Southern Porch Extension

[Allison]

Praying for you, Allison. Feel free to post a prayer request anytime. Oh, and just a tip -we like to post prayer requests in red so no one misses them. Some of us post in different colors (because when we changed to this message board, posting in colors made it easier for some of the porch dwellers to read and differentiate one post from another), but we've reserved the color red for prayer requests. I look forward to hearing about Urbana. And is it next year you will have surgery on your hip?

Thanks for the tip. And yes, my surgery is scheduled for Feb. 13th.

[Carole L]

Have a question for you, Carole. I think you said you have had a lot of fun with your family on the Wii. Would it be suitable for two old coders, especially the sport pkg with bowling, badminton, tennis etc? Is there brain games where we could compete and things like that. Can't see us playing the games are grandchildren play. Just wondered if it would help us get our e ER use and still have fun at the same time. I'm getting desperate.

I've been sick, bronchitis, and for some reason, didn't realize I hadn't gotten any notices from the porch in a while.

I think the WII games are excellent for adults, in fact I've read a study that said we get the most benefit above any other group of gamers. The party game packs have bowling and skiing, both of which help with balance, and there are lots of silly games that help with reflexes. When you ski or bike ride you have to "lean" to turn corners, so you get a lot of small movement. Just the kind we need at our age!

There is also a great fitness program that has a lot of exercises just for balance and strength. You can also get a "step" and work out doing "jogging" or just stepping. It tracks how well you can follow the leader, such as right, right, right, left. So you have to pay attention, but nobody knows but you how bad or good you are. I totally recommend it!

The fitness program will rack your movements, and flexibility, and your weight.

[Carole L]

Sing the alphabet song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Notice anything about the tune?

Now sing Baa Baa Black Sheep.

I wonder how many other ditties use the same tune and we never noticed because we had no reason to sing them one after the other.

[Allison]

Sing the alphabet song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Notice anything about the tune?

Now sing Baa Baa Black Sheep.

I wonder how many other ditties use the same tune and we never noticed because we had no reason to sing them one after the other.

Quite a few hymns, actually, though off the top of my head I can't think of any. If you're musically inclined, there is a "metrical index of hymns" in the back of some hymnals that's lots of fun to play around with.

[Laurie]

Mariane, please don't hestitate to share more with us about your health regardless of what day it is. I know I'm often wondering how you're doing, so I'd be glad to hear more about what's going on with you. I'm sure it's disappointing for Tim that things didn't work out in that relationship. They did take things awfully fast, though, so there was a lot they couldn't have known about each other when they got engaged. Like you said, it's good they see it now before getting married.

Carole, I never realized those songs were to the same tune. Thanks for sharing that fun fact.

Allison, I'm glad you have your surgery date. I know it was a big decision.

[Verna]

My husband and I were talking today about how much fun it was when the children were little --observing their excitement, putting toys together, just enjoying them. Still we're blessed in our empty nest, and we're getting to see both our children's families this season.

Mariane, I'm so proud of Tim for choosing to put the Lord and his boys first, and if his fiancee did not understand that, she is not the wife for him.

A special prayer for Don's Carol.

Merry Christmas with love to all my porch friends!

[Allison]

Sing the alphabet song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Notice anything about the tune?

Now sing Baa Baa Black Sheep.

I wonder how many other ditties use the same tune and we never noticed because we had no reason to sing them one after the other.

Quite a few hymns, actually, though off the top of my head I can't think of any. If you're musically inclined, there is a "metrical index of hymns" in the back of some hymnals that's lots of fun to play around with.

Okay. I KNEW I'd find a good example of hymns that have the same melody. "Guide Me, O Though Great Jehovah" and "God of Grace and God of Glory" is just one example, and I know there are more.

And "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken" and "Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens, Adore Him" both share a melody with the German national anthem. Don't believe me? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhQwLeMcbRY

I could have some more fun with this if you give me time.

[Carole L]

Temps below freezing. Over 60,000 without power. Most of our neighbors are without, somehow we still have it. Fixing dinner before we lose ours, too. On FB there is a photo on my page of a huge tree that came down just a few blocks from us, it caused the neighborhood outage. This is a "historic" neighborhood, so houses and trees, are old, decrepit and prone to problems with bad weather.

Freezing rain all day, scheduled to turn into snow in the next hour or so. some areas could get as much as 10 inches.

This is a record setting storm, for many reasons. Will be first measurable snow on Christmas day in 86 years; first blizzard warning here, ever!

[Laurie]

Yikes, Carole! That's some really nasty weather. I hate getting freezing rain and snow on top of it, and it's especially bad when it turns bitter cold after that and the roads stay icy for days and weeks at a time. How awful for so many to be without power already, too. That's especially bad in those weather conditions.

Don, how is Carol feeling? I know that having company is hard on her (though I'm sure she delights in have her family with her. But I know it's just hard for her given the condition of her health.

I spent time with my mom today, so that was nice. I called an acquaintence tonight, who lost her mom a week before I lost my dad, to check and see how her day went. We had a nice chat. I dread Saturday, but I have time to pray and prepare my heart for it.

[ready2go]

Yikes, Carole! That's some really nasty weather. I hate getting freezing rain and snow on top of it, and it's especially bad when it turns bitter cold after that and the roads stay icy for days and weeks at a time. How awful for so many to be without power already, too. That's especially bad in those weather conditions.

