thread for middle age to older Christian women.

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  • We have been very cold but today it is supposed to rain!!!!!!! Hopefully that will cut through all the ice on my sidewalks. Today's temp is shortlived. Sunday the high is 9!

    Praying for you today.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    For some reason I am not receiving the notifications for this thread even though it is bookmarked and not muted. Sorry to be so quiet. I decided this morning to check in anyway and found out I haven't seen you all since the 2nd. But I have been thinking of you all and praying for Pastor John. I will be more intentional in the future about searching this thread.

    Nancy, I am sorry you are still in so much pain. I know you feared the PT having issues with it in the past. I will pray you can find a solution for your pain relief. I also hope you like your new TV. It is important for those of us who are basically housebound. I watch a lot of movies and British shows… My PT has stopped. I was told my oncologist would refer me again if I felt I needed it, but so far I am doing okay. I have some bone pain in my legs which is typical on this new med, Orserdu, so I don't think PT will help. I have a PET scan scheduled for Monday. My previous CT scan showed improvement but my MO is concerned because my tumor markers continue to rise. So she is approaching it from a different angle.

    We are having a dryer than normal winter so far in CO Springs with only one snowstorm so far and no precipitation forcast for the next 12 days. Unusual. But it is cold. The temp ranges from 20° to about 35°, sometimes 55° on a good day. Since I stay in most days that is fine. The mountains around us and to the north are getting plenty of snow so that is good.

    My Christmas tasks are finished. I meet with my SIL tomorrow to decide what we are going to do for Christmas dinner this year. She cooked for Thanksgiving and would willingly cook Christmas dinner but my DH wants to have it here. He said he was willing to smoke a brisket and a turkey breast so I may see if that works for everyone. It also means he has to help clean the house lol. I would love to hire a housekeeper like I had in San Diego, but they want more than twice the cost here and my DH said he would rather do it. Part of the low cost there was because we hired a lady who crossed the border from Mexico daily. She was legal and even hired a couple of other ladies to help. At one point she finally had to stop for family issues, so we hired from a local company and they were only $10 more per hour. Here they want almost $200 to clean upstairs only. I didn't make $50 per hour and I have a PhD! I do what I can.

    Sorry to chat on. I pray everyone stays safe and warm and your family and friends receive the medical help they need. Chris

  • Hi Chris,

    I'm glad to see your post. I figured you were busy with Christmas things. Glad to hear you are doing okay. I hope your PET scan will be positive news. It sounds like your MO is on the ball so that has to give you some comfort.

    I have good news. My good friend who had her breast biopsies and had figured it was cancer since she had quite a bit of discomfort and she has already been through bc texted me today. She starts out saying I am breathless. I was afraid to read what was coming next but she said her doctor called her and said the findings were benign and no further action was required. This poor friend has been through more trials than you can imagine so I am so happy for her. Her first comment when she knew about these spots needing to be biopsied was I am concerned that I may have to miss my missions trip in March. She reminds me of the female version of Paul in the Bible.

    On a not so positive note my new TV was coming today and I knew Best Buy had hired a third party for the set up. When I got an ETA of 12:40 when my window was 2-6 that got me hopping to in a nano second. When two guys came to the door with the boxed TV they said where do you want us to put this. I said it goes on the TV stand right there. They said we are only supposed to deliver the TV. I said I paid for the TV to be setup and connected. They said we are not even supposed to open the box but they were nice guys trying to help me out. It was VERY clear from the beginning they did not know what they were doing. They did get the stand attached (after asking me if I had a screwdriver) to the TV and when it came to hooking up the cables when I asked if they knew what an HDMI arc or HDMI earc was they had no clue. I knew I was in trouble then. I had done my own research on this and told them which port to plug into. They were in such a hurry to leave they never waited to see if the TV was even working. I was still trying to type in my password for the wifi.

    So long story short I have another apt with Best Buy but I have to wait until next Friday as I had PT on the days they were available. I was so unhappy with the Best Buy guy I talked to on the phone and when he said we are going to offer a courtesy call for free to fix this. I said I would not exactly call this a courtesy since the first attempt was a failure. I was told the new sound bar that I bought also was not part of the set up. Get this…………………. he said that would be an additional $469. I said that is totally ridiculous. I said are you even listening to yourself. I had forgotten how much I paid for the soundbar and I said it was under $200 and when looking later it was under $300. After he checked he said I see that is for the whole TV set up. Still ridiculous. Then he said oh I see it is $69. I said I am not paying that either. I said under the circumstances this ALL should be free. Well I got the whole thing finally for free after wasting a whole day I could have been doing many other things. I have spent a very long time trying to figure some of this out on my own. They didn't even have it hooked up to my cable box. I figured that out.

