Been way too long....

Oh, my! I didn't realize I hadn't posted in so long.
Well, I've been busy.
E and I are gearing up for Santa events in December. We have 6 events so far. All but one of our events are charity. No charge. Which is really a shame since my morning boss told me on Friday that beginning in January, I will be contract and only working about 15 hours a month, instead of 11.25 hours each week. Oh, boy!

I'm praying that one of his friends, or one of the friends of the afternoon boss, will need someone part time also. That's how I got the afternoon job. They are friends. So, all prayers are appreciated for another part time job of the same type, in generally the same area. Downtown, or at least North of the River. Even Pflugerville or Round Rock, but I don't know how many people they know around here. I really don't want to have to work somewhere that is going to mess up the afternoon job. I'm sure he would be willing to have me work mornings instead though if I found something for the afternoons. I need to work about 10 hours a week, and make the same amount per hour, or I could work a few more or less hours. Just need to make up the difference.

Hopefully won't be so long before I post again.

Blessings,
Lori

Where does the time go?

So much has happened since I posted last. I keep putting "post to blog" on my calendar, but keep moving it a week or two ahead as things get busy. 

I gave up on the Prilosec and just started using more Young Living oils. Seems to have helped.

I also am using the oils to keep from having surgery on my wrist. I went to the orthopedist about a pain in my wrist. He said it's arthritis and I have no cartilage in my joint back from the thumb. Oh, boy! I was supposed to have the surgery in December, but several things came up that made me change my mind and decide to use the oils instead. So far, I've avoided surgery. Still bothers me sometimes, but not constant pain like before. I'm hoping I'm slowly rebuilding the cartilage with the oils I'm using.

May 28th, we got a dog. He's a rescue. Australian Kelpie/Rottweiler mix. Best dog either of us has ever had. He is so well behaved, and well trained. E had been bugging me for a long time to get a dog, pretty much daily for a couple of months. I kept telling him that I didn't want to take care of a dog and him. Finally, I figured maybe it would be good for him to have company while I'm at work. I prayed for the perfect dog for us for about two weeks before I told E to look online for one. I was pretty specific about what I wanted in a dog. We got it! I call him my little answered prayer. He's not little though. He's 60 pounds! He's a little over a year and a half old. Stands a little over knee high. He is really strong. He can drag me all around the yard with his rope toy. He runs really fast! He loves to play fetch with the chew toy and a squeaky ball. I throw one and he brings it to me. While he is running to get it, I get ready to throw the other one. I keep throwing one and then the other. When he gets tired of the game, he leaves them over where I threw them. I get tired usually before he does. He really is good for E. Gets him off the couch several times a day and outside to throw the toys. We walked him every evening when we first got him, but the pavement to get over to the trail in the park is too hot these days. Pretty soon we'll get back to that. We all need the exercise.

E's mood and attitude has definitely improved since Mickey came to live with us. He's been good for both of us.

I went to the eye doc on Monday. The good news is, I don't have to get new glasses. The bad news is, I'm getting older. I asked the doc why my "near" eye was seeing better far away now, and I need readers up close. He said, "Well, Lori, you are pushing 60. It's going to be that way the rest of your life." Oh, yay! I suppose I should be thankful I can still see! I got 12 good years of not wearing glasses at all after RK years ago. I was very thankful for that at that stage of my life. At least now, I don't have to wear the glasses all the time. Better to be able to see far without them. I don't need them to drive. He did say I have cataracts developing in both eyes, but I'm a long ways from having to do anything about them. He's been telling me that about the left eye for a couple of years. This is the first time he's said anything about the right eye. This getting older stuff is not for wimpy folks, but I can handle it for a while longer. There is still so much I want to do on this Earth! Speaking of things to do, guess I'd better do a few more before I go to Nappy's house for the night.  I'll make an effort not to wait so long before the next post.

Blessings,

Lori

So many doctors.....

Well, two doc appointments later (today, after one 4 weeks ago and one yesterday).... they both think I have acid reflux. So, I'm starting Prilosec tomorrow. See the ENT again in 4 weeks and the allergist in 6 weeks. They still want me to be off my vitamins and supplements for another month to see if the Prilosec helps. My cough is worse and I've felt crummy since I quit taking all my Young Living supplements a month ago. Trying to narrow down what is wrong for certain. The allergist is all for me using my oils to see if I can find something to help instead of spending a bunch of money on drugs with side effects. He gave me 3 samples of Nasonex to use (after I use my saline spray but not for the first two weeks on Prilosec - one thing to change at a time) to see if it will help with the drainage, and if not after a month, he'll do testing again since it's been probably 20 years since I had shots. Oh, and he told me that my old allergist retired two years ago. I hadn't been to see him in about 4 years and he had told me he was thinking of retiring when I was there last.

