I went to the imaging center and had the ultrasound test on my feet and legs this afternoon. The technician told me that I do not have a blood clot, but doesn't know what is causing the swelling.

The city picked up the brush on our street today.

I have an appointment to go to the hospital tomorrow evening and have an ultrasound Doppler test done on my foot. I sure hope they can get this straightened out soon.

It is pretty cold this morning - 48 right now, but it was colder than that when I got up.

The ladies who play bunco met this afternoon. There was a pretty good group of them.

Sis usually plays with them.

A shopper who brandished a handgun during a Black Friday scuffle at South Park Mall was within his rights, according to San Antonio police.

Officers were dispatched to the mall's Sears store about 9 p.m. Thursday in response to a call about a shooting, according to an incident report. When they arrived, they detained Jose Alonzo Salame, 33, who was holding a black 9 mm semi-automatic handgun with a black holster.

"We don't see this very often," Officer Matthew Porter said, adding that Salame did not break the law by displaying the weapon. "He was within his rights."

Police confiscated the gun, which was loaded and had one round in a chamber, the report says.

Salame reportedly showed proof that he had a concealed handgun license, and he told officers that he pulled the gun out to defend himself because he was punched in the face by Alejandro Alex, 35. Salame, who did not fire the weapon, said he feared further injury by Alex.

The store had opened its doors to Black Friday shoppers about an hour before the incident, which occurred as crowds packed into the store.

Witnesses reportedly told police that Salme had behaved rudely that morning and had provoked the situation before pulling the handgun and pointing it at Alex, though San Antonio Police Sgt. Rob Carey said at the scene of the incident that he had actually pointed it at the ground.

Roger Rivera, who was shopping in the Sears, said Salame was punched then pulled a gun. Everyone scattered, "tumbling over things, dropping boxes," Rivera said. The man who was trying to cut in line ran and hid behind a refrigerator before he fled the store.
"It kind of went a little crazy in there," Carey said.

Rivera told his kids to get down. While everyone was panicking, the man with the gun stood there, he said, and looked around, lowering the weapon.

For about 10 minutes, the shopping stopped, said Rivera, and his wife Teresa, who was also in Sears but in another part of the store. She raised concerns about whether Sears had enough security, noting that she only saw men at the store wearing "Security" vests.

Salame was released from police custody and asked to leave the store with the rest of his family. A manager gave him a store voucher, the report says.

"We're glad the incident was resolved peacefully," said Sears spokeswoman Kim Freely. "The safety of our customers and associates are our No. 1 priority."

aley@express-news.net


Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Black-Friday-not-entirely-peace-4060598.php#ixzz2D5QT5xh2

Every day I seem to get a little weaker. I switched from using a cane a couple of days ago to using a walker and even with that it is easy to lose my balance.

We had a good Thanksgiving meal. Sis fixed turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, asparagus, cranberry salad, homemade yeast rolls and homemade mincemeat pie. It was all so good, and of course there are lots of leftovers.

I took off work a couple hours early yesterday and went to the hospital to have the x-rays. It's a good thing I did, because they were very crowded and I had to wait for over an hour. They gave me a chest x-ray and then x-rayed my right foot.

This morning I fell in the copy room at work. I think I just turned a little too fast and lost my balance, but I couldn't stop myself from falling. I will probably have some bruises, but I didn't break anything. I'm not writing all these things to complain, but instead to document them. I think very few people read this blog anyway. So it is more of a personal journal than anything else, although anyone is welcome to read it.

Sis has been driving me to work, as I can't do it lately, and she spends a lot of time here at the office with me. She didn't happen to be here when I fell, but as soon as she found out about it, she came right over.
LATER
Sis just made a batch of homemade yeast rolls and that sure makes the house smell wonderful. We plan to have turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus, and homemade mincemeat pie, as well as the homemade yeast rolls.

The weather was warm today but the forecast is for a change over the next couple of days.

I had to switch from using a cane to a walker today. Too many falls. I sure hope this isn't permanent.

I went to the doctor this morning. He is sending me for chest and foot x-rays among other things, and he gave me another prescription. They gave me my flu shot too.

Sis went and picked up my prescriptions after work. I was too tired and in too much pain to go take the x-rays this afternoon, but I plan to do that after I get off work tomorrow.

Sis weighed the kittens this evening. Callie is the smallest and she weighs 6.8 pounds. The other three are in the 8 to 9-lb range. Buffy is the largest and he is not quite 10 pounds.

They are about 7 months old now. I wonder when they will be considered full grown - and how big they will end up being.