    Sorry for the big rant. I am usually a calm and collected person but when I feel like I have been ripped off I turn into the Wicked Witch of the West. LOL I still am not rude but very forceful.

    Chris, I am really surprised that in CO you would pay more for house cleaning than in SD. I have a wealthy friend and she taught at one of my schools back in the day. They have a very large house in an expensive neighborhood and her cleaning lady came to give me an estimate several years ago. It seemed so outrageous there was no way i could afford her. I had a cleaning lady for the last few years of my teaching carreer and that is only because the band moms got together and hired a cleaning lady for me when I had neck surgery which was a huge blessing. They also provided meals for me for a whole month. I kept the cleaning lady on and then in retirement I figured I could do it myself. However now that I am having more physical problems my PT therapist said maybe I could clean 10 min. only. I did run the vaccum cleaner and my neck is worse but it has been worse since my last PT and I had an assistant who wanted way too many reps on about everything.

    My new TV has Alexa built in which will be fun once I know what I am doing. The sound bar once I could get into the settings is very powerful. The workings of the TV will be a bit of a learning curve and I will try not to make myself crazy trying to troubleshoot before the Geek Squad comes again.

    I hope you and your SIL can come up with a nice meal plan for Christmas. It is great that your DH will be doing a big part of the cooking and cleaning. Can I borrow him for a couple of days. LOL

    Take care. I hope you can figure something to ease your leg pain. I am spending a lot of time on the heating pad.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    Nancy, great news about your friend. God is good!

    I just had breakfast with my BIL & SIL and the short story they will be hosting Christmas Dinner. Apparently she promised her DD she would do an entire Turkey dinner since her DD and husband were unable to attend Thanksgiving Dinner the last three years. So we will go there and she will cook it all. I offered to cook something, but she said only if there is something my family has to have for Christmas. My DH may still do a brisket for Christmas Eve and if we do a large one, we will bring some to Christmas dinner. My DD is off work so I am sort of relieved as it means I won't have to deep clean or try to cook all day. I also can cancel the infusion appointment I had set for Christmas Eve as it was only for a port flush and since I have a scan planned on Monday with port access, I won't need it. Small joys! Maybe I can make some of the great-grandma's family cookies…

    I am so sorry to read of more TV problems for you, although given your luck I am not surprised. Fortunately my BIL is a tech expert so he helps us with all our electronic issues. I need a new phone as I dropped mine a couple of months ago and it cracked. I asked him this morning how to upload all my photos so I won't accidentally lose them, and he showed me the easy steps. It still works but it is annoying. I am not looking forward to all a new phone entails, but it will be good. That is my Christmas present 😊

    I don't know whether I told you my DGDs phone was turned off/cancelled. Her dad paid for it, but since my DD was just awarded full custody, he cancelled it. (He is currently in jail in San Diego for five years so can't pay for it anyways…long story.) I am saying a silent yippee to no phone! She is far too young for it and all the issues that go along with it. My DD monitored and limited it, but it was still a problem. My DGD is accepting her dad's incarceration as she doesn't see him much anyway. It has been a matter of deep prayer for our family for a while.

  • Chris, I am so glad to hear that you do not have to host on Christmas day. I can only imagine the relief you feel. How old is your DGD? I know she is young and I have to agree with you thinking it is a good thing she doesn't have a working phone now even though I am sorry to hear about the circumstances.

    One of our neighbor teenagers got in a REALLY scary mess with some guy from out of state who was trying to lure her into ??????? The FBI has her phone now and is using it to hopefully catch the guy. She was on one of these popular teennage apps. Not one I had heard of before and I can't remember the name.

    Tonight I figured out a big piece of the TV puzzle that was making me crazy. My internet is Xfinity and it was just tonight that I noticed the Xfinity app included with all the other apps. I am not sure if that was there before. I entered my cable box serial number which maybe made it appear. When I use my old remoted (Xfinity) it works on this TV. Oh my gosh. I felt like a happy dance. LOL Who knew that the future of TV's would be mainly using a bunch of streaming apps which has been the direction for quite some time.

