Southern Porch Extension

[Edy]

p.s. Our Lonnie is visible right in the middle near the front, wearing red, sitting with husband Steve and our granddaughter Claire, a small part of Zach's family.

[ready2go]

We are giving serious thought to having many (most) of the windows in our house replaced, plus three of our sliding patio doors. After 23 years of use in our MN winter/summer weather, many of them are in bad shape.

Has anyone on the porch ever done that?

If so, can you offer any pointers and/or suggestions?

I want a start-to-finish job. In other words, after they are installed I don't want to re-paint or touch-up-paint walls, re-paper walls, repair ceramic tiles, or climb ladders up to the second story in our open foyer.

Thanks!

Don

[ready2go]

Has anyone heard from Carole recently?

I am wondering how Bill's latest tests turned out.

Carole, please give us an update when you have a minute or two.

Don

[Laurie]

Don, I remember you telling us a story about being naked on your deck, but I didn't remember why. Is this your only "naked on the deck" story or are there more?

Edy, no wonder you're proud of that grandson of yours. Being Salutatorian is quite an achievement.

I've also been wondering about Carole/Bill.

Graduation party for my nephew this afternoon. Will be glad when that's done. We will all be together at the auction at the end of June, and then I think we finally get a break until Christmas. So we're getting there. It's been a long haul with all of this togetherness in recent months.

[ready2go]

Don, I remember you telling us a story about being naked on your deck, but I didn't remember why. Is this your only "naked on the deck" story or are there more?

No, that was a one-time "naked-on-the-deck" performance. I don't do encors unless there is applause, but I didn't hear any of that.

Apparently nobody did a U-Tube video, either. If they had, it would have gone viral overnight.

Don

[Laurie]

Don - "don't do encors unless there is applause" - you're so funny.

[ready2go]

Don - "don't do encors unless there is applause" - you're so funny.

I wondered if anyone would pick up on that statement.

It's just my twisted little mind in action...

Don

[ready2go]

From the files of Don's crazy humor thoughts.....

Unless you live off-the-land in some remote area without contact with the outside world, then, you are aware of the recent cost-saving strategies manufacturers attempt to hide in the products we buy every day.

Packages once containing three items now only contain two. New and improved usually means something has been removed and replaced by something cheaper. Seven-ounce packages now only contain five ounces of product. Cereal boxes have been re-designed to appear larger, but they are actually smaller in volume. The list goes on and on.

For the consumer, that is simply called, "pay more, but get less." Manufacturers probably keep a team of designers and accountants locked up together in a padded room where they dream up that stuff. Where or when will the madness stop?

We all know what they have done to toilet paper rolls. They have made the roll narrower...the spindle hole larger...and the roll diameter smaller. With shenanigans like that, they were probably successful in removing dozens and dozens of sheets from each new roll. Of course, we are paying the same as we did before, or more. Just how dumb do they think we are, anyway?

It occurred to me that if they continue to reduce the size of toilet paper rolls…and they will…then, one day soon all TP rolls will likely be about the size of a 100-count roll of postage stamps. Maybe it will cost as much, too.

I’m starting to think that living off-the-land in some far-away location wouldn't be so bad after all.

Don

[Carole L]

Sorry I've been absent for so long. It's hard to really write here when unless I'm using the computer. I get only so much space, and it's a very small space when I write using the Nook or my phone.

Bill's CAT scan isn't scheduled until June! So much for the phone call from the doc's office making it seem like it was a major emergency. By then the remains of his pnuemonia should be completely gone, and the CAT will be a waste! That's an example of how Obamacare will be when he's running more than just the VA hospitals.

Did I tell you I've been doing acupuncture for my pain? I can't believe how well it works. Even on the back pain and sciatica I've been suffering with for years. I still have pain, but it's muscle pain, because I've been in so much pain I haven't been active. So my muscles are aching when I am active.

I was actually able to spend over a hour on my feet today at the Fabric warehouse outlet. I can't remember how long it's been since that has happened!!!!

We tried to go to the fabric outlet for my Mother's Day gift last week, but had a flat tire. It's a 90 minute drive to Batesville, where the outlet is. We were a little past half way when out tire went flat--very flat! We have a light that comes on when tire pressure is off. It lit up, Bill pulled off, and watched it go down to nothing. Guess what, they don't put spares in new cars any more.

We were on hold with Roadside Assistance. Then another hour waiting for a tow truck, it had to be a flatbed truck, because the car couldn't be towed as the flat was a rear tire.

Then it took an hour to be taken back to NLR to the nearest dealer. As there are very few cities large enough to actually be called cities in Arkansas, thins are very far apart! spent the rest of the day getting the tire fixed--it had a slash in it, and turning that tire into a spare and getting a new tire.

Got to go, will get back later.

[BeachGrandma]

It's good to hear from you, Carole. I thought of you the other night when I was having the worst pain in my hands from Carpel Tunnel and also from Arthritis. I put your "mittens" in the microwave for a few seconds and then wore them for awhile. Oh, they felt so good! I'm so glad I bought them from you.

I haven't heard from Joanney in awhile. Have any of you been in touch with her? I lost her Email address when my computer went down again so if someone could send me her Email address, I'd like to write to her.

Edy,I know you're so proud of your grandson! When people start talking about how bad today's youth are, I'd like to put up his picture and say there are thousands more just like him all over the country! Was I correct in reading that he is 6'9" ??? My goodness, is a basketball scholarship awaiting him somewhere?

Don, I can't even imagine having that many ticks on me at once. I would have gone running at break-neck speed down Main Street, pulling my hair out and screaming for help. I don't take tick bites lightly either. My 12-year-old nephew in Africa was bitten by a tick when he was home on R&R for a year (about 4 years ago) with his missionary parents. He was misdiagnosed for so long that Lyme's Disease had already done a number on him. He was so deathly sick, and spent a year in bed, unable to find a specialist to help him. Finally, a doctor in their church said he believed he could help him and he researched the disease thoroughly, calling specialists all over the country. Little by little, Peter began to get his strength back. He had to be tutored at home and was able to graduate from high school. Now he's taking college courses over the internet because he's still too weak to attend classes. His prognosis is not encouraging.

A much worse case happened right here at the beach when one of our friends took his twin daughters to a ballgame when they were four or five. They played on a large blanket while their dad was playing on a team. (small park, small crowd). Both were bitten by tics and their dad removed them from the girls when he got home and saw them. A huge hospital in NC denied that they were suffering from Lyme's but the girls got sicker and sicker. One of the girls died within 3 months and the other is still living (she's 18 now) but her parents have had to fly her to New York City from NC every month because NC was one of the states that did not recognize Lyme's disease as a valid disease here. It has cost this family hundreds of thousands of dollars (luckily they are well-fixed financially) but they have devoted their lives to this daughter. She cannot talk, is blind, cannot walk or stand and her arms and legs are useless as she flails them around all around sitting in her wheel chair. If only the girls could have had early treatment, it would have made such a difference. The one remaining girl will not likely live long because one organ after another is failing. Sadly, NC about 3 years ago admitted they had made a mistake and now recognize Lyme's. The only doctor in the state who could treat Lyme's successfully was a doctor in Charlotte, and he lost his license because he was still treating patients for Lyme's. When it came out in the papers about 3 or 4 years ago (Verna would know when it was) that NC had changed its mind, I thought of that doctor and wondered if he had been reinstated.

All that to say that being bit by a tick can and often does cause death. A little boy in the first grade class I taught years ago died from a tick bite that went unattended. I'm glad you suffered no ill effects, Don.

Carol, how are you feeling? Any more news? I pray for all of you porch sitters often and I love you dearly. I meandered over to the water cooler yesterday and saw that Arpy has been on FW so maybe he'll show up here again. He's such a live wire and full of fun, isn't he?

Way past my bedtime but I sleep so little anyway that it doesn't matter. The joys of going over the hill when you get past ummmmmmm 49.

Hugs.

[Laurie]

My sister-in-law was bitten by a tick and the doctor said it was a spider bite and pretty much brushed it off - even though she lives in an area in the state that has a high rate of tick bites/Lyme's disease. Eventually, she and my brother researched online and it was clearly a textbook tick bite. So she still has effects of Lyme's disease that could have been treated initially without the long-term effects. Recently she was bitten again. But, Mariane, I've never heard of severe cases like you've shared. I can't imagine how that family would keep from being bitter to the core for all of their unnecessary suffering in so many ways.

Carole, I'm glad you're getting some pain relief. I didn't realize Bill's scan was scheduled so far out.

The graduation party went okay, and I am just glad it's behind me. Next month is the auction, and then we don't all get together again until Christmas. We will be back to seeing each other twice a year unless something like a funeral or graduation or something comes up.

I still have a lot of things to take care of for my mom, but we're getting close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I've had a list of things that weren't urgent, but that I wanted to make sure we remembered to take care of once things settled down a bit. We have started working on that list. And then there will be some things that will need to wait until after the farm closing and the auction.

[Green Leaves]

Gives me the creeps to even think about ticks!

