Labor Day Pink

We drove down to NC for the weekend. We went out for a Mexican Dinner at our favorite place in Kinston. It was so good. Afterward, we went to Roses. I haven't been in a Roses store in ages. I bought some little blankets for the kids to use at our house. They had some great prices.

Ray and I went to Sam's Club on Sunday and bought a big rack of pork ribs. We took them to Rhonda's and Jesse  put them on the grill after Rhonda parboiled them. We had them with red-potato salad, corn on the cob, and yummy rolls. Later we had strawberry shortcake. Jeff and Sharon brought Dillon and Grandmother Hazel followed them. We finally got to see Taylor's Dance Recital on DVD.

It was a restful weekend altogether and the ride home wasn't bad. Not as much traffic as we thought there would be with the holiday weekend. I had an appointment on Wednesday and my blood PT/INR was too  high (4.6), so I had to go back on Friday and it was 2.6. Thank God.

It was a sad week. On Sunday, Sept 3, our neighbor, Chuck Kessler, passed away. Chuck was a dear sweet man. He and his wife, Barbara, used to keep our grass cut back when I was working. They helped us in so many ways. Our dogs thought they were their grandparents because Chuck and Barbara would watch them when we went off for the weekend or even a week. They couldn't stand the thought of Precious at the Vet for a week or Pepe when he came along. Lovely people. We took them with us as "Roadies" for a long time when we DJ'd. Chuck was a DJ at the NASA Dances in Hampton 20 years ago and had retired but loved going with us. They could dance so well. We went to the reception for him even though it was for family. His niece, Paula is married to Ray's son, Kevin so we are related in a way. The funeral was on Thursday at the Lutheran Church on HW 17. There was a nice crowd and the funeral itself was pretty formal. Chuck was cremated, so it was more of a memorial service.

Evelyn Kenney also passed away on September 3. Evelyn was living in healthcare at the Chesapeake. Reverend Dr. Furman Kenney is her husband. He married Ray and I over 15 years ago and is also in our Lions Club. Evelyn was a lovely woman, great mother, and wonderful wife. She was also a minister but followed her husband of over 60 years. Dr. Kenney was instrumental in starting the Chesapeake when it was known as the Baptist Home. He has a lovely apartment there and has written 4 books in the past few years and I hear that he is working on a new murder mystery.

The third person in my life to pass away this week was Connie Rowe. Connie was a hairdresser that worked at Hairrington Place on Warwick Boulevard in Hilton. When I went in to get my haircut in January 2010, I told her I was going to have surgery for breast cancer. Then she told me that she was starting chemo the next week for cervical cancer. She didn't work any more after that day. She was a ray of sunshine in her life. She brought a smile to everyone.

The most comforting thing about these three dear people, they were devout Christians. It is so much easier when someone you know is a Christian goes to be with the Lord. It is more of a celebration than mourning. I love them all, will miss them, but I will see them again. Praise the Lord. 
God is Good, All the time.

HURRICANE PINK

Hurricane Earl is sweeping toward NC Outer Banks as I type this. I am not frightened of it. The thing that concerns me is the amount of storms out there in the Atlantic waiting to come in. I am not sure we are going to make it to NC home this weekend. I really want to go, but I have had so much trouble this week with the RA and my right hand and arm. The pain has been excruciating. I was put on antibiotics again because the Z-PAC didn't work. Now I am on something else. Anyway, you aren't supposed to take the Embrel shots if you are on antibiotics. By Sunday night the pain was so awful, I took the shot and 20mg of prednisone. Here it is Wednesday, and I just got back the use of my hand. Thought I better write in my blog so that if it goes down again tomorrow, you all will know what happened.

