An excellent day

Dear Ones,
Well Keanna came to visit last night, finally fell asleep for the night at 9 pm but did not wake until 7:30 this morning. We had a leisurely breakfast and then drove to Sabbath School in Tracy. Yes I brushed her hair and using the no tangle spray she had me buy recently we got it brushed and it looked OK, not like when her parents do it but for a Pappa well it was good. Kim did a great job with Sabbath School and Keanna enjoyed seeing her friends too. Then to Olive Garden for soup and salad where keanna charmed the workers with her cute dress and sweet smile. Then she left with her mom and I drove home. I took it easy during the afternoon, checking out some of the programing on the Christian Dish. Late this afternoon I decided to tackle something I've been putting off for months, that is the 92 gallon sale water reef tank. It is filled with alge, needed a water change with new salt water in place of 20 gallons drawn from the tank. What a challenge but this time I did not huff and puff when carrying the 5 gallon buckets of water to the driveway, just did it. I was able to return the tank to a much cleaner status, cleaned the filters and lowered the heater to a more reasonable temperature for summer. This evening I had a real shock. I have not been able to see the spinney starfish for weeks. This little guy is about 12 inches from end of spinney arm to spinney arm and when I started working on the tank today I thought I was seeing a dead creature. I reached in to take it out but it seemed to be stuck where it was so I finally decided to give it a chance just in case there was any life left. It is a highly unusual creature and very interesting to watch in action. Well this evening when I put the 4 cubes of frozen shrimp in as I do every night the spinney starfish came to life, moved quickly into the current and was grabbing food as fast as he could. I was delighted as I thought I had lost something very dear. I think the clean water, the removal of the algae and the improved current due to the filter cleaning helped all the creatures feel better and they were really alive when it came time to eat. Then in the dark I headed out to the back deck to plant tomatoes in some of the wood planters. They were thick with weeds so I pulled those out, added lots of new dirt and planted my three tomato plants. Then I tweaked the drip system in hopes it will keep everybody hydrated as the days get warmer. I did things to the tank this evening that Steve has had to do before and he just does not have the time to take care of everything. I learned a lot through the process.
For dinner I made tomato sandwiches and had some frozen corn.
Tomorrow is Nikki's shower in Dublin. I plan to hook up with Jason and we'll find something to do while the shower takes place. I'm going to try to include a couple photos Jo placed on the Internet tonight. Timothy is growing so fast.
Our weather is suddenly hot here, not just warm but hot. Its nice for a change and the doors and windows are all open in a search for the cool breezes of evening.
It was fun to hear from Lorie in the middle of the night last night commenting on the cafe in Benicia and then having our Benicia friend also comment. It is really a fun place to eat and while the menu is limited the quality of the food is outstanding.
I timidly suggest that I may be turning a bit of a corner in the process of grasping life again after losing Nan. There is a bit of guilt connected with the whole process of moving forward. How I wish we were just moving forward together. Why I am here alive and she had to go, well that one has to be up to God, I certainly don't understand it. Being in the grief recovery group gets insight and methods for coping that are very helpful. You can see that is it really OK to be at peace and to experience laughter and joy. In fact it is necessary. I am thinking more about making music again, about preparing special music numbers in case anyone asks, about future travel, about painting the office, rearranging it, getting rid of clutter, about planting flowers in the rear area, about having people over to enjoy the back deck and the lake. I am so blessed and I want to share it as God leads.
You have played a huge role in my recovery and in the entire families recovery. We have such a wide caring world of friends and family that have helped us in so many ways, a box of encouragement and sympathy cards, beautiful flowers at the time of the services, emails, calls, help of all kinds. Please know you have had a big hand in helping. Sometimes your calls, your emails have lifted me from a depression that was not even safe or productive.
So thank you from all of us that make up the family.
love from my house to yours and from my heart to your heart as well.

Tim
ps check out those cute little jeans Timothy has on!