God Bless Dr. Abel !

We wanted to make a personal comment about a special friend of ours. He is a doctor in the Army, and today he left for Iraq. He left his wife and three precious little girls in the USA to serve our country. He is a special man, and so is his family. It is difficult for the families to give up their fathers. Hopefully it will be for only a short time. We thank God for these men, and we certainly thank God for their families. God be with you, Dr. Abel, and may God be with your special family. We will do all that we can to help them.

Until next time . . . . . .. . . . . .

We Welcome a New School Year 2007-2008!

Well, hello, again! We were reminded by some of our readers that we haven't posted anything on our blog in quite a long time. (At least for us!) Why, you ask? Well, the number one thing of course is that school began this week for the kids. It is so very hot here, and they are NOT ready to come back to school. It is tough to be away from Mom. The first day was okay. On the second day, we began to see a few headaches, tummy aches, etc. By the start of today, it was the big cry day! Those poor little babies had had it, and they were ready to go home.



Little kindergartners are just like ants. They just scatter. Lining up is the biggest job they have. Yesterday, one little boy bit another one. (After the story was finally told, the boy who was bitten had taken the glasses off another one and thrown them into dirt.) Secretly, we wanted to say, "Good for you", (the one who bit the arm of another). Of course, we couldn't, but we laughed later.



Therapy continues to go well for Sharon. She really didn't give it much hope of helping, but now her story has changed because she is really doing much better, and strengthening her shoulder muscles. Today, she caused the little therapist to lose her balance while being tested on strength. (Hee, hee.)



Ellen loves being back at school, but even this week took its toll on her. The heat just saps our strength. We don't feel old until the heat just gets to us. Thank God for the long weekend!! Come Tuesday, we will be ready to hit the floor running! Hope everyone enjoys the Labor Day Holiday.

Until next time. . . . . .

So Far--A Week Of Records!

Hello, Everyone! We promise! This will be short. We certainly don't want to sound like "whiners." Monday brought record high temperatures to El Paso. It was 103 degrees! We thought that was bad; however, Tuesday gave us 104 degrees! The weathermen are running out of adjectives. We can hardly wait to see what today brings. We know, we know. At least we didn't have the hurricane winds and rain.

Sharon was entering data into the computer in Ellen's office when that little familiar text sound came through. It was from her daughter who said, " Day 2-it's 45 degrees outside." Thanks a lot, Paula. Those of you who know her know that she and her husband moved northward out of Las Vegas. They are so happy to be out of the hot weather and crowds. They love it. Here's to mountains, lakes, and beautiful weather! (Maybe that will make us think COOL!) Until next time . . . . . . . . ....

Church and Pizza!

Today, we went back to our home church for the first time in a very long while. We took a hiatus from the choir for awhile. We were welcomed back with open arms by people who had genuinely missed us. That was nice. We saw lots of old friends, but not too many children. We guess that lots of families are on the last vacation of the summer.

After church, we came home and made pizza! Yum, yum. It was a chicken artichoke pizza, and it was the best one we had made in a long time. We don't do that very often because it takes a little time to make it from scratch. You knew we would take a picture of it, and we did! Here it is! (Hee, hee.)

Monday begins the old grind again. Ellen will go to work, and Sharon will first go to a physical therapy session and then to school.

We hate to keep talking about the heat, but tonight when we came home to Sharon's house, it was 110 degrees in the garage. It was 101 degrees outside! That is just almost more than a body can take, especially these two beat-up OLD bodies.

We hope you have a great Monday! Until next time. . . . . . . . .

It's Back To School and Back To The Old Grind!

Hello, Everybody! Before we talk about school, we wanted to show you just how very hot it is! This first picture is a picture of the clock and thermometer in Sharon's garage! Yes, it is almost nine o'clock at night, and it is almost one hundred degrees. It is like a blast furnace. We have had numerous companies come out to give estimates for blowing in insulation. They never return because the pitch of the roof is so low, and they don't think that they can get insulation up there. Isn't that just lovely?



Below is a picture taken today at school in Ellen's office. Sharon has been helping redecorate the office with new little things for the children to look at when they come in for whatever reason. We thought Joe would appreciate the little snowboarder right in the middle. (He loves to snowboard.)

This next little picture shows the cute little corner in one of the rooms. The kids know that they can look at books whenever they aren't feeling well. They also like the little stuffed animals to hold.

A couple of years ago, Sharon put up this picture over the computer. There are no windows in Ellen's office, but this one makes you think that there is.

And here is Nursie-Pooh, herself! We just finished putting up the banner about attitude.

Even though we only worked three days this week, it seemed like an eternity with all of the heat. We have begun entering the immunization data into the computer, and making all of the necessary paper work associated with the nurse's office. Everything must be documented, and Ellen does a great job. Today Sharon pooped out at noon! She stayed home to take a nap. Erin (Susan's daughter) came up and volunteered to enter data. What a God-send she was! She will never know what a blessing she was for Sharon whose eyes just close after lunch! Anyway, Erin, we appreciate what you did VERY MUCH! Thank you!

Ellen has been quite busy checking shot records and sending the little ones to get the necessary immunizations before they can start school. The majority of the new kinders are up to date with their shots, but then there are some who need four or five!! Poor babies, I feel bad for them, but it must be done before school starts.

Have a nice week-end! Until next time. . . . . . . . . . . .

Now We Can Pull The Shades!

Hello, Everybody! We had a wonderful 'last day before you go to work day!' We went to see "The Bourne Ultimatum" and we loved it ! We had popcorn for lunch, and Sharon only nodded off a few times. (Hee, hee!) Anyway, we loved the movie.



