A Perfect Time For Families!

Hello, Everybody!
If you don't take the Christmas decorations down, does it mean that Christmas is not over just yet? We don't want to take everything down. We both love the decorations so much. It sort of keeps us in the Christmas Spirit!

We hope you had a nice Christmas. We did. This first picture was taken in front of Sharon's home. Her daughter, Paula, and her husband, Jason, had just arrived for Christmas Eve. The man on the left is Bobby Blanco. He used to live across the street from us. The kids went to school together. They all graduated in 1989 from high school, but they are still the "kids" to us.
On Christmas Day, we spent time with each of our own families, and also visited with each other's families. Ellen went to Scott and Margaret's home to celebrate with the Negretes. Each year they are so sweet to extend an invitation to Sharon, so she tries to get by there in the afternoon for a short while. Below is the hostess-Margaret along with Ellen.

This is a nice picture of a group in the kitchen. Scott's mom is the blonde. Scott is the host, and is shown with his two daughters, Alex and Daryl. What a beautiful family they are.

Here we have Mark with his mom,Mary. Mark is always clowning around when it is picture time.

Sharon and her husband, went to Jason's folks for Christmas dinner. Here they are at the elder Zona's home.

Paula is showing off a bottle of wine on Ellen's dining room table. It is one she purchased in November when we went to the Picchetti Winery in Lake Tahoe this past November. In beautiful script, it says,"Tahoe" on the bottle. We are saving it for a special occasion.

Ellen took this shot of Paula and Sharon. We had just taken her out for lunch at Thyme Matters. (You have heard of this restaurant before.) We just love to go there.

The time passed too quickly. Ellen is off of school all next week, too. There is no telling just what kind of mischief we will create. We do want to see a movie or two. We have heard that "The Great Debaters" is good. We also want to see "Charlie Wilson's War." We will let you know just how the next week goes, and what we end up doing. We haven't even done too many after Christmas sales this year. It has been too COLD! And now we will see if the New England Patriots are able to keep their perfect record intact. Until next time. . . . . . . . . . ...

Our First Official Christmas Eve Eve Visitors!

Twas the night before Christmas Eve and all through the house, the only creatures stirring were two tired ladies who were ready to sit and enjoy a glass of wine!! We both had already washed our faces and donned our robes, and the fireplace was waiting to warm our cold toes. When behold the phone rang and a voice cried out, "We are standing outside your home. May we come in?" We threw open the door and what did we hear? The sound of Christmas Carols being sung for OUR ears! The elves had come to bring cheer (and a plate of goodies) to two tired-out ladies and for anyone who could hear. They came and they sat, we talked, and we laughed. Then they drove out of sight, leaving smiles on our faces for the remainder of the night!
Merry Christmas Shawn, Megan, Brynna and Lauren! Thank you! We love you!

And Now The Wait For Christmas Begins!

Hello, Everybody!
Today the Christmas vacation officially begins. What a day it was at school! The first grade teachers thought that it would be a wonderful thing if the "Grinch Stole Christmas." Little did they know just how many hearts they would break at having so many things disappear from their rooms! We had crying first graders all over the place. I don't think that the Grinch will come ever again to Polk School! The day of the Christmas parties is usually a tough one, and today was no exception.
We have had someone come into our school parking lot trying to break into the cars for two days in a row now. Last year one of our employees actually had her car stolen!! So, be very careful where you park and be aware of your surroundings. We have this program at school called, "Watch Dogs." It is an acronym for "Dads of great students." It just began this year, but has been a wonderful thing for our school. The dads come up for one whole day at school. They volunteer to help out in any way they can. It was one of our "Watch Dogs" who saved the car today. The "Dogs" love to come and help out. In fact every day until the end of school has been taken care of by dads who want to help. Employers have been very gracious in giving the dads time to do this. They love being there. Usually, it is the moms who are always there. The dads are given a tee shirt with the Watch Dog logo on it. The kids love having them there, and so do all of the teachers. It is a national program. More information can be found at http://www.watchdogs.net/

Today, Sharon received a call from her daughter, Paula. She and her husband were scheduled to leave northern Nevada on Saturday morning to head for El Paso for Christmas. She asked if it would be okay to delay by one day their arrival in El Paso. Of course it is. It seems that one of the fathers at her school was killed in a tragic accident. He had three little girls at her school. "Mom," she said, "we have to help them out." Then they had about fifty needy families to wrap presents for, and then deliver them. That is what Christmas is all about, isn't it? We just must help each other in times of great hardship. Paula and Jason, who are both principals of schools, are setting a wonderful example of stewardship and caring thoughtfulness. How could a mother be sad about that? She is very proud!
If your Christmas vacation began today, have a wonderful holiday. May God keep you safe! Until next time. . . . . . . ......

