lilystemp

Just a word to say good morning. Judy I read your post yesterday and responded but my response seems to have gone away with yesterdays spam. I see that they are already at it again this morning. Got to be some sicko to come to a place like this with their garbage. Anyway I do read everyday but I have been keeping pretty busy. Still keeping up with the exercise and trying to go for a walk when the weather permits. Hope and pray that you all are well each day. I miss both of you Judys when you are missing. My heart is heavy for Andrea this morning. I can remember so well how empty you feel when you lose someone but at the same time with the disbelief is that feeling of being eaten from the inside out. Take care and I will be around just a little busy right now.

I came here expecting several days of posts only to find that no one has posted sense Thursday. I hope that means that everyone is out enjoying spring in what ever is your favorite way. Both Judy's still praying for you and hope that all is going better for both of you. Take care and post when you are able. Lillian

I am just stopping by to say hi. My days are so full right now that I don't post much. I spend time with my family on facebook but other than that I just come to read. Even though I don't post I want both Judy's to know that my heart is heavy with your news and my prayer are many and strong. You are never far from my thoughts. Bud sorry about the fishing. My son spent the week last week at Toledo Bend and didn't get to fish until Thursday. He said the water rose in the lake 4 feet from the rain while they were there. On a light note he did say the bass were biting and they caught quite a few when they finally got to go out. Also they got 4 pigs in their trap at their hunting camp in Norhtern La. Well got to run and find something to eat. Keeping positive thoughts and prayers for all.

Hi Judy and Ginny. Judy I don't always post but I try to follow all of you on here each day. Even if you don't see me I am here cheering you on as you say everyday. Also Judy KW and so many others, some who post now and then and some that I keep wondering where they are and how they are doing. My days just fly by so fast that I am always at a loss for time to do the things that I have planned. I have been sticking to my exercise program and feel that has helped me to get stronger and I have even lost a few,very few, pounds so far. By the time I do at least 45 minutes of exercise and then walk for a half hour or so most of the morning is gone. I am still envolved in a lot of things here where I live. I don't quite know how but I seem to aquire new jobs and responsibilites all the time. I started out volunteering for everything then backed off. Now I seem to get volunteered and have those jobs added before I know what happened. I am now the President of our resident council then the treasurer moved so I have the safe to take care of. That comes in handy sense I do the shopping for supplies for our recreation room and for any special occasion. Not to mention cooking and overseeing most activities. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing those things but added to my exercise they seem to have taken over all of my time. My sewing and the writing I have been trying to do have suffered dearly. Our weather here is backwards to all of yours. We had Spring the whole month of February while I was sick and then the first two weeks of March. Now we are getting our rain and cold just when I am getting the itch to go for a long walk outside instead of doing the stairs inside. We had a good St.Patricks Day. I had some games lined up and after the games we had a pot luck. That is the first time I have gotten an activity to last more than an hour and a half. I did that by withholding food until after game time. We had a few straglers, the ones that never bring anything and always come and load up on food and leave. Myself and another lady let them know that we are not in the business of feeding everyone but providing activities for all.. Those same people never bring a dish and you only see them when there is free food. They load up on the leftovers and you don't see them again until the next time. I have found a way to overcome that I think. Will let you know if it works next time. Sunday I spent the day cooking and talking to my kids. I had a lot of chicken in my freezer and decided to cook it all before it got old and freezer burned. I pot fried some in onions and garlic and ate some of it over rice. The rest I boiled and took off the bone. I made chicken salad with part of it and put the rest in the freezer. I ended up wtih a nice size bowl of chicken stock after I cooked the bones and some veggies down I can use some of that to make a chicken pot pie latter. The left over from my lunch I cut up and mixed the onions and garlic and just a little rice with. I then added some cumin and chili powder and yesterday I spread it on tortillas and sprinkled some weight watchers cheese on it and took it to share with a couple of friends for lunch along wtth the chicken salad, Weight Watchers recipe. It was really good like that. We sat and talked for a long time. Karleen is younger than me and Mary and we started talking about how things were when we were young and how different they are today. I ended up sharing some stories about my parents and brothers and so did Mary It got very emotional. When I came home I decided it is time that I write about those things so my kids and grandchildren will some day have a picture of family that they never got a chance to know. I just want to write about all of those little things that pop into my head. It makes people more real, I only wish I could have something like that to read about some of my ancestors or even some about my parents. I ended up posting some old pictures on my ancestry site then added the updates that I had been putting off. I had to put the deaths of both my sister in law Sherrell who died last January and her daughter my niece Jackie who passed this past November. That was very hard and then I added the good part. I put our newest family member little McKenna on there. So my day turned out different than I thought and when I added some old country music to the background I had a lot of good memories but boy did the tears flow for a big part of the day. So here I am writing a book again. Sorry to take up so much of your time but looks like th air has been slow for a while. Please take care everyone and know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers.

i just wanted to stop in and wish both Judys and Janet good look with your up coming events, treatments and scans. Hope you are feeling better soon Judy KW and that you are wrong about the fluids. Judy MI I sure hope the chemo went well and you are out enjoying your nice weather. Janet maybe your sluggishness has been subconcious thinking about those scans and worrying. I hate that they make you wait so long. You know that they have the results much sooner. I bet they would have a fit if they had to stay on pins and needles waiting. Bud great pictures of your daughter's wedding. Sounds like it was very nice. Glad that you are getting in some riding. Good luck on the job hunting. I have been exercising and walking every morning. That pretty much burns my day. I am a morning person and not good at starting things after lunch. I tend to get lazy and want to read or work on my crochet or something. Many things still waiting. There was a time that I would not stop until everything I had planned was done. I never rested. Johnny told me that I needed to learn to relax and take care of myself because I had always taken care of someone else. It took his death and a lot of work mentally, emotionally and spiritually for me to realize that I am important and if I don't take care of me no one will. So now I still like to help out but I do get what my mom would can heart dropsy. My but drops and I don't have the heart to get up. Eric all I can say is you wear me out just reading all that you do. Can you bottle some of that energy and send it our way? Well it is late afternoon and exercise Laundry and shopping have taken most of my day. Time to sit and be lazy for a while. I don't think I will have a problem with that. lol

Hello ladies. Judy MI you are very blessed but you are recieving back some of what you have given. I am glad the help is there but hope you don't need it often. I was the caregiver and there were times when I would have needed someone to offer any one of those things. It could have made a big difference. Judy KW if I lived close I would be there when you needed someone. I may not be able to do as much as I used to but I would sure try. Judy I love your story about the rooster. When I was little we lived on a dairy and the owner was a big Swede named Mike. There was a rooster that just hated him. Whenever Mike would dare get into his territory that rooster would chase him up the haystack. Later I had a rooster that I raised from a chick. I could pick him up and hug him and he was so gentle, at least until one day my oldest son sat on the fence and kicked at him each time he got close. One day I was picking up eggs and had my youngest son with me. That rooster ran up and spurred him in the leg. It was a nasty hole and my pet rooster became a Sunday dinner. As for the ducks I hated them. We had so many animals and the first summer I lived in Louisiana it rained every day. I was feeding the animals. I didn't even mind slopping the pigs but those ducks were so nasty. They would mess and it would rain and I would go with food and those flat feet would spash all of if on me. I had to wash off outside with a hose before I could go in and take a shower. YUK Well got to run, been keeping busy trying to make myself more heathy by exercise and walking. Still trying to finish writing the story of my trip. It seems like somehow I just have trouble concentrating on it. I am not sure if that is because I have so many other things to do or if it is because so many emotional things happened. Anyway I will try again. Have a great rest of the day everyone.

I remember Joe. I too thought that his life was just so busy that he was spending time emjoying it. So sad to know that he is gone and left those children that he looked forward to so much. I always wonder when someone quits posting. Part of me thinks the best and another part fears the worse. So sorry to hear of another old member passing.

