Life in Weyers Cave

I decided it would be better if I had a little table in the corner of my office so that my speakers, pda, card reader, headphones, and printer would fit a bit better and I wouldn't have the spaghetti wires everywhere. I found the perfect table in my sewing room and could swap it with one in the kitchen .... you get the point. So now I have the table I want to put in my office stuck in the bottom of the stairwell and I can barely get around it. I guess when the girls come to seminary tomorrow morning they can help move it! In the meantime, I have rearranged the sewing room and have more room in there. I am setting up the eight monitors I have sitting around to give away, advertising them on freecycle, but no nibbles. I have a computer ready to give away, but it is Windows 98 so we will see if anyone can use it.

As I was driving home yesterday I went north and passed several police cars around an old orange Gremlin type car with a black stripe on the side. They police think it is the sniper car. Woo Hoo! It sure will be nice to have this over.

This morning I had another chiropractic appointment and I wasn't in pain all day! Amazing! And I have to admit I am definitely positively getting better. Why didn't I do this two years ago? Then I visited Gail. She is sick - started as a cough but now add fever, rash, and, well, she is pretty sick. Sounds like a virus so we are just going to have to wait it out. Last night there were some snipers on I-64 between Waynesboro and Charlottesville shooting at cars. I had to go that stretch to get to my 2:00 today. I passed 20 police cars in 15 miles. They are taking it seriously. Surprise! I go to the client and it was an adorable fabric store. I had to get their internet working on several computers, wireless, xp, vista, and someone had set up a network and not left the password. What a mess! But the ladies were some of the most fun I have been around in a long time and the time went quickly. I'm still learning Vista and networking and DSLs and stuff, but they were lovely and ...

I am no good at relaxing. Ask me to sit on the back deck and enjoy the sunset over the mountains and I last about 30 seconds. Too much to do. Hmm. Wonder if that has anything to do with my now uncontrollable high blood pressure? Nah... So I go my new Resperate device. Very simple really. I hook it around my chest so it can monitor my breathing. It was 22 breaths per minute. (Is that high? I don't know.) It makes very pretty music, just high tones and and low tones. I breathe in on the high tones and out on the low tones. I just sit there for fifteen minutes with my eyes closed and let it direct my breathing. The theory is that the music gradually slows down and you can get below 10 breaths per minute. At this point, your body is relaxed, your blood vessels relax, and your blood pressure lowers. After three weeks of this at least four times a week, they say you are better able to control your blood pressure. Unless, of course, you have interruptions. So I tried it yesterday for the ...

I went to the chiropractor, Dr Dockery, first thing this morning. He does a great job of making me feel really, really miserable all day long. Ow! He is a percussionist in a band. I think that guy needs to see a shrink about his violent tendencies! But he gets an A+ in bedside manner as well as, deep down, I know I am getting better. Yesterday, there was actually a period where I had NO pain in my legs. At all! It was amazing! And overall, even though my back and neck are sore like a bad workout, the deadness I feel in my legs is diminishing. I was supposed to take Gail to him at 2 but she said she didn't feel well so we rescheduled. I stayed home and dug into the piles of junk all over the house and it looks better. I took the old vacuum and ran it as far as I could up and down some of the ducts to clean them out. I put the ozone generator by the air intake in the basement and ran it on high for three hours with the windows open, the fan set to ON and the heater turned off. (I ca...

David and I took out yearly pilgrimage to my mother's house for Easter. We went down Friday -- I drove the Bee Box and David drove Allen's truck. On Saturday my brother-in-law Jeff, nephew Forrest, and I went down to the Fort to pick up Allen and bring him back. That afternoon, we had Easter baskets and today, Sunday, mom got a bunch of 15 of us to eat at "the Club" - the highlight of the trip and a family Easter tradition. And before you ask, the bunny at the Club was sober this year. But his previous indiscretions were still discussed, including Bryan's famous version of "Here comes Peter Cottontail, all hung over from last night's ale." During the egg hunt, we invited the two children from the house behind, Mikayla and Shawn. There was a basket for each child, although we didn't buy a lot of extra things for the other kids. Just a basket with a few eggs and candy. Robyn got a book about Peter Cottontail with little fold up flaps and pictures u...

