Wonderful Day

The ladies Bible Study was wonderful! There were perhaps 18 women there and enough were willing to participate to make the discussions interesting and lively. I am so thankful to Brandy for inviting me. She's quite an inspiring young lady. The mother of six yet very young herself, she has a quick smile, twinkling eyes and an obvious love for the Lord.

I met Richard at our Kissimmee house after the Bible study and we measured the living room for base board, then went over to Home Depot and got some plastic base board. It looks like painted wood and will be easy to install, durable and require no painting. We plan to install it tomorrow.

While we were at the house I noticed a teenage raccoon laying near a shrub. He was alert but made no move to get away as I approached. He was not obviously injured but I was sure he had been hit by a car or attacked by a dog. Something made him unable or unwilling (due to pain) to use his hind legs. Richard went to get him help. The SPCA was on the way. My heart wanted me to try to help him but my head and experience as a Humane Society volunteer in the 1960's warned me not to touch him without protective gloves. We decided to let the "pros" take care of him. I suspect he had a spinal cord injury, poor thing. I can still see his soft ears and the odd look on his face. He didn't seem to be in pain or especially fearful, just confused.

We had to leave so I could get to my doctor's appointment in time. We came home to get the forms I needed Dr. Schutz to fill out then hurried off to his office. We arrived right on time... but we ended up at his house! Oops! I called and got the answering machine. As I began to record my message, his wife (and nurse receptionist, billing person) came on the line. She had asked me when I made the appointment if I recalled where the office was and I assured her I did. Wrong! She good naturedly gave me the correct address and we headed out again.

Dr. Schutz will take care of my California Disability insurance papers. He knew exactly what they needed. The rest of my hour was more help than I can say. He has given me a whole new slant on my recovery. He rightly assessed much of my "flooding" problem as my own response to those times when I become overloaded.

For example when I am shopping and begin to be overwhelmed and end up retreating to my car abandoning my cart, instead of reacting with frustration and disappointment in myself, I should consider that I am responding properly to the situation at hand. I obviously cannot continue to shop when my brain is no longer processing, so leaving is a wise choice. After I am more calm, rested or ready, or when there are fewer people at the store, I can do my shopping again. Already, there is less dread of shopping! Yay!!

I can apply that attitude to any "flooding" situation. I know that I can become quickly and easily overwhelmed, but instead of fearing that, I can decide when this happens, I will just stop and that I don't care what folks think about that. I will take my time and just tell them I need to wait a minute. Sure hope it works!

Our friend Sam gave us a Red Lobster gift card for Christmas and as we travelled from the doctor's office to the restaurant, Athena called just to visit. I was thrilled. She's such a cool lady, and my daughter! We chatted a bit and then we were going into the cafe so it was time to hang up. It was a good time to go - the dinner crowd not there yet -and they gave us a quiet booth. It was a luscious meal which I ate wisely, saving over half for later.

So, all-in-all it's been a wonderful day!