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Tootie is a remarkable little girl - now going out for sports - Bless her.

Bill, You've made it through some pretty rough times. Sorry to hear you're still having unresolved issues to deal with. No one said this survivor stuff was easy that's for sure. You'll have to have Bud watch over you more closely - your 4-legged body guard - to protect you from all the available females - they'll be beating down your door.

Hiya Bob, I hear you with the wanting for warmer weather. My first winter back east was mild with regard to actual snowfall - but the cold was the pits for me anyway. Even being in the house, I feel it...it's hard not to "up" the 'ol thermostat but then I have to pay the gas bill. I'm hoping that next winter will be easier as I climatize. Glad to hear you're doing well with the radio station and your voice over work. I too hope that the power presentation will provide much needed information to the community. Your work with the church is to be commended. It's a sad thing in our society what occurs as a result of drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, many feel this is the road to travel when their lives are difficult. Bless you for all you are able to do.

Janice, No dear, you do not need an attitude adjustment. Your response is human nature - perhaps we all need attitude adjustments lol. Reading your entry took me back in time - way before stroke - to an elderly couple that lived next door to my daughter and I in a complex. There was both of them present but they were not completely independent. They adopted my daughter and I as family, which was wonderful in some circumstances. On the flip side, they knew all our comings and goings - including if we attended church or not - and we'd be questioned as to the whats, hows, whys, and who's of our lives. My daughter was 2 when we moved there so she had no clue as the interference into our lives. The are both gone now; have been gone for many years. We hold fond memories in our hearts of our adopted family. I pray for your patience.

Sue, Hope you enjoy your well deserved vacation and time to recoup yourself. Ray will be well cared for. as you well know. It's not like the first time you've been away from him and I know you've made sure of the care he will receive. Your blogs and presence here will be missed but we will await your return and an update on how the family is doing. Enjoy your grandbabies and know that you are loved by them and your cyber family. (((hugs)))

Deenie, My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family during the difficult time you face ahead. Your Mom and Dad are together now and will be so for eternity. May your fond memories of them keep you strong and give you peace. God bless. (((hugs)))

Bless her heart...I got a tear in my eye reading about her field trip. Way to go Tootie!!! Her Aunts and Uncles here at Strokenet are sooooooooooooooooo proud of her :clap: .

It is great you two had the opportunity to talk and discuss your feelings. May I suggest counseling to help you deal with what has happened. If not counseling, journaling to get these feelings off your chest and out of your heart. Stroke is an immensely huge pill to swallow for any of us - it's not something you chose to happen to you. It was not something we stood in line to acquire God forbid. It happens and many of us and our families ignored the warning signs or the hints that something was occuring. As Sue said "time" heals and the blaming doesn't get anyone anywhere, especially ourselves. Believe me, I can say this from experience as I've played the blame game unsuccessfully. You survived what happened, and have the blessings now of better health and a loving husband. Live for this day and tomorrow - hope you can find peace and be able to further heal. (((hugs)))

I had earlier typed a nice entry but it got lost in cyber space when my computer decided to have a technological stroke all of its very own..... :BashHead: I'll retry and see what occurs: This past week marked my one year anniversary being a staff member here at Strokenetwork. On Saturday (22nd) I received a wonderful surprise in the mail - a framed certificate of appreciation for the work I do. Kristi immediately hung my certificate close by. Thank you Steve for giving me this opportunity to do something so worthwhile post stroke. I am truly honored and blessed to be a part of this organization as well as having the most fantastic fellow staff to work with and a terrific membership to serve and assist. I still, at times, miss being able to be a part of our society as a go to work everyday working professional. especially the financial aspects, but I'm still afforded the opportunity daily to keep my non-damaged brain cells churning and productive. There are perks though - no rush hour commuting. My commute time is trying to get to computer when Crystal and Lili "think" they need crunchy treats at that very precise moment. The Easter holiday was spent with family (Auntie, cousins and their families). Great time was had by all - good company, laughter, and of course yummy food. My cousin Dar has made and sold chocolate candies for years and this year was no exception as she also created baskets for everyone chock full of her goodies. Even got to try chocolate covered corn curls - quite yummy inspite of my initial thoughts of ewwwwww. We also celebrated my upcoming birthday. Lisa and her family gave me a gift bag full of neat items. Dar, Bryan and Aunt Char got me no-no's - a carton of smokes. Dar had ot known that I had quit. As I was missing them very badly, I was totally like a child in a candy store. All us smokers promptly went outside to light up as we cannot smoke insde with Aunt Char's oxygen. And, I'm still on the first pack I am happy to say. Lisa had invited us to her home for Easter Sunday; we had to pass as I was way to tired out from being out Saturday. Saturday was the first I had been out of the house since I had the heart cath done in January. The exhaustion part remains a pain in the rear end as far I'm concerned. When we got home Saturday night we discovered my nephew had also called and wanted to invite us to his home on Easter Sunday. We spoke on the phone; we also left a voice message for brother-dear but did not hear from him. We had a quiet Easter Sunday here with our 2 furballs present and quite happy that Mommy and Sissy were home. We had our own feast with Kristi doing the mahority of the preparation but finding things I could do so I'd feel productive besides feeding my face. The furry ones enjoyed eating ham immensely. I swear that Lili, as a gown kitty, will be a fat lazy lump. She's soooooo active now that she burns everything off - just like us when we were younger lol. Kristi has been home from school on Spring Break; she returns to school tomorrow. She has some time out with friends; fortunately not finding any more dogs lol. She has been working on 2 huge projects for school. The one is a group project; it appears though that she is the only one who will be working on it. Her other group members are to get together with her to work on it but their spare time is generally spent getting intoxicated or getting over a hangover. So very sad. I am blessed and thankful that my child has good morals and values I was able to instill years prior to the stroke.I continue to pray that High School peer pressure does not becomr too hard for her to avoid. We've been receiving items in the mail pertaining to her academic achievements - nominations for whoswho in high school academics as well as national society of academic scholars. Colleges, as well as military, are beginning to send brochures. As this school year is winding down, there will be 2 years left before she's college bound. Seems like yesterday I looked at my baby and couldn't wait for her to do something other than sit in her swing or carrier. Now, I want it to slow down - time does not stand still though just continues to march forward. So...that's about all for the week of my life. :out_of_here:

