Mia takes to the piano

This afternoon I was gifted with a very special email from Jo.  It was of Mia sitting at the little piano I gave Timothy.  She was playing the piano, amazing and so cute.  Wish I knew how to attach it here so you all could see it.  So cute and Timothy was looking on from the background.

Just now I've been enjoying an amazing 14 minute UTube that Barbara Lammerding sent.  Totally amazing as this very handicapped young man plays the piano with such skill yet cannot talk much or even know how to hold up 3 fingers, yet he can play in any key, any style and nearly any song anyone asks for from the audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak2jxmhCH1M&feature=player_embedded

Try it and if it works you are in for a treat.

Today has been uneventful.  I had the joy of seeing the girls as they came down this morning, then breakfast and finally the happiness as they were delivered to their places.

I've been cranking on a report today and did some kitchen cleanup, some grocery shopping, attended WW and lost an amazing .4 pound.  Got some new books from the library and ate in a little place in Brentwood where for awhile I was the only patron, a 2 egg senior omelet with fruit bowl.  A perfect little dinner.

This evening I watched the sun set over the lake and now its bed time once again.  Starr did a good job on her dinner today and is grumbling at me for some reason right now, not sure why, don't speak doggie very well.

Good night all,

love

tim

Good day

Dear friends and family

The fire is burning, Starr is snoring beside me and hannity is on.
It's been a good day. I was the kiddos this morning and delivered them to their places. They can be fighting one minute and singing together the next. Kids! Great fun.

Today was nice in that a nice check arrived. Now it's always nice to get money.

This morning I asked God for work and within an hour an order came. Thankyou Lord.

So one day down and the week is running.

Love to all

Tim

Sunday report

Dear Friends and Family,

Starr is enjoying a moment by the radiant heater supplied by George and Yvonne many years ago. In spite of hind legs that no longer work properly she still moves around, finds the water and food and enjoys a snack once in a while.  She loves to go in the car or motorhome and crys when she does not get to go.

This has been a rainy day here in Northern Cal.  So much rain for so late in the year but this should silence those who are always harping at us for taking showers, etc.  I just love do gooders telling others what to do.  Like burning my little wood stove.  I like to light it up when I feel like it, it has all the stuff that scrubs the smoke, not saying you can't smell it but I happen to like it.  So does Starr.

I've been careful today about what I'm putting into the system.  Oatmeal, whole wheat bread, tomatoes, good soup and lots of water and yummy coffee.  So far this evening I've stayed out of the kitchen.  In the morning I do the kiddo duty at 7 am so need to head to bed soon.

Had a delightful surprise this afternoon when there was a knock at the back door.  George and Yvonne were out driving, had enjoyed lunch at Streets of Brentwood, our version of a shopping center and dropped in for a minute.  That was a great surprise.

I've finished one report today and am well into the second one.  I'll have to complete the second one after the kiddos in the morning.  This morning when I rolled out I strapped on the tennis shoes long ago provided by Roger and Carol and rode for 30 minutes on the tred mill.  That was a great way to start the day.

If you are not doing some exercise I just want to mention that in spite of my being so overweight I still really feel better all day when I exercise.  Find something you really enjoy and then do it as often as you can.

Sending love to all

Tim

Sabbath evening

Good evening
I'm writing from steve and nikkis tonight. They are out enjoying themselves at dinner and a movie.
So I'm watching kallie and keanna. It is always an adventure. We did sabbath school today and kallie was a birthday girl. She got to pick a gift from the birthday box.

We did olive garden for lunch and then parted ways. I enjoyed some rest, built a fire, baked a 10 grain loaf of bread.

So that is about it for the day.
Sending love.

Tim

Success

Dear Family and Friends,
wow, what a day!  I left this morning after a breakfast of oatmeal and whole wheat toast.  I arrived early in Lodi and enjoyed inspecting a very nice duplex property and seeing old friends.  Once I was through I set my course for Danville and arrived about 15 minutes late.  The home was lovely and decorated so nicely, landscaping was perfect and all 3,200 sf was perfect.  By the time I had completed that inspection I had slipped behind time wise so once again I allowed the GPS to guide me to the Fremont appointment.  This home had great landscaping, great owners and excellent condition.  This one took a while to find all the comparables but then I drove back to Danville to shoot the comp photos and finally after a bite to eat arrived at home around 8:30.  I think I drove about 300 miles today but with an excellent book to listen to the time passed quickly.  While I had hoped for orders to arrive none came in.

I am thankful for a safe day, for the car functioning perfectly and for the work to do.

Now its the Sabbath and the christian dish is providing excellent programs.  Joyce Myers is just over and she is really good at getting a person to look, to trust and to move by conviction, not feelings.  How is that with you?  Do you live, move, decide to do things by how you feel or by what you know is right?  I know I often am led by feelings, feelings that are very unreliable instead of deeply held convictions.  After thinking that once I arrived at senior citizen status I would have some things behind me I find that is not true at all.  Some battles seem to be with us forever.

