Reminiscing with Sharon

Rested all day today; I still have very little energy. Sharon called and we talked for a while, which was very nice!  =D I asked Sharon about the five types of love; she is definitely not a person who feels loved when people give her stuff, but she isn't sure what category she would be in.  Since I couldn't remember most of the categories, and she had not heard of it, I need to give her more info. She describes herself as "the hamster ball girl" referring to last week's facebook viral cartoon.  (Note to self: find that cartoon again.) She is definitely not comfortable being the center of attention! 

I asked her what she wants for her birthday; she wants either an itunes gift card or an amazon gift card, so she can get music and especially books for her brand-new iPad.  I also talked to her about me wanting a 60th birthday party, even if we end up doing it via Skype.  She saw that Jonathan and Sara got enough snow this morning to build a small snowman, whereas I got only a dusting.  Its amazing what a difference 20 minutes west of here can make! 

Sharon's favorite color is still blue, just as it was when she was little.  She remembered that she was given the little red chair, and Beth received the blue chair, when she was 4 and Beth was newly turned 3.  They ended up swapping chairs.  Thank goodness Beth's favorite color was red so they weren't fighting over the same chair! Sharon's favorite book before she was able to read independently was "The Shepherd's New Cloak"; after she could read on her own, it became the Chinese Fairy Tales book, which might actually be named Tales of a Chinese Grandmother, I am not sure.  That was as far as we got with the 10 questions; they had a birthday party to go to.  But while talking to Sharon, I remembered that Amanda's favorite book when she was little was "The Paper Bag Princess", so I will have to add that to Amanda's list.  

More good news is I think the ulcer on the roof of my mouth has finally healed up, hooray!  Celebrated with some popcorn tonight =)

Soaring after Years in a Cage

I went in for lab work, which wore me out and I got nothing else done today.  But tonight the lab test results were already back, and I found that a) the infection is gone, which is greatly encouraging; and b) there has been moderate loss of kidney function and the blood loss has left me rather anemic, which is why I tire so easily and am not bouncing back like I wish.  Fortunately, kidneys are pretty resilient and they will probably heal up with time and I will regain some strength and energy!

I am still thinking about yesterday.  From the time that Dan left up until this year, I have felt bad because I didn't have a "Valentine" (special similar-aged person of the opposite gender in my life) when Valentine's Day rolled around.  This year, I am so grateful for the special people who are in my life -- my immediate and extended family, my church family, my near and far away friends, excellent medical personnel who do the best they can to keep me as healthy as possible -- that I had a wonderful day even without a special similar-aged person of the opposite gender in my life.  Its like a heavy burden I have carried for so long I no longer noticed it was there has suddenly been lifted, and I feel like I am soaring after years in a cage!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day! My visiting teacher Michelle Porter brought me a pretty bouquet of dyed daisies in bright cheerful colors this morning!  Each day I am feeling a little better.  I cleaned my kitchen and got out packing material for Sandra's package.  

After a nap, I scrapped a layout of Jo and Ammon building a snowman, then I practiced some techniques in Photoshop and added some papers and elements to the minikit I used for that layout.  The layout took me only an hour and a half (that is very fast for me!) and it was for a Gingerscraps challenge. A lot of their other challenges look like they wouldn't take too long either, but I don't have any other kits from that store.  The phone rang off the hook during the afternoon and early evening--I feel so loved!  It really was a good day.