July 8, 2012

My vision is very blurry most mornings, so I might make some typos that I don't catch.
I missed a Golden opertunity yesterday.  Sister Billie Valentine came through our area, and called to come for a short visit.  We were up at Creekside, and she called our home phone.  She did leave a nice message, though.
I'd love to see her in person again.
Sister Jean Katherine Welch, who is Steve's aunt and a Sister of Saint Joseph of Rochester of New York, called yesterday.  She talks fast and gets off the phone quickly, because she lives on $75.00 a month, and doesn't have much extra for long distance phone calls.  I told Steve that we should send her some money to help her, as she has been so caring and attentive during this time of trouble for me.  The Sisters hold many prayers for me, and I so appreciate it.  They are loving and caring people who have given their whole lives to God and His service.
I called Lynn, but she didn't answer, so I left her a short message.
She took so much good care of me when she was here, and I hope that she didn't tire herself out so badly that she's had to take to her bed.  She's not well, herself, and I don't want to be too much work for her.  I know that she worries some about me, and worry is hard on Fibromyalgia patients.
She and Jim are so busy with their work, their church leadership, and her many crafts and hobbies that make her some small amount of money to help financially.
We sent her home with her van full of 'treasures', and Jim got busy right away and added her customized bird houses to her huge retaining wall in her backyard.  It's almost like wall paper out there, and looks so cheery.  She says it cheers her to glance out the window and see all those houses, many of which are gifts to her from me.  She's such a loving lady, and I so enjoy giving back to her.
Janie's other daughter (the one I refer to as 'The Religious One', or 'The Pretty One') came for a day-long visit, with her husband and daughter.  She is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen.  She has an inner glow about her that reaches out to people, and you can feel the love she has for you.  She is called Sandy, but she certainly doesn't grate or grind as sand would.
I so enjoyed her and her little family, and Janie was so proud of her.  I noticed tears in Janie's eyes as Sandy and I talked and I gave Sandy 'the fifty-cent tour' of Creekside.  Sandy LOVED it.
John, Sandy's husband, was interested in my problems and the care I'm recieving.  He's a handsome man, and so attentive to Sandy.  I just LOVED the whole little family.  They sure were driving a nice car.  Janie has a nice, pleasant family.
They couldn't come to Clairemont, because a road crew were removing fallen trees from our road which had come down in a terrible wind storm.
It had stormed on Thursday night, with incredible wind, and many trees came down in this area.  The people who are now living in the Collins house across 11W had a swimming pool to overturn and was carried by the wind down to the edge of 11W.  It had water in it, as I saw children in it last week as Steve and I were going down Rutledge Pike.
The high wind took the bell tower and steeple off of Rutledge First Baptist Church.  We drove up by it yesterday, and it is broken and laying in pieces all over the front lawn.  They had some beautiful flower beds and a nice walkway there, so there's more damage than to the bell tower and steeple.  I just wonder how much rain came in when the tower went off.
Water was in waves over the corner of our back porch, which is covered by a roof with 6-inch gutters.  I don't know where all that water came from, but it was welcome.  We are having the worst drought.  Yards and fields are brown, and the chance of fire breaking out is a real danger.  Just before the storm, Janie saw lightening strike Jean Jarnigan's front yard and set it ablaze.  It might have been an electrical wire hitting it, as we noticed that a huge tree was down next to her house, taking some electrical wires with it.  I hope she was safe.
We lost a good neighbor this week, Irene Marsh, who I called 'Mamaw'.  I had seen her in the Goodwill just two weeks ago with her daughter, and she was quite feeble but chipper.  She was 87, but had kept a large garden last summer.  I made up a huge flower arrangement to take to Smith's, but with all the visitors and a trip to Lowe's (that was truely necessary), I didn't get to take the flowers to the funeral home.  The funeral is this afternoon.
The trip to Lowe's was necessitated by our swimming pool getting a leak.  Steve noticed it yesterday early in the day, and tried several home cures for it, with little or no success.  He wanted to go to Lowe's to get a swimming pool patch, which was little more than a small piece of clear plastic with some water-proof (yeah, RIGHT) adhesive on it.  You are supposed to prepare the patch, then go under the water, peel off the backing, and quickly place the patch over the leak.  It's still leaking this morning.
I didn't quite grasp how the glue is supposed to work in a fluid that is referred to as 'the universal solvent', but Steve had hope that it would.
I'm afraid of what measures he will next take to solve the problem.  He was talking yesterday about getting an in-ground pool, which would be a logistical nightmare.  We live on a rock bluff, and it would take dynamite to blast the rock out for a hole into which to place an in-ground pool.
