Marriage is a Garden

Today I was thinking about how marriage is like a garden......you must treat it with tender loving care, and remove the weeds before they can take over and choke out the harvest.

Quite often, even when a garden is left to "go to seed" it can be rescued, but with extra hard work and lots of love.    

Sometimes, each individual plant needs special tender loving care to flourish as a part of the whole garden.

  A garden is simultaneously a lot of work and brings a lot of joy!

We all, like gardens, need the rain and the sunshine to grow......

If we treat one another with respect, love and kindness...think of the possibilities!!!

I found this poem that I thought sums it up nicely:


Our Marriage Is Our Garden

Our marriage is our garden.
I want our garden to be beautiful.
With lush green grass,
With fragrant and colourful flowers.
A place of solace.
A place of peace.
A place of love.
Our garden must be watered.
Not watered too much.
As that would saturate the ground.
Not watered too little.
As that would leave the plants wilted.
And our grass barren.
But regularly.
So the flowers can stand tall
It must be weeded.
It must be maintained.
It must be loved.
We will plant seeds in our garden.
For new life makes any garden more beautiful and diverse.
We can harvest the fruit trees, but our harvest is limited
If we eat all the fruit too quick,
Then we must wait until the next harvest to eat again.
If we don't pick the fruit when it is right, it will spoil.
Our harvest is for our family.
If I eat all the fruit myself, then they will starve.
If we eat too much we will get sick.
If we eat what we are supposed to, then we will be healthy.
If we do not monitor the fruit,
Then someone might eat more than their share.
If we do not stand guard in our garden,
A thief might come into the garden to steal our fruit.
The fruit for our family.
For their garden must be barren and their crops have spoiled.
Our garden will stand the test of all seasons.
As all gardens do.
Another garden will also experience the same seasons.
Just at different times.
All gardens face rain.
All gardens get sun.
It is the rain that nourishes the garden and helps it's life to grow.
But our garden must be maintained regularly.
Only artificial things require no maintenance.
The artificial has no life.
It is fake, it is plastic.
Our garden needs to be real.
So life may grow and continue to grow.
So one day our children can enjoy a garden of their own.
For them and their children.
May their garden be overflowing with life and love.
And be the most beautiful garden in the world. 

Ryan Lee Morris

Fell asleep while having my teeth cleaned!

Well, I guess I am more tired than I thought.  Today I had a dental appointment for a teeth cleaning...while she was working on my teeth, I took a nap!!!  When I woke up my hygienist, Jane, was laughing and asked if I thought I was at the local spa!

Yesterday I worked my regular hours....it's getting hard to go to work knowing that I am a "short timer". I've worked with some of these people for 30 years, and many since I started with San Jose in 1990...it's going to be difficult to say good-bye.

This morning I woke up around 0630hrs along with Dillon. He wakes up, stands up in his crib and starts pointing at things around his room and "talking"!!! So adorable!

Around 0730 Allen took my car over to where he's been working on his car to get the carseat out of it. Then we both went over to Tullio's apartment and got his Jeep for Allen to drive. The Jeep barely started....it really needed to be driven. The doctor told Jackie the other day that Tullio will no longer be able to drive when he leaves the rehab facility. We haven't told him yet. He is so weak right now, I don't want to upset him....

Afterwards I went over to where Tullio is and brought him a couple of things from his apartment. He was doing physical therapy when I arrived...he's really having a difficult time. Just going from sitting to standing he gets out of breath and his oxygen level drops. His nurse told me he will be there at least another week since he's still on antibiotics. We've been told he will not be able to go back to Atria because he needs to be on a pureed food diet and they do not provide that there. Apparently his esophagus is not working properly and food is going into his lungs which is causing him to keep getting pneumonia. Sooooooo, now we have to find another place for him to live...again......And somehow move all of his belongings.....

I have a conference call scheduled for Thursday afternoon with his social worker to discuss what his needs will be when he leaves so we can start working on finding a place for him. We're not sure yet if he'll be sent "home" with oxygen. Last night I sent an email to the woman that helped us find him a place the last time...she is going to help us this time also as soon as we know what his needs will be.

