A week at the Skaar Dog Resort

We loved having Gabby, a long haired dachshund stay with us this week while her human mommy and daddy went on vacation! Our good friends, Cecil and Betty, checked Gabby into our dog resort this past week and we so enjoyed this sweet old girl! Gabby is 16! She loved treat time, play time in our big back yard, couch time, massage time, and social time with Zeus! He really loved her because she basically ignored him and tolerated his curiousity.

Evening lap time and couch time at the Skaar dog resort!

Zeus was quite fine with this lady like gentle old gal visiting this week!

Nap time! Isn't she sweet! We can learn so much from our furry friends.

We should all love unconditionally like dogs do and make a huge fuss of glee and happiness everytime a loved one comes home and walks in the door!

What a fun week we had here at the Skaar Dog Resort!

Sunscreen and your dermotologist are your friend!

Sunscreen and Your Dermotologist are your friend!

I love the CVS brand of this spray on 30 SPF Sunscreen! Be sure you use a 30 or higher!

Bronze Goddess Soft Shimmer powder by Estee Lauder is the best beauty secret ever! For an instant tan look, simply brush it on anywhere you want! Face, neck, chest, shoulders, arms! I love this product!

Ok, next best tip, mix this lotion and the following one together and smooth on after exfoliating and bathing! You will LOVE the sunless tan it gives you!

Good stuff!!

Willy Nelson sings a song that says, "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys!" I'd like to offer my friends and Mamas this advice, "Mamas don't let your babies go out without sunscreen!" and for that matter don't let them get in tanning beds either! I'm 52 so anyone my age or near my age knows that we didn't have good sunscreens nor education about this risks of sun exposure when we were young.

I had my 4th pre-cancerous lesion removal this week. I just got the pathology report today. My first three were all stage 2 but this one was stage 3, pre-canceous. So, that means in 2 weeks my doctor removes the stitches and then will most likely opt to excise the remaining margins to make sure they removed it all. Had I not gone for regular skin screenings this would have progressed to melanoma. I will have to continue head to toe skin screenings every 6 months for life. I am thankful for good doctors, for my parents teaching me to be my own health care advocate, and I am thankful for good insurance. I am blessed and appreciative at a time when so many are unemployed and lacking health care coverage and barely making ends meet. I am so thankful it was caught while still PRE cancerous and not melanoma. God is good and I am very blessed.

Ephesians 1 ,"3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ:"

I'm thankful for the covenant of grace.

After yesterday's shocking verdict from the trial of Miss Anthony I find myself having thoughts of thankfulness for the covenant of grace we have been under since Christ's death. I am grateful and humbled that he gave his life, willingly, to pay the penalty for sins I had not yet even committed but he knew I would. He paid the sentence for me, he spared me from the punishment I deserve.

In the Old Testament this was not the case. It was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, literally! If you sinned and broke the laws you paid the penalty and swiftly! When I typed in the word "smote" into my concordance app, 220 scriptures came up with details of sinners who were "Smote" (not pretty, not nice, yes, very violently!), and they paid for their error/sin right away! Makes me shiver to think of some disobedient people who experienced "the earth opening up and swallowing them up and their households", yes, there was violence in the Bible and it wasn't pretty. If the entire Bible was a movie, it would not be G rated. Like I said, I am SO very thankful for what Christ did for us all.

We were able to come before God on our own, after Christ's death, and enter the "Holy of Holies", the inner most part of the Temple, and come before God without dying. We became our own priest and we were free to ask for forgiveness on our own, without a burnt offering because Jesus was the sacrificial lamb for us! I am so thankful.

After hearing the verdict, and remembering that the law of our country guarantees us all innoncence until proven guilty, beyond reasonable doubt, I was stunned, yes, but I can't judge Miss Anthony or anyone. I don't know all the facts, evidence, nor what really happened. I can only pray for her, pray for her parents and pray for God to bring good from this tragic happening. I am thankful to be an American and to have laws and a judicial system in place that has due process guarantees. I am glad to know that, God forbid, if I was ever accused of a crime, I would have the right to trial by a jury of my peers and I would have rights and safeguards that "attempt" to help truly innocent people from being wrongly punished. It is not my place to judge Miss Anthony. I grieve for the loss of this precious innocent little girl. Our system is not perfect. Innocent people do get sentenced for crimes they did not do and guilty people go free who did commit the crime they are accused of. However, the intent of the law is to protect the innocent and falsely accused. It is such a complex issue but I am glad to be in America. I feel so for the parents of that young woman in Italy accused of murder. I feel for Americans who were punished by caning which is being beat on the buttocks with a big cane for minor offenses in some countries. Other contries have no juries, just judges, end of story, you can be locked up and that is that. End of story. In America we even let our former President's issue pardons to who ever they choose as they leave office!