In Memory of Matt and Jorge

Hello Everybody!
So far this month of December has not been a good one for us. Within this past week, we have attended Memorial Services for two very good and special friends. Tonight, we went to the service for Jorge Avendano. Sharon has known him for over twenty years. He was just beginning his teaching career. He taught band. Actually, he took delight in teaching students how to play instruments. He had a heart of gold. He never forgot a student. All of his students were amazing. That is what he always said about all of them. If they were too poor to purchase an instrument, somehow he would locate one at a shop-even a pawn shop. He would arrange for it to be given to that student who needed it. He was an inspiration to all whose paths took them his way. His services were held in the brand new fine arts center of Coronado High School. We got there early before many others. When it was time for the service to begin, the entire auditorium was filled. It was remarkable to see.

He played the tuba in the El Paso Symphony Orchestra. What a gentle giant he was and it was wonderful to see the auditorium filled to capacity with those whose lives he touched--both young and old. The picture above shows his tuba on stage with a beautiful portrait of him. His ashes are in the beautiful box with a treble clef on it. What a gentle giant he was, and he was only forty-five years old.

The second friend to die way too young was a young man named Matt Hicks. I am sorry that I didn't have a bigger picture of him. He was the grandson of friends of ours. His family is the most outstanding family that we know. Matt was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in his elbow three years ago. Treatment began that robbed him of his hair, but not his spirit. The tumor shrank, and his elbow removed. It was replaced with a cadaver elbow. He was just the cutest thing. He would show us his elbow, and say, "Can you believe that I have the elbow of a dead man in my arm?" Unfortunately, the cancer came back with a vengeance. It was in his lungs, his knees, everywhere. Finally, the Lord decided he had suffered enough, and welcomed him into his Eternal home on Dec. 12th.

We went to the rosary for him at the church. It was packed. It was full of young people, and friends of the family. Sharon sang in the choir for his funeral the next day. It was very difficult to do. There were so many sad young people. After the funeral, the procession went by his high school, where the students were lined up on the street to pay respects to this wonderful young man and his family. What a tribute and what a send off to Heaven he had! He was buried in his golf jacket. He was on the golf team. Now he can play golf all he wants. We have no doubt that he is in Heaven lining up the next tournament. He was a wonderful blessing to us. Rest in peace, Matt. You will suffer no more.

Take care of each other. Until next time. . . . . . . .

Are You Ready For Christmas?

Hello, Everybody, We hope you are having a wonderful weekend and that all of your shopping is done. (If it isn't, we hope you are careful when you go out next weekend, because the streets are just jam packed with cars filled with shoppers.) Ellen and Sharon went out on Saturday to finish up with a few things. We did get many things done, and were so pleased with ourselves that we went home, and watched a movie.



There is this wonderful lady at our local Hollywood Video shop who was so sweet to us when Ellen had her knee surgery in May. We must have gone to the store every other day to get movies because there really wasn't much to do after therapy, except to rest. Anyway, it has been awhile since we were there. We had seen her and her family at the Christmas Fair in November. In fact, her son stopped to pick up Sharon's cane when she dropped it at the jewelry cleaning booth. Sharon thanked him and told him how sweet he was when we realized that he was with this same lady. To make this long story a little shorter--when Ellen went in today to get "Spiderman 3", she was there, and she wouldn't let us pay for the movie. She told us to have a Merry Christmas! Wasn't that sweet?



Now for an update on Sharon's hand. If you will remember, this is what her hand looked like a week after surgery.

