Old Friends and New Friends

 I often feel so fortunate to have friends.  But only a few are "old friends".  These are the ones who knew you when you were that uncertain 13 year old who did crazy stuff with you like climbing on the old bridge railing to get "glamor" photos of each other and did sleep overs.  Those are few and far between.  But then you meet folks a bit later in life who become good friends that you can count on to drop everything to take you to the Dr. or plan their schedule to take you to have a procedure where you need a driver.  Those friends are few also.  But also are all those close acquaintances who you call friends too.  You see them at meetings, at stores, and they come to see you to visit from time to time.  Sometimes you maintain friendships with neighbors that you have had in other states.  The last year or so we female family members who live fairly close to each other started having monthly lunches at different local restaurants.  It started out with just 5 of us, but then we invited the grand dtrs, dtr in laws, great grand dtrs. and and a couple new babies.  So it has expanded and sometimes hard to find places to get together.  This month it will be a pizza place that has a big room.  So these ladies are also my friends.  Then sometimes you are lucky enough to find a friend that you have never met, who lives in another state, but has ties to your local town.  These can be special friends that you share things with,

I guess partly because maybe they see the deeper side of you that others can't perceive .  Maybe it is to complicated to put in words, but if that person reads this I hope they see themselves and tell me why I feel that way.  So today I am sharing my gratitude for friends new and far.

Crazy World

 

I think I am glad that I have this hair.  I don't think younger folks realize what a mess our world is in.  Maybe these words were already said back in the 50's and even during civil war time as the world must have seemed to be on its head then too.  Personally I am worried that our tech knowledge  is moving so fast that it has to be stressful on young people to know what to believe.  With EVERYTHING at their finger tips literally  it has to be overwhelming.  Or maybe I am just getting old and they really are ok and getting it.  I still have my doubts.  Our values seem to have slipped and the division we see in our country is getting so much worse. My best friend is a democrat and we manage our friendship by just ignoring our differences there.   I guess thats all I have to say. 

Music Box Dancer

 I was just listening to some music on my computer and this song came up.  I had to just sit and let my mind go back to when I first heard it back in 1973.  As a new grad from nursing school, our class was invited by the Mo. State Nursing Association to go they annual conference being held in St Louis.  So off we went, with me leaving my husband and 2 small children to fend for themselves while I enjoyed my first trip anywhere by myself without them.  It was the most liberating experience of my life at that point. The three highlights that I remember the most:   1. going up in the Arch, 2. hearing this song performed on stage of a riverboat by a piano.  I was mesmerized and have loved this song since then,  3. We had the opportunity to talk to a military recruiter.  Wow,  this was something that could open so many doors for me.  In high school I talked to a recruiter and had my heart set on enlisting but was dumb enough to get married instead. So at 29 I realized I could join the reserves with my degree and go forward.  Of course when I got home that idea died quickly.  But years later with a different husband I did try twice to get in but it was not meant to be. Al was very supportive and would have gone with me where ever needed, as he had a military back ground and understood.  

So when I hear this song I am just taken back to this time early in my career and I think of what might have been.

Hiraeth

 Hiraeth n. (Welsh)  A spiritual longing for a home which maybe never was.  Nostalgia for ancient places to which we cannot return.  It is the echo of the lost places of our soul's past and our grief for them.  It is in the wind, and the rocks, and the waves.  It is nowhere and it is everywhere.

 

Well I am off to a good start for 2024.  Gee it was just yesterday when we all worried that all the computers would crash when it turned 2000.  Called it Y2K.  But we survived.  Just a short entry tonite.  Staying hunkered down as we are having quite a cold snap.  At least so far we have had very little snow.  Heard from my friend Betty in Iowa they got about 20 inches and everything is closed up. 

So here's to my nostalgia which is with me a lot.  

George Carlin Quotes

 I was never a huge fan of Carlin,  I think mainly because of his potty mouth.  But some of his quotes and the story he does about our "stuff" is priceless.  So I wanted to get a few on here on this snowy January day.  I think a few years ago I wrote a blog about him but what the heck.

"Here's all you have to know about men and women:  women are crazy, men are stupid.  And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid."

"A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff"

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups"

"Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body."

"We buy stuff we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't like."

If you want to really watch him and listen to him talk about "stuff"  Its on You Tube.  Just type in George Carlin Talks about "stuff"  Its really good. 

