DANCE FOR JOY and AN UPDATE ON JOHN

Happy Tuesday!

Sounds like a movie, doesn't it?

Starring:  Sweet Cheeks and MyHero.

For those of you that don't read 

The Caring Bridge,

I am copying that message over here.

If you already read the post there 

please don't feel

you have to make a comment here, too.

I know that time is a precious commodity.

Here is the post:

Remember when you were a kid and the days just seemed to drag out forever?  Only in summer when you were on vacation from school did the days seem to fly past and summer ended long before you were ready to go back to school.

Time has marched very slowly for us these last few months.  Six bad days followed by one tolerable day---five bad days followed by two bearable days---finally a week or two with a "good" day. etc---and then fast forward.  Today John has had a few good days in a row followed by set-backs.  There are days when he still feels nauseous and there are days when he feels very weak.

He has taken a couple of falls due to weakness and dizziness.  The last one being a bad fall yesterday.  Today, he is using some pain killers again.  He had pretty much given those up-just taking nausea control pills and something for thrush mouth.  If you have not had thrush mouth, you do not want it---trust me on this.

A week from today he is going to attempt to go back to work.  I don't know if he is ready but he has to do it for his insurance and benefits.  He will have to see what he can tolerate and cross that bridge when he comes to it.  For today, and the rest of this week, he is laying low, recovering from his latest fall, and gearing up/praying for the strength to be an effective chaplain again.

The cards and well-wishes continue to be a blessing to John.  A friend of ours sent him a prayer shawl.  He wears it all the time which took me totally by surprise.  I think it is going to be like trying to wean a baby from a pacifier to get it away from him! Remember when your kid(s) wore the same thing day after day and you had to creep into their room at night and "steal" it so you could wash it--hoping they wouldn't miss it.  What was the first thing they did in the morning?  Start a frantic search for "my favorite outfit".  I can see a replay of that in my future here. Hmmmm...maybe he is in his 'second childhood'?

It has been cold, rainy and dreary here for most of the spring.  It is sometimes hard to remain happy and upbeat-especially when you feel sick.  However, there are little things that make John smile.  He got a big smile out of seeing our little SweetCheeks (Julia) in her dance costume as she prepares for an upcoming recital. (picture at the top).   She always makes him smile with her droll comments.  Never one to mince words she says things like "that's gross" or "YUCK" when John coughs/hacks/spits/etc.  It is not the words as much as it is the accompanying eye rolls and facial expressions that makes me laugh. If she is sitting on the sofa she moves as far away from him as she can with a close eye on his "sick things" so that she doesn't get too close to them.She is not even aware that she is doing it.  I have found that we take our laughs where we can find them these days.

I think the next post will be from John as he prepares to go back to work and then we will probably give our Caring Bridge posts a rest for a while until after John's PET scan in June---unless there are some major changes before that...(please Lord NO MORE of those).......

Blessings to all of you- thank you for praying for us so faithfully. You all are the best!!!!  Diana

I will be back in a couple of days

with a report on your prayers

for Ron Tomes & his family...

and I will attempt to play catch up

on some things that have happened

that have NOTING to do with cancer.

Thank you, Lord, that there

ARE THINGS

that have nothing to do with cancer.

It is so easy to let cancer dominate

your every waking moment,

as some of you know all too well.

It is good to be distracted 

with other things that are part

of 'real life'.

Have a wonderful, blessed Tuesday.

Please Pray For Our Friend, RON TOMES, -Pray For A Peaceful Passing

You know I never mind

asking for prayers

for someone.

But THIS ONE is tough!

Our friend, Ron Tomes,

has only hours to live as I 

write this post.

Ron has a type of cancer

that does not respond to 

regular treatment.

His only hope has been a

STEM CELL TRANSPLANT.

His son was his donor a couple of weeks ago.

Sadly, for Ron and his family,

the transplant did not work.

His body is full of infection

and his immune system is so compromised

that he can't fight it off.

Ron has been such a wonderful support

for John in his recovery.

He prayed with him and talked to him,

understanding what he was going through,

as only another cancer patient can understand.

He has always been full of hope and is a 

TRUE INSPIRATION

to everyone that knows him.

Ron looked forward to golfing with

John and his buddy, Jerry Price,

this summer.

I guess he will be golfing in heaven now.

Please pray him home to that big

GOLF GREEN

in the sky.

He has maintained his faith in God 

and always felt his illness was

a lesson somehow.

It has been.

It has been a lesson in 

GRACE & ACCEPTANCE

as he fought this battle.