Romans 6:14 says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law but under grace". These words are huge! Read them again and think about their meaning! Be thankful for grace! Justice is not what I ask God to give me, grace is what I ask of Him and thank Him for, over and over!I wonder if Miss Anthony has any idea that the jury gave her grace by following the judges directions and following the law as they interpreted it. They agreed that the government did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that she committed manslaughter/murder. She will not be "smote", she will not be swallowed up by the earth, she will not suffer an eye for an eye..., she was acquitted. If she is guilty, she will not pay the penalty for her sin. We are all like Miss Anthony in this one way. We are all guilty of some sin/s and we are all offered grace instead of justice for our sin/s. Christ paid the penalty for our sins, past and present, long ago.

Tommy Bahama!

Melissa and Jonathan are going to Maui with his family this month and Bill and I now have our reservations at Aulani, the new Disney Resort in Hawaii for our 30th Anniversary in January!

Bill mentioned to me that I may want to get a new swim suit for the trip and HE realized that now is the best time to do that! If I tried to shop for that during December right before our trip it might be difficult! (However, I know now about the fun store at Northpark called "Just Add Water!" where you can buy swim suits for women all year round! Shhh.... Anyway, I found the perfect Tommy Bahama swim suit there and then I went online and found this darling sundress I just had to have for our trip as well! I texted Melissa to tell her and show her and guess what!?

My dress, which I LOVE! I can't wait to wear it in Hawaii next January!Melissa called me right after I texted her my message that my dress had come and sent her a picture too! She said she had been at the Katy Mills Mall and Jonathan found the Tommy Bahama outlet there!! She got two sundresses and at half price! There is not a Tommy Bahama store in the DFW Metroplex, 0nly in San Antonio and Houston! So I was so excited for her! We have the same sundress just different colors! So fun!

This is from the tommybahama.com website! It comes in orange and pink! I got pink!

Thank you Lord for simple pleasures! Just had to share!

My morning of entertainment at the Summit!

This morning I decided to start my workout as my first activity of the day. Bill is a true "morning person", a lark, and I on the other hand am a night owl by nature, but, I am trying to change and told Bill I want to get on his schedule. So he's been bringing me my coffee in bed (so sweet! I know I am so blessed and spoiled!), and that does get me up and going! So, I head out to do my morning Cardiovascular workout (3 miles on the treadmill), and then the weight training machines to keep my muscles and bones strong etc.
As I drive into the huge lovely parking lot, the place is obviously packed, already! These senior citizens get up and going EARLY! Wow! I finally find a place to park and the fancy golf cart gentleman is eyeing me and sizing me up, asking himself, can she walk to the door or do I need to go give her a lift? By now, most of the volunteers know, I am a bit insulted by that and YES, I can still walk to the door on my own, thank you very much! Give me another decade and that may change! Anyway, I swipe my card to get the door to unlock and let me in and I see about 50 folks doing some kind of aerobic class to music on the gym floor led by an enthusiastic and buff young black gentleman who definitely is an employee, not old enough to be a member here. The music is from a genre that only 50 year old or older would know!
I get my purse and Fruit 2/O water put in my locker in the locker room that closely resembles a spa at a Four Season's Hotel, and get my Techno Gym Key ready and my ear buds and head upstairs for cardio. Thankfully my favorite treadmills, facing out over the lake and with the AC blowing right on me, have a few open! I get going on my really fast walking with the goal of 3.2 miles in 45 minutes or less. (I'm training for the Disney Princess half marathon the year I retire!)
I smile and chuckle to myself as I notice the cutest little 64+ lady walking briskly on the walking track that encircles the treadmills and the open area above the pools. This gal has on a magenta sequined billed cap, black stretch pants and black athletic shoes, and a bright pink t-shirt with a black sequined vest over that! She also has matching blingy earrings and bracelets! God love her! I am sure I will be just like that, give me about 12 years or so! How precious! So I keep up my pace and notice the gentleman on the treadmill beside me is slapping himself on his belly, pause, then on his back, back on his belly, slap, slap, grunt, grunt, and then I hear some elastic being twanged or snapped on his person by his hands but I don't dare look to see exactly where. He is quite happy and enjoying his cardio in complete oblivion! He is definitely 64+ and loves the Summit too, in pretty good shape but I am wondering what the purpose is in slapping various areas on oneself while running? Ok, now, trying to tune out the slap happy guy next to me, and on a serious note and observation, I am seeing two ladies walking the track with canes, and then one gentleman using a rolling walker, and another one with no cane or walker but with a post stroke gait and arm contraction going on. From my speech pathology training I can spot post stroke patients right away and seeing these folks, I speed up my pace a bit and increase my incline a notch. Note to self: I will not get lazy or ever quit taking my blood pressure medicine or get obese and end up having a stroke as I grow older.