So this is what I am thinking about today.  At my age and don't forget its a new year so we have to maybe think about our "stuff"  I have stuff that is not mine!  You know when family members die you think you have to keep some of their stuff I guess to remember them by.  I have reached the stage in my life that I want a lot of this stuff gone.  I really want to understand the philosophy of being a minimalist.  It has a great appeal to me, because face it we sure are not taking any of it with us.

One of my favorite puzzle,  Now this is GOOD stuff right here!!!

Coddiwample

 (V.) To travel in a purposeful manner toward a vague destination.

                                                              My paint by number

Life's a beach, with sand in your britches sometimes

 

2023 Was a year of many changes for me some wonderful and some not so good.  So here is my summary.  Oh, picture is of my Pier trash Art.

Things started off well, A spring trip to our home in Tx. with decision made to sell it  as its to much to maintain 2 homes for us at this time.  Hubbys health not to good anymore.  First of June we started renting the house to the neighbors son and his family so I didn't have to make that commitment yet to sell.  Also the first of June Hubby went to live in an assisted living facility near by, with the conviction that  it would make my life easier and he would be with others in his condition. blah, blah, blah... Then my main checking act got hacked so had to close it down, open new one, change all my auto pay stuff, took a week to update everything.  Then my Dr. sent me to pain clinic for tx for sciatica, couldn't get in for 7 weeks.  Started PT and Chiropractor decompression treatments.  During all this I was dealing with the facility and all the problems that come up when they have staff that is not adequate.  Mid summer had a lumpectomy fully expecting to have radical bilateral mastectomy but it didn't happen, all is well.

Then on the up side of all this I took a trip to Oregon to visit my niece, and had a great time, even got to paddle a Dragon Boat with the team.  IT was awesome.  Have to find a picture of that.  After a few days she drove me up to Seattle area and I met up with an old class mate who lives on Widby Island Washington.  They were great hosts and took me all over to site see.  Huge heather fields were great and riding across Pouget Sound on the Ferry boat was an experience.  Air travel by myself and catching shuttle bus was a good learning experience as I have not flown alone in a couple forevers!  

By end of July I finally saw the pain clinic and was happy to tell them my pain was greatly improved with my self treatments but I wanted to keep apt to be established with them  I wasn't to thrilled that they identified some high blood pressure.  Well Crap  Not me!!!! So there I went on the rolly coaster of finding a medicine I could handle.

By later Aug Hubby was tired of the facility and wanted to come home and so he did and old routines fell right back in place.  But I had already booked a trip to NC for a week in Sept.  I lined up a caregiver to come in a few hours a day and be here to cook lunch and during his shower time.  They managed after a couple hickups   

In Sept I flew to Charlotte NV to see my 2 brothers.  Was a good trip.  Felt good about renting a car to drive to older brothers home by way of Winston- Salem, and Durham  Then back again to finish out vacation with younger brother.  Was barely home for a few days then drove to Iowa for family reunion, Was the best one ever.  Spent a couple extra days with my good friend.  

In Dec we took a trip to Tx and ended up putting the house on the market,  our renters were in process of moving out as they had to be closer to his job.  It all worked out to perfect timing.  Will be sad to see the house sold but glad too.  I know I am not afraid to travel now and if I can't drive I will fly.  Hubby talking again about wanting to go to another assisted living facility so we will wait and see.  Get thru winter first.  One day at a time.

So a long post but it sums up 2023 for me.  Im still here, going strong and looking forward to whatever 2024 brings.  My happy picture to wrap it up!!

Who am I?

 

 Back in Jan I re posted one of my posts from back in 2006 about who I am.  A couple years ago I started another list and ran across it recently and want to add to that orig list of who I am, or what makes me who I am.  So here goes and in random order.

I am rolls of old wallpaper used as drawing paper

I am my Dad "shaking" down the wood stove in the early morning to get the house warm for his family.

I am tomato plants set out in long rows in the spring.

I am slipping beet skins at canning time, boiled in copper kettle, some small and so tender that they got popped in my mouth.

I am frost sticking my tongue to the pump handle {once}

I am blue jeans, T shirts, and tennis shoes.

I am steel gray, moving on to white hair.

I am rope swings going high and merry go round making me dizzy.

I am a woman scorned.

I am ice crystals in the cold air over a mountain lake and frozen frost on prison wire.

I am sunburns and sun tans.

I am curious about all the possibilities.

