Keanna turns 7

Dear Family and Friends,

I've just come from a very enjoyable hour with the family. We had dinner at UNOs Pizza in Antioch and Keanna had the chance to open her gifts. Her favorite was her new American Girl, Kit. She was so excited, in fact she enjoyed the whole time there. And at the end waiters and waitresses came and sang the UNOs happy birthday song which she loved. Kallie was good the whole time and took it all in. In a month it will be her turn as she turns 2 on the 30th of May. In the pictures Keanna is demonstrating her proven method for eating pasta and Kallie is just sort of chillin. Kevin, Steve's long time friend from Tracy and his daughter celebrated with us.

This morning Jerry slept in a little later than I so I had the fire going brightly when he came down. We sipped our hot drinks and chatted. Finally we decided on breakfast at the Byron Inn, a great locals place. Once we had breakfast completed we came back and he loaded his things. Around noon he turned that corner and drove out of sight. I sort of call it the good bye corner and frankly I hate it. We all have corners like that in our life, where visits, marriages, lives come to an end and we are left to adjust. I'm sure Jerry is there by now as the trip only involves about 5 hours of driving. I sent my book on tape, Younger Next Year, for him to listen to. Not sure if he got to or not.

It has certainly been an honor to have Jerry as my guest. He is like the perfect guest, he works, helps, cooks, amuses the dogs and is just such a great person. I'm sure Donna will be very glad to have him home. I know I'll be glad when he can come again.

Today the turn of fortune that started last night with an order continues as three more orders came in. What a huge blessing and answer to many prayers, your prayers. Thank you and thank you Lord for your intervention.

Suddenly I'm very tired and ready to rest. It has been an interesting week with the excitement of a loved one here in the house, the despair over work, feeling lousy some of the time but now I have work, I'm feeling much better and I have the recent memories of our time together.

My heart goes out to Jason, Jo and Timothy who are in Hawaii. Jason went scuba diving today and it was to be the deepest dive yet. He called this morning at 6:30 Hawaii time wide awake but Jo and Timothy were still sleeping. He was jazzed to be there. I hope they have a blast.

I send my love to each and every one of you.

Tim

Things are looking up, thank you for your prayers

Well hello everyone,
Nope, I've not solved the pink color yet but I will in time.
I have great news to report. The management company I like the best put me back on the list today and already I've got an order. It is nearby, pays well and puts me back into the game. I am totally jazzed.

This morning after waking and praying about work I wrote a very kind and thoughtful email to the one person who had expressed a willingness to add me to the list. He replied a little while later by phone saying he thought I was already back. He followed up and in a few minutes an email came from my friend at the management company informing me I had been placed back in rotation. Then I wrote an email to my contact at Chevy Chase asking if there were changes I needed to make in my work as I had not received any orders. He emailed right back to say they were very slow right now on the foreclosure front and would forward work as soon as he had some to assign. That was more good news.

I woke this morning feeling much better physically. I did not have the stuffy head, the headache or the sore throat. All day there has been very little coughing and I think its a combo of the meds and the spin class that turned it around for me. Jerry and I prepared the motorhome for the storage area and caught a lunch at Subway while we were out. Lois helped with her huge cups that let us get a refill instead of a new drink, saves money. After we put away the motorhome I came home expecting to do some appraisal work but instead we both ended up trimming things outside, fixing a broken rose bush, feeding the roses, trimming them, cutting out dead parts in a Lilac bush and mowing the lawn. Jerry reminds me of Art, he really knows how to get work done outside. Then we migrated to the back deck where Jerry planted a couple tomato plants a friend had given me, we got the drip system in place, swept up the mess on the deck and filled the huge wheelbarrow with the trash. The back deck looks so much nicer now and I have Jerry to thank for it all.

Just now Jerry realized that he left his coat at the Boardwalk Grill, our local Italian place, where we had dinner tonight. As soon as he mentioned it I remembered I left my ski coat as well so I quickly called and my friend Chris who owns the place said he had our coats tucked away for us and yes we could come now to get them, he would be there 10 more minutes. We the forgetful brothers just went and picked up the coats, can you believe that, we both forgot our coats, well the facts are when we both got out of our seats were both stiff and sore from the yard work and could hardly stand up, just moving took all our energy and the coats were forgotten.

