Ruh-Roh

Thought I had a post in the ready, but guess not.  So this might not be the world's best blog today -- oh, yeah, it's NEVER the world's best blog.  But apparently, it's the one you are reading so I need to do right.

Today I think we'll talk about the name that's given to medications.  Who gets to do that?  Because whomever it is needs to work a little harder at their job. 

Humira (the trade name) -- It's actually "adalimumab."  Try saying that a couple of times in a row.  Try saying it once!  Really?  You couldn't come up with something better than that?

Aciphex --  I'm no linguist but it sounds like something we're not supposed to be talking about in public.

Myrbetriq -- This is for overactive bladder.  Just for my own peace of mind and the pronunciation factor, I'd go for Flomax instead.

Urispas -- Yep.  Does just what it says. Stops bladder spasms.  I could have used those a few days ago.

I bet there are more of them.  I'll try to watch the ads on TV and see if there are some others that bear repeating --- repeating ... repeating. 

As I'm writing this, I realized that we were supposed to have a posting about some of the groups in the Middle East -- and delve into what their designation actually means.  And I didn't.

There have just been so many things happening lately between the storm damage to the house and my sister's fall, my brain is on a hiatus.  Hey, wait a minute.  That's a good name for a medication -- hiatus.  It could be for a family riddled with sibling rivalty -- "I hate us." 

My niece loves a funny bit done by a comedian that makes fun of drug names, and he offers some of his own.  It is a classic.  I'll have to try and find that too. 

So that's all I've got this morning.  Today is my granddaughter's birthday party -- held over from May so they could have the kids over to swim.  Picked a good day for it apparently.

Have a wonderful Saturday!  I'll talk to you on Tuesday morning then.

Karen

Another Friday

Here we go -- another Friday.  The weeks of summer seem to just fly by and in some respects I've enjoyed this one more than most.  The weather yesterday was lovely and pleasant and my husband painted the garage doors.  Wonderful!!

Been fighting a UTI.  This one kind of came out of nowhere and there were probably some signs that it was on the way, but I wasn't paying enough attention, but I'm thinking that it's on the mend now.  That ad where the woman carries around her bladder just kills me.  "Again?" she yells at it.  Yep, I know that feeling although I don't have the condition she is talking about.  Today should be a much better day all around.

The weather Saturday is supposed to be REALLY hot -- like close to 90 and my granddaughter's belated pool party is that day.  I'm not swimming nor are the other adults so far as I know.  My husband is not swimming, therefore I'm pretty sure we'll hang out in the garage.  There's a nice breeze through it and it's shady.  We can pull up some chairs and survive the heat.  I'll just be happy for good weather so the kids can do what they do best -- have fun.  They got a replacement blow-up water (after the other one blew up) slide for the event and that should be a big hit. 

In the Better Homes and Gardens this month is a neat pool toy.  It's a foam saddle, notched out for the legs.  You just sit on it in the water and sink down a ways and balance yourself.  Great for playing water games like catch or basketball, water polo.  It's about $33 which is a little pricey but it should last for a long time and should work for larger kids through adults.  Walmart has them, in case you are wondering.  I like it because it keeps you in the water rather than floating on top of it like the pool chairs do, and because you don't have to blow it up.  The device comes in a variety of colors.

I was thinking today about a precious part of us that we don't appreciate enough -- sense of humor.  It gets us through so many things.  There's a show on HBO (which we don't get anymore) that is about a nurse.  When we visited my sister in the intensive care unit at Fairview Hospital, there was one of those dry erase boards with room for the registered nurse on duty at the time.  Her name -- Nurse Jackie.  I thought it was hilarious but of course, it would seem I was the only one at the time.  They say that one of the last things to go is your hearing.  It ought to be the sense of humor. 

When I was in the hospital years ago, a number of funny things happened and I still remember a lot of it.  There was one episode that was so funny, my diaphragm started to hurt from a long session of laughing, and the resident doctor on duty couldn't stop laughing herself.  That doesn't happen too often!!

The doctor who did such a good job for me in surgery had a sense of humor.  He came in one morning doing his post-surgical rounds with his resident in tow.  He started telling me about my condition and compared me to a horse.  I started laughing and looked at the resident -- he was losing it.  Bedside manner?  Oh, he had one all right but it wasn't typical by a long shot, but to me it was just right.  Maybe someone rather thin-skinned wouldn't have taken it well, but he didn't bother me at all.  I live in Canal Fulton -- farm country.

So -- time to sign off on this Friday.  See you tomorrow morning!!

Cats and Kids

Yesterday my granddaughter was here, and as usual, she was doting on the cats.  Two of the four actually -- the other two hide. 

I happened to look out onto the porch and she was lying down with Fred and at first I thought they were both asleep.  Fred was enjoying the moment.

The next time I looked, Fred was lying down on his side, in complete oblivion, with one of my scarves covering him like a blanket.  Fred is the indoor/outdoor cat and I've seen him ferociously chasing chipmunks all over the place and I've seen him in confrontations with other cats that wander into the yard.  So here's this crazy guy who patrols the property like the special forces, and he's relaxing with a peach-colored scarf covering him up.

It was hilarious.  And then my granddaughter found a lovely fringed scarf that came from Georgia, in the former Soviet Union, a gift from one of our favorite graduate students at UA -- Keti.  She found a way to turn it into dress using another scarf as a belt, and then later she came in wearing it like a top with a very clever folding around the neck.  I casually mentioned, "You know, maybe you should be a fashion designer."  And she shot back, "That's what I want to be."

Well, isn't that interesting.  One of her great-great grandmothers was a tailor as was her sister.  Her great-great-great grandfather was a tailor.  My mother could tailor clothing including woolen coats with linings and shoulder pads.  My sister is a wonderful seamstress. So she could easily have the genes for it which is really neat to me.  We'll just have to see because she's mentioned being an elementary teacher too.

 Another great-great grandmother of Lauren's was a farmer and a midwife, a capable, independent woman who could do all kinds of things well.  Another relative is Lawrence Welk; another a professional baseball player.  The music gene and the athletic gene have been found along the way in our family.