Pray for his wife, Sue, and their children, too.

His death will leave a huge hole in all their lives.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

THE BIRDS OF SPRING!!! A MOURNING DOVE AND THE JOHN-BIRD

This is the message I posted in 

THE CARING BRIDGE 

this morning.

I know some of you can't access that site

so this is for you.

Good Morning!

We have survived another week  post-treatment!  We have seen some definite improvements this week!  

John had two appointments this week for assessment and 'training'.  He learned some exercises that he needs to do daily that will help him learn to swallow properly again. One of them is to hold your tongue between your teeth and then swallow. Sounds easy, right?  Go ahead-try it- I'll wait.  Y'all did it, too, didn't you?  I know you did.  Not as easy as it sounds, is it?  It is kind of what a baby does when they are nursing-the undulation of the tongue that takes the milk/food to the back of the throat and down.  Yeah---NO NURSING allowed here--so the exercise is his only option.  I said that to my son and he said that even saying NO NURSING created too horrible of a visual to even think about.  So-there is your smile for the day. You're welcome!

Some of the exercises he will have to do for the rest of his life; others are temporary while his face/neck is retrained.  We also found that all of his saliva glands were destroyed except for one large one on the far back right side.  Simply put, this is a 'reactive' saliva gland and only works when called upon to produce saliva--as when a person chews.  That means that John will most likely have to chew gum during his waking hours.  At night, he has a throat spray that sits by the bed that he can use to moisten his throat when he wakes up.
  
He started trying to eat a bit this week.  He found that he CAN get food down his throat now.  However, NOTHING tastes right!  His goal this week is to drink one liquid protein drink over the course of a day-whether it tastes good or not.  He is also going to eat a half cup of soup or applesauce or something soft each day.  Everything tastes bitter, or sour, or tinny at this point.  Hopefully, some of his taste buds will regenerate. Meanwhile,  I am still tube feeding him about 2400 calories a day.  He has lost a total of 63 pounds since last Fall at this point-but, as of this last week, he is now holding his own.

He has set a goal to go back to work on May 2nd.  He really doesn't have a choice because of insurance and no more FMLA (family medical leave).  So, ready or not, he will have to go back.  I think, at this point, that he will be able to handle it.  It will tire him out but also be good for him to feel part of real life again.  Being sick and in limbo is no fun at all but I think John has handled it pretty well.  The golf channel has had quite a workout and ROKU has been a life-saver for those long nights when sleep will not come.

We have put off doing things we normally do-inside and out.  However, yesterday was a nice day and for the first time since last Fall John spent a bit of time out on the patio.  He swept the patio off and enjoyed the fresh air.  I decided to brush off the small side porch we have off our dining room.  I am just a LITTLE BIT LATE.  I had an old urn that I placed in the middle of the glass table out there around Thanksgiving time.  I stuck some greenery and berries in there and put some twinkle lights on it in preparation of the Holidays.  Those twinkle lights have acted as a nightlight when we get up in the middle of the night.  Well, we can enjoy them for a few more weeks because a mourning dove has taken up residence in the "tree" and laid three eggs in a nest.  I took the picture through the window (screen) from our kitchen window.  Oh well!  If anyone asks I will tell them we are headed towards Christmas in July! Gotta love how those Mama Birds protect their babies.  She never took her eye off me the whole time I was watching her.

Speaking of BIRDS~The next message here will come from John.  If he is well enough to sweep the patio he is well enough to type! RIGHT????!!!!!  This Mama Bird is pushing the John Bird out of his comfort zone.  

It is time to 

GET WELL, BABY!!!!!  
 
Thank you for reading and visiting and continuing to support us in prayer and well-wishes.  We are blessed---even in spite of cancer---we are blessed.  Have a wonderful Spring weekend and live life to the fullest.  That is what we are trying to do!   Love to all of you- 

A COUPLE OF BRIGHT SPOTS IN THE WEEK!

For those of you that aren't able to access

THE CARING BRIDGE

here is the post from this morning.

Good morning-or afternoon- depending on what part of the country you are in-

 We are at the cancer center for hydration and I have to run a few errands while John is getting his 'fix'.
I am happy to be able to tell you that John was able to get a few ounces of water down his throat.  Swallowing is not an easy task for him but, thank the Lord, he did it!  That is a big step in his recovery process!