Jerry ventures home tomorrow and it seems like he just got here. I have enjoyed this investment of his time in my life very much. We have both remembered things from long ago, had long talks about our childhood which was far from perfect and shared a lot. Jerry brought me a load of wonderful firewood, yes we had a nice fire this evening and in exchange I am sending a very old power lawnmower back with him. He has a way of disposing of it and I don't.

I didn't mention that the management company uses a shotgun approach to giving orders. They post an order and the appraiser that is willing to accept the assignment first gets it. That appraiser cannot claim the next order that comes up so things get shared around. Well this afternoon 4 orders were put out and had I been at my computer watching I could have snagged even a couple of them. You can bet I'll be watching much more closely in the future.

Thanks again for your prayers,

love

tim

A Good Afternoon with Ms Keanna

Dear Family and Friends,
First you walk in the light of dawn, then you eat tasty scrambled eggs by chef Jerry, then you settle down to do some work while the warm fire burns and lifts the physical chill from the home.
Dr. Jim provides needed antibiotics, all I have to do is drive to Antioch to pick them up.

Then it is time to welcome Keanna and suddenly it is raining. There is Keanna, see her, she is the one without a coat on and holding her backpack over her head to protect from the rain.

First McDonalds and then Strawhat where Jerry buys us salads and we sip water. Then to Blockbuster to rent a movie for Keanna to watch. Since the house was warm and cozy Keanna could watch the movie on the little TV which used to sit on Nan's desk. Its a cute little TV with DVD player built in which she wanted and finally received for Christmas one year.
Keanna had popcorn and a red jello, did her homework in a jiffy all by herself, read me a little book and was done with it.

At 4 we headed out the door for music class and this time we arrived on time. I see a greater self confidence in Keanna as she matures. Of course like all good parents and grandparents there is a mixed reaction to this growing up. One part of us wants to keep them at this cute age forever and the other knows they need to be prepared for the world that they will venture into all too soon. Keanna has taken to Jerry very naturally, sort of like he has always been in her life. He in turn gets a kick out of her remembering that not that long ago he and Donna were caring for their granddaughter who raised for several years.

None of us knows what to expect next in life. Over the past few years I've been mostly disappointed in what life handed me, sorry but that is the way I feel. Yet even in very challenging times like the present there are moments of bliss, joy, blessing and family plus friends have provided most of these special moments. I can think of three scenes that play out over and over, scene one, the moment Keanna sees me at the gate after school on Wednesdays. She lights up, imagine that, she lights up over her old papa standing there smiling from ear to ear. scene two, slowly the motorhome pulls into the long driveway and up on the second level the door opens and Timothy races out to the rail shouting Papa papa. That moment is magic and the rigors of the 2 hour drive are washed away instantly. scene three, I enter the door from the garage and Kallie sees me, she turns and races toward me as fast as she can run and crashes right into my legs. I know enough to help break the impact and she looks up and says papa. Magic moments that no bill collectors can erase, no sad memories can eclipse, just plain magic moments the bring peace and joy into my life.

On a somber note, I've gone the week without ANY orders. I'm finishing up working on two challenging ones and then I'm caught up. There are a couple orders that could happen but they are not firm. The Academy Mortgage account that I was told was in force again is not yet official so no more orders until a signature arrives from a person that I don't even know. My Chevy Chase account that has been a steady 2 to 5 orders per week has now placed one order in the last two weeks. I must say my faith is severely challenged right now. Jerry asked me a challenging question, if I did not appraise what would I do for work? I had no answer, I know of nothing else to do. What my heart longs to do is be involved with helping troubled people through tough times yet I don't know how to make a living doing that. Bob wrote to the blog and reminded me that I've seen challenging times before, he is so right.

