Another day passes

Dear Family and Friends,

9:10 this evening. I've been sitting with Nan watching a Murder She Wrote episode set in Moscow. It was fun to watch. Nan has experienced some pretty stiff pains today including now as she is taking her pills. We use Dilautid often, have a good supply and are giving reasonable doses IV. She and Marilyn have had a decent day with nan having some pretty good naps which help her relax and feel better. Dear sweet Marilyn has been sorting all our papers for the past 2 years plus some of this year and has them compiled by month, topic and in files. She is amazing and said she learned this when she used to work in the governors office, Jerry Brown. She has done an incredible job and helped a lot with getting us ready for our tax prep. There is no way I can ever really thank her or repay her for what she has done. She shrugs it off like its nothing but its just amazing to me. I handed her boxes, files and stacks and she hands me back perfect organization!!

We got two checks in the mail today and then Judy, the most wonderful loan person in the world brought a check and put it in the mail box this evening. So slowly I am starting to pay on the various bills. Complicating things a bit is the fact that in September I have to pay for one of the MLS boards we all use for the entire year. It comes to nearly a $1,000, last month it was E&O insurance for nearly a $1,000. Those extras really hit hard. Checks in the mail sure makes it easier to walk back into the house and face the girls with some optimism and hope. I picked up the IRS letters at the post office today and they are demanding immediate payment of $4,500 for the 2005 year. We had paid in advance for the entire year but someone in the IRS in their superior wisdom took one of the payments and applied it to a different year so we came up short. We are wanting to file an updated return for 2005 but are missing some of the data we need. We are getting close and with Marilyn's help we are much much nearer to being able to file now.

Tomorrow morning I am driving to Santa Rosa to do an appraisal on a little house. The little house will take almost no time to measure and photograph and the comps are all located nearby so the hard part is the 2 hour drive each way to make it happen. I am planning to see Dolly Vogel who lives in Napa on one of the directions, she is a constant source of faith and strength to us both. How we love to see or hear from Dolly, she is one of the special people who know what they are talking about and trust God's leading day by day.

Today I inspected a 5 lot subdivision and will prepare an appraisal on each parcel for my clients. Then I stopped to do something I have not done on my own for a very long time, since I had had no breakfast I went to Mimi's Cafe and had a light egg whites only omelet with tomato slices, wheat toast and orange juice. It was one of the best meals I have ever had. I felt indulgent but did it anyway. It cost $11 bucks and carried me the rest of the day up to my burrito from taco bel in Tracy this evening. I've made two trips to Tracy today for assignments and was really glad to be home at about 8 pm. Nan enjoys ice water all the time right now so I stopped and got a 21 lb bag of ice, we will not run out soon. Its huge.

This evening I inspected a property and learned about a sad happening, the family had lost a 3 month old child to sids, and it happened at day care. Their faith in God eventually brought them through but they are still suffering and coping 2 years later. They look forward to their move to Houston where the home will be new to them and they will be surrounded by family. Life is not a bowl of cherries, more like a few cherries, a few pits and a lot of rocks too. I know Nan and I have learned a great deal about life over the past few years as we have battled GIST together, we are now in our 11th year and each year has grown more challenging until now when every day is precious and valuable but so very challenging to Nan. Sharon called this evening and Nan got to talk to her, she loves to talk to Sharon. Often Nan does not hear the phone as she is sleeping due to pain meds or Adavan.

I am including a few photos of our precious little joy Timothy from the visit Jason and Timothy made on Monday. It was wonderful to see them both and to witness God's blessings through this little person.

So good night my friends, I've got some deadlines financially that at this point I doubt I can meet but we will see. We are thankful for 3 checks today.

love to each and every one of you,

tim and nan and marilyn (bless her)