The World of Grandpa Don
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Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works
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What's New In the world of Grandpa Don |
Week Ending Friday |
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Welcome to the inquisitive mind of, and the sometimes strange world of, Grandpa Don. You enter a place where diversity of thought is welcomed because it brings new insights and even some adventure into our lives. It is a place were truthfulness is celebrated and deceit is shunned. It is a place where faith is admired and trust is sought as well as given. Whatever else is found here, every attempt is made to use the internet responsibly in the fine tradition of the Order of St Isidore of Seville.
Last week, and by that I actually mean the week before last ... the week ending Aug 21 ... didn't sink in completely until Friday of that date, a full day after my Cleveland relatives had gone home. Thinking back on the week I had that feeling of contentment and satisfaction, truly a good feeling. I sometimes feel just a little guilty in being here in this house, just Mikey and I. Of course the sign hanging in the entry hall states, "The dog and his wait staff live here". But it made me feel wonderful to be able to share the house as a kind of Bed & Breakfast with great people and give them an opportunity to visit "my" city and many of its attractions. So to all my kin in Ohio (and elsewhere) I .invite them to make reservations at Grandpa Don's Bed & Breakfast. You can't beat the price and accommodations anyplace. I am compensated in that feeling of satisfaction and contentment. Priceless!
Sarah, John and the boys left on the right day. Friday was downright cool, cloudy and windy. I started the day by going to the local lab for blood tests, and this time, a urine test. (Sugar ... not drugs.) Since I had three restaurant breakfasts earlier in the week, I relinquished my traditional reward by going home and having some cereal then relaxing with my coffee. After updating this web site and having a salad for lunch, I went for a hair cut ( it was either that or buy a comb) and then on to the Jewel to pick up some vitals for myself and Mikey. At the barber shop there were two men waiting and one barber unoccupied. Anybody can cut my hair ... just cut it off ... so I get in and out without a wait. The grocery shopping was almost as fast. I didn't need much especially since I don't eat sandwiches ... no bread, no lunch meat, no condiments ... just a box of cereal for breakfast, a couple more frozen dinners and a bunch of those salads from the deli section for my lunches.
The bank had said that they would process my reverse mortgage draw on Friday and after that I should expect to have it available in my checking account in 24 to 48 hours. But, they don't know how my Charles Swab checking works. In mid afternoon I checked my checking account on line and found that the deposit (direct electronic deposit) was already entered in my account and I clicked over to my bill pay feature and authorized the payment to Murphy Windows. They will have their check by Wednesday and my window installation can proceed. They would have had it sooner if they had direct deposit but Schwab will mail the check. Jim Murphy had spoken with Anne Marie in regard to the finishing of her installation and in the course of their conversation had mentioned that they normally wait until they have the initial payment (half) before ordering the windows from the factory. He told her that in my case, they had already placed the order. He trusts me. That too enhances the feeling of contentment in me. Priceless!
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The last time I was with Tom's in-laws I got the last bit of information about Marilyn's ancestors, the Rossiter branch of the family. This family branch is not in my line of ancestors but it is in the line of my granddaughters, Caitlin and Kelly. The information was researched for her by George Myers in 2004. I actually became acquainted with George a few years ago at St Julie church when he was in the RCIA program joining our church. He is keeping company with Marilyn's son's mother-in-law. Small world. But all that has nothing to do with my story. George apparently uses the deluxe version of Ancestry.com because he was able to dig deep into the family's history in England. His research went back beyond Walter Rossiter's (1881-1948) arrival on the Lusitania in 1910 to Marilyn's 3rd great grandparents George Rossiter (b 1795) & Jane Matilda Rogers (b1795). Jane's family parish was the famous St Martin In The Fields located on Trafalgar Square in London. Actually the parish itself dates back to before 1222. Jane was Christened there on June 14, 1795 and was married to George Rossiter there on January 18, 1816 I first became aware of St Martin In The Fields through listening to the beautiful classical music recorded by the Academy of the same name which originated there. We find a lot of interesting connections through genealogical research. Thanks go to George Myers. To learn about the history of the church go to St Martin In The Fields. George Myers suggests that a web page of Rossitor genealogy may stir interest of others into further research of the family line. Now there is a thought!
