UAA Accolades Fall 2007. Scroll down to page three.
Picture of Klint (middle) with his riding buddies Kris and Tony.
We are proud of Klint and how he has worked his way through college. Keeping focused on doing well at school, his wife, his relationship with the Lord the whole time also working a job between classes. He now has a job that he is enjoying too.
He would like to pursue a masters degree too - I don't doubt at all that he will get that done too!
Well done, Klint!
I was inspired to share a picture of my office - even if it is in complete disarray this morning. I was visiting "Slimpickins' from my Brain" and after commenting on her office (which is beautiful and so clean!) I decided that I would share where I blog from too. I was going to clean up first but... here it is in all of it's non-glory!
A messy office is a sign of a creative mind."
I prefer to be considered creative but, some would say I am just messy. I am comfortable with where I am in that respect now that I am an ol' Grammaloo. [attempting to justify laziness] I try to cultivate the better things like kindness, hospitality, love, longsuffering, you know? And to be encouraging --- attributes such as that are much more worthy than organization, aren't they? [attempt to convince others of self-declared goodness]
Oh, okay!!!! I confess, I am a messy! [Admits to obvious failure.]
As you can see, my office is not all that organized and in my efforts to share online I dig out books, write down my thoughts while I am reading and anything that I find worthy of sharing I will try to jot down. In the process, I begin to collect bits and pieces of paper, pens and tape, post it notes, books, clippings along the way to my office. This all gets piled up around me and stays there. Occasionally I need to gather up the coffee mugs in here. I will get some coffee, get absorbed in what I am reading, coffee gets cold, I don't want it. I go downstairs to check on Chewy or the family and then bring up another cup of coffee which then gets cold and I don't want it. Eventually, I wonder "where's my favorite mug???" (I have many favorites.)
The most habitual cleaning I do in here is on vacuuming day (no, not scheduled). On an almost daily basis I do use my Dust Remover to blow the dust off of my keyboard. That cleaning is normally done after I have been thinking and happened to stare down at the keyboard and see something on it that shouldn't be there.
I have been working on the "I don't feel like it but I will do it anyway" motto, but that is working only on the first floor so far. I have to step up the program to the second floor!
Remember to think about God today - and praise Him!
OH! I almost forgot.....
BOO!!!
If you have it you know how overwhelming it can become. The other night I kept jumping out of bed and trying to walk, rub the back of my knees or shake my legs. I can't be doing that all night for Doug goes to work during the day and he needs his rest! So I ended up downstairs wandering around in almost tears. This was the worst attack I can remember having. When it is bad like this I also have the restless feeling in my arms. The back of my knees and the inside of my elbows are the worst, I can feel it in my fingers too.
Sometimes if I can think straight I will take that time at night to pray. You will notice when you begin to pray sleep comes so fast that before you know it you wake up in the morning. My kids used to cry, "Mom, I can't sleep." "Pray for your family," I would reply. Soon she/he was sleeping quiet!
Most of the time all I can do is think about how I can be relieved when it is happening. Recently I learned that my sister Kotya's husband also has RLS. When I found that out I felt like we had been reluctantly inducted into some sort of club ---all on merits we didn't even know we had.
What is this RLS? According to a RLS support site for people like myself, it is a neurological (there is that word again) problem. In cases like mine where it begins in adolescence it is hereditary. I once suspected that my granddaughter Ashlee might have it since she moved her legs so much when she was a baby and trying to fall asleep. Here's a picture of my grandkids. Ashlee is the one with the hair blowing up! How about that RED hair on my grandson, huh? This was taken early in the morning on a racing day this past summer when the wind was howling through Kincaid Park.
I can remember having this irritation when I was a young girl, moving my legs before falling asleep. After the 1964 earthquake and the tidal wave in Old Harbor my sisters and I sometimes had to share beds and I heard one of my sisters complain, "I don't want to sleep with her, she moves her legs too much." I could not help it. If you do not move when this creepy feeling is at it's strongest I think one can probably go completely insane!
