A quiet day of production & a call from Irene

Dear Family and Friends,
Walked this morning with Ken, then showered, had breakfast, then to work. While I worked at the computer the clothes washer worked on three loads of wash, one to go yet this evening. Now the shirts are hanging up pretty much wrinkle free and loads of clean clothes are ready for their trip upstairs. After writing on appraisal this morning I ventured out to see a local sale, shot the comps, came home and finished the appraisal, you see I had to since it was for LeAnn next door and it would not be safe if I didn't finish this report, LeAnn is not someone you let twist in the wind, Ken says she is a force to be reckoned with and after their many years together I think he knows of what he speaks. LeAnn sure did her part, picked up a check for the fee, supplied all the information that I needed and kept me informed of when I could see the property.
Tomorrow morning I have the high privilege of caring for my precious girls, Kallie and Keanna and get them safely to school and the sitters, then drive directly to Antioch to meet with a buyer and pick up a check, then see two other sales, one in Brentwood and the other in Discovery Bay, then back to pick up Keanna at 2 from school. We will probably head to the park tomorrow for awhile if she is feeling up to it.
Do you ever wrestle with knowing exactly what you should be doing but end up over and over again doing something else? Take lunch today. The local pizza place here in Discovery Bay serves a nice personal pizza and has a pretty good salad bar so I went there for lunch. I know from experience that a full salad and ONE slice of pizza will fill me up and the rest goes into a box to come home. But I brought one slice home and ate the rest. That kind of behavior does not get me where I want to be at all. There was a time when we still lived in Tracy that Larry Seyfang and I started to run together. He urged me to get going and I did. Eventually I lost many pounds and learned to stop with one piece of pizza or a limited amount of anything else I happened to be eating. It was great discipline but I seem to have lost something as the years passed, well actually I did not lose really, I gained, about 75 lbs over the past 20 years. Its like carrying a sack of cement with me everywhere I go. Somehow I need to find a new path.
This afternoon Irene called. She was able to bring me up to date on what she has been having to cope with. Her GIST has returned and has caused her a great deal of pain. Recently she embarked on a dual response to the tumor growth. In spite of the lack of a clear mandate from GIST experts that radiation on the tumors might help she decided to proceed. She had 10 sessions and at the same time started a new targeted drug known as Nexavar. This week she has been very tired and after even one hour in the morning her strength was pretty much sapped. Yet she has felt better the last two days for which we are both grateful. Irene is a calm woman of faith and has great courage. No one call tell if the radiation has helped but her pain level is much much lower now which might suggest that there was benefit. I know Nan experienced almost immediate relief from the tumor that was radiated again in spite of any proof ahead of time that GIST tumors might respond to the treatment. Irene will always appreciate our remembering her in prayer. She reminded me that very soon there will be a GIST walk in San Jose to raise awareness and funds for GIST research. I believe she said it was October 26th and I intend to be there and do the walk. I'll soon be able to point you to a web site with information about the walk.
So we all move into a new week. What excitement will it hold? What lessons are there to be learned this week? How might God use us to help others?
I want to thank you for reading these words and I hope that your week will be positive in your walk through life.
love

tim
ps Tomorrow evening is a party for Jason at his house. I'm going to try to attend, exactly how to get there and back home is still not clear but we will see. Happy Birthday son!