Saturday, August 6, 2016

Saturday's Scribbles

It is the first Saturday in August here in our corner of the world.  After a week of high humidity and dew points in the 70's, a cold front came through early yesterday morning whisking away the Filipino like weather and leaving us with temps in the 70's and dew points in the 50's.  We are loving it!  Windows are open, fresh air is clearing out the stale, and we are just all around more comfy~ the porch is calling our name.

On Friday we headed to our local Farmer's Market and picked up some fresh strawberries, yellow squash and zucchini and some great cucumbers.  There is nothing like fresh fruits and veggies that come right out of the garden onto our table.  Yum.  We have enjoyed mangoes this week too.  I think next to blueberries mangoes are my favorite.  In fact living on Roatan off the coast of Honduras would guarantee being able to have mango trees right in my yard...yeah...dew points in high 70's, but tropical breezes and fresh mangoes?  It is tempting!

Joel has been riding 20 miles at a time for several days a week. He is tan and fit!  He has lost 15 lbs. by not eating after supper...a 12 hr fast....and having salads for most evening meals.  I followed suit and lost the same 2 lbs over and over again.  I'm trying to figure out something else now. I just need to grow 6 inches, right?!  Ha.....

On the health side of things I continue to struggle with the cancer-related fatigue and try to "manage" it.    I have been walking 1/2 mile when I walk.  This too shall pass.  It is funky what has come since radiation.  I don't have proof connecting radiation to the hair on my arms being white or my eyebrows turning white or my hair on my head getting unruly in some places, but my hairdresser told me that she has seen others who have had radiation have a big change in their hair.  Interesting.

Last Monday we headed up to the Twin Cities to see my older sister Jo, who helped raise me.  She had fallen and fractured her back.  We were able to visit a while at the hospital and then head over to her new location, we by car and her by ambulance, to a very nice rehab center closer to her place.  The atmosphere was wonderful in the new place and I expect her healing to move forward. My sister Janelle deserves a shout out for all she does to care and advocate for her.

It has been a week of more political drama...I keep thinking it cannot get worse, but it does.  The opening ceremonies for the summer Olympics were on Friday night, but lots of chaos before hand, and why aren't they ready? ....... and then there is the Zika virus........and more wacked-out people wanting to get their 15 minutes of fame through violent acts.  Enough garbage......

So where is the good news around the world?  It is there, but we almost need to search for it cuz it is so easy to focus on the negative.  How about the young Olympic swimmer who swam with her sister for over three hours in the ocean pushing a dinghy full of people to escape Syria, besides climbing mountains, etc.  She is now one of the refugee athletes competing under the Olympic flag. A great story of survival!

We watched the opening ceremonies last night for about 1 and 1/2 hrs but then turned it off to watch "Miracles From Heaven", a movie based on a true story about just what the title says....a miracle.  We felt they spent way too much time on the illness and not enough time on the miracle, but it was still a great movie, and a great story of God's healing power.

Today I will watch women's beach volleyball.  Strangely, it is one of my favorite summer Olympic events.  Just women's volleyball.  Joel asked me what I like about it and after some thought I decided I like the idea of two strong women competing.  I prefer sports where there are only a few players.  And for the past several weeks I have been drawn to sand...and beach.......no clue why. So I will keep watching HGTV's house-hunting-on-an-island shows and tune in to beach volleyball.
Go USA!



Besides the Olympic ceremony and movie we watched a couple of teachings this week and I am still reading the same books.....in the summer I am not as eager to pick up a book as when the outdoors warrants staying inside away from the snow and cold.  What have you been up to?

Until next time..................



1 comment:

Sharon said...

I am also enjoying watching the Olympics. And I am also a fan of women's beach volleyball. I hadn't thought of why I like it so much, but I think you're right - it's the strength of the women competing. I'm also a big fan of women's gymnastics. Again, strength and amazement at what people can do with their bodies!!

Prayers for Jo's recovery, and for continued strength for you. It's so distressing when our bodies feel weak. I pray that you will continue to rely on God's strength, and embrace it in your time of recovery, and that He will continue to repair and heal your body.

GOD BLESS!

(Politics?? Don't get me started...)