Hello my dear  friends,

   I have an update on my cancer...I have had a miraculous healing! After many test, MRI's, ultra sounds..the Dr. called me personally to tell me that she couldn't find any cancer! My latest tests came up negitive.

   I always did have a peace about it, now I know why. My faith in God was my salvation. Whatever HE had planned for me was ok by me and I accepted it.

   I also had LOTS of prayer. Along with my faith in HIS perfect plan, I have always known that there was power in prayer. Praise HIS name, I have friends that love me and are obediant to GOD.

   I'm up in Oregon now, with Kati and Franki and their families. We're celebrating the Good News. (You can look at that two different ways.) :-)

   Just wanted you all to know, things on Patti's Porch are wonderful and I have Jesus to thank for all of it!

   Be blessed dear Ones...HE's a mighty GOD and he loves YOU!!!!

Hello dear friends,

   It's either to hot here, or to wet. But ya' know what?? I love it here. We are still on our little cove in Redding. Two of our daughters are our neighbors. (Cindi and Vi) Even though our lawn is a lake right now, I love looking out and seeing the duck frolicking and the geese geese'ing. The cats have decided that just going outdoors for potty is the thing to do. They go from the couch to the bed to nap. I have to keep one of my sham wow's on the desk here, for when Stinky goes out. He insists on my drying him off. So I get out my towel and fluff him dry.

   I found out in late Oct. that I have cancer. I'm not really that upset about it. I know that God is the Captain of my ship. Where He steers the boat, I will go with Him. I have LOTS of people praying for me. So I have a real peace about my "event", as we're all calling it. The girls try to be brave...I think for me. Frank is so supportive about it. He's very loving and kind and so compassionate. He has always been "there" for me. In all trials and "events". My knight in shining armor, with just the right amount of "tarnish" in spots. I lean on him, count on him and love him with my whole heart. Hmmmmm, strangly how I feel about the Lord.  It's so funny how God will give us our life's partner and know that we will "fit" isn't it? I guess that's why we're supposed to pray about all things in our lives. God does know what's best for us. We just have to learn how to slow down and listen to Him.

   We are adding another grandchild to our already 9. Carmela and Corey are expecting in August. We are all so very excited about it. Frank and I have found our niche in being grandparents. Having those tiny arms around our necks....it's so wonderful. I hope God has LOTS of grandchildren in heaven. I would be eternally estatic  if that were the case. :-)

  All is pretty good with the family otherwise. Little Dominique is almost 10 months old. She is such a joy in our hearts. Such a funny little girl and SO loving. Our baby Madison is absolutely beautiful. She is so much like her mother, Franki. Very sweet and so much fun to be with. Always smiling and laughing. She is a joy to us, too. Aw, grandchildren....God's precious gifts.

   Well, I will close. I pray the New Year has started out well for all. Blessings and best wishes to you.

From Patti's Porch things are good...In His Love, Patti

Well, it's been very wet and soggy. Because I'm a really weird person, the inside of my house is constantly set at 62 degrees. We have 2 air conditioners in our 5th wheel and they're both working on high! I just can't take the heat any more. Two of our plastic ceiling vents broke. One over MY side of the bed (2:30 am) and the other up in our living room. Needless to say, I was drenched and the fouton and rug were drenched. Now it smells "funny" in here. It's my curse...I have a very sensitive sniffer.

The rain and wind also took down our second awning. So now our porch is without a cover again. I'm looking all around for a replacement. But the porch looks strangly...lonely and empty. Oh and of coarse, wet. A few days of sunlight and it'll all dry out.

I'm heading to Oregon tomorrow night. I plan on being there for about 3 weeks. My newest granddaughter, Maddi Lin is just over 3 months old now and cute as a button. She looks so much like her mother did when she was born. At any rate, I'll be able to spend a few weeks with them, then come home for Christmas shopping and wrapping.

God bless you all during our Thanksgiving holiday thats quickly upon us, as well as Christmas. I pray you all get the blessings that God sets before you. It's a little damp up here on my porch, but I'm lovin' it anyway. Still have a pretty view, lots of wild animals, and the rest of the nature is beautiful.

In His Love, Patti

Hello dear friends,

My gosh, I was just scolding my nephew for not writing in his blog and look at me. Not much of an example am I? But I do have an excuse...I started babysitting my darling little Granddaughter about a month ago. I'm at her home from around 7:15 am until 5:45 pm. So, when I get home I am, in a word, EXHAUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!

I've pretty much quit cooking, doing housework and Frank does the Laundry every week. I've been thinking that even though I feel like I'm 30 yrs. old on the INSIDE, my body constantly reminds me that I'm almost 60 and chasing a 7 month old baby around (who can crawl at the speed of light) just can't be done by me. So, I usually sit on the floor with her, chase her on MY hands and knees, take walks with her, and hold her close to my heart. She's my little angel and gives me the strength to make it through the day. I go home tired, but at 6:30 am the next day, I'm pretty much ready to go again. I find that her little smile keeps me going, her kisses melt me my heart and when she's sleeping in my arms, all the tiredness drains out of me as I stare down at her beautiful face and hold her tight to me. Being a Grandparent is a blessing. God created me to do just that, too. Love and dote on my 9 grandchildren.

I also have a newer Granddaughter. Madison Loyann O'Connell. She was born on the 13th of July. She's the spitting image of her mommy, my Franki. So very beautiful. God is so good. All the time...

Fall is setting in around here. Leaves are falling out of the trees on Frank's immaculate lawn. He keeps getting out the lawn mower with the bag on it and "vaccums" all the leaves up. Such a goof, that man of mine. And so very sweet, dear and loving. God blessed me there too. We've been married for almost 30 years and mostly, he's my knight in shining armour.

Well folks, I'm about falling out of my chair here so I better call it a night. The wind blew our 2nd awning down on Sunday. But it's ok...life is wonderful, on my porch. Blessings and love to you all...Patti

Hello dear sweet friends,

   I have been a very busy wife, grandma, mother and friend lately. I will make a list and have about 6 or 7 things written on it. I leave it by the computer and when Frank gets up at 5:30 or so, he'll get some coffee, take the list outside and contemplate what to do on this list of mine. I have to tell you that when I put things on the list, AFTER Frank does them, it shows that my list isn't to big OR important. But I do love making my lists. So, we'll sit together on my porch when I get up and we'll have coffee together and decide which ONE of my chores he'll do. I had things like: Drill larger holes in my silver ware container on the sink. (It's so hard to wash the container out when the water doesn't drain properly) I wanted the hole "pointer finger big". Ok, this took 3 minutes. Next on my list was, "clear Cindi's window." Now I can't for the life of me remember what that even means, no less wanting it done. For goodness sake, Cindi doesn't even have a window. I suppose it will come to me eventually. When it does, I will write it on the list again with an explaination this time! Then we have, trim trees: 4 minutes, weed grass by the flowers and trees he just trimmed: 7 minutes, cut down 6 stumps that were 4 feet tall, to ground level: about 20 minutes. (Took longer to get the chain saw gassed and ready to go) Move my yard swing: 3 minutes. Add water to my fountain/pond. (Since he only had to put a hose in the pond, I'll give him 30 seconds for this chore) So there you have it...37 minutes and 30 seconds worth of chores. He did get them all day...took him a week to do them all, but they got done. In the mean time, I've added more to the list. So we will get things done around here...on HIS schedule, but they will get done!

Thomas, my grandson who is almost 9, goes home this Friday. Kati is moving into a house with a fenced yard, so we're going up to Oregon to help her move. They've been in a small 2 bedroom apartment for almost 2 and a half years now, so this is so exciting for them. I'm going to stay for an additional week to help her unpack and "move in". Everyone is so eager for the move. It will be nice for the family.

My granddaughter, Maddi is almost a month old now. She's so precious and beautiful. Looks just like her mother did when she was born. I get to spend more time with her up in Oregon, too. Makes the moving SO worth while! I do wish I could remember how to add pictures...I so want to share them with you all.

Oh gosh. It's 2:20 a.m. I HAVE to go to bed. Things here at the cove are great. Had a Canadian Honker stop in my pond for half a day on Sunday. Rested up, ate some bread, drank the pond water and left. Also had a mommy opposum with 4 babies on her back a few days ago. My bird feeders are drawing some awfully pretty birds and my cats just lay around in the shade and sleep. The summer heat just kills them. HA.

Hey, be blessed everyone....things here on my porch are great, though very hot. I will try to keep up a little better. Take care!

Hellooooo???? Anybody left here?? I know, I have tumbleweeds rolling around in this blog. They seem to be chasing the lint bunnies every where!

Well Since I last wrote, my grandchild, Madison LoyAnn was born on the 13th of July. Her brother Liam had just celebrated his birthday. He was 8 on the 4th of July. He still gets so excited when the fire works shoot up into the sky above the lake. It's beautiful.

My daughter Kati is in the process of moving into a house with a fenced yard in it for her and the kids. It's very cute and has SO much potential in the back yard. It will be so much fun helping her..

Well folks, I'm sittling here with my forhead hitting the keyboard. I better sign off. Any questions you have, just let me know. I will try to answer all that I can. God be with you and keep you warm within his arms.

I love you my babies. I love you all..........Patti

(I just read this entry for the first time since I wrote it. MY GOODNESS, I can't remember writing this!!! Whoa, no more writing in my blog AFTER I've taken my meds for the night. Sorry folks, please forgive the ramblings of a woman on medication!)

I cannot believe that I just deleted my newest blog!!! It has been way to long since I've done this!

   I will start again and hope I remember what I wrote just 10 short minutes ago. I was writing that I had been very bad in not staying current in my blog. I have two friends that have blogs in here, too and they are behind as well. I was going to email them and tell them SHAME, when I realized I was about a month  and a week behind. So I thought to catch up THEN email them!

   We just celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary on the 7th of April. If you ask Frank how long we've been married, he'll tell you, "We've been married 10 wonderful years and out of 29 that beats the national average". Then he laughs himself silly. I have to say that after hearing this for the past 15 years, it has grown very thin. But, he loves me, loves God, is a wonderful father and grandfather, so who am I to complain? He's all mine and you can't have him. LOL

   Our daughter Franki got married on the 4th of April. Her and Sean have been together for almost 9 years so we were wondering, why the rush??? They are expecting our 4th granddaughter on the 6th of July by C-section, and we are very excited! Her oldest son will be 8 on the 4th of July. He loves that the whole country celebrates with him and we encourage him to like this. (Less expensive for us on his Bday. LOL)

   Our third granddaughter, Dominique, was born on the 5th of March. She is very beautiful and a joy to our hearts! Since our other daughter lives about 50 feet from us, we get to see the baby  every day. Momma is very generous with us. Lets us spoil her terribly.

   I broke my leg in early Feb. I think. Since I didn't listen to the Dr.s orders, I spent over 10 weeks laid up. I will try very hard to listen next time. (If there is a next time...I pray I don't have to eat these words) It was a VERY humbling experience as anyone who has been in this position will tell you. I think that God was trying to teach me something. Hope I learned...

   Spring has sprung here at the cove. Frank's had to start mowing the lawn and watering. We now have 4 cats. My daughter Franki gave us their fixed, 9 month old kitten named "Stripey McSnarl". She said he was a little fiesty. Yeah, right....we've renamed him "Diablo". AND, he isn't just a little fiesty. Enough said about that.

   We've had a Canadian Honker move into our neighborhood and he's adopted us as his new parents. He comes by twice a day for bird feed and bread crumbs. He doesn't like fruit as he's leaving that behind every day. Gosh, try to feed the kids a healthy diet and this is what we get! We've named him, "Bruce the Goose that runs loose in the Spruce". He will eat out of our hands and hisses at the cats as they watch him from a very respectful distance.

   I can't remember if I told you, but Frank has done more work on our porch. We now have built-in benches that run 8' down one side, then 8' down the next side. This is connected in the corner so it's a large L. I can now sit and enjoy the Lord's beauty and HIS nature on the peace of my porch.

      As I sit and listen to what God is telling me, I can only say that I hope all is a blessing in your lives. God is good, all the time, He puts this song to sing in this heart of mine...God is Good! Have a great month, a wonderful Easter. You will be thought of often, on the porch...God Bless you all...Patti

Oh my goodness, where did the time go?? Didn't we just celebrate the 4th of July?? Oh, wait....yes we did...on Oct.18th. Because of the fires this year, our 4th of July was postponed to Oct.18. Ok, never mind.

But it is getting cooler here. You can tell that winter is slowly creeping into Redding. The fog and bone-chill are here once the sun goes down. I still enjoy sitting on my porch during the evening, visiting with family and friends. But I do it with a jacket now. Still love it though!

I've decorated my porch with Christmas lights and "iceles" (awk...where's the spell check??). It looks nice. We have a fire in the fire pit most nights. Except for smelling like smoke, that too is real nice. Life is good.

We found out Franki, our daughter in Klamath Falls is expecting her second child in July. Her son Liam is 7 now, so is ready to be a big brother. We're all excited about the upcoming birth of our newest grandchild.

I took the advice of one of my blog readers and only sent out a few christmas cards this year. Spending time and a little extra money on the family is much more important. Besides, I'd say over 70% of those I sent cards to, I haven't seen in over 30 years. They are probably just as tired as I am of sending hundreds of cards to people they no longer see. I don't know. I'll send cards to people I need to.

I'm real tired right now, so I think I'll close. I wanted to write a little something before I got to far behind. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Will talk soon to you all....life on the porch remains very good. God bless you...Patti

Hello people who read my blog...

It has been so busy around here lately! Where to begin? We spend so much time with our new daughters, Carmela and Viola and their children, our new grandchildren Falon, Seth and Dominique to be born around the 2nd of March. We spend every day with the girls, shopping, walking, planning family dinners, playing with the children, sitting on the porch, with a fire in our new fire pit, and just taking and planning the future with the family. It's a wonderful blessing of God. Then, we found out that our daughter Franki who is up in Klamath Falls with our other daughter, Kati...is pregnant! The blessings just keep coming and coming. I am so at peace with my life, so happy, so content. God is SO good!! I just can't say enough how much the Lord has enriched our life.  He loves us, His children so very much. Thank you Lord.

The weather has gotten chillier at night, so the heater in the house is on and I sit naked at the computer...not really, but I have threatened Frank that I would do that unless he turned the heat down. Man, I can hardly stand the heat. I usually go out and lay on the swing for about an hour and just cool off. Frank in turn says I'm crazy, but he loves me anyway. Thank goodness for that, huh?

I've decided that my Christmas card list is going to drop to about 10 or 15 this year. I send out over 60 and make myself insane trying to write a letter, address the cards and STILL write in every card anyway. I have this thing about Christmas letters. I love receiving them, like writing them, but they seem so impersonal, so I have to write in every card. Yeah, guess Frank is right...I am crazy.

Guess that's about it. I'm having the time of my life on my porch these days...blessings to you all and happy Thanksgiving.

Hello dear friends,

   I was so tired of this election stuff. It's been, what....18 months of tv ads and such? You just want it over! But when the results are what we ended up with, I yearn for days of yon... Mr. Obama is now our President. I am so sad, deep in my heart by the actions of the American people. I want to scream out, "What is wrong with you people?" But if this election will bring on the coming of Christ, then come home Sweet Jesus. I'm ready for You. I'm tired of what has become of this world. I want to spend eternity with You in peace, love and joy in the place that You have prepared for me. May God take you all in His loving arms and protect you till we all meet in Heaven. God be with you. My porch is still here, but there is sadness in the corners. Blessings to all...Patti

Hello folks...it's been a very long two weeks! We've been helping our darling new neighbors with setting up a party for 12 children. It was Seth's 5th birthday. We are PaPa and Grandma to him and his cousin, Fallon. The party was a hugh sucess, the kids had a wonderful time, the adults visited and ate some delicious goodies, Frank bbq'd hot dogs and hamburgers. It was really fun. But all of us adults that helped to keep it going are really beat. One of us is going into her 5th month of pregnancy. She's really beautiful, but the poor little thing is just worn out. Please pray that she will rest more from now on. She the kind that has to stay business. Thank you friends.

