AND YOUR POINT IS??????

When Mr. C happened to find the UPS delivery yesterday before I had time to get it in and put it away, he told me I needed to make a picture for my blog of all the running shoes I had. I am not sure how interested anyone is in the fact that I currently have 7 pairs of running shoes, but let me explain. The pair on the right with the red orthotics are the pair I started the marathon training with. Nine weeks later I have more than the usual 300 miles I put on a shoe before getting a replacement. They all look fine, but the cushioning wears out before the outside does. I usually do a better job of washing them and recycling them through the Salvation Army, but have gotten behind on that chore. The oddest thing about this collection is that they are all Mizuno brand and the same style of shoe-just some are a later version. The two pair with the yellow insert and the current running ones are all the same exact shoe. If it works-don't mess with it! I have actually toyed with the idea of trying another shoe, but get a little paranoid about injuries, etc. when I actually place the order. You think this is an inexpensive sport until you find out that the good shoes all run around $100. The better the shoe, the more expensive, as my physical therapist explained to me when ordering orthotics. Our entire group has actually been to Baton Rouge to a physical therapist that specializes in recommending shoe types for runners. She analyzes your run, your mechanical makeup, your tread, etc to tell you what kind of shoes to wear. The shoe companies love us runners! There is an entire catalog of running gear and shoes just for runners. All the clothes, shoes, and gadgets we could ever possibly want or need.

We ran our first 9 mile mid-week run this AM and then walked 4 1/2. I was in better shape today than Monday, but still not back to speed. I am trying to analyze what could be the cause, and hopefully will get back on track. I suspect fuel is part of the problem and hot-humid weather the other, but will experiment with that.

I spent several hours today trying to learn how to down-load music and then burn a CD. After I finally figured out what I was doing wrong, I felt stupid. I needed the 7 year old Grand here to help me!

Two cute things that the Grands told me this weekend-
The 7 year old told me that the stores were not nice teasing everyone by showing them all of the toys they had at Christmas knowing they could not get them all. I believe he currently has 48 items on his list. Something tells me that Santa will probably have to cut that list down.

The 5 year old was eating a peanut butter sandwich that I had made and he started telling me he did not like the little things in it. Thinking he was talking about peanut chunks, I showed him the creamy that his sandwich was made from and the chunky which I had not used. He kept insisting that he didn't like the chunky things. After about 30 minutes, I finally figure out there were small seeds on top of the bread. OH Those Chunky Things!

We went by to see The Boersma's last night. I always get a kick out of going over there. Helen was on Dale's case since he did not get out of the bed until 3 PM, I then gave him a talk about maintaining his level of fitness. Dr. Dale then proceeded to try to defend himself-Bobby looked at him and said-"You might as well give up-They always get their way." WISE HUSBAND!

NOT FUNNY-NOT FUNNY AT ALL!!!!!!!!

While the kids were here this weekend, we started playing with our electronic scale. The scale is on the floor by the kitchen table, which is definitely a little SICK. Bobby manages to completely ignore the fact that it is behind his chair, but I find myself going through periods of getting on it daily-which is completely stupid. Actually I am weighing more now trying to make sure I am eating enough calories to sustain my level of activity.

Gabe misunderstood how to set it up for each individual and that caused quite a laugh. A one point it has an A Line shaped person and a straight up and down person-he thought that meant your body type and not your sex, so he puts himself down as an a line-or woman. This caused his body fat % to be in the high 30's. We all got a great laugh out of that and he was so flustered. When we discovered the mistake and he reset the scale to a male, his body fat was in the 20's. This set me to thinking about that. The only thing he changed on the set up was the sex and his body fat goes down more than 10 points. THIS IS NOT FAIR! Now I know that God with his weird sense of humor decided that we women must have body fat for our bodies to act correctly. Girls that are anorexic or bulimic and have really low body fat %'s are not able to function as all of us girls should. Before they ultimately eat up and destroy their internal organs, they become infertile and are more on the level of young girls.