Isn't that one of the most marvelous things that God does for us?  How the generations are linked and how people who never got the chance to meet are brought together through God's amazing creation?

I once heard someone talking about being a grandparent.  This person said that grandparents have more time to listen and observe than busy, harried parents -- and suggested that grandparents can bring to the attention of grandchildren their strengths, talents, and abilities.  Grandparents can plant seeds.

So it isn't just babysitting, if there is any "just" to babysitting.  We have work to do.

PS -- My sister called me today -- twice.  She seems to definitely be feeling better and is taking her rehab work by the horns.  Her attitude is wonderful to behold, and I am thanking everyone who said a prayer for her.  The prayers have been answered in a variety of great ways.  She's not out of the woods but here attitude has improved tremendously.

Drawing a Blank

I have a vacant stare on my face as I stare at the screen this morning.  I'm slouching.  My brain cells are still enjoying their nightly rest.  Lots of topics are flashing in front of my eyes but nothing takes hold.  It's like the "circle of death" on the computer when you're waiting for something to load.

We didn't watch the news last night although I caught glimpses yesterday morning.  I haven't left the bedroom end of the house since I got up today, so there hasn't been any contact with media yet this morning.

In other words, reading friends, I'm drawing a blank.

Writers absolutely cringe in fear when anyone mentions the dreaded, "writer's block."  Usually, it occurs in the creation of a book or something else with length, and without warning no plot points come to mind, the characters are muddied and dulled, and the project begins to languish.  From what I've read, writer's block can go on for quite some time and must feel really awful for a person who makes their living off of the words that flow from their busy brain.

Here on this blog, none of us has to worry too much because I don't make a dime off of the blog.  You've probably noticed that there is no advertising.  Even if I sought it out, I'm not sure my readership is large enough to garner a company's support.  And I'm NOT whining here, not at all.

So maybe here's what I'll do.  I'll write some snippets of things that are floating around my head this morning and maybe one of them will take root:

1. Was dismayed that the little girl disfigured by the pit bull attack and then shunned at a KFC is most probably a hoax.  If the money that people gave isn't used to help the little girl, then I'll be far more steamed.  But no matter how urgent a matter might seem, lying about it and besmirching the name of a business is no way to handle it.
2. The Browns are coming to The University of Akron!!  Their usual intersquad game played each year has to be moved due to stadium renovations.  They picked UA.  It should be a terrific chance to see the Browns and visit a great athletic facility at the same time.
3. Lots of prayers for the sick today -- remembering my sister, Bob Stopar, and Mary Tohill plus all of the people listed in Julie Barkey's prayer online prayer list.
4. If you get sick of the usual breakfast fare, try raisin toast.  It's still so good and makes a nice change of pace for the day. 
5. We're going to have one of those "stay inside and find something to do" rainy days today.  So just seek refuge inside and look out at the beautiful greenery that the rains have produced!  We are blessed for this rain and it will help our farmers grow good crops this year.  The corn crop is very important.
6. I've heard the pros and the cons of doing something in Iraq and find the whole thing very disconcerting and frightening.  Especially for the Americans that got left behind in Baghdad.  We watched a World War II program the other night and it was really good because it explained everything.  As the events unfolded in old vintage newsreel footage, the narrator explained a number of different times that the Treaty of Versailles, signed after WWI, caused much of the unrest and hatred that spawned WWII.   It shows that the early post-war period is very, very important in determining the future -- just as we are now seeing in Iraq.
7. A roof guy came to the house last night.  We have to get some shingles replaced from the storm damage caused by the top of a tree that fell alongside the end of the house and just missed breaking out windows.  The tree guys came and got the tree off the house and cleaned up nicely.  We also have to have the smoke stack guy come and fix the stack that takes smoke from the woodburner up and out.  All in all, it could have been WAY worse so we thank God for sparing us what some poor folks in Brunswick got.  One minute they're in their houses around dinner time and the next minute the bedroom they slept in the night before is open to the elements.  How terrifying!!  And everyone sees your interior decorating too!!
8. I was thinking about the prayer that we say at Communion to ourselves, "We beseech thee, therefore help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed with they precious blood."  Then my mind flashed back to the scene from Mel Gibson's movie.   The unbelievable sacrifice of Jesus became so much more real to me this past Sunday.  Another one of those "leaps of faith" moments in a life.

Well, that's that.  I think I've covered most of the ground and ended up with a so-so posting, but one that is honest and tells the truth.  I just don't have much to say today.  I'm tired and concerned about my sister, and I also have a UTI so you probably know how that is.  I'll get my spark back, I promise.

Karen

A Take on Drugs

Pope Francis recently reaffirmed his stance on the legalization of recreational drugs, and this time he was more emphatic than before.  He believes that any relaxation of the drug laws is wrong and that doing so only puts more drugs in the hands of the addicted.

This pope has had personal experience with the effects of addiction, having walked the streets in his native Argentina and viewed the devastation of the many lives it touches.  So as I was reading the article about what the pope said, something leapt out on the page.

The drug czar in Argentina who believes that the legalization of recreational drugs deserves a debate is a Roman Catholic priest.  Interesting that in this country the vocations of political and religious overlap. 

More or less adapting the phrase used in the 1980s in the U.S., "just say no," the pope suggested that people as a whole must take on a new attitude.

To reject illegal drugs, he said, "one has to say 'yes' to life, 'yes' to love, 'yes' to others, 'yes' to education, 'yes' to greater job opportunities. If we say 'yes' to all these things, there will be no room for illicit drugs, for alcohol abuse, for other forms of addiction."

And I say, what about, "yes to God."  With God in our lives, there is always hope and a pathway to love, acceptance, and joy no matter the circumstances.  The positive attitude that flows from a personal relationship with Jesus is just as addictive and counters the negative, violent and putrid output in society today.

Because drugs are manufactured in Argentina and many Central American countries from the plant that converts to cocaine, poor residents become addicted to "paco," which is made from the leftovers from the plant and other chemicals.  In Buenos Aires, the then Francis Bergoglio supported the priests who opened drug rehab centers to help those addicted on paco.  The pope washed the feet of recovering paco addicts.

