almost to tired to post

Had a flat tire in Statesville last night and I had to wait 4.5 hours for help. 

Too much money

    Mom has been wise in the handling of her money, paying all her bills the day she receives them, saving where she could and investing the best she knew how.  Even after Dad suffered through cancer Mom still had a nice nest egg for a 90 year old.   Trouble is, it is either too little or too much.  She never expected to go into a nursing home but it became obvious to even her she could no longer take care of herself.  It looked like she would not be able to give her children the money she had saved for them all these many years.  That is where I am trying to help her.
   The only investment she is allowed to keep is her home so I am trying to fix it up to increase the value of it so the cash she would have given to her children will be given to them in the form of home equity.  Hopefully some of the money I am spending on the house will return a value.  I know cutting trees will not increase the value of the home but it will make selling the home much easier.  Changing the fuse box to a circuit breaker box will increase the value of the home.  So will adding a range hood and new flooring.  I can only do so much living so far away and under time constraints to get things done and still be able to care for Mom. 
    This is not an easy task.  If Mom had know she could have spent the money while she was in the home and made life easier and safer for herself.  But she didn't know. 

Full Moons and double rainbows

Dec. 25, 2015 was the first time in 40 years there was a full moon on Christmas day.  On my drive to Hickory yesterday I saw a rainbow in the Northern sky and as I drove on towards Winston-Salem there appeared a second rainbow.  Beautiful.
  Mom had on her Christmas sweater Debbie had given her.  We took Mom to her house and then took her out for some Christmas dinner which turned out to be at Arby's but Mom enjoyed eating something besides institution food. 

I had no idea how working late would make me feel

   I was in Hickory Tuesday and Wednesday while the painting crew was there .  I worked on raking leaves Tuesday and earned myself a few blisters for my efforts.  Wednesday I took the hardware off the kitchen cabinets to get them ready for painting.  I made the trip to the store to purchase all the supplies I would need to get the job done. 
   I left home at 4:30 for the two hour drive to Hickory and began work as soon as I got there.  I took my first break at 4 pm. because I needed to get hoses for the new washer and I picked up something to eat at Popeyes.  The chicken tenders were good and the buffalo dipping sauce was the boss.  I was feeling tired then but I really wanted to get the painting finished.  I had planned to paint one side of the cabinets and all the walls then get some rest and finish the job Friday morning but I wasn't about to sleep in Mom's room and the guest bed was made up so pretty I just couldn't mess it up because I knew I could never make it up correctly.  I normally sleep on the couch but I had it full of boxes so I decided to just keep working. 
  I really wasn't aware of the time as I worked.  I finished painting and put all the hardware back on the doors and even hung the doors and cleaned the kitchen.  It was then I checked the time and realized it was 2:30 am.  Too tired to sleep I decided to head for home and with the aid of coffee I made it home by 4:30.  I went straight to bed but I was so sore and tired that I found it hard to rest.  Saturday was awful and I didn't feel much better on Sunday.  Still a little off center today.  I guess I'm just to old to be doing what I did daily a decade ago. 

getting closer

Yes, that could mean the holidays, especially Christmas, but that isn't what I am referring to.  I've been trying to consolidate Mom's money into one account, spend as much on repairs to the house, and get her as close to $2,000 before the deadline set by Medicaid.  I just don't like giving her hard earned money to the government while the house she cherished for so many years crumbles around us and her children inheriting a dilapidated house that one would have to spend a fortune on to unload. 
  The hardest part is trying to hire someone to do the work.  So far I hired a painting crew and Window World.  I can't find an electrician to  change the fuse box to a circuit breaker, someone to cut down three trees, or a paving company willing to give me an estimate on a paving job.  Just try finding someone to fix a ventilation system  for a stove without a range hood. 
  By fixing up the house I can save some of the money for Mom's heirs but I really only have until the 20th to get everything done.  Can't even consolidate money or find companies willing to work in that short period of time.  I thought Americans have been begging for work in our sluggish economy. 
Apparently not.

