in the morning. Well, after some discussion, we went to the picnic, that is. Ed and I were getting in the car and he asked me if we were going to Nelsonville's church picnic and I asked him when it was and he said this evening. Well, I asked him how long he had known about it and he said about a week and I asked HIM when he had planned to tell me about it and HE said that he figured that Daniel had told me and "I" said that Daniel probably figured that HIS DAD would tell ME! LOL Anywayyyyyyy......I called Erin and she said that they were in the process of having their picnic even as we spoke. Soooooo, my DH even had the time wrong! LOL Bless his heart! *smile* Anywayyyyy.......we went down and had a wonderful time of eating scrumptious food and enjoying precious fellowship with the saints of the Nelsonville church. Now, I am not much of a dessert person, but there was this luscious looking pecan pie (my favorite) sitting there just asking to be eaten, so I had a small piece and it was heavenly and come to find out, it was a Marie Callendar pecan pie. I couldn't believe it wasn't homemade and what made it sooooo delicious was the filling! It was so caramelly and creamy! It was the best I have EVER had. Sooooo, if you are needing a wonderful dessert and don't have much time, may I recommend Marie Callendar's Pecan Pie in your grocer's frozen food section? *smile*

Well, I need to go and get a few things done but I will blog some more a little later, k? There's so much to blog about!! Have a wonderful Monday!!!

I'm Alive!!!

I apologize for the long break in blogging but my computer is on the blink. Don't you just hate when that happens? I had been on my computer this past weekend and of course, since I have dial-up, I have to disconnect when I am done surfing the web, which I did. When I returned home and attempted to log on, I got an error message saying my modem was being used by another device or something or other, error 633, making it impossible for me to log on to the internet. Sooooo, after being on the phone to tech support, it has been determined that I probably need a new modem, so we will be attempting to do that this weekend, hopefully. Which prompted me to thinking that it sure would be nice if we could replace faulty body parts as easily as we can replace computer parts, auto parts, home repair parts, etc. *grin*

Which brings me to the results of my visit to Dr. Mezaros today. He is a spinal specialist in Lancaster. Well, he checked me out pretty extensively, read my MRI, X-rays, nerve scans, etc. and said that he would like to start with injections.....next Wed. at 11am. He said there is an 80% chance that they WILL help, though it is not possible to say to what extent. And, of course, they are only a temporary solution to the pain and they will not take away the pain completely but will hopefully make it more manageable. Everyone responds differently to the injections, which has been the same information that I have received from every doctor. Soooooo, until next week......I continue on! He did say that the strength in my legs and feet is surprisingly very good. So that is a real plus, I think. I told him that I don't just sit around or lay around, though I do rest periodically throughout the day, some more than others, as needed. I do exercises when I am laying down. By that I mean, that I slide my feet back and forth, exercise my ankles and feet and do leg lifts before I get up. I believe it has been helping. And I do walk as much as I can with my walker......oh, my trusty walker. I don't know what I would do without it!

On a side note.....I am typing this from the library and I am burning up! It is soooo warm in here. I am about to faint! I am not kidding! It has always been this way, even when I worked here. They have never been able to regulate the temperature very well in this place. I've always thought that it might be because they have this huge skylight in the middle of the library which might possibly throw everything off. Who knows???

Anywayyyyy.......Ed is at the ballpark where he watching Daniel as he instructs the pitchers on the local American Legion baseball team. Daniel is so stoked. He loves to pitch and is so excited about being able to help these young, up-coming pitchers. He also pitches to them as they have batting practice. Well, last week was the first time Daniel had pitched this season, when he pitched their batting practice. The guys were saying that they couldn't even see the ball much less hit it, it was coming in so fast. Daniel has a mean fast ball and curve ball. They clocked some of his pitches at 85mph. *smile*

Mark Condon was at our church last night and ministered to us in song. It was a great service and it was so good to just talk with Bro. Condon afterwards. We see him at camp and conferences and so on but it is usually at a distance.

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer weather wherever you are. :-)

When Daniel and Erin came up yesterday afternoon, I was laying down resting. Daniel came into the bedroom and handed me these gorgeous peonies! He had gotten them from his in-laws' garden. Aren't they beautiful?