Now I have thought this through and since I am the age that I am, I should be able to put down I am a man. After all the hormones are not functioning anymore. Why should I be penalized 10 points just because I am a girl? I promise you, without a doubt, I am in much better physical condition than Gabe, since he does not exercise at all. HOW IN THE WORLD COULD HIS BODY FAT % POSSIBLY BE ANYWHERE CLOSE TO MINE? This is a not so funny quirk of nature. I wonder, as women are now much more physically fit than they ever were, if this % will begin to close the gap?

I've spent my life being at the wrong end of each and every trend. When I was a teenager, the in thing was for girls to be soft and curvy. I was a reed with bones protruding everywhere. Now that the trend is more for thin, I find myself thin in the wrong places, and soft and mushy in the wrong places. I am definitely getting thinner, thinner eyebrows, eyelashes, skin, and hair and I have nice flat places also, but it is my butt not my abs that are flat. I just cannot seem to get my act together.

I leave you with this one fact-there is one really good thing about fat-it pushes those wrinkles out. Unfortunately I missed the boat with that too, the fat places are not visible and the thin-my face, the top of my legs, my neck, and the top of my arms are all thin and the skin sags like the skin on a chicken. That is why I say I have chicken skin!

We walked 5 this AM and I lifted. Feel much better today, but tomorrow's run will tell the tale of recovery.

Pictures from an active and fun weekend. Two boys full of fun and life. As expected, a few tears, but mostly plenty of laughter. They both hung on Poppa Bob the entire weekend and loved being goosed and tickled. Looking forward to our trip to Austin in a couple of weeks to spend a few more days with them on their turf.

On another note-

OH, MOTHER NATURE, somebody stole Fall from Louisiana. Maybe Mother Nature is the culprit, but all I know is that I look out the window and it is literally raining leaves, but the temperature is more like early summer. It was hot and humid this AM when we ran and I suffered through the entire ordeal. I am not sure if I was tired from the weekend or what, but today was not a good day since I walked every hill. Hopefully, I will recover since I have 2 weeks of hard runs on tap.

Mona came and ran with us this morning which is a rare treat since she only runs with us on the weekends and does her mid week runs in Arcadia, where she is now working. The amazing thing about Mona is that she can talk the entire time she is running. I am gasping for air and trying to push enough into my lungs to sustain me, and she is carrying on a monologue about everything that has happened in her life since I last saw her. If she ever used that air to fire those legs off she would be going off and leaving all of us.

One more time, would the person that left the area with our Fall please bring it back. There will be no questions asked no reprisals, JUST PLEASE RETURN IT TO US!

TEMPORARY QUIET & STILLNESS

All of the male Convilles have gone to see Nannie & Pappaw in Arcadia, so for a few brief moments all is quiet and still. What a contrast to when they are all here! After many years of being two of us in the house, we forget the level of activity and noise a house full brings. From the moment they get up in the morning until around 9 PM, there is nonstop activity and the noise that goes with that activity. BC can actually grab a nap, even with all of that going on in the same room with him, but I am high maintenance when it comes to sleeping. Dark, quiet, one certain pillow, etc. etc. What a curse!

They had a beautiful memorial service for Caroline's Daddy at the Episcopal church yesterday. There is such a blessing when the services from the Book of Common Prayer are used and the comfort of the scripture and old, old prayers are read . It was a sweet service and a wonderful memorial to my sweet grands' Hymie. He loved those boys and was a great grandfather to them. I plan to always remind them of that very fact. I always told Jim (or Hymie as they called him) that it was not a competition, the more love we gave them there better. On a lighter note, I did share with the rest of the family, later, that from now on,since he was not here to respond, we could always blame Jim's genes when the boys are acting up. Poor Jim, so unfair to blame his side for all of the "unlovely traits", but better his crazy family, than my crazy family.

We have made lots of pics, but the camera is in Arcadia, so I will share tomorrow or whenever I manage to recover. Seriously, I have loved having them here and they are sweet boys.

No physical activity this weekend, since I ran Friday in anticipation of this weekend, but the real world shows up again tomorrow!