I think I'll have the girls for SS in the morning. I sure hope so as its been a few weeks and the girls like SS so much.  We are so fortunate to have excellent teachers who really care about kids.

So good night friend and family,

Love to all

Tim

Lull before the storm

Dear Family and Friends,
Well today has been rather low key.  Our weather continues to be cool.  This morning I finally dragged myself outside, jumped on my bike and gave the speedometer its first tryout.  It works great but I discovered that the walk Ken and I take nearly every morning, that is until recently, is actually 2.8, not 3 full miles so all these years I've been reporting incorrectly about the distance.

At 11:40 I attempted to pick up Keanna but since all the children were leaving at the same time parking was a challenge, you just can't believe the selfishness of some of the drivers, they just stop in the road to wait for their kids with a line of cars behind that need to find parking places, today there was a traffic cop lady telling them to move on but even then it took awhile to get them moving.  Once I found Keanna I discovered a very sad little girl, not only was it her last day of school but she had collided with another kid and had a tooth mark in her forehead and a huge bump.  She had an ice pack on it and was coping.

Once we got home I built a little fire, made her popcorn and she enjoyed her shows for awhile.  Then we left for Brentwood where we did a bank deposit, shopped at Dollartree and then stopped for a snack at Taco Bell.

Then we rushed back to meet Nikki and Kallie who were visiting Keanna's friends who also live on the lake.  Then I drove back to Brentwood and with Ray's help picked up the van which now has a freshly painted hood, a new headlight.  I had to pay the deductible and now the van is safely home in the garage.  All due to a little piece of wood that flew up and hit the van on the levee road last fall.  Could you imagine that the repair came to $1,600 for that little incident.  Soon we are trading cars, the van for the civic but not until we both get little things taken care of for our own cars.

While I was in town I took $54 worth of supplies I had purchased to screen the van back to Home Depot since I no longer needed them.  That cash paid for groceries at FoodMax.  Meds were also picked up from CVS.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, at 11 I inspect a duplex in Lodi and then at 1:30 I see a property in Danville, at 3 I see yet another property in Fremont and then I head home for a restful evening.  I am so thankful for the work and I do praise God for allowing it to happen.  While working on the computer today I caught an incoming email announcing that an order was available.  I dialed in but by the time I got to the web site the order was already snagged by someone else.  Bummer.

This evening I'm sending love and prayers to friend Roger in N. Carolina as the specialists attempt to solve his serious health problems.  I know there are others who also need our prayers, its a very troubled time in this great country and with no strong leadership we are adrift.

Love


tim

What a day

Some days are just better than others, sure it could not decide if it would rain, blow, shine but in spite of the strange spring weather this was a killer day. Starr and I jumped up this morning at 6:45 with some excitement, this was the day when I was to see the dentist again, now can you believe being excited about a medical or dental visit, well I was, nervous too really, I gag and I did not want to make a nut out of myself.
I worked at my desk and enjoyed a huge smoothie with blue berries and a very ripe banana with the special magic powder from Dolly.  Then at 10:45 I left for Hollister.  I set the cruise on the bug at 65 and was buffeted by the weather but had little traffic.  It takes a couple hours and I've kept the address of the doctor in the gps memory.  I pulled up to the minute at his office at 1:30 and was greeted by his happy staff. They were looking up Discovery Bay on their office computer and we chatted for a bit.  Then it was the short walk to the big chair.  He started in smiling and working quickly and calmly.  He ground and the machine whirred in my mouth, he took impressions and soon I was fitted with a temporary bridge, then he set to work on a front tooth that was chipped badly from a surgery done long ago, a surgery that was a total failure but my tooth suffered anyway.  With a few strokes he created a new corner on the tooth matching the color and now it looks much nicer.  He informed me that on the next visit he would do a cavity, install the crown, do a teeth cleaning and we would be in good shape.  I just feel so relieved to be doing something about this matter when I've feared it and dreaded the fact that my teeth might be getting worse while I waited for funds to do the work.  Now we have it handled and I've made a friend in Dr. Clarke.
I was out of his office before 2 pm and obeyed his warning not to do a bunch of munching right away.  I set the GPS for addresses in Tracy so I could complete the appraisal.  It took me to 152 and then 5 for an effortless trip to Tracy.  Along the way I noticed diesel for $4.09 so I stopped to top it off.  Wonder of wonders but I had just clocked my best fuel mileage every, 53.4 mpg.  Can we say tail wind or something helpful.
Once the photos were taken in Tracy I raced home, changed into bike shorts and was out the door for spin class.  Kim was in rare form and demanded that we work hard, water fell everywhere from my body and yet I now feel great, nice to know I can do that even if I don't do it as well as the hard bodies which are all around me.  Kim is great to me and helpful.
This evening I've finished up the appraisal and its emailed to the lender, I've also set up an order that came in today while I was driving, yea!
I call this a good day and when I got home I had a great email from a friend through EHarmony.  Those are always enjoyable too.
So wishing all of you a good night,

Love

tim