I know I am a little early tonight, but decided to get it in because I want to get to bed a bit early, at least, as soon as I take Chelsea out for her walk at 9PM. I am having the first half of a stress test tomorrow morning and have to be at Valley View at 7AM. (Isn't that a pain. Just getting everything that I have to do of a morning done by 6:45AM will provide enough stress. Maybe I can talk them out of the treadmill.) I think I mentioned that Dr. Murthy feels that as stomach pains can sometimes be heart related, especially in women, he recommended a stress test. I told him that Deeley's don't have heart problems (we always said that but Dad actually had a heart attack.) Dr. Murthy did point out to me that I have also taken Premerin for 18 years and this CAN sometimes cause heart difficulties. I really feel fine except for the pain in my stomach but am always pleased to reinforce the fact that I am in good shape.

We had to be up at 6AM today because we went south to Mequon to National Pedorthics to pick up Dick's "summer shoes." We were back home by 11AM. Then at 1:00 the next shoe dropped.

Donna called about 1PM to tell me that Mother was in the hospital. She had fainted while getting herself together this morning. She bumped her head but came too very quickly. She tried to call us but we had already left so she called Dolores and she and Ken got there in just a few minutes. Dolores immediately called an ambulance.

I went over to Memorial right after a scheduled meeting with Beth Dipple of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center (I'll tell you about that after I finish about Mom.) She is weak but her color is good. I can't see any obvious damage, but it has been determined that she had a mini stroke. They are doing a battery of tests on her to be sure that nothing else is wrong, including kidney x rays, heart monitoring, and all the other blood and other tests that they do. She is already talking about being home but she did say that if we all agree that she is unable to stay home alone she would acquiesce. She also told me that she told them that if her heart stopped she would want them to try to get it started again. However, she reiterated that she does not want any extraordinary methods used to keep her body going. So what she is saying is that she is not quite ready yet. Pray for my little Mom. I am worried about her. We are not ready yet either.

While I was there, her sister, my Aunt Kathleen came in for a bit, followed closely by my sister Eileen. My brother George called from Texas and Jeff called from Hawaii. (Eileen could hear little baby Alana crying in the background.) So she is not being neglected. I should be able to stop up to see her after we get the car serviced tomorrow afternoon.

My meeting with Beth Dipple was quite productive. We now have a core Celtic Women Sheboygan Group. Beth and I have tentatively scheduled the next Irish program. We are planning on three a year. With three and St. Patrick's Day, Irish Fest and the Mitchell Reunion, we have 6 events a year that is a lot. The next we hope to schedule for May 12 and are trying to book John Gleason of UWMilwaukee to talk of Wisconsin Irish History and perhaps beginning Irish Literature. In September we want to do a cemetery tour and in December a music program (I am going to talk to Jim Wilsing and see if we can get him.) I have three people interested in being part of Celtic Women and with Beth an I we have a good core group. Want to be part of us? Let me know.

Guess that is all. Quite enough I would think.

Love you all.

Pray for Mom (and me if you have time.)

Mary

I am really tired tonight. My hips even ache so as soon as I get Chelsea out for her final walk, I am going to soak in the tub.

Went to Bible Study. We are still getting readings from the Acts of the Apostles and Revelation. Acts is nice because it tells some of the trials that the early Christians experienced. They became very courageous about spreading the word. Fr. Van Beeck pointed out to us that all of the apostles except for John the Evangelist were martyred.

This afternoon was Plymouth Writers Club. They liked my personal essay about the deer hunting trip that I sprained my ankle on and I am going to send it to the Writer's Digest Contest along with a poem for another area of the contest.

I fixed spinach, noodle,egg casserole for supper. Sure is good.

I was remembering Aunt Helen today, because Mom received a report from an insurance company that she has had a paid up policy with for years. She gets a check every year from them and at her age has made out pretty well. But I remembered Aunt Helen telling me that she was glad she lived so long. She had fought for so many things with that Insurance company. She was training the managers for years and at one time or another felt that she should have gotten the position. Once they told her that "after all, he has a family." Can you believe that flying today?

They eventually established a pension for her. When she retired, she got a small amount each month. It wasn't much but they paid for years and she was paid out MUCH more than they put in because it was scheduled for her lifetime. I was pleased to know that. She and many women like her made it possible for women like me to go much further in the business world.

Tomorrow we go to Mequon to pick up another pair of shoes for Dick.

Have a good day yourself.

Mary

It was a beautiful day. Almost up into the 60s. And the sun shone most of the day.

Chelsea and I had a beautiful walk. Birds were singing and we saw bunnies running all over the place.

I went to the 8AM Mass and was a communion minister today. The children's choir sang. They are VERY good. On the way in to mass, Fr. Van Beeck told me that he could read my mind. He said that he could tell that I liked today's weather MUCH more than the snowstorm on Wednesday.

His sermon mentioned that St. John The Evangelist was the only one of the apostles who lived to be an old age and did not die a martyr. I thought that was interesting. It supports the fact that either he or one of HIS disciples wrote his gospel and that he wrote Revelations while in exile on Potmos.