Cresenti came by this afternoon on her way back to NC. She was going to pick up her granddaughter and take her for a few days. Good plan with a hurricane coming. She was upset. Her lawyer is trying to get out of representing her. I think her firm got bent out of joint because she converted to contingency plan and won't get any more money until the case is done, if then. She is pretending that she made a mistake so that it would look illegal for her to continue. She told Cresenti that she will contact the Bar association to find out if what she did was alright or not. She would have to turn Cresenti over to another lawyer which means that Cresenti would have to pay someone else. I told her that she ought to let it be known that she can contact the bar association just as easy as the lawyer could. I may be wrong, but it sure sounds fishy to me.

There was an article in the Religious Herald about a member of our church whose son was lured into the Morman Church. Ray sent it out on FaceBook and I tweeted it. Pastor Seley had them printed and out for the congregation to pick up on Sunday. I found it in the Religious Herald from June 15, 2006. Very interesting article. I will expand on my Thoughts of Christ Blog later this month.

Zna called me Tuesday and I shared a workout with her sister and learned a new O2 Secret. It was really good. Made me light-headed though. I was supposed to go on this morning with another class but I had company and tweeted her that I was busy. Now, we may leave early Thursday morning to go to NC because of the hurricane. I really got nauseated Tuesday after the workout because I am on the pain medication. At least, maybe I can go off the medication before I workout again.

MAMMOGRAM PINK

I went in for my 6 month mammogram today. There is always a lump in my throat when I go and there is the expectation of doom after the diagnosis in January of 2009. You to the place, sign in, wait, get called up to have your insurance card and ID scanned. Then you sit and wait in this huge room with a lot of people, half of whom seem to be talking on their cell phones. Although there is a sign at the door asking you to turn off your cell. I try to ignore them, but people seem to speak louder on the phone. Why is that? You should speak as you normally do. I personally don't like to talk on my cell phone in front of other people. Not only does it seem rude, I don't want everyone knowing my business.
After the wait, the nurse comes to get you and takes you back to the dressing room where there are wet wipes if you need to remove deodorant. I put on this huge gown that must have been made for a 400 lb patient. I tried tying it in the front with cute bows. LOL I went to the small waiting room where one lady was complaining about one of the techs at the Hoeffer Center who was rude to her last time she had a mammogram. She wished me luck when she went in to have her mammogram. Anyway, I told the other lady I didn't need luck, Jesus is on my side. She agreed with me.
Finally, I went in for my mammogram. This one was only on the breast where I had surgery and it was difficult because there wasn't a lot left. We talked about reconstruction, but I am still undecided about that. After the mammogram, I had to go sit and wait again until the chief tech looked over the x-rays. Everything seems to be fine and I have to go back in January 2011. That was a huge relief. Glad that part is over.

My friend Cresenti is in town doing depositions with her lawyer and the lawyers from J.C. Penney. I am praying that JCP decided to settle with her and get her out of this limbo. She is such a sweet person, I just can't imagine why they let her go. I truly think it was her age and she was making just too much money for them to keep any longer. They could hire two new people for what they were paying her. She worked for them 28 years and only had 2 years to retirement when they let her go. She had outstanding evaluations for all those years until the last year when they got in a new store manager who was younger than Cresenti. She bullied Cresenti and completely destroyed her confidence in the months before she fired her. She gave her another department to supervise when she already had two. She took away her office and made her share space with a young woman just hired from college. I know what it is like to be bullied, I had to endure that for about 2 years and it was miserable. I think that is what triggered my illness, because it was then that I began to get really ill. The same thing happened to Cresenti and she was out on sick leave when she got her pink slip in the mail. How mean is that? I cannot even stand the thought of going to a store that would treat its people like that.  No more JCP for me. It is one thing when you don't know things like that are going on, but when it happens to someone you know, you have to take a stand. I know a lot of our church members that quit shopping there and some even cut up their cards.

I am off my soapbox now. I went to the doctor this morning and I have an ear infection and the glands in my throat are swollen. I am now on antibiotics for the next 9 days. Same thing happened a couple of weeks ago but I was on the Enbril and I have since found out that you cannot take antibiotics when you are on Enbril.  So I guess I am off the shots for a while.
School has started and I haven't heard from the Grandchildren yet. I am sure they are so busy with new stuff. I don't think their dance lessons start until after Labor Day.

