Grammajayneblogs

Betsy freakin Ross

2012-01-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Some time ago I got a USA flag afghan pattern to crochet. I decided to make one for my grandson in ID. Since I crochet by just diggin into the pattern, I was unaware how short it would come out when finished. So, after the first one came out too short for him, I decided to make a second one that would be longer. I measured it out, made the beginning chain and thought "this will be swell!". Uh uh. no, not even. The dang thing turned out to be about 7 feet long! That was after all my careful measuring to make it 6 feet long. So I made 50 stars, sewed them on the first small afghan, made 50 more and sewed them on the huge afghan. Then I decided I needed to make a third one so I could send one to ID, and give Kris' boys each one. I looked up the first USA flag from 1776, and it had only 13 stars on it, in a circle on the blue field. (I was NOT about to make another 50 freakin stars! them things are a bitch to make.) So the 3rd flag afghan is a 1776 model.

The first photo shows the 2 afghans that went to Kris's boys.
Below shows the huge long one that went to Idaho.

The photo below shows what happened to the flag that went to my grandson in Idaho. His sister took it! LOL.

I adore the Flag of the USA. And I respect it. If it bothers you that I made afghans like it, get your underwear out of a bundle and lighten up. Hopefully, those afghans will be used to keep some family members warm and cozy on a cold night.

It is good to have old friends

2011-09-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my sis and I had a 5 hour lunch reunion with a friend from High School days that we had not seen nor heard from in over 35 years. Sis tracked her down, she responded, and we met up again. Fortunately another mutual friend was in town so the 4 of us reunited. It's funny the memories we shared; some were recalled by all, some were recalled by 2, some by only one; different events struck us all in different ways. What memory stayed with one person, left another person because it was not so significant at the time. It was fun to share our recollections and how the memories impacted us. We've all come through the years in decent shape although experiencing different trials. Once you're able to get senior discounts, it's just good to still be alive to enjoy them.Thanks, my friends, for a great day. And Thank You , Lord, for my friends!

grandson's graduation

2011-06-12T16:14:00.001-07:00

Mike and I had a great trip to see Tim n Tara and family for Russell's graduation. (How did he grow up so fast??) Tara's folks were able to be there as well. It was a big event held in the Idaho Center arena. Russell turned 18 the same week, and I turned 18times3plus a few more. So we had a week of celebrations. We got to see Autumn perform in a band concert at the high school she will attend, and we went with Tara and Will to one of Will's OT sessions.
Here's the 3 siblings on grad day:

We are so proud of those kids, and of the way TnT are raising them to be good people. The Graduate chose to go back to California to look for a job and attend our local JC; he lives with his other grandparents for now.

It is always educational being around grandchildren. One said to me, "Gramma, can I see your phone?" "Sure" I sez. So she took my picture then says to me, "Did you know you have the 'funny face' feature on your phone's camera?" I told her I didn't know what that was. So she showed me....

Tis a feature that distorts the photo you take and makes someone look lovely. Thank you, Girlie! I shall show you no more mercy when we play canasta again. LOL.

William likes to wear a ballcap, so we brought him an "Air Force One" cap from the Ronald Reagan library. He wore it to school that week, and we're so proud of our Little Conservative (well, I can only dream).

All in all, it was a blessed visit and we are grateful that we could make the trip. It gets more and more tough for me to travel it seems as the months go on... so I owe TnT a big thanks for making us so comfortable in their home.
THANKS, KIDS!! Love you!!

2011-03-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

It was sweet to get a few days' stay at a place on Pacific Beach, with a balcony with a great view of the ocean and a boardwalk with very entertaining folks strolling by.

It was sweet to be with my nutty-ass sister who makes me laugh all the time (probably because lookin at her is like lookin in the mirror).

It was sweet to have our good friend Michelene with us. She's a nurse who cannot hang up her cap in retirement because she will think like a nurse till the final minute, and compel compliance with all manner of things good-health-habit-wise, otherwise your sorry butt is out the door!!

And it was SO SWEEEEET to have them two clowns with me the morning we were to leave for home and I accidently flooded the bathroom with an overflowing toilet, then stood in the room screaming, "THE TOILET IS RUNNING OVER, THE TOILET IS RUNNING OVER!" instead of shutting off the water pipe. Hell... I never was any good in an emergency! That's why I travel with a nurse and a teacher!!!

Thanks, Gram!

2011-03-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

So, awhile back my left middle finger swells up and will not bend and the knuckles are red and darn sore. So I make an appointment with my Dr. The doctor says as he is holding my left middle finger at a right angle to open the joint while the sports medicine doctor injects cortisone, "The surgeons do great work now replacing finger joints! You should get these fingers done. They are all crooked and I can see in these X-rays your knuckles are full of arthritis. That's why you have so much pain!"
The sports medicine doctor says, "Yah, you can be the bionic woman!"
I say, "wow. How can I ever thank my grandmother for this blessing of inherited worn- out- huge red knuckles?"
The doctors finish the injection then look at each other and say in unison, "Doctor! Doctor! Thank you, Doctor!"
They look at me and one ses, "You remember that ol' routine in that Mel Brooks movie?"
I sigh and say, "it would be a blast to work with you two clowns, but my fingers are killing me!"
The sports Dr takes a powder, my doctor says to come back in 2 weeks if the pain is still there.
I thank God that visit only cost me five bucks; have to laugh at the medical humor in spite of meself; in a few days I can again bend my left middle finger and can stop flipping everyone off (unintentionally).
But now the pain is back in several more knuckles, the middle finger wants to start flipping off again, and I am in a pickle. I'll force myself to keep working as long as possible, but if I promised to make you a crochet afghan I may have to just send you the balls of yarn and the crochet hook with directions so you can make it yerself. sorry.

2011-01-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

OK, Joan. I will change the photo that you see when you go to my blog. This one's for you and by you... and because of YOU!! A photo taken yesterday by you... of me... on a beautiful clear but breezy day up at the Reagan Library. How come you waited till the wind blew my wig over to one side before you took the photo? I look like a dork. And Kristy will see it and think i don't care about my haircut. Oh dear. another fine mess you've gotten me in to now. But the coffee was good and the piece of pie for the pie hole was delicious. Thanks! let's go another day when it is clear but not breezy, and we can play canasta on the patio while trying to guess what language the visitors all around us are speaking. Deal?? Deal!

goin up to the spirit in the sky

2010-11-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

Time to wrap up the saga of little brother. A sad, self-inflicted ending to a sad life, wasted in foggy self-administered (natural and man-made) drug coma, allowed because of denial of spiritual being, inability to seek other paths that may have brought self-esteem and perseverance, and a brilliant ability to attribute blame for one's situation onto anyone other than self. He'd cry out to God "if you're there" in his writings but never could get God to do the magic things immediately that were sought, thus cementing unbelief... like a child who doesn't get what he wants right away... throw a tantrum and walk away saying the hell with you.
He apparently thought he had at different times, two common-law wives, both of whom apparently OD'd and died leaving him in grief to muddle about and never relate substance abuse to possible death in others... but often hoping his own intake would result in the same outcome for him... which it never did... thus the chosen ending using a weapon of brain destruction that couldn't be remedied.
The hobby seemed to be to crap on "the man" whenever one could get away with it; beg, borrow (never paying back), or steal. No big deal if you had more that he had at the time because why would you miss what he needed when you seemed to have so much?
Classic portrayal of outward/inner man not matching; what you saw was not what you got if you wanted to get close to him. For no one could get close even a mother who thought he took such good care of her.
One man's reality, another man's fantasy.
Some day I may know how it truly finished as he went to meet the Spirit in the sky, however there will be no sorrow or grief for me because it is finished and I believe.
Don't waste your sorrows on him, me or anyone else but yourself until you can be certain of the One Who offers you salvation through The Cross: Jesus Christ Himself. A shroud has no pockets. At the final millisecond of your life here upon the earth, what else will TRULY matter?

Grand Daughters

2010-07-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Had a fun day with my granddaughters, who are becoming ladies far too quickly. I am so proud to be their grandma and I give them many reasons to make fun of old people. And they do a good job of that. Keeps us laughing a lot. But they ain't seen nuttin yet. I am quite sure there will be many more times and events for them crack up over as they spend time with "the old folks". The generation gaps are hysterical really... might as well laugh because you can't change things much.
The girlies are getting so old so fast that I've decided to keep my hair grey... just so no one thinks I am their mother. It's nice to not be the mother who has to discipline. With a grandmother you can do almost anything...(ALMOST anything) and not have to have a butt-kicking contest. But I hope to always have energy for canasta! I can kick butt at canasta!!
Hoping for several more fun times with the 2 of them before Ms Autumn has to go home to ID.

2010-05-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful twin sister Joan. She's been my best friend forever. (We need to get more look-alike clothes!)

little brother died, part two

2010-05-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

So, here I am, next of kin to a suicide case in Las Vegas; no wife or children to speak to and say, "here ya go; you handle it; you're it!". Joan is home in Calif with eye problems, awaiting surgery; other brother has been estranged from little brother for many years... I think the last time they saw each other was in 1984 when Dad died. Thank God my husband has agreed to be in LV with me and go through this experience with me. Our kids want to be here for us, to support us, but their circumstances with their families call for them to stay home and keep on with their lives. Our LV friends have offered so much support, and wish to accompany us as we go through the steps of settling things. It will be a learning experience for us all.

Tuesday (April 20) we go out to breakfast with our friends. 2 calls come in on my cell: Davis Mortuary is still bugging Joan about what to do with John's body,(first they ask her what to do with her father's body; she says he died in '84 and she's pretty sure they don't have HIS body) she tells the guy John isn't even with them, the guys says "oh, wait a minute" and puts her on hold so she hangs up. jackasses! Mr M calls telling me Mz A is begging for a viewing of John so she can tell him a proper goodbye, and Mr M would take her if I can arrange a viewing. I think "well, didn't you already do that in your 'dear john' letter ?" But then I think I need to be kind and will look into this, although who would want to see a corpse with a GSW to the head? Unless you're a CSI freak, But people are damn weird, if they are anything... so I call the mortuary guy. The guy at NV Funeral Services tells me it would cost $150-200 extra to fix John up for viewing, and it would take a lot of time and delay cremation. Only I can authorize this, no one else can even if they pay. I leave a message for Mr M that I won't pay this extra money, and he says he can't pay either. So I tell him to tell Mz A "no". Later I get a voice mail from Mz A crying, begging me to let her view John's body and that she has the "$200 to restore his face". Then I get damn mad at the balls she has to ask this, decide there is no way I will let this happen and that she can just say goodbye to a freakin box of ashes later on sometime. I do not want to talk to her, so I ask Mike to leave Mr M a message that we've decided her request is unreasonable and won't be done. He leaves the message for Mr M to pass on to Mz A, and that matter is settled as far as we are concerned.

We all 4 go to the Public Administrators (PA) Office at 1 PM for our appointment. There is a huge sign that says right off the bat there is a $150 charge for ANY PA services, and I think "geez, I hope they take my Visa". About 1:20 PM we are called into a small office off the waiting room, there are 4 chairs so we all sit down and a lady begins to let us know what was taken by the PA investigator from John's house. All she has is in one 8 1/2x11 clasp envelope. Can't be much I think.

First I have to sign a paper stating I am John's legal next-of-kin and that I have the right to receive property of John's. If I am a fake, I will have to pay to his estate 3 times the value of what I heist. But this don't scare me none, so I sign the legal paper.
The PA lady then empties the envelope on the desk and item by item and checks off the content as she shows me what is there: a bag of coins, check books from bank and credit union, car and home keys, gun registration card, a paper with xeroxed charge cards but not the cards themselves, and 2 watches. Then she says, "We found 211 dollars and kept our $150 fee and you'll get a check in the next few weeks for the balance".
I think I asked a few questions as Mike took notes, but I can't recall what I asked. We were given the name and number of the lady who is a manager at Archie Grant Housing area where John lived. We should let her know if we go to John's home. There is no will we're told so we can dispose of his stuff as we see fit. He was in public housing, on public assistance and disability, and other than the contents of his house, had only a car. I'm pretty weepy by now, so we thank her and leave with the envelope of all the PA investigator cared to take as "valuables". I think: 58 years and your valuable stuff is put into ONE STICKIN ENVELOPE?? Then I recall that we are laying up treasure in Heaven, not on this Earth, and I am comforted by this thought. And I recall telling ol' rich Uncle Frank once that a shroud has no pockets. It's the same for a rich man as it is for a poor man.

After leaving the PA office, we walk next door to the Coroners Office. I give the case number and ask if there is anything we need to do next. I am told I can get 3 reports in 2-4 weeks for $40 if I want the Medical Examiner, toxicology and autopsy reports. I say I'll think about it, but later decided to not order them. I forget to ask for a copy of the suicide note, but perhaps it was just the living will or advance directive John wrote before dying. It would be useless now anyway.

We then head to NV Funeral Services, a little building out on Fremont Street. The owner is a nice guy named Steve who spends about an hour with us (me, Mike and our friend Syl) filling out papers, putting the $506 charge on our Visa, and telling stories. I like him and feel at ease there in a tiny room filled with small demo caskets and expensive urns. That don't scare me none. Steve of course tries to sell me a fancy box, and when I say (three times) that I'll just have the ashes in the cheapest plastic box please, he writes "plastic" on the order instruction form and it is settled. He has to call in info to the LV Clark County recorders office, and then death certificates can be bought, but that'll take a few days. We'll have to go to the LV Records office to get the certs. I give him Mr M's name to put down as another person who has permission to pick up the ashes or "cremains" as they're known; since we cannot bury John at the Veteran's cemetery with Mom, we have to find another place. Steve says the coroner may release the body the next day and then cremation will take place. He tells us each mortuary owns their own crematorium, and he finally got permission to have his crematorium here at his building, so now he won't have to go across town anymore to do his work. Maybe by Friday, he says, the ashes will be ready. (But the fol owing Monday when I call about picking up the ashes, we're told John has not yet been cremated.) All siblings have to sign permission for Steve to cremate so he asks about any other siblings. I tell of my twin, and estranged other brother; he says "well, in NV the majority rules, so I just need your sister to fax permission then I'll do it. Two out of three of you is acceptable." Later that day we call Joan and Kim and they deal with the faxing and notarizing. Luckily Kim has recently gotten her notary status and she is a big help to us.

We go by John's housing complex on the way home, see his car is still there, and I note a cemetery filled with flowers on graves is just around the block from his home. Note to self: call this place, it is in a crappy part of town and probably will be cheap. (I am so damn ignorant.)

Wednesday morning I'm up early to make calls I'd determined the night before to make. Sleep doesn't come easy as things swirl through my head and I know I have to get through this nightmare and back to work next week. I call the cemetery by John's house and ask what a cremation plot would cost. The lady on the phone coughs a smokers cough, clears her throat and rattles off a litany of costs that eventually total over $1500! There's the cost of the plot, opening AND closing of the hole costs, outer box cost (it's the law she says) place marker cost depending on what I want, ... carrying of box to grave cost, setting box in hole cost, chairs cost, rent of chapel or memorial room cost, undefined cemetery licence fees, tax and gratuity, air tax, sun tax, Mayor Goodman's special fees... etc etc. I jest, but it was RIDICULOUS!!! and I was shocked! So I hung up and thought, if Mike and I drive home at midnight to LA I can just open the box when we're off Zzyxx Road off the I-15
and let John blow in the wind! geeeeeeezzzzzzz. Thanks a lot for making sure you had everything covered before you blew yourself away, Kid.

I call Screen Actors Guild with John's member number to let them know he's dead, and to ask about residuals because Mr M told me they are given in perpetuity and I need to settle this matter. But after papers are sent to me, there will be a 40 day waiting period before I can sign and notarize and return the papers. Another hurry up and wait situation.
I try to call Social Security office but no real person will take the call, so I give up and make a note to visit the Soc Sec office which is out in North LV.

I call LV Metro Police and give the case number and ask to speak to the detective on the case. I'm told it is a Det "B" but there are 4 or 5 of same name and did I know if it is a lady or a man who investigated. How the hell would I know, I think, but i say "no, don't know; don't you know?" I am given a number of the detective who the person on the phone thinks may have been the one, but when I call that number, the voicemail box is full and I can't leave a message. Oh great. Need plan B to deal with the police.
We go to John's bank but find out we cannot be told anything until we have submitted a death certificate and wait 40 days. I suspect this gives all the places he owes money to time to try to collect what they're owed from his account. I know he is about 8 K in debt; the collectors can fight over the $29.99 left in his account... IF there is that much even.

