Precious Memories how they linger.......

Jason and Jo head to Tahiti

Lady and Starr, my constant companions

Jason and Nan share a happy moment

Sister in law Sharon and Nan by the Golden Gate Bridge

Long time friend Nate with Keanna

Nikki and Keanna share a tender moment

Mother and daughter mug show off their smiles

Keanna and Pappa

Grammy and a young Keanna

Carol Peden, Nan and Carrol Sorenson pause from visiting

A smiling Nan in her famous recliner

Daddy Steve fixes Keanna's hair while Grammy observes

Keanna, Jan, Nan under Nikki's watchful eye

Nan reads a book to Keanna and Nikki while in a hospital somewhere

Aunt Sharon, Keanna and Nikki with rest Nan nearby

Grammy reads to her girls

Keanna visits with Grammy on December 2

Barb and Gerry visit with Nan on December 2

Sharon and Keanna have special moment

Bob and Carrol Sorenson visit with Nan on Dec. 2

Jason spends quality time with his Grammy on December 2.

Lunch with the ladies

What fun, to have the excitement and energy of Keanna on board. Pictured above is Keanna and her American Girl as we are preparing to leave for church. They are both wearing dresses from the same material, how Keanna loves her special doll from Santa.

We dined on Belgium Waffles this morning and read some stories, then we drove to Tracy where Keanna went to meet with Wes, Sylvia and Rod for their class and I went to a new class the pastor is offering in finance. What I heard today really sounded helpful so I plan to attend again..

Nikki and Kallie met us for lunch at Olive Garden where the salad, bread sticks and eggplant never tasted better.

After a nap I rose to hear strange construction noises at the rear of the house. Ray was creating new steps and installing a plank so Lois and he could take their lake boat for a cruise in the beautiful afternoon sunshine. As I left for an evening of fun they were just pulling out onto the lake smiling as they cruised. It was so good to see Lois able to enjoy the boat and so kind of Ray to create a safe way for her to board and disembark when they returned.

As much as I had hoped for good news in the mail today all that came was a bill for something I had done a year ago. The last time they sent a bill was August and so not getting a bill I thought everything was paid and done. Now a new bill of over $400 hits at a terrible time. I do believe for the first time in my adult life I will miss making a house payment on time this time. It will have to be about a day late since I think funds will arrive by then from the two big lenders I work for.

I hope your weekend is going well, that you are finding good weather although I know parts of the country are buried under some pretty awful stuff. Even my brother who lives in Weed, CA had 8 inches of snow when I talked with him on Friday and in Mt Shasta City they had over three feet of snow. Wow, that is heavy.

Good night,

Love

tim

Keanna sleeps

Dear Family and Friends,
Finally it is Friday evening, the fire has turned to embers, Keanna has finally given up and is sleeping (I hope). We had a nice evening and ended it with reading some stories from her Sabbath School paper and a story about the little mermaid, nice mix.
My day started early and without much time wasted I was in Stockton inspecting a house through the fog. Then I drove right back to write the report and get it emailed out. Then I moved onto the next appraisal due today for a property located in Fairfield. By the time that one was sent the day was about over. The mail has been very disappointing this week and I started the day with 41 cents in the business account. Two major clients who have always been prompt with payments are both a month behind and it is causing major distress. Without their funds there will be no house payment and it is weighing on my mind a bit. I know the Lord is fully aware of my needs and it is always interesting to see his working.

The week has been one of crushing disappointments as well as some successes. To lose Irene was just unthinkable and it is oh so hard to accept. Someone had better have some real good reasons but we'll have to wait for eternity for those answers. Right now we can just remember Ron and Eric as they walk as if in a trance through funeral arrangements and all the vital steps that must be taken. Their grief is all consuming at this point and they just need our positive thoughts and expressions of caring and love. They have asked if friends could send photos to them and I'll go through what photos I have in my GIST file in the computer after I complete the blog.

Life has so few bright spots any more and so many dull or even awful ones. Nan and I used to look forward to cruises or even flights to see friends or family, quick trips down to see Jason or chances to have dinner with Nikki and Steve. Now there is no Nan, no cruises, no flights and I'm so thankful for trips to see Jo and Jason and little guy Timothy and to get a chance to have Keanna her or even just to see Nikki, Kallie and Steve tonight for a minute. Otherwise it would be really totally bleak.

I love my work and I love the fact that I am doing better and better work creating appraisals but its a real fight for each order and they are coming through less and less this week. I am relieved it is Sabbath so for a few hours some of this can be put on the back burner and I can seek peace in Worship and with friends.

I am very relieved that Lois was able to come home today and in general is feeling better. We are very fortunate that so far tests have not revealed heart problems after all but oh the good care she received at Kaiser, she even liked the food in the hospital! Ray is tending to her this evening and doing a great job. Their loving relationship is really special and has endured the tests of time.