Then we went to Ellen's, checked her plants, and noticed that UPS had indeed delivered the new Bali Cellular Shades! (Sharon already had nap on the brain, but as soon as she saw that box with the shades in it, off she went!) Guess how we spent the afternoon? You are right. Sharon was up on that ladder with screwdriver in hand before you could blink. Here is a picture of the green room and the new shades.

This one shows the new comfortor and pillows. It really is a very pretty green. That is why it has become the Green Room.

We did the Green Room first and then moved over to the Chocolate Room. The shades really do look lovely. Ellen is glad that she didn't have to pay an installer, but little does she know---she WILL pay.

We still have to steam the draperies, but we ran out of time today.

The picture above really doesn't do the lamp justice. It is a darling "just the right size" lamp. We got it from Burlington!

After we finished that, we were off to dinner at Applebee's. (We figured after all of that work, we deserved dinner out.)

Hope you had a good day. Until next time. . . . . . . . . . .

Great News About The MRI !!

Hello, Everybody! We hope you had a wonderful day. It really was a good day for Sharon. Today she got the results of the MRI for her shoulder. The good news is that it isn't a rotator cuff tear. It is just inflammation of the rotator cuff. We don't mean to make light of the fact that it is inflammation because it has really given her problems. Just last night it kept her up, but at least now we know what has caused all of that pain. The doctor prescribed some therapy for it and she will return to the doctor in six weeks. Hopefully, that will be the end of that!

On Tuesday, we plan to go see "The Bourne Ultimatum." It will be Ellen's last day of freedom. She returns to work on Wednesday. We were going to rent "Wild Hogs", but I guess we can do that any old time. To see "The Bourne Ultimatum" on the big screen will be pretty special.

Speaking of something special, we thought we would take another picture of Sharon's beautiful hibiscus. Yesterday, it was just blooming with six beautiful blooms. A few days ago, we went to a really nice greenhouse out in the valley. Ellen got two gorgeous hibiscus plants. One is a deep red, and one is called Chinese Red. Pretty soon, we will be able to take a picture of her beautiful blooms. In the meantime, we will just put up pictures of Sharon's.

Have a wonderful week ! Until next time. . . . . . . . .

The End of a Tale!

Hello, everybody! Ellen took her return to work papers to Polk this morning. She will officially be back on duty this next Wednesday. Our summer has been quite different from those in the past, but because of this surgery we hope the summers that are ahead of us will be filled with some fun adventures. Thanks to all of you who followed this journey with us via our blog. We won't stop making entries, the subject matter will just change.

Sharon brought a lot of patience and determination to her role as care-giver. She is the best and I could not have made the amount of progress so quickly without her constant vigilance regarding what I was supposed to do -- and NOT do!! I will be forever grateful for her tireless efforts and love. "Thank you" does not even come close to saying how I feel. But for those of you who know us well, we are a team and what is needed by one is done by the other.

We wish all of you good health and in times of illness, someone to care for you with love. We promised one last picture of that gorgeous knee, and here it is.
Sharon would like to add a postscript to this little entry. I enjoyed taking care of Ellen so much that I wonder if I should have been a nurse instead of a teacher all of these years. Is it too late for me to go back to school for my nursing degree? I will only be 65 on my next birthday! Until next time. . . . . . .

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Yesterday was "Doctor Day" for Ellen and "MRI Day" for Sharon. Our appointments, which were at the same location were for 9:50 and 10:00. We figured the appointments would be running behind schedule, just because they usually are; so , we took our cheery little selves up to the desk to check in. Ellen asked the girl at the desk if the doctor was running on time. She said, "Yes, he is doing pretty well today." Sharon had several sheets of paper to fill out. Ellen kept texting her little messages. Thirty minutes went by; then, an hour was gone. We both were still sitting. Ellen came over and said hello, and remarked that she was freezing. We both just kept waiting and waiting. Finally, around 11:20, Sharon was called.


The MRI took about forty-five minutes. They had Sharon get on the table in an impossible position and told her not to move. Yeah, RIGHT! About midway through the MRI, the door opened, and the lady technician came in to tell her that she was moving and the images were blurry. She tried again to lie very still. The lady told her not to breathe so fast! When you are already nervous, how can you not breathe so fast? Results should be in next week.

Ellen was called in around 12:30 for her 9:50 appointment. People all around had just about had it waiting so long. They cheered for her as we went to the back. Dr. Westbrook came in, took one look at her knee, and wanted to know how she was doing. Needless to say, she got her return to work permit, and will return to work on Wednesday. Maybe, tomorrow we will take one final picture of her knee. He told her to come back in six months.

School starts for her on August 15th. Wow, what a summer we have had. Until next time. . . . .

Albuquerque Adventures-Continued!

This first picture is supposed to be at the end; but, I did something wrong, so we will just pretend that I meant to begin with this beautiful look at one of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings.
Hello, again! Today, our adventures took us to the Gruet Winery. We enjoyed the wine tasting, and our talk with the young lady who worked there. We didn't do too much today--just a little shopping.

These are a few pictures from the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. We so enjoyed our visit there. I am sorry that these pictures are a bit blurry.

This was one of our favorites.

Her paintings are bold and beautiful.

The weather has been a bit rainy, but we haven't been in too much of that. It seems that when the weather was really bad, we were either in Santa Fe or inside a shopping mall. We go back to El Paso tomorrow. We have loved geting away this week. It has been good for us both physically and emotionally. Ellen will have one and a half more weeks of vacation before she goes back on duty. Sharon will then have some time to catch up on things at her house. Pray we have a safe drive home. Until next time. . . . . ....