I know, I know, I'm crazy.

You might think that with the events so far this morning, something like the following would be inappropriate. However, I'm sure Libby would have appreciated it. Thank you, Mikey's Funnies, for this lighter note:

'TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving,
But I just couldn't sleep.
I tried counting backwards,
I tried counting sheep
The leftovers beckoned
The dark meat and white,
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning with anticipation,
The thought of a snack became infatuation!
So I raced to the kitchen,
Flung open the door,
And gazed at the fridge full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
Till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground!!

I crashed through the ceiling, floated into the sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie,
But I managed to yell
as I soared past the trees ...

HAPPY EATING TO ALL,
PASS THE CRANBERRIES PLEASE!!

today'sTHOT============================

Asked to write a composition entitled, "What I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving," little Johnny wrote, "I'm thankful that I'm not a turkey."

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PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

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Precious

Psalm 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Libby died this morning, with all six of her children around her. Thank you, God, for blessing us all with this wonderful, saintly woman.

A day of gratitude and mixed emotions

I found out this morning that my cousin, Libby, who is like a sister to me, is in ICU in Norton's hospital in Louisville, more than likely dying. All her body systems have shut down, her blood pressure and body temp are falling, and it's only a matter of time. They took her to the hospital on Tuesday evening, and it's been downhill since then. All her children except one, who lives in Northern Kentucky near Falmouth, are there, and the other one is on his way. Libby's daughter Martha said her mom's pressure would occasionally try to go up on its own--I think she is holding on until that son gets there, too, so that she can have a moment or two with him. That's what my mom did right before she died, and I think that's what Libby is doing. What a really rotten way to start Thanksgiving. What a really rotten way to try to be gracious and grateful and have gratitude.

I'm not sure what my plans are at this moment, but I'm reasonably sure that I'll be flying to Louisville once I hear she has died and will stay with a family member there for a few days in order to attend the funeral. Libby has been the rock of our family for at least the last 10 years or so, as well as the rock of her own family. I can truly be grateful that she has been an example for us all of God's love and acceptance, and has showed the gift of hospitality for at least 65 years! (I think she was too young before that, since she's only a little over 70 now.)

I did get to talk to two of my kids today, Ann and Lydia, and got to see the grandchildren "cut shines" over the computer, so I'm also thankful for that. I know that my children are all with folks they love today, even if they're not with me, and that's good. Everett is at Ann's, in Nashville, and Lydia is surrounded by her husband, children, and in-laws, who love her like the daughter they never had. Everett does have a job, he's working fulltime for Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, in their library. It's only a temporary job, supposed to end in August, but something might open up there at that time. God has taken care of him this far, who am I to think He won't take care of him after August?

Have a good Thanksgiving with your loved ones. We are going to be eating with new friends here in San Antonio, and I am grateful for that. There are supposed to be maybe 50 people at the dinner! I'm taking a hash brown casserole, a dump cake, and "the traditionally forgotten green salad", if I remember it! So I'm grateful that I am able to do that. And the weather here in Texas is absolutely gorgeous, for which I'm also thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving! Love to each one of you, and may God continue to bless you!

Buenos dios!

Hello to all. I'm back from my trip to Mexico. (David disagrees that I really went all the way there, and Andrea will be surprised that I went without my passport, but poo poo to them!)

Yesterday I left our apartment with the intention of going to the library. I had very simple directions from my friend Jenn. David and I had read through them on Saturday, and we had even simplified them a little more. I went out of the house, got in the car, got out the gate, got to the corner, turned right, and then I made mistake number one.

When I got to the Valero station, I turned right again. I was now no longer on Military, but on the 151 access road. Now it was no longer a trip to the library, but an adventure. I sensed something was wrong, but I continued down the pike. (Heck, something is always wrong when I leave the casa.)

After motoring quite a ways, when I realized I probably should have written down mileage on the directions, I saw a sign for Military. Good. I got off the access road. Here's some interesting information for you folks who might want to take a trip to San Antonio: there are a whole lot of roads down here whose first name is Military. Unfortunately, their second name can be different. Just like Jim, Bobby, or Tom, not all of them have the same last name. This one was a case in point.