Moving from a family connection by marriage and ancestors of my grandchildren we go to talk of ancestors by adoption. I received an email from Diane Lambert in regard to the Simousek side of the family and their pending trip to the Czech Republic. She says:
Finally I'm getting back to you with some answers to your questions about the family in Cechy. I just finished talking to George Rumbyrt Jr.in Darien, IL. His wife Sandra answered the phone. After I told her who I was, I asked her if she remembered talking to you in 2000 and the things she related to you at that time. She couldn't remember the conversation. Then she got George on the phone; we must have talked for an hour! He is 81 years old and pretty sharp. He talked about things he had heard over the years about the family, although he couldn't say what town in Bohemia the Simouseks came from. He did say that he heard that Great-grandma Theresa's parents came from a town in Prussia. That makes sense because the name Fritz is very German.
[I belong to the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International and receive "Nase rodina"(Our Family) Quarterly. In the latest (June 2009) edition there is a very interesting article by Diane K McClure who has been doing the Villages Project in Bohemia. Her research traces Chicago's Settlers from Trebon area Villages. It starts with Bridgeport residents around 1872 and lists John Havel at 2617 Fifth Avenue (now Wells) as one of the undertaker establishments. This was my great-grandpa Havel, father of Catherine Simousek, the second wife of John Joseph Simousek. The article lists families who settled in Chicago given by villages: Bor - Simousek; Vitin - Havel. Both of these villages are listed on death certificates of my great-grandparents. There are two "Vitins" and several "Bors" in the Czech Republic. In 2000 we visited the Vitin south of Prague, and the Vitin (residents were buried in the cemetery in Sevetin) near Trebon. I am sure that is the correct one. Bor is not too far away. I checked out the "villages project"on the Internet and found a lot of information on Simouseks in Bor.]
George believes that his father's family were German. He said the Rumbyrt name was originally Rumbau. It got changed when the family was going through immigration in New York. George said he and his wife Sandra are cancer survivors. Sandra had breast cancer a couple of years ago. He has been diagnosed with acute leukemia. They both go to Loyola Cancer Center for treatment. This may be the reason Sandra could not recall your conversation nine years ago. We had a very nice visit and agreed to keep in touch. George and Sandra had two children: Jeff and his wife Kelley are both MD's in CO. They have three children: Luke, Noah, and Mollie. Daughter, Tracy (married name, Weber) has a son, Trent 10 years old.
We are going to visit cousins on my Grandma (Stastny) Korous and Grandpa John Korous sides of the family in Pacejov and Strazovice - north of the Sumava and east of Klatovy. I sent letters to the Stastnys and the Korous cousins last month. Two of them sent E-mails, and I replied - Jan Stastny wrote a long letter. They are all expecting a visit from us. We are all looking forward to seeing each other again. First we are going to the wine country in extreme east Moravia where Lynn's cousins live in Blatnice. Then we will see Pernstein Castle and leave about noon for Prague. Plans are to take an evening cruise on the Vlatava River in Prague. We will travel southwest to visit my cousins for a few days before returning to the States. It should be interesting!
Sometime after we return Theresa would like to meet you. She said you sound like a very nice person.
I will need to start thinking about what to take on the trip. Hope I don't forget anything. I have a list which will be checked off as things are packed. Otherwise it looks like all the arrangements are made. I have been practicing my "czech" - don't want to be too much of a dunce in front of all of them.
And so, I now know a lot more about my Rumbyrt (Rumbau) family and may soon learn more about my adopted mother's family, the Simousek clan. Although there is no blood (genetic) relationship, I was brought up with great influence from their culture. I still live with the craving for roast pork, bread dumplings and sauerkraut along with hoska and kalochky. I will always be Bohemian by assimilation and indoctrination no matter what my genes are. And ... I constantly fight the desire to live to eat rather than eat to live. In addition, or probably primarily, my adopted parents, aunts & uncles along with cousins were the ones I knew. They were my family, still are and always will be. But getting back to my cousin's information about our relatives and her pending journey to discover more and to experience the culture of others, I am reminded that life is all about people ... all people, not just me. The better we know each other, the better we are able to love and appreciate each other.
