First the GOOD NEWS!! Both Victor and I are still here, alive and kicking, and actually doing quite well. However, during the first two months of 2011, whether or not we were going to be around was truly in question.

The year started off with some life-threatening health challenges for both of us. On January 17th I was admitted to the hospital on an emergency basis as a result of a severe kidney stone attack in the middle of the night. The doctors determined that the stone had caused an acute kidney infection. I underwent minor surgery to have a kidney stent inserted to drain the infection and was sent home after three days with a boat load of medication. The stent stayed in until April during which time I literally had to stay chained to a bathroom because I had absolutely no control of my bladder and had to pee every 15 minutes all day and all night! So, as you can imagine, I was unable to sleep soundly and as a result felt exhausted and overwhelmed all the time. I was just grateful that I could work at home. It would have been impossible to work at a job outside the home with that stent in place.

One month later, on February 21, Victor was admitted to the hospital from the emergency room after suffering a heart attack. Since it was a holiday weekend and the regular surgical staff were not on duty, they had to call in a team of heart surgeons from Oakland to perform the surgery at 11:00 PM. They found two blocked coronary arteries and inserted stents to keep them open. Fortunately, the surgery was successful, and after three days, he too was sent home with a boat-load of medication. He tells the story of his experience on his blog at http://tatwd.net/2011/02/still-here/

In March I was scheduled to have a procedure to "blast" the kidney stone at the Kaiser facility in Oakland. When I showed up, they took my blood pressure and were aghast at how high it was. They would not do the procedure and sent me immediately to my doctor who put me on blood pressure medication. (For those of you who know us well, you know that both Victor and I have never had to take prescription meds -- other than an occasional antibiotic. So having to take all these medications at different times during the day was quite an adjustment for us.) The procedure was rescheduled for April after which they removed the kidney stent and I could once again resume a normal life (i.e., be able to venture more than 30 feet from a bathroom) and get an uninterrupted night's sleep!

Victor and I continue to work with the Foundation for Inner Peace doing their websites ACIM.org and ACIM-Archives.org as well as various other projects. One of those projects is the ACIM Weekly Thought, a wonderful free service from the Foundation that now has a subscriber list of well over 10,000 people! In addition to creating graphical renditions of "Thoughts" from A Course in Miracles, I've also created a line of mugs, t-shirts, and a multitude of other products from the Weekly Thought designs. You can see them at the Open Heart CafePress online store. We love working with Judy and Whit and the other people at the Foundation. (Above is a photo of us all at a recent holiday dinner. Judy & Whit are standing at the left of the photo. The dinner was held at their beautiful home in Marin County.)

I’ve been spending a lot of time researching ebook publishing and have published my first eBooklet "How Do I Love Myself" available for the Kindle at Amazon.com. I've come to realize with all the electronic reading devices now available, that ebook publishing is the direction we are headed. This coming year we will be publishing a series of eBooks for the Foundation for Inner Peace and we also plan to publish a series of our own ebooks through Open Heart Press. In February of 2012 I will be initiating an Open Heart Women's Writing Circle where we will be focusing on writing eBooks. The writing circle will be a prototype for a national organization I plan to initiate. I've also started to blog -- something I've been wanting to do for a while and have finally taken the leap. Check it out at blog.openheart.com.

In May, Victor and I flew to Virginia Beach for his daughter's graduation from nursing school. She was surprised to win an award for academic excellence! We are both so very proud of her. Here is a photo of her with her children, Kai and Kenna and another photo with her and her proud dad!

Victor is making great headway on his MetaConnectors project that is beginning to generate interest in the nonprofit world. We are currently looking for funding so that it can be launched this coming year. You can get more information about this project at: metaconnectors.com.

After taking a season off from singing, I am once again active in the Diablo Women's Chorale. We recently put on our 69th Annual Holiday Concert. It was a fun event. You can find out more and see some photos at diablowomenschorale.com

My kids and their families are doing well. We don't get to see them as much as we'd like.

	Kris has made it up our way from Southern California a couple of times this year, so we got a chance to see her, Jeff and the boys.

Liz also made a trip out this past year from Texas. Liz's husband, Sean, has started a kid's baseball league in their town and all three of their boys are playing on teams.

	Liz has also started a new business with a friend. They bought a Frigid Frog franchise and sell shaved ice and other goodies at all the league ball games. It's turned out to be quite a lucative venture.

We hope to get to visit them this coming March. They've built a guest house on their property this year (complete with kitchen, living room, bedroom and bath) so that we'll have a place to stay when we visit.

My son Greg is still living in Indiana and his kids are living with their mom in Ohio.
Below he is pictured on his pride and joy:
Ken's old motorcycle.

Well, I think that just about covers our news for the year. We're hoping that 2012 will
bring us all good health, abundant prosperity, a peaceful world and a joy-filledl life!