MY VALENTINE!

I am not sure what I ever did to deserve My Valentine! He is quite the man! When I stop and reflect on all of these Valentine Day celebrations we have had, I count my "Lucky Stars". Mr. C is definitely the "Romantic" in our family. I am more of a "Closet Romantic", since I come from a long line of "Don't show your emotions in public" genes. You could probably say that I am emotionally retarded. Mr. C now-what he is thinking and what he is feeling is right out front for all the world to know. You know exactly where you stand with the man because he is going to tell you just what is on his mind. That is a very good thing! No guessing-no second guessing-he just lays it out and you then deal with it.

Bobby is a very kind and thoughtful man with a definite soft side. He can play hard ball with the best of them, but when it comes to those that he loves-there is never a doubt about how he feels about you. He is openly affectionate and a hugger and kisser of all those he loves. The man can be a "Helpless Romantic" and that is a great thing!

When I think back to our early years, I am not sure why he married me. I definitely came into our marriage with a trailer load of baggage. What attracted him-I am not sure. Bobby was "The Perfect" son and brother in his family who never did any wrong. I was the middle child with an emotionally absent Mother who never approved of anything I did. How in the world did the two of us ever get together?

In my old age and great wisdom, I now realize it was all within the providence of God. He directed our courtship, our marriage, and our lives together. When I think of all the wars that we have had and the great difference in our personalities, I know who knit us together and kept us together. Bobby is a Godly man, who seeks Godly wisdom and does his best to follow the example we have been given to live by. I am sure we would have never survived all these years without that influence in our lives. We are blessed and I am grateful!

Everyday is Valentine's Day when you are married to a man like Bobby. He strives each and every day to serve me and affirm me. His love is a constant reassuring presence in my life. I am complete and at my best when I am with him and I treasure the hours and minutes we are together. There is no one else that I had rather be with and spend time with. I stand amazed that anyone could love me even knowing all about me-but not only does he love me-but he loves me well. Thank you, God, for the blessing of "My Valentine".

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I SWEAR TO TELL THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH!

OK- I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, so help me God! I HAVE NOT TAKEN HGH OR ANY OTHER PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS! NO DUH!!!!
No one is questioning whether or not I have taken any HGH. Congress has not called and wanted a hearing to determine if I am telling the truth about not taking these drugs. I'M INSULTED! Oh, Wait-I am the one at the back of the pack-so I guess that makes everyone think I couldn't possibly have done anything to enhance my performance. The Turtles in the world are never suspect-in fact we are pretty much ignored. When you finally cross the finish line at the marathon and the food is beginning to run out and they are not making pictures anymore, what does that tell you. We are the "Oh Yeah" group or the "And Alsoes". That's OK-I am just proud to get there! Now if somebody offers me a drug to block the pain when I am huffing and puffing while chasing Babs down the road-well I just might think about that!

I had the television on Fox News this AM while the Roger Clemons Hearing was going on in Congress. SOMEBODY IS TELLING A BIG WHOPPER!!!!! Somebody might be related to "Slick Willy" (you know-Bill). When you can lie with the conviction that you are not lying and the world is falsly persecuting you-could that be what the professionals call a "Pathological Liar"? We-the outside World-we are all wrong and how dare we question their wonderful integrity. As for me and the professional baseball controversary-I DO NOT CARE! I don't watch baseball-never had-never will. But if you believe that all these athletes are achieving these great feats on their natural abilities-well you have your head in the sand!

Good 5 miler this AM in the COLD! Leg did not hurt-HURRAY! It is a little stiff this afternoon, but Babs was once again making me push way beyond my comfort zone!

A SKELETON IN MY CLOSET

I had a comment on my blog yesterday that a reader did not think I had any skeletons in my closet! Well, THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I have the wool pulled over your eyes, but since you only know me through this blog-I guess I could have fooled you! I am sure those that do know me would love to line up and clue you in to the "Real Lora". My family would probably like to be at the front of that line! I do not have "A Skeleton" in my closet it is more like an entire cemetery of skeletons in that closet! Where would I even begin and how brave would I be to expose a few of those skeletons?????

I could go back to high school-which is probably the point that I started collecting skeletons-OH BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU ABOUT ANY OF THOSE SKELETONS. My children think I was a perfect teen. Well maybe not perfect, but anytime they started making excuses for their behavior I would tell them-"Remember I've been where you are and I've made up all those lame excuses-A LONG TIME BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN A TWINKLE IN MY EYE-so don't bother telling me a lie." I am not admitting to any of those skeletons, unless you have proof positive of what they are!