I simply ask for your prayers that God will lead in a stronger way than ever before and that I will be willing to follow His lead. I need help as my resources are very thin and a house payment needs to be made by Friday.

This evening after Keanna went to music class we drove to the club and while Jerry waited in the kick back room I went to spin class. We discussed it and Jerry was concerned that since I was feeling so rough and that I was coughing every other minute that spin class might be too much for me. Like I often do I waffled back and forth for a bit but then I decided to just go for it. The class was challenging, my bike was soaked with my sweat, my butt still hurts from bruised bones but for 45 minutes I did not stop spinning. Part of me could just not believe I would make it the whole time but I just kept spinning and when it was over and I once again stood up I felt like I won the lottery. I've hardly coughed since and while I've very tired since I already walked 3 miles this morning my knees are trashed but it felt good to face a challenge I could meet and defeat.

Once we got home Jerry whipped up some perfect grilled cheese sandwiches and I made soup. We enjoyed our dinner very much and it was tasty. Jerry is this amazing person who has been through so much in his life, had several careers ending with 35 years on the railroad the last of which had him the engineer of the whole mile long train. He knows so much about so much and its a blast to learn from him. I just wish we lived closer. He is a precious part of my life.

Well it is now time to go to bed and yes I'm working on getting the blog colors better. So far Lois and I have not arrived at the correct look.

Love to all

Tim

The challenges of life

Dear Family and Friends,
Welcome to each of you and I hope your day was productive. Mine was barely so as I continue to come up against a lot of fatigue. Today I refused to allow myself a nap, trying to break the bad habit I slipped into when I was so ill.
Ken and I walked and found ourselves in a light rain storm with wind whipping. We were very glad to get back to dry homes. When Jerry came down we built a fire and enjoyed watching a log he had trucked down from Weed go slowly up into smoke. The sight and the warm room were great.
I made breakfast of oatmeal, stripples, OJ, wheat toast and banana. Jerry had some very good jam a friend made last summer.
I then set to work to complete an appraisal that was due tomorrow. Got it done which felt good.
This evening we went to town to see Keanna at the gymnastics class. She is doing really terrific and has learned so much. Kallie had stayed home with her daddy so I missed her.
I sort of hate to be around people due to my awful cough, Dr. Jim is helping with some antibiotics which I'll pick up at his office tomorrow. I hate to take them but without taking them I don't get well, just cough and tear up my lungs and walk through life like a zombie, on the edge of fever, hurting head and very little drive.
Today has been laundry day. The dryer has developed a horrendous squeak that emits its ear piercing sound every rotation of the drug, we tried to get to where the sound is coming from today but had no luck, its too deep in the bowels of the machine. Even with the hall door closed it is pretty loud and disturbing. Yet another project to tackle when I feel better.
Professionally this is the lowest point for orders I have ever experienced. My two main clients have not ordered anything for a week and only a few other orders have come through. As I watch the days count down to when the house payment has to be made it fills my heart with dread, that plus feeling less than good makes for a subdued boy. Jerry's being here helps a lot, someone to talk to, to share ideas and memories with has been great.
So for now its bedtime. I'm trying very hard to get to bed for enough rest and we walk at 6:30 in the morning.
Are you facing serious challenges in your life? If so lets pull for each other, if not I'm glad, this is not so fun to live close to the edge all the time. I'd rather work hard than hardly work.

Love to all

tim

This pink is really awful, it will change, promise

Dear Family and Friends,
A day to be thankful for.
Ken and I beat the pavement at 6:30 and I felt rotten with coughing and congestion when we started out but it gradually grew better as we walked. After a nice hot shower and tasty breakfast, I'm poisoning Jerry with vege meats etc, poor guy, he is so nice, never complains.

We left for Palo Alto at around 10 and arrived there at 11:30. Using the code for access we found a cute little house that had just been updated. Still it seems a poor house for the $305K they were asking for it. After we shot comps we were guided to a Taco Bell by the GPS, had quick lunch and then headed to Lafayette.

In Lafayette we found a lovely home on a downsloping lot. It had a great view, an exciting owner who enjoyed showing her beautiful home. Then we spent the next few hours locating and shooting comps in the hills.