As I continue fast walking on my Techno Gym treadmill and LOVING it, the cutest, kindest, most encouraging couple, Dr. & Mrs. Chaney walk by on the track and yell out to me, "Hello!, what are YOU doing here? Did you sneak in the back door? You are not old enough to join here!", I just LOVE them!

Many folks go around with their ear buds in both ears and the other end dangling since you can plug it into the TV speaker on all the cardio machines, bikes, treadmills, arm machines etc. but most folks also yell out when they say hello or casually visit back and forth, lol! I am still not sure if it's due to their earbuds in their ears of if most are a little or a lot hearing impaired! Lol! Note to self, get my hearing checked regularly and use ear protection when around loud noise to protect what hearing I have left! Chuckle! Did you hear me or do I need to say that a little louder?
Forty five minutes and 3.3 miles, aka a full 5K later, I take off my ear buds, (we have TVs with sound we can watch while on the treadmill if we get bored with the lovely view over the lake or if people watching gets dull), and I head to the weight machines. I want to do Ab crunches first but there is a 64+ but handsome and obviously in pretty good shape, loves to work out and it shows, gentleman on the ab machine so I do my triceps and bicep curls close by so I can snag the machine when he is done. Now, there is music playing throughout the Summit but this man is singing the Black Eyed Peas song "It gonna be a good good night", out loud and pretty on key over and over as he does set after set of crunches! He is obviously totally unaware that there is already music playing her for us all to enjoy but actually I did like HIS singing better than what was coming over the speaker system! So funny! Ok, then he finally finishes so I can get going on abs and he moves just right across the the leg press, my next spot to go too, and continues to serenade us all in that area with "It's gonna be a good good night!" I loved it! That is one of my new goals, to be 64+ and working out daily, looking pretty buff for 64 and singing sincerely, "It's gonna be a good good night" and meaning it! Ok, arms, abs, legs, cardio, done, so I head over to cool down on the treadmill again at a gentle pace and see this absolutely adorable Hispanic lady, probably only 4' 11" just strutting her stuff on the walking track and she has on the cutest big hat and big sparkly earrings and a satin sequined top with pants and even cute shoes but she is walking that track, and with enthusiasm! So cute! The extremely varied ways these folks come dressed to workout is entertaining! Then I see the most lovely and beautiful lady, Virgina H., from our church and she is dressed perfectly appropriate for workout and she is just darling! Always smiling, tiny and gorgeous, make up and hair always perfect, ok, now she is my new idol! I want to be just like her when I retire! Love her! Moving on I head downstairs to check back in the locker room and whoa.... (just close your eyes, Pam, or at least squint, eyes down, and just put your key in your locker and focus on getting your purse...) Lol! These ladies are not modest!.... Most ladies in the locker area are about to go swim or have just finished swimming or doing the water aerobics class and I guess when you get 64 and older you just don't retain any modesty any more! Whew... Ok, well, that was special, new goal, when I am 64+ I vow to retain some measure of modesty and not shock or scare my younger female Summit members! I vow to attempt to keep as firm as possible with my genetics and commitment to work out and eat right! (I am saying this in jest and with laughter!), but seriously, there are changing areas ladies, but you do have to admire a gal who isn't ashamed to just put it all out there and get dressed and undressed and on to the next thing! Lol! Sigh... I am just tuckered out after all that fun! Whew!

