Yesterday my disks from Dell came for my Windows 7 upgrade.
In July, regular readers will recall, my Gateway of four years developed a hardware issue. The resolution was as expensive as a new computer. I had a new computer purchased scheduled, but not for another year. I bit the bullet and bought the thing early.
After a horrible experience with an ASUS computer, I ended up with this Dell. It came with Windows Vista, an operating system which received poor reviews all around. However, with the new computer came the promise of a free upgrade to Windows 7, which at the time was touted as being more stable and better and what Vista was supposed to me. Sort of like Windows ME prior to Windows XP, I think.
Anyway, I did not dislike Vista and was using it on my Gateway laptop anyway, but when the upgrade arrived in the mail yesterday, I could scarcely contain myself.
I'd read that an upgrade could take as long as 20 hours. Yikes. But the little two page-manual Dell sent said it would take two hours.
At 2:50 p.m. yesterday, I plugged in the "upgrade assistant" DVD from Dell. By 6:15 p.m. (longer than two hours but certainly not 20), the thing was done and my computer was up and running on the new Windows 7.
The upgrade via Dell was very easy. The "upgrade assistant" took care of removing software, such as audio and video, and then adding the Windows 7 versions back. TThe only software I really had an issue with was my keyboard software. I use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard and the intellipoint software did not jive with Windows 7. This was easily solved with a download, however.
The other issue was my desktop. I like a Windows Classic look most of the time (solid blue screen) and my desktop came up with pretty icons on a black screen. After some fiddling with preferences I managed to get the desktop back to something I like.
I'm pretty happy with it so far. The printer works, my MS Office works, Quicken works, and the virus software works. Those are the main things. And I feel very comfortable knowing that at least for a little while this operating system won't be abandoned by Microsoft.
*Nobody paid me anything to write this.*
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Diarist Revealed
You might recall that I had come across a diary written in 1904. Here is the story that resulted from my finding out who the author was:
Carrie Lee Hamilton, who died in 1952, was the author of the 1904 diary found by a Craig County auctioneer and handed over to me because the diary mentioned Firebaughs.
An October 28 story in the The Fincastle Herald detailed names and circumstances of the life of the 20-year-old writer. Within a day, Rosalie Hamilton Goad had identified the diarist as being her great aunt.
Recently Goad and her cousin, Claudine Drewry Spangler, met me so I could return the diary to the family. As fate would have it, Spangler and I had met when my husband's uncle passed away a few years ago. She was related to the Firebaughs by marriage for sure.
In another strange twist, she revealed that she lived with Carrie Lee Hamilton for the first 11 years of her life, and she attended school with Pat Charlton, the brother of Don Charlton, the auctioneer who initially found the little book.
The diary held the concerns and pathos of a single woman who longed to be a good Christian and maybe find a beau. Spangler and Goad reported that her aunt, Martha Jane Hamilton, who raised Carrie, thwarted the latter goal. She went so far as to move Carrie to Wyoming after she received a proposal in order to keep the young woman unwed.
"You know if she picked the whole family up and moved them to Wyoming, she ran the show," Rosalie said of her Great-Great Aunt Martha.
Aunt Martha must have been a pistol - literally. Claudine reported that she always carried a gun, usually in an egg basket under a cloth.
Carrie Lee Hamilton was born on December 28, 1884 in Alleghany County. Her mother died when she was four and Aunt Martha, called "Aunt Matt," helped raise her and her brother Grover.
They grew up in the Woodland area of Botetourt County, near the intersection of Country Club Road and Blacksburg Road. Apparently she still lived in that area in 1904, based on the information in the found diary.
Sometime after that, Carrie received her proposal from Joe Baker and Aunt Matt moved her away, but they returned after a few years. Aunt Matt purchased a farm on Old Fincastle Road and named it Willow Tree Farm. She left the property to Carrie when she died in 1941.
Carrie owned a small country store in the Zion's Hill area of northern Botetourt. Goad has a 1936 diary and a ledger from the store that once belonged to her great aunt. She believes that Carrie kept diaries all of her life, but does not know what became of them all.
In her diaries, Carrie writes of making mattresses, raising a garden, working with flower bulbs, canning, milking the cow and other tasks of rural living. She also became a staunch member of Zion Hill church, where she taught Sunday school.
Claudine Spangler's parents, Claude and Marie Drewry, moved in with Carrie following Aunt Matt's death to help with the farm and the store. In return, they received the property when Carrie passed away from pleurisy at the age of 68.