    Maybe by the time Friday rolls around next week I will have already figured out what I need. I do have to say I really love my new soundbar now that I have tweeked that some. I just have to be careful I don't get carried away especially when I am listening to classical music. My neighbors are attached and I want to be respectful of that.

    I had a new therapist today when I couldn't get in with my own. She was very approachable so I was just very honest with her in that many of the exercises were actually making my neck worse. I was able to pin point some of the problems and she noted that so my regular therapist will see her notes.

    I regularly have to be in my recliner with my heating pad and I need to accept this living with pain everyday. I am so anxious to start Botox injections and I am tempted to reach out to my neurologist in how to go about this as I know it will need prior approval from my insurance. I see him again in mid January.

    I hope you have a good weekend. It is funny to hear you say you haven't had much snow. That must be becasue WE got all the snow you normally have. We have had quite a bit melt but we are going into the deep freeze this weekend and to think that winter has not officlally started yet.

    Speaking of cell phones I went to the movies and saw the second part of Wicked last week. I think it was the first movie I ever saw in IMAX and the scenery was great. The sound about blew me out of my seat. I had my phone in my back pocket and when the movie was over I was in the restroom and realized my phone was gone, YIKES I flew back into the theater and there were three older women still there and one of them yelled acrose the theater and said did you lose something. I said yes. I asked if they had a cell with a flash light and this one lady came over and asked if my phone was turned off and I said yes. I had no idea your phone could ring if it was off. She dialed my phone number and sure enough it was under my seat. I was SO thankful for kind people and one that had a flashlight to find my phone. So maybe you all knew you could do that with a cell but I sure didn't,

    Take care.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • Dear sisters,

    As we enter the last days before Christmas let us take some time each day to spend with the Lord and thank him for all of the blessings of His birth and how he blesses us daily even in the midst of difficult situtations.

    Love,

    Nancy

    christmas star Jesus in manger.jpg
  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    Nancy, thank God for good people who were able to help you find your phone. I am glad to hear you are getting good things done with your TV. Sometimes it is all about what you know… My DGD is 10 and yes, too young for a phone in my opinion but her mama wants to be able to get ahold of her and to track her when they are not together. So, when I went in on Friday to replace mine because it was cracked, wouldn't you know there was a special on. We have three lines on our plan and the tech said having a fourth line is actually cheaper per month (by $30 p/mo) AND I can get my new phone free. So we added the fourth line and had the tech put the new sim card in my old phone which, although cracked, still works but now with a new number. Then, my DD went to my nephew's house who knows these things and he erased all my old data on my old phone and disabled a bunch of stuff so my DGD can only use it for calls. Probably my DD will buy her a new phone that is not a smart phone and can only be used as a phone. Sounds like a good idea. She is also happy that now her daddy's family can't call her because they don't know her new number. My DD is working on getting full custody but it sounds like it will be awarded fine. They can always call my DD if they need her.

    I have a PET scan in the morning so today is all protein and no carbohydrates. This is not the way I eat ! LOL But I can do it. Hopefully it will show nothing and put to rest the worries about my tumor markers rising. We still have no snow and the forecast past Christmas shows none. It is a strange year. Yes, I heard you got it all and the NW has all the rain.

    I pray this Christmas season brings everyone hope and cheer.

    Blessings, Chris

  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    Well, the PET scan results show Interval progression of disease with increased number of metastatic liver lesions and osseous metastatic lesions. So it looks like progressio in both liver and bones. I know nothing else. I am more shaken than I thought I would be with upset stomach and dizziness. I have been through all of this before, several times. Perhaps I just walked too much today…

  • Oh Chris, I am so sorry to hear this news. Has your MO responded yet or is she the one that gave you this news.?

    I know you have been through this several times before but of course it is only natural for you to be shaken. I pray that if you need to switch drugs there will be one available that will work for you. I am praying dear sister.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • Dear Chris, I'm praying that He will surround you with His loving arms and keep your heart in perfect peace. I'm sorry for the distressing news but we will continue to pray there will be a remedy and maybe a new med that will work better.