Isaiah 45:3 "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places so that you may know that I am the LORD, your God (NIV). 

The greatest treasures in my life have been discovered during the darkest times of my life. My weaknesses have given way to strengths and my failures have led to successes. God has used it all for His glory and for my good.  

GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

Amazing Pink

We went to NC last week to the "Beach House." We had a nice time with Children and Grandchildren. We met Rhonda in Greenville at MacDonalds and took the twins with us to Sam's Club. Later Garrett went to spend the night at a friend's house and we all ate barbecue from Ayden at our house. It was the original NC Barbecue. The restaurant has been featured in many southern magazines as having the NC barbecue. I thought it was alright, but a little greasy because at Parkers' in Greenville they don't chop up all the fat and stuff in their barbecue. It wasn't seasoned as well as Parker's either. We went with Rhonda, Jesse, and the twins, Garrett and Taylor on Saturday night to dinner at the Mayflower in Greenville and had seafood. Their seafood is awesome and plentiful for a very good price.

Sunday morning, we packed up the car and drove into New Bern to have lunch with my son Jeff and his new bride, Sharon. They are so good together. I think Jeff cooked the lunch in Sharon's Pampered Chef pot. He fixed Chicken with veggies and then there was baked potatoes. It was served with salad and Sharon made some brownies and we ate absolutely too many of them. I kept dozing off in the car on the way home.  Sharon's son, my new grandson, Dylan, and Sharon's father was there also. It was a great visit. We watched YouTube videos afterward in the living room. It was so nice to see Jeff so happy and settled. That guy really has his head on straight. Sharon gave me some wedding pictures, that are in this section.

We left and drove home about 4 p.m. It was a nice drive coming from New Bern to where we usually drive to in Ahoskie. Took a little longer but not too much traffic. We arrived home too late to attend our Deacon's meeting. Monday was such a hot day, I stayed in most all day. Ray has to go out occasionally, but I think he tried to stay in as much as possible.

Tuesday, Cresenti drove down. I made a 3-cheese Ravoili w/meat marinara for the Hispanic dinner our ladies circle was having for our Hispanic members. I had to go to the Region I meeting at the FOP in Hampton, but dropped my cassarole off first. I heard later that they loved it. We took care of Region Business for Lions with Jim and Linda and had dinner there. It was a great meeting. Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead.

Cresenti went to the Womens Bible School at Christoper Newport U. She really enjoyed it. She spent the night with us and was going to go back to NC on Wednesday but when she told me about the VBS for women, I talked her into staying another day and going on Wednesday night with me. It was wonderful. She got up and went to her hair appointment in Va Beach Thursday morning. She is such a sweet person, I sure wish she had her court appearance over and done with. I sure hope J.C. Penney has to pay for all the pain and suffering this wonderful woman has had to go through. I have offered to testify for her. They really messed with her life. I really don't think it is fair when big companies let people go when they are nearing retirement. Cresenti gave them 110% for 28 years of her life and just because she had a little difficulty, they didn't think about the person, only about the bottom line in a time when the economy is about the worst it has been in almost a hundred years. Of course sales are down, but hers weren't down that much as compared to other J.C.  Penney stores in the Region. They wanted to cut that big salary and have someone who was newer, making less money do the job. Actually, I never knew that department managers made that much money at Penney's. I am not sure I will ever shop at Penney's again. I know that there are a lot of ladies at our church that say they won't. I can say that I have avoided the stores since this happened. You wouldn't believe all the things I have heard about other people that worked for Penney's who were fired just before retirement also. Must be a trend. One lady that they fired was all set to testify for Cresenti when they miraculously gave her job back to her but at another store and have told her that if she wants to keep her job, she cannot talk to Cresenti's lawyer or give a deposition. How underhanded is that? She probably won't keep her job long after Cresenti's case is settled. Here I am on my soapbox again. Sorry, if I do drag on. I just hate injustice. Don't you?

