Well, things didn't start out so good but they got better later. Right after I got up, the dogs were all outside when suddenly Shawn comes running in to tell me that Jerry was having a seizure. It has happened before but not very often, thank the Goddess. Shawn and I had planned a day of adventure in the woods, and I didn't want to leave her home alone with no one to watch her, so the only thing we could do was to take her with us. It's a good thing she loves to ride in the car and is good around other people and dogs. My son, Shawn and I packed up a little lunch of chicken salad sandwiches, some pringles and some apple sauce and we took off on a small adventure. We went up to the Blue Ridge Parkway where the Lodge and Restaurant are located first. There's a beautiful lake situated right between the Peaks of Otter. We walked around most of it while Shawn fished. I used my scooter to get around but I couldn't make it all the way around because of certain areas with big roots or rocks in the path. I made it around about half the lake, met lots of people, both old and young and lots of dogs, big ones and little ones. One dog was a Greyhound that was a retired racer and now he's in a good family enjoying his time, no more racing. I was glad to see him with his family. Lots of those dogs don't get that kind of break in life. It's very sad. I just can't see treating a dog like that. But then I'm one of those tree hugging hippie types that treat their dogs and their cats like they were their children instead of pets or just animals. It's ok, Cesar, you are still Mommie's little baby...
After Shawn spent a little bit of time catching or not catching some fish, we went down to the picnic area and had our little picnic. On days like this it's good to eat outside.
Then we loaded our things and Jerry and ourselves into the car and moved on down the road a bit to a small lake called Wilson Lake. Well calling it a lake is a bit of a stretch, it's more like a very small pond. Shawn wanted to try fishing there too. No luck for Shawn. Poor kid. But the most amazing thing about today is I did all this almost totally painfree! What little pain I had today wasn't until the very end and I figured it was because I got tired. I really had fun too. There were a couple of times when things happened today that a week ago if they had happened, I would have been shaking like a leaf, out of breath and in tears but today, I was ok. No shaking like a leaf, no out of breath, and no tears and no frustration. I was disappointed that I couldn't get all the way around Abbott Lake but I wasn't frustrated or discouraged by my progress today. I feel pretty good about today. I'm tired, but I'm not in bad pain, Jerry's ok now, no signs of any problems and Shawn's happy he got to go out fishing with his Mom. All in all, a pretty good day.

I don't mean to keep posting these dreadful things but I keep getting email from friends that I feel is important and I think you guys would want to know about. We all need to stand together, it shouldn't matter what your religion is or your sexual orientation or your race or whatever. This traverses all, it affects us all. These people that were killed, were a part of our future, they were bright, intelligent and had so much potential for the future in them and it's all gone now. Our future has a huge hole in it, its missing, gone and it's not coming back, not ever. And all we can do is mourn and pray for ourselves and for the families of these victims. One of my friends sent the following in an email because he felt it was so uncool and like me, felt it needed to be shared and this is the best way I know to share what I find on here. This is what he sent:

This is sicker than protesting the war dead..!!!!



A fringe church that has garnered attention and scorn for protesting funerals of troops killed in Iraq is planning to picket services for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church have disrupted funerals across the country over the past few years with profane signs saying that deaths in Iraq are retribution triggered by America's tolerance of homosexuals.

A church news release explains: "God is punishing America for her sodomite sins... The 33 massacred at Virginia Tech died for America's sins against WBC (Westboro Baptist Church). Just as U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq each day for America's sins against WBC."

Attorney General Bob McDonnell is warning protesters that they could be arrested if they interrupt the funerals. McDonnell's spokesman sent out an e-mail detailing the section of the Virginia Code that can be used to quell disturbances at funerals.

McDonnell's e-mail did not explicitly say protesters would be arrested and charged, but did say that the state's top lawyer "wants to ensure that those who perished on Monday receive the dignified and tranquil services that they, and their families, deserve."

The state code states that a person can be charged with disorderly conduct for willfully disrupting any funeral or memorial service.

A handful of protesters picketed outside of Quantico Marine Corps Base last December during a memorial service for a fallen Marine. The group has threatened to protest at other events but not shown up.

Pastor Fred Phelps and his congregation at the church in Topeka, Kan., travel the country preaching damnation to a "nation of sinners,'" routinely glorying in the death of U.S. soldiers.

His church of 75 people, many of them his relatives, believes that God causes the deaths of soldiers as punishment for a society that condones homosexuality.

They routinely carry signs that read "Thank God for IEDs," referring to the improvised explosive devices that have killed many troops in Iraq.

The group has offended state and federal lawmakers, who have passed laws aimed at curbing their protests. Congress passed a law that restricts demonstrations at national cemeteries and last year Virginia's Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed a bill making such protests in Virginia a misdemeanor. An online petition railing against Phelps and the protests had already gathered nearly 31,000 signatures.

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