The next step is to learn the massage technique necessary to keep the scar tissue from becoming hardened/rigid.  The tissue is severely damaged under the skin (think hamburger-sorry-gross, I know).  The massage will help the tissues regenerate.  He also has to do facial excercises (which he told the oncologist he HAS BEEN doing-but I can tell you fristhand that he lied about THAT)!!!!  
Yesterday was NOT a good day for either of us. John had a day where he just felt completely exhausted-even though he needed to work on taxes. We ran out of John's 'food' so that meant a trip out to find something comparable.  The stuff had been ordered but did not come in when it was supposed to.  PLUS- My ex-sister-in-law's mom died and, as much as I hate doing that sort of thing, I knew I was going to go to support her and her sister and brother(s).  My youngest son, Ryan, went with me and i was so glad that we went. Another dear friend lost her dad this past week, and although I did not make that funeral it weighed heavy on my heart knowing what she and her family were going through.  Anyway, the purpose of telling you this is that when I got home there was a box sitting on the kitchen counter from Farm Girl Flowers.  I had never heard of them and I anxiously opened the package. Inside was THE MOST GORGEOUS bouquet I have EVER received in my life!!!!  The sender wants to remain anonymous so I won't 'out' her here but she knows who she is...and she also knows, via email- that she made my day...or-rather, my week! 

Thank you so much for all the prayers and support.  Thank you, too, for those that have sent cards and notes of encouragement to John.  He keeps hem all bundled up on his desk as a reminder of how much he is loved.
Of course I have to leave you with a smile.
Our little 'joker'  (from the BROWN E scheme-see last post if you missed it) came over last night.

He said .  "I have a 'special picture' just for YOU, Nana."  
It was darling artwork--looked like flowers and leaves to me- frame-worthy.
When he got ready to leave he got as far as the door and ran back and grabbed MY picture.  
"Hey", I told him, "I thought you made that for ME." 
"I did!", he said.  "I didn't say you could KEEP it!"    And off he went! 
 
Sigh- such is life!  Just when you think something is yours someone else grabs it and runs!

An Update on John and I Got Fooled!

For those of you that can't access

The Caring Bridge

here is the post that appears there today.

Good Morning~

Sometimes it seems like it is one step forward and two steps back.  Friday was a good day for John.  He took a ride with our son and came home feeling pretty good. On Saturday he said he did not feel very well and Sunday proved to be a very hard day, emotionally and physically, for John.  

He said he feels helpless and weak at this point.  He is not seeing much improvement and the lack thereof is exacting its toll.  We both thought that by now he would be feeling a lot better.  It is now a full month since his last treatment.  However, not being able to swallow means we still go to the cancer center for hydration three times a week. We are there about three hours and he is able to sleep most of the time.  Just getting a shower and dressing to get there takes a heavy physical toll on him.  He continues to experience severe acid reflux and, while the medicine does help a bit, it is ever present. 
 
As of this morning he has dropped a few more pounds.  We see the radiation oncologist on Wednesday so I am sure John will get a little 'tune up' about taking in more calories then. He does not like ME telling him that he needs to 'eat' more. (I will let the Doctor tell him-it gets ME (The Queen) out of the "you should" position)

Well, I am smiling now.  We are AT the cancer center and the nutritionist just came in (as I was writing this) and gave The King a little 'pep talk' about adding some more calories into his feeding regime.  That takes the proverbial monkey off MY back.  Speaking of MONKEYS!  On April 1st a little monkey called me and said he was bringing me a BROWNIE for dessert.  Now, you all KNOW I love a treat (or two or three).  So, I was looking forward to getting my BROWNIE.  Sadly, as you can see ---it was NOT what I was expecting. It was a BROWN E.... Just so you know---I decided NOT to EAT IT!.  Hmmmm....wonder how much weight that would add to the old boy if I could get it through his feeding tube?  just a thought...

...
Hope you are all having a great Monday.  We are looking forward to each Monday being a better one here.  Diana

THE BIG FAMILY SECRET! We have a NEW BABY!

You know,

We were trying to keep things under wraps

but I need to tell our littlest granddaughter

Little Miss Bright Eyes 

to 

MOVE OVER!

 No use screaming about it!

The NEW BABY has a 

LOT OF BLOND HAIR, too.

See for yourself!

Okay- 

April Fool!  Kinda----

She IS a baby after all, you know!

Her name is SANDY and she is a 9 week old

COCK-A-POO!

I am telling my friend, Sandy, that she is named 

after her--even though that's a lie...lol

hmmm...wonder if that is an honor anyway...

to have a DOG named after you?

Pfffttt...SHE'LL THINK it is!

She belongs to this sweet family.

Not sure where Ria was 

when this picture was taken

but she belongs to all three girls.

