Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!

Today has been one of those summer rainy days where you really don't want to do anything except, perhaps knit, spin, or read a good book wrapped up in a light blanket. There has been a good portion of rain and scattered storms throughout the day, and now it is bright and sunny and humid and makes you very glad you have air conditioning.

However, earlier, when the rain was coming and going, the dogs decided they needed to go outside, and since it was nice and cool they didn't want to come back in straight away so I left them outside with the back door curtain pulled aside so we could keep an eye on each other. All was well in our respective worlds.

The rain hadn't been a problem for a couple of hours when Gabby jumped up and came barrelling for the back door. Her ears were up and she stopped just shy of running into the door. She was dancing from one front foot to the other and had this urgent look to her face as her tail was beating 90 in excitement and something of glee. She had this completely happy and eager look of "Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!" The other two were behind her and almost oblivious as to the need of such haste of coming inside, but if Gabby was ready to go in then so were they.

Leisurely I made my way to the door and opened it to let them in. As usual they filed in - Gabby, JoJo, then Chewie. Just as Chewie's tail cleared the door rain came down in buckets, sheets, torrents, and water-falls!

Explanation + Sunshine = Calm

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On Monday of last week the lady we are renting the house from called me and said, "My husband and I are moving to Mississippi and we are going to put both houses up for sale. We will try to make sure the new owner will continue to let you rent, but we can't promise, but we'll try. Unless you can buy the house yourselves?" Yep, ten o'clock in the morning over a cooling cup of coffee I received this telephone call. Yes, there was immediate panic and diving for the telephone book to see who I had not called about a loan for the house previously, as well as praying. Yes, both Hubby and I prayed a lot. And, no, it wasn't good for my blood pressure.

Friday there was also a test on my kidneys scheduled. Since Hubby and I had to be out for a good portion of the day we got some things done such as securing a new handicapped parking pass/tag and checking at his bank for a loan.

WE GOT THE LOAN! It isn't officially official, but it is 95% official. This means, thank the Good Lord, we don't have to move any time soon. At the same time this also means our house payments are a little more than our rent and we are really going to have to save for a new roof and a few other things we want to do for the house in the future. Luckily we won't have to have a new roof for the next five years, but I would really like to have it done before then in order to keep the house nice and insulated like it is now.

See, like I said, it was a BIG problem, but it is being handled right now and life has slowly begun to settle back down. Now we have 30 years of debt ahead of us. For some reason it doesn't make me panic.

Some days just make you want to throw your hands up and almost surrender!

And today is one of those days. I can't go into details right now, but I will as soon as I am at liberty to explain the new problem that has crept into our life. It is a BIG problem this time, but one that will, with work and prayer, be resolved sooner than later. However, if you are of a mind, positive thoughts and prayers directed our way would be greatly appreciated. No, neither of us is ill, or more ill than normal (speaking of myself and current BP problems), so this, at least, is a positive.

Today, after Sniffles came and had a good long visit, I realized I haven't done much relaxing here on The News. It isn't that there hasn't been information to impart or stories to tell. Nor has it been the intent to do so has been lacking. What has been lacking, though, is energy to put words down. Perhaps I have pushed myself harder in everything than what I originally thought I had been doing. Now that the stress of school has lessened, I am finding my energy slowly beginning to recover, and this is a good thing.

This means, if all goes well, everything will sort of get to a more normal flow again, and I, for one, am looking forward to it!

The Good Ol' Days of ECW Wrestling! (I Remember This!)

http://view.break.com/539758 - Watch more free videos

Better. Better. Better. *happy dance*

The weekend has arrived. What happened to the week? Where did it go? What have I done with these recent days? The long and short of it is - I slept. Knitted. Watched TV. Watched movies. Repeat. My body has dictated some strange sort of schedule and I have actually kept it because my body would have nothing else. Today, however, it has all paid off, because the doctor's visit came out better. Everything isn't perfect, of course, but it is better. The doctor and I are moving forward slowly and carefully. Tests are scheduled for the future. I am planning future knitting projects. Life is moving forward at its own pace. It will pick up steam slowly, and then it will be damn the torpedoes full speed ahead! Yeah, maybe not quite "damn the torpedoes" but it will be as close to "full speed ahead" as is possible.

Humor...Is...Returning...!!!

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I know, recently I have been quite cryptic about what has been going on with me. So, here is the long and short of it: I have high blood pressure. I don't mean moderately high blood pressure, I mean REALLY HIGH blood pressure! Two weeks ago Hubby had to take me to the ER because my BP while at school was 230/120. By the time we got to the ER it was 272/142.

Not good.

This has caused a lot of sudden changes for me, like withdrawing from classes for a while, and making sure to take medication, keep track of my BP and just trying to relax more.

I am taking care of me. Hubby is helping, and lots of people are praying and helping as much as they can.

Yesterday it finally reached 120/88. It was a lot better. Friday I see the doctor and we know where we're going to go from there.

Guest Post from Cheyenne

Cheyenne here, folks, and...well, let me explain.

The above strip is from a webcomic called Jackie's Fridge. It's an odd story, with an evil guinea pig, a talking refrigerator, a short redhead named Jackie, and an assortment of odd characters. Two of those characters are featured above - Ada, the blond haired black Scottish woman, and Gin, the young girl with the sundae.

Some time ago, I brought this particular strip up to The Editor. I'm not sure what we were talking about, although I'm pretty sure it was something sweet. Probably chocolate, knowing us. Actually, I think it might have been fudge - I'd made some and left it at her home one trip, and she was savoring each piece, letting it melt on her tongue. She was trying to explain just how much she loved the fudge, but was not coming upon the right words.

That doesn't happen often, mind you, her not finding the right words. It's kind of fun when it does.

So I'm listening to her, and I can see this odd, faraway look in her eye as she remembers the fudge, and I nodded sagely. "You don't really enjoy the fudge," I said. "You experience the fudge."

Her eyes snapped into focus, and she looked at me for a long second. "Yes," she said. "Exactly."

Then I muttered the rest of the strip under my breath - the "May I experience your pie?" part. And the editor, heard me, and pressed me for an explanation.

So I told her about the strip, and the idea one experiencing something has slipped into our shared lexicon. Some things we just enjoy, but some things, our most favorite of things - fudge and wrestling and really good music - we don't simply enjoy - we experience them, with no fear of being laughed at or of being messy or of being thought strange.

Life is a wondrous thing, you see. It just takes a little experience.

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Due to illness....

Due to a severe illness on my part, updating here is going to be slow, but still, it will happen every day - either by guest bloggers or myself. More on what's going on later, Dear Readers.