More Loss

My sister, Lesli, has lost even more weight! She just sent a couple of pics. One is of my brother-in-law in his size medium shirt. The other is of her in the same shirt (though not at the same moment). I don't know her total loss, but she started at over 400# in the summer of 2007. Her goal weight is 150#.




Plus, I can't tell you the last time I've seen Lesli in jeans. Just amazing what a person can do once they finally admit they should be doing something!

Hot Time in the Ole Town

Although it was over 100 every day and I had a heat headache the whole time (yes, I drank enough water), I had a great visit in Tucson last week. The wedding I attended was beautiful. Matt & Christa make a great couple. I haven't gone through my pics yet, but here's a couple to share with you.





On the way home, I stayed in Phoenix a night so I could go see Gramma. She's looking great. I hope I look so good when I'm over 90! My uncle's wife, Aunt Jo, took me to National Cemetary. My uncle was put in a vault there after he died. They moved my Grampa's remains from Illinios so she wanted to show me his spot so that "when you visit you know where to bring flowers". She goes out there a lot to sit by my uncles marker. It's been so tough on her at times and it's been over four years. Here's the pics I took of the markers:




When I came home, CaliLyn was back from her summer in Oregon. She spent the last three days with me & Scully. It was nice yesterday for my birthday. We got up around 9:30, ended up skipping breakfast and made brownies.



I had to download some things for the Bible Bee and was having some issues with that. At 10:45 she was talking about breakfast. I said it made more sense to fire up the barbeque and get the ribs going. We agreed and started lunch.

Our local Bible Bee chairman came over about 12:15 so she joined us for lunch (since we didn't have our Bible Bee tests downloaded yet). After lunch I was able to do the download, then Jeanine and CaliLyn did the dishes and cleaned up while I took my shower. Jeanine gave me a basil plant ~ love the scent! My friend Christy gave me a Porterhouse steak ~ does she know me or what!

It was a perfect end to a great two weeks!

Regarding the wildfires, we are in no fire danger here. However, we are close enough to the Angeles National Forest fire that we were innudated with smoke the first few days. Now we just smell it a little in the morning. Parly because the winds have slowed quite a bit so it's not being pushed over our house anymore. (The winds kick up during the night which is why we do get it in the morning.)

Today I will get through the laundry and get some stuff done around the house. I'm looking forward to tomorrow for my day of Sabbath rest!

The Plunge

Well, I finally did it: I signed up on Facebook. I'm now part of the social network crowd. It was frustrating at first, but then the kinks got worked out. I have enjoyed catching up with friends that I haven't seen in decades and family that I haven't seen in longer! So, if you're on, I am listed as Lisa G Fiedler in Ventura County. It's quite easy to do "one liners" and then move on...plus, I don't have to look at numerous blogs, just one page that shows what everyone is up to!

I'll still post here occasionally, too. See ya in cyberspace.

Lesli's Shrinking

Here's an updated photo of my sis and all her weight loss. I don't know how much more she has to go to get to her 150 goal, but she looks great. And the tan really helps! This was just taken on the first of August.



You can go back in my older posts to find a comparison photo. For some reason I don't have them on this computer. I must have had them on my work computer (and I've been unemployed for almost a year now).

Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

This day in history: our Founding Fathers affirmed a document that would brand them as traitors. While they became traitors, we became a nation. On July 4, 1776 The Declaration of Independence was adopted.

When in the Course of human Events...

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are create equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...

Despite the current Big Government direction in which our country is heading, I still believe we live in the greatest country in the world. I am proud to be an American!

God bless the USA!

More Jason

Here's a couple more photos my sister sent today. One is of her holding Jason when he was still at the hospital. The other is of my nephew and his girlfriend at my sisters' house.





I'm thinking they need to learn how to hold the baby correctly. First, you can't see his face and then, he's tilted so the blood is rushing to his head. This is what happens when kids have kids. Sigh....

Jason King Porter

Welcome my Great Nephew, Jason King Porter, to the world!



He was born yesterday morning at 2:46 weighing in at 6# 11 oz and 19" long. He's such a cutie. He has a bad kidney that will need surgery when he's six months old, but otherwise is doing well. Please keep him in prayer for that. Also, pray Jacob (my nephew) will obtain and maintain gainful employment and be a good, responsible Daddy to Jason. As my sister sends more pictures I'll post them for you to keep up with the little guy.