Wednesday afternoon I let the lady at Archie Grant know we will be going into John's house and we have permission as next of kin to do so. She says she's so sorry for our loss and John never gave her any problems and he seemed like such a nice guy. The complex is made up of cinder block (?) one-story four-plexes and is public, crowded housing. read POOR. I feel like it is a foreign country we enter.
We go, 4 of us; first we unlock John's car and the trunk to look for papers. A black lady comes across the lot from another four-plex to say she'd buy the car for $500 cash right now. She was a friend of John's and always "liked his car". I tell her John's friend will sell it later, after Saturday. (We'd set up Sat at 10 am to meet Mr M at John's to clean stuff out together. Mz A's grown son would be there Sat as well because John had promised him furniture.) John's car ashtray is full of ashes and cig butts; he'd kicked that habit a few times but guess it never was permanent. We note a few other people on porches watching us, and I think I see Mike standing up a bit taller and note him speaking in his deepest voice possible. I say a prayer for protection and hope it's not noted that I am crippled, use a cane, and couldn't beat off a fly if I tried. !! joke.

When we enter the home, it reeks of cig smoke, ash trays and cat poop. It's musty and very dusty and cluttered with lots of stuff piled on the bed and a living room table piled with papers and unopened mail. We each take a different "station" to start sorting through stuff, making trash bags and "take to look through later" bags. We find some old journals I want to read, some pretty decent looking afghans I know Mom made, Mom's coin collection and tea pot, and the Danish Ceramic Dogs Mom always had on her mantle, some CD's, and other assorted junk I think I recognize and want to look through. John had brought a lot of Mom and Cis's stuff to his house when they each had to go into nursing homes. I am mostly interested in photos and journals. I take mail thinking to let bill collectors know John has died, and there will be 15 or so of them to notify. We found a paper that he'd been to a debt counsellor in Dec, and we found receipts from University Med Center Clinic for health visits recently. The papers note diagnoses of Hep C, cirrhosis, a skin problem, and arthritis; he needed knee surgery and was on many meds for depression, anxiety and sleep and pain relief. Nice assorted combo to go along with whatever street stuff he stayed on for years.

Soon some skeleton of a cig-smoking woman with a yapping little dog who wanted to attack someone (but he's on a leash) walks in, walks over to a poster on the wall and says, "sorry about John, can I take this poster? John and I met at this play and it would mean so much to me to have this". It was a shitty little magazine-page-like poster, but I said "No, nothing can be taken or sold from here until Saturday" so she tells me to save it for her then stands in the room and smokes and talks. I finally ask her to smoke outside before I start coughing, but it is too late, I've waited too long and have a coughing spasm. Then I tell the others we shouldn't let anyone else in; they can wait for Saturday. And I didn't let her take the poster thinking that it'd only take 5 seconds and the whole Archie Grant complex population would be clamoring to come in and take shit. Mike finds a cane with a knob on the top that'd make a good noggin-whopper and keeps it near himself to use as a weapon PRN. Thank God for Mike. 2 or 3 more people come to the door saying "sorry about John shooting himself, can I have some furniture?" The vultures circle.

After about 1 1/2 hours, we close up and leave. The lady who wants the car runs over to carry boxes and won't take no for an answer when Mike tells her to leave them be. She hands me her name and phone numbers and reminds me she has $500 for the car... cash money. She retreats to a porch overlooking the parking lot, and will probably sleep there with one eye open on that car until she can buy it. Mr M had told me he and his wife had given John that car 4 years ago, and I told him then he can have it back to sell or keep. It won't be my problem. Later I will learn the DMV won't do anything with a dead person's car for 41 days after death. So the car sale is still in limbo as I write this.

Thursday morning it rains, so I take time to look through stuff from Johns in our friends garage. The musty smell is awful, but I feel compelled to search for "stuff".. info, clues to the life John lived. The afghans Mom made turn out to have large cig burns when we unfold them... they go into the trash instead of the washing machine. damn shame. Mom crocheted afghans to last decades, but with burns in them, they are trash. I toss a lot of papers but find something John wrote about himself to give as a speech to his Humanist Group about Homelessness and Addiction. It is his story and I keep it, and will write it up at a later date.

After the rain stops, we make a visit to Metro Police HQ downtown LV; have a hell of a time parking and finding a ramp to enter the building; then we have to take a number and wait to talk to a dummy behind the bullet proof glass. When I ask to speak to a detective about my brother, we're told there are no detectives there, they have a place a few miles away, but I can order a police report for 6 bucks, which I do. Oh, but I need a death cert to get the report I'm told.. why? I ask... you know he's dead, it's in your report. But protocol is king, so I pay for the report and can maybe get it later if I am lucky and fax the death cert to the right place. I ask about probate in LV, would I need to go to the courthouse? The gal prints out some info for me about probating one's estate. But it has to be valued over $20,000 to need probate, so I know we won't need to do that probate hassle. I confirm this later by a call to the probate court and a clerk tells me the same info.
We head to the other LV Metro police bldg and are able to talk to a nice volunteer guy working the desk. He makes some calls, gets us the name and number of the right detective who is handling John's case, and he tells us the Det will be in tomorrow and to call then.
We go back to John's for another hour or so. Mike finds John's wallet somewhere near the bed and a hand-written one page "last will and testament" where John wrote he leaves his meager belongings to his friend Mr M. There's 24 bucks in the wallet, so I pocket it for my troubles. His drivers licence and other membership cards are in the wallet, and it makes me glad to know he was legit and law-abiding in some things.

I make some calls to my work, and find I can get bereavement pay for five days, and so I won't be due back to work till a week from tomorrow. That's a blessing!
Friday AM we find out the death certificate can be ordered so we go the Clark County records office and get 4 copies at $20 apiece. Hopefully we won't need more than that. We go to the local Post Office to find out how to stop John's mail. Mr M decided he didn't want it forwarded to him, and I don't want it either. We have to fill out a forwarding address card and put "DECEASED" for the new address. I don't know if his mail now gets returned to sender or what. And I won't worry about it.

Saturday at 8:30 AM Mike and I meet Mr M for breakfast; I am an emotional and mental mess and tell him I just cannot go to John's again; I cannot deal with the vultures circling, and I do not want to meet Mz A or her son. I tell him we have been there twice and there is nothing more left I'd want to have from there. He asks again if I have John's watch with 3 small dials on it because Mz A's son has been calling him frequently to tell me that John promised this watch to him. I tell Mr M that whatever is still at John's house, Mr M can give away or sell as he pleases. He says the kid is being a pain in the ass about the watch. I hope the kid don't call me, it won't be pretty. If I do have the watch somewhere, it's mine now. Mr M asks if we found the car registration. We did not. It's a 96 Buick Regal that Mr M and his wife gave to John 4 yrs ago. (Later we'll learn the DMV requires a wait of 41 days before anyone can deal with the car. Mr M will send me papers to sign the car over to him so he can sell it.)
A gal from SAG comes to the restaurant to our table to get some photos from Mr M for the SAG newsletter. She sees we are eating, so she waves down the waitress to bring "lots of coffee" and orders herself something to eat as she plops down with us. What a character. We learn she has been a friend of John's for many years, and she has kind words about John. Said he was a gifted actor and teacher at the LV SAG Conservancy. When he gave a workshop, the place was full she said. She would be part of organizing the SAG Memorial for John. When I told her about burial costs, and that I wondered if anyone would be interested in scattering his ashes, she has a good idea and says she and Mr M will do it some day soon. I am grateful for that. Another matter settled.

Later that day we go with our friends to see Mom's grave at the Veterans cemetery, have lunch in Boulder City and take a drive around Lake Mead. A nice outing.
I sleep a little better that night as things are getting done and settled.
I continue to look through some journals and papers of John's that weekend. I'll write later of what I found.
Mr M calls Sunday night to say Mz A showed up at John's and "went to pieces" because she loved him and will miss him. Mr M was at John's Sunday to take away more stuff and he let some neighbors in who fought over things, and he had to be referee. Said someone stole the cable box when he was not looking but didn't get the remote with it. So he had 2 left over remotes and can't recall who got the tv's they belong to. He said "well, you know, those people there are so poor, they take anything." He asked if I got the small boxes of the "buttons" (lapel pin-on buttons) Mom had, I said yes, I took 2 small boxes of buttons. He says, well, those are the valuable ones, and there was a whole canister of the left over ones in a 20 lb kitty-litter container in the pantry. I said I didn't want those. He said the "valuable" buttons John had taken to an antique dealer and left them for 6 months but they never sold so he got them back. Kim had taken the Elvis buttons Mom had a few years ago when Mom let her take what she wanted off Mom's button boards. Mr M said John used pawns shops a lot but Mr M didn't find any pawn tickets. We agreed to meet Monday morning again so I could get John's house key to turn into the Housing Authority.

Monday morning I call the Detective who has John's gun and he is a nice guy; said he tells families to donate the gun or sell it and "do something nice with the money" but we have to wait 6 months before we can claim the gun to sell it. So we leave the case and clip with our friends and will decide later this year what to do with the gun.
We meet Mr M again before he has to go to work. he gives me the key and fills me in on a few more details about his time at Johns with the "vultures". He said the kid is still bugging him about John's watch but I say just tell him to forget it; I ain't dealing with that. I am glad to have this friend of John's in LV be such a good help to us at this time and tell him so. He is equally glad we came to LV so he would not have to deal with John's death by himself.

Mike and I go the Soc Sec office in North LV; it is a new building and clean and nice. We take a number and think we better settle in for a few hours, but we are called to a window in 3 minutes, show the death cert and my Calif DL, and are out of there in less then 10 minutes. I was told the Soc Sec checks would stop and John's account would be red-flagged as deceased so no one can use his number. Time will tell if this is true or not. I know too many people who had a hell of a time getting SS checks stopped when their loved one died.
We go to a housing authority office on the east side of LV, but it isn't the right office, so we are directed to go to an office downtown. So we do. We finally meet a nice lady who is authorized to accept John's house and mailbox keys. She tells us she is sorry for our loss, and I believe her since she is the most sincere person so far to say this. She even signs my notebook paper to "prove" I turned in the key, and Mike and I walk out of her office. I begin to sob because that seemed like the last item on the check-list of all the bullshit chores to accomplish to "settle" after John's death. So now I can break down and cry because the work is done for now.

So we head back to our friends house but stop for a little comfort food at an IN-N- Out first. We spend one more night with our friends and head home Tues morning. I feel good about what we've done and hope there are no loose ends to come back to bite me in the butt. It'll take awhile to grieve as I need to, in my own way, but it's OK and God holds me in the palm of His hand always.

little brother died, part one

2010-05-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

I feel compelled to write this down... and have no expectations of anyone reading it or commenting; it's for my healing of a traumatic time, but there may be curiosity, so here tis. Read it if you choose.
Not sure why I am putting this particular photo here, but I am... it is from 1952; Mom and Dad are gone now, and one of us had to be next, that's just the way life goes. It was John.
After something unexpectedly crappy happens, I need to sort through the "what just happened here" questions and settle on some acceptable answers for myself so that I can keep on keepin on without being devastated entirely. So I need to write down how it was to deal with my little brother's death by suicide April 16, 2010.
It was that Friday afternoon late that my sister called me to say she had a phone message from the Las Vegas Coroners office asking her to call back. I knew it must mean John died, but I was hoping of course that it was not true. John had written Joan and me a letter in March telling us his girlfriend/fiance broke up with him March 1st, (we'll call her Mz A) and that he was so sad. He told us he loved us, asked forgiveness for any trouble he ever caused us, and said it was hell getting older with physical problems taking their toll. I recall at the time telling Joan "this sounds like a good-bye letter" but she disagreed. But something in my spirit made me read between the lines of what he wrote; I left him a phone message he never returned, and emails he never answered. I assumed he would take a lot of pills and/or street stuff to OD. I knew he had bought a gun some time ago, but he told us that it got stolen from his car.

Joan called the coroner back and a Coroner Investigator told Joan that John had been found dead in his apartment's bathroom with a GSW and his gun was found in his lap. And he probably had been dead for 2 days before he was found. The housing office had Joan's name as next of kin, so she was contacted. She was given a Coroners Office case number 10-3210, told the body was to be released to Davis Mortuary after all the Coroners work was done and told to call back if any questions. I think Joan then gave my name and number as well, and then she called me. I burst out crying saying, "I knew it! I knew it" but I also knew, and still believe, there was nothing I could've ever done to prevent John's suicide; not then, not now, not ever. When people want out like that, they get out without thought to anyone left behind.
Joan asked me why would John shoot himself in the stomach since the gun was in his lap; that didn't make sense that he would do that but at a time like that phone call, one can't think of questions to ask yet as the shock is too great. So the assumption was a stomach GSW. John had left a hand written "living will" naming his Las Vegas friend of 20 years, (we'll call him Mr M) as his power of attorney for health decisions. But upon death, that living will power ends, and the Coroner decided John had died without a will, and next of kin needed to step forward.
Joan dealt with the Davis Mortuary per phone and was told they need $1575 to cremate John. They have a contract with the Coroner but a family can use any other mortuary. I knew John never kept a pot to piss in, so we would need to shop around or this episode was going to cost a fortune.

After I called my kids to let them know about John , I had many questions. I think I called the coroners office in Las Vegas 3 times that weekend. Each time I was connected to a different investigator but each one was very nice and willing to talk to me and let me ask questions. I was given a police incident number and the name and number of the Public Administrator investigator who would be handling John's case. The police case number was 100416-2448. I would learn later that number was the date, and the dash 2448 meant there were already 2447 cases that year in LV Metro Police Homicide files. yikes! I was told no will was found, the police concluded there was no foul play, a passport and some credit cards and the gun and its registration card were taken into evidence. There were house and car keys; John's car was parked at his housing lot as usual. A friend (Mz A) had called the housing office asking for a welfare check on John because she had not heard from him, and when housing maintenance men went to look in his house, they found him in the bathtub dead and called police. I said I was an RN, and although this was my brother, and I was emotional, I wanted details.
The coroner told me the "head post" report showed an intraoral GSW; photos showed John had wrapped himself up in towels, laid down with pillows and covered himself with blankets and shot himself. There would be "blood products" on the towels, and in the tub, but over all it was not too bad a scene. I asked about clean up because I knew about hospital handling of blood products and body fluids, and I knew John had Hepatitis C. I was told we would have to hire a special cleaning service to do the clean up in the bathroom but not to worry, there were many services that did this kind of cleaning. I recall thinking at the time "the hell with that; I'll bag it up myself, or just go in, look around, and leave the Housing Authority to clean it up if they want to rent it again".

There would be Coroners reports I could order (and pay for) if I wanted them: a head post, a toxicology and a Medical examiners report. And there would be a police report too. I was told there was a suicide note I might be able to get, but I should get it from the Coroners office because the police were often reluctant to give these types of notes to families.

He may have been there 2 days before he was found the report said. I was told John's body would be released to Davis Mortuary because that's who the coroner contracts with, and cremation would be about $1500 maybe, but I could use any other mortuary if I called and made other arrangements. I asked why it seemed so expensive, and was told those places are just businesses and can charge whatever they want to charge. The coroner investigator told me there is someone on duty to talk to 24/7 in the coroners' office and to call back again anytime.

I recall using a Funeral Home to cremate Mom in January of 2006, so I look up those papers and find it was Nevada Funeral Service. I call them and a nice man tells me he will cremate for $500. I tell him he's "it" and give him the details. Then I call Coroners office and Davis Funeral to tell them we are using Nevada Funeral services. Sunday the Coroners office calls to ask where to send the body, and I say I already called and will use Nevada Mortuary; she says there is no service by that name, so I go get the papers from Mom and tell her it is "Nevada Funeral Services" on Fremont St, and she says "oh yeah". There would be several more calls like this to either Joan or me from Davis, the coroner, or NV funeral before we can straighten out where to release John's body. You find out real quick that no one talks to each other or takes notes when families call in.