I know I have skeletons concerning my behavior with my family. They all know what those skeletons are and you wouldn't really be interested in any family junk. As my dear friend, and favorite therapist, Barbara, says, "At best all families are a mess." I do have a couple of friends that their families appear to be "The Cleavers Reincarnate." When I hear Warren and June stories from them, I just want to throw up and always wonder-WHERE DID I GO WRONG!

I seem to only have a good handful of friends, so I don't dare reveal those skeletons since I might lose the precious few that I do have. Their ignorance is my bliss! Your friends will love you more if they don't discover EVERYTHING about you! Too much information is way too dangerous! I am much easier to love if you don't know quite so much about me.

BC could reveal quite a few skeletons, but this is a two way street. We have mutually agreed to not share that information with others and tolerated the skeletons of the other. Marriage is based upon not just love but lots of tolerance!

SKELETONS- WHAT SKELETONS??????

I went to the massage terrorist today. The leg length discrepancy was 1 1/2 inch. NO WONDER MY LEG WAS IN A WAD! After an hour and a quarter of PURE TORTURE, I am lined back up. For the first time in almost two weeks I could tie my right shoe by pulling my leg up! I think it is all Babs' fault for making me run so fast! I had planned to work out today-but you know what they say about "good intentions"!

TRUE CONFESSION

Today's news had a blurb about an upcoming story concerning those that are using the internet to confess their transgressions and clear their conscience. Basically instead of confessing wrongs directly to those that have been wronged, the tort is confessed and sorrow is declared to the world wide web readers. It sounds like the Catholic practice of confessing sins to the priest who then states the penalty for those sins. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the Bible instructs to first go to the one that we have sinned against, declare your sin, ask forgiveness and repay those that you have wronged. After this act, you can go and ask forgiveness from God, but you do not pray for forgiveness unless you have atoned with the offended. The news story alluded to the fact that once sorrow has been declared to all the readers, that the wrong doer felt free to continue doing wrong. It sounds like an easy way to clear your conscience and then continue in your old ways. If you have to go to the one offended and make amends before confessing to the entire world, you probably are a lot less prone to continue with those wrongs. It is not easy to humble yourself and admit being wrong and in my mind, this would certainly discourage continued wrong doing. If I start confessing my sins on the internet, you might get worried. Either someone else is posting on my blog or I have fallen off the edge of the cliff.

We ran 5 miles this morning at the fastest rate that we have run in a LOOOONNNGGG time. Babs obviously ate her Wheaties this AM. I was huffing and puffing the entire time, but we finished. After the run, I was going to walk for a while with Sandra and ended up walking 5 miles. Maybe I had my Wheaties too! Our new running GPS'es are really neat. When the info is downloaded on the computer you can get all kind of information including pace, elevation, grade, rate per mile, and time to just name a few. REALLY COOL and unlike "Sweetie" this thing does not talk so no nasty "recalculating" just bells and chimes going off the entire run!

CALL ME INDISPENISBLE!

FRONT OF HOUSE

To Left of Front of House- Side Yard

Front Gate

Caroline Snacking in the Garage

Poppa Bob & Boys Jumping Away

Big Boys Chilling on the Back Deck

Father-Son BB-in Park Directly Behind House

WHO STOLE MY TEETH!

Little Man Coloring

We had a great weekend in Austin with the Conville part of the family (POOR JENNINGS IN THE FROZEN NORTH). It was a picture perfect weekend with cool, crisp nights, and warm cloudless days. Scott and family have gotten moved into their new home and we stayed in the "In-law Suite"(somebody's in-law for sure). The accomadations were better than the Holiday Inn and the company was WAY better. Short but wonderful visit and the perfect way to spend our Anniversary.

On the way home, we discovered that "Sweetie" cannot be totally relied upon. It turns out that "Sweetie" wants you to travel the most direct path, no matter what. Having worn a rut into the road between Ruston and Waco and Austin, we have tried all routes and come up with "THE BEST" of them. This does not necessarily mean the most direct path. "Sweetie" does not take into account 2 lane or 4 lane or needed stops along the way. It turns out that SOMEONE must be able to read a map and correct "Sweetie" occassionally. Being an expert at reading maps-that would be me! Now if you are trying to find an address that you have never been to in an unfamiliar town, well-"Sweetie" can get you there, but you shouldn't listen to her 100% of the time for sure. She got just a little aggravated with us when we proceeded on the path well worn. Over and over she would "Recalculate" and try to get us back on the path that she had chosen, but after a while-she finally would give up and then we would be back on track again. "Sweetie" definitely provides driving entertainment and will be indispenisble herself in certain circumstances, but nothing will ever take the place of the map reader and the human brain in coming up with the VERY BEST way possible. I am no longer feeling threatened-I AM NEEDED AFTER ALL!