I helped out at Rhine this afternoon. Bobbie worked too. This was the week of a Lewis shoot and the team that was assigned this week is two short because a couple of the members are ill. Since we did not have to work on Easter, we kind of wanted to help. It was steady most all day and we ended up with over 20 teams. This makes a very successful shoot for us.

Dick and I played a game a Scrabble tonight. I won, but only because I managed to get all my tiles down on the last play and Dick had to subtract the tiles he had on his tray. We will try again, maybe tomorrow.

Mother called this afternoon. Jeff called from Hawaii, where he and Kathy had gone to be there to help Kaoru and Matt with the new baby that was due next Friday. (Yea sure, they wanted to be there to play with that baby.) But guess what, Alana Nomi ( I hope I have the second name right, it is Japanese and Alana is Irish.) came TODAY. She weighs 6 lb. 7 oz. A nice baby. We will eagerly look forward to pictures. I told Jeff and Kathy to take my email and forward a picture or two that I can print and take to Mother.

Boy - Three babies in one year will be a record. Here is Alana. Kurt and Jodi are expecting in August AND Becky and Brian in October.

I remember almost 40 years ago when BRET was born. He came on September 4th and I thought it would be fun to send a telegram to my parents to announce his birth. Imagine their surprise when they got the telegram. Nine days before they had heard that they had a new granddaughter, BRITT Salvesen, my sister Nora's child. How we ever picked those names, so close to each other is beyond me. But it does make a person believe and understand that minds do have power and do connect and communicate. After all Nora and I are sisters and do have a strong bond.

The Easter Lily has another bloom open. Only ONE more to go. I checked on the net and I should be able to deep the plant alive, if I plant it in the garden and am patient. However, one site did say - WHY!

Have a great week.

Love

Mary

We left at 8:15AM to catch the bus to the Fireside for their production of Fiddler on the Roof. It was, as usual, a very satisfying day.

We had a wonderful meal of chicken, potatoes, stir fry a wonderful fruit salad on a bed of greens and a great dessert along with their excellent breads. I bought two loaves of bread this time. I chose dill and the maple walnut.

The production was wonderful. All the performers outdid themselves. Dick mentioned something that had never occurred to me. What must it have been for the audience that saw the first performance of Fiddler and heard that marvelous piece Tradition with all the wonder of it for the very first time. WOW!! It LIVES and presents all the principal characters right at the top and you never forget them.

We got home at about 6:45 and was our Chelsea ever glad to see us. I fixed creamed egg and mashed potatoes for a light supper.

Talked to Barbara for a few minutes and will call her again tomorrow. She felt pretty good considering all. I am so glad. Keep praying for her quick recovery.

Guess that is all. I am tired and my hips hurt from all that sitting.

I wanted to mention that the crocuses are still blooming despite the snow. I went out yesterday and took pictures of them valiantly trying to poke their little heads out. Today most of the snow is melted.

The Easter lily now has SIX big blooms on it. What a show.

Til tomorrow

Mary

We had a beautiful sunny day. The temperatures were in the forties, but for us warmth starved residents of Wisconsin, the forties with no wind makes almost a tropical paradise.

It turned out to be another "clinic/doctor"day. I picked Mother up at about 9:45AM and took her to Dr. Nytes to have her hearing aid checked. The right one was not working at all. As it turned out they both had to be cleaned. They were full of wax and blocking any signals. As Dr. Nytes said an easy fix and those are the best kind.

Mom and I had a nice visit and a LOT to share. I had called the hospital and found out that Barbara came through the surgery OK. I didn't talk to her as she was pretty sick. I told Bart that I would call tomorrow. He was pretty short with me. I am sure he is really worried about Barb.

Then Mother had some GREAT news. Becky and Brian had come over to see her at about 9PM last night. That was really rather late to come visiting but - guess what - they couldn't wait. They are expecting their first child. He or she is due in October and they have decided that they are not going to find out before what it is. So we will have a surprise in October. I am just delighted. Mom and I had been lamenting the fact that there were so few really little people around right now and suddenly, we have Morgan (last fall) , Jeff and Kathy's new granddaughter, (any day) and Becky and Brian's in October. That is better.

Mom also told me a bit of a story that you might enjoy. My sister in law Kathy's mother, Mrs. Harvey, is 92 years old. She had a male friend who is 102. Her friend still drives. He had to take his driving test this past week (required after a certain age I understand) and he PASSED. He is limited to driving during the day and cannot leave town, but what they hey. He can get himself and Mrs. Harvey wherever they want to go.

Yesterday, we noticed a swelling and redness on Dick's leg just about the knee area. So today as it was no better, we got in to see Dr. Sharon this afternoon and sure enough there is an infection in there. Dr. Sharon took a culture but put him on oral dicloxacillin to start an attack on the infection as he is certain that it is a type of staph. I think that Dick (an me for that matter) are more distressed this time as it took so little time for a return. Hopefully we caught is soon enough to avoid the weeks of a PICC again. I am sure that is in the back of Dick's mind too. Pray that we get it over with soon.