Memorial Day Observance

We began our Memorial Day Observance Sunday morning at church as we recognized and honored eight men (one posthumously: Bro. Earl Kornmiller) for their service to our country. Here they are, pictured below:

I also made a multi-media presentation, showing pictures of each one in their military uniforms and dress, which they had given to me. It was very moving, as we honored them. The Sunday School children came marching into the sanctuary, each carrying a small flag and singing and later each veteran was presented with a framed picture of themselves in uniform.

Bro. Harry Scism, former director of Home Missions for the UPC, spoke at our morning service. He shared his experience as an missionary's child when his parents went to India, and then being a missionary to India himself. His son, Stanley, is a missionary to India presently. Bro. Scism told us that each time he has returned to the United States, he never ceases to be filled with such gratitude for the blessings of being an American and living in this wonderful country. He spoke to us from Micah 6:8 "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? "What doth the Lord require of thee?" was the title of his message. Bro. Scism is such a gracious and godly man. It was truly a pleasure to finally meet him after all of these years of seeing his photo in various UPC publications. His daughter, Loretta, moved to our area several months ago and has her own medical practice here now.
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Last night, as we did not have service at our church, Ed, me, Daniel and Erin went to Mt. Vernon and were in service at Pastor Kramer's church, Christian Apostolic. My, but we had a wonderful time, seeing so many friends and visiting and worshipping with them. AND Daniel and Erin had a wonderful surprise, because after service, Heather (Wilkinson) and her husband, Dave showed up! They are great friends but don't get to see eachother very often because they live quite a distance apart and life is busy and so on. They went to a local restaurant to eat afterwards and fellowship, while Ed and I stayed and joined in a graduation celebration for a young lady from the Mt. Vernon church that was being held in the church gym. We did have a great time visiting with everyone! It was the church's 53rd anniversary and Pastor Kramer spoke of his vision for the church. It was inspiring, to say the least!
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We slept in a bit this morning (8AM), as we didn't get to bed until almost midnight. We had to go to Walmart and get a few groceries and did we ever see so many people that we hadn't seen forever! Well, besides Pastor and Sis. Martin, that is! *smile* It was wonderful catching up and visiting and so on! BUT we had to get home so I could make a couple of strawberry dream pies, as we were going to Daniel's in-laws at two for a cookout. Soooooo, we tore ourselves away from Walmart and visiting, got home, I made the pies and we headed to Pat and Lew's. We had a great time visiting and eating some deeeeeeeeeeelicious food! Later, we all gathered outside and many of them played cornhole, while me and a couple of others observed. It was a beautiful day, albeit a bit warm at times. It started raining around 5:30, so everyone gathered things up and headed inside for dessert, while Ed and I said our goodbyes and headed home. We've had a relaxing evening here at home and I know that I am truly blessed with wonderful family, friends and this great country that I am privileged to live in.

A couple of home improvements

I finally found a new quilt that I like! AND would you believe that I found it at Dollar General??? Yes!! Meaning, I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for it. $35!!! And there is a bit of a story behind this. I had seen this quilt set in the store several weeks ago, had the money to buy it, but just wasn't feeling very good and didn't feel like buying it. (Is this a woman thing?) Anywayyyyy......in the meantime,I bought my sister Debbie a beautiful like-new twin quilt and sham set at our ladies' yearly 25-cent indoor yard sale. Yes, I bought it for ONE QUARTER. Well, some time after this AND especially after I discovered that Ed had used my other quilt to line the trunk of our car!! For what reason I do not know! .....anywayyyyy....some time after this, I knew I needed to be getting a quilt for our bed because it was getting too warm to keep the comforter on much longer. So I went back to Dollar General not really believing that I was going to find this quilt set because it had been soooo long since I had first seen it. I was in alot of pain this particular day but pushed myself to get out and do some errands. I went into Dollar General to where they keep the bedding and sure enough it wasn't there. *sigh* They didn't have ANY quilt sets, BUT I thought I would just take a look-a-round to see if maybe they had been put some place else by mistake or something. AND in just a little while I found ONE quilt set shoved in on a shelf among a mishmash of stuff (you know how some of those D&G stores can get!) AND it was a QUEEN set! Now just what do you think of that? I think the Lord put that quilt set right there for me. I do. I had just enough money to buy this particular set. It was just what I had been looking for (had a kind of antique look to it, was the right color). Isn't that just how the Lord is? "Delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
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AND we purchased a new area rug for the living room to just kind of brighten it up for the springtime. Ellie wouldn't even walk on it for a few days for whatever reason......she's a cat maybe? *grin* Her heat register is underneath the upper righthand corner and you know how cats don't like change BUT she got over it after a few days and snuggled her furry body right over the register when the furnace came on. I knew she would cave! *smile*