In Mexico the whole mess related to drugs and the cartels is even more murky.  In Mexico, the cartels support the Catholic Church because they are the ones with money.  The cartels are the real money makers and at the top layers live really opulent lives compared to the rest.  It bothers me though that the church in Mexico gets dirty, blood money.  I wonder what the pope thinks about this.  Will he speak out about it at some point?

No one knows what the pope's stance on medical marijuana is, but there is a strain known as Charlotte's Web that has very little of the hallucinogenic properties and more of another substance that is known to stop seizures.  For this reason and many others, so long as it is regulated, I support medical marijuana and the production of this type of plant.  The company formerly known as Yoder Brothers in Barberton was bought out, and the new company located in a couple of different places may apply for various licenses to grow this strain of marijuana.  It is useless to the drug trade because it does not produce a high.  In fact, they would probably look upon it as competition because at least some of the marijuana sold illegally now is used by people who are in dire health trouble.

So that's about it for today.  I'm tapped out.  My sister continues her struggle.  Her right leg is giving her problems and I don't think the hospital has yet to figure it out.  They've been doing some ultrasounds on it but so far nothing has shown of concern. 

Karen

Art Class

I'm going to an art class at 10:30 a.m. today, so I thought I'd better get this written.

We are going to Exploration Gateway, part of Stark Parks.  The class is all about drawing and we were not asked to bring any materials.  They called my friend who is also going, but I didn't get a call so now I'm wondering if they don't know I'm coming (because of some kind of error).  Images of only six pencils and there are seven students, not enough paper, no erasers, etc.

They told her to bring a blanket.  I'm 67.  The thought of sitting on a blanket and trying to draw isn't a pleasant one.  Do they happen to have a crane on the property?  Because after I sit for three hours on the ground drawing, I'm going to need one.

And what about bugs?  We are going into the woods, I think.  So we've decided to bring some bug stuff too.  AND some folding chairs for the old backs and butts.

In addition, apparently there is a wedding out there.  So I sure hope the bathrooms are operational just in case.  I hate that feeling of being stranded without facilities!!

So we already have a few doubts about this thing we signed up to do.  But we'll forge ahead and give it a good old American try.  My friend says, "We can always leave early." 

That might just work out too.

I know, I know.  This is a wonderful opportunity to go out into nature and expand our horizons.  To become one with the beauty of God's creation.  To smell the smell of fresh greenery.  To put pencil to paper and let the mind go free.

I'll try; I promise.  And don't give me the old Yoda wisdom either that's already floating in my head, "There is no try; only do."

Well, when I get home at around 1:15 or so, I'll have some stories to write about in the blog.  I just feel it coming.

By the way, my sister is having a real tough time of it.  They moved her yesterday afternoon to Lakewood Hospital acute rehab.  She has a room to herself which is lucky.  But she is very irritable and upset.  She had herself worked into an upset stomach about the ambulance ride, fearing she would get carsick.  She already said the nurse isn't any good and the bed is awful.  My niece is just about spent and my nephew isn't far behind.  Please pray for her to have some inner peace, because this behavior is not typical of my sister who is usually much more worried about others rather than herself.

When I was looking up anxiety tonight to try and understand what is going on with her, I happened upon an article about PTSD in the elderly after a fall.  It surprised me.  Apparently, a fair number of elderly patients who had fallen develop similar ymptoms to those of our young men who experienced war.  There are some identifiable symptoms but I don't know if there is anything that helps.  They did give my sister some Xanax to try and calm her down about 15 minutes before the ambulance ride.  I hope she slept well last night, because that's been the other real problem.  I think she has a bad case of homesickness too.

The doctor says she is going to work hard today in rehab.  They have to be pretty tough on them because these patients need to get up, get independent again, and get home.  He says 1-3 weeks and that's it.

All or nothing

One of the quickest ways to get into an argument about a topic is to say something like this, "You ALWAYS forget to _____."    "You do that every single time."  "This group, _____, is ALL about ______."

The all or nothing comments are generalized to the point that they can't stand on fact.  They show insensitivity, judgment, and a level of frustration that is never good for getting along.  We see a lot of that today.  Attack, attack, attack -- with words.  Make a generalized statement that is all encompassing and attach it to someone or a group, and there you go.

When I went to a Marriage Encounter weekend years and years ago, we learned about how to discuss feelings, for one thing.  We learned that if you can say, "I feel ...," but you could just as easily substitute, "I think ...," then you aren't talking about your feelings at all.  These statements again get people into trouble, especially married couples.

We learned that feelings in and of themselves are not right or wrong.  But what we do with feelings can definitely be right or wrong. 

In the political arena, there is a lot of the "all or nothing," types of comments going on.  Aren't you getting sick of it?  Don't you wonder sometimes if all of these crises play into the hands of people who don't really care about the U.S. the way they should?  Well, I know that I wonder.

Here is one technique that I've learned over the past couple of years.  Listen to the structure of the sentence that is being used.  Analyze it, rather than reacting to the content.  You will see a pattern after a while, and that is helpful in getting through all of the muddied water to the clear.

There are also certain buzz words or phrases, subject matter and discussion points that do the same thing -- press our buttons on issues that bring us to anger.  Analyze them.  You'll soon see a pattern and that diffuses anger into something more constructive.

A couple of the things that make understanding such complicated subjects as the Middle East is their organization, their culture.  I'm going to do a little research for tomorrow so I can tell you what some of the most common words that are that describe groups in the Middle East and then maybe things will make more sense.  What is going on there is really a civil war in Iraq -- between Sunnis and Shiites, with Kurds thrown in for good measure.  They absolutely hate each other and it's been going on for centuries.  The election of al Malaki who is a Shiite, has long been a thorn in the side of the Sunnis who felt left out of the election and the subsequent decisions made in favor of Shiites. 

Then this ISIS group that was thought to have been more or less wiped up reappears on the scene and goes after the weak Iraqi forces, taking the weaponry that we furnished, stealing billions from the banks, and even trying to get into a closed chemical weapons plant that was sealed 20 years ago. 

