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That is a bummer! The people who keep up with our water softener and inside water purifier come whenever. They can usually get into the garage where the water softener is, but not into the house. We never know when they are going to come - I've only missed them once - I'm usually home. We haven't needed the filters in the water purifier changed yet though. We keep track of the purity with this little device.
We are having a warmer beautiful day too. It's 60, our high for today. I was able to sit on the back porch and watch the chickens for a little bit, then the wind kicked up - brrr!
Have a blessed day where you are! Love you, praying for you!0 -
Keeping you all in my prayers as well.
Say, do any of you know how to reach out to Jessie Gussman? I'm enjoying the Strawberry Sands Beach Romance series of hers that I'm reading, but I wanted to let her know about something I came across that was disconcerting. Nothing bad...0 -
Cindy, here is a link to her web site. If you go to the bottom of that opening page you see she is on Facebook and other media - you may be able to get up with her that way, or you can sign up for her news-letter and reply to it (I do that all the time) with what you want to share. https://jessiegussman.com/0
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Jessie Gussman is very open and available to her readers. I looked up her website and found this:
https://jessiegussman.com/bio/
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Thank you both. I wanted to let her know that the matriarch in the Strawberry Sands series changes names between books 7 and 8. For 7 books in the series she's Lena. In 8 and 9 she's suddenly Lana. It was confusing at first. I thought Lana was a new character being tossed in with no background. Maybe it's in the digital books only... I sent her a note.0
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Since I listen to the books, I didn't notice that! As many books as she writes, I can imagine things like that could easily slip though.
This has been one of those days that I haven't really sat down to relax except about a half hour before dinner, but don't feel like I got anything of consequence done. I hate days like that. I spent about 2 hours on Mom's calendar for 2025, had to buy a $100 of Christmas gifts for my Grandson's girlfriend that we haven't met yet, but all of a sudden she is coming for Christmas. She wound up with 4 gift cards....at least they are for places she shops/eats. Got Christmas with the girls planned here and Christmas with the girls and Mom planned.0 -
I often run into a wrong name being used, like the main character's name being used rather than the background player and I have to stop and re-read the sentence and figure out who the real person is they are talking about. Listening with text to voice is always interesting because they don't say the names like I would say them so it takes me a minute to figure out who they are talking about. Or running into someone who calls their father Pa, and the text to voice says Pennsylvania every time. Oh, I recently had a Dr. in a story, and the computer would say Dr. (pause) so-and-so, like it started a new sentence, that was fun! Ms is Mississippi Jones. I just smile and keep listening.
Not doing much recently. It's strange, but when I get up from sitting down the pain is bad, then as I walk around it gets better, but after being up and walking around for about five minutes, the pain gets bad again. Vicious cycle. If I turn my foot just the wrong way I get a good shot of pain too. Just putting on my slippers or getting up on the scale is painful! I messed up this morning and used my right leg first to get on the scale - thus the pain! I wish I knew exactly what was going on. I see my NP the day after Christmas to talk about these things and hopefully get an MRI to figure out what is wrong. I hope I'm not doing more damage before then! I rest as much as I can.
Oh my, this was bad, but Wade made me sausage, egg, and cheese on a pretzel roll this morning - sooo good! Sooo bad for me! No more pretzel rolls so I am safe from that carb boost for awhile! LOL! Will have to really watch the carbs for the rest of the day!
Here's a really good post from yesterday:
12-07-24
How sad (read that as "demonic"), that the theologies of some men contradict the revealed doctrines of Divinely inspired men. How disturbing that people believe the prince of darkness rather than the King of kings.
Don't believe anyone who denies the following truths, which the Bible clearly and repeatedly tells us. Remember, I am referring to God's miraculous and supernatural salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Christians are enabled and expected to obey God and keep His Commandments.
The blood of Christ can and will cleanse believers from all sin. "Sin" is both a state of being and an action.
