A Challenge

I have accepted a challenge from a favorite person to blog daily for the new year. Well I won't be able to do it daily as I only have access to my computer 5 days a week at least for the next couple months, then after I get moved I should have daily access.

All is going well with the transition: At least I think so. We took possession of our new home yesterday. Sort of anti-climatic since were were sitting here in another state. Oh the wonders of the internet and over-nite mail.

Our good friend and Realtor in Co. did the walk thru for us.

I was having a horrible feeling about the gal who said she would manage my store for me. I think I mentioned that she had fallen from her sulky and fractured some ribs. But after she finally called to tell me that was why I hadn't heard from her and she would be in to see me that next week, she didn't come in for over 2 weeks and didn't return my phone calls.

So now she is coming in next Tue to start training with me. But we need to sit down and have a real heart to heart talk about what my expectations are and how she will be able to meet them.

Dang it this is my baby here and I am having a hard time turning it over to someone else. But I will take the risk as apposed to converting it to an apartment.

Well I best shut up or I won't have any info for those daily posts!!


Thought for the day: Life is too short to wake up with regrets

Quote

A slip of the foot you may soon recover,
But a slip of the tongue you may never get over---
Benjamin Franklin

Two Posts in one day?

Before I forget, which could happen at any moment.

Not sure if I had mentioned what I was planning to do with my book store. Well Brother and I had been making up plans for how to convert it into a studio apartment because I own the building and don't want to sell it. Would like to continue to get a little income from it while I am gone. ( I will return one day)

The week before Thanksgiving a gal came in ( she had talked to me last summer about this too).
She said she had heard that I was closing the store and she wanted to see if I would consider letting her run it. I assured her that I could not make it worth her while financially. We seems she is looking for a place to open a quilting guild. She just wants an area to set up her stuff and do her quilting here and teach classes and have other gals come in to quilt together!! Do you see a WIN-WIN situation here? She wants me to teach her how I do my book sales and trade ins. She wants no income, just the use of the space and wants to help pay the utilities too. I got really jazzed up about this.

We went to Co. and was gone a week, I got back and tried to call her and got no answer. I left messages for 2 weeks. I was beginning to panic because I had been sorting books, hauling culls off to auction or donating to a little local library. Even took down one whole wall of bookshelves.

She finally called me last Sat. Seems she was driving her horse ( she has a sulky ) The horse got spooked and threw her out and she fractured a couple ribs and has been laid up. She still wants to do this, and should be in soon to help me start making firm plans for her space and teaching her. She will be able to work part time in the store thru the winter and then full time by spring, so that should fit my schedule fine, as I will be coming back after we move to stay with my sister in law for a couple months at least. ( hope her house sells in that time)

So I am back to sorting books, getting rid of all the hardbacks and "junk" books. Want to have only the best Used books available for resale.

Gotta get busy with paper work now. Want to get taxes done early this year. Groooown..

Am I Sick?

Do you ever get Christmas Paralysis? I seem to catch it every year in December. At first it seems like Christmas is along way off, then all of a sudden its only 7 days, and you find you have done nothing. And this year I mean absolutely nothing, no cards, no gifts, nadda. I am really sick this year.

I could blame it on selling one house and buying another in the month of Dec. Plus arranging movers, utilities, packing, and the endless lists on my counter because I can't remember squat anymore without my lists! But I do love it when I cross things off the list as done. Guess that's one satisfaction.

So if no one hears from me this year, give me a break, maybe I won't get "sick" next year. But I don't guarantee it. I think it is something I have had since about 1980.

So I will say Merry Christmas.
Be kind to one another.
Kiss the kids, cause its really their time.

We accidently sold our home!

This is no joke! How did this happen? We have been planning for some time to move back out west. Not as far as Nevada but to Colorado. We lived in Colorado for a year and loved it there. I am talking on the Western Slope, not up in the mountains.

We had talked with the Realtor that assisted with the closing on the sale of our little farm in Oct. With the housing market like it is, or at least what we are being told, we were going to be a little cautious. So we had her and her broker come to the house to help us decide on a fair market value. Of course they suggested much lower than we wanted. So we had been putting her off and thinking we would wait till after the first of Jan. Well she called us a couple weeks ago and said she had this couple that she had shown alot of houses to and she just wanted to "show" it to them if we would sign a consent and establish what we wanted. So we did and set the price higher than their high end. Dang if they didn't come back with an offer of cash just a little under our price and gave us 60 days to move, no rent! So we just felt it was meant to be and had to take it

We had already planned another trip to Co. to look at houses again and it worked out perfect. We left on Thanksgiving and ended up staying a whole week because we made an offer on a house and couldn't leave till we got an OK on it. Really had no other back up plan so were relieved when it was accepted. We ended up buying a new smaller home in a new area on the west side of the little town. We even have horses in a pasture across the street from us. The new home was the same price of the ones we were looking at that were a few years old of similar size. But they were already run down, back yards wrecked with dogs in most of them. One even had a bunch of pitbulls.

I have said I didn't want a new home. There is always so much to do and added cost, but we are working it out with the developer to have the landscaping done before we move in.

Details, details. So much to do with closing on one house and trying to make moving plans and closing on the new one. Have a huge stack of boxes in living room but no packing done yet. Took a bunch of furniture to an auction last week. Heck we're sick of moving already!

A funny,(well really not so funny), glitch with closing on the house we are in. We close tomorrow and on Mon. the folks did a walk thru to just ask questions about things, and he brought his tape measure and was measuring the lot. He couldn't make his measurements match the survey map info that we had done in Oct 07. Long story short, we ended up having to have the survey folks come back out and the buyers were right. The fence between us and hubby's sister was 25 ft over on her side. We had it surveyed last year and no one looked at it and the fence co. followed the old fence just like we told them, so it was no one's fault but our own. Just should not have done the survey!! So now sister in law has to deed that 25, actually 24ft over to our property. The fence stays with her property. She doesn't really care because her house is up for sale too and with it all fenced, that will work out fine. What a mystery, as to why that fence was where it was. Someone just didn't want to mow so much lawn, or just didn't know better.

Hope to have good news about my book store real soon. Got my fingers crossed.

Brrr, its cold outside!

Lots to talk about but no time just now. Just got back from another trip to Colorado. I feel like a snowball rolling down hill!

Another Tunnel

OK here is another tunnel picture my brother sent me. I think he said his wife took the picture and it is a reflection on their glove box, as they were going thru the tunnel. The tunnel opening seen is actually behind them. Cool huh?

Just want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Keep it simple and remember all the things we really need to be thankful for. Like gas is down to $1.49 today!!!

http://dorothykarmictruths.spaces.live.com/ This is my other blog site that I keep up, mostly with duplications of this one, but it has a great feature to post photo albums that I like, I posted pictures from my recent Co. trip there if anyone wants to be a looky loo.

Another from inside the tunnel

I liked the way this looked. Looked like an alien could just come walking up from the end!

I see the light!

Did you ever wonder what the light at the end of the tunnel looks like? Well this is it.

Just got back from a trip to Colorado and took a bunch of scenic pictures. Always wanted to take a pic of one of the tunnels. Will post a couple more next time.

Yes, we are "looking". Probably a bad time to be doing anything but doesn't hurt to look. So who knows. Had a beautiful weekend to make the trip. Up to 80, had to run the air conditioner.