The people must be scared to death but in most cases they probably aren't armed.

Well, tomorrow we'll do a little more of this and see where it goes. 

By the way, I saw a guy on TV last night who talked about some of the crises that the U.S. faces right now.  He mentioned how little coverage they are getting in the lame stream media.  If you want to get a more fair and balanced view, try Fox.  For example, did you know that the emails sent from Lois Lerner to people at the IRS, the White House, and members of Congress are missing -- allegedly destroyed by a virus?  If you haven't heard that one, there is a good reason.  The lame stream media in total only covered it in one program for about 15 seconds over a period of a couple of days.

We'll talk again tomorrow.

Holy Hour

Each week at Mass we hear how many holy hours were logged at our chapel the previous week -- usually around 144.  So that means that 144 people spent an hour in the chapel in quiet, in prayer, and in meditation facing the monstrance which contains a consecrated host.  Making a holy hour is a good thing.  My time is Fridays at 2:00 p.m. and I am usually alone.

That was the case a week ago.  When I first arrived, Donna was still there finishing up the 1:00-2:00 slot and she packed her things and left shortly after I got there.  The peace of the place kind of took me in.

I'd found a book about the writings of St. Catherine of Siena and had brought it along to read during my hour.  Reading is something that I don't do that much of normally, but the chapel setting makes it easier to read and take in the content of the material.  So I was reading along.

Catherine wrote a lot of letters.  Actually, she dictated them and I don't know if they used some kind of shorthand back then or if the person taking down the words could go that fast or if Catherine spoke that slow.  In any case, Catherine wrote a letter to one of her sisters, I believe.  She was telling her how to live a fuller Christian life and somewhere in all of this was something about seeing Jesus.

I was sitting there thinking about how much I'd love to see Jesus, and then I was reading along again.  At some point, my mind was telling me that someone else was in the room with me.  It was unconscious thinking, not in my conscious mind.  The someone was in the second row on the right hand side of the chapel.  I was in the back row on the left. 

As I continued to read, the concept of there being someone else in the room came to my conscious thoughts and I looked up to that exact spot in the room -- there was nothing there.  But what I saw in my peripheral vision I'll describe to you today.

There was a figure sitting there, facing the altar and therefore he had his back to me.  He was wearing brown sack cloth material, kind of a sandy brown color, his head covered.  He was motionless, in prayer. 

Here is the weird part.  I scare kind of easily.  When I realized that I was not alone and looked up to the exact spot and saw nothing, I was not afraid.  I was never afraid the whole time I was there.  I was at complete peace.  The enormity of it began to settle on me and I set down the reading and just thought about what had just happened. 

Here is the second weird part.  The hour flew by so fast that it felt like I'd been there five minutes.  It was almost as though part of me hadn't been in the room at all, but somewhere else, like waking from a dream.  When I looked at my watch, it was already five minutes before three and the next adorer was arriving. 

I don't really know what to make of what happened but it was a spiritual thing, something very special.  I'll never forget it.  The next time I go to chapel which will be Friday, I'll talk to God about it and see if I receive any kind of answer.  And I'll ask Father Kevin when I see him next.

I'm not one of those kind of people who have things like this happen to them.  While I believe with my heart, my head has been at times known to get in the way.  I really can't wait to get back to the chapel and serve my hour.

Blessings to you and yours,

Karen

For Wednesday

I'm going to get ahead of myself and write this on Sunday for Wednesday, just because things have been a little nuts.  My class reunion meeting was last night, and I took my guitar so I could team up with one of my classmates for part of the entertainment we have planned.  He plays the guitar.  I hope someone sings with me.

So what can we talk about today?

I think maybe the nugget of the understanding of faith, how's that?

Over the years, I have noticed that people who are simple folk, people who aren't overly scientific, tend to believe more deeply in the matters of faith.  Things like miracles, for example.  When I went to the Rhoda Wise house and saw the video that they show to everyone new to the place, I heard about various happenings in the house.  I heard about lights inside the house before it had electricity.  I heard about the baby Jesus statue coming to life.  I saw the host in the bottom of a large jar still intact after more than 40 years.  I saw Rhoda's cast from when her leg was healed. 

For me, letting my "knowledge" go to the side for a little while helps me to open up and believe that something extraordinary happened in that house.  Enough that after all these years that Rhoda has been gone, people still go there seeking help and assistance, just like they did when Rhoda Wise was alive.

The one thing we don't want to have happen to us or anyone we love is that the education we obtain leads us away from the most important thing in our entire lives -- our faith. 

When you tell a child a story about Santa Claus or the Easter bunny, and their eyes widen with excitement and belief, you see that simplicity in action.  And we are told to believe as the little child believes.  We need not over-analyze anything, such as why would a piece of wheat still be on the bottom of a jar with water after 40+ years?  We don't need to have the answer for that.  We just need to trust God and believe.

There are a number of books out right now that deal with miraculous things -- like near death experiences, for example.  One of them is "Heaven if for Real," and I recommend it.  It is written simply and without a lot of flourish.  You can finish it in a day or so without much trouble if you read fast.  The other is an account of a near death experience that a doctor tells about -- he gained faith through this incident.  There are some others.  Someone recommended a book in a posting the other day as she was requesting prayers for a man with Stage 4 prostate cancer.  I'll find it and write about that book in the next blog posting, okay?

One of the true gifts of education is that we can READ the materials that deepen our faith.  Sometimes we need to hear an account of something so amazing as a near death experience, of someone who glimpsed the heaven that we so hope to gain.

Personally, I never tire of the personal accounts and wish there were more of them.  I'd watch a TV show about that kind of thing any day of the week, rather than some of the junk we've seen advertised for the new season of shows that's coming. 

Well, time to close now.  So I wish you many blessings and a good day today.

Karen

Tuesday Musings

A friend of mine told me an interesting story yesterday via email.  She recounted a story about her father from some years ago.