Anywayyyy....just a couple of new things to brighten up the house and all can lift the spirits, you know? *smile* Oh, and I STILL haven't found this picture that I bought several months ago!! I'm serious! I think I blogged about it awhile back BUT just in case I didn't......I bought this lovely picture from a dear lady at church who was having a home party of some sort. Well, I bought this picture, brought it home and stashed it somewhere until I decided where I was going to put it AND I haven't seen it or been able to find it since!!! Argh! And my house is organized and tidy. Ask Pat! *smile* I've looked everywhere! Well, apparently not EVERYWHERE or I would have found it by now but I don't know where else to look! (this is happening more and more....*feeble grin*) I'll keep you posted on the "mystery of the missing picture".
Have a wonderful Monday everyone!!

More baby news and another recipe!

Daniel and Erin went for her sonogram Tuesday and found out that she is 5 weeks along. They were a little disappointed because they had thought she might be about 4 1/2 months along, so now they have a much longer wait but I felt a wave of relief when I heard she was not due until January 10! *whew* Daniel's birthday is January 3 so their birthdays will be close.
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I made the Strawberry Dream Pie yesterday that I told you about in an earlier post. Here is the recipe I concocted:

1 graham cracker pie shell
1 small carton of cool whip
8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese
1 envelope of Knox unflavored gelation
1 16oz. container of fresh strawberried
1 bag or container of strawberry glaze

Soften the cream cheese, then mix it with the cool whip. Add the gelatin to this. Put this into the
pie shell. It will be firm enough to top with the sliced strawberries. Spread the glaze over the strawberries. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. It is yummy!!!
I may try using Dream Whip the next time I make this, which will be very soon. *smile*

Yummy Recipes

I tried two new recipes this past week and wanted to share them with you! The first one is Smothered Steak:

1 lb. of round steak cut into serving size pieces
Place this in your slow-cooker/crockpot.
1 pkg. of Onion soup mix
Sprinkle this evenly over the steak.
1 can of mushrooms/drained
Spread these evenly on top of the soup mix.
1 can of mushroom soup
Drop this my spoonfuls over the other ingredients.
Cook on high for a few minutes to get it going...*smile*.......then put it on low and let it cook for 3 or 4 hours or until the meat is tender. This is soooo delicious! I thought it would surely need
some liquid added to it but it didn't.

My friend, Laura, shared the other recipe with me.
Hmmmm.....I'm not sure what it is called but I think it is:
Skyline Chili Cheese Dip

Two 8oz. pkgs of cream cheese
One pkg. of frozen Skyline Chili without beans
One 2-cup pkg of shredded cheddar cheese
Soften and spread the cream cheese in a 9X13 dish
Spread the chili over the cream cheese.
Top with the cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and the cheese is melted.
Serve with tortilla chips.
This is absolutely to die for! I am taking it to the ladies' meeting tomorrow night.
I am also trying to imitate Bob Evan's Strawberry Dream Pie. I'm going to make one tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know how it turns out. My friend, Pam and I went to Bob Evans for lunch
last Saturday and I had a piece of this pie and it was scrumptious and I am not a big dessert person. Oh, but this won me over immediately! And with a hot cup of coffee.....Oh My! *smile*

Mother's Day

I hope all of you mothers had a wonderful day yesterday...Mothers Day. I am so thankful for the sweet mother that the Lord blessed me with. She faced many difficult times but always kept such a wonderful attitude and spirit in the midst of every adversity that she faced. I've always hoped that I can be like her in this way. Isn't she so cute? *smile* Mom has been gone since 1999 and I still miss being able to call her or coming home on a Sunday night after church and knowing I would have a message from her on my answering service letting me know how her day had been. Sometimes she would fill up the tape just talking to me. I have so many precious memories of her and I am so thankful that she was my dearest mother.