I am pets that shared their lives with me.

I am home made cloths during hard times.

I am the nursing student, 2nd in my class after being a high school drop out.

I am a weaver of rugs.

I am books that inspire and entertain.

I am a keeper of secrets.

I am Sarcasm, what I didn't give to my daughter.

I am wife, mother, grand mother, and great grand mother.

I am sometimes sadness, a Mama who has lost both her children.

I am the 7 year old stitching scraps of fabric into small squares and selling them for a penny as purses.

I am still a work in progress and still a sucker.

I am still a blogger and little bit FB

I am Me,  Who are You?

Birthday

 

Obviously where I would rather be today.  Yesterday was my birthday and the 3rd day of being home bound due to Icy roads. So as I continue to sneeze my head off and blow my nose I wanted to jump on here and say Hi and Happy Birthday to me. Who am I kidding, one year older,  You know why time seems to go faster as we get older?  Its all downhill.  But we need to enjoy every moment and appreciate where we are.  Right???  Seems we spend so much time in a hurry when we are young that maybe we don't do that.  So thats my thoughts for today, such as they are,  Now where is my soggy klenex.  

Copied from a book I am reading by James Waller:  We come, we do, we go.  We should not take ourselves more serious then that.

So a bit from the past that I wrote in 2006

 

 

Friday, November 10, 2006

What makes us who we are?

Have you ever thought about what it is that makes us who we are? I mean really what is IT? You see people born into the same family that turn out so different. Why?
Is it Nature or Nuture? Is it the genes, DNA, that we inherit or the influence of how you are raised, combined with exposure to outside factors that mold us? I guess I tend to think it is a mix of both, but then I like to throw in the free choice that we have going for us. And what about predestination, I still believe that we chose the paths that we follow. I think that explains why some of us have such hard lives and some have easy times. There is Karma thrown in there. So this is a long explaination for why I am going to post this thing that I wrote over a year ago and had posted on my old blog site. I liked it then and still like it. I would love to see other think of what it is that makes them who they are and write something similar. Thanks for listening....

I am me.

I am the little girl collecting McCall paper dolls.

I am the tears cried as mom read Lassie and Big Red to us by kerosene lamp.

I am the kid who caught grasshoppers to feed to the chickens.

I am a country girl first and always.

I am the 16 year old who ran crying in the rain when my first love moved away.

I am the 12 year old who got an ear jerked as punishment by a father who never once spanked me.

I am an old farm house made of brick with huge pine trees in the yard and a big apricot tree.

I am the girl who's best friend was a little brother.

I am home canned green beans.

I am the teenager who locked herself in the bathroom so Mom couldn't hit me with the yard stick.

I am the smell and taste of moms raised doughnuts rolled in sugar.

I am the high school drop out.

I am the 17 year old being married far to soon.

I am the nursing student who worked every weekend for gas money to get to class.

I am the nursing grad who was 2nd in her class at age 27.

I am the first baby I delivered with my own hands.

I am bleach blond hair.

I am the mother of 2 babies of my own.

I am the child who played in the pond and haymow for fun.

I am the smell of cows breath, while sitting in the hay bunk while they ate.

I am the woman who's heart has been broken, to be mended again and again.

I am music that makes me feel melancholy.

I am books that make me think of all the possibilities.

I am the keeper of the secrets.

I am a grandmother.

I am the seeker of spiritual truth.

I am a blogger.

I am me.

Who are you?

 

New Year this and that

 January 2023 is almost gone.  Remember when 2000 was rolling toward us and everyone was in a panic about how would our computers manage and we might all crash and burn.  If I remember right it was barely a blip.  Wow 23 years ago.  We were living in Dayton Nv. I believe or just down the highway west in Carson City Nv.   I was working at Northern Nv Corrections as a "yard nurse"  Which meant I made rounds to see inmates that had put in "kites" to complain about something medical. I like to shock people and tell them I got out of prison in 2005 and they threw me a going away party.  That raises a few eye brows for a minute.  

