Everett was able to walk onto the stage to accept the award, and it brought tears to everyone’s ears during a standing ovation. What an awesome moment and testimony to the mantra, “Don’t Give Up.”

My cancer treatments were completely debilitating. I could barely function at all for four months while I underwent intensive radiation therapy. There was no way I could work at all, or even take care of my family. It was horrible to be so sick, helpless, and dependent on others with no real timeline or even hopeful prognosis for a recovery. Thanks to my parents and my grandmother, and the best doctors in the world, I was able to get through those terrible months, but the bills pilled up and that was probably the worst financial situation I’ve ever been in and recovering from a serious illness plus recovering from extreme financial distress took a very long time.

For some people in similar or sadly worse situations, all they can do is run up the bills for as long as they can and then try to file for Bankruptcy. I know there have been recent changes to the bankruptcy laws that make it more difficult to file, but I surely hope that honest people who have to face a serious or life threatening illness still have some hope of help with their finances.

I know that if anyone in my family or circle of close friends has to go through what I did, that I will be there at their side to help them through it as much as I possibly can. That’s what family and real friendship is for.

I don’t even know if I’m supposed to do this, but my mothering instinct takes over when I see the convulsion and I grab a warm fluffy towel from the bathroom and wrap him up in the towel and hold him in my lap until the shaking is over.

This is very upsetting – I thought we had it under control and I don’t understand why he had the seizure today.

Another option for her is to order as much as she can over the internet and let Big Brown bring it all to her doorstep. One of her big personal needs is support hose, which she has to wear every day – even in the heat of summer. So I was delighted to come across an internet source for the ones that she likes. They are called TED Stockings and she has to wear them from the moment she gets up in the morning until the moment she turns out the bedroom light to go to bed. It’s a serious problem but that’s what she has to do to avoid a fatal pulmonary embolism. Blood clots are serious business – you can’t mess around with them.

Just to be nice, I’m going to order her a couple pair from the website and have them delivered as a little surprise. Then she can order her future pairs from the same place.

He’s been acting normal and eating regular food and doing everything like he was before he got sick, so that’s good news. Look at him sitting so pretty for me:

I haven’t left him alone all weekend and have watched him like a hawk. So far, so good, thank goodness.

We have to watch him closely over the weekend and take him back to the vet on Monday for follow up. I hate that we have to watch him over the weekend and be pretty much on our own if something bad happens, because there aren’t any vets open on Sundays if we need help. The next two days are going to be stressful around here.

So today I decided to shop at Aldis and see if they had any bargains worth picking up to stock the pantry. I was pleasantly surprised to see what a nice variety they have. However, most foods are not a recognizable name brand – they are probably house brands that Aldi has arranged to buy in quantity. the best cost savings seemed to be in canned vegetables and boxed bake goods. So we’ll give a few of them a try and if they are good enough to pass my family’s taste test, I will shop there again soon.

We are thrilled at how well these basic vegetables have done and I think next year we’ll go ahead and have a full garden. I have plans to put in a raised bed over in the side yard and I want to grow a bigger variety of vegetables. I found a great site for organic seeds and sprouting supplies, so I can plan the whole thing and set up a schedule and make a serious effort at growing my own healthy foods. Years ago I had great success with a huge garden in Virginia. Everything I planted was from seed or sprout – no cheating with mature plants bought at the hardware store!

Maybe you already know about the Handy Pantry web site for organic seeds and supplies. If you’ve got any gardening tips – especially for raised beds – please share them with me in a comment. I would love to hear them.

Like the “experts” who every year predict that this coming year will have lots of terrible hurricanes. Well, duh. Every year does have the chance that there will be terrible hurricanes, and if a hurricane happens to rip through your own neighborhood then you most likely will be calling that hurricane terrible and a few other choice names. But the fact is that not every year has terrible hurricanes, some years are worse than others.

I like flip flops. I have been wearing them since a little kid and they are my footwear of choice during the hot summer months and certainly better than going barefoot. There is not much difference between a pair of cheap flip flops and expensive designer thongs sandals other than the “design” and the price tag. I really don’t see how flip flops can be bad for my feet when I’ve been wearing them every summer for over 50 years.

My goal has always been to have fresh homegrown tomatoes on the vine ready to pick by the Fourth of July each summer. Well, believe it or not, we’ve been picking ripe tomatoes for two weeks already! They are not really big tomatoes, but they are sweet and meaty and we are very pleased with ourselves!