 Happy Happy April First!

We made it!

Have a wonderful day...

Now go out and fool someone!!!!

Weekly Update on MyHero--It's getting better folks!!!!

For those of you that don't follow us on

The Caring Bridge

this is what is posted there today.

Good Morning- This is a picture of John with two of his favorite little people in the world, Alana & Julia.  Sister Maria was at a wedding so the girls were here to get dressed for the reception. The lighting was poor so the picture quality is not great but we are so happy that the girls were able to visit and see Papa for a couple of hours.  As you can see, John is much thinner.  He is 60 pounds lighter than he was last Fall. While I would like to lose some weight I DO NOT want to follow his diet plan!  You don't either- trust me!!!!

I, for one, am glad to see this month come to an end.  It has been a long, hard month. There were days when we counted down the hours from rising in the morning until day's end so that sleep could claim us for a few hours of escape. However, as the month has progressed there has been improvement.  It is slow to come and is measured in weeks rather than days at this point. Living with it day by day, it is not easy to see the sometimes minuscule improvements as they happen---but looking back over the week at its end we can see progress.  Slow and sure is the motto that we have adopted.
 
John is 'brighter' than he was at the beginning of March.  He is tracking better and is able to stay awake for longer periods of time.  While still unable to eat, he is beginning to be able to swallow again.  He has tried a few 'tastes' of things but either can't get them down or if he can get a little bit down the taste is 'off'. His pain level remains manageable and he is weaning off the fentanyl patch.  He has not had any morphine in about two weeks.
  
We are looking forward to continuing improvement in the upcoming month of April. He has set a goal to go back to work as a chaplain the first week in May.  We are praying that happens and he is working towards that goal.  He will still be on a feeding tube but will be able to manage that himself at work.

The next journal entry will be from him.  He has improved to the point where he can focus enough to communicate more effectively.  Three weeks ago, he could not concentrate enough to even read properly.  He would doze off, or worse, read without full comprehension of what he was reading.  Today, he is reading his Bible and his inspirational books and watching something besides GOLF on TV.  (I really thank the Lord for THAT- I am ashamed to say that I often hoped the GOLF CHANNEL would be taken off the air-sorry Jerry Price!)

As always, we thank you for your prayers and well-wishes.  This has been quite a journey and we appreciate that you have walked this rocky road with us-helping us over the rickety bridges and road that is filled with unknown obstacles.  With your help, and prayers, we have been able to conquer so many of those challenges.

Love you all- and thanks for sticking with us..and for your continuing prayers. Diana

Update on MyHero and Dr. Bob Wagner & A Prayer Request for Ron Tomes

First of all-

thanks to all of you for all your prayers

and comments about the loss of our friend, Jeff.

John was very comforted by the response.

While there was some sadness this week,

there is also some very good news.

Our friend, Dr. Bob Wagner,

Robert H. Wagner Family Dentistry

came through his surgery with flying colors.

He went home last weekend and is recovering.

I know Bob's recovery is not an easy one

but I also know that Bob 

will tough his way through it

and be completely healed.

For those of you that aren't able to access

The Caring Bridge

here is the update on there about MyHero.

For those that have inquired what his treatments

were like--

this is what a session in the 

radiation room looked like.

(faint of heart need not look at this)

Cancer, at the end of the day,

 is a cold, lonely business.

For head/neck cancer there is 

a mask across your face and chest

that holds you in place for 'zapping'.

Below is my post to 

The Caring Bridge

What a week!  As you can see by the picture this is what March 24th looks like at the playhouse and, at 7pm,  it is still snowing.  It appears we have about 15" of snow out here by the bay.  This is NOT what Spring is supposed to look like-that is what Christmas is supposed to look like.

This has been another hard week for John.  We got the very sad news that one of his best friends had passed away unexpectedly.  He found out on the 8th that he had cancer and, without a whisper of pain, he passed away on the 18th.  While we are grateful he passed peacefully, without pain or complications, we are sad to think that he is gone from this Earth.  His death leaves a hole in John's life that will never be filled.
John continues to not feel well.  He is still fighting nausea and not sleeping well.  He is still unable to swallow so wakes up every hour or so to clear his throat.  We know this is temporary but, even so, it is uncomfortable and hard to deal with on a daily basis.
However, from the outside looking in, I can see improvement.  John's neck is healing nicely and is no longer as angry looking as it was.  It appears his weight has stabilized and his overall color is better.
Our daughter and her sweet friend gifted John with  the little Roku 'appliance' this week.  He now has access to all sorts of free movies and TV shows- old and new.  Unfortunately, thanks to one of the guys I work with, I discovered a series I like so I have been 'stealing' the ROKU remote and, as soon as John 'drops off' watching a show, I change the channel.   shhhhh....Sometimes I manage to switch it back just as he is waking up....I am SNEAKY GOOD like that.
We have HOPE!  HOPE that each day brings a little more improvement--HOPE that there is a full cure in John's future--HOPE that he will be able to return to work in May.  That is the goal he has set for himself.  I do believe that John, being the determined soul he is, will go back to work in May!  Meanwhile, we will just keep plugging along, doing what we have to do, and praying for a fast healing.
Thank you for popping in here.  No need to leave a note if you don't have the time- we understand.