The sweetest sounds to mortals given,

Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.

~William Goldsmith Brown

Great and wonderful news!

Where do I begin????
First of all.......DANIEL AND ERIN ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!! I'M GONNA BE A GRANDMA!! WHOOHOOOOOO!!
I see all of these grandparents having such an awesome time with their grandchildren and I wonder where in the world they get all of their energy and strength and so on. I pray that I am up to it but I am sure that I will be! Oh yeah!! *smile*
Soooo....last Saturday morning around 5:30am the phone rings, the answering service picks up and we hear a groggy yet happy Daniel saying, "Hey Mom...hey Pops.....you don't have to get up, but I just wanted to let you know that you are going to be grandparents." Talk about being wide awake all of a sudden! We were! *smile* Erin goes to the doctor Monday to find out when her due date is and so on. I'll keep you posted!!! I told the kids that there isn't a treatment, shot, or pill that could make me feel any better than this wonderful news!!
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Now for the next wonderful news! I don't have to have a hysterectomy!! Dr. Keller, my family doctor, had examined me, I had gone for the pelivc ultrasound, then back to Dr. Keller for the results where he told me that I was indeed going to have to have a hysterectomy. So he sent me to Dr. Detty, who is a gynecologist and who would be doing the surgery.
Well, last Wednesday night we had an awesome service at church. The Lord met with us in such a beautiful way and I went down to be prayed for. I came back up on the platform and just stood by the keyboard, worshipping my precious Saviour and asked Him humbly if He could just touch me so that I wouldn't have to have surgery because of my back being the way it is. I can only say that I felt something release inside of me when I prayed this way. I felt a load lift from my spirit. I knew that no matter what happened, I was going to be alright. So, the next day I go to my appointment with Dr. Detty. He is the OB that delivered Daniel 21 years ago and he is just an awesome doctor. He examined me and proceeded to tell me that he had some good news for me. Everything was okay! Everything was where it was supposed to be! I didn't need to have a hysterectomy!!! Hallelujah and to God be the glory!!! I am so thankful. God is so good to me. *tears* Doesn't He always step in right on time? I am so thankful that I can trust Him to know what is best for me. Oh, just to walk with Him means everything to me. *tears*
He IS my precious healer. I won't question why my back is still the way it is but I know this one thing....."I am trusting in Christ in alone......I am trusting in Christ alone....Since His faithful love I've known.....I am trusting in Christ alone." If you go to http://www.calvarytabindy.org/, click on their media archives, click on Musicfest 2007, then click on Nancy Grandquist, you can listen to this song. It is so worth the effort! God Bless!

Hello, it's meee......oh, oh, oh, ohhhhhh

Heyyyy.....do you remember that old song???? "Hello, it's me.....I've thought about us for a long, long time...." I looked it up and it is by Todd Rundgren but I'm not sure of what year it came out. Probably many moons ago if I remember it!
It is probably because I am musically inclined, but more often than not, when I am talking, I am reminded of songs ALLLLLL of the time! And I'll just start singing them. Daniel has always said that I have a song for everything. We've even played this game in the past where he will just say something to see if I can come up with a song to go with whatever he said and more often than not I have. Ed and I do this alot, too. We'll say something that reminds us of a song and we'll just start singing it, sometimes almost in unison. Great minds think alike!

Welllll.....I am off to see Dr. Detty this afternoon. He will doing the surgery that I am having. *feeble grin* On the plus side, he was the doctor that delivered Daniel twenty-one years ago and he is great.

Also, this evening I will be singing and playing for the annual Hocking Valley Community Hospital Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at Lee's Banquet Haus here in Logan. This is the first performance for me in about three years, outside of church. But I just want so much to do this because I do love to sing and play and then to see the pleasure that it brings to people, is such a blessing. I will be playing mostly........ dinner music. After the program and awards presentation, I will be singing. I've chosen: Hero, You've Got A Friend, Wind Beneath My Wings and Because You Loved Me.
Ed is going to take my keyboard and sound system up this afternoon and get everything set up for me. I can hardly believe that I used to lug all of this stuff around myself and set it up. I did! But.....no longer, of course. Depending on how I fare this evening, I may decide to perform at the Lilyfest once again this year. I haven't for the past two years because of health problems, but I would surely love to. We'll see.
Well, I had best be off. I have a busy day and I must pace myself. Again, I haven't been posting as much as I used to because I must do the necessary things first and many days I'm just not up to much more than that. I am praying that I can accomplish all that I have planned for today. *fingers crossed* *smile*