Wow slow day here today. I hope everyone is alright with all of the severe weather going on. Bud I just had to stop in for a minute and say that I am glad your back is doing better. Nice to know that you are riding and fishing even if it is not as much as normal. All things take time. Take it slow and easy and maybe you can go another 9 years without a flare up. I have back problems and my husband and all 3 of my kids had back surgery. Not a fun thing at all. Hope are are well and enjoying your weekend. Our weather could't be any better if I had ordered it. So off to outside for a little while maybe a short walk.

First of all ladies let me say that all 3 of you amaze me. You are facing so much yet you continue to be upbeat and ready to face off with the monster all just about every day. Judy MI your attitude is by far one of the best I have ever seen under just about any circumstances much less facing cancer yet again. Let me say I have no doubts that Bud will be back out fishing and riding soon. What he is going through now is just a bump in the road but sometime those bumps can really throw you for a while. I was just going by what he is saying about his condition right now. Bad back and bad shoulder at the same time can put a crimp into all activieties for a while. Bud hope that is a very short while and you are up and at all the things you love again soon. McKenna is doing so good now. Bridget posted some pictures of her playing and laughing. It does my heart good to see her so happy and healthy again. I shared the pictures on facebook for those of you who care to take a peek. So grateful for all of the prayers and well wishes. I know that they helped so much. Got to run now and see what I can eat for lunch. Spent the morning helping take down decorations and hope to eventually get some things done here in my apartment. Seems like by the time I finish my fitness routine there is always something else waiting for me to do. I have two friend her that just need someone to talk to and I seem to be it most of the time. I really don't mind. It makes me feel good if I can help someone else. I remember a time when I needed someone and no one was there. I also remember the time when someone was there and then later when this board picked me up off the ground and got me moving again with all of the love and good vibes so many good people put out. Bless you alll.

First of all I want to thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes. I am happy to report that Bridget took McKenna home this morning and she is a happy and full 7 week old today. All tests came back negative but one. She is allergic to dairy products. She had been pretty gassy from the formula right from the start so that was probably irritating her esphogus all along. It just finally accumulated enough that her body just wouldn't take it any more. She is now on a soy based formula with rice cereal to help it go down. She is home and happy. At first she wouldn't pee but after she got home she had 2 wet diapers right away. Bridget said she did a happy dance for wet diapers Judy I know that you are happy to be home. I sure understand the need for exercise but I know too that sometimes we have to wonder if it can do us good or cause harm. I am trying again but struggle with my back and legs. Still I know that I need to do it. I am hoping it will eventually help the acid reflux because sometimes when that is bad I struggle to do any exercise because I feel winded. Thank God it is finally getting under control. I know too that you are happy to be home. I am finally getting the chance to enjoy my home and routine again. There is nothing like being gone and then being home. I hope you can enjoy yours and stay well. Judy MI I pray for the chemo do kick some cancer butt without kicking yours. I always look forward to reading your posts. It seems no matter how bad things get for you you find a way to make it work. I am sure you will do the same with the chemo. Oh and a TENS unit is and electric stemulation machine. You tape electodes to the back and the TENs puts out small charges of electricity to the nerves and that can help ease some of the back pain. Bud sorry for jumping in there but wasn't sure if you would be back here today. I know about the TENS because I used to put it on my husband every morning for a very long time. I hate that you have to suffer with your back on top of your shoulder injury. I know that means no fishing for a while and that and not bike riding must have you at your wits end not counting the pain. I applaud you for getting yourself ready for a new career. Good luck with that and hope you are feeling better soon. I want to hear about more of those fish you are going to catch. Well again thanks to all of you who have kept my family in your thoughts and prayers Have a great day everyone and sure hope to see more people her again soon. One more question. It has been a very long time sense I have seen a post from Dawn and Sara and a Bruce. Any one know how they and some of our other MIAs are doing?

