lilystemp

Good morning or I guess I should say afternoon to most of you. It is still morning here for another 45 minutes. Not too hot here yet and a nice breeze is blowing the branches of the trees outside my window. I haven't been out yet today. I too am taking it kind of slow just because I can today. Exercised early and read a little in my Bible. My house cleaning today consisted of cleaning out the drawer where I keep my few hand tools and extra screws etc. Now chicken gumbo and potato salad are in the works. Nothing to do today but my dishes then Bible study for an hour. I started reading again yesterday for the first time in several months. Actually I am reading two stories one is a paper back that I started. I want to try and read the ones I haven't read then we can sell them at the sale we have in August. The other is on my Kindle. I like that for reading in bed before I fall asleep because I have a little light for it. My daughter and her husband and kids gave it to me for Christmas and I love it. They know that I read a lot and every year I have to fight to have room for books to read on the train when I go visit them in Louisiana. I love having so many books to choose from in one small spot and I can also have my Bible with me all of the time so I don't stop reading my chapter or two a day. This year should be intersting to because I will have my lap top. I love to write about my trip but I have taken so many and am gone for so long that even with my good memory I tend to forget things. Now I can write them as I see them. Janet have a gread day at the beach. I never really liked the beach until I spent time at Fort Pickens in Pensecola. I love that place but it has been 11 years sense I have been there. There is a large mountain range between me and the beach here. That is about a 2 hour drive. I would love to go but not sure if I can trust my car or myself to go that far It is a shame because I was born and raised here in California and have never seen the beaches or coastline north of San Francisco. Well my gumbo is nearly done and my potatoes are waiting to be made into a salad. Time for me to get busy. Have a great day everyone.

Ladies I love your stories, especially those about animals. Last month I decided to write a little story for my great grandchildren, if it turned out good I planned on making a little book for each of them and make an attempt at illustrating it. As it turned out everyone who has read it really loves it so my great grandchildren will have a Christmas gift that no one else has. It started with the crow of the quail rooster. I have had quail to listen to ever sense I moved from Washington with the exception of the few months that I lived down in Escondido. That is special to me because Johnny loved their crow and I associalte it with a sign from him. Anyway the story is about the quail and a duck I saw come across the road with her newly hatched ducklings. The quail mama is kind of a busy body and gossip and the duck is a little bit dingy. Add to that some of the animals who have disappeared in the past few years, the hawks that are always around and the sprinklers that make it "rain from the ground" and I had the basis for my story. Janet I do keep busy but a lot of what I do is not always on the move. I can't do one tenth of what I could when I retired just 5 short years ago. I really admire all of you ladies who accomplish so much and fight the beast at the same time. I don't know how you do it. I am sure that I would be a basket case. Oh by the way 75 degees to me is far from cold, it is perfect! We had temps in the 70s this morning so sat outside with our sewing. Now it is in the high 80s. I love being able to turn the air off and have my windows open day and night with just a fan on. I do have to brag on my favorite Giants. They just swept the Dodgers in a 3 game series for the first time in 122 years of rivalry. Not only swept them but kept them from scoring in all 3 games. I so enjoyed watching that and the perfect game they played 2 weeks ago. They are making history right now and I am watching Oh well I hope you are all having a great day. I think I will go sit outside and read for a while. Got to take advantage of the great weather before someone remembers and turns the heat back on