Ed has really been working alot in the yard, getting it all in shape for spring. Here is one of the flowerbeds that he reworked, putting some new edging around it and all. Now if we can just keep Rocky out it, because he likes to lay in the new mulch. *grin*

Ed also bought me a new rocking chair for the front porch. I love our old lawn chairs but they are a bit too low for me to sit in now. The rocking chair is much higher and easier for me to sit in. Thank you, honey!!! *smile*

Springtime in Ohio!

The flowering trees are absolutely beautiful and lush this year! More so than usual. I went to visit my sister Debbie yesterday and the trees outside of her building were breathtaking so I took a few pictures! Oh, the first one is of a weeping cherry tree at Wendy's drive-thru! *smile* Isn't it beautiful?

These next pics are of the trees outside of Debbie's building. Someone said they thought they were pear trees.

The Diagnosis

Well, I had an MRI on my lower back last Monday and went to Dr. Gedeon for treatment and to get the results. I have two bulging/herniated discs and one degenerative disc. Also, the opening where the nerves come out of one of my vertebrae is getting smaller.....because of arthritis......therefore pressure is being put on the nerves, irritating them, causing swelling, which is causing pain. And because of the degenerative disc, one of my vertebrae is tending to slide a little forward into and toward my pelvis, which is not good. Sooo, he has suggested that our first course of action be in getting shots....NRSI....Nerve Root Sleeve Injections. These would hopefully help to alleviate the pain (though it is not guaranteed) and to diminish the inflammation so that some healing could take place. I want to start small and go from there, so surgery is not even a consideration at the present time. And I would want some other opinions also. Now I just have to wait for my appointment to be made. I'll keep you posted. There is so much information on the internet about the spine, back pain and so on. I have learned alot and I am hopeful that I will get better in time.

I had the pelvic utrasound last week.....that was special. *feeble grin* I go to Dr. Keller tomorrow afternoon to get the results of that and find out what we are going to do next. *sighhhhh*

You see, I am not one to go to the doctor. Never have been. I haven't been in the hospital since I gave birth to Daniel 21 years ago. AND I only started going to my family doctor regularly about two years ago when my blood pressure got a little high, so now I go every 3 or 4 months just to get that checked and get my prescription renewed for my blood pressure tablet which is 5mg of Enalipril a day. Probably if I lost weight I wouldn't even need that.

Anywayyyyyy......I will keep you posted!

Thank you, Barbara

My dear friend, Barbara, at Stray Thoughts passed along this friendship award to me. Though Barbara and I have not met in person, we have become good friends just through our blogs. I believe that I found her blog when I began doing Thursday Thirteen many months ago and that is how we met. Again, thank you, Barbara for the award. Now, I would like to pass it on to Theresa, Chantell, Sis. Hurst, Sis. Elms, Rochelle, and Tracy. I appreciate each of your friendships so much!