Wonderful weekend and great visit-but as always-

"There's no place like home, Toto!"

I'VE BEEN REPLACED!

That day I have long dreaded has finally come-I HAVE BEEN REPLACED! Today on our trip to Austin, I learned that Bobby has a "New Sweetie". SHOCK and on the eve of our Anniversary! Our entire married life my job has been "Navigator". I have become quite proficient at reading maps and giving BC driving directions. I was really confident of my skills and pretty sure that I would have this job forever.

Bobby bought me (????) a GPS for my birthday. We have used "Sweetie" a couple of times, but the trial by fire came today. We drove "through the woods" from Natchitoches to Austin-truly rural Texas! When you fail to see even C stores and you drive through the "Davy Crockett National Forest", you are in the woods! "Sweetie" got us here without a glitch.

My directions usually included something along this line-

"THHHHHHAT WAS OUR TURN!" "YOU NEED TO BE IN THE RIGHT LANE (we are in the inside left lane of 3 lanes) NOW!" This is just an example of my yelled directions as we are hurling down the road at 70 miles per hour.

"Sweetie" on the other hand gives you plenty of warning. "You will turn right in .5 mile" "Take the next right and stay right" She always has a kind voice and never raises her volume. Personally I think they should program them to say,"IDIOT-you missed your turn!" If you miss your turn, "Sweetie" calmly says "Recalculating" "Recalculating". She never gets flustered and never screams.

The danger is you can get lulled into just listening to "Sweetie" and not use your road sense and heed the stop signs, red lights, etc. You tend to just listen to what she says and forget the dangers surrounding you. That could be a very bad thing.

The only time today that I did not feel usurped was when "Sweetie" became confused. We now drive into the area of Austin that Scott lives on a brand new "toll road". "Sweet" is not aware of this road. She was very confused and had us driving through the middle of nowhere and kept trying to straighten us out and get us on the route she knew about. "RECALCULATING RECALCULATING!" was her cry over and over. I got a good chuckle since I knew where we were going and being the good navigator that I am gave BC great directions to complete the trip.

All is well in Austin and since I forgot my camera hook up to the computer, pictures will come after we get home. The Grands are truly grand and we are enjoying being with them.

I am happy to report that we finished our 10 mile run this AM. My leg did fine. I had the calf covered with adhesive analgesic pads to trick the muscle into thinking it was warm. After I got going, it never hurt until I stopped running. We were really slow, but WE FINISHED! The only problem was the cloud of analgesic vapor that trailed behind me as we moved on down the road. All of the dogs and anyone outside must have thought the door to the gym locker room was open. The really good thing is NO RUNNING until Monday! As Camille so aptly would put it-GOOD TIMES!

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO!

Camille is getting her chuckle for the week from an annoymous comment on my last blog. She is living vicariously through someone brave enough (behind the veil of annominity) to call my hand on giving advice to do one thing and actually doing another.

WELL, LUCY, LET ME ESPLANE (as Ricky would say)! Dr. Sonja and I have conferred and are 99% sure that I have a muscle problem. My hip has actually gotten better since the Massage Terrorist worked on it last week, which is a good indication that it is muscular. (That or the arthristis medicine kicked in) The calf that is in a major wad now may have started by me over pronating to compensate for the hip. Dr. Sonja looked at it today and said it was in the solar plexis (or some other big name) muscle. She felt along the bone in my lower leg and there is no pain, so no stress fracture. I have gone and gotten the big adhesive pads with analgesic in them to trick that muscle into thinking it is warm before I run tomorrow AM. I am not crazy enough to continue running if the pain gets worse. After all of these years of running, I listen to my body and can pretty much identify what is not doing any permanent damage and what pain I can actually run through. SO-long SLOW run tomorrow which is not as much pounding-unless the pain is unbearable! I actually stayed home today and did not lift or walk in an effort to give it a chance to heal and we will be gone this weekend-so almost 3 days of rest before the Monday run. THE DEFENSE RESTS, YOUR HONOR!

We are on our way to Austin tomorrow AM to see the Grands via Natchitoches. Now I know you are thinking that is the REALLY LONG WAY AROUND, but BC has business there, so business before pleasure. Saturday is our wedding anniversary and what better way to spend it than with our kids and grands! We are looking forward to seeing the new house and "eyeballing" all of them. It is one thing to talk with someone via phone wires or email-but there is not quite anything like putting an eyeball on them. You need that visual for assurance that what you are hearing is actually the facts. Pictures to come of all the fun in future blogs.