This is Jacob holding Jason.



This is Jacob's girlfriend, Justina, holding Jason.

Still Unemployed

Just a quickie update: I'm still unemployed. I sent out a resume to an electronics manufacturing company yesterday. I don't know the name 'cause it was one of those "Company Withheld" ads on CareerBuilder. They are a bike ride, then a bus ride, then another bike ride away from my home. It's only the SECOND valid job that I've applied for off of CareerBuilders' site. Anyone else out there think their job site is a waste of time?! Most of the resumes I've sent out have either been through Monster or Craig's List. Anyway, we'll see what comes of it.

I received my last unemployment check of my regular claim today. I called EDD and they approved my first extension (there are now three possible extensions available). The first extension is like the original claim: twenty weeks at my full benefit amount. It is effective May 10th which will take it through September 26th. I've been pretty good at staying in that budget so this should cover me through December. Although, I miss being able to go out to eat once in while. I'm not talking about Taco Bell either. I mean like a sit-down place like Outback. Plus, there are some great movies just out or coming out soon that would be better seen on the big screen, but I can't justify the expense.

I started riding my bicycle again the last week of April. I try to get out two or three days a week just to get back into shape to handle it. My city is pretty flat, but there are still a few inclines that I have difficulty climbing. Since I don't have a car I need to get to the point that I can ride anywhere. I've considered getting a road bike again 'cause it's an easier ride on the streets.

Public transportation in my county is weak at best. The job I just applied for is in L.A. county which is better. However, getting there is the hard part. The train doesn't have good hours and there's only one bus that will get me there which only has one stop and poor hours. Therefore, once I get strong enough to ride my bike through the pass road it won't matter. Although, the pass road is not a "little" incline like around my city. It's a curvy road that goes up the hill and then down again. So, it truly is "up hill both ways" and with the Santa Ana winds it's hard just riding flat land here. The one positive thing about the public transportation is that buses have bike racks and trains have a bike area. If I get a job where I can use the public transportation to a certain point then I can ride my bicycle the rest of the way.

In the mean time, I will continue to work on building my Amway Global business and pray for God's will to continue to reign in my life.

Gabriel Perkins

Just a quickie here for prayer request: please keep Gabriel Perkins in prayer. Just over a week ago my friend's nephew was found to have cancer in his abdomen. The Readers' Digest version is that he was having issues to which the doctor simply thought he was impacted, so he was given an enema & sent home. After using it, he started violently throwing up. His parents rushed him to emergency and a CT scan was done showing three large tumors. The next day he had exploratory surgery which found four large tumors and many seeds on his abdomen wall. They removed the one that was distending his belly button and biopsied it. That's all I will type regarding the diagnosis as the updates are located on the caring bridge site link at the left under the "Worthy Causes & Prayer Needs" header. Gabriel is five years old.

Not Peanut Butter

I had to share this cell video I took today. Scully was licking her chops like this for about five minutes before I picked up my cell to record it. I didn't even give her any peanut butter to induce it. She's so funny! Aren't kids wonderful?!

90 Years Young!

I took a bit of my tax refund to head to Tucson for about a week recently. My friend Hazel turned 90 on March 3rd so they had a celebration for her on the first. I hadn't been for a long visit to Tucson for 14 years (since Hazel's youngest daughter got married). I really enjoyed seeing all the people I saw. I've known Hazel and her family for 30 years! They are the longest lasting relationships I have apart from my sisters.

Here's a picture of Hazel at her celebration:

They didn't put 90 candles on the cake, however, they arranged the candles they used in the shape of the number 90. Hazel had a great time.

While in Tucson, I hooked up with a couple of friends from high school one night. It was great catching up and even remembering together. I had a neat experience on Sunday: since I attend a Foursquare church I decided just to go to Foursquare Church's website and find the closest church to where I'd be staying. I ended up at a church that another friend from high school attends. I was glad to make the connection again! I love how God works in my life.

Since I stayed with one of my sisters, Scully got to come on the trip with me. We rented a car and drove out there. Before coming home we went to Phoenix to see Gramma who is 94. She's living in a nursing facility. Scully really enjoyed seeing her and stuck close to her wheel chair. All of the residents of the home (and some of the staff) wanted to pet Scully and just love on her. Since Scully and are pretty much home-bodies and don't have a lot of traffic thru our house at one time ~ she was a bit overwhelmed. However, since it was just one day I figured she'd get thru it.