I verify addresses and locations of Public Administrator, Coroner and the funeral home as I talk to people, trying to write everything down and make a plan; so many questions arise. oh God, there is no What-to-do-when-your-brother-commits-suicide Book for Dummies! But there is prayer asking for God's help to direct us and open the right doors to settle things as they should be settled. We ask our friends and family to pray for us as we journey through this, led by the God we trust. We later will look back in amazement with Thanksgiving at how smoothly most things went.
I call our good friends first thing Sat morning to ask if they are at their LV home or CA home, and as luck would have it, there are in LV until May 6 and tell me to come stay with them if I want to come to LV. I think it might be better to go there then to have the pain-in-the-ass of dealing with settling things by phone tag, fax and computer.
Our daughters and their families come over during the blurry weekend; Jordan makes a batch of brownies for comfort food, which I totally hork on; it's difficult to want to eat healthy; sleep doesn't come peacefully; I call a neighbor to come over and talk because her father had died last year in the same way and I ask how she dealt with it; our good family friend JB had come right over Friday night to minister to us. The support I felt was wonderful. And I am forever grateful for its provision.
I get up the courage to call John's friend Mr M. He remembers meeting me and Kim when we went to LV to move Mom's stuff out of her retirement home in 2003 or so. Mr M reads me a letter John had left for him last week. It was given to Mr M by John when John brought over his cat and laptop to Mr M, asking him to care for the cat and computer until John would return from Calif. John said he was going to Calif to look for housing and would move back to LA as soon as he could get public housing. Mr M knew of the breakup between John and Mz A. Mr M said John always brought him a note whenever John left town, giving Mr M "power of attorney" in case something happened to John. John had done this each time he travelled since totalling a car coming home to LV from LA years ago. Mr M said he seldom read the letters since John always made it back ok. He then told me he and John had talked about suicide before, but when John seemed to imply he was going to do it, Mr M "always talked him out of it".
John had been depressed off and on, but Mr M never thought John would actually do it. I tell him when we buried Mom, the veterans cemetery people told us one child or a spouse could be buried with Mom later if need be. Mr M said John knew that and it would be a good thing to do. (We would later find out that a "child" meant a child who was "disabled from childhood" and John didn't qualify for this honor. I would argue that point since John screwed his life up at age 13 and never straightened it out, but I digress.)

Monday it is settled to go to LV after I call the Public Administrator and make an appointment for 1 pm the next day to receive John's belongings taken from his home. I try to google what to do when a person dies without a will in Nevada, and all I get are sites telling me that Las Vegas is the US city with the most suicides in the nation each year. What luck; I figure they'll be a lot of people knowing just what to do for the ignorant families left behind. While I know sarcasm is hurtful, it drives me on.
So on Monday, Mike and I head to LV to stay 8 days with our friends and to try to "settle" things. I've let Mr M know we are coming, and he says that is good because he now has a census job and is so busy and still in shock. We arrive Monday night at our friends' beautiful LV home in a serene gated community and talk late about a "plan" of what to do. The Public Administrators office is a short distance away from their home, so at 1 Pm the next day we will begin our process and learn as we go. We've square danced together, dealt with our kids' problems together, buried some good friends together, but we never cleaned up after a suicide before, although one of her brothers did suicide when he was terminal and his wife left the house for a few minutes. But in John's case there is no wife and no kids. We lean on each other for support as we hunker down to get the job done.

Idaho vacation

2010-04-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

well... it's back to work,sleep,eat routine after 12 lovely days in Idaho with TnT's family. They treated us so welcome-ly... Tara is a wonderful cook, makes super healthy meals, and taught me a lot about her adventure with food and healthy eating. Mike got to help Tim in the pizza kitchen and the business for gluten-free pizza crusts is growing. The kids were home on spring break and we got to shop, play cards, play Scrabble, and just talk and tell stories and bond. Will is progressing well and a change of school situation is in the works because he can learn so quickly and doesn't need to be held back by a slow pace of learning in a full classroom.
I uploaded lots of video to my youtube channel "grammajayne" for those interested in viewing the Idaho fam. they thrive there, and we had a lot of fun.
I get to work tomorrow and Friday, so will sign out and catch some zzzz's.

Not much new

2010-02-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

HI!! It's been awhile and I haven't wanted to put my blog ideas here because I been too "otherwise occupied". Ok. I been working, and sitting in my easy chair on my days off except for a bit of gardening when I feel some spurts of energy. This first pic is of my baby cauliflower a few weeks ago.
I been working hard, using a lot of energy just to work part-time; but I ain't bitching, just tellin the facts, ma'am. We got through the Christmas Holidays with some good times with our daughters' families. Sure miss Tim's family but we plan to go see them for 10 days in March. My Mass nurse friends will come visit in early March so they can get in temps higher than 38F... maybe we can give them 10 days of pure good ol SoCal sunshine. Because if we do not, they laugh and mock our "storm watch" tv news, telling us we don't know what a REAL storm is. and we don't. Thank God.
It kinda hurts to garden... but it hurts to NOT garden, so what the hell. My friend Arthur-itis and his brothers Burr-sitis and Myo-sitis, who used to live with Gram, are present all the time now. But if one ignores them, life ain't too bad. Just so ya don't let in the Rheea sisters: Gonna, Dia, and Rhino you're doing ok.

Here's a pic of the cauliflower Mike picked for me today. The stem is so thick, I can't harvest it by myself, so Mr K cut it for us. cool, huh?
If we had to have a garden or die of starvation, we'd die for sure... but garden experiments are fun, and we hope to plant more vegs for summer again. Oh... and Mr K said he may uproot his side lawn in the front of the house and plant fruit or avocado trees. Now I know for sure the end of the world is at hand if Mr K gives up his lawn.

JnJ's anniversary

2009-10-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

In 1964 my brother got married in Texas. It was Joan and my senior year of high school and mom n dad told us we'd be going to Texas for the wedding. Mom drove there with Gram but Joan and I flew there with Dad on a Friday night I think it was. Dad was apparently scared to death of flying because he got bombed before we left LAX. But he did manage to write me a great poem about using the plane barf bag... written ON the plane barf bag... I wish I still had that poem. It was so funny. "If this bag you have to use, please don't puke upon my shoes..."
We landed in Dallas/Ft Worth and had to take a "puddle jumper" to some town about 40 minutes away by air. Dad had his hands white-knuckled to the armrests on the last plane. It was so bumpy and a great thrill ride if you are 17 and excited to be flying somewhere. But for Dad it probably brought back memories of military flights that he hated to recall.
The wedding was fun but my brother had a silly dazed look on his face that day... I would later learn we ALL would have that silly dazed look when we got married. It is just a look you get when you're getting married.

We all posed for a family photo at the reception.

My mom's father (Grandpa Dennehy) and her sister Stasia Cadieux and brother Eddie Dennehy came as well from Chicago. My dad would tell his in-law family that they were all a bunch of dirty damn democrat hoodlums and crooks, and Uncle Eddie or Grandpa Dennehy would say, "Well, at least we ain't from da land of da fruits and da nuts like youse guys in Louse Angelsss". It was always so fun hearing dad talk about mom's relatives. not.
Anyway, it was the 60's. We were all nicely dressed for the occasion, me in my sack dress with fabric belt, Joan in something quite more stylish as usual. I am on the left by Dad (with his big white hair he sported in those days). Joan is on the right next to Gram. A few years later there would be a famous bride that had the same look as Jean did that day... Priscilla Presley! Dark hair, dark eyebrows blue eyes.
I recall Jim telling his sisters (us) to stay away from his buddy Roger, the Eskimo, because he drank too much and wanted a wife to take back to his Alaska igloo, and Jim didn't want one of us to be her.
So Happy 45th Anniversary tomorrow, Jim n Jean!! Hasn't it been an adventure!!

Grandpa Matthiesen

2009-09-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here's the story as I know it of my mother's mother's father: my great-grandfather Lauritz Matthiesen (sometimes found spelled as Mathisen, or Matthisen. My mom always pronounced the name as "ma-TEE-sen").
I was fortunate to make the acquaintance of a gal from Denmark recently who graciously came to my home to translate a few old documents for me which allows me to put this story together. Many of the old documents are written with the old Gothic alphabet, but my friend was able to scan them and sent them to her dad in Denmark and he helped translate as well.
Lauritz was born in Hojrup, Denmark, June 22, 1852. He was born to farmer Soren Matthiesen and Ellen Juul Matthiesen. The following photo is scanned from a scanned copy of a photo of Lauritz, date unknown.

The next photo is from an old postcard-like photo that on the back is written in Danish "home of Lauritz Mathisen" (in Denmark) and it states it was sent by "sister Dorthe and family" and states in Danish "goodbye dear family". It is not stamped so it probably was enclosed in a letter when it was sent or it was hand carried to America. My mom told me her grandpa Matthiesen told her many times the story of his leaving home and walking across a big field to go to the city and turning many times to wave to his mother standing outside their home. He would tell that the last vision he had of his mother was a speck of white handkerchief she waved at him as he left and kept waving till he disappeared from her sight.

We have documents that tell that Lauritz was baptized in the Lutheran Church Feb 7th and vaccinated Oct 1853 (smallpox I assume since that was used since the 1700 and before).
He was confirmed April 28, 1867 the first Sunday after Easter that year. In the "church book" it is noted that he "does well for knowledge and behaviour." the next Sunday he did communion for the first time. These notes were made in Ribe, Dec 1867, as part of a document or "Book of Character" that all boys had. Lauritz kept his when he came to America and my mom passed it on to me.
My Danish friend's dad told us all children got a book of character as they were leaving school. It contained rules and regulations that were of importance to the person owning the book. If one disobeyed the rules or lost the book and did not report it to the police, you could be fined or go to jail for a few days on nothing but bread and water.
We have a document stating "at the requested time, his papers are not in order and he has been asked to leave immediately and return to (the town of )Ribe... per Varde police January 1872."
Lauritz did obtain a Royal Danish passport in April 1872. On it is stated that all military or civilian citizens had to offer assistance to a Danish passport holder. He apparently came to America in 1872, possibly with his brother "Mads" Matthisen who was born in 1848.
The history of Denmark is interesting. The Southern part of the country was at times part of Germany and at other times it was part of Denmark. The Matthiesens were from the Southern part and were Danish as my mom told me, but some of the documents and pictures are in German.
The next photo has no date or names on it but the photo frame in in German from the town of Tondren, in the area that was at times Danish and at other times German. This couple could be Lauritz's parents, or they might be Lauritz wife Meta's parents.

Lauritz settled in Chicago, Illinois, and became a naturalized citizen of the USA on October 26, 1880. He had to renounce allegiance to the Emperor of Germany at that time.
My mother told me many times that her Danish grandfather's first wife died giving birth to their child, and the infant died as well, so Lauritz buried them in the same casket. This always struck Mom as odd for some reason because she'd say, "imagine that!" as if this practice was odd. Maybe it was.
Anyway, Lauritz married again to Metta Maria Christina Thomsen in Chicago. I have an old Danish vaccination record from her in Denmark dated 1863. It is in German. I believe she was born in 1856. She was always called Meta, and she was a member of the South Jutland Settlers organization of Chicago for many years. (Apparently Denmark is known as Jutland, and the southern area that was fought over by Denmark and Germany is South Jutland.)
Meta bore Lauritz nine children but apparently only 6 made it to adulthood. This I found out from viewing online a census that listed Lauritz and Meta and 6 kids but indicated Meta had bore 9 children total with 6 living. (The US census used to ask personal questions!)
I have three documents from a Lutheran Church in Chicago "The Independent EV Luth. Bethania Church" telling of baptisms of children.
One is for Charlie Soren Mathisen born Sept 24, 1882, and baptised Dec 18, 1882. Another is for Ingebor Marie born Oct 14, 1883, and baptised Nov 1885. (I think that is an error because all 3 documents were signed by the same guy on July 31, 1885. Ingebor must've been baptised in Nov 1883 because they did infant baptism).
The third is for Christian Thomsen Mathisen born June 1885 and baptised July 1885.
Then I have a receipt for burial for a Christian T Matthisen dated Dec 18, 1888 at Oak Woods Cemetery on Sixty-Seventh street in Hyde park, Illinois. The receipt says six dollars was received from "Lawrence Matthisen" for interment of the remains of Christian T Matthisen.
(It's funny how "historical documents" change things. We overlook mistakes like that and history changes a bit. Anyway, I find it interesting.)

The above photo shows the Lauritz and Mette Matthisen family in Chicago in 1909. From top left is Louis born 1892, Celia Willimena born 1890, Johannes Jack born 1894, Ella Julia (my grandmother, mom's mom) born 1886, and Thomas Christian born 1889. Seated left to right are Meta, Charles Soren born 1882, and Lauritz.
The only ones I ever met were Uncle Charlie because he moved to LA and lived not far from Gram Powers. Uncle Charlie was a painter and did a lot of work for Dad and his father. In 1963 Mom took us kids on another trip to Arkansas and Uncle Charlie went as well to see his brother-in-law Grandpa Dennehy. I must tell the story sometime of "travels with Charlie." It was quite entertaining!
I also of course knew Ella, my grandmother. But mom has left me stories about almost all of her aunts and uncles, and I may write them here someday.
Below is Lauritz in 1926.

And the next photo is Lauritz in 1938.

Lauritz died in Chicago Sept 20, 1941. Just before the start of WWII for America.
I have more to tell about the Matthiesens but will save it for another day. I get long winded. But hope you've enjoyed the family history lesson. If any of my cousins dispute the info here, I will let you know about it.
What say you, Marilyn??

Gram Powers

2009-09-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Sept 3rd, our beloved "Gram's" birthday. Wendy also shares this birthday. Gram was born in 1896 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Here is a photo of her about 1 or 2 years old. The photo jacket has "Louisville, KY" printed on it.

Gram's parents left KY for LA about 1900. Gram always said she was 3 when they moved to Los Angeles. But she always talked of LA being "home" not Kentucky. One of her first LA memories she recalled was being up on her dad's shoulders during a parade in LA when the President of the USA went by. I think it was McKinley, but you can look it up if you need to know.
Gram was the first of 4 children. Here is a picture of Gram with her brother Eddie and her sister Elizabeth. Gram may have been 9 or 10 here, I am not sure. But I know Gram was 12 years older than her second sister Helen who is not in the photo.

Gram was about 16 or 17 in the next portrait and then you can see her wedding photo. She married J A Powers on May 6, 1914, in LA. She met him in or near MacArthur Park when groups of kids would hang out to meet each other. She told me that cops on horseback would come around at curfew at night and make them all leave the park. Gram lived with her folks apparently about that time in LA off Main street near where the San Antonio Winery is now. There is an old brewery too where her dad worked. The house still stands where she lived.

When Gram married JA, they lived with JA's mother in LA. One of JA's older brothers, of which he had 3, came to visit and put the make on Gram. It was brother George, a womanizing drunk. This, among other happenings, put Gram over the edge, and she packed her suitcase and went to her folks house. She knocked on the door and her mother answered but would not let her come inside! Her mother told her, "You married him; now go back and live with him!" So gram went back to grandpa but insisted they get a home of their own, so they did.

The above photo is Gram in 1932. She was very active in the Eastern Star ladies organization; Grandpa was a 32 degree Mason, and they led their lodge for a time.
Gram was fun loving and very smart and active in Republican politics, PTA when her kids were in school, and an active partner in grandpa's business.
It was always fun to be with her and she seemed to love spending time with us kids. The photo below was taken in LA's Chinatown sometime in the 1960's. The lady with us was Gram's friend Mae who we saw often. Mae's husband and grandpa both died about the same time in 1952 from mets from prostate cancer. Gram later told me that grandpa, Mae's husband and another friend all got treated by the same quack doctor for "prostate cancer" using some new experimental treatment, and they all died about the same time. All I know is he died too young at 59 or so.

Gram loved to tell me "Your children are not your Children..." which is taken from the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. She said God could take them home to Heaven any time. Gram had a baby daughter who died in the Spanish Influenza pandemic in 1919. She and Grandpa and my dad who was 2 lived in San Pedro at the time. The baby died and no one could come get her body because the undertaker parlours were too busy to go out to get children. Gram told me of having to ride in their car holding the dead baby while Grandpa drove to the undertakers. Gram also knew "the state" could take away your children if you neglected them. She told me she'd seen this happen too as a PTA officer.
Gram lived to be 96, saw family born and buried, married and divorced, happy and unhappy. She survived earthquakes which she dreaded, and saw much "progress", but she always seemed to be glad to be alive and upbeat when we visited.
Some people just stay with you always, even after they've left this visible world; Gram is one of those people for me... with me always!!