"You had to take care of your people," Claudine said. She owns the property now; her mother lived on the 52-acre farm until she passed away in 1999.
The store burned in 1953 and the original home has been torn down, Claudine said. A small house was built on the store location.
She remembered Carrier Hamilton as being a tiny woman. She made clothign for Claudine and her sister and even taught Claudine for most of the first grade because a broken arm prevented her from attending school.
"I don't remember her ever complaining," Claudine said. The 1904 diary, with its concerns about Christianity, surprised both Claudine and Rosalie, who remembered their great aunt as a devout Christian.
She was so devout that "she let anybody in the world cheat her at the store," Rosalie said. "People took advantage of her, even her brother."
She described Carrie as a hard worker who was always looking for ways to make money. One of her efforts led her to make "rats" for women's hair. These hair switches, similar to hair extensions today, brought her the small sums of 50 and 20 cents each, depending on the type of hair piece.
"Aunt Carrie was really good to my mother," Claudine said. Her mother loved to wear jeans and pants, something not nearly as normal in those days as now, and Aunt Carrie went so far as to purchase knickers for her.
"It looked rather masculine," Claudine said.
She also remembered that Carrie was constantly writing stories. She remembered one story was about a woman whose lover went to war in the War Between the States but he did not return. "She went to the gate everyday to look for him," Claudine said.
The legacy of Carrie Lee Hamilton, who never married or had children, lives on in her great-nieces, both of whom recall the woman with much fondness. Essays about Carrie Lee Hamilton and other family members can be found in the Botetourt County Heritage Book.
Rosalie, who has letters and other writings from the time period, hopes to create a book from her family information, now that she has retired.
No one knows how the 1904 diary ended up in Craig County, but the journey of it back to Botetourt has certainly made it a rare find.
Carrie Lee Hamilton, who died in 1952, was the author of the 1904 diary found by a Craig County auctioneer and handed over to me because the diary mentioned Firebaughs.
An October 28 story in the The Fincastle Herald detailed names and circumstances of the life of the 20-year-old writer. Within a day, Rosalie Hamilton Goad had identified the diarist as being her great aunt.
Recently Goad and her cousin, Claudine Drewry Spangler, met me so I could return the diary to the family. As fate would have it, Spangler and I had met when my husband's uncle passed away a few years ago. She was related to the Firebaughs by marriage for sure.
In another strange twist, she revealed that she lived with Carrie Lee Hamilton for the first 11 years of her life, and she attended school with Pat Charlton, the brother of Don Charlton, the auctioneer who initially found the little book.
The diary held the concerns and pathos of a single woman who longed to be a good Christian and maybe find a beau. Spangler and Goad reported that her aunt, Martha Jane Hamilton, who raised Carrie, thwarted the latter goal. She went so far as to move Carrie to Wyoming after she received a proposal in order to keep the young woman unwed.
"You know if she picked the whole family up and moved them to Wyoming, she ran the show," Rosalie said of her Great-Great Aunt Martha.
Aunt Martha must have been a pistol - literally. Claudine reported that she always carried a gun, usually in an egg basket under a cloth.
Carrie Lee Hamilton was born on December 28, 1884 in Alleghany County. Her mother died when she was four and Aunt Martha, called "Aunt Matt," helped raise her and her brother Grover.
They grew up in the Woodland area of Botetourt County, near the intersection of Country Club Road and Blacksburg Road. Apparently she still lived in that area in 1904, based on the information in the found diary.
Sometime after that, Carrie received her proposal from Joe Baker and Aunt Matt moved her away, but they returned after a few years. Aunt Matt purchased a farm on Old Fincastle Road and named it Willow Tree Farm. She left the property to Carrie when she died in 1941.
Carrie owned a small country store in the Zion's Hill area of northern Botetourt. Goad has a 1936 diary and a ledger from the store that once belonged to her great aunt. She believes that Carrie kept diaries all of her life, but does not know what became of them all.
In her diaries, Carrie writes of making mattresses, raising a garden, working with flower bulbs, canning, milking the cow and other tasks of rural living. She also became a staunch member of Zion Hill church, where she taught Sunday school.
Claudine Spangler's parents, Claude and Marie Drewry, moved in with Carrie following Aunt Matt's death to help with the farm and the store. In return, they received the property when Carrie passed away from pleurisy at the age of 68.
"You had to take care of your people," Claudine said. She owns the property now; her mother lived on the 52-acre farm until she passed away in 1999.
