A blustery, snowy, Thanksgiving morning

Hi Folks,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

What I am thankful for:
1. My life and my Savior, Jesus Christ.
2. My husband and his job and income to pay for our home, food and essentials, and my part- time job.
3. My sister, brother, nieces, their spouses, their children, my father-in-law, my brothers-in- law and their families.
4. My home.
5. Food in our cupboards and refrigerator and freezer.
6. Our dogs and cats.
7. My neighbors.
8. My friends.
9. The ability to still drive.
10. The wonderful change in seasons.
11. The many colorful birds that come to our feeders...even the squirrels.
12. My great country and the priviledge and right to vote, and our "Bill of Rights" and the "Constitution."
13. The town I live near.
14. The opportunity and the priviledge to express my opinion in print or anywhere.
15. The opportunity and the priviledge to worship and pray in my home, backyard, in my car, in a restaurant, and in a church.

When we stop and think of all the things we can do, the list is endless. Take today, to pause and be thankful for what you have. Some of the best things in life are not what you can buy, but what is a "given" because you live in this great country.

The best to you, this day!
Becky :)

A cold crisp morning

Good morning folks,

I guess winter is here, finally. We have been so fortunate to have such mild weather up until now. I looked out the window first thing when I got up at 5 a.m. to see if it snowed. Didn't see any, but they are calling for flurries today and very cold temperatures. Brrr!

My father-in-law is doing good now. I am so glad for him.

My broken arm is pretty much healed. I just need to regain the strength in it. While I was scraping paper off a wall for two days now, I noticed I do not have quite the ability I used too. I'm sure it will get back to normal one of these days. I have been working in an apartment rental we have. Trying to get it re-painted and cleaned for the new tenants. It amazes me sometimes how some people live though. How hard is it to clean up a spill of something? How does grease get on a doorway that is at least 10 feet from the stove? Hmm.

Last weekend hubby and I went up to do some repairs. The guy that was in the downstairs apartment said he would shorten the bathroom and bedroom doors because the new carpet we had installed rubbed on them and they did not open well. Well we discovered he did none of them. So hubby took his circular saw last Saturday and we (as a team, of course), proceded to cut them down, one at a time. One shallow door did not have much left on the bottom to cut off, so hubby decided to grind it down a little using a grinder. I was holding the door for him. Well, folks, one thing you NEVER do is point, or stick your finger close to a grinder. As I was pointing to a spot, the grinder jumped up and "bit me" on the side of my finger. The blood did flow quite nicely! Ouch!

I suppose I should have had it stitched, but I just went and rinsed it off with cold water, then went to the neighbors for bandaids, and antiobiotic cream, pushed the flap of skin back into place, and wrapped it up. It finally quit thumping by Monday night after I soaked it in good old Epsom Salts. Because it is on the side of my left index finger, I can still type without any discomfort, but oh when I accidently bump it on something, ouch!

I think I am going to start wrapping my "older" body in bubble wrap. Maybe the left side first. Hmm.

I saw on T.V. last night that the thousands of people down in the south, living in hotels, only have 2 weeks left to find places to live. I can't imagine the fear and uncertainty they are facing. It has to be so hard. What are they going to do? Where are they going to go? It is all so tragic.

If "Kate" (wife # 2) ever visits my website, please email me. I would love to converse with you.

Today is my daughter's 36th birthday. (It's in the book.) I hope I find her.

Lots to do today. Gotta go. Thanks for visiting, folks! God Bless.

Becky :)

Friday morning

Hi folks,

Update on father-in-law. He is doing better now, although he had to go to the emergency room again on Monday night. Blood in his urine. He got the catheter out on Tuesday morning, and he was given antibiotics for urinary infection. Lots of burning. Bummer. Not pleasant. I talked with him yesterday morning and he is feeling better.

I am having my "web guy-Avery" put some additional information on my website regarding Characteristics of Male Batterers, and Characteristics of Women of Domestic Violence and abuse. These are from a workbook that I use in my W.I.S.H. sessions. Also, a poem called "To Think I Used to Love you." by Marcy. I think it is really a great poem and says a lot.

I am going to try and have some information on the website that many abused and victims of domestic violence deal with, besides the links.

Gotta go,
Have a great day! Thanks again for visiting!
Becky :)

Wednesday morning

Hi Folks,

Wow! I am so thrilled to have over 500 hits on my website now! Thanks so very much!