40th wedding anniv party

2009-08-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend our 3 beautiful children gave us a 40th wedding anniversary party at Kim's house. It was wonderful! Especially wonderful is the fact that they each profess to still love us in spite of our poor parenting skills as they were growing up. They each took a turn in front of the guests telling stories of growing up in our care, how we nurtured and loved them with wire-hangar spankings and motherly F***bombs... which apparently worked because those techniques helped shape them into wonderful adults! The good memories of our camping trips and other travels with their Kelly cousins was fondly remembered as well.

Kids don't come with handbooks telling the parents exactly how to nurture each one, so it is all a crap-shoot if you ask me. Learn as you go. But we tried hard and worked ourselves into grey-haired grandparents, Thanks be to God, and the result is good.

We are all doing OK and are thankful for that.

The evening was a lot of fun, the food was excellent, all our grandkids were there and it will be fondly remembered for a long time.

An added bonus was having Lara visiting from Australia. She lived with us in 1988-89 as an exchange student. She and her mate Tom are in the US for a month visiting. They arrived here, bought a van then they drove to Ohio to buy up bikes to ship home and sell. Quite an adventuresome pair! The reunion has been sweet!
Here's Lara with us the night of the party (and Braden getting into the act too):

A real highlight for Mike and me is the photo we were given of all our kids and their families. Tara's mom was the photographer and, with her sharp skills on the computer, everyone is looking at the camera! Thanks to all for agreeing to do that photo shoot. It probably was not easily done what with a few known wiggle worms present! Hopefully a few cold ones eased parental nerves afterwards at home! Thanks, again, Kids; the photo now hangs over our mantle and I love it!
Here's the fab photo:

God willing, and the creek don't rise... we will make it to 41!

THANK YOU AGAIN, children of mine; it was SWEET!

all together again

2009-08-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

At a birthday party for William, we all gathered and had a family photo shoot. It was difficult to get all persons looking forward, smiling, keeping their hands to themselves.. hahaha.. but the expert photographers kept clicking away, and this is a good result. It is excellent because all of us were together and that rarely happens these days. Here you see Mike's mom with Mike and me, our kids and their spouses and their kids. Thanks to Pam and Moe for hosting us all, and thanks to God for this season of enjoyment of each others company.

2009-07-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

According to Jordan I needed a new cell phone last week, so 'we" picked a phone that has a camera (imagine that!!) and it actually opens up to reveal a very tiny KEYBOARD!! How cool is that too?? What will they invent next? So Autumn came over to spend the night and helped me figure out some stuff on the phone. We took a self portrait using the camera flash and sepia tone setting. What fun! This afternoon I have spent two hours trying to get the phone pictures from the phone memory card into my laptop. No easy task. But I finally did it. HA! how do you like me NOW?
We are over-run with zuccini... so there is another loaf of zuccini bread baking right now. smells mighty fine, in the a/c, on a hot day.

The girls spent the night with us and this morning we took more timed pics with Papa's camera. How come watching that red blinking light on a self-timer camera makes everyone laugh like crazy?? it's magical.
We are easily entertained. The girls skunked me last night in a game of Monopoly too. And I have a hard time beating Jordan in CLUE now. Am losing my touch, darn. But that's ok.

We're having guests from OZ this weekend. The girl who stayed with us as an Australian exchange student is coming to visit with her husband. it will be nice to see her again, and our girls are so excited for her to meet their families. I hope their traveling timing works out so they can see TnT as well at the end of the month.
Be well everyone!

happy 4th

2009-07-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a nice 4th of July weekend but I sure miss the Idaho Kelly's that are not here yet and the 2 KY Kellys as well who stayed home while Bill visited here. and a couple of other kellys didn't join us,but everybody's got to do what they got to do as 'they' say. I am just thankful for the times I can hang around before the heat takes its toll on me for the day and I have to retreat to the a/c.
Here's a brief look at our weekend;
oh, watch it! It ain't that long! grab a beer or an iced tea and just watch it!!!!
LOL.
(It takes longer to post these things that it does for anyone to watch them. that's why I appreciate them so much when others do it. thanks. you know who you are!)

Twins 2nd Birthday

2009-06-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

On our second birthday in 1948 we got dolls and buggies to play with. These photos are from a bunch of old photos my cousin Marilyn sent me this week. The 4 photos here were taken on the front lawn of our house on Harcourt Ave off Jefferson Blvd in LA. Grandpa Powers had build 2 brick houses side by side on lots behind his office on Jefferson. We lived in the 3 bedroom one and Frank and Enid lived in the other 2 bed room home. The houses shared a common driveway. I think we only lived there 2 years before we moved to another new house on Virginia Road in LA, across Crenshaw from Gram's house. The only memory I have of living here is one late afternoon I stood crying and screaming at the gate of the driveway at Gram and Grandpa Powers to come get me and take me with them. They had come over to get Frank and Enid to go out somewhere. They were all getting into a big car and I could not understand why they ignored me!! Dad finally hollered at me to get my ass into our house and be quite. So I must have done so, otherwise I'd be dead now. hahaha.
MOm years later told me another story of living in this brick house. Enid always had bulldogs around. The dogs would live in the house and she would cook food for them, sometimes not feeding Frank but always feeding the dogs. Mom and Dad could look out a window from our house across the driveway into a window into Frank's dining or living room. One night when Frank and Enid were gone, Mom and Dad watched Enid's bulldogs eat a box of chocolates that had been left open on a table. the dogs soon got ill and crapped all over Frank's house. Dad must've gotten a huge laugh out of that escapade.
Anyway, in the above pictures, I do not know me from Joan. We both seem to have same style shoes, so I can't just say I am the one in the orthopedic shoes. But I may be the one on the left because it seems the twin on the left has her left leg sticking out funny like it is just an outrigger for balance, and that is always a good clue to find myself.
Now... you all gotta admit these photos are CUTE, right??? They should NOT bring hysterical laughter.
more later.

Hair-do hell

2009-06-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Joan on left, Jayne on right. our natural hair in 1951.

This was 1953 probably, with John, and Dad is shown in the background.

Then in 1954 we got perms. Jim truly thought we looked lovely as you can tell by his face.

Jayne on left, (pissed off evidently)at Christmas 1955 (i think.) HORRIBLE perms!

The 1950's brought all kinds of hairdos, and home or professional perms were all the rage at times. There was a home perm brand called "Toni". The commercial featured a pair of twins and the refrain was "which twin has the Toni?" You might imagine the teasing this brought about when Mom began to get us perm brillo-pad-heads. I was so upset after one perm that I recall going into Mom's bathroom for an hour and wetting my bangs down to plaster them against my forehead so they would not be curly. I hated having poodle-head but we did what we had to do to fit the times.
Oh, the price of beauty!

2009-06-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

We planted sunflowers in April with Braden. Sunflowers are cool to watch grow. Some days you'd think they grew a whole foot more when the sun shines. Even in our recent June gloom days, they have been growing. Braden is amazed each time he comes over at how "giant" they are getting. Some times he doesn't see them for 2 weeks. The first part of this video was taken May 6 on a sunny day when Grandpa picked him up from preschool and brought him over for a few hours. The rest of the video is from yesterday; a June gloom day, but the amazement at the sunflower growth continues.
Sorry for the beet crop failure, Mikey. I will take the blame for not reading the directions and soaking the seeds overnight before you almost killed yerself planting the seeds. (OY! Ira! Are you killing yourself??) live and learn!

More old car stuff

2009-05-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I found a few more views of Jim's tank he had in 1960. Dad had a truck, Mom had a station wagon, Jim had his tank, and Dad also brought home a Corvette on occasion that he and Frank owned together. And that would be Joan clowning around in the photos. (I never clowned around.)
Then I found this picture:

The photo is dated May 1961. It is an old junker sitting in the weeds out in our back acre, between the barn and the brick incinerator.
Jim, tell us the story of this old antique. How did you sneak in this hunk of junk, and how long was it there before dad blew a gasket and had it hauled away? just askin.
I don't recall anything about it. But I am sure it would make a good story. Tim wants to know. (Don't you, Tim?)

happy B'day to Sister-twin-friend

2009-05-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

Joan said she'd buy me lunch ifn I put my 7th grade ugly picture on my blog instead of just showing ugly pictures of everyone else. I insist I have no ugly pictures of anyone else! I just have this one of me... November 1959.... The summer after 6th grade, we got ducktail haircuts, got our long hair cut off to have a "cool" summer. The only way to tame the hair was to use Butch Wax. Butch Wax was cool in 1959. The connotation is NOT so cool in 2009.

Anyways...
it has been a good journey with a twin. She has been there for me in many ways... helping me to roller skate, ride a 2wheeler, decking a kid on the playground at school once when he made fun of my limping.
We had fun confusing people who could not tell us apart at times.
Here's us in 1948:
and again with Big Brother:

Here we are in 1986, heading into our 40's:
and, how did this happen so fast... here we are banging on the door of our 60's. I was recovering from yet again another surgery while she helped me recover nicely, (and helped Mike as well...)

We still scratch our heads simultaneously, pick up a cup to drink at the same time, blurt out the same thing at the same time unrehearsed. it is a twin thing; can't explain it, it just is.
So Happy Birthday tomorrow, Girla; here is to many more good times.

Grandpa Powers

2009-05-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

The photo above is J.A. Powers and Evelyn Kaelin Powers in 1915 or so. J.A. and Evelyn were my dad's parents. J.A.'s birthday was May 22. He was born about 1892 or 93 in Washington State. He was the 4th son, and his parents must've run out of names because they just gave him initials for a name. Just J and A. Fill in the blanks yourself. The first thing that comes to mind is of course... Jack Ass. What a dis-service to do to yer kid.
Anyway, I was only 5 when Grandpa died. But Gram told many stories about him. They married when Gram was only 17. Gram told me they met in and around McArthur Park in Los Angeles where the kids used to gather to meet each other on week-end nights. They first lived with J.A.s mom in LA, and soon a playboy brother of J.A.s came to stay awhile with mom, and made a move on Gram. Gram packed her suitcase, went home to her mom's house, said, "I made a mistake; I don't want to be married anymore." Gramma Kaelin would not let Gram back into the house and said, "get the hell back to your husband; you married him, so go live with him". So Gram went back to J.A. and said, "We need our own place", so they moved out to their own place soon afterwards. J.A.'s mom was a buyer-fixer-upper of houses and made a lot of money that way, so I think Gram told me they'd live in one of Old Lady Genung's houses till she sold it, then they'd move again.
J.A.'s mom's name was Old Lady Genung because one day in Washington State she caught her husband, Old Man Powers, in the flat bed of a pick up truck canoodling with another woman. So she divorced Powers and married Genung, a batchelor lawyer who was a good friend to Old Man Powers. (After grandma Genung died, Old Man Genung got sick, married his nurse and the nurse-wife inherited the fortune when he died. The Powers brothers tried to sue to get a piece of the pie that had been their mother's fortune, but the court ruled against it.)

This a photo of J.A. about 1942 or so during WWII. He is looking at photos of his 2 sons on his desk at the office. Might've been wondering if they'd come back from war or not. Both eventually did.

Another photo shows J.A. at home in his chair; this is how I remember him, always in a suit, sometimes with a hat on. I do have photos of his last year, when he was fading away from prostate and bone cancer; Gram got him a wheelchair that I used as well every time I'd come home from another polio surgery. But I'd rather recall him as a well gentleman, in good health, having fun with grandkids and making jokes very often.
He and my dad were gone too soon.

In 1952, J.A. was president of the Los Angeles Home Show; probably a showcase for contractors and suppliers. He lived long enough to fulfill this office. He was very ill and in pain when this photo was taken. The photo above shows Gram, J.A., Dad, Mom, Aunt Enid and Uncle Frank.
Ever wonder if people really R.I.P?? Both his sons would divorce, but Gram never remarried because J.A. told her the men would probably want to marry her for her money. Sure enough, Gram told me their family doctor proposed after J.A. died by saying, "So, Evelyn, why don't you and I pool our resources?" hahaha,, some damn romantic proposal, huh? She said no! But she did give him most of J.A.'s suits because he was the same size as grandpa.

Grandpa also told Gram that the tax people would come after her to find out why she was left so much money when he died. He told her to emphasize that his brick business made a lot of money in WWII because he bid on jobs that he could quarantee would be finished promptly, and his word was good, so he was able to make a lot of bread. Gram said that's exactly how it came down, and she was off the hook quickly with no problems. She loved him and thought he was a very wise man. Happy Birthday to him.

family stories... pass them on!

Life goes on but still surprises me

2009-05-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

That's my Big Bro in pic above... at 12 yrs old.
Yesterday my big bro was 65! I cannot believe it!! Mostly I do NOT WANT to believe it because then that makes me a lot older too!!!! I wonder where the time went, and how did it go by so quickly? And what was I so busy doing that I didn't notice time flying by?
Life used to look like this:

That would be my twin, me with the crooked left leg, and older bro'; twas 1950 on the stairs in our house in LA when we lived 2 blocks from Gram and Grandpa J.A.
We had a TV set with a huge glass bubble magnifier over the small screen. If you sat directly in front of the set, you could see the black and white picture. If you were off to the side, which 2 of 3 kids would be if they all tried to watch TV together , you couldn't see diddly. I recall Joan and I never could see diddly but Big Bro saw everything.
I paid him back later on when I would always "suit up" for Phys Ed classes and get an A or B in the class although I could not do hardly anything athletic, and he would bring home D's and F's in PE just because he would not put the dang PE clothes on!!!
He later wrote a book, a best seller: "How To Fail Phys Ed and Piss Off Your Dad".
OK. I tease a bit. that was a lie.

Later on Big Bro looked like this:

He got a car that was like a rolling tank. I don't know what it was because I never paid attention to nor was impressed with cars. Can't tell one from another. But Bro seemed to love this car. I think that is the one he tricked out to have speakers on the outside of the car, so he could blast his radio tunes to the outside world. Yes, the whole Valley loved hearing "Mule Skinner Blues", or Elvis asking "Are You Lonesome Tonight" while Bro' lip-synced the lyrics to any broad that would look his way. Those were Happy Days!! This photo also reminds me that Mom made Bro take me n sister to junior high and drop us off every morning before he went to high school. He would yell from his room (the guest shack across the driveway) as soon as he stepped out all groomed and hair slicked down with brylcream... "Twins! Bring me my cocoa and get yer asses in the car!!" We had to have a huge mug of hot cocoa waiting for him before he could drive us to school. Hey, it was better than walking! So what if we spit in the cocoa... oops, that NEVER happened.

Later, in another state and another time... Bro took to the road in another fashion and has been hooked ever since. Oh, he did have one set of 2-wheels that I remember from our days on the one-acre orange grove we grew up on. I remember my mom yelling her head off one time when Bro did wheelies through her rose garden by the back door, then jammed out the gate to the open highway laughing his head off.
Here's a pic I found of him:

He, of course, is now to blame for the motorcycle bug that infects so many young men in our extended families. (I think he is proud of that legacy!) Way to go, Big Bro'!
So ride happy with bugs in your mugs from grinning so wide while flying down the highways of life, Guys. This shirley includes YOU my Big Bro'!

Happy Birthday!!

Had a nice Mothers Day

2009-05-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to church at the 10:30 service. The pastor is a Harley-ridin dude and kinda funny at times. He wanted to give a few prizes at each service on Mothers day. he asked his brothers what should the prizes be for? One suggested a prize for the mom with the most tatoos, another said get scales and give prizes for the fattest and skinniest moms. But instead he gave a boquet of flowers to the mom who had the youngest baby (9 days) and the mom who was in labor the longest (3 days) and the mom who had the biggest baby.. 10 lbs 8 oz...ME! hahahahaa,, I won for Kimmy!!! Thanks, KIM!! I took her the boquet. and she cooked us a dinner of BBQ chicken, rice, sweet potatoes and salad. Very yummy!!
Hope all you moms had a good mothers day. If your mom is already in heaven... hope all your memories of her are sweet.