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My computer guru, Kevin commented on my use of Google Chrome. He said,
If Google had it their way they want to record every search transaction
no matter who’s engine you use, that is their plan the way I see it.
That is why I will not support them, they are even willing to pay PC
manufacturers to pre-install the Google toolbar on new computers.
I personally don’t think it is any of their business.
My reply was:
I glanced at their agreement and privacy policy but maybe I don't pay
attention to those things as much as I should. However, as you can see
by my web site, I am not very protective of my privacy there either. I
know that Chrome tracks my browsing and matches advertising to my
apparent interests. Some would see that as an invasion of privacy but I
see it as giving me what I am interested in and not a lot of stuff that
does not interest me. I also am selective about where I go on the
internet and although I sometimes stumble upon an undesirable web page
it is rare and I would hope their program recognizes it for what it is
and not a pattern for me. (I tend to trust a lot)
I also asked him about a new computer. Since it will be the last one I ever buy (I have said that before) I am thinking of the Intel Core I7 Quad (the latest and greatest Intel Processor 1000% faster and around $1200, but buys an additional 2 year of non upgrade in the future, also has a video card capable of 36fps at full resolution with insane graphics and will drive 2 monitors) (triple channel ram at 1333Mhz) I would of course get a large flat screen monitor and maybe with that graphics card keep my present monitor to work with it. Why do I need all that? Well, I probably don't NEED it but I do multi-tasking with some pretty clunky memory hogging applications to work on this web site and this computer just bogs down under the strain. In addition, every time they come out with faster computers, the application designers follow with programs that strain their capabilities. And then there is the fact that the price of computers is about the only thing that is going down while the price of everything else goes up.
As one of our TV weather forecasters said, "Summer has taken a week end holiday". It reached 70 degrees on Saturday and the clouds were moving fast from directly north. It has been a relatively cool summer and the temperature of Lake Michigan is only about 67 degrees. What happened to global warming? My sojourns to the garden have been brief today but the Potato Vine is thriving. You can almost see it grow at the rate of over an inch a day. One branch has now surpassed the top of the trellis. I was afraid I had lost the Hostas that Dominic and Sarah gave me. They flowered but the big leaves just drooped and many died away. But now I see new healthy looking shoots emerging from the ground. Hooray for the Hostas! I was going to split my daylilies and plant them amongst the Hostas under the two trees but I miss the color I had last year with Inpatients planted there. There is more variety of color and they flower continuously all summer. I hate the bother of planting them every spring but maybe my landscape guys can do it.
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I have been advocating the responsible use of the internet for a long time. In doing so I have managed to irritate some people in regard to my comments about emails I receive, you know ... the forwarded ones advocating this and that or in opposition to something or other, many of them using, in my view, falsehoods or half truths, as well as the false warnings of impending disaster if you do this or don't do that. There are also the chain-prayers and the ones which want to make you feel guilty if you don't proclaim Jesus to 10 of your friends or prove your friendship by returning the missive. Well, the last thing I want to do is irritate people, especially my friends and relatives. (That is redundant ... by default my relatives are my friends.) Some, ... a few ... have taken my preferences and ideas as an attack and personal affront. I have decided to take a different approach, ... a more positive approach. I am starting a crusade!
The Responsible Use of the Internet Crusade, may be waged by a one man
army but you are all invited to enlist. To be a member you do not need
to register and the term of enlistment is ... as long as you wish to
remain active. Hopefully the duties will become more habit than
obligation. There is no boot camp, it is an on-the-job training program.
There are no fees nor dues of any kind. Crusaders may be male or female
(remember Joan of Arc?) and of any age. Crusaders may remain anonymous
if they wish and no roster will be kept. After all, this is an
organization based on truth and honor.. Crusaders will be provided with
weapons and we can start with the first weapon, the "Prayer Before Using
the Internet".
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Prayer before using the Internet:
Almighty and eternal God,
Who has created us in Thy image
And bade us to seek after all that is good, true and beautiful,
Especially in the divine person
Of Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
Grant, we beseech Thee, that
Through the example of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor,
During our journeys through the Internet
We will direct our hands and eyes
Only to that which is pleasing to Thee
And treat with charity and patience
All those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
This prayer is borrowed from the Order of St Isidore of Seville. It sets
the tone for this crusade as
well as becoming its mission statement. This, being a crusade, is
Christian in nature and intent. Those who do not wish to adhere to the
spirit of this prayer will not wish to be a crusader for this cause.