I know it is the 24th of March but 

this is what we woke to this morning.

It has snowed all day and I believe we have

well over a foot of snow.

As I write this, it is still snowing.

AND, finally,

Please pray for our friend of many years,

Ron Tomes/The Caring Bridge.

He is having a stem cell transplant.

His son, Brian, is his donor and,

although not a PERFECT match,

he is well-matched.

It is funny (well not ha-ha funny)

to see Ron bald.  

He has always had a beautiful

head of silvery-white hair.

We are praying for the best for Ron.

This has been a very long process

for him and his family---

and he will have several months of recovery

away from home.

Pray for his wife, Sue, and their family, too please.

If you are not inclined to pray,

please send them all good wishes and 

 healing thoughts.

As for me--well, I am hanging in there.

I will be watching out the window for 

THE EASTER BUNNY

and hope that he brings John a

MAGIC HEALING EGG.

My friend, Margaret told me the other day 

that her mom always said,

"Miracles happen at Easter"

That's what I'm hoping for.

You can have MY share of chocolate

and jelly beans and we'll take the

miracle of  healing.

Hmmm...yes you can have my chocolate and 

my jelly beans

BUT you CAN'T have MY PEEPS!

Unless you care to join me for breakfast.

image

RIP MISTAH. JEFF! We will miss you!

Our friend, Jeff, passed away.

What a blow for MyHero

as he is recovering.

When MyHero and I were dating

he had two best friends.

One was his roommate, Greg.

His other best friend was Jeff.

Jeff and John went through lots of ups and downs

in their early adulthood.

They commiserated with each other

during those hard times

and, in so doing, became

BEST FRIENDS.

When we got married we moved to

Wisconsin, MyHero's home state.

Jeff, being a Southern boy, stayed

DOWN SAWTH!

We saw him sporadically over the years,

when we traveled back to the south,

or when he came to visit us.

We visited them at their beautiful estate here.

Not sure WHY these two boys are so serious-

they were usually yukking it up about something.

We were delighted when he met and married, Miz' Barb,

(this picture does not do her justice-

she is just a beautiful OUTSIDE as she is INSIDE).

She's a wonderful woman who made a better man

out of an already good guy.

John called Jeff a couple of months ago

to tell him he had cancer.

When they hung up, John told Jeff he loved him.

That would be the first and last time

that he ever said that to him.

On about the 8th of March,

Jeff was not feeling well and went to the ER.

Long story short-

Jeff was full of cancer-

too late to do anything about it.

Ten days later, on March 18th,

he passed away.

No pain-No meds-Talking right up to to end-

He just stretched out in bed and went to sleep.

Miz' Barb is heartbroken.

They were connected and always together.

We so wish we could be there with her 

to offer support and love.

We will visit her later this summer

when MyHero has recovered

and see the spot where Jeff is buried.

It is hard to believe he is gone.

He was one of those funny guys with a dry sense of humor

that enjoyed a good joke.

Being a 70s sort of guy,

he used to refer to people as 

TURKEYS...

as in--

"That guy's a real turkey" 

OR

'That TURKEY doesn't know WHAT he's doin'".

That made it especially funny when he 

bought a mountaintop retreat-

AND

when we went there we found him...

you guessed it...

he was feeding REAL turkeys.

Rest In Peace, Jeff.

We will miss you, old buddy!

See you on the other side.

Hope they have some turkeys over there for you!

Edited to add:
Just remembered- we have another
TURKEY CONNECTION
with Jeff.
I sent them my 
TURKEY OIL PAINTING
after they were here and admired it.
(proving that God has a sense of humor
in providing me with a turkey painting to give him)

I will have an update on Friday
about MyHero and 
Bob Wagner, our dentist.
Thank you for your continuing prayers.

