No Internet

These last four days have been horrible! I haven't been able to get on the Internet or receive email. I am so lost! I finally called the phone company today and talked with a wonderful techie named Tim--an American, no less! It was great to be able to understand what he was saying. But he wasn't able to get me back on line. He walked me through several different attempts and even tried the laptop in addition to the desktop. But no luck. I finally asked if the modem was supposed to get hot--that was our problem--at least we hope so. They are sending us a new modem and maybe then I won't have to come to the library to check my email and surf the net. I know that I spend too much time on line but not having it available makes me feel like I am on a deserted island! I am lost without this outside connectivity. Of course, I am getting a few things done around the house and I have several books to read. And Tim said it would be four or five days before we would receive the modem. I guess I can wait that much longer.

Family and Friends

These last two days have been full of family and friends. First of all, Valary is home. That's always a special time. I love having her home and getting to spend time with her. Yesterday, Christmas Day, we went to Greenfield to a niece's house. I don't know how many people were there--I never counted--but there was a house full. Kathryn, the niece, has a heart as big as the world. I don't think she has ever met a stranger and she's always bringing home someone--or some thing (animal) that needs some TLC. I really admire that in her. I hadn't ever given much thought to it until yesterday. As I watched her greet people and introduce everyone it made me realize how big her heart is. Way to go, Kathryn. I love Charles' family. I always have a good time when I'm around them. But it makes me realize how much I miss my side of the family. All I have left are my two brothers and my mom's sister. Both of my brothers live in the KC area and we just don't get together. I do visit with my aunt once in a while, usually over the phone. I'm taking her to lunch one day next week.

Today, we had a special surprise when my nephew, Jackson, and his family stopped by for a visit. They were on their way home to KS but took the time to drop by. His two boys, aged 2 and 4, were a hoot. They kept us in stitches while they were here. I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to see them. This evening, our friends the Boulings came for supper. I did get the house cleaned! We had an evening of fun and laughter. This is a three generational friendship. The Boulings lived down the road from us when we were small. They would take care of us when mom needed someone to watch us. We have a lot of good memories from those times. Lois's mom, Elaine, and my mom were good friends. Lois and I are good friends and our daughters are good friends. This is a special family! Elaine was Valary's babysitter before she was old enough for school. We all have a good time together. In fact, Lois and I are taking our yearly after Christmas shopping trip to Branson on Monday. It just wouldn't be Christmas break without this trip! We've been doing it for several years.

Family and Friends. How special they are!

Christmas Greetings

This is the letter I included in a few of the Christmas cards I sent out. Decided to let others read it, too. Merry Christmas!

This year has been full of ups and downs for the Gass Family. Charles and I both had health issues this year that required surgery of some form. Early in the year Charles began experiencing heaviness in his chest. We found out that he had one artery that was 95% blocked. The doctor was able to clean it out and put in a stent which meant only an overnight stay in the hospital. He underwent several weeks of therapy and lost quite a bit of weight. He is feeling pretty good now except that his arthritis is getting worse and he hurts all the time, hips, shoulders, hands. My health problems required out patient surgery. At first it was thought that I would need a hysterectomy but after two specialists it was decided to do a D&C instead. That doesn’t mean that a hysterectomy isn’t in my future but for right now things are doing okay. Otherwise, I am doing well.

In May, the highlight of the year, our daughter Valary graduated from UMKC School of Medicine. She is currently an intern in the field of OB/GYN. She is technically employed by UMKC and practicing at Truman Medical Center and St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City. She loves the big city! She bought a house in the Roanoke section of KC (close to the Westport area) and is less than 10 minutes from either hospital. It’s a large 3 story home with a basement, built in the early 1900’s. She has three roommates which helps with her mortgage. It has been such a joy to see her mature into a wonderful, compassionate woman. She will do four years of residency and then have 3 years of fellowship as she wants to specialize in maternal/fetal medicine.

Charles and I continue to be active in the local genealogical society. We both volunteer at the genealogy library and give about 20-25 hours a week to this organization. I am currently serving as treasurer of the society. Charles is the head of maintenance for the library. He is also very involved with the local Masonic Lodge. This year, one of his duties is to feed the members at each meeting. It’s been fun watching him cook! I still have many ‘irons in the fire’. I volunteer one night a month at the local YMCA for their Kids Night Out program. I help with crafts and read stories to the children. This has filled my need to work with children! I am teaching the senior adult Sunday school class at church as well as serving as church clerk. I also serve as secretary of the local retired teachers’ association and serve on the board of the Polk County Christian Social Ministries. This is where my heart is. We just finished the annual Share Your Christmas program which distributed food and gifts to 545 Polk County families who otherwise wouldn’t have had a very merry Christmas. Over 1800 individuals received a gift bag and food. What a privilege it is to be involved in this wonderful ministry. Every 7 weeks it is my responsibility to staff the clothing center operated by PCCSM. Recipients can “shop” for clothing for their family at no expense. We also offer linens, small appliances and what-nots. I have made wonderful friends with many of the people who come in as well as workers from other churches in the area. I feel truly blessed to have a small part in this organization.
Charles and I wish each of you a wonderful holiday season.
May God grant you peace and prosperity in 2009.

Procrastinator

That's me! I have a million things I should be doing but here I sit at the computer. I need to be cleaning the house up. Valary will be home tomorrow and we are having friends over for supper on Friday, yet here I sit. I can think of many things I would rather do than clean house, reading and the computer come to mind very easily! But the dust and the cobwebs are plentiful and the counter is full of dirty dishes, the beds need to be changed, the bathrooms cleaned, the carpets vacuumed, the floors mopped, yet here I sit. I should be in scrubbing the stools right now. Grr! I wish I was a better house keeper. I have this great house that should be easy to keep clean and if I would do a little bit each day then I wouldn't have this huge task facing me now. I was going to work today and try to get most of it done but I ended up going in to town this morning. I went to meet with the county commissioners to seek funds for some renovations to the library steps. Then, of course, it was almost lunch time so I called a friend and we met for lunch. When I got home I had a book that I just had to finish. So, I can come up with all kinds of excuses not to clean. I have good intentions but that is all they turn out to be! I want to do better. And I really aim to try. Maybe next year...

The Day After

Share Your Christmas is over for another year. Everything went so well--except the weather. Even the cold and ice, though, didn't keep people from coming and picking up their food and gifts. The parking lot was quite icy through Thursday early morning. Five hundred fifty four families had signed up to receive help and only two families didn't show. What a wonderful two days it was! All the volunteers were cheerful and everyone was having a great time. That's what makes SYC so special. My church ended up with 305 people ages 36-49. That's a bunch! And we didn't have enough bags, so I am very grateful for other groups sharing their bags with us. (I missed getting 5 people on the list and there were a few added after we started.) We had packed a few extra so I was only 5 bags short.

Today was a quiet day even though I was at the genealogy library for 4.5 hours. It was very slow and Susan and I got to catch up a little bit. We were both gone this last week. I got home before 3 this afternoon and I've got my desk cleared of SYC papers and shredded all the lists and any other information that I didn't need any more. I have the bills ready to turn in and three loads of laundry done. I even fixed steaks for supper! It was a good day. And the sun was shining!

Share Your Christmas

It will all be over Thursday afternoon. Another Share Your Christmas finished. These last few weeks have been busy wearing two different hats for SYC. First, as a member of the Board, it was my responsibility to have an article in the weekly paper and on the radio. I also was one of two people registering recipients. For the last three days I have been working at the distribution sight helping to get things ready. My other hat was chairman of my church's role in the distribution. We fill gift bags for adults between the ages of 36 and 49. We had 293 bags to fill! Distribution starts tomorrow. Everything is ready and the weather decides to throw a wrench into distribution. Do we postpone for a day? Do we go ahead and hope there are no fender benders on the parking lot (a solid sheet of ice at 6 PM tonight)? Will enough volunteers be able to make it in? What if schools are cancelled again? So many questions and two, maybe three, answers. We finally decided that we would go ahead and begin as planned. Unless it snowed a lot tonight. Share Your Christmas. What a blessing this will be for 552 families (about 1850 individuals)! Praise God that I play just a small role.