God cleanses the repentant believer's life and conscience from sins committed, and then, by the infilling and fullness of the Holy Spirit, God purifies the heart of faithful believers from the inherited sin nature
God's salvation enables and empowers Christians to walk in the Spirit rather than in the flesh.
Christians who walk in the Spirit (though still in a mortal body), are not in the flesh but in the Spirit.
God delivers believers from the Sinful Nature, a.k.a. the Old Man, the Carnal Mind, the Double Mind, the Law of Sin and Death.
Christians do not continue in sin, nor does sin continue in Christians who walk in the Spirit, walk in the truth, walk in the light, walk in love, walk in Christ.
God saves believers from all sin, including sin's penalty, pollution, and power.
He that is born of God (presently alive in and by the Spirit of God) cannot sin because He has been, and is presently born of God.
Christians can and do live righteously in this present evil world.
The person (the Christ follower) who does righteousness is righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
God gives believers an escape from every temptation.
And the list of salvation truths continues. We have a choice to either believe the revelation of God or accept the warped message of sinning religion.
God wants us to be saved from all sin in this life
God is able to save us from all sin in this life.
God is eager to save the lost.
God loves sinners, and has provided a way to save them, while being just.
God does not want any to be lost, but He will not save those who love sin and reject His atoning sacrifice for sin.
Jesus is not only The Only Way, The Only Truth and The Only Life, He calls all and saves whosoever comes to Him by faith.
There are honest questions about sin and salvation, but the points in this article are not Biblically debatable.
If you have doubts that God's salvation from sin includes you, then you are listening to the prince of darkness and his fatalism. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
Every Bible believer acknowledges and advances these truths.
Love y'all. Have a blessed time with the Lord this weekend.
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We had a good weekend and Bill was able to go to church! That is always such a blessing.
This morning I went to see Mom and she just didn't want to get her Christmas Cards and letter done. I finally got the cards out and told her to sign them, then I would write a letter (saying that Mom asked me to) and address the envelopes. I have her letter written and have been copying a piece of Christmas stationary so that I can print the letters on it. It is more work that way, but I found when I did my own, that it make a clearer letter.0 -
Bone Density test results: osteopenia in my legs (as it was 10 years ago) and my spine is normal; my chances of a fracture from a fall are less than 10%. Praise the Lord.0
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Glad you finally got the results. I have osteoporosis, and take a hefty dose of calcium each week. I know I should take daily, but this has been the plan recently. My blood work came back with a bit of cholesterol and I bought a food supplement that is supposed to be good for that, so I will be better about taking my supplements. My once a week high dose Vit.D and B12 were good, so just the calcium and the new supplement will be the dailies.
Bill has been using a couple food supplements that are good for kidney health. When we got his blood work back his kidney function had increased back to stage 3B instead of stage 4 CKD. Wow! I was so excited. It wasn't a large increase, but an increase and back into 3B! He had a couple of markers that showed infections, but he was just getting over the UTI, so that wasn't a surprise.0 -
Wow, praise the Lord! That's such good news about Bill! I had been taking Red Yeast Rice to try and lower my cholesterol, but because it's the genetic version only the prescribed statins work. I guess I could take twice as much of the Red Yeast Rice (a natural statin), but I'm taking so many pills right now, I do not want to add any more! At least my blood work numbers are really good, other than the cholesterol and triglycerides. I've been cutting back on carbs to help bring that down. I was looking at the Beet Root and saw that it was good for circulation. I have some gummies for hair, skin, and nails but that has sugar, so I ordered a powder which is purely beets. I take another supplement for my circulation in my legs, but am hoping this will do just as well and it is less expensive than the other one.
Doing really well other than the arthritis pain. Not liking having to order my pain meds every week, but with Medicare, that's how it works now! They are going to get suspicious when I keep taking it year after year. I've been taking it for around 17 years now - no addiction! I can't take the normal stuff for arthritis, so this is my only option, and it barely works.
