A neighbor came by today to see if we were still alive. Yep. We're alive. Not kickin'...but alive. We've had "the 'flu." INFLUENZA.
Not a cold, oh no. That would be much too easy. No, this was the real deal. Creeping, sneaking, horrible, wicked, devilish FLU.
The story is that Buddy brought it back with him on a recent visit to Arizona. He was fiendishly ill for about 2 weeks. Then, I noticed a slow down in Wayne. Next thing you know, Buddy AND Wayne are sick. Normally, Wayne works even when he's sick, so I knew something was up when he was too sick to work. I kept saying I was dodging the bullet...and I had...until I felt it coming on. It was nothing like the little irritating colds we had a while back. This was the Big Boys Club type stuff. Not for the weak of heart, mind or stomach. I fought it hard. I laughed, pretended it away, used mind over matter, swore at it, cursed it like a demon to GET THEE BEHIND ME FLU! But, it was here.
So, what do you do when you've got the flu? (Sounds a little like Dr. Seuss, doesn't it???) When you've got the 'flu, there's a LOT to do! You can sleep and sleep, and sleep. You can take medicine, you can crawl down the hallway on your hands and knees hoping there is one ounce of Nyquil left. You can cough for hours on end. You can moan and complain...and your case of the 'flu doesn't care at all! It just goes on and on.
Now, THIS is funny....I had a doctor's appointment on Friday that was scheduled some time back. I called promptly at 9am to tell them I needed to RE-schedule because I was TOO SICK TO COME TO THE DOCTOR! How's that? And the receptionist wasn't even shocked or surprised! In fact, she encouraged me not to come, as they had a lobby full of sick people already. That didn't make me feel better at all. But I did go back to bed.
We watched movies this weekend. We watched "Wyatt Earp" with Kevin Costner...old but fun. We even watched the super extended extra long gotta-bag-a-lunch-to-watch-it version. Since we were on the Wyatt Earp theme, we then HAD to watch Kurt Russell's portrayal of Earp in "Tombstone." (Val Kilmer played Doc Holliday and looked progressively more ill with tuberculosis as the movie progressed. Somewhere in the fog, I commented that he was looking more and more like I felt! Now, that is pretty disgusting!)
So, it's late. I'm attempting a post here. Mostly useless and I probably shouldn't even be writing under the influence of germs.
If this is germ warfare, we are in big trouble!!
So, the next time I write, I'll be my happy, cheery, healthy self...I hope. This couldn't go on for much longer, could it?
COULD IT???
I'll probably dream of Val Kilmer's character tonight in Tombstone. As Doc Holliday, between his disgustingly putrid coughs, he would growl, "I'm your Huckleberry!" So, whatever that means....if it's going to make me feel better, I'll be anybody's Huckleberry!
Stay well dear readers!! You don't want this!
And for what it's worth, I am confident it is not "blog borne!"

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"Wisdom." According to Merriam-Webster, this word is a noun. So, we know that wisdom is a "thing." The definition of wisdom is as follows: 1 a: accumulated philosophic or scientific learning : knowledge b: ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : insight c: good sense : judgment d: generally accepted belief 2: a wise attitude, belief, or course of action 3: the teachings of the ancient wise men.
Wayne and I met once again with a gentleman that I refer to of late, as a mentor. He is a business advisor, but to me, the meetings are so much more than that. He goes into the depths of "the business of life" and how to live a good one. I have considered since our meeting on Friday that life is a business. You can fail miserably at life or you can lead a very successful one.
And like business, you get one shot at it. If you begin a business and it is not nurtured and does not operate from a solid foundation, of course, the business will fail. The same goes for life.
We all walk around with a certain degree of knowledge of what our lives are about. I won't call it a fundamental knowledge of what our lives are about, because I believe it is too easy to fool even ourselves when things aren't on an even keel. We can convince ourselves of most anything...we've all done it. That's the easy part. Looking at facts and reality is the hard part.
In this meeting, I was taking notes. I'm a note taker from way back. I've been known to take notes about the notes I take!
I had referred to our mentor's discussion on simplicity in a previous post. He said, "Simplicity is the key to everything."
