From Frozen to Flying...

My Segway partner... for life!

My wonderful bride woke up one morning last week with the idea of getting me on a Segway... So, yesterday, we rented a two hour tour... "a two hour tour. The weather started getting rough..." (from the TV show Gilligan's Island if you're under 50 and you have no idea what I'm talking about.) I digress...

All I can say is... Wow, what a feeling of freedom...

It felt as if I was gliding on air... a real-life version of when I have dreams of running! And, they are only $6,500 a piece (such a steal, lol!)

No train tracks in this real-life dream! (see my last post if you don't know what I mean.)

Thanks babe!
(Say, you look cute in that helmet!)

BTW, if you cannot see the videos of our adventure below, please click here.

Walk to see Gramma

Gramma's been with Jesus for over two years now.

Her grave is just a short walk from our home... in Sunnyside Cemetery.

Thank you God for the ability to walk... and make memories...

"The heavens declare the glory of God...

...the skies proclaim the works of his hands" PSALMS 19:1

Back home...

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.
Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness."
So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Cor 1:8,9)

"There is no greater mercy that I know of on earth than good health except it is sickness, and that has often been a greater mercy to me than health." CH Spurgeon

Thanks Dawna for reminding me once again that I have all I Need ~ Merv

Some Very Exciting News...

Deep Brain Stimulation Stalls Parkinson’s Progression --Doctors Lounge

Motor symptoms do not
show expected worsening
after five years when
treatment briefly stopped

In patients with Parkinson's disease who are effectively treated with deep brain stimulation, the natural progression of the disease's motor symptoms appears to stabilize over time, according to a study published in the November issue of the International Journal of Neuroscience.

FRIDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who are effectively treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS), the natural progression of the disease's motor symptoms appears to stabilize over time, according to a study published in the November issue of the International Journal of Neuroscience.

Michele Tagliati, M.D., of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues investigated the long-term progression of PD motor symptoms in 50 patients treated with subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS). Patients were evaluated preoperatively and at yearly intervals using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale: 21 patients at year one, 17 at year two, 14 at year three, 16 at year four, and nine at year five. Four clinical states were assessed: off medication and DBS off, off medication and DBS on, on medication and DBS off, on medication and DBS on.

The researchers found that motor scores measured without medication and with DBS off were virtually unchanged compared to the preoperative scores of patients up to five years after surgery. This result was seen in patients with both shorter (<11 years) and longer duration of PD prior to surgery. There was also no consistent deterioration from untreated baseline in any of the motor subscores, which included tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and axial symptoms.

"Untreated PD motor scores did not worsen over time in patients undergoing STN-DBS, suggesting that there is no progression of motor severity. These results could be explained either by a natural stabilization of PD motor symptoms after many years or neuroprotective properties of STN-DBS," the authors write.

Parents of 50 Million U.S. Children Soon to Lose Parental Rights

If your children attend public school, you are among those parents whose rights will end the moment your child enters the school. That’s because in 2005 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found in Fields v. Palmdale School District “that the Meyer-Pierce right [of parents to direct the upbringing of their children] does not exist beyond the threshold of the school door.” 


You read that right. Parental Rights “[do] not exist beyond the threshold of the school door.”

“We conclude that the parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on the subject [of sexuality] to their students in any forum or manner they select” (emphasis added).

Of course, most parents contend they don’t have a choice in where their children are schooled. Either economic constraints or personal circumstances leave them with no practical alternative to the local public school. And that leaves no parental rights at all.

Please act to reverse this assault by big government courts against parental rights. Sign the petition and get more information at ParentalRights.org.

Then, please pass this on. Every parent of a public school student needs to know the extent to which the courts have robbed them of their rights. Click here to visit this page online and use the “share” button to add it to virtually any other social network.  (To read more from this case, click here.)