To say nothing of my finger joints!

Not only am I working out my ears and eyes these days, my finger tips and knuckles as well! Lots of typing and mouse-clicking going on as work continues between phone calls and posting on the three newsletters. All three due this month! What day is it exactly today????

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It appears, according the ticker on Fox News, that the Dow is showing an upturn thus far today, with the markets only being open a short time at this point. At first when the markets were falling, people like me were riveted to their sets or monitors, watching and marking as the numbers fell, turned red, bright red at the end of trading. Now, we ask one another, "How much did we lose today?", as though it is expected. None of the Wise seem to realize the market just is not "buying" into all these attempts to socialize our nation. Neal Boortz loves to ask the question: "When did a poor person ever hire you for a job?" I guess the answer to that would be: the guy who hired you for his start-up company on borrowed money who is now able to make it without bail-out money and has repaid the loans!!!!

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I was telling my friend, Judy R., yesterday about reading my "Grandma..." books she recommended, which I bought "used" on-line. What is this world coming to? She is a voracious reader and I am not, but she likes me anyway---talk about unconditional love! She told about a read she just finished and I asked her to not tell me about it because I simply cannot keep up! It seems I am using the Grandma books more like a devotional than a cover to cover read because of the way it is set up. And I really enjoy it! The writer includes Scripture passages between her paragraphs as well as hymn stanzas to tie it all together. As I was looking at the back cover and saw "testimonies" from other readers, I recognized names of people I know, like the Spiritual Growth leader of LWMS, Carolyn Wehmeyer, here in our circuit! She comments that this book is "a great devotional for personal daily use....". Yup, I knew that!

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The chapter I read this a.m. was about getting to put away the winter underwear. My readers from the South are not going to know what this is, but back in the old days, the kids actually did have to walk to school all the time, even in the winter and had to wear heavy, scratchy "woolies" under their clothes to help keep them warm. The city kids did not have so far to walk so were able to shed their woolies sooner than did the rural students, who were then teased for still wearing the winter weather garments. While all rejoiced over having the woolies to keep them warm during the worst of winter, come spring, all wanted to cast them off, even if it meant not being comfortable for the long walk back home, to avoid being teased. Pearl (who I think is really Judy R.!) places the passage from Romans into the text: "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Makes me feel badly about not liking the little pink half coat that was handed down from sister to sister when I was a girl! The kids who had to wear the winter stockings and shirts felt the mockery of their rude, nasty classmates while enjoying the warmth of those items of ridicule on their way home! Just think.....

My ears are working out this morning

All things should be done in moderation, and that includes working out. After my quasi-physical exam on Saturday, I have decided to start a work-out program and have started from the top down. In the shower Sunday morning I scrubbed my scalp and hair until it bled (not really!), working the shampoo into quite the lather. Not only exercising my scalp and hair follicles, but my arms to boot!

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Monday I exercised my jaw by attending Bible study and going to lunch with the ladies. At Longhorn I exercised restraint by not ordering an adult beverage before noon! Especially since I had to work on the newsletter when I got home and had no time for nap taking. My jaw was used for talking with Twila for whom I served as chauffeur and again at Bible study for discussion. My chicken fingers were excellent and we had two new faces at lunch: my friend, Jennifer R. and Kim Tyler, Gordy's daughter, whom Judy C. picked up after class. She enjoyed her time away from her dad's side, and I am sure he didn't mind having his place to himself for a little while either. She will be staying through the weekend at least to help him get acclimated to being home after his rehab stay. Both Gordy and Twila were released at the same time, as though a coup took place! Twila, being younger and having the full replacement, bounced back more quickly than did Gordy, who had other medical complications pop up in the midst of his rehab.

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I was not moderate in my exercise yesterday, however, as I threw in exercising my tear glands and nose blowing after having several spoken and written conversations with dear ones regarding the conclusion drawn by the LES Team, to not start a kindergarten or add grades to our preschool at this time. Some folks were mightily disappointed, not realizing there was an undercurrent of dissent or dissatisfaction or or or or besides the wretched economic state our community and congregation is in. Mightily disappointed......One young lady, when she read my posting about my ear was hot from talking on the phone suggested that it meant people were talking about me, which would not surprise me one little bit! I believe the superstition actually is if one's ears are itching, people are talking about you, so perhaps I am in the clear!

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Because of the shedding of tears and outpouring of emotion, my brain (or what remains of it) was pounding, which is the true mark of over exertion---the no pain, no gain theory. It was nothing a rest on the bed wouldn't take care of so I placed myself on the mattress to make even more phone calls, this time to the snowy north. My sister-in-law and bro-in-law actually took my call!, and this is funny because, for some reason or another, when the phone rings in their home, the name of the person calling shows up on their TV screen! Whew! I am relieved that the vote was to take my call. Someone else told me about the movie "Gran Torino" where family members push the phone around the table to get someone else to answer it. I can see that happening when my name shows up on people's TVs! When Harv told me I showed up on his TV, I quickly went to put on some lipstick so I at least looked presentable. He thought that was amusing, and assured me only my name and number show up---whew! But, the way of the future.......

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Today's workout will hopefully be less so, but is okay if I repeat any of the previous exercises from this week. Especially the hair washing and teeth brushing! My ears started early with hearing jets in the air, my TV speaking to me, as well as my radio playing over the computer. So much talking and sound for my ears to gather.

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Joanne was on the phone earlier, trying to arrange for her hubby to go sit with her father at the hospital as she has an early morning meeting. I wouldn't work for that since her dad has Alzheimer's Disease and needs some familiarity around him as he heals.

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Rosalie called me again yesterday, too, which absolutely delights me because I simply love talking with her. She is still trying to keep herself busy even though she is healing from a bone fracture in her foot. One blessing about being home-bound is catching up on stuff that gets missed when out and running every day, but she is also looking forward to making her shut-in visits again and taking ladies to lunch and working at church.......typical Rosalie stuff! She was so surprised to hear that Mom is 84 years old---she was sure they were both about the same age, not 10 years apart. Mom--that is a huge compliment to you, in case you did not know it!