Today, this is the picture that Ellen took before she dressed the wound again. Doesn't it look great? Oh, it still hurts, and it still swells, but the skin graft took really well. The problems with the hand remain with the blistering in the fingers.

The doctor thought that the burning sensation would stop as the swelling went down. NOT!!!!! (By the way, that is a snowman on Sharon's nail, just in case you were wondering.

Sunday will bring church, lunch, and then in the afternoon we are going to see and hear the living Christmas tree at the First Baptist Church. The pastor's wife is a friend of ours, and she gave us tickets for the afternoon program. We will let you know how that went in a later post.

Sunday will also bring a remembrance of the birthday of Sharon's mom. She would have been 86. She would be proud to see her girls go to church on Sunday afternoon! After the living Christmas tree, we will go downtown to see all of the lights in the plaza. Until next time . . . . .....

A Progress Report

Hello, Everybody! We hope you had a good week last week. December is slipping away. The weekends just seem to fly by, don't they? On Saturday morning, Ellen went to Sharon's to change the dressing on her hand early. Dr. Guevara wanted a phone call from us around eight o'clock in the morning to tell him how the hand looked. Now, mind you, this man was moving into a new home, his wife is expecting a baby any day now, and he wanted us to call him on his cell to tell him about Sharon's hand!


What did the hand look like, you ask? Of course, we took a picture! It actually did look better. It didn't seem as swollen, the blistering on the hand had stopped, but the blistering on the fingers was about the same. We made the call to Dr. Guevara. Sharon asked him if he would like to hear Ellen's assessment, and he said, "Yes!" Since they both speak the same language, medical-ese, he could ask her and she could reply in terms that don't necessarily mean a whole lot to the rest of the world. As you can see below, the skin graft looks fine. There is still swelling in the fingers.

Saturday evening was the Christmas party with everyone from school. We had it at the home of one of our teachers. The home is huge, and could accommodate a large number of people. We had a great time, lots of fun, and laughter.

Sunday morning brought more swelling in Sharon's hand, and more blistering. The pain is unspeakable. If she is able to stand one more day, the doctor's appointment is Tuesday afternoon. He is scheduled to remove the stitches, and hopefully will be able to determine the cause for all of the blistering and swelling.


Did we mention that we worked on outside decorations for both houses this past weekend? We did, indeed. We were able to put Ellen's up on Saturday afternoon. Sharon is limited with only one hand, but she tries to do more than Ellen wants her to do.


Sunday afternoon, we watched the Cowboys barely escape with a win over the Lions, and went to Sharon's house to work on a few of her decorations. We aren't going to decorate a whole bunch, but we have to make it look like Christmas. Sharon usually invites members of the three families for Christmas Eve. What three families? Why-- the Pieplows, the Zonas, and the Negretes!

If Sharon's parents had been alive today, they would be celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary! We hope that they are celebrating in Heaven on this day, remembering how they sneaked across the Texas state line into Oklahoma to get married. (It is a good thing that my sister and I never wanted to get married when we were 17 or even 18, huh, Janice.)

Have a great week! We will try to write a couple of times this week to let you know of the hand progress. Until next time. . . . . . . .

Happy December!!

Hello, Everybody! December is a wonderful time to talk about beauty, isn't it? No matter where you go, you can see beauty. The lights outside are one example. One of the really nice things about taking pictures is that you can look at the pictures later, and remember the reason for taking the picture in the first place. Below is a picture of the flowers that Sharon's sister, Janice, sent to her this week. It was a complete surprise, but how nice they look on her breakfast table, and what a wonder fragrance they emit when you first come into the room. Stargazer lilies and roses make a wonderful combination!



Below you will see a picture of beauty in Ellen's home. We completed her tree, and the decorations in her living room. What fun it always is to go down memory lane while hanging the ornaments. There are ornaments that were given to Nichole and Joe from the time they were born, some from our many trips together and some that were bought "just because"!

The smell of candles adds to the festive atmosphere. The "scents of Christmas" are just as beautiful as the "sights of Christmas".

Then of course there is the "music of Christmas". Somehow it just makes your heart soar and takes you to a peaceful place.

When you add all of that together, you just have to smile and be happy that the season is here and that we celebrate the love that God sent to us!