At 4:10 we set our sights on Brentwood and the Weight Watchers meeting. The traffic seemed to part for us and we arrived early. In spite of my evil ways lately eating wise I lost .2 pound for a total of 12 pounds now. Jerry sat in the meeting and observed. Very helpful meeting. And to celebrate the meeting we drove to Stockton to Spaghetti Factory and had whole wheat pasta. Now we are home feeling very full, very tired and pretty satisfied.
1) we had a safe day 2) there was work to do and we did it 3) we had a chance to share lots of stories from our childhood and of course Jerry's childhood was just after Columbus discovered America since he is much much much older, funny we move about like we were about the same age, but of course he is much wiser.

Good news, Lammerdings were able to access the blog. Now if we can just get the color changed, right!

Love to all

Tim

Amazing 30 hours.

Hi
Just landed back in my driveway at 5387 Willow Lake Court. Jerry and I drove the motorhome down on Sabbath afternoon arriving early in the evening. The weather was perfect and stayed that way the entire time. We had a great evening and then I tried to blog but could not connect to Jason's new wireless system so had to blog this morning.
Jason came knocking about 7:30 this morning and we walked to the beach and then down the beach to the MBA property line and back. Jason's pedometer showed we had walked about 2 miles. He is walking and looking strong these days. The CHIPS program has been a good experience in his life with many good things learned and tucked away. We had some great meals with Jason and Jo and today as he used his BBQ to do corn and sliced potatoes. He also did grillers. The corn and potatoes came out totally awesome, so good. The griller tasted better than ever, perhaps we were hungry after the big walk.
One very sad note for me personally was that Starr could not make it back on the hike and I had to carry her. It nearly breaks my heart to see her in distress. After we got back and she rested up she seemed to rebound fine but the walk was just too much for her.
Jerry and I put out the awning, put down the little piece of AstroTurf and rolled out the lawn chairs, we took turns napping and watching Timothy as he watched over Virginia, Jason's pet Tortoise. He has had her since she was very little and she is now huge. She loved her time on the grass and would stop and munch for awhile then move on. Jason was cleaning and painting his golf cart that he is getting ready to sell. Once it was clean he took us for a ride about the campus and Jerry could get a better idea of what the school is like.
We sat for hours in our recliners watching the distant ocean, the blue sky, little RC airplanes as they darted about and just enjoyed the day in a very decadent manner. Eventually we had to consider preparing for our return trip. Jason, Jo and Timothy were in good health, the pregnancy is progressing nicely and our hearts went out to them as they prepare for a quick trip to Hawaii at the end of the week, poor dears having to go over there to that place. I'm totally jealous and offered to go baby sit but got nowhere. This is so unfair. Timothy needs his Papa.
Our trip home was uneventful which is just what you want when traveling with a motorhome.
Once again I feel time spend at MBA, the ocean, relaxing and enjoying family has done its calming magic.
For those of you having trouble with the new blog site I am so sorry. I wish I understood how these things worked better. I'm sure we can get the kinks worked out soon.

Love to all,

Tim

Whoops

Dear Family and Friends,

After a full day which included taking the girls to Sabbath School, lunch at Olive Garden with Nikki, the girls and uncle Jerry we loaded up the motorhome with a few things and drove to MBA. We arrived to wonderful weather and a very excited Timothy. Of course the chocolate cake he had eaten just before we arrived might have helped but he was so fun and playful. He sat at his little piano and played and sang a song and talked to us, got to know his Great Uncle Jerry and had fun in general. Then we all went to a 60th anniversary concert by the oceanaires, the school choir. It had all the members of the choir for the pat 60 years that were in attendance. The sound was incredible. A real positive time for MBA.

Jason created a pizza that had to be the most healthful kind in the world. It was really good and his experiment was a success.

We had a good night and enjoyed the cool night weather of the ocean. Then Jason came knocking early this morning and we took a two miles walk along the beach with the doggies. Starr could not make it back, I had to carry her part of the way, how I hate to see her get older, just tears at my heart. Loss is awful.