Loved this blog Fred - dynamite. Wonder how much truth there is behind that little story?

Stu, Glad you're feeling better - don't want any more trips to the ER buddy - be careful.

Bonnie, My thoughts and prayers will continue to go out to your spunky MIL; bless her heart. I'm so so proud of you in the not smoking dept. I'm wavering on my end but will try to hang in there. If Bonnie can do it so can I. You could definitely go into business making your chemo caps. Sorry to hear she's beginning to lose her hair though. Hope the same individuals who were around to help you if need be will also be available for John - he might need the assistance when you're in AZ.

Mel, Hard to believe it's already been a year since your FIL passed - seems just like yesterday. Congrats dear girl on the upcoming 2-year anniversary. Try to relax and enjoy your blessings. (((hugs)))

Glad dear all is going well without your helper- be careful though and don't overdo and be casreful of critters underfoot. Lili still hasn't quite gotten the hang of staying outta my way yet. Congrats to Matt and Tonya on their Anniversary and glad school going well for Matt. Thant's a shame about Tonya's students. Hope all stettles down. Hope your Easter is good. We're going to my Aunt's tomorrow but will be home Easter doing our own thing.

You did not approach this decision of pursuing this job and the relocation lightly. You may indeed discover it was not meant for you. If that is the case, know that you tried it out. One never knows what the future might bring sometimes without taking some chances. Hope you can meet some individuals and hope you like Law and Order. Take Care.

Ann, As you talked about your 4 year old neighbor, I had a mental return of the HE** I went through in the last apartment that kiddo and I lived in in AZ. They had 2 kids and were the nosiest (adults and kids alike) about 4 months before we moved back east, they "vanished" in the night. Another family moved in and what a difference; this Mom encouraged me to tell her if her teenagers were too noisy cos she'd "straighten them out" . If Maria is sending down her boys, how about if I send my youngest furball as she gallops through the house like a horse - the rubber ball playing on the steps can get to be a bit much at times as well lol. Hope the rain lets up so your new home can be completed sooner vs. later. Glad to hear Bill is taking an interest in the house construction. Glad you blogged as well...your schedule doesn't allow much time for it.

Kristen, Glad you and Patrick had a terrific outing. The Red Rock website was quite interesting and I can imagine how wonderful to see in person. Abbas work is amazing - I read about it in the magazine as well - quite inspiring. Hope you two are able to take more trips like that. One of our local radio stations has a contest going on daily where they give away a $50 gas card every hour betwen 7 am and 5 pm. Something like that would be perfect for you and Patrick.

I firmly believe that, Yes HE is in chsrge and I don't feel He's been too happy with the way this world HE created is going.