As a side note to this beauty episode, Sharon's hand is feeling better. It will take awhile for it to be entirely okay. To understand the difficulties of having only one hand to use, just try to use the hand that is not dominant for you. It is difficult. The hardest part is not being able to use the hand. We saw a young woman at the mall this weekend with only one arm. It is hard to have only one hand to do something, but it is possible. So, God bless everyone who can only use one hand. Christmas decorations will be sparse this year, but that is just fine. Life is more important, huh? Until next time. . . . . . . . . . . .....

Ouch, Ouch, and OUCH!

Hello, Everybody! Sharon is trying to write this, but she is going to let Ellen finish because ----OUCH!!! This is what the wound looks like as of today. Ellen counted twenty-two stitches. The doctor said, "Do not use your hand for two weeks"! Sharon is slowly understanding why. But really, the incision and the sutures look good. The piece of skin that was used for the graft also looks healthy. (Ellen LOVES being the nurse!) It is quite difficult to do things one-handed. Sharon needs to continue keeping her right arm elevated so that her fingers do not swell too much. She is trying to be a good patient, honest!! So we will give you another update tomorrow. The stitches don't come out until Dec. 10th. Her dressing changes will continue daily.


Until next time. . . . .

Thank God For Friends!

Hello, Everybody! This has been a very different week for us! Ellen has been sick, Sharon had surgery on her right hand, and we had to say,"Good-bye" to a long time friend.

Last weekend, we decorated Ellen's Christmas tree at her home. She put up her tree, and then Sharon unwrapped the ornaments, and handed them to Ellen to put on her tree. In the meantime, Sharon unpacked her tree, and fluffed the branches on Monday. Tuesday, Sharon had an appointment with the hand surgeon. Neither of us realized that he would do the surgery right away, but he did. The second picture shows the swollen hand that says, "Ouch." Tuesday evening, we went to Sharon's house where we did the same thing with the Christmas tree all over again. This first picture shows Ellen working away at putting the Lenox Christmas ornaments on Sharon's tree. What would we do without dear friends?

Ellen took the day off to take Sharon to the doctor. The picture below shows the poor right hand all swollen. This surgeon's office was top of the line; he had state of the art equipment, and the finest staff you can imagine. We knew that he would remove the squamous cell carcinoma that had been left behind from the dermatologist's initial removal for biopsy. We didn't know how extensive the surgery would be. The first "excavation" left a hole about the size of a nickel between the first and second knuckle. He took that tissue across the hall for testing and warned us that he might have to return if he didn't get it all. Well, he had to make a second pass to get all of the cancer. The most exciting part of the whole operation was that we both got to see the ligament! Sharon felt like she was part of the "Bodies Human" exhibit, except that she was alive! Ellen was happy to be there so she could hear the doctor say, "Don't use this hand for two weeks!". Sharon may have forgotten to share that bit of information! (Of course, I would.)

Finally, this last picture was taken by Ellen at the going away breakfast for Alicia Loya, our substitute Assistant Principal. She is a retired administrator, and she and Sharon go way back with the EPISD. She stepped right in and did a fantastic job at Polk. There were many tears as she left the building today. She has to have knee surgery soon, and was unable to get around much since she fell at her home. She is a delightful lady--a first class lady. We will truly miss her. The kids will miss her enormously. She just had this way of getting them to be courteous, and to get along with each other. (You should have seen the big old fifth grade boys holding hands until they could shake hands, and tell each other that they were sorry.) Good luck, Alicia! Good luck and Godspeed to you.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Hello, Everybody! Can you believe it???? Snow!!!! Snow right here in our own back and front yards! We couldn't believe our eyes. This first picture shows Ellen's street. The snow is very wet, and didn't stick to the street. The temperature keeps hovering around the freezing mark.

This picture shows Ellen's backyard. I know this isn't very exciting for those of you who see snow all of the time, but this is exciting stuff for us.

This next picture shows Sharon's backyard early this morning. The snow was just beginning.

This last view is in Sharon's backyard. It shows the beginning of the accumulation. As of this writing, there is lots more, but it is too cold for us to go out and take a picture.

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful." Let it snow, let it snow until next time. . . . . . . . . . . .