Good morning everyone. It is nice to see so many posts this morning. I know there will be days when people are just too busy or just plain don't feel like posting. I hope those days will be fewer than they have been lately. For those who can't post I really do understand. I was just swamped with so much to do for a couple of months and am just now starting to enjoy some days of doing nothing but what I want. I watched my mom work at the canery and raise us 5 kids pretty much on her own and put up with my dad when he was on a binge witch was pretty often. Many times during the season she would work 10 or 12 hours a day 7 days a week then do house work sometimes at midnight. She never had it easy and we never went with dirty clothes or a dirty house. Often we did without not only what we wanted but what we needed. She always sacraficed her needs for ours. I guess that is why I not only stayed in my marriage for so long but also always felt that I needed to be busy. It was Johnny and his illness that reminded me that there is more to life than work. I wish I would have learned that and spent more time being with him instead of just taking care of him. Heaven only knows how much different his last months and our time together would have been. Our weather here is beautiful. Temperatures have been in the 70s and 80s all week. I love haaving my windows open and letting the fresh air in. Yesterday I went down for our fitness class and almost had to leave. Someone was cold so they had turned the heater on. It was in the 70s outside and warmer than that inside. I exercise in my apartment everyday but I have a fan on and the windows open or the air on. My allergies are so bad that I can not stand stagnet air or hot indoor air. We are supposed to get up into the 90s this week. Even that is a treat this time of year when we are used to 100 or 110 and above. Best part of our weather is that their is seldom any humidity. Susan I will keep praying that your scan will show good news. You are all constantly in my prayers. Have a great day and for those of you on facebook who prayed for my nephew I thank you. It looks like he is going to survive without too many long term problems. He is my ex husbands nephew but he was mine too from the time he was born. I still keep in contact and often feel closer to his family sense our divorce and his death. Hard to change 41 years of being family. Well here I am too long winded (or in this case fingered) again. Exercise time then our sewing group and after that my favorite pass time lately, watching our Giants play baseball. Great day everyone

That was supposed to say cooler than normal, actually don't feel like we are in a cooker now.

I just about gave up on coming here. Most of the time the only ones who have posted are the spamers. I know it is hard sense we lost Judy but I know there are many of us who just want to keep in touch. So please in honor of Judy and Ned and Annette and so many more who used to come here to say hi let's keep the windows open and the fresh air flowing. I have been pretty busy but finally got caught up a little so I will stop by each day just to check in unless something stops me. I have a new computer now so I am hoping my problems with posting are over. Enjoying our cooker than normal summer so far. Still keeping up with my exercises everyday. Sometimes that is not so easy but I know it is good for me even if the weight won't come off. Problem with exercise is it increases the appitite Enjoy your day everyone and please stay safe from the bad weather and fires that is out there.

Dropped in to say hi and see that no one has posted for a few days. I hope all is well with all of you. I just got a new computer so hope to check in more often once I get caught up on some things. Temperatures around 100 degrees and very windy today. Red Flag warnings out for high fire danger. I was supposed to go to the fair tonight but sore neck led to headache and queasy stomache. Add the heat and I will be better off at home.not sure how but I keep hitting something that makes my font smaller and smaller.

People don't say those things to be cruel or uncaring. They say them out of stupidity because they have never lost a loved one to the grave or if they have they have never gathered the courage and strength to face it and grieve. I know that may sound wrong but all of us here know that it takes courage and strength to face to death of a loved one and really grieve. It has been almost 10 years sense I lost my Johnny. Everyday I still grieve for him. Do I sit and cry or say how can I go on? No but I grieve nonetheless. I haven't moved on with my life. Instead I built a new life for myself with the help of some pretty special people that encludes all of you here. My grief has made me a stronger better person. I have more compassion and slowly, very slowly at times I am learning patience. Grief is a part of my life. It is a part of me. I know that I can't go back but I also know that going forward to me does not mean finding someone else or being the life of the party. It just means being me. The me who loved two men but was in love with one and only had a very short time with him in the 50 plus years that he has been a part of me. The other I married and I loved him too. Not the kind of love that I had for Johnny. That all consuming love that comes to two people who complete one another totaly. Still it was love. I lost them both and my love and grief for them hurts but at the same time it is what keeps me going and what I believe has made me a better person. So when someone tells me that I need to move ahead and forget, I just tell them that I have moved on but moving on to me is maintaining the love that I have had and not trying to replace it and I sure as H*** don't want anyone telling me that I should. There is an old country song about a man who has an argument with his wife. He goes to a bar to cool off and sits there feeling sorry for himself. He meets and old man there who tells him that no matter how bad things get that you don't know about heartache or how long a night can be until it is "Written in Stone". I think that says it all. Take care Barb and remember it is your life and you have a right to live it and grieve however you need to. You have earned that right the hard way.

know what I wanted to say to you Diane on the post I wrote for today. Sense I am here again I will put it here. Many of my neighbors are in their late 80s. You would be surprised at how some of them eat and how most of them get around. My old father in law in Louisiana turned 90 in march and he still gets around really well. Cuts his 7 acres with the tractor several times each summer. One lady here where I live will be 93 next week. She uses a walker or a cane all of the time but she still gets around great and for the most part looks much younger than she is. She takes her little dog for a walk almost everyday. That is she walks and the dog rides on the seat of the walker lol

Didn't proof read. It is supposed to be in the 70s tomorrow not 80s.

