So There E#2!

Hello,

This blog space is a gift to me from my daughter E#2 and sort of a dare I think to actually write something. I am a reader of blogs of all kinds and not much of a writer, but I’ll go ahead and take a stab at it. She named it after the movie title “Eat Pray Love” which is also a book title I guess, neither of which I know anything about. Julia Roberts stars in the movie.

The blog title Hike Pray Quilt is as apt as anything I guess as I do love to hike, having discovered this in my late forties and early fifties and am now wishing I had hiked much more when I had the knees for it. I also quilt some but am still very much a novice. My best work so far is the queen size quilt on our bed from a Thimbleberries pattern. The praying part has been a necessary part of my life since my early twenties when I came back to God and rededicated my life to Him. I have no regrets there, but my need to pray is as great as ever. In fact I just started attending a new group study based on a book by Philip Yancey called “Prayer Does It Make Any Difference?"

My three children are all grown and two are now married. P the oldest, turned 30 this year, yikes! He is a manager/trader at a large grain handling facility in the Midwest. He is married to the lovely K who brings fun and laughter into the family. E#1 is 26 and is a hard working professional in diagnostic imaging and a kind and loving person. She is married to the unique and wonderful C who likes to tinker on cars and trucks and is working on his college degree after six years in the military. They live the closest to us in Colorado. E#2 who gave me the blog as a birthday gift and is almost 24, is in graduate school in Nebraska and who knows where life will be taking her in the future. S is my husband of 33 years, I don’t know how he has put up with me all these years. We are beginning to contemplate his/our retirement years. We are also expecting our first grandchild in 2011! P and K are taking the plunge into parenthood and we couldn’t be happier.

I had a career that spanned about twenty years in physical therapy that I enjoyed for the most part except for the charting and paperwork that took a chunk of time away from the therapy with the rehab patients that I always enjoyed the most. I worked with a wonderful rehab team at my final job and still get together with them every few months to stay in touch. They include two occupational therapists, a physical therapist and a speech and language pathologist. Wonderful, bright, inspiring women all. In 1988 I suffered a fall on our driveway at home and fractured my left hip requiring a surgical repair. Even after muscle strengthening exercises I never felt fully confident in transferring patients again from a bed to wheelchair etc. I was afraid that the leg might give way and I would drop a patient. That is part of the reason I eventually stopped working part time. I also thought the kids needed someone there when they got home from school. I still maintain my license though for some reason and have been unable to let it just lapse.

That is plenty enough for a first post. Maybe in the future I’ll figure out how to link to some great stuff I’ve found out on the internet and add some words of wisdom (cough) or advice(cough) for my children from time to time. They’ll love that.

Lou