Here's Gramma:



Carri Ann has always said that Scully looks like Gramma. Here's a picture of Gramma, me and Scully. You be the judge:


That evening we went to my Aunt's house to spend the night. Scully's mom (Max) is my Aunt & Uncle's dog. (Her dad was theirs, but they had to send him across the bridge last year so he's playing with Ollie, Popeye and O'Reilly.) When we got there, my aunt and I were chatting when Scully looked out the window over the back yard. She got really excited when she saw her mom there and ran downstairs to the back door still wiggling excitedly. Max came to the back door, put her ears forward and puffed out her chest. Scully immediately dropped low and slinked back up the stairs to me and my Aunt. My aunt said, "It looks like keeping Max away from Scully was a good idea." Later it dawned on me that Scully's mom doesn't want anything to do with her just like my mom. No wonder we're so good for each other.

The morning after we got home, I let Scully out to do her business. When she finished she came tearing into the house so excited to be home and having slept in our own bed the night before. She ran circles around the living room for about five minutes. It was like having a puppy again! A stranger wouldn't have known that she's almost nine.

I really enjoyed seeing everyone and making those connections again. And, just like Scully, I'm glad to be back home again.

Behind Second Base

It's been raining off and on here for three days. Yesterday, Scully and I had a small window of opportunity to get our walk in so off we went. As we rounded the soccer fields and came into view of the softball fields I noticed something in the infield. There were two white pelicans just hanging out behind second base. We detoured our walk to try to get a cell phone photo. I got as close as I could so they are quite blurry, but still pretty cool.



It was pretty cool. We couldn't get any closer. I turned away for a couple of seconds to get Scully heading away so we could leave and they had taken to flight. I was a little bummed I missed that, but I saw them flying back towards the usually dry river where they live.

I was thinking about getting a nice digital camera with some of my tax return, but there's a drawback to that: California is not paying tax refunds. In fact they even said after they balance the budget they might not be able to pay. That didn't go into effect until Feb 1st. If only all the 1099's I needed were here in time I could have filed before the freeze! Ofcourse, the other drawback is being unemployed and maybe needing that money to live on once the unemployment wears out.

Every Day Feels the Same

Scully and I were having a bit of cabin fever the other day. While we go on our walk every day (rain or shine) the walls still tend to close in on you when you don't get out much. I still haven't found a job. That's a full four months out of work as of today. With Circuit City going out of business that's putting another 34,000 people out of work in the US. The job market is becoming non-existent.

And in five more days it will be a full four months without a vehicle. I've been watching some vehicles on a used car lots website. There are several that have been on there since my accident. A couple weeks ago I put in my $2000 offer on one to see if they'd come back with anything. I haven't gotten a response. It could be because I didn't give my address, but that's none of their business unless they accept the offer and I buy the vehicle. $2k is all I have right now and being unemployed, I can't commit any more. It would be nice to have a vehicle again. I miss attending services at my church. I was there last weekend because I rented a car for the weekend for a business dinner I had to attend at a location a couple hours from where I live. In the mean time, I have some friends who attend a church in my area so they pick me up and I go with them. It's just not the same.

My sis got a new bunny named Fidget. She's a cutie. Scully and I saw a dog at the park that reminded me of her first dog, Winston. He was just as energetic as Winston was. The lady walking him was older and could barely hold on to him. She had taken him over near a tree when she saw us on the path. I can only assume to try to 'hide' us from him. It took everything she had to keep him from pulling her down. I would say not good planning for a pet on her part.

Scully comes home from our walks and pretty much poops out. She's 8-1/2, but in doing some research it turns out that a boxers average life span is only 10-12 years. I told her she needs to plan on the far side of that. I'm sure she'll do her best. I didn't sleep well the last two nights for some reason so when I let her out this morning I went back in the room to lay down. I heard her come back in and called to her. She jumped onto the bed, walked on me to get to my front (I lay on my side), got right in my face and layed down in a ball right there. She's very clingy lately. You'd think she'd be tired of me being around all the time. (I know I am.)