Patti Cedzo had called last week to see if I wanted to go to a fish boil at the Sheboygan Museum just down the street from her. We went together a couple of years ago. As Dick doesn't like fish boil this is a chance for me to enjoy one and to have a nice visit with Patti. We enjoyed our meal a lot and shared our recent dilemmas and triumphs. Lately more dilemmas than triumphs but this too shall pass. She bought one of my books too. I hope she enjoys it.

Tomorrow we go to the Fireside to see Fiddler on the Roof, one of my favorite live stage shows. I remember that the first time I saw it, I went to a dinner theatre in California with my Bret, he couldn't have been over 10, we both just loved it. I remember how fascinated he was with the bottle dance. As we were in a front row table and it was doubly impressive.

Have a good weekend yourself.

Love

Mary

Long day. We had to be up by 6 because Dick had to go to Sheboygan to have Sue check his blood again AND to see Dr. Hodous for his feet. Then we dropped Mother's medicine off for her and went grocery shopping. With all of that, we made it home by 11:00AM which I thought was pretty good.

This afternoon, I found time to take a nap and clean the bathrooms before 4:30PM. Remember, today is the day that I got to read my poem that received runner up status in the contest cosponsored by the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets and the Green Bay Symphony. My friend Jane and I drove up to Green Bay and had dinner at a Mexican Grill in the same shopping center at the Barnes and Noble that was our final destination.

After we ate, we went right over to the bookstore and got our seats for the poetry readings. Ellen Cort, who was the first poet laureate of Wisconsin was there. She actually remembered meeting me before, (I am thrilled). Audrey, the coordinator of the event spoke. She told us that there were 306 poems entered in the contest so I am really pleased to have come in the top 30. Then all the selected poems were read. If the authors were there, they read their own, so I got to read mine. What a neat evening.

Then I bought Jane and me each a huge cookie to eat on the way home. It was a nice night for a drive. Sure glad the event wasn't last night. It would have been impossible.

Last night as I was going to bed, I was watching Chelsea sleep and remembered a dog that belonged to my ex father in law's cousin, Jack Johnston. The Johnstons were fishermen. I mean they fished for a living out on the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Newport Beach. Jack and Mary had a small boat and went out to catch ocean fish that they sold to distributors and fish processors. They also had a dog. When they would go out, they always took the dog. They would throw a line over the side for this dog and when it got a fish in the line, it would actually bring the fish in. It learned to pull the line in and wrap it around something they had rigged up for him. I know that Mary's heart just about broke when that dog died.

Have a nice Friday.

Mary

The early morning snow that was predicted did not appear. It started showing up at about 11:30AM, Just as Dick and I were arriving at the Clinic for his blood test. It was, at that time, a very STRANGE snow. It looked more like little bits of styrofoam spinning all over the place. At that time it was mixed with a bit of rain and not settling on the ground at all. It was windy too. We stopped at Culvers for lunch on the way home. A welcome bit of time out of the house that was not at a clinic or hospital.

Since then the storm has increased and we have, maybe, 2 to 4 inches. It is drifting a bit so it is really hard to tell. Chelsea loves it because it is not too cold and she is able to romp and roll in it. She even did the Pepe Le Pew dance earlier today. I always like that.

I went for my initial exam by my new dentist today. I have a lady dentist now, Sherry Joseph. She seems very nice and I go back next week for my cleaning.

A nice afternoon. Did some vacuuming, baking and sewing. I tried to take a nap, but today, dispite the fact that it was really quiet, I could not sleep.

Dick and I watched the Tudor's on HDTV tonight. We missed the first one so are having a BIT of a struggle figuring out who is who, relying on memory and hints that are thrown out during the script. It is very well done. I can't really believe that we missed a whole week of the first episode, but we did.

With all the snow, I am spending a lot of time mentally planning my plantings and garden areas. You all saw or heard about the stepping stone that Dick got me for Christmas, I think. It says "Don't piss off the fairies." I love it and need to fine the very best spot for it. I did some research on fairies and gardens. Several years ago I saw a garden plaque that said. "There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!" Silly me, I did not buy it and have been unable to find it since then. I have found the poem by Rose Flyman that the quote comes from. I may have to ask a sign maker to make one for me. In my research, I found out that the bottom of a garden is the semi wild area that is just beyond the carefully mowed and gardened area of our yards, an untilled area untouched by human plantings.

We have a really great bottom of our garden what with the wooded area that lies between our lawn and the park with the railroad track in the middle. (Actually the fairy rings are starting to reappear in the park. So I KNOW that fairies are around.) I think you might enjoy Rose Flyman's poem, so will transfer it here for you.

Fairies

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!
It's not so very, very far away;
You pass the gardener's shed and you )ust keep straight ahead
I do so hope they've really come to stay.
There's a little wood, with moss in it and beetles,
And a little stream that quietly runs through;
You wouldn't think they'd dare to come merrymaking there
Well, they do.

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!
They often have a dance on summer nights;
The butterflies and bees make a lovely little breeze,
And the rabbits stand about and hold the lights.
Did you know that they could sit upon the moonbeams
And pick a little star to make a fan,
And dance away up there in the middle of the air?
Well, they can.

