Oh yeah.....Predatory Ducks

With all of the hoopla, I almost forgot about my walk today....and the predatory ducks! I decided to brave the predicted heat and humidity this morning and take a four mile walk! About halfway, I stopped for a small break beside a cute little lake, and called my mom on my cell phone. I sat down on what I thought was a mound of mulch around a tree, but which turned out to be a mixture of mulch and stinky fertilizer. So, I moved up to the sidewalk to sit on a
guardrail and finish my conversation with my mom, when 10 big, fat white ducks with yellow bills came waddling up to me, with intention gleaming in their 20 beady little eyes. I was trying to listen to my mom amid the quacking and my attempts to shoo! the ducks away. Finally, I gave up and told my mom what was going on. She said, "Why don't you just walk away?" That's why girls need moms....even old girls. So I walked away.....and 10 ducks waddled after me, walking in a V formation! Every so often, I turned around and ordered, "SHOO! GO AWAY!" because I was walking uphill toward Braddock Road. And yes, I do walk faster than 10 ducks, but I'm telling you, those were some stubborn ducks, and I didn't want to be responsible for leading them into destruction! Finally, I rounded the corner and the ducks waddled down into the second lake I was passing. I was laughing and heading uphill over the bridge, happy to have outsmarted those ducks, when I noticed them swimming in their V formation across the lake, making a "V" line right for me!! No joke! My mom suggested maybe they smelled the fertilizer and thought I was one of them. (Thanks, Mom.) But I DID have on a bright yellow shirt.....she might have something there. Well, anyway, I really am going to bed now. Quack! Quack! I mean Nite Nite! :)

Colonoscopy Revisited

Not a virtual tour this time either! Ugh! I wish I would have gone with the traditional method the first time! Now I have to go back and get a 6mm polyp snipped and have the doctor look around for ones that might have been overlooked in the (supposedly superior) virtual colonoscopy. So now I have to drink more gross stuff and have another camping trip in the bathroom for a whole day or so...... But the good news is that 6mm is REALLY small, so I am choosing thankful (and a little nervous) as my emotion. My praying friends, please pray that God's peace will fill my heart and leave no room for nervousness. And, talking about things NOT to worry your pretty little head over:

Did you know that, supposedly, Yellowstone National Park is about to blow? And, according to reports (by my youngest son and others), when it goes, so goes the rest of us! I just read a disputed report that Yellowstone lake has risen in it's bottom center 100 ft. Fish are reportedly dying there as are wildlife. Other animals are migrating out of there.....

Of course, once I visited truthorfiction.com to check out this dire prediction, I was lead to other Armegeddon type sites. Ironically, I've been reading the Book of Revelation, which I have just given a cursory reading in the past. I understand the meaning behind the words--repent or else!--God is God---we are NOT--He wants to connect with us, even though we are pretty pathetic--That is because God is God and we are NOT....other than that, I don't understand much of the Revelation. It used to scare me to death when I was a little girl, looking through my parents' giant family Bible......I kind of peeked at the pages, read the words in read and looked uneasily at the grim artist's depictions of the end of the world. Then I would slam the Bible shut and quietly agree with my mother who claimed I couldn't understand the Bible. The problem was that I really did understand quite a bit of what I read. Now I think I understand enough to bow before my Creator's power. God is God. I am not......that's good enough for me. I will trust Him with the future of the world--and my future. The future, afterall, is in His mighty hands.

And, 6mm, afterall, is pretty small.

Venturing Into the Great Unknown

Today was definitely full of firsts for me....and Don. After 3 days of a no fiber diet (weirdly, most of my diet consists of high fiber foods, I discovered) and 24 hours of a liquid diet, complete with really strange concoctions that threatened to bring up the other liquids......and about 8 hours of camping out in la toilette.....I had my first virtual colonoscopy! Actually, the prep wasn't even as bad as I thought it would be, and the virtual trip through my intestines was no big deal, afterall.
Y'all should go there--well, to your own colons. I told Don that the worst part of the whole thing was driving to Walter Reed with Don--he's not a fan of my driving. But the best part of the day....

We got to take a virtual trip to our daughter-in-law's uteris! Well, that sounds kind of invasive...she invited us to be present at her 3D sonogram of our grandson. Conner is beautiful!
He looked right at us, and we could see his face clearly enough to see that he has his mommy's nose! Amazing! And how amazing it is that we can watch God knit him together in our daughter in law's womb! I love him so much already.....God is awesome!

Needing a Rest from Vacation

I'm so tired! I have been running full steam ahead for a month and a half, but I'm out of steam!
Don and Les (his brother) had to go downtown without me today, because I was too tired to go. And I have a sty on my eye and sore knees! (Poor me!)

Yesterday I got up early and made cakes for a picnic at friends for the 4th. Les and I went to the mall and hung out for a few hours, and then we went back home to get ready for the picnic. We had a lot of fun with friends and family last night, watching the fireworks, playing in the (cold!) pool and eating. We also got some scarey news about our friend, Rhonda, who has cancer. She was violently ill and thought she had a blockage. Today she felt better though, and the doctors said she had no blockage.

Tomorrow I think we are going downtown for more sightseeing and then going to hear our son Chris sing and play guitar at a resteraunt/bar where he plays once or twice a month. I have to do some laundry and make dinner--kind of boring today, but boring is nice when I'm tired.

We're Back!

Well, we're back from vacation, and it's true--I really do need a vacation from my vacation! But we have no time for vacationing from vacation. I should, at this very moment, be scrambling around the house like a madwoman getting things ready for my brother-in-law's visit, which begins tomorrow. I have actually scrambled quite a bit today--unpacking, checking email, writing a grocery list.

Vacation was lots of fun, and we had beautiful weather at the beach. My daughter in law, Cameron and I did a lot of cooking--and "baby talking", son Chris grilled a lot for us, and we did a lot of playing at the beach. I actually played in the deep waves for the first time in many years....now that my knees are better. We ate out one night at Crabby Mikes Seafood buffet on Friday. That was a nice end to our week. For some reason I lost four lbs. and really rested up! Can't ask for more than that on vacation!

We were sad to see that Jaime and Murray Sanderson had already moved on to Indianapolis while we were gone! We will miss them! We had a fun picnic at church yesterday, and the beautiful weather must have followed us from the beach. After church Don and I went to get Charlie from the borders--he seemed to love it there and was strangely calm all of the way home. Maybe he thought we sent him away for "bad behavior". We stopped at Cox's Farm and bought some plants for the yard and some fruit on the way home, and he walked calmly along on his leash! Usually he acts like he's taking ME for a walk! Maybe the Dog Whisperer visits Club Pet! After I worked outside all day and Don got a long nap and played Frisbee golf, he and I went to see Evan Almighty! It was very funny and actually pretty good!

Well, I'd better get back to scrambling--hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather here in VA. Jerri