Thought for the day: Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice: it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.--William Jennings Bryan

New windows

Here is a before and after on the new windows we had put in our house last week. They are really nice. I know the white shutters look funny, but the rest of the windows are set where there is brick and the white looks really good. There is just vinyl under the porch roof. Hope this increases our value in case we want to sell. Hmmmm, will she, won't she, will she, won't she?

God's Wings

I don't usually copy and paste things in my blog, well because it is MY blog, but this was sent to me today and whether it is true or not it is pretty good so want to share it. Thanks big brother.


A little something to put things in perspective...After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park , forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast ...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.'He will cover you with His feathers,And under His wings you will find refuge.'(Psalm 91:4)Being loved this much should make a difference in your life. Remember the One who loves you, and then be different because of it.Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special. To realize the value of a friend...lose one.

When hubby is away, I work too darn hard!

Hubby is off on a trip and I always make this huge list of things I want to do while I am "home alone" Problem is its not just a little list like arranging my sock drawer! No, no, no, not me.
Here is my list:

1.Shampoo Rugs
2.Wash vinyl siding on back of house
3.Power wash back deck
4.Paint back deck
5.Clean my end of garage
6.And if I have time start sorting stuff for garage sale
7.Oh, and in my spare time I could sew some rag balls for weaving.

And he is only gone a week! Lets see, he has been gone 3 1/2 days and I have finished No. 1 and 3. I have half of no. 2 done, then smarted up and bought some cleaner to use with the power washer so will do the other half much faster, maybe this evening if its not raining. I got no. 5 about done. Supposed to rain today and tomorrow, so the painting will have to wait till about Thurs. I figure if it rains I can work on that sorting for a garage sale. Going to get rid of alot of "stuff" this time. Anyone need a nearly new foton?

Thought for the day: Don't measure my quart by your half bushel.

Do I Miss the Prison?

I ran across this list today while cleaning my computer desk. Does everyone have such clutter around their computer?

Anyway I had compiled this list of things I would miss and not miss about my old job as a prison nurse. So here goes, only 2 years to late:

I WILL MISS:
Good pay
Good Benefits
Fresh Air
Camaraderie of officers
Views of mountains
Coyotees howing at nite
Frost on barbed wire
Funny Inmates: Like the Transgender ones who shave eyebrows and legs, then use ink pens to paint eye liner and brows.
Being a real patient advocate in a crappy system
Riding around in the golf cart
Having the responsibility to assess patient needs
Laughing with Pat

WILL NOT MISS:

Whining nurses
Lazy nurses
Dirty bathrooms (not the inmates either)
Inmates in boxers
Inmates with pants below their butts
Manipulation tricks
Cussing: Inmates and staff
Hope to never hear the "F" word again and have to pretend it is OK in normal conversation
Smell of burning toilet paper wicks (called punks)
Noise level
Banging of cell doors
Back ache from standing to long
Looking at old men who you know are child molesters(Chesters)
Seeing young men messing up their lives
Being glad that some of them are behind bars
Packing large numbers of keys
Having to remember several codes to access keys and doors
Hearing Pat yell at Inmates

Scary Times

These are really scary times. Makes you want to go hid somewhere up in the mountains, preferably in a snug little A frame with lots of firewood and no TV!! All I would need is a big box of books and maybe some yarn or rag balls to weave with, oh and some music.

Actually I could live very simple if given the chance and the way things are going it looks like I might have to do just that.

Don't want to jinks myself, but looks like we got our little farm sold. At least the folks have accepted our counter offer verbally. Waiting for the signed copy to be faxed, as they are out of town this week. What a relief if it all goes as planned.

Hubby is taking his sister on a little trip this coming week, so got alot of projects to work on.

Thought of the day: Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time----Steven Wright

Not funny

I hope I didn't sound to "frivolous" in my last post. Death is not funny, but we have had enough saddness and I wanted to show the human and sometimes funny side of Marge. Just 3 weeks ago we were in Branson with her blowing bubbles and acting silly. She told us then that she would get to be the first one to see our brother again, and she was right. We told her to give him a big hug for us. We will miss them both till one day we are all together.

Hooters for Marge

And hey there girl,

Can you hold my hand.

Cus when they bury my body,

I'll be dust in the wind.

And like a dream in this reality,

You will carry my soul in the mind like a memory.

(copied from a song by An Angle)

Marge passed quietly from this world at 12:30 AM Thursday Oct 2nd. I just want to spend a few minutes and put some of my thoughts about her down.

She was my big sister, being 10 years older, but I didn't grow up with her at home, so I have no "being the little"sister memories of her. When I first saw her again I was an adult and we were then scattered all across the country and didn't get to be together very often. It wasn't till much later when our families were raised that several of us seemed to settle in the same area and were able to spend more time together. So here are some of the things I will remember most about Marge.

This picture is a perfect example: Always a puppy in her arms. She loved her dogs and loved raising puppies.

Always a ready smile and a big one too.

Willing to laugh at herself, like the time she bought me an AC/DC tee shirt because she thought it great that they made a tee shirt with my husband and my initials!

Always optimistic about life, willing to deal with what life dished up.

Usually a cigarette in her hand and if none were available, like once on a family get together, would resort to smoking her brothers pipe.

Vain about her looks, worried if her "wrinkles" showed.

Owner of many padded bras, even the blow up kind and butt pads.

Liked shiny things, rings, necklaces, and such.

LOVED to shop the catalogs.

Always ready to share what ever she had with others.

She loved to cook and collect cook books and boxes of receipts.

Sorry sis, you never got the bigger boobs you wanted, maybe in the next life you will have great big hooters!

Terminal

As I was driving yesterday this word kept coming to my mind, as we are now thinking of this word in connection with our sister. To say that out loud, She has terminal cancer. But as I was driving along, I got to thinking, heck we are all terminal. We were terminal the day we were born. At least this body as we know it now is in a terminal condition. This body is not getting out of here except in death. A rather sobering thought huh?

And what do we do with that knowledge? We blunder along day in and day out, pretending that we will be here forever? We do, you know it as well as I do. We don't ever want to acknowledge that one day we too will be gone.

Then I got to thinking about how we feel about these mortal bodies and how we care for them. Mostly how we don't care for them. We all hate different things about our bodies. Our thighs are too big, boobs not big enough, hair wrong color, too short, too tall, and the list goes on and on.
Then how do we care for this wonderful body we have, and yes it is wonderful even if we don't think we like it. We eat crap that clogs our veins, makes us fat, gives us cancer! We put lethal things into it like drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and way too much food. Then we probably don't exercise and take care of the physical aspect. Then we have the nerve to complain when it isn't working right!! Oh, we should just be ashamed of ourselves.

But we are human and we have weaknesses. Maybe we just need to just sit back from time to time and remind ourselves that we are all terminal and how we spend our remaining time is totally up to each one of us. Wow, just think about that last part. It is our own free will and choice to live our life any way we choose! I wish I had that insight many years ago. I know there are many things I would have chosen differently but since that is all past tense we can only move fore ward, and forgive ourselves because we did the best we could with what we knew at that time. There are many things I would like to see and do, maybe it's not to late.