Friends of 32 years

2009-04-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

We were able to have a getaway with our friends of 32 years... 32 years! ... and they ain't sick of us yet! imagine that! And we still love them mucho! They are fun and we so enjoy their company, and they invite us great places!! :))
So we go when we can...
we went to Palm Springs for 2 nights and saw the Palm Springs Follies. It is a variety show, singing and dancing... and all the performers are seniors! Senior citizens I mean!! The favorite is 85 years young and does an outstanding tap dance! The headliner was John Davidson. He could roll our sox 30 years ago and we still think he has "it". He just got older and better. Now he has grey haired groupies!!
It was a 3 hour show, lots of laughs, lots of amazement that old guys and dolls can hoof it like they did. More power to them I hope they stay out of wheelchairs for many years to come.
We could not video in the Follies show, but here is a short video of us and our friends Syl and Ray.

Laughing is good for health

2009-04-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

We have a house guest for a few weeks; a nurse friend from Massatwoshits who is escaping the cold NE for a few weeks. She is creating lots of laughs every day. We recall the episodes of times we worked together at a local hospital and almost died laughing... like when we had to clean up cat diarrhea in the hallway of rehab at 9 pm with hospital patient size 4x4 tissues (that's all we had on hand for free) (damn, we would've used a few bed sheets.. but we could not access those OR towels because it was a REHAB unit and those items can be used in unsavory ways)I digress... the rehab patients would feed this damn stray cat any food it would eat, and were not allowed to let it into the building... but if you tell a rehab pt to not do something... well... let's just say they turn deaf... the cat got in one evening when Mikey and I were on duty. When it was cat-shit-clean-up-time... EVERYONE was miraculously in bed fast asleep... and we had to go into action. I can still recall the foul smell. yuck!

Last week I planted beets as part of my garden project... and asked Mikey to talk to them everyday so they will grow well. She is out there everyday talking to them... I don't know what the heck she says, but no growth yet... hmmm. I better get PIA into action to film her and see if she is talking nicely to them or cussing them out.
see Mikey on my youtube page.
More later.

No bitching allowed

2009-03-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

This passage is in my morning devotion today... Tim's comment on the last post prompts this:

" 'In order to suffer without dwelling on our own affliction," Thomas Merton once contemplated, "we must think about a greater affliction, and turn to Christ on the cross. In order to suffer without hate, we must drive out bitterness from our heart by loving Jesus. In order to suffer without hope of compensation, we should find all our peace in the conviction of our union with Jesus. These things are not a matter of ascetic technique but of simple faith."[1] If there is a hint of bitterness in your heart toward anyone, think on Jesus. He bore that bitterness".

This sums up why I try to not bitch too much about pain days... except to Mike and Joan because they are the (un?)fortunate ones who have to put up with me the most. When I was a kid, my Catholic-trained-but-not-practicing mom would always say to me, "Offer it up! That's what my mother used to tell me!" That was her solution to all my crying about polio problems. (That felt cold and uncaring, but did help lead me to love God, believing that He cared!)
Gram would often say to anyone who even sounded like they were complaining, "Aw, quityerbitching" and then she'd laugh. Without saying it, I think she knew we all had more than we deserved.

With Easter coming, today's devotion reminds me even more of why I love The Lord Jesus and truly believe in Him. And as a mother and grandmother, I can just touch the edge of the pain of the enormous sacrifice God the Father gave to have His only Son die for all of mankind's sins...
would I freely offer one of my family members to bail you out of a mess you got yourself into by your own shitty choices???????
Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen... you'd be circling the drain, headin for a loooong dirt nap before I'd do that.
That's why I didn't get to be God...

taking a pain day here

2009-03-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today was a "pain day'... a day when I don't do very much except lounge around resting, trying to lessen muscle pain caused by doing way too much without taking resting breaks. I recall the days when I could go like hell all day long, plop into bed at night and wake refreshed for another busy day. it hasn't been like that for a long time now though. To live well with any chronic condition... as in post-polio in my case... one has to live differently, with new methods, routines and habits. It is an ongoing journey to try to perfect those new habits that help me live well. Sometimes the urgency of the situation calls for pushing through the fatigue and pain to get a job done... like I did at work this past week. Got the job done, but am paying for it today. I have to accept the fact that there may be more times like this... and just also accept the fact that I am wlling to take pain days as necessary, although I try to keep them to a minumum. The following video shows the icing on the cake of today... an almost ruined dinner... that turned out ok in the end; we did eat it and it was acceptable. no need to send Grandpa to In-n-Out for dinner.
Grandpa is almost through with the painting and detail work and the carpets will be cleaned in 2 days... then on Saturday our house guest will arrive from Boston... one of our favorite Massholes, Nurse Michelene! She wants out of cold NE and into warm SoCal, so she will be with us 3 weeks. (Please God don't let us have a freak snowstorm or she will freak out!!)
I will make a video of re-done rooms later in the week.

March 19 Saint Joseph's Day

2009-03-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Any old Catholic will know March 19 is St Joseph's day... 2 days after St Patrick's Day. I bring this up because I have a story to tell about St Joe.
Our great-grandma Dennehy (or Dennehe) was mom's grandma from Ireland. She was originally Anastasia Hurley and married Michael Dennehe. They were both from County Waterford, Ireland, and came to America about 1880. I don't know if they knew each other in Ireland, or met on the boat over to America, but they got married in New York then went to Illinois where Michael's older half-brother John Dennehe was already settled. It is said Anastasia wanted the hell out of Ireland because when her parents would die, her older brother would inherit everything and she would have to work for him, owning nothing. Irish law at that time was different, and the place was still under the English crown. No wonder so many got the hell out of there.
Anyway, Old Anastasia died about 1914 before my mom could know her. But the story goes that as Anastasia lay dying she had not spoken or opened her eyes for several days. A death vigil was held at her bedside (the family probably couldn't wait to crack open the best whiskey and start the wake..) when all of a sudden Anastasia sat up, opened her eyes and said, "I SEE SAINT JOSEPH! He's standing by my bed!" St Joseph was known to be her favorite saint of all time. And then she died shortly thereafter. My mom must've told me this story a hundred times. So... did St Joe come to get her, or was this just another Irish bullcrap tale? huh? huh?

Friday the 13th

2009-03-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

March 13, 1971, a baby boy arrives right on his due date... a Saturday morning if I recall correctly. His daddy had taken a Lamaze class with his mommy, but the hospital where Mommy worked didn't yet allow dad's into the delivery room. So mom had to go into the freezer of a delivery room with strangers to get Timmy out. When Tim arrived (his name had been settled on long before by his mom) his dad was brought to the hallway door so mommy could shout out, "We have our Tim. We have our Tim!" Dad thought mom shouted, "We have Twins!!" So dad became confused and was looking for Tim's other half for a few days.
Timmy John was so darned cute!!

Then he got a little sister who admired him greatly.

He wanted more so he prayed for another sibling... perhaps a brother this time.

So when Mommy brought home another baby and told Timmy it was his "new little sister"

... he replied, "So can we take back Kristy now?"
And THAT started the sibling war.
But Tim had been trained well

... that the world is ok if you just keep a cold beer and a weapon handy.
And when that doesn't work, just plod through the tough years, keep on truckin', take the wire hanger lickings, the loud yellin sprees, the nutty-ass teachers... and learn from the good teachers who are all around you, keep on praying, and the sibling war subsides and turns into love eternally.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIMMY.

25 year mile marker

2009-03-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

We all have milestone markers in our lives, and a big one for me is the day my dad died. It was 25 years ago today that he died, at home, with his wife and dog by his side. That's what he wanted, that's what he got. Here is a picture of him from 1959.

JAY CLAUDE POWERS
JANUARY 10, 1917 - MARCH 6, 1984
I can look back and see that following my gut paid off in a big way concerning Dad's last year. In 1980 I was nagged by the feeling that I had to take "Hospice training" and get involved as a hospice nurse. I kept reading about it, a class was starting in the fall, and I "knew" I had to take the class. Not that I really "wanted" to do it, but had the feeling I HAD to do it. I took the training and was Simi's hospice nurse for a volunteer hospice for 2 years. I got a stipend of 200 dollars per month. There was no end to the new cases of dying people. People just would not stop getting seriously ill, calling hospice, and dying. It was a life-long learning experience to say the least. After 2 years, I burned out, partly because of the emotional toll, partly because it became one of THREE part time jobs I was trying to juggle, and I just felt I could not do it anymore.
Within one year after I left hospice work, Dad got ill. When it became clear his life was in danger, I suggested hospice be called for him in LA where he lived. We were at his Dr's office and Dad had told me I could ask the Dr about it for him. So... I says to the Dr in front of Dad... "Can you write an order for hospice consult for Dad?"...
And Dad says, as only Dad could do.... "Oh shit, I don't need no g**d*** hospice, I got Jaynie and she's gonna be my hospice nurse!" I protested saying I could not do that because I was his daughter, but the Dr says "You can do it" and inside I am screaming "NO, I CAN'T DO IT. LORD, TAKE ME FIRST AND GET ME OUT OF THIS!!!"
But, I learned that all things are possible to get through if I lean on The Lord for strength.
Dad died on his terms, just the way he lived. Start smoking at 13, why not? Drink alcohol every day by 17, why not?
I spent his last night in his home with Maria his wife, and Pooch, his dog. Dad got up under his own power to pee about an hour before he died, and spoke to us about 15 minutes before he died. What a gift to see him make the transition from his body to the next life look so easy. Although, as I sat near him that night he did say, "Jaynie, this is the hardest g**damn thing I have ever done."
That's all he'd say about it. When the 2 mortuary guys came to the house to remove his body, Pooch the dog, who was a fart-in-a-skillet (Dad's term for a thing that could not sit still)... Pooch barked and growled and tried to bite the guys so they would not get into Dad's room where he lay. Maria had to chase the dog, tackle him, put Pooch in a headlock and lock him in the other room.
I sure hope he has rested in peace since then. He'd hate the commie take over of his country lately; current events have me thinking a lot, "what would dad say about this?" and my answer usually ain't pretty, as those of you who knew Dad would know.
Anyway, RIP, DAD!
A quarter of a century has flown by... see you soon on the other side!
I remember.

the relatives visit

2009-03-04T17:09:00.000-08:00

Cousin Rich brought his mom here for an overnight visit today; Rich leaves for Italy soon with his wife for 4 months; she got a Fulbright Scholarship and is going to teach in Italy. So he's getting a quick visit in with the SoCal relatives. It is good to see him again and hear about his adventures teaching in NE and living in snow country. We learn the latest on the Sanger farm where his mom still lives as well. They brought Gramma Kelly a belated B'day gift from Linda so we videoed a few minutes. Aunt Vera displays her ranch goods as well; the OJ trees are still producing. All of us gettin older by the minute, but it just seems to give us all more stories to tell.

The Flood

2009-02-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

We're all feelin' badly around here for the girls and their friends in the new house. It is an older house but fixed up so wonderfully that it was so exciting for them to be in it and happy. Then came the flood.... whoa! a handle broke off in the main bath in the tub/shower Wed night and caused quite a flood before the water could be turned off. A service had to be called to lift carpets in 2 bedrooms; big fans are set up to dry things out but they cannot use electricity or water. So, back to the home they just left for a few nights till things get fixed. Ah, the joys of home ownership! or not! But their attitudes are good... sh** happens and you deal with it and move on. No one was injured and we are glad of that. Just a major inconvenience.
At least they have an old home to come home to, and that is a good thing.

The move is on!

2009-02-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

Last night the packing reached a frenzy as K n J hustled to pack up their goods and get out of Dodge. I admit I will miss them!! They will not miss me, but that is ok. It is their time to move on, move up, and not have gramma to push around anymore... "Gramma, will you make me an omelet?" "gramma, will you make me some pasta?" "Mom, can I have some of that bacon yer fixin?" "Mom, can I use your Von's card?"
MAN! I am going to miss them.
No matter how many times a kid moves out... you miss them each time... when you are me... I cannot speak for any other parent. just little ol me.
so, more later so youse guys can see the new digs they will be at... a literal resort ifn you ask me.

Magnificent Mundane Mundo

2009-02-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a glimpse of our little world on Friday when jords got home from school:

This season of life is calm, quiet, going along well in our little world. I am able to continue working so far. Have learned to "pace" myself so i can get the rest I need to keep the pain under control, slow the weaknesses that are brought on by aging so they don't accelerate at warp-speed for now. Working enables me to help out with personal "causes" that are important to me; no need to list them; God knows what they are and I ask Him to bless whatever "help" I am able to give. Knowing that nothing last forever except our spirits in God's love, I am thankful for each day we have without catastrophe. Being where we are, we "expect" earthquakes, water shortage, fires, wind, and laws made by the fruits-and-nuts of calif. Glenn Beck wants the USA to kick Calif out of the Union; the South left in the 1860's by choice; Glenn believes the USA should be able to choose to let loose of Calif. May happen, who knows? It ain't my father's Calif anymore that's for sure!! But in our little circle, all is well for now, and I give thanks!

papa feeds scrub jays

2009-01-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

"Our" scrub jays are back. The old tame one has been gone a few years and the new younger ones are skittish but still come to the yard for snacks. Papa will see if he can "tame' the 2 coming around lately; they may start taking peanuts from his hand soon. His left hand is currently splinted up due to having hand surgery again last week; the contracture problem again. But all should be well soon. Yeah! then he can do dishes again, and clean again!!

Fingerprints, Maria and other stuff

2009-01-23T15:09:00.000-08:00

Today I went to a place in an industrial complex to get my fingerprints scanned and submitted to the FBI and DOJ. I need to do this in order to renew my RN licence in the future. Imagine! A little ol gramma nurse who can hardly get out of her own way, minds her own business, (sometimes) wouldn't hurt a flea (unless necessary) and has never been arrested (yet)... needing fingerprints on file.
But times change, and a few rotten eggs have spoiled it for the rest of us outstanding citizens.
So, I pay 71 bucks, and the "trained fingerprint roller" plugs his laptop into a scanner and we begin the scanning process. He says, "oh, you're not showing good definition, and the prints are being rejected." I think, "What the hell?"
He asks, so have you been working? I say, "Yes, I work my fingers to the bone!"
He doesn't even smile.
I says, what now?
He says, we will try again. But first I had to rub some sticky stuff on my fingers to try to "raise the definition".
So... each finger and thumb was rolled at least 4 times, red lights kept flashing, he kept hitting a refresh button or something, and finally he says...
"OK. You may get a letter of rejection, so if you do, come back here and for free we will re-submit them".
I asked, "WHY?" "won't they just get rejected again"?
He says, "yes, but if they get rejected a second time, we will have the FBI ID you by a name search."
damn!! I think I will run this by Glenn Beck on Fox news channel and see if he thinks this is screwy.

So, here is a picture from a few years ago of my at my desk working at work. I hope I get my license renewed by June 30 so I can keep on going into work at that lovely desk!!

For family... Maria, as in dad and Maria... called today, she wanted to respond to Christmas cards. I'd sent her a card and a picture. She is 90, doing well. Had to stop driving due to glaucoma, but decorated her home inside and out for Christmas, still reads a lot, sews, and is loving life. She eats healthy, but bags on her daughter Sandy to stop eating meat and all that fatty stuff, but Sandy don't listen.
So... she still talks of "my JeeMee" (JImmy) and he was the love of her life. Dad left her alone too soon!
Maria says to tell all the family she says "HI" and hopes we are all well.
gotta run. enough for now.
Be well!!

Mental health day

2009-01-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today my twin calls at 9:30 am and says... can I come and get you to go to Ventura with me... I NEED A MENTAL HEALTH DAY!!! So... of course I say YES because I just can't tell her that if she's goin' down, she ain't taking me with her,,, that'd be rude of me. So she comes over and gets me and we ride to ventura. After a bit of sightseeing of beach homes in Silver Strand area, we stop at a taco joint named Pepe's that is just a walk-up shack with some outside tables. it wasn't too busy, but after we got our 2 taco plates, a bunch of more people came. Obviously a local favorite food hang out. We had a nice outdoor lunch, avoided feeding the pidgeons because those rascals keep on begging once you start feeding them, and they call their friends from miles around to come get a meal too... THE TACOS AND BEANS AND CHIPS WERE SO DARN GOOD!!! In fact, we took PIA with us, and have a short video for you to watch of our mental health day views. It is on my You tube page. I tried and even got Jordan to try to upload the video to my blog, but we can't do it. I used to be able to do it, now I cannot do it,... so if you have pointers for me, let me know.
At our favorite joke shop in the Ventura Marina area, we ran into family friends Marthea and Ron who invited us over to their mobile home in the area because it was marthea's b'day. So we went over and saw their home, it is gorgeous... a triple wide that is fantastic, and we visited for a spell. Sue and Buzz showed up as well, and Buzz's brother from No Cal was there too. Nice visit!
We solved the world's problems, enjoyed the sun and clear skies of ventura, and now I can plunge into another work week with vigor. It has been soooo busy at work what with open enrollment for our hmo. we actually are getting many new members even in this crappy economy. I hope it keeps up; job security for me!
see ya!

