Sun. morning, March 16, 2008

Hi, Everyone,

So good to hear from all of you!

I was especially blessed this week when I received an email from a lady that I talked to a good while ago at a book signing I had. She emailed me to say that I inspired her to write about her abuse and the violence against her a long time ago. She said that for many years she put "all the memories in little boxes in the back of her mind and would not let them out." Well, she finally did, and put them on paper. I am so proud of her! Her husband brought me her manuscript and I am reading it now.

I attended an "Information Day" at a local school yesterday. My supervisor sent me as a representative for the Victim Assistance" office and I felt honored to do this. I spoke to a lot of people and it was a very productive day.

When I got home, hubby and I let the dogs loose for their exercise. The birds were singing all over the place. It was only 42 degrees, but there was not any breeze, and the sun was shining. It was very pleasant. Still quite muddy though, as the snow all melted, except for the piles out by the driveway, and then the rain afterwards made walking quite squishy everywhere. Run-off water is still going into the pond from the yard. We did get the water cleaned up that came in the basement during the thaw and the rain. We really need to get some fill-dirt put in on the lower end of the house! That will be a priority this spring.

The fish were at the surface of the pond, but it is still to cold to feed them. Hubby and I did find two more dead frogs in the pond, (total up to five now for this winter), so we might be down to two or three left. But, we will probably get more as spring comes along. I did scoop out some leaves with the net and dumped the contents on the lawn. There was movement in the leaves, and I discovered a small Salamander! I put it back in the pond right away. He was a cute little Salamander. I wonder if there are more than just the one? We did lose a big one last winter, so hopefully there is more than just the one I found yesterday.

I got a scare the other day regarding my sister in Georgia. Her husband called on Friday to say that she was in the hospital having a heart catherization done! She was sitting in the dentist chair and started having chest pains. (She had told me previously in the week she had been having them off and on for a week and a lot of jaw pain-possibly due to a crown she had done, but the dentist determined she needed a root canal). They sent her to the emergency room right away, and the E.R. admitted her within minutes and started testing and treating her for a heart attack. She is okay now, just extremely tired and will need a few days to recover from everything. They (Dr.s) believe she might have GERDS.

I also saw in the news that Atlanta got hit with a tornado with more expected. Then, the collapse of the huge crane up in New York! Goodness-a lot of destruction everywhere and people have died! How tragic.

Today is "Palm Sunday." I'm looking forward to Easter and the celebration of the day! I always go to Sunrise service and especially love that part of the Easter celebration.

Take care, be safe, and count your blessings.
Becky :)