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!
You cannot think how beautiful they are.
The all stand up and sing when the Fairy Queen and King
Come gently floating down upon their car.
The King is very proud and very handsome;
The Queen -now can you guess who that could be?
(She's a little girl all day, but at night she steals away.)
Well -it's me!

Rose Flyman

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The snow is supposed to continue until morning. What is it with this Spring? We are having our Winter in April. Someone commented that we had a green Christmas and a white Easter (almost). Anyway, It should be cleared up by the time I pick up Jane Kocmoud and we head up to Green Bay for the poetry reading. I am really excited about that.

Have a good Thursday. Say a prayer for Barbara, Bart's wife. She is having stomach banding done on Friday, and tomorrow starts the counciling and the admission process.

Til tomorrow with the tale of my reading.

Mary

P. S. The Easter Lily that Dick and Brenda gave us now has four open blooms and one more just about ready to burst open. What a joy.

Despite the threats of snow, it has not been a bad weather day today. Chelsea and I walked as much as we could this morning since I don't know what we are going to wake up to. They are talking 4 to 6 inches. This is really silly in mid April, but then none of us have been put in charge of the weather as of yet.

My doctor appointment went well. I will have another test or two next week. The rest of the day was relatively quiet. I tried to take a nap about one o'clock but could not get to sleep. So - I went downstairs and quilted. Got quite a bit done. Then I went down for a while this evening and did some more. The hardest part is remembering to turn off the heat when I come back upstairs.

I called my friend Jane to see if she remembered that she said she might go with me to Green Bay Thursday evening. She remembered and is still available, so I won't have to drive up alone to read my poem. She was just getting in touch with me to tell me that her poetry reading at the Plymouth Art Center is rescheduled to April 22. That is too bad because I will be in Galena. So I said. "OH Poop!" and it reminded me of a tale of Bret when he was in kindergarten.

He was in a class of 16 boys and 4 girls. One day the kids got a bit out of hand. They were using bad words and Miss Gammel, their lovely teacher who one of the kids described to his father as a big, beautiful blond, was losing control. So she shushed them all and told them that the next one who used a bad word would have to go to the principal's office and my dear sweet Bret said "Poopy." So she sent him to the office. Mr. Drama became quite distraught and cried and carried on. Poor Miss Gammel felt bad and some of the other teachers said she shouldn't have sent him. But I told her I did not see a problem. As she said, poopy is really nothing but some of the words she was hearing were pretty bad and BRET thought he was saying a naughty word. She had to keep control of the class after all.

Mother was telling me the other day that when she was young, Grandma Bowser was a member of a parent group at the school in Batavia that Mother and her brothers went to. Kind of a pre-PTA. The parents used to put on shows for assemblies at the school and Grandma would do soliqueys. She remembered one especially. When Mother and her siblings were getting mean to each other she would say

"Words unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead. But God Himself can't kill them once they're said."

Something to keep in our hearts. Best not to EVER say anything that might hurt another.

Love

Mary

Well, cold and snowy again. Supposed to be cold and snowy through Wednesday. What is this?

It was not too bad again when Chelsea and I went for our walk. So we are still managing to keep in shape.

Bible study was animated. The first reading, for a few weeks, is from Revelations. (Or Apocalypse as Ione found out in HER bible.) We had 9 of us there today. A nice number and a nice discussion. This was the day of a real revelation to me personally. As I was driving down there, I was thinking of my comment last night that I wished that I would see Two sets of prints in the sand. And suddenly it hit me. I HAD. Last Thursday when I called Dick and Brenda to ask them to walk me through reestablishing my printing abilities, they, instead, said they would come on Saturday. And they DID and they fixed all of our obvious problems on the computer. Now is that is not a second set of footprints. I don't know what is. In case, you don't know the story, I will put it at the end of the blot today.

This afternoon, Dick had an appointment with Dr. Sharon, his new primary physician, who took off the leg wraps. The swelling is really down a lot and we should be OK for another month now unless the legs start seeping again.

We got an offer on the house but is is a real low ball offer again. I can't understand why they are THAT low. Why are people looking at houses in our range and dropping their offers to an insulting price. We countered at $1000 less than our asking price. That should finish this one. She seems to think that WE should pay for any changes she wants to make.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it:

"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."

The LORD replied:

"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

written by Mary Stevenson

Have a good Tuesday.

Mary

Sorry for the skipped blog yesterday. Dick and Brenda got her at about 1:00PM yesterday afternoon and didn't finish working on the computers until about 10:30PM and we were all just burned. It was not all work. We had a nice salmon and colcannon dinner with cheesecake for dessert and did a bit of visiting while things were loading. Patience is certainly a necessity when one is working on computers. They were very patient about letting me watch when I wasn't in the way and explained as much as I can understand. Anyway, Norton is working again, I am no longer getting strange messages when I boot AND we can print again. Dick can also access Quicken from his computer which is a big plus. We are SO grateful. Hopefully we will be able to keep things stable now.

Dick and Brenda always go to her aunt's home for Easter. She lives in Rio, near Columbia. So they left at about 10:00AM. I had scones, brown bread and Racine Kringle with scrambled eggs and feta cheese for breakfast. The Easter Bunny came too. When Chelsea and I got back from our walk, we "found" four Easter baskets in the closet so I put them on the dining room table neatly arranged around the beautiful Easter Lily that they brought us when they came yesterday. They sure do make the house smell good.