I don't have a sinus infection. He gave me the printout of the CT scans from yesterday. Showed me that I do have a brain. :)

Also, that I apparently broke the cartiledge in my nose in that auto accident in '72 when I broke my jaw and my neck. Doesn't surprise me that they didn't know about my nose then. They didn't know about my neck either. I found out about that about 15 years ago when I had an MRI of my neck to see about the knot on the right side. The bone broke like a green stick and now has a knot. You know how a green stick breaks but doesn't come apart? It just spreads out and makes sort of a bulge.

I go to the hand doc again on August 2nd. The shot hasn't helped much, so I guess we'll be planning surgery. Fun.

 

I'm falling apart! I hope all the docs can put me back together again!

 

On a more positive note.... We took a mini vacation to the Valley to visit E's family and go to our 40th HS reunion, also a day at the beach. It was nice to get away and come home with a few days to spare before I had to go back to work. I'm almost caught up at work from being gone.

 

A few more things on my "to do" list this evening before I hit the pillow, so guess I'd better get on with it.

 

Blessings,

Lori

2013? Where is the year going?

Goodness! I didn't realize I haven't posted this year at all yet! Guess I've been busy!

I'm sure a lot has happened that I won't remember to post about.
E is still adjusting since he had his Thyroid removed in January. He had a couple of other surgeries in January also, and it's taking him a while to get back to normal, or adjust to a new normal.

I did finally go to the hand doc yesterday. Got a shot in my wrist. Talk about an ice pick feeling! It's a little sore today. Doc said it would be for a couple of days but should get better in a few and hopefully the shot will last for 6 months to a year. Then I'll get another one. As long as they keep working, I can avoid surgery. I have something called STT Arthritis. I haven't googled it yet. The STT are the first letters of the three bones in the joint.

Other than that and needing to get more exercise and lose weight, I'm doing pretty well. Still working for the two attorneys. I love my jobs. I could not have found better bosses.

I'm still working on organizing craft stuff, but at least I have things to a workable level now. I can make a card without taking lots of time to find what I need to do it. Things are getting better. Also, one of my best friends that I craft with frequently just moved 1.3 miles from me instead of 12+. I'm so happy to have her closer so we can "play" together more often. Of course, it will take her a little time to get her craft room unpacked and set up, but then it will be great fun! Her mom is here now too, instead of just visiting. Sweet lady. I'm so happy for them to have found a great house and settling in.

We went to a family reunion for my dad's side of the family last weekend. It was great to see so many people I haven't seen in a long time and meet some family and friends I haven't before. Working on updating the family tree online. My cousin has done a lot of work on it and we added a bunch at the reunion. I'm going to look through my calendars and records and see if I can add more info. At least I can look online to see what is missing and contact family to get the info needed. It's nice to keep in touch and know what's going on with everyone, and see how the family is growing with the new births.

In April, I went to a church ladies retreat about being prepared spiritually, physically, and mentally for disasters. It was very timely with the West explosion and the Boston bombing, and now the tornados. I have my notes in an email. If you would like a copy, let me know and I will send them to you. There is also a great book by Dr. Paul Williams, When All Plans Fail, about being prepared. I went with some of the same people from the retreat to the Austin Disaster Relief Network dinner in May. He was the speaker. He's been all over the world helping out after disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, so he's had lots of experience to write the book. You can get it on Amazon. Please be prepared to help your family and friends in case of disaster. You never know when something like the recent events will happen to you.

I think I'll end on that important note, and put on my calendar to post again soon.
Blessings,
Lori

Me, again...

Once again, it's been a while since I've posted. I just can't seem to remember to do it unless it's on my calendar and the last time it popped up, I didn't get around to doing it. It's been a busy couple of months with doc appointments for E. Trying to regulate his diabetes and take care of his eyes. Having cataract surgery in December, and maybe thyroid surgery to remove a growth. We'll find out Monday after meeting with the ENT. Always something.
After I get through December, I think I'll see the hand surgeon about my wrist. The physical therapy helped me get the strength back, but I still have that ice pick in my wrist feeling a certain way I move it. Not fun.

All in all, I'm still counting my blessings. Just had Thanksgiving and there is so much to be thankful for. We had a nice, relaxing dinner at Jerry and Jill's, got to visit a bit with Dennis, and spent some time with Josie (granddaughter). She's growing up so fast, getting so tall.