So, with this post, I want to share with you more quotes that impacted me greatly. I feel they are universal and will impact you as well. It is never too late to continue the discovery of your best life (or even begin discovering it!). In fact, there is never a time we should stop learning and discovering. When we stop learning, we become complacent. That's deadly in the business of "business" as well as the "business of life and living."
Speaking of complacency, this wonderfully astute, bespectacled, bow-tied gentleman offered these words as we sat down to begin our meeting. "Life is about change." Consider those three words. I mean REALLY consider them. How adaptable are we? As a rule, not very. We like our routines, we get bent out of shape when things don't go the way we expect them to and we just aren't so willing to conform to anything out of our own comfort zone. But, "life is about change." If you're not willing to accept that, I suppose the race is over right out of the gate.
We discussed a Swiss psychiatrist, whose works our friend has read extensively. Psychiatrist Paul Tournier said, "Fear creates its own fear." He also said, "Whatever we pay attention to grows." Again, I ask you to think about those two statements, both separately and how they directly relate to one another. When we are gripped with fear, then our focus is "fear." If what you pay attention to grows, then the focus on our fears grow and grow, flourishing negatives and paralyzing us in ways that "change" never has a chance be considered, much less attempted. Shouldn't we be paying attention to what we really want in life? Shouldn't we be taking honest looks at what we love, what we enjoy, what makes us feel great as human beings and pay full attention to those things so that we can grow? We think when we stay focused on our problems that it shows we are focusing on solutions. After our meeting on Friday, I had to consider that focusing on problems is PREVENTING me from looking beyond my problems to find solutions. Not good. Not good at all.
Our discussions led to what we "settle for." Our advisor responded simply, "Settling is not in the interest of justice and truth."
Therefore, if we do not seek our own truths and we do not seek justice from within, we cannot truly know who we are as individuals. It would appear to be an impossibility. There is no way to live your best life and compromise justice and truth at the same time. To live a compromised life is to lie to ones' self.
I will close in saying that there is a vast difference in being self-absorbed with a poor attitude and living a life that lends itself to being the best person you can be. For all I know, I'm self-absorbed and I'm too self-absorbed to see it! (attempt at humor!).
We have to be willing to take the hard looks inward. I heard it said once that it's easier to point outward than inward. Try it. It's true...literally and figuratively. On that note, I will leave you with a final thought to consider, again, a fabulous quote from
a very wise man. "People wrapped up in themselves make a very small package."
I want to be a BIG package! I want to share, I want to live and I want to succeed. I am so thankful that Wayne and I have been given the gift of wisdom from one very wise man. He has been "the gem we both needed to find and never expected to find," all at once. What a blessing!
As we left our meeting our friend made a request. He asked that Wayne and I turn our thoughts to what we can do for other people. So, I am in hopes that in sharing these wonderful quotes is a start at doing just that. There's no way that I can keep all this amazing, peaceful wisdom to myself. That would be such a selfish thing!
I wish you all peace, love, bounty and that you open yourself to seek change, for therein lies "wisdom."
Thanks for stopping by! Till next time...
Annie

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(Two of my favorite people in one of my favorite pictures.)
I haven't posted for a while about Frieda, so I felt it was time to give an update for those who check periodically. She's still going strong and gets more amazing with each day that passes. God must be smiling like nobody's business! I know I do!
The past several visits with Frieda have been so wonderful. She's doing such great things. It troubles me when I hear the rumor mill grinding away with all sorts of adjectives that simply are not true. Of course, Frieda...and consequently Wayne and I have dealt with that for quite some time now. Oddly enough, with Frieda being THE backbone of the Pamlico News, "bad news" is all that seems to travel. No one wants to hear good news. But everyone's favorite news hound is doing exactly what I expected her to. She's busting butt and taking no prisoners! GO FRIEDA!