    Love and prayer,

    Wheatfields

  • Chris,

    I pray that your oncology team has a new medication in their arsenal that will provide a great impact in stopping the liver and bone progression.

  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    My DD and I always do an annual mall hop to finish Christmas purchases, but this year we just did Walmart today as that is about all I can do. I am so thankful for my DD. We found almost everything we needed. So, I finished all my Christmas chores except for wrapping stocking stuffers… I may not wrap them. Otherwise, I'm all done. Just don't want anything left to do this year. Everything is decorated, bought, and wrapped, and those that needed it were shipped last week. All that's left is cleaning house. The way I feel right now, it may not get done well, but I'm not entertaining so that's okay. If I feel better next week I may bake a little. Otherwise I shall relax and try not to stress. From everything I read on this and other threads this has been a tough year for a lot of people. My prayers are that God gifts you with peace and joy, and supplies all your needs according to His abundant riches.

    Love, Chris

  • Chris, I am glad to hear that your Walmart run turned out to be great in finding what you needed. I would sit back and postpone the house cleaning until after the holidays. Getting your house decorated early was a great thing. Since I am never home during Christmas I don't do much decorating anymore. In fact this year with the TV fiacso I will have TV boxes and my old TV still sitting on the first floor. "Someone from Best Buy is coming this Friday to set up my TV but I don't think there will be much for him to do as I have figured most of it out already with the help of my AI copilot on my computer.

    At the recommendation of my PT therapist I am cleaning in very short intervals esp. when I injured my shoulder. My PT was canceled on Tues because my therapist was sick. I am supposed to see her tomorrow so we'll see.

    I am hoping for a free and clear day to visit my dearest friend who is in hospice and just moved to a Memory Care facility. I believe she will turn 97 in Jan. but she fell at her home and broke a hip and a wrist so she has been in the hospital. Her facility is quite a bit out of town but I really want to see if before she passes. She lived with her daughter and SIL and after her hospital stay they took her back home but that proved to be too much trying to get her up and down so they made the tough decision to move her to this facility. I think I will always consider her my dearest friend as we sat together in church for years. We talked and laughed and the age difference didn't seem to matter.

    I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. I will be at my sister's again. Unfortunately she lost her cellphone so I have not talked to her in a few days. I was quite concerned about her at Thanksgiving and now that concern has increased. Her daughter texted me about the cellphone situation. I will probably leave on Christmas Eve and depending on the weather will stay maybe a couple of nights. We'll see.

    I will start Botox infections in mid January assuming my insurance will cover it. My new neurologist has given me the green light and will start the referral process early so hopefully that will happen at my next apt with him.

    Praying for all of you.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    Nancy, praying you get to visit your dear friend, and that your trip to your sister is good.

    Just came from the oncologist and it looks like the only treatment left for me is IV chemo. I will start in a couple of weeks. If it is not tolerable, I'll stop. Not the decision I wanted to make at Christmas.

  • Oh Chris,

    This news is not at all what I had hoped would happen. I am so sorry. I will pray that the IV chemo works for you. Praying for you dear sister.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • Teka, I thought today was the 20th. You actually made my day. I kept thinking if I can make it to the 21st the days will start getting longer. So tomorrow will be the start of longer days. Probably one minute. LOL Beautiful arrangement.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • Teka, your mini Christmas tree is perfect on the tabletop. What a nice way to spread some holiday cheer!

  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    My son from New York just walked in the door. Complete surprise! My DH and DD knew and kept the secret. Tears of joy won't stop flowing. Merry Christmas!

  • Chris, what a wonderful surprise! We are all praying for you. May you continue to rest beneath the shadow of His wings in complete peace.

    Teka, thank you for sharing your little tree!

    Love, Wheatfields

  • Chris, I am so happy for you. What a wonderful suprise. I know you will have a wonderful time catching up. Thank you for your prayers for my neck. After a very disheartening Sunday with much pain and discomfort my new exercises are proving to be just what I needed. I sat in the Honda dealers waiting room for another 3hr wait this afternoon after doing the same thing on Friday afternoon. There was no charge today and they took this heaater blower apart and found no more leaves in the assembly. I am still hearing sounds. At this point I am not going to worry about it. I got new tires on Friday and when I get back I will get new front brakes. The guy I worked with was also into photographing the Milky Way so we shared some pictures. I don't know why sitting wears me out so much but I am pretty done in tonight. I got some bad news that one of my cousins found out last week he has stage iv metastatic cancer. His doctor gave him the option of doing nothing or chemo and he has opted for chemo. I know his family must be in shock. We cousins were close growing up with them being in our same hometown,. On a positive one of my good friends who I had mentioned before is like the female version of Paul found out her biopsies were benign. She had to wait a month before she even had them. She was so relieved when she got that news. My other good friend is done with her big infusions and will have a very big surgery on January 6. The mass is still resting on other organs and she has already lost one kidney to this disease.