However, since the crusade is based in these Christian values I would
hope that any Christian would want to participate. Having said that,
non-Christians will not be turned away as members as the only
prerequisite for membership is a belief in Christian ideals and
morality. Many of other faiths, and even of no faith, do accept these
same beliefs. The badge of the Crusade is displayed at the right. For a printable copy
of the prayer, click ...
Prayer before using the Internet .
As the Knight Commander of this crusade I advocate nothing that is not Good, True, and Beautiful,
that which is pleasing to God and in spiritual union
with Charity and Patience. More weapons for the crusade will be presented on this page in the coming weeks.
A separate page will be established for the Crusade and will include all
the information about it. By the way, St Isidore is
invoked by this crusade as the Patron Saint of the Internet.
Crusaders are also invited to become members of the
Order of St Isidore of Seville but membership in that group is not a
prerequisite or condition of participation as a crusader in this cause.
Monday and Tuesday of this past week were greatly invested in setting up
a web page for the crusade. I invite you to visit The
Use the Internet Responsibly Crusade and consider becoming a member.
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I was up Sunday morning in plenty of time to finish my breakfast by 8 so I could take my 2 hour after blood sample before going to the 10:30 mass. That gave me more than enough time for everything I normally do plus check my email. How fortuities! There I found a perfect example of using the internet responsibly in the form of an email from Frank Schober. .
Yesterday was Saturday and just before noon I took a shower, shaved and dressed to attend the 4:00PM mass at church to get my weekly dose of Soul food. Being a regular church goer is no guarantee to heaven but it paves the way and is God's commandment. I read once of an Atheist who denied God's existence. On his death bed he asked God for forgiveness stating that the more he tried to disprove God, the more God proved his existence and if he had his life to live over, he would spend every moment preaching God's word.
Just think!!!!!!!!! If every person on earth obeyed God's commandments, there would be no wars, no hunger and no homeless. We are our own worse enemy by not doing what we should or doing things that we shouldn't.
The most amazing thing in our good ole USA is that EVERYBODY has the opportunity to succeed in life. All it takes is effort and determination. "I CAN'T" never accomplished anything. God gives each one of us talents and it is our responsibility to use them. Just think, have you explored your talents and use them?
Thanks to my friend Elsie, enjoy the attachment. Click each page to advance to the next, BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!
Now I wish you a good day with God's blessings. Your friend, Frank.
The attachment was just as positive. I have added it to my "Inspiration"
page. See it at ...
What Matters.. The presentation is beautiful and decidedly
international. The message is significant to all of us. Circulating this
sort of inspirational message is "using the internet responsibly" taken
to its highest peak. Thanks Frank. Your message prepared me well for
going to church. You can see why Frank is my friend. We don't
always agree on everything but we do agree on the most important things.
After mass, one at which we heard a plea for help for an order of Nuns working with children who are in desperate need, and one at which an infant of our parish was baptized, I had a chance to talk to George Myers about the great job he did on the Rossitor Family research. I also spoke with Mike and Sharon Prepura, mostly about computers and then as I was leaving and she was arriving, Mary Moskal greeted me and commented that he loves reading this page and that she knows most of my family through it.
Sunday afternoon Mikey and I went to the Albano house for dinner. Joe was at the Sox game and Anthony was playing softball ... the 16" Chicago variety of the game. Only Marc was at home with his parents but Anthony joined us later. We had pork chops and double baked potatoes along with a salad. I had brought some goodies left over from my guests during the week. Ann Marie had brought some cookies and a cake last Tuesday when they were here. I thought she had also brought Elies Cheese cake but discovered that Sara and John had bought that during their stay. It was a piece of that wonderful cheese cake that I ate before going to bed Thursday evening and the resulting glucose levels the following morning that prompted me to bring the leftovers to my daughter's house. The boys can eat that wonderful food ... I can not ... or rather, should not.