Her father had been waking up at night with wrist pain and the wrist going to sleep, so he went to the doctor.  They gave him a set of exercises for it, and he did them, but they didn't work.  So six months later he went back to the doctor with the exact same symptoms.  This time he came out wearing a neck brace!!  My friend accompanied her father to the doctor the next time and said, "My father has carpal tunnel syndrome and he needs surgery."  It was scheduled that very same day.

Wow.  The bottom line is that we were agreeing on something important when it relates to our health and the health of our loved ones.  We need to advocate for one another, particularly when a hospital visit is in order.  Communication sometimes fails or is impeded for some reason.  At that point, something needs to give in order for the sick person to receive the help they need. 

Just like communication in all kinds of places suffer at times, the hospital is not immune to that.  Nor is the doctor's office.  So never fear sharing what you think with a doctor. 

I read an article that doctors in training are being coached on how to question patients these days.  They ask the patient this very important question:  "When did the symptoms first begin?"  The reason why this is so significant is that the answer the patient gives is often the real cause of the problem, such as:  "Well, I tripped up the stairs and banged my shin and then the next day I started to notice the problem."

NOW, the doctor has a reference point in which to begin his diagnosis.  Doctors in the past kind of blew past these little stories as insignificant but now they realize that the stories often hold the key to the pain or illness.

I'm going to Fairview later today to see my sister for a little while and then head over to Westlake's Porter Library for my class reunion committee.  So that's the plan for today.  We're stopping at BJs Wholesale Club in a little bit to get my car filled up with gas.  They usually have gas for about $.30 less a gallon than the usual places.  So if you are a member, take advantage.  If you've never been there, it's worth a year's membership to try it out.  We have always saved enough to pay for the fee, and then we even got more back by taking out a BJs credit card for our purchases and then we get another 2% (I think it is) off on purchases.  The refund comes in the way of a check so that way you can actually bank the savings more easily.

So that's about all I have today.  Hope you are doing well and loving life!

Take care, friends.  Writing this blog has become a real source of solace for me, kind of like journaling is for some people.

Karen

Sudden Shocks

I wrote this last Thursday, I think, but it still has some merit to it for all of us.  So I'll put it up for you to read today.  Forgive the errors in the time line.  She fell last Wednesday, had surgery Thursday, and is recuperating.



We all go along figuring that this and that will continue, and we don't concern ourselves too much with the this and that.  And then something happens to this or that and we are shocked, confused, scared, upset, and worried.

Yesterday, I mentioned that my sister fell at her son's house yesterday evening.  She got a perm in the morning, called me at around 12:30 yesterday afternoon and then by 7:00 p.m. she was at the hospital with a broken hip.  Didn't see that one coming!!

My niece has worked at Fairview Hospital for 32 years.  She started out in x-ray as a technician and now she is involved in vascular support, like ports and the like.  She knows the heart doctors and just about everyone else.  Last evening at around 10:30 p.m., she was talking to the orthopedic surgeon about my sister's options for surgery today.  It seemed important to my niece to bring in the oncologist who treats my sister for a type of blood cancer, the kind of thing that Robin Roberts has.  The doctor wondered how they could do that, and my niece said no problem -- I'll call him on his cell phone.  She had his number!

And they talked for 20 minutes about all the ins and outs of what they could do.  They talked about medications and the oncologist said he would be coming to the hospital today to offer his help.  Isn't that something?

My nephew feels terrible because she fell at his house.  He feels responsible in some way, but it wasn't his fault.  It just happened.  It was an accident. 

Now he is working on a five month calendar to divvy up the various work that has to be done to keep things going -- like mowing at two houses.  My sister owns a lovely little two-bedroom cottage at Marblehead.  We were just there Saturday and did the trim work for her while she did the riding mower part.  So now we'll keep things managed.

Meanwhile, the kind of surgery they are doing for my sister involves pins and non-weight bearing recuperation.  She will be going to Lakewood Hospital's acute rehab unit (35 beds) and get the best the clinic has to offer in physical therapy.

I'm sure each and every one of you have gotten one of those calls -- a phone number that doesn't pop up too often or it pops up at an odd time.  Once you say, "hello," you find out quickly that this or that has gone wrong. 

My first thought was to pray for her.  My second thought was to get others to pray for her.  My third thought was that I wanted to talk to her.  I'm still waiting on that.  (We visited on Saturday and I spoke on the phone with her yesterday for a little bit.)

There are no guarantees in this life, are there?  There are always these surprises that come along involving this and that. 

Join me in prayer for all of the folks in our lives who are experiencing some problems with this or that.  Okay?

Quick Posting

So sorry.  I completely forgot to post this morning!  First of all, I was making some cards, like a Fathers Day card for Eric for one. 

Second, I went to church to sing at a funeral.

Third, we went to Cleveland to see my sister at the hospital.

So --- is that enough of an excuse?

My sister looks really tired and sad.  My niece said she looks a ton better than she did on Thursday or Friday, so I guess I was spared that.  My sister's biggest problem is her breathing, the result of COPD.  They did a chest CT scan right when we were leaving to see if there was something besides the COPD.  Barring that, then her COPD has worsened considerably over the past six months.

If you know anyone who smokes, please tell them to quit.  Chantex works pretty well if you can just continue to resist having "just one."  My husband used it and it did work, mitigating some of the types of withdrawal that usually goes along with quitting.  And it is not a nicotine product.  My sister quit with patches three years ago.  She quit because she got scared with shortness of breath, and this was a real indication that her lungs were damaged even at that point.

Her hip barely bothers her after the surgery.  She has almost no pain at all.  She was alert, had done her "Jumbles" in the newspaper, and read the card I made for her with no problem.  But she has a long, long way to go.

My sister's children -- there are four of them -- don't always get along so well.  This is usually somewhat of a problem at the holidays, but in this instance nerves are starting to get the better of a couple of them already.  Before long someone will say something they shouldn't, and then the whole thing will get going again.  I'm going to try to remain neutral and do the best that I can for everyone, but it's tough.

We all realize that for everything there is a season.  There is a time to be born and a time to die.  It's just that we want our loved ones to stay around for a good, long while.  I have to come to grips with the fact that my sister is in God's hands and a day will come when she goes on.