Amy and Mikey are coming to visit for a few days before Christmas and will be here for Christmas morning. Our first Christmas morning with him and he'll be 5 in January. It's been a long time since I saw a child wake up to Christmas morning. Should be fun. I'll have the camera ready!

Some friends are getting married. Two weddings coming up. One is this weekend! I love weddings. This will be the first one I've been to at our "new" church. I've got to stop calling it that since we've been there over two years now. We love our church family.

I'm on the ladies' retreat planning commitee for the second year in a row. Didn't take long to jump in with both feet. I've made lots of new friends and really enjoy all the church things we do.

I've been organizing my craft stuff for the last few days. Since I was off Wednesday last week, I had a long weekend to work on things. I'd really like to clean out the guest room closet and build some shelves and a workspace in there. Make that corner my craft area so that I can walk in there and make a card easily without having to run all over the house looking for things I need. I think the only rooms in the house that don't have craft stuff in them are the bathrooms and the kitchen. I certainly get my exercise moving stuff around to find what I need. It takes a long time to get anything done that way.
Some of my crafty friends have been encouraging me to get my space built and organized. I'm hoping to do that over the Christmas break. I hope it's long enough! I'll have to really focus, so I probably won't be on Facebook or blogging much that week! Then I have to get busy on a couple of scrapbooks!

Another blessing! I'm an aunt again. May nephew and his wife just had their second baby boy on Sunday. I went to see them yesterday at the hospital. They are all fine. Baby is adorable. Mommy is beautiful. Daddy is tired.

I'm looking forward to the family Christmas party/gift exchange. Always so much fun.

Well, I'm sure I've left out something, but it's late and I'm tired, so this will have to do until next time.

Love and hugs,
Lori

Surprises! Not always great ones....

Interesting that something popped up that led me to my blog page the very day that I have a reminder on my calendar to post. I seem to forget if I don't put a reminder on my calendar. Busy, busy, busy, all the time. I joined a new craft group at church making memory boxes for moms who have lost their babies. One of the ladies is a nurse at the hospital and takes them there to give out. They are much appreciated by the moms. I have some ideas to make them a little more special. There are only a few of us in the group and new ideas seem to be appreciated. We came up with several this week when we got together. The boxes are big enough for a few photographs, the footprints and handprints, cards they get in the hospital and at home, and the clothes they wear in the photos. The nurse takes the photos for them. They are black and white so you can't see that the babies are kind of blue. It's sad but very special to the families. My niece is getting married in two weeks and I'm planning to make a beach themed guest book for people to sign and leave a short message if they want to. I've asked a friend to help me with it. She is so creative. I'll be working on that Friday and Saturday. No time before then. I have something to do every evening this week. Money University on Monday night for 4 weeks. Hope that will help me figure out how to survive and thrive on our income. Tuesday is our monthly Young Living Essential Oils business meeting. I really would like to grow that business by helping people to understand the benefits of using the oils and other products to be healthier in this age of so many chemicals and medications. We start a new ladies Bible study this Wednesday at church. I really enjoy those studies, so adding that to my calendar for several weeks. This has been a bad car week for me. Petey was in the shop last Saturday and then Thursday on my way home, he overheated. I was saying many prayers all the way to the first car repair place I could find. They couldn't really find anything wrong with it, put in more coolant and I drove home. We took it to our regular repair place yesterday afternoon. Just picked it up a while ago. If anything else goes wrong any time soon, we'll be parking it and being a one car family for a while. I've been thinking about riding the train to and from work again anyway. I also need the exercise of walking the 17 blocks to my office in the mornings, 4 blocks to the other office at lunch time and 21 blocks back to the train in the afternoon. It's cooling off a bit....maybe... so I should be able to do it without melting too much. I don't really care if I get sweaty on the way home, but don't want to be that way first thing at work. Not that I see anyone. Rarely see either boss. They leave me work to do and I do it. Well, another project for today is in the works, so guess I'd better get to it. Another one of my nieces is bringing some bags of my sister's clothes (Tina, the one who died January 1st) over so I can help go through them. I took three bags to Safe Place for Battered Women back in January. That's the plan for most of the rest too. I just want to be sure we don't overlook something that might have gotten thrown in the bags, and keep a few of the special things. Until next time, prayers all is well with you. Blessings, Lori

Life and death got in the way....

Oh, my gosh! It's been ages since I posted. So much has happened since then that I probably can't remember it all. The biggest and most heartbreaking event is that my mother died on March 26th, just a few days before my birthday on the 31st. It was a busy time after that getting things ready for her memorial and then later having a small family event at the family cemetery out of town. Besides that, I've been doing a lot of stuff at church. I'm on the committee to plan the ladies retreat for February. It's the second year I've been on the committee. It's fun, but there sure is a lot of planning that goes into a retreat for over 100 women. I went to a really great Beth Moore conference recently. She's very interesting and inspiring. If you get a chance to attend one of her events, go! We haven't taken any vacations really this summer. We did go to the Valley for a few days for our Anniversary in July. Even went to the beach for a short time. Will have to plan for longer next time. I did swim, but not for long. I will be better about posting to this blog. Guess I'll have to put it on my calendar for at least once a month! Hope all is well with you! Blessings, Lori

Immerse Austin and church retreats

On Feb 3rd, I went to Immerse Austin at Riverbend Church with some long-time friends, and some new friends. We saw Mandisa, Lysa Terkeurst, and Anita Renfro. Great show! I remember several things from it. I'll share a couple from Lysa's talk here now. She has 5 children. Two boys she adopted from Africa, and three daughters who are younger than the boys. The kids are older now, but when the youngest was 4, they all went to Walmart. A woman stopped in the aisle and looked them over and said, "Different fathers." Lysa didn't know what to say. Her 4 year old put her hands on her hips and looking up at the woman said, "Let me 'splain it to you. When my mommy was pregnant with my brothers, she drank chocolate milk." I don't remember if the woman said anything after that because everyone was laughing so hard. Gotta love the way kids look at life. It never occurred to the child that those were not her biological brothers.

The other story that Lysa told really stuck with me. She said that one Christmas they wanted to make it very special and make sure the kids knew it was all about Jesus and not the presents. A couple of weeks before Christmas, she and her husband decided they would have a nice breakfast before gifts. They would set a place at the table for Jesus and put a box in the middle of the table. Everyone would share what their gift to Jesus would be for that year. Then they would write it on a paper and put it in the box. Lysa thought about her gift. She started out with, "I'm not going to yell at my kids this year." That wasn't going well in those two weeks before Christmas, so she decided to change it to, "I'm not going to yell at my kids this year, so much." On Christmas morning, her husband went first to share his gift. I don't recall the exact words, but it went something like this: "I'm going to look for someone each day to share my time, money, or encouragement with, so that at the end of the year, I will know that 365 people have been affected by the love of Christ." Lysa thougth to herself that she couldn't bring HER crappy gift to this party, so she immediately said, "Me too!" Then all of the children said, "Me too!" Every evening at dinner they would share who they had affected that day. It brought the family closer together and affected many people. I think she said they kept doing it after the year because it had become a habit. A very good one! I like the idea, and plan to do it myself! I should keep a journal so I'll know how I'm doing. Will be neat to read later to remember the people affected.

I left Riverbend about 9:15, just before the crowd, so I could beat the traffic and head for the ECW retreat at Wellspring between Wimberley and Blanco. It was drizzling. Not nice traveling weather! About a mile before I turned off on the road to Wellspring, I got into some rain that was really hard! I could barely see the road, so I was creeping along. No one else was on the road out there at that time of night. The last vehicle in front of me had turned off miles before that. Just before I turned off on the road to Wellspring, the rain let up. When I turned on the road, it was bone dry for the several (about 3 or 4) miles, then just after I crossed the low bridge, it started to pour again. I drove really slow along the gravel road. It was still pouring when I pulled up to the conference center about 11:00. All the way there I had been praying that I would get there safely and that there would be no water over the bridge. Those prayers were answered! Then when I got there and it was pouring, I prayed for 10 minutes of no rain so I could get to the house and unload the car. Thankfully, that prayer was answered and we had 30 minutes before the storm got bad again. There was a 3 foot wide river of water running down the gravel road in front of the house I was staying in with two of my friends. They didn't know what time I was going to get there, so they took the room with the two twin beds and gave me the room with the full size bed. They are really sweet friends. I've been really restless the last few months with my hip bothering me, so the extra room to roll over was really nice. The whole retreat was really nice. I got to reconnect with some friends I haven't seen in a while and make some new friends. It was great to be with my ECW "sisters" and get some comfort from them after losing my sister. Wellspring is such a spiritual place too, so that was also comforting. They call it the Holy Hill. I love going there.

On Feb 10th, I got to go to another church retreat at Summer's Mill in Salado. It's a beautiful place too, but not nearly as remote as Wellspring. This was my second retreat there. I am on the BOCC retreat committee this year so I was much busier than last year. The speaker, Rachel Raborn-Norris, a potter from Bryan, (Joy Pottery) was the speaker. Amazing! Her testimony and the way she shared while showing us how to make a pitcher, a pot, and a bowl on the wheel, was very inspiring. It is very interesting the way she puts it all together with the way God shapes us into vessels he can use. If you ever get a chance to hear her speak, don't miss it! I could easily repeat that whole thing again! They did video tape part of it, so hopefully I will get to see it. I told Rachel she should make a DVD, but I think she likes the human contact. She is booked to speak a year in advance, 4 to 6 times each month. I don't know how she finds time to make the beautiful pottery she makes. She doesn't sell online, so the pieces are limited. Only sold at her studio and her speaking events. Yes, I bought a couple things. A beautiful Communion set. I will probably use it for crackers and dip tho. Or maybe a candy dish. It has grapes and leaves on the side of the chalice, and a couple of stalks of wheat on the plate. I also bought a mug with the same grape design. I'll probably take it to the office for my hot chocolate.
The committee bought a beautiful bowl as a gift for our leader. She loves it. I took a picture of it, but can't remember at the moment the words around the inside rim. Will have to look that up when I go through the pictures deciding what to print for the scrapbook.

Well, that's enough for now.
Blessings,
Lori

What I said at my sister's memorial service

Tina was my sister and my best friend. We talked or emailed every day. We always had fun together, especially on road trips.

Tina didn't know a stranger. Everyone became a friend if not adopted into our family. You were all family to Tina.

She was the most kind, loving and generous person I have ever known. I often said I want to be more like her. If there are lessons in all of this, some of them are probably simplify, take better care of ourselves, tell those we love every chance we get, and check frequently on anyone you know lives alone.

We always said, "I love you" to each other at the end of phone calls, emails, and in person. I'm thankful those were the last words we said to each other. I know where she is now and that I will see her again someday.

You will notice a collection of her pigs from the almost 20 years working at APD on a table out here. There are also some other items she collected. Please take them as a memento if you want.

Thank you all for your support and prayers for our family through this time, and for being such dear friends to Tina.

Afterward:
In talking with a couple after the service (I took some photos at their wedding a few years ago when I went with Tina), I realize I should have added that some of them knew me as Tina’s date because she asked me many times to go to events with her because we had so much fun together.

Some thougths about people who have died, and odd things that happen.

I have two voicemail messages from Tina still that I keep saving on my phone. I also recorded them to my computer. I hope I remember to save them every few days so that I can listen to her anytime. They are sweet reminders of things she always said to me on the phone.

My dad died in '88 and I still randomly cry about him, and also my brother who died in 2000, and my sis-in-law who died in '81 or "83.... She was one of my best friends in High School when I lived with Tina, even before she married my brother. Sometimes I can talk about any of them, and many others, and not cry, other times I just think about them and tears flow.

Something strange I haven't told a lot of people.... We were in Houston for New Year's and I woke up early that morning before the alarm went off. I don't recall the time now, I just know it was early. Then on Monday morning, I was sleeping in the guest room because I was so exhausted and E snores. I woke up really early, around 6:40 thinking someone had come into the room, but E was snoring in the other room, and I didn't see anyone. Every morning I wake up at that same time before my alarm goes off at 7:00. Only that one morning did I feel like someone was in the room. When my grandmother died, she came to Tina and sat on the foot of her bed and told her that everything was going to be alright. Tina was her favorite. I wonder now if Tina came to me that first morning after she died. Another odd thing... when my dad died, I didn't know it but when I got to the hospital I found out that it was the exact minute that I had awakened that morning, before the alarm went off. I had planned to get up and go to the hospital. I'm wondering now if Tina died at 6:40 in the morning. I didn't think about that until this morning. We'll see if I keep waking up at the same time, or if I won't now that I've figured that out. Wonder what the autopsy will say. I doubt they can pinpoint the time that close. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, I keep waking at that same time. Well, that's plenty to digest for now.

Anyway, there will always be a connection and if you haven't read the book, Heaven Is For Real, I highly recommend it. It's one of my fav books since I read it about 6 months ago. I'm going to read it again in the next few weeks. I'm taking it with me to two church women's retreats the first two weekends in February.

Sad News

This has been the worst start to a New Year ever!
My niece found my sister/best friend, Tina, dead in her duplex on New Year's Day evening.
She had fallen Christmas Eve day and broke her arm just below the right shoulder. At the hospital, they put it in a sling strapped to her body and sent her home with a scrip for pain. Said they couldn't cast it because of where the break was until the swelling went down and that she should see her ortho doc. She had an appt scheduled for Jan. 2nd. We don't know yet what happened to her. She was diabetic and had some heart issues, so it was probably a combination of those. They said 6-8 weeks to get reports back that may give us a better idea of what happened.

She was my best friend even tho 9 years older. We did many things together. We emailed several times a day and talked on the phone several times each week. I miss her so much.

We had her memorial service on Jan. 7th. I'm amazed that I got through my talk when the family shared. Luckily, my brother and Tina's two sons let me go first. I pretty much read what I had typed, or I wouldn't have made it through.
It was heartwarming to see so many of her family and friends take one of the pigs from her collection as a memento. She collected them the 20 years she worked for APD, and even in the 3 years since she retired. Many of the people showed me the pig they chose and told me why. I wish I could remember all the stories.

The first week of January was the worst week of my life so far. I know there will be more of those. It's just what happens as we get older. I just have to take each day as it comes, and be thankful to have had the time I did with her. Rest in peace, sweet sister. I love you, and I know I will see you again.

Merry Christmas!

Oh, my! It's been a long time since I've posted! Busy season!

I love my two jobs working part time for two real estate attorneys. I could not have designed a better work situation if I had tried. They both keep me very busy, and I'm always learning new things. Never a dull moment!

I'm finally as ready for Christmas as I'm going to get. We started decorating for Christmas actually in mid-October, to be ready for Christmas portraits, in time for people to send them out in Christmas cards, but also because my husband's sister was coming to visit and she hadn't been to our home yet. She always decorates hers so nicely, my husband wanted it nice for her visit. We finished decorating outside right after Thanksgiving. And somehow, I still didn't have time to get Christmas cards mailed out this year. I think I'm going to start addressing them in July in 2012.

I love that I can keep up with family and friends on Facebook and send them greetings that way, on a more frequent basis than just once a year at Christmas.

And for those of you who aren't on Facebook and only follow me here, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Blessings,
Lori

Seven Days in Utopia

We went to the early movie today at noon to see Seven Days in Utopia. I really enjoyed it. I love movies that make me laugh and make me cry, especially when they have a good message, or several. It's a good family movie. No bad language, no nudity, no blood and guts (well, a little blood at the beginning). Check out the trailer online.
Of course, after seeing the movie, I want to go to Utopia to check it out. It's on the way to or from church camp, if we take a slightly different road than we did last time. We like to take different roads anyway looking for photo opportunities. We found some neat ones last time. It's fun to set the GPS on shortest distance and see where it takes us down country roads. Sometimes we end up at a dead end where some rancher has put up a gate, but even then we find good photos along the way, so we don't mind backtracking a little.

Well, I have to do a bit more work on some parenting materials for the wellness fair I have a table at next Wednesday. Good parenting skills do contribute to overall family wellness. I'm looking forward to this event. Different than most things I've done before. Praying it goes well, so we have opportunity to help more families have peace in their homes in these trying times.

Blessings,
Lori

Wildfires!!! Pray for rain!

Luckily, My family, with two homes in Cedar Creek, were spared, so far, and that fire is almost contained. I feel sad for all those who lost homes, but am certainly thankful that my 94 year old mom, my sister, niece and her son, and my other niece and family still have homes to go to. My niece said she could see the fire down the street from her home, but the firemen blocked it and turned it away. She had already taken her little girl over to her sister's home in South Austin the day before when all the news of Bastrop (only 12-15 miles from them) came out.
Thankfully, the wind has died down so the firefighters can more easily fight the blazes. Please pray for rain!

It's been cool enough this week that I walk to work in the morning (17 blocks). It takes 5-10 minutes less to walk it than to wait 10 minutes and take the bus, and then still walk 4.5 blocks to the office. People just don't know how to ride the bus efficiently. They wait until they are standing on the bus to dig for their ticket or money. Aaarggghhh!
I still catch the bus 4 blocks from the office in the afternoon. If I catch the 2:36 bus, I only have to walk a block to the train. If I miss that one, I walk 4 blocks to the train. Either way is not bad now that it's cooling off a little. I need the exercise anyway, since I signed up for the Walk Austin thing a couple weeks ago. Supposed to do 60 minutes of exercise every day (for the gold medal)! Walking is taking a big chunk out of that, then I sometimes get in the pool when I get home and do water aerobics. The water is starting to get too cool with the cooler nights we've been having, so don't know how much longer I'll do that. Then I'll have to walk both ways instead of taking the afternoon bus. I like to walk tho. Get to see things you don't see when you're driving. Well, almost time to walk some more!

Remember to pray for rain!

Blessings,
Lori

Back to work!

The part time temporary job that I mentioned in my last post has turned into a part time "permanent" job, hopefully for as long as I want it.
The really nice guy I work for in the afternoon offered his old assistant of 13 years a year's salary severance pay. She's in poor health so it's a great deal for her. He didn't need someone full time anymore and it doesn't make sense for her to drive from Georgetown for 3 hours a day. It works out perfect for me. I work 2.25 hours in the morning at one office, then walk 4 blocks to the other office to work at least 3 hours in the afternoon, and can still catch the train home, so I don't have to drive in traffic! Well, I do drive 5 miles to the park and ride, but much better than 40 miles round trip each day! I get home in time to do some work on our businesses and still get some sleep!

I'm doing a booth at a Corporate Wellness and Family Health event on Sept 14th promoting Redirecting Children's Behavior parenting courses. Hopefully will get some students for the course starting November 3rd. If you know of anyone who may be interested in learning some advanced parenting skills to create more peace in their home, please pass the website link along to them. www.sensibleparenting.com or my email. lori@sensibleparenting.com

I'll also be starting another series of Essential Oil classes soon. Just have to take a few minutes looking at the calendar to plan dates. If you are interested in getting the info when I set the dates, send me an email.
lorissareynolds@gmail.com

It's also time to schedule photo sessions for Christmas cards! Can you believe how fast this year has flown by! Start thinking about Senior photos too. We are looking for several students (Junior and Senior) to be Senior Ambassadors. If you know someone who may be interested, give them our website and/or email.
www.unicornphotographics.com or info@unicornphotographics.com

Well, back to work. I don't want to be up too late again tonight!
Blessings,
Lori

Latest news....

Well, maybe not THE latest since I haven't posted in a while.

I'm actually only working 2.25 hours in the mornings at that job, but have been working anywhere from 2 to almost 5 some days for his friend at least 3 or 4 days each week for a couple weeks now. The assistant was supposed to be out for 10 days for surgery the first part of May and has been out since then for several more surgeries. He doesn't know when or if she is coming back, so I'm filling in helping him get caught up a bit.

I'm still looking for something full time, or at least another part time job that is long term. I need to work about 7 more years. Even then, we'll probably still work our own businesses, as long as we are able. Teaching parenting classes is very rewarding, and we love photography, so will probably always take photos.

I've also started teaching a series of Essential Oil classes to educate people on how to live healthier lives using essential oils and essential oil products. I've been using them since 2000 and have greatly improved my health in so many ways! I rarely have trouble with allergies anymore, and in Austin, that is saying something!
Let me know if you are interested in more info about the EO classes, or parenting classes.

Seems we've been spending a bit more time with family lately, and more time at church too. Both are very good things!
I read an amazing book last week. Heaven is for Real. I highly recommend it. It's a bestseller so you should be able to find it easily. Paperback. Fast read. I read it in two days on the train mostly, to and from work. You won't be the same after you read it. That's a good thing! Let me know what you think of it. I'm curious. :)

Well, better get back to work. Must send out email newsletter about parenting classes and EO classes. As soon as I work on the schedule a bit. Summer is an awkward time to schedule things.
Hope you are having a great Summer!
Blessings,
Lori

Still looking....

It hasn't been soooo long since I posted last. I'm still looking for a part time job in the afternoons. Not a lot out there. I really should be putting names and email addresses into Constant Contact so I can do some more marketing for our businesses. That's next on my list. I got distracted when I saw the link to this on my tool bar. Doesn't take much. Don't know why I'm procrastinating.
After that, must do some more job searching.

Daughter and grandson were here from Friday evening until yesterday evening. It's amazing how much energy a 3 year old has! I slept in this morning. It was great to see them tho. He is growing so fast! Talks up a storm, and of course, hears and repeats things we say that we don't think he notices. We went to Zilker to ride the train Saturday and then I followed him around the playscape. I've got to get in better shape!!! There may be some pics of me on the slide with him. Wonder if those will show up on Facebook soon. Yep, I still think I'm a kid, but my body is not so sure! I would have been in the playscape with him at DQ yesterday after church, but I was wearing a skirt. Maybe next time! :)

Well, I guess I've procrastinated enough. Back to work.
Blessings,
Lori

Not so long this time!

Well, I'm sort of coming out from behind the desk... again!
I'm too efficient, so my boss has decided to cut my hours... again.
I went from 30 to 25/week in December and now am going to about half of that. I go in at 9:00 and work til 11:00 or when I'm finished, whichever is later. It's been working out to 3 sometimes 4 hours, but still that's not enough for us to keep our budget out of the toilet, so I'm looking for another part time job to make up the difference. Either that or we have to do better marketing to promote our two businesses - photography and parenting classes.
www.unicornphotographics.com
and
www.sensibleparenting.com

We are supposed to have a class in June so I'm making stops on my way home from work to drop fliers at daycares, schools, churches, pediatricians, children's dentists, etc. in the Pflugerville and Round Rock areas. If you know of any, please let me know. I don't want to miss anyone who may be interested.

I've been riding the train all this last week because the express bus doesn't run until 3:30 in the afternoon. The regular bus takes me an hour to get home. I decided that since I wasn't making time for exercise, I would spend 25 minutes walking from the office to the downtown train station and ride the train for about 40 minutes. Takes the same amount of time to get home, but I'm getting my exercise! And, I'm taking different streets to the station each day, so I get to see things I haven't noticed before when I was driving. I went into the visitor center on 6th street the other day and told the woman who greeted me that I'm a tourist in my own town. She laughed. I did pick up some walking tour brochures and a few others that looked interesting - thinking we might get out and take some photos on a weekend. We can take the train downtown and walk around, then catch it home.
Don't know when we'll do that tho, since it's starting to get pretty toasty in the afternoons.

My sister, brother, his wife and baby, took Mom to lunch yesterday for her 94th birthday, then took her home and stayed to help my other sister that Mom lives. It was a gift to her for her birthday - she didn't need more things, but sure could use some help unpacking and organizing. I bolted some bookshelves to the wall and then unpacked about 10 boxes of books. I'm tired today! And a little stiff even tho I spent some time in the Jacuzzi tub last night.

We are about to head out to our church home group dinner and Bible study, so guess I'd better get ready.
Happy Mother's Day to anyone who is.
Blessings,
Lori

Almost Easter!

Goodness! It's been even longer since I posted than the last time!

Always busy, it seems.
I've started riding the bus to work. It has great benefits! I don't get white knuckles from driving in traffic, saves gas and wear and tear on the car, I get to meet new people, and I have time to read my Daily Bible. I told my husband and my sister, in different conversations, that public transportation has improved my vocabulary. Interesting that they both thought I meant in a bad way. I assured them that it really has because I'm not yelling at the other drivers anymore! :)

I still love my job, and the walk (5 blocks in the morning, 6 in the afternoon) hopefully will help me to lose some weight. Of course, more exercise and watching my diet will make that happen faster. I'm walking some at lunch too. I don't want this to be another "Summer of the Swim Dress".... I've had a couple of those already. Not fun!

Lots of interesting stuff at church. I went to womens retreats two weekends in a row, then two weeks later to the family retreat. All at different places. Got to know people a lot better and had so much fun! I can hardly wait til next year!
Yesterday, we had the "Reveal Lunch" for our Secret Sisters. There were 50 of us in the group. 36 attended the lunch. It was fun to see everyone find out who their secret sister was and open the final gift. Mine wasn't there, but I talked to her today at church. She is a really sweet lady. I'm excited to get to know her better now that I know who she is. Funny how the women are afraid to talk to their secret sisters much while they are secret because they might let something slip. I talked to mine. She didn't have a clue it was me. I thought I knew who mine was because she DID talk to me a lot, but it wasn't who I thought it was. I'm not disappointed tho. All the ladies are really nice and friendly. We love our "new" (since October) church.

We are looking forward to getting out to take some wildflower pics next weekend, after attending the memorial service for a dear friend, Anne. I may have mentioned her before. She had a bone marrow transplant about a year ago, but recently started having trouble again. She died March 16th. I'm so sad to lose such a dear friend. She was a really sweet lady.

We taught a great parenting class in February. We are starting another one in a couple of weeks, on March 21st. Check the website if you are interested or know someone who is. You can enroll there, or call us. www.sensibleparenting.com

This year is flying by! I wish all of you a blessed Easter!

Love and hugs,
Lori

A New Year!

It's REALLY been a long time since I've posted to this blog.
So much has happened with work and with family.
I am working less and getting paid more per hour, so I have more time to teach parenting classes and take photographs. We started a parenting class last week.
I go in this Thursday to record a radio commercial to run for three weeks, Tu-Th afternoons, on Talk Radio 1370 AM to promote Sensible Parenting classes beginning the first Thursday in March, for 5 weeks. I've never done a radio commercial. Neat!

We have plans to run some special photography promos for 2011 too, so check our website, www.unicornphotographics.com
or LIKE our Facebook page to get updates. Search on FB for "Unique and Creative Photographic Portraiture Artists"

Been keeping busy with church, work, networking, and with helping Mom and Sis move. They have a lot of stuff! I should talk. I would not want to move my stuff, unless I get to move to a bigger place on a bigger piece of property. Otherwise, I'm staying put as long as possible! Moving is not fun!

We had a lot of computer issues the past month or so that I hope we are done with so I can keep up better. I'm so far behind, I'll probably never catch up....

I do hope everyone is having a wonderful year!

Blessings,
Lori