Good morning everyone. Just a short post to let you know that I am thinking about all of you. I know many of you are having issues right now. I pray that they are resolved soon and everyone is up and at 'em again. So sorry to read about Stephanie. I didn't read about her passing until just a day or so ago. It happened when I was so sick right after I got home. I ddin't know her as most of you do but any passing is felt deeply. I will try to post more often once things settle down some. I am still trying to get my energy back and get back into things but for now there is a great need in my family for prayers. My little great granddaughter who was born while I was in Louisiana in January is in the hospital. This is the 3rd day. They are still running tests, this morning an upper GI. She has not been able to keep anything down for 3 days even the pedialyte. Please add her to your prayer list. She is so little and it is so frightening to have her so sick and not know what is causing it or how to make her well. God Bless and I will come back again soon, I hope with some good news. Lillian

Good morning! I decided to drop in and say hi. I am finally gettting back into a few things slowly. My cold is gone but still dealing with the problems from the acid reflux. It takes time to get back on my feet and back into being home. It is a beautiful morning here in Northern California. The temperature is supposed to reach 75 today. I love it but know that we really need the rain and it is just not coming. Lucky thing we had so much last year. It is really hard to get started back on things after being away from them. The time that I spend in Louisiana is just so different. I really don't get much exercise and it really tells on me. I eat a lot differently and come home determined to eat better. It is the eating better that seems to do me in. Unfortunately the foods that are good for me in all other ways tend to play havoc with that acid reflux. I love vegetables and salads but they seem to be what sets it off every year when I get home. I am working trying to find some kind of balance that will be healthy in all ways. It is not easy. Judy I hope to see you post that the chemo is kicking some cancer butt very soon. Take care and keep up the great attitude. I really admire you for that. Bud I hope you get to do a lot of fishing without causeing more damage to your shoulder. Not much beats a good fishing trip. Like so many of you I am following Andrea's posts on facebook. I keep her in my prayers as I know so many of you do. It is so hard to watch someone you love slip away. Well I guess I had better run. I want to do a few exercises then I am cooking a jambalya for our dinner/party today. We were supposed to have a Mardi Gras party yesterday but the recreation room was being used for something else. It is really not the best to have in on the first day of Lent but when they planned the day I was not here. If I had been I would have suggested having in this past Monday. Have a great day everyone.

Hi everyone. I thought I would open an air for today and say hello. As most of you know I have been home for nearly two weeks but been sick the whole time. I am finally starting to feel better but it takes a while to get back into things. I hope all of you had a pleasant Valentine's day or if like me it is one of those days you want to forget that it passed more softly. I will try to be back and get caught up but for now I have a lot of things to do. Take care everyone.

Home Sweet HOME !! Good morning everyone from sunny Northern California. It is so great to be home. I tried to log in again with my old user name but I had tried too many times so it won't let me. I guess that means that I will stick with the temperary account name I set up while gone. Maybe it is time. Will see if maybe I can get someone to help me post a picture later. I have to go get some groceries and visit with my neighbors. The only one I have seen is my next door neighbor who saw my car and came to welcome me home. Unfortanately not enough rest and teperature changes have given me a major head cold but hope catching up will get me past it soon. I have gone through and read only yesterdays posts. Will take me a while to catch up. Bud glad you are riding and that some of the drought is over. We go along the border in South Texas and there were signs of green part of the way and we did travel in some rain. Still it looks awfully dry in most of those areas. Well got to run and have breakfast and go shopping. I will be on more regular now. Have a great day everyone.