Hello everyone! I finally found a way to log on with my computer. I hope now I will be able to get on here with my cell phone too. I have to admit it is really hard coming here sense Judy is gone but I do check in to read. I just wasn't able to post before now. I have missed you all and keep you in my prayers everyday. Weather here has been good for the most part. Up until this past week our temperatures have been in the high 70s and low 80s and of coarse very low humidity. On Thursday it got up to 103 and then 102 on Friday but temperature dropped down into the 90s and tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 80s with a chance of rain. I won't complain. I never miss the humidity I had to live with in Louisiana and I can get by without the hundred teens we often have here in the summer time. I have been very busy. A lot going on here. I started this party about a walk down memory lane and have been devoting a lot of time to it. The party will only last a couple of hours so I hope everyone enjoys it. If not I have enjoyed doing the research even if I have had to fight this computer all the way I have kept up a steady exercise routine. I wish I could say that the weight is melting off but I have lost only a couple of pounds and maybe an inch or two here and there. The problem is all of that exercise makes me hungry and everything tastes so good. I was kind of low this morning, thinking of so many in my life who have passed in the years past and recently. Still stunned by the death of my niece in November and her mom earlier last year. Then everyday I think of my Johnny and miss him and this morning I was thinking about my ex too. A couple of weeks ago we had the memorial for Jacci and that turned out to be the same day that Judy passed and my grandson's girlfriends dad passed the same day. It just can overwhelm me at times. Anyway this morning when I was already low I got a message from someone on my high school facebook site. A girl that was my neighbor for several years and who I worked with at the theater passed away this past week. She is one of the main people that I was so excited about seeing at our reunion. I am still looking forward to going but some of the edge of my excitement has been taken away. I guess when you don't see someone for over 50 years that is something to expect but it doesn't get any easier. On the brighter side I did something last week that I never thought I could do. I have been told by many people that I should write something, a children's story for instance. Well looking out my window at the quail and other birds and some of the wildlife that come and go this close to the city of Redding got me to thinking and the first thing you know I wrote a story about the animals. Once I got started I couldn't stop. The words just kept tumbling in my head. Actually it came out pretty good. Everyone who has read it thinks so too so I guess I am not just tooting my own horn. It is so hard to get a gift for my great grandchildren because they have everything and I am low income. This is something that I can give them that no one else has. I am happy about that. Well it is getting late and tomorrow will be a very long day. After my exercise in the morning I will spend the day with a couple of other people putting up our things on the big cork wall in the recreation hall. After that I have to go to a couple of stores and see about getting a wall mount and a lock for the tv we had given to us. The last one we had was stolen and we don't want to take a chance on loosing this one too. Oh well I came here to drop a quick note but I just always seem to find more to say. Judy I am glad to see you posting. I really want to know how you are doing all of the time as well as everyone else. Diane there was something that you wrote yesterday that I wanted to respond to but it has slipped right out of my head. Anyway all of you stay safe and healthy. I will be back around when things slow down a little.