When I tried to explain what it feels like, one of my kids said, "Is this all in your head?" "Nope, it's all in my legs!!!!" I have no idea why, it just is.
Today I have tried an ointment, Tiger Balm. I've also self-treated myself with iron. I have since found out online that sometimes RLS can be caused by anemia. I found that ferrous sulfate iron helped me once when I was so low on iron that my doctor said he considered giving me a blood transfusion. (Another body trouble which I've had treated with a partial hysterectomy.) I had noticed that RLS which had been so horrible before I was prescribed a high dose of iron had completely gone away! I began taking iron when I was having strong bouts with RLS. The other night I did the same, I finally fell asleep in my Mom's bedroom that night.
There are medications that doctors use to try to help their RLS patients, but these meds come with warnings that sound like they might be worse than the trouble such as:
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION ABOUT ________: _________ may cause you to fall asleep without any warning, even while doing normal daily activities such as driving. When taking _________ hallucinations may occur and sometimes you may feel dizzy, sweaty or nauseated upon standing up. The most common side effects in clinical trials for RLS were nausea, headache, and tiredness. You should talk with your doctor if you experience these problems.
I've recieved several emails about a new holiday movie coming out: "The Golden Compass." (A lot of Flash at this site.) This movie will most likely be the first in a series of movies in response (anti) to C.S. Lewis stories "The Chronicles of Narnia." According to Snopes.com he author of the books, Philip Pullman, wrote stories that he said, "My books are about killing God." Philip Pullman is a self-proclaimed atheist. The "His Dark Materials" triology fans are upset by how the director of the movie has watered down the anti-God, anti-Christian lines found in his books. FoxNews.com writes about this.
I predict that even if this author is openly fighting God, this movie will be well attended in our world. So many have no idea what pleases and displeases God anymore. We as parents and grandparents must instill in our families a deep love of God which is based on God's word. This will help them chose right from wrong themselves, which is getting harder to do. God's word is a Light that brightens our paths to Himself. God is real! All those that have closed their eyes and hearts to Him will be sadly surprised someday! For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood of its ungodly people but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)---if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. 2 Peter 2: 4 - 10.
Well, I best get moving again.
Sometimes I can be found shirking any one of these responsibilites just because... I don't feel like it. Todays Our Daily Bread devotional was about that. I read the scripture in Matthew 21 and learned that there are two ways people respond to the Truth = Jesus Christ is God's Son. Jesus told the chief priests and the elders that the tax collectors and the harlots believed John, but they did not.
The chief priests and the elders in those days were a very successful bunch that had spent their lives being holy. I can imagine how they probably appeared. They were probably similar to the priests in the Russian Orthodox church that I grew up in - revered by the people around them. These chief priests/pharisees did everything related to God - right. They followed the letter of the law to the minutest details. Yet, they didn't even recognize God's Son. The difference between the harlots and tax collectors and the chief priests and the elders was in their decisions to believe that Jesus Christ was who He said that He was or not to believe. Believe and be saved or disbelief and be filled with anger.
Jesus told them the truth about how they didn't believe John the Baptist and they didn't believe Jesus Christ even though He came and performed miracles before them. Things only God could do! Now that is pretty blind! But I don't think I would have done any differently if I was busy trusting in my own goodness. In order to be saved, we have to believe that we have a need to be saved from something and if we are already feeling pretty holy or good without Jesus Christ, why should one even need a Savior? Don't believe that lie, we can never be holy enough to stand before the piercing eyes of God Himself. He will probe deep into our hearts and what He finds is "DESPERATELY WICKED!" If we are quiet enough to stand alone in God's presence, we would all agree - there is nothing about us that is holy enough apart from Jesus Christ.
"I don't feel like it - but I will do it anyway." I think I want to put that up in my kitchen where many times I shirk my responsibility to cook and clean! How about that bathroom? These are my jobs and many times I don't want to but I will ask for grace to do them until I can't do them!
Yesterday was our family singing night. It is getting more organized every week! Yesterday Doug set up a microphone so that we can have a loud enough leader. He is kindly soft-spoken and yet I want to hear him lead his family on this night. We had a beautiful time of singing. The kids love the motion songs and enter enthusiastically when we get to "Only A Boy Named David," "Zachias," "Hallelu, Hallelu, Praise Ye the Lord!" I make sure we keep our time to one hour exactly so that they are not overwhelmed since we ask that they all are quiet, and respectful. Little Gunner comes and he does not quite like to have to conform to this rigid time so he folds his arms and scowls at Gramma, but after the singing is happening and the kids are motioning, he is so happy. So their lives of standing up to their shortcomings begins and I love how they are all rising to the occasion. Someday I will capture them on video. I got this afterwards video to share today.
We have fog this morning. Weather person said most likely freezing rain/snow today. Husband commutes everyday said that the roads were sloppy and right after they got through the slippery Hay Flats they heard that there was a roll-over.
"If God is present at every point in space, if we cannot go where He is not, cannot even conceive of a place where is He is not, why then has not that Presence become the one universally celebrated fact of the world? The patriarch Jacob, "in waste howling wilderness," gave the answer to that question. He saw a vision of God and cried out in wonder, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not." Jacob had never been for one small division of a moment outside the circle of that all-pervading Presence. But he knew it not. That was his trouble, and it is ours. Men do not know if God is here. What a difference it would make if they knew."
A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 1948.
So it goes in our world today. So many do not even think of God at all unless something like the raging California fires happen. What a selfish people we are and what a merciful God rules this world. We should long to know God. We should know what He loves and what He hates so that we can live our lives pleasing to Him. We should include Him in all of our daily endeavors. If we don't, we are living life in a fog. The created not knowing the Creator.
We must read the Bible and believe each word if we want to come out of that spiritual fog.
"This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
One of the disciples that God nicknamed "sons of thunder" wrote those words. John. (John 21:24,25.)
I cooked Mom grits for breakfast this morning along with orange juice, pomegrante jewels, that is the best way I can describe the pomegranate fruit after I took them out of the fruit, they appear to be jewels, so beautiful.
I learned yesterday how to get the fruit out of the pomegranate. First you score the outside of the pomegranate, then put the whole thing into a bowl full of water; peel the outside off. The rind and white membrane floats and then the fruit drops to the bottom of the bowl. It was fun. Mom and I were impressed with the sparkling beauty of this fruit in a bowl. Mom also had a slice of toast and 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries. I had a bowl of cereal with frozen blueberries.
After breakfast we watched the news of the fires in California. As we watched the news Mom commented on the time. "Oh wow, already 12!" I said, "I can't believe it, I am still full from my cereal and it's time for lunch???"
Mom's phone rang and she hurried to answer it, but was too late. She brought it to me and said, "I missed it, see who it was and call them back." We looked at the phone and we both decided it was a weird number we didn't recognize. She began to play Mahjong while I kept looking, then I noticed that she had gone to the dialed numbers list. I exited out of that list and went to the missed calls list and saw that my brother Mark had tried to call --- at 10:40 a.m.
"Mark tried to call you this morning Mom." She got up and came over to the phone and said "OH! I didn't even hear it!" We looked at the phone. Then I asked, "What time is it now anyway?" I looked at the microwave. 10:42. I realized the clock in the livingroom had stopped and it was not even lunch time. We were thinking we should be preparing lunch and we had hardly even burped from breakfast!
We are quite the funny pair - my Mom and I.
Native to Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and introduced to California by the Spanish settlers in 1769 how amazing is it that this pomegranate is on my table in almost frozen Alaska! They like cool winters and hot summers. Humid climates are not good for the formation of the fruit. This tree can be severely injured by temperatures below 12f. The tree can grow as far north as southern Utah and Washington D.C. but seldom get fruited. It adapts well to container culture and will sometimes fruit in a greenhouse! This plant with glossy, leathery leaves gets a beautiful flower and is self-pollinating.
This sounds like it could be a fun indoor plant to try.
Stored in temperatures (refrigerated) between 32 to 41f the fruit is like apples, can be kept for up to seven months without spoiling and actually the fruit will get tastier and juicier. Pomegranates make great juice that I read will help those with ischemic coronary heart disease by improving blood circulation. MedicineNet.com claims that pomagranates have more antioxidant qualities than cranberries or even green tea!
Do you eat pomegranates and how do you prepare them?
I went to see my sister Millie on Sunday.
She has been hospitalized for 301 days.
We long to see her smile. We want her to go home now. We want that her food be administered in daily increments rather than constantly. We feel that her body would benefit from going without that constant drip of food. If she could get something like pomegranate juice instead, I bet that would be so good for her.
YES! A Blogger Blog search engine! I was always trying to find where to do a search on blogs here without using the "Next Blog" feature! Finally, here it is. Blog Search.
I've been reading a book by Grant R. Jeffrey "The Signature of God, Astonishing Biblical Discoveries." About the author Jeffrey, "internationally recognized as a leading researcher and Bible Prophecy teacher: More than one and a half million readers have read his seven best selling books." This is the first time that I am reading anything by him.
Here is a quote from his book:
The widespread agnosticism and atheism in our modern government, media, universities, and seminaries has resulted in the moral collapse of our society. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes wisely described the inevitable effects on our society of the growing agnosticism and the gradual abandonment of the authority of Scriptures in the life of our nations. Hobbes described the terrible results that would follow the loss of a national religious faith in the Christ in these insightful words. "No arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." Tragically, the results of our national apostasy were accurately predicted in his writings. In 1830 the government of France sent a well respected judge, Alexis de Tocqueville, to study the society, the beliefs, and the prisons of the United States of America to find out why there was so little crime and so few prisons. After several years of study he wrote a celebrated book called The Democracy of the United States in 1840. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about the reason for America's greatness as a nation and the real reason for her low crime rate at that time. "I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests - and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public schools system and in her institutions of higher learning - and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution - and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!"Wow. That was quite the paragraph and one I know is the TRUTH! What is any man apart from the greatness of God? Nothing but a pawn to be pushed and pulled here and there by the greatest deceiver of all, Satan. And to think this deceiver has convinced those that are in his unforgiving grip that they are FREE? That is one of the greatest deceptions of all.
Grant goes on to write:
A century and a half later, America has publicly abandoned the Bible as the moral anchor of our society and education. It should surprise no one that, after decades of teaching our children that there are no absolute rights and wrongs, we face an appalling breakdown in public morality and rising levels of crime. President Andrew Jackson shared the same opinion as Alexis de Tocqueville about the central position of the Scriptures to the life of his nation. As he lay on his deathbed President Jackson pointed to the Bible on the table by his bed and said to his companion, "That Book, Sir, is the rock on which our Republic rests."
I've often wondered what people like Jackson and Lincoln would have to say to those in high places here in the United States today.
It is interesting to me that Wikipedia has nothing of what Grant wrote taken from Tocqueville's book "Democracy in America" on the page about him.
"Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion--for who can search the human heart?--but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society." Alexis de Tocqueville, exerpt from Democracy in America, Chapter XVII.
I better stop reading and go see my Mom!
Have a beautiful day keeping God and His Truth evident in your everyday lives. God blesses when mankind trusts in the Lord with all of our hearts and we don't lean to our own understanding, and in all our ways acknowledge Him, then He will direct our paths. His paths are truly free.
We have a dusting of snow this morning and the Christmas tunes are in the iPod!
I like listening to the story of Jesus Christ coming as a Babe. He is my willing Savior.
There was a cow with a calf and a bull and possibly another bull. It was not a big moose but the cow was busy trying to chase it off. I think it must have been her older calf. The vanquished moose just stays out of the way but has not left yet.
Here's some video of those moose, but the one hiding in the trees didn't get into the video. Isn't that sort of sad? Chasing away your offspring? Awwwwww, that is so sad, but necessary in the wilds, I guess. :-(
My BuddyLife is a book that we study,
Some of its leaves bring a sigh.
There it was written, my buddy,
That we must part, you and I.Nights are long since you went away,
I think about you all through the day,
My buddy, my buddy, no buddy quite so true.
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,
Just long to know that you understand,
My buddy, my buddy, your buddy misses you.Buddies through all the gay days,
Buddies when something went wrong;
I wait alone through the gray days,
Miss your smile and your song.Nights are long since you went away,
I think about you all through the day,
My buddy, my buddy, no buddy quite so true.
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,
Just long to know that you understand,
My buddy, my buddy, your buddy misses you.Gus Kahn
"O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen - even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!" Psalm 8
The Trumpeter Swans stopped by this morning, beautiful and elegant birds. In the early 1900's they were considered endangered. Biologists then said that only 69 trumpeter swans were known to exist in the wild. Back then it was not known that Alaska had these large, white birds too. People in the Lower 48 had been hunting them so extensively for their meat and feathers any further hunting of swans was prohibited.
In 1990 the census of this graceful bird indicated that over 13,000 trumpeters are in Alaska (80% of the world's population) and their numbers continue to increase. Today some of the increase decided to fly in and grace our lake view. I hurried down to bring them some of our bread.
One of them didn't take too kindly that I was close to her/his babies and began to hiss at me while walking out of the water - even with Chevy sitting right there. Now --- that is one brave parent!
The swans stop by here in early spring on their way up to the top of Alaska, which I call the North Slope regions of Alaska. They raise their young there and then while on their way back South they will stop by once more.
During the winter months they hang out along coastal waters from Cordova, Alaska to the Columbia River in Washington State. (Information is from Alaska Department of Fish and Game.)
Good bye Beautiful Swans! See you all again next spring, if God should tarry.
Whooping Cough Cases Climb in Alaska. Medpage Today (From 2005) "The incidence of pertussis is four times higher in the state this year than in 2004, including a rise among adults, although improved diagnostic specificity may explain some of it."
Whooping cough made the news here in Alaska in 2006. It showed up in an eight week old baby girl from a Southwest village. I remember this is about the same time our little Raegan Mae was sick and Karla was concerned she may have the whooping cough. She was checked out to be okay. Tundra Medicine Dreams did a great write about this outbreak in our coastal village.
I thought that "the hundred day cough" was eradicated in the United States. Apparently not, since I've read several sites claiming an outbreak of this sickness in recent years, with each following year the disease is increasingly reported.
The illness, caused by a bacterial infection, is characterized by coughing spells lasting several seconds. The coughing fits are followed by a "whooping" sound as the person struggles to inhale and may cause vomiting or choking.Whooping Cough No Cause For Alarm - Mount Mercy Times, A Student Publication (PDF file). "Most people are vaccinated against the disease as children, but the immunization usually wears off by adulthood. Adults and unvaccinated children can harbor the pertussis bacteria for up to three weeks before showing symptoms."Whooping cough can last for weeks and lead to pneumonia and seizures. It is most dangerous in infants and young children. From (www.schsa.org) Stanislaus County Health Services Agency.
From April 3, 2007, Study Finds Parents Pass Whooping Cough to Babies, The New York Times. A collection of whooping cough information, including New Booster Vaccine Urged To Fight Whooping Cough.
Whooping cough is most contagious before the coughing begins. Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for information about the pertussis vaccination and booster vaccination for adults.
After doing some study on this disease I disagree with whomever wrote the article "Whooping Cough No Cause For Alarm," because this cough is something no one should get! It sounds horrible and it begins as a common cold/sore throat then progresses to the violent cough. One is treated with antibiotics in an effort to get rid of it. See from this picture of the child how violent the cough can be even causing broken blood vessels under the eyes.
Hopefully Mom was not exposed to pertussis, I would hate for her to get so sick with coughing.
Please pray that this cough was not passed on to Mom and also pray for my brother Don's wife Edna. She is still struggling with this and is not well yet. Don and Edna have a Christian ministry with the Native peoples of Alaska and work with them via the Anchorage Native New Life Fellowship in Anchorage.
And remember, wash your hands and one should stay home if not well.
It's snowing here!
According to www.blackdog.net it's 2 months, or 74 day, or 1775 hours, or 106519 minutes, or 6391134 seconds and counting down until Christmas! Black Dog's Countdown to Christmas, even with your own timezone. Aren't you excited? This site is cool. It has a lot of stuff to do with the kids and grand kids. I liked their Christmas mazes.
Whenever it snows, I like to put on our Christmas tunes. My sister Millie and I did the same thing each year on the first snowing day. Love you Mil!
The snow was coming down like crazy and now it's stopped and looks like the sun will be coming out for the rest of the day.
I could not believe that our voters would trust our well-being to the Borough so much that they would not put into place protections for the public. I have to believe that the voters did not realize they were voting for more government leeway.
Anyway, why did it come up for a vote? Isn't it only right that owners in the way of public improvement should be able to get out of their lifetime investment what it is worth? Yes, it is right.
I did a read on imminent domain and look at the map of all the places that are now dealing with this trouble. Map of Imminent Domain Cases. One thing this does support in my mind is that I should not put my heart into this old world. My home is not here - even though it is pleasant at times.
Mom and I had such a nice day yesterday. I brought her out to The Point and we made a small fire and I roasted marshmallows for her. I had one even though I am on a diet because how can one resist when your Momma asks, "Are you going to have one too?"
My son Klint has put a log-swing that he built out there and she sat in the swing, in the sunshine and enjoyed her marshmallows while I continued to pick up dead brush and put it on to the fire. As I worked I heard a car and car doors shutting. I stopped and said, "Oh, someone must be here." I listened and she hurried (as fast as she can hurry) over to me and said, "Somebody is here?" When I looked at her face she had marshmallow stuck on her chin and cheek. I laughed and told her and we both laughed. "You look like the grandchildren, Momma." What we heard was Calli coming home.
This morning we had a heavy frost and a big ol' cloud is hanging overhead, so it makes me wonder if we will get snow soon.
I picked up a new toy for Chewy and it squeaks. He squishes it and it squeaks and he cries. Over and over. I only give it to him occasionally when I am going to be busy so he can be occupied. Now I can hear Mom trying to console him. I might try to get a video of this dog. It's funny.
I thought I would share a poem this morning.
New Friends and Old FriendsMake new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
New-made friendships, like new wine,
Age will mellow and refine.
Friendships that have stood the test---
Time and change -- are surely best;
Brow may wrinkle, hair grow gray,
Friendship never knows decay.
For 'mid old friends tried and true,
Once more we our youth renew.
But old friends, alas may die,
New friends must their place supply.
Cherish friendship in your breast---
New is good, but old is best;
Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
Joseph Parry
I am loving cultivating this new, yet old friendship with my Mom. It is a silver and gold friendship.
This morning is a bit chilly here and we were out of wood. I got on the 4 wheeler and rode around the property in search of logs that would fit into the stove. I did find some wood. (It might be rotten wood which Doug would not put into the stove.) We did not stock up on wood for the winter. Looks like this winter we will be going out for a ride to bring home wood enough for two or so weeks at a time. I love it. It is a great outing for couples. I love it when Doug and I can do this together.
"This is the day that the LORD has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."
My Mom is here. I love how she always has a verse from God's word to say throughout the day and something for every conversation. She sprinkles the days conversations with Truth. I love her faith in God and her fear (reverence) of God. We do not see that enough these days.
I set up my old computer for her to use for playing games. It is faster than the old computer that we had set up in the kitchen. I disconnected the old one then hauled my homebuilt down for her. She is enjoying it. She has an account at Pogo.com but whenever I see her playing her game she has Window XP's Spider Solitaire opened up. Then she wonders out loud, "How come the nice rain sounds are not playing?" :-) Mom doesn't just play games she also began reading one of Don Richardson's books, "Lords of the Earth."
Since 1974 Don Richardson has been authoring and promoting books, videos, and a DVD that demonstrate how the message of Jesus can be proclaimed with cross-cultural sensitivity to non-Christians worldwide. Go here to read more.
I plan to order his newest books which I have not read yet. "Secrets of the Koran" and "Stars, Sand, and Dust."
Mom has a pacemaker and has to have regular checkups for that. It was amazing to me to know that she can have this all taken care of over the phone! Medical technologies are amazing now. The medical clinic that tests to make sure she is pacing well called my brothers house and were looking for her. She has been going here and there, forgetting her equipment and this morning she has missed her check-up date.
Mom is considering making my home her home too. She is welcome here with us and I am trying to get her to believe that. She loves The Lake but she misses "home." Her home is not a safe place for her at times so she has to leave and go "visiting." I pray that soon she will settle in and call my home her home base. She is free to travel here and there but to make this house a comfort to her in her old age is my goal. I want to hear her say someday that she wanted to "come home." She helps me around the house too. Sometimes I see her dusting, sometimes watering my many plants. I love it when she is "home."
Did you watch the story on television news about the man I mentioned before, Eric Weihanmayer, the blind mountain climber, marathon runner, long-distance biker, and even a acrobatic skydiver, demonstrated how scientists are using computers and the tongue to help the blind to see? How incredible! Here is another story of the same thing. "Your Tongue Can See."
We have not had any snow on the ground yet but it is cold enough for snow now. The snow on the mountain tops is almost halfway down. The trees are about all bare. I took Mom on a 4 wheel ride yesterday and we saw bear tracks across the lake from home. :-)
Hope you have a beary happy day.
Flawed engines.
Flawed relationships.
Flawed ideas of God.
Flawed goals in life.
Flawed bodies.
Flawed information.
Flawed computers!
It's just part of this ol' life to have to fix what this cursed world brings each day, week, month, year.
In spite of all that flaw-flaw, I have great news today. I figured out how to fix the problem I mentioned before. I have been using Firefox's browser since the trouble with IE. I downloaded IE 7, then removed the old IE and then reinstalled IE7. That did absolutely nothing to get rid of my troubles.
In frustration I refused to deal with it anymore. Until this morning - I ACCIDENTLY opened the internet with IE7 and there was the problem again - a fully loaded page that was blank. I thought, oh yes - this problem. As I sat there I saw that the Runonce page for IE was up again but blank. I saw the URL ended with .aspx
ASPX! I thought now there is a place to begin a study.
I went to Google and read then ended up learning that sometimes and for some reason that only a computer guru would know... dll's will get corrupted or they will need to be REregistered. All that I had to do was go to Start, Run and type in regsvr32 jscript.dll, click OK and after that type in regsvr32 vbscript.dll and click OK. Information was found at Microsoft.
The problems are fixed! Everything works. The webpage opens completely. System Restore opens completely. Search opens completely. Windows Media opens completely. Help opens completely. Dell Support opens completely. Windows Update opens completely. I am completely happy about this! I didn't even have to go so drastic as to wipe my hard drive. Thank goodness!
Here are pictures of the Camaro. :-(
Oh big tired sigh.
Computers can be such a challenge to someone that is not computer technology smart.
This trouble began with not being able to see the latest posts here at Blogger. Probably has nothing to do with the newest problem though. The new post trouble seemed to resolve itself. While online I got a message pop up on my screen, Click to begin Norton virus scanner trial download. I don't know where that came from but it hinted that I had a potential problem on my computer.
I'd been having problems so I was easily persuaded. I clicked OK, just because. It disappeared. Maybe that was just some kind of an ad? I don't know. I went to play at www.king.com and quite a while later another message appeared "Norton is now scanning your system." OH! Okay. Finally - Norton has found two trojans!
Trojans???
Where did I pick up trojans? They were found in the java folders and the trojan is called Trojan.ByteVerify. Two of them. I tried to do a scan with my own scanner and I got a message saying Windows Security detects that your virus scanner is out of date! Click here for recommendations.
Out of date???
I went online to try see what I could do about that. I could not figure out the virus scanner plan which I am eligible for through Doug's workplace. I called Doug at work and he said he would bring the file home on his Flash drive and that I could install it that way rather than take up more bandwidth downloading the new version. (We've been getting messages from our ISP that we are very close to going over our alloted bandwidth.) I don't know how long I've been without protection!
Meanwhile, I go to Trend Micro Housecall, a free online virus and spyware scanner. They scanned my whole system. Their scan didn't find any trojans.
I go to sign in at several places that require a profile id password. This does not work with IE. I cannot see drop down menus, I cannot completely load some websites.
Doug brought the new updated virus scanner to me. I began to install it. Network Enterprise which is owned by McAfee says, you need to remove your old antivirus completely. Oh dear! That is a problem because somewhere along the line that old program stopped working and would not even show up in my system tray anymore. I checked Add/Remove Programs, nothing! No Network Associates, but I can see the program files in folders, so it is still on my computer.
I decided to remove the files manually from the registry. I open the registry and began deleting files. Anything that said Network Associates in the line got deleted. Then I restarted. Installed the new updated scanner and ran it for the first time and it did find the two trojans!
I can't get some applications to load completely. For instance, if I go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore - the restore program begins to open and then just sits there blank. If I go to Start, Search, I see the little dog come over wagging his tail but there isn't any text, no boxes to enter a search, nothing. Just a cute dog sitting there wagging his tail. :-) He makes me smile.
This is what I have been dealing with.
Anyone have any ideas how I can possibly remedy this problem? I can't do a restore even though I had System Restore running because I can't get it to start.
I always said my computer seems to have a mind of it's own - maybe it will fix itself!
I read up on Trojan.ByteVerify. It is found in the Java directory. If you use Java's Virtual Machine to do whatever java needs to do, and don't use the Microsoft's Virtual Machine that comes with Windows, Sun Microsystems claims that you should not have a problem with it. If you do use Windows Virtual Machine, then this trojan will be detrimental to your system.
I don't understand people that create such nuisances, why do they do it? Wouldn't it be better if they used all their smarts to create some kind of program that people could benefit from and become famous for that? These hidden trojans and stuff they create and what do they accomplish? Nothing but having to hide in the shadows and quietly snicker to themselves for having done it? Strange. Maybe whatever they get out of it is worth it to them but for me, it has ruined several days of what could have been computer fun!
Anyway, I have been into my registry and that is someplace I am not really smart enough to be. I have also been playing games online and I am wondering if that is someplace I should not go. :-(
I do not want to do a complete wipe and reinstall of my Operating System. A computer tech told us that people should just figure to use their computers for two years then wipe it and reinstall the OS. He said our computers get full of stuff and will begin having all sorts of strange troubles. Maybe it's time for this computer to be flushed.
Meanwhile, Tucker had his seventh birthday.
And a new picture of my oldest granddaughter Alexis Dustene and my youngest Raegan Mae. :-)
Not sure how Bebo video will work here (please work). I wanted to show this video that makes me so happy. "Leah" singing her heart out!
Doug and I were talking and decided we want to spend Sunday nights singing with the family. (Our church does not have a Sunday evening service, our church has small groups.) Last night we started our singing time together! The only ones able to make it on such short notice was Karla and her four children and Klinton, besides Doug, Kris and myself.
So Doug, Kris and when Klint finally showed up played guitar and we sang. I loved it.
I hope someday to get video of our grandchildren singing their hearts out in praises to the Lord just like Leah! That makes my whole-self smile!
Oh give thanks to the LORD!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice
who seek the LORD!
Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
Remember His marvelous
works which He has done,
His wonders, and the
judgments of His mouth,
O seed of Israel, His servant,
You children of Jacob,
His chosen ones!
He is the LORD our God-
This was part of King David's psalm of thanks to God when they brought the ark of God and set in the midst of the tabernacle that King David had built for it in Jerusalem. They all sang this praise to God. King David gave gifts to the all the people in Israel(!) and they all rejoiced. It must have been an exciting and happy day. Read the rest of this praise in 1 Chronicles 16.
Last night in our little corner of the world, up here in Alaska, we praised Jesus Christ for the wonderful Savior that He is to us.