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Monday morning started as a long sleeve shirt day. But despite a little coolness it was beautiful. I have a sign on my patio which states, "Just another day in Paradise". There was no wind and the sky was cloudless. It was a quiet morning and the landing patterns at the airports were such that all the planes that passed overhead were high in the sky. Besides my visit with God and Anne, my thoughts went to the Crusade. I am convinced that this is something I need to do. When finally forced myself to come in the house I found even more things to strengthen my resolve in the nature of beautiful and positive emails, people sendig memoris ... good memories ... and inspiration. I must share ...
Jean Dean sent a tribute to Bob Hope. Bob Hope made a more than comfortable living in the entertainment field and in doing so he gave much back. He shared himself. Many of you are too young to have known him but maybe you can get to know just a little about him in the following video. Those of us who did know him will enjoy the memories. "Thanks for the Memories".
Jean also sent a set of beautiful photos, scenic beauty, with the comment, "If this is earth, What must Heaven be like?" It is easy to become attached to the beauty of this world as well as to anything in this world that gives us pleasure and contentment but when we consider that the goodness of this world is only a promise of what is to come it makes it easier to become less attached to our mortality and give more consideration to our spiritual lives. Thanks Jean. You have contributed to the crusade. Actually, I used one of the pictures as the home castle for the crusade.
Another contribution comes from Simple Truths. I love that name, "Simple Truths" because we tend to make life very complicated and find that life is not that, but built on "Simple Truths". It is we who complicate things for ourselves. Mac Anderson the founder of Simple Truths tells us, ... "William James, over a century ago, said, "The greatest discovery of this generation is that a human being can alter their life by altering their attitudes." Mr. Anderson continues, "I believe this with all my heart, and over the years have seen it happen countless times." To learn more, I invite you to view and hear, "Attitude".
Marilyn Buchler has also made a contribution for this week in the way of an inspirational email. I tried to find a web site that had it displayed well and found many pages of them. The best presentation was found at "Two Men"
One of my emails this week was from Cheryl Scallon. It was a copy of her email to members of the parish Shawl Ministry. It was an inspirational story, the kind we get forwarded to us. It included the story of what one could consider one of life's little miracles. This was not a parable but a true, real life story, one that inspires us, well, at least me, to try harder to be just a little more caring and be a little more kind than I need to be. I asked Cheryl if I could place the story on my web site as well as the parish web site and she has given permission. You will find it at: Cheryl Scallon, and the Shawl .It is now part of my Witness to Life pages. I encourage people to use the "Email This Page To A Friend" button found at the bottom of that page. It is my way of allowing you to "forward" an inspirational story rather than copying it to an email. Emails are too easily modified, names changed and those nasty requests added to send it to 12-1/2 of your friends or your toes will fall off. It is part of "Using the Internet Responsibly". You may email a link to any page to your friends even if that handy button is not available just by copying the URL from the header on the page ans sending that.
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Wednesday afternoon I visited my endocrinologist in her Orland Park office. I love my new doctor! I like this office much better than the one in New Lenox. First of all it is a lot closer to home. Secondly, she doesn't share it with other doctors and it is a much more pleasant place. My pleasure was enhanced at the weigh-in. I had lost 5 pounds in 8 weeks. More good news was that my A1C level dropped from 10 to 7.2. ( we are shooting for less than 6) My kidney function has improved as well. A review of my home glucose tests reveled that my "after meals" glucose is a problem. (I knew that) I will make a visit to her New Lenox office and pick up a sample of Byetta. It will be a 30 day supply of 5mg dosage and is supplied in an injection pen similar to my insulin. I will use it before breakfast and dinner, my two largest meals, and it promises miracles. It is supposed to lower my glucose after meals and not only that but by slowing down the digestive process most users have experienced weight loss with its use. Fantastic! She wrote a prescription for 10mg dosage which I will start when the initial supply is finished. My first task when I got home was to scope out this medication on the internet and I found that it has it's origins in an interesting place--the Gila monster's saliva. Scientists studying this small lizard noted it could go a long time without eating. They found a substance in it's saliva that slowed stomach emptying, thus making the lizard feel fuller longer. To learn more of this medication see Byetta . The doctor however discovered that I was overdosing on Parandin. Dr Schiappa had me taking two 2mg tablets before each meal, a total of 4mg three times a day. She had prescribed a reduction in dose to three 1mg tablets before each meal, a total of 3mg three times a day. The problem was that I wasn't paying attention and was still using three of the old 2mg tablets three times a day giving me 6mg before each meal. She was very upset because 4mg at a time is the absolute highest dose to be taken. That being straightened out, she was happy with my progress and will see me in another two months ... unless the new medication results in low glucose readings. If that happens I need to come in as soon as it happens. I went home a happy camper. I love my new doctor. Did I say that before?