Our porch is soaking wet! Frank is supposed to help put up clear sheeting on two of the four sides of the canopy. It hasn't stopped raining long enough to get that done. But tomorrow is supposed to be partially cloudy, with some sun....so tomorrow it will get done!

Frank was laid off from his bridge job. This time of year they lay off 20 or 30 men and Frank got the ax this time. Neither one of us in concerned. He saw it coming and has managed to save money in our savings, get his unemployment  of $450 week and his name goes back on the Union hire list. It takes it most of the winter to get through the list, but Frank needs the rest and the weather is pretty rotten to work in, so he'll rest up, do some things around here that have been adding up and be back to work by spring. Good plan...if it doesn't work out, we'll put plan B into the works. Haven't figured out what that is yet, but I'm betting it's going to be great! So I'll keep you all posted on our comings and goings.

Have a wonderful Holiday! May your turkey be filled with melatonin so you can rest on Turkey day, may the Lord provided you with what you need for Christmas....HIS birthday...and may the new year be bright and all your prospects be filled with what dreams are made of. Life is wet, but still wonderful, on the porch!

In His Love and Mercy....Patti

Yep, despite the cold winds we had last week, it's in the 80's this week and I LOVE it!!! Today I was visited by my new "family" down here, and Falon asked if she could play on my computer. I said yes, and she went indoors. Not 2 seconds later, she ran out and asked if I had a blanket she could wrap up in. Yes, my air conditioner is still going. But the AC is set on 68 degrees here in the living room/kitchen. I happen to think that's reasonable...Frank doesn't. The bedroom is still 66 degrees.....gotta sleep ya know!?! Again, Frank wants more blankets on the bed. IS HE CRAZY??? So I compromised. I put flannel sheets on the bed. Ok, not much of a compromise, but I DO have to sleep!

I don't remember if I told you all, but we put a white tent thingy up on part of the deck. It's a 10'x10'. So we rarely come off of the porch now. It's SO comfortable up on the "deck" (That's Frank's word. NOT mine, of coarse.....it's still my porch) We have family over almost every night and sit out there till 11:00 or so. It's really pretty wonderful. I miss my Bryan and Suzy & Kent, but the Lord keeps them close at heart, so I'm doing ok there. Trying to get Frank to take me to visit them is like pulling teeth. He's been working 11 hr. days lately, so on his days off, it's a GIANT NO we are not leaving the house! I understand why he doesn't want to, but gosh, I'd like to visit my loved ones, ya know???

Anyway, things are good. Yesterday was Frank's birthday. We had a BBQ for him and a delicious chocolate, strawberry and whipped cream cake. All of his daughter's called. I got him a new cell phone. It was a very nice day. Many blessings have we.

Otherwise, I couldn't be happier. I'm DONE Christmas shopping....yes, done! So now, I sit and relax, on the porch, thanking God daily for His grace and mercy.  I pray blessings, prosperity and peace to my friends. Life is good, folks...on the porch.

Hi all,

   It's been pretty chilly here at night. The days are real comfortable for me, cold for everyone else. The trees are losing their leaves and some plants and bushes are turning red and gold. It's pretty. I called up to Klamath Falls today and Franki, my middle daughter said it had snow up there. So I'm actually glad I'm here. Thomas wants me to take the train back up for a week or so, but I'm not ready for that yet. Right now I'm doing all my Christmas shopping. I want that done by Thanksgiving this year. Looks like I'll be done by Halloween instead. Then Christmas cards the first week of December. Gosh, it seems like I just did that. Can a year have gone by already?

