Popeye

How could anyone not laugh at this?! I love it!


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Joy Journal: A full day at home with the sun shining! No rain!

Long Days and Nights

Sitting in a hospital room round the clock is a truly mind-numbing experience.  But it can also be a real bonding experience.  My brother has now had his surgery for his mouth cancer and is starting the long road to recovery.  The doctors are convinced that he will make a full recovery and will be fine.  But it won’t be much fun for him getting there.  He is showing an amazing emotional resilience and I’m really proud of him.  And I feel like I am really contributing to his recovery by being here for him, helping him keep his surgical area clean, intervening with nurses and doctors when he can’t make himself understood (he had a temporary tracheotomy) and making sure that he gets good care from the hospital staff.  It’s good be needed and be able to help.

JAYPEG

Just have to share this with you. If you have an interest in photography you will love the caption:

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Joy Journal: Friday. I don't have to go to work tomorrow.

Playing When I Should Be Working

Just can't seem to get my mind to settle in to working today. Two bosses are away and the third one is busy with stuff that doesn't involve me so I've been playing on the website Be Funky. You can play with pictures (your own) on their website and then save the results. Here's a little statue that I have in my garden.


This was just too much fun. Now I guess I had better get back to work!!

Joy Journal: A good night's sleep for a change.

Difficult Time

My brother is about to enter a very difficult time in his life.  A cancer has been found in his gum and he is going to have to have some painful surgery followed by some debilitating radiation.  A small part of his lower jaw and gum will need to be removed.  While the doctor has told him it won’t be disfiguring, it will certainly be life altering.  He’s been a heavy smoker for many years and now payment has come due.  But there isn’t any satisfaction in “I told you so”.  My heart is breaking for him and for his wife, who is a 15+ year survivor of breast cancer.  We’ve told my mother that my brother has a small mouth cancer and that he is going to have surgery, all of which is true, but we don’t see any point in going into detail about how tough the recovery is going to be.  But the doctor says he will recover.  And we’re trying to hold on to that thought through the rough days that are coming, days with a tracheotomy tube and a feeding tube.  He’s a good man.  Please add him and his wife to your prayers. 

Paradise

Saint Gene has taken to calling our home "Paradise" when he's cutting up with my mother. And you know something, in many ways he's right! We own our home - it's fully paid for. We own our cars - they are fully paid for. We have tomatoes planted in large pots lining our front door walkway. Not the ideal spot from a design standpoint, but the only full sun location in our yard. Our lot is slightly over an acre and is shaded by big, beautiful old growth trees. Our property line on one side is a wonderful creek with a joyful little cascade that sings to us (and was temporary home to a beautiful pair of wood ducks recently). We planted some bright red "Double Knockout Roses" in the front flower bed (next to the tomato plants), our first attempt at having roses - gotta make use of that one little sunny location! We have blue birds living somewhere nearby. We see them perched on the cable wire coming into our home. We have good neighbors and our street is quiet and peaceful.

It's amazing to me how much I enjoy being outside when the weather is as wonderful as it has been recently. Ok, so it's rained a little too much. But that very same rain is one reason my yard is looking so much better this year. And it is sure better than the drought we've been having the last 2-3 years! I spent almost all day Sunday just sitting around on my deck, on my driveway, on my front stoop, even in my carport when the late afternoon shower came. Sitting around - watching Gene work. The man has turned into a yard-working fool!! I don't think a single shrub in our yard is more than half of it's former height. But the yard is looking so neat and trimmed and usable. The nice weather has allowed my mother to sit outside where she can see him and feel like she's participating in a small way in the activity.



Joy Journal: The sound of my husband and my mother laughing as they sit outside enjoying the sunshine.