I decided to jump in here and open today. I have been pretty much just checking facebook on my phone. My granddaughter started classes again and I am afraid to mess something up on her computer. I came to my oldest son's last night. I will stay here until I leave on Monday. In a week from Saturday I will be home. As always I am excited and ready. At the same time I dread leaving my family. My daughter and her whole family understand why I don't live here. My two boys just don't get it. They have never had to live away from eachother or live without any close friends like I did for so many years. Having someone who shares the same kind of memories and even the same ones becomes more important as I get older. Still it is always so hard to leave them and I can't imagine living here again right now. Weather plays havoc with my health and life style doesn't help. I know they go out of the way to spend time with me when I am here but they all have busy lives. I would not see them often other than holidays and family occasions and there are 365 days in the year where I want to live and enjoy all of the places and things that I love. I don't want to live alone in a place that I just don't really like and spend my life waiting for holidays and family time. Do I make any sense? In a perfect world I could have both but this one is far from perfect. This is a rough time of year for me. Yesterday was a year that we lost my sister in law Sherrell. On Monday it will be 2 months sense my niece Jacci died. I will be stopping there the last night before I get home and I know that it will hit me like a hammer that she is not there anymore either. Jaccis daughter asked me if I wanted all of her yarn. I said yes so I will be taking that home with me. I guess that really makes it seem real. The day before yesterday I saw a robin for the first time sense the day after Sherrell died. In fact I saw 3 of them. I have also been dreaming about Johnny a lot. Night before last I had two dreams about him. I keep wondering why but I think it is probably because of all of the other losses this past year and also because it was about this time 53 years ago that we met and fell in love. Hard to believe it has been so long. It is humid and mucky here and I am so ready for California weather even if it is wet and cold right now. I know some of you like this weather but I never have. Becky I am so glad to see your good news and MI Judy you are still in my prayers for a speedy recovery and getting home. Well I guess I will run for now. Hope you all enjoy a peaceful day. Lillian

Good morning. Just dropping in for a minute to see how everyone is doing. Judy MI I am glad that you are feeling better and hope that whatever treatment you do get treats you kindly and kicks that cancer's butt. Eric sounds like you are still a very busy man. I too would love to have the bus rolling again. Do please wait until I am home for a while I have been gone for almost two months and will really need some time at home before I leave again even on and imaginary bus! Oh and having food along does sound good but I would need low cal after this trip and you can leave the haggis at home for sure. Diane unlike you I love the cold when I am home. When it gets cold here in Louisiana it seems to go to my bones and it doesn't at home. I am glad there is finally rain there and that the ski resorts are getting their snow. Here it gets muggy and and in the 70s then cold for one day then back up to the 70s for a day or two until the next front drops it down again. All of this seesawing is terrible for those of us who have allergies. Well I need to run and do my laundry. Need to try and see home much I will need to ship home. I know for sure of one thing. My grandson's girl friend has invited me to her birthday party. It is at a place called Painting with a twist. Everyone has the same picture to paint and then you compare them. Some have an outline and others are all free hand. There is someone there to give suggestions and the basics for those who don't know them. This will be my first time and I am really looking forward to it. so I am keeping all of you in my thoughts and prayers and saying extra for Judy MI, Stephanie, Alan and some others. Wondering where so many have disappeared to. Tomorrow with my son and his family. Got to get as much love as I can from our precious new baby girl while I am here. She is a pretty little girl for a newborn not red or wrinkled at all. will try to figure out once again how to post pictures when I get home. Have a great day everyone.

Good morning Judy. I just had a minute so thought I would check in on Judy MI. Thanks so much for the update. I hope everyone else is having a great day. Take care and when I get home in about 3 weeks I will try to catch up on everything. Until then my post will be hit and miss. Hope I have some pictures of the baby to post by then and get someone to help me. So far all of the pictures are phone pictures and I want the really good ones to post. Take care and have a great day.

Good morning Judy. I just had a minute so thought I would check in on Judy MI. Thanks so much for the update. I hope everyone else is having a great day. Take care and when I get home in about 3 weeks I will try to catch up on everything. Until then my post will be hit and miss. Hope I have some pictures of the baby to post by then and get someone to help me. So far all of the pictures are phone pictures and I want the really good ones to post. Take care and have a great day.