I went to the 11:00AM mass. Fr. Van Beeck was really good this morning. He spoke of Easter as a time of great surprises and wonderful things. Pointing out that we know that by asking ANY child to show us his or her Easter basket and pointing out the wonders within. Then when we grow older we find other treasures. He mentioned that any person who has been in love and married for many years and is separated from the other by death will ask the question - OK Father. Is it really true? Is there really an Easter? Will we Really be together again? That will be the greatest wonder. And what about all the wonders in between?

We stopped at the house this afternoon on the way to Bobbie and Bill's to run the water and flush toilets. Chelsea got to go along, as usual. And Bobbie made a point of telling her how beautiful and clean she looked. We "know" she understands. Bobbie outdid herself again. Ham, potatoes au gratin, green beans, cole slaw, fresh biscuits AND Chocolate/Peanut butter torte. WOW. We were all pleasantly stuffed.

Roxie lets me pet her and I think she knows who I am. I get so sad because I can't have them. Oscar just hides. He doesn't love me any more I am afraid. It is getting longer and longer. Our house seems so empty and I do so miss being cuddled by Oscar in the evening. I must remember that when I can't see Jesus' footprints next to mine in the sand, He is carrying me. Frankly, a few footprints wouldn't hurt.

Thought you should read it here first. Permission to crosspost.

AP NEWS: BAKERSFIELD CA APRIL 1 2007

AKITA INVOLVED IN INCIDENT WITH CHILD AT AKC EVENT

Police were called today to the Kern County Fairgrounds to
investigate an incident involving an Akita dog and a 9 year old child. The American Kennel Club sanctions the event, held by the Kern County Kennel Club annually. Thousands of exhibitors and spectators attend yearly.
According to witnesses, the child was walking near the show rings unsupervised when she suddenly came face to face with the 110 lb Akita dog. The child threw her arms around the dog's neck, reports say, when the unthinkable happened. The dog began enthusiastically licking the girl's face as his tail wagged briskly.
"It was awful", said one bystander, "there was nothing we could do. That dog was just giving that child every once of love he had and no one did a thing to stop it".
Another witness, who took video of the event, said "This happens all
the time, I don't know how it hasn't made the news before now".
One spectator, who declined to be named in this interview, told reporters, "The sounds were just heartwrenching, all that laughing and giggling. It made me smile so hard my face hurts. I plan to sue for pain and suffering".
The handler of the dog admits this is not the first time such an incident has occurred, and that the owners were "well aware of the stable, loving and patient temperament of this dog". The owners were unavailable for comment.
Police state that the handler, who was noticeably unrepentant, was
cited for Reckless Entertainment. The dog was given roasted chicken treats and
was not taken into custody.

Hope you enjoy.

Mary

Chelsea and I did our whole walk this morning. I was very cold but there was really no wind to speak of so it worked out OK. I mentioned the new condo units that are going up on Cattail Court. The workers were sitting in their trucks this morning. It was 6:30 and light when we got on our way. Chelsea did not see them at all. If she does she always barks.

I cleaned the kitchen first thing then gave Chelsea her bath and took my own shower. She is just glowing and is ready for her trip to Bobbie's on Sunday. Bobbie said she is planning on a chocolate peanut butter dessert. No way she can go wrong with that.

I went to the Good Friday service at St. Johns. That is always a nice service. Fr. Van Beeck gives such a nice sermon. He sometimes likes to ask us to try to look at the gospels though eyes of one of the protagonists. This time he asked us to try to look at the story of the Passion as if through the eyes of God. Kind of an interesting perspective. God knew what was going to happen and COULD have stopped it but chose not to. Wow.

I had to work at Rhine tonight. Was it ever dead. We only sent out 7 teams. I shot league and am still way off my mark. Hopefully I will settle down eventually. Perhaps I should go out a Sunday or two and just practice. My friend Nancy DID say she would like to to try it sometime.

I talked to my Bret last night. For some reason, I was thinking of him and was worried about him. He is fine so my worries were unfounded. He is at the River with friends having a four day weekend and will have Easter with them.

Have a good Saturday and relax. Easter should be time of renewal.

Love

Mary

Today is Holy Thursday. It was COLD this morning when we went for our walk. Fortunately, Chelsea wanted to cut through the park before we finished the whole trek around the condo complex which cut the walk short and then I turned her around again because the wind was so cold that I didn't like it. We are supposed to have this cold weather at least through the weekend. It was in the 20s this morning and did not get over the 30s all day. It felt a bit warmer late this afternoon because the wind died down and the sun came out.

There are some little bulb plants blooming in the planter in front of our front door. I thought that they might be scillas because they seemed little and were coming out blue but not some of the flowers are white and gold or orange so I am confused. I believe the other bulb plants are tulips. Only time will tell.

We had lost our internet connection yesterday and called Time Warner for a repairman. They scheduled one for today. Then the connection came back on. BUT, we didn't cancel and he came anyway. He checked everything out, tightened things up and did a couple of things to give us more power or something. Hopefully this will stop the outages.