Time flys; still having fun.

2009-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

Last night baby Boy Braden, make that Big Boy Braden, celebrated b'day number 3. How did that happen so darn fast? Are the years really slipping by that quickly as I put one foot in front of the other, managing to work part time, and fiddle-fart around on days off thinking I am making a difference somewhere, somehow? At any rate, we keep celebrating these milestones, and sharing them with family at a distance in videos.
I was late to arrive at the party since it was a work day for me, so Grandpa handled taking videos with PIA. (That's my nickname for our flip video... stands for pain-in-ass; named for those who hate having a flipcam aimed at them.) I must say Ol Papa did a mighty fine job too! There is a movie we came up with for you to glance at the festivities.
You can watch the video on my You Tube page.
B seems to get too overwhelmed when attention is put on him if a lot of family and friends are hovering around all talking at once. But he did so well at his party, and got his favorite things... TRAINS, TRAINS, MORE TRACKS AND MORE TRAINS!! He can play with them for hours making choochoo noises all the while. When he grows up and owns all the railroads from here to Timbuktu, I will bribe him to put high-speed rails to all areas where I have family and friends... since I sure won't be driving when he grows up!! (I'll be hitching rides with scary younger drivers). (hint, hint Jordan!)
OK, I better be off to the dental apt I have today; like I have nothing better to do on my day off. Dental tip of the day from my big brother years ago that I never forgot... "only keep flossing the teeth you want to keep!"
And don't let it bother you if your grandkids tell you that you have yellow teeth... if they're YOUR OWN NATURAL TEETH... be grateful!!
see ya!

HAVE A HAPPY 2009

2009-01-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a Christmas 2008 portrait of me n Mike.

Notice we don't dress up a lot, don't go in for fancy studio portraits... we be just plain folk who are loved and enjoy our family, love God and are thankful for all our blessings.
2009 should be an interesting year. Much is going on around the world, changes here at home in the good ol' USA are happening, and state by state changes are happening as well. Hopefully we will benefit in our own little lives.
We wish all of our loved ones a Happy New Year filled with love and contentment and spiritual health! Oh, and physical health would be nice as well, but that fluctuates as we know. Remember God is still God when there is darkness and sadness so we strive to be thankful in all things.
Thank you to the family and friend bloggers for sharing your lives with us when we cannot be near you; the photos and videos mean so much and are greatly enjoyed.
Be well and keep a thankful attitude!

Surprise memories

2008-12-25T12:51:00.000-08:00

Jordan made us a surprise video on the computer for Christmas. I didn't know she knew how to do it, but she figured it out. Tara, you have competition now for movie making for family memories! watch and enjoy. Oh... to be young again... but I really don't miss the too long brown hair... it was a PIA to take care of...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-24T15:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends near and far; in snow or in sunny weather... wishing you all a happy holiday season. and don't forget that Jesus is the Reason for the Season. We're thankful for all our blessings all year long. It is raining now here, and rather cold for our area. It barely hit 50 degrees today AND THAT IS COLD to this SoCal chicken. We will be at Kris' soon for Christmas Eve and the Big Guy will make his annual appearance. you know, if you're in the know, that it is BMFSV in red suit. I hope to get a good video of the jarvi boys reactions. Check out You Tube for video of Joan's remodeling, and our gift box from ID we got late last night.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

BBRRRRR

2008-12-17T18:34:00.000-08:00

WOW! Is it ever cold here in SoCal! 38 degrees when I went to get Jordan from her bus stop this afternoon. Raining here, snowing in our local mountains; I am not used to this! Too darn cold for me. I don't know how you folks in snow country do it; you are made of hearty stuff! We still have roses on our bushes in the yard; guess they will freeze too.
See my Youtube page for 3 new short videos of Joan's house remodeling. I was going to go over today to video more... but the bathroom isn't together yet, and work has stopped because some more cutting of baseboards has to be done outdoors... and rain prevents that. I will post more when time is right.
Be well and do not get the flu or a cold!!

For Mikey

2008-11-22T15:32:00.000-08:00

Hey, Mikey,
we made it to the Gaither Concert last night. It was so good! Wish you and Colleen could've been with us.
The Mr n Mrs Gaither are looking a little tired and acting a little slower, but Kevin and Rory are still making funny stuff and the GVB was good even without Guy. Sometimes Jason Crabb joined the GVB but they sang with Signature Sound a lot and that made it so good!!

Sheri Easter was there; said she gets one more round of chemo then is thru. Janet and her sister too have been declared cancer free. Russ Taff belted out a few songs as well, and Linda Randal did "God on the Mountain". Love that one!
No Ben Speer. Don't know where he was.

Hope you're doing well at home now, Mikey! Keep your spirits up and work hard to be independent once again... giving orders as the Landlady.
enjoy this greeting!!

Sisters n Friends

2008-11-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

A salute to Mikey!!

I took this video at the end of French King bridge over the Connecticut River in Mass. It shows our 2 nurse friends and my twin. We get goofy a lot when we are together. Laughing releases endorphins, gives that feel-great feeling even when the old body is going to hell in a handbasket and playing tricks on the nervous system... giving the sensory nerves all kinds of signals to cause painful sensations; giving the motor neurons time off to cause weakness and fatigue in various body parts. Laughing is good for the body and soul, and that's what happened on our NE vac. We laughed a lot. The post-polio symptoms kicked in for me on occasion but being able to get horizontal and rest, and take the pain med when I needed to at night gave relief. My nurse friend with MS is not so lucky to knock out her symptoms as readily. Unfortunatley, she is in a hosptial again to receive IV meds, let her body recover in its own slow time so that she can walk again and go home. It may mean rehab time again. But, in her cannot-turn-it-off RN way, she ends up encouraging other patients, TEACHING REHAB STAFF HOW TO HELP THEIR PATIENTS BETTER, and being an example to her family and friends to never give up. She always comes out of the hosptial or rehab with funny stories to tell, teaching moments to relate, and tales of fellow patients she helped encourage. In spite of lingering symptoms, she will overcome and endure! She knows that JESUS is especially fond of her (reference The Shack... a wonderful book) and that Good News (the Gospel of Christ) gives health to the bones. Poverbs 15:30.
I guess the ol Emerald blood gives a sense of the ridiculous in life and the ability to make a joke out of it... which we did every day... a handicapped motel room with no curb cut for entry, a referral to a wonderful breakfast place which turned out to have 2 dozen stairs straight up to the entrance door and no elevator... The Californios inability to understand and respond intelligently to a nice Boston "eye-'ow-R-ya?". Lots to laugh about inspite of life's challenges. it was a great 2 weeks with our sister-friends.
We are with you, Mikey, in love and prayers for a speedy recovery.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

I really do not like halloween any more... it is a PIA to jump up and hand out candy when the doorbell rings every 2 minutes. One year i tried sitting in the open door waiting for the kids to come, nearly froze to death, and couldn't see the tv well... hahah poor me... so for the past many years, Mike hands out candy and has fun seeing the kids all dressed up. I am a bah-humbug Halloween celebrant. However, I DO MISS halloween nights when Russell, Autumn and Will and Jordan would come here after trick-or-treating, spread out their candy hauls all over the living room rug, and have a good time trading for their favorites. Autumn would make the worst trades with her brother because she was so young and loving...she'd give away the farm to her big brother. I bet trades now would be more hard core... anyway, here is a treat from a mexican eatery in Massachusetts during my vac.

Happy Birthday to 2 pretty ladies

2008-10-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday today to two very pretty and special ladies... daughter Kristy Leigh and grand daughter Autumn Rose.... two "scorpians" who have brightened our lives and make us proud.

Two kids who seem to love that their birthdays fall near Halloween... often giving themselves an excuse for another costume party...
Love you both so much!!

Irish Surprise

2008-10-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

After a nice Irish Lunch today, I was surprised by a nice Irish concert song... totally unexpected... she must have come straight from the Pub... she says she's for hire for parties anytime!
check out youtube for more vac videos.

Hudson is one!

2008-10-04T23:08:00.001-07:00

Hudson had his first birthday party tonight. He was so cute and co-operative. He loved it!! He kept his birthday hat on a long time and surprised us by doing that. He walks a bit now but not too far. He soon will be running though! He has to keep up with big brother. Click on the "you tube" link to see more videos of the party.

school pic

2008-10-04T14:28:00.001-07:00

Here tis grand daughter's school picture; she doesn't like it she says. Guess I should get out my school pic from 8th grade and show her what a truly unliked picture looks like.
I just want her to believe that God is truly fond of her! And I personally think this is a beautiful picture of her.

high tech stuff

2008-09-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Some of my kids told me to get a flip video. They want videos of where I go, which usually isn't far. But next month I go to New England with Joan. We will attempt to be leaf peepers with our nurse friends who live there. if there are leafs worth peeping at, I will video them. Along with videos of Joan screaming..."TURN THAT DAMN THING OFF!!" Or maybe it will be ME screaming at her when she secretly aims the Flip my way to catch me doing something untoward. (look it up).
Only Mike acts untoward, so i will flip-video him and post it on the blog soon. hahaha.
bye.

train wrecks wreck lives

2008-09-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

There was a severe train wreck just over the hill from us on Friday late afternoon. A Metrolink passenger train collided with a Union Pacific freight train. The Metrolink train had passengers headed home to Simi Valley and Moorpark stations. Saturday Mike saw people gathered at a home 4 doors down from us, the home of Roger, so he stopped to ask if our neighbor had gotten home ok because he rides the train sometimes. The 2 grown sons told Mike they had not heard from their Dad yet. By late last night, all the dead had been ID'd except for 3 men and a woman. Today Mike stopped by our neighbor's home after church and found out that Roger, the dad, grandpa, and all around nice guy, didn't make it. The family was informed at mid-night that Roger had finally been ID'd as one of the victims.
He leaves a wife, grown sons and a little grand daughter.
All I can think about is the need to "be ready"; be ready to leave this physical realm at any time, you know not when, but one day we will each be called upon to go to another realm, ready or not.
Carpe diem.

Happy Birthday, Wen!!!

2008-09-03T19:01:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my beautiful niece Wendy! And Cierra's beautiful mom! When Wen was little she called me "Aunt Dee". And when Timmy came along, he called her "NeeNee" and she called him "Pinny"... ah, all the sweet memories.
Wendy, Happy Birthday to you!!

Mom's work is never done.

2008-08-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

Watch this video if you are a mom, or ever had a mom. Tis sweet and funny!

I AM SO STOOPID!!!

2008-08-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of how to ride a roller coaster and enjoy it:

C and J had a wonderful ride! A fun ride!! They are actually young and in shape and had fun!

Next video is how to never ride a roller coaster! It doesn't work to pretend that you are young, in shape, and ready for some fun. STAY OFF THE RIDES IF YOU ARE OVER 60!!! Joan said she is gonna kill me because I got cocky, had fun on a gentle rapid boat ride, and felt like we could be kids again and enjoy a roller coaster. It was NOT a pretty sight. We did not know a camera was filming us. We had neck pain so severe we wished we were dead. We could not even scream out in terror or agony. Watch if you can stomach it; it is not a pretty sight... 2 old fools on Ghost Rider!!

But it sure was a fun day watching our grand daughters having fun together. Gram would've been proud. Then she'd say, "You Pole-cats! Why didn't you take ME?"

Family Time

2008-08-10T13:45:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful 8th birthday party for Will this weekend. Mike and I finally had all 6 of our grandkids together at once for a picture with us. I reckon that will not happen much as the years go on, so it was special to capture them all with us at once.

Tim and Tara were in town for a few days and we sure enjoyed their visit. They have to hightail it back to ID so kids can start band camp, football practice etc.

Can you name all these Kelly girls??

My babies... Kimmy, Timmy and Kristy!!

jordans gettin plastic surgeryy!

2008-08-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

For her 13th birthday, Jordan requested to get her face re-done, surgically speaking, and she'd like you to vote on which facial stucture she should pick. There are so many cute faces to choose from. please let us know what face you recommend for her.

Have You seen this crook?

2008-07-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Hecklers

2008-07-29T19:10:00.001-07:00

It was so nice to spend some time again with our friends, The Hecklers, in their peaceful part of the world. I just can't tell you where they live because it is top secret. If I tell you about it, you'd want to move there, and then it would wreck the peace and quiet they have. (But if you pay me enough, I might give you directions!) They always amaze me with their adventures and stories, wheelin's n dealin's. Oh, and the corker is... they have a Wii gizmo!! and they use it!!! I was struck dumb for about 2 seconds... then Syl showed me how it works. pretty snazzy. We bowled a few frames, and Mike took pictures but I cannot post those pictures here or I'd be dead and buried in cement before morning. (by Syl). It was a great weekend with friends again; Thanks, Hecklers!

laughing fun

2008-07-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

Check this video out. Kris took a video of her kids in playpool yesterday.

new gizmo

2008-07-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

I got a new gizmo the other day. a new laptop. an HP. It is small and has a very tiny keyboard. comparatively speaking. I will give it 2 years... and ifn i cannot get used to it then, it goes back where it came from. I never fart aound with stuff I cannot figure out. so there ya have it.

Raymie, this one's for you!!

2008-06-25T17:42:00.001-07:00

While in Kuna, Idaho, last week, the newspaper said the "Strawberry Moon" would arise in the Eastern sky about 10:15 PM. So just after 10 pm, just after it had gotten dark (it gets dark real late in Idaho in the summer time) we ventured out into the street in front of TnT's house to see the moon rise. It was a GOOOOOD MOON! So full and bright! and Yellow! We were all so infatuated that we complied with the cameraman's request and showed more moons! (Did you know that a full moon makes sensible folks do very unsensible acts?) (It's true!) Does anyone know why the full moon on June 18th was called the strawberry moon?
Looks more like moon cracks to me!
This pic is especially for our friend, and tribe leader Raymie!

High Tea?? Bloody Hell!!

2008-06-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

I went on an adventure to Little Tokyo today with Joan and Cierra. We went to the Japanese Museum and saw all manner of displays about the Japanese adventure to America. They were treated as lousy as the Irish in the early days, and even more lousy in the years of "the camps" or internment camps during WWII. The history of what man does to man is filled with injustices all around. So what do we learn? That we all get along as long as we are separated and segregated. Seems to be the constant theme.
Anyways, after the educational part of the morning, we ventured into a newly opened English Tea House, and had tea! Joan and C are experts in Teas, but I am a novice. Everyting was delicious except for the olive and crabgrass sandwich which I didn't care for much. I did taste it though, and I refrained from my usual outburst of "PEE YEEWWW! THAT'S NASTY STUFF!".
We all acted like ladies, and had a nice time. The lemon mini-bundt cake was delicious!!
Probably Jenny Wren would laugh at us, but we felt fancy and very QueenLiz-like.
Joan and C have actually been in London for Tea; I can only imagine it. Tea in Los Angeles must be slightly different from Tea in London, wouldn't you gather? Ponder that.
C snapped this photo of the twins enjoying High Tea. One of us looks like she is leaning over to fart again, and the other one looks so dignified and proper!! Keep those pinkies out when drinking tea!

A Good Time

2008-06-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

We sure had a good time in McCall at the cabin we rented. The snow lasted just enough time to play in it for a day. Am not sure if this city slicker would do well in a snowy climate; I would probably whine a lot and break limbs from slipping and falling down on me arse. It would surely be a different world to be snowed in for months at a time. We had a sightseeing day and wound up in a place north of McCall which is a hot springs "resort" run by a guy named "Tiller". He was an interesting guy who told me his sister has post-polio too but cured it by going on the "blood Type diet". (I think I will pass on that plan). Tiller's place has cabins he rents; there is one outhouse and one water pump for all the cabins to share. We could see into one small cabin, it had a bed and little else we could see. Some heartly souls who truly desire bare-butt getaways must go there. Tiller said in winter he drives 30 miles into McCall for supplies on his snowmobile. It was a good glimpse of old Americana. If most of us were stranded there for a long time, we'd probably not know what to do with ourselves. No amenities, no fast-food, no computer or cell phone, or cable tv. Just a big pool with natural hot springs to relax in and not worry about a thing. Could YOU handle it???

McCall Idaho Cabin fun

2008-06-22T19:42:00.001-07:00

Mike and I spent 2 weeks in Idaho with Tim and Tara's family. We had a blast! We rented a cabin in McCall for 3 nights and what an experience that was. Here is a view of it.

We had picked it out online and it sounded real snazzy. It was 2 story with 2 bedrooms downstairs, and a huge master suite upstairs with a sleeping loft, fully equipped kitchen, 2 bathrooms, all the linens and blankets furnished, and a deck with BBQ and free standing fireplace thingy, a porch swing, and a resident fox who comes around looking for raw eggs.
Oh wait.
Wrong picture.
Here is the real cabin we stayed in.

We arrived to rain and snow that melted as it hit the ground, but as the evening went on, the snow began to stick. We awoke the next morn to 3-4 inches of snow. It was so amazing for us city folk (the grandparents) to be in the snow.
The cabin was warm and cozy, and we had fun playing board games inside, and I had fun watching the kids have fun in the snow outside.
I will choose some more pics to post later. Tomorrow it is back to work for me, and I have to set my mind to it now.
Nighty night.

Mom always said, "Look it up!"

2008-05-11T10:42:00.001-07:00

Happy Mothers Day to all you folk out there who ever had a kid, talked to a kid, or had a mother. That should about cover everybody...
I had a great laugh this morning. Don't tell Jordan. She spent the night at a friend's home, and called me a few minutes ago to come pick her up soon. (I am the only one at home available right now.) I asked her for directions to the friend's home, and Jordan said, "Look it up on MapQuest!!".
(When I was a kid and asked Mom about something, she would tell me to LOOK IT UP because if I looked it up, she'd say, I'd remember it better. So I used to use that command on my kids as well.... in the good old days of dictionery and encyclopedia in actual BOOK form.)
I laughed and said, "Just tell me how to get there". So she and her friend figured it out and told me lefts and rights etc, and gave me directions.
Imagine!! after all these years, I am still being told to "look it up" although now the info is computer available. But I wanted to see if Jordan could just give me old fashioned directions, and she did! whoohoo!
After we hung up, I looked it up on MapQuest. She was right! LOL.

this gets my goat

2008-05-04T11:05:00.001-07:00

On Fridays our local mall has a Farmers' Market that offers a touch of that rural farm feeling... if you are willing to enter the goat pen to romp with the goats, chickens, a crazy duck, and plenty of animal waste. The first time Braden got to go into the pen, his Aunt Kim was brave and took him inside the pen for awhile to feed and pet the animals. But this past Friday, Aunt Kim was nowhere to be found, so Mama Kris took Braden into the hellhole... I mean, goat pen. Kris and I are not exactly animal people, unfortunately, (do not tell anyone this, especially Tracy!) but as Kris said later, "You do anything for your kids!". If Kris cringed at all, she hid it well, there was no screaming, and Braden enjoyed the adventure very much.

Hudson enjoyed the Farmers' Market from his view in his stroller, and he seemed very happy to be on the outside of the goat pen for now.
Life is so good!

Travel Town

2008-04-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday we went on an adventure to Travel Town. Braden had not begun the day very happy, but after a ride in Grandpa's van to Travel Town, he was so excited! He wanted to see all the trains, and ride the minature train. His Daddy bought him some more train toys. He loves playing with his Choo-choos. There is a small train ride that takes you around Travel Town twice; Braden wanted to go on it so badly, but when Jordan put him off her lap on the seat next to her in their car, he freaked out and had to get back onto her lap.

Braden also wanted to be carried inside the train cars and engines that are on display. They must've seemed awesomely huge to him.

But Little Brother Hudson just rode in his daddy's baby carrier on daddy's chest and was happily observing everything.

Of course, our outing had to include lunch, so we went to Phillipe's near LA's Union Station, and had French dipped sandwiches with hot mustard that we love to hate. And the candy counter there is a kid's delight. Everybody got some candy, and Braden got his favorite: Peanut Butter Cups!
All poor Hudson got though was a photo in a Phillipe's old fashioned phone booth. Just for the nostalgia of it all. One day maybe the grandkids will join Grandpa in enjoying a few French Dipped sandwiches with hot mustard and a beer!

It was a good day! Thank you, Lord.

Old Friends

2008-03-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

We have some OLD nurse friends from Massatwoshits visiting us this week. We went to Santa Barbara for a few days get away, and spend an afternoon in Solvang where one of us inspired the other 3 to have a photo taken. Lovely group picture if I do say so meself. We spent St Patrick's Day afternoon in Dargan's Irish Pub in SB; a good time was had by all. Much laughter, many more memories to share; maybe the friends can go home Sunday to 14 feet of snow and be happy for awhile... not! You're welcome to stay forever Carroll and Duffy!

Pinny is 30 something

2008-03-12T11:37:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of Tim when he was 1 yr old. When Tim was born, older cousin Wendy called him "Pinny" because she could not say "Timmy". Now Pinny is 30 something and celebrating his birthday tomorrow. So his dad and I wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and send lots of love to him and his family! and he is STILL cute after 30 some years!!

See You Later, Grandma!

2008-03-04T19:39:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow we will say farewell to a great lady who lived 99 years and truly participated in life, living to see numerous great-great grandchildren. I think she was still driving at 95; driving to birthday parties, ball games, school events. Man! Not many people get to do what she did as long as she did it! We enjoyed getting to know her when our son married one of her great-granddaughters.
See you on the other side, Esther!

The Matriarch

2008-02-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

The eldest Gramma Kelly had her 88th birthday celebration over the weekend. She had her wish to have her 4 kids and their spouses celebrate with her. We went to a BBQ joint for dinner then to bro Bob's house for more partying. An added bonus was to have Sanger cousins with us to celebrate too. The grandkids and great-grandkids are scattered around the States, but in 2 years for the 90th, we want EVERYBODY here to party with Gramma. Start saving now!!! and be there or be square!

caption: "Do NOT tick me off!"

2008-02-06T09:02:00.001-08:00

(I may be absolutely KILLED for this posting... but, hey, what the hell... )

Today C is 18 years old!
Can you believe it? Seems like just last night we were at the hospital looking at this beautiful new baby girl kicking around squawkin that she was here and ready to take on life. Well, she is still ready and waiting for the time that she can take off to see the world. So this picture says it all...
She's locked and loaded and ready, so do NOT get in her way!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CIERRA!!!!!

We love you!!

dang computers

2008-01-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

Hi all, our internet server booted us from its service last Sunday January 13 just after noon. We lost all emails and our contact lists of email addresses. Long story, we changed TV and internet service thru ATnT, but were not set up correctly with email service, so when the old service went away, nothing was saved. So... I am asking all readers to email me just a brief email so I can copy and paste your email address into my new list, and begin corresponding again. I can recall screen names for many of you, but for the life of me can't recall the @ parts. My email address is staying the same as before, so email me, OK? I'd call everybody, but when my caller ID shows up on your phone, you won't answer anyways, SO EMAIL ME!!! haha. Thanks!

Russell Rules!

2008-01-09T15:38:00.001-08:00

When Russell came over to visit, I tried my best to stand up as tall as possible to not look like a shrimp next to him, but, alas, I look like a shrimp next to him. Such is life. He is in his I-want-to-hide-behind-my-hair phase. All of us went through it, didn't we? I just hope I live long enough to see his eyes again when he gets the hair out of his eyes... those wonderful blue eyes that'll drive the girls nuts. (don't tell him I said that but it is true!)

Awesome Autumn

2008-01-03T20:15:00.001-08:00

Autumn spent the night with us; she is in CA with brother Russell because Tara's parents went to ID for Christmas and brought the kids to CA for a visit for a week. Autumn is a board-gamer like I am and challenges me to games so she can beat my butt off winning. I have a challenge bet going for any grandkid who beats me in Scrabble. The pic shows her scoring a killer word, but alas, she didn't win the game. She sure ties hard tho. If I can get the kids interested in Scrabble, they learn new words, and I do too! We have fun and I will gladly pay up when they beat me... ifn they ever do. ;)) (I know they will soon!)
Russell was here for dinner last night too, and I will post a pic of him soon; he towers over me now and reminds me of when I had to start looking way up at Tim to talk to him. The kids grow up so fast.
It is open enrollment time at Kaiser and work is so busy, but I am still glad to be working at a job I like.
Happy New Year to all! May 2008 be kind to you; do your part to make it so.

Twas a very merry christmas

2007-12-25T17:47:00.001-08:00

We had a lot of fun last night with that certain MR SomeOne playing Mr Claus. He was delighted that Braden was not afraid of him too much, and in fact, sat on his lap for EVERYBODY'S family picture!! Usually we cannot get Braden to sit still for a picture, but last night he sat on Santa's lap a long while.
We missed our Idaho kids being there; the only good thought was that Santa's lap and knees didn't get broken from real big kids sitting on him!! hahaha. The younger generation is certainly growing up fast.
Other than that, WE MISS YOU!!
Tim took the time to use the web cam around his house today to show us and Steve's family around the Idaho house, and to show us the snow outside still lingering on the ground. Thanks, Tim, that was a special treat. Tracy got to give TnT some dog training advice as well, since TnT have a new Corgi puppy to train as a service dog for Will.
After we opened gifts here today, we went to The Jarvi house again and had coffee and doughnuts yum yum. Then we came home and had the Pope Ave Kellys join us for our taco fest. and Kim added her enchiladas this year; delicious as usual.
Kim and Jordan are off to MAUI tomorrow with Jordan's gramma Carole; the rest of us are jealous, but hope they have a wonderful time! Aloha!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-20T14:29:00.001-08:00

Thanks to family and friends who sent Christmas Cards our way; we love getting them and love the pictures of kids who growing up so fast. Forgive me for not getting cards out this year except per email. The old arms and hands just fail me sometimes for letter writing, but keyboarding is a bit easier when I can get to it.
Sunday evening we went with The Jarvi and Kim and Jordan to see a cul-de-sac neighborhood of extremely well decorated and lit up houses in Valencia. It was a lighted wonderland. Lights were strung across streets, and yards were decorated to the hilt with Christmas themes. Mostly Santa themes but there was a manger or 2 as well. Several of the apparent home owners were in their driveways with firepits blazing, and even offered hot chocolate or candy canes to spectators. It was lovely! However, it was so darn COLD!! Our car temp read 44 degrees outside. Can you imagine SoCal beach bums in 44 degree weather?? Well, we whine! And complain that "IT'S TOO COLD". I thought I was going to freeze my begonias off! But we all did well in spite of ourselves and enjoyed the gawking at lights.
Christmas Eve we will be at the Jarvi house with Santa, and Christmas Day we will be home for our annual taco fest with the people from Pope Ave and whomever else shows up. Things get fractured when you have to share your kids and their families with their in laws, or when your kids move on to better pastures as in Idaho. But the blessings continue and we rejoice and are thankful for good extended families, and pray everyone has many blessings and good health in 2008.

time flys (or is it flies?)

2007-12-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

pics are of Jordan and Braden and little Hudson, taken last week.
Time passes too quickly! Over a month has passed along to the great bin of history, and I wonder what the heck I have been doing because it seems there is nothing to blog about. But I know I been busy! Busy with every day living. Mike fixes me a great breakfast on my work days so I can get to work fortified with protein to carry me through the day. He does the laundry, cleans the kitchen, takes care of the yard, and takes care of grandkids when needed. And then he prints jobs on the press in the garage whenever he can fit them into his busy schedule. Me, I just go to work when scheduled then crochet when home. What a blessed life! And I am thankful for every day of this routine! No current crises to deal with.
We got an artificial Christmas tree in the after-Christmas sales last year. So Mike put it up for the first time last week. It is real nice, and won't dry out to become a tinderbox, so we can leave it up til the cows come home or the creek rises. Nice!
Next week at work we are having a call center mini-health fair with agent appreciation day. that means free lunch... of subway sandwiches... no more grease laden pizzas for us now... our boss is on a health kick. darn it. I am expected to take blood pressures of those who want theirs checked. I hope I don't blurt out with dumb ass things like "holy smokes, why hasn't your fat head blowed off yet, yer pressure is so high!!" I will try to act professional, but that is so difficult!
I have to BORROW a sphygmomanometer if you can believe that. I haven't owned one since I did hospice nursing a hundred years ago.
Wishing all my readers (both of you!) a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy2008.

Oh 2 B a kid again!

2007-11-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

My 3 CALIF grandkids dressed up for Halloween; 2 probably against their will (cause they're babies), and the older one having a lot of fun with her friends. I had to work Halloween day; I dressed up as an old crippled lady with 6 grandkids...

it was my usual clothes. haha. Didn't win any costume prize for that tho.
My ID grankids had some cute costumes too; we love it when their mom sends pictures and posts them for us to see. I'd post them here too but can't figure out yet how to do that.

Had a lot of fun at work this past week. I was out for 6 months after hip surgery; the supervisor who was supposed to do my work was overloaded and stopped doing my paperwork in mid-August. Usually summer time enrollment in Kaiser slows way down, but this summer we have a campaign going to attract new members, and it is working! 700 - 900 new members per month, and usually 300 - 400 new members per month is usual for summer months. I review all the new member intake forms and keep stats on how many special needs populations we get enrolled: diabetic, HTN, pregnant, smokers, possible need for mammogram etc. So... I will have a lot of work to catch up on but that is ok. I will plod thru it.
Can't say it was easy getting back to work, but it is a blessing... got a raise Oct 1st, have a desk job, get my "union" breaks... can't complain! Just need my back to start feeling better and not protest sitting all day and driving for an hour each work day.
As of today I am now married to a 64 year old. How did that skinny tall sailor get to be a senior citizen so quickly?? Happened in the blink of an eye, I tell ya. The blink of an eye!! So how fast is YOUR life going by?

RTW

2007-10-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

TWO special people to remember today: Kris my couch baby is 35 and Autumn Rose my granddaughter is 10. Happy Birthday, Ladies! They both have special plans for their birthday nights, and I hope they have lots of fun. We get to sit for #1 Jarvi son while Kris goes to dinner.

I drove to Kaiser Hospital today to get my RTW (Return To Work) paper from the hip surgeon. The skies are so smoky/foggy and yucky-brown in the Valley. Not much better here in Simi, but at least we don't have ashes dropping all over everything, and we have been spared fires for now in our community. Thank God for that blessing. After all the fires we've been through here, I am thankful at this time we have little cleanup, and everything is intact.
Monday I will return to work; almost 6 months off to recuperate. I am doing so much better than 2 months ago as far as residual hip pains and back pain goes. I needed the extra time to let the symptoms lessen. It will still be a challenge to go to work and complete the day, but I am up for it and ready to go. If I had to do the surgery again, I would do it because the right leg was so bad off and I had so much pain every day. It's nice to get relief! I have lost 8 lbs and hope to never find it again. I will try to continue to lose at a slow pace, changing eating habits of long standing, and hopefully get down to a more sensible level of weight for these old bones to bear.
The old movie "Cat Ballou" with Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda has a scene in it of Lee Marvin as an old alcoholic gunslinger who gets himself ready for a gunfight one hungover day. He takes a long time to get dressed, piece of clothing by piece of clothing, and finally he get his ass out the door, ready, and willing to go to into battle. I'll think of that scene as I dress for work: over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder; long sleeveless T shirt; back brace over T-shirt, a blouse over all that; compression socks, short leg brace in left orthopedic shoe; make sure right shoe matches left shoe; loose pantalones that don't cut off venous circulation. Oh my!
:))
It's a workout just to get ready; who needs an exercise plan? THAT'S my workout.
I look forward to it; and I will like getting the paycheck again. I know "they" will throw me a welcome back party: it will be 6 months of backed-up new-member paperwork "thrown" at me to sort through and log. But I can do it! I am UNION tough now! I know when to demand my breaks!

