Good Monday Morning!

My goodness!  Jerry and I haven't been out of this house since last Thursday.  We have to get out onto the icy roads today, however, to take Jerry to Mercy for the heart scan.  I talked to Tammy yesterday, and she said the main roads are all fine.  Our neighborhood streets are still skating rinks!

I don't know what is more disconcerting:  The icy streets or the earthquakes!  We had at least three of them a few days ago.  Will somebody please tell Mother Nature that this is Oklahoma?!  Who ever heard of earthquakes in Oklahoma?

If I hadn't been knocked out of my suddenly shaking desk chair, and if I hadn't heard the train-like growling sound underneath me, and if I hadn't felt the house shaking, I wouldn't even believe it!  Jerry and I walked all around the house to be sure all the walls were still up.  CRAZY!

We heard on the news that it was 5 miles down and at Lake Arcadia which is just a few miles from our home here in Edmond.

I have made SO MUCH jewelry!!!  My sweet, adorable, SKINNY husband told me I am VERY TALENTED and SMART when I was showing him all my creations the other day.

I kissed his face half off and hugged him as good as I could with all those staples sucked into his healed belly gash.

He said, "You can do SO MANY things, and you do them all WELL."

I informed him that I could say the same thing about him.  I told him we are really so much alike.  I reminded him how he decided many years ago that he wanted to be able to do his own welding, so he bought a book and got online and he TAUGHT HIMSELF how to weld.  He has been doing it ever since.

The government decided that to be in the business we already had been in for 25 years that we could no longer sell Rehab Wheelchairs unless we had an ATP on the payroll.  "ATP" stands for Assistive Technology Professional.  You must have so much experience already -- a number of years of college -- and you must take a hard 4-hour test and pass it to be certified.  A lot of people flunk it 2 or 3 times before finally passing it.  Jerry decided it was best for him to become the ATP for our business because he wouldn't have to worry about himself quitting.  He studied for MONTHS.  Flash cards and a big, fat textbook and online courses.  He took the test, and he passed it the first time!

He decided when he was 30 years old that he wanted to be sure we were prepared for retirement.  Owning our own business meant nobody else was going to do that for us.  Jerry bought a subscription to Money Magazine.  I remember him constantly watching that guy on TV -- Louis Rukeyser.

Jerry became extremely well-informed on what TO DO and what NOT TO DO.  Thanks to Jerry, we are more than able to live from now until whenever because of his financial planning over the last 35 years.

When we purchased 11 acres near Lake Texoma, Jerry wanted to have a bass pond.  It was his life-long dream.  His very own bass pond that nobody could throw him out of.  Instead of hiring someone to dig the pond for him, he purchased a bulldozer, and he -- with the help of a neighbor -- learned how to use it.  Jerry spent SEVEN YEARS building our pond.  He worked more than full time in our business during all those years, so it took a long time.

The ability to sew and make jewelry DOESN'T HOLD A CANDLE to what Jerry has done, BUT I sure did love hearing that he thinks I'm so smart.  (-:

I better go.  Jerry is asleep on the couch next to me.  He takes lots of naps lately.  Lord knows, he sure has some coming.  I don't recall the man EVER taking a nap in the 38 years we've been married!

So rest, my darling, rest.  God is healing you as you rest.

Hugs, Joy