Saturday's Scribbles

It is early Saturday morning here and my husband is getting ready for his annual adventure, the one day a year he sets aside for himself. He will be making his yearly trek to Big Lake Rendezvous Days. It is only 45 minutes from here, so that is good. He has packed his gluten free snacks, water, and extra clothes, and will nap in the car when he needs to. Rain, snow, or windy weather does not get in the way of this day of fun for him. And today it is rainy and windy with a high of 50 degrees.

The Big Island Rendezvous Days is a historical reenactment of early America that has more than 1,ooo costumed participants, 300 tepees and lodges, and merchant traders selling their wares. Picture outdoor fires used for heat and to cook over, muzzle loading guns and shooting contests, traders, lots of live music, and foods such as smoked turkey legs, wild rice stew, buffalo burgers, and homemade root beer. Joel loves all the above and looks forward to this event every year!

I will be here at home snuggled in bed with my Woolie. Tuesday and Thursday my NAET practitioner treated me for several things and my body has responded big time with a lot of reactions. Don't know how long it will last, but I spent yesterday flat on the sofa, was too nauseated to eat supper, and slept 9 hours last night. Looking at the positive, the treatments are helping! Recently Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, well known CFS/FM doctor and author, wrote an article on the benefits of NAET.

Last week I was sitting in my recliner and saw a reflection in our picture window. I walked up to the front door and saw 5 deer going down our street. Guess they had been to the river for a drink. Our LLMD cringes when I tell her about all the deer we have in our area. When I am outside, I stay mostly on the driveway or porch, and have walked in our grass only twice this whole summer! Joel is very careful too, and when he walks to the river, he stays on the paved path. We would love to live in the country but it would be a big risk for Joel and I to be reinfected ~ for me it would be the second reinfection and would be even more deadly according to our LLMD. Our dream of a small acreage is not very realistic in more ways than one.

We had a roller coaster ride this week with our ELCA Board of Pensions. Joel had applied for disability a month ago and they told him it would take a month to hear back. After not hearing from anyone, he called our congregation to ask if they had sent his check for sick and vacation days, and they said no, we cannot send you a check because the ELCA had terminated your employment with our congregation. No more job, no more salary. No one had informed him of the termination. We don't know yet if this means his letter of call is no longer valid. Hopefully we can find that out this coming week. Joel called the ELCA and they told him that Aetna, the insurance company, had just received his paperwork and they had up to a month to respond. Okay......so how do we pay all our bills and mortgage? One long night of prayer and the next morning, yes, the next morning Joel received a phone call from Aetna and they gave him a verbal approval for disability. Wow. We were thrilled to know it had been approved, and we were sad with the reality that Joel is now on disability. Who would have ever thought.......I have never even applied for disability. Nope. Never. I have not been able to work for 10 yrs but have had little medical documentation until I was diagnosed with Lyme, so I have not even tried.

Fall colors really warm my spirit. I like all the rusts, browns, and oranges that make up the landscape. The smells, sounds, and cooler temperatures bring it all together to make it my favorite season of the year. Even the squash, pumpkins and Indian corn make me smile!!!!

Still reading The Shack, and a couple of non-fiction books. Heading back to my Woolie for some reading time and maybe a good TV movie.

Until next time......