Oh Blessed Friday evening at last...

Dear Family and Friends,
Finally it comes to an end, the week that is. How has it been for you?
Last Friday night I was tucked away in the motorhome next to Jason and Jo's home at MBA parked on their side lawn. What a difference a week has made, if I tried that today I think the coach would have sunk out of sight in the soggy grass.
How much like life the weather is, spots of sunlight, spots of joy, of friendship, of being with loved ones, rain showers, trials, financial concerns, health concerns, loneliness, despair, winds which push you this way and that, people seeking your time, your knowledge, your attention, situations out of control. Then there is the calm after or before a storm, a quiet meal of soup and friendship at Dunstons, reassurance that someone cares. What is this life to be like now? Where do people fit in? Why am I still here? Can my health issues be fixed or is it to late?
Another week past, a week with vivid memories of Nan's last birthday party, a week of enjoying the "Our Nan" book created by the loving hands of Karen, of sidelong glances to the grave site where Nan rests, of Nikki and Keanna singing Happy Birthday to her.
How I appreciate hearing from Dolly, from Sylvia, from the Marilyn's who have both lost their precious spouses in the past few years. When they speak, they who have lost loved ones, and they say there is life to look forward to, then I want to believe.
Today the weather was too brutal to walk the lake so I dug out the Nordic Ski Machine, found batteries for its computer, fed in the current stats and turned on the weather channel and rode. How things have changed since the last time I rode, the heart rate zoomed up quickly and so did a searing pain in my left chest but I rode anyway. In spite of the cold of the room I knew I was doing OK when sweat started to spill into my eyes and the countdown said 20 minutes. The last minute I could hardly stay on the machine I was so spent but I did and felt very good about it. The body fat indicator on my scales said I was down another point, down 4 points of body fat since I began this noble adventure of self torture. The warm water felt so good spilling down over my skin, it was hard to turn it off. Then down to breakfast and a lesson. Yesterday was my first day ever to make real Oatmeal, not the instant stuff and yesterdays turned out so good. Why not speed it up by starting with hot water instead of cold in the microwave? When I opened the door after the 2.5 minutes the bowl was empty and the oatmeal was on the glass bottom of the microwave. OK, lesson learned, if you start with water that is nearly boiling you probably don't need as much cooking time. The next time things were perfect and along with a CostCo banana and one piece of whole wheat bread with peanut butter breakfast was a great success.
Then it was time to make sure of the data for the days work in Madera so a few minutes with the data sources and I was ready. Then I did a few value checks for clients who hoped to do loans but they were not sure how much the property they were working with was worth. Free work on my part, a huge waste of time usually yet once in a while an order comes out of it.
Then I opened the garage door to find high winds, rain and dark skies. I set the GPS for the address in Madera and began. The trip was a little over two hours and passed quickly without incident. The home was custom built, lovely, the people were gracious and the weather had cleared so no rain and little wind there. By the time I finished the 2:15 appointment I was feeling the effects of low blood sugar so I ate the yogurt I purchased last night and spent the next hours driving the comps and shooting photos of them, then Burger King for a vege burger, Yvonne turned me on to them and they are great, then program for Chowchilla to shoot some more photos and finally as the day darkened I punched in home on the GPS and we started. Diesel was only $3.15 a gallon in the valley and I discovered that my normal 43 miles per gallon had been reduced to just 34 due to the high winds I had been fighting all the way. I found a southern gospel station on XM and was listening at a level that I missed phone calls that were coming in. Finally 7:27 found me home and lighting a fire, talking to the doggies who had lots of rumors and gossip to share. I had driven all the way home telling myself that I had one more serving of Emily's soup in the frig. It tasted so good, divine really.
Then I settled down in the family room to see what was on the Adventist Dish. George Knight, PHD was giving a lecture about early days in Adventist theology, about a time when Dr. Barnhouse, editor of Eternity Magazine, was asking if Adventists were a cult or not. Dr. Knight is a fascinating speaker and very careful with his facts. I found myself enjoying listening to his presentation of the issues that faced the church back then and how the leaders dealt with them. Once again the dish that Donna and Shawn supplied for us was a real inspiration. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving.
Nikki called to say Keanna was coughing and she thought Sabbath School was probably not a good idea and I agreed. I've not felt to well today myself with a sore throat and what I perceived to be a fever part of the day. So perhaps tomorrow will be a rest day for real.
Jason says Jo is not feeling too well either. Its a challenging time of the year with the weather, shut up rooms holding germs in, weather induced depression etc.
Yet I am thankful tonight, not terribly happy but I'm thankful and grateful for hundreds of miles driven safely, for a ticket not given, for Keanna's chapel programs, for successful dental processes, for Dunstons warmth and help, for cheery phone calls, for several checks in the mail, for getting to exercise nearly every day this week, for a place to live, for advice from friends.
Thank you God for this week and for family, life and living in America.

love to all,

tim
ps Jason and Jo have started a new blog which you can access: jjmustard.blogspot.htm
ps again I am so glad that Carrol's sister has come to visit and that Carol's sisters have come to celebrate their fathers big event.