No news here. Still having pain but not like it was earlier and, unfortunately, have passed no more stones. Now I guess we wait until the kidney infection is cleared up before any other procedures. Maybe in the meantime my veins will heal so there will be a place for another IV.

[Green Leaves]

The latest message from Cassie:
Guess what! I'm home! The docs seemed to stop pushing for the surgery
and said we'd try the antibiotic. Thursday morning they converted the
I.J. line they'd put in on Wednesday into a perma catheter, then
Thursday evening I had fistula surgery on my arm. Three
surgeries/procedures in 32 hours. Ugh. I chose to have no anesthetic
or sedatives. The doc couldn't believe it. They went inside my arm
with only lidocaine.

The Zyvox antibiotic is extremely expensive and they want me to take it
in pill form for 3 more weeks. I called Walmart and found it would cost
$3579! With my insurance it would cost me $1735! I couldn't do that at
all. They called the case manager for that sort of thing and she got it
for me from Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, for NOTHING! There was
rejoicing in my room today when my nurse, the case manager, the techs,
and I were all crying happy tears!

I am in pain but am taking Tylenol (the doc had ordered morphine and I
refused that too) and will push through as usual. I have much to
celebrate and more testimonies to share of what Yahweh has done for me!
Please continue to pray that the antibiotic does it job. This is the
very last one they have to try. No others, they said, so I pray this
bug does not become resistant to the med. Thanks! C

[Laurie]

Carol, I'm glad the pain isn't as bad, but sorry to hear you'll end up having to have further procedures after all. What an ordeal this has been for you. Thanks for the update on Cassie.

I've been working on redoing the counseling page on my website since I plan to up the options a bit. Hard to say if it will bring any results, but I think I should try. I am also hoping to add a paid membership option to my site, but more work to do in order for that to happen so that will take some time yet. Again, hard to say if it will help or not, but I won't know if I don't try.

Some journaling is in order this afternoon. After being away from journaling for far too long, I'm back into it these days. I feel I need that safe place to talk.

[Verna]

Yoo Hoo, Honey, I'm home!

We have been ultra busy here in our house. First we moved everything we could from the bedroom and den. Then the carpet cleaners came and cleaned the rugs and stretched a rug in the hall upstairs that badly needed it. The next day we had to put everything back. The computer was out of commission for about three days. I did use my husband's computer upstairs a couple of times, but I'm not fond of stairs because of bursitis in my hips--so I didn't go up there much. I was so happy to get everything back in place--including me!

I'm sorry I missed out on all of Carol's news, but I smiled when I saw that she had asked for prayer because I had prayed for her, even without the added knowledge. In my daily devotional prayer journal, I have a list of my friends on the porch and pray for each of you regularly. I knew before I turned off the computer that Carol was having pain. Carol, I'm praying for you right now! Thank you for the update on Cassie. She is a living testimony of God's grace.

Carole, I'm glad to hear from you and especially glad that the accupuncture helped.

Don, I don't know of any notable relatives of mine. When my big brother went to Ireland some years ago, he was going to look up some of our ancestors. However, when he came back, he was strangely silent--so I didn't ask. Glad you got rid of all the ticks (and maybe three or four neighbors!)

Laurie, it looks like you've had divine help in "getting along" with some who might offend you, and you've certainly kept busy.

Debby, I share lots of "favorites" with other porch friends.
. . .I'm partial to the King James Version, especially the Psalms because that's where most of my memorized verses come from. I have read NIV and other versions, including the Message, and I felt God speak to me in each of them. For about three years, our church has used the English Standard Version, and since I write devotionals and edit the others' devotional writings for the church's web site, I've become very familiar with that one.
. . .My favorite Bible teachers are our pastor, Dr. John Munro (a former Scottish lawyer), and Dr. David Ingrassia, one of our assistant pastors and one of the leaders of Wednesday night Bible studies. I've rarely missed any of his series of classes. Many of the well known evangelists, including Billy Graham, have spoken at our church, and while I've enjoyed the privilege of hearing them, my two pastors are still my favorites.
. . .My husband has the complete series of Dr. McGee's Bible commentaries and a large number by Warren Wiersbe and R. Kent Hughes. I like Ryrie's commentary in one Bible and the commentary in my ESV. Also, I like to go to Bible Gateway on the computer and check out different commentaries.

Edy, I share your love and pride in grandchildren. What a blessing they are!

Mariane, I remember the articles about the doctor, but I don't remember who he was. Strangely, I'm forgetting lots of names. . .but I won't forget yours, Dearheart!

Joanney, I hope your new renters are working out well---and your new job as well.

Thursday will be my last sub day this year--the last day of classes before exams at the private school where I go.

Hope you are all having a blessed Sabbath.