Kiss the joys

2007-10-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

A line from a poem by William Blake:
"He who binds himself to a joy,
does the winged life destroy;
but he who kisses the joy as it flies,
lives in eternity's sunrise."

This quote is in a daily devotional I read today. The writer who referred to it was blinded as a child but due to advance surgery regained some sight only to mostly lose it again in later years.

He wrote: "I have had to learn not to bind myself the joy of sight but to kiss this winged blessing as it flies through my life. At time, the urge to grab and hold onto it is overwhelming, but in my heart of hearts, I realize one has to develop a certain attachment to joys of all kinds in order to escape the insidious poisons of bitterness and despair."

Tis the same principle that should be applied to our abilities (physical and mental) as they wax and wane or be wiped out suddenly in some accident or illness. And the people and things that come and go from our lives also seemed just loaned to us for a season.
If it is all God's, then I can accept more readily and let go more easily. Everything in it's own season.

(NOT having a bad day, just reflective as visions of destruction hog the news.)

Great Giver of all gifts, thank You for the blessings of this life. Help me to hold loosely, very lightly the gifts that You bestow. Help me to hold fast to You.

It's Hell Season

2007-10-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

As much as I like living where we do, I dread fire season. Every October the Santa Ana winds blow hard, and if we haven't had rain, we get fires. SoCal is in the season of some of the worst fires ever. We have been spared for now in our community; we do not have fires burning around the rim of Simi, but we have the smokey air that makes the sun go red and almost obliterates it. We do not have a lot of ash falling here like we get some years, but we have the smokey smell. When the wind blows so hard we need to keep our windows and doors closed up tight. Before we got A/C those times would be uncomfortable. But as long as we have electricity, we are fine. Yesterday we lost electricity for awhile. I was caught (for the 3rd time in a year) in my electric reclining easy chair, reclined back, comfortable and cozy. Then I had to climb out to try to get to the ringing phone before the caller hung up because the cordless at my side would not work of course. I missed the caller but did get out of the chair ok.
We are heartsick watching the news of all the homes burned to the ground in CA in the last 3 days. Please pray for the safety of the firefighters, especially Marshall and John of our family. Thank God for the firefighters.
For now, we thank God for our safety and pray the fires stay away from our community this year.

Big Bro Braden

2007-10-16T16:11:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of Hudson's big brother Braden. This photo was taken a few days before Hudson invaded Braden's home territory. I hear there have been some funny moments while Braden adjusts to having a sibling around all the time. But so far, so good.
We shuffled a few things around our home over the weekend to give Kim and Jordan each their own bedrooms. A bunch of old stuff went to the Salvation Army second-hand store. There is more cleaning and sorting and throwing out to do (for me to do) or else when I take off to Glory my family will need to throw out lots of old crap. Worthless crap! It is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate and seldom use over 38 years in the same home. (I will have it all boxed up and mailed to KY or ID... maybe. :))

Hudson on day 4

2007-10-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hudson is doing very well, and so is Mama Kristy (as well as can be expected after a c-section that is). Monday Hudson woke up more for us and showed off his open eyes. Kris and Hudson will be coming home today; Braden is in for a huge surprise when there is another son to share the spotlight with him. But he will get used to his brother and all will settle in soon, as most families do. We are just so grateful that everyone is healthy and doing well. The biggest concern is "will Braden throw a jealous fit when 'Papa' (Mike) holds Hudson and doesn't play as usual with Braden?" The suspense grows! I will keep you posted.
Aunt Joan called yesterday from KY. She and Steve will leave KY today to take a sight seeing drive home to Simi. No houses met their expectations in KY, so they will not be moving at this time, but stay tuned!
Look for the next installment of THE KRAZY KELLY EXTENDED KLAN KEEPS ON KEEPIN ON.

Hudson is doing much better

2007-10-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hudson came out of neonatal ICU yesterday before noon. He had a lung problem seen on chest xray that looked like a small part of one lung lobe that was not inflated well. Kris was told at different times that he probably had a "collapsed lung, or a small tear, or fluid in a lung" although he never showed any symptoms like difficulty breathing or poor O2 saturation. At any rate, he didn't need any intense intervention, just watching more closely in NICU for Friday night. Kris scrubbed up in the middle of the night to go into the NICU to hold him and see that he was doing well. So... good outcome to a scary situation. We got to hold him for a few hours yesterday in Kris room. She said she will concentrate on getting him to feed from her today so we probably will not visit, but we may watch Braden when Christian goes to the hospital later.
OH BTW, does anyone need a newborn size pink onesie that says "does my butt look big in this?" that I got for Kris' baby before I knew she was a boy?? haha. Kris maintained all along it was a boy, but Kim and I were ready to buy all pink stuff!
It was a nice surprise and we are all glad Hudson is here and healthy!

HE IS A BOY !

2007-10-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Kristy had her baby boy this morning about 7:47 AM; she and Christian named him Hudson Michael; he is 8 lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long. Mama and baby are ok but Hudson has some fluid in lungs so he is in observation nursery now to be watched more carefully. His blood oxygen is good so far, so hopefully it is nothing serious. more later.

Please vote here

2007-09-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hey all, my grand daughter, who knows so much, showed me how to post a poll. So vote on my blog for the big Kelly question... "Will Joan and Steve move to Kentucky??". You have 2 weeks to vote because it will take at least that long, I think, for them to decide. They are in KY now and should be out looking at housing in the next couple of weeks. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TYLER TODAY!! His party is later in the week.
Yesterday we saw the Physical Medicine Dr. He said my back rib crays show no fracture, but there are arthritic places and osteoporosis. He ordered a bone scan to further check for bone damage or break. Also gave me a new type of back support to wear to hopefully decrease the back pain. When the office nurse put it on me HE said, "Now, when you lose weight..." gently reminding me I HAVE TO lose wt... (I hadn't mentioned yet trying to lose!) he said brace would fit better. a good motivation to lose, eh?
Here... wear this every day... but it won't feel good or be comfortable til you're not so fat!.... Bye-Bye!!
Dr asked about my walking, I had to be honest that walking makes back worse, and if back is helped, I would walk more; got a new hip so why not? I still use the walker in the house much of time, especially first thing in morning and later in day when I feel exhausted.
We see surgeon tomorrow and will get his input as well. Dr yesterday didn't think I need a shoe lift on left leg, will ask surgeon his opinion too. Drs still use those little boards... 1/4, 3/8 inch etc ... for me to stand on to see how spine straightens out and if hip bones level out with a lift under shoe ... just like when I was a kid in polio Dr's office. Some things just cannot be improved on. You might think in this day and age, a DR could just take a computer scanner wand, scan your ass and look at the computer screen and say "Yep, you need a shoe lift!" or "Nope, no need." So... I keep on getting flashbacks of all the Dr visits when I was a kid; some good, some crappy, some just neutral. I do like it when Mike goes to Dr with me tho; reminds me of when Mom used to do all the talking and I just co-operated with the exam saying yes or no to simple questions directed at me. Most questions were directed at her tho, and my only job was to co-operate and not cry. Mike has been so helpful... but I still want to cry! There still must be remnant of that 9 year old kid thinking "I've had enough already! Leave me the hell alone!".

The latest scoop

2007-09-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

We sure love reading our out-of-state kids' updates, so we should post our updates too, eh? That would be better than a litany of aches and pains, which are only a small part of life anyway, so why not?
The girls are out and about today, Mike is working on his to-do list which is always a mile long, so he is in the outdoor-garage area much of day. I cleaned out my closet a bit today to dump some old fat clothes and junk. WW ways are working a bit to let my clothes hang more loosly altho the scale isn't showing much loss. But I can tell things are changing. Toughest part is going to bed early to get farthest away from kitchen at night so I stop feeding face. Have to re-think those after dinner snacks and not continue eating til I fall asleep. Changes are slow; the program seems too hard for me, so will change some things one day at a time and hopefully get some long-term results.
Joan and Steve are on way to KY, driving to BillnJen's. They left a week ago; they took a train excursion to Grand Canyon from Williams, AZ, they golfed in Williams, over-nighted in Alburquerque; made it to Arkansas and planned to see Clinton Library before heading to Memphis to find Elvis. Then they will do a few nights in Nashville, then go on to Lexington; Tyler's birthday party is next Sat. When Joan called from hotel outside Little Rock, ARK, a few days ago, Unka Stevie was out looking for beer because the town they were in was in a dry county; I wonder ifn he made it back yet??? ;))
Got a voice mail from Tracy; she got to go to Wash DC last week for 2 nights taking a dog to a party, and she got to see a lot of monuments and tour the White House.
Kris is hanging in there awaiting Oct 5th C-section; baby is kick boxing in utero and driving Mama nuts I hear. Pray for Kris; only 2 more weeks.
We had a lovely thunder and lightening rain shower a few nights ago; we are in a drought, so rain was welcome.
What else do you want to know??

Thanks to Jorge

2007-09-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jorge today my blog site looks different. She now has a blog of her own and you can get to it in my links. Of course, she is much smarter than I because she is young, with a techo-brain, and I am old with a you-mean-we-have-indoor-plumbing?? brain! Man! The things this new world has that we must learn to operate or be left behind is mind boggling.
I've been directed to use my blog as a family update from now on, so I have to go do a little snooping to find out what to write about everybody... so I shall return later.

Mike's aboard

2007-09-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hey, all, Mr K (Mike, Dad, Granpa, Papa) (sometimes known as "Hey You" or "BMFSV") has set up his own blog, and requests feedback as to what you want to hear about him. So click on the link to Granpa Mike's blog from this blog, and you will find him. Bookmark it and post comments or he won't write anything. He is more impatient than me. When he emails, he checks back every 3 minutes to see if the recipient answered back already... ok, not really... but you know we live in an instant world now, and WE EXPECT FAST RESULTS!
Yesterday Mike had guys from ATnT come out and disconnect our DirecTV satellite, and connect us to bundled Internet and TV cable with ATnT. Now I have a new remote to learn how to use, in addition to learning how to program in shows to TiVo, in addition to a new channel lineup... OMG! I am exhausted! I need a bakers dozen Dunkin' Donuts so I can go into a sugar coma and when I awake, maybe this nightmare will be over. Anyone want to join me???

God, teach me something new!

2007-09-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

This morning I went with Mike and our friend Joe to the church they have been attending for a few months. They really like it because the teaching is truly biblical and they enjoy the worship music. On the way to church I prayed to God to teach me something brand new so I can better live, as He wants me to live. The roof didn't fall in as I wheeled into the church; no lightening struck; the earth didn't shake and swallow me up, so I felt welcome after not going to church for so long. That was a good sign! So, after a few worship songs, it was time to turn and greet the people sitting around us. I didn't recognize anyone, but suddenly a lady comes up behind me and says, "I saw you when I walked in!" and says to Mike, "I've seen you here before but I didn't realize who you were!" It was a gal I learned to avoid at a church we attended 20 years ago!! And I still try to avoid her when I see her anywhere around town! Sooo.... what I learned today is that, by the grace and help of God, I really CAN hold my tongue when I want to scream " AW, CRAP! 'TIS YOU, OH NO!". I just said, "Hi, (Mz X)!" and then shut my big mouth again. That was my first lesson today... KEEP YER BIG MOUTH SHUT! Gee, my dad used to tell me that years ago; guess I didn't learn it then, so I can learn now. Can't WAIT to see what is the 2nd lesson I really need! But it too will probably be something I should've learned a long time ago!!! God really does have a sense of humor!
As to the healing matters, I had a PT treatment of Ultrasound/electrical stim to back muscles last week; there is a very hot spot that sends me through the roof with pain when it is pressed on. So we are still pursuing that for diagnosis and treatment. The last DR visit, I was denied an xray, so I messaged MD to ask for Xray last week after PT visit, but had no response yet. Kaiser demands patience, patience, and more patience from their patients. It's a ploy to put off health care to you whilst you slide to your demise, then they are off the hook, and you get to pay for your own funeral, but no refunds from Kaiser for burial. (just venting here, joking, you know me) No Kaiser employees should be reading this anyways!!

A New Plan

2007-08-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

At the primary care doctor appt this week I got a new Rx for baclofen, an anti-spaz medicine that should help my back spasms go away. And a referral to P.T again for therapy to lessen chance of sciatic pain attacks. A new plan is better than just trying to cover up pain with pain pills at night while trying to get thru day without any Rx. So, we will hope for the best outcome now. I am still off work, and hope to get another month of disability to fix current problems. I await word from surgeon on that issue. To return to work in pain again would make me want to shoot meself.
It is blistering hot here this week; it was 108 degrees on our patio... in the shade... at 2 PM. The night didn't cool off too well like California nights usually do here. Seems we get 2 weeks of extreme heat every summer like this. I hope it doesn't last longer. So far, we have kept electricity flowing to run AC. Last summer we had 2 days without it and the night was terribly hot. We are so thankful for our comfortable life here; we're spoiled for sure when one hot night brings such miserable memories.
Mom-in-law was diagnosed with walking pneumonia last night when she went to urgent care for a swallowing problem; a hiatial hernia was found today in baruim swallow study and xrays. So she will discuss her options with her dr tomorrow but she's already refused surgery as an option! We'll see. A great fear of many people about going to the doctor are these "incidental" finds... many ailments are found during exams for non-related problems. Thankfully her incidental find is curable. Funny how we will put up with very annoying symptoms because we don't want to hear bad news. Of course, to me, BAD news is "you have to live with this symptom and do the best you can" while GOOD news would be "This is gonna kill ya". Heaven here I come!

Slow healing

2007-08-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

It sure seems to me that I should be A-OK by now but that is not yet the case. Several times I have found myself in situations where my weak left leg just won't effectively help me to step up, or rise up from a chair, and I have to use the operated-on right leg to step up or lift up... and then I seem to tax it too much and get a strain that hurts for a few days, or else the prosthesis (which takes 6 months to grow bone around it) slightly moves and causes burning pain for a few days. That's how I imagine it anyway. Then I have a few days setback while the "new" pain gets under control. My back is spasming more, driving or walking unaided bring the back spasms on. Man, are they painful at times. So, I am using the walker more in the house, and trying to not walk much unaided because it is so much of an effort. I started Weight Watchers a month ago, hopefully by this time next year I will not be lugging so much blubber around. That might help a bit, but the weak muscles affected by old polio nerves can't be helped much. Maybe I need to accept that my walking days are history without help of a walker or canes. Time will tell. I see my primary care Dr tomorrow about the back pain. No feedback on the "gait evaluation" in P.T. yet. I suspect the report simply states: "She walks crooked. Needs help".
I've been enjoying a book about President Bush the 41st written by his daughter Doro. Very entertaining. I like the guy a lot. And his son too. If you don't... well, just shut up! this is MY blog!
Later!

Catch a falling star...

2007-08-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

The news has been encouraging us to view the meteor shower with best viewing time Monday before dawn. But who wants to get up by dawn if you do not HAVE to get up? As it was, I had a night where sleep didn't come easy, so at 5 am I was outside in the front yard with a cup of coffee to try to see shooting stars. And of course, singing to meself the old Perry Como tune "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away... for when your troubles start in multiplying, and they just might, it's easy to forget them without trying, with just a pocket full of starlight...". All you under 60 won't remember that song probably, but that's ok. You're too young to know anything yet.
Anyways, daughter Kim was awake as well to get ready for work. When I told her I was going outside to see the falling stars, I told her not to tell anyone because I don't want anyone to know I am nuts. She said, "IT'S TOO LATE, MOM. EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS YOU ARE NUTS." So, there ya go. I knew you knew, I just haven't wanted to acknowledge it. I saw 3 shooting stars from the front yard, then when the back yard sprinklers went off, I sat in the back yard and saw 2 more. Then I decided that was enough thrill for me, so I went back to bed. And how many did YOU see????

Attitude is everything

2007-08-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

This was forwarded to me by friend Syl; I just had to post it here; If The Lord can help me to change one thing... it is my attitude in the midst of trials: to still have joy about life instead of bitching about it. We should all remember this one:

There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her
head.
Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today."
So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror
and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle
today." So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there
wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEA!" she exclaimed,
"I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply,

Love generously,

Care deeply,

Speak kindly.......

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...

It's about learning to dance in the rain.