So I bid each of you a pleasant good night.

love

tim

Lois rests in the hospital tonight

Dear Family and Friends,
Ken and I walked through the cold fog at 6:15 today braving the elements for some pure reason, not sure what it is but perhaps just life itself!
I worked in this morning and mid morning Lois came to visit and went to McDonalds for breakfast. When she came home she brought me a hot chocolate and then said she was heading home to go to bed. A short time later she called to ask for help, she did not feel right and was concerned about her heart. So I went over and we took her blood pressure, it was high at 161 /111. In a few minutes a young lady showed up who is a family friend and a nurse. We got an aspirin down but Lois still was feeling pretty rough. To be sure a call went out to 911 and they responded so fast and so professionally. Later she went by ambulance to the local Kaiser hospital in Antioch and is spending the night. Of course she went through a battery of tests and so far I think most things look pretty normal. Ray drove back from San Jose where he works several days a week and was with her at the hospital when I dropped by this evening to visit. She was resting well and very hungry. All good signs.
Nikki and the girls invited me to join them at our little Mexican place out in Bethel Island for dinner. It was wonderful to see them with their wall to wall smiles, happy talk and obvious love for their Pappa.
Now I'm home and very ready to head to bed. So good night my friends and lets remember Lois tonight, that God will help her have a nice night of rest and help her with her battle with smoking. She so wants to quit but it is so tough.
Love

tim

An intense day

Dear Family and Friends,
Ken and I walked at 6 am this morning which at this point seems a very long time ago. Then I drove out the driveway without breakfast as I wanted to get to Emeryville as soon as possible. Traffic was decent and the morning was filled with brilliant sunshine, that is until I reached Walnut Creek where the fog descended and changed the day. Emeryville was unusually challenging since most dwellings in the area surround my 100 year old little house were lofts and condos constructed in old industrial buildings in the last few years, certainly not comps for the subject property.
Once completed with Emeryville I headed up Highway 80 to Vallejo to do a reinspection. No one knew the code to the lockbox and things looked bleak, that is until I tried the rear slider and amazingly it was open so the inspection of the new carpet and the newly installed dishwasher went fine.
Time was passing so I made a beeline to Fairfield where I did a full inspection of a nice nearly new house that someone is purchasing. I could tell by the time I would not make it back to meet Keanna at 12:45 after school so Steve was nice enough to pick her up for me. That took some pressure off.
Once I got home there were many emails all wanting something soon. There were also new orders which I accepted and downloaded. I quickly went to work creating the Emeryville appraisal and before the end of the afternoon emailed it to the client.
This evening I've gone to the club and did an exhausting workout, then a quick trip to FoodMax for some items. Now I'm home and once I complete this blog I'll do a couple more work related things and then go to sleep. 6:15 comes early for the walk.
Irene has been on my mind many times today and I appreciate the kind messages many of you have sent regarding her passing. She was a very unique person who was dedicated to helping people and sharing her love of Jesus. I sort of felt a bit of the loss that set in when Nan passed. It is all so meaningless and a waste of outstanding people.

So I bid you each a gentle goodnight.

love

tim

Sad news regarding Irene

After I completed the blog this evening I read my yahoo messages only to discover the following message from Irene's family.

Irene passed away quietly this morning at about 11am. We will announce funeral arrangements within the next few days.Thank you all for being a part of Irene's life.

Eric and Ron

The world has lost a spiritual giant and a dedicated caring daughter of Christ. I will miss her very much.

Full speed ahead

Good evening
As I wind up this eventful day it feels good to let the stress melt away. My day really got going with the inspection of a lovely 3500 sf home. It was located on the top of a hill and the views were pretty amazing. The family is on their way to Dallas due to an advancement with a large company. So now they are torn between selling here and finding suitable housing there. He told me that there are hundreds of homes to look at there.
The visit will be remembered mostly for the constant rain that fell as I was measuring. Can you imagine driving up and parking in front of a huge complicated home and knowing the second you opened the door you would be awash in rain drops. For a moment you just feel like driving home and coming back later when the rain has stopped. I've never found that solution possible. So I measured and protected my clipboard so the paper would not turn to mush and the ink run. My shoes are so old that they leak instantly so I felt my socs getting wet as I worked.
Soon I was indoors and enjoying the warmth the interior provided. The home was lovely, had 5 bedrooms and was up to date. So before long I was through and back to the car where I ran the heater to dry my shoes. I found a nice secluded spot to park so I could select comps and it looked out onto rolling hills which are green and lush this time of the year. An old time radio show was on XM and soon I was shooting comp photos and then it was done. My car swerved into the drive thru window at Starbucks and today I tried a low fat, decaf mocha. It tasted great and lasted over an hour.
By the time that hour was up I was back at my desk working, ducking phone calls and trying to settle down to get a Tracy report completed. The big problem was, this one had to be emailed through their web site using the AI format. Even though I knew my software was AI compliant I had no idea of how to create an AI document to send. By the time I was ready to submit it my software support people in the South had gone home for the day. I prayed a silent prayer and began to wade through the files that Sylvia so recently has cleaned up. Wow, what a new experience as everything makes perfect sense. I was able to locate some papers about AI with a phone number so I called. The nice lady had the answers and before long the report was burned into the AI format, submitted and I was or will be $300 richer at some point in the future. Of course the fee should have been $525 for what I did but we live in a new world. A world with thieves extorting money at every hand.
Once that process was over I was out of time to get to Emeryville for a driveby that is due tomorrow. So after Ken and I walk at 6 am in the morning I'll leave for Emeryville, catch Fairfield and then try to get back to pick up Keanna at 12:45. If I see I'm not going to make it then kind Steve will pick her up but I'm going to try to make it.
At the moment I'm about as busy as I can be but much of what I end up doing does not have a pay day connected. A whole lot of people want free advice and free information. I'm not too good at saying NO.
So for now I'm saying goodnight to each of you and please keep Irene and her family in your prayers. Her condition is very serious.
Love to all,

tim