Thought for the day:: we know from daily life that we exist for other people first of all, for whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.
—Albert Einstein

Brothers and Sisters

Sis no. 1 made it home from the hosp. yesterday. Thurs. Yea, no tubes and seems to be doing OK for now. Hope this lasts awhile. Bad news, the dog that bit her hubby died, no kidding. I could joke about that but I know it is no joking matter to them to loose their little chiwawa.

We were going to have a little cookout at Bro. No 2's home tonight before Bro. No 1 heads home in the morning. But No. 2 is sick with a bad cold so we X'd him off our list of fun places to go to. So Bro. No 1 is headed out to spend some time with Sis before he leaves.

Oh, did I mention that his flight is at 6 AM. I volunteered to take him back to the airport. Lets see he has to be there by 5 AM, and it is about 1 1/2 hr drive. So need to get up at: WHAT!! how did I get myself into this. No wonder Bro. 2 said he would go pick him up last Sat. Yea, he got in at 1 PM!! But guess he is worth it. IT has sure been nice to have him here this week. We have all shared him around and let him be our errand boy too. Hung out with me in my store and looked at computer pictures. Gosh, never did get him over to put up my new ceiling fans for me. And he is an electrician. Silly me.

Thought of the day: How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures? (maybe I should have asked that electrician brother!)

$4.00 scrip

Well he did get the 4 $ scrip {antibiotic} but forgot to mention that when he was there with the 60$ scrip he had a second one for 20$ He had no idea what it was but he took it. Find out later that it was for Cultirelle, something that keeps you from getting diarrhea when you are on antibiotics! But all is well, I think, Took him for Pizza Tue pm after all the confusion and the brothers had taken him to see his wife.

Sis No 1 seems to be better. Sis no. 2 went up this AM early and they have clamped the GTube and letting her take clear liquids and see what happens. The bowel blockage is partially relieved for now. So maybe she will be able to go home in a day or so and see how she will do.

A "funny" story: When the 3 of us were in the oncology Dr. office he was telling us about the possibility of putting in a PEG tube, {basically a feeding tube, but used to open the end and let the build up of gas in the stomach out, which was a BIG problem at that time} He barely finished telling about that and Sis No 1 in her Jessica Simpson impersonation said "I want one"!! Well we were scheduled to see the dr. about putting on in on Monday but she was already in the hospital by then. I would like to see one put in before she goes home, because I know we will end up with similar problems again before long.

Big Bro. has been spending time with all of us and it has been great to have him here. We had to kick him out to the farm to sleep as he was keeping sis #2 awake with his tickle cough that he has. After his first nite out there he told me it sure was dark out there in the country. Seems our security light had burned out, so called the electric co. to come fix it, since it belongs to them. We just pay a flat fee monthly for the electric and use of their light.

Ok thats it for now.

Things have gone to hell in a handbasket

Where to start?
So much has happened in the last week or so that I want to just make a note here to help me keep track of it all.
First of all, I have two sisters. The oldest will be No. 1 and the other No. 2, I also have two brothers and I will identify them as bro.1 and bro. 2.

On the 8th the 3 of us sisters went together for No. 1's consultation after her testing and we were not surprised to find out that she had a malignant tumor in the abdomen. She has been sick along time and many tests, till she had this one which gave a confirmation. She was told that it is inoperable and that she would be terminal from it. It was decided that she would be put on hospice and she was to get her affairs in order. She is doing a very brave thing. She has done the paper work to donate her body to a medical school in Kansas City.

So we notified her 2 daughters and son, who all live in other states. Also bro. 1 lives in an eastern state. We did do a get-away trip, the 3 sisters to Branson Mo. as mentioned in the prev. post. That was the 13th. and 14th. On the 18th her "kids" arrived and were able to spend 2 days with her. On Fri PM the 19th within an hour after the last one left she got pretty sick and I went to her house and called the hospice nurse. We stayed till things were under control and felt she could rest. Sat. was so so for her, not great but not to bad. Bro. No 1 got here on Sat. Then Sun things got worse and hospice came in the morning, then later in evening a neighbor had to call them again and both of us sisters went too and it was really bad. The pain could not be relieved by any measures that the hospice nurse had so she called the Dr. and we got an ambulance called and took her to the hosp. This was around 9pm. Sis No 2 and I went up together and stayed while they did xrays, gave her "good" stuff to stop the pain and other drugs to try to get her BP down. Got her admitted after midnight. ER Dr. told us she was totally obstructed in her bowel and gave us a pretty poor prognosis. I had Sis #2 go home {she had just been in ER the night before for a bad UTI and really needed to be home in bed} I stayed the nite. Brothers and sis showed up next morning, Monday. Oncology Dr. made rounds and felt we could work on this and try to resolve at least temporary some problems. They gave suppositories, also started a med called lactulose thru her NG tube to help loosen the stool up on the upper side.

Now on Mon late afternoon her husband is in the room and shows her his finger. Find out that one of their little dogs had bitten him a couple days before and just broke the skin good. Well his finger was badly swollen and red streaks going up his arm. So he was to go to Urgent Care on his way home. About 7:30 sis no. 1 got a call from Urgent care, they were concerned about the husband as he was unsteady and was to go to the local hosp to be admitted for IV antibiotics. Sis no 1 had just gotten to sleep but she called me, I am closer to their house, Can't reach him on the phone, so I head out to his home and find him, a little bit confused and I take him to the hosp ER. {Oh, if you are still with me, it just gets better and better}

ER was slam full, {many folks use ER for their family medical needs} So I left him there with inst to have them call me if they don't admit him. Went home, exhausted, went to bed. Guess what? At 11PM the phone rang and I had trouble trying to figure out how to push the right button to answer it! ER said he was ready to be taken home!! My hubby said," stay in bed I will go get him and take him home." He had gotten a shot and sent home with a script. Grrrrrrrr why didn't Urgent care to that?? So I find out about this after I had gone to the hosp where Sis No1 is at 6 AM so I could be there when the Dr. came in. A niece had come in and Sis was doing much better this AM so I left to go help husband of No 1 with his script. I was afraid they had ordered some real expensive RX and there are many Walmart scrips that are only $4.00. So I get there and we decide he will go to his primary Dr. and then go get the scrip filled. Wellllll, he forgot to tell them he needed a 4$ scrip. I get a call, that his scrip is $60. So I tell him to let me call the Dr. and try to get another scrip. By this time I am here at my store.

So that is where we are at this moment. The brothers are headed to pick up the husband to go visit at the hospital and then pick up his scrip. I am crossing my fingers that they followed thru and got him an appropriate scrip. Finger still looked pretty bad this morning. Needs soaked I think but they didn't tell him to do anything, {he says}

Not sure if I left anything out. I probably need to go out to check on him this evening and make him soak his finger and put a dressing on it if the Dr. office didn't. Need to see what kind on instructions they gave him. {ER had sent home a nice pre printed instruction sheet on what to do for a dog bite and the signs and symptoms to watch for.} DUH! A little late for that info!

One more night's sleep and I will be A-OK Ready to face what ever is next.

Girls Gone Wild

This is what happens when you try to take your sisters to a respectable resort for a little sister get-away!!

We had a great time. Took in a show, Pierce Arrow. WOW!! They are awesome. Great music and a bunch of good looking guys to boot.

The comedian was very entertaining, kept us laughing too.

Then Sun AM we went down to the lake front to The Landing, and did a leisure stroll thru the area and had breakfast in old downtown Branson. Had rained 4 inches while we slept so the lake was up and we couldn't go on the walkway on the edge of the lake.

Having lots of family in this week to visit with Sister No. 1. I know she is looking forward to seeing her family.

Quote for the day: May you live all the days of your life. _ Jonathan Swift

Well, lets see: Got the window repaired in the pickup. Had forgotten that I didn't carry comprehensive on it as it is an older truck, so had to pay $193 out of pocket for the pleasure those boys had in knocking out the window. Hope they are real proud of themselves. Hubby thinks I should park out in the street about 1/2 block away from the store. But I decided I wouldn't be held hostage and feel I couldn't park right behind my store in plain site of all the folks that travel the alley and the local police dept just up the alley. So There!

Had a little scare Sat nite. We stayed out to the farm, been trying to do that a couple nites a week. Anyway, got a call at midnight on my cell. I figured it was the nursing home looking for some help. But it was my sister in law. She said her heart had been racing and skipping for over an hour and thought she should call an ambulance. We told her to unlock her door and sit on the couch till they got their and we were on our way. They kept her in ER for an hour or so and she had another short burst of this arrhythmia. Sent her home with some pills and to follow up with her cardiologist. So far no more incidence but at 83 you never know. We think that she over did it Sat. Was cleaning the window screens with the hose and a long handle brush. You think??
Of course that sounds like something I would do. We always think we can keep doing stuff that we shouldn't.

Thats it for now. Reading Memoirs of a Geisha, very good book if you get a chance to read it.

Waiting the the left over rain from Hurricane Gustov. Supposed to come in tonight and last a couple days. Sure have have had more rain than usual for this time of year. Grass will grow clear up till we get a hard freeze.

Thought for the day: Why do you have to "put your two cents in".... But it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going?

NOT AGAIN!!!!

Well here we go again. Small town crime hits us again. Notice anything unusual about our little farm truck?

Yea, the window is broken out. Happened Wed. I drive it to the store alot, saves having my better auto sit out in the hot sun all day. I park in the alley way behind my store. (The police dept. is just one block up the alley) I have 3 witnesses that saw 3 boys going up the alley with baseball bats just before someone came in and told me my window was broken out. The city cops got here right away and one went to find the boys and talk to them. Of course they didn't know ANYTHING about any broken windows. And no one saw them do it. So that is pretty much the end of it. All you have to do is deny that you did something and you won't be punished for your crime. Hmmmmm sounds like some of our politicians doesn't it. Maybe thats how they learn. Amazing that people think that being dishonest is an OK thing. Our little local police won't do anything. They are still "investigating". Isn't that a joke. It will just be paper work for them to file away. Just like the break in out at the farm in June.

Not much more news, Oh, we did trade in the big FJ Cruiser for a Subaru Outback. Much more practical for folks our age, we don't need big 4 wheel drive vehicles anymore, (if we ever did). Love the new car. I broke it in driving to my grand daughters wedding last Sat. in the rain all day! Well back to my weaving. Lets hope we have had our share of law incidence!

Thought for the day: Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom....

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Can Do

Don't let someone tell you that you can't do something just because you are a female. I had 2 electronic items sitting that I thought were shot. Yesterday, I decided what the heck, they are going to get trashed anyway so I sat down and guess what. Both are fixed and work fine!
One was a VCR that we have packed around for several years with a movie stuck in it. Ended up buying a combo VCR/DVD unit that I like. Well I got the trusty screwdriver and opened the case up and got the mangled movie "Dances With Wolves" out and plugged it in, popped in an old movie I didn't care about and it worked just fine.
Second one was my printer/copier that I had for several years and a few months ago I put in a new ink cartridge (first time that I had one refilled by Walgreens for me) Thought I would save about 20$. Well I couldn't get it to stop printing test pages, then give me an error and do it again, over and over. Silly me, I just unplugged it and went out and got a nice new little HP printer/copier that is real cool, and it takes your camera chip and you can view your pictures on it or download to computer, only costs about 129$. Well I had an extra color cartridge for the old unit and decided what the heck I would change it too, and guess what. It printed the page to test and accepted it just fine. I didn't know that the color ink was out too, when I put in the new black one. I was blaming it on the black and figured it just was fowled up. So now I have an extra printer. Think I will take the new one home and put my old one back in the store for now.

I guess the moral of my long story is that sometimes we throw things out to quick and it sure can't hurt to tear in and try to fix them. (Just unplug them first)

Had tried to plan a little get away with hubby this last weekend, (Sun and Mon for me) And he blew it by saying he had to much to do, so I said well heck I guess I will show you and just stay home and clean house all day. Boy did I show him. Even shampooed some area rugs, filed 4 months of receipts, moved some furniture around. I was glad to come to work today!

Finally got our hay field cut (first cutting) at the farm. We had to cancel out with the neighbor who was getting it free but has had all summer to get it baled and haven't done it. You know sometimes enough is enough, you give and give and get kicked in the teeth, but that is a long story as it ties in with the gal that lived at the farm (she is friends with the neighbor) for 6 weeks and left us a mess with a break in and theft plus all the cleaning, mowing, and weeding we had to do to catch back up. Oh, did I mention that she cleaned out all my "stuff" from the house, you know towels, silver wear, cups, glasses, and such. I know it sounds petty when you think you are helping someone out, but I am so glad she is gone, oh, even left a garage can half full of beer cans. Anyway another older neighbor is baling it and we get firewood from him in exchange and the field will be clean. Maybe I will get a picture soon.

Boy I have really rambled on, Thought for the day: When somebody does you wrong, be actively angry with them. (from a little Be-Good-To-Yourself Therapy book.)

Ohhhh! A new Grandma!

Isn't she sweet? No not the grandma, the baby!

Still can't believe my little girl is a grandma. Little Miss Sweety Pie is a great baby. Sucking down that good breast milk and sleeping and pooping just like she is supposed to.

Had a great day visiting with daughter and all her girls. Grandma just can't stop smiling, actually giggling most of the time and with good reason, but I can't tell you. Did I mention Love is in the air? Well you didn't hear it from me!

Thought for the day: Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.

A new baby girl!!

Will have pictures next week of our new baby girl. Born Wed PM. 7 lbs. 8 oz. Khole Marie. Quite possibly the red head that I predicted and wished for!! Yes that makes me a great grand mother, but what blows my mind is that my daughter is a grandmother. How can THAT be? Everything went well and from the picture I got on my cell phone, I think she looks like her Mama. I will be down to see her next week.

Now Being an old coot that I am, I have to use my space here to gripe, right? I have been going to a new chiropractor for 3 weeks, that's 9 visits, and he did a re-evaluation today. I filled out a question sheet and indicated that I felt no better, pain in back muscles still the same. The re exam lasted about 3 minutes, measured neck flexion and commented that it was better, then did my treatment. The shocker was when I checked out they charged me 44.00$ more for the exam!! What is wrong with this picture. Well I dumped on the gal at the desk, and let her know that I thought this young Dr. needed to learn to listen to his patients or they would not be back and I wasn't so sure I would be back. The fee for a re exam was totally out of line. After 9 vi sites I feel I should be better, is that so unreasonable? So I am going back for a massage treatment from the gal I went to last month, and just stew on this awhile. Don't know what to do, but don't want to just take meds for pain, and don't want to line the pockets of the chiropractor. I have tried to do everything they tell me, ice, exercises, and I go to the gym and am very active. Almost no pain during the day, just when I lay down or sit and lean back for more than a few minutes. Its in the muscles, many tender points and seems when I press the muscles against my ribs it triggers the pain? Is this fibromyalgia? And what is fibromyalgia? When you break the word down it means muscle pain. But I know there is alot more to it than that.

OK I am done. Got stuff to do.

Thought for the day: Time and trouble may tame a wild, YOUNG woman; A wild OLDER woman is uncontrollable by any force.

New Garden Spot

This is our little garden so far. Of course Molly had to get in the picture, she is checking out to make sure no squirrels have been nosing around. Have baby cucumbers setting on, they are climbing on the rack to the right and the one on the left is vining okra. I think you can click on it to make it larger.

The gal and her daughter moved out yesterday from the farm, so we are back to where we were the first of May. Hubby mowed the whole yard this week and now has alot of tree trimming. Guess we just thought we should have stayed away and not bothered her but that was a mistake. We still needed to be taking care of some of the stuff. Oh, well we will get it all straightened out. Think it will actually be better to have it empty again. We will probably go out and stay once in awhile. I have alot of weeding to do in the flower beds. I was waiting for her to leave as she had a puppy and I was afraid he would be to much help with the weeding.

We listed the farm with a different agent this week and lowered the price a little so hope that will help.

Oriented my new "employee" yesterday. I think she will be just fine here. She will run the store for me on Thursdays. That is usually the slowest day of the week. I will only be a phone call away so she can reach me. She was excited to have something to do and has all the books she can read. She is another old Iowa gal, so we have alot in common. Might even take her with me on my next trip up there.

Thought for the day: Never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level and beat you.

Smile, it will all work out

This is our little utility shed in the back yard. We are starting to enjoy our yard now. It was a big open yard when we moved in last winter. Now we have this, plus some flowerbeds and a garden we made with railroad ties. I will take a current picture soon of it. We have tomatoes big as golf balls and tiny cucumbers setting on.

We are listing our little farm with a different agent today. I think the gal that's been living there since the tornado is moving out. Looks like she got a double wide and put it on the same site. We still haven't found out what the remote from the air conditioner will cost. I mentioned in the last post about the break in. Spent Sunday, 3 of us installing a new door. Well Brother did most of it, but took all 3 of us to get it set. Been out twice to paint the trim. And the flower beds are all full of weeds, but hate to pull to many till she moves, as she has a pup that will try to help me and it will be worse than having weeds.

Worked Sat pm and Mon. days at the nursing home. Surprise! I think I like it. Sad to say I went in with the attitude of just getting thru it and making some extra income. Give me 20 lashes!! But I did all the treatments Mon on my own.(that's how I work best anyway) and I enjoyed it and enjoyed the patients. So think this will be a good thing. I have an older customer who is going to train with me here at the store and I will be letting her work at least one day a week here for me. Cool, I will have one employee! She knows the pay will be poor but she gets to read all the books she wants for free, and she was excited to have something to do. She says she gets so bored. So it is a win/win.

Thought for the day: Kindness makes you feel better inside, it makes you smile. When you smile you use more muscles, which helps to prevent wrinkles. It all works together!

DAMN THEIVES

I hope there is a special place in Hell for anyone who would steal from someone who has just gone thru a disaster and lost everything of value! Yesterday someone KICKED in the back door of our little farm house. I have mentioned before that we are letting a single mother and her daughter live there after the tornado on May 10th wiped her out. The house is full of hand me downs that have been donated to her. Last week a friend bought her a new stereo unit. The first new thing that she has that is really hers. She got home from work and found the back door kicked in and the stereo gone along with several speakers that came with it. They also broke a couple glass framed pictures just for fun. We went to Lowes this morning and got a new door to install and I called to tell her we would be out tomorrow to install it she said, "more bad news, they stole the remote control to our new air conditioner unit" (That we just had installed last summer) Guess it was laying on the table with the remote to the stereo so they grabbed both of them. Don't know what that will cost to replace.

Called the county sheriff Dept. and they came out and wrote up a report. That's all they will or can do. It had to be someone pretty stout to stand on a lower level in the mud room and kick uphill. One muddy boot print on the steel door.

I just checked with our insurance agent last week to let him know that someone was living at the house and he said that was good. It is not good to have a house sitting empty. I doubt they would have broken in if it was empty. Almost looks like they knew what they wanted, as there was other stuff that could have been taken easily.

Our listing on the house expired last week so we are going with another agent. Sure be glad when it is sold!!!

So that's my sad note for today. Working (after work at the store) this evening at the nursing home. Still getting some orientation time.

Thought for the day: Everything works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out, its not the end.- Unknown

Life is Good

Yea!! I sold 6 rugs this week. Boy I am going to have to get busy now. Business has been pretty slow this past month in my little book store kingdom. But seems to be picking up this week. Maybe with gas so high, folks are looking to shopping local. Dang they should be doing that anyway. I see a little hamburger joint opened up the road but have already heard bad stuff, like greasy fries. They probably won't be there long. It is funny, the building has been many different things over the years. Back in about 1975 or so when I lived here with hubby no. 1, he managed a feed store in that building. Its been a restaurant several times, second hand store and for the last couple years a day care center. We really don't need another hamburger place in this little town. Have 3 other restaurants that are struggling to keep business going.

Well here is a pic. of my denim rug that I plan to put on my e-bay store.

More rain storms came thru this week but nothing damaging in our area. Garden is growing, have little tomatoes set on and the cucumbers are starting to climb up their wire. Will do a pic soon to post.

Headed to Ar. tomorrow to spend some time with Daughter and Girls. Looking forward to seeing them and patting a certain tummy. Yeah, I am going to be a great grandma soon. Probably the youngest one ever!! Supposed to be a little girl, and I hope she has bright red curls!!

Thought for the day: No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.

Still finding time to read

Just finished a good book. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. It is a historical novel, seems that's what I read any more. The setting starts in Chile, 1843 and follows this girl into adulthood and her journey to find her sweetheart who went to the gold rush in Ca. A great way to learn some history that is not found in the history books and get a feel for what life was like back then.

Have started another one that is a sort of mystery that jumps back and forth from the present to the 11th century and linking these 2 women together to reveal a secret. The title is Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.

I am sure I will get off on some other subject soon. I have a couple of Deepok Chopra's newer books, but have to read them in bits and pieces and then read it again. The Third Jesus is very interesting and I think he has some real insight that we can all learn from without taking anything away from what you may already believe. That is what I like about him. He is not trying to browbeat anyone into accepting his beliefs. Just opening the door to make us think for ourselves and follow our own journey.

Had my first massage therapy session yesterday. I can tell you it won't be my last. Have been having alot of trouble with the muscles across my back and shoulders and neck. I am fine all day and can work in the yard and at the gym but when I lay down in bed it starts hurting and really messes up my sleep. Have tried the chiropractor and no change. I followed my gut feeling (something we need to do more often) and felt I needed the muscles worked on, not my spine. So we will see. I know that it made it worse for last nite I slept very little after 2 AM. So I am hoping that a couple sessions will loosen up the muscles and get the knots and tightness out of them.

Thought for the day: "Spirituality isn't something I believe in. It is what and who I am: a spiritual being having a human experience, as the French philosopher and priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin profoundly said."

Guess we will just have to walk!

Gas just went up 20 cents per gal. in the last 2 days!!! That makes it 3.79 in our little community. How can they do that? It is crimminal! Of course it has nothing to do with Memorial Day Weekend, right. We are so stupid if we believe that. Of course IF it goes down it will be by 2 or 3 cents at a time and we will be so grateful.

I have no thought for the day, I am just MAD.

Girls with beer bellies

Did you ever post something that you regretted later. That was what I had done with this post, so now I am deleting it and leaving this apology. I think I was a little judgemental and could have been hurtful to some folks, even if I don't know you I have no right to do that. So there you have it. My first retraction.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its off to work I go!

Well I did it. I broke down and applied for a job, (only the "partest" time job I could get) I really don't want to work. (beats fist on table) But business has been so slow at the book store I just felt I needed to dust off my nursing skills and pick up a little work. Actually I am looking forward to getting back in the swing of things. I will be working one shift a week at a place called Health and Rehab. It is a skilled nursing facility. I put my application in Mon. and did the pee test, and they called me on Wed to ask when I wanted to come in and get orientation started. So there you have it.

Things are going well with the gal that moved in out to our little farm. We have been getting the rest of our stuff out of the garage. I was out there this morning and it was so sad to see her stuff piled up, all covered with mud and so much has something broken. Bless her heart, she was happy to have her two old rockers, just need to do some gluing and cleaning. It is strange to see what got ruined and some fragile things like ceramic birdhouses not a chip. She is in love with the place and really wants to buy it, so I hope when the dust settles she can do just that. Maybe this was meant to be. She is getting the electricity switched to her name today. Maybe if she can buy it, I can negotiate with the agent and say, hey I found my buyer, can you come down on your commission?? Seems fair to me. When we sold our house in Nv. we found our own buyer and the agent got all the commission. I thought that was stinking. Boy I bet those folks are sorry they bought that place, it was when the market was high and now I know it is worth alot less than they paid for! So glad we got out when we did. Nevada is one of the states that has had the most foreclosures.

Thought for the day:Worry looks around, Sorry looks back, Faith looks up.

Tornado! Wow, where to start?

Saturday's big tornado in SW Mo was too close. It is true what they say. It sounds like a train coming.
There are many stories and there are 14 dead in our county so far. More when you count the ones in Oklahoma. So my story is pretty insignificant, but to say I am here and unharmed and family is OK. But here it is.

We were having a family gathering at my Brother's house for our oldest brother who came in from NC. I have 2 sisters in the area also. We were seeing the sky looking bad and knew we were in for a storm. So both sisters headed home. One a few blocks away and the other about 12 miles. Just after they left the sirens started, so we 4 that were left at the house started watching the sky. Suddenly we heard the train sound and the lights went out. We crowded in the bathroom with the dogs in arms. (one was hiding under the bed) In a few min. we peaked out and the sky was real bright. Found some huge hail balls in the yard. And started hearing all kinds of police and ambulance sirens. I went home about 10 miles to the so. and was shocked by what I saw. I will post a couple pictures here but it is just the tip. Seems the tornado came out of Oklahoma, and made a path across country and hit the west and south side of our little town and then kept going. Many houses lost. Haven't heard a count yet.

We have one family that we heard their story and our old neighbor from out to our farm is a very good friend of this gal, Debbie is a single mom with a 7 year old daughter. She, her daughter, her boyfriend, and the Old neighbor with her 2 kids were in Debbie's trailer house so of town when it hit. They tried to get out and it was to late, the boyfriend was sucked thru a glass door and cut real bad. The rest were all thrown out on the deck and as the trailer began to twist apart, they were all, and I repeat ALL thrown into a huge hole where just a few min before a big tree had stood. Then the trailer house rolled over the top of them!! I still get chills just thinking about it. Debbie said she just knew she was going to die. The boyfriend spent a couple days in ICU and is home now to recuperate.

You know how when you hear about a disaster you always wish you could do something to help. Well we decided that we have a house sitting empty waiting to sell out to our little 20 acre farm, which is on the north side of town. So we offered it to Debbie to live in for awhile. It sure won't hurt us any and will give her some time to get things figured out. She has a couple of horses and they are OK and will be put in the pasture. I just feel grateful to be able to do something that will help someone.

So that is it for now from SW Missouri. My heart goes out to everyone who is suffering from their losses. There was 2 families who lost multiple lives. One was husb, wife, and 2 kids that the house fell in on them. And another that had 3 family members. We saw on the news this morning that a 21 year old firefighter died in the hospital yesterday from injuries. We was spotting the tornado and getting warnings out to help others.

IF you are safe and sound, count your blessings. We have many!!

Better think before you spend that IRS rebate check!

Folks, here is what will happen to your money:
If we spend the money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.
If we spend it on gasoline, it will go to the Arabs.
If we purchase a computer, it will go to India.
If we purchase fruits and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.
If we purchase a good car, it will go to Japan.
If we purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan.

None of which will help the American Economy.
We need to keep that money here in America.
The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the only businesses left in the U.S. where the money still stays in America.

Beer is cheaper than Gas??

Someone sent this to me in an e-mail. Made me remember the local gas station that quit posting its price. His sign just says Gas is High, Beer is Cheap. I laughed about it then asked my husband what would a gallon of beer cost and realized we could put beer in the gas tank cheaper! Now there is a thought.

Had a beautiful 2 days off. Built planter boxes, yes that was me out with the power saw and hammer. I am sort of handy that way. Makes me real proud of the results. Only needed help with the landscape timbers that I used across the front of one of the boxes, hubby had to fire up the chain saw to make my cuts for me. But used recycled redwood fencing boards for the rest. We have a recycle place locally that we can get a good soil mix real cheap. I think I mentioned it before. And we got several huge bags of Miracle Grow potting soil for 2$ a bag. They had been damaged and have tape over the ends. Who cares. They sell for around 15$ a bag in the store. Still having fun feeding the orioles. Have a nephew who is a photographer who wants to come over and stake out a spot to get some pictures. I figure we can take the screen off the window and open it up and he can sit in the kitchen real quiet and they will come right up on the porch rail. Should make him bring his own oranges!!

Thought for the day: The 20% rule, You only wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time. I think that is true!

Orioles eating us out of house and home!

This isn't a very good pic. but hope to get better ones this weekend. I put a bowl with a chunk of orange on the railing of the back porch this morning and had 5 fighting over it plus at least 4 more in the tree and on the grape jelly. I don't mind the cheaper grape jelly but hey, these oranges are a little expensive. But they are sure pretty birds. I will try to get a short video of them if I can.

My thought for the day came from a friend in Ia. He told me about this message on a tombstone he saw years ago in Texas. Read it slowly and think about it. The poor guy must have suffered alot in his life:

For all the happiness mankind can gain

Its not from joy or pleasure

But relief from pain

How can I find time to read?

Well its not easy, but seems I am in the mode to read stuff about the 11th century. I had reported on reading The Other Boleyn Girl. Now I am into another book from that era. It is The Pillars of The Earth, by Ken Follett. I have had so many customers tell me it was the best book they ever read. Sooo I am into it now. The next one that I have read a few pages of that looks good is one of Oprah's book club books, Daughter of Fortune, by Isabel Allende. It has a setting in Chile in 1849.

Seems as you get older you just can't find time to do everything you want to do. The days seem to go by so fast. Guess we need to make the best of each day and fill it with everything we can.

Thought for the day: Life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer to the end the faster it goes!

We've Gone to the Birds!

Beautiful weekend, lots of yard work, and sore muscles! We are developing quite a bird sanctuary in our back yard. We have 4 different kinds of woodpeckers. The most gorgeous one is in this picture. It is the Red Headed Woodpecker. We have seen at least 2 of them. This view is from his back, he came up to the little pan that we put birdseed in, on the porch railing.

The other pic is of the Red Head on the ground with some doves.

Then we spotted hummingbirds so got a feeder out for them. Well these Orioles showed up. As near as we can count there are 5 males and one female. They were trying to hang onto the hummingbird feeder to drink, so we found our oriole feeder and put it out. Then we thought that there were so many of them and they were hanging around, we put some jelly out in a bowel on the railing of our little porch on the utility building. Then we put a bowel with some oranges pieces out. Well they just hop from one to the other and slurp up the jelly. Not sure but think the strawberry is winning out over the grape! I will get some pictures of them soon. Have to sit out in a chair quietly and wait for them.

Plus there are lots of blue jays, robins, gold finch, and then in the evening the doves and cowbirds come in. We may have to take out a loan to buy bird feed. This is almost as bad as all the quail we fed when we lived in Nevada. There was a flock of over 100 that swarmed the back yard every day to get their share from us.

Thought for the day: Put yourself first. You can't be anything for anybody else unless you take care of yourself.

Rugs for Sale!!

OK I am ready to sell some rugs.

Got 3 more in. of rain last nite, lots of lightning. Scared dog had to sleep huddled next to my legs. Sort of hard to sleep with a big dog quaking and shaking. We got 4 in just a few days ago. sure making the grass grow. And the trees are leafing out so nice. Glad when they get fully leafed out, Then the neighbors can't see me sitting on the back porch in my nighty.

Any one wants to buy a rug, leave me your e-mail address. I will prob list some on e-bay in my e-store. Want to get restrung this week and make a batch of table runners and placemats.

Thought for the day: When governments fear the people there is liberty, when people fear the government there is tyranny: Thomas Jefferson

Now where was I?

Been busy and seems the busier you are the less you can think of to write. Now that doesn't make much sense. So lets see. I have joined the YMCA. That was a good thing. Did the pool exercise Mon. They sure have a nice pool. Was going today to use the weights but it was such a beautiful morning I just headed into town where my store is and did my walk thing. My sister calls me a street walker!! But there are alot of hills and it really does make a good walk and if I take different streets I get to be barked at by different dogs! The weather is warming up though and they gym will be alot nicer to workout in, as it gets pretty hot to be walking after 9 AM.

Been weaving rugs, Got a cute green plastic tub to put them in for selling.

Spent my "weekend" off working on our garden space, will take a pic later. It is Railroad ties stacked 2 high. We had alot of ground up tree stumps rotting down all winter and then hubby hauled a couple pickup loads of this great soil from a recycle place. It is part potting soil, manure, and top soil. Only costs 10$ for a big front end loader scoop. I think we got 3 scoops in all and will make great garden soil. Then got my wave petunias planted. Sun did a book sale in the driveway to get rid of some excess books, then hauled the rest, about 20 boxes, to a guy for this little auction that he does weekly. I don't care what I get, just want to be rid of them. They are the left overs from the 3,000 books I bought last fall from the flea market booth that was going out of business.

A week ago went down to Ar. to see my daughter and grand daughters. Was a good trip. The twins will be 15 later this mo. and the oldest (19 year old) one is going to be a mama this summer. Soooooooo I guess that will make me the youngest great grandmother in history!! Can't believe it. Gee, I can't believe my daughter will be a grandma! Well on that note, I best get busy here and do something productive.

Food for Thought:
"You don't need organized religion to connect with the universe. Often a church is the only place you can go to find peace and quiet... But it shouldn't be confused with connecting with one's spirit." -- Alice Walker

Meet my Baby!

Well there it sits on it's new throne. Ain't she perty? I am all ready to start. I will try to add another picture of the favorite rug that I made. If you click on the picture you can get a bigger one to see better.

Oh, I need to correct something that I posted earlier. I did not go to Ia. to learn to loom! I learned to weave! I guess thats like saying I am going to car, when I mean drive. Laugh is on me.

I had a great vacation. I highly recommend including learning something new on your vacation. Makes it so much more memorable. Of course all the midnight chats and gallons of coffee that I was "forced" to drink only added to the frivolity. I took alot of pictures of the little town of Bentonsport. Found out that there are about 50 residents there now. Not sure how many during its hay day back in the late 1800's. It was a thriving river town with a mill and many industries. Most of the homes left are the old 2 story brick homes built at that time. Will add some of those next time. Lots of history there including a little of my own. As I lived for a short time in one of the little buildings on main street when I was about 8 years old. It was always called Dolly's House, ( I think Dolly was a naughty lady) Anyway it was just one room down stairs and one upstairs. It was moved a few years ago and is now a little shop that is open in the summer. The old bridge was converted to a walking bridge a number of years ago, I great part due to the efforts of my friends there. They saved it from being torn down to put the new bridge in. Now the new bridge is down stream a little and makes the entrance into town seem strange. I have walked across that old bridge many many times. It was a one way bridge, which meant that if you drove up the approach and another car was coming you had to back up to let them cross first. See later on when I was about 14, I lived in a house on the other side of the river. We are talking about the Des Moines River.

Thought for the day: Be willing to learn from your friends and family.

Whats it worth?

Total 943 miles driven.

Gas for trip $137.75.

Store closed 1 week. Lost Revenue ###$.

Price of used loom ###$.

Time spent with old friend and learning new skills, PRICELESS!!

Wish you were here!

Having a great time. I am still in Iowa and just have to share my "stuff" so far. Trip so far:

Saw a sign on a rural building, "Chop Shop, Custom Butchering."

Knew I was close to Ia. when I started noticing folks doing the little "wave." That's where you just lift your hand or a few fingers from the steering wheel to acknowledge the oncoming driver. Its an Iowa thing.

Was able to find the old "home place", well the place I lived for about 4 years at one time growing up. Haven't been past there for many years. Only thing left to recognize is a huge pine tree in the front yard and the old barn, oh and the 2 ponds. Amish have bought it now and there is a huge white house on both sides of the road. I stalked them a little and took a few pictures from up the road.

Met up with my sister in law yesterday and we took a little trip up thru farm country to a town named Kalona so I could get some cheese curds to take home. It is a huge cheese factory, and if you have never had fresh cheese curds, I just can't explain them to you. But they are the fresh product in the production of cheeses, and the squeek on your teeth. Wonderful.

I am getting the knack of weaving. Love it. The biggest job was to learn how to string up the loom. But I have the best teacher and if I make a mistake, I am sure its because we are yakking too much. Don't get to bed till almost midnight. Weather has been great, cool, but mostly sunny. Have taken alot of pictures around this little town. I will put some links up later to direct you to this little county that boasts either one or no stop light in the county. Look up Villages of Van Buren County and you can find it. I am in Bentonsport. Now that's all the info I can give out to protect the innocent, ya know? I will post pictures when I get back to my computer

Oh, the boss is getting up, so I have to get out of here and get busy, {she is a slave driver} but don't tell her I said so.

Thought for the day: If you have a price to pay, the sooner you pay it, the less it costs you. (those words of wisdom, fresh from the mouth of the "boss" as she came out of the bedroom!

PS Hi to my sis in Mo. that reads my blog. And to her and to my friend Jan, send me an e-mail and I will pick it up from here and can send a reply. I didn't bring any e-mail addresses with me.

Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again!

Actually I am driving. Headed out Sat on some alone time for 8 or 9 days! Well sort of alone. Headed to Ia. to spend time visiting old friends and some family, too. But mostly to stay with my "girlhood" friend and learn how to loom rugs. Yea, thats right, never know when that skill may come in handy. Been wanting to do this for years when I was up there last spring I found that she has a table top size loom and I told her that was just the right size for me, to hold onto it and I would be up. Promise to bring back some pictures. There is a long story here so maybe someday I will write it.

Just finished a very good book. If you want a really good read, pick up The Other Boleyn Girl! By Phillippa Gregory. Learn a little history too, The setting is in the 1500's. Women we have come along way, let me tell you. I know there is a movie, is it here yet? I never know when I see one advertised if its here or coming soon, as I rarely go to movies. I did see a movie for TV coming in April that is from the book I read last month, so hope I remember to watch it or tape it. The Memory Keepers Daughter. It was a good book so I look forward to seeing what they did to make it a movie.

Well got lists to make and them I am hitting the road. Now do I want peace and quiet or CD's to listen to, hmmmmmmmmmm?

Thought for the day: Whatever we Think about, Thank about, We bring about!

I love "Bare" jokes!

Gotcha! But I really do love bear jokes. These are my favorites. Another favorite is the campers in a tent, and a bear is reaching under the edge feeling around with his paw, and the Lady says,"George, cut that out." Well there is my humor for this Friday foggy day.


Thought for the day: Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!"

I Am Getting All Techy!!

My horoscope for today. Pretty cool!

Your creativity will really be luminous today, and your mind will be drawn to light. If you can, get up extra early and watch the sunrise. You will see the world in a way you never saw it before, and who knows? You might realize that you are a morning person after all!

I just updated my Yahoo page and have all this personal stuff on it now for my home page, like local tv listings for the day, movies at local theaters, weather, and even Garfield. Now I am trying to figure out how to transfer all my favorites over so that they are not just stored on my computer. I live in a fear that the computer will crash around my ears one day and all the neat sites and files I save will go with it. My computer Geek tells me I should be storing everything off site. So maybe I will get that figured out one of these days. Baby steps!!

Got my new little mp3 player set up yesterday and loaded most of my music that I had stored on My Music onto it. Worked real well. Amazing to have something so tiny hold so much info, plus its an FM radio, can download audio books to listen to. I know I am way behind alot of folks here but hey, I am traveling at my own pace and it feels good.

On the Up side,weather is awesome, sun shining, clear, and going to be up in the 70's today. On the down side, gas is too high! Yikes over 3$ and going up everyday. Guess we all need to really think before we get behind the wheel!!

Thought for the day: Once you get people laughing, they're listening and you can tell them almost anything". :)

Amor fati (Love what is)

I swiped that from a book that I just finished and feel the need to put my thoughts down about it. The title is: Drinking the Rain, by Alix Kates Shulman. Printed in 1995, it covers 10 years of her life from age 50 to 60. In her younger years she was very active in teaching, writing, and marching for women's rights. At age 50 she feels the need to have some solitude to really learn more about herself, so she goes to spend the summer totally alone in a cabin at the end of an island off Maine. She ends up pretty much living off the land, and learns all the bounty that the sea and island has to offer. She returns year after year. She opens her eyes to see the beauty in living so simple and close to the earth and it changes her and how she views everything.

I reallly enjoyed the book and found it really not so mysterious why I chose it to read. Actually I have a stack of books that I plan to read and this one was pulled out randomly and when I started it was amazing how it tied in with what I have been thinking and feeling myself. It seems everywhere I turn I see these "signs" that are directing me. I have been reading Depok Chopra for some time and just finished one of his books and am anxious to get his new one, and am now reading Ekart Tolle's book, The New Earth. Some will scoff at this as nonsense but one of the statements in the beginning of the book, if you are not already becoming "awake" just put the book down and don't waste you time or money. You have to be ready to be awakened and truly See. And I think that is what this book Drinking the Rain was about. And the Amor fati, was a quote from the book.

So I stop with that thought "Love what is" Couldn't that just change your whole perspective on life. And as Ekart says, "Accept what is< then action can follow"

Thought for the day: "Happiness is not something ready made...It comes from your own actions."---Dalai Lama

Zumba! Me???

Oh, I can't believe I got talked into this! A friend came by yesterday and asked if I wanted to go to an exercise class that one of the Joplin hospitals is sponsoring 2 nites a week. Another friend was going with her and they are both a few years older than me, so I thought "What the heck, I will give it a try." Well if you don't know what Zumba is, look it up in google!! Its a little Merengue, Salsa, and Samba. Oh, my!

But what a HOT instructor. 6 pack abs, tanned. A mother of a 12 year old! She was amazing. If I can make my butt move 1/10th of the action she has going I will be thrilled. I was really pooped about 10 min. from the end, so was basically down to just stepping in place by that time, boy what a slug. And here I am so proud of the fact that I have hardly missed a day on my tread mill since Jan 1. Maybe I should put down my book and increase my speed a little!

So a little IBU and I will give it another try tomorrow nite. Wish we had more than one day to recup..

Thought for the day: If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?

You know someone is getting old when you see cars zipping by your intersection at 30 miles an hr. and you hear, "Damn, they sure drive fast thru here!"

Well that is what I have heard, not that I think its true, yet.

Doing OK, dropped off papers to have taxes done. Had a tooth filling replaced. Hated to have it done when nothing hurt. But it was loose on the edge last cleaning and again this time, so I gave in and had it redone. They use a nice white filling now. Sort of wish I had asked to have the other fillings replaced in that area while I was numb. Wonder if he would have done that?

Got a taste of spring again, Sat. and Sun. Up in the 70's, then a blast in the bloomers with a cold rain and down in the 20's and 30's again Mon. But we are lucky as the bad weather went south and north of us.

Had to replace my printer, so got a new HP Photosmart all-in-one. Wow. What a deal. For 88$ plus tax, I got a neat little machine that scans, copies, prints. Plus has ports to plug dig. camera card in and view pictures on a little screen and print photos. Big bonus, the ink refills are about half the cost of my old machine. What a deal. Sort of makes me glad the old one bid the dust.

Been reading Echart Tolle's book "The New Earth" Me and about a million other people. Going to log onto Oprah's site and view the big webcast that they did last nite.

Did I mention I am planning a week long get away for later in the mo. or the first of April? Going to Iowa to visit a friend and learn to loom rugs. She has a small table top loom she is selling me and has promised if I come up she will teach me how to use it. Sounds like fun, besides I can get my Iowa FIX. Visit some old friends and maybe even find some really alone time.

Thought for the day: A man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them......Mark Twain