    Chris, thank you for your prayers. I have a pretty free feeling neck today without shoulder discomfort. Maybe I have turned a corner. I sure hope so. I am thankful for a good day.

    Enjoy your son.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • Chris, praying that IV chemo is a treatment gamechanger and adverse reactions are nonexistent. May your son's surprise visit be full of joy and many blessings.

  • christmas manger and three wise men.jpg

    Merry Christmas dear sisters. I will be leaving for my sisters tomorrow. It is a bright sunny day here and in the 50's. It feels more like March that December. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

    Love,

    Nancy

    This is what it looked like a few weeks ago.

    christmas lighted tree.jpg
  • Merry Christmas, everyone! I wish you all a warm, joyful holiday filled with hope and God's perfect peace.

  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    It's been quiet here for a while. Nancy, are you home yet? I hope you had a safe and lovely time at your sister's house.

    I can't remember everyone's holiday plans, but trust you are recovered and resting through each day.

    It snowed lightly last night. My DS left early this morning for DIA where his flight is already an hour delayed. He is flying to up-state New York where he lives. He heard there are ten inches there already and it continues to snow. Pray he makes it safely. I miss him already.

    It saddens me to read of all the New Year's celebration cancellations across the world. Many places are replacing with lasers. We need prayers for peace more than ever.

  • Hi dear sisters. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I just got home last night. My sister, her DH and my niece from Iowa were there. We had a great time and then the day after Christmas I had a freak accident. I was in bed on this nice futon which I have slept in quite a few times in the past. I was worried about an email friend who I kept emailing and no response. Before I left for downstate I called her and left a message. So I was sound asleep and I got a pretty early phone call. In my attempts to reach my phone which was on the floor by the futon it tipped over and I landed on my hard case suitcase and I was stuck in the covers and was struggling to get up. I finally made it up and was sore in a few places but nothing bad happnend. The call was from my friends husband. My friend, who is VERY stubborn, told me in the fall she was not having any more vaccines. So no flu shot. She got very sick from the flu and about died. She was in renal failure and thankfully she is going to be alright but is in a facility for a while for rehab. Her DH called me back and told me the whole story. He got very sick from the flu also but he had received a flu shot. They live in NY and their four major hospitals around them were all full so my friend had to stay in the ER for several days before they had a bed.

    That night my niece wanted to go to this million lights display on this farm in town. My BIL chose to stay home. We were having a great time. It was a drive through deal but one place you could park for pictures so we did. We were having fun photographing each other with this great big bear that would hug you as his arms went out and in. The next thing I know I saw this mickey mouse looking inflatible instantly go down to the ground. Then I saw my sister on the ground. She tripped over this wire that was holding up this inflatible. She face planted in this gravel and was bleeding in several places including her lip, nose and above her eye. She was bleeding quite a bit and had a bad headache. My niece had an emergency kit with an ice pack so we eventually got her back in the car. She didn't want to go to an urgent care so we went home. She had glasses on which contributed to some of the injuries. Yesterday she was in a lot of pain with her back and shoulder. We are hoping she didn't break anything. So in our many stories that we laugh about later this may or may not be one we will laugh about but it will be memorable for sure. This morning I was thinking she probably didn't break anything unless she has osteroporosis and then I remembered she does have that and to my knowledge she is not on any medication to treat it because of ?????

    Yesterday was my BIL's birthday and I had to get on the road before they celebrated that. So our Christmas was joyous with a lot of laughing and then not so much.

    I will have to upload some of my pictures from the weekend.

    I hope everyone had a great Christmas celebration.

    Love,

    Nancy

  • Hear are some photos of my weekend at my sisters house. She has quite the knack for decorating. I think she made those sweatshirts with her cross stitching.

    Karen and Jill in her LR.jpg

    My niece in the red pants with my sister, her mom.

