Dear Reader:

Okay readers…Let’s “talk turkey shall we?” ( Origin and meaning of “to talk turkey”)

(Speak plainly, get to the point, as in Don’t call me until you’re ready to talk turkey. This expression allegedly comes from a tale about an Indian and a white man who hunted together and divided the game. When the white man said, “I’ll take the turkey and you the buzzard, or you take the buzzard and I the turkey,” the Indian replied, “Talk turkey to me.” Whether or not this tale has a true basis, the term was recorded in its present meaning by about 1840.)

When I went to my doctor’s appointment today I was ready to “talk turkey” and get some turkey back in response. For the past few weeks I have felt like I have been playing a game of “Mother May I”  going two steps forward and four feet back. A truly discouraging state to be in.

This time I was ready for some straight forward answers to my straight forward questions….I could handle the “No pain no gain” approach if I just knew the “gain” was happening and I had something to show for the pain. I asked all my questions that had been troubling me….was the pain I was feeling normal, was the medical staff seeing some kind of improvement or progress in my foot, did the prognosis look good?

And I finally got the “encouraging words” I had so desperately been waiting to hear….everything I was feeling, both physically and emotionally, was right on track….the wound, after all the layers of bandages had been removed, looked like raw hamburger meat…exactly what they wanted to see. (Different strokes for different folks) Another doctor looked at the wound, was satisfied with the progress, pronounced it ready to be re-dressed and bandaged without any more scraping! My prayers the night before had been answered!

Thank you God, thank you readers, friends, and family for your prayers. The lines from Home on the Range ran through my head….Where seldom is heard a discouraging word…and the skies are not cloudy all day. This appointment visit was my “Home on the Range” even if the skies were cloudy all day….with little rain.

Lassie, Doodle, and I got a lot done in in a small amount of time….we got there early, Bobbie (my friend and nurse) took Doodle and me back early and everything went smoothly and clicked right along….no scraping! Happiness is….we went to John and Mandy’s where they loaded me up with casseroles, paper products and all kinds of goodies, then picked up my cancer medicine and finished off the day at Chick Filet. I was so relieved from not sleeping much the night before I promptly feel fast asleep when Doodle and Lassie left.

An excited Eva Cate called me in the afternoon to share her “coronation” as Queen of the Second Grade Class for her overall leadership role…and she had also been selected as “Terrific Kid” from her classroom for the first nine weeks. She was more excited than I have ever heard her! Congratulations to our Queen….only girl selected from the entire second grade for her leadership roll. I am so proud of you Eva Cate. Love you, Boo Boo

Encouraging words….I heard them today and so did Eva Cate. It made me realize even more how important it is to both give and receive encouragement throughout all the different stages of our lives. When we are going through uncertain, tough times….encouraging words can make the difference between success and failure. Let’s never be stingy on encouragement…we all need to hear it and give it throughout our lives.

So until tomorrow….“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Lassie took my garbage out for me and while, out back,  took some photos of my garden…still dry and thirsty but hanging in there. I will just put this one in today because my computer is acting up and is taking forever to pull a photo….I can’t stay at the computer long….have to have my foot up….so the rest of the pictures will be on tomorrow’s blog when hopefully the computer is in a better mood.