AS PROMISED-ANOTHER STORY

III

Louise’s earliest memories were all centered around the family home of The Gillespie’s. The three Aunts, her Grandfather, and her Daddy all lived together in the large old rambling wooden house. There was a long porch on the front with rockers and cane-bottom chairs lining the floor between the wooden support pillars. The memories include sitting outside in the early evening enjoying the shade and escaping the heat of the house. Hours spent with family and friends discussing the news of the community and passing the time in pleasant communion.

Louise had no memory of her Mother, but only knew her by what she had been told by her Father and her Aunts from both her Father’s family and her Mother’s. She knew her to be a beautiful and gentle Angel. Her memory was a living presence in the house and her Daddy only spoke of her Mother with a quiet, but reverent tone. She was so proud to have such a Mother, but found it strange that she had no memory of the woman held in such high esteem by so many. One of the very effective discipline tools used by her Daddy was to remind Louise of the Saintly Mother that surely she would want to please and emulate.

Louise’s day to day life was shaped by the three Aunts and her Daddy. Daddy was gone to the Drug Store everyday except for Sunday and was often gone before Louise woke up until late in the evening. She missed her Father, but was left with instructions to obey the Aunts and follow their directions while he was gone. The Aunts all worked outside the home, which was very unusual for those days, but Grandfather not only approved, but also encouraged them to work in these female professions. He had encouraged their education and this education and their working made them intimidating to all of the local young men. The house full of strong willed and domineering women could intimidate even the men in their own family, much less any potential suitor.

While the Aunts were working, Louise was left in the care of the long time family cook and housekeeper, Lilly. Louise’s earliest memory of the household included Lilly. Lilly was an excellent “country cook” that kept wonderful meals on the table and kept the household running in good order. Lily had a sixth sense of anticipating what the family would need and had their needs met before they realized they had the need. Lilly treated Louise with tender kindness since she felt sorry for the motherless child. Louise had only to ask Lilly for anything and it was immediately answered, if it were in Lilly’s power. Life was sweet, but lonely without the nurturing Mother all of us need. Lilly loved Louise, but she had her own children to nurture and mother, while holding down a full time job. There was only so much Lilly to spread around and with a house to run and meals to prepare, there was not much time to hug or cuddle Little Louise.

Louise was a beautiful and smart little girl. She was kept neat as a pin and always the consummate “young lady.” She was eager to please, but found herself the constant center of attention in the household. The family expressed their delight in her beauty and her good manners and she came to relish and savor the praise so lavishly poured on her. Years passed with Louise being the center of not only the household, but also the center of each and everyone’s life within the household. The devotion of the Gillespie’s was a treasure that Louise came to expect as a normal part of her everyday life, but change would surely come.

Aunt Zula was the oldest of the sisters, and the sister with the meekest personality. Zula helped Will A at the Drug Store, but she was also in charge of the operation of the household. Aunt Zula could be relied upon to offer plenty of hugs and kisses and was the nearest thing to a “Real Mother” that Louise had. Zula’s true aspiration in life was to be a wife and a mother. Being the eldest, she was also the first of the Aunts to leave the family home and marry her beau, Tom. Louise missed the day to day mothering that Zula had given and in some ways felt like she had once again lost her Mother, but the other two Aunts doubled their efforts to meet the void in Louise’s life.

Aunt Kate was the middle child and in the usual middle child role, the peacemaker in the family. Kate felt the responsibility of soothing hurt feelings or calming tempers when emotions were high. She was Louise’s protector and “watched” over her when the rules of the house seemed a bit harsh. Kate worked for a local attorney and spent the remainder of her life in the business world. A kind and genteel “Lady” Kate would always have a special place in her heart for Louise, but just as Zula had married and left the family home, so did Kate. Louise was left with Aunt Lora, and clung tenaciously to the remaining female household member.

