30 Days Left to Live

Point of Grace had a four week series based on "What would you do if you found out you only had 30 days left to live?" Tim McGraw has a hit song, Live Like You Were Dying, that really explains how one person felt and wished for the rest of us to live as if it were our last days. The main things were to love deeper, speak sweeter, give forgiveness you've been denying, and the church added embrace eternity.

It was a good four weeks attending the series. I cannot say that I've changed much yet, but I do know that Steve and I are trying to be nicer to each other (not that we aren't normally nice). I think a lot about what I want to let my kids know, not just how much I love them; but, what is really important in life.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is a good example, again, of realizing what is really important in life and how you should live accordingly. We cannot get too many reminders to become better people. Halfmoon

More Tests (Blech!)

Today I went to Mercy for the arthritis class which helps those of us with back, knee, neck, or any type of joint problem, gain or keep movement. The teacher today really kept the pace going so the class was over before I knew it. After the class I go into the whirlpool which is magnificently hot and wonderful.

After relaxing, since I was at Mercy I decided to go to the Radiology and Lab departments to get xrays and bloodwork done. The Pain Control Center left me a voicemail that orders were sent to have my hips xrayed and blood drawn to confirm or rule out rheumatoid arthritis (RA). I am hoping that comes back negative. The Lord knows I have enough problems without having that sentence hanging over my head.

The trip to the parking area was pretty painful. I stopped four times to ease the pain in my hip joints. Two different women (good samaritins) stopped and asked if I needed help. The last one offered to get a wheelchair for me. After she walked away, tears came to my eyes. The thought of possibly having RA hit me pretty hard. When I was finally in my car, I noticed how dreary it was outside. It had rained hard when I was driving to Des Moines. Now it's just icky out. Makes a person wonder if it's not time to take a trip to Hilton Head rental to lay on the beach. Sunny skies would be nice for a change! That always brightens everyone's day and just thinking about it made me smile! Halfmoon

The Garden

Every year around Mother's Day I wish for railroad ties to be built up around my little garden area. Then we could fill it with dirt and plants that are already growing. I wouldn't have to get down on my knees to pull weeds which is nearly impossible with my back. Every year Steve ignores me about what I want to do with my little space.

Last year my wonderful kids bought plants and seeds that Justin and Josh planted for me. Steve II might have done some of the preliminary work too and my Steve supplied the dirt. When the seeds started growing, I couldn't tell which were flowers and which were weeds. What a bummer :( I wasn't born with a green thumb. With others' advice I ended up pulling some plants and letting weeds grow.

The only obvious plants that started from a seed were the Kohlerobe which is a vegetable that I always plant in the flower garden (yummy!). Overall, flowers did come up and looked pretty good. I know it would cost a lot to make my ideas into reality, but it would look so neat. And if the plants were already grown, I would recognize and pull weeds as they start to grow, not having to worry about if I was pulling a flower!

Speaking of Mother's Day, Father's Day will be here before you know it. With Steve really loving gel pens, I've been tossing around the idea to get him personalized pens. He's always complaining because he cannot find his favorite pens. This way I'd have a whole supply for him and I could put something neat on the pen to let him know I think about him all year! What do you think? Halfmoon

Belle of the Ball

My brother-in-law was given the position of Potentate of the Shriners in the Alabama area. My sister, Jackie, invited my family to go to the ball in his honor. I asked her what to wear and when she said "formal" all I could think of was the cost of a formal gown. But then she told me I should wear the gold dress that I wore to my daughter's wedding in July of last year. Wonderful!

I felt like Cinderella when I tried that dress on. It has a gold underskirt with a gold foil over it. The bodice is an overlay made of gold thread which looks like it is crocheted. A crocheted sweater of the same delicate thread is worn over the dress. I found gold shoes which look like ballerina slippers and a cute little purse that matched. I felt wonderful at the wedding in it but when I wore it to the ball, I felt I finally had attended a prom (which I hadn't in high school).

The Alcazar Shriners started off Friday night with a buffet style dinner (which was really great). After the meal Randy (my brother-in-law) thanked everyone for honoring them with our presence. He then said "Forty years ago we were blessed with a little girl. Tonight we would like to say Happy Birthday to her." Out walked my nephew with an over-the-hill cake with forty candles blazing.

I became excited and grabbed my camera case strap which was on the floor near my feet. The strap was hooked onto the coil of my shoe (ZCoils) and I couldn't get it off. I lifted my foot up to my husband and asked for help. He couldn't get it off either so he took my shoe off. I grabbed the camera out of the case and hobbled over to Shelly's table to snap pictures. Of course by then the candles were blown out. She asked me why I was limping. I told her about the shoe episode and she laughed. Back to my table Steve is still struggeling with my shoe. It took him 30 minutes to get the strap off of the coil.

Shelly, Steve, my sister, Sue, and I were sitting at my table by this time. Sue asked if I could take three baskets home with me since we were driving and they were flying back to Iowa. (Sue, Nancy, our cousin, and I were given gift baskets for coming to Alabama to the ball.) I asked Steve what he thought as our car was pretty packed. He said "Oh, we could probably get more organized, or if not, we could always wrap the handle around your shoe!" Everyone got a laugh out of that. Then Sue said "Wait a minute, she has two shoes! That just leaves room for one more basket!" Ok, you guys are really funny, "I suppose you want me to carry the third one around my neck!" "No," my husband said, "one of your shoes could do double duty!" Sue told me "Kathy, this is going to go down in history like the celery and cream cheese!" Ok, that's a story for another time.

We had a great time Friday night. My family had rooms at the Drury Inn just a few blocks away. The place was fantastic and breakfast was included (scrambled eggs, french toast, sausage, bacon, fruit, yougurt, and make your own waffles...yummy!) Saturday afternoon took us back to the shriner hall to watch the presentation of gifts. Shriners from all over the South came and presented beautiful gifts to Jackie and Randy. Of course, there was another buffet to eat and drinks galore. It was a fun time for everyone. At one point a shriner was going from table to table taking pictures. I grabbed my purse off the table and went to put it down by my shoes when I jerked to a stop saying "Oh!" Sue noticed it and said "It's ok, Kathy, you have flip flops on, not the ZCoils!" We both got a laugh out of that.

Back to the Drury Inn to get ready for the ball. When we entered the hall, there was a huge moon lit up in the first room. It was beautiful. My sisters and I all collect moons because our mother's maiden name was Moon. We signed in and entered the main event. Oh my word! The whole room is decorated with little sparkly lights and there are moons here and there. The stage where the band will play has an even bigger moon behind them.

We went through the buffet to get our food and when we walked back to our table, it felt like a scene out of a movie. The room was dark except for the little sparkles everywhere. After everyone ate, Potentate Randy and his Lady Jackie walked down the center aisle to be presented. It was so beautiful. All of the visiting Potentates were presented with their wives. I truly felt like I was at a prom.

The next event was Randy and Jackie's grandsons coming down the center with white roses for their NaNa. Beautiful. And finally, dancing! Jackie and Randy led off and I can't remember the name of the song but it's a slow one that says "You're my Lady". It was so touching, Sue and I had tears in our eyes. I love to dance but because of my back injury, I was only able to dance one slow song with my wonderful husband, Steve.

The couple who sat at our table clogged to a fast song. He had clogging shoes on and the taps just rang out to the beat. That was fun to watch but the couple who took the show was an older couple (I'd say in their 80s, atleast) who danced like a dream. They had taken dancing lessons togther and he whirled her around and dipped her. You could tell they loved each other and their movements were perfect.

Time to tear up again, Buddy is dancing with his mom (Jackie), then again later when Mike dances with her. Jackie has been through a long battle with her health. She fought and won breast cancer, then breastbone cancer, congestive heart failure, a hip replacement, surgery again when the rod in her hip broke in half, she is one little fighter. She needs to have shoulder surgery but that was delayed when her colon burst. The doctor said he nearly lost her four times. She has struggled from a wheelchair to a walker, then to a cane. She fought hard so she could walk down the aisle with Randy with no walker. But she did it! I am so proud of her.

Although I felt like Cinderella that night, Jackie was really the Belle of the Ball. She is Randy's lady and he is her man. He still calls her his bride, although they have three grown kids and many grandkids. What an example they set for the rest of us! Halfmoon

Timeshare Nightmare

We have a timeshare in Kissimmee, Florida that we bought about 18 years ago. We never go back there but you can exchange your week for a week anywhere in the world that is connected with RCI. Thus far we have taken our family to the Bahamas, Tijuana, Horseshoe Bend in Arkansas twice, and Alpine Bay which is in Alabama twice. We've always had a wonderful time.