I hope y'all are doing well. Keep looking to Jesus! Love you0 -
I started taking Red Yeast Rice, with Coq10, and a bunch more stuff. I'm doing a bit more research on more natural supplements.
I finally have wound care management coming for the place on Bill's bottom. They kept saying that they didn't think it is a pressure sore, but I can't get it to heal because everytime I cover it and it starts healing, the adhesive pulls his skin off and he gets another sore.0 -
There are just some things that it takes a degree to figure out! You've done an amazing job taking care of Bill.
Wade wants me to get off the statin. I want to be off of it as well. I don't have side effects as far as I can tell, but I do know that if I go off of them my cholesterol will jump again, even if I am on the Red Yeast Rice and CoQ10. That's how the doctor knew that it was genetic. My NP hasn't mentioned anything about keeping an eye on my liver numbers which my doctor in Hickory did every six months. I was fine each time he did the blood work.
I can't believe how tired I am today! Eek. I can hardly keep my eyes open. I may have to go back to bed. We are having our monthly Wed night meal tonight and will celebrate Christmas as well.
I hope y'all enjoy your celebrations and enjoy the fellowship of other believers! Love you
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It was a busy day today and I am exhausted. We had Wound Care here this morning. She said that the place on his rear isn't nearly as bad as she was expecting. She said that I was using the right stuff, but to cover it and use the medication to "glue" it to the bottom...no tape. Well, the first time I sat him on the stool, one fell off and I had to dig it out of the toilet. That wasn't pleasant, even though it was clean water...yuck if not clean! I wasn't impressed with the dressing and thought it looked like it would be too heavy to stick with just the heavy ointment. I tried a lighter weight one that I had here. We will see how that works.
5 minutes after she was gone, I had to load Bill up and take him to Mom's to meet Angela and Terry there to have Christas with my Mom. She got so much home-made candy and cookies. She isn't going to need junk food for snacks in a long time!
We got home in time for me to cook supper (left-overs from last night). I'm just now getting sat down for a chance to catch my breath.0 -
I hope that you can get things figured out. Praise the Lord it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. I've thought about those kinds of gifts for friends, but then I came back with the thought that I'm not doing them any favors by giving them stuff I'm trying to get out of my diet! I hope I reach an age where they say, "Just let her eat what she wants to!"
We've had some rainy days here lately. I'm hoping that is what is giving me more headaches than usual. I did up my dosage of my heart med. I want to see if it will help bring down my heart rate, especially in the evenings when the med is wearing off. It's still less of a dose than when my heart started acting up, so I know it's safe.
Have a beautiful day wherever you are today! Love you0 -
Sorry to have been absent for a while, but the holidays have been more difficult than I expected. Having Beth and Daniel close by means so much, but things just feel a little strange. Dwight was in rehab this time last year and we had a great visit on Christmas morning. Lots of memories keep popping up.
I saw that Bill's kidney function was up, Connie. That's a great praise. You are a wonderful caregiver. And Kim, I pray that the arthritis pain stays manageable with meds.
Do you all have a tree up this year? Beth and Daniel didn't want to get one because they would be out of town for a week and have two new kittens that could possibly have a ball while creating damage while they were gone. So I decided not to get one myself, but they insisted and I'm so glad. We picked a live one out from a family-owned tree lot a couple of weeks ago, got Chinese takeout, and had fun eating and decorating. I enjoy sitting in the dark and looking at it.0 -
I have a tree. It isn't a real one, but it fits. It is a skinny tree, so fits well in our home without having to do major furniture moves. As I was decorating it, I used a lot more of memory ornaments than I usually use. I have a set of hand crocheted hats that my aunt made for me, a bunch of counted cross stitch ones that a friend made for me, some crocheted snowflakes that a friend from church and my aunt made, some little stuffed snowmen that were a gift from Bill's brother, and some sets of ornaments we purchased on vacations. I think it turned out rather pretty.