The store burned in 1953 and the original home has been torn down, Claudine said. A small house was built on the store location.
She remembered Carrier Hamilton as being a tiny woman. She made clothign for Claudine and her sister and even taught Claudine for most of the first grade because a broken arm prevented her from attending school.
"I don't remember her ever complaining," Claudine said. The 1904 diary, with its concerns about Christianity, surprised both Claudine and Rosalie, who remembered their great aunt as a devout Christian.
She was so devout that "she let anybody in the world cheat her at the store," Rosalie said. "People took advantage of her, even her brother."
She described Carrie as a hard worker who was always looking for ways to make money. One of her efforts led her to make "rats" for women's hair. These hair switches, similar to hair extensions today, brought her the small sums of 50 and 20 cents each, depending on the type of hair piece.
"Aunt Carrie was really good to my mother," Claudine said. Her mother loved to wear jeans and pants, something not nearly as normal in those days as now, and Aunt Carrie went so far as to purchase knickers for her.
"It looked rather masculine," Claudine said.
She also remembered that Carrie was constantly writing stories. She remembered one story was about a woman whose lover went to war in the War Between the States but he did not return. "She went to the gate everyday to look for him," Claudine said.
The legacy of Carrie Lee Hamilton, who never married or had children, lives on in her great-nieces, both of whom recall the woman with much fondness. Essays about Carrie Lee Hamilton and other family members can be found in the Botetourt County Heritage Book.
Rosalie, who has letters and other writings from the time period, hopes to create a book from her family information, now that she has retired.
No one knows how the 1904 diary ended up in Craig County, but the journey of it back to Botetourt has certainly made it a rare find.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
26 years
Today is my anniversary. My husband and I are celebrating 26 years together.
We met at a James River/Lord Botetourt football game, played at LBHS. At that time the home team was on the other side of the field from where it is now, and people tended to congregate beneath the goal post on the right side as you look at the field from the school.
I had graduated high school in 1981 and some friends lured me back to the campus for the game. Said friends introduced me to James.
I remembered him. We had ridden the school bus together lo those many years ago. He was four years older than I and of course had no time for the mousy little girl who sat on the back seat and did her homework. I had no hint of a romantic notion for the boisterous boy who would race from the bus and climb aboard a motorcycle left at the end of his driveway. Kids always moved from one side of the bus to the other to watch him zoom around the field. He seemed to free.
And there we were meeting beneath the goal post. We tried to make small talk, talking about the game, going to school, our mutual friends. He asked me if I would go out with him that night, and I told him no, I was with friends. He asked if I would go out the following night and I told him no, I had plans with my parents who were celebrating their anniversary.
Poor thing, he was trying very hard, wasn't he? We left the ball game and then we met up again at Mike's Market, a local hang-out and grocery store. At that time it was located in what is now Bellacino's Pizza. He again asked me to go out and my friends this time urged me to go. One of the couples with us said they would go out also, and the rest would find another way home (I was driving and had my own car.) One of them promised to call my mother (which she did). This was pre-cell phone.
So I drove to meet him at the Ramada Inn, which was a hotel at the Hollins exit of I-81. He was with a friend of his. The place had a nightclub and it was the place to go. And there we danced and shared our first kiss. We quickly became an item and the rest, as they say, is history.
We met at a James River/Lord Botetourt football game, played at LBHS. At that time the home team was on the other side of the field from where it is now, and people tended to congregate beneath the goal post on the right side as you look at the field from the school.
I had graduated high school in 1981 and some friends lured me back to the campus for the game. Said friends introduced me to James.
I remembered him. We had ridden the school bus together lo those many years ago. He was four years older than I and of course had no time for the mousy little girl who sat on the back seat and did her homework. I had no hint of a romantic notion for the boisterous boy who would race from the bus and climb aboard a motorcycle left at the end of his driveway. Kids always moved from one side of the bus to the other to watch him zoom around the field. He seemed to free.
And there we were meeting beneath the goal post. We tried to make small talk, talking about the game, going to school, our mutual friends. He asked me if I would go out with him that night, and I told him no, I was with friends. He asked if I would go out the following night and I told him no, I had plans with my parents who were celebrating their anniversary.
Poor thing, he was trying very hard, wasn't he? We left the ball game and then we met up again at Mike's Market, a local hang-out and grocery store. At that time it was located in what is now Bellacino's Pizza. He again asked me to go out and my friends this time urged me to go. One of the couples with us said they would go out also, and the rest would find another way home (I was driving and had my own car.) One of them promised to call my mother (which she did). This was pre-cell phone.