Do you want to know the best news of all?  She received Communion today!  I was ecstatic, could barely control myself.  She was happy too, I could tell.  And she knows that she'll receive more visits from the priest and more Communion hosts whether she remains there for a couple more days or whether she goes on to her rehab facility.

On another subject, the funeral this morning went pretty well.  The lady was only 62 years old.  We sang the typical hymns for a funeral service, all 11 of us, and offered our best for this family who is grieving.  Father Kevin's funeral touched upon something that he usually mentions but that resonated for me today.

When someone dies, they are not gone from us.  Yes, in the physical sense they are, but we remain connected to them.  He said we should talk to them as though they were still here and ask for their prayers and help.  He said we should continue to pray for the deceased too. 

Father said that the lady who died was a wonderful person.  She was very funny apparently, and laughed a lot.  She was caring, often inviting near strangers over for dinner.  She gave back to her church in a number of significant ways.  It is always an honor and a privilege to sing at a funeral, to do what we can do to ease the suffering of the loved ones remaining.

Well, that's it for today and tomorrow and Monday.  See you Tuesday morning!

Karen

Jaded

Just a little note before I start today's posting.  Yesterday was rough.  My sister fell and broke her hip.  She is in the hospital and having surgery this afternoon, so I'd appreciate your prayers for her.  The good part of this is that her platelet count which has been terribly low for a while due to a type of blood cancer is normal.  Her hip bone was not displaced in any way.  Her bones are strong.  Her heart is strong.  God has been looking out for her, and her son was with her when she fell.    So pray with me for my sister, especially that she is not afraid.

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Do you know how you see those movies on TV about the police and they delve into the psyche of a cop gone bad?  The policeperson has in almost every case become jaded towards the very society he/she is supposed to serve.  They're thinking is this:  Everyone lies.  Everyone steals.  Everyone wants to kill someone else.  Everyone is up to something.

You know the drill. 

Well, we have to watch ourselves too, so that we don't become jaded.  I have caught myself of late analyzing some sort of news story and popping off about how it was a lie or how it was misrepresented or how it was a diversion tactic.  It might have been, but see how easy it is to grow weary and to judge?

I had the rare privilege of getting to know a prison guard and seeing this man at his workplace.  He was so unusual that he just stuck out in the crowd.  The guy's name is Conrad.  He came to work every single day with an amazing attitude.  The inmate men at the prison liked him the best, but he wasn't stupid or naïve or a patsy.  He didn't break the rules or go outside the lines.  He did his job, but he did it showing dignity towards others in rare and special ways.

In that environment compared to lots of others, he had every reason to fall down the slippery slope of becoming jaded but he didn't.  He'd been there a long time.  He was no newbie, and yet he had this attitude that people were special no matter where they happened to be.  Visitors were special; inmates were special.

Sometimes I think about Conrad and hope that he is doing well.  He was an inspiration to me, and I would imagine he had a profound effect on the entire prison, or at least the area in which he worked.  The other guards were definitely jaded in a lot of instances.  They had no patience, no manners, no kindness. 

Seeing Conrad, and knowing that in at least one circumstance he intervened on behalf of someone, it occurs to me that we ought to know WHY he wasn't like the others.  In the case of a career police officer who didn't go that route, WHY didn't he become jaded?  In the case of a teacher who served for many years and still brought a zest for the job, WHY was she like that?

These are people, but they also come under a term that we like to call in the business work -- best practices.  These individuals adopt a different attitude in life.  Are they Christians?  Is it because of that reason?  I'd like to think so, because those of us who know God should shine like his light for the world.  We should be the Conrads out there who just know how to handle things and not lose our way.

Let's try really hard not to become jaded.  Naïve -- no.  We don't have to be naïve.  Stupid?  Of course not.  But we don't have to take the low road when we can just as easily take the high road.

One man once told my son that when you get out of bed in the morning, you have a choice each and every day.  You can get up and decide to be in a good mood, to treat others kindly, to go about your work with a good attitude, or you can get up crabby and unapproachable.  It's always our choice.

Karen

Are things really worse?

Some people think that the conditions in the U.S. are about the same, other than we hear more bad things than we used to.  Others think that things are definitely worse.

Where do you stand?

I guess I think that things are worse.  Why do I believe that to be true?

1. Crime might be down overall but the severity of crime seems to be up.
2. Kids are getting into trouble at younger and younger ages.
3. More girls/women are getting into trouble and are jailed or imprisoned.
4. Some young people seem so starved for attention that they are willing to do almost anything to get it.  Some are terribly disturbed; the school shooters come to mind on this.
5. Social media blow up and exacerbate relationships or the lack of them.  It's easy to fire off a few words and then regret it several minutes later -- but way too late.
6. Teens have been fed a lot of "bad news" over their lifetimes, whether it's at school with an emphasis on pollution.  Kind of a doomsday sort of approach.  This makes them jaded at an early age.
7. Teens seem to be having a tougher time growing up.  The girls are maturing earlier than ever and no one knows why and the boys seem caught in their adolescence for way too long.
8. Sacrificing for something that you want to accomplish seems harder for kids today.
9. Parents don't always seem to want to be parents.  They want to be fancy free too often, and aren't there for the children.
10. There's not enough talking and there is too much disruption, noise and confusion in families today.  Not enough quiet time, not enough prayer, not enough God.

Today I heard that there are villages in Central and South America that are emptying out.  Where are they going?  To the U.S.  And what have the authorities been doing with the influx of these aliens?  They've been putting them on buses to Maryland and other states with no money, no jobs, nothing.  Why do they think they ought to come here?  Because they believe that they ought to get in before the amnesty is granted they've been hearing about.

And here's one element of the story that should make one pause.  The people from the other countries are sending their children across the border without them.  More and more unaccompanied minors are arriving, some as little as three years old.  What is going on?