Well last year in Feb my hubby had a bad TIA and was in hosp a few days.  He begged me that if it happened again to keep him at home.  Dr. agreed there wasn't much they would do for him but monitor him and of course run a bunch of tests.  If he has a stroke they still can't do anything as he is already on blood thinner and would not be a candidate for the clot buster drug.  Besides he will be 91 in March.  Some days he says he just wants out of this world.  I think it is harder for men to deal with declining health, than women.  last week he had another "spell"  Got shaky then later got real weak,  fell trying to get ready for bed and I had to get neighbor to come over and help get him onto the bed.  In the middle of the night he was still to weak to raise up, but by morning could get up and to bathroom.  He slept off and on all that day and then seemed to recover and by second day was pretty much back to normal,  walked out to mail box fine.  So we just take things one day at a time and deal with what ever happens.  

The week before all this happened I had a meniscus repair in my left knee.  A good friend took me for the surg and stayed with me.  What would we do without friends?  I have done very well and hope I am fixed up for a long time now.  Went into my weaving studio  yesterday and piddled around. 

So next time I want to talk about "Stuff"  Why we collect it, and what do we do about it. 

Almost didn't recognize myself

 Just for fun I spent part of the evening going back to 2007 in this blog and reading my entries for the whole year.  Just Wow.  I was sure one darn hard worker, I can tell you that.  Very independent too but then I think I always have been.  The sad thing is that most all the pictures and videos that I attached are all gone.  But I did enjoy reliving some old memories and getting to know the me of yesteryear.  

I don't know why it is so hard to just write a post weekly.  I think so much happens in our lives that when you go so long its hard to think of what is important enough to write about.  I have always enjoyed writing.  I still write my column for the local weekly paper from time to time.  I do book reviews and its sort of my personal blog with me updating things like guild activities, or the farmers market, or something going on with my weaving studio.  

I would like to make myself a promise to log in and every weekend find a few minutes to put some thoughts down and a bit of update on just daily stuff.  Maybe I can look back and read it 10 years from now, if I can still operate a computer.  LOL  

So topic next time is my looms.  I AM the loom whisperer. 

A minor correction here

 The last post was about what I thought was a reaction with my Alpha Gal.  Turns out I was wrong.  I had a brown recluse spider bite,  ended up going to Dr. and getting put on some antibiotic and prednisone.  Took over a month to heal up and now have a bit of a divot in my rt bicep and small nodules that I can feel.  Not sure if I should have a Dr. check it again or not  I am assuming they are scar tissue.  Anyway I am continuing on eating a bit of bacon occ. and some foods with some dairy.  So far so good.  Have no desire to ever eat beef.  In fact I am researching and thinking of trying to go Keto for a spell and see how I feel.  I would love to loose about 15 pounds but also I am feeling that there are some health benefits here that we all need.  No sugars and minimal carbs.  I will get back on that.  In mean time I feel like I am on the go constantly while back up home.  Spending a hot summer here and will head back to Texas in November.  Till later..

Ahhh The gift that keeps on giving

 I believe I have mentioned before that I have Alpha-Gal which in from a tick bite.  I have had this for almost 5 years now and have done well managing it with my diet of no mammal meats and later no dairy.  I don't tolerate gluten, or wheat very well ether, as I get hoarse and have a funky smell in my nose.  Anyway, last labs done in the fall showed no allergy to beef or pork and my AG number was down to normal.  Well I have been eating very small amounts of bacon this winter and no problem,  then this past week I think I filled my histamine bucket to the top and it ran over.  Had some bacon, and some probable hidden dairy plus gluten overload.  And no one knows what will trip it over the top.  Ended up with a pretty bad case of angeoedema which is just a swelling into the tissues with the area being red, hot, painful, and very itchy at same time.  I have had regular hives but nothing like this.  takes up my entire upper arm. Trip to Urgent care and put on Prednisone.  Taking Benadryl.   But this to shall pass.  Lesson learned, don't pay any attention to the labs as they Lie. 

So just throwing that out here to record.  We are planning on heading back to Texas in a week.  2 weeks ago Al had a pretty bad TIA and was in hosp a couple days but no brain bleed or clots.  So we are making sure every day is used wisely and I need to get him back to the coast before something happens again and he won't be able to travel.  Oh, today is his 90th birthday!  Cruise ship is from our trip 2019. So glad we went when we did. 

Tuna fish??

Chose this handsome fellow because I am missing Texas this week.  We came back "UP" home a week ago just before the big blizzard of 2022.  Well it did snow with ice under it and we stayed stuck at home for 5 days till streets clear.  Anyway had to come home to get some medical appointments out of the way,  get car serviced, and get taxes turned into our tax guy.

Did you know you can tune a piano, but you can't tuna a fish?