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Your tree is beautiful, Connie. We also have an artifical tree up. I'm glad we got it up early. Two of my grandkids - both 3 year olds - "helped" me decorate on a couple of different days, so, as you might imagine, the bottom third has more ornaments.
I have a miniature stocking hanging up for each of the grandkids. They have their initials on them and I added a button to each from a box of buttons that I have from my maternal grandmother. It started out because I couldn't find an "I" so I bought an "L" and used a button for camouflage.
Trying to get back into the Christmas spirit of things. My dad unexpectedly passed away the day before yesterday. While it's comforting that he wasn't by himself (my brother had been staying with him for a few days, while working remotely), and I know he's home with the Lord, I'm sad that I didn't spend more time with him this past summer/fall while he was back up here. He left for Florida on Nov. 1st and wasn't due back up until May. We had him over for dinner a couple of times and he came to a couple of my grandchildren's soccer games and birthday parties, but he kept himself busy and my Dave was out of town a lot between July and November, so I was busy holding down the fort here. He was 85. But both of his parents lived into their 90s - my grandfather died at 95, my grandma at 97 - and he was very healthy and active. It was just so unexpected.
My youngest daughter came over with her two children yesterday afternoon. They're 3 years old and 10 months. Having them around was comforting and a good distraction. At one point my grandson snuggled up next to me on the couch and asked if I was still sad anymore.
I wrapped a few things last night. And left the mess to pick up later today. I've been up since 5; will probably get up and turn on the coffee maker soon.
And now Dave and I have started talking about living trusts and getting our will together. Because I'm pretty sure my dad thought he had more time here too and didn't leave things as finished as he would've liked (my mom is still on a couple of his accounts as his beneficiary and she's been gone almost 6 years).
Thanks for letting me ramble. Be well. You're in my prayers.0 -
Oh Cindy, I'm so sorry! You will be in my prayers even more in the days ahead. We've talked more about being prepared for when we leave this earth after Mom's passing too. It's hard thinking about that stuff, but it sure made a difference that Mom was very prepared and we just had to follow her plan. I love that picture of your grandson snuggling with you and caring about your heart! That's very precious.
I have long lived parent and grandparents on my Mom's side, Nana and Grandpa were both 88 when they passed (a year apart) and Mom is 87. On my Dad's side, they passed much younger. Grandma was 55 and had breast cancer for the second time. Grandpa died when he was around 66 with a stroke and colon cancer and my dad died when he was 74 of ALS. I honestly don't want to be long-lived, I'd much rather go on and be with the Lord, but I will stay as long as He can use me here! You have some very long-lived genes!
We have a fake tree. We got a lighted one at the after-Christmas sales last year. It has white lights and I put on our memory ornaments as well. I have the cutest little star at the top of the tree.
Connie, that tree is gorgeous! And Cindy, I love the stockings and what a gift for each child to have a button that their great grandmother had! I have a tray that my great grandparents got for their 25th anniversary. It has their initials on it, and from those initials I figured out their first names and their wedding date so I could have more info for my ancestry! It desperately needs to be re-silvered though.
My Christmas Cactus is blooming, just two flowers so far! It always bloomed around Thanksgiving for Mom and we called it her Thanksgiving Cactus, but it's back to being a Christmas Cactus. I kept it outside all Spring, Summer and Fall in partial sunlight and then brought it in when temps got down in the 40's. I have them in front of the window in my office. I can't believe my succulents or this cactus are still alive!
Have a blessed weekend y'all. Comfort and peace to you, Cindy! Love you
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Cindy - My heart goes out to you! You and your family are in our prayers. Your grandson is so precious to know that your heart hurts! I am praying for the family. And, I love the little stockings with the buttons. How precious!
My family is really mixed in it's longevity. On my Mom's side, her mom was in her late 70s and her Dad died before she was born (died on Christmas day with burst appendix and she was born in April). Her grandparents lived into their late 80s, early 90's though. My Dad's parents both lived long lives, but my grandfather had a stroke 5 years before he passed and was like a baby after that. The family came in and took care of him. Dad was 95 when he passed and Mom is 91.