wearable tchnology

     It has been a long held belief of many Christians that the number of the beast would be a number stamped onto ones forearm on forehead.  Sixty years ago people were not sure how this would be accomplished.  With the technology available then (remember there were no electronic calculators nor a mechanical  one small enough to carry around ) people thought a national ID card would be the way of tracking people.  Now, people are wearing technology.  Pets have microchips to track their location and some people wear pacemakers and other medical devices.  Dick Cheney had the wireless portion of his pacemaker disconnected to prevent hackers from doing him harm. 
   What if it became mandatory that in order to receive medical care on had to have a chip?  With government controlled health care now it would be much easier to require you to have an implant.  Once you had the implant there would be no reason the government could not force the use of that chip in order to purchase food under the pretense of protecting scarce resources and/or to prevent fraud of government programs. 
  The parts of the world that comprised the old Roman empire are becoming stronger, the United States of America has become morally bankrupt after turning its back on God, embracing Muslims while still at war with Islamic militants.  It seems now that Americans are willing to embrace any idea under the sun except conservative and Christian  beliefs.  It seems within the realm   of possibility that Christianity may be outlawed one day.  Preposterous, you say.  Did Jesus not ask "When I return will I find faith on the earth?"  the answer to which was no. 
   Some would have you believe  that Christianity is a religion of hate and intolerance but the truth is
Christianity is not a religion at all but a relationship.  If you understand that then you will understand that the changes are inevidentable, America will fall, but you have no reason to fear.  But if you don't know that then you have every reason in the world to be afraid.  If I were you I'd fall upon my needs and beg forgiveness and give your life to Christ and follow Him as closely as you can. 

Too busy

   No, I'm not busy as in Christmas shopping busy.  I'm busy taking care of Mom's affairs in Hickory.  It would be so much easier if I had the power of attorney but because of family reasons I don't so I have to do the best I can do. 
  I have been trying to get her financial affairs in order.  To keep from turning everything over to the state I can spend some of the money to do repair work to the home but I have a very narrow window to get things done.  Painting, replacing windows, changing out the fuse box for a circuit breaker, paving the driveway and cutting down three trees. 
  Wish me luck.
 

God Isn't Fixing This

      One newspaper featured the above headline in response to the latest shooting, this one in San Bernardino, California.  I suppose the paper is blaming God for the shooting as if God is going to protect us from ourselves.  It is obvious the newspaper doesn't know God.  It amazes me how people want to blame God for the evil in the world while living their lives as if God doesn't exist. 

Road Trip

     I used to dread going to Hickory every month because of the cost of gas.  It was about 240 miles round trip, gas was $3.00 or more a gallon and my vehicle got 21 miles per gallon on a good day.  The only thing that made the trip tolerable was seeing my mother but the trip wasn't a social call.  I took her grocery shopping, to the bank, out to lunch, and did yard work and repair work while I was there with little, if any, time for socializing. 
    Mom is now in a convalescence home and I still drive to Hickory and I still do all her yard work.  I don't get to take her grocery shopping anymore but I have been working hard trying to help her find a way to pay for the home.  I manage to spend a couple hours with her and I do go once a week, at least.  When she was in the hospital I went three or four times a week.  She is doing much better now and may get to go home if the doctors can find the solution to her last infection. 
  She is the delight of the nursing home.  Most residents are sad, lonely people who have either given up on life or life has given up on them but Mom, at ninety, is the most cheerful person there and her therapist says Mom is the hardest worker That is what a strong faith in Jesus will do for a person. 
   If one thinks that going to church is the same thing as having faith in Jesus then they don't really know Jesus.  He isn't a religion but a person.  There will be Pope's and bishop's and priests and preachers and youth pastors and song directors and Sunday School teachers and pillars of the church and winners of attendance awards and heads of committees and all sort of church people in hell.  Salvation isn't in what one does but who Jesus is.   Mom knows.