Frieda is doing amazing things and she is so very proud of herself. She is able to drive herself in the facility with the aid of an electric wheelchair. She's a sight to behold wheeling up and down the hallway. She has been reading and spelling for some time now, so she can spell out most anything she'd like to "say" to you. For example, we call my dad "Grog" and call him a caveman when teasing him. When he walked into her room Thursday evening, Frieda started to grin this evil grin and spelled out GROG and laughed right out loud. I asked her to spell my mom's name. Frieda looked at my mom and smiled...she wanted to spell what SHE felt about my mother. "Sweetness" was the result. I can't tell you what she spelled for me. Just take my word for it, the whole room was in stitches. The speech therapist has a great sense of humor and believes fully that laughter is indeed good medicine. He says Frieda relaxes and gets a lot done when we're having a lot of fun. So, as always we do laugh a lot when visiting. The visits this week were long, we worked hard on spelling and communication skills and being close.
Frieda gets emotional when she remembers "what it's like on the outside." That in itself is very motivating for her.
I am so proud of her and want to thank everyone who has continued to check in on my blog and believe that Frieda could get better. She has.
Each day gets better and better...and I LOVE IT! We are still "THUMBS UP" all the way! Even back at Pitt Hospital, Frieda gave me a "THUMBS UP" when I asked her if we were going to stick this out together. Today, it is just as strong a commitment as it was back in the summer. People give up hope so quickly. Underestimating Frieda is a crazy thing to do! But, on the other hand, it gives her strength just to prove the naysayers wrong. Typical of Frieda, right? Something else I love about her.
I watched with sadness as the news told of a situation where a young girl is being called "brain dead," "a vegetable" and many of the horrible adjectives that I have heard used along side Frieda's name. It boiled my blood then and it does now. I watched as a father is begging and pleading with a mother to let the daughter live. The girl doesn't speak and is on a feeding tube. Guess what? SO IS FRIEDA! But is she any of the horrible adjectives that people who are either ignorant or unfeeling or both use? NO! The name Terry Schiavo comes to mind. There are those who would argue that abortion is "murder." I think taking a life of any kind is boils down to murder. As humans, we do not have the right to "euthanize." We do not have the right to "play God" and determine what is "life" for another human being period. That is God's job. How can he fulfill HIs Divine Plan for us if we are busy trying to do His job for Him? Notions such as that are just outrageous to me. It's hard to even consider it for animals within my personality. But, that's me.
The world at large has a skewed vision of what human life is. "Quality" of life comes into question and people try to make decisions that are not theirs to make.
I thank GOD every single day for Frieda Hudson and for her SPIRIT and her sheer will to LIVE! She and I have plans and as I have said all along, we don't go down easily. We just keep working hard. I don't blog every day about Frieda because I got tired of the backlash. Folks who haven't even visited with Frieda or really don't know her at all at a personal level were offering opinions that I didn't ask for, so I removed myself from the drama. My friendship with Frieda Hudson doesn't contain all that drama and gossip. So, we have continued to do what we do best. WORK HARD, LAUGH A LOT and WORK TOWARD THE ONE GOAL OF GETTING FRIEDA BETTER!
I am so thankful she didn't give up. There was every opportunity to do so, but those of us who know Frieda fundamentally know that giving up is simply not a part of her personality. That is what I love most about her. She's still cracking jokes at me just as hard as she can, laughing at me and in the next minute, we're holding hands tightly, along with Wayne assuring each other that we're just going to keep fighting hard and moving ahead.
There are few friendships in life that sustain hardship, serious illness, issues and many of the things that Frieda and I have witnessed. She is my hero. You give me such strength and such confidence, Frieda, when my own life seems so hard at times. I can simply think of you and things look so much better.
Frieda, one day when you read through all these blogs, I want you to know that YOU have touched SO many lives that come from ALL over this country! People have read this blog, prayed for you, loved you and have cheered you on every day! Frieda, our friends who live in other parts of the country are cheering, praying and celebrating each and every little thing you do! We have every expectation for you to be right back in the middle of our "crowd" in no time flat! From Colorado, to California, to New York, Washington, DC, Wisconsin, Ohio...just pick a state! All our music friends, friends that have come on board since reading about this crazy word called "stroke" and blog readers in general have offered such support and love. It truly is amazing!
So, even in illness, there is such goodness and God NEVER leaves us. Faith grows each and every day in so many ways. I've said all along that God still has big plans for Frieda Hudson. Who knows what she'll be doing next? I can't wait to find out! God willing, I'll be right beside her watching it all unfold.
Just keep praying....and don't forget to give thanks for those prayers that clearly have been answered.

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