God at the Wheel

Yesterday, on my way in to town, I was almost broadsided by someone who ran a stop sign. The driver was halfway in the intersection and I thought they had stopped because they had seen me but they didn't and when my driver's side door was even with the front of the other car, I just knew that I was going to be hit. There was no doubt in my mind that it was going to happen. Somehow I managed to swerve my car away but still expected to be hit in the rear fender. Miraculous, there was no connection. God definitely was at the wheel--of both vehicles! I don't know if the other driver thought so or not, they didn't stop, but I know that God was taking care of me. This near miss really scared me. I've had a couple of fender benders--always my fault, but this was different. It wasn't my fault, I was following the speed limit, and aware of what was going on around me. It took a while for me to regain my composure and I just didn't feel very safe for quite some time. I give thanks to God for taking over and taking care of me.

Home Alone

Tonight has been a "home alone" night for me. Charles is off to a Lodge meeting so I have had the house to myself. That means I can watch what I want to on TV in the living room and not have to go to the "back" to watch TV. It's been a busy night, though. I've done 3 loads of laundry, made a dessert for a Sunday School class party on Thursday, and finished reading a book. I've also got the dishwasher going. So for me, that's pretty busy! I still have one load of clothes in the dryer and clothes to fold and hang.

I am reading a series of books by James Reasoner on the Civil War. There are ten books in the series and I just finished number 7. He has taken a southern family and written about their lives during the War. It is a very good historical fiction series. Each book is titled after a battle area. Mr. Reasoner puts the reader right in the middle of the battle, or prisoner camp. I enjoy reading series. I've read a lot of historical fiction lately. Another series I am reading is by Gilbert Morris called the American Century. There are six books in this series and I've finished the first four. This series is about a family in Arkansas and as the children left home, how their lives change. One becomes a writer for a giant newspaper, one an actress, one an evangelist, and one a flyer in a circus.

Well, the dryer just buzzed so I guess I'd better go finish my chores!

A Tribute

Three years ago today my mom passed away. I miss her. We had our differences but we loved each other and that love was stronger than any disagreement we might have had. Less than 45 minutes before she suffered the cerebral hemmoridge that would claim her life, we were chatting on the phone, everything fine, and making plans for an evening event. I told her I loved her and she did the same as we hung up for the last time. A little over 24 hours later she took her last breath. I was there with her. While we probably could have put her on life support and waited to see if she would recover, the doctor told me that her brain bleed was so deep and massive that survival was not probable. She had many times told me she didn't want to live. She wasn't able to live alone because she was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's, and she didn't like the assisted living facility she had been living in for the last six months. The evening before the stroke she told me once again that she wanted to die, she didn't want to live any more. God knew it was time and granted her desire. While it was very hard on me, I knew that she was where she wanted to be--at home with the Lord. I am so grateful that He waited until December 4 to take her. I was recovering from major surgery and the week before her death was the week the doctor released me to drive. I got to spend part of every day with her. How precious those memories are for me. Thank God for that gift. That God allowed the two of us to have that time together shows what an awesome God He is.

I miss my mom and would give anything to hear her say she loved me one more time. But I know that I will see her again and spend eternity with her in heaven. Praise God for His love and it was through His promise of providing comfort, strength, support and help through our hard times that I was able to go through this sad time.

I love you, Mom.

Why?

Why is it that when you are swamped with things to do that you start getting sick? I don't have time to be sick. Can't it wait until after Christmas? I woke up yesterday morning and had a really bad dizzy spell. I get them once in a while and hadn't had one for a long time, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Any way, I fell back on the bed because the room was spinning 90 to nothing. It passed fairly quickly, thank goodness, but I had a head ache all day long as well as feeling really tired. This morning I had another spell when I got up but it wasn't as bad as yesterday's and there's been no headache. Usually the spells last at least until noon and I end up spending time in the bathroom throwing up. Let's hope that it doesn't strike again in the morning. I am feeling pretty good this afternoon. I haven't done much of anything today. Stayed home and worked on the computer. Pray that tomorrow will be better.