Nature Songs ~~~~

MAY,2000, continued ~

May 25, 2000 - The thunder storms played around in our area this morning. They seem to begin here along the foothills and the mountains before inching their way toward the coast, building strength and fury as it proceeds. Yesterday had a lot of damages left by the storms with many people left without electricity. Burke County took its toll yesterday from large softballs of hail with broken windows, damaged homes and cars, not to forget the wind and tree damages. This morning we were late beginning our water class having to wait until the storm moved away from us. Then there was the music to keep our minds on the moment and exercising.
Following the water session, I had signed up for a class on "The Healing Touch", a Healthy Choices Class offered by Q4L.About a dozen of us gathered to touch on Healing Touch, an energy-based program developed by the nursing profession. It is designed to clear, align and balance the human energy system through touch. The goal is to empower one to activate the innate wisdom of the body to self regulate and heal itself. Many areas of my own needs could be helped by the Healing Touch; General Well Being, Allergies, Stress and Tension, Pain Control, Neck and Back Problems, Healing, Hypertension, Headaches, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia - and more probably.

In a hour's time we were only able to learn such a little. Yet, it was enough to want to learn more. Weeks like this one has been, makes it easy to want to learn about avenues of bettering life by alleviating pain and its side-kicks. In a nutshell, we were shown the seven layer auric body system: Etheric body, Emotional body, Mental body, Astral body, Etheric template, Celestial body and Ketheric body. We were shown how to test the body energies before experiencing the Self Chakra Connection session where we went through the steps of coming in touch with our bodies beginning with our feet and working up through the head. We were also given some tips of breathing.

I came home to a blinking light on the answering machine. I knew who it was from, or so I thought. This time it was my aunt saying she was sorry they missed me. My cousin and his wife are visiting from California and they were visiting Mother with her. I spent several hours with Mother this afternoon and did some of the quilting on my wall hanging as we visited together. After getting back home Wes comes by and shows me some catalogues on computers. We end up by ordering me a new computer. I offer him my old one in exchange for getting the craft/computer room organized for me. That is no small task to be undertaken, and I realize it is much more than I can do alone. I am mostly good only for supervising and offering my input for what I want to end up with. (Maybe I should put the 'puter in cold storage until the room is to my liking.)
Lady is late coming this evening. She had to work late this morning and overslept today. We discussed skipping this week, but then I took another glimpse around me and suggested she come on over. Along with her coming later, Charlie had to show himself for the second time today. He got into a fight with Oreo this afternoon and had to spend time-out in his crate. He managed to slip out the door on Lady to his Outside World of Joy! Joy it was for a while for him, too. I told Lady to ignore him and he would come back on his own. He was at the neighbor's porch and she thought she would get him. Wrong! Charlie took off around the neighbor's house. I made him come back into the house later on my terms. He had to wait outside for a while before I let him back indoors. Then, he had to bark at the vacuum cleaner... bad choice for a dog with two strikes already for the day.

May 26, 2000 - Agony! Pain! Prain! No rain! It has to be the season. Other's are having Fibro moments now as well. I am not alone. That does not make moving any easier for this body of mine. The right hip is still a problem, whether from the Fibro, exercising, maybe straining it a little when I stumbled, getting feeling back due to the shots. Then too, the whole right side is more painful than it has been for awhile. Maybe I have pushed too hard. I cannot out guess myself, so I accept that somewhere within me a button has been pushed which has released more discomfort than I care to endure. Now on to other matters.

After my morning water workout, and a quick stop at Wally World with Ms. Jay, I was more than ready for a rest spell when I got home. Later in the afternoon I strolled in to Mother's room to spend some time with her. She had somehow gotten her folley bag loose from her wheelchair and had it caught in the front wheel of her chair. She was complaining of her stomach hurting more than usual the past hour or so. I had to find the nurse to report what had happened to her bag so they could keep an eye on her this evening. The bag and tube may have to be changed if she has pulled it loose. I again sat with her and did some more quilting. She was not in a talkative mood and sat most of the afternoon with her eyes closed. She did eat some cheese I had brought to her and had little appetite when her supper tray was brought in to her. I left right after her supper and stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things before arriving back home to once again collapse for the evening.

May 27, 2000 - Saturday morning once again. How did this week pass so quickly? This is a Saturday that I can choose to be in slow mode for the morning or maybe even the day. I am beginning to get a twinge of excitement and expectation. I have actually bought myself a more modern and faster computer. It is one that will be able to handle my digital camera and playing around to see what I may create with room to spare. Wes had zoned in on a good buy that was much cheaper which he felt would be a good investment for me. I chose a sportster over the sedan with more speed, more ram, more attachments, more goodies! I will have to adjust to the windows 98 which I have never used. Guess us oldsters must go with the flow and enjoy all these new-fangled goodies that dangle around waiting to get attached to us. We are never too old to learn new tricks as long as we keep an open mind and pray for lots of visions, patience and memory to keep up with the flow.
My friend, Treehouse, has added an audio message to her e-mail. It is so good to hear her and feel I know her even better than before. She has such a nice voice and sounds so young. I'm trying to get up the nerve to sign on to the site that offers the audio service, but I'm not sure that the world is ready to take my Southern drawl. It has been interesting to see the reaction of the folks in New Jersey when I speak, especially in retail stores where they least expect to hear an outsider asking for things, or giving an input into the discussion. My daughters learned quickly when they left the South to adapt to the climate they were in when speaking. Of course, from all reports, Tbird didn't do too good at covering her Southern accent when touring Europe during her High School Years. I would loved to have heard her trying to speak in other languages back then! She had a typical local brogue which I lovingly referred to as "Whitnelitism". Only people in this immediate area speak using a distinct style of leaving off parts of words as if they don't have energy to speak more clearly.