Maybe this abundance of fresh tomatoes will encourage hubby to eat more fresh garden salads this summer. He eats them in restaurants when salad comes with the meal – no cucumbers, no fancy lettuce – just iceburg – ranch dressing is the only dressing choice – but salads at home are always disdained. If I was a completely confident cook I’d be offended, but it’s not me – it’s him.

At home he usually falls asleep watching TV and his mom moves him to his bed and leaves his clothes on him, then in the morning he gets a bath in a big hurry because he has to leave for school.

At my house (my rules!) he takes a bath after dinner and puts on pajamas, then he is allowed to watch TV or a movie and then he puts himself to bed. I tuck in the covers and say, “Sleep tight – don’t let the bedbugs bite!”

Well, I’ve always said that because my parents always said that and their parents always said that. We’ve never had to worry about bedbugs – it was just a cute rhyme that we said out of love. But what do you do if you really do have to worry about letting the bedbugs bite? Well, there is a web site that can help people with that: bedbugsguide.com and I found it while surfing the internet with my grandson, because he asked what bedbugs look like.

So if you have a problem with bedbugs where you live, check out this site for how to kill bedbugs and soon you will be able to “sleep tight” again.

I checked a couple medical sites and then I found a website that is an online pharmacy that sells the top three most popular treatments for ED, called edrugstore.md and read through their pages on the three prescription drugs:

• Cialis
• Viagra
• Levitra

The page on Cialis talked about how this medication works for up to 36 hours, can be taken with or without food, and begins to work as quickly as 30 minutes after taking it.

The website has good information about their policies and how they work – all medications are brand names – no generics or counterfeits. They only dispense FDA-approved prescription medications and guarantee the lowest prices on the internet.

There is also a section on their home page that links to articles, such as “What Exactly is Cialis and Is It Right For You? ” and other helpful articles. I find reading these in the privacy in my own home is a lot easier to absorb rather than sitting in a doctor’s office and listening to him quickly go over the main points before handing us over to a medical assistant or, worse, their billing department.

The website also has a forum for discussions and a pharmacy blog. I like the way this company is really up to date on technology and writes in plain English so I can understand all the information on what can be a difficult subject for a lot of people to talk about.

I was at the vet with one of the puppies for his routine exam and shots, and ended up sharing the waiting room with Leon Russell. He was there with his dog, and we had the chance to chat for a few minutes before he was ushered to one of the treatment rooms. What a nice man!

Leon was born and raised in Oklahoma but he’s been living here for years and keeping a low profile, not doing a lot of shows any more but doing a lot of behind the scenes things, like producing for other artists and some charity concerts. Until chatting with him at the vet’s, I didn’t realize that he has 16 albums out – I just know that one of his songs has been a classic in the DJ gigs I used to do, years ago. He does have an album out now, called “Angel in Disguise,” and I’m going to hunt for that at the store next time I’m buying music.

I had reviewed their website and was totally impressed with Northern Trust. They offer a variety of financial services for individuals, including

• business owners
• legal professionals
• medical professionals
• corporate executives
• families in transition

I’m hoping that, if elected, the Treasurer can meet some of our consumers and works with them, as well as other board members, to help with long term financial planning. Some of them need help with understanding the processes of estate settlement and some just need a friend they can talk to about arranging for the future care of their disabled children and get the peace of mind that financial security brings.

I still hear from quite a few of the people involved with that organization, and last night received a call from the new Executive Director asking for my input on some of the issues with pharmaceutical companies. Well, I always have an opinion and I’m using quite willing to share my thoughts on any issue.

He asked if I would be willing to participate in a pharmaceutical marketing research group that was being formed. I asked him for more details and agreed to think it over. I know that research groups play a big part in the marketing strategies for drug therapies, and that the outcome might well affect thousands of people and their health. So it is something I don’t take lightly.

The research company, Decision Resources, is well know in the medical industry. They research and prepare in depth reports and many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes 2, multiple myeloma and many more. My family has been touched by all of those, so I want to read through their website and see what I can learn about their studies before making a decision.

The first time I saw the sign, I thought what is up with chicken poop? Is is a new fertilizer for your garden? Is it some sick new dietary supplement?

There was no other advertising, no TV commercials, no ads in the newspaper. I had no idea what was the big deal about chicken poop.

Now, just a year later, there is no longer any chicken poop stocked at any of the local Walgreens. And now I want some.