Sorry I have not done a blog in a while, but between my arm healing, and things happening, and so much going on, I have not really had a chance to sit down and do it!

My arm is much better now. I got the cast off a week ago and was given a brace to wear for two weeks. It is almost back to normal. I still do not have full range-of-motion yet, but it is coming.
My ortho Dr. told me to just put his phone number on my speed-dial! I asked him if I could just rent a room at his office. I saw more of him this year than I did my own family!

Yesterday I had the priviledge and the honor of being the "Presiding Judge" over my voting precinct. What an experience! Wow! We had the new voting machines made my Diebold's, and they were pretty dog-gone slick, with a few minor complications. The whole day went pretty smoothly. What a long day! I was at the polls at 5:15 a.m., then finished closing down by 9 p.m. last night, taking all the "stuff" to the Board of Elections to be checked in, and home by 9:45 p.m. Whew! I was tired. My body tells me this morning I have aches and pains, I didn't have the day before. When I was conversing with hubby this morning, my voice was a little bit hoarse, but this too shall pass. I really enjoyed the experience and I had some great seasoned poll workers there to help me. Hmm.

I was able to see a lot of people I had not seen in years. Some of them were people I used to groom their dogs when I had my grooming shop. It was good to see them.

My poor father-in-law, whom I call "Dad" had to have his gall bladder out last Friday. Hubby and I took him to the one-day surgery and brought him home with us that day. But, later that night, he could not urinate very well, so we rushed him back to the hospital emergency. They catherized him, and we brought him back home around midnight. They told him that sometimes the anesthetic shuts down the bladder, and that is what happened. Then the next day he had trouble with the other function. Oh boy. He had a rough night again and used an old douche thing I had in a drawer as an enema and that helped eliminate the problem somewhat, but he was wiped out from that by Sunday morning.

While I was doing Dad's laundry Sunday morning, (plus a minor problem in the bathroom from his cleansing procedure) I decided to clean the enema/douche thing in the front bathroom sink. I started the water and then Dad called out to me. He asked for a cup of tea. I made the tea, checked the washing machine and the clothes that were drying and puttered around the kitchen for a good while. When I walked into the bathroom, I about lost it as I had forgotten to go back in and turn the water off! Oh my! Water was everywhere...over the counter, on the carpet in front of the sink, in the three drawers, (everything in them was floating, including hubby's razor, and our hair dryer...uh oh.). Well, I screamed for hubby and he started pulling bath towels out of the closet, throwing them on the floor and we both stomped on them in our bare feet, trying to soak up as much as we could. (Yes, I did shut the water off.) Well, this little incident was an opportunity to finally clean out the drawers, pitch stuff that was not needed anymore, and basically make a thorough cleaning of the carpet, sink, counter, and everything else. What a mess. For a millisecond I felt as though I was in MIssissippi. (I know, not even close, but still...)

After I got the little space heater out, hubby got the fan from the basement, (yes, there was water down there too along the wall and on the cement floor in the unfinished part!) and we started drying the carpet. There was a horrendous wind storm raging outside at this time, so the drawers started to dry quickly on the back porch before the rain started coming across it sideways, so I brought them inside to finish drying them. Meanwhile, hubby took his razor and the hair dryer out to the garage and took them apart to see if they would still work. After he got the parts dried out, they worked. Yes!!!

When I got everything cleaned up, pitched and sorted, I put all the bath towels in the washing machine to extract all the water from them. By early afternoon, I was on my third load of laundry for the day.

I had to go at 1 p.m. to set up the equipment for the election on Sunday, so hubby took his dad back to his house in Canton. Later that night, he called as he was back in the hospital emergency room with blood in his urine. Oh my. They let him go home after irrigating him. (He already had an appointment for the next morning to have the catheter removed.) I talked to my hubby this morning and his Dad is doing better now, just some burning. Poor guy. He had a very rough time of it. They did give him an antiobiotic.

I have a lot of running around to do today. I am still working on the sequel, (90% done) and hopefully it will be done soon. Thank you for your patience. I have set a goal of January for the sequel to be out.

Thanks for all your emails, support, and encouragement. I appreciate your comments and questions.

Keep checking my website. I am goint to try to add another section on it called "Characteristics of Male Batterers" and another one called "Characteristics of Women of Domestic Violence and Abuse."

Until next time,
Peace, Joy, Love, and Laughter to you. Today is a Gift. Enjoy!

Thanks!
Becky