So I drove to meet him at the Ramada Inn, which was a hotel at the Hollins exit of I-81. He was with a friend of his. The place had a nightclub and it was the place to go. And there we danced and shared our first kiss. We quickly became an item and the rest, as they say, is history.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Call me Scrooge
For over 20 years I have awakened to the sounds of a certain radio station. At 6 a.m. they give a rundown of local news and generally they play Adult Contemporary music. It is a music mix that I enjoy. My alarm goes of just a moment or two before 6 a.m., so I usually hear a song before the news comes on. I like having time to hit the "off" button if I don't feel like listening to the woes first thing.
On Monday, the song that greeted me was a holiday tune. I knew immediately that the station had switched to its Christmas music mix - and it was only November 16. I grabbed my glasses and fumbled with the clock radio dial until I found NPR.
And there it will stay.
I have had it with this station. I love Christmas carols as much as the next person but not before Thanksgiving. That's just too soon. It's bad enough in the stores; I don't need it piped into my house, and I will not tolerate it.
How can a holiday be special if you celebrate it with so much crass commercialism? It's not like they're just playing O Holy Night the entire time, no. They are playing the whole mess, from Grandma Got Runned Over By a Reindeer to Holly Jolly Christmas. Christmas is about the birth of Christ, and the rest of it is just marketing.
But this is not the only reason I will no longer listen to this station. Their contests verge on mean sometimes. Their music has been steadily moving in a direction I don't care for. One of their morning DJs in particular has become so militant I can hardly stand to listen to him some days. So after 20 years, I am telling this radio station "good-bye" and I am moving on to something else.
While I like NPR, I don't particularly like waking up to it. It is nothing but news at that hour and I need a little while to get myself together before being bombarded with the latest crime wave or economic disaster or war or pandemic. So I am thinking now what I need is a whole new wake-up method. Maybe some kind of player for my IPod so I can wake up to something I actually want to hear.
Or maybe I'll just put my clock radio on the buzzer, and let that be my morning song.
On Monday, the song that greeted me was a holiday tune. I knew immediately that the station had switched to its Christmas music mix - and it was only November 16. I grabbed my glasses and fumbled with the clock radio dial until I found NPR.
And there it will stay.
I have had it with this station. I love Christmas carols as much as the next person but not before Thanksgiving. That's just too soon. It's bad enough in the stores; I don't need it piped into my house, and I will not tolerate it.
How can a holiday be special if you celebrate it with so much crass commercialism? It's not like they're just playing O Holy Night the entire time, no. They are playing the whole mess, from Grandma Got Runned Over By a Reindeer to Holly Jolly Christmas. Christmas is about the birth of Christ, and the rest of it is just marketing.
But this is not the only reason I will no longer listen to this station. Their contests verge on mean sometimes. Their music has been steadily moving in a direction I don't care for. One of their morning DJs in particular has become so militant I can hardly stand to listen to him some days. So after 20 years, I am telling this radio station "good-bye" and I am moving on to something else.
While I like NPR, I don't particularly like waking up to it. It is nothing but news at that hour and I need a little while to get myself together before being bombarded with the latest crime wave or economic disaster or war or pandemic. So I am thinking now what I need is a whole new wake-up method. Maybe some kind of player for my IPod so I can wake up to something I actually want to hear.
Or maybe I'll just put my clock radio on the buzzer, and let that be my morning song.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
A Poem
The day is nearly done.
The sky, grey with clouds, dims.
Wind whistles among the house eaves.
Deer dance in the front yard,
their victory over the earth
a celebration of life.
The sky, grey with clouds, dims.
Wind whistles among the house eaves.
Deer dance in the front yard,
their victory over the earth
a celebration of life.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Book: When Panic Attacks
When Panic Attacks CD: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Treatments That Can Change Your Life [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio CD)
By David D. Burns
Read by Sam Freed
3 hours
The nonfiction audio book suppy at the Fincastle Library is pretty dismal, and when I was in there a few weeks ago looking for something to listen to in the car I came away with this.
I haven't had something that I called a panic attack in many years, but there was a time when I couldn't go into Walmart without feeling like I needed to flee the store. But then again, it was Walmart. That alone is enough to send a body screaming out into the parking lot.