UPDATES-UPDATES-UPDATES & Belated Happy St. Patrick's Day Pictures

Let me start on a happy note!

I am pretty much home-bound

when we are not at the cancer center.

John really can't stay alone at this point.

That has given me time to do some sorting projects

and also do some SEWING!  Yay!

Having Irish in my DNA means

that I believe in Leprechauns and all the 

hoopla that goes with St. Paddy's Day.

I don't want my kiddo's to get 

PINCHED FOR NOT WEARING GREEN

on St. Patrick's Day.

You DO KNOW about that tradition, don't you?

So--

I made Big Boy E, CharlesInCharge, CJK,

(and CJK's friend, BOB) vests and ties.

I made sweet little BRIGHT EYES a dress

with matching pantaloons and a dress for her baby doll.

Poor BigBoyE had an earache so didn't have much fun at all.

This was a fun project and I made everything in a day's time.

Those represent some of the joys in life

(except for little E's earache).

There are also some not so good times.

A couple of times I asked for prayer for my friend, Laura,

HERE as she fought an aggressive form of cancer.

Earlier this week, 

Laura crossed The Great Divide.

I choose to believe she is in Heaven 

with those that have passed before her.

She was in SO MUCH PAIN and was SO SICK

that I think it is a blessing that God took her home.

Her hubby is going to be lost without her.

He was her primary caretaker and she was his life.

Please pray for him and their adult children.

I am waiting for a full update on Dr. Bob Wagner

but my understanding is that he came through surgery just fine.

I can give you more information after I talk to his wife.

There is an update today on

The Caring Bridge about John.

For those that don't visit there here is a copy

of that update.

Well, I wish I could tell you that John is doing really well and

 that he is recovering quickly----but that wouldn't be the truth.

The truth is that the recovery is as bad as the treatment-

maybe worse in a way.  Once treatment is finished you kind 

of feel like you have crossed that rickety bridge and should 

be  'home free'.  The reality is that you are a long way from 

home and the road to get there is full of potholes and hidden

 dangers.

This morning while I was packing our stuff up to spend a

 couple of hours at the cancer center for hydration, John

 passed out.  He 'thinks' he passed out three times in the

 bathroom.  He remembers sinking slowly and I am not sure

 if he hit his head on the wall or the counter but he has a

 large patch of missing skin on his head. 

I walked into the bedroom to remind him that we needed to

 go to find him sitting on the bed with a bloodied head and

 shaky. I am good in situations like this but it took me by total

 surprise.  When I told my son, Ryan, (he of the wacky humor) he said,

 "I hope you yelled at him and told him to clean up the blood off the wall."  

As you can see, I get a lot of sympathetic support from him.

 While John does not need stitches the wound is more than a surface scratch and, when we got to the cancer center, they bandaged it so that it does not get infected.They ran some blood work, while we waited for the hydration to be finished; to make sure his numbers are okay.  Everything is within 'normal range' for someone with cancer so is able to be at home.They assured me this is quite common with patients and that we should not be overly concerned.  

That, at least, is reassuring. 

We are looking forward to continued improvement by the end of next week.  These last two weeks have been hard; hard to endure and hard to watch.  I don't like that feeling of being 'helpless' to do anything to improve things for John but that is what it is and I just do the best I can at any given moment---even if it means biting my tongue sometimes...and y'all know how good I am at THAT! (not)...lol

On a bright note- In the picture above you will see that I made vests for three of my little grandsons, Ethan, Charlie & Carlisle  and a dress for Anna Ireland.  I made a matching dress for Anna's doll and a matching vest for Carlisle's 'little buddy', BOB!  Poor Ethan had an earache and didn't enjoy the day - but you can see in the collage that the other kids all wore their outfits for the day. Noone is gonna pinch my little Irishkins on my watch!

Have a great weekend and watch for Leprechauns.  They don't really leave after St. Patrick's Day, you know.  They are in our house year round. We are hunkered in to watch some movies and mindless TV. ONE of us might doze off a bit here and there (and it is not me).  

 I want to thank you for all your prayers 

and the kindness you have shown us.

Many of you have sent cards and letters

and I apologize for not always sending you a personal

Thank You!

Just know that we read them all and John has them

by his chair and goes through them every few days.

He is still in disbelief that 

"that Nana Blog thing" 

would create friendships where people 

REALLY CARE 

about someone they have never met.

I just kind of throw his preacher stuff back at him...

Oh, Ye of little faith.

Cuz that's just the way I am!!

Have a wonderful, blessed weekend!