Hi Everyone:

I think the blog part of my brain is broke because I just can’t seem to get it going! Not much has been going on except when my sisters came. I posted a picture of the 3 of us in my gallery – none of us look alike. The one on my right (Sonnie) is my half-sister who is 75 and lives in Michigan. She sure looks good and hasn’t had any surgery except a knee replacement. The one on my left (Gayle) is 6 years younger than me, making her 63 and lives in Indiana. Between the 2 they have 8 children and about 30 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and they don’t get tired talking about them!!. We talked and talked, watched some movies and they cooked for me and pampered me.

We also picked out things in the house that they wanted so I can put them in my will.

This will make it easier for my executor who lives in Tucson since my sisters don’t When I wore down, I napped (there was a lot of that). I thought I would cry when they left, but after 7 ½ days I was actually glad to get back to my own quiet schedule. My caregivers were here all the time Sonnie and Gayle were so they reminded me when I needed to lay down.

My sisters are a lot different but one thing we all have in common is our love for one another and talking so there wasn’t a dull moment. My brother Gary lives in Tucson and is married to a Mexican-Indian. They cooked dinner and brought it over one night – tamales, chicken and beef enchiladas, rice, and beans – of course, everything made from scratch. My niece Sabrina who also lives with them came too with her two boys (ages 3 and 6 months) (see gallery photo). My brother is a good story teller and has a great memory for the past so we did a lot of remembering, a lot of things us girls had forgotten. The kids were really good. But when it was time to go home, it was definitely time for me to go to bed. Whew – what a hectic, noisy day. This was the first time we were all together since my stroke (almost 7 yrs) and I was in a coma so I didn’t see them. My sisters and brother were together when my nephew got married 2 years ago but I didn’t go. There is 12 years between the oldest and youngest sibling so some stories the Gayle hadn’t heard and some Sonnie hadn’t heard because she married young and left the house. All in all it was a great visit. I just wish we lived closer together so we could get together more often. I will try to make that happen. I may not be able to travel to them but I can arrange for them to travel here.

I didn’t work out while they were but started the week after they left. April and May have a lot of appointments for me – accountant (taxes done –yeah), lawyer (finish signing the new trust docs), 2 dentists and eye doctor. I saw my rheumatologist last month. It wears me out with 2 work-outs and another appt so I only do one of those a week.

Jerry’s sister, niece and great-niece came for a short visit last week which was nice. They were here for Jerry’s mom’s 101th birthday and they were staying with her about 25 miles south of my house. Our weather has been good for everyone and the flowers are finally blooming. I miss gardening but luckily have a lot of flowering plants in the backyard that come back every year. I can get someone to buy and plant flowers for me but the maintenance is too much and I can’t expect my caregivers to do any more than they already do.

Last week I had 3-day flu (?) so missed Mon. work out and spent a lot of time resting. I was able to go on Thursday. I am tired today and hope it isn’t coming back; I need even more rest than I used to so I try hard to listen to my body and don’t push those thoughts away from my mind. Well, I finally blogged and got some thoughts down. I do not feel I am getting better but my work-outs keep me from getting worse – mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically – so that is all good.

Cherio for now my fellow stroke survivors. Leah