Soon enough, mistake realized. I was back on an access road. Somehow it had morphed into the 410 access road. Never mind. I still had an idea where I was going at least, even if it wasn't to the library. Aha! An HEB! It took a while to find the actual store, but soon I was inside, pushing my cart. I think I alluded once before to the fact that we bought stuff in small quantities, and toilet paper had moved very quickly back onto the list.

This HEB had a very distinctive Mexican flair--in other words, I heard more Spanish than English. Also, the menfolk seemed to have quite a few tattoos. Still, it was an HEB, and I needed stuff. Like toilet paper. HEBs are great stores. They have everything a person needs, except Diet Mt. Dew in 24 oz bottles. Poor David. The drink salesman who was stocking the shelves helped me look for the nonexistent stuff, all the while chatting about lawyers, for some reason...He was nice, though.

Eventually I checked out behind a woman who had over $100 worth of coupons, as well as a grocery bill that approached $500 dollars! My groceries really looked meager, compared to hers. As I type this, I recognize she might have been a member of a very large family, shopping for her Thanksgiving dinner. Or for a food pantry. Or for the entire gang. She seemed really friendly, though.

I was back in the car. I had three or four perishable items, only a small amount, so I would be able to get them back up to the apartment. Next step, get back up to the apartment.

Somewhere on the drive home, I made a left turn. I know it wasn't at my Military, but I don't know where it was. It took me half an hour to find a place I felt comfortable enough to turn around, somewhere past about 20 auto parts stores, a zillion taco stands, and even a few pinata shops. There were no markings in the parking lot, and I almost drove over the sidewalk to get out, but I finally wised up and followed another car. I headed back for the states. (Read that I410)

After I got on 410, I knew what to do. Get on 151 and drive until I saw the Sea World exits. Get off when I saw the roller coaster. Turn left. Go to the Valero station and turn right. Go to Dugas, turn left again. I did all that flawlessly, and made it home.

I carried the perishable groceries up to the apartment very quickly--good thing I still had a roll of toilet paper up there! I sat down and relaxed for a few minutes, then started putting stuff away. Whoops--no hamburger. It was still down in the car. I really didn't want to do it, but I traipsed back down to the car. When I got there, I realized I had left the car keys up at the apartment. So I went back up, got the keys, and went down again. Before I did, though, I put a post-it note on the door that said, Purse? Keys? Glasses? Mail?

Anyway, I survived my sidetrip to Mexico, and that's the way things are down south.

Love to all, and God bless.

PS David and I found the library last night, five minutes after it closed.

A Day of New Adventures

Yesterday I actually took that longhorn by the horns and ventured outside the apartment complex! Thanks to Jenn, who is a friend of all of us, by the way, not just the girls, I have directions even a dummy from the North can follow, and I got all the way to Wal-Mart! Talk about a liberating experience! Of course, due to the 39 steps, some of the stuff is still in the car trunk (not the food, folks, not the food!), but I made it! I can now hang up clothes, sort clothes, wash dishes, keep my Splenda in something beside a measuring cup, drain dishes on something beside my two tea towels...Oh, you can't imagine, unless you've moved into a furnished apartment, how many little things at home a person takes for granted.

Then last night, I waited and waited for David to come home. It was almost 6 when he came home--later than Georgetown, for sure. But they did two hours of overtime yesterday! Way to go, Toyota! Looks like things may be picking up. I didn't have supper ready on the table--it would have been cold, if I had, because I expected him closer to 5. He wanted to go out, though, so we went out--again. Three nights in a row. Who thought eating out that often could get so old, so quick! We found a Chinese restaurant that we may go to again--maybe a fast-food chain for all I know. The egg rolls were Tex-Mex Chinese, but the other stuff was pretty decent. When we got out of the car, David said, "It smells like Sunday dinner!" I guess it was the soy sauce, because it didn't taste like it. When you eat every week at America's best Chinese restaurant, the others really don't stand a chance.

What else was I going to tell you? Oh, yes. We got mail yesterday! An insurance bill and a bill for my eye surgery back in September, but we got mail. At least the post office knows we're here now.

Love to all, and God bless.

PS By the way, we went to Wal-Mart again last night and bought more food. David bought three bags of cookies! I guess he's suffering from junk-food withdrawal. Everett, we made it up the stairs in one trip, loaded down like pack mules, but one trip. I'm proud of us! (And there is still stuff in my trunk from my yesterday's expedition.)

Howdy from Texas!

