Friday-7:15am

Good Morning!

Another brief peek at a hot red-orange sun before it climbed up under the clouds this fine morning.

Well, I was going to do this yesterday but I was too dang sore from catching up online all day the day before to handle much computer time. (Same positions do me in.) Kind of funny because now I am behind again--LOL! Anyways, I wanted to share what little I know of the story of two best friends, Melynda and Elisa.

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I only recently "met" them, read each of their blogs, and became an instant follower of both. In fact, at first I didn't realize they knew each other. I didn't know about Melynda having lost the eyesight in her one eye (due to childhood diabetes) until I read this blog post. There was a sudden, blood in the good eye, emergency run occurrence.

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Now both these women are young mothers. I can't imagine what it would have been like for me to be raising Dagan and suddenly not be able to see! And to not have learned how to even be blind yet or to have the special equipment needed for daily living, you know? Melynda faces her challenges with honesty, grace and humor. These two wild and crazy, book-writing, BFF moms are something else...and so lucky to have each other. Elisa hatched a plan and posted about it here. Elisa and a couple other friends secretly finished off editing the book Melynda was putting together from her blog! They totally surprised her! All the profits will go to Melynda to help her get the things she needs to make her new legally blind life easier. She's having another surgery on that eye today.

Best wishes, Melynda!!

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The book was just released yesterday. So far it looks like it's only available in the kindle version but I hope it will be available in paperback form soon. I know I will get a copy as soon as it's in paperback. I'll post a link when I find out it's available in hold-in-the-hand form, okay?

FYI:

This post of Melynda's is why I enlarged my font and decided that I am no longer going to comment on blogs that have word verification. I got rid of word verification (which I wasn't actually aware I had in the first place) some time ago after meeting Tori who has lost both her eyes due to childhood glaucoma. My dad has had glaucoma for over 30 years (has lost the sight in one eye) and my son, Dagan, was just diagnosed with glaucoma last year. I, myself, am so nearsighted (and with astigmatism) that I cannot be corrected to 20/20 with glasses and word verification of any kind has never been easy for me, either. So, if you haven't checked, please take the time to do so. (See Melynda's post on how to do it.) You can choose to approve any comments before they are posted. I've been keeping a list and have almost 20 blogs I follow that I no longer comment on. Of course, you certainly may not miss my two cents--LOL! But if you are wondering why you haven't heard from me, that is probably be the reason.

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Now, I also had to add--for being such an amazing, thoughtful friend--Elisa's book is also available at Amazon in paperback and the kindle edition.

Sadly, I am ashamed to admit that I won the book but haven't even started it yet. I have not been reading anything for weeks...not even my ACIM I was reading every day. Well, the only thing I have been reading is one of the chic-mystery paperback of Caroline's I keep in the bathroom to read a few pages at a time. But this compiled diary book about the loss of Elisa's baby boy definitely didn't feel like bathroom reading material and that's the only spot I've been cracking a book for going on a month--LOL! I've been saving it for when I had the time to give it full attention, you know? But maybe I should just dive in and lose a day or two. ;) Hummmm...maybe this weekend?

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Meanwhile, since I couldn't spend any length of time sitting in computer position yesterday I was up and down printing off free stationery.

I can't even remember now how I ran across this idea online, but I had jotted down to google "free printed stationery". Found some I liked and printed away. Then I had to cut them down after they were printed off with my trusty Dahle Trimmer.

I temporarily was sticking them in the resume paper box I had finished off while doing this task. Later they went into a prettier flowered box, of course, that I keep writing materials in.

I laid the empty box with the rest of Karma's mess on the floor: toy box spilled out, fake treats in the flat toy bed, hunk of rug we put catnip on, and cat grass planter. She really does take up a lot of room sometimes--LOL!

Karma's been parked on top of the slim empty box most of the time since...because it has that triangular hole up in the corner...and the evil queen dropped a few kernels of cat food inside...and she couldn't reach them--LOL!

She paws into that hole like a crazy person every so often. Despite the fact that I removed the kernels and have showed her it's empty three times. Evil queen finds this vastly amusing. ;)

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The cat grass is not going to last much longer. It gets enough sun in that spot but it is also cold there on the floor. The grass is beginning to turn yellow and brown. But Karma well knows the bounty fades quickly. She's been chomping and grazing many times a day..."making hay while the sun shines" came to mind. :)

Yesterday. After effects of the second blizzard...with an additional dusting of snow that arrived during the next night. What a dark day.

The plow never came until around 6pm Wednesday night. We always wait to get plowed out. They went down the center aisles of the parking lot and pushed away snow from some of the places where there were no cars.

Then we're left with this mess. Normally they would eventually put up notices to vacate the parking lot on such and such a day for a thorough plowing, but this late in the year I wonder if they will bother...or just assume it will melt soon anyways.

Below my window here there was so much ice under the snow that a couple people had a heck of a time moving their cars out of the spots where they had huddled during the storm. Then I watched someone else arrive, slip in, and get stuck after they left. Apparently the arriving driver noticed the slide and thud into the snow, changed their mind, tried valiantly to back out, came inside to recruit pushing help...20 minutes later they were quite hopefully parked in a different, very white looking spot that revealed no obvious slippery glare.

Sometimes forced retirement is such a blessing.

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Well, having a garage is a true blessing up here, too. ;)

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Do you notice anything is this picture?

Look between the far garages.

A big old snow pile!! Tall as the garages!! :):)

It took until the end of February, but it finally looks like winter here. :):)

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Well, with breaks...it is now a little after 11am. I'm not going to get caught up online much today, either, I guess--LOL! But then--am I ever caught up? Even when I have managed to succeed it only lasts for maybe an hour or so--ROFL!! ;)

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Please be patient with me.

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Have a great weekend!! :):)

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To Elisa:

A friend is the one who is already there doing it when every one else is saying, "Is there anything I can do?"

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