   It's been real nice having the porch. We had some rain last week and the ground under the 5th wheel flooded like it always does. It eventually drains, but for the whole day, we have water about 5 inches above our feet. So we stayed pretty dried. Except for the tarp is all torn again. So we got wet from up top, but stayed dry down below. Our next project is the awning....come heck or high water!!!!

   I pray that all of you are getting the things done that you need to. Especially since the holiday starts soon. Blessings to you all, God Speed and try to stay warm and dry. I know I will be trying to do that!! Until next time....life on the porch is beautiful.

As I sit here typing on my new key board, I can hear the rain softly falling on my roof. It's here, the rain has finally come to our part of the world! I'm so happy. I love the rain. It's cool and the smells are so fragrant and wonderful. You just can't beat this time of year for the romance and just being together.

It will be easier on Frank now at work. He won't come home deydrated and ready to drop. I'll go outside more now. I've turned my air conditioners down to "out side air". Don't faint. Frank has realized that I've done this and is so happy.

We've stopped watering the lawn every day. Cut it back until every other day. Getting all my Christmas shopping done. That's great. Just the Christmas cards to do. They take up a little more time than usual. I send a christmas letter but I also send out between 60 and 80 cards yearly. So I have to start them after Halloween. I'll get er done though. It is fun for me.

Hope you Christmas shop in a wonderful space. Full of love and peace and fun. Look forward to seeing many of you this year. Blessins to all...Patti

Hello dear friends,

   Here I sit at my computer at 3:30 in the morning. I've been having these headaches, so it's hard to sleep. While we were driving home from Oregon, my right ear drum broke, due to pressure on the inner ear. I had a head cold too, so that didn't help. At any rate, I've been pretty miserable of late, so haven't felt like writing. I hope and pray that you all are doing well.

   The weather is finally cooling down. Praise God! I do love this time of year in the valley in California. We actually are in the north end of the Sacramento Valley, so we're almost in the mountains. We're a few miles from Shasta Lake, so you can imagine how gorgous it is here. The leaves are all starting to turn color, the days aren't so hot that you have to stay indoors in front of the air conditioner. I can actually go outdoors and do some yard work now!  Yep, this time of year is great. I actually don't mind the winter either. Rain has never gotten to me. So for the next few months, things will be great down here. Especially on my porch. It's new, bigger and dry. What more could I ask for? Yep, life is good.

   Hope you all have a wonderful week. I'll try to stay current on my blog. Take care and know that life on the porch is good.

It has been warm again here in Northern California. Up in the low 100's. It's supposed to last for a few more days. I am SO looking forward to the fall. When it gets warm like it has been, I can't go out on the porch until after dark. Then, it's so sweet to sit and ponder my day. I can't remember if I told you this, but Frank put up some deck lights around the porch. The lighting is soft, subtle and really pretty. He set three spot lights pointing at my fountain. So I go out, sit on the swing and wait for the cats to jump up on me. That's what Stink does. He leaps into my arms and settles down. Patches and Ragu just jump up and sit beside me. Then we all just swing gently back and forth while I remember cute things the kids have done recently, funny things the cats do, sweet things my girls say to me and loving things Frank does for me. I'm truly blessed my friends. I think I'm happier and more at peace than I have ever been. I get up SO looking forward to the day with my Savior, Jesus. I smile alot, (makes people wonder what I'm up to!!!) and find that I'm whistling again. I used to do that alot, but stopped. It was something I did that I didn't even know I was doing. My dad used to whistle, too. My best friend Cindy told me one day that she noticed I too, whistle. Hummmm??? Anyway, I'm just more content than I've been in years. I guess the older you get, and the closer you get to the Lord, the more at peace you are. Yeah, that sounds right to me.