Texas is nice--temperature today is 69, and they are anticipating a high of 79. Except for some rain on Sunday, it's been sunny every day. The rain slowed down our travel some on Sunday, making it after dark when we finally got to San Antonio. The road signs were difficult to read, and for a few minutes, all I wanted to do was turn around and go back to Kentucky!

The road system is really intimidating, for me at least. There are a number of "spaghetti" junctions, and I often feel like a meatball at the bottom of a bowl of spaghetti! It doesn't seem to faze David too much, though, and so far he's done all the driving. Right now, going to the grocery store is an adventure (one we need to repeat tonight). Getting to the store isn't too scary, but getting back home again is a different matter. Too many of the roads are one-way, 55 miles an hour--the access roads are a whole new experience for me. A person can get directions to the store, but once they get there, they (if they're me, anyway) need directions to get back home! Lydia and Ann's friend Jennifer has been nice enough to send me directions, but they only get me to the place, not back home again.

Our apartment is very nice--living room/dining area combined, with a kitchen separated from that area by a large counter--very open. Nice carpeting, comfortable furniture, a good supply of kitchen utensils, nice appliances. The bathroom and bedroom are also a comfortable size, with good furnishings. David is really impressed with the size of the bathtub--he said he wants to take a bath in there for sure before he goes back to Kentucky. It ought to be about time for his spring bath when we leave, so he might get a chance. Our only complaint so far has been about the slowness of getting hooked up to the outside world through cable, etc. I finally played the invalid card on Tuesday evening, telling the woman who was supposed to be handling the hook-up that I was a diabetic and concerned about being stranded here without a local phone. If I had an emergency and called 911 from my cell phone, the emt's would have no idea where I was. That seemed to get results, since the guy showed up at 10:30 or so on Wednesday morning and got everything installed. Also, the woman called me back twice on Wednesday, once before he came and then again around noon, to make sure we had been taken care of!

A couple of other minor complaints--we're on the third floor of the building, which means there are 39 steps between us and the ground floor (and if a person wants to be picky, there are another 5 down to the parking lot!). The most I've left the apartment so far was four times on Tuesday, once to pick up a key to the apartment, then three more times to check the mail. I still don't know when it comes, since we didn't get any on Tuesday. I was told on Tuesday evening that you had to put your name inside the box in order for the mailman to leave mail. I had no clue about that. I figured having the apartment address was all they needed, really. Anyway, I finally figured out how to do that and am looking forward to at least having some junk mail today.

Back to the stairs. Going to the grocery store is an event, I already told you. Carrying the stuff up to the apartment is NO FUN. I tried just buying small sizes of everything, so that we could carry it in one trip. Only problem with that is, a person tends to run out! David and I have joked about rigging up a pulley system to haul it up over the balcony railing in a milk crate, and I'm telling you, that doesn't sound like a bad idea right now. Of course it involves two folks being there to make it work, one to load the crate on the ground floor and the other one to unload it at the top. David says he has a really long rope, so he might be seriously considering it.

We went to church last night at Jennifer's church here in San Antonio. It was a good experience, except for the breakneck drive to get there. I don't handle the traffic well, and I'm pretty white-knuckled by the time we get anywhere. Once we were at the church, though, the service was comfortable and familiar, and the folks were really friendly. We know that we will go back, at least on Sunday morning. Unless we see something we like when we're out exploring the area around us on Saturday, we will probably continue to go there. Like I said, the folks were really friendly. We may just have to pass on midweek services, as long as David is working overtime. He didn't get home yesterday until 5:30. We were supposed to be there for supper at 5:30, but we thought that maybe since they served until 6:30, we could get there in time to eat before the 6:30 service. By the time he had changed clothes and cleaned up (very minimally), it took us until almost 6:30 on the dot to get there. As a matter of fact, they were already singing the first hymn when we got into the service.

You can see we have a lot of exploring and adapting yet to do, but so far the experience has been good. David has had a really comfortable work experience so far. He's working as a quality inspector, making sure all the equipment that goes into the trucks is installed correctly. He seems to enjoy the folks he's working with, although he hasn't started telling me stories from the break room yet. I guess that's when I'll know he's settled in.

I hope all of you are enjoying being home, even if it is cold, raining, and without the over 100 cable channels we have here. Just remember, when you're envious, that at least you can go to the grocery store when you are almost out of toilet paper!

Love to all, and God bless.