This is an "Abraham Lincoln" rose in my front yard. Isn't it beautiful. Actually this was in the sun and makes it look a little brighter than normal. It has a little darker hue with velvet-like leaves. I just love it. I have a "John F. Kennedy" (cream) on the other side, but it is not blooming right now. I just love roses. They bring a smile to my face and joy to my heart.






I ordered "Eat Pray Love" on my Kindle and I am hurrying through my last book to get to it. I just don't want to be reading 2 books at once. If you decide to order I hope you Enjoy! I always like to read the book before I see the movie so I can see what was left out.

2008 Dove Awards Point of Grace Cindy Morgan's -How You Live

My Sister sent me this on Facebook and she said it reminded her of me. Enjoy. I did.

TARA IS DOING BETTER

Tara is out of ICU and doing much better. She appreciates all the thoughts and prayer for her. God is good, all the time. My God is an Awesome God (and the only one there is.)

I have been a little depressed. It started with the mail. Since I pay all my bills online, I don't get them in the snail mail. Every day is mostly junk mail. The only thing is, now it is junk mail from Funeral Homes and Cemetaries. How depressing is that? It was bad enough when I got letters from AARP when I was 35. I know that I am getting closer to the end, but what if I live to 120? That would be a lot of junk mail. I think I have a phone number that I can call to get rid of junk mail. I know I did it before I took early retirement, but that has been a couple of years. I have decided that I will not even open them. I will just shred all junk mail. Maybe I can recycle it into my garden. I just hate to think about all that waste.

Everyone is so awesome retweeting me lately. I am getting over a 100 new followers each day. I am enjoying Twitter so much. Facebook is great too, but I am really getting worn out on FarmVille and FarmTown. It is a bit obsessive I think. I need to start blogging more and get off of the games. Maybe I need a blog partner. My friend Cresenti was going to blog with me but she moved and is busy getting her life in order in NC. I understand, but I really miss her.

Ray is so busy with his business that we don't have much time together with him on his computer and me on mine. I really wish I felt better. I don't know if it is the medicines or the Rheumatoid Arthritis. I don't seem t be able to get around very well and I am in pain so much. I don't like to take pain meds. I miss Zna too. She really motivated me. I was doing so much better on her exercises. I am going to try doing them by myself. Everyone is so nice to me, I just wish that I was able to help others more. I do have quilting on Thursday. My little sewing machine is not very heavy. We have been given keys to a cabinet at church and will be meeting twice a month to make quilts for babies in the hospital. I have one I need to quilt and one that I am still piecing. 

Our Beta Circle collected school supplies for our July mission and they said that we had a lot. I know I bought a lot. It is a shame that the State of Virginia is so poor that it cannot afford to buy school supplies for disadvantaged children. You would think the way we are taxed and with the 'Lottery' we wouldn't have a problem. I am sorry, but to me the Lottery is the Virginia Poor Tax. People who have money don't purchase tickets. I quit going into places that sell lottery tickets because I just want to go over and shake people who are there spending money on tickets looking for a free ride when they could be using the money to buy food for their children or clothing. It makes me ill. I thought of moving to NC to get away from it all together, but then they started selling them there too. It is a plague on our society. Gamboling never solved anything.

Getting off my soapbox now.
God is Good, All the time.

A Father's Heart - (click here for Tara's Blog)

I received a tweet this morning from @calbosch asking for prayer for Tara @AngelHeart2003 (NC). Tara is in the hospital and is heart-transplant recipient. I don't know any of the details of why she is in the hospital, but she needs our prayers.


Father God,
Be with Tara and her family as they go through the trials of illness. Heal her body, in Jesus' Holy Name. She is a devout Christian and lives her life for you, Lord. Let her be the shining example of love that we need to brighten our day.Wrap her in Your comforting Arms and calm her heart. We ask all these things in the name of Christ Jesus. AMEN

http://tara-afathersheart.blogspot.com/ 
and 
http://twitter.com/a2ndchanceatlfe/