Well, I'll close for now. I have to get ready for company. Suzy and Bryan and Pood are stopping by Sunday or Monday. I've missed them. I'm excited about seeing them. They've been up at Suzy's mom's and have been ill. They had to wait until they felt better before they could come home. I'm a stop on their way. (HIP-HIP HOORAY!!!!!!!!) Be blessed dear friends....life on the porch is wonderful!

Well, you sure couldn't tell that summer was over by the temperature we are still having! All this week it's supposed to be over 100 degrees. Everyone who knows this area keeps telling me to enjoy it because fall and winter were right around the corner. I LOOK for autumn and winter. I'm a cold blooded person. Cool is my friend!! At any rate, school is back in, so my weekly calls to the Grandsons have begun. Thomas told me today that he had a great first day of school. He had fun. Couldn't remember his teacher's name but she was nice. Oh, and he had corn dogs, fruit and green beans for lunch. He didn't eat the green beans cause he doesn't like them, but he ate the corn dog and fruit. Eric has been counting the days till school starts for him...and he starts later than Thomas. He starts on Thursday, so this morning his heart was broken because he couldn't go to school. He'll go every day starting next Monday, so for now he's at a very uneasy peace.

We added the rest of the slate porch floor today. Now we have to find a 7x12 foot piece of indoor outdoor carpet for the rest. The rest is done on the new porch. Our awning is still a camo tarp....you can't see it of coarse, but it's there and very tacky. But I can accept it's presence for a little while longer. We've been busy so it's ok.

Suzy and Bryan and the Pood are due here for a visit on Friday. I'm pretty excited about seeing them after so long away from them. They've been with Suzy's Mom and Grama. Bryan has such a wonderful time with his nonna and granny goose. He's a good boy and I miss him alot. Counting the days Bry...3 more to go!!!!!

The weather at night is so cool on the porch. So no matter how hot it's been, we can sip iced tea, in the dark and talk about our day. Frank, Carmela, sometimes Viola and myself...we have good talks. Life changing talks. They're good. I'm ready to move on.  Life on the porch is good. Blessings to you all. May you all have a porch to sit on and contemplate your lives paths.  It's pretty awesome.

Hello dear ones,

   Today was hot, but windy so not so bad. I woke up feeling so good and positive! I have a neighbor who is like a daughter to me. She is a wonderful young woman, amazing mother/auntie/sister. Frank and I love her and her sister very much. But, I'm off on a tangent....she was over and we sat on the porch until 12:30 am, last night. We talked about so many things, but what was the heart of our talk was about loving ones self and being able to love others.  Since I became a Christian I haven't had a real problem loving people. The one thing I asked the Lord for was the gift of Love. I didn't know at the time that God had a sense of humor....He gave me what I asked for. I found as I went along, that I loved people...even people that I used to dislike immensely. I hadn't thought ahead when I asked for the Love gift. Anyway, I've found that having that gift is actually a true blessing. I've had my heart hurt a few times, but when I love honestly the hurt doesn't stay. So as Carmela and I talked she opened my eyes to my capacity to love and why she thought people loved me so much. I hope that didn't sound to...well, to ME. You know what I mean?? I love whole heartedly, believe me...but I've always had a problem with loving or even liking myself. I joke about my weight, I joke about my clumbsiness, I joke about everything about me, but inside I HATE doing that. I think that it's because deep down, I like myself. I like who I am. But that always seemed so....well, so selfish. After talking with Cam last night I realized that it isn't a bad thing to like ones self. It's ok. So I thought about that through the night and woke up feeling great and having that on the fore front of my thoughts. I have to tell you, the difference I felt today was amazing. I was happy to be HOT. Can you believe that??!!?? I was just happy and so full of peace and love.

  So, sitting on my porch has helped to open my eyes to some things I needed to know. We have such a good time on the porch. My manager of the RV Park said she noticed we ALWAYS have people over. And we do. It's a great place to meet, laugh and love. I find my porch a great place to be....especially when friends and family can come over, feel comfortable and be loved by everyone else here. Thank you Lord for the wonderful gift of Love that You blessed me with. Life on the Porch is good...be blessed dear ones. You are on my heart. :-)