Today was a beautiful fall day. We had a meeting at church to discuss the possible unification of two churches. I didn’t stay for the whole meeting because my right foot and leg are swelling so much. Sis took me and stayed in the office while I was in the meeting. I don’t know how long it lasted, but after an hour and a half, I went back to the office and we went on home.

I will have to call the doctor Monday and see if he can check it and see if anything can be done, because the pain and swelling doesn’t go away. The x-rays a few months ago just showed arthritis.

The man from Sis’s church who does our lawn came and trimmed a lot of brushy undergrowth away for us today. We’ve gotten notice that our semiannual brush pickup will be soon, so this was a good time to have him do it and pile it at the curb for the city trucks to take away.

I've been having a lot of bad days lately and today is another of them. The x-rays show arthritis in my right leg, ankle and foot. Nothing seems to help and my foot and part of my leg are swollen. I can hardly walk, even with a cane. I'll have to call the doctor again Monday and see if he can do anything.

I've been going back and forth from bed to chair to walking the floor and back again. The prescription pain pills only help a little bit. I've rubbed Aspercreme up and down with only mild results.

All my life I have been pretty healthy, so this has really hit me hard.

I got my hair done at the beauty shop this afternoon. Don't think I could have done it myself.

There is a meeting at church tomorrow morning that I am supposed to attend, but I'll have to feel a lot better than I do tonight or I won't be able to sit through it.

This week has been much colder. We've had the heat on most of the time.

The area around where I work is pretty good in the daytime, but evidently it is a bit rough at night. Early yesterday morning, someone flagged down a police officer and pointed out a man slumped against a building - which happened to be the back of our building. The man was dead. The police were out there for hours gathering evidence. The last I heard, they hadn't identified him or figured out the exact cause of death.
It was quite shocking as we hadn't had that kind of thing happen here before. All is quiet again today.

Sis got called to work for the temp agency this morning. She hasn't worked for them for close to two years. The job is on the other side of town. I hope she doesn't have too much trouble finding it.

I got very little sleep last night and really felt bad this morning as a result. So I lay down about 7 and slept a couple hours. I feel a good bit better now. I will probably take a couple more naps today.

It has been a warm day here in San Antonio - 82 degrees the last I heard. But it is expected to be much cooler for the next two or three days.

I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Today the two churches who are closest together (about 7 or 8 blocks apart), met after church for a potluck meal and to discuss the possible joining together at that church, perhaps with a new name. They feel that that building is less expensive to maintain. There are strong feelings about it. Some of the people at the church where I go don't want to go over there and say they will go to another church closer to their homes if this happens.

I don't have any strong feelings about it - especially as they want me to go over there and still be secretary. I do want to continue working as long as possible.

We are to meet again next Saturday at our church (both congregations) to continue the discussion.

My arthritis is still bothering me. I wish that would let up. I have to be so careful as it causes my right foot to swell and tends to throw me off balance. I took a tumble in the office this morning, but fortunately didn't hurt myself. Another lady started to fall in the sanctuary when people were "passing the peace", walking around shaking hands. Someone happened to be close and caught her in time to keep her from falling, as she surely would have. She has a balance problem and poor vision too. I didn't get out in the aisle but just stayed in my pew and shook hands with anyone who came past.

I got my hair done this afternoon.

Sis made a banana cake. It turned out good.

My foot and ankle have been so swelled today. I took a nap with it elevated, but I just got up and it is still swelled.

I am really sleepy, but it is almost time to take my medicine, so I will stay up a little longer.

It was fairly quiet at work today. We are having our book sale again and several people stopped by for that.

The ladies from the art group were there all morning too.

I hadn't slept last night, so I was barely able to stay awake. I took a little nap when I got home.

Meals on Wheels

Jack Elder loads insulated carriers into the small trailer he pulls with his bicycle to deliver lunches for Meals on Wheels.
Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News / ©SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Every Monday morning, Esther Carranza waits patiently in her East Side home, listening for the voice of a friend bearing lunch and a kind word.

Shortly before noon, Jack Elder arrives by bike at her house, which is near Poe Middle School where he once taught math. From a trailer hitched to his bike he removes an insulated bag containing a diabetic meal of Salisbury steak, with low-sodium gravy, mashed potatoes, seasoned spinach, a dinner roll, a fresh pear and a container of 1-percent milk. He carries the meal to the porch, where Carranza, who has an eye condition and can only see shadows, awaits.

“Good to see you,” he says. “You doing OK?”

“Not so good,” she says, edging her walker to a sidewalk ramp. “My knees, it's the cartilage; I've been putting on ointments.”

Elder takes her lunch to the kitchen, passing a wall of sepia-toned photos of soldiers bearing decades-old smiles.