I'm all for helping people but I believe that people from other countries should come here the legal way.  We're going to be getting into some real trouble here.  We're sending all kinds of foreign aid to countries but it doesn't get to the citizens who need it.  They see the U.S. as the answer to all of their problems, but they don't understand that we are tapped out.  We've got problems here that aren't getting fixed as it is.  We are short on money.  A smaller and smaller portion of the population is paying for more and more assistance to our own citizens.  And too many people look at the government for a hand out beyond emergency help.  Entitlements have burgeoned.

Where will all of this end?  I don't know but it really bothers me. 

I think maybe it's time for "no news" in my life for a while.  More praying, less stewing.

Comrades

We were watching a movie about a teenager who wanted to be one of the popular girls and when she finally thought she'd made it into that elite group at school, she found out that she had trusted the wrong people.  They weren't her friends at all; they beat her severely, leaving her with the potential of both hearing and seeing deficits in one ear and one eye.

The movie didn't say it was based on a true story, but we've all heard so many of these kinds of stories, with the internet at the heart of the it, that it might as well have been.

The whole concept -- that of our comrades in life -- struck a chord with me.

Just imagine the people who are in the news a lot, the politicians, the Hollywood people, the business gurus and others, and in every single case they decide along the way who their closest confidantes are going to be.  They choose the people who have their ear and who also influence them in all kinds of decisions.

Hitler chose a band of confidantes.  They were equally enamored of power and also twisted in that strange way that defies a concrete definition.  They were twisted similarly to the way he was.

Some people stick with friends from school, having known them early in the game, before fame or fortune or power changed their lives.  It may just be an excellent effort on their part to stay grounded, to be the same person they always were.  Their close friends would call them out on it if they weren't.  John Kennedy was one of these.

Some include individuals they meet along the road to success. 

Some trust people who end up contributing to their demise.  And some isolate themselves because they don't trust anyone to be genuine. 

Those of us who don't make the evening news also choose friends and the decisions can have a major impact on our lives. 

It strikes me that if we love God first and foremost and if we put Him first in our lives, then we will know the answers we seek.  We will have the gift of discernment and sense the authenticity of people of faith with whom we share our time and space.

History is littered with people who picked the wrong comrades and they paid for it, but so did a lot of innocents. 

I heard a long time ago that we are judged by the company we keep, and yet Jesus shared time with tax collectors and others on the fringes of Jewish society, including lepers.  And yet, the ones who spent the most time with him, his most trusted comrades, were the twelve. 

The famous director of, "It's a Wonderful Life," and other films, Frank Capra, once said something so true.  "If you have one friend, you are rich.  If you have three friends, you are filthy rich." 

Today I'll give thanks for special, wonderful, caring friends, friends who were shown to me through God.  With friends, we are truly blessed.

Karen

Michigan Nights

Honest, I wrote the posting this morning and for some reason I hit "save" instead of "publish."  So you got the story of the Indigo Bunting for yet another day.

So first of all, yesterday's ceremonies at Normandy were amazing.  The rows upon rows of white stone crosses, more than 9,000 of them, keeps telling the story of the day that Americans came to the aid of their friends.  We heard a very moving story about how the French children take part in D-Day remembrances every year, how they learn about what the Americans did to free them from occupation.  The kids in our schools should be doing the same in my humble opinion.

Another 14,000 remains were returned to the United States, per the request of family members.  Many of the 9,000 graves contain remains of a man unidentified, "known only to God," just as it says at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington.

So now -- here is Friday's posting and it will serve for Saturday too since we are traveling to Marblehead to spend the day with my sister.  I'm really looking forward to it.

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The last couple of days reminds me of how Michigan is during the summer.  When I was in high school, six of us girls traveled to Brighton, Michigan for a cheerleading camp. 

I love to tell this story because it creates such a contrast with how things are done today.  In the first place, the camp was discovered by one of our junior cheerleaders who had all the makings of a fine leader.  She thought it would be just wonderful if we could go to Michigan and learn new cheers, camp together and learn tricks from the UM cheerleading staff.

She sold us on the idea pretty quickly, and then we asked our advisor about it.  She agreed that it sounded like a terrific opportunity for us.  My sister and the parents weren't far behind in agreeing that this would be good.  I honestly think it only cost about $100.  But that was in 1963 so actually that $100 was worth more than $600.  My sister was so kind to make sure that I got to go!! 

So here's how it went.  We bought some outfits that matched, red shorts and pinstriped sleeveless shirts (once again the junior girl found at the mall).  We packed our stuff and piled into a car driven by one of the dads and got dropped off at the bus terminal in downtown Cleveland.  We took that bus so far, got on another bus, then another bus, and finally arrived at a spot in Brighton with a phone booth, called the camp and they came to get us.  By ourselves.  With no chaperones.  Honestly.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon I think it was.  Hard to remember.  Then we had camp for five days starting bright and early Monday morning and ending Friday night.  We left Saturday morning and did the same three bus rides home. 

What an experience!  One of the cheerleaders had a knack for drawing stick figures, and so she wrote down the movements for all of the new cheers we learned in that way.  Another one of the cheerleaders won first individual awards at camp, a high achievement.  On the last day of evening competitions, our squad won second place out of all the teams!  We had come a long, long way in just five days.

Then when we returned to Fairview, we were so excited to show our advisor our "stuff."  She was quite amazed and we organized a pep rally before school started to introduce the team and the new cheers.  It went really well.  I believe the cheerleaders went to the same camp the next year and placed highly.

That camp had a profound effect on me.  It instilled some much needed confidence and better yet, some real enthusiasm for whatever I was doing.  None of us were the worse for it, that's for sure.

For our memories, we all have a picture of our head cheerleader who won the first individual -- Kathy. 

I'll be seeing her at the reunion in September!  And also Colleen.

If I could give kids today a taste of what we had back then, I sure would.  There is something unbelievable about leaving Cleveland, Ohio, about six girls traveling across Ohio into Michigan, singing most of the way.  People trusted us.  That was the key.  And trusted that others would not bother us, and no one did.

Well, take care, friends.

Karen

Indigo Bunting

The last couple of years we've enjoyed the emergence of the Indigo Bunting, a bright blue bird with glistening feathers.  It's not hard to spot.