Good morning everyone. I will try and read to catch up then post more tomorrow. For those who haven't seen it on facebook my new great granddaughter McKenna Grace was born yesterday afternoon at 2:20 central time. I shared some pictures that my granddaughter took with her phone or had someone take. I don't know how to put them here so if anyone wants to see her just go to my facebook page. I hope all are well. I will be in touch again soon. Lillian

Hi everyone Lillian here again. I thought I would just pop in for a minute and check on everyone. Judy MI glad that you are feeling better. I hope that soon that hole in you lung will heal and you can take care of the rest of your problem. I am still enjoying my time in Louisiana and still on baby watch. I expect to hear any minute that she is at the hospital. She was well on her way into labor a few minutes ago. I just can't imagine that she won't go today. My nieces daughter wants me to have her yarn. Jacci was always buying yarn to make another afghan or baby blanket so I am sure there is a lot of it. Kind of threw me at first, reality sinking in. I am sure when I get back to her house in a few weeks it will really hit me hard. Ann we just seem so intuned all of the time. Night before last I had a dream that I wanted to keep dreaming. In the dream I was with Johnny and he looked so good, it was not in our really young days but we were both much younger. I woke to go to the bathroom and was wanting to continue the dream and believe it or not I did. That was really great. Remember a few years ago when I told you that I had that dream where I was thinking that if I just found his old phone number and called it that I would find him? Well in this dream that is what happened. That is the first dream of him in a while and I felt so good after I woke up. Well I have to run for now and see what is happening with Bridget. I think I am as nervous as she is so please keep us in your prayers. Love and prayers to all of you. I will post again soon. I am enjoying all of the seafood and other thing s that I don't get often and so far have not gained any extra weight. Boy do I need to lose some of what I already have! lol

Feel better soon and keep us posted when you can.

Feel better soon and keep us posted when you can.

Ann I though of you on the 15th but was unable to post. I do understand what you mean about it seeming harder. Loosing my niece on the same day as Johnny had entered the hospital that last weekend didn't help. I know that you have moved on with your life but I also know that some things never stop hurting. Take care my friend. I do understand. Lillian

This is Lillian. After a month of trying I finally got on with a new user name I set up. For some reason I can not log on to my regular page when not on my home computer. I hope I can type this and not erase it by accident! Most of you on facebook have seen how things have gone sense I left home. I am enjoying my family and spending probably too much time relaxing. Many of you know that November 29th is a date that will always be a day of bad memories. That was the day that so much happened with Johnny in 2002 that led to his death on December 2nd that year. I seem to plan my trips so I am busy that day. I spent the night of the 28th at my nephews house in Red Bluff and caught my bus to the train on the morning of the 29th. Sometime during the night my niece Jacci got out of bed and died. She was found the next morning on the kitchen floor. She had pnumonia and that was listed as primary cause of death. I still think there is more to it because I can't imagine someone just dropping dead of pnumonia. At any rate it has been very hard to wrap my heart and mind around loosing her. She was only 57. We lost her mom last January. She was so young when Jacci was born that my mom pretty much raised the 3 of us together. I am so glad that I spent Thanksgiving with her. Those dates will have more reason to haunt me now. I guess it is just meant to be. I am glad to see that you are all having a good start to the new year., Judy MI I hope to catch up on all that is going on with your tests. So sorry to hear of Geri dying. I wanted to respond but was having trouble getting on here. I have been eating a lot of things I don't normally have but so far have not gained any extra weight. I am hoping that stays the same. We went to New Orleans Monday and ate Mexican food at Poncho's then after walking the Riverwalk we stopped and had coffee and beignets at Cafe Dumond. Oh so good! I have had shrimp fried twice sense here, fried perch and fried speckled trout. I still hope to have some boiled crabs and maybe some crawfish but crawfish are still pretty expensive so not sure. I did have King Cake for the first time in 2 years last night. In fact I think I will close this book I am writing and have a piece with another cup of coffee. Happy New Year everyone.