Aunt Lora was the teacher in the family. She was somewhat distant and emotionally removed, but loved Louise in her own way. Ever the “Proper Lady” she felt responsible for not only Louise’s traditional education, but also her education in the “social graces”. Many of the local townspeople felt that Lora put on “Airs”, but no one ever questioned her dedication to Louise and the family. Lora was the last to marry and only after Will A had announced his plans to marry Ora. Knowing that she had lost her “ultimate authority” as far as Louise was concerned, it was time for her to also marry and leave Louise. Louise, in the deep recesses of her soul, felt abandonment once again. Why did all of the important women in her life always leave her?

Will A.’s grief abated with time and after many years, he began to court one of the local ladies, Ora Warren. Ora was another tiny beautiful whisp of a woman that had caught Will A’s eye at the local bank where she was employed as a teller. Ora had a soft-whispery voice, a beautiful smile and a twinkle in her eye. She was quite a bit younger than Will A., but he was once again smitten with a lady. The aching loneliness of all the years had been filled with his love and admiration for Ora. In the back of his mind, he also thought Ora would make the maturing Louise a wonderful Mother during these years when a woman’s influence and presence were so important. Ora was delighted with his proposal and they were married in her parent’s parlor before family and friends.
At the tender age of ten, Louise was unsure and confused when her Daddy announced his marriage. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Ora, but she had grown to like her and her Daddy being in the house alone. The Aunts were all married and in their own homes and though still in her life, not in the intense day to day manner as before their marriage. It seemed that she had lost her Mother, lost her Aunts, and now felt as if she were losing her Daddy. Thinking she had been abandoned, yet again, Louise-the once center of her Daddy’s world, was re-living the sadness of her early years. The desperate and over-whelming grief enveloped Louise’s very being with the subconscious echo of her Daddy’s long ago request whispering in her very soul, “For Today, Keep Her Away.”

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!

The Grands are coming, The Grands are coming!!
Our sweet grandsons, Caleb & Cade are in route to Ruston as I write. Oh yeah, their parents and Uncle Gabe are also coming. We are so excited to see our favorite grands, but let me tell you they are all boy! I always have all these activities, games, etc planned for when they come and they quickly tell me they just want to be boys and play. Their favorite activity involves rough housing, tickling, and somebody ending up crying. Our world of peace and tranquility will be abruptly turned on its ear. They will have a weekend of doing just what they want, when they want, eating what they want, when they want, and pretty much ruling the roost at Poppa Bob & Momma Lulu's house. Pictures will be posted next week of our wild and fun weekend.

We ran our 18.2 miles this morning. It was warm and humid, but it could very well be the same weather in Houston in January since it is so near to the Gulf. It was long, it was hard, and I don't know how I can run another foot, much less 8 more miles. Somewhere after mile 14, my legs begin to tire and my pace slows, but so far I have a reasonable pace-for an old lady.

Our long time friend, Cynthia and our college adoptees, Meriedth & Gracie came for supper last night. We enjoyed catching up and hearing all of the drama and adventures of our young friends. This week one had broken up with a boyfriend and the other has started dating a boy. So much drama-we don't realize how dull our lives are until we listen to the goings on in their lives. Cynthia currently has 3 jobs, Grace has 2 jobs and is an engineering student, Meriedth is a double major including graphic design which requires lots of projects and is on the staff of the school paper. THEY LEAD VERY BUSY LIVES!

I am off to prepare for our family, but if you hear a loud noise or disturbance out North of Ruston ,in Vienna, it's just us and the kids-enjoying the weekend!

IF I COULD ONLY HELP!!!!!

Our friends, Helen & Dale brought a proclamation that had been given to Dr. Dale by the local representatives and senator honoring him for his years of service and the path he had walked before all of us. Helen seemed surprised and caught unawares. As I quickly told her, what goes around comes around. When you have spent your life living the example of your King, Jesus, and treating everyone you come into contact with in a kind and interested manner your reputation spreads. Whatever accolades this humble man receives, they could never really express our admiration and love for him.