The Indigo Bunting likes to find seed on the ground, content to let other birds drop extras down his way.  At times I've seen two of them there so there is either a pair of them or maybe we've been lucky enough to build up some numbers.  That would be great!

Yesterday, the mother raccoon came calling and she was busily eating.  Above her on the rim of the feeder, a large bird was dumping seed out on top of her.  She had a really good thing going.  The other birds were being fairly shy around the raccoon, not really sure what to do with her presence.  The small Indigo Bunting (about the size of a sparrow) didn't mind at all.  She dropped down from the tree and made her way around the obstacle very nicely.  She was quite wary at first but realized quickly that the raccoon wasn't the least bit interested.  Good for her! 

Our feeder was a hive of activity yesterday.  There were cardinals, blue jays, squirrels in large numbers, chipmunks, the buntings, and others as well.  One little bird came and visited at the back porch.  Gracie, our youngest cat, went nuts.  Good thing the doors were all shut out there.  Her eats were back and she was in full attack mode.  She was alert from the top of her ears to the end of her tail.  The little bird just sat on one of the steps outside the porch and looked at her.  It went on for a ridiculous amount of time, to the point that I wondered if the bird had been injured, perhaps it had run into the window and stunned itself.

Even with me standing there, she didn't move.  Finally, something did spook her and she flew off in fine form.  I'm not sure Gracie's heart could have stood a whole day of that.

Life doesn't have to treat us to huge surprises to be interesting.  When we just slow down a little bit and take it in, that's when we often see amazing things. 

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On another note, we DVRd the Tonight Show.  I'm not sure it was worthwhile.  I actually fell asleep during part of it.  The first part of the show left me cold, partly because I couldn't always understand what he was saying.  Gosh, I sound so OLD.  Either humor has changed or I have changed, or maybe both.  The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was really funny!  Hilariously funny!  Maybe a younger person could explain it to me.  Maybe younger persons just don't know what they missed.  We'll try one more time and then that's it for the DVRing. 

Have a wonderful day today -- good rain yesterday has made everything lush and green. 

Watching

The last couple of days I watched Drew and Ella.  They are two funny kids.

Yesterday their dad was putting up the balusters on the pool rails and there were these little pieces of paper on the bottoms of them that he tore off.  They found their way just under the lip of the pool deck.

I told Drew that if he would pick them up, his dad would give him $.25.  He looked at me as though I was crazy, but then his dad heard and said he would give him $.25.  So Drew picked up one of the pieces and trotted over toward his dad to claim the reward!  We were both laughing.  It was hilarious.  So then my son told Drew that if he picked up 15 of the pieces of paper, he'd buy him a Hot Wheels car.  Well, that did it.  Drew was over there counting out loud as he retrieved the papers and was pleased with himself for his chore. 

So next time I go over there, I think there should be some more chores and some may not have a reward.  There is just the reward of helping someone, and he can learn that at his age too.  I'll find something for Ella to do too.  She shouldn't get left out of the picture, and she loves to help.

All in all, it was a good couple of days.  No major problems of any kind.

One of the children needs to put on some weight and the other needs to lose.  That's the only hard part.  Drew should pretty much eat whenever he is hungry.  Ella needs to cut back.  So we'll probably get into giving Drew something to eat on the QT and that seems wrong, but Ella does need to lose some pounds.  For her health.  Or maybe I'll pick up some snacks that have almost zero calories and Ella can have one of those.  She can have a choice which she would like. 

At the end of the day, I'm tired but it's a good tired.  If I hadn't spent that time with the grandchildren, then what would I have done with it?  Probably something I wouldn't even remember in a week.  The years are going fast and I'm glad that we've had the time to spend with each other.  They know me well now and are comfortable with me being there. 

We also watched the end of Frozen yesterday.  It's a beautifully made movie, different in theme from other Disney flicks.  It deals with the love of two sisters for each other.  And a prince gone bad with a head full of power lust.  The ice scenery was really beautiful, the music wonderful, the character expressions amazing. 

One person who reviewed the movie a few months ago said that it has almost a Christian theme to it, and I suppose that is true. 

Well, time to go.  I'm walking this morning with my neighbor, a usual Wednesday kind of thing.  Enjoy yourself!  The 13 weeks of summer go awfully fast, don't they?

Karen

A Real Hero

A man from Medina became a real hero over the weekend.  He went into the water at Huntington Beach in Bay Village, Ohio, to rescue a girl about 14 years old.  He was able to get her to the rocks but didn't make it out himself.

Mr. Radke was the father of four and a devout Christian man.  He talked to friends and acquaintances about substance rather than success.  He thought life would be better gauged by how substantive it is rather than some measure of success.  I totally agree with his thinking.

Bay Village is a pretty good poke from Medina, but the man was there for a birthday party.  Others jumped into the water, too, in an attempt to help the girl and they all made it out except for him.  Some think he may have hit his head on the rocks, because he was thought to be an excellent swimmer.

Radke worked in Akron for Hitchcock Fleming, an ad agency that I passed every single day on my way home from work at The University of Akron.  . 

This man understood the really important things of life and he lived his life in service to others.  What a legacy he leaves for his family.  The children will certainly miss their father, the wife, her husband, but they know what he was doing at the end.  They know that his life had meaning right up to the last second.

There are people who lead with words and after a while those words pretty much fall on deaf ears.  There are others who lead by example.  Mr. Radke was one of the latter.

There is a passage from the Bible that I always struggled with until now that I've gotten older. 
This is it, from Matthew:

"He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it."

What it means is that we will all suffer in this life, that suffering and even persecution are part of it.  If we willingly allow the suffering and the persecution to come and offer it for God, then we truly find the meaning of life.  If we try to save ourselves from suffering and persecution, try to have a cushy, easy life, then we lose the life that we have.

Does that make any sense?  Mr. Radke sacrificed his own comfort and safety to save someone else and he confirmed his life of faith, the meaning of it.

There is a 14-year-old girl who will be told eventually that she is alive because of someone else, someone's heroism.  It will undoubtedly affect her in many ways.

Take it easy,

Karen