warmer temperatures

On Monday we got a fair amount of snow. Everything was white again. Today I think it got to the mid-sixties. The last time I noted the temperature at mid morning it was approaching sixty.

It has been a busy week and I can tell I've pushed myself too hard. I keep thinking if I can just reach X I can sit back and not worry so much. How absurd is that?



I've been accumulating items for bringing to the thrift store for a month. Today was the day as DQ has no school today. I also discovered that Stinkerbell needed nighttime panties and that I was out of Mucinex. Thus, a trip to Walmart was on the roster. In addition, I had agreed to bring my friend with ALS a meal.



The first stop was Walmart. All did not go well, but to understand why we must rewind to yesterday. Yesterday we got a bill in the mail from our frequent flyer credit card. We use it to earn miles by paying for all our monthly expenses with it and then paying it off every month.

However, somebody I know has a problem with setting the dates for electronic payments and and instead of setting up the last payment in March and set it up for April 21. So I went on-line yesterday afternoon and moved the payment up to the closest date permitted by the bank which was next Monday.

Today the credit card was declined all because of the missed payment. :(

Fortunately, the clerk knows me and said she would save the items until I returned later in the day.



Next, we went to the thrift store and dropped off our items. I made a quick pass through the store to see if they had doilies for a craft project I was considering leading for DQ's class and then we headed back home to make a delivery to my friend.



My plan had been to stop at the park before we brought the food over and we had enough time to stay at the park for an hour. As you might guess, the girls had a blast. Then we went home and picked up the food and went over to her house. My friend's ALS is progressing very rapidly. As of last week she could not move any of her limbs except for her right thumb and has had several choking incidents.

They have an appointment at Mayo later this month. The doctors at Mayo have told them that they will recommend her for hospice when they see her again. It seems she will have a feeding tube quite soon.

Her only daughter is getting married in July. It seems a very long time.

DQ asked me why were bringing them food and explained that J is so sick that she can't move any part of her body but her right thumb. We talked about J for awhile and I explained that the doctors do not know of any way to make J better and that what J could probably kill her before the end of the summer and if not it would probably kill her by Christmas.

DQ said "Mom there are only two ways for your friend to get better. We pray or she goes to heaven. If she goes to heaven it will be like she was never sick." From the mouths of babes.

After I delivered the food DQ asked that we say a a prayer for J and her family. DQ was concerned about how old her children were and I explained that her youngest child was in college.



Then we returned to the thrift store to pick up something I had left there and finally we returned to Walmart with a checkbook to pay for our items. Our account is suspended until the company receives our payment.

The credit card issue is very frustrating as we have the highest possible credit rating. I wish lenders would take into account people's credit rating and history when they make a simple mistake. Oh, well.





The photos sprinkled throughout are at the park today. Spring and fall when the sun is angled, and the trees are bare and there is limited foliage on the ground is one of my favorite times to take photos of people...the shapes, shadows, and textures are so moving to me.

If you feel the same way, let me know. I will draw a name from responses to this post and whoever wins can go to my album at Pbase and pick a photo they would like (with my approval) and I will print it up as 8.5X11 for them. It will be a Walmart print so it will be nothing high quality but it would be fun.

If ya'll lived closer, I would volunteer to do a family outdoor photo shoot for free. But since none of you live near me except for Kris that isn't an option. I guess if Kris wins I might letter choose that option if she likes. :0