My subscription for "Simple Truths" often brings inspiration and wisdom and Thursday morning was no exception. This was entitled Inspiration 365 Days a Year. The fact is that we need inspiration and reinforcement of our knowledge and moral attitudes continuously of they will diminish. I usually avoid commercialism on this web site. The books being sold by Simple Truths are an exception to this rule. I feel they provide great benefit to the purchaser and so I add my endorsement to the ads, for whatever that is worth.
Kelsey and Caitlin are at their institutions of higher learning and
becoming acclimated to college life. It is a new world for them. They
have both new freedom and new responsibilities. I know they are both
capable of handling them with the help of God and so I invite you to
join me in praying for their
success
and wellbeing. The youngest member of our family has been traveling and
being separated from her parents as well. Sarah's school year as a
teacher has started and they find themselves temporarily without a
sitter for Bella. As a result she was taken to the Detroit area for a
few days to stay with Sarah's parents and she has spent several days
with my daughter and, yes, even with her uncle Anthony with her other
Albano uncles pitching in. She has adapted well but is always glad to be
reunited with her mom and dad, and yes, Hunter, her cannine friend.
Bella, the bathing beauty photo is full size but you can click on the
photo at the right for a better view.
It rained Wednesday and Thursday as well. Thursday morning everything was wet and it was very cloudy but as I had my breakfast and looked out into my patio and the garden beyond the greens seemed to be greener and the flowers more vivid than usual. Life can be grand and glorious, even in the rain. As Anne Marie says, "You don't need to depend on the weather to have a good day."
When I drove to the doctor's New Lenox office to get the sample of Byetta, I noticed that the retention ponds had a lot of water in them so we must have had a great deal of rain overnight. While at the office I asked about the Needles I would need and the nurse came up with an introduction kit from the manufacturer. It was complete with an instruction manual, a DVD with information about the product and a supply of needles. They are the same ones I use for my insulin so that will make life easier. But ... if I hadn't asked, I wouldn't have gotten it. It was my daughter however who solved another problem with my Parandin medication. I was going to cut the 2mg tables in half so I could use the old supply before starting to use the 1mg tablets to get a 3mg dose. Ann Marie explained that she learned to add 1 + 2 to get 3 in the second grade. She is smarter than me and so I will use 1 of the old 2mg tablets with 1 of the new 1mg tablets until the 2mg tables are finished. Then I can go to the 3-1mg tablets that Dr Akbar has perscribed. (Do I feel dumb!)
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY
to Megan Barilla. She is my grandniece, granddaughter of my sister Rita (Copeland) & John Barilla. and daughter of Mark & Jean. It won't be long before she will be asking for the car keys, I'll bet. Best birthday wishes to her.
Friday morning (today) I took my first dose of Byetta before breakfast.. The shot was simple, easy and painless. Medical technology is a miracle. My blood test before breakfast was high but I know why. I treated myself to snacks the night before. ... too much of a good thing. Two hours after breakfast my glucose was lower, not great but better than usual. This is a start in the right direction.
This is another cool, wet day and we expect a cool weekend but I am too busy to worry about that. Kevin is brining my new computer this afternoon. I need to get things cleaned up around my desk to give him room to work without wallowing around amongst all my "stuff". It has been another busy week with a lot going on. Where did August go? It seems like it just started. When I had a job, when did I have time for life? ... Oh, I forgot, ... my job was my life. Now I have a new life and it is great. Thank you God ...
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I Am blest |
Grandpa Don
Plefka
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Anne wanted everyone to be 'Nice'.
This button was in one of
her dresser
drawers I cleaned out in August of 2004