I miss my mind the most

Sooooooo, I put off having an MRI and some other tests that I've needed until I got my Medicare Card and Humana, which is kind of a supplement, but not really......THEY say, but I present my Humana card whenever I go to the doctor, pharmacy, hospital, etc. and then Humana works with Medicare to cover any charges. Anywayyyy.....I was supposed to automatically receive my Humana card when Medicare kicked in, but I didn't. So I called our agent, oh, three or four times, leaving messages, asking why I had not received my card. She finally returned my call and said that everything in their system said that my card had been mailed, I was all ready to go as of April 1st. Well, I was in the car going somewhere with Ed when I received this call and after hanging up, I thought that I would just look in my billfold, go through my cards and so on. AND......there is was! My Humana card!!!! I promise you.....I do not remember receiving it! I don't know when I got it but there it was....right behind my social security card which is in front of my Medicare Card which is right behind my drivers license, where I keep all of my important cards!!!! Good Heavens!!! All I can figure out is that because Ed and I signed up for Humana at the same time, we must have gotten our cards at the same time, even though mine was not to become active until April. His became active back in December.
So this morning, I had a pelvic ultrasound at our local hospital. I had to have a full bladder. Well, this was going to be a trick because that is part of the reason I was having all of this done in the first place but hey.....ya gotta do what ya gotta do. So I drank enough water to float a battleship.....or so it seemed.......and hoped for the best. *feeble grin* Sooooo, any other time, my bladder would be torturing me every few minutes but I promise you......Ed took me to the hospital. I checked in. The ultrasound tech (a wonderfully sweet woman) came and escorted me to the examining room. I got all prepped and laid down on the table and my bladder was not full enough! Helloooooo!!! Soooooo, I proceeded to drink two more HUGE glasses of water. I swear I was beginning to hear a sloshing sound in my ears and the sweet tech lady was telling me that if my bladder didn't fill up adequately we could always reschedule. HELLOOOOOOOO.......... So, I just closed my eyes and prayed (seriously) that my bladder would fill. This dear lady, who was doing the ultrasound, and I just hit it off. We had so much in common that we about talked ourselves silly! And finally, finally...my body cooperated! And she was able to get the images that were needed.
Backing up a little here, when Ed and I arrived at the hospital, of course, I started seeing so many people that I had not seen for some time, as I just don't get out as much as I used to. My DH is always amazed at how many people I know. ???? I've lived here all of my life AND I love people. He says I am like the pope: I know everybody. Well, I don't know about that but anywayyyyy......it was good to see so many sweet people and be able to catch up a little with them.
Again, I'll keep you posted as to what is going on with me and this body of mine. I do know that I am going to have surgery. I just hope it is soon because I want so much to get better, to get back on my feet, to get my back fixed, if possible.
The weather this week is absolutely beautiful here in SE Ohio! I am so thankful for the sunshine! I've been watching Ed and encouraging him (*grin*) as he works in the yard and gets it in shape and ready to mow.
Happy Spring, Everyone!!

What is going on with me

I wondered just how much I should say here on my blog about what is going on with my health but then I considered that this is my journal, so here goes. I pray it isn't too personal for some of you. I'll endeavor to be discreet,k?
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Well, first of all, after not hearing from Social Security by the last week of March, I went to their office in Lancaster only to find out that I was not in the system anywhere to be found BUT the people at the Lancaster office have been awesome in getting things going for me and I am not in the system, will receive my Medicare card in about two weeks. Now I am just waiting for my Humana card. (our supplement). THEN I will be able to begin having tests and so on for my back. In the meantime, another health issue has developed which means I will be having a hysterectomy at the end of April, first of May. It is not cancer, thankfully. Some of my "parts" are not where they used to be, if you get my drift, and are now going to be removed....some of them....and others put back where they belong! *feeble grin* This has added to my back pain, let me tell you. BUT I press on! You know, I sometimes feel like I am in this battle to see just how much pain and discomfort it is going to take for me to give up, to quit. With the help of the Lord, I have only missed two services in the three years since having to quit work because of the debilitating back pain and problems. I am still able to do hair for my ladies, teach home bible studies, teach piano lessons, and do music at church and I would do more if I could but I have to admit that I am limited.......oh, and did the choir sing and worship tonight!! We sang "What A Change" by IBC! It was awesome!!
So, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!
We baptized Aaron tonight......a young man who comes to church through our outreach program that Bro. Cook helped us to start back in the fall. We have all just fallen in love with Aaron. His mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were there tonight to see him be baptized in the lovely name of Jesus and we prayed for his grandmother who has some serious health problems but we are trusting the Lord to heal her and do a wonderful work in her life!! It is so exciting to see the Lord working in our midst!!
I'll keep you posted and will endeavor to be more faithful to posting here. Some days, I just have to do what is necessary but I think of each of you, my blogging friends, and count it a blessing indeed to know you!!
Oh wait.....I almost forgot! It was SEVENTY-TWO sunny wonderful degrees today in our little valley!!! Spring is here and I am sooooo happy!! Everything is turning green and beginning to bud. How can I help but feel better,hm? I hope you are having wonderful weather where you are!!

Zachary Ross Gossom

Liz and Chris at The Lizness have a beautiful new baby boy named Zachary! Isn't he gorgeous!?! I just had to put up his little picture on my blog and share his preciousness with all of you!! God Bless!