ok, so i enjoy writing in my blog, and this enjoyment may help me to live longer.......last night i sat and watched a 60-minutes wanna-be whose i can't recall with an hour-long special on stress. they followed around 7 people and had them wear blood pressure monitors to confirm which situations in their lives were the most stressful compared to the stress that each individual perceived.......the stay-at-home mom actually got more stress out of dealing with traffic and her spouse then with her small children, which surprised me. they didn't follow around a restaurant entreprenuer, so i cannot take much of the personal stories to heart, but i can ponder the 10 top ways to reduce personal stress- the list included 'writing in a personal journal'. a psychiatrist noted that journaling is even more effective in talk therapy in helping people work through their anxieties.

of course, some things can't be worked through- like the realization as i awoke this morning that i left something in the oven last night and that the pilot light has probably burnt it to a crisp. assuming the building is still standing when i arrive, i will have to start over.......there was a stress test involved with this tv program- and did give points for having to do too manythings at once............

stephan and ernst are in silverthorn, co, staying overnight at a condo owned by friends of bill and pearl, who met my parents at osu over 50 years ago. when i called, they were fixing to eat a watermelon, which is a shared joke between families. years ago, when my parents and bill and pearl, and many of the 'couples' who had dated in college got together for a little reunion, they sat and ate watermelon, with humerous antics like spitting seeds involved somehow- the story seemed more compelling when i heard it at age 5 than it does now- but they were eating watermelon in this condo and having a good time. ernst reported that they had had some sort of equipment breakdown- and that bill had helped him to gerryrig a solution. the condo is located near breckinridge, and is quite tony and expensive. today they ride up and over hoosier pass- the highest they will be on this trip. pray for them.......