I feel the sadness here and it has also been a rough few days for me as well. I miss Judy everyday and it is hard to come here and know that she will not be here again. Other things too have not been the best. I just got back yesterday from a trip to the bay area where we held the memorial for my niece Jacci who passed away on November 30th. It was really hard. Her mom was only 14 when she was born and they lived with us for a good while. I was 10 so my mom pretty much raised all three of us together. Her son in law made a dvd of old pictures put to music and when the ones came up with my mom holding her and her mom holding her it was rough. The one that I didn't expect was one of her and I with my Johnny when they came to visit us in Washington just a few short weeks before I lost him. When she was little she always said that she would marry him when she grew up. Over 40 years later he still thought of her as a little girl. We talked about that Thanksgiving night, the last time that I was with Jacci. The morning before the memorial my grandson's girl friend lost her dad to throat cancer and liver failure, then when I checked facebook that evening I read about Judy. Such sad days. But to keep up Judy's air I will say it was pleasant here today not too hot or cool with a few clouds and some thunder in the distance. The heat will start again tomorrow. As always the weather in the bay area was perfect. So my computer is really acting up. I hope it will post this. Trying to save a lot of pictures and some things that I have written then will try to run a recovery program. Until then I won't be posting much. When I signed on with my new user name I had a new password and can't remember it for the life of me. When I sign on from here it just comes up automatically when I enter my user name but doesn't show what it is so I can't log in from my phone. Maybe I will find it stored somewhere then I can use it. I hope all of you are doing well. My prayers are always with you. Judy please keep ups updated on your treatments and how you are doing. take care all. Lillian

lets see if this works before I take the time to write another post.

Busy day here and hope everyone is out enjoying a touch of spring. Praying still for Judy and all of you who have problems. Not sure if you bunch of assinine hackers read anything here or not. I just really hope that if you or your family are every touched by lung cancer that people show more respect for you and consider your feelings. It is pretty obvious that you not only don't respect anyone else but you couldn't possibly respect yourselves if you will hack in to a site like this to post your garbage!!!! Just had to get that off of my chest. I can't believe how cruel and stupid some people can be.

Hi Diane I was coming to post sense no one had. You beat me to it. It is hard to come to the air everyday and not see Judy and Annette and Ned and so many that for one reason or another just dropped out of here. Weather here is just beautiful. A little windy but that is alright. I love the temperatures and the sunshine. I do envy you having a garden but not sure I could handle one as good as I used to. Too many aches and pains. Glad to see that you are able to have one and enjoy the fresh produce. There is nothing like fresh picked anything. My granddaughter and my grandson both have Morky's. They are half Maltese and half Yorky. They don't shed. Lera got hers first and got him because her brother has asthama. He is married now and a few months ago he and his wife got one too. They are adorable little dogs and very smart. If you notice once in a while I post a picture of one or the other on facebook. Not much else to say finished my laundry and will go set up for Pokeno in a little while. I always seem to bite of more to do. Oh well if it keeps us all moving I guess it is worth the extra work. Have a neighbor that just found out a few days ago that she has stage 3 breast cancer. Her name is Patsy and she is terrified. How I hate the beast. Keeping everyone in my prayers.

Wouldn't you know the minute I hit the key to post the name of that town came to me. Mama was raised on a farm in the little community of Bismark Arkansas.

Good morning and I am so happy to hear an update on Judy. Judy you are in my prayers and thoughts always. Maybe you will be able to post once in a while. Just know that we love and miss you. Diane I am loving this beautiful weater. This really is the best time because it is still not real hot here (100s to 100 teens) that we get later in the summer. Everything is still green and beautiful. The California poppies are blooming and the small thornless yellow roses are everywhere. Soon I will go out to city hall. Usually about the first week of May the roses are all in bloom and it is a spectacular sight. Funny the conversation about salad and ice cream. We had our ice cream social yesterday evening so I had salad for my supper and ice cream for dessert. That is one of the advantages of living alone. No one can tell me that I am not supposed to eat just salad and ice cream Diane I seem to remember us discussing getting together last fall when you came this way. Not sure if you were coming after I left or on the Thanksgiving when I was going to my nieces. I also had to change my username and password right about that time because I could't log in with the old one anymore. So as far as I know I will only be gone a couple of days in early May for my nieces memorial in the bay area and then in October I plan on spending a week there to visit with family and friends and attend my 50th high school reunion. I will probably leave on my anual trip to Louisiana late November depending on the fare because it changes and I chose the time that it doesn't cost so much. Anyway I hope that we can make a time to meet for coffee or lunch next time you are this way. Dawn where do you live in Arkansas? I have family in El Darado and Jefferson, and Malvern and Little Rock. I am sure there is some in other places too but those are the ones that I know about. I used to have an aunt in Pine Bluff. My mom was born in Mississippi but raised in a small community in Hot Springs county but for the life of me I can't remember the name of that place right now. Well exercise done and ready for lunch then the Giants baseball game. Later I will talk to my son and I hope my best friend from school. Sunday is always a very busy day between phone calls and time with my Bible and now I do my exercises too. Have a great one everyone and know that you are all in my prayers.

