Tuesday, Nov 25 and moving forward as usual

Well, I am doing OK for now. It seems like when I try to do things that used to be easy now hurt more today and even more tomorrow. That is OK because God let the sun come up and allowed me to be here to enjoy it. I am on vacation this week and that should mean I get to sleep late. Well, I am up around 5 to 6 in the mornings, but that is OK. It makes the days seem longer, but that is allowed, too.
I had two notes to my last blog. These replies always lighten me up. One of these was from a dear old friend of ours (Art). He introduced me to Betty many years ago and I still thank him for that. I have three beautiful daughters and one son. What a great feeling that is and a grandson coming soon. He will not be here for Christmas this year, but should be here by my birthday. The other note was from my cousin Jo. She was one of those special people in my life that helped in the way I came up (no, don't blame her for that because she helped with the good side of me). She has always been a special person for me to enjoy being around. I don't get to see here much anymore, but she is in my mind a lot. Growing up, you always look up to someone and want to be as great as they are. Her, and her sister, Lori, were a very positive influence on how I am today. I guess I love people like I do because of how they helped me growing up. Thanks Jo, and Lori, too, for being a special person in my life when I was still learning how you should be. It means a lot to me!
I went to Huntsville yesterday to do some work to our trailer there. Betty stopped by on her way back from Dallas for Megan's baby shower. She told me that she made a list of things that needed to be taken care of. I took my pressure washer up there for cleaning the green off the back side. Betty said it was about an hours worth of work. Four and a half hours later, I finished that project. The door needed some repairs, the screen door needed a handle put on and one light in the bathroom needed a "new switch". The door and screen were pretty simple to do. The light was another issue. It would not work so I took it apart to find out if it had power or not. As I was removing it, it come on and then went off again. The told me that it was not the switch. Power to it was OK. I re-wired it since that was where the problem seems to be and messed with the light bulb outlets and it worked when I left. My three or so hours there turned out to be all day. I left around 7:30AM and returned last night at 7PM. WHAT FUN I HAD! I can sure feel it today. My shoulder still hurts and I am tired all over, but I still woke up this morning. That makes it a great day, huh?
Sometimes, when people ask me how I am doing, I really don't know how to answer them. I take it as a general question and give the answer that I am thankful to still be here. I really don't think most people want the details of where I hurt and when I hurt. Someone at work asked me a while back why I was always in such a good, cheerful mood. All I can do with this is to tell why. It is a fact, the closer you are to the train, the brighter the light seems. I think at one point in my history, I was ready to board it and the prayers of family and friends kept me around. How can I not be in a good mood after that? Life is what we make it to be. Cheerful, pleasant and enjoyable. Every day is great as long as we wake up breathing on our own. If you are one of those people that has one of those "downer" moods, you need to allow God into your life and allow Him to help you make everything positive. Smile and move forward! Trust me, the shoe on the other foot is not pleasant. Appreciate what you have, smile and move forward. There are people here that are glad you are still here.
Make the most of your day. Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and enjoy the people around you. They are there because they are a special person to you (or maybe because there is good food). I would say for you to not eat too much, but that would be a waste of effort to ALL of us. We always do it and ALWAYS wish we hadn't. Just smile and move forward. It will be OK to suffer like we do EVERY year....
My love to all of you. Respond or not, as long as you check in to see how I am doing, I am OK with that.
Mark 11/25/08