A Beautiful Day in Omaha!!

The temperature actually got up into the upper 30's today!! It was fabulous! I went out to lunch with my husband and a couple of friends including a Rabbi from a local synagogue. It was lots of fun talking about everything from goofy to spiritual. He has offered to come to one of my bible study classes and teach a lesson on the Old Testament. Wouldn't that be cool?
The puppies are outside enjoying the nice weather. Asa brought me a "lovely" gift a little bit ago...a dead, flat, long, skinny and STINKY MOUSE!!! Of course, I wasn't really paying attention when he came in and didn't notice that his mouth was full. But, then he dropped it, right at my feet! I know I should be thrilled that he loves me so much, but YUCK!!! My sister has several cats who are always bringing her "lovely" gifts. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'd rather have balls of horse poop gifts instead of mice! I guess I should be happy that at least it was dead!!

*Serious change of topic... I don't know what is going on in the PH world but we now have another phriend in the hospital. Her name is Barbara and her husband is very concerned about her. I would appreciate prayers for Barbara and continued prayers for Eliana. Eliana, by the way, is starting to improve! Praise God!

*One more topic change...Rod and I are going to the movies tonight. We're going to see "Vantage Point." I'll be giving a movie review tomorrow. Also, my sister is coming up from Lincoln tomorrow so we can see a chick flick. We're going to "Definitely, Maybe." So, stay tuned for two movie reviews tomorrow!

A Cold, Cold Day in Omaha!

These temperatures are just insane!! Most of the schools in the area closed for the day because of the wind chills at -20 to -25 degrees! I lived for "snow days" or in this case, "cold days" when I was teaching. The teachers used to have to go to school on those days. But, a few years ago it was changed, so now, even the teachers get to stay home. I LOVED having "snow and/or cold" days when the boys were home. We would dig in for the day, play games, play outside and have hot chocolate when we couldn't feel our toes any more! Later, when the boys were gone, I still loved the "snow and/or cold" days because then I could go to school and get lots of work done with no students around. I've always taught at schools with very dedicated and very busy teachers. So, on those special days where the kids were at home because of the weather, we would joke that there were so many teachers at school working that we could still teach a building full of kids!!

So I spent my "cold day" by doing a little crocheting (did I mention that some of us at church are learning how to crochet so we can make prayer shawls for people who are sick or struggling with life? Basically,the way I understand it, as you crochet the shawl you pray for that individual. Then when the shawl is finished you hand it over to that person.), a little reading (I just began "T is for Trespass" by Sue Grafton.), a little TV watching (All My Children) and a little playing with the pups. There are so many reasons for wanting warmer weather. One of the big ones is so that I can play with the pups outside. I'll be able to take my Inogen portable concentrator outside and throw the ball and have them run and chase without getting all tangled up in my oxygen tubing. It very frustrating.

Well, tonight is the girls night to sing on American Idol. I'm a HUGE idol fan! My sister is also a HUGE idol fan! We made quite a few back and forth phone calls last night to make comments or criticisms about the boys. We both love the cute little 16 year old boy from Utah, David. He's just so happy to be there!

One more thing...I would like to ask for prayers again. We have a very young phriend from New Mexico who is in the hospital with pneumonia. Her name is Eliana and she is only 4 1/2 years old. She is on IV medicine, similar to mine and is also on oxygen. She is a sweetheart who is full of life. She could really use some prayers for a quick recovery and for her family to stand strong.

Thanks for reading.

Annette

P.S. I'm thinking the puppies look tired enough so I will have a quiet night of Idol-watching, don't you?

Asa


Haver

Just a quick hello!

It was "nice" today so I took advantage of the 35 degree weather and went to a movie. I saw the chick flick, "Fools Gold" with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. It really is a silly, no depth movie with barely a story line. But, speaking of "barely" Matthew McConaughey "barely" wore a shirt during the entire movie. You take his abs and a bag of popcorn and you've got yourself an incredibly enjoyable afternoon.

I'm hoping to spend some time on the computer tomorrow and do a little blogging. Actually, I'll probably have Wednesday and Thursday to do some computer work because another Arctic front is coming through. We're suppose to have wind chills at negative 25-30 degrees tonight and tomorrow. In fact, as I'm typing this, it looks like several schools are calling off school tomorrow because of the temperature. This is a very, very long winter.

Thanks for reading.
Annette

Never mind...my phriend is gone....

She had a massive stroke and passed away today. Her family was with her. It was a shock to her family and the medical personnel. Her condition had become stable and they had the bleeding under control. Her husband is going to have an autopsy done.

Very Special Prayers Are Needed...

A very special "phriend" of mine (that is a friend who has pulmonary hypertension "PH") is in very, very bad shape. She lives in Pennsylvania and I just found out last night that her husband came home on Monday and found her laying down, unresponsive. She is in the Neurologic (sp?) ICU in a coma. They discovered that her INR (thickness of her blood) was too high (almost all PH people take blood thinners) and she had bleeding on her brain. She was also have seizures. She is on life support and they are checking to see if she has staph or meningitis. Evidently she had a headache for the last couple of days.
In addition to PH, Sue does have some autoimmune problems.
Sue is an absolute sweetheart. She donated some adorable sweatshirts that she decorated, to our ph fundraiser last year. She was unable to this year because their family is strapped financially because of the costs of her medical care. She is a grandma to two beautiful little girls and a friend to so many in the ph community.
Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.
Annette

Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!

I went outside today!! The temperatures jumped up to the mid 30's with wind chill's in the mid 20's!! It was an absolute HEAT WAVE!! So, I:
1. went out to the garage with THE GARAGE DOOR UP!
and
2. stayed in the garage with THE GARAGE DOOR UP!
while I
3. bagged up our cans, plastic a newspapers from the last month for recycling
then
4. I drove to the recycle center and GOT OUT OF MY CAR WITHOUT HAVING MY LUNGS HURTING! and dropped off the cans, plastic and paper
then
5. I drove to Starbucks and got a grande caramel frappaccino lite
then
6. I drove to the gas station and filled my car, STAYING OUTSIDE OF THE CAR AND HELD THE GAS NOZZLE WITHOUT MY LUNGS HURTING!
then
7. got my car washed
then
8. I went home and took a nap!!

What a fabulous gift from Mother Nature!
And, by the way, obviously I wasn't the only tired one! This is Haver doing his tightrope sleeping act!







Thanks for reading.
Annette

Laying low, day 2....

I'm not near as tired as I was yesterday. But, it's stinkin' cold out again! The wind chill has remained below zero all day and now we're suppose to get an inch or two of snow tonight. I'm suppose to go to bible study and/or PEO (women's organization) tonight, but I'm not going to make it to either one. It's just too darn cold. So, instead I'm going to stay inside, watch some TV and try to keep the dogs away from the cat!

So, once again, not a very exciting post. Oh well...it's winter in Nebraska and I've got a lung disease that would prefer I moved (at least my lungs) to California!
Thanks for reading.
Annette