Dear Mother called earlier than I expected this morning. Her sister called after she did and we planned to meet in the morning for breakfast and church. I haven't decided yet what I may be able to eat. I may end up with sipping on my decaf coffee while we visit together for breakfast. I'm finding with the "diet" that I am not eating a lot of fat during the day. I still am not cooking for myself and am choosing to skip eating over having to prepare something. Taking charge of cooking for myself is not a priority and I haven't been able to change that fact as yet.

My cousin and his wife will be at church in the morning and I will get to talk with them some. He wants to get my e-mail addy before he heads back to California so we can exchange information about things we learn of our family tree. He is working on the Deal family and it will be interesting to swap facts and ideas. So far I don't have a great deal on the Deal family.(No pun intended) It has dawned on me that I still have not sent in my income tax information. I need to get it together and make the trip to Patterson to get it all filled out and filed. I now have the forms replaced that I lost and I certainly don't want to lose them as I did the first ones. That will be a must for me to do this coming week. We have no classes on Monday since it is a holiday, so I will have a good week for doing the leg work as well as adding up a few figures I haven't done yet....

May 28, 2000 - I found myself sharing thoughts with friends once again as I was writing emails yesterday. I hope they don't mind that I record my thoughts here as well since they are things I would also like to remember later on down the road of time.

At 09:22 AM 05/22/2000 EDT, you wrote:
>Good Morning,
>And what a beautiful morning it is here in Michigan. To nice a day to spend >in doors but I wanted to send you this link to a web site I think you'll find >of interest. I haven't had the chance to really look it over yet but it >looked informational. >Let me know how you like it. > >It's a website about Fibromyalgia.

My Friend,
It is so good to hear from you again. I feel like we are old friends.

Fishing! It has been ages since I've been fishing. My husband and I used to fish together many years ago. Now I doubt if I would even know when a fish nibbles at the bait. My family does not have much time for that now. My oldest son is the only one that really enjoys going fishing. We have Bass, Catfish, Perch and Bluegill mostly around here along with natural trout and trout ponds. What kind of fish do you enjoy catching up there where the water is cooler? Do you go fishing very often? It is such a wonderful way to sit back and let the worries of the world trickle down the creek or across the pond while you enjoy nature. I enjoyed watching the salmon swimming upstream in New York streams years ago. Do you have Salmon?

Thanks for the URL for the Fibro site. It is interesting. I look for new sites all the time. This is one I sent on to several Fibro buddies I thought would like it and the information about National Fibromyalgia Day. That is something that most of us are not made aware of often enough. I like to believe that exercising is helping me, but there are days I wonder about that. It would be wonderful to have it go into remission and forget to ever flare up again. The nurse who led our class this past Thursday on Healing Touch said that her Fibro has gone into remission and has been for several years now. That is something I want to explore and learn a little more about.

Thanks for sticking with me through the years. I can hardly believe that another year in the life of my journal begins August. If you read or think of something I could branch out on or spend more time with, let me know. I feel a need to maybe do things a little different this next year, but I have no idea what that would be. Then, I've also noticed that I am able to recall more things from my early years. That is a part of me that has been suppressed for years. I never know for sure what I will finish up with once I begin to write something for the day. I'm surprised at times with the outcome.

Your Mother reminds me of my Aunt. She never married and I was the one that looked after her for years. She lived at home alone until she was 91 and it was hard for her to give up her home and have to move to the nursing home. Mother still believes that she can do so much more than she is capable of doing. It is becoming more difficult for me to have to deal with her some days now. She doesn't understand my need for rest and what a strain it is some days to get things done. If I would just come and get her, she would take care of everything - no matter what! I'm being put on too many guilt trips by her lately and it is getting more difficult to face her phone calls .... yet I cannot take her phone away. To her, it is a lifeline.

Thanks for writing. Keep in touch. Enjoy fishing.
Love, Stormy Jeanne
My other answer went to my dear friend, Treeheart, way out in Oregon. Yes, the computer has a way of melting away the miles between friends, bringing a closeness that was not possible before this age of cyber space.

At 05:51 AM 05/19/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi Stormy, I just read a beautifully written entry at >Armchair Peregrinations, and I'm sending you the URl.
>Tree,

Once again, thank you for reminding me to read ArmchairPeregrinations. I start to read one entry and end up reading for an hour or more each time. Lately, I haven't kept up with other websites as often as I would like to. I find myself reading yours over the weekend for the week before. That keeps me a little behind with you and your family. I promise when I get the new computer up and running I will be able to keep tabs on you a little closer (Now, watch yourself ..;o))

My parents lived in Sumpter, SC for two and a half years while I was in college. It was nice to read about Sumpter and how it has changed over the years. I can smell the swamp-stained waters of the swimming ponds in that area even yet from the one summer that I spent living there with my parents. That is something you have to experience to really know what the waters are like there. The word "hot" does not begin to describe the muggy still heat of the days spent there. I remember that my clothes mildewed hanging in the closet because of the dampness.

Thanks for your note today about Mother. Like you, I wonder sometimes how decisions about patients like her are made and how many times people don't know to ask questions. I learned a lot having worked with my aunt when she was in nursing homes each time she had to recover from surgeries and falls. Plus, my brother used to own one in Concord, NC. His two daughters work with Hospice as nurses even yet, and are a help at times as well.

I love the sound of your voice. You sound so young and energetic! Thanks for adding the audio message to your email. That's something I would like to get up the nerve to do ... maybe after I get the new computer up and running ?

Take care and have a great weekend.

Love, Stormy Jeanne

May 29, 2000 - I should have gone back and added an e-mail to yesterday’s keepers. As always, things are bound to pop up when least expected and Saturday was no exception. Mr. BingoKid forgot a very important "be careful" given by his Dad as he laid a garage door down from the basement in order to replace it with doors. He preceded to step back on the windows of the door and cut his foot badly enough that they had to make a fast trip to the Emergency Room at the Hospital. Luckily, he still had his crutches from the sprained ankle which aided in his leaving the hopsital with nine new stitches to sport around with at school today.

May 30, 2000 - I had to go back and add an e-mail to yesterday’s keepers. As always, things are bound to pop up when least expected and Saturday was no exception.

Yet another unexpected change for today came in the form of a late Sunday evening phone call. Today was to be different. It’s Memorial Day and Q4L is closed. It would be a long weekend without exercise for me. Wrong, again! I got exercise today with some to spare. It began early with the arrival of Little Miss Giggles. Her day care was closed for today; Mom had to work: Dad had an appointment to work in his workshop with his friend. That went quite well for the two of us. She took a nap which gave me time to rest along with her and while she was active and on the go, she listens well which gave me an opportunity to not have to run after her all morning.

She walked out to the car with me and climbed in to her carseat for the long ride across the mountain to pick up her brothers. They finished up school for the year and got out at lunch. NascarKid proudly showed one of the awards he received for being top Excellerated Reader. He came home with eight awards for the year. DynoKid received six. DynoKid had left his awards at school with his Mom, who had to work all day.

It was funny. While in the line of cars progressing along the driveway to the pickup point, I’m sure some of the drivers behind me had to shake their heads as they wondered what was going on. Tbird saw me coming. She and a fellow worker came running out of the building. They jumped into the car with me and rode to the pickup point so her friend could meet me and see the baby who was sleeping through it all. As I slow down, out jump the two teachers giving up their places to the boys. From there I drove to Tbird’s home to leave Giggles with Dad for the afternoon. The boys came to spend the afternoon with me. We met with Mom, Dad and Giggles at 7:30 in Hudson at the steak house for supper and the hand-over of the boys. It was definitely a day of exercise for me. I was ready for rest.

May 31, 2000 - Rest was not to be. That school girl excitement of yore kept popping into my restless night. I am excited as a young child looking forward to that much dreamed of toy on Christmas morning. All through the night, the excitement drifts into my thoughts. What will it be like? When will it come? Will I be at home to receive and sign for it? Will it get out of the box and hooked up quickly? I am excited about getting my new computer. It has been in Greensboro since the 27th. The weekend and holiday have kept it grounded there. So very near and yet just out of reach. Now, I know it is here in town. It left Greensboro early yesterday morning. It is less than a two hour drive. I can only hope it is all I am expecting with no problems to interrupt the pleasures of working on it.

As I was waiting next door for Ms. Jay to get in my car for our trek down into the valley for our water joys, who would be driving up the drive but my son-in-law and the boys. I had planned to keep them tonight, but for some reason it had not dawned on me that I would have them for the day before as well. So they traded seats in their Dad’s truck for the back seat of my car and they were off for a day of excitement with me. Of course when we got back home, the new computer had not come yet - which was good since I would not have been here to sign for it.

The computer didn’t arrive until 4:30 this afternoon. That was fine since Wes would be coming by after work to hook it up and check it out. By evening, the boys were full of pizza from Little Caesar’s Wednesday special of a large pizza with one topping for five dollars with no limit. That worked out fine for them since they will only eat one topping (pepperoni for one and hamburger, no cheese for the other one) The new computer was online and ready to use much more than I had expected. It will take a while for everything to be shifted over to it, but all the important stuff is there now. So far, so good.

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