Elder is one of 3,000 Meals on Wheels volunteers who deliver meals across the city to those in need. The meals program, sponsored by Christian Senior Services, delivered 890,000 meals last year to homebound seniors.

Unlike his counterparts, Elder doesn't use a car or truck to make his deliveries. Instead, he rides a 14-gear, hybrid bicycle, pulling a plywood trailer painted with his statement about what he's doing to help the environment: “1 - car” it reads, a nod to one less car on the road.

Elder, 69, says helping out in the neighborhood where he used to work is a great fit.

“It's a good feeling,” he says. “I get to contribute a little bit now that I'm retired.”

Biking has been his lifestyle since 1976. Later it became a necessity when his Volkswagen van was in the repair shop for a year.

“It just seemed like a natural extension to keep on riding,” Elder says.

He's logged many miles on his bikes over the years, cycling to and from St. Gerard High School and along Commerce Street to Our Lady of the Lake University where he studied for his teaching certificate.

“Given the world we live in, it's just an elegant way to get around,” he says. “When I see people riding a bike, it's totally a good day.”

His delivery day starts at 10:30 a.m. when he locks his bike to a rail outside of the Highland Terrace United Methodist Church off Steves Avenue and picks up the prepared lunches packed in insulated bags. After loading his trailer, he delivers the meals to seven seniors living in surrounding neighborhoods.

Volunteers like Elder not only deliver meals, they also build relationships, says Christian Senior Services spokesman Jerry Arellano.

“It really helps, from a social interaction standpoint, combat loneliness among these seniors, so they don't feel depressed or as isolated,” Arellano says. “It's a very rewarding experience with tangible results.”

The meals program Elder delivers for is called Corredor de Esperanze. It is supported by five United Methodist churches in the New Braunfels Avenue area. Arellano says the Southeast and East Sides where a lot of seniors live is underserved, and could use more volunteers to deliver meals between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each week day.

After making several stops near the church, Elder heads North on Gevers Street, and crosses under Interstate 10 to Carranza's shaded street. A dog jumps and barks behind metal gates as he takes meals to two of her neighbors. Carranza waits and listens for his knock on the door.

For information on volunteering with Meals on Wheels call 210-735-5115 or go to Christianseniorservices.org to fill out an online application.



vtdavis@express-news.net


Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/article/Meals-come-on-two-wheels-4010304.php#ixzz2BWC90U7s

I stopped and voted on the way home from work this afternoon. Fortunately the lines weren't long as I am using my cane again and didn't look forward to leaning on it for a long period of time.

I took a nap after I got home and feel a good bit better right now. Sis fixed pancakes for supper.

Barak Obama was re-elected to the presidency for four more years.

We had our annual church charge conference at one of the Corredor churches yesterday afternoon. Eight churches sent representatives and after a worship service conducted by the district superintendent, they separated into different rooms in the church to conduct their individual business meetings. I made it through the worship service which was quite long - almost an hour and a half - but my foot and ankle were really aching and I left at the end of it and went home. One of the members who stayed updated me this morning and brought me copies of the reports.

Today was a beautiful day and it got up in the 80's. Tomorrow is expected to only get into the 70's, but I surely am not complaining. So much of the country is experiencing such terrible weather right now.

Whoops - Sis just informed me that we have buttered pecan ice cream - my very favorite.

More pix of the cats and of a church festival

The kittens all like to eat together out of a piepan on the floor. Calvin eats out of another one on the bar stool.

For some reason, Calvin's tongue looks bright red in these pictures and the other coloring doesn't seem natural either.

The rest of these pictures were taken at a church festival that my sister helped at this morning. Looks like they were having a lot of fun.

I did get a couple naps today to help make up for getting almost no sleep last night.

After I got off work at noon, I came home and took a nap, then went to the beauty shop and got my hair done.

I got the car filled with gas this afternoon. It has gone down somewhat and was $3.26.9 per gallon today.

Then Sis and I went to Wal-Mart and I picked up my prescription which I had called in yesterday.

We stopped at IHOP for supper. I had grilled chicken strips on a big salad. It was delicious.

Lots of pain tonight. I can't sit or lie still. Walking the floor. I spent part of the time knitting, which kind of took my mind off the severe pain. Toward morning I did get about an hour's sleep in the recliner.

For the past several years, the church I attend has had what they call "Trick or Trunk" on Halloween night. Members bring their cars, park them in the parking lot, and provide candy to trick-or-treaters out of the open trunks of their cars.

This link is to a u-tube video of the fall festival and pumpkin patch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c91JgZUKcw&feature=youtu.be