I got Gail a travel wheel chair today. It is 19 pounds and fits in the back of the car because the handles fold down and pushes really easily. It isn't comfortable for her long-term but is really going to make it easier for me to take her out. It has a red plaid seat and is very neat-looking. I got a letter saying Gail had left her Bible at a church half an hour away. I drove out there, picked up the Bible, and brought it to Gail. She had never seen it before in her life. Her name was just on a tiny slip of paper stuck in as a bookmark. It is used but not written in. She wants me to take it back to the church so they can find the right owner. Sigh. They decorated eggs at Achievement Girls tonight (ages 8-11). The girls decided to put the glitter all over themselves. And me. I will probably have glitter in my hair for a week. My buddy Martha stopped by and helped me set up the second monitor so now I have two at my computer. It is so cool. Not hard at all to set up either. Still try...

I always feel it is a good day when you can really knock a LOT of things off of the old to do list. I found a new chiropractor, Dr Dockery (yes, that really is his name) and he is wonderful. Guess I didn't realize that there is a mass of calcium buildup at the base of my spine the size of a golf ball. Now I know why my legs hurt. We'll see if he can help. But he gets an A+ on bedside manner. And he said, oddly enough, that I WOULD be having much more trouble if it weren't for the fact that I "overdo it". The walking and struggling with wheelchairs and computers and printers and scooching around on the floor plugging things in are keeping my back from freezing in position. Getting up at 6 to teach seminary is tough. The alarm goes off and I really don't like getting up. But I figure if the teenagers can come because they WANT to learn something, the least I can do is give 110%. Of course my whole day goes better because of it. But that early morning wakeup is ...

I have to admit, despite the complaining, that I really love the students who are coming by in the mornings for seminary, I love leaning more about the Old Testament and starting the day this way. Everyone complains, but they all agree it is WAY worth it. Monday I have to teach from proverbs about "the perfect women" and, of course along with that, "the perfect man". Hand in hand with this is what this perfect man is looking for in a perfect woman and vice versa. I asked Gail and she said she liked the way her husband Lee (a great guy) had wonderful empathy for others. I told her I was surprised that ANY man was like that (in jest of course) and she laughed and said "Oh, well, yes, he had to work at it." Personally, I like David's sense of humor and the security of knowing he doesn't blow money away, even if he does spend too much on soft drinks and paper towels. I loved the way my father doted on my mother and appreciated the way he would just bu...

Today was the Primary Children's Easter Party. I refuse to have the greed contest of "see who is the fastest and can get the most" since greed is DEFINITELY a problem the kids struggle with in our branch. So we worked around it. I had 55 white hardboiled eggs hidden outside. The 11 children were supposed to find 5 apiece. Just as we were going out to find them, a 12th child showed up. So now 7 can find 5 and five can find 4 or something like that. That's okay. The little ones didn't care how many they had and were happy to bring them in once they were all found. A couple of the kids insisted on finding 6 since "everyone has their five" which of course wasn't true. But we didn't have some finding 15 and others finding none. We took them all inside and combined the eggs, then started coloring them, oldest kids first. Since half a dozen were broken in the hunt, we had enough for four per kid to color with one left over. Here again, I'm glad the ...

Taking this mini-vacation is one of the nicest things I (we) have done for ourselves in a long, long time. We kept the schedule simple, discovered some great places to eat, enjoyed walking through the trails around Natural Bridge, enjoyed learning about the Indian Village, and watching the birds, and sitting by the creek, and just being together. The second night we went to the light and sound show at Natural Bridge which was very lovely and peaceful. We also went through the caves, the smallest we have been through, but always a nice experience nonetheless. The first night I found a place advertised called the Whistle Stop Cafe with a train around the top, so we went there. But it was out of business and the place that had replaced it had (*horrors*) taken out the train! We thought we would try it anyway, despite the greasy spoon appearance. David ordered liver and onions. I had blackened salmon. What came out of the kitchen could easily have come from a four star restaurant. The liv...

Shhh. David and I found a coupla days with no major demands so we snuck out of the house and are hoping that nobody will notice. Faraday complained a little, but I left her plenty of food. So if nobody answers the phone, or the door, or the email, you know why but not where!

