She'sssss baaaack!

She's back & it doesn't look like she's "gonna" go away anytime soon. Sarah Palin is in Georgia, USA promoting Saxby Chambliss for U. S. Senator. That girl can really draw a crowd! Too bad she doesn't have anything substantive to say.

Did you see the Thanksgiving interview of Gov. Palin in Alaska at a turkey farm? Gov. Palin was standing in front of the area where turkeys are beheaded! We were able to see the whole process (blood & all) on a 3+ minute interview. Blood, guts, feathers, & gore! Yuck! And she's such a happy girl! Give me a break!

It Could 'ave Been Me!!!

...and now 3 hours after I wrote the first part of this, I am thankful that I was standing at our kitchen sink preparing coffee for the morning when the water pipe burst under our sink!!! Oh, to think of the total flooded mess we would have had if I had not been there to turn off the valve!!!

Thanksgiving ... Giving thanks

What are the things for which I am thankful? Let me see...
First there is my wonderful husband who is so calm, thoughtful, and caring. He is the best thing in my life. Maybe it's the age we are, maybe it's the trials we've experienced, maybe it's being retired; whatever, life is just so good right now and we are able to enjoy each other's company.
Secondly, good health... Both my husband & I are in good health and we both are so very thankful for that. We sometimes look around and see what some of our friends are going through and we are so happy that we can experience life in good health at this point in time.
Third, friends & family... Some live very near to us and some farther away; some we see often while there are others who we see infrequently because of the distance they live from us.
Fourth, being retired... I'm loving not having to wake up to an alarm clock, get up before daybreak, and rush off to work with zillions of other people.
The thing I ask for is rain... we are in a drought and are in great need of a good rainfall; slow & steady for a few days.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

91 at 62!!!!

At age 62 (my birthday is today) I shot a 91 on the Pine Forest Golf Course!
Well, I just didn’t think it could get any better than yesterday, but today I played golf with “The Nooners” at Pine Forest Golf Course. I didn’t get to play with Gerald today because he was on another team, but I did play with two other gentlemen (Jay and Pat). The day was beautiful and sunny, but VERY windy. Jay can hit the ball a mile high & long and the wind really messed with a lot of his shots today. I struggled a lot in the beginning making a 7 on a Par 5 and an 8 on the second hole (Par 4). It was terrible! But I must have settled down somewhat because by the time we finished nine holes I had a 49. I played much better on the back and shot a 42 for a combined score of 91. That was 5 under my handicap! The upshot of it all was that we won! I managed to get a “greenie” on #12 (the money-hole), Pat got a “greenie” on #16, and we managed to come in with the lowest combined score. It was a GREAT GOLF day for me.
Happy birthday to me!

2008 Club Couples Champions

The 2008 Colovista Country Club Couples Championship was held November 22 and 23. The 2-day event brought in 18 couples to participate in the annual event. The Saturday event will be a 6-6-6 competition. Holes 1-6 will be “select drive/alternate shot”. Holes 7-12 will be “best ball” and holes 13-18 will be a “two-person scramble”. Handicaps will be used on the “best ball” holes and handicaps will be determined by adding together the 2 players handicaps, dividing by 2, and then 33% will be taken to determine Saturday’s score.
Sunday play will be “best ball” with each player hitting his/her ball into the hole and placing both player’s gross score on the scorecard. At the bottom of the scorecard place the best net score.
On Saturday Gerald & I shot a 76.2 and on Sunday we, as a team, we shot a net 59 for a two-day total of 135.2. Barbara and David Lewis were the runners-up. Thank you Colovista for the enjoyable day.
It is unbelievable that in just over 3 years I have learned to play golf well enough to be helpful when Gerald & I play as a team. Gerald’s gross/net scores for the event were 79/69 and Cheryl’s were 90/65. Gerald had 3 “natural birdies” and I had 2.
Before we went to bed Sunday night I asked Gerald if 3 years ago he would ever imagined we could win in the Couple’s Championship. Of course, he could do it, but he never would have dreamed I would improve enough for us to accomplish this. Monday is my 62nd birthday and this is a great birthday present for me!!!

Madam Secretary?

The New York Times is reporting that Senator Hillary Clinton has accepted the position of Secretary of State in the Obama administration. This could be a really good thing! However, the Obama camp is saying it will not make any announcement until after Thanksgiving. We wait...
On another note Timothy Geithner has been picked to be Treasury Secretary. Mr. Geithner is chief of the Federal Reserve Bank.

The Medical Miracle

Mother-of-two becomes first transplant patient to receive an organ grown to order in a laboratory.

"Now I feel great. I am honoured."

Claudia Castillo is a 30 year old Spanish woman living in Barcelona had such severe infection from tuberculous that the trachea and bronchus (windpipe) to her left lung collapsed. The options were to either remove the lung or give her a transplant. The transplant was decided upon.

A donor trachea was obtained and a research group from the University of Padua washed the organ (with an "enzymatic detergent") to remove all living cells. This left the trachea framework made of collagen.

Scientists at the University of Bristol customized the donor trachea using stem cells obtained from Ms. Castillo's bone marrow to create the cartilage, and from inside her nose to create the inner lining. A bioreactor was used to "seed" the trachea with the new cells. See the complete article at The Independent, it is truly amazing! Click on the link below: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/claudia-castillo-the-pioneers-story-1024577.html

After four days the trachea was transplanted and in ten days the patient went home having had no complications. Because the organ was customized using stem cells from the patient the use of immuno-suppressant drugs were need as is usually the case with organ replacements.

If it were not for the research being done with stem cells this would never have been possible.

The Big Day is Getting Near!!!

Very soon now (Nov 24th) I will celebrate my 62nd birthday. At this point in my life I've been married for three years to a wonderful man, retired for 1 1/2 years, learned a new sport (golf), and have applied to receive social security. Yes, I've put in a lot of working years and with the downturn of the economy decided to receive my social security benefits early rather than at 66. My retirement check is just about enough to get me through the month, but I was having to draw money from other sources to supplement. Well with the economy in a sinkhole I don't want to touch any invested money, so Social Security to the rescue!!!

The Dream is Now Reality

On November 8th (our 3rd anniversary) Gerald and I were walking around the downtown area of Bastrop enjoying a lovely fall day, watching the crowds, looking at antique cars, and observing Veterans' Day. As I was about to cross the street I noticed this man and his young son and asked if I could photograph them.

We discussed the recent election where Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States. This man's t-shirt said it all, "We had a dream, now it's a reality!" It was especially sweet for him because November 4th was his birthday. He said he REALLY did party.

As far as I am concerned enough cannot be said about the significance of this election. The United States did not just elect a black man ... we elected a black man who is one of the most intelligent men and articulate speakers I have ever seen. I feel privileged to have been able to vote for him in this election.

Whoever is in this position of power needs to have the qualities that I believe Barack Obama possesses. Those qualities include, but are not limited to, intelligence, leadership ability, understanding, & willingness to listen. I think Obama has the potential to make a great president. The world is waiting.