Don, how is Carol feeling? I know that having company is hard on her (though I'm sure she delights in have her family with her. But I know it's just hard for her given the condition of her health.

Well, it's not snowing here, but some cold weather set in over the past couple of days. We had a high temp of about 10 degrees yesterday. At the moment my thermometer shows zero degrees.

The five of us (our son and his wife, our daughter, Carol and me) had a good time on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The food was good (Don pats self on back), and we enjoyed a pleasant time together...although we kept the time short each day. Carol struggled to stay awake and be sociable. She tries very hard to wear a happy face for others.

I mentioned the other day that she was not doing well, but gave few details. Over the past 2-3 years Carol has suffered from extreme fatigue from chronic sleeplessness, chronic diarrhea, confusion, memory issues, disappointment, depression, and more. A month ago the doctors have stopped 4 of her 11 prescription medicines due to them possibly causing those side effects. So far there has been little or no improvement.

Over the past few months her blood pressure has been slowly dropping too, but recently has reached low levels causing concern. Her typical blood pressure is around 90/60, but has recently been as low as 70/40 causing dizziness and difficulty moving around. Her pulse is good, but in my opinion, the low BP could indicate a further weakening of the heart muscles.

Her blood sugar levels have also recently become unstable in spite of her insulin and meds to control it. When it drops down to levels of 70 her speech becomes slurred, she often has halucinations, often feels hot or cold, and can't stay awake, but yet is unable to sleep very much. By the way, her halucinations are heartbreaking for me to deal with.

I check her BP and blood sugar levels every few hours...night and day. I can raise her blood sugar level with sugar food items as needed...improving her situation within 10-15 minutes.

Carol has weekly doctor appointments to review my testing records, and to check her condition.

There is more, but the above is plenty to pray about.

Don

[Carole L]

According to the local news station, over 200,000 are without power in our area. We still have ours, but many in our neighborhood don't. Trees down everywhere. We are going to lose a beautiful crepe myrtle in front of our house. The branches are normally 6-8 ft off the ground, but today the snow laden branches are touching the ground. Some have started breaking. A friend just a few houses down had a tree come down across their cars.

We were supposed to go to the kids for Christmas today, but it may be a while before we can dig out. Not sure if we should go anywhere. Two more possible storms coming this week.

[Edy]

Don, with my nursing experiences and my father-in-law's care for his wife (who was a brittle diabetic), I can understand what a heavy load you have. Just running next door to give my neighbor shots twice a day, earlier in the year, exhausted me at this age. I love her and would give devoted care, if she had needed it, but I'm so glad she didn't! The Lord has promised strength for the day, and that can mean focusing on just one step at a time (because anticipating any more could be one's undoing).

Christmas eve morning I woke thinking I don't care if I do a single Christmas thing - that's how I felt. But, plugging along, we managed to enjoy the beautiful Candlelight service and time with the family at Lonnie's (I'll have to tell another Claire story later). We did leave early, as we also did from sister Naomi's, yesterday. Howard still feels miserable, sore throat and coughing (especially at night) and trying to find something that helps bring some relief. I am glad I'm on the mend, but relishing the empty calendar of events for the next few days of rest!

Laurie - I'm glad you and your mom could have a pleasant Christmas Day together, and that you could share comfort with your friend. I trust the Lord will go before you to prepare the way for the family gathering ahead.

Carole - sounds like staying-home type weather! We're used to stormy blizzards in Minnesota that drag tree limbs down to breaking, but southern states aren't usually prepared for those cold "land hurricanes." We're so hardy, here, and prepared, that we tend to find it amusing to hear how other areas can grind to a halt under conditions we plow right through - that is if conditions allow anyone venturing outdoors at all. We have snow, but it's been too cold to add any snow over the Christmas festivities. So, we had nice dry roads for driving.

But, I remember one Christmas Eve, coming home in a snowstorm, when we squished our guardian angel, for sure. The angled corner at Riverside and Franklin was so slick, even though we were just creeping along, that we headed straight for the streetlight pole, stopping just inches from it, cushioned in a snowbank. I've been in cars more than once that were rear-ended; I've managed to roll a car, but that's the closest I ever came to a potential head-on collision. Whew! Thank the Lord!

[Laurie]

Don, thanks for sharing more about Carol. She's suffered so much for so long. And it must be incredibly hard on you, too, to see her go through this every day. Anything I can say will be inadequate, but I do care. Please update us when you can. I'm glad you had a nice time together as a family.

I tried posting earlier, but my web browser froze up on me. It's so aggravating when it does that, and it seem to happen fairly regularly.

[Carole L]

Well, we decided to brave the storms. Made it safely to Dallas. The first couple of hours was white knuckle driving. Expressway was plowed, but overpasses were really bad and trees were still falling from the weight if the snow. We weren't the only idiots on the road, traffic was actually heavy. Glad we weren't headed into Little Rock. Something stopped that side of the expressway for miles and miles.

[Allison]

I'm leaving in about 1 hour to run a couple of quick errands before Urbana! I probably won't be online much, if at all, during the conference. If I am online, it will just be a quick Facebook status update and/or to check e-mail. I'll be absent from the boards until Jan. 1st, for the most part. Again, I would specifically love prayers that my hip pain and mobility wouldn't keep me from participating fully, as well as the other requests I mentioned in the thread in the prayer requests section. I'm SSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!