I had earlier typed a nice entry but it got lost in cyber space when my computer decided to have a technological stroke all of its very own..... :BashHead: I'll retry and see what occurs:

This past week marked my one year anniversary being a staff member here at Strokenetwork. On Saturday (22nd) I received a wonderful surprise in the mail - a framed certificate of appreciation for the work I do. Kristi immediately hung my certificate close by. Thank you Steve for giving me this opportunity to do something so worthwhile post stroke. I am truly honored and blessed to be a part of this organization as well as having the most fantastic fellow staff to work with and a terrific membership to serve and assist. I still, at times, miss being able to be a part of our society as a go to work everyday working professional. especially the financial aspects, but I'm still afforded the opportunity daily to keep my non-damaged brain cells churning and productive. There are perks though - no rush hour commuting. My commute time is trying to get to computer when Crystal and Lili "think" they need crunchy treats at that very precise moment.

The Easter holiday was spent with family (Auntie, cousins and their families). Great time was had by all - good company, laughter, and of course yummy food. My cousin Dar has made and sold chocolate candies for years and this year was no exception as she also created baskets for everyone chock full of her goodies. Even got to try chocolate covered corn curls - quite yummy inspite of my initial thoughts of ewwwwww. We also celebrated my upcoming birthday. Lisa and her family gave me a gift bag full of neat items. Dar, Bryan and Aunt Char got me no-no's - a carton of smokes. Dar had ot known that I had quit. As I was missing them very badly, I was totally like a child in a candy store. All us smokers promptly went outside to light up as we cannot smoke insde with Aunt Char's oxygen. And, I'm still on the first pack I am happy to say.

Lisa had invited us to her home for Easter Sunday; we had to pass as I was way to tired out from being out Saturday. Saturday was the first I had been out of the house since I had the heart cath done in January. The exhaustion part remains a pain in the rear end as far I'm concerned. When we got home Saturday night we discovered my nephew had also called and wanted to invite us to his home on Easter Sunday. We spoke on the phone; we also left a voice message for brother-dear but did not hear from him. We had a quiet Easter Sunday here with our 2 furballs present and quite happy that Mommy and Sissy were home. We had our own feast with Kristi doing the mahority of the preparation but finding things I could do so I'd feel productive besides feeding my face. The furry ones enjoyed eating ham immensely. I swear that Lili, as a gown kitty, will be a fat lazy lump. She's soooooo active now that she burns everything off - just like us when we were younger lol.

Kristi has been home from school on Spring Break; she returns to school tomorrow. She has some time out with friends; fortunately not finding any more dogs lol. She has been working on 2 huge projects for school. The one is a group project; it appears though that she is the only one who will be working on it. Her other group members are to get together with her to work on it but their spare time is generally spent getting intoxicated or getting over a hangover. So very sad. I am blessed and thankful that my child has good morals and values I was able to instill years prior to the stroke.I continue to pray that High School peer pressure does not becomr too hard for her to avoid. We've been receiving items in the mail pertaining to her academic achievements - nominations for whoswho in high school academics as well as national society of academic scholars. Colleges, as well as military, are beginning to send brochures. As this school year is winding down, there will be 2 years left before she's college bound. Seems like yesterday I looked at my baby and couldn't wait for her to do something other than sit in her swing or carrier. Now, I want it to slow down - time does not stand still though just continues to march forward.

So...that's about all for the week of my life. :out_of_here: