Guide Dog - Snow Day Fun!

Guide Dog Blog...

Hello all,

To see what is happening right now in "The Small Blind Life", please use the link to my blog called "Road to Independence". This will bring you on my journey on getting a guide dog. July 18th I start at the Seeing Eye school in Morristown, NJ.

Check it out!

I'm Ba-Ck! Sorry for being away...I'll do better.....promise.

Hello there.....sorry I have been away...I'm Back! I have been waiting to see if I have been accepted to guide dog school and YES...it is happening:


http://thesmallblindlife.blogspot.com/

Stop by and check it out!

Hubby and I have moved to become mission volunteers at Stony Point Center in New York State. More to come on that BIG change. My vision has got worse, but hey....so has the economy....right?

Welcome back...thanks for mot giving up on me!!!

Grand Rapids and Poetry

THIS PAST WEEK: This past week we spent some time in Grand Rapids Michigan. We did not really get to see the city, as we were staying at The Calvin Institute for a conference. The people in Grand Rapids, from the airport personnel to the staff at the conference center were wonderful and full of hospitality. Hubby and I both have sinus infections and the airplane did not help! ARGH!

POEM: Rain Dance
By Little Joyce

Pit, Pat, Pit, Pat
I hear it starting
All over again
Pit, Pit, PitPat, Pat, Pat
It's getting more impatient
It's moving way to fast
Pitter, Patter, Pitter, Patter
Down it all comes
It's raining, It's pouring
Let's go out and have some fun

Copyright ©2000

Special Message from GOD!

My artwork on a little stool. This was when I was learning "Donna Dewbury" style painting. "One Stroke Painting"

TODAY: I received this message from a friend in email today. I almost NEVER pass this stuff along, but here I am doing it!

This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day.
I love you.
P.S. And, remember...
If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

STORY: I had just turned 13 and Dad took me to the movies to see "Gone with the Wind" I think. What the movie was is not important, since the real lesson was at the box office outside.

Dad walked up to the window and asked for 2 adult tickets, as the cutoff was 12 & Under for kids prices. Keep in mind that I was really petite and looked about 7 or 8 at the time.

The woman in the box office said "You mean 1 adult and 1 child ticket?" and Dad said "No, 2 adult tickets". The woman kept arguing with Dad that even if I was 13 (And she did not believe it) that I could get in with a child's ticket.

So Dad persisted until the woman gave him the 2 adult tickets. Lesson learned about honesty that day. Even if you can get away with it...don't. BE HONEST to yourself and others.

QUOTE: "To thine own self be true"

Wii Fit and More on England

Happy Monday!

TODAY: Sinus problems are cursing me this week...argh! Cloudy with storms coming this afternoon...temperatures dropping after the rain. Good....cause this heat and humidity is aweful.

Wii Fit: Hubby and I have Wii gaming system. Bowling is awesome. It really is the only game that I can see good enough to play. I sure wish that Wii would have some low vision games for us baby boomers.

Anyway, we got the Wii fit package over a month ago and both hubby and I are enjoying it. Hubby plays tennis, baseball and recently he got the Wii Kart racing game. He can do all these games while still sitting, as he has bad hips and can't stand very long.

I LOVE the running courses on the Wii fit. Being a 5K race runner, these excercises are wonderful for training for my races. You walk,jog or run though parks, past waterfalls and around the islands, all running in place. The system tracks your progress and encourages you to do better. I understand that nursing homes and adult communities have these systems to help seniors stay fit within their limitations. If Wii would make the screen interface easier for us older folks to read, more people would use this. Now, I have to depend on hubby to navigate through the screens. Here is a photo of me running through the Lincoln Tunnel in my last 5K race in April:

STORY: Living in England for 2 years, I was in the 3rd and 4th grade. I was counting English money in math class in pounds, shillings and pence, while my classes back home in the USA were doing dollars and cents. I blame this situation for my bad math skills. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Hot water was a shortage when we were over there in England. They did not have hot water heaters at the time, the water was heated by the coal fire we would have going in the fireplace. The water would circulate (somehow) past the heat of the fireplace and presto, we had hot water. The problem was in summer, when you did not really need the fire to keep the whole house warm. I recall heating water in pots on the stove to get some hot water to fill the tub....upstairs. As you can imagine, with just one fireplace in the living room downstairs, the bedrooms upstairs got a little cold in winter. We had hot water bottles to keep us from freezing.

My baby sister got her baths in the kitchen sink, as the stove was right next to it and the water did not have to be hauled upstairs. She was only 2 years old at the time.

My favorite part about England? Buttons. I don't mean the ones on your cloths. Cadbury makes these awesome chocolate buttons that I LOVE! A client of mine (Pet sitting) just came back from England and he was kind enough to bring back some of those buttons...Mmmmm....Chocolate!

You can buy these and other Cadbury sweets on the internet (Of Course): http://www.englishteastore.com/cabumich.html

Father's Day Message

Happy Father's Day!


STORY: My Dad passed away during the summer between my Junior and Senior years of High School. I was attending a Catholic HS and it cost money. Thank heaven for the financial department at the school, as I was able to work at the school and the middle schoold down the road to pay for my tuition. I did some filing at my HS and worked as a librarian at the middle school....that was interesting.

Back to Dad. He had his own business ever since I can remember. Dad owned a craft, hobby and coin store and worked a LOT of hours to make ends meet. There were 6 of us kids and a wife who had a major stroke and needed lots of help with daily tasks. What a stressful time that had to be for Dad. I think back now and want to give him a big HUG for all that he did for us.

Dad always made things FUN! Some of us kids would be sitting in the living room watching TV, when Dad came home from work. All of a sudden tons (so it seemed at the time) of coins went flying across the room. We all scrambled to gather as much as we could. What crazy fun. Dad must have taken all the change from the register to do this, what fun.. It is these memories that we hold onto as we look back over the years. Of courseI spent all that change on Penny Candy and a bottle of Coke!

I chat with my 2 sisters and we talk about the crazy things Dad did. In the summer, he would pile all the neighborhood kids in his station wagon and take us all for ice cream. Today you could not do that because of the seat belt laws....but oh what a good time we had. Forth of July, Dad always had a neighborhood cook out and a fireworks show for all of us at night.

I remember sitting out in the lawn chairs on a hot summer night, just Dad and me and the stars. It really was special. I cannot see the stars at all now, due to my vision loss, but the memory is so sweet.

We also sat on the front porch and I would make Dad and me tea and toast with peanut butter...Mmmmm. I still have tea nad peanut butter toast for breakfast now.

It was not all good memories, but I choose to focus on the good ones for Father's Day. As I was watching American Idol one night, Trace Atkins sang "You're Gonna Miss This" and I was touched by it. There are so many things we miss when we are always looking to the future, to better things, to WHEN this and WHEN that happens. Slow down, enjoy yourself and the people around you. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. Life is in the little meories we make today! Make some NOW!


FAITH: The wind causes damage beyond belief sometimes. It is a powerful force. You cannot see the wind, but you see it's effects on the world. God is like that. Even if you do not believe, He is still there, working through people and nature. The old Sunday School song comes to mind here. "You ask me how I know He lives...He lives within my heart".


HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Photo is Dad in the far back and neighborhood kids helping him sand down an old boat out front of the house. Always a project going on!

Love you and miss you Dad! Passed August 21, 1971

Jolly Ole England

Hey,

Did ya miss me? Hubby and I have been on the road again to a conference center in Stony Point, New York and then to Syracuse, NY.

Now, the Syracuse trip is interesting. Next year, hubby and I turn 55 (Double Nickles) and eligible for one of those communites. We have been talking about this for awhile now. If any of you have any advise on this, please click on "Comment" and let us know.

The place was so much better than we expected. It was VERY active with lots of programs, fine dining and great transportation. It was much cheaper than a place we are researching in New York City. So the problem is moving away from family,friends, church, doctors, etc.

"The Nottingham" is close to the city of Syracuse, near bus, train and airport facilities. So it will make travel very easy. They have great excercise classes, a pool, card night, book club, discussion club, pool table, and every apartment has a balcony. Small dogs welcome on the first floor I think.

The best thing is that there is no HUGE buy-in fees. It is a 1 year lease with monthly rent. There are many types of plans to choose from....pick one to suit your lifestyle.

OK, enough of me...what do YOU think about a move to a 55+ complex?

STORY: My last story left you hanging with Mom going into the hospital for 2 years!!

My Grandmother came over from England after Mom went into the hospital. After about 2 weeks or so, the 3 youngest members of the family returned to England with Nanna. That was me and my 2 sisters (I am the middle one in age). The older 3 siblings, 3 boys, stayed home with Dad. So as you may guess, the boys and the girls are not so close. When us girls came back from England, they were teenagers and running wild.

Next: What was it like in England?

Nanna & Grampy (Think that might be Uncle Joe on back left)

Thank You to Nanny and Grampy for taking 2 years out of their lives to rasie 3 young girls. That had to be very difficult. THANKS! We will always remember you!

My BLOG Title and Poker!

So you may be wondering how I came up with the title of my BLOG....or not. Please tune out if ya don't care haha!

As you already know, I am short and legally blind. I have no peripheral vision and the central vision is a little foggy. Bright light or dim areas are not good for me. I wear a hat almost always, as it blocks out the overrhead light so I may see just a little bit better. My computer is adjusted to mostly black background with white or yellow letters. I need a very HIGH contrast to see things and BIG fonts. The" too much light" thing goes for objects around the house, etc. My counter top is dark and I put a white paper towel on it if I am putting a dark object down..to give me contrast. If the counter top was a light color, I would have to put out a dark towel down in order to see a light object on the counter. When I travel, I bring 2 facecloths with me, a white one and a dark green one. This way, in the hotel bathroom, I can use the cloth that is opposite of the counter's color down and place my toiletry items on it for easy sight of them.

OK, I digressed there, but back to the title. Hubby and I were sitting at a poker table in Las Vegas at the Monte Carlo (Our favorite hotel) and in poker there are sort of 2 antes. One is called the BB-Big Blind and the other is called SB-The Small Blind. When it was my turn to be the small blind, it just hit me "I AM the Small Blind" haha. So I came up with the title of my book that I am writing called "The Small Blind Life". Seems to be a catchy title, so it stuck with me. Now I am sharing it with you and someday you can buy my book and remember how I got the title! 8)

The Monte Carlo poker room is awesome. It is small and intimate and is NOT overcrowded. The staff is very professional and friendly. As a matter of fact, they are VERY accomocating to me, as I need to sit directly across from the dealer to help me see the cards and they push the cards closer to the line towards me on every hand. What a pleasure playing there!

Family Crisis at 8 yrs.

"SUNSET" by Little Joyce

TODAY: Hey, been cleaning up my blog formats a lot today, fine tuning things. Thanks for coming back!

STORY: It was a warm summer day in the early 1960's and Mom sent me to the store for cigarettess and bread. I was about 8 years old and for some reason I was home alone with Mom and my baby sister who was barely staninding on her own two feet.

When I got back from the store, Mom was lying on the kitchen floor in some sort of fit or something. It was real scary. My baby sister was just crawling around the kitchen like babies do. I quickly picked her up and ran out the door. My best friend across the street was the first thing that came to mind. Her Mom would know what to do, I thought.

I ran as fast as I could across the street, crashed through the back door and told my friend's Mom what I saw. She immediately picked up the phone and made a call, put mys sister in the crib with her little one and pulled out 2 Popsicles out of the freezer. Back then, Popsicles solved a lot of problems didn't they?

As my friend and I sat in the yard with our Popsicles, wondering what was going on, her mom ran across the street before all the emergency vehicles came. As the Popsicles melted and time passed on, how was I to know that this morning would be the last time I would see my mom for 2 years! It certainly was the last time I saw her healthy.

SIX kids at home, mom in the hospital and Dad owning his own business and having to work many hours a day....now what? Find out more tomorrow...