This afternoon, Dick had to go the the Sheboygan Clinic to have his legs wrapped again. Darlene did it. She did a nice efficient job. We hope that this will help continue the healing. He had an appointment with Dr. Sharon, his new primary physician, on Monday. That way, his nurse can unwrap them and see how they work and Dr. Sharon can see how Dick's legs look. Last time, the wraps did not seem to do as well as they had done previously. So, I won't be putting the salve and bandages on until Monday night.

Tonight is Holy Thursday, so I went to St. John's for the Holy Thursday service. It was very warm and nice. The traditional choir sang. I sat with my friend Joanne Miley and saw Maryanne Robinson and Kate Herman after the service. Tomorrow, I will go to the Good Friday Service at 1:00PM. Dick and I will have our main meal at noon because I also have to work at Rhine in the evening.

I don't know who to credit the following to. I have received it a couple of times in emails. Perhaps you have seen it also, but it is beautiful and I do surely WISH YOU ENOUGH.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

Mary

Just for fun. A Peace Rose with an opening bud.

As Winnie the Pooh or was it Christopher Robin said "It was a blustery day." There were flurries most of the day and I don't think it ever even reached 30 degrees. The wind was not at my back when Chelsea and I went for our walk. She loved it and even found frost here and there to roll in and rub her belly. But I am tall enough that the wind was holding me back and my ears got cold through my cap. Needless to say we only walked for about a half an hour. Too long actually.

Dick and I went to Woodlake. He kind of wanted to get meat for raw beef sandwiches but changed his mind because he couldn't get exactly what he wanted. But I got some tea and chorizo and a nice fresh loaf of half and half so the trip was not in vain. We also had breakfast at the Parkview in Sheboygan Falls and I stopped at Mother's to pick up some Mary Kay that my friend Barb had dropped off there. Mom was making Hot Cross Buns. She said that she had been disappointed that she was too weak to make her Christmas Stollen. So she is baking Hot Cross Buns which she usually makes every Easter. I told her it was certainly a good day for it. Nothing like fresh bakery in the oven on a blustery day.

I forgot to tell you yesterday that Chelsea and I saw a deer, a doe, at the bottom of Tall Grass Lane yesterday morning. She was standing real still between two of the units thinking that Chelsea and I wouldn't see her. Suddenly Chelsea did. I could see Chelsea suddenly get really alert and hunch her little shoulders in excitement. Then she let out one YIP and the doe took off like a shot. Where are they when I am out in the Kettles at my stand.

I tried to sleep today but it didn't work as I got too uncomfortable. My hope is that I will be tired enough tonight to get to sleep before I start hurting again.

I called Dick and Brenda tonight and they are going to help us solve some of our computer problems. Thank God! We are so grateful.

We had chili for supper tonight. I told you all that you could come, you know. It sure is good. And I found out that it is impossible to make a small batch of it.

Almost Easter already. We shop tomorrow and I am getting extra eggs. I like to die them using natural dyes. Limits the number of colors, but they are pretty and fun to do.

Have a great Thursday. I hope it is warmer and doesn't snow.

Love

Mary

Poor Chelsea had quite a night last night. The thunder sent her down into the depths of the basement to hide. We lucked out this morning though. There was a respite from the rain just at the time we were ready to walk and it was not too cold. SO we went for quite a good walk. We did not go down to the big part of the park because I could see lakes in the part near highland and did not particularly want to swim the last few hundred yards.

This morning I had a gastroscopy done. Dr. Murthy was hoping that we could find out the reason my stomach hurts. They did not find anything out of the ordinary but did biopsy the esphagus for some reason. I see Dr. Murthy next Tuesday and he will explore other reasons for the discomfort. In the meantime I will keep taking antacids and watching when and what I eat.

I rested most of the rest of the day.

My computer is driving me crazy. Now I can't print and can't adjust the sound. I think it has something to do with the System set up as I have been getting odd windows when I boot, but the things I have done to correct them are not helping. I guess me and the computer do not think alike. I wish I had taken some classes in computers. I do understand when things are explained to me and can usually correct the SAME problem, but something new comes along and I think either my logic or the computers is warped.

We also have this new backup but neither Dick nor I know how to use the darn thing. I am too tired tonight to try to figure anything else out. So. I won't.

Have a nice Wednesday. Tomorrow I get to stay home except that we are out of gauze for Dick's dressings so I will have to zip on over to Walgreens.

Love

Mary

I turned out to be a rather pleasant day, all day. A storm is supposed to be coming in tonight but I didn't see any signs of it as of yet. Chelsea really zipped along today. There is a new condo going up on Cattail Lane. I think it might be the last lot in the complex except for those two singles that are proposed for the land in front of us. I sure hope we can convince the builder that building on that would be a mistake. I really have NO idea where they would go with snow without that area. It was full and high after the big storms this February.