Thursday afternoon I received a phone call from Kristi stating that she and her friend had found a lost dog as they were leaving the library. He was running back and forth across a busy street and almost got hit several times. Other individuals were trying to corral the dog without success. Kristi was successful. She called me then handed the phone to her friend who made the first plea for permission to bring the dog to our house - it was quite easy to tell Katarina no. The girls then decided to walk around and try to locate the owner. A bit later I received a call from Kristi advising they were having no luck and could they please bring him to our house. Kristi heard a resounding NO and we got off the phone with her saying they were going to go to our local vet's office with the dog they named Pogo since he was bounding back and forth across the street before catching him. He had no collar on but was wearing a faded red harness. A bit later, Kristi walked in the door - immediately showing me the pic she took with her phone of Pogo. Pogo and her friend were still at the vet office. The vet said he was young and unneutered and a yorkie mix. He was not outfitted with a micro-chip. Seeing the picture as well as my child's big brown eyes, I melted and agreed that Pogo could come to our home for a "brief" period of time. As you can see by the pictures he is precious and was very very well behaved. He's housebroken (thankfully) and tried to make friends with the girls but the girls were having none of that LOL. Fortunately, no one got hurt. Kristi took pics of him that we used to post on the internet on craigslist lost & found, On Friday, as Kristi was at school, it was just the felines, Pogo, and me hanging out for the day. I was receiving email responses to the notices I posted but none from his family. It was suggested that I contact the police in the area which I did and no one had reported a dog mising matching Pogo's description. The officer suggested I contact Animal Friends and supplied me the phone number. I was hesitant to call as I didn't want the liitle guy put down if he went to a shelter. I did call and the gal I spoke with assured me they would pick him up and he would be placed with Animal Friends who would try to locate the owner; if unsuccessful they will put the animal up for adoption. Last resort is the unspeakable. The gal, Lynn, took down all the info about our houseguest and me and advised she'd have a truck dispatched to our house. Lynn also gave me the website petfinders.com to list him on there as well. As I was placing the ad on petfinders, Lynn called and stated a woman called them to report her dog ran away. His description matched Pogo's. I was supplied Teresa's phone number and called her. Pogo's real name is Avery (which I verified by calling out his name and he came running to me all excited). Teresa surprised me by telling me that he's 7 years old. The darling holds his age well LOL. As we talked about him, Teresa cried. Teresa is disabled from a broken hip and arranged for her daughter to pick up Avery Friday evening. Teresa came with her daughter and was able to sget out of the car to stand and wave to us (Kristi's friend was also present for the farewell). Avery was thrilled to see Jenn and Teresa. Jenn advised that Avery is quite the adventurer; her father had never permitted neutering to be done. Teresa and he divorced 2 years ago and no one really gave it consideration. Teresa is considering giving him away though as he's becoming too much for her to handle. Our back yard is not fenced in so there's no way we could take him - this I had to remind my child of after they left AND I was candidate of Horrible Mom of the Year. Yesterday (15th) Kristi got to attend the St. Patrick's Parade in Pittsburgh. My Bro picked her up at 7:15 a.m. - he had to be there early being on the Parade Committee. Kristi walked the parade route with her cousins throwing out snacks to onlookers as part of Central Bloodbank's part in the Parade. The Parade itself lasted 3 hours and a good time was had by all. My niece was giving Kristi a ride home but as she had to leave Bro's St. Paddy's Party early herself, she said Kristi could go with them and she'd have her home in time to go to her babysitting gig. We had not planned on going to the party for 2 reasons - her banbysitting and all the crap coming down from "her" in AZ. Taffy explained to Kristi her Dad knew nothing of what had been said to her and had asked Taffy all about it. Taffy in turn had been gathering information via text messages since that fateful phone conversation. Kristi did call me and asked if I mionded if she went to the party. Being the kind of Mom I am, I told her to go. I got off the phone and immediately plopped on my pity pot and planned on staying there for an undetermined period of time :head_hurts: . Kristi came home prior to her babysitting gig and discovered me sulking in my bedroom. She knew I'd been crying as my eyes were red and puffy (dead give-away huh?). We talked and she assured me everyone gave her flack for being in attendance without me - including her Uncle. He told her he will be calling me this week. My nephew/landlord Billy had heard about our houseguest from his sister. He said if something like that happens again, we can keep the dog for a week (now my child will be on look-out for strays :toothy grin: ). He did say too that if we call him he'll consider letting us keep a dog if another comes along. He's to come over within next few weeks to install needed ramps for my power chair so I can use it to leave the house and cruise the area - YIPPEE!!! :happydance: I climbed off my pity-pot and was fine the rest of the evening. My dear daughter had been re-considering her future plans to be college bound for veterinary science as her peers were telling her otherwise. After her encounter with Avery, I think she is once again focused on becomg a vet. As we still have 2 years of High School to go, that may change. PS: Crystal and Lili are very very very happy :hahaha: that Avery went home. Lili has gone back to being her brat self. I've warned Crystal that it's her "job" to teach Lili right from wrong OR I'm bringing the doggie back. For today, at least, Crystal has been correcting Lili :Tantrum:

Marty, Welcome back to the blog community - glad to hear ya had a great time and spent time with family. Eight years ago (wow - hard to believe) my kiddo and I went to Disney/California - had a blast. Hard to say who enjoyed it more...it was both our first time going.

Bless her heart :wub2: :Angel: