Hurricane ? Chris - fizzled Chris

Watching our TV weather people here has been really funny, especially last night and this morning. They were forecasting Chris to become a category three hurricane and hit the Texas coast. Every wobble that happened they would claim it would be more over open, hot waters. It would intensify and be a hurricane by today. Then, gasp, it would move into the Gulf, where the waters are really hot.

And then, yesterday, it began to weaken. That was explained that it was too close to land, and it certainly was going to be over the open waters of the Gulf, and need I say more?

Then this morning they had to report that Chris was just a depression. A mere depression!! Oh the weeping of the weather people. All their hopes and dreams are almost dashed. My favorite one on the early morning news said that the Gulf coast MIGHT be hit by a tropical depression, and we should be aware of it. He wasn't a doom sayer. He didn't talk about the hot tropical waters that would cause intensification. He just stated the obvious. There could be a depression in the Gulf.

Now don't get me wrong. They can be very slow moving, and they can move then back up. They can hold lots of rain. Flooding can happen. They can are and are very destructive. I personally am not into flooding.

In this morning's paper, one of the articles on the front page was talking about the waters in the Atlantic being three degrees lower than last year, and there should be a decrease in named storms. Further in the paper, the local forecasters defended themselves stating they wanted people to be aware of what's out there. They defended the hourly updates and all the hype. They want the citizenry to be prepared - for the worst. After last year, anyone who doesn't have supplies is really dumb.

So, as of now, we won't have our news teams outfitted in raincoats with umbrellas standing in ninety mile an hour gusts with the rain pelting them like nails telling us we should not be out in that weather. It is possible that they may be out in raincoats, hip boots and umbrellas standing in thigh deep water with the snakes and fire ants telling us not to wade in thigh deep water.

More thoughts from the weekend

I need to add to yesterday’s post. Simone didn’t just suddenly develop a sensitive stomach. She was helped - a lot. G changed her food to "sensitive stomach." We didn’t take any with us because we had a lot in the freezer. It was not for sensitive stomachs. In addition, he rewarded her about five times with "cookies" (otherwise known as dog biscuits). She was completely overwhelmed, or at least her stomach was. It couldn’t handle all the changes.

Oh and by the way, the carpet cleaner worked like a champ. All stains are removed from the carpet. It looks brand new again.

I think instead of calling it "little place" it will now be known as the SSB ranch. That means stick, sting and bite because every living thing there either sticks, stings and/or bites!

Anyway, at SSB we get the Austin local channels as our local satellite channels. I could not believe one of their bozo weather forecasters who kept hoping for a disturbance in the Gulf so they could get a little rain. I know it’s dry in central Texas, but come on folks. Last Thursday we had five inches from an offshore low. Do we really wish destruction on the rest of us here on the Gulf coast?

I’ve been sitting here trying to think of something of like sort to wish on him! I can’t think of anything. But I think I will ask him to come to sit with my house if the storm comes this way. That way he can enjoy the power outages, rain and humidity. I'll sit in his air conditined house in parched Austin!

Wild weekend

It was really one wild weekend. It was one of confusion and a bit of stress. The trip to the little place was not all that pleasant. It was clear it was one for a "last fling" for many people before school starts. The traffic was very heavy. So we hit more of the back roads - those that are less traveled.

G and I are on fairly different schedules. Since he works a ten-hour/four day week, he has lunch at 12:30, or later. I am still on my teaching schedule as well as the schedule I had when keeping grandchildren eating lunch at 11:30. When we are on the road, it is nothing for him to wait until 2:00 before stopping for lunch. By that time I am ready to eat the dog! We stopped at one fast food place. I was ready! They made him mad, and we left. OMG! We went on down the road to the next town. Needless to say, I prayed a little prayer when he went in. It turned out to be OK. But we were so far behind, and there was no place to stop so he had to drive and eat.

When we got to little place, we found the lock on the gap over the cattle guard had been cut. With great trepidation, we went to the house. Everything was fine. There was no evidence of anything wrong. Our cattle lessee called. He found the lock cut, and his bull was out. We really think it was the power company, and I really believe his bull walked the cattle guard. He’s not sure of that, but I really don’t think there was any malicious behavior. But I did leave timers on this time in the house!

Early Sunday morning Simone’s sensitive stomach kicked in. She got nauseated at 2:00 A.M.. I took her out, and she was most interested in finding grass to eat. Nope - not happening there! She finally vomited once, and we headed back into the house. She was not through however. We were going to San Antonio later, so I put her out of the bedroom. When I got up the next morning, I was treated to quite a mess. She had vomited twice more and didn’t hold her "business." I was really wishing we had the floors done already. It would have been hard surfaces instead of carpet.

Our trip to San Antonio was to see the in laws in their new place. FIL had slept the night before - for the first time since they have been there. He was in a fairly good mood. The d*mn dog has reverted back to what I remember. He is WILD. He jumps and humps everyone. He needs to be neutered, yesterday. He jumps in your face and bites. I finally started making him mind. I decided I didn’t care if that made the in laws upset, but the dog finally gave me a wide berth.
I think the in laws will probably stay there. It is a nice facility. The only thing negative FIL said about it was it was an "efficiency apartment." It’s not. It is fairly large and is comfortable.

So we are back home facing the WEDDING this weekend. I am really looking forward to the rehearsal Saturday morning - at 8:00 A.M.. Oh, and did I say across town from me.

Have a good week everyone!

Flooding rains

Reflecting on the storms that buffered us yesterday, I was so happy that I was home. I hate to be away from home - specifically at work - during heavy storms. I enjoy listening to the rain run off the roof. I especially like to stay in bed when the storms are raging. That’s the best sleeping time for me. Unfortunately I had too many things to do that kept me up and running.

We were lucky that they finally dissipated after a while. We have a reverse 9-1-1 system here, and about 10:30 I got the call about flooding on some of our streets. There are areas here that become impassible when we get a moderate rain. We have a bayou about a half mile that has been known to come out of its banks. The last time, the houses on the street behind us had up to about three feet of water in them.

As much as I like the rain,. I do also worry. There has been a lot of work to help drainage. It had not been a problem until the last fifteen years. There has been so much development above us that there is no place for the water to go. Everything that was a watershed is now concrete. Holding ponds have been created, but I don’t know if they are doing any good.

I really needed to run several errands, the grocery store being chief among them, but I was afraid if I left the house I would not be able to get back home. It appeared we were going to be spared more rain, but I couldn’t be sure. Even though my street is normally passable, I am surrounded by streets that become impassible.

Other than the normal reasons for being able to get home, I can’t be gone for more than three hours because, alas, Simone has a urinary track infection. She let us know that Sunday. We would let her out to "do her business" before we left the house, and she would leave us a gift in the entry hall. She also left a spot of blood. So we went to the vet Monday. So she gets her pills three times a day with her liverwurst. She loves them.

Still even with the problems that the rain can bring, I really enjoyed being at home with the storms raging around me. Today I get to be out in the wonderful steam bath we call Houston after a big rain. The air drapes you like the proverbial wet blanket!

Another one

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me . . . . It’s funny, in the last few years I have had a definite change in the way I look at the mounting birthdays I have had. At one time, I was ashamed of how old I was getting, and I did everything I could, short of absolutely lying, to disguise how old I was.

Now that is diametrically opposed to the way I was as a child. I so longed to be "older." I could see nothing but good from being older. Then, suddenly, I was older. Oh my! In this culture I was older. That was absolutely horrible. This is a youth oriented society.

Another reason I tried to hide my age was that when I was working, I was working with 12-13 year olds. They think 30 is old! So my goal became to hide my advancing years as best I could. Fortunately, my skin is good. I don’t smoke, and I try to avoid the sun. I finally accepted that my German/Irish/English skin was never going to tan, I would only burn. Then my mother developed melanoma when I was 23. She died from that disease three years later, I was more dedicated than ever to stay out of the sun.

I began having my hair highlighted to cover the grey. I did this for so many years I had no clue what my real hair color was. I finally decided that was an expense I didn’t need. So I stopped doing that too. I should add that I was already retired when I did that, plus now I wear a wig because my hair never looked that good anyway.

Now I accept my age with what I hope is grace. Every day is a gift. It’s a gift I don’t deserve, but given never the less. I live each day and enjoy what it brings. This day brings me my 61st year of life, and it has been a full life. I have so many things for which to be grateful. I just hope there are many, many more birthdays.

Drama, drama, drama

It seems like things in my daughter’s in law camp are back where they started. For lack of a better name, I will refer to them as the McCoys. Now that her step daughter has returned to San Antonio, K is the evil, demonic step mother from hell. M has told then repeatedly that K is the reason she moved back. K is the reason she could never talk to her dad, and that he was always different around K. He was not as loving to M.

Papa McCoy blasted S again about M. When they were in San Antonio last weekend to help K’s grandparents settle into their new apartment, they did not call M. The family was all too happy to let M know about it. So I imagine that, although she really could care less, this has become a new drama situation for poor, neglected M. I’m sure she is playing it to the max.

This is the same child whom I met when she was three. She was a holy terror. I have never seen a child so spoiled. She would stay with MeeMaw and Peepaw. If she awoke at 2:00 A.M. and wanted a picnic, then by jove she got a picnic. It was all about M.

S and K were engaged at the time I first met M. We took her to a pizza place with a mouse character. She was completely out of control. S couldn’t get her dressed when we were trying to leave, then when we were there, she wanted to continue to play games when it was time to go. She threw the biggest temper tantrum I have ever seen.
When she called K and S two years ago and said she had to get out of her mother’s house because she was afraid of her new stepfather, they didn’t hesitate. They made plans to get her. K was pregnant with Monkey Boy at the time, and knew she would be off of work for an extended time. She saved the money she would need. She threw caution to the wind and plunked down a large retainer for the best attorney in the city.

It is easy for the McCoys to forget that K didn’t hesitate to bring M here. She was afraid for the child. M wrote an affidavit accusing the mother and step father of all sorts of things. It was very inflammatory. As the years progressed, it became apparent that there were many lies in that paper. Now she is taking the easy way out again. She is blaming the stepparent.

The McCoys have no use for anyone who is not "blood." They are all bad people, and they are bad parents. Of course, they have threatened to disown S on several occasions, so the "blood" is not all that thick to them.

K really thought they had come to accept her. At one time they told S they wished he had not married her. She thought that was over. She has come to the conclusion that they have never changed. They still wish S and K would divorce, and do blame K for any and all problems with M.

G’s brother and wife are both psychologists, she a PhD. She sees that M is a very disturbed girl who is a pathological liar. She sees that she needs professional help. Her chances of getting it now are completely gone. I don’t see a bright future ahead for this one. She will continue spinning her drama, and thus getting into hot water. I really believe that’s the reason she made her mind up about going back in just two days. She got into some kind of real trouble here, and her mom made just the right deal with her.

Now she is spinning the stories aimed at her step mother to them instead of spinning the stories about her mom and step dad to us. The difference being that they still believe all of her lies, whereas we were beginning to see through them.

Busy time

Yesterday turned out to be a very busy one. The main reason was that I had an appointment with the retinal specialist who had done the laser surgery on my eye a couple of months ago.. At that time, there was no real idea that my vision would improve. The occluded capillary was pretty much obscuring the vision in that eye. The only promise I had was that the vision would not worsen.

Over the span of the months, I really thought my vision had increased. I was hopeful, but guarded about the situation. When I took the eye exam, it turned out I was right. My vision had improved three times what is was.
After waiting for my eyes to fully dilate, I was seen by the doctor. He was amazed with the improvement. He told me that improvement seldom happens. He also told me he really believes this is a good as it will get, but at least I have almost full vision - even if lines are sometimes squiggly.

He then did the retinal scan. To quote him "you’ve got lots and lots of nothing." Those were the greatest words I’ve heard in a long time. Perhaps my eyes will last as long as I do!

Difficulties

I guess I’m just rather naive about things in this world. When my uncle, who had no children of his own, passed away, my second cousin and I were executors of his estate. My second cousin and his wife are attorneys, and things went so smoothly when the estate was settled. So I never gave settling Dad’s estate a second thought. Was I ever wrong. This has been a horrible experience.

I am finally down to the last five or so things to do. One of them is right here in town, and I have a relationship with the banker. That should go fine. One other bank is in San Antonio. When I became guardian, they were fairly easy to work with, so I’m not expecting them to give me a hard time. Another bank is in Delaware. That may be ok too. I believe all the banks will fall in line in a similar manner.

It is the stocks and bonds that I am really worried about. When V died, I was going to put myself as joint owner with the hopes that when Dad eventually died, the hard work would be done. They sent me a huge packet of paper work. Even my attorney didn’t understand all of the paper work. It was so complicated. So I handled it the easy way - I did nothing. I’m a great procrastinator, but now it’s time to deal with the whole thing!

One of the insurance companies is being rather difficult. It seems I never send them enough paper work. They always find something else they need - even some things that they already have. V’s death certificate is one of the things they have, but say they want another.

An annuity I thought I would be the beneficiary for actually is an annuity for me. I have to die to get it. That’s not much good. They did call today and offered help is getting that one straightened out. I told her I wasn’t to that point yet.
So I have sent off for four more official death certificates for V. I sent the one insurance company a copy and a certified letter with the date of her death, etc. from the state. I know that won’t be enough. So I’ll be paying for more death certificates. I even had to go back to 1972 to get an official death certificate for my mother. She was still listed as beneficiary on a policy so I thought I had better send the death certificate.

I surely would like to be preemptive about my death. I would love to make sure my heirs don’t have to go through all this. It is really difficult. Perhaps I should just make sure we spend it all so that there is nothing for the heirs to inherit! Then there wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Difficulties

I guess I’m just rather naive about things in this world. When my uncle, who had no children of his own, passed away, my second cousin and I were executors of his estate. My second cousin and his wife are attorneys, and things went so smoothly when the estate was settled. So I never gave settling Dad’s estate a second thought. Was I ever wrong. This has been a horrible experience.

I am finally down to the last five or so things to do. One of them is right here in town, and I have a relationship with the banker. That should go fine. One other bank is in San Antonio. When I became guardian, they were fairly easy to work with, so I’m not expecting them to give me a hard time. Another bank is in Delaware. That may be ok too. I believe all the banks will fall in line in a similar manner.

It is the stocks and bonds that I am really worried about. When V died, I was going to put myself as joint owner with the hopes that when Dad eventually died, the hard work would be done. They sent me a huge packet of paper work. Even my attorney didn’t understand all of the paper work. It was so complicated. So I handled it the easy way - I did nothing. I’m a great procrastinator, but now it’s time to deal with the whole thing!

One of the insurance companies is being rather difficult. It seems I never send them enough paper work. They always find something else they need - even some things that they already have. V’s death certificate is one of the things they have, but say they want another.

An annuity I thought I would be the beneficiary for actually is an annuity for me. I have to die to get it. That’s not much good. They did call today and offered help is getting that one straightened out. I told her I wasn’t to that point yet.
So I have sent off for four more official death certificates for V. I sent the one insurance company a copy and a certified letter with the date of her death, etc. from the state. I know that won’t be enough. So I’ll be paying for more death certificates. I even had to go back to 1972 to get an official death certificate for my mother. She was still listed as beneficiary on a policy so I thought I had better send the death certificate.

I surely would like to be preemptive about my death. I would love to make sure my heirs don’t have to go through all this. It is really difficult. Perhaps I should just make sure we spend it all so that there is nothing for the heirs to inherit! Then there wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Physician, heal yourself

Warning!! This contains a graphic account of the "Houston Crud"!

After days and days of misery, I have finally found the correct treatment for this crud I have been suffering for a couple of weeks. In addition to doing it myself, I saved my $25 co-pay. Had I gone to seen Dr. Snake Oil, he would have diagnosed me as having the "Houston Crud." I love his finite diagnosis. For those of you without such an advanced physician, the symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, hacking cough. In other words allergy symptom that seem to be worse here.

Part of my misery was my own fault. You would think that I would remember to get the pharmacist away from other duties so that they can give me the drug that was once available over the counter but is not now because the drug makers were using it and now the drug makers have no doubt found a new source so we proper users are still made to suffer. (Got that didn’t ya?) Each time I went out, I had the stop on my list, but I would always either forget, or the weather looked too threatening. This specific OTC is not being ordered much, and I have to go to one of two specific stores to get it.

I began taking it on Saturday, but the cough was still taking its toll especially when I got out of bed in the morning. The tickle in the back of my throat was annoying as well. Night before last it woke me several times during the night. I had meant to get cough syrup when I went to the store on Saturday, but, alas, it was not on my list. So I began foraging in my medicine cabinet. Viola - there was a bottle. So today I feel pretty normal. The drainage is minimal, and the coughing is greatly reduced.

The best of all this is that I am $25 ahead!

Gotta be strong

Growing old is not for the weak! There are new developments everyday! I am dealing with the arthritis fairly well. I just get up more slowly that before, and standing for any length of time is completely out of the question. The two things that are bothering me the most are the loss of vision in my left eye and the carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand. These things wouldn’t be as much of a worry if I had not said I would be pianist at the wedding of close friends of B and C.

The eye is better - although it will never be normal again. I had an occluded capillary that resulted in damage to the retina. The vision is still somewhat blurry, but at least there is an image. It just makes knowing where my hand is on the keyboard much more difficult, and it makes reading the music much harder.

The carpal tunnel flares up when it feels like it, and boy has it felt like it the last couple of weeks. The fingers become so numb. They feel like they are each six inches in diameter and get stuck in the keys. When I was an organist, it wasn’t so bad because I could use the pedal to help embellish the music. The left hand could be lazy and hit a note or two now and again. With no pedal, it has to pick up some of the duties!

I am in an absolute state of panic! The wedding is in two weeks. My practice sessions end with a very numb hand and a very discouraged person. I guess I will just have to keep working on the music. I wish my son wasn’t the musician he is! I don’t think I can keep the reputation going. It seems I lose ability everyday. I was once quite accomplished. I have played for churches off and on for forty four years. I began piano fifty four years ago. The old saying of "use it or lose it" is so true.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

In my last post I was a little too hard on the officer who came to leave me the (stupid, useless) summons to court. Last year, he seemed like a real bully. I think he was miffed that I didn’t see the card that he left in the mailbox (federal offence). I had gotten the mail while still in my car, and the card fell out of the stack. I found it several months later - yes I know, it is months between cleaning of my car, but business cards are small!

This year, I called and had to leave a message. I was gone to the attorney’s office when he called. He instructed me to leave a message as to the best time for him to return. I just love to play phone tag!

When he came yesterday, we had a very good conversation. He was cordial and humorous. I told him we wouldn’t meet like this next year however. We discussed the asinine rules of law requiring me to turn the estate over to me both wondering how many lawyers to took to get rulings like that in place.
I spoke with SIL about the move. She told me that it went fairly smoothly. FIL did not participate with it other than driving the car there. The counselor at the facility had everyone in the world come by to greet them. All the support staff came by and gave them their cards. When M and P left, FIL was at least reading some pamphlets about the facility. Several of the men who live in the same group of cottages had come by previously. But as to him staying, that is the unknown in this equation. I guess we will just have to see.

K went to see them today. I understand MIL has lots of things for her to do. MIL is like that. If family comes, she finds things for them to do. I was reading her autobiography yesterday. When she was scheduled for back surgery a couple of years back, her thoughts were to clean and straighten all closets, all drawers, paint rooms, etc. She is and has been struck with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She annoys G to the point of distraction. In her autobiography almost every other sentence was "I washed and ironed clothes." That seems to be her perception of her role in life. G told me she even irons boxer underwear.

I am anxious to hear from K this evening. Not only is she dealing with her grandparents, she will be dealing with S’s family. This is the first time they have spent any time with them since S’s daughter decided to move back with her mother. She then proceeded to really "dump" on K. She told them K was overbearing, and that was the reason she went back to her mother. She said she never could talk to S because of K. In reality, she was always afraid to talk to S seeking K out. S’s family has been so devious about contacting M. She normally would never seek them out, but M is aware of the previous problems in that family and is all too ready to use them to cause more and more dissenting and turmoil. That is really too bad. The only way she can validate herself is to cause turmoil.

One circus after another

My life is often just one circus after another. Tuesday when I was out either for my blood work or Simone’s blood work, one of our finest constapimples (constable) dropped by my house again. This happened last year. Since I was my father’s guardian, I have to report to the court every year with an accounting of the estate. I turn everything over to my attorney, and she goes to court.

Last year, things didn’t get there early enough for the court’s liking, so they sent me a summons to appear in court. Have you ever been served a summons? I hadn’t. I was in here doing something when someone beat on my front door so hard that I thought the door was going cave in. Cats went flying everywhere. They thought the world was ending. It was a constapimple. He was serving papers. I was totally panicked. I had never had such a thing happen to me.
I immediately came in to call my attorney. She calmed me down, and explained that everything was fine. The papers were submitted, and I did not have to go to court. So when I found the card, I knew what was going on. This is such a waste. Those papers did not have to be sent out, and there is no reason for this man to "serve" me. In effect, I am turning the estate over to me. This is another case of the innocent paying for those who are criminals. I know there are guardians that take advantage of the estate. What’s funny is that they can do it legally. They can be paid for doing this job. What a scam.

So tomorrow Officer Swiss Steak will come to my house, pound on my door, and have me sign papers for a court appearance I don’t have to make. All of this so that I, as guardian, can turn the estate over to me, the executrix. At least I won’t have to deal with the good officer next year!

The in-laws are moved. She’s happy as a clam, and he is in a foul mood. There are several couples in the cottages, so he should be able to meet others. All of their previous friends have passed away. They need new friends. The future is hard to predict though. No one is sure he will stay.

A hard day has come

We made our pilgrimage to San Antonio on Monday to visit the in-laws and pick up the "stuff." When we got there, FIL was in the back room with my daughter. He seemed to be in fair spirits, but later I discovered it was only because of the great grandchildren being there. I sat with him for a few minutes. The first thing he said to me was "this is not my idea."

I understand fully that he doesn’t want to leave the house in which he has lived for 54 years. They built that house, raised their family there, had the grandchildren visit for weeks in the summers, entertained their great grandchildren there. That house was his dream. Not many blue color workers had a beautiful three bedroom home like this one. It even had a stone that was not used much at that time.

I have lived in my house for 31 years in November. We have made it our own. I don’t want to leave it either, and I hope that I don’t have to leave it in the foreseeable future. I do know that I will have to leave it someday if I live that long. As we age, this same situation is in our future.

I also know that the mess I walked into was not the way to handle this move. He agreed to a three-month trial. He was sitting in the sun porch with all the things that belonged in the china cabinet strewn around him. Boxes and boxes of things sat around waiting to be gone through by the children and grandchildren. He was surrounded by the objects obtained in his life strewn about, and being picked over by people. This was not the way to handle this situation. I am worried about him. He tends to depression anyway. He sits in what is now the chaos of his belongings while his wife of 64 years becomes more and more Obsessive Compulsive about leaving, which happens today.

My poor SIL has been there for a week and will remain until tomorrow. It has been a really tough time for her. FIL has taken his ire out on her. She has taken it all, but is now becoming angry about it. MIL is oblivious about FIL’s mood. She doesn’t care. I suppose that is one of the by-products of OCD. She is not focusing on anything else around her. G tried to tell her something, and she paid no attention. I don’t know how SIL will make it. She remarked that Fil could just stay in the house if he wanted. She was to the point she didn’t care anymore. She has been the brunt of so much of his anger that he will not direct to his wife. SIL is the youngest of the brood, and the only female.

As I was observing all this, I also realized even more fully how much they need to move - and probably not to just a retirement "village" but to full assisted living. On more than one occasion, I could see my father’s blank face appear in hers. She has dementia as well as her physical problems. He does too. I have seen this for years, but no one else has. I prayed I would never see "the look" again. It hurt me to the core. She is where my dad was when he was five years into his twelve-year journey into oblivion. He was partially functional for a while, but the result will be the same. She will have to go to full assisted living. Perhaps a memory support unit like he was in, a locked unit to protect her.

I don’t know what is in store for them in the future. Their future is limited as is, but I don’t know how good it will be. Are we going from a woman who was in constant pain, limited to what and where she could go, and focusing only on her pain becoming increasingly depressed? Or do we modify a house that is in a dangerous setting so that a man can go on happily until someone harms him or them? Someone’s mental health hangs in the balance. She will be happy there. She will get out and meet others that are living there. She will go back to the way she was before, but what will happen to him. If I could write the ending of this saga, he would find that there are people to meet and visit with. He can still take the dog out on walks - that are safe now. Their back yard will be plenty for them to sit out with the dog in the evenings and everyone will be just as happy - even if it is only 10 x 20. I just wish I could write the end to this tale. An ending where everyone can live out their lives happily. I’m just afraid of the real ending.

Our weekend

Well, we’re back up here in our little place in the hill country. We showed our "stuff" at the arts and craft fair in town yesterday. For July, the temperature was quite pleasant. Usually there is a hot, dry wind coming from the desert which isn’t too far away. It’s not uncommon for July to see triple digits in this part of the country.

The fair was set up under the towering pecan trees on the courthouse square. It is a requirement that you have a sun shelter however because the temperatures do have the ability to climb quite high, and there are places where the trees don’t cover. That could have been a problem where we were assigned. The morning began with sunlight covering most of our space before the sun rose higher in the sky. As it continued along its path, the shade deepened, and with the occasional breeze, it was bearable. The humidity is something that is not often a factor, but it was high yesterday. For those of us from the swamp, it was not unbearable. For those who hailed from this region, they were miserable.

There were more vendors that last year, and there were more people. But there wasn’t as much money flowing as previous years. We visited with our neighbors who said they were really down in sales. They made over $1300 last year, and would do good if they made $500 this year. We didn’t even make that.

Two of the families were partially up here. G’s brother and his wife came. Their daughter and her son came with them since her house was being painted by her husband. She wanted to be out of the house because she is pregnant. She is due to have twins in late October. K and I are in awe of her. I know people who have had twins, but never knew them during their pregnancies. It is just so strange to us. We can’t imagine what it is like to hbave two little bodies inside. Poor E however. Both babies are on track - for singletons!! If they continue like this, I don"t know how long she will be able to work and continue with her activities.

K really wanted to bring her dog, who has become an inside dog since her other two disappeared. I wasn’t sure how Simone would do since she has taken charge of the house. We introduced them briefly, and no blood was shed. They got here first. When we came in, King’s hair on his back bristled. It was a tense moment, but it was only than. A moment. Simone is not happy about the interloper though. Her food must be in the bedroom and not where she can eat when we eat. She decided she would mark the floor right off the bat! She has done that three times now. I would be more upset, but we will have new floor coverings before Thanksgiving (I hope).

The usual occasional bristling occured among us two legged creatures as well. G and I are pretty set in our ways, and things don’t happen as they would when it is just us. Son in law must go to sleep with the TV and wake up with the TV. The problem with that is that the only set is against our bedroom wall. S just doesn’t get it. But then his family and ours are at two very different ends of the spectrum. K was remarking n that last night after we returned from dinner with the kinfolks.

Today is a quiet (he is working on his feeder away from the house), and the kids are watching a movie on his computer in the other bedroom. Right now it is too hot to breathe outside, but the AC is keeping us very comfortable. Tomorrow we journey to San Antonio to go through more "stuff" as G’s parents prepare for the move to a retirement apartment. I really believe that MIL would do better to not dispose of everything right now. FIL has agreed to a three month trial. She is shutting everything down. No wonder he is grumpy. Perhaps a visit from Monkey Boy will cheer him. Monkey Boy is named for his favorite brother. We shall see. I hope it brings him some joy.

At wit's end

For every step forward with technology, it seems I take two steps back. I just tried to post that I finally remembered how to find all the sites I had bookmarked. Those treasures that I thought were gong forever. I knew they had to be here somewhere.

I then convinced F*refox to allow spell check. So now I may have posts that make some sense. That is IF I am allowed to publish. I wrote a little post a while ago that was not allowed to be published. It is floting around cyberspace somewhere!

Mish mash

As I have moaned before, technology has passed me by. Today I finally recalled (or just stumbled upon) how to get my favorites back. I can't believe I finally did it! Della and I are still fighting tooth and nail, and I don't have time to call India right now. That always ends up being an hour conversation with me crawling about on the floor removing memory cards and unplugging cables.

I still cannot get everything to allow me to import into this blog nor use spell check. These posts should prove to be very interesting.

We are working like little beavers trying to get enough product for the craft show this weekend. K has gotten really excited about things. She is really working on things now. It is difficult with the two small children.

We will be stopping in San Antonio on our way back home. MIL called me Monday to ask us to stop by. She "has stuff to get rid of." I told G I couldn't see how she could have much. She has been doing that for years. With her getting rid of stuff, my step mom dying, and then my dad, I am having real difficulty with "stuff.'' Then, of course, I do have all my own "stuff' which has been accumulating for 31 years here. I think I need to pretend that I am moving!!

Sibling rivilary

My children are almost 33 and 30. In the past, they have been very close. When B entered high school, K immediately took him under her arm. They pretty much had the same friends. Hers were his, and his were hers. Their group of friends spanned from freshmen to seniors.

Their closeness continued during college, and pretty much into the time that K really rebelled and took off on her own. That is another story, and one of the two that I don't like to remember much less share.

They were pretty close until b got married. Then the relationship we had with B went the way of all married men. They are closer to the woman's family. It doesn't make it easy, but it is usually what happens.

We do try to have our Sunday night dinners though. Part of the reason those don't happen as much is our fault. We are gone two Sundays a month. But when were are here, we do try. Most of the time we get together.

Last Sunday, B asked if is was ok +for his engaged friends to come along. K was not happy about that. She wanted to visit her brother without anyone else there. She got so incensed that she indicated she would not come. That scared me because she was bringing the food. It was the left overs from S's surprise birthday party the night before. I was going to be in a real bind! She fumed over the phone for a while. Later she called and apologized. I thought things would be ok.

K and S were late, of course. The drive was full, and they had to park at the curb. I know she did it just to make a point, but she brought all the food in at once. She never came up to the door to ask for help. She just loaded herself down, then came in with a glare for everyone. I thought we were in for a long evening.

Tensions finally settled, and I think everyone had a great time visiting. But it was touch and go for a while! I expect Lady Bug and Monkey Boy to have sibiling rivilaries, but heavens to Betsy, my two are getting a little long in the tooth for this stuff!! ONe of my friends who has children that are twenty years older than mine told me it never got easier. Was she ever right!

Oh my!

Things are becoming interesting around the old homestead. First, I have been doing battle with Della the besk top once again. I think she is going through menopause, and is becoming increasingly cranky. Saturday she decided that I should no longer access my mailbox that I have through me server. In fact, as that program began to boot, she gave me the message that my account does not allow that access. I finally got the tool bar back, but it just impotently sits there. As I write this I can just imagine what searches are going to end up here!

I thought I had solved the problem late last night when I finally made the big jump to Firefox. I am a faithful girl even though Firefox had been greeting me every morning there on the desk top, but not being too forward. It just flirted with me. It invited me over for coffeem but never crossed the line. It just sat there - waiting. So yesterday I divorced Explorer. Things were super - for a while. But now the tool bar is once again just impotently sitting there. Mocking me.

Now, the real problem I suspect is with Della herself. When she died last month and the guru in India allowed a technician to actually come to revive her, it was only a brief cure. It just got the heart started, but the brain damage was still there. When Technician One came out, he had a power supply AND a motherboard. The problem was the power supply transplant was a dud. That meant I had to have Technician Two who brought the same transplants. Once he got the heart started, he throught the brain was ok. Della has not been the same since. She is increasingly shutting me out of things.

I once was able to write my post in WordPerfect and copy and paste. Nope that is not allowed. I don't know if it is Della or Firefox or for that matter Blogger. So I have to write on the final copy. But then the new girl in the house does the same thing. Gladys doen't let me cut and paste. I also just discovered Della is not letting spell check work. Great. Sorry folk for the typos. I can't type, and I am the world's worst proof reader. That is a terrible combination.

My mother was so afraid that I would become a secretary, she always turned me away from typing classes. Of course when I DID take the college route - before PC's - she refused to type my papers! If she only knew the disparity in salaries of Executive Secretaries and teachers! But that's another story!

All I can say for sure is that my extended warranty is not up yet, and I plan to extend it.

Oh, to be a watch dog!

Poor Simone. She wants so terribly to be a watch dog. She needs to give that idea up. It isn’t going to happen - ever. She is a wimp.

This past week has been a little rough on our wanna be watch dog. It began on Monday. We scheduled an appointment with the contractor who is going to build our barn/garage in the hill country. He brought his flooring guy also because I want to get rid of the wall to wall carpet that harbors all those nice grass burrs that I get in my feet.

I put Simone on the leash because when the second D*ll guy came out to revive the desk top, she was acting a little strange. I don’t know if she was attracted to the guy or didn’t like him. She wouldn’t leave him alone. Being the narcissistic person that I am, I assumed she was protecting me from the evil man.

So I put Simone on the leash Monday. When the guys came in she immediately began shivering! I couldn’t believe it. She usually only does this during a thunderstorm. She never reacted to people this way. I finally let her go. I was curious to see what she would do. She finally calmed down.

Yesterday was sensory overload again. The day began with the lawn guys coming. Oh the noise! Especially the leaf blowers when they get close to the doors. She usually stays very close to my side.

Then later in the day our exterminator came. We have been using him for twenty years, but Simone never met him. Again because I was here alone with him, I put her on the leash. The shivering began again. Daniel is good with dogs, and let her approach him. I finally let her off the leash, and things were fairly good for her. She remained wary.

Then we were visited by the garbage men who, in our town, pick up the garbage at the back door. That always gets her attention. Twice a week, her habitat is invaded my strangers who make noise. Finally the pool guy came which is bad enough, but because school is out, he brings his young boys who will be boys. More noise!

When it was time to go out to potty, she wouldn’t go. The umbrella was open over the table, and it smelled wrong. There was insecticide sprayed all over her potty. She wouldn’t even go out the door. Not even with my escorting her or trying to escort her. The first time, no dice.

This morning she was exhausted. When the alarm went off, she stayed in her crate. G woke her once. She went back to sleep. He woke her a second time as he was leaving the bedroom. She finally came out. I put her out, but I’m still not sure she attended to business.

I guess I’ll wait until next week to visit the vet for her four month heartworm check up. I don’t think she could take it this week! There has been far too much excitement around here for a rescue dog!

It's a go - I think

G’s sister called last evening. She had been in San Antonio to accompany her mother to look at the retirement apartments. When she got there, her dad was sitting at the table eating - alone. She said that was not a good sign. He immediately said he wasn’t going to a nursing home. The place my MIL had chosen was not a nursing home. At all!
SIL went to MIL to ask if she still wanted to go to the apartments. MIL replied she certainly did. So off they went! SIL had my nephew with her. Now I generally think that nephew is not good for much but trouble (glad SIL doesn’t even use a computer much less know about this blog!), he must have been the changing factor.

When they got to the apartment, nephew kept commenting on how great things were. He went through the kitchen constantly remarking about the "neat" things that were there. Whatever he said must have had an effect on FIL! They are moving. I can’t believe it. July 12 they are going to move to that apartment. They will still keep the house until they decide if they will stay or not, but FIL committed to three months. That is something.

He still was making stupid excuses like: "how will we ever get our mail transferred" and "those people really dress for dinner." So BIL will send in the change of address and take his dad shopping for clothes.

SIL even said there would be a playmate for the puppy when he returns from his "school" in three weeks. That may have been the deciding factor for FIL.

At least they will be in a smaller place, a safer place, and one that MIL can navigate easily. She will have people around. That will help her so much. She won’t have to just sit around and dwell on her intense pain.

News Flash. MIL just called. She sounds so happy! She hasn’t sounded that good in a long time. I’m so happy for her!

Our Weekend Experiences

This is not the post that was going to appear here today. It is locked safely on a CD because the new notebook is not allowed to post to the internet - or Blogspot anyway. I can shut the one firewall down completely. That is the one that I have to close on this desktop. The virus software also has a firewall that it will not allow me to shut down.

So I got clever. I would take the saved post that I wrote on Sunday, and put it on a CD. Perfect! So the CD has other files on it. So what! The "what" is that the file won't open. As I have stated over and over - technology is leaving the station and I'm still on the platform. Wait - I managed to jump on board this time! I tried another path and rescued the post. So, without further ado here is what I was thinking Sunday evening!

As I write this, we are still in the hill country. I’m in love with this notebook! I have always wanted one of my very own, and now I have it. When I taught, I had one and loved it.

We didn’t make it to my family’s reunion. One of the cousins in G’s family is also into genealogy, and she had the CD of that family also. We began comparing notes and I gave her the CD I had been working on. I have names she doesn’t have, and she has names I don’t have. It was very beneficialto us both.

One of her daughters lives near us, so I imagine we will be corresponding much more than either of us thought before. Her husband has helped her to really get into genealogy more than ever. Her father collected quiet a lot of information back in the seventies, but her husband even accompanies her to genealogy classes. He is very supportive - unlike someone I am close to!

On our way into town for the reunion, we have to travel on dirt roads (uh, read rock). We rounded a curve and there was what looked like a "cow patty" from a distance. As we got closer, I could see there was a head with ears sticking up. We got even closer and discovered it was a brand new born fawn. It could not have been more than a few hours old. It was so new that it had some difficulty getting its little legs to work so it could scamper off into the tall grasses on the side of the road.

Now before you chastize us for leaving the poor little creature there, let me assure you - it was most definitely not abandoned there. I think I saw mom a few feet off to the left in the brush, and that’s the way the fawn headed. Last year we had no cattle on this place, and we had a fawn born under our front deck. We only saw mom when we arrived and she was scared off, but that fawn was perfectly alright. We saw the two of them on several occasions last year as the fawn grew. We know we were seeing them, because she was the only doe that hung around the house - as she had been doing for some time before she gave birth. She didn’t hand around the house this year because the calves would get under the deck this year.

I spent the rest of the weekend getting more crafts ready for the big craft show that will be here in two weeks. The down side of using the time we are here is that first we are 45 minutes from town. I heard a phrase the other day that covers where we are: we’re not at the end of the world, but we can see it from here. The other thing is that the nearest town is closed on Sunday! There are two restaurants that are open, but that’s about it. The store that has a nice craft section is closed on Sunday. So I am through until we return to civilization because I am out of head pins.

We will be meeting with the contractor who we hope will build our barn/garage before we leave. I am also going to have his company replace all the carpets and vinyl here with tile and laminate. I am so tired of stepping on grass burrs that hide in this carpet. I cannot get people to make absolutely sure they wipe their feet well before coming in the house. I want to be able to be in my normal state of bare feet. Also when Lady Bug and Monkey Boy are there, they don't need to get into the burrs either. Since we have a foundation of fine gravel we are getting that in the carpet also. Gotta get rid of that carpet!

I do have access to dial up here, but it’s long distance so I’ll post this when I get back home. I’m afraid I will be tempted to publish this, then check my email, then catch up on the blogs I read, and before I know it, I will have quite a phone bill.

Things that make be think "What"

Sometimes I get the feeling that the world is zooming past me. While I was reading the paper this morning I found some things that made me think "What??"

While reading Hints from H*loise, there was a good hint about putting receipts and instruction booklets from appliances in a notebook. The thing that made me laugh a little was that she said she told her fiancee about the hint. They now have six notebooks going. Uh, just when are they going to get married? Or have they gotten that much stuff from showers? If so they must have a bunch of friends and famiy.

The next thing that got my attention was the ad on the back page of the same section. It was an add for one of those under a dollar stores. I guess since it IS still June, they would use a wedding theme for their add. In fact it was "Wedding Jitters Relief." Included in the add that caught my attention were pregnancy tests and condoms. Hmmm. You also could also have your official bridal registry with them. I wonder how many socks, reading glasses, deodorant sticks,condoms and pregnancy tests should be placed on the registry. That doesn’t include the gallons of water, eggs and aluminum foil, or would that be for the reception.

I also found that I am googled most for w*ter in the ear. I hesitate to write it out completely because I’m afraid I’ll become the number one site for that. I mean, is it really such a major problem?

Yes, I think the world is whizzing by me and I just sit here in a dazed stupor - and laugh. A lot!

Father's day

It'a no secret I lost my father in January. Actually I lost him ten years ago. That's when Alzheimer's got its grip on him. This is the first Father's Day completely without him. Happy Father's Day, Daddy. I love you and miss you so much.

Be reunited

It always seems to happen this way. Last year my family in the hill country had their family reunion the weekend after G’s family had one of theirs. This year, they are on the same day. It is not the same part of G’s family, so we committed to go. Besides, I have done a lot on the genealogy for this part of the family, and I would like to submit it.
I have never attended a reunion for my Gillespie branch of the family. I never knew they existed until three years ago. When I found them, the reunion was over. The next one wasn’t announced until we had committed to the big reunion that only happens every seven years. This year the reunion we are going to is every two years. I guess there is hope for next year.

I had never attended family reunions before I married G. My mother’s family consisted of one of her brothers whom we were close to. They lived about a mile away from us and we saw them all the time. I think there was something terrible that happened with my mother’s family when I was still too young to understand. It must have had something to do with my grandmother’s death. That is always such a passionate time anyway, and feelings are easily hurt.

One of her brothers was killed in an accident when I was very young, her sister was old enough to be her mother, and lived in Ft Worth. Another brother lived in Houston, and they were estranged for a number of years. That left my aunt and uncle who lived so close.

There was something else that happened with Dad’s family. We would visit Ma often, then it all stopped. When she died, our pastor was the one who called after seeing her obit in the paper. That must have hurt my father so, but he never let on.

Even before that with his family, the entire family unit was not close to the greater family. That is so obvious now. I knew nothing of his family past my grandmother and his sister. When I met a distant cousin at the assisted living place, we had no idea that the other existed. She didn’t know my great-grandfather, and I surely didn’t know her grandfather. They were brothers!

My family’s reunion is important to me because I would love to visit the cemetery where my great-great grandfather and other kin are buried. Since it is on private land, I need to ask. Where is it easier? I know I could ask when we go to church, but it just doesn’t seem appropriate.

Anyway, we are preparing for the reunion. Perhaps we can eat and run - to my family’s side!

It's alive again!

The D*ll is alive again. I was going to get a mother board and power supply. When the technician came out Monday, he installed everything and the power supply must have been faulty. So he arranged for another power supply, mother board, and processor. My thoughts were wow, a new computer.

When the next technician came out today, he began with the power supply. I think everything is the same inside except for the power supply. Oh well - I’ll still renew my extended warranty. To quite Martha, "It’s a good thing."

Now the next step is to get a wireless router so I can use the new laptop where ever I want.

My computer died!

This will really be short because I'm used to a notebook keydoard any more. I am a minimal typist at best, and this is really tough!

Yesterday my desk top died. I called India for support. I'm so glad I bought the three year extended wa rranty. I helped "John" diagnose that my power supply is shot, and the mother board is gone. I will have a technician here on Monday ot Tuesday to bring it back to life.

I decided that I really would like a notebook also. I have one now. I'm no longer used to the keyboard, and I really am not used to the mouse! When I was teaching, the school issued one, and I loved it. Transitions!

Bad cat!

Keeping up with keys has always been a problem for me. When I was teaching, I "lost" my classroom key on the last work day I would ever have. I had packed up everything I was removing from the classroom. The key WAS right there on my desk, but when I was ready to turn in the blasted thing - it was no where to be seen.

I was anxious to get out, so I sucked it up and paid for it. I was assured when I eventually found it, I would get my money back. Sure enough, when I got home, there was the key. It was in a notebook I emptied. Apparently I had put the key on the open notebook, then closed it with the key still there! Since the key only was $5, and I never wanted to see that building, I just threw it away.

When I got back from California, I began looking for my set of keys. I had made the conscious decision to not take them with me knowing that I would not have any need for them. I really thought I had left them on the breakfast table. They weren’t there.

My first reaction was to blame B’s cat Sasha. She loves to watch things "commit suicide." She loved to knock things off surfaces. I thought surely she had knocked the keys off, but then I couldn’t figure out what she had donewith them after that.

After looking every where, I pretty much gave up. I was getting ready to pay some bills, so I came into the office to get the bills from the cubby hole of the computer desk. Lurking there, next to the bill holder were my keys. I have never put my keys in there, in fact I never even bring my keys into this room!

I wonder how Sasha managed that!

Growing old not so gracefully

My mother in law has, once again, decided that she needs to go to an assisted living place. She really does. Her spine is badly curved, and she is in constant pain. The pain and the isolation she experiences from that pain has caused her to be very depressed. She has always been an immaculate house keeper, and the house is just too much for her. They only have one bath, and it is a shower/tub. She has trouble negotiating that tub.

A couple of weeks ago, she had my father in law convinced. She had tripped over the puppy in the back yard and broken her wrist. They have to spend hours with that dog in the back yard because he is not house broken. Fortunately it wasn’t worse than that. They were going to give the puppy to G’s sister and move.

My father in law has given it more thought, and he is fighting the move. G’s brother and sister are going to San Antonio tomorrow to take them to visit some facilities, but I just heard from G’s aunt he really doesn’t want to go. And he is using the dog as an excuse to stay in the house.

He loves his house. They have lived there for 53 years. He is attached to it. He takes the puppy on walks twice a day. But what he doesn’t realize is that the neighborhood has changed, and not in a positive way. It is dangerous for him to take those walks, and their house is just waiting for someone to break in.

This situation reminds me of my aunt and uncle many years ago. A druggie broke into their home during the early morning hours. My uncle, like my father in law, was hard of hearing. When my aunt finally woke him, he decided they needed to go out the back bedroom window. It was about 12 feet off the ground. My aunt slipped and fell. She has osteoporosis and broke every bone on her right side.

I can fully understand G’s dad’s not wanting to go to a "nursing home." He told his sister that the kids want to put him there. Well, yes. For his own good. No one is looking for the old depressing nursing home. I know full well that even the brightest facility can be rather depressing, but it is not what his parents had to be in.

As I age more, I know that she same future possible awaits me. If I live long enough, I will not be able to manage on my own. I will also be taken from my home and put into a facility. IO just hope I remember the lessons learned from our parents and go gracefully.

We live by emergencies!

Last summer we did the proverbial "closing the barn doors after the horse was out." In March of 2005, our little fifteen year old American Eskimo, who had cataracts, fell in the pool when he was on his morning outing. He nearly drowned. The sight still hurts me so much. It probably led to his eventual stroke in July when we put him down.

After he fell in, we bought a cover for the pool. Pretty much I would put it on and take it off every time we used it. I didn't want Sam to fall in again. It is not easy to put on or take off. I was killing myself.

It stayed off until October of last year when we put it on for the winter. Since the cover was on, we stopped the pool service. In the mean time, I found a new (cheaper) service, and now that all the trees have stopped blooming, it was time to take the cover off.

Now around Christmas, the pump broke. So there was no circulation for a while. We got that done. We went to California for a week. No chlorine. I also was trusting G to check the chlorine level because he spends most of his home time out there.

I wanted to get the cover off last week so we could get the new guy to come to begin cleaning. G assured me he would help me last weekend. Not. Then it began to rain. Lat night, there was no rain in the area, and I took the cover off.
Guess what. Yep the pool is a nice pea green color. I guess the combination of all the factors above and the air temperatures soaring made the pool water nice and warm. It was a perfect place for algae.

I hope John can get here soon to rescue the pool!

Rain, rain

After weeks of no rain, it appears that the monsoon season has arrived here in the Greater Houston area. That brings with it mosquitos, tons and tons of them. It brings grass that grows before your very eyes. It brings weeds that flourish in flower beds. It brings the 100% humidity that with any lifting air brings more rain.

I thought it also brought another problem - one that I thought was over. It brings a dog that doesn’t like to get her feet wet. I thought when our chow-mix died, that would no longer be a problem, but it appeared I was wrong. Simone didn’t want to go out. Yesterday morning I tried to let her out, and she looked at me as though I was crazy.

Fortunately I still have baby gates around so that meant the carpeted areas could be blocked off. There is tile in the other areas which is easy to clean. I was expecting the worst. I thought I certainly would be cleaning the tile!

I was wrong! She didn’t have any "accidents." When the weather broke for a while, she went out. I was wrong about her not wanting to get her feet wet. She is terribly afraid of thunder! She wouldn’t go out because there had been thunder a bit earlier.

Later in the day, it was lightly raining. I knew she was at the door, but I really didn’t expect her to go out when I opened it for her. She did! She went right out. I was so proud.

Gee, you would think I was talking about potty training a child. Well, some things never change. Just the circumstances change!

It never ends

Years ago when I was facing the teenage years, my dear friend and colleague told me that the worries of motherhood are never over. She had children in their late twenties and early thirties. I had no idea she was so correct!
Band C went "toobing" on a river last weekend. This is something they enjoy doing, and I knew it would be good for him to get away. I remember thinking during the weekend that I hoped they wore water socks or old tennis shoes. I know how many generations have done that exact thing. I also know now many beer bottles and cans have been deposited in said river!

B called me on Sunday to tell me about the place they were staying. It was all small talk. Just passing the time. I did ask about C’s birthday, and asked what she wanted (it was Monday). Just small talk.

K called me yesterday to give me the numbers for the charms she wanted for her bracelet. In passing she mentioned the fact B would be on disability for a while. I was shocked! Come to find out, he had cut his foot badly and broken three toes. K was surprised I didn’t know. She asked what we talked about. I told her it was certainly not that!

B called later to ask if ibuprofen would be ok to take since he had cut his feet. After asking more and more questions, I learned that he jumped into the water to retrieve an oar. They had rented a raft, and an oar got away from C. He. Had. No. Shoes. On. At. All. He claims it was the rocks that cut him - twice on the right foot, and at least four times on the left. He broke the two most lateral toes on the left and the middle toe on the left.

My friend was so right, being a mother never ends!

Dinosaur = me

When I was still teaching, I was good at keeping up with technology. As I admitted the other day, I am falling further and further behind. Five years ago, I could work with technology very well. It is no longer the case.

Sunday we were given the New Testament on a CD. OK I can handle that. CD - easy. The format is MP3. Not good. Don’t have a device with the exception of this here ol’ computer. I think we are probably the only ones on the face of the earth without one.

We were given the CDs with the challenge to listen to the entire New Testament in forty days. G wanted to participate, but listen to the daily reading in the truck. As I said before - no device to do that! I keep thinking I could find a way to change the format and download it to a regular CD. If there is, it is a deep dark secret to me.

My digital camera program was user friendly, but it has taken on a demonic personality. I was trying to print a picture the other day. I have always had to transfer the files from the program into My Documents. I keep trying to do that, but I then can’t find them. It took me over an hour to print one 4x6 picture the other day.

Yesterday, I was happily reading my book marked favorite blogs. Something happened - like happened sometime last year. My favorite list disappeared below a certain point. I can’t find it - anywhere. Fortunately I made a paper copy of most of the list, but there were a bunch of sites that I would gleefully mark as a favorite. Did I add them to the paper back up. Of course not!

I was able to restore most, if not all, of the blogs, but there were sites for finding beading supplies and the like that are completely gone.

Today I will attempt to get a picture from the new DVD player/recorder and VCR combination. I wanted both the DVD and the VCR to receive signals and be able to record. I MAY have done that, but I am not getting the picture from the unit. I don’t know what I did wrong.

With all of the above, you would never believe that I was the one people would come to get to get their electronics up and running. Boy, things are changing so fast, and I’m left in a could of dust.

Oh, is that my new cell phone ringing? Perhaps I can figure out how to answer it. Just don’t expect me to take your picture with it. The memory is full of pictures of my confused face!

Perspective

It is certainly interesting how your perspective can change your attitude. When I was an active duty teacher, I prayed for the end of the school year. In the early years, I would feel some sadness seeing those children I had worked with for the school year get on the Yellow Limousines and pull away for a summer of fun. We had shared so much together, and they had really grown physically and emotionally during the year. Alas - I really did have several "teacher’s pets," but they were all considered to be "my kids."

My school district tried the old year around school for a couple of years. That meant I had my kids all year, but not really. We would go to school for like three and a half months, go through all the things that accompany the end of the school year - like locker clean outs - four times in a school year. We also went through all the beginning of the school year things - like the students forgetting their schedule, locker combination, and most of what they had learned before the break.

In the later years of teaching, I still prayed for the end of the year, but I usually was ready to see them off - only with no sadness. Teaching had really become a chore. Enumeration of that is a whole other thing, and will not be addressed here.

Now that I am not an active duty teacher, I find myself dreading the end of the school year. I know, I know. Parents who might read this are up in arms now! They have to find activities for the kids at home. I’m sure children all over the country will wake on the first morning of their summer break already moaning "I’m bored!"

I have a bit of dread because I have come to really like being able to go shopping without the crowds. I have become to enjoy the slower paced times at the stores when it’s mostly us old folks and young mothers. There are none of the little shopping carts that some grocery stores provide coming full speed at your shins with the driver looking behind themselves instead of ahead.

But this too shall pass. In our area, I counted only about ten weeks of summer. It will be short for some of us. When I was on the other side of the desk it was entirely too short, but for some of the children it will seem too long which will make the ten weeks way too long for their long suffering parents.

Strange how a change in perspective colors the same event.

What a wonderful evening!

Lady Bug is a graduate now. Last night was her graduation from Pre-Kindergarten. The children sang songs and did little skits. They were so precious, and they looked so small. It was such a pleasant evening, and was so well done!

Of course there were the usual amusing events. One little boy refused to say his lines when his turn came up. He took off the mortar board and walked down the aisle to his mother, refusing to return to his seat up front. Another little boy found the zipper on his robe and amused himself for several minutes zipping and unzipping his robe. Then his attention was turned to the mortar board which soon was on his head backward.

Lady Bug played the "lead" in The Little Red Hen. It was a role suited for her. She is much like the hen. She will do things "herself!" She knew her lines perfectly. She had practiced in California when she and "Pa" were sitting in the back seat of the minivan.

It was a delightful evening. We all, with the exception of "Pa," had a great time. But I am realizing that Lady Bug is really growing up. Next year it is real school.

Interesting trip!

Things were in good condition at little place. Everything was closed up correctly - with one exception that we didn’t discover until Saturday. It was minor, but still grated on G. We kept telling them they had to take the little garbage they generated overnight, and I assumed they had done just that. No. S put it into the burn barrel. The problem is that he used a plastic corn sac and it was filled with plastic bottles and aluminum cans. That doesn’t go into the burn barrel.

The weather has been rather rough there. When we went to the community club meeting our neighbor told us there were several periods of being without electricity - some lasting about seven hours. So I had to reset all the timers we have.

The real low point of the trip was Simone got car sick. She had never gotten car sick before. We were half way to Austin when she first vomited. She remained ill the whole trip. I thought she was reacting to the raw hide bone she had been eating at home. I vowed to take those away from her since she had one along with the blasted $200 brownie. (I would add a link back to that post, but I am becoming more and more technologically handicapped - I don't know how to do it!) I thought that would cure the problem. I also vowed to call the vet when we got home because she obviously has a very sensitive stomach, and I want something that would make her more comfortable when it acted up.

Yesterday when we left, we had not gotten any further than our cattle guard. I looked back at Simone. She was salivating again. She was already car sick. We had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile at the most. By the time we were on the county road, she vomited. That was about a mile.

Two things are for sure. She is going to the vet - today. The second is she has the cleanest doggie bed in the world. Yep, she vomited on it both ways.

We are off - again

Oh, we are such jet setters! Just back from a week vacation in California, and we are off again to the little place. Mmm. There is a little difference there! We left temperatures ranging from mid 50's to mid 70's, and beautiful mountains. We are going to temperatures that will probably top out in the upper 90's. We have a couple of pretty mountains. Oh well!

We need to get back there because it has been five weeks since our last visit, and we weren’t the ones who shut the place down. I am a little nervous about what we will find. The last time S was responsible for shutting down the AC was set on 70 (in July), and all the blinds were left open. Of course K wasn’t with him. His buddy was there, along with my step-granddaughter and the buddy’s daughter. Buddy was too interested in going to hunt for feral hogs to worry about anything else. They were supposed to have been working on our deck. Needless to say, we hired someone else!

I’m sure things are going to be OK. There are a couple of people who have access to the place. One of our hunters was there last weekend, and he didn’t note anything unusual, but then that’s not his job. At least there wasn’t water running from every door. The weather has been a little tough up there, too. I have heard reports of hail and strong winds. Our cattle lessee comes at least one a week to check on the cattle, but he hasn’t reported anything either.

Since I just seem to must have something to worry about - so it might as well be this! Have a great weekend!

Telemarketers

As I have said, I am totally addicted to genealogy. I literally have to pry myself away from the computer once I have opened the program. I subscribe to a genealogy service that provides a very good service - as well it should for the money.

My real gripe about this service is they are not content with my annual fee of my left arm. They want more. If they add new options to the service you most certainly can get them - for a fee. If you don’t bite when they automatically renew your subscription (even when the card has expired), they call you on the phone. The session goes something like this:

Caller: "Grandma K, how has your search been going?"
Grandma K: "Fine." (In a non-committed voice)
Caller: "How long have you been doing genealogy?"
Grandma K: " About two years" (while thinking you have the records in front of you - add it up!)
Caller: "What countries are you searching?"
Grandma K: "Just the US" (knowing where anything else would lead since they now charge for other countries)
Caller: "We have a service where you can post people you are looking for. Is there someone you could name?"
Grandma K: "Not at this time."
Caller:"We have updated the horribly over priced book with another that we can reduce by x dollars if you order today!"
Grandma K:"I don’t think so" (while thinking I surely wish I hadn’t been talked into the first one - it was no help!)
Caller finally says: "Well thank you for your time."

They've done it again!

I love to do needlework. I have done crewel, and most recently I have gotten into counted cross stitch. I made works commemorating both grandchildren’s birth . I just have to frame Monkey Boy’s. Hey, he’s not two yet! Let’s not rush into anything.

When the opportunity was presented by our church to cross stitch the baptismal napkins, I jumped at it! I can do something for the church as well as something I really love to do. What a deal.

The first few months, I had about three to do. OK. No problem. Got them done. Then at least a year went by. I didn’t do any except for Monkey Boy and his step sister. None. Flat.

About a month ago, I got a call. A napkin was needed. Oh boy, OK. The call came on a Wednesday. Guess when they needed the napkin. On Sunday. Four short days away. That meant cutting the napkin out, hemming it, doing the cross stitch shell, and putting the date and initials. I usually take at least three days because I do the stitching in spare time - like watching tv.

After I found the canvas, I began looking for the thread. I had none. After I panicked I started looking through some of the saved threads I had from other projects. I found one that was so close. I got it done, but then had to wash it, let it dry and press it. Got it done on Saturday night. Got it to Pastor at 9:15 for the 10:30 service.

So what happens today? I get a call from church. They need TWO napkins. I ask when they are needed. They are needed for the Saturday night service. The call came in at 10:30 am. We are going to the little place on Friday. At noon. There is no way.

I really hope the other person, who works full time, can get them done! I also hope out secretaries decide it's not a good idea to wait until the bulletins are being printed for the weekend services to call for napkins!

Events of the trip

This was my first trip to the west coast. I’ve been east several times, and we made it to Canada a couple of times. Utah is as close to the west coast I have ever come. I was amazed at the beauty of California. I knew there were hills around LA, but I was totally amazed. It was so beautiful.

We spent the first two days at the Magic Kingdom. Lady Bug became quite a daredevil - after we assured her she would never ride the Matterhorn again. That was her second ride, and the darkness was bad enough, but the snowman sealed the deal. She rode every coaster after that though. She got on Space Mountain twice. I think one of her favorites was the spinning tea cups however.

The third day we went to San Diego to go to the zoo. It was a nice zoo, but it wasn’t what I expected. Sometimes when you have had something hyped so much it simply doesn’t live up to expectations. The zoo was interesting since it appeared to have been built in a canyon. Thank goodness for the bus however. My knees are simply not up to climbing hills to see the animals.

On Thursday we headed to the Thousand Oaks area where my step-brother (V’s son) had opened a restaurant. It has different kinds of food, but leans toward sushi and the like. I’m not a real fan of sushi for several reasons, but what he recommended was quite good. He has a beautiful place, and I hope it goes well.

S wanted to find a beach for Lady Bug. When we turned off to locate the restaurant, I told him I saw a sign that said there were beaches at that exit. Did we go there? NO! He stopped at a gas station and they told him go get back on the highway. There would be beaches about 20 minutes down the road. We didn’t find them. So we started back because it was getting to be time to eat.

G again mentioned the sign about beaches at our exit. This time we followed that road. As we climbed into mountains, I began to doubt. Let’s face it - in Texas we begin a long slope to the beach. Our coastal plains are huge! We spent about 10 minutes in the mountains. Then we saw the sign - Malibu. We found the beach! And it was beautiful.

Friday we went to Huntington Beach so Lady Bug could play on the beach. Later, the kids went to California adventure, but G and I stayed home. We were hurting enough by then. Between his feet and my knees, we were done in.
All in all, it was a great time. I am ready to return to California, but this time it will be an adult trip. There is still so much I want to see and do, but the Magic Kingdom is not on the menu!

We're back!

Saturday was the 13th. I know that is not big news. Any fool with a calendar knows that. It seemed to be more of Friday the 13th. We were returning from California on the 13th.

The trip to California was very smooth. When we arrived at Houston’s Intercontinental Airport, we got out boarding passes and checked the luggage smoothly. I was so pleased to get that boarding pass. I know that I was worried about it. But it was smooth.

The plane ride to Los Angeles was smooth. Lady Bug did decide that she wanted to sit with parents instead of us, but it still worked out most of the way. The landing was smooth. We found the rental car shuttle without a problem.
We were ready to get in the mini van K had pre-booked. It was a Town Car. We got that straightened out and got on the road to Anaheim. I was dreading the freeways, but they were actually better than Houston’s. The place we were to stay was beautiful. The days we spent there were great, and I’ll talk about them later.

All went well until we arrived at the airport. We went to get boarding passes, and all seemed well. We went through the first security clearing - all was still great. We got upstairs at the real security clearing. The other five went through. I was the last. There were only five boarding passes. Guess who didn’t have a boarding pass. Guess who was not to be allowed in to the gates. They wouldn’t let the others out.

I really was panicked! I had nothing but my driver’s license. I had no proof of a ticket. I had nothing. My purse and carry on were already though the machine. I was really scared. I just didn’t know what was going to happen next, and perhaps that was good. Otherwise I might have just sat and cried right there.

I was told to go back to the ticketing place. So I walked back downstairs, past the first security person who had let us up. I went to the curb where we got the boarding passes and checked luggage. I told my problem to the guy who gave us the boarding passes. He pulled up the screen. He said everyone was checked in. He asked for my license. He checked again. He said it showed me to be checked in. I said I had no pass. He checked again, then asked me to come around to the computer screen. The ones showing were checked in. FINALLY he looked carefully at the license. He THEN scrolled the screen down. There I was. I got the pass.

Back to security "cutie" number one. She checked the pass and the ID. She said I couldn’t go up the stairs. I said that my entire family was already through the scanners as well as all my belongings. She decided to get an attitude. She made a smart remark about "well go ahead, they’ll just tell you to leave" and she wasn’t nice about it.

It seems while I was trying to get my pass, they shut them screening down for a security check. I really believe it was because I had made it past little "cutie". Finally I got through. There was not a single person in my family around. I really thought I would lose it then. I was fighting back tears.

I went on toward the gates, and there I found them talking to a airport person. She was a supervisor for cutie. Cutie will be cited for her mistake. S was telling the supervisor that "cutie" was too busy flirting with some guy there to really check ID’s and passes.

After that all went fairly well with the exception of the nerd in front of me who had to lean his seat back even before take off, and then when the meal came had to lean forward to eat! I hope he got indigestion!

Grandma K's big adventures

We are nearing V day. (Vacation you know.) We will be taking off for California on Sunday. I’m still not sure how I really feel about it. I really believe I would rather not go, but that’s not an option. I know I will be better once we are landing in LA. I hope.
Thy flight may be interesting. K took Monkey Boy to the doctor yesterday. He has bilateral ear infections. Nasty ones. He should be great on the plane. I hope the shot he got yesterday moves the healing along.
I always have interesting dental visits, but yesterday takes the prize. When I went into the office, the skies were threatening. When I got in the chair, it started raining, and the wind was blowing. About the time my temporary crowns were removed, the weather radar showed the storms were moving away from us, and there was no problem. Oh, my dentist provides TVs with satellite for
his patients. As the assistant was working on the permanent crowns, the skies began to darken again. Then I was no longer able to see the TV or the window, but I could hear the thunder.
I asked if they often lost their lights. She said no, but when we had the rolling blackouts a few weeks ago, they were affected.
By now I have 6 people in the room. I have three pairs of hands around my mouth. They are mixing the cement for the 4 porcelain crowns. The thunder is getting louder. One of the assistants says "Hold on, hold on!" I am wondering why. Then the lights go out. The only light is from the windows. Dr Good Smile assures me we can finish. Out come flashlights. All crowns are in place.
Then we have the problem of making the bite right. That involves the drill. I really thought I would be going back today. Dr GS tested the drill. There was enough air in the line remaining to run the drill! So we spent the last half hour in the semi-darkness with me tap, tap, tapping on colored papers to get the bite right. And it worked! I am the owner of six beautiful crowns. And the best news is that the bite is right.
Dr GS called last night to see how I was doing. It was about 8:15, and he said their lights had just come back on. Wow. We never even knew the storm was coming our way either.

My secret that's not so secret

I am an addict. This stuff rules my life. I can’t get away from it. It consumes me and my life. I just can’t stop.

I am addicted to genealogy. I have the close families completed. Now I’m looking for all the relatives we have - all the way back to Adam! It has become like a mystery. I get started with the computer and hours have passed. I am not aware of the time. It’s great when I stumble onto an entire new family! Then I’m looking to see what happened to them. Who did they marry? Who are their kids?

Both G and I have families in the same area in the hill country. His mother’s family is there, and I discovered my dad has family there. It is so interesting to delve into the families to see how far the extended family goes. I keep looking to see if there is any direct relationship between those two families. I haven’t found it yet. I did have a big surprise when I found one of his father’s distant relative married one of my dad’s distant relatives.

I got interested when Dad was stricken with Alzheimer’s. If my grandchildren were to have any sense of where my family came from, it was up to me. My mom died when I was 27. Dad’s memory was gone. So I set to work. It helped tremendously when I met a distant cousin on Dad’s side at the assisted living. Her grandfather was the same man as my great-grandfather. Doors flew open from there!

Well, the ghosts are calling me again. Got to find those out laws, Bye!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

All is good today! Simone, luck dog, slept all day yesterday. G said she is used to sleeping all night - not riding around. I think the medication she was given also had something to do with her fatigue.

My fatigue is leaving. I was able to sleep for another hour and a half after G left for work. I could have stayed asleep for another four hours, but I would never get to sleep tonight. I’m just glad I got a little more sleep!

I’m beginning to feel better there being a plane actually scheduled to go to Las Angeles Sunday. In fact, when I went to the web site, it showed only one seat available. Yea! We may make it there. Now I’m hoping to get back. Always the worrier. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it! I’ll feel better when I have the tickets and boarding pass in my hot hands!

I don’t think we will be taking advantage of a free meal at step-bro’s new restaurant. It is two hours from Disneyland, and they open at 6pm. Perhaps we will get to see them however - even without eating at the place.

Things are looking up here in the attic. Hope you are getting your place in order too!

The $200 brownie

As I sit here bleary eyed, I remember that just a scant 12 hours ago I was on my way to the Emergency Vet Clinic. Simone was ill last night. She had never acted like that before. She was in distress.

Why, you ask. Probably because of the brownie bits that became the world’s most expensive chocolate brownie in the world. Sunday nights are family dinner nights. All available come to our house for dinner. B and C couldn’t come because he is working 9-6:30 am right now - that’s another story. I made chicken/mushroom lasagna. I decided that brownies would make a good dessert. Everyone, including G, likes brownies.

Lady Bug brought hers into the den to eat. When she got up from the chair, Simone immediately began eating something from the floor under that chair. LB told me she dropped a couple of pieces of her brownie. I wasn’t all that concerned at first because her brownie wasn’t all that large. Simone couldn’t have gotten that much.

After they left, Simone went out (after needing to go when no one noticed - that spells accident in the living room). She apparently threw up then. G didn’t notice anything. She came back in and went to sleep. A deep sleep. When she got up she started licking her lips and salivating. I took her out, and she began grazing like a cow. I thought she would then get rid of anything that was left to upset her stomach.

We came back in, and I sat up to watch her. She threw up again in the house about an hour and a half later. I called the Emergency Clinic , explained all of what happened, and the vet said boxers can be very sensitive to chocolate. It was off to the clinic at 1 a.m.

Now I thought I would be the only person in the clinic at 1 a.m on Monday morning. NOPE! We waited until 2:30 to be seen. I got the other vet on duty, and he didn’t seem to be as alarmed. They gave her a bolus of fluids and two shots.
To take off on a tv commercial, but with a definite twist. An evening with the family - priceless; good food - priceless; dropped bits of brownie - $203! Bed time for Grandma - 3:30 a.m.