Thursday, December 23, 2010

Anne scores a steal

We have needed a knife block forever. Anne was in Marshall's and found a nice solid wood knife block. It holds 14 knives, a sharpening steel, and a pair of kitchen scissors. It was so cheap she bought it and I am proud of her shopping prowess. It cost $5.99.

Anne's knife block

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Bob and Anne share a gift

Our living room furniture has been sagged out and broken down for a long time. It was getting kind of embarrassing to have friends over and say "Would you like to sit down in the living room?" Their reply would be "Uh, no thank you, I am comfortable standing."

So before Anne and I bought any Christmas presents for each other, we agreed to go look for a couple of recliners and see if anything grabbed us. We went to visit Mattress Mac and one furniture group reached out to us and said "Please take us home!". It was a floor sample and marked way down in price. Yep we bought it and added a small recliner to go with it. Merry Christmas, Bob! Merry Christmas, Anne!

By the way, we called Purple Heart to donate our old furniture. They picked it all up, except for the sofa. They said it was so broken down, even they would not take it! Its going on Craigslist under "Free stuff".

Our new furniture

Monday, December 20, 2010

Am I going to write or what?

I sit here thinking... What do I have a blog for? If you're going to have one, you better write more often than once a year. So right now, I have lots of time on my hands and I will see if I can start writing more.

Following my bike accident and followup surgery on my birthday (Sept 14), things did not go well. I'll just say it simply. My shoulder started coming apart. It hurt. No wait a minute. It HHHURRRRRTTTTTT!!!!! I experienced three of the most miserable months in my life. I tried to be spirtual and keep a positive attitude. I did not do so well. I started reading Disappointment with God, by Phillip Yancey. Does that tell you something about where my head was at?

So I finally decided it was second opinion time. I got one and this surgeon said what my first surgeon would not admit. YOU NEED TO HAVE ANOTHER SURGERY. Surprisingly, this thought cheered me up. It meant there was a path forward, instead of sitting and spinning in a painful circle. On December 13, the new surgeon operated and put my shoulder back together. Does it hurt? YES. Am I happy. YOU BET! My shoulder feels like everything is in place and I feel like I am having the kind of pain that means it is healing well. That's an odd thing to say, but that is how I feel.

It is unfair to say everything has been miserable. My first grandson, Liam, was born. Oh what joy! He is lucky to have two great parents, Greg and Melissa. It's very obvious that they are totally in love with the little guy.

Then there are two of the greatest joys of my life, Sarah and Jessica, my granddaughters. They make me feel totally important and loved with no limit. They are pure happiness and infinite energy all rolled into one. Sarah and Jessica will grow up brimming with self esteem because of their two devoted parents, Lisa and Jeff. They give their daughters firm direction with constant reassurance and praise.

To complete the positive thoughts, I think of my awesome wife, Anne. She has unselfishly cared for me physically and emotionally. I would be a total wreck, if she had not been there so many times to hold me and talk to me. She has been with me almost 39 years. We are working on making it a lifetime.