Good morning Judy at least it is still morning here for a while longer. It is so good to see you post and know that you have times to feel like getting things done. You amaze me. Judy is on my mind too as I am sure she is on everyone who is missing her here. I hope we hear some news soon and hope and pray that it is good news. If you read this Judy we love and miss you. Putting pictures in albums and looking at old pictures while listening to old country music from the 50s and 60s makes for a very emotional me. Memories can be so bitter sweet but I think God every day that I have so many great ones. Weater here is beautiful and was great for the parade of old cars last night. Our recreation room is closed while water damage from apartment above dries out. We could use it but the noise and heat from the fans in there make it nearly unbearable. So beautiful weather calls for an out side ice cream social this evening. It is time we start sitting out again and I hope we can get a game of latter ball going. Have a great day all.

Weather was wonderful for the parade in fact it was around 90 and I got a little too much sun on my neck even after putting on sun block. I love those old cars and even wth the price of gas there are a lot of them in town. Not as many as some years but I take what I can get. Yes Logans is still there. I go to the mall because it is right up the road on Canby and I live on Canby. It is easy in and easy out. Amazes me this small town how different it is from other areas. Such a family atmosphere. You put your chairs out early in the day or even the day before and no one bothers it and your place is saved. Some day when you come this way to see your son we will have to get together for coffee. I have so many wonderful friends on this board and have yet to meet one of you face to face. What a great thing that would be. Take care. Time for me to play a little on the games before bed time.

I should always proof read before I hit enter. My mind was on Judy. Janet I am sure that you can tell it was you I was writing to about being alone for a while. Got to run and someday I will learn to read first then enter

Good morning. Dawn it is so nice to see you back here. I have been wondering how you are. I think about you and some others here too when the weather gets bad back your way. I have a lot of family in Arkansas too. Hope you stay on here it is always nice to see some familiar faces and names. Judy I understand how you feel about having your house to yourself. I never lived alone until I was 58 years old when my Johnny died. Before that it was my parents then straight to my marriage and then family then with Johnny. Now I am so used to being alone that I don't think I could live with anyone full time/ I am very jealous of my alone time. I like to do things around here for and with my neighbors but there are times I just want to be alone and enjoy all of the things that you can only enjoy if not distraced by someone else. As for the crochet I always have trouble catching up. I do so many different kinds of sewing crafts and always bite off way too much. Right now I am trying to finish quilting a quilt that I started years ago. There are so many pieces that I have to quilt around each and my arm starts bothering me and I have to put it away for a whild but this time I am almost done so keeping my fingers crossed. I am also starting a quilt for my youngest great grandson and right behind him comes one for McKenna and my oldest granddaughter is having another so that one is waiting in the wings also. So some of my other things have to take the back burner once in a while. It is a beautiful day here and one of my favorite days of the year. Each year here in Redding for one week we have a thing called Kool April Nights. It is billed as hot cars and kool April nights. Some where between 1500 and 3000 classic cars come to town. The have show and shines all over and at the convention center they have old music and bbq. I never go there but my favorite thing is tonight when those old cars parade for a couple of hours. I take my chair up the road about 3/4 of a mile to the mall and with thousands of others enjoy some vintage cars that you just don't see that often even here where old cars are not uncommon. I am praying that no news of JudyKW is good news. Will continue to keep her and all of you in my prayers. Take care and have a great day. Lillian

Thank you so much Shirley for posting this. I came here for news of Judy and this is the first thing I see. Judy I can only say that you are an inspiration to all of us. I was sitting here wondering if I could do my exercises this morning because of my little pains then I see this. If you can fight on and have this attitude who am I to give up on something so simple because of a few pains. Take care my friend and I pray that you will have many of those good days still. We all know the power of prayer and you my friend have so many prayers going out for you. A miracle is measured by the good it does. You have been given a miracle and only God knows how long it will last but as we pray for it to continue we can also add a prayer of thanks for that miracle. Love you and God Bless you. Lillian

Just stopped in to check on everyone and say hi. I was looking for news on Judy KW but will take it to heart that no news is good news. Many prayers for her right now and all of you who are having issues. Nice to see so many we haven't heard from in a while. I hope it does not take someone else in crisis to see you here again. Once you are a part of this "family" you are never forgotten. Janet nice to see you got your car. I love to see dreams come true. Take that Lung Cancer I bet it is really ticked about that one. Well a bad case of sciatica and a sore neck are proof that I have been spending too much time at my computer. I have a lot of things to work on too so may not take time to post each day but do always read. Again saying many prayers for Judy and all of you who are having issues right now.

Good morning Judy and Katie. Judy I joined LCSC nearly 9 years ago. At the time I was so angry and so lost and just wanted a place to come and let off steam and my pain. For the most part I stayed with the grieving forum until I slowly started to "meet" others and then after a while with the help of so many good people I settled down and made a life for myself. It wasn't easy and some days it still isn't but this "family" is the one I know I can turn to when I need support. Over the years I have gotten to know some wonderful people. People who have not only become friends but an inspiration to me and so many others. Like you when I go back and look my heart aches for our losses. I try to come everyday at least once and read. I don't always post because I feel like I always have the same thing to say and I am not a person of few words as you all know. I really appreciate you letting us know about Judy. She is just one of the people on my list of prayers lately. I have a neighbor that I am just getting to know who has been very sick. She has fluids around her heart and a blood clot in her lung. They fount that out when she went to the ER Froday. While running tests they also found a lump in her breast so she is having surgery either today or tomorrow. My cousin in Bakersfield that I visit each year is having some major issues. Her husband told me when I was there earlier this year that he is very worried about her. She lost a son suddenly a few years ago then not long after her sister passed then this year her grandson't wife died suddenly. It has all left Millie in a very bad state of depression. As you know we all grieve differently. She has gone to a meeting off and on with others who are grieving sense her son died but one thing after another has left her deeper in depression. Now she has had her daughter tell her that she doesn't want to be around her anymore because she is not the same person. It breaks my heart for her. I know what grief is and I know that it changes us and in time it changes us for the better but not when the people we love don't give us the understanding that we need,. Anyway I have a lot of people I care about in a bad way right now. I keep hoping that some who are missing from here will come and post. We just seem to have lost so many this past year that a light has gone out of the air and I want the clouds to clear and the air to flow free and easy again. I do have to run now. Busy day ahead. Take care all and please those who pop in to read stop long enough to say hello once in a while. We really do need some fresh air around here.

Thanks Judy. I came on today to check and see if there is any news. Many prayers for her to get through this and back to us. Take care of you too because I know it has been a rough ride for you lately too. So many people right now that I know need prayers.

Good morning. I decided to jump in here and open the air. We are getting so many days of rain and can't get out that I am looking for a breath of air. Keep a window open most of the time but am hoping the air here is better and happier today. I say happier because of Andrea losing her mom and I am still very concerned about Judy KW. Has anyone heard from her? Sad news here about a one year old baby boy. He was reported missing yesterday morning by the mother. Last night they found his body and have charged the mom's boy friend with murder. Crazy wiorld. Still working on projects and doing a lot for of things to keep things moving and get people out of their apartments during this crazy time of weather. Keeping up my exercise but have not done much walking. I did take some time off and just played the slots on facebook but it is time to get busy with some other things now. Judy MI good to see you post and hope the different chemo works against the cancer and lets you have good days after it. Diane I know that you are worried too. I hope all works out well. Still haven't seen anything about Sara or a couple of others in a long time. There was one woman who posted last year from somewhere around New Orleans, her name was Kimmie. I never saw anything from her again. Has anyone read about her or from her sense then? Well I had better run or I will not do the exercises that I need to do here before fitness. I do more and it is more intense than at fitness. To a lot of people it would seem mild but for me it is a good workout. Most people in our class just don't stay with it enough for it to get intense. I haven't lost more than a few pounds but my pants keep trying to fall down and I have to pull them up. I guess that is a good sign that it is working. I need to get to the sewing machine and start taking some tucks. Have a great day!