The CD is a synopsis of the book and I suspect one would be better off buying the book and reading it if there is a problem in need of addressing. The CD had a lot of testimonials and stories about people with problems and how Burns' counseling techniques helped over come them.
I was particularly intrigued by some of the journaling methods he mentioned and may at some point look for the book just for those. I like to try new things in my private journal.
Your feelings are your thoughts is the basic premise of this book as well as the first one, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. I read that a long time ago but it has been so many years I couldn't tell you what it said. It is probably something I should revisit from time to time.
By David D. Burns
Read by Sam Freed
3 hours
The nonfiction audio book suppy at the Fincastle Library is pretty dismal, and when I was in there a few weeks ago looking for something to listen to in the car I came away with this.
I haven't had something that I called a panic attack in many years, but there was a time when I couldn't go into Walmart without feeling like I needed to flee the store. But then again, it was Walmart. That alone is enough to send a body screaming out into the parking lot.
The CD is a synopsis of the book and I suspect one would be better off buying the book and reading it if there is a problem in need of addressing. The CD had a lot of testimonials and stories about people with problems and how Burns' counseling techniques helped over come them.
I was particularly intrigued by some of the journaling methods he mentioned and may at some point look for the book just for those. I like to try new things in my private journal.
Your feelings are your thoughts is the basic premise of this book as well as the first one, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. I read that a long time ago but it has been so many years I couldn't tell you what it said. It is probably something I should revisit from time to time.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday Thirteen #113
Here's a Thursday Thirteen that takes a look at routine, normal work day for me, as my life is now without so many articles for newspapers to write.
1. Get up, drink a cup of decaf tea, and hit the treadmill. Walk, walk.
2. Shower and have breakfast, which usually consists of an egg, V8 juice, and a banana. I read The Roanoke Times, which these days doesn't take as long as it used to, and make notes if there are any stories that I think might be a good idea for an article or even a poem or short story or that not-yet-started novel.
3. Check emails. Respond to anything that requires attention.
4. Write a blog entry.
5. Read other blogs (see my side bar on the right for some of the blogs I enjoy).
6. Work on an article. This might be making phone calls, querying an editor about a new story idea, going to interview someone, or researching something online or in a book.
7. It should be about 11:30 a.m. now, and the phone will ring and it will be my husband if he at work.
8. Lunch. This is my most difficult meal. I am dieting and lately have been eating a lot of tuna salad or salads. Today I want something, hot, though, because it is wet and windy. Empty the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen.
9. Check emails again, and respond to anything that requires attention. Throw clothes in the washing machine as required.
10. Back to work on articles. Generally this is where I should be working on a novel or something, I think. Some long-term project. Right now these hours are rather nebulous for me since my workload is not what it once was. Some days I read, some times I garden, sometimes I just piddle around on the computer until the hours are gone.
11. Return phone calls.
12. Prepare dinner.
13. Watch TV or read.
Pretty boring, eh?
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is number 113!
1. Get up, drink a cup of decaf tea, and hit the treadmill. Walk, walk.
2. Shower and have breakfast, which usually consists of an egg, V8 juice, and a banana. I read The Roanoke Times, which these days doesn't take as long as it used to, and make notes if there are any stories that I think might be a good idea for an article or even a poem or short story or that not-yet-started novel.
3. Check emails. Respond to anything that requires attention.
4. Write a blog entry.
5. Read other blogs (see my side bar on the right for some of the blogs I enjoy).
6. Work on an article. This might be making phone calls, querying an editor about a new story idea, going to interview someone, or researching something online or in a book.
7. It should be about 11:30 a.m. now, and the phone will ring and it will be my husband if he at work.
8. Lunch. This is my most difficult meal. I am dieting and lately have been eating a lot of tuna salad or salads. Today I want something, hot, though, because it is wet and windy. Empty the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen.
9. Check emails again, and respond to anything that requires attention. Throw clothes in the washing machine as required.
10. Back to work on articles. Generally this is where I should be working on a novel or something, I think. Some long-term project. Right now these hours are rather nebulous for me since my workload is not what it once was. Some days I read, some times I garden, sometimes I just piddle around on the computer until the hours are gone.
11. Return phone calls.
12. Prepare dinner.
13. Watch TV or read.
Pretty boring, eh?
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is number 113!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Praying for Aunt Jenny
James' aunt underwent pancreatic surgery yesterday. This is an involved surgery called a "whipple" procedure. It takes six to eight hours to complete, which is a long time to be under anesthesia. The pancreas is an organ in the middle of the body so getting to it is quite an involved process.
