Howdy!  Minnie Rogers here.  Hope this finds y'all well.  

I am the only one up: Seth is in his bed, sleeping in.  Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so the kids get a day off from school.  Long weekend!  He probably won't be up until at least eleven or noon.  Loving the peace and quiet of the early morning, when it's just nothing but me and God.

Already had my prayer time/Bible reading/devotions, so I am ready to face the day.  

Had some excitement last night: a neighbor had a heart attack; woke up only to find the front window of my bedroom glowing bright red.  When I looked out, I was surprised to find two firetrucks and an ambulance parked across the street.  Turns out that Mr. Casaneda had a heart attack, according to my next door neighbor, Truly Owens, who likes to know what's going on.  I said a quick prayer for Mr. Casaneda; I pray he is gonna be okay ...

We had a fairly nice Christmas, but it would have been nicer if I could have gotten more things for Seth.  Seth has been through so much in his young life, culminating with the fire that nearly took our own lives, but I'm just thankful that it wasn't worse than it was.  Yes, we might have lost our home and a lot of our belongings, but a home/possessions can be replaced, where a human life cannot.  

So as a result, we are both thankful; we just have to keep reminding ourselves of that from time to time, especially when the fire-dreams crop up.  (Had another one last night; didn't help seeing the firetrucks or ambulance parked right outside!)

The weather is right nice here.  Only January, but it feels more like April, with temps in the sixties and SEVENTIES!! I am loving it; I don't do cold or snowy weather very well.  Doesn't sit well with my arthritis and fibromyalgia.  At least when it is this warm, I can move around easier!  And this weather is better for my son as well: when it is cold, Seth can't always tell when he is getting chilly due to the diminished feeling in his lower body and it causes his legs and feet to turn blue.  That's not good ...

Seth is very prone to frostbite or hypothermia.  He also is prone to heat exhaustion or heatstroke.  One has to be so careful with a child like Seth.

Anyway, back to my story.  I have met some of my neighbors (Truly Owens, for one; I also met Deidre Pashkinov, Yolanda Patrick, Chauncey Ritter, Cassiopia Dawes, and Mike Ishida, to name a few); quite a few of them are very nice.  I have also met Humberto Casaneda; met him only last week, but then he got sick last night, so I have been praying for him).  There are a few neighbors who are questionable, as some like to have loud parties late at night, with the music booming or their loud, boisterous talk, or letting their young kids run amuck, but other than that, Willow Acres Apartments is not a very bad place to live.

It's better than the alternative: not having a place to call our own, like when we had the fires and lost everything.  Then we lived in a temporary shelter, and that was no picnic.  

I'm just thankful that God blessed us with a new place.  It might not be a million dollar mansion, but then Seth and myself have never been rich and we're just thankful that we both have a home, not to mention, new furniture, new clothes, and stuff.

We had a good weekend.  With the weather being the way it is, Seth and I spent a lot of time outdoors.  After church yesterday morning, a friend took Seth and I out to eat at Golden Corral; we then went to the park, where Seth played with some kids who were there; it was good to see him laughing and having fun.  Meanwhile, I sat on a bench close by, in case my son needed help, but he didn't.  The only thing was when he dropped his crutches and I had to pick them up off the ground because he couldn't reach them.

We were at the park all afternoon; then we went home and Seth went to bed, where he still remains now as I write this.  He must have been really tired from playing yesterday!  As for me, I watched some tv and read a while and then called it a night by nine before I was awakened by the flashing red lights outside around 12:30 this morning.  I then went to sleep after the excitement had died down (about 2:30) and got up not even a half hour ago.

Well, I am off today from work, so I think I will go back to bed and sleep a while.  I will write in here another time; you haven't heard the last from me, Minnie Rogers!  Take care and may God bless you as much as He has been blessing us!

~Love, your friend from Humble, Texas, Minnie Kay.  :)