I suggested that we install our sun room package (which has been setting in the back yard for two years) along the back porch roof, and thus create a 24'X38' enclosed area where we could install a small indoor pool.  It would be smaller, of course, but would eliminate the worry of leaves, blowing trash, and animals falling into the pool.  Keeping the outdoor pool clean is a chore.  Bugs have made a target of it during this dry weather, and it seems like we get into the pool, clean it, and get back out.
I have been heating our pool with a solar heater which I designed a couple of years ago, so it would be nice and warm to have a pool indoors.  I feel so light in the water, and I've not got sore from all the activity in the water.
Tom is working out really well, getting the deck toward completion.
He is a nice man, and works out in this heat without stopping.  I'm so glad we have him, and I hope he stays with us.  There's so much he could do to help.
Joy, Janie's sister, was supposed to come for a visit this weekend, but didn't.  I don't know why, but she told me last week that her car was 'acting up', so that may be why she's staying close to home.
Fred, Janie's brother, is supposed to get here this week, I think.
I get to venture into cancer hell tomorrow.  It's my second chemo treatment.  I have to sit in a recliner for eight hours while I'm there, getting all kinds of medications, vitamins and minerals to help boost my body, and then they install the pump.  It weighs about 15 pounds, and they hang it around my neck.  It clicks and ticks the whole time I'm wearing it, and it can't get wet or bumped, or it will leak or spill.
Then, if there's a repeat of the last treatment, I will go into the worst whole-body muscle spasms imaginable.  My toes curl up like walnuts, my neck feels like I've got a boa constrictor wrapped around it, my back and sides feel like I've been run over with a heavy truck, and if I reach for something, it looks and feels like I'm grabbing onto it for dear life.  The pain is so bad after awile that I think my teeth will sweat.  Even my hair hurts.  But, at least, I still HAVE hair.
I'm on a very heavy vitamin and mineral regimine to try to keep my hair, and, so far, something is working.  I can just imagine how hot a wig would feel in this heat.  It's been in the upper 90's all week, and it feels like a blast furnace when you open a door to go outside.
I've offered to make Penny Satterfield an awning to hang on the front of the Down Home, to try to keep some of the hot sun off the front of her building.  She told me she's dreading her next utility bill.  I want to do something to help others, especially now, when I need so much help.
I feel weak and tired all the time, and have to lay down in the daytime.  I've never took naps, except the occasional Sunday afternoon nap, but I need rest now.  My doctors told me I would feel poorly and tired, but nothing prepared me for this whole-body fatigue.
I used to keep my house immaculate, but now it's cluttered, and my carpets need to be cleaned.  I just don't have the energy to deal with the dirt, and, after surgery, I'm not supposed to lift or strain my stomach muscles, so I can't push a vacuum cleaner.  I like not having to do housework, but it pains me to see my house dirty.  I so want to be well again, and be able to do what I've always done.
I haven't worked a whole day at Creekside sinse I had my first surgery.  I feel that so little is getting done everywhere, and I'm the cause.
We got a copy of the hospital bill this week, and I told Steve that it would have been cheaper to build a sick-room onto the house and hire a nurse to take care of me at home.
I've been sitting around making hats for the other chemo patients who have lost their hair, and it makes me feel good to do something for others.  They are fabulous headwear, and could not be affordable for a low-budget patient, and I want to give to others.
It's messy work, but fulfilling to me.  It's one thing that I can do without feeling even more tired and short of breath.
I'm still really sore from my surgeries, and I've had to learn to carry a shoulder bag on my left shoulder, as my port is on my right shoulder.  A seat belt crosses right over it and hurts, so I move it to my waist.
One of my peafowl hens is laying, and Steve wants her to set and hatch the eggs.  I'd love to see her babies, as her mate is my Java Green male, and she is almond colored.  Jave Green peafowl are really high-dollar birds, so it would be nice to get some babies.
The birds are moulting in this heat, so I'm collecting feathers.
Lynn wants some, and had some ready to go home with her when she was here, but forgot them in all the packing of the treasures we sent back with her.  It was not enough to show our appreciation for all she did, but she had quite a bit, just not enough.
She's hoping to come back in a couple of weeks, and we'll send more home with her  then.
I need to get off here and get to making hats and doing some light housework.
Oh, Barbara went to some horse race with Cooter and Darla Daniel.  She didn't win.
I saw the Queen Mother at the Down Home on Saturday.  She was pleased to have an unexpected, but short, visit with me.  She's quite the Lady.