MEDICAL
I had my annual physical early in the month. All my lab work looked great, including my A1C (blood sugar average for the past three months). My doctor scheduled me for several more medical screening procedures, which are still coming up on my calendar. She told me that because my blood sugar tests for the past couple years have been totally normal, she believes she would classify me as "insulin resistant" rather than "diabetic." I'm still not completely clear on the difference, but she says that I still need to stay on the low carb diet, but that I probably don't need to worry about the bad side-effects of diabetes. I guess, for me, it's better to just think of it as diabetes, which will keep me more devoted to the diet.
ART CLASS
After finishing my ducks in art class, I started on a simple still life -- a vase with a single stem of lilies-of-the-valley in it. It is almost finished. My teacher wants me to add more definition to the little flowers. I'll post a photo of it after it's done. Our class will have a break for the entire month of March, so I may visit the Bell Fine Arts group, in Belton, during that month, where a lady has offered to help me get going on water colors.
GENEALOGY
Over the past month or two I've made huge strides in solving some mysteries surrounding the life of my paternal grandfather, Wellington Wesley Clark. Let me just say THIS about THAT . . . a genealogist is a person who digs up all the secrets that her ancestors worked hard to bury! LOL! I'm finding that my one-year stint working at Wayne Brewer's Private Detective Agency (which I loved), is serving me well in my genealogy research!
We had a very interesting guest speaker at our February Bell County Genealogy Society meeting. Her name was Dr. Edna Bridges. She was head of teacher education at University of Mary Hardin Baylor (in Belton) for 26 years. But what brought her to our meeting was the fact that she was born and raised in Tennessee Valley, TX. Tennessee Valley was on the Leon River near Belton, in Bell County. Between 1949 and 1954, the entire population had to be relocated so that the valley could be inundated to created Lake Belton. Dr. Bridges told some wonderful stories of her early life in that idyllic pioneer town, and what it was like for everyone to lose their homes. She is one of the few Tennessee Valley residents still living. I've always really enjoyed having beautiful Lake Belton just down the road from us, but will look at it more appreciatively after hearing her story.
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| Dr. Bridges = Bright, witty and charming |
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| Tennessee Valley Two-Room Schoolhouse and photo of the students. |
Temple seems to be going through a boom when it comes to retail businesses, especially on West Adams, in our part of town. A year or so ago Walmart opened a new store on West Adams. I wasn't thrilled about that, but I have to say that it was the catalyst for a whole slew of new businesses. Many of them are fast food places -- What-A-Burger, Freddies, Starbucks, and several more still under construction. Also growing is the area across from Baylor Scott and White Hospital, on the other side of town. The land there had been held for decades by Scott and White, and they recently released it for development. A shopping center is under construction -- some of the businesses are open or almost-open (such as Panera and Edible Arrangements). Some residential apartments will also be a part of this rather large complex.
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Dan and I finally got around to seeing the new Star Wars movie. It was fun, mainly because of having the stars of the original cast back together, and because of some of the inside humor.
COMING UP
We have tickets for the upcoming Temple Symphony Orchestra Family Pops Concert. Really looking forward to that evening out.