Bible study this morning. Tom and Kathy Keyes are back. We are so glad to see them home safe and sound. They spend a good portion of the winter in Texas near their son. I am sure Joe is glad to have another guy to add some input. Last week we had a question as to whether we to are the "suffering servant" referred to in Isaiah 50:1-4. Because of the Passion which was read and spoken about the priest did not even mention any other readings but the gospel. Maybe, if I see Fr. Van Beeck, I will ask him.

Then I stopped at Mom's after the study. She had and has some banking for me to take care of. Jeff was coming this afternoon to do some yard work for her. We had Bobbie check to see if it is too soon to uncover the roses and came to the conclusion that it is not.

The rest of the day was quiet until this evening when I went to the Rhine meeting. It was a bit long but we had a lot to discuss with taxes and insurance questions and also proposed improvements.

Now it is evening and time to settle down for the night.

My friend Janet sent me a really funny email that I will share with you.

Subject: Wine vs Water

It has been scientifically proven that if we drink 1 liter of water
each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than
1 kilo of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria found in feces.
In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of Poop.

However, we do not run that risk when drinking wine (or rum, whiskey,
beer or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification
process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

WATER = POOP

WINE = HEALTH

Ergo: It is better to drink wine and talk stupid than to drink water
and be full of crap. There is no need to thank me for this valuable
information;

I am doing it as a public service.

This afternoon, I went out to put some cow manure on to the rhubarb. (I remembered, Bobbie) For some reason, It reminded me of my Grandma Deeley and my Dad.

Dad was quite a gardener. And Grandma was too and she loved me and used to like to give me little gifts. One year she gave me this set of seeds that were all named Biblically. There was a St. Joseph's Staff and even more important, Mary's Thistle. Dad helped me plant them and they did reasonably well that first year. After that, Mary's Thistle appeared every year. Dad came to look for it and would get rid of all but one. It was a large thistle with a prickly leaves crossing smooth leaves. Quit pretty but really a pest. I wonder if the new owners still are "blessed" with it.





Love

Mary

Am I every embarrassed and relieved. On Friday, I was trying to trade work weekends at Rhine. For some reason or other, I thought that I was working the weekend of April 20 -22. That is the weekend that I am going to Galena. Today, I went to check which teams would be OK to trade with and realized that I work NEXT weekend, which is just fine. Boy am I glad I didn't find anyone who COULD trade.

I went to Mass in Falls. I think I mentioned that I was going to. Mother was really glad that I was there. I suggested that she go over with her walker to get the practice. We sat in the back and I brought her communion so she didn't have to walk up to the front without support. She has decided that if she DOES go alone, she will sit in the front so they can just bring communion to her. A friend, Dorothy Walsh, does that so Mother finds it acceptable.

It was Palm Sunday, so most of the congregation met in the church hall and processed into church at the beginning of mass. I took our palms and joined the crowd downstairs so we could have them blessed while Mother waited upstairs. It is a long Mass with both the blessing of palms AND the reading of the Passion so we weren't back to Mother's until almost noon.

Then, I went home by way of Hunters Glen so that I could run the water and flush the toilets. There is a showing tomorrow morning at 8:30AM. Kind of early, I hope that is a good sign. I decided to take the pot off the deck that I have wanted. It was full of water. I managed to get it off the deck and down the stairs with just a few splashes on the pants and shoes and dumped the excess water out of the bottom. Just then our neighbor, Mary Yurk, from across the street came over to talk for a bit and she helped me get it into the car. I also took two smaller ones so the only pots left on the deck are the real big ones. It seems wise to take the rest as the one rotten offer we got indicated that they wanted stuff hauled away and I got the impression that the pots might have been part of that. On the way home, the big pot toppled gently over and dumped dirt out. SO when I got home, I had to vacuum and wipe down the back of the Santa Fe. It cleaned up just fine.

We had chili for dinner tonight. Mine this time and it is really good. You still can partake you know. I think we will be having it again on Wednesday.

I watched CatMinster on the Game Show Network. It is supposed to be the Westminster of Cat Shows. Saw some real ugly and some really great cats. There was a beautiful Manx. It had no tail at all but is built much like our Roxie.

I sent a poem in to Prairie Home Companion for a poetry contest. Mine did not win. But I listened to SOME of the show today between chores. You can read the winning poems at prairiehome.publicradio.org. and I will share mine with you. Garrison said he had over 2000 entries. He also told the story of a research librarian who is writing a novel and intends to sell it and retire somewhere on the coast of Maine.

Here is my poem

DRESSED IN DRAB

Spring enters quietly dressed in drab

Trying to sneak past Old Man Winter

Who has become old and blind

And he still causes havoc in his dying days

Trying to sneak past Old Man Winter

She is young and full of frolic

And he still causes havoc in his dying days

Because he knows he cannot win

She is young and full of frolic

She tucks fresh life under her shawl

Because he knows he cannot win

She slips past him with gentle power.

She tucks fresh life under her shawl

Who has become old and blind

She slips past him with gentle power

Spring enters quietly dressed in drab.

Have a good week

Mary

For such an unscheduled day, it turned out to be quite busy after all.

I slept until 6:30AM. Chelsea and I had a very nice long walk. Then I just kind of caught up on things. I made a pot of chili for Sunday's dinner. I tried to make it small but it is still most of a big pot full so we will be eating chili for quite a while. Again, I invite you all over for dinner if you want some. Dick says I sure would be surprised if a bunch of people did show up, but I would love it. I do like to feed people.