Jason and Timothy are planting things in the backyard, flowers, vegetables and even dreaded onions. Sometimes parents fail to pass on the right things and somehow Jason learned to like onions in spite of my counsel, must have been his mother who loved them.

Well we are well into a great day.

I tried for over a hour last night to figure out how to make the laptop connect to Jason and Jo's new wireless system but it would never hook up. Finally in frustration I went to bed. So I'm writing this morning instead. Wish you were all here. Its a perfect morning in a very special place.

love

tim

A Pleasant Day With Jerry

Dear Family and Friends,

10:18 bed time for the brothers. We've had a pretty good day overall. I'm not feeling perfect right now, hay fever seems to have infiltrated my sinuses and my head feels pretty solid, not fun. This morning I was supposed to help with getting the girls up and to their correct places but Nikki called to let me know Kallie was ill and that she was taking the day off. The night had been so awful with a series of events and conditions that were almost unbearable.
I went to bed at 11 and found I could not breathe enough to be able to wear the mask so I tried to sleep without it, I could not fall asleep without the mask, then I came down and did a sinus wash, still no good, then I came down again and tried a allergy pill and back to bed. For a few minutes I feel asleep without the mast but then the two cats were banging on the door. Since their access door is locked at night to keep out the raccoons I thought they might like to be in, wrong. They wanted out and finally in desperation I came down and opened the door but by then they had disappeared, now what to do? leave the door open and risk raccoons or close it and still have at least one cat inside? Eventually I got both of them out, door locked and headed back to bed to discover that I could get a little air through and could wear the mask. Then I was just awake. At 4:30 this morning I turned over and fell asleep until 6:15 when the alarm went off.
Tonight I am sleepy and ready to sleep if the nose will cooperate.
Tomorrow afternoon we are heading down to spend a night in Jason and Jo's driveway, to walk on the beach and to relax a bit in the sun. If Kallie feels good enough in the morning I'll take her and Keanna to Sabbath School, so far this evening I'm not sure how to plan.

Having Jerry here is a real interesting time. Not having anyone in my space for a couple years it is different to know someone else is in the house. I always learn so much about diabetes from him as his is more advanced, he wears an insulin pump and he knows a lot about carbs, food choices etc. I always learn from his senior position as the older brother and this morning we even enjoyed moving the wood he brought down in his truck to the wood holder on the back porch. How thoughtful of him to bring wood. I love to do grocery shopping with him as he knows what to look for and has a wisdom that somehow escaped me so far.

Here is my fondest desire for each of you. Enjoy life this weekend, I mean really enjoy life, embrace it, revel in it and be glad you are here.

Love

tim

Welcome to My New Blog

Dear Family and Friends,
After much thought I have a new name for the blog. I'm sure that if Nan were alive she would have urged me to do this months ago knowing how she liked to keep things going.
As I write this afternoon I'm waiting for my elderly brother to arrive. He is driving the 300 miles from his home in Weed to Discovery Bay, its a long ways no matter how you manage it and he's coming alone so if he gets sleepy he needs to pull over and rest.
I'll not be going to the Jackson Rancheria RV park on Sat. night, it is totally sold out. Frankly I'm pleased that people have discovered this high quality facility and are using it. They have space for Sunday night so I might do that. We'll just have to see.
This morning Starr and Lady begged for a walk so we headed to the park. It has been months since they got to do their little trek and although tired by the time we got back they did enjoy it. They have been resting all day on their beds since we got back. Its sort of strange day today with overcase, a bit of sun and cool temperatures.
I had the good fortune of an order this morning, what makes it special is where it came from. The management company that cleared up its list about 3 weeks ago has finally restored me to the list, at least I think so, as I have an order for Palo Alto. I was so thrilled to see the order come through as one needs all the companies and individuals ordering appraisals that are possible.
So I'm sort of waiting to hear his diesel truck rattle to a stop in the driveway, that will mean it made it safely and we can begin the party!

Love

tim