When I left there I went over to the Credit Union for some cash, then headed up to Pleasanton. When I arrived I threw some clothes in the dryer (I had washed them at Jackie's this morning!), then started watering the lawn. It's getting pretty dry already...it's been in the 80's. When I compare the weather to Haarlem I sometimes wonder how I'm going to like living where it's always raining and chilly?!?!?!  I know I'm going to miss the sun!  Ahhhhh, it's going to be an adventure!!! Rain or shine, we willllll be traveling about!

At 1130hrs this morning Ingrid picked me up and we went out for lunch at Girasole. We both had a salmon salad, which was delicious!  She said I looked like I needed a glass of wine, so I ordered one....it hit the spot! There are still issues with the close of the house (it was supposed to close tomorrow, we still don't have a date or any confirmation in writing of loan approval!)...

After lunch I went back to the house to finish watering the lawn, then off to my dental appt. where I took my nap!

It's been a roller coaster ride!

What a ride!

Almost every day for weeks now Ingrid (our Realtor) and I have been talking or emailing back and forth...she makes sure she keeps me posted about what is going on with the sale of the house. The couple that is buying the house are a really nice couple, but their Realtor is not very good about communicating...so we haven't been kept appraised of where they are in the process of the escrow.  Today we found out they got verbal confirmation of loan approval, so it looks like the loan is going to go through and we will close next week!

Oh my, saying good-bye.....or shall I say "farewell, till we meet again" is really difficult. There are so many people to try to see before I go.........

Went to "Aqui's" in Willow Glen with some friends and coworkers.......Ahhhhhhh, the Sunrise! Yummmmm!

Sunrise!

What a great sister you are Sunny!  XOXOXO

Tracy was nice enough to have me over for dinner......great times with good friends!!!  Now, I ask you, do youuuuuu see a screen there?!?!?!?  I almost walked right through Tracy's screen door...didn't even see it!!! Yiiiiikes!

Pretty and yummy cake made by our resident cook, Sally!

Went the house, made another trip to the storage locker to bring a few more things over and now I have the last of our belongings in the garage.....

Today was a busy day!  At around 0630 Dillon and I woke up (I'm sleeping on a cot in his room!). Allen took him with him to bring Jackie to work so I could take a shower. When he got back, Dillon and I headed out to San Ramon. We met Nan over at the Peet's Coffee Shop for tea...and afterwards we went over to Target where Nan bought him a couple little cars and I got him some sunscreen and a hat.

Afterwards we headed over to Eddie Pappa's where we met Kristen for lunch. Dillon wasn't doing very well sitting there (he was a bored 1 1/2 year old!), so I took him outside a couple of times and walked around......The food there was pretty good, and when you receive your check you get some cotton candy!!! How fun is thaaaat?!?!?!

After I left there I stopped by to see Ingrid where I signed a form for "failure to perform" for her to file next week if necessary (this was before we finalllllly heard from him that the loan was approved late this afternoon!).

When I left her office, Dillon and I headed to "The City". We met my friend Nina at her daughter's condo. We went to dinner at a nearby restaurant......All Seasons Chinese. The food was delicious!

On my way back to Jackie and Allen's I took 280....it's been so long since I've taken that drive...it's sooooo beautiful!

Tomorrow I plan on going back up to Pleasanton. On the way, I'm going to stop at Kaiser Fremont to see Tullio. He has been hospitalized for difficulty breathing. He can't even sit up without having trouble breathing.  His nurse called today and said they will probably transfer him, again, to a rehab center till his lung capacity improves. He may be sent home with oxygen.  He has been living with emphysema for years...caused by smoking. He quit many many years ago, but the damage was already done.......

While in  Pleasanton I'll go to the house to water the lawn and the plants at the house, repack my suitcases (one of them is 10lbs over the weight limit), make one last trip to the storage locker, then head back to Jackie and Allen's house...

I've found myself calling it "the house" lately........rather than "home"........It just doesn't feel like home anymore now that it's so empty everything echos.  When I was there earlier with Dillon we were going down the stairs and he was calling for the doggy...he must remember Sammy coming in and out of the sliding door!  Made me want to cry........

Tony Cat (T.C.) finds a new home!

Police dispatch received a call from a citizen of a kitten trapped in the wheel well of a vehicle.  One of the PD dispatchers contacted officers in the field asking if they would mind going over to take a look and this is what he found!!!

Here is the kitty's new owner!!!

T.C. got lots of attention from both Police and Fire dispatchers!