My Dad had things set up well, and Mom's using what was left fairly quickly with being in Assisted Living. She should have enough to live there for her lifetime, but it is very expensive. Everything is set up with either me as POD or joint owner, but I don't expect a lot left at end of life.
Bill and I have things pretty much set up, but we do need to do a TOD on the house. I had asked to have it done when we were purchasing it, but they said we have to do it after the original deed is returned to us. I have everything filled out for the TOD, but most places will not notarize a Power of Attorney signature (even though the original deed has the POA), so I need to get Bill to the bank to have it done. That isn't easy, I also need to get the TOD on the car. I will do that when we get plates next year.
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Cindy, I'm so sorry about your Dad's passing. He lived a long life, but death still often takes us by surprise. Dwight was 80 and although he had serious health problems, his heart suddenly stopping was unexpected. He didn't like to talk about the what-if's either, but I've managed pretty good with Beth's help.
All of your trees and treasured decorations are precious! I've come to realize that a tree is more than decoration, rather a tree of memories. My tree is pretty simple and I spend a lot of time looking at it. I'll take a couple of ornament closeups tomorrow to share.
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Cindy, will your family have a memorial service for you Dad? Try not to regret not spending more time with him, because we never seem to have as much as we want. One of the things Beth treasures is picking Dwight up and going out for a weekly father/daughter lunch during our first two years here, as much as her busy schedule allowed, that is. And I loved your grandson's asking if you were still sad. Children are very perceptive.
It was good to get out yesterday for worship and Christmas brunch. I played piano with a small instrumental group - guitars, mandolin and violin. I loved the Christmas music.
Here's one of my most treasured decorations. In my early teens, I went through a phase of wanting to make sequin & bead ornaments. The little kits were adorable! Sweet memories of my Mom helping me make this... actually, I was a little over ambitious and she did most of the work. It has lasted so many years!
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That's a beautiful tree, Carole. Wade put up blue icicle lights on the front of the house so at night there is a soft blue glow behind the tree. I also put ornaments up that had been mom's (the two teddy bears and the stocking I cross stitched for Mom and Dad eons ago!) I think you can see them in the picture. We had her fake Christmas tree as well and we gave that to our Pastor's wife because she was such a close friend to Mom. She was tickled that there was still some tinsel hanging on!
We had a beautiful service yesterday morning and will have a candle light service on Christmas Eve. Can't wait!
My pharmacy sent me a note this morning letting me know they are going to contact my NP to see if there is an alternative to the med I am taking for pain. Unless they have come up with something new I don't think they will find anything since I can't take any of the arthritis meds that are out there right now. I hope she remembers that I can't take aspirin, Ibuprofen, Nsaids, or steroids! I've been taking this med for 17 years without getting addicted, why would I start now? It's frustrating when they don't consider the patient's history. Jesus knows and He will get me through whatever I need to go through!
Continued prayers for you and your family, Cindy. For all my ladies. Love you
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We had a wonderful celebration with the "kids", yesterday. Our 27 year old grandson and his 26 year old girlfriend are the youngest. I worked from early morning until about 8 last night, getting ready for the celebration, during the celebration, and then cleaning up the mess. I don't ever remember being that physically exhausted from something casual. Today is pretty much a rest day, I went to see mom for a few minutes, but that is all....leftovers from yesterday for dinner.
Bill did really well, and seemed to really enjoy it. By the time we were getting to the end of the presents, I was having to open his for him. At dinner, after every one was gone, we just had sandwiches, and he fell asleep eating. I couldn't get him awake enough to finish his sandwich, but when I said pie, he was wide awake!
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Thanks for posting that great picture, Connie! It's so good to see you both enjoying the season and decked out in those bright sweaters. I'm also finding a day of rest needed after events now.