I was hungry for bratwurst. We did not have a fryer, so I went over to WalMart and bought one. They put it all together for me and everything. I cooked up about a half a dozen brats and a couple of hamburgers so I will be way ahead on meals this week.

Tomorrow I am going to go to the 10:30AM Mass in Sheboygan Falls so I can walk over with Mother. Randy and Donna are out of town and she kind of hinted that she is a bit nervous about walking by herself. So I will go there tomorrow. I can stop at Hunters Glen on the way home. There is going to be a showing on Monday Morning at 8:30AM. Hope it is something serious.

Mom and I were telling Donna about Tim when he was a little boy. We were talking about cleaning our plates. She had told Tim that he couldn't leave the table until he cleaned his plate. He sat at the table for quite a while as she was cleaning up the kitchen. Then he called her and she looked and saw the clean plate so she said he could leave. Then when she cleared his plate off the table, neatly arranged under the plate was all the food.



Tomorrow is April 1st already. April Fools Day.

Guess that is all for now.


Love

Mary

Another day that was supposed to be in the 50s but never got above the 40s and it was damp and chilly.

Actually it was quite nice when Chelsea and I walked but it went downhill from there on. She did not pick up any new burdocks today.

After I cleaned the kitchen this morning and cleaned my desk. Had my usual lunch at the Dairy Queen. I just had a cup of soup though because Dick and I had decided to go for dinner to St. John's again. And we went REALLY early. We left here at 4PM. It is a nummy fish fry. I am sure glad that Dick got well enough that we could go before Lent was over. Otherwise we would have had to wait until next year.

After we got home, I went out to Rhine to shoot pistol league again. I am STILL not up to what I was doing, but felt a bit more in control. It will come back. On St. Patrick's Day, I ran into a friend, Nancy Roehre, who said she would like to go with me sometime. I think after Easter, I will see if she would like to join me. She would like to see if she likes it.

I watched Ghost Whisperer tonight and now am winding down for the night. I sure do like Ghost Whisperer.

Chelsea is really a dirty little girl. I have decided that she will get a bath late next week so she can be clean for Easter when she goes to visit the "Goddess". We are having Easter Dinner at Bobbie and Bill's house. I hope that my kitties will come out to see me. Last time Roxie was kind of friendly but our Oscar ran away from me. He was always my biggest cuddler too. I sure do miss him.

Did I tell you that I went for a check up with a new doctor, Dr. Murthy, yesterday. He seems very nice. Anyway, he told me that when he first came here, he lived in Tall Grass. I told him that I don't have my kitties and that I miss them and he said, just like everybody else, that I should just get them and not tell anybody.

"Whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have and "S" in it?"

After lunch I went to three local stores to find cow manure to put on the rhubarb. Walmart had it delivered, but not available without searching it out on the parking lot and dragging it to the checkout. KMart does not have any yet and Moraine Gardens was closed. What a waste of time.

I found some blueberries in the freezer so I made scones and cookies. I do love to bake, come by and I will share.

Love

Mary

Weather was strange today. It was cloudy and kind of damp this morning, but got up to 55 degrees this afternoon and the sun was shining. Chelsea and I cut our walk a little short today because, she sat on some burdocks and got a big old clump of them between her legs under her tail. Then I had a terrible time getting her to hold still and not sit on them so I could cut them out. She is starting to look a bit patchy because I keep cutting little clumps of hair entwined in those awful burs out of her. Poor Baby is very confused.

We sent to the Family Restaurant for breakfast and then to the Pig for our weekly grocery shopping. We got home at about 9:30 or so and I had time to clean the bathrooms AND play with the Roombas. I have one of them working and will use it downstairs once a week or so.

The dishwasher stopped working on Monday so I had called a local repairman. He got delayed yesterday but was able to make it today. He replaced a fried wire and it is just fine. He also tried to help us clear the vent to the clothes dryer but was unable to complete it because he can't get to the beginning. He suggested that we call one of those services that blow out heater and a/C vents. He did however shorten the vent from the dryer to the wall which was WAY too long. That in itself might help.

We had to get more horse wrappings to hold on the dressings on Dick's feet so we zipped over to Fleet Farm. I also got more bird seed. NOW, I have to try to figure out a way to keep the silly old piggy squirrel from eating all the good stuff. I filled the feeder and the next thing I know, he was draped over the feeder and stayed there for ages just chowing.

I am so grateful. I have been unable to use the new server that Jim and Michelle installed because I could not send any messages OUT on it. Dick and Brenda called tonight and walked me through a fix. Brenda REALLY knows Thunderbird so it went really smoothly. They also explained that I don't have to maintain Google AND Thunderbird which was wearing me out. I only have to check G-mail in Google occasionally to be sure that nothing ends up in junk that shouldn't be there. Then we had a fun visit. This weekend is Brenda's birthday and they are going away for four days to rest and play and jell.

Guess that is all the news. Can an atheist get insurance against acts of God?

Love

Mary