Nobody showed up for Seminary this morning. Grumble. Now I can give the lesson tomorrow without more preparation. Cat sees birds outside and you can't get her away from the window. I taught computers today. I love teaching older people. Nice people. Good people. Errands: Michaels, Costco, Food Lion, Bank, Post Office, Computer Recyclers, Finders Keepers, Gail's, give away another monitor, make dinner and bring to new baby family, and let new ghosthunter group in Red House. I was on the phone to Allen at 9:30 pm. Doorbell rang. Kelly Redifer (two doors down). "Here's 41 cents. Got a stamp?" I can't be upset because she is laughing and calling me her personal post office. And she ALWAYS makes a point of paying to the penny. Always? Yes, this has happened before. More than once. LOL!

I feel like someone put my picture on a rubber balloon and keeps blowing air into the balloon. Primary, Gail, David, other friends, my job, Seminary, Recorder, Ruritans, health... What happens when I pop? One customer wants me to read a book he wrote. 400 pages. I took David to the Weyers Cave Fire Department annual dinner and dance last night. They didn't tell us about the two hour long program. It was good, the speakers were great, the fire department should be honored for all they do, and food was nice. But three hours in a hard chair about killed me. Finally, the dance started and it was country music. I don't dance country. It was late anyway, so we came home. I had really wanted to dance. The speaker talked about getting the fire department men to be certified in emergency medical services, and had lots of vignettes about accidents she had served on. It was funny picturing her hanging from a rope tied to a helicopter to touch bodies on a crashed plane to see if they were ...

I'm dressed, the cat fed and watered, the dishwasher emptied, seminary taught and students taken to school, breakfast cooked and cleaned up. I'm pooped. I'm going back to bed.

Where does the time go? I seem to get as many hours as everyone else, but I always am overwhelmed with the to do list and others are reading books, watching television, and taking it easy. I remember my parents loved to sit on the back deck with a drink each evening for hours. I could NEVER find time to do that! Meanwhile, it looks like I am taking on another project. The Seminary teacher just had another baby so I will be teaching the 6:30 am class on a regular basis until they get someone else to do it. (Don't EVEN say it!) I need to get over to the Red House today. No nibbles with all the advertising the last two weeks to speak of, so I will be looking at the help you sell places today. David and I took Gail out to dinner last night at O'Charlie's. She didn't eat much, but appreciated going out nonetheless. She is doing well enough to be back on her cane instead of a walker, but everyone is gunshy of her falling so we are being overly cautious. I worked all day yeste...

We got up early because the forecast was for lots of rain and the car suspension is sounding weird. With 200,000 miles on it, what do you expect? We left at 8 in the morning and drove the 650 miles straight through without incident. I dropped David off at his ham radio meeting just before 7 pm. Then I had 31 phone messages, 54 emails (not bad, but I was able to keep up with some of them), stacks of mail on the table, a weeks worth of newspapers, and three loads of laundry. Faraday won't stop whining. but the house is in good order and it is nice to be home.

David and I got up early yesterday morning to go to Disney Magic Kingdom alone for a couple of hours. AS we came off of Tom Sawyer's Island, the park management shuffled a bunch of us - about 20 - off by ourselves and then told us we had a won a Dream Fastpass. This meant that we could basically go anywhere in the Magic Kingdom park for that day only without waiting in lines. What a deal! But it was time to go back and pick up his parents. We met them at 12, had lunch, and went to Epcot at 2, and spent the afternoon there. Of course, the fast passes aren't good at Epcot. But we had a good time and the lines weren't bad. We went in Spaceship Earth, but most of the rest of what we did was theater type of productions. As we were walking around the lake there was a troupe of street players getting ready to set up a small play, so we stayed and watched. They had audience participation and David was chosen to be Romeo. (This was loosely based on the famous play "Romeo and E...

We got up this morning and went to Animal Planet. We saw the presentation "It's Hard to be a Bug" and went to lunch at Tusker Restaurant, then walked a trail and was tiem to come back for a nap. It is now 3:30 and time to be getting over to Epcot where we have 4:40 reservations for the Land restaurant and then David wants to stay for the fireworks at 9:00. It is hot, but not miserably so.