The procedure, the most common operation for pancreatic cancer, involves removal of the pancreas, a portion of the stomach, the duodenum, common bile duct, gallbladder and surrounding lymph nodes.
Then everything must be reconstructed and put back together. It is one of the most complicated and severe surgeries out there.
The news on Aunt Jenny is good. She survived the surgery, which, considering her advanced years (she's 78), was a worry. The doctor thinks that he removed all the cancer, which is also a good thing. Still, once she has healed from the surgery (in about 7 weeks) she will have to undergo chemotherapy and radiation.
Pancreatic cancer is the disease that killed my mother, so this has been somewhat traumatic for me. Lots of memories and thinking back on a terrible year of my life - the last year of my mother's life. It was a rough time; my mother did not fair well with the surgery and had complications that resulted in her spending that last year with a feeding tube. She could not eat or keep down food and her discomfort was great.
My mother's cancer was not removed with surgery, though at the time they thought they "had got it all," too. Instead it turned up in her liver and in her other lymph nodes and soon she was eaten up with cancer. She did not respond at all to chemo and radiation therapy. I remember my grandmother's lament that she knew the drugs weren't working because my mother's hair never fell out.
I am seriously praying that Aunt Jenny does not experience any complications from her surgery because it only makes matter worse.
Aunt Jenny is not my mother, and I am hopeful that this will turn out to have a happy ending. Aunt Jenny is a dear woman, someone who welcomed me into my husband's family with open arms and a hug and a kiss. Not everybody is so accepting and I have always appreciated that.
I also have known her since second grade, when she was a substitute teacher, and that is about 40 years. That is a very long time to know someone.
If you pray I hope you will take a moment and offer up a thought of love for Aunt Jenny. She is in a tough battle and can use all the good vibes she can get.
The procedure, the most common operation for pancreatic cancer, involves removal of the pancreas, a portion of the stomach, the duodenum, common bile duct, gallbladder and surrounding lymph nodes.
Then everything must be reconstructed and put back together. It is one of the most complicated and severe surgeries out there.
The news on Aunt Jenny is good. She survived the surgery, which, considering her advanced years (she's 78), was a worry. The doctor thinks that he removed all the cancer, which is also a good thing. Still, once she has healed from the surgery (in about 7 weeks) she will have to undergo chemotherapy and radiation.
Pancreatic cancer is the disease that killed my mother, so this has been somewhat traumatic for me. Lots of memories and thinking back on a terrible year of my life - the last year of my mother's life. It was a rough time; my mother did not fair well with the surgery and had complications that resulted in her spending that last year with a feeding tube. She could not eat or keep down food and her discomfort was great.
My mother's cancer was not removed with surgery, though at the time they thought they "had got it all," too. Instead it turned up in her liver and in her other lymph nodes and soon she was eaten up with cancer. She did not respond at all to chemo and radiation therapy. I remember my grandmother's lament that she knew the drugs weren't working because my mother's hair never fell out.
I am seriously praying that Aunt Jenny does not experience any complications from her surgery because it only makes matter worse.
Aunt Jenny is not my mother, and I am hopeful that this will turn out to have a happy ending. Aunt Jenny is a dear woman, someone who welcomed me into my husband's family with open arms and a hug and a kiss. Not everybody is so accepting and I have always appreciated that.
I also have known her since second grade, when she was a substitute teacher, and that is about 40 years. That is a very long time to know someone.
If you pray I hope you will take a moment and offer up a thought of love for Aunt Jenny. She is in a tough battle and can use all the good vibes she can get.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Thursday Thirteen
Things about November....
1. Foggy mornings
2. Turning up the heat
3. Hearing the cold wind howl around the corner of the porch
4. Big fat moons
5. Long, drawn out shadows
6. Light blue skies
7. My 26th anniversary
8. Autumn reaches the valleys.
9. Giving thanks for the many joys in my life
10. Snuggles beneath the covers to keep warm
11. Pumpkin pie
12. Holiday shopping
13. That certain slant of light
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is number 113!
1. Foggy mornings
2. Turning up the heat
3. Hearing the cold wind howl around the corner of the porch
4. Big fat moons
5. Long, drawn out shadows
6. Light blue skies
7. My 26th anniversary
8. Autumn reaches the valleys.
9. Giving thanks for the many joys in my life
10. Snuggles beneath the covers to keep warm
11. Pumpkin pie
12. Holiday shopping
13. That certain slant of light
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is number 113!
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