    Karen and Jill with big bear.jpg

    My sister with the huggable bear and my niece.

    Karren and me with big bear.jpg

    Me with the bear and my sister.

  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    Nancy, sounds like a great visit. Hope you can all laugh at your minor mishaps.

    Our Christmas family dinner was great. My SIL outdid herself with the meal. I bought some British Christmas poppers for fun as my DH's mum was British, and thought we would try them. We enjoyed the extra fun. We have enjoyed our time together as a family at home. We played a few board games and watched a couple of good movies. My DS had his flight cancelled this morning while he was already at DIA and in the plane, so this was an ordeal. His flight doesn't leave now until late tomorrow morning. He said he will settle into a hotel and relax as the airport is two hours away and is not an easy trip for him to return here for the night. Hopefully the delay is actually good and means he won't struggle in the snow storm that is hitting his house right now. A silver lining.

  • HI dear sisters.

    I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

    Chris, I am glad to hear of joy and celebration with your family and the surprise of having your son visit. What a blessing. I do hope he eventually made it home okay.

    Teka, LOL. We are having a winter and a half already. I am ready for spring!!!!!!!

    When I envisioned these few days before my routine starts up next week I thought this will be a week of bliss with only one apt on Friday. Well my car had other ideas. I took my car in on Monday to get new brakes and tell them the blower motor was still making the sound which they thought they had fixed. The latest guy I worked with was a gem. I had texted him as I was supposed to to let him know I was coming to deal with the sound again. As it turned out I was already outside of their garage ready to drive in and he called and said sorry I just got your text. Long story, I left my car and they gave me a loaner……………a new SUV which I have never driven one before. I was so scared something would happen to it I parked it in my driveway because my little one car garage is a very tight fit. I went to pick up my car last night in freezing cold and snow. The windshield wipers in this new car were freezing up where I couldn't see. Then I had to get gas to account for the whooping 15 miles max I drove to return the car. The problem was I couldn't find the latch to open the gas tank. After googling it, it doesn't have a locking gas tank LOL I am a bit surprised at that as it had so many things it was mind boggling. It had a heated steering wheel. Who does that????? Well maybe if you live in the Adirondacks!!!!!!!!!

    They replaced the blower motor and finally heard the sound I was hearing. So I have put $2500 in my ten year old car which still looks like new and only has 67000 miles on it. So the fleeting thought was should I buy a new car or not quickly went out the window when I googled that dilemma and it said 2015 was a very good year for Honda Accords. Plus I have new tires, new front brakes and on and on. I was so glad to get my car back where I knew where most things are that it maybe was a blessing getting this big new car to drive even if it was for only 15 miles in the snow and cold during rush hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Then I was checking out my credit report and low and behold according to them Happy Birthday to me for tomorrow and a year younger too!!!!! So my week of bliss was not quite the bliss I was counting on but I am in my heated home after taking a hot bath. I have clothes on and have food in the fridge. I am more blessed than millions of people across this world. So I am thankful for this 2025 and I am always hopeful that the New Year will bring even more blessings.

    Love,

    Nancy

    Happy New Year 2026.jpg
  • intolight
    intolight Posts: 2,918

    Hi Nancy. Yes, the visit from my DS was indeed a blessing. He spent an extra day at the airport but he did make it home safely. I have been worried about him for many reasons, but this visit took away most of those fears. He is doing better than I imagined. I give the praise to God for that.

    Heated steering wheel? Yes, we have it and use it. When we lived in San Diego, we needed a new car. I wanted an SUV to be able to carry the scooter. When we told the dealer what we wanted, he pointed to a barely used SUV (34,000 miles) that had just arrived. It originated in MN and was fully loaded with extras and had heated everything. We didn't need the winterized accessories in San Diego, but everything else was good so we bought it having no idea we would be moving the next year to Colorado. But God knew. It has been perfect for us here.

    We have had very little snow so far here this winter with none predicted in the next two weeks. Our ski resorts are struggling and I am sure unless we get dumped on our snow-pack and water levels will be very low. We could use some of your snow and some of the NW rain.

    I thank God for surviving another year even though much of it was tough. My blessings are abundantly full of joy. I have no ide what challenges await in 2026, but I know My Redeemer liveth and He will reign for eternity.

    Love, Chris