This time only Steve and I went so we could attend a Shriners Ball because my brother-in-law was made Potentate (which is like the head of the whole Shriner area in Alabama and other southern states). Our kids were unable to take time off work to go with us. The first two nights we stayed at a Drury Inn in Montgomery which was wonderful. That way we were able to be close to the events that were located at the Alcazar Shrine in that city.

Sunday night we drove to our timeshare which was nearly two hours away. It felt funny having just the two of us in the car but it was very peaceful on the drive down. Usually there are kids excited to begin with, then they are whiney because the drive is so long (Are we there yet?). Sometimes outright fights start and it dampens the desire to take the whole family along. Steve and I talked more to each other than we ever have before. We arrived at the resort at 10:00 pm and met the security guard at the office. He handed us the keys to Unit A6. When we walked into the unit I first noticed the dirty towels and sheets on the kitchen floor. (This is what you normally do when you check out.) Then I saw the crumbs on the counter. Walking into the bedroom on the main floor, there were no sheets on the bed.

Both Steve and I were upset. He called the office praying the guard would still be there. (He was having his lunch in the office when we arrived.) Luckily he answered the phone. When Steve explained the situation, he said he thought A10 was cleaned, but he'd go check it out and then bring the keys to us. The resort was supposed to have our unit ready on Saturday night. This was hard to comprehend.

The guard knocked on our door and gave us the keys to A10 which was clean and ready to go. Thank goodness! So we got back into the car and drove to that unit. It was beautiful, something like we've never lived in (which was what sold us on buying the timeshare). There was a bedroom and bath on the main floor with the kitchen, dining area, living room which had a fireplace, and a deck off the dining area. The upstairs had a huge master bedroom and bathroom with a separate room that had a jacuzzi that at least three people could sit in, another sink, and another living room with a deck off of it.

I was in a lot of pain with my back so we slept downstairs the first night. The next morning I woke up in severe pain so I went up the stairs pulling myself up by the handrails. I started the tub with the water temperature what I use at home (which is pretty hot). I then went downstairs and fixed my tea and cereal and took it up the stairs to eat breakfast while the tub continued to fill. When I checked the tub again, the water was lukewarm. It still hadn't filled enough water to cover the jets. I let it continue to flow until it was ready.

I was pretty upset when I got into the tub and it was cold. After sitting down in the water I started searching for the button to turn on the jets. There was no button. You had to turn it on by a switch on the wall about four feet away. This was getting rediculous! I got out of the tub and dried somewhat, walked over and turned on the jets. Water started flying everywhere (still not enough water to cover the jets sufficiently). If I were sitting in the water, the level would be perfect but I couldn't reach the switch. I added more water which by this time was almost ice cold, turned on the switch, and got into the tub. Brrrrrr!

I knew I needed to grin and bear it because without the massaging action of the jets, I find it hard to move around. If you've read my blog before, you are aware that I have five herniated disks and a bulging disk in my back, along with a bulging disk in my neck. Lets just say that I didn't sit in that jacuzzi for the normal 1 1/2 hours that I do at home. Also, with the water being cold, my neck and back stiffened up. I'm not sure if the bath helped me or made my back and neck worse.

Of course, by the time we returned to the timeshare that night, the office was closed so we couldn't report the problem. The next morning after again having a cold bath, and before leaving for my sister's in Prattville, we waited until the office opened and reported it. They had a maintenance man come turn the pilot light up on the water heater.

The third morning I went through the same actions only I put strictly hot water into the tub to begin with. I wondered how I was going to get to the faucet to add cold water as it is in the farthest part of the tub. There is a ledge around the tub but in my condition, I wasn't sure I could crawl on it to add cold water. As it turned out I didn't have to worry about it, by the time I checked the water, it was tepid. Another day with disappointment. We again waited for the office to open and reported the situation. The maintenance man came again, only this time he said the hot water heater needed a new element. Since he had to drain it, we left him there and asked him to lock the unit when he was done.

While driving home that night we decided to stick a couple logs in the fireplace and create a romantic atmosphere. We arrived to find two notes on the door of A10. The first one said to call the office (which closed at 6). The second note stated "No water, water is turned off." This is great, now we can't even take showers, brush our teeth, or use the toilets. After sitting up at the office for 1 1/2 hours, hoping the security guy would see us and hopefully have a key to another unit we decided to go back to the unit and try again to get ahold of someone. Steve left a few messages at the office number, we left our number on the beeper for security, all with no response. We were so angry we just went to bed. By morning we decided to pack up and go home. I had had six days with my family and felt that would have to make do. We still had two nights left in the timeshare but I couldn't handle moving again.

We were packing up the car when the office finally calls us at 8:30 am. They wanted to move us to another unit. The manager told me she was sorry, but they tried to get ahold of us the day before to let us know they couldn't get the hot water heater fixed and they would move us to another unit. I told her "Sorry doesn't make it. I need to be in a whirlpool or jacuzzi for 1 1/2 to 2 hours every morning. I'm now in so much pain, I can barely walk." I handed the phone to Steve and listened while she tried to talk him into moving again. He remained steadfast in that we were going home and we wanted a refund.

The manager finally told us she would give us a free week at any Crown Resort with no exchange fee. We accepted this, but their resorts are in Tennessee, Mississippi, Pensylvania, and Alabama (the one we were at). Assuredly, we will not be staying in their resort in Alabama, which is really too bad because that is the closest to my sister's house.

Jackie really wanted us to stay on an air mattress at her house, but I hurt so bad I just wanted to go home. We've been considering selling the timeshare and this made us certainly want to. It's too bad, though, as all of the other places we have stayed have been fantastic! Time will tell. Halfmoon

Time with Kat and Alyce

Heather asked if I'd meet her at Target and entertain my beautiful granddaughters while she shopped for Easter baskets, etc. for her kids. Of course I took the challange and met her at the snack area.

As soon as Katiana saw me she ran over to me and said, "Can I tell you something?" When I told her she could, she said "I love you!" and gave me a hug. Alyce hasn't felt well for a while but when she saw Grandma, she wanted down and toddled over to me with a big smile. (She's 15 months old now and starting to jabber.) You can always tell when she doesn't feel good as she stays in her mother's arms and won't come to me.

It was wonderful to see both of them. We sat and ate pretzels together. The girls shared a cinnamon and sugar pretzel while I ate my old standby, pretzel with cheese dip. As soon as they saw me dipping into the cheese, they both wanted cheese to dip their pretzel in too. Yuck! Apparently it still tasted great but my cheese dip started tasting awfully sweet. So, I poured some of it into the lid and let them dip into it, refilling it when necessary.

That didn't take long so after calling Heather to make sure we wouldn't bump into her, we walked down to the children's books section. Alyce was amazed when Kat or I would press a button on a book and music or words sounded. I thought about buying them each a book but every one I showed Kat didn't seem to trigger her fancy.

I was sure the Strawberry Shortcake coloring book would do the trick. Kat replied, "I don't have any colors because Alyce ate them all!" She steered me to the books in the $12.99 and up section. Since I have seven grandchildren, I realized that this could get expensive.

Instead, I steered both of the girls (after another quick call to Heather) to the Easter outfits. I asked Kat what size she wore and she said, "I think I wear a 3 because I am three years old". Knowing that she is very small around the waist I tried finding the clothes in that size. The girls section (as you probably know) is sizes 4 -6. So around the store we went trying to find the smaller sizes. When I looked at the 3T sizes, they seemed too small for Kat so back to the 4 - 6 area we went.

By this time, Grandma is getting pretty worn out. I suggested we look at purses since I need one for the summer. Kat immediately points out a large, bright orange purse and said "You could get that for my Mom for her birthday." I pointed out that Heather's birthday isn't until next December, but she still thought it would be a good idea. She is so sweet!

Alyce is simply watching the clothes and purses go by, but you could tell she was getting tired. Finally, I called Heather and found out she was checking out. Hallelujah! Kat gave signs that a trip to the bathroom was in order so I had her stand where I could see her, rolled Alyce up to Heather, and then took Kat to the restroom.

After watching Kat scrub her hands meticulously, I gave her paper towels to dry them, then out to Grandma's car to wait for Mom to pick her up. All in all, I had a wonderful time with my granddaughters and Heather was able to accomplish a lot of shopping for surprises.

I saw Kat off to her Mom's car and drove home thoroughly worn out but happy. Halfmoon

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