Thank you Lord, that your word says "...I am fearfully and wonderfully made" in Psalms 139:14

Help me to be a good steward of the body you have given me. Help me to always be able to laugh at myself and appreciate how different and varied we, as people, are made! Help me to grow old, live long and happy and grow to be a worthy mentor and encourager to others!

This place is not a shabby joint in any form or fashion! This is a multi-million dollar establishment and definitely one of a kind in this nation! Our city, Grand Prairie, Texas, built and owns it and there has even been a little criticism on how much money they spent! I am thrilled that it is available for just a song to all our 64 plus citizens! Surely this entices more folks to retire here and make Grand Prairie their home for life!

Things I'm Loving Thursday!

Here are 3 things I am loving this Thursday! I got this Futuro elbow support yesterday at CVS and wore it all day on my right elbow which has been causing me a lot of pain recently due to tendinitis I think was induced by my new vacuum cleaner! It's a Shark and it's pretty heavy. I keep telling Bill HE needs to do the vacuuming for me on Thursdays, aka - house cleaning night! I think now I am just going to have to change out my upstairs and downstairs vacuums. The Electrolux I have upstairs doesn't stress my right elbow so bad and it is SO much lighter! Even though it is now held together with duct tape, I think I will switch them.
I wore this all day and then iced my elbow all evening while reading my book and wow, what a difference it made. I am so thankful I have a big brother who is also a licensed orthopedic surgeon. I texted him yesterday to ask if I should ice it or use moist heat and he said to use which ever felt the best to me. I went with the ice and it is working! SO much better today! Will repeat the same therapy today and on.
Really works!
I love LUNA bars! I have one for breakfast with my coffee and water every morning! So good!

Bill is going to take me here tomorrow to get a start on my Christmas shopping!

What are you loving today?

Recharged!

We just returned from yes, another week at Walt Disney World in Orlando! No we aren't Disney demented, we are Disney Vacation Club Members! We joined back in 2007 on our 25th anniversary and it was the best purchase we have ever made! Our tax accountant daughter can confirm that! We have relished every trip we have taken since joining and we love being able to treat family and friends too!
Epcot and the World Showcase is our favorite but Animal Kingdom is a close 2nd!

We can come here to golf, spa, do the parks and shows and walk, (a lot!!!!, miles and miles, and with Bill and me leading we are talking FAST walking!) We LOVE it! I do feel bad for the friends or family that accompany us at first, (I tease that we are doing "Bill's Boot Camp!") but they get the hang of Bill's pace pretty quick and soon it becomes a game! Who can get the Fast Passes quickest, can we make the strategy work, and he who keeps up wins! Lol! Not for the faint of heart but oh so fun! Everyone who works the parks with us loses weight and still gets to eat all they want! Lol!

Yes, I suppose we are kids at heart but there is tons of grown up stuff to do and top restaurants as well as budget friendly places too!

Yes, you could say this is one of my very happy places! WDW's motto is "The Most Magical Place on Earth!" and WDL is "The Happiest Place on Earth!"

This is a new area at Magic Kingdom where you can have a more intimate time with Mickey and Minnie inside in the AC. This will be so fun to take grand kids too!

The day after we returned, we were blessed to have Melissa, Jonathan, and their new dog, Bruiser come to visit! It was also Jonathan's 26th birthday today!

Melissa found this Red Velvet cake at Tom Thumb for Jonathan! He likes, red velvet, carrot cake, and cheesecake so we chose this one! Perfect!

Make a wish! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Jonathan, happy birthday to you!!!

Melissa and their new dog Bruiser! He was a rescue from the Houston SPCA and he is half Pomeranian and half poodle! So sweet, cute and smart! He is 2 years old so he is fully grown.

Bruiser and Zeus met after lunch after church today and they did great! So funny! Sniffing is big social language for dogs! Lol!

What a wonderful week and a blessed weekend! This morning's service concluded with a precious young boy making a profession of his faith and seeking baptism! Who could ask for more!