My earliest memory of Dale involves his quick wit and that weird sense of humor. My Mother would not allow me to have my ears pierced-some story about being a lady -yadda, yadda, yadda. After marrying, having a baby, and holding down a full time job, I decided that I would defy her-knowing how unhappy she would be- and get those ears pierced. For some strange reason, I do not remember why, I went to Dr. Boersma to get that done. I rationalized that this would be sterile and safe and better than the department store. I believe I had only seen Dr. Boersma when he came into the bank where I worked. I had not really had any- one on one- contact, so I don't know-or maybe I do- what led me to the Bonner Street Office. I am definitely nervous, when the appointment finally came around, as I have a long and BAD relationship with needles. Dr. B walks in the room and asked what I was there for. When I told him my mission, I am sure with a nervous but resolved voice, he disarms me as only Dale can do. With a twinkle in his eye, he asked me, "Would you like me to pierce your nose too, while I am at it?" He did the deed and I have always loved my pierced ears, although (not that I am OCD) one appears to be a little higher than the other. Let me assure you, it is not big enough of a problem to start over again.

My next experience with the Boersma's was when BC & I were working with an evangelistic crusade. I mostly remember Helen, since she was the card then that she is today. That particular story, (get BC to tell you) was after Gabe was born and before Camille, so at least 25 years ago. That was a brief but memorable encounter and we love to tell the story, until this day.

For some reason, that I don't really remember, Dr. Dale became one of my clients when I had my CPA practice. I really had more contact with his office manager, whom I grew to love and enjoy as we both tried to keep Dale straight. I would only see Dale once or twice a year, but he knew how to push my button. My staff would begin calling early in tax season to get him to bring his information in, but over the years he would drag it in later and later. IMAGINE, he thought tending to all of those sick people was more important than getting his tax info together. It's a good thing that I finally retired, since at the very end of our professional relationship he was dragging his little pile of stuff into my office mid-afternoon on April 15th. By this time of the year, I was never in a very good frame of mind, but he never acted like my curtness or lack of patience was insulting. I am thankful he forgave my lack of manners and borderline rudeness.

We then became connected with our small group at Christ Community Church. What a man of faith! When Dale added something to the group discussion, he would challenge you to think and prod you into study. I did not always agree with his theology, but I admired his conviction and his research that helped form his opinions. The very soul of what our faith is to be-he urged us to be "the church" to our fellow believers. If we found a project, no matter if it was mowing the church yard, or what, he was there and worked just as hard as anyone else there. Quick witted and fun loving, he led the group on many a silly venture. He always has this little laugh, that is like his voice, a little wispy, but THE TWINKLE in those eyes.

Dr. Dale is walking a very different path now. ALS has not been kind to him and it is difficult to see what he is enduring. Dale has not questioned God, but has embraced the journey. It must be difficult to accept help for such a strong and independent man. The simplest task of breathing, requires the help of the machine that is by his side at all times now. He has allowed the ministry of his faithful companion, Helen, with thanks and no complaints. I am sure if I were in this same situation, I would have hibernated in my home, but Dale has fought to keep mobile and continued to attend church, group, and an occasional outing.

This is a very inadequate attempt to tell you what a hero Dale Boersma is. Not only a hero in fighting this disease, but most important a Hero of the Faith. I am so blessed that God placed our families together and thank God for our friendship. As I said earlier there are no accolades that could possibly ever praise this humble and faithful servant enough.

I leave you with this: If I could give him part of the muscles in my diaphragm and it meant a loss of physical activity, I would jump at the chance. The only thing is I would have to get in a long line of friends and family, who would also jump at the chance to do anything to relieve him of this journey of illness. As I told Helen, "What goes around, comes around," and in this case the love and friendship of a wonderful man would inspire scores of us to do anything we could to relieve his sufferings and restore his physical well-being. Dale has truly, "Fought the good fight," and many of us plan to be warriors by his side to continue the battle. God has richly blessed us all by placing these two wonderful friends in our lives and we will walk the path with them, not matter where it takes us. I thank God daily for Dale & Helen, but also pray for that miracle we all want and, No Dale, it is not a miracle of growing grass on your arm or another leg, but the miracle of restored physical health to match that glow of spiritual health that shines from your very being. Know this-I would help, if only I could help!