Kim, that's a beautiful Scripture picture and message. What time is your candlelight service tomorrow? I'm greatly looking forward to ours also (7 pm).
I got some delicious tomato bisque soup at Publix today and invited Beth & Daniel over after our service, to which they are eager to come. I'll just lay out soup, deli roast beef, cheese slices, and a pumpkin roll that a friend made for me. Then Beth invited me out for brunch in the morning. I'm not up tight about playing tomorrow night, so it should be a relaxing, fun day. I'll play a 10-15 minute prelude and need to time a couple of pieces that I want to end with. I pray that Christmas Eve is special for all of you.0 -
Our service, if the rain isn't too heavy, will be at 7PM. We have parts of the road into the church that can flood if the rain is heavy and the tide is up! Wade and I don't have a problem, we are about 100 feet from the Church (an out-building on our Pastor's property which is right next door!). Ooo, pumpkin roll, one of my favorites - got an extra seat??
Oh Connie, I'm so happy you posted the picture. Bill looks good, and how cute are y'all in your sweaters? I'm glad you had such a good time at your get together. It warms my heart when Bill has a good time at Church or family get togethers, praise the Lord.
Wade got me a shrimp plate from a local eatery, El's, last night for a special "Christmas" dinner. It worked out great because both of us got full from sharing that one meal! I get three meals out of the one usually; they really pack the box full! We finished off the Egg-nog too! Detoxing from all of the sweets I'm enjoying isn't going to be easy! Mostly I've had peanut butter cookies with a dab of peppermint white chocolate on top and some almond bark covered pretzels. I don't think there's almond in it, but I have been having more headaches - hmmm??? Wade knows almonds are a no-no, so he wouldn't make me something with them in it!
Y'all have a blessed night tonight and a very merry Christmas tomorrow. Love y'all.
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Our Christmas Eve candlelight service is an early one - 4 o'clock. Dave and I will go and then our youngest son and his family are coming over for chili (it's been in the crockpot since 10am) and puzzles/games. Everyone else has family on the other side to go to tonight. We'll see everyone tomorrow afternoon for dinner, fellowship and presents. This year I'm making Chicken Cordon Bleu and Kielbasa for the main dishes. My kids have volunteered to bring everything else and I'm letting them.
Thank you so much for your prayers. I've looked through pictures and my dad was with my family four out of the last five years for Christmas. (I'm not sure what he did in 2022 - maybe he went to my sister's.) Even though he wasn't planning on coming up from Florida this year, I'll still be a little melancholy without him here. (It was the same for me the first year without my mom - although this will be harder, I think. My mother and I butted heads a lot... sometimes I felt like she didn't like me very much; I was much closer to my dad.)
Christmas Blessings to you all!
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Cindy, I'm so glad the kids are there to support you through Christmas. We have nothing going today at all, so we have enjoyed the rest. Tomorrow, I will go get mom and bring her to the house for Christmas lunch and her presents.0
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All is quiet on our front. Our candlelit service was very nice. We used battery operated candles to be on the safe side, but it was still beautiful! We sang Oh Holy Night for the candlelit part of the service, so beautiful. Today we are just taking it easy and trying to finish off the sweet stuff so we can get back on track tomorrow. Not sure we are going to make it though.
Have a very happy Christmas! Love you!0 -
It's quiet here too, Kim. Your Christmas day sounds delightful. Beth and Daniel came for brunch, and I'm just relaxing now. Daniel makes the best 3-egg omelets! I had bacon/sausage and grits cooked, then laid out the omelet fixings and he did the rest. I'm making three meals out of mine.
Last night's service was so sweet. I played for about 15 minutes before it started. The communion service at the end took a while because everyone came up front, then spread out around the sides with their candles. Beth did a meditation and I played while communion was served - a piece that blends Pachelbel's Canon with The First Noel. Afterwards, candles were lit as we sang Silent Night. Daniel took